Land of Waves - Forest Near Tazuna's Home
Naruto was training relentlessly until he had passed out outside from using too much of his chakra. After becoming worried about how late their brother was out, Shinso and Sasuke decided to go out and look for him. It was mid-morning when they set out to search the eldest of the triplets. Naruto was passed out in a field of herbs and flowers, when he was quietly awoken by a beautiful stranger that he had never seen before.
"You can catch cold sleeping out here like this." the stranger told Naruto. Naruto slowly woke up and looked at the stranger with tired eyes.
"I must've passed out here." Naruto mumbled to himself out loud.
"What were you doing out here that would make you so exhausted?" the stranger had asked him.
"I'm training. I'm a ninja, you see Miss?" Naruto asked the stranger while pointing at his Leaf Village Headband.
"You already look plenty strong. What do you need to be stronger for?" the stranger had asked him.
"To protect my little brothers and so I can become the future Hokage of my village. A hero that everyone can look up to." Naruto explained happily.
"In that case, you'll become much stronger. That's because you have someone precious to you that you need to protect." the stranger told him. Naruto and the stranger spent the better part of fifteen minutes picking herbs from the field they were on.
"That should be enough. I need them for a friend of mine." the stranger told Naruto. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled as the stranger got up and started walking away.
"Oh, by the way….I'm a boy." the stranger had told Naruto. Naruto had a serious shocked expression on his face as he fully processed the male's words.
"He's even prettier than Sakura and Ino put together." Naruto thought to himself. A few seconds later, Sasuke and Shinso found their brother.
"There you are Naruto. You've got to be more careful when you train." Shinso told his older brother.
"Sorry Shinso. I guess I lost track of time and how much chakra I used when I was training." Naruto told his brother in apology. Sasuke sighed and then handed Naruto the same metal bars he and Shinso already had in their shoes.
"Here. It's our 'special' training. By our, I mean me, you and Shinso. Kakashi Sensei doesn't know. Put four of these in each of your shoes and keep them there." Sasuke explained to Naruto. Naruto shrugged and grabbed the metal bars from Sasuke. His hand immediately was weighed down by the bars, and he looked up at Sasuke in shock.
"How much do these things weigh?" he asked his younger brother.
"40 pounds each. Multiply that by 4 and you've got 160 pounds weighing down your ankles. I'm pretty sure you've already noticed the purpose of this training?" Sasuke asked Naruto with a slight smirk. Naruto nodded at Sasuke and placed 4 of the metal bars in each of his shoes. He could instantly feel the weight making it harder to move his feet.
"This along with all of the other training I'm trying to accomplish? This is going to be a challenge." Naruto muttered to himself. He and his two brothers went back to Old Man Tazuna's house, and sat at the table.
"Where were you Naruto?" Kakashi asked his pupil.
"I passed out outside from training so intensively. It won't happen again though." Naruto told Kakashi.
"That's good. It's important to rest your body or you'll only really end up killing yourself." Kakashi told all of his students, not just Naruto in particular.
"Kakashi Sensei? When we get back from the bridge today, can you start teaching me everything I need to know so I can learn the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Jutsu)?" Naruto asked his still somewhat crippled sensei. Kakashi looked up from a book he was reading, and caught the hope that was in Naruto's eyes.
"As you fully well know, it'll only be you three going to the bridge since I still have to recuperate. However, when you return and if you haven't forgotten about it, I'll start teaching you about that technique." Kakashi told Naruto. Naruto's smile grew widely and he turned around to Mr. Tazuna who was getting everything he needed.
"Hurry up, Old Man Tazuna. Sooner you finish today's work at the bridge, the sooner I can learn a new jutsu." Naruto told the bridge builder. Tazuna frowned at the young Genin and then took his sweet time to spite Naruto. Naruto's right eyebrow started to twitch in irritation and Shinso was doing everything in his power to keep his older brother from pummeling their client into the ground. After another ten minutes of having to wait for Tazuna, they finally headed to the incomplete bridge that Tazuna was working on.
Land of Waves - Unfinished Bridge
"How long are you going to be working for today, Mr. Tazuna?" Shinso asked the old man.
"For about four or five hours. What are you three going to do until then?" Tazuna asked Shinso.
"We're going to keep training at the bridge entrance. That way no one could interfere in our training and get hurt accidentally." Shinso explained.
