This chapter brought to you by Death playing an electric guitar.
Original Chapter Title: Trial by Thunder
--Konohagakure--
"CONSTANT VIGALLANCE!!" Shinsui screamed as he punched Naruto full on in the face. Unsurprisingly, the blonde was taken by complete surprise as his new sensei's fist sent him flying to the ground.
Naruto lay in the dirt in shock. Not five seconds ago, Shinsui had opened the doors leading from the Hokage tower to the village, and then with no warning whatsoever, yelled and sucker punched Naruto square in the face. He was momentarily afraid he had brain or spine damage.
But then he felt a familiar spark of red chakra move to his damaged cranium and he stood up, completely healed.
"ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE!?" Naruto howled at the blue clad man. "YOU COULD'VE KILLED OR PARALYZED ME, YOU CRAZY BASTARD!"
Shinsui put his finger in his ear to make sure his eardrums hadn't popped. Satisfied that they hadn't, he turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, motioning for the blonde to follow him.
Muttering to himself that he wished he could instead roast the crazy white haired bastard over an open fire, Naruto jogged to catch up to him. When Naruto fell in line behind him, Shinsui started speaking again.
"In the ninja world, an attack could come at any time. You must always be on the lookout for danger hidden in the norm."
"I wasn't expected to be attacked in my own village like that," Naruto growled as he rubbed his still sore cheek. "And especially not from you."
"True," Shinsui said, "but weren't you attacked by Orochimaru during the, supposedly, secure part of the second Chunin exam in your timeline?"
Naruto didn't answer. He knew Shinsui was right, but didn't dare give him the satisfaction of knowing that. He just scoffed and turned his head while still following his sensei.
"And the reason I hit you," Shinsui said as he stopped and did a full 180 to face Naruto, who barely stopped in time to avoid him, "was to show you that, whilst under my tutelage, you are never safe. Every time you eat, every time you sleep, every time you change your dirty socks, you must be prepared for a surprise attack from me or anyone else I can convince/bribe to help me. Because of your healing abilities, I can have a whole lot more fun with you than I could anyone else," he said with an insane grin. "On a real mission, you won't even be able to hear a squirrel innocently snap a twig without thinking it's an enemy out to kill you. With the training I'm about to put you through, you'll die a happy old man."
Naruto wondered if it was too late to be transferred to another village, or at the very least get a new sensei.
Shinsui turned back around and set forth on his earlier path. "Come on, kid. I want to show you around this new village so you won't get lost!"
Naruto merely shook his head in exasperation before following Shinsui.
The blue clad water master first led him through the residential district, where Shinsui showed Naruto the varying designs of houses and apartments. Naruto briefly noted the fact that in the place where his crappy, little apartment was in his time was a small shack that sold sushi on the bottom floor and had the living quarters on the second.
Shinsui then took Naruto to see the shopping district where the blonde marveled at the fact that none of the small stands selling food items were tossing their products at him and calling him a demon. It was a feeling he'd have to get use to, he reminded himself. This was a brand new time line; a brand new chance to start over. He would have cried had he not been in the middle of a busy marketplace and had the haunting suspicion that Shinsui would string him up by his ankles to the top of a flag pole if he did shed tears.
Naruto eyed a weapons shop with the words Itsutsu's Weapons for All Occasions written on the window and decided to check it out. Shinsui was busy ranting about rising food prices and how Konoha could stop it by growing their own food instead of buying from other lands anyway.
A small bell sounded overhead as Naruto entered. He was briefly struck dumb as he gazed at the shear magnitude of weapons available. Swords of every kind and design, bows and arrows, poles, chains, hammers, shuriken, kunai, senbon, scythes, and so much more. Everything was well polished and looked ready to be used at a moment's notice.
"Be with you in just a moment!" a voice said from beyond a curtain behind the checkout desk. A few seconds later, a young woman about ten years older than Naruto stepped out. She had mahogany brown hair done in two short pig tails on either side of her head and chocolate brown eyes.
She took off a soot covered apron and hung it on a hook to show that she wore a blue Chinese style long sleeve shirt that had a ferocious looking animal on the front. It was almost like a dragon, but the feet were hooves instead of claws and it had a fiery mane. The young woman smiled as she looked at the potential customer. "Hello sir, and welcome to Itsutsu's. My name is Nanatsu. How may I help you?" she said in a pleasant tone.
"I don't really know, ma'am," the blonde said as he scratched the back of his head. "I've never really had any weapons training besides shuriken and kunai combat, so I really don't know if any of these weapons would suit me."
Nanatsu's grin widened further. A weapon virgin, eh? Perfect. "That's the beauty of weapons," Nanatsu said excitedly. "You don't have to have any prior training with them whatsoever and you can train yourself to master them. We have weapons from nearly every elemental country and beyond, so more than likely you'll find something you like…or maybe something will find you," she said in a cryptic smile.
