Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another Chapter of Accursed Brothers.
The website has been a buzz these last few days when it was announced that stories with high level of violence and sexual innuendo would be simply erased from the site, along with the author's profile page. It's kind of strange considering that according to the announcement; the measures sustaining this course of action went back to 2002. I mean, if such acts (heavy violence and sexual innuendo) were really frowned upon by the site, then actions like these would be taken a long time ago. Either way, I suppose it's a valid concern shared by the site to purify, let's say it like that, the content of the stories so that underage enthusiasts can read and not be induced to violence as I believe the website is concerned. However, I still have doubts regarding the website's actual concern in this matter. Either they are actually concerned that the younger audience will be influenced by the stories in which they wish to get rid of or they are concerned of a future persecution by allowing adult content in their stories. I've read some nice ideas from a friend Kingkakashi stating options to rid the website from future liabilities, such as reinstating the rate MA or even create waiver warnings before reading a story filled with adult content.
Kind of like the adult rated movies. Before the movies starts on television, a five second warning appears stating what is to be expected in the movie and whose audience the film is made for.
Being a writer myself, I can attest to other writer's concerns because of this new policy. Save from a few who actually creates nothing more than Naruto porn stories, writers place a lot of commitment to their stories, going as far as to waste a lot of their times, myself included, into new and exciting chapters. I'm sure anyone would be pissed if, after writing 500k words fiction, said fiction is simply erased because of a few words here or there that contain sexual references. Once more, save from those who merely write porn fictions with no actual relevance to the actual story, I believe that the website's actions are heavily frowned upon. I know of a petition going online with more than 20.000 signatures so far. That must mean something! It comes with no surprise for me that the website is currently suffering from a severe lack of updates after the announcement. The writers aren't sure if their stories will be removed or not. I've already backed up my stories in my computer. So, without further a due, I conclude this message asking to come up with different and more effective measures to prevent young readers from having access to adult rated content fictions as well as prevent the exodus of incredible authors from the website.
Now that that's done, let's proceed with the story.
My idea of doing a chapter centered on the Third Hokage was greatly approved by my audience. The idea came to me, because all my stories are focused on Naruto and his perspective on the events. With Sarutobi being alive after the invasion, the entire repercussion of the invasion is centered on him and him alone as the village leader. Being considered the god of shinobi, I decided to focus more on his human side. How he blamed himself for the invasion because he allowed Orochimaru to live after finding out what the person he considered a son was experimenting on. Moving that aside, Sarutobi made a lot of changes to the hospital by nominating Tsunade as the head manager. He assigned the Anbu commander in order to fix the holes in the village's scout missions. After that, he promoted Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru and Kakashi, the latter to the position of Godaime Hokage. Now, Jiraiya has set out with both Naruto and Sasuke towards retrieving Tsunade.
Wonder what will happen now that Orochimaru doesn't need to find Tsunade.
Chapter 7 – Overcoming a curse
Beta: Kyuubi123
When the sun rose once more in Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen's set of measures were announced to the majority. He went public about every choice he had; Chunnin promotions, changes to the health care in the village by nominating Senju Tsunade as the head doctor of the hospital followed by better efficiency in scouting missions. While many would question the man's decision about promoting the Kyuubi brat to Chunnin, no one dared to openly oppose, seeing as the brat's efforts in the invasion managed to save the academy from a group of sound ninjas. The boy had also the backing of many elite shinobi in the likes of Hatake Kakashi and the head of the Nara Clan, Shikaku. Not to mention the backing of an Anbu captain, who saw his skill with the sword.
Hiruzen knew that his last announcement would shock everyone, especially his war hawk rival Danzou.
When he stated that he would step down as Hokage and nominate Hatake Kakashi for the job, he had received a load of different responses. Many in Konoha respected Kakashi for his achievements at the last great ninja war, so a great majority of the ninja population approved the nomination. Surely, the clan heads were in favor of the son of white fang. While neither of them wished the Sandaime Hokage to retire, they all knew the problems old age can do to a shinobi, even someone as powerful as Hiruzen Sarutobi, taught by both the previous Hokage. When the Yondaime Hokage took the hat, he solidified the village as most powerful of the elemental nations. The clan heads were sure that Kakashi, despite his apparent boredom with everything around, would do well as Godaime Hokage. Kakashi even received backing from his old genin team, even if two of them were already chunnin and about to embark on a journey with his sensei's teacher Jiraiya.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto congratulated their sensei for the position. They were quite sad that Kakashi wouldn't be training with them anymore, to which Kakashi smiled.
"Naruto and Sasuke, you two are chunnin now. Your skills will only skyrocket now that you have access to higher level missions and higher level jutsu to learn." He smiled at both of them, before dismissing them since they had to meet up with Jiraiya in a few minutes. Kakashi could see Sakura's dejected look upon not being praised by her sensei like the other two were. "Sakura, just because circumstances didn't allow you to show your skills last chunnin exams, doesn't mean you won't have the opportunity in the next ones. Seeing as Aburame Shino was promoted to chunnin as well, Kurenai's team is short of one member. I'm placing you under her care."