As if Shinso needed proof as to why the bridge builders needed to stay away from the triplets, a huge fireball came out of nowhere and was heading towards Naruto. Naruto started forming hand seals quickly and calmly, but not as quickly as Kakashi did in the fight against Zabuza. The hand seals he performed were: Tiger, Ox, Dragon, Hare, Dog, Bird, Rat, the Clone seal, Dragon and Ram. He thrusted his hand at the fireball and a huge shark made out of water came from the sea below them and collided into the fireball.
"Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!) Naruto had yelled loudly. After the water shark and the fireball collided with each other, a huge amount of steam appeared as a result. When the steam cleared, both Sasuke and Naruto had activated their Sharingan. They started sprinting at each other with competitiveness showing behind their Sharingan, but due to the weights in their shoes, they were more than a bit sluggish.
Their fists, however, weren't weighed down by weights. Naruto threw a right hook at Sasuke's face and Sasuke threw a left hook at Naruto's face. At the last possible second, due to their Sharingan, they both dodged each other's attacks. Naruto formed the Snake and Rat hand seals and immediately a circle of leaves started dropping around Sasuke.
"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu!)" Naruto thought to himself. Sasuke smirked since he knew Naruto was going to use a Genjutsu, since they both had their Sharingan active.
"Really Naruto? A Genjutsu when we've both got our Sharingan activated?" Sasuke asked his older brother in disbelief. Sasuke formed the Tiger hand seal and said "Kai (Release!)".
The leaves disappeared but so did Naruto. Sasuke looked all around for Naruto, but couldn't find him. Suddenly, a hand came from out of the ground and dragged Sasuke into the ground. Sasuke didn't have any time to react, so he was forced to be buried neck deep into the ground. Naruto was crouching in front of him with a huge grin on his face.
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu) is a complete success." Naruto told Sasuke.
"You sneaky little…" Sasuke growled. Naruto fell onto his back and started laughing at his little brother. Shinso shook his head at his two older brothers and used an Earth Style jutsu to carefully push Sasuke out of the ground.
"Thanks Shinso." Sasuke told his little brother.
"Don't mention it Sasuke." Shinso told his older brother. Naruto took a seat against the rails of the bridge entrance and looked at the water below him.
"Do you think Kakashi Sensei will teach us how to walk on water like Zabuza did? I mean that is part of Chakra Control right?" Naruto asked both of his brothers. Sasuke sighed and nodded at his older brother. Naruto was always thinking about the next thing he should be training in. That's why he took sparring sessions a little too seriously.
"Probably Naruto. Now who's going to go against Shinso? It's his turn to spar now." Sasuke asked. Naruto and Shinso both looked at Sasuke as if the answer was obvious.
"Come on Sasuke. You're going against me." Shinso told his brother. Naruto stayed in his sitting position and watched the oncoming match. Shinso had his eyes closed when he got into position, but when he opened them he had his Sharingan activated. Sasuke blinked and his Sharingan was activated again. He groaned at his little brother and got into position. Shinso formed the following hand seals: Rat, Horse, Dog and Snake.
"Doton: Ganchuro no Jutsu (Earth Style: Rock Pillar Prison Jutsu!)" Shinso said softly. Multiple rock pillars surrounded Sasuke and seemingly trapped him inside of a rock prison. Sasuke held his palm upwards and started pushing chakra through it. That chakra turned into lightning and that lightning took the shape of a sphere.
"Raikyu (Lightning Ball!)" Sasuke muttered. He then thrusted the ball of lightning at the rock prison and watched it crumble.
"Earth is weak against Lightning Shinso. We learned all of this at the Ninja Academy." Sasuke told his brother. By the time he destroyed the prison of earth, he looked up to see Shinso running towards him with a sword made out of water.
"Mizukiri no Yaiba (Watercutting Sword!)" Shinso said as he slashed in a downwards vertical motion at Sasuke. Sasuke barely dodged his younger brother's attack, but he managed to give a sluggish kick to Shinso's stomach. Due to the weights in their shoes, their kicking power was also dramatically brought down. He managed to kick Shinso back a few feet, but Shinso didn't feel any effect whatsoever.
"Raiken (Lightning Sword!)" Sasuke said, as a sword made out of lightning appeared in his hand. They ran at each other which was a bit sluggish because of the weights bringing their speed down. When they were within arms reach of each other, their swords collided and lightning coursed through the steel-like metal of the water sword, shocking Shinso in the process.
