Chapter 7: Chapter 7


Chapter 7: Decisions, Decisions

"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent response to Tsume's questions. "Dog's are cool, I guess. Thought I'd get one when I was older but being a ninja and all means I'd have to go away a lot so. Then there's the whole they don't live that long. I mean Ayame-neechan and Teuchi-jisan, maybe even Ojisan could probably look after it when I'm gone-"

"Woah, pup, I just want a simple yes or no answer, not your life story," Tsume interrupted the boy though she could tell he had given it some thought.

"Oh," Naruto blushed a bit, "Uh, yes?"

"…What the hell kind of answer was that?" Tsume asked him.

"Excuse us for a moment, thanks," Anko grabbed hold of the boy and dragged him outside. "Gaki, do you have any idea what this means?"

"I get a dog?" Naruto's response got him a smack on the head, "Ow, what the hell!"

"This is an Inuzuka Ninja Dog, gaki. Just calling them a dog is like calling a ninja a mere mercenary for hire, it doesn't do it justice and it's insulting. Do you have any idea- Scratch that, you don't know shit about what's happening at the moment. Anyway, the amount of times I know the Inuzuka give someone outside the clan one of their ninken I can count on my hands," without a very large payment of course.

"Their dogs are specially bred for specific purposes such as guarding, tracking, or attack techniques. Though all have it but some breeds are stronger in some of them than others, and as they get older and depending on how well trained they are they make even some Jounin hesitate to face them."

When she put it like that Naruto had to admit it sounded way cooler than he originally thought they would. With regular dogs Naruto knew he'd have to train them, which would take time, and even then they'd only be good for companionship, which was good, but helping him as a ninja not so much. If what Anko was saying was true a ninja dog could help him out and be a companion at the same time.


Ninken (Ninja Dog)

Ninken are essentially special breeds of dogs that have greater senses and abilities than their regular counterparts, which enable them to work with ninja. They are quite dangerous in combat, as some have been known to rip and tear even Jonin to shreds. Ninken, much like summons, are usually placed into categories. With Ninken the categories are: Tracking Dogs, Attack Dogs, Guard Dogs. Many clans breed only a specific category of ninja dog while some like the Inuzuka Clan try and create hybrids.

Tracking Dogs: A special breed of ninken that have an unmatched sense of smell and abilities to track down, capture, and bring down their prey. They have a great deal of stealth, speed and are capable of sneaking up on Jounin before it's too late for them to react.

Attack Dogs: A special breed of ninken specially bred for ripping the opposition to shreds quickly and with little effort. These dogs are highly dangerous and second to none when using collaboration techniques or by themselves.

Guard Dogs: A special breed of ninken that is known for their high stamina, constitution, and pain threshold that would otherwise result in the death of other dogs. Fiercely loyal they will fight to the death for their partner or family.


"How smart are ninken?" Naruto asked. Though the pop up was useful it didn't mention anything in that regard.

"Not the expert but I've been around quite a few and I know most are as smart as humans, in some cases like Tsume's ninken partner, Kuromaru, they can even speak our language. Though it's pretty rare and usually only the older ones that can do it," she informed him. "Add the fact that they can live as long as humans means you`ll have a companion for life," Anko decided to forgo mentioning that the average lifespan of ninken was similar to that of a ninja and kunoichi. It was a hazardous lifestyle after all.

Naruto had to admit it sounded better and better the more Anko told him. With a normal dog Naruto knew he'd never be able to bring it with him on missions, the creature would be ripped to shreds. When Naruto thought of the amount of times he'd have to leave home for long term missions, at least according to Iruka-sensei, the dog probably wouldn't really bond with him and he'd more or less be in the care of someone else. Chances are the dog would bond with the caretaker instead and they'd have no connection to one another.

At the moment he saw a lot of pros of owning a ninken. They'd live as long as him, which meant he wouldn't have to worry about it getting old and then die by the time he was in his twenties, maybe even less. They'd be able to help him during missions which meant he wouldn't have to leave them with someone and with his Dungeon Creation skill the ninken would most likely help it get stronger more quickly. Plus it was always good to have companionship.

With steel in his eyes, a look that Anko noticed and made her grin, Naruto looked at Tsume and asked, "How do I do this?"