It didn't help improve her mood at all.
"I understand sensei." Kakashi smiled at the girl, before placing one hand on her right shoulder.
"Sakura, after seeing your perfect chakra control, I believe you're best suited to become a genjutsu user and Kurenai happens to be one of Konoha's masters in the field. Thus, I placed you under her care. I know that you will do great and she will be a better teacher to you than I ever was. Also, I was wondering if you would be interested in learning medical ninjutsu?" The question surprised the girl as she looked up the first time today. "If Naruto and Sasuke are successful in bringing Tsunade-sama back, she will be responsible for creating a new batch of field medic-nin in Konoha. From what Sandaime told me, it was one of her side projects when she was in Konoha. What do you think? I have a feeling that you can become just as great as her in the field."
"You really think I can be as good as a sannin, sensei?" Kakashi could only smile at the question filled with hope.
"Yes I do, Sakura. In fact, I believe that you, Sasuke and Naruto can easily become the next generation of the sannin. I must warn you, though. Both fields – genjutsu and medical ninjutsu – are quite theory demanding. You must work hard in order to grasp every single detail there is to know about these two arts. If you manage, which I have utmost faith you will, I can promise you will become just as good as Tsunade of the Sannin is, if not better." By now, Sakura's mood was definitely better and she nodded with a big smile on her face.
"I'll make you proud of me, sensei."
"I already am, Sakura. I already am. Now you are to meet Kurenai at Training Ground number 8, two hours from now, for your team meeting. Work hard and always listen to what Kurenai has to teach you. I promise you will do great under her tutelage." Sakura nodded and said goodbye to the new Hokage. Kakashi watched the girl leaving with a smile on his face. Despite his wishes to simply increase the girl's confidence, he didn't mislead her in any way. Despite her small chakra reserves, Sakura had it in her to become a great kunoichi in the future, possibly even matching Tsunade if she worked really hard. Sandaime Hokage was remarked in history both for his achievements and his students. Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya were game changers in the second great ninja war. Perhaps, Kakashi could be remembered as the one who taught the second generation of the Sannin.
===Naruto, Jiraiya and Sasuke===
Naruto and Sasuke met up with Jiraiya at the gates. They exchanged a few words introducing each other, before heading out.
"Okay brats, as the Sandaime instructed, you two will aid me in finding my teammate Tsunade and convince her to come back to Konoha. I don't know how long it will take to find her, so let's go. Since we don't have a specific time frame to complete this mission, we can do other things as well as search for her. I'll be focusing on training you two in the mean time." Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other for a while, before nodding in clear anticipation. The man may look nothing special to both chunnin, but both of them knew his status as one of the sannin. So, they started following the perverted sannin towards his quest to finding his lost teammate and bring her back.
When the trip towards finding his teammate started, Jiraiya admitted to not having a clue as what to expect from the two chunnin that were now accompanying him.
He had heard from third parties how hyperactive and obnoxious his godson was and he also knew how arrogant Uchiha Sasuke was regarding others. It came out as a surprise to the man when neither chunnin acted as he expected. He understood from the Hokage that both Naruto and Sasuke had their fair share of kills in the invasion, thus he understood at least part of the reason why Naruto and Sasuke were so reserved, actually being quiet for a change. It has been four hours since they left the hidden village in the leaves and Jiraiya had set a couple exercises for both chunnin. Like his sensei expected, both younger shinobi were thrilled to improve. Naruto received tips on how to improve his taijutsu and kenjutsu, as well as refining his wind manipulation. Sasuke was taught a couple of higher ranked fire techniques. The trip didn't have a specific time set, so it could either take one week to an entire month, perhaps even more.
Jiraiya even placed them against each other from time to time, supplying tips here and there. Sasuke had more agility, but Naruto was stronger, ending with them balancing each other.
One peculiar aspect of Naruto's taijutsu is that his body pretty much reacted on its own when it was supposed to evade Sasuke's blows. Sasuke even attempted to activate the sharingan, but for some reason, he just couldn't get a solid hit on Naruto. If the pervert knew Mitarashi Anko correctly, then Naruto's evasion may be due to Anko using the brat as a practice dummy for the entire month. Eventually, he would need to learn how to evade properly or die otherwise. Sasuke, though, considered just another challenge and everyone knew how infuriated he became when he couldn't complete an exercise. He even increased his speed, but Naruto trained with a jounin. Sasuke needed to match Anko's speed or even surpass it in order to land a hit on Naruto. Meanwhile, Naruto was getting the opportunity to practice his taijutsu skills against Sasuke. Granted that the teme's sharingan managed to follow his every move, he knew that if he could face the sharingan in straight combat, then he would manage to face anyone else with a much improved odds of success. Since Sasuke didn't have a sword, Jiraiya forbade them from sparring using it.
