A/N: Final revision of this chapter. WOOOO! Some minor edits, mostly grammatical.
Chapter Seven
Mikoto felt a strange clenching in her chest as she gazed down at the boy sleeping with his head on her lap. Naruto had silently sobbed himself to the point of exhaustion. 'This boy, I can't believe he's alive. The whole village had given up on him and he was here the entire time. I can't fail this time.'
It had been roughly a year since Mikoto's abduction and addition to The Pit. Before her disappearance, she had been living with the guilt that she had failed her friend Kushina. Add the fact that she felt a failure as a mother to Sasuke and Mikoto's mental state had not been the best. A depressed condition made her a far too easy target to kidnap as she walked nearby the village walls.
She was roused from her thoughts by a whispered but frantic conversation by her fellow leaf members.
"How, how could this happen? How is he alive?" asked Koba. He was a short but stout man with the red tattoos that marked him as an Inuzuka. He was bobbing up and down in excitement.
"I don't know but we have to keep him that way," replied Hitomi her white eyes shining with determination. "We all know his history now, if it's the last thing I do, I will see him back to Konoha. I swear it on my Hyuga pride." Hitomi lowered her gaze to Naruto's face; a lopsided smile graced her features as she did so.
"Well said Hitomi, I suggest we don't mention his history again. It's too volatile for others to know however, the Will of Fire burns in all of us and we have to preserve those flames with Naruto here." Kaito said in response to Hitomi's words. Kaito was a man of average height but broad shoulders indicative of the physical training he did with his buddy Might Guy. His most defining feature was that he had a unique scar over the left side of his face, as if someone had dragged his face along gravel with a lot of force.
Kaito, and by extension the other Leaf shinobi, knew that Naruto would have more enemies than he could possibly imagine. With the power of Uzumaki blood and the talent of his father, Naruto could quite possibly become the most targeted ninja of Konoha's history. They couldn't let that information out.
"Kaito and Hitomi have the right of it. I could not call myself a proud member of our village without at least gaining Naruto's forgiveness. I... owe him that much at least." Sora stated with a hint of shame in his voice. He looked at the ground, unable to meet anyone's eye as he recalled the harsh words and glares he would often send the 'Demon Brat' in his ignorance.
Muta had remained silent throughout this discussion thus far but gave his thoughts in the short and logical Aburame way. "I agree with you all, our goal is set." Muta knew that his group had all resolved themselves to saving this poor boy from his terrible circumstances even at the cost of their own lives.
Mikoto herself didn't say anything but when she bent down and delivered a soft kiss to Naruto's brow they had their answer. A strange feeling of contentment flowed between group members. They knew they would die but now they had a common goal, one that was far more important than merely fighting for oneself. The group all fell into a companionable silence knowing that they all felt the same.
xXx
Naruto was in his mindscape, deep thought. 'Leaf villagers huh? Mikoto said everyone felt bad about what they did. Is she telling the truth?' While Naruto didn't have a concrete answer to that he knew that his gut was telling him that she was trustworthy. 'She hugged me. Why did it feel so good? How did she stop the numbness? How can I feel better than I have in a long time after just one hug?
All this time I thought I was stronger by not feeling anything. So why do I feel so good right now?'
No matter how long he analysed her actions, he couldn't understand why one simple move had disarmed him so thoroughly.
"I believe it's what you humans call empathy. She truly knows that you have suffered and wishes to help you. The fact that you hadn't gotten a hug before is probably another reason why she affects you so." Stated Kurama, he was delighted that Naruto had finally started the process of opening up and was also pleased that there was now someone else to help him train his host. "Even though she is an Uchiha, I do not dislike this woman as much as the rest of her clan. I have a unique ability to sense malicious intent, which gives me some measure to sense attacks from other people, and I can't sense anything like that from this woman.
This is a good opportunity for you, kid; these guys are Leaf shinobi and should be able to explain things to you that I can't. You should learn all you can." Naruto nodded in agreement and focused on leaving his mindscape.
xXx
His eyes opened to see Mikoto's face looking down at him. She wore an expression of such tenderness and care that Naruto was stumped; no one had ever looked at him like that before, like they cared.
"Did you have a nice nap? I don't know if you recall what I said earlier but my name's Mikoto. I am sorry for not being able to see the boy from the beast and I feel ashamed at my actions. I hope you can forgive me and I would like to be your friend."