The feral looking mother of two merely looked at Naruto for a few moments before she gave him a fanged smiled. Naruto had no idea why she did it but guessed he did something right when she motioned both him and Anko to follow her.

"First off, pup, ninken require a constant dose of daily activity otherwise they can age pretty damn quickly. Luckily, if this happen they're back to their former selves if you start training with them again though it'll take some time. Secondly, a ninken's metabolism is higher than a regular dog and while they aren't as likely to get sick it can still happen if you don't feed or take care of them properly, the pups more so. They need protein and while they can eat it raw it's best if you cook it, don't want them to get parasites," Naruto took note of Kuromaru shuddering as Tsume said that and guessed the ninja wolf-dog hybrid had suffered from them once.

Tsume continued to list some things for him to follow, one of which would be him having to learn and teach the ninken its own techniques as while the pup would instinctively know one or two of the clan's techniques they wouldn't teach Naruto. Grateful as she was she wasn't going to teach a non Inuzuka member clan techniques. Even then Naruto needed to have been born an Inuzuka and conditioned at a very young age to use the techniques at their fullest with the ninken. Their techniques were classified as Hidenjutsu for a reason.

As she kept talking Naruto felt his mind wonder a bit and spotted several Inuzuka clansmen teaching some of the younger ninken and saw others practicing and mock fighting with his or her partner. On some occasion Naruto spotted a clan member with more than one ninken.

"Pup, are you listening?" Tsume's growled at the boy and Naruto swore she was ready to discipline him.

"Sorry, just distracted," he motioned to the Inuzuka member with two dogs.

The frown remained on her face but Naruto noticed a subtle shift in intensity, "You're wondering why he has two, huh? Fair enough. Most of us have only one ninken partner but sometimes a clan member gets more than one. My daughter Hana got triplets through her bonding," Tsume's voice was filled with pride.

"Bonding?"

"Basically it's how a clan member and a ninken know who their partner is going to be," she elaborated. "The experience is usually different for every one of us."

Tsume's mind began to wander briefly. Kiba like most Inuzuka children had been given his ninken, Akamaru, and while it wasn't uncommon for some Inuzuka not to bond on the spot both the white puppy and her son had clicked, despite the white pup pissing on his face. In Hana's case she bonded with the Three Haimaru Brothers when the triplets lost their mother due to complications. Hana had made an instinctive decision to care for them and all four were inseparable ever since.

With Tsume and Kuromaru it was more volatile. Kuromaru was three years old before he had a partner, much older than the average one or two year old ninken, and was already large and strong for his age. Tsume and Kuromaru's bonding was both of them fighting one another for dominance with Tsume winning in the end by the skin of her teeth. Kuromaru then saw her as a suitable and strong partner and the two were close ever since.

Part of her wondered what the bonding would be like for Naruto. It was very rare for ninja outside the clan to receive such an opportunity, the last one had been Hatake Sakumo when he saved several members and had bonded with several ninken instead of one. From what she could recall the hounds and makeshift summoning scroll he created and used in conjunction with them were passed down to his son when the man performed seppuku.

As they arrived at the kennels, to which Anko looked smug as they passed by the demoted Chunin who was cleaning up some of the cages of ill dogs, the group stopped at an enclosure that held various rambunctious puppies.

"These pups are a year or two old and while they don't look like it now they'll get deadlier and stronger as they get older," Tsume informed before opening the paddock to let him in.

"So how do I know which one to choose?" Naruto asked as he approached the puppies.

"I could tell you … but it's more fun watching," the woman smirked.

"Gee, thanks," Naruto had no freaking idea what he was supposed to do at the moment. Picking some up and using his Observe on some of them, the latter one didn't really help all that much, Naruto proceeded to go by trial and error.

"Ah, fuck not again!" Naruto put down the latest male pup that pissed on him. "And these are new clothes too."

Naruto took it as a sign that they weren't his if they moved away or pissed on him like a few others did, "At least they didn't shit on me," he muttered only to step on something mushy and earning howls of laughter from Anko and Tsume.

"Starting to fucking hate this!" Naruto removed his ninja sandal and began smacking it against the wall to remove as much of it as he could. He'd have to wash it later to get rid of the smell too.

"Grrrr," Naruto heard a small growl.