Something will find me? Is everyone in this timeline crazy? Naruto thought. "You haven't taken a pill given to you by a crazy, blue wearing dude have you?" he asked her.
"No, I haven't. Why?" Nanatsu asked while blinking in confusion.
"No reason." To cover up the awkward silence that was sure to follow, Naruto pointed to a weapon made of a sharp blade attached to a long pole and asked what it was.
"That's called a naginata," Nanatsu explained. "It's more popular amongst samurais and women since the long pole can keep stronger enemies at bay where their upper body strength can't be used."
"Huh," Naruto said. Deciding to learn as much as he could before Shinsui found him, he asked another question. "What about that chain with a scythe on it?"
Nanatsu picked up the gold colored weapon and held it in front of Naruto. "This is called a kusari-gama and it's an incredibly useful weapon. You use the weight on the end of the chain to wrap around the enemy's weapon, arms, legs, or neck to keep them at bay while rushing in with the sickle for a killing blow.
Just don't use it in a confined area or else you can't use the chain to its full potential. Yamada Shinryukan was said to be the greatest master of the kusari-gama and could defeat any sword or spear wielding opponent. Unfortunately, he was lured into a bamboo grove by Araki Mataemon, wasn't able to use the chain, and was thusly killed horribly."
Naruto thought this kusari-gama to be the perfect weapon for him since he was a close ranged fighter and began reaching into his pocket for Gama-chan when he realized he forgot it in the hotel room back in his time.
"That's a really cool weapon and I'd really love to buy it, but I don't have any cash," Naruto said with a down trodden look.
Awww. He looks like a little baby fox with those big eyes and cute whisker marks. I'm sure grandma wouldn't mind if I…"Well it just so happens we're having a first-ever-weapon-free-of-charge give away, and I think this kusari-gama just found its new owner," Nanatsu said.
Naruto couldn't believe his luck. A free weapon! "Wow thanks, Nanatsu-chan! That's totally cool! My name is Naruto Uzumaki by the way," he said as he reached for the kusari-gama…only to draw his hands away in pain as a wooden cane smacked both his and Nanatsu's hands, causing the kusari-gama to fall to the counter.
"Nanatsu!" the old woman to whom the cane belonged to said in a screechy tone. The elder woman was no higher than 3 and a half feet tall, wore a blue robe, and had wispy white hair that went down to her waist. "How many times must I tell you: no giving away weapons just because you think the customer looks cute!"
The brown haired woman quickly bowed to the elder. "Gomen nasai, Obaasan! He just looked too adorable for me to resist!"
Naruto blushed as he was described this way. I've always thought I've been good lookin, but adorable? "Please don't be mad at Nanatsu-chan, ko-touji (old lady). It's my fault for comin in here without any money," the demon container said to try to appease the woman's wrath.
He was awarded, however, with a mighty -crack!- as the old woman slammed her cane over his head.
"I'm not old, you stupid brat! I'm only 86 years young and can kick your whippersnapper ass any day of the week!"
"Kuso!" Naruto hissed as he grabbed his head felt a large lump forming. Just as quickly, however, he felt the bruise receding as well as an echo of a growl come from somewhere. He then felt his anger quickly rise and the want to rip this foolish old flesh bag in half for assaulting him like that bubbled in him like lava.
That feeling was quickly replaced by horror when he then realized that it was the Kyuubi who wanted that, not him. It seemed as though the bastard demon was messing with his thoughts more than he realized.
Before he could ponder this revelation further, the old woman spoke up again. "Even if you did have the money to buy it, you couldn't handle this weapon anyway."
Indignation quickly overtook the blonde. "Oh yeah, chiisai-baba (tiny hag)? What makes you say that?"
"One," she said holding up a long and boney finger, "I am Itsutsu and own this shop so I can tell which weapon a person would be best suited for (I doubt any weapon would be good for you, never mind the complex kusari-gama) and two, that weapon was made in the ancient city of Maibu."
Nanatsu gave a gasp and covered her mouth at this, as though a great and terrible secret had been revealed.
Looking curious as to why it should matter where the weapon was made, asked, "So what? If this village is so great, why ain't I ever heard of it?" He forgot that this was a different dimension all together and Maibu may or may not have existed back in his.
Itsutsu gave a condescending grin. "It's a big deal because the people of Maibu were master craftsmen who created wondrous weapons that were said to actually be sentient and thusly chose their master instead of the other way around. Some weapons bestowed great powers upon their wielders such as inhuman strength and speed, while others drained the very life energy from those who held it, till they became prematurely old and died."
She looked to the kusari-gama on the counter. "That weapon has showed no supernatural powers whatsoever, which is why I keep it out in the store, just in case its true owner comes along to claim it. You, unfortunately, aren't that destined owner which is why I can't let you have it."