Mikoto took it slow, she wanted to know many things but overwhelming Naruto with questions might not be the best idea. Instead she settled for smiling at him with as much warmth as she could muster.
Naruto's gut was telling him that she was being honest here and there was still a small spark of that happy-go-lucky kid inside of him, it just had to escape the numbness. Looking her in the eyes he whispered, "I think you're telling the truth. I would like a friend but I also need to get stronger. Can you help me?"
Mikoto, taking the fact that Naruto spoke in whispers in her stride, merely turned her smile into a grin and replied "Of course I can, we will all help you as much as we can,"
Following this short discussion, Mikoto questioned Naruto about his abilities and he explained about his Fire Mode and new Wind powers. She was quite shocked at his progress as well as the fact that he did all this without hand signs. 'He learned how to fly before learning how to walk. To just jump straight into nature transformation attacks without hand signs makes him a genius,'
Her shock at his ability was nothing to the astonishment she felt when Naruto explained that not only was the Nine Tailed Fox helping Naruto, but that he was his friend and called Kurama. Now that she knew his teacher, understanding slowly came into Mikoto's mind. 'He can't teach him hand signs or jutsu because he didn't know how. Does Kurama even have hands?
After this very surprising conversation, Mikoto began training Naruto in a more contemporary way. She showed Naruto all twelve hand signs and had him practise forming them as she explained what they did.
"Hand signs help shinobi mould, shape and control their chakra in different ways to produce ninjutsu. Each sign affects one's chakra flow in different ways meaning that truly powerful or complex jutsu usually need many signs before activation. However, mastering a jutsu allows the body to familiarize itself to the chakra flow and possibly lower the needed amount of signs to complete it.
The Second Hokage is a good example. The Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet jutsu originally needed forty four signs but he mastered it to the degree that he only needed one.
That means being great at making multiple signs at high speed and accuracy generally makes a ninja better. There are exceptions of course but I'll stop the lecture here."
Naruto went through each sign rigorously. He went slowly at first, ensuring that his hands were making the correct shapes and gradually getting faster. He also changed the pattern of the signs so that he got practise making them after the previous sign had been different. He was so absorbed in perfecting his signs that he didn't notice that nearly an hour had passed.
The Leaf shinobi had been quietly conversing while keeping an eye on Naruto's progress. They were all surprised at his diligence and perfectionism. Kaito got to his feet and walked over to Naruto and asked about his skills in hand to hand combat. After realising that he had no formal training he immediately started instructing Naruto in the academy style taijutsu. Kaito knew that the academy style was simple at best but provided a stable base for shinobi to begin forming their own unique fighting styles. After teaching him several different patterns he had Naruto perfect them.
xXx
Muta was concerned, the cell in which all the adults resided had no privacy. Against one wall was a simple hole in the ground that served as the cell's only toilet. No walls or beds existed and one always had to be vigilant to prevent being crippled before your next fight. Muta had been at The Pit the longest at two years, he knew that any weakness seen here was exploited quickly. Muta saw many other occupants discreetly watching Naruto practising and seeing him as an easy victory. Muta knew that they all had to get Naruto as strong as possible but he couldn't see how he would be able to help him.
Muta knew his strength lay with his Shōkaichū and their use but he had been severely burned with his capture and lost basically his entire hive. Rudimentary taijutsu and weak ninjutsu meant that he really couldn't help train Naruto. 'I guess I shall just have to survive and take out as many as I can for him before I die.' Ever logical like most of his clan, Muta knew his purpose.
Hitomi was itching to help Naruto. True she wasn't the strongest of her clan but she had skills that could possibly mean the difference between Naruto's life and death. Even though after Naruto she was the youngest Leaf member she was smart enough to know that she shouldn't try to teach him too much too soon otherwise he would get confused and forget things. 'Little Hinata would be about Naruto's age. I hope my niece never gains that jaded look in her eyes. I can't really teach him Gentle Fist since he doesn't have the Byakugan but I could teach him Heavenly Rotation and give him a little protection.'
The next three days went by fairly quickly for Naruto. He spent them training and only became concerned for his new friends once, when Koba went off to fight but Koba had come back and Naruto got back to training. He was a little standoffish with the men but Mikoto and Hitomi had found a way to worm passed his defenses and Naruto had no idea how. He had discovered that he quite liked hugs and the women were happy to give them.