"Oh, what the hell now," Naruto looked around but with the various puppies around him the boy had no idea which one did it.

"Grrrrraaaa!"

"Yoww! Mother fuc-," looking down Naruto spotted a dark brown/orange stripped puppy using his leg as a chew toy! "Why you little!" grabbing the puppy by the scruff of its neck Naruto hauled it up, or at least tried as the small dog had his leg in a vice grip and merely ended up hurting himself.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tsume smirked, "That's Hottomaru. His mother was one of Kuromaru's grand-daughters and his father was a Komainu from one of the stronger but now extinct ninken clans."

"Komainu?" Anko asked.

"A strong breed of ninken that we managed to get breeding rights before the clan perished. Pissed off the wrong people and you know the rest. Komainu are head strong as pups but very protective and loyal for life once you earn their trust. Even at a very young age their bite force is pretty strong and when they get older Komainu bites are considered one of the strongest and deadliest among ninken and can take more punishment than any ninken breed as well."

"Let go damn it!" Naruto shouted and tried to shake the pup off his leg. While their bite force was pretty strong Hottomaru was still relatively young and while the small pup managed to hold on for a very good amount of time the pup was forced to let go of the leg before it was sent flying.

Glaring at the small pup, who merely glared back at Naruto, Naruto snatched the small dog out of the air as it lunged at him and held it by the scruff of its neck. "What's his problem?"

"Nothing really most pups with a wolf lineage go through this stage. Mock fighting among pups is how they get a better feel for their bodies," Tsume told him.

"Yeah, well why aint he mock fighting with his siblings," Naruto dodged a streak of piss sent at him.

"He can't, unfortunately. Only a few were born from the breeding and two of them didn't make it. Hottomaru's mother was of Akita lineage but she was killed on a mission with her partner. The sire stayed with the Komainu Clan and the pup is the only one left of his family. He gets along fine with the other pups but keeps to himself mostly, no one in the clan's been able to bond with him so far," Tsume informed the boy and T&I specialist.

Looking down at the pup Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit between of resemblance in terms of circumstance. Unlike him the pup had family, but no parents or siblings much like himself. Putting him down on the ground Naruto knelt down and looked at Hottomaru straight in the eye and the pup matched him. When several seconds passed Hottomaru got up and playfully bite the boy's nose.

"Ow," a stuffed sounding Naruto muttered. The bite was nowhere as bad as when the pup bit his leg but it still hurt nonetheless. Scratching Hottomaru behind his ears the pup let go and fell to ground with a look of pure joy in his eyes as Naruto proceeded to give the pup a belly rub. When he stopped the pup got up and glared slightly at Naruto as if it was embarrassed by the action.

"He'll do," Naruto said as he picked of the stripped dog.

Tsume frowned slightly. While it was clear both had bonded with one another, in a rather strange way, the woman was a tad apprehensive about giving up the only pup with Komainu blood in it. The dog was the only one of his species at the moment.

While tough and hard Tsume was a person who kept her promise when she gave her word. "Alright, pup. He's yours. But when he gets old enough I want him to breed with some of the bitches here to ensure his lineage. For all intended purposes the pup's the last of his breed even if mixed."

Naruto didn't really like the sound of it as it made Hottomaru sound like a tool instead of a companion but once more Naruto needed to remind himself that the Inuzuka saw things differently.

Congratulations you now have a ninken familiar!

When Tsume left to go get him some basic ninken care taking tools and instructions, Naruto quietly muttered Observe on Hottomaru.


Status Window

Name: Hottomaru

Job: Ninken (Ninja Dog)

Level: 3 Next Level: 89/1400

Reputation: Neutral (400/1000)

Title: Naruto's Partner

Specialization: Battle Pet

Ninken Category: Hybrid "Guard and Tracking"

HP: 225

CP: 175

STR: 6

VIT: 9

DEX: 17

INT: 7

WIS: 6

LUK: 15

Defense: 0

Perks:

Ninja Dog: Human Lifespan, Ability to Mold Chakra, Potential to speak human language

Komainu Lineage (Guard Dog): +1 VIT, +1 STR per Lv, +15% Effectiveness & EXP towards Biting Techniques, -20% Effectiveness and EXP towards Training and Reputation, "?"

