AN: Thank you everyone. I am happy that you enjoy my story so far or that if you don't you have gotten this far so that you could offer me some advice. If you see any spelling errors, grammar errors, or OOC please tell me. Some things are intentional but some are not and the only way I can improve is if I am aware of the problem. I like Concrit and would appreciate any you have to offer, once again thank you and I hope you have a nice day.
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Bang, bang, bang. Naruto groaned and rolled over in his sleep. Bang, Bang, Bang. He started to whimper as he hid himself under the blankets. He just wanted five more minutes of peace and warmth. That was all. Why could they not just let him sleep for five more minutes? BANG, crack, BANG, crack, BANG!!! With a shudder the door to his room gave up its attempt at further impeding the fist before mercifully bursting into thousands of pieces, it no longer had to be in pain.
Naruto shot up and stared at the door expecting some great behemoth to reach in with a long hairy arm, grab him, and carry him away to be its breakfast. So Sakura found the poor demon huddled in his blankets shivering. She was not amused.
"Naruto!" She said emphasizing every syllable, "If you do not get out from under those sheets in the next five seconds I am going to be using you for medical demonstrations to the junior med-nin."
In less time than it took to say kunai, he bolted out from under the sheets. He did not know what demonstrations Sakura had planned for him, but knowing her that was a good thing.
"What is the hurry anyways?" He whined while rubbing the back of his head. She stared at him.
"Did you completely forget about what you promised you would do to day?" She was dumbfounded. Naruto loved to fight, to show off to anyone who would give him the time of day, and here he had forgotten that last night he had agreed to some friendly sparring. She shook her head; maybe this was a dumb prank.
Naruto snapped his fingers as he finally remembered a broad grin plastering his face like a billboard to the whole world. Now he was rubbing the back of his head for completely different reasons.
"Heh heh. Sorry about that Sakura, I kind of forgot about that. Can you leave for just a second while I get dressed?" Sakura held back a blush and nodded before exiting the ruined door.
Naruto looked about the room. It had been dark last night so this was his first time looking it over. It was rather plain. A dresser stood next to the window opposite his bed. He walked over to it and looked inside. Inside it were some rather ordinary clothes, some blue pants to go along with a blue shirt. Naruto grumbled in open disagreement with whoever chose the outfit. Somewhere Kakashi sneezed.
Putting on the pants and shirt he decided to personalize it by taking his rags and wrapping them around his torso and arms. It would give him better camouflage. He felt more comfortable. Years of living with the hermit followed by his travels had toned him down. That and blue reminded him of Sasuke.
He shook his head to erase the thought. He looked himself over and realized he had forgotten something. He did not have a kunai holster or equipment pouch. He looked around for one, in the dresser maybe. He had not used either of the standard shinobi items for the last nine years.
Naruto finally found them and began to slowly put them on. Did he still know how to use them, he wondered. After the holster and pouch were firmly in place, Naruto started to walk out the door.
Sakura was waiting just outside. She looked him over and snorted, Naruto was stubborn. Apparently he now held the same fanaticism about his rags as he used to hold for orange.
"What took you so long?" She asked while continuing her assessment of his overall appearance.
"I forgot how to put the Kunai holster on" He said as he began to sheepishly rub the back of his head while grinning.
"Well now we have to hurry or else we are going to be late." She said while grabbing a hold of his arm and dragging him along with her.
"But Sakura-chan I haven't had breakfast yet." He whined. He did not like fighting without having eaten. He remembered his gennin exam and shuddered.
"Well if someone did not decide to sleep in they would have been able to eat breakfast." Sakura was starting to get in a foul mood, any second now and there would not be a spar. She would send Naruto to the hospital with a concussion.
Naruto smiled slightly. It was sort of like when they had first started, her nagging him whining. He chuckled. Sakura no longer was dragging him as he walked under his own power.
"Who decided on the spar time anyways?" He mused. Sakura did not answer him as they continued walking to the training grounds. Naruto did not know which one, he just followed Sakura. When he came to the training ground he did not recognize it. He had hoped that they would go to training ground seven but here they were on unfamiliar ground.
"Oh Naruto, you might notice this but the training grounds have been remodeled since you were here last." Sakura said with a hint of sadness. A memory without Naruto in it sprang to her mind, one where she trained relentlessly so that she could find him. She knew Naruto was stronger, she could feel his power rippling off him like the ringing of a tuning fork.