"Why you miserable old--" Naruto said as he raised his fist at the old woman, only to be yet again interrupted as Shinsui's voice called out, "¡Vigilancia constante!" and Naruto was roundhouse kicked into a cabinet of old samurai armor.
"You do NOT sneak off when I'm talking to you!" Shinsui said as he pointed an angry finger at the almost unconscious jinchuuriki. "I could've been saying something extremely important of why strawberry yogurt is better than blueberry and you wouldn't have--"
"SENJU SHINSUI!!" Itsutsu shrieked loudly as her granddaughter hurriedly helped Naruto up. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, COMING IN HERE AND KICKING PEOPLE IN MY STORE!? If that brat broke anything at all, it's coming out of your pocket!"
"Don't yell at me like that ya crazy, old banshee!" Shinsui said as he held his ears in pain. "I'm four freakin' feat away!"
"Why you ungrateful brat!" Itsutsu said indignantly. "I changed your diapers when you're poor, sickly grandmother, gods rest her soul, couldn't. I then took it upon myself to train you in the ninja arts. And all you've done to pay me back over the years is be an annoying pain in the ass! Why couldn't you be more like your brother, Hashirama? He's always so sweet and kind; unlike you," she said in a venomous tone.
"Well let's just count the reasons I despise you why don't we?" Shinsui said as he raised his fingers. "When I was 6, you were constantly using me as target practice to sharpen your shuriken throwing skills; when I was 9, you tied a rock to my ankle and threw me in a lake to teach me how to swim; and let's not forget my personal favorite, putting raw meat in my pockets when I was 12 and letting a BEAR chase me around for six hours! I was miserable when you came around! I honestly don't see how you've survived for so long with all that hate you have inside you!"
"And it's thanks to that training that you've become such a powerful ninja," Itsutsu immediately countered. "My methods maybe harsh, but you can't argue with my results. Thanks to the shuriken practice, you become speedy and agile. Because of the lake incident, you discovered your unnatural talent over water. And due to the bear chasing you for so long, you used that to increase your stamina. Admit it; without me, you'd be nothing but a non-descript ninja who has a famous brother," Itsutsu said as though this was the finisher to the argument.
Shinsui only stood there and spluttered in anger. Both he and the old hag knew that without her training he might not be as strong as he was today, but he defiantly would've had a happy childhood.
"Come on kid, we're leaving," Shinsui said as he grabbed Naruto by the arm. "I still got to gauge you in a spar before I introduce you to your new teammates."
"Bye Nanatsu-chan," Naruto said as he was drug out of the store. "Thanks for tryin."
"See ya later, cutey!" Nanatsu said with a wave. "Come back and see me some time!"
Itsutsu sighed at her granddaughter's behavior. She knew the girl had no sexual or romantic feelings to the blonde boy. It was just her obsession with cute things or people that made her make unnecessary choices.
Sending Nanatsu to clean up and repair the broken cabinet, Itsutsu turned to pick up the kusari-gama…but to here surprise it wasn't there. Thinking back to when Shinsui had showed up to the point where he and the boy left, she was positive neither of them had gone near the weapon. She asked her granddaughter if she had picked it up. "No, Granny," Nanatsu said as she separated wood, glass and armor.
Pondering this strange development, Itsutsu turned to the door when she heard the bell ring. "Hello and welcome to Itsut--" she stopped when she noticed no one had entered the store. It might have been her old age finally catching up to her, but she could have sworn she saw a small flash of gold at the floor leaving the shop through the closing door.
Shinsui led Naruto to a very familiar place: training ground number 7. The blonde looked around in astonishment as he remembered his Genin survival test Kakashi had put him, Sakura, and Sasuke through.
The crystal blue lake where Naruto had landed after Kakashi sexually assaulted him. The three posts where he had been tied up after being the worst in not getting a bell. And there was the tree he was strung up to when he fell for Kakashi's trap, though it was much smaller now.
Ahh good times.
Naruto was brought out of his pleasant (yet painful) reminiscing when Shinsui spoke up. "All right kid. Before we begin, I want you to name all the disciplines that a ninja must use in order to be successful."
Cocking his head sideways as he racked his brains, Naruto remembered all those lessons that Iruka had pounded into his skull.
"Easy," he said with a cocky grin. "The three disciplines are ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu."
"WRONG!!" Shinsui said as he, yet again, roundhouse kicked Naruto in the head and sent him crashing to the ground.
"Why do you keep doing that!?" Naruto yelled as he held his head in pain on the ground.
Using a long pointer to point to a chalkboard that appeared out of nowhere, Shinsui went into lecture mode. "The best teacher in the world is pain, but I digress. There are actually 18 disciplines to the ninja arts. So pay attention cuz I'm not going back over them."
Naruto sat up straight and zeroed in his attention span to what Shinsui was about to explain.