Akita Lineage (Tracking Dog): +2 DEX per Lv, +15% Effectiveness and EXP towards Tracking Skill, +15% Effectiveness and EXP towards Stealth, +10% towards Movement Speed during and outside combat

Keen-Senses: +15% Effectiveness & EXP towards Detection Skill, Ignores Henge, Very sensitive to powerful and pungent odors

Description: A two old ninja dog with Komainu blood in his veins. While possessing great potential like his cousin Akamaru, Hottomaru like most Komainu pups require a good amount of discipline and can be difficult to train but are fiercely loyal and protective of their owners and partners.


Naruto didn't care all that much for the hard to train bit but he was never one to back down from a challenge. The reputation bit appearing when he used Observe intrigued him though and guessed that because it was now at level nine more info would be revealed to him. "Guess the -20% Training and Reputation thing brought down the 500 Rep."

Using it on Anko and Tsume Naruto saw that with Anko he was Friendly (50/3000) and with Tsume he was Friendly (0/3000), "I've got a long way ahead of me if I'm gonna complete that quest," he was also worried that some of his actions might even bring down some of the reputation points he had with Anko. Naruto also wondered why the Reputation levels were different between Hottomaru and Tsume at the moment. Though he took a page out of Anko's books and let it be, he'd rather not deal with a headache at the moment.

"Mom, the idiot they sent stepped on one of the dogs' tails again," Kiba entered the scene with Akamaru. "They have him-"

"You!" Anko lunged at Kiba and hosted the hooded academy student by the collar of his hoodie.

"What the hell you crazy bitch!?" Kiba shouted with Akamaru barking at her.

"You're gonna pay for that runt! And your little mutt too!" she glared at Akamaru and the small dog felt himself scared by her gaze and began backing away with his tail between his legs. "Midori!" Anko called out.

"Not now, Anko-chan, I'm trying to sleep," the tired serpent stated.

"The brat and his ninken from who pissed on us earlier are right in front of us," Anko added.

"I'll kill em!" Midori considered herself to be very level headed and slow to anger but even she had her trigger. Getting pissed on by someone was one of them, especially when that someone could be easily turned into a meal.

"Mind telling me what the hell's happening?" Tsume returned while Midori began to chase a yelping Akamaru. Naruto knew the green constrictor was basically playing with her food as the saying went and was merely tormenting the poor puppy. Though it was his own fault really for pissing on Anko.

"Akamaru, or maybe Kiba, pissed on Anko a while back," Naruto informed her and the boy swore Hottomaru was laughing a bit. "If I didn't know about talking animals this would seem weird," it still was but not as much. Deciding to see someone while he had the chance Naruto used Observe on Akamaru.


Status Window

Name: Akamaru

Job: Ninken (Ninja Dog)

Level: 4 Next Level: 1149/2100

Reputation: Neutral (700/1000)

Title: Kiba's Partner

Specialization: Battle Pet

Ninken Category: Hybrid "Attack and Tracking"

HP: 175

CP: 150

STR: 7

VIT: 7

DEX: 21

INT: 6

WIS: 6

LUK: 16

Defense: 0

Ninja Dog: Human Lifespan, Ability to Mold Chakra, Potential to speak human language

Wolf Lineage (Attack Dog): +1 STR, +1 DEX per Lv, +25% Effectiveness & EXP towards Collaboration Techniques

Akita Lineage (Tracking Dog): +2 DEX per Lv, +15% Effectiveness and EXP towards Tracking Skill, +15% Effectiveness and EXP towards Stealth, +10% towards Movement Speed during and outside combat

Keen-Senses: +15% Effectiveness & EXP towards Detection Skill, Ignores Henge, Very sensitive to powerful and pungent odors

Description: A two old ninja dog and Kiba's partner. Though young and appearing like a normal puppy Akamaru is quite intelligent and strong for his age and size.


"Almost the same as Hottomaru," Naruto noted before he saw Tsume give her son a pointed look, "What? Akamaru and I were testing out a potential technique."

"What the hell kind of technique involves pissing on someone?" Kiba wasn't the brightest student in the academy but Naruto knew he had wit, street smarts, and common freaking sense in that small brain of his.

"Dude, that's gotta be lamest excuse I ever heard," Naruto said.