He also forbade the pair from activating the cursed seal while practicing. Of course Sasuke protested for a while, but relented due to the amount of fire techniques he was being taught. Naruto, on the way, chose to perform the movements learned by Anko while travelling. Since he could focus wind chakra throughout the metal, he ended up training on elemental manipulation as well. Jiraiya had supplied Naruto some exercises as well, saying that Naruto must first master the element manipulation exercises before learning any of the wind jutsu the sannin was familiar with.
After practicing for a while, Naruto looked to Sasuke and stopped his practice, when he noticed that Sasuke was looking at him with his doujutsu activated.
"Oi teme, do you mind not copying it? I worked my ass off to learn these moves and I will be damned if I let you copy it with those eyes of yours." It was by sheer luck that the blond was only performing the most basic movements, or else he would lose his edge over Sasuke. The Uchiha, for his turn, snorted at that and deactivated his eyes as the trio was busy walking throughout the clearing. Jiraiya found the interaction quite amusing. He was beginning to see just why the Hokage wished to place these two together in future assignments. He was surprised, though, when Naruto approached him with his sword inside the scabbard. "Ero-sensei, do you know where this Tsunade person is? How long is this trip going to take exactly?" Sasuke was busy going through the sequence of hand seals for the Dai Endan (Grand Fireball) technique, seeing as the sannin wasn't interested in performing the technique for him to copy.
Looking at the blond brat, Jiraiya frowned at the nickname, but answered nonetheless.
"Tsunade-hime is quite slippery, brat. It's hard to track her movements. I know which city she is in all the time, but she always manages to leave before I arrive. It's quite infuriating, actually. Until we find her and convince her to come back to Konoha, this mission will go on, meaning it could go on for a couple of months, depending on how long it takes for us to find her. Now, you two brats must take this opportunity and stop complaining. It's after all an honor to be trained by the almighty Jiraiya of the Sannin." The pervert even made his trademark pose, earning a sigh in dismay from the chunnin in front of him. Four hours into this trip and it was the third time Jiraiya showed them the pose.
When it was clear that the chunnin weren't impressed, Jiraiya scowled at them complaining about the young's lack of respect.
"Ok brats, from what I heard from your files, you two have elements that focus mainly on offensive. You two lack a good defensive jutsu." He could see that neither were very interested in which made him frown. "Defense techniques are useful in the battlefield, brats. There will be times when you can't anticipate everything in the middle of the fight and a kunai pierces your chest. Trust me when I say that neither of you would survive too long in a full scale war. Now, I will teach you two a relatively easy jutsu that can very well save your lives as well as the life of your comrades in the future. Tell me how familiar you are with kekkai (barrier) techniques?"
Jiraiya had to smirk at their dumbfounded looks in response.
"Rumored to be created by the Rikudou Sennin, Kekkai techniques serve both for defensive and tracking purposes. We'll focus with defensive type technique and I'll teach you two a technique called Kekkai Tengai Houjin (Barrier Technique: Dome Method Formation). While not as strong as the Hyuuga's Kaiten, this technique can stop projectiles thrown at mid to long range. It can stop also projectiles from close range, but it requires a lot more chakra to sustain a considerable barrier. Don't even consider using it against elemental techniques. It won't hold no matter how much chakra you use. If you wish to stop elemental techniques, either you learn water or earth manipulation, the two elements that are better suited for defense. Now, this barrier technique is simple in theory, but hard to master. Simply join both hands as if you're praying and release chakra through every tenketsu in your body at the same time."
Of course the first attempts were quite pitiful, but Jiraiya considered that the two had enough training to finish.
They would master it eventually, though.
In a couple hours time, they would set up camp for the night. Neither of them was in any rush to find Tsunade and Jiraiya figured that both Sasuke and Naruto could use a little vacation after the invasion.
===In Konoha===
The village was quite busy with the necessary reparations because of the invasion. Shinobi and kunoichi from all ranks were busy going through some chores in order to assist the village in every way possible. That's why two individuals wearing black robes with red clouds were standing on top of the wall that protected the village from its enemies pretty much unnoticed. The big one had a strange object strapped on his back wrapped by white bandages. Despite the bamboo hats covering their faces, the bigger man's amusement was quite clear at the sight before him.
"Konoha has suffered quite the blow, doesn't it? Oh how the mighty have fallen."
His amusement was even more pronounced when he saw that his partner hadn't uttered a single word upon seeing his home land destroyed.
"Let's go."
Swiftly vanishing from their position, the two individuals quietly walked inside the village, before dispersing towards the Merchant district. Watching them doing it may seem as if entering announced inside the strongest hidden village was nothing more than a walk in the park. However, had they wasted two more seconds, both would be caught by the Anbu patrol that appeared where the two men were standing. Their purpose in Konoha was to find a certain shinobi. A genin by the records obtained from their spy and a lousy one at that. From what they learned by the mission specs, it wouldn't take long for their target to show in their line of sight. According to the spy, the shinobi, if they could call him that based on the Intel, wore orange base clothes and was a master of directing all the attention to him and him only. However, after walking close to two hours throughout the village, there was no sign of their target anywhere.
"Assuming that he isn't dead, I believe he is not in the village." Spoke the tallest, earning a slight nod from the smallest.
