AN: So I've decided that when the series is finished, I'm going to go through it and do a rewrite. It probably won't change any major plot points unless I'm really not liking them. The rewrites will be more detailed, I'll flesh out some characters more, throw in new ones. So now my goal is to get everything down in writing, and then I'll make it good. It'll be good fun. That's all for the moment. Thanks for reading!
I don't own Naruto it any manga I've borrowed from.
In the Eye of a God, Chapter 7
"Minor Differences"
Naruto woke up that night for the third time straight. He was sweating. The moon was full and shone through their window, illuminating Hinata in their bed. Naruto got out of bed, wearing nothing but his sweatpants. He went into the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. It had been six days since the Mist ninja hostage situation. Six days since the men he had murdered began haunting his dreams, destroying his psyche. "You must move on from these killings, boy. You did what you had to to protect your vixen. Your actions were justified." "First time you've ever shown concern about the contents of my thoughts, fox." "..." "Continue with your speech. I've never known you to speak without reason." The Fox didn't reply, and in fact sunk deeper into Naruto's mindscape. "Be like that then." Naruto reached into the cabinet over the sink and grabbed a few sleeping pills. After taking some and putting the container back into the cabinet, he returned to their bed. Taking care not to wake Hinata, Naruto stared at the ceiling, waiting for the pills to work their magic on him.
As he slowly drifted off to sleep, he reflected on the news Hinata had brought to light to the Hokage. According to the men she overheard, the Mist village and the Rock village were joined in an alliance of some kind. Whatever the specifics, the objective of the Mist was clear. To weaken Konoha by taking out powerhouse ninja such as Naruto. Judging by their language, Hinata thought that there might be several squads that were targeting different ninja in Konoha. Tsunade had then asked Kakashi, who was watching from the corner, to place hidden ANBU squads around several ninja that could be targets. Sasuke, Kakashi himself, Tsunade, Naruto, Neji, Gai, along with a few others Naruto hadn't been listening to. He knew that even as he lay there, there were several of ANBU's best operatives stationed around the house to protect him and Hinata. Naruto thought that Tsunade had understood that the ANBU were simply a formality, there to deter any potential threats that happened to detect them. Naruto was perfectly capable of defending himself. The cloaked man he had brought back had turned out to be a high ranked shinobi noble of the Mist village. Ramel or something. The interrogation corps of ANBU was still trying to crack him, as far as Naruto knew. Gradually, sleep overtook him and he drifted back into his nightmares.
The next morning had Naruto heading out to the mountain with Kakashi. It was still early in the morning. The fog had yet to burn off and the sun was still hiding behind a ridge in the distance. The two had almost reached the edge of the village when Sasuke appeared from an alleyway and fell in step next to Naruto and Kakashi. "Sasuke, you know this is a private training session, correct?" Kakashi drawled as they walked. Ignoring Kakashi, Sasuke smiled as he walked with the pair. "Finally I figured out when and where you guys have been leaving. I'm anxious to spar with you again, Naruto." "Unfortunately Sasuke, today isn't a sparring day." Sasuke looked over at Naruto, confused. "Then why do you have Kakashi and them going with you?" Sasuke gestured to the ANBU that were waiting at the agreed spot outside the village. "Because I need them to watch my back while I train. Kakashi's just here in the event that I want to learn a few new jutsu." "Wait, so Kakashi's not training you?" Sasuke was extremely confused. "Nope, I'm just here to supervise and report his progress to the Hokage." "So how is Naruto getting anywhere with..." Sasuke looked around the empty street before continuing. "..the Rinnegan?" "It's difficult to explain. The...eye doesn't require me to learn from anybody. You learn its powers by instinct. It's like the Sharingan in that respect." "I see." Sasuke and Naruto continued to banter the whole way up and behind the mountain. As they arrived at Naruto's practice clearing, he called to the ANBU. "Could you guys set up the punching bag while I release this seal?" "Of course." The ANBU dispersed into a circle in the clearing that covered most of the area. Naruto sat down and took his new bandage off as he began to channel the required chakra to release the seal. "Naruto, what do you mean by punching bag? Surely we're past the Academy days of needing to hit a stationary target?" "We are Sasuke." Kakashi's voice drifted from a tree he was sitting on. "Naruto's just affectionately named the mountain he trains on a punching bag because that's what it is to him now." "A-a mountain!? What the hell?" Sasuke's voice resounded with confusion and interest as he turned to Naruto. The sun began to peek out from the ridge to the east of the valley. Kakashi sighed. "You'll understand in a while, Sasuke."
Not long after, Naruto had completed the seal and his Rinnegan was visible, accompanied by the expected drop in pressure and temperature along with the silencing of the animals nearby. As he stood, the ANBU shouted in unison. "Earth Style, Mountain Creation Jutsu!" With a rumble and grinding sound, a large mountain several hundred feet high arose from the ground. The Hokage monument still was twice the size of it. "Thanks guys, that should be good! You can all back off now!" Naruto called to the ANBU who had summoned the mountain. His speech contrasted with the way his voice sounded like an ancient being from a time forgotten. Sasuke shifted. He'd never get used to it. "You two should also clear the area. I'm going to use that jutsu." "I see. I'm guessing this means a short session today?" "Unfortunately, yes." Kakashi sighed as he stood up and walked up a path leading to the top of the Hokage monument. "Come on Sasuke, Naruto's show is about to begin." Still bewildered at the magnitude of what was happening, Sasuke half walked, half stumbled after Kakashi. As they left his range of vision, Naruto walked into the clearing and kneeled on his right leg. "Fox, I'm going to need to borrow your chakra for this one" "Do I have a choice?" "No, but it's always polite to let someone know before you take something." The fox snorted in Naruto's mindscape. "Condescending douchebag." Naruto closed his eyes and began to channel his chakra into his hands.