"It ain't an excuse! And for the record dobe some of yours are lamer," Kiba shot back.

"Are not, dog-breath!"

"You once told Iruka-sensei you missed class because you had your period!" Kiba announced.

"What!" Anko and Tsume looked at Naruto in disbelief.

"That was years ago! I was young and didn't know only women have it!" a very embarrassed Naruto said and recalled how the class nearly busted a gut because of the lame excuse. The boy really wished he hadn't skipped that portion of sex-ed, the class hadn't let him forget about it for nearly a month and a half. "At least I didn't piss on a T&I specialist!"

Narutop's quick thinking had the reaction he wanted and Anko's attention was redirected towards the now paling Inuzuka Clan heir, "Uh, mom? Little help here would be solid."

"Anko don't kill my son," Kiba had a look of relief, "just make sure he learns his lesson," she finished and Kiba's pale face became three times whiter and then some as Anko had an oh-so familiar sadistic grin on her face.

"Will do. See ya tomorrow, gaki," with that the sadistic woman proceeded to drag the feral looking boy off somewhere to do who knows what to him. Naruto personally didn't want to know what she was going to do.

"You know Anko's not gonna go easy on him, right?" he told her.

"Pup, I've known Anko longer than you have, the girl's like a second daughter to me, what does that tell you?"

"You're as much a sadist as she is?"

"Got a problem with it?" the look she had made him shake his head.

"Smart, pup. Anyhow as much as I love that thick headed kid of mine I learned that it's best if Kiba sometimes learns life lessons through more unorthodox means. It's the only thing that works with him really," Tsume looked at the blond. "Here's what you'll need to take care of Hottomaru and all we need for you to do now is sign some papers of ownership and you're good to go."

A good ten minutes later, agonizing ones based on Kiba's screams for mercy, Naruto and Hottomaru promptly left the Inuzuka Clan compound and headed home. The boy counted himself lucky that his apartment didn't have a "no pets rule" but Naruto knew he'd have to save up some cash to buy a house. According to Tsume, dogs, especially puppies, were very energetic and loved open spaces to get rid of it and unwind.


[QUEST ALERT!]

Home Sweet Home!

Main Quest: Buy a house!

Side Quest: Find out more about owning houses!

Main Quest Completion: ? EXP, ? REP with Hottomaru, Own a House!

Side Quest Completion: 250 EXP

Accept? (Yes/No)


"OK? How the hell I'm I gonna buy a house?" Naruto accepted nonetheless but was curious on not only how he was gonna buy a house in the first place. He was just as curious about the question mark for experience gain and wondered why no actual number was being shown. "Might as well check it out tomorrow," he thought before he and Hottomaru entered his apartment. "It's not much but its home," Naruto told the ninjen pup that proceeded to sniff everything in sight before-

"Hey, you can't piss on that!" he was too late and the side of chair had piss on it. "No! Bad dog! No peeing in the room!"

Hottomaru merely yawned, proceeded to scratch his ear with his hind leg, and then jumped on the bed where he curled up and began to sleep. Naruto's eye merely twitched at the act of defiance. The boy had been informed that while smarter than many other animals they were still animals nonetheless and Hottomaru was still a puppy so training him to trust and listen to him was not going to be a walk in the park. Ninken were more sentient and intelligent than their mundane counterparts, it was almost like raising a human being. "This is gonna take some getting use to."


(Next Day)

Waking up early on the Sunday with his HP and CP fully recovered, and with a new bunkmate to boot, Naruto performed his morning ritual and tried his best not to wake up Hottomaru in the process. Naruto wanted to make sure his reputation with his ninken went up not down.

Making some breakfast, which was merely boiled rice and cooked eggs, the smell waking and attracting Hottomaru's attention in the process, Naruto ate his meal and gave some of it to the dog as well.

"And after all that I only get a lousy +20 Rep increase with him," originally it was 25 but the Komainu perk took 5 points off. Looking at the time Naruto remembered he needed to meet with Anko and Jiji at his office. As prepared to leave Naruto saw Hottomaru behind him and from the looks of things the boy guessed the pup was eager to get out of the small apartment. "Ah, fine, come on."