"About time you showed up." Shikamaru said walking towards them in a rather lazy gait, his back hunched and his eyes drooping.
That was when Naruto noticed everyone. Not just people he knew either. It appeared as if the entire village of Konoha had showed up to watch Naruto spar.
Naruto looked at Shikamaru with bugged out eyes. "What gives!" He said waving his arms to direct Shikamaru's attention to the crowd.
Shikamaru gave Naruto a look as if to say, isn't it obvious, but instead said, "I am a teacher." It was as if he expected those words to explain the whole situation to Naruto. Shikamaru saw that that did not work and had in fact left Naruto with a dumbfounded expression.
So Shikamaru decided to fill in the gaps. "For you this may be just another sparing session, but for me it is an opportunity to teach without lifting a finger. All I had to do was tell the kids to show up and be prepared to take notes. I figure at the very least they will learn tactics and strategy from your opponents." With that he began to lazily stroll away towards the perimeter of the training grounds, leaving Naruto to think about what he had said.
When Naruto finally realized that Shikamaru had insulted him Shikamaru was a good hundred meters away. "Hey! That's not nice.' Naruto shouted at Shikamaru, who turned around.
Shikamaru once again looked at Naruto as if he was an idiot. "Took you long enough." He then continued on his way to the edge of the field before sitting down and taking up his thinking posture.
Naruto scrunched his face, but he did not have long to stew about Shikamaru or the situation he was in because he sensed a new presence quickly approaching him.
"Hi Akamaru." Sakura said in a cheerful tone as she reached up to scratch his head. Naruto looked at the dog. It was even bigger than he remembered. He silently thought to himself that the dog must be on a growth hormone or something. Dogs simply did not grow that big. Then again Gamabunta was over a hundred feet tall and he knew frogs were not naturally that huge. Maybe it was the chakra manipulating Akamaru's pituitary gland or something. Naruto shrugged still in thought.
"Don't I get a hello?" Kiba said as he jumped down from the back of Akamaru. Kiba looked jealously at his best friend, Akamaru, who Kiba swore winked at him.
"No, because you are not as fluffy as Akamaru is." Sakura said grinning at Kiba. Kiba scowled at Sakura before facing Naruto. Kiba seemed excited about the upcoming spar.
"I get to be your first opponent Naruto. Don't hold out on me or I will kick your ass. That win in the Chunnin exams still doesn't count in my opinion." He gave Naruto a rather feral look, which Naruto returned in spades.
"Don't worry Kiba, I'll kick your ass in record time." He said with a mad grin.
"Naruto I would suggest you don't take anyone lightly in your spars, we have all improved ourselves in every facet of the shinobi life." Sakura advised, but it fell onto deaf ears as the two men were locked in a staring contest. She sighed "I guess I will referee. Win by knockout or surrender, and no killing. This is a friendly spar. Lets make one last check to remove any non combatants and then when I give the signal begin." She glanced about looking for anyone who may have somehow forgotten that the event was occurring. Seeing no one in the surrounding area other than those watching from a relatively safe place, she backed up.
"Begin!" The crowed roared recognizing the start of the fight. Meanwhile the two fighters jumped backwards. Kiba moved much faster than Naruto had remembered. His motions fluid despite his new bulk from his apparent binge of whatever he was giving Akamaru. Seriously how else could you explain the amount of muscles on his body?
Naruto however moved faster, not quite vanishing from view but defiantly blurring. They stood apart watching each other looking for openings. It would not be a lie to say that Naruto had gotten rusty at what he had learned about being a ninja. He was more a wild animal now in how he fought. He was not brilliant, but he was cunning
Kiba thought about the battle. They had not exchanged blows but so far he had already learned one thing about Naruto. Naruto was very, very fast. He whistled out of admiration. Speed alone though would not win this fight though. Kiba knew that. His confidence coming from the fact that the entire group of Konoha ten spent their time training with each other regularly, pushing each other further. And while Naruto was fast, Lee was faster. With a smirk Kiba started to plan.