"We may as well leave the area, then. I'll give fifteen seconds before our disguise is blown." The smallest one, being a local, possessed extensive knowledge of the village's defenses. They were out of the village before anyone knew they were even there to begin with. If they are lucky enough, the jinchuuriki's chakra residue would guide them towards his location.
===At the Hokage's Office===
Unaware of exactly who was taking a walk inside the village, both Hiruzen and Kakashi were busy going through some of the routine that entailed being the Hokage. No matter how many hours the two were at it, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at the prospect of not having to deal with this dreaded paperwork anymore. Plus the fact that Kakashi, since two hours ago, started murmuring silent curses every time a new topic appeared was much too entertaining for the old man. Minato was the same, Hiruzen mused. Hiruzen's case was worse, seeing as he was nominated Sandaime Hokage in the middle of a mission with the Nidaime Hokage. The man sacrificed himself to allow Hiruzen and others to return to Konoha.
"Stop complaining, Kakashi-kun. In my time, the Nidaime wasn't able to do this with me. I had to teach everything myself." Despite knowing about this, Kakashi couldn't help himself.
"Right now, my body is complaining on auto-pilot, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen let out a long warm laugher at hearing this.
"Now you know why I thought twice before taking over once Minato perished. Ok, now let's go through the list of Anbu shinobi and their skills. It will be your job to memorize every shinobi in Konoha, starting from your personal guards." Like Kakashi said prior, even before he nodded his head, his mouth was already full of curse words. As they went through the different branches of the Anbu Special Forces, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how none of the Hokage became insane.
===With Naruto===
It was already night time so Jiraiya ushered his chunnin companions to set up camp as well as some traps hidden around the camp site.
The barrier technique both were attempting ended up not being as easy. Sasuke had already given up trying to complete it, stating with a bit of arrogance that he didn't need to learn defensive techniques because his sharingan could pinpoint the attacks on his person. Jiraiya accepted it quite quick, not really seeing himself convincing the pompous doujutsu user that he should try harder. In all aspects, Sasuke was more inclined for elemental ninjutsu, so besides the fire technique he has shown the kid, he might as well improve on his lightning manipulation. Naruto, though, was a very welcomed surprise to the perverted sannin. Although his kekkai technique wasn't complete, Jiraiya could already see a faint trace of the barrier surrounding the blond, meaning that Naruto was closer to mastering the jutsu. Jiraiya was actually counting on this; however, seeing as the technique requires large amounts of chakra to perform.
Not to mention the fact that kekkai techniques are similar in knowledge to a more powerful and more obscure art known as fuuinjutsu. Considering Naruto's father and mother's mastery in seals, Jiraiya had no doubt that the boy would inherit the same taste. Perhaps Jiraiya could teach the brat some tips on seals. There was one more kekkai technique that a lot of jounins enjoyed using called Kekkai Houjin no Jutsu (Barrier Method Battle Array). Coming to think about it, it would suit Naruto's unpredictable way of fighting. Right now, the three shinobi were sitting around the fire while having dinner. Sasuke, while eating, was watching Naruto's cursed mark in question. Ever since they left towards searching for Tsunade, he caught on the fact that Naruto's cursed mark, while a different shape, was also a different color than his was. He had actually caught on that at the forest of death, but never bothered to question his teammate about why his cursed seal was different.
"Dobe..." Naruto looked up when he heard Sasuke calling him. "Why is it that your cursed seal is red when mine is black?"
Standing on the other side of the fire, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the question and remembered Naruto explaining the reason why his seal happened to be red. While Sasuke's question wasn't directed towards the S-ranked secret of Naruto's status, the answer to the question certainly would. Nevertheless, the law applied to everyone but Naruto. Being a chunnin, Jiraiya reasoned that if the brat wished to talk about his situation more freely with his teammates, then he was hereby welcomed to do so. The perverted sannin admitted being a little hesitant in wondering what would Naruto's answer be and Sasuke's reaction afterward. Naruto looked at his teammate for a couple of seconds, debating whether or not he should tell the truth or invent something to ease Sasuke's curiosity. Truth be told, he doubted the teme would react negatively to the knowledge and it would actually be quite a relief if he managed to get it out of his system.
Being a veteran shinobi, Jiraiya released a small sigh as he realized that Naruto would open up to Sasuke about his situation. A part of him still considered it too soon, though.
"Before answering your question, Sasuke, I want to know how much do you know about the Kyuubi no Yoko?" Sasuke was slightly surprised at the second question, but gave his teammate everything that was written about the attack on the village that happened thirteen years ago. After questioning what the Kyuubi had to do with his first question, Naruto sighed and explained. "Before I explain the reason of my seal being a different color, I will tell you the real truth of what happened thirteen years ago." Sasuke's eyes were narrowed immediately, pretty much demanding an explanation. "The academy taught us that the beast was destroyed by the Yondaime Hokage at the cost of his own life, correct? Only that was only the partial truth. The Kyuubi is nothing but a highly condensed and I dare say unlimited source of chakra. Thus, it cannot be killed or harmed. In order to save the village, the Yondaime Hokage had no other option but no sacrifice his life using a forbidden fuujinjutsu technique and sealing the beast into a newborn….me."