Naruto didn't bother with a leash as Tsume told him ninken hated them, even when used for undercover missions and trying pass off as regular dogs. Going into a light jog towards the Hokage Tower to see if the pup could catch up to him Naruto was surprised to see Hottomaru could. Bringing up the pace and then going into a run the blond saw that Hottomaru while still good wasn't fairing as well and slowed down a bit so the ninja puppy could catch up to him. After the meeting was done Naruto was going to start training the pup. He still had a good few hours before he was allowed to use his IDC skill and enter the Zombie Dungeon.

At least there the enemies were at a decent level that was close to Hottomaru's and with his new weapons and ninjutsu Naruto would have no problems facing them.

Entering the building, Naruto and Hottomaru made their way up the stairs and entered the waiting room, "Hey, Mariko-neechan!"

"Naruto-kun," Mariko greeted the boy before Hottomaru jumped on her desk.

"No! Bad dog!" Naruto chided.

"Oh, he's so cute," Mariko began scratching the puppy and the dog was loving everything second of it, his hind leg kicking in the air as she gave him a belly rub, "Lousy no for got little-"

"So how goes the pet training, gaki," Anko asked.

"Gah! Will you stop that!" Naruto was getting pretty sick of this game.

"Nope," she grinned and spotted Hottomaru, "Wow, you're dog left you for a woman with magic fingers," Hottomary began doing yelps of pleasure and his leg was shaking like crazy, "Can't say I didn't see it coming."

"Send them in, Mariko-chan," Hiruzen's voice carried over the intercom.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Mariko motioned them to the door and Naruto grabbed Hottomaru by the scruff of his neck and had him follow him inside the office, "Lousy, mutt," Naruto thought.

"Take a seat you two," Hiruzen motioned to the seat but saw that one of them was already occupied, "Uhh, I guess one of you will have to share a seat. Who's ninken is that?"

"Mine. How'd you know Hottomaru's a ninken, Jiji?" Naruto's efforts to get the pup to sit on the floor was proving fruitless and in the end he merely had the pup lay down on his lap.

"I'm not the Hokage for nothing, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This wouldn't have to do with that D-rank bounty completion I received yesterday, would it?"

"Umm."

"I thought so," he sighed, "I don't know whether to scold you or congratulate you on completing your first C-Rank mission, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said.

"C-Rank mission? But the bounty was a D-Rank one?" Naruto was confused.

"The value and rank of bounties and missions varies, Naruto-kun. Eradication or capture of wildlife such as Onibuta is considered a C-Rank mission," truthfully the boy should have learned more about this at the academy but the man didn't know if he was to blame it on Naruto skipping out on that lesson or it was due to their current academy spy.

"At any rate congratulations on you're newfound companion," Hiruzen chuckled as the ninken pup barked at him, "you'll have your work cut out for you."

Hiruzen remembered when he first summoned a very young Enma when the monkey summon was the Prince of the Monkeys before he became the clan leader. The arrogant and hot-headed princeling at the time didn't want to cooperate with him when they first met but over time the two had become the closest of friends and Hiruzen could always rely on the King of the Monkeys.

"Now on to business. First off, I don't need to stress the fact that neither one of you are to reveal the existence of the Abyss Auction House," both nodded, "Good. Unfortunately, it also means one other thing."

Here Hiruzen took out two pieces of paper and passed them both to his ninja and ninja to be. "Hokage-sama?" the woman was worried.

"There's no need to be frightened, Anko. This here is a protection seal that Senju Mito developed at the request of her husband and the Abyss. It's a form of defense so that no one may forcibly extract any information about the Abyss Auction House, unlike the curse seal they develop for those who work for them. However, I connect stress the ramifications that can occur should either one of you reveal them without my or their authority."

Anko breathed more easily and Naruto noticed the woman putting her hand to her neck, "What's that about?"

After administering the protection seal, a weird but painless experience in his mind, Naruto had to admit it was pretty cool. "Kinda think of it that perk of mine said I get more experience and effectiveness from fuinjutsu."

"Hey, Jiji, can I learn how to do seals?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, kami-sama," Hiruzen was dreading this. The Uzumaki Clan were feared far and wide because of their mastery in fuinjutsu with good reason. Even at a young age the average Uzumaki had a better grasp and understanding of seals than most others, when it came to Uzumaki prodigies in the art it was a whole other ball game. "If Naruto inherited even a drop of talent for that field from either one of his parents many will start to ask questions. Even the enemy," while Minato was much more powerful than his wife and a prodigy that excelled at everything he did, the woman was still a very strong kunoichi and was the only one that outranked him in terms of fuinjutsu.

