REVISED AS OF 4/3/2015
Damn...took a while to get this up. Had a couple things come up but got them out of the way. Enjoy!
Credit goes to Dragon Man 180 for providing the name of Thrashing Tails for Naruto's kenjutsu style. I like the name and it keeps well with the theme of Naruto embracing his fox sensei's teachings.
WARNING: This story will contain mature language, sexual themes, and graphic depictions of violence and gore.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter 7: Training Montage Pt. 2
Inside Naruto's Mindscape
Naruto was sprinting through a large and dense forest, doing something akin to parkour –as Kurama called it from her lifetime of memories- across massive roots and fallen trunks in his path. To an uninformed bystander, it might seem like he was running from danger.
Instead, he was training.
His sensitive hearing picked up some faint pattering of feet and hands on the ground behind him to the right. He spared a glance behind to find two plain-looking 'boys' his age and size running on all fours like foxes before one of them broke off and moved across to behind Naruto's left. He frowned in frustration at allowing himself to be flanked, while his enemies were preparing to strike at his back simultaneously.
With a split-second decision, he abruptly stopped dead in his track in the middle of the forest and prepared himself. The two 'boys' were momentarily surprised enough that they nearly overshot him before recovering and turning on a dime to dash at him from both sides.
One raised a knife hand with sharpened fingernails aimed at the boy's neck while the other went for the blonde's legs with a sliding leg sweep.
The boy smirked for an instant before hopping and twisting his body into spinning horizontally in mid-air between the stabbing hand and leg sweep, which both missed barely. As he spun, Naruto quickly whipped an arm out downward with all his might, connecting with the stabbing apparition's head to hammer it to the ground hard. The impact snapped its neck instantaneously.
At the same time, he swung a leg out to the sweeping apparition, his foot almost punching a hole through its face as it was kicked back. It crashed against a tree trunk hard enough to crack the bark around it. Before it could get up, its neck was brutally smashed against the tree by a lunging elbow from Naruto. Blood and spittle spewed from its mouth as it slumped down again and stayed still. The blonde let out a small sigh of relief.
"Give me a break, Kurama. I've been at this for four hours with those two." he grumbled out loud to no one in particular.
"This will be the last round. Do well, Naruto." the demon fox's disembodied voice rolled through the forest like thunder.
The two apparitions that Kurama set upon him remained still for a moment before they twitched and began to rise from their positions like zombies, their previous wounds gone. Naruto cursed before regaining his bearing and ran on all fours as fast as he could toward where he knew the forest would end. After a few minutes of running and hearing the two apparitions behind him, he suddenly broke out from the trees onto a large plain, which was covered as far as eyes could see with tall grass swaying under a gentle breeze.
He caught a glimpse of the giant crimson fox Kurama in the distance, lying lazily on her side with her head propped up by an arm. Her red eyes were slowly following her host's movement.
Naruto then heard rustling of the tall grass behind him, and knew the two apparitions were gaining on him. He abruptly tumbled forward into a series of cartwheels and backward somersaults before finishing by landing on all fours facing the opposite direction he was running. His body was coiled and ready for action as his eyes stared directly into the apparitions' soulless eyes while they stopped at the boy's challenging pose, wary of what he was planning. He didn't want to give them any time to strategize so he quickly dashed forward on all fours, making them tense.
He let out a feral roar as he hopped just above them with both of his clawed hands slashing out in huge arcs. This forced the two 'boys' to split up, making him smirk as his plan to divide and conquer succeeded with no issue.
While the apparitions lost sight of him due to having to dodge, he landed and leapt high into the air toward one of them just before it quickly oriented itself. Having lost sight of its target, it prepared for any attack from any direction but wasn't ready for an open hand smashing into his face from above. It felt like its head was spiked straight into the ground like a ball with a growl of exertion from Naruto, momentarily dazing it.