Sasuke's eyebrows were still narrowed, but for only for a little while, before his eyes were widened in surprise.
Sasuke remembered the time in the forest of death when they were facing Orochimaru. At the time, Naruto was being thrashed by the sannin when suddenly an evil aura surrounded his teammate, even stronger than the one emitted by the enemy. Sasuke remembered Naruto's red eyes looking back at him that day. At the time, he wondered what the hell was that all about. His brain worked hard and started dwelling in Sasuke's earliest memories of his teammate when they were both academy students.
Memories of the person in front of him being treated badly by the villagers, cursing him immediately appeared in his mind. Demon scum…die demon die…I can't believe they let the demon roam free like this. He remembered his parents looking at the infant Naruto with clear hatred in their eyes, often times joining the mob in cursing Naruto. For some reason, the memory escaped Sasuke's mind until now. After Itachi murdered his clan, Sasuke had bumped with Naruto a couple times and he remembered not seeing why people treated him that way. He did nothing but smile stupidly at everyone, proclaiming to everyone how everyone would respect him for he was one day. Naruto for his part could see Sasuke's eyes were lost in focus, meaning he was remembering events long repressed because the Uchiha Clan massacre. Naruto was still wondering if perhaps Sasuke would treat him like everyone else.
"Why did they hide the truth?"
Sasuke's question was more directed towards Jiraiya, but Naruto explained it nonetheless. He was slightly hopeful when Sasuke didn't outright attack him or curse him.
"Sandaime-Jiji believed that the grownups could tell their children their side of the story and thus turn them against me as well. By issuing a law prohibiting anyone to talk about the truth, he hoped that I would have a normal childhood if none of our classmates knew about it. Unfortunately, the plan backfired. While they couldn't explain what really happened to the next generation, they certainly could tell the children not to associate with me, merely saying I was a bad influence." Sasuke indeed remembered both his father and his mother telling him exactly that. He looked at his teammate in deep consideration for a while, wondering about something. Based on the events that surrounded his family, Sasuke ended up inclining to believe that whatever his parents did or didn't do was justified. Often times the boy would lash out at anyone who would oppose that statement.
However, now that he heard the truth about the Kyuubi, he became intrigued as to why their parents blamed the dobe because of the atrocities committed by the nine tailed demon. Naruto may be annoying as hell, but no matter how many times he observed the blond, he couldn't see Naruto suddenly destroying everything in its path, ripping human flesh or even any of the atrocities Kyuubi had committed thirteen years ago. He was still the dobe to Sasuke, demon inside of him or not.
"Even if what you're speaking is true, I just don't see you as a demon. You are a dobe and always will be one in my eyes." Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the proclamation. He supposed he should have expected Sasuke to act like this. Jiraiya smirked at this as well and returned to his notes about things in general, going from Intel gathering and his personal hobby consisting of adult rated novels. He was glad that the Uchiha didn't see much into it. Probably so, because Sasuke only heard stories of the fox while the older generation actually witnessed the fox's majestic power, which could only be compared to its terrible atrocities. Naruto, for his part, was deeply satisfied that his rival couldn't care less about the fox. Sasuke, though, appeared to speak once more.
"However, you still haven't answered my question. While is your seal red? Is it because of the fox?" Naruto nodded.
"Soon after the damn pedophile gave us a hickey…" To this, Jiraiya started laughing and Sasuke shuddered. "I'd lost consciousness and was immediately inside my mindscape meeting with the beast for the first time. The seal, back then, while different in shape than yours, was also black. According to the fur ball, he could sense that while the seal contained a lot of power, it also contained an attachment to its creator, which the fox believed that Orochimaru could use it to control us in the future. After stating this, I saw the fox's red chakra travelling to the seal engraving and mixing with the black ink. When I looked once more, the seal was red and according to the fox, Orochimaru's control over me was extinguished, leaving only the power that comes from the seal."
Sasuke was deep in thought over this. He wasn't one to refuse power when someone handed it to him, but he wasn't very thrilled about being manipulated by a snake.
"I may be crazy about even asking this, dobe, but can the fox do the same thing to mine?" Both Naruto and Jiraiya were immediately unease with the sudden question.
"Kyuubi's chakra, I was told, was corrosive to others, hence how many people died just by being close to the damn beast. I'm immune because the bastard is currently paying rent. I…" Before Naruto could finish his explanation, he suddenly heard a deep and menacing growl emanating inside his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, startling both Sasuke and Jiraiya, the latter already considering his alternative if Kyuubi attempts to escape from Naruto. When his eyes were opened, they were startled to see red eyes instead of blue and a red energy cloak surrounding Naruto's body. Jiraiya was about to move forward and deal with Naruto when the brat spoke in a calm yet deeper voice than usual.
"Kyuubi said he could grant you this favor, but the procedure is quite painful. He even smirked when he said so, so I would think twice about it." The Uchiha snorted.