She was no Tsunade it terms of power and prowess but was one of the few kunoichi of her lifetime that many thought had the potential to rival and perhaps be on par with her someday.

"Naruto's getting stronger but not quickly enough to last against the more powerful ninja. Even after all these years some still try to find what remains of the Uzumaki Clan," Hiruzen had gotten reports from Jiraiya ad his Anbu that were sent on special missions to locate any of the remaining Uzumaki Clan members and bring them back to Konoha for sanctuary.

It was easier said than done, and at times some clan members they had a led on were either too elusive to find, their seals he didn't doubt helped them in this, or they were too late and their bodies were found mutilated by enemy factions to find out their secrets. As it was, Tsunade and Naruto were currently the only ones with Uzumaki blood left in them that was affiliated with Konoha. Hiruzen doubted there was any full-blooded Uzumaki left now.

But as much as wanted to protect the boy Hiruzen knew that short of binding and locking him up, Naruto wouldn't give up on learning something or become a ninja, "The boy had inherited his mother's bull headed stubbornness and his father's never give up attitude." It was a dangerous combination in his mind. A though popped into Hiruzen's head however.

"While I admire your enthusiasm to learn a skill very few use, I'm afraid I'll have to say no at the moment. Before you interrupt," Hiruzen stopped the blond as soon as he saw signs of protest, "you must know that learning and using seals isn't as simple as it sounds, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen produced a blank scroll. "Write your name."

"Huh?"

"Write your name on this scroll, Naruto," Hiruzen gave the boy some ink and a paintbrush. Not seeing where this was going Naruto proceeded to do just that as quickly as he could and Hiruzen merely sighed. "This is what I am talking about, Naruto."

"What? What I do?" the boy asked.

"Fuinjutsu is as a powerful, complicated and deadly art. It requires a great amount of skill, concentration, dedication, imagination, and absolute precision."

"Precision? Isn't it just writing down symbols and stuff?" the boy got a smack in the head by Anko, "Ow!"

"Fuinjutsu is more than just writing symbols and stuff, gaki-baka!" Anko shook her head.

"Anko-chan is right, Naruto-kun, it's much more than merely writing symbol on a blank piece of paper. While I've seen much worse, the way you wrote your name is still very sloppy, I'm afraid. Fuinjutsu is a delicate art, a single mistake be it an out of place character, stroke of the ink, or incompatible symbols can have disastrous effects. I've seen what happens to inexperienced individuals who meddle in fuinjutsu only for it to greatly backfire on them. The most occurring theme is them being killed or crippled, or this happening to those around them. I once saw a man try to seal a weapon within his arm, his lack of knowledge and inexperience in fuinjutsu forced him to give up being a ninja and ruined his life," the man still shuddered at the memory. "While it's possible if done properly you can use your imagination if the opposite occurs."

Naruto was slightly pale at the prospect.

"As it now Naruto I can't allow you to learn fuinjutsu. Once your calligraphy is at a very acceptable level, and you're able focus and not merely rush and get it over and done with I will consider it. Until then you're forbidden from learning it," Naruto knew whenever Jiji used his absolute authority voice there was no going around it.


[QUEST ALERT!]

Calligraphy 101!

Main Quest: Learn and master the skill Basic Calligraphy!

Hidden Objective: ?

Main Quest Completion: +500 REP with Sarutobi Hiruzen, +1100 EXP, Unlock Fuinjutsu Skill, ?

Hidden Objective: ?, ?

Accept? (Yes/No)


"Ok, Jiji," Naruto knew better to argue at this point with the old man.

"Very good," Hiruzen released a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted to do this but it was for Naruto's own good. He wouldn't deny Naruto using fuinjutsu but he needed the boy to be stronger and in a better mindset before he allowed him to take a shot at it. Naruto wasn't like his father where he could learn, master, and sometimes even improve a skill and make it look like childsplay. Nor did he have Kushina's raw talent in calligraphy, a fact that shocked many who knew the tomboy. Naruto had to start at the bottom and work his way up.