The blonde tried to finish the 'boy' off with a footstomp to drive its head deeper into the soil, but had to lean back far to avoid a clawed swipe from the side from its partner. Allowing himself to backflip once to make room, he was ready for this apparition's flurry of swipes that he slipped by. Seeing an opening, he quickly grabbed an arm and pulled his enemy close to deliver a punishing spin kick to the head that knocked it to the side and sent it tumbling away.
After Naruto took a quick second to catch his breath, he had to tilt his head to the side to let a knife hand slip by on his left from behind before grabbing the overextended arm and effortlessly broke it over his shoulder. The first 'boy' ignored the loss of his left arm and tried to drive his right knee into his undefended liver from behind. The blonde was ready and spun under the broken arm still in his grip out of the knee's range, making the apparition stumble forward due to the suddenly bad footing. As a result, he easily ended up standing behind it with his right arm wrapped tightly around its neck.
A quick squeeze and yank resulted in a broken neck, and the 'boy' fell lifelessly to the ground when he let go.
He didn't spare any time when he sprinted toward the remaining 'boy' still laid out on the ground from his kick earlier and leapt high into the air. A knee crashing down on its stereum ended its 'life'.
Naruto, knowing he won, stood up slowly and allowed himself to take a breath. He had to shudder when he observed the defeated apparition's dull eyes staring up into the sky. There was no indication that it knew it was going to die; it was like seeing a puppet with its string cut. He never cared for fighting apparitions since they made his wins feel hollow, but knew this was the best way to train for the time being.
"Good job, Naruto. That's enough for now. Come over here and we will figure out a kenjutsu style for you." Kurama called out from her lazy posture. The boy sighed tiredly and walked away from the two apparitions now vanishing into thin air.
"Sit down and rest. I'm going to show you my memories of the styles I have seen while observing the world for thousands of years. It may take hours, even days, but there is no need to rush. Keep in mind that you must be sure that the style would fit you. Just pick out the styles that reach out to you and we'll make a list. Then we'll discuss them at the end." the great fox spoke as he sat down cross-legged and made himself comfortable. He gave an understanding nod just as Kurama snapped her fingers.
A holographic projection appeared in mid-air in front of Naruto, who could see a swordsman showing off some techniques with his katana. It looked pretty plain and basic, something he knew someone with a superior style could easily pick up. He gave a shrug, indicating his disinterest. Kurama snapped her fingers again to change styles in the display.
This would repeat for hours until they had to stop to allow Naruto to physically and mentally recover for the rest of that night in a deep sleep.
Five Days Later
Thanks to the speeding up of time in his mindscape relative to the real world, Naruto was able to train an extra eight hours in just two hours of real world time before he had to truly sleep the rest of the night. Any more than this, he wound up being too sluggish the next day.
Since they began looking for the most compatible kenjutsu style five days ago, the cycle of a full day of physical training and then four hours of mindscape training at night followed by the remaining four hours used for skimming through Kurama's memories continued until now.
"You seem to be finally running out of styles to show me...I can't believe how much you've seen." Naruto remarked as he continued to look over the styles cycling through on the projection. He was sitting comfortably on the grass while Kurama was lying next to him in her lazy posture, looking bored.
"You can be so picky. Out of thousands I've shown you, you picked out just four and I'm still not quite sure they're a good match for you." she grumbled as she snapped her fingers once more, switching to another style.
"I can't believe some of these styles…like that green-haired swordsman using three swords or that moody sissy-looking guy with the 'gunblade' as you called it." the blonde pointed out, clearly not interested in the latest style showing on the screen, while his tenant just shrugged lazily as she snapped her fingers again.
Finally, the next style caught his attention.
"Wait….stop. Please show me more of this, Kurama." he requested, seemingly fascinated with the tall and muscular man with an eye patch and a very impressive moustache displayed on the projection. The man was cutting through his enemies brutally and effortlessly with two thin swords. Kurama smirked as she had a feeling the boy would've been interested in this one, hence why she put off showing this style until near the end after he had seen nearly everything else.