He endured the pain as he swept his leg under Sasuke's attempting to trip him. Sasuke quickly countered by headbutting Shinso and making him lose his balance. When Shinso fell to the ground, he lost all calm and became a different person. He was now determined to win at all costs. He activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and looked at Sasuke.
"TSUKUYOMI (MOON READER!) Shinso said as he looked Sasuke dead in the eyes. It was at this time that Naruto punched Shinso in the back of his head, before Sasuke could get trapped in the genjutsu. After Shinso looked back up, Naruto had both of his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
"What the hell Shinso? This is training. We aren't supposed to be using our Mangekyou Sharingan anyway." Naruto told his younger brother. Shinso frowned as well.
"You both know how competitive I get." he rebuttled in a mutter. Naruto grabbed Shinso by the collar and lifted him up with both of his hands.
"THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE!" Naruto yelled at his brother. Shinso grabbed both of Naruto's hands and pried himself free from his older brother's grip.
"Look I'm sorry alright. I shouldn't have done that. Sorry Sasuke." Shinso told both of his older brothers.
"No harm done Shinso. Ease up Naruto, it was an accident." Sasuke told his brothers. Naruto turned away and walked towards Tazuna's direction.
"Don't mind him Shinso. He's the oldest now. He's just trying to protect us." Sasuke told Shinso.
"I know that Sasuke. I know that." Shinso told his older brother. He walked over to the railing at the entrance of the bridge being built.
"I really should've brought a camera. This scenery is beautiful when it's not too foggy out." Shinso complained. Sasuke walked over to his little brother and nodded in agreement. Sasuke then saw something in the fog that was red and black. He strained his eyes so he could focus on whatever it was better, but it disappeared when he tried to do so.
"Did you also see that red and black thing in the background?" Sasuke asked Shinso. Shinso shook his head at his older brother and went back to looking at the scenery.
"That's weird. Shinso's been repeatedly feeling as if someone was watching us and now I see a red and black blur in the fog. Someone is definitely watching us. The question is….who is it?" he thought to himself. On the boat that was leaving the Land of Waves was none other than their older brother, Itachi Uchiha. He had taken it upon himself to make sure that his little brothers were alright and that they were getting stronger.
"They'll be the ones to end our clan's Curse of Hatred. Even if I have to die for them to end that curse." Itachi thought to himself. He noticed that Sasuke had seen him but couldn't tell what or who he was.
"I'm sorry for the path I have set you all on. This is all necessary for the good of the Hidden Leaf Village and for the cleansing of our clan's bloody history." Itachi said out loud, as if his little brothers could hear him.
Land of Fire Grasslands
Another twenty minutes later, Itachi had been dropped off by boat and was making his way to the Akatsuki Hideout. As much as he wanted to keep an eye on his younger brothers, he also needed to keep an eye on the ones that he was now working with. They were all extremely dangerous ninja from various ninja villages with one single goal in mind: conquering the world after dissolving the current shinobi system. However, Itachi did leave behind a shadow clone to keep a protective watch over his younger siblings.
Land of Waves - Path To Tazuna's Home
The Uchiha triplets and Mr. Tazuna were heading back to Mr. Tazuna's home since he was done working for the day.
"I can't believe that one guy quit on you Old Man Tazuna." Naruto told the bridge builder. Tazuna rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a long sigh.
"I should've seen this coming. They're all more scared of Gato more than they are brave enough to complete this bridge. This bridge will be the lifeline of the Land of Waves and even if I have to finish it myself I'll complete this bridge." Tazuna told the triplets.
"Well the way I see it, you need about three or four more days to complete the bridge. By that time Kakashi Sensei should be recovered and we'll all be ready for our final confrontation with Zabuza and that Hunter-Nin." Shinso told Tazuna.
"Yes. When your sensei is recovered, I'll feel a whole lot safer." Tazuna told the triplets.
"Hey. Don't underestimate us." Sasuke told Tazuna cooly.
"Yeah. We're stronger than you think." Naruto told Tazuna. Shinso merely nodded his head in response to his older brothers' statements.
"I'll stop underestimating you if you manage to defeat Gato." Tazuna told the triplets.
"That'll be easy. I'll take down his whole army while we're at it." Naruto told Tazuna blatantly. From the shadows of the forest surrounding the little group, the white-haired man with red lines beneath his eyes, was watching the group.