"On another note I have a little proposition for you two," Hiruzen began, "Anko how would you like to take Naruto on as a student?"

"…Huh!?" was their only intelligent response.

"Think of it as an experiment of sorts," Hiruzen elaborated, "You Naruto are in need of a tune up, and while I have faith in you having a someone of Anko's skill help you along the way will help get you results."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Anko asked her leader.

"Come now, Anko. Do you think me blind? I've seen and heard how you associate with Naruto-kun. You obviously care for him and you've gone out of your way to train and give him advice," he smirked knowingly.

"Jiji have you been using your crystal ball again?" Naruto asked.

"His crystal what?" Anko asked in confusion.

"Nothing," he shot Naruto a look that was both pleading and threatening, "Just an old trick I showed him when he was younger, that's all," the man thanked kami that he made Orochimaru or Jiraiya swear not to tell anyone when he found out.

"Back to the topic at hand, you two, Anko's methods are unorthodox and unique to say the least," the man deadpanned when she said, "Damn proud of it," and Naruto did the same thing as him, "However, from what I've seen based on your academic reports, Naruto, and from what Anko told me, both unorthodox and kinaesthetic learning methods actually seem to get better results."

"Kinaesthwaht?" Naruto asked.

"It means you learn better by doing things than by reading them, gaki," Anko told him. "In other words you have a hell of an easier time physically practicing a technique when showed to you than by learning the theory of it and not being showed."

"Oh, I get it," Naruto understood.

"This is also another reason why I want you teaching him, Anko. You're able to make a lesson or teach Naruto in ways he can actually understand."

"I don't know, Hokage-sama. I mean sure I taught the gaki a few things but nothing serious. I mean if I didn't do anything the gaki would most likely get his ass handed to him on a silver platter when he goes up against other ninja. No offense, gaki," Anko said.

"None taken," Naruto groused but mentally thought, "Up yours!"

"Besides I'm part of Konoha's T&I Division. I get a bonus depending on lockup I manage to crack," because of the low amount of members in some divisions such as T&I the Hokage had created an incentive for those to join this divisions such as base salary and depending on the information found a bonus. The salary wasn't as high as those who did field work mission, nowhere near, but it offered a great deal of safety and was very low risk. Any one could be a ninja, but even then not everyone was cut out for fieldwork.

"You'll still be able to do that, Anko. But if you do this you'll also receive a biweekly salary of seventy thousand ryo for twelve weeks before the graduation ceremony begins in January if you do this," Hiruzen decided to sweeten the offer.

"Deal!" Anko for that amount of cash the woman didn't hesitate to agree and both she and Naruto signed the contract that Hiruzen took out.

"Wait you said the graduation ceremony's in January, Jiji?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Yes?" unlike the previous five years where the term lasted ten months, the final year was only five as there wasn't much left to teach students in terms of schooling. The final two years generally speaking were mostly used to up the academy students physical and weapon capabilities, though a great emphasis on in class studies was still needed. Things such as previous strategies used, what to expect to happen when in another country, etc.

"But that means-" Naruto stopped cold as a hand landed on his shoulder and a he felt a great chill go up his spine.

"It means, gaki, that you and I have three months of non stop fun time together," her oh-so familiar sadistic and pain inducing grin appeared. Even Hiruzen had to admit he was slightly unnerved by the look.

"Is it too late to reconsider this?" Naruto squeaked out as he felt himself being dragged by the cuff of his clothes.

"That ship sailed and sank into the abyss, gaki. From this day forth, welcome to Anko's Training From Hell," she cackled as she left the office.

"Arf," Hottomaru released a sigh of relief.

"Oops, almost forgot," Anko popped back in and Hottomaru found himself wrapped around Midori's coils. "Thought you were exempt from this didn't you, poochy."

The grinning sadist merely got a whimper from the small creature, an action that was mimicked and shared by his owner.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Hiruzen was starting to have second doubts. At worst the woman would break the boy and he'd be left a complete mess, at best he'd become much more competent ninja. As he began going back to work another thought occurred, "What if she turns him into a miniature version of herself," one Anko was bad enough, another Anko with untold potential inside him.

"Oh, kami, what have I done," the man had no idea what potential hell on earth he may have just created.