"The eighteen elements of ninjutsu that you will learn are as follows: Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement), Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Bojutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Sojutsu (spear fighting), Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting), Kusari-gamajutsu (kusari-gama fighting), Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics and explosives)."
Shinsui paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "Hensōjutsu (disguise and impersonation), Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods), Bajutsu (horsemanship), Sui-ren (water training), Bōryaku (tactics and analysis), Chōhō (espionage), Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment), Tenmon (meteorology), and finally, Chi-mon (geography).
"Each one of these arts in vitally important in order to survive the obstacles that a ninja will face in his lifetime; you will train long and hard in each of these, so that no matter what you're up against, you will be ready. It is always better to be over prepared than under.
"Any questions?" Shinsui asked looking to Naruto who appeared very dazed and confused at all that he was supposed to learn. He hadn't even heard of half of them back in the academy! How did Shinsui expect him to master all of those?
"Yeah…uh…just how the hell do expect me master all of those arts? Wouldn't it be better to focus on the most useful ones and not learn the useless ones like bajutsu, tenmon, and chi-mon? I really doubt if I'll ever need those."
"Oh really?" Shinsui said in a fake confused tone. "Well, what if you find yourself facing an enemy battalion of horse riding samurais, and your only hope of not being overwhelmed was to fight them on their terms—riding a horse?"
"I could use a Doton to trip the horses--"
"Unless the samurais have prepared for that and taught their steeds to jump or evade," Shinsui countered.
Naruto tried another argument. "Well what about meteorology and geology? Those seem unneeded."
"So you're saying that if I blindfolded you and dumped you a hundred miles away in the forest and just told you to find your way back without a compass, you could do it purely on instinct with no need to look at the land or sky at all?" Shinsui said scathingly.
The blonde's cheeks were starting to turn red from anger. "I'm just saying that's too fuckin' much to learn! You honestly can't expect me to master all of those, do you?" Naruto said as he angrily waved at the board.
Shinsui sighed heavily. "Have you never heard the expression 'jack of all trades, master of none, though oft sometimes better than one'?" Getting a negative response, the Jounin explained. "It means to have a basic to medium understanding of a wide variety of skills instead of mastering just one.
"Take me for example. I have a mastery over water jutsus, but if ever I went up against an earth master, I'd be boned big time. That is why I am extremely proficient in lightning techniques too. Of course I also have plenty of fire, wind, and earth jutsu just in case. That way, whatever enemy I'm up against, I have a better chance of winning by knowing many instead of mastering one. The same goes with the 18 disciplines. I'm not asking you to master all of them; just one or two and still be proficient at the others."
Understanding finally lit up in Naruto's eyes. "It's like eating only pork ramen! If you do that, you'll never understand the true joy you get from beef and chicken!"
Shinsui smiled at the boy's unique analogy. "You get it how you get it, I suppose," he said as he kicked the chalkboard toward the lake, where it promptly disappeared below the surface with a splash. Naruto looked at him quizzically and Shinsui answered that he didn't want it damaged in their spar.
Taking this as a cue to get ready, Naruto immediately put a good 30 feet between him and his sensei. He then took the battle stance Iruka had helped him develop when the other academy teachers did their best to ignore him. Shinsui, however, took a stance that Naruto was greatly unfamiliar with. His knees were only slightly bent and his left arm was kept low to his body while his right was raised so that his hand was only six inches away from his head. Both arms were in a constant wavy motion, reminding Naruto of waves from the ocean.
"I call this style Odayaka Enkai Nagare-ken (Gentle Ocean Current Fist). Come at me if you wish to see how it works," Shinsui said with a taunting grin. As each combatant sized his opponent up, both were unaware that they were being watched.
Instead of charging straight in as per his usual style, Naruto stayed back and weighed his options. When I underestimated Kakashi, he kicked my ass. This guy is probably even stronger, and his punches and kicks are nothing to laugh at. He's also got that Raijin blade. I haven't seen him attack with it yet, so I don't know if it can projectile lighting. I'll play it safe for now. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto cried and 25 shadow clones popped into existence. "Let's get him!" Naruto called to his clones. Each Naruto yelled as they charged, kunai drawn. One blonde, however, stayed behind to watch the approaching brawl.
Shinsui frowned in disappointment at what his student was doing. Sending all those clones in while one stayed back? Please. Who did this kid think he was dealing with? Dropping his stance, the Jounin went through several hand seals and called out, "Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu!" (Water Element: Grand Waterfall)The water in the lake immediately turned into an extremely large and turbulent water funnel that quickly destroyed the shadow clones.
"Kuso!" the remaining Naruto cursed as his clones were cut down so quickly. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Shinsui running at him with his Raijin drawn, ready to deliver an electric shock. Before Naruto could move, the lightning blade connected, causing the jinchuuriki to scream in pain…before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Shadow clone!" Shinsui said in surprise. "When did he substitute?" he questioned. "When I destroyed the others first," he answered himself. "He must have used the smokescreen to hide. But where did he--" the Jounin was forced to dodge as several kunai and shuriken flew from several spots in the tree line.