"The Nine-Tails brat sure has a mouth on him. He'll be a great asset to the Hidden Leaf Village one day. Oh well. Now it's time for my research." the man thought to himself while turning away. In another part of the same forest, a pale-skinned man with eyes like a snake's, was also watching the group.
"They're all Avengers, yet they do not walk the Path of Vengeance. That'll change very soon. I'll give them all with my special mark." the pale man thought to himself before leaving.
Land of Waves - Tazuna's Home
Ten minutes later, they all walked through the door to Tazuna's home.
"What's for dinner?" Tazuna asked Tsunami.
"Beef Stew with cooked bell peppers. Your favorite." Tsunami replied.
"Hey Kakashi Sensei. So I figured I could learn the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Jutsu) in about three or four days by the time you recover. It could help with the final fight with Zabuza and Gato." Naruto told his sensei.
"You're dumb." Inari told Naruto bluntly. Naruto's ears twitched when he had heard Inari say that.
"What did you say to me?" Naruto asked a quiet irritation coming from the tone of his voice.
"I said you're dumb. Nobody can stand up to Gato and his thugs. They'll just kill you and make an example out of you." Inari once again told Naruto bluntly.
"That doesn't happen to the hero, and guess what? I'm the Hero. I'll defeat Zabuza and Gato while risking my life for it. I'm going to be the Hokage one day. Believe IT!" Naruto told Inari.
"There's no such thing as heroes. That's only what idiots would say. You're probably the biggest idiot of all." Inari told Naruto with tears beginning to well up into his eyes. Now, Naruto's irritation was full blown anger.
"You think it's just all about you? You can cry all you want, but I'm actually going to do something about Gato. YOU BIG CRYBABY!" Naruto harshly and coldly yelled at Inari. He got up from the table and went outside to train some more and hopefully cool off. Inari was shocked at the words Naruto just told him and he went out the back door towards the house foundation above the ocean. Kakashi sighed and got up to follow Inari and talk to the young boy.
"Sorry about Naruto. Also, sorry about your Dad. Mr. Tazuna told us about what happened. That's why Naruto wanted to help so much." Kakashi told Inari.
"What do you mean by that?" Inari asked while wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Naruto, Sasuke and Shinso don't have any parents. As a matter of fact, they don't have any family left except for an older brother. Their mother died after giving birth to all three of them, and their whole clan was massacred by their older brother. They were forced to relive how their clan was killed. To most ninja their age, that would seriously traumatize such a young person. However, they chose not to cry and to keep working for a bright future for the good of the village. They decided that they weren't going to cry and now they've chosen their paths." Kakashi explained to Inari. Inari looked up at Kakashi in shock then turned his attention to the reflection in the water below.
"Do you-do you think that I can be strong as well?" Inari asked Kakashi. Kakashi nodded and smiled.
"Of course you can, but just asking if you can be isn't enough. You need something else as well." Kakashi told Inari.
"What else do I need?" Inari asked. Kakashi placed a finger on Inari's chest where his heart was, looking at Inari with a masked smile.
"You need the strength of your heart and the will to never give up. Just like Naruto, Sasuke and Shinso. Having something you want to protect helps also." Kakashi told Inari genuinely. Inari was instantly taken back to a memory he had when he first met Kaiza.
"For something that is precious to you...No matter how tough, no matter how sad, you must try and try...and even if you lose your life, protect it with these two arms. If you do that, even if you die, the proof of a man's life will remain forever." Kaiza had told Inari after saving him from drowning. Inari came from out of the flashback and smiled at Kakashi.
"Thank you, Mr. Kakashi." Inari said before standing up and heading inside. Kakashi nodded and then sighed at the night sky.
"Since Naruto is somewhere out here, I might as well find him and start teaching him about the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Jutsu)." Kakashi thought to himself before getting up and looking for Naruto. It took him a good fifteen minutes to find his pupil.
"There you are. I didn't know where you went. You do realize that you'll have to apologize to Inari right?" Kakashi asked Naruto. Naruto turned around and rubbed the back of his head while looking at the ground.
"Is that what you came out for sensei? To lecture me?" Naruto asked.
"No I didn't come out here to lecture you. I actually came out here to get you started on the Hiraishin no Jutsu." Kakashi told Naruto. Naruto's face lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree.