"Unless it kills me, I'm not worried about pain if it means I'll get stronger. Just do it already."
Jiraiya watched the exchange carefully. He now realized the two chunnin were treading a dangerous path right now. He could stop this from happening, but if Naruto was right and he managed to rid Sasuke of Orochimaru's control, the sannin would lose his battle in acquiring the sharingan. He was gambling big here and he knew that should anything happen to Sasuke, he would be the one to blame. He watched as Naruto focused all the Kyuubi's chakra in just his two fingers and approached the black cursed seal of heaven located in Sasuke's neck. He could attest that despite his bravery, Sasuke's face was filled with sweat. No doubt, it was due to being around the fox's concentrated chakra. It is after all filled with malice and hatred, hence why it's so hard to be controlled. When Naruto's fingers touched the seal, two things happened at the same time. The red cloak enveloped Sasuke's entire body and because of the fox's chakra being corrosive, Sasuke felt as if his body was literally combusting.
In between all the pain, Sasuke couldn't help but snarl as he focused all his hatred for Itachi in order to withstand the pain. Naruto and Jiraiya could see the seal going from black to red.
The Uchiha screamed in complete agony for five minutes, before fainting on the ground because of the unbearable pain.
After making sure that the Uchiha was comfortable, Jiraiya and Naruto returned to the fireplace. The pervert was pretty relieved that nothing bad happened to the Uchiha or else his sensei wouldn't stop blaming him for it. Looking at the conscious chunnin eating from his bowl, Jiraiya figured that now it would be the time to teach the boy his father's prized technique, the Rasengan. Jiraiya considered telling Naruto the technique before, but he realized that perhaps Sasuke would like to be taught as well. This technique was meant to be passed to Naruto as it is his inheritance. Smiling, the sannin grabbed a small scroll and approached Naruto who had finished eating dinner.
"After you finish dinner, I'll teach you a very powerful technique." The boy nodded all too eager to learn new techniques.
"Awesome! I think I almost getting the hang of the kekkai technique. For some reason, though, I thought it would take much longer. Now, what is this technique about?" Naruto asked, before Jiraiya merely smirked and extended his right hand and opened his palm.
Naruto was shocked to see a swirl of energy being gathered on Jiraiya's palm, before a bright blue energy ball appeared.
"This is the Rasengan, Naruto. One of the techniques created by the Yondaime Hokage and one that made him infamous throughout the last great ninja war. Because of your chakra capacity and the fact that you excel in close to mid-range fighting, this technique is perfect for you. However, unlike all the other techniques I've taught you so far, to learn the Rasengan, it will take a long time for you to use it efficiently." Jiraiya smirked as the blond looked at the swirling ball of energy in utmost fascination. He was glad the brat wasn't asking questions as to why Jiraiya was teaching him one of the Yondaime's techniques like he did when Jiraiya offered him the summoning contract for the toads. Naruto worshipped the Yondaime Hokage the most, so anything even sort of related to the man himself would completely catch his attention. When Naruto's attention went back to Jiraiya, the pervert began instructing Naruto about the first steps necessary to learn the technique.
While training, none of the two could ever foresee that in Naruto using the fox's chakra in Sasuke, it ended up changing everything in the Uchiha's life.
===Inside Sasuke's dream===
Ever since the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke Uchiha rarely managed to have a peaceful sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, the image of his brother killing his family tormented him to no end. The thing about Sasuke's nightmare is that it's just a repetition of what already happened, not some unjustified fear or even something that was fabricated by one's mind based on these fears. That happened to be one of the reasons why the boy was cranky pretty much every day. He didn't know what Itachi did to him, but every time he closed his eyes, the same nightmare appeared. Strangely so, after he succumbed to the pain of receiving a tiny bit of the fox's chakra running through his system, his dream was different. It started pretty much the same. He would open his eyes and see his father and his mother having fun inside their house. However, while first Itachi would appear and slaughter them, now Sasuke was seen walking on the streets with his parents, when a mob finally appears up ahead. When the Uchiha family goes to see what is happening, Sasuke is surprised to see Naruto surrounded by people cursing him calling him all sorts of names. He could see a strange shadow below the blond, of nine tails swirling around each other.
What was strange was how Naruto was taking all this.
It was a look he rarely saw in his teammate. Scratch that, it was a look he had never seen his teammate. Naruto was quiet, looking at the mob with his eyes narrowed as if he was expecting someone to attack him any time. Somehow, Sasuke couldn't believe that this Naruto and the one he knew were the same person. A part of Sasuke told him that he was accustomed with seeing Naruto smiling like a goofy idiot all the time, hence why seeing a different behavior was strange. However, something in Sasuke was telling him that perhaps Naruto, the real Naruto, was standing in front of him, looking at everyone surrounding him as if they were the enemy and he was the one surrounded. Sasuke watched as the mob of villagers did nothing but throw curses at Naruto, some even threatening to throw rocks at him just for being there. Sasuke looked at his mother and father wondering if they shouldn't do anything about this, seeing as his father was chief of the Police Force. Strangely so, Sasuke could see a smile from his father. He could see that Fugaku was enjoying how Naruto was being treated. Sasuke's mother was as well. Suddenly, a small fire appeared inside Sasuke's brain, representing a small and quite intriguing thought.