The real Naruto had indeed used the smokescreen to create more shadow clones that followed him into the foliage, where he thought he saw a flash of gold near him for a second, but a second glance revealed nothing. From there they waited for Shinsui to destroy the decoy Naruto left and then they attacked. They were unsuccessful, but they kept throwing kunai after kunai to keep Shinsui on his toes.
"Yes!" Naruto cried in triumph when he saw a couple knives pierce the water master in his arm…only to look on despairingly as his opponent was revealed to be a water clone that returned to its original state.
"Nice try, kid," whispered Shinsui into his ear from behind. Naruto jumped forward as his clones converged on the target, only to be destroyed as Shinsui swung his blade in a sweeping motion that sent an arc of electricity thru the clones. The real Naruto turned in midair and threw several shuriken at Shinsui that the he blocked with his sword.
As Naruto landed back in the field, he heard Shinsui call out, "Constant vigilance kid!" Turning his head in horror, he saw another Shinsui holding his fingers in the tiger seal, just as Kakashi had done to him back in his time. The only difference was that this sensei had electricity dancing along his pointed fingers.
"Konoha Kinjutsu: Dendou Kanchou!" (Leaf village Forbidden Technique: Electric Enema) Shinsui said as he thrusted his fingers forward.
Kakashi's technique didn't even compare as Naruto was sent into the air screaming in pain, electricity coursing through his rectum. And just like it happened in his time, the blonde was sent crashing into the lake.
"Hmm," Shinsui said when Naruto didn't resurface. "Maybe I overdid it?" Walking to the water's edge, Shinsui called to his student. "Okay kid, out of the pool! Break's over!"
The blue clad Jounin barely had time to dodge as a boiling hot pillar of water shot where he was just standing. The lake suddenly exploded as nearly one hundred Naruto's shot out like cannonballs, each with red eyes and extended claws.
Shinsui immediately retreated to the middle of the field where he took the Odayaka Enkai Nagare-ken once again. The clones charged, looking more like blurs of orange and red than a stable opponent.
But Shinsui was far from worried. When one Kyuubi-fied clone would come near, he would calmly block with one hand and gently strike a strong blow with the other, not wasting any energy on overzealous movements. He kept blocking and retaliating until there was only one Naruto left.
Bringing out the big guns, Naruto held out his right hand and began his mantra of Rotation, power, control in his head and to his great pleasure, a perfect orb of crimson chakra was effortlessly created. If it was this easy to create a Rasengan while using the Kyuubi's power, maybe he should do it more.
Storing that thought away for later, the red eyed blonde charged and screamed, "RASENGAN!" as he shoved the sphere of destructive chakra into Shinsui's stomach. The white haired man screamed in agony until he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Shadow clone? Naruto thought disbelievingly, before a blow to the back of his neck caused him to black out.
The screams. The terror. The blood.
It was all so intoxicating to him as he walked through the village. Flames purged the place of its filthy inhabitants. These fools had not appeased him as he commanded them to, so their village was baptized by fire for their sins.
Feeling a tug at his foot, he glanced down to see a hand grasped around his right ankle. The man who held him seemed to be at death's door, blood pooling around his body from a large gash in his side.
"Why did you do this?" the man asked weakly. "We were always faithful to you."
The other man grinned cruelly as he drew one of his scimitars. "Apparently not as faithful as you thought. One of my brothers found out this village had been holding back in the appeasement offering, and you know we don't take kindly to that attitude." With those words, he added fire to the edge of his blade and sliced clean thru the man's wrist with an arching sweep of his arm.
The dying man howled in agony and held his cauterized wound close to his chest. "Wh-why did you become th-this way? You all used to protect u-u-us" he sobbed.
The other merely raised the blade and held it in both hand. "Because we enjoy it," he said with a smile as he brought his sword down to the man's neck to end his terrified sobbing.
Naruto spluttered as he jolted awoke to find himself soaked from head to toe. "What the hell happened?" Naruto said as he sat up and saw Shinsui holding a hose.
"Whilst we were sparing, you freaked out and used the kyuubi's chakra. I found it in the best interests of all present to stop you before you hurt me--I mean any innocent bystander who couldn't protect themselves."
Looking around, Naruto saw that he and Shinsui were the only ones around. A vision of the dying man flashed before his eyes.
"But what about the fire and that man about to be killed?" Naruto questioned in a panic as he suddenly remembered what had happened before Shinsui woke him up.
Maybe I overdid it with the whole electric enema thing, Shinsui thought. "You just had a bad dream, kid. There's nothing on fire, nobody's dying, and there's definately no drawings on your face that someone did with a pink marker while you were asleep," the water master said as he hid said marker back in his pocket. He decided to wash his artwork off while the kid was knocked out; else there might've been another little demon incident. But the memory would live on in his little throw away camera. "Now dry yourself off. You look a mess," Shinsui said as he handed Naruto a towel.