As Kiba began to think of a method for fighting Naruto taking into account what Naruto had divulged the night before about his fighting style, he thought back to when Naruto had left. If Kiba had sparred Naruto back then he would have simply rushed Naruto. Age had taught him many things though, namely that every opponent had something up their sleeve and he did not want to be caught by whatever Naruto had. By now Naruto probably had a stronger technique than Rasengan and Kiba shuddered to think about what would happen if he got hit by that. Finally he had made up his mind as to how he would approach Naruto, grabbing a soldier pill from his pouch he tossed it into his mouth and chewed it.
Naruto watched curiously as Kiba stood in thought. He swayed pack and forth, always moving, ready to dodge or counter. Kiba started to move. Not as fast as he had when Sakura had started the match but still rather fast. Kiba's movements were linear and almost boring for Naruto to watch. Naruto silently swore however. He still was not that great at taijustsu and he did not want this to become a close range fight. Kiba started to do hand signs but Naruto did not recognize the pattern. Before Kiba finished Naruto made up his mind, if Kiba wanted to fight up close, Naruto was going to resort to old tricks.
"Kage Bunshin." Naruto shouted as ten clones popped into existence and surrounded him.
Kiba swore. Well there went plan A. He had been hoping to have Akamaru catch Naruto from underground while he played decoy but with so many scents of Naruto floating around, Kiba knew that Akamaru would have trouble identifying the real Naruto. But if Naruto wanted to play this game Kiba would play along…sort of.
"Gatsuuga!" As Kiba spun towards the Naruto Bunshins, from under the ground erupted Akamaru, a large white blur. When they had stopped spinning and steadied themselves, the two took a look at their surroundings. Naruto had seemingly disappeared.
Kiba heard a chuckle from overhead. Looking up he saw Naruto grinning like an idiot. Kiba was shocked, but then he smirked. It must take Naruto a lot of chakra to maintain that he thought.
"Why don't you get your ass down here and fight me, unless you're to chicken." Kib had not prepared for an opponent who could seemingly fly. His specialty revolved around earth based jutsu, shuriken and kunai were his only real options. So now he had to resort to taunting, the Naruto of the past would have bum rushed him for it and he was relying on that at the moment.
Right before he managed to shout at Naruto to fight him he suddenly felt something slam into his gut. Whatever it was then caught him under the chin and spun him through the air. As Kiba hit the ground he felt the invisible force grab a hold of his leg and drag him through the air upside down towards Naruto.
Neji was observing the fight with his Byakugan active trying to discern how Kiba was being hurt. Finally he saw it. "Naruto is using air pressure. He is condensing it into an almost solid form and using it against Kiba, further more it appears he is forming his attacks right in front of Kiba making it difficult to dodge. Only someone who has either speed like Lee's or is able to sense the chakra disturbance would be able to dodge it. When fighting him think of how Gaara used to use his sand, only not as malicious."
The group looked on. Kiba was in many ways the second worst one on one fighter in the group right in front of Ino. He could wipe out other units faster but his attacks were inaccurate and against an individual who was agile, he would most likely lose.
Hanging upside down Kiba glared at Naruto. Blood was starting to rush to his head and he was becoming dizzy. Finally after a wordless exchange, Kiba gave a huff. "I give." He said.
Naruto sighed in relief. He could have only held both himself and Kiba in the air for about another minute before he ran out of chakra. That technique ate at his chakra reserves at an alarming rate. Slowly Naruto lowered both Kiba and himself to the ground. Upon touching down Naruto grabbed his knees and bent over huffing.
"Got anymore of those soldier pills?" He asked Kiba. Kiba looked at Naruto in shock. As he numbly handed Naruto a soldier pill Naruto's words bounced around in his head. It had been a bluff. Naruto had almost been out of chakra and Kiba had given up. He inwardly cursed himself.
Sakura stared in slight horror. She knew how much Chakra Naruto had ten years ago and she knew he probably had more. Also add in the fact that his control was much better; if he really could use medical ninjutsu the fact that this jutsu ate up his chakra so quickly was down right terrifying for her. She wanted to go right up to Naruto and smack him for creating so dangerous a technique for the user.
As Sakura mulled and fumed over how she was going to have a talk with Naruto when the spars were over, Neji and Shikamaru carefully began configuring strategies to counteract Naruto's abilities for their spars. Shikamaru additionally was contemplating methods for using Naruto's abilities during combat against enemy nin.