If what they say was true and Naruto was the fox incarnated, then why was the dobe simply standing there not doing anything against this hatred? Why wasn't he fighting back somehow?
Sasuke was surprised when Naruto suddenly looked straight at him and smiled warmly at him. Naruto, then, simply turned his back to the mob and started walking away. If he was the fox, no doubt he would not let this treatment slide and would've attacked them all. The image now faded and Sasuke now saw himself seating in front of a nice stream that was located near his house. The Uchiha remembered how he would come to this place every day he felt depressed upon remembering the death of his family. The sun was setting on the horizon, painting the sky in a smoothing orange hue that seemed to calm even the most troubled souls. From the corner of his eye, he could see a kid observing him from up the small hill. Looking up, he could see Naruto looking at him fiercely just like he did all the time. Their rivalry pretty much compelled them to look at each other like that. However, Naruto smiled at him all of a sudden, pretty much forcing the stoic Uchiha to smile as well. Besides the rivalry, there was something in that smile that Sasuke could feel.
It was companionship.
Sasuke had his entire family killed at the acts of one person and Naruto had suffered the hatred from everyone in the village who had at least one loved one killed by the hands of the fox. To this day, Sasuke couldn't stand those around him. They all smiled, they all enjoyed their happy go lucky lives, blissfully unaware of what is like to have a shitty life. He now saw that another person his age suffered as well. Despite not acting on his hatred like Sasuke does, the Uchiha couldn't deny that the blond had suffered immensely as well. Now that he thought about it, he always knew that Naruto was an orphan. He was alone in the world and pretty much the entire village was against him for something he wasn't even born when it happened. Sasuke was completely blinded by his hatred that nothing else mattered to the Sharingan user. Perhaps…perhaps, Naruto could be the one person he could give his trust.
Once more, Sasuke was in front of the stream smiling just like he smiled when he saw his family together.
===the next day===
When the Uchiha opened his eyes, he was alerted to the sound of metal hitting metal outside and opened his tent. He saw Naruto using his kodachi against Jiraiya's kunai and saw how proficient the blond was with the sword. Sasuke looked at the blond for a while and smiled. If the dobe had a sword as well, then Sasuke would have one as well. There was no sense in not competing on the same abilities. He knew from Jiraiya that the next town they would search for was Crater City. He remembered visiting it once with his mother, thus he knew that the town had a good load of ninja stores for him to find a sword that suits him. Sasuke was surprised when Jiraiya threw some shuriken at Naruto and saw the blond performing the kekkai technique they were taught. Only that Naruto's barrier was now fully visible for the naked eye and it managed to stop the projectiles. The usual wave of jealousy of seeing the dobe outdoing him wasn't there anymore, or at least wasn't making him angry.
There were skills that Naruto possessed that Sasuke couldn't hope to match. Also, there were skills that Sasuke possessed, that Naruto couldn't hope to match as well. Their rivalry was to see who managed to win in a full out battle, with Sasuke using his tricks and Naruto using his own.
After Sasuke told the two that nothing happened to him, they packed their bags and marched towards the next city. Once they arrived in Crater City, Jiraiya showed a photo of Tsunade to the chunnin and told them to look around. Meanwhile, he would be visiting one of his contacts. Naruto looked at the man leaving a happy smile on his face and imagined just what the pervert was craving for. He looked at Sasuke and could see something new in the boy. His shoulder was slightly more relaxed and the Uchiha's face was more at ease.
They started walking around town and surprisingly so, Sasuke ushered them to a few ninja stores, saying that he needed to purchase a few items. After entering a couple of ninja stores, the Uchiha left with a completely changed wardrobe. He replaced his black shorts for black Anbu style pants added by kunai holsters attached to his thigh. He also acquired some dark blue short sleeved shirts and fishnet shirt to go beneath the blue shirts that happened to possess the Uchiha clan symbol on the right sleeve. Naruto found it strange that Sasuke looked at some swords in the stories, but didn't purchase any of them.
"Oi teme..." Naruto called Sasuke up front, making him stop and look back. "Why the sudden change in wardrobe? What was wrong with the old one?" The Uchiha just shrugged, though.
"Nothing wrong dobe...just figured that I need to change some things, that's all. Now I need to find a suitable sword for me as well." Something was definitely strange.
"What was wrong with the ones you saw at the stores?" Sasuke snorted at the question and resumed walking.