The blonde begrudgingly accepted. As he dried his hair, he kept the realization that he knew that cruel man with the scimitars to himself. He had met him barely two hours ago inside the seal. It was Kyuubi's original form, before becoming a demon. Naruto shivered at the memory of that smile of pure pleasure on Kyuubi's face as he tortured the dying man. It made him feel slightly sick.
He then saw that Shinsui was looking at him expectantly, as though waiting for an answer. Naruto realized that Shinsui had been talking to him while he thought about his inner demon. "I'm sorry, what was the question?" he asked.
"I asked if you're ready to go get some new clothes?" Shinsui repeated.
A frown appeared on Naruto's face. "What's wrong with these?" he asked, looking down to his orange jumpsuit.
"Besides the multiple rips and tears in has in it not to mention that hole in the seat of your pants, its frickin' ORANGE. The only better way to attract enemy attention would be to run naked in the streets while banging a pot on your head and screaming 'My name's Nar-Nar and I'm a pretty giraffe!'"
Naruto sweat dropped at such an unusual way of insulting his clothes. Someone usually just told him orange was tacky. "But these were the only things I could afford back in my time since every store charged me outrageous prices."
"Whatever! Already heard your sob story so I don't care!" Shinsui said as he started making his way back to town. As Naruto stood up to follow him, Shinsui turned around and headed back to Naruto where he gazed quizzically at the Gennin.
"Stop it," Naruto said in a creeped out tone. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Did you always have that? I didn't notice it when we were fighting," Shinsui said, pointing to the blonde's side.
Naruto gasped in amazement as he saw the kusari-gama he was almost presented with at Itsutsu's weapon shop. Its golden color glinted serenely in the afternoon sunlight.
"I left this back at the shop," Naruto said in amazement. "How'd it wind up here? Did you take it when we left the shop?" he asked Shinsui.
"Hell no," Shinsui said in an almost scared tone. "When I was younger, I stole a scroll from her house and she set my pants on fire…while I was still in them. I've never stolen anything since." The Jounin then scrunched up his face as he remembered something. "Except for that time when I was 20 and had to pay off some gambling debts and sold my brother's jewel incrusted sword. Then there was that time last week when I stole a sandwich. I guess looking back I could be considered a kleptomaniac. But I NEVER stole from the old hag after the scroll incident."
Naruto stopped listening to Shinsui so he could examine the kusari-gama. He estimated the chain to be about 12 feet in length; perfect for attacking enemies while keeping a safe distance. Eyeing the razor edge of the scythe, Naruto decided to see how sharp it was by cutting his finger. The edge of the blade didn't even pause as it passed effortlessly through the skin of his finger. The wound healed over quickly thanks to the kyuubi.
"We should definitely take it back," Shinsui said as he watched Naruto admire the weapon.
"No way!" the blonde exclaimed, holding the kusari-gama close to his chest. "The wrinkly, old prune said that weapons of Maibu choose their owners and this one chose me."
Shinsui sighed as he massaged his temple to thwart an oncoming headache. "Can we at least take it by the store so she doesn't do something horrible to me?" he asked.
"Fine, ya big baby," Naruto said as he put the weapon back at his side. With no hook or sheath at his waste, the jinchuuriki briefly wondered how it would stay. But to his delight, the kusari-gama stayed by his side as though magnetically attracted. Awesome! I'm definitely not giving this thing back without a fight! Naruto thought giddily.
"Yo, chiisai-baba!" Naruto yelled as he and Shinsui entered the weapons shop. "We've got something to talk to you about!"
"Don't call me that, you cro-magnum ignoramus!" Itsutsu said as she thwacked Naruto over the head with her cane. As the blonde rubbed the sore spot on his head, the elder woman spied the missing kusari-gama at his waste.
"I knew it!" she shrieked as she made to grab the weapon. "I knew you stole it from my shop, you little thief!"
"Chill grandma!" Naruto said as he danced out of her path. "I didn't take it. It came to me."
Itsutsu froze at this proclamation. Regaining her composure, she crossed her arms and scoffed. "So you mean to tell me that you actually believe this weapon chose you as its master?"
"Yes it did. Watch," Naruto told her and removed the scythe from his wais while leaving the chain and weight on. Letting go of the sickle, all three of them watched as it went directly back to his side.
Naruto and Shinsui looked to Itsutsu to see her amazed reaction, but were disappointed to see she was still in denial. "A simple trick of chakra manipulation," she said as she brought out a pipe and lit the tobacco inside. She inhaled deeply and exhaled even deeper. The smoke made Naruto cough but didn't affect Shinsui as he was known to dabble in it from time to time.