Most of the crowd was silent for a while. They had just seen someone fly and for most of the academy students it was as if someone had just answered their questions in life. Now if only they could get the blond man to show them how he did it.
Kiba and Naruto made their way to the rest of the group. Kiba was pouting over the fact that Naruto had outwitted him. He bet that if he had not been the first to face Naruto he might have been able to beat Naruto and he was right to some degree. The group had used Kiba to map out Naruto's abilities so that they would fair better.
"Well that was fun." Naruto chirped. "So which of you two is fighting next?" He openly wondered aloud. The group looked at him. Some of them were smirking and Naruto suddenly felt very uncomfortable. This was going to be a long day.
Naruto groaned. He hurt in places he had forgotten he had. He had lasted two fights after Kiba, losing to Neji. He told himself he could have won. He could have beaten all his friends, but he did not want to hurt them. So now he lay on a hospital bed. A few days bed rest they had said.
He heard a gentle nock on the door. As he tried to turn his head, he saw Sakura enter the room. She looked a little upset and he hoped it was not with him. It was though.
"I don't want to ever see you use such a dangerous jutsu again Naruto. Flying in the air is nice and all but if it wears you out that fast it is not practical." Naruto sat and listened to her begin to rant about how it was a tactical liability if he fought like that all the time. He occasionally winced whenever she glared at him to make sure he was listening to her.
"Besides if you really can use medical ninjutsu like you claim, I might be able to use you at the hospital. That way you won't have to worry about Kyuubi." She wanted to keep him safe and the best way to do that she told herself was to keep him close by.
Something lit up in his eyes, but for different reasons than the Kyuubi. He would be able to help his friends without hurting them. He was no longer worried about the Kyuubi, but more about his own lack of control.
"I would like that Sakura-chan." He said with a warm smile. He then continued. "What did you think of my genjutsu?"
She looked at him and gave a low whistle while shaking her head. "We will have to work on that a bit more. It is nice that you can perform it without any hand signs but it is still rather easy to break."
Sakura started to walk out the door before turning around. "Get some rest, when you are ready we can begin your formal training at medical ninjutsu."
With that thought in his mind Naruto closed his eyes and fell into bliss.
As Sakura closed the door to Naruto's room someone spoke to her. "Hello Sakura. Do you have a moment?" It was Kakashi
Sakura braced herself and choked. "What do you mean he is a demon?!" She demanded of Kakashi. She could not believe what her own sensei was saying about Naruto.
"You wanted to know what me and Naruto talked about when you had left the room that night right?" He gave her a questioning stare. "He told me why he left and it was not because of the Kyubbi. It was because of him. He told me he was becoming a demon, that he was losing what made him human and that he did not want to hurt his friends. Not in those words, not in that way but everything was there."
Sakura sank to her knees and began to cry. Her whole body shook. It just had to be a lie. Why didn't Naruto tell her? Why did he hide something like that from her? She asked herself that but she knew the answer already. Naruto was afraid of losing them, his precious people because of how they might see him.
Sakura wanted to rush into Naruto's room and hold him; to tell him that everything would turn out fine. She wanted to tell Naruto that she loved him. That she had since he had returned with Jiraiya and that it had only grown since he had run off. The love she felt for him was eating at her. But would Naruto let her tell him that or would he push her away and leave her behind afraid to hurt her?
Kakashi rested his hand on her shoulder trying to console her. He really was not good at this, but he knew it needed to be done. Finally deciding it was only appropriate that she know, he began to deluge his new mission that Tsunade had given him.
Sakura sniffed. But inside she felt a little better. If she could find a way to save him she would. She knew that with Kakashi she could trust him to help her out and bring light to Naruto's dimming world.
"Are you going to be alright?" She nodded that she was going to be okay. Kakshi began again "Good. I have to go now. Every seconds counts and my team would be lost without me." He gave her a reassuring smile and then left her there.
Sakura pulled herself up off the floor. Slowly she began to walk again occasionally steadying herself against the wall. Despite how she felt she had a lot of things she needed to do today. There were other patients she needed to attend to despite how she was feeling. It took her some effort to keep Naruto's situation from the forefront of her thoughts. She told herself she would wait for Naruto to wake up, then they would talk.