Up on the mountain, Sasuke watched Naruto kneeling, anticipation building in his body. "Sasuke, sit down. Naruto's shown me this jutsu once before. It takes a good amount of time to charge up the needed chakra." "Just what is this jutsu that needs a mountain to work?" "It doesn't need a mountain. Naruto's just using one so he doesn't permanently scar the landscape." "Not answering my question." Kakashi sighed his trademark sigh. "He calls the jutsu 'Chibaku Tensei' and the jutsu is multi staged. First Naruto channels an amount of chakra so incredibly dense, the fox cloak looks like a joke next to it. Then, using his proficiency in attractive and repulsive forces" at this, Sasuke's eyes widened "he maneuvers the ball into the air above the area he wants to destroy. Then he lets the density of the ball do it's work." Sasuke turned back to Naruto's kneeling form. "I recommend activating your Sharingan, if you really want a show." Directing chakra to his eyes, Sasuke did as Kakashi suggested. He jumped. Kakashi chuckled. "Told you it was unbelievable."
Naruto had since opened his eyes, and was staring with intensity at the small black ball he was creating in his hands. It was hardly the size of a marble, yet it contained chakra equal to that of fifty jonin rank ninja. Naruto knew that the slightest dip in concentration here would result in his instantaneous death. Minutes passed as hours to Naruto during that time. When he couldn't pack anymore chakra into the space, Naruto slowly stood and parted his arms. The ball floated away from him, gliding slowly up the mountain the ANBU had created.
Sasuke watched the ball glide up the mountain with fear, awe, envy, and fascination all as one emotion. There's so much chakra, in that one space...If that ball were to be triggered, it would certainly destroy the Leaf Village, and then some. He glanced at Kakashi, who also had activated his Sharingan. His face appeared impassive. The ANBU around them were wearing masks, thus concealing their reactions. Sasuke turned his attention back to the chakra ball. Such control, and over such a distance too! It's a miracle he's able to control that much chakra, much less cause it to float up several hundred feet away from him!" His mind suddenly put together the pieces of what the jutsu entailed. He's using one so he doesn't permanently scar the landscape. Mind bogglingly dense chakra. A mountain. His awe increased, along with his already present sense of doom.
The ball was in place. Naruto was breathing heavily. This was the most compact he'd ever been able to make the jutsu. Now he just had to maintain focus. Clapping his hands together and entwining his fingers, Naruto boomed in his scraping voice "CHIBAKU TENSEI!"
There was a resounding crack through the morning silence. Sasuke perked up, alerted. He stared at the mountain and his eyes widened. I was right. Rocks on the mountain were slowly floating up to the top. The peak of the mountain was crumbling in reverse, the pieces ascending upwards towards the immensely dense chakra. The pieces grounded themselves to the ball, increasing the size of the sphere as more and more bits of earth joined the jutsu. After a few seconds, large boulders started rising along with the small rocks. The group on the mountain became aware of what sounded like Naruto's voice growling through the cracks and rumbles of the floating rock. Sasuke's mind stopped working. All he could do was watch his rivalry with his best friend crumble before his very eyes.
Naruto's Rinnegan pupil dilated. Letting loose an animal cry, he ground his jaw as he pushed himself further than he'd ever pushed before. The mountain itself became affected by the jutsu, the huge monolith breaking into small pieces as it floated upward to join the increasingly larger ball in the sky. His nose began to bleed. The progress of the rocks faltered briefly as his mind darted towards Sasuke on the ridge. Remastering control of his thoughts, Naruto gave the jutsu one final push before leveling his chakra flow to maintain the jutsu. He fell to the ground, unable to stand up. He bent his neck and looked up to see what he had achieved. He was pleased to see that the ball he had created this time around was several times larger than the last time he tried. Most of the original mountain was gone, the jutsu was around six hundred feet in diameter. Naruto maintained control over the ball a moment longer to admire his achievement, then let the jutsu go. The ball fell to the ground, slowly, due to it's sheer size. Naruto gradually broke the fall of the ball as it hit the ground so that it wouldn't cause a large amount of noise. A wave of dust and rubble flew up from the spot where the massive ball had landed, blinding Naruto. Releasing his hold on the chakra ever so slightly, like letting air out of a balloon, Naruto dispelled the jutsu in such a way that instant fiery death did not occur. "You have...*puff*...certainly *puff* improved *puff*...boy" "It's still tiny...compared...to..Nagato. But...yeah, I've...improved. Naruto's thoughts slowed as he lowered himself to the ground. Closing his eyes, he wondered mildly what standard the Rinnegan would hold him to before teaching him something new. Then his consciousness slipped into dreams of gods entering the realm of man and meddling with the affairs of mortals.