A smirk came to Itsutsu's face. "Allrighty then," she said as she blew out more smoke. "A simple test will reveal if you're the true owner of this weapon. Pass it, and I'll admit I was wrong."
"Okay then, ya old prune," Naruto said smugly. "Give me the test. I'll pass anything you throw at me."
Itsutsu's smirk widened. "What…is its name?"
"Its name?" Shinsui said in bewilderment. "How the bloody hell is he supposed to know its--"
"Sankonjou (Sun spirit)," Naruto said without pausing to think. "My kusari-gama's name is Sankonjou."
Both adults stared at the kid in silence. Shinsui was impressed but Itsutsu was so surprised her pipe fell to the floor. "How did you know that?" she asked in amazement.
Naruto's face drooped as he pondered this himself. "I don't know," he admitted. "It just came to me. Am I right?" he asked the wrinkled proprietor.
Itsutsu smiled as she answered. "Yes boy, you are correct. I've been taught the names of every Maibu weapon I have since I was a little girl. My family has guarded these weapons so that they would remain safe and well for when their true masters came to claim them. I was wrong, and I apologize. You, Uzumaki Naruto, are Sankonjou's rightful owner," she said as she gave a little bow at the waist.
"YATTA!" Naruto yelled in triumph as he jumped for joy. Unfortunately, his jumping caused the hole in the seat of his pants to rip and widen, showing a good bit of his heart patterned boxers to the world. He stopped jumping and covered the tear as Shinsui laughed out loud at his predicament.
Taking pity on the poor lad, Itsutsu cast a minor genjutsu to hide the tear. "There's a very nice thrift store just down the street," she said to Naruto as Shinsui quieted down. "A friend of my granddaughter works there. Tell her Itsutsu sent you and she'll help you out."
"Thanks, Itsutsu-san," Naruto said gratefully as he made his way out the door with Shinsui following and wiping away the tears of mirth.
"See ya later, old prune!" Shinsui said. He quickly ducked as a large sword imbedded itself in the wooden doorframe inches away from his face.
"Damn brat," Itsutsu muttered as she picked up her pipe and cleaned it off.
"Hello and welcome to Kangeki. My name's Nara Shikamoto. How may I help you?" said the peppy looking female clerk at the register as Naruto and Shinsui entered the clothing store Itsutsu had sent them too. Like Nanatsu, she looked about ten to twelve years older than Naruto. She wore fishnet clothes under a light purple shirt. Her black hair was done in a pony tail on the back of her head that made it look like a pineapple. Her smile seemed to go on forever.
"Uh yes," Shinsui said and placed his hand on Naruto's head. "We were sent here by a miserable old prune that has a tendency to throw sharp objects at people's heads. We're looking for some new clothes for my young ward here. His name is Naruto but he insists that I call him Sparky. Young Sparky is working at a below average brain capacity and believes orange to be a good shinobi color. Could you succeed where so many have failed before and find him some clothes that don't make you want to barf just from looking at them?"
Naruto growled and swatted Shinsui's hand off his head. "Orange ain't that bad and don't call me Sparky," he muttered.
"Oh contraire, mon fraire," the Jounin said in his French accent. "Do you remember that little talk we had about the giraffes?"
Shikamoto smiled as the boy's face turned red. "Don't worry, little one," she said in her cheerful tone. "We'll find you some nice clothes. If you'll follow me," she said leading Naruto and Shinsui to the back. "What other color besides orange would you like?" Shikamoto said as they reached a variety rack.
"I don't know. I guess if I had a choice I'd go with dark green, navy and maroon," he said with a shrug.
Shikamoto picked out dark green camouflage pants, a navy long sleeve shirt, and a maroon jacket that had the sleeves torn off at the elbow.
"Right this way to the changing rooms," she said pleasantly. She gave Naruto his clothes and he shut the door to try them on. Shinsui spied some sandals and gloves he thought looked cool. "Put these on too!" he said as he threw them over the door.
Six minutes later, Naruto came out to show off his new duds. The only thing that hadn't changed was that he kept his headband on his forehead. On his feet he wore gray and black ninja sandals. His camouflage pants had several pockets for storing extra kunai, shuriken, scrolls, or soldier pills.
His blue shirt had a picture of a white tiger standing majestically in front of a yin-yang symbol. Each arm had four vertical orange stripes spaced evenly out along the arm. The red, short sleeve jacket seemed a size too small at first, but adjusted to his frame to fit quite comfortable, unlike the baggy, orange top he once had.
On his hands he wore brown, fingerless, leather gloves that had padded metal joints at the knuckles to add an extra oomph to his punches. To complete his new look, Naruto had moved Sankonjou to the right side of his waist so he could use the scythe with his left hand and swing the chain and weight with his right.
Shinsui gave him a thumbs up. "Very nice, kid!" he said approvingly. "Big step up from that orange eye sore!"
"I agree, Naruto-san. You look so much better," Shikamoto said as she applauded.