"First of all, let's get the seals out of the way. To activate the jutsu you need to use the Seal of Confrontation." Kakashi told Naruto. He demonstrated what the seal was by forming two of his fingers into half of the Tiger/Ram hand seal.
"Next, you'll need a special seal to mark your destination or target to. For the Fourth Hokage, he placed it on his special kunais. He used a lot of them in his time. It's what earned him the nickname 'Hidden Leaf Village's Yellow Flash'." Kakashi told Naruto. Naruto was listening intently to his sensei's instructions, just like he did when he and his brothers went to the Ninja Academy. He was quite serious whenever it came to learning new jutsu, and especially when it came to mastering the jutsu he was learning.
Kakashi took out a three-bladed kunai with markings on the handle of it. He threw it at a tree far away from them and it became stuck within the tree.
"Focus chakra into your fingers when using the Seal of Confrontation. After you do so, focus on the seal that is on the Fourth Hokage's special kunai. If you're successful, you'll teleport straight to the kunai. If you're not successful, you'll teleport somewhere you didn't mean to. That is what you're going to focus on for the next three days. Have fun, be safe and good luck." Kakashi told Naruto. Naruto was feeling a rush of excitement, but he mentally calmed himself down so he could practice the technique. Naruto focused chakra into his fingers after making the Seal of Confrontation, and then started focusing on the marking on the kunai.
"I can do this. I just need to calm down and focus." Naruto thought to himself. He felt himself move without moving his feet or his legs, then he felt himself fall to the ground hard.
Hidden Leaf Village - Uchiha Compound
"OUCH! WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled out loud. He looked around his surroundings to find out where he was, because he wasn't surrounded by trees anymore. Instead, he was inside a very familiar room with three cribs in it and a kunai on the dresser that looked like the one Kakashi was having him train with.
"This must be the Uchiha Compound. These are our old cribs. What are they still doing here?" he asked himself. He noticed that the kunai was piercing a piece of paper on the dresser. He walked over to the dresser and picked up the kunai and the paper. He pocketed the kunai and started reading what was on the paper. It read:
Dear Naruto, Sasuke and Shinso,
I apologize for the path that I have set you on but it is for the redemption of the Uchiha Clan. I had no choice since there were plans in action that the Uchiha were planning against the Hidden Leaf Village. Since you all have the same eyes that I have, then there is a secret meeting place that you need to know about. At the Naka Shrine, under the seventh tatami mat on the far right, there is a secret meeting place that the Uchiha used to meet at. There is a stone monument that contains the clan's secrets and it can only be read with a certain doujutsu. Included in the rest of this letter is how to gain access to the main hall and how to get into the meeting place. Be safe and become stronger than anyone else in our clan has ever been.
From,
Itachi Uchiha
A frown crept up on Naruto's face after he read the name of who wrote this letter.
"Itachi…." Naruto growled to himself. He tore the paper to shreds and threw it into the trash can.
"Like hell I'll look into whatever he wants me to. He killed our entire clan. I will end him." he thought to himself. He was about to start focusing on the Fourth Hokage's kunai still in the Land of Waves, but his curiosity got the better of him. He walked out of the Uchiha Compound and headed towards the Naka Shrine.
"If he's lying to me, I'll ask him about it the next time we see him….before he dies." Naruto thought to himself.
Hidden Leaf Village - Naka Shrine
It took him a fair amount of time to reach the Naka Shrine, and the sun was starting to rise in the background.
"The others must be wondering where I disappeared to. We have two more days until the fight with Zabuza. We have to win." he thought.
He arrived at the entrance of the shrine and opened the door. Immediately, he saw a ton of tatami mats, but he eyed the seventh tatami mat on the far right. He flipped over the tatami mat and performed the necessary hand seals so he could make the stairs appear where he flipped over the mat.
When he was done doing so, the stairs appeared and he descended into the darkness of the secret meeting. Naruto was thinking about using a Fire Style jutsu to light up the corridor, but lines of torches lit up by themselves, showing Naruto the way to the stone monument.
"This place gives me a weird feeling." Naruto thought to himself. He continued walking towards the stone monument and stopped when he reached an area that had a Sharingan carved in the stone wall. Naruto activated his Sharingan and the wall sank into the floor, finally revealing the stone monument that Itachi explained about in the letter that Naruto torn to shreds.
"Now let's see what our clan's secrets are." Naruto said to himself out loud. He began reading the inscription in the stone monument with his Sharingan still activated and he was shocked at what he read.