"Those were fine, but I need something else than just a sword. I remember my father telling that there were swords out there that were forged with chakra conductive metal." Naruto found it surprising that it was the first time Sasuke ever said something about his family that didn't mean killing his brother or resurrecting his clan. The chunnin walked some more, before Sasuke stopped in front of a store that lacked the proper advertising instruments. The store was plain. No products were displayed up front. For some reason, Sasuke felt that this was the store he was looking for. Once he got inside, the chunnin frowned since they couldn't see any product inside. They only saw a balcony in the middle of the store and a man dozing off inside the balcony. The man was relatively short to be called a man. He wore a white kimono and black sandals. He was snoring, showing his customers that the lack of audience in the store made him sleepy. As far as first appearances, this store wouldn't be approved. When Sasuke cleared his throat, the store owner opened one eye slightly, wondering who the hell would wake him up. He could see two individuals, one blond and one with black hair, looking at him. He could see the Konoha insignia and immediately shot up from his bench.
"What can I do for you two?" Naruto immediately frowned. In all the stores, the vendors had a huge smile on their faces so that the customers would buy their products. This guy asked as if the customers were bothering him. Sasuke merely smirked, though.
"I was looking for a sword and I was hoping to check your merchandise, sir." The store owner grunted.
"What makes you think I even sell swords, young man? As you can see, there is nothing here." Now Sasuke was smiling from ear to ear at his question. It was the very same reason why he was interested in the shop.
"There are lots of them hidden inside a genjutsu; I just didn't release it because it's not my store." Naruto was surprised immediately and so was the owner. However, the owner was even more surprised when Sasuke's eyes morphed into the all famous Sharingan. The store owner smirked at the boy in front of him and deactivated the genjutsu immediately. Rows after rows of fine weaponry appeared throughout the shop. Naruto was immediately drawn to the weaponry displayed in the shop, seeing one by one while marveling at its quality. Grabbing a katana, he was amazed at how light it was compared to its quality. Sasuke, though, simply stayed with the vendor.
"I wish for you to forge me a new weapon; can you do it for me?" The vendor nodded, but wanted to clarify something.
"Of course I can, kid. From where I came from, Iron Country, sword forging is our specialty. However, before we go through with the specifics, how come you're interested in my shop instead of the others?"
"Seeing as you casted a genjutsu in order to hide your products, I assume that your products are unique and that's the quality I seek in the weapon I choose. From what I could see from the sword displayed, they are made with a special type of iron, chakra conductive material, am I right?" The vendor nodded with a smile on his face. Indeed the reason why he hid his weapons was to search for special customers. An Uchiha was a special customer. Plus, he could feel something in the kid that made him wish to see more. Quickly grabbing a small notebook inside the balcony, he quickly observed his customer.
"Okay, now that I'm satisfied, how about we make that sword for you. From what I know of the Uchiha shinobi, you favor speed and agility above strength, so a strong sword like a katana is out of the question. Small swords like a tanto and a wakizashi just wouldn't suffice as well; a ninjato, perhaps." Sasuke nodded, since he was craving for one Anbu used in Konoha. The owner continued writing the order. "Yes, ninjato will be then; fast like a wakizashi and powerful like a katana. I will make it with chakra conductive iron of course for you to be able to channel chakra into it and thus make the sword stronger. Easy to make, by tonight it shall be done. Now, do you wish something extra on the sword, an engraving, perhaps?" Sasuke said no and the man gave him the price. While it wasn't expensive, it wasn't cheap either. However, the special iron was expensive, so Sasuke handed him the money and turned to the weapon store to wait. The vendor saw the kodachi in Naruto's back.
"You young man, would you be interested in improving your sword's metal as well?" Naruto looked at his sword, before thinking. "I can make it stronger and more durable for you." It took a bit more, but Naruto was convinced.
"Sure thing, old man; here you go." When the vendor checked the sword, he noticed that the metal wasn't very damaged, which was surprising considering that from the look of the shinobi, he constantly used it. After a few times analyzing the sword, he could feel chakra residue coming out of the sword. After swinging the blade a bit, he was shocked to see that the blade's chakra managed to slice a few sets of paper on top of his balcony without even touching it. So the boy used wind chakra to the sword. This was interesting.
With his trademark iron, this piece of work will be so much better. He enjoyed his new customers and immediately went to the back of the shop to begin his work, but not before stating that the chunnin could hang out in his backyard while he was busy working on the swords. Naruto and Sasuke appreciated it and went towards the place to train a bit. Sasuke kept performing some fire and lightning jutsu, while Naruto was busy with his wind jutsu as well as the kekkai technique.
Four hours later, the vendor called his customers inside the shop since the swords were ready. Both chunnin took their respective weapon with great pride. Sasuke's ninjato was simple in design. The hilt was covered with soft black fabric, giving Sasuke more comfort when using it. The metal was shining, so was Naruto's kodachi. After appreciating the product and paying the total amount, both chunnin left the store hoping to find either Jiraiya or Tsunade.
Author Note
Okay, I'll stop right here. Because of Naruto, Sasuke no longer is bound to Orochimaru's control. Also, seeing as Sasuke is finally learning to look past this hatred and understand that Naruto was like him as well, their friendship and rivalry will increase at an alarming rate. I also gave Sasuke a sword, seeing as his style of swift battle favors it.
Next Chapter will be more action packed as the journey towards finding the last member of the sannin comes to an end.
Tell me what you think about it.
See ya next time.