"Thanks guys. I do look more ninja like, don't I? I am glad that I was able to keep a bit of the old favorite, though," he said as he gazed at the orange stripes on his arms.
Shinsui put his arm around Naruto and began leading him out of the store. "Now that you're presentable, how 'bout we go grab a bite to eat?"
"Sounds good to me!" Naruto said as he imagined how good a dozen bowls of ramen from Ichiraku's would taste right now.
"Wait a second! You haven't paid for those!" Shikamoto said from behind them.
"Put it on my brother's tab!" Shinsui called back to her.
When they were back in street, Shinsui looked around at the all the restaurants and food carts they could choose from. "Where to, kid?"
"There's only one food in the world that can satisfy my hunger: Ichiraku's ramen!" Naruto said pumping his fist in the air.
Shinsui frowned at this. "Uh…I don't know how to tell you this kid, but Konoha doesn't have an Ichiraku's ramen."
Naruto seemed frozen in place for a few seconds before he dropped to his knees and cried, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" He then took off to where heaven was supposed to be.
"Damn," Shinsui said impressed as he watched the blonde zip away at inhuman speeds. "Kid's fast when he's motivated." He took to the rooftops to catch up to the blonde.
Naruto zigged and zagged between human obstacles as he ran to Ichiraku's. It's gotta be there. It's just gotta! he thought desperately. Moving so fast, he didn't see a red clad man step around an upcoming corner and into his path until it was too late to stop.
"Gauugh!" Naruto cried as he fell the ground after running full speed into something more like a brick wall that a human being. "Sorry sir," Naruto apologized as he looked up into the man's face. "I wasn't watching where I was go--"
As Naruto's cerulean eyes looked into obsidian, his mind was suddenly assaulted by memories that weren't his own.
The kyuubi, roaring furiously as it fired a powerful beam of pure, destructive chakra at a red clad man while another rode atop the demon's head…
The fox moving to destroy the Leaf village, only to halt as a giant frog appeared in its way, a man in white riding the amphibian…
Wrath and terror filling the great beast as the shinigami's hands took hold of his soul…
The blonde grasped his head in pain as he stood up, not sure what to make of those memories.
"Are you okay?" the bushy haired man asked, concern absent from his voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said as he lowered his hands and looked back into those charcoal black eyes. No demonic memories came.
"Ah, Madara-dono," Shinsui said as he landed beside his student. "Please excuse young Naruto here. I challenged him to a race and he wasn't watching where he was going."
Madara kept his eyes locked onto the Genin's as he spoke to Shinsui. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again. I might not be so forgiving next time," he said as he finally broke eye contact and continued down the street.
"Who was that man?" Naruto asked when the black haired man was out of ear shot.
"That was Uchiha Madara, co-founder of the village. He's said to be the strongest ninja in the world and he's a complete asshole," Shinsui said in disdain. "He used to be good friends with my brother and an all right guy, but after his brother Izune died, he became cold and distant."
Naruto pondered as to why looking into that man's eyes would unlock some of Kyuubi's memories. Before he could think about it further, Shinsui spoke up. "Let's go and meet your teammates, then we'll get a bite to eat."
"Okay," Naruto said as he and Shinsui headed off to make new friends, or new enemies, depending how everything went.
Omake: Listen Up
"YATA!" Naruto yelled in triumph as he jumped for joy at passing the test and proving that Sankonjou was his.
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet," Itsutsu informed him.
"Why not?" Naruto asked, curious at what was there to not be happy about.
"With every weapon of Maibu, the owner gets a sort of guide that helps them understand their new weapon better," the old woman explained.
"I don't see what's so bad about that," Naruto said.
"We'll see if you feel the same if a few seconds," Itsutsu said as she reached into her robe and pulled out a tiny glass bottle. She pulled the cork and a small, glowing dot exited the bottle and made its way to Naruto.
To his great surprise, the dot began to speak in an annoying, high pitched voice. "Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey, hey, hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen, listen, listen, listen!"
"WHAT!? I'm listening!" Naruto roared at the dot, his patience quickly running out.
"Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey listen! Hey lis--ugh!" the little dot groaned as Naruto squished it between his hands.
Looking to Itsutsu with an apologetic look, the old woman merely shrugged. "If you hadn't, I would've."
Vorago's Corner
Well that's another chapter done. Didn't get to the expected meeting with Team Sarutobi like I've been promising, but that's first on the list for next time, so no worries on that. This chapter kept evolving and growing at a rate I couldn't contain. At least I got Naruto a weapon, some new duds, and the Madara meeting out of the way.
My very big thanks to 50calibechaos for being my beta, mentor, and friend. Without him, this chapter would've sucked big time. He also thought up the whole Maibu thing, so props to him.
Oh yeah. Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome. I'm most interested in the new clothes, weapon, and whatever else you see fit.