A guard unlocked the cell door, announcing that it was Naruto's time to fight. Both Mikoto and Hitomi gave him crushing hugs and the men gave quick words of encouragement and advice. Before Naruto could think about how he hadn't said anything back, he was seeing the all too familiar sight of The Pit. One change caught his eye however; someone had put in a small lake in the centre giving water users a new advantage.
The next moment the call to fight came through and his newest opponent charged across towards Naruto. Taking a second to size him up, Naruto saw that it was an average man in every way with his only remarkable feature being a very large nose. Shifting into his fighting stance, Naruto launched a burst of fire with his right hand.
The man dodged to the left and went through several signs before crying "Lightning Release: Swift Death,"
A thin bolt of lightning burst from his hands and flew through the air faster than any attack Naruto had experienced. He reacted instinctively and pushed out as much chakra from his left hand as he could at short notice. A shapeless mass of wind blasted out and met the bolt before Naruto witnessed something strange. The electricity was travelling throughout the wind before dispersing into nothing. Shock was visble on both fighters face's when the attack failed.
"Naruto, each of the five natures has a nature it is strong and weak against. Lighting is weak against wind but strong against earth. If he keeps using lightning, wind would be your best bet but don't forget you can still use my fire."
Getting over his shock, his opponent went through more signs. "Lightning Release: Thunder's Fury!"
Having seen the man start more signs, Naruto gathered more wind chakra and shaped it into a large circle as a shield. Several large bursts of electricity hit his wind but didn't manage to piece his defence. In retaliation, Naruto then formed a thin but wide blade of fire and shot it through his wind shield. The blade burned brighter and the man had to flatten himself on his stomach to avoid the attack.
Seeing that this brat wouldn't be the easy win he thought it would be, he ran next to the lake and started several new signs. "Water Release: Falling Rain," A large amount of water was raised up above them and started down towards its victim. Naruto, having watched the water rise up failed to notice his adversary perform another jutsu, "Lightning Release: Swift Death," with the bolt hitting the falling water.
A great sense of alarm from Kurama alerted Naruto to the danger. Not having time for words, Naruto shaped a swirling cone of wind as Kurama provided the fire. Normally he would let Naruto do it but time was of the essence and only Kurama could produce the heat he needed to evaporate the electrified water. It was by far the hottest attack Naruto had ever performed with his cone of flames vaporising the water just in time. Wincing slightly at the singed skin on his arms, Naruto turned back to his foe. Remembering how he had dodged his last attack, Naruto simply unleashed a large uncontained burst of wind while shooting multiple small balls of fire into the flowing air. Although the man managed to dodge a large amount of his fireballs, he started to look weary.
Changing tactics, Naruto held out his right hand palm up and ignited a small flame. Bringing his left hand behind his right, he started firing small drills of wind out. This worked out better since the wind enhanced fire drills travelled faster than the fireballs and Naruto scored a hit on the man's left thigh. He fell heavily and gathered the last of his chakra in a desperate attack. "Water Release: Water Shark Bomb"
Several large shark shaped blobs of water rocketed towards Naruto and he was forced to roll left then scramble madly to his feet before jumping out of the way of the attack. Naruto shot a small blade of Wind with as much force that he could muster straight at his foe. It sliced right through his neck and blood poured out of the small wound that Naruto had created. The man clutched at his neck desperately trying to live for a few moments longer when he was engulfed in a mass of wind enhanced flames.
The familiar numbness began crawling its way up his legs and Naruto desperately wanted to see Mikoto again. She had that mysterious power to keep it at bay. As he walked back into the cell, all six Konoha shinobi gathered around in a group hug. At the centre of people, the numbness receded and unfamiliar warmth flickered through him instead. 'Is this what it feels like to belong? Am I truly not alone anymore?'
A/N: Yeah edits. All in a days work. Yes I made some OC's but Muta is an actual canon character who just happened to die in the 4th Ninja War.
Hope I didn't lay the whole "Will of Fire" on too thick. I also added my own interpretation of hand signs. IIRC - they never really went into major detail in canon. The explanation will be relevant later in the story, just laying the framework now - without spoiling anything.
Hope you enjoyed!