She waved a hand and the projection disappeared to be replaced by an apparition identical to the man previously in the display. Ten more apparitions then surrounded him with different weapons and they attacked him all at once. Naruto had to stare in awe as the man effortlessly evaded, sliced, and stabbed all ten apparitions in less than a minute. The man then straightened up, his swords hanging somewhat limply, but still ready, at his sides as he glared at the boy with pure intimidation. It felt to Naruto like he'd be sliced into little pieces in an instant and had to hold back a gulp.
The man's expression abruptly turned blank, losing the intimidation in the process, and he then began demonstrating some stances and moves for Naruto to watch.
"I can tell you like this style and I'm honestly not surprised. It is a very aggressive and fluid style. Like Raging Fox, this style does not have any decent defense since the sabers cannot stand up to repeated heavy strikes. It will require quick reflexes to parry, avoid, or counter any strike aimed at you. With enough practice, you should be able to effortlessly deflect any projectile, and you have three ways of using these sabers; you can slice through most things, stab with precision at a weak point, or throw them as projectiles to catch enemies by surprise." Kurama explained.
"Seems like a style that would cause a lot of bloodshed."
"You would be able to kill anything that moves with this, but you also have a choice to disable anyone with a careful slice at a tendon or a stab through one of the joints. It can get bloody but it will be as efficient as you want."
Kurama watched the boy think deeply as he watched the 'man' continue its demonstration for a few long minutes.
"Well, this is the only style so far that really caught my attention, and I feel some sort of connection with this. I honestly don't think it's worth the time discussing the other styles I picked out earlier and I might as well get started on learning this one. The swords…you called them sabers?"
"They are rather unique in the Elemental Nations. Unlike the basic ninjato or katana, a saber is straight, usually longer, thinner, and somewhat fragile. However the blade can either be single or double-edged depending on how it's made. It is light, which makes it easy to slice through most things if you use enough strength. It has an effective handguard on the hilt for protecting your fingers, and you can also use it as an improvised brass knuckle for enemies up close. Due to the weapon's rarity on this continent, you may have to get them made or hope the old fart knew where they could be found. Make sure they are battle-ready when you do find some as there may be ceremonial ones and they're utter crap."
Naruto let out a weary sigh.
"I wonder why I ended up liking a weapon in which its rarity may be a disadvantage on this continent."
"Because it'd be boring otherwise, I guess. Don't worry...there WILL be a place or two that at least carry some decent sabers. You just have to find them." Kurama replied with a shrug.
"Alright. I just hope these long swords won't come back to bite me in the ass if I get stuck fighting in any narrow corridor."
"You'll still have your kunai for that. Even with that...while this style will focus primarily on these swords, it will also allow you to quickly disarm your enemies and make use of their weapons to suit any environment that may prove to be disadvantageous for the sabers."
"Seems like the pros will outweigh the cons on this one. I'm done looking. I like this style and I'll learn it to the best of my ability."
Kurama allowed a toothy grin as the demonstrating apparition vanished.
"Very well, Naruto. This style will cause a lot of bloodbaths. I can see my bloodlust being satiated in the future." she spoke with a somewhat sinister tone. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Sometimes I forget you're a bloodthirsty one, Kurama." he sighed with a smirk before turning serious. "I'm not going to commit murder for the sake of it. I will steel myself for killing if it's to protect, but I will give them a chance to back off if the situation allows for it."
Kurama let out a lazy shrug.
"That's fine. I don't care for my container turning into a mindless killing machine, anyway. Just remember one thing." Naruto looked up at the giant fox. "Your father single-handedly killed hundreds of Iwa nins in Third Great War for the sake of protecting Konoha, which cheered this 'esteemed achievement'. On the other hand, people in Iwa bitterly revile your father to this day for being a 'monster', murdering their friends, parents, and spouses. It is all about perspectives. Keep that in mind when you face your enemies."
Naruto's eyes widened. He hadn't thought much about the view from Iwa's side. Even though Iwagakure ignited the Third Great War, it was hard to justify that massacre. He knew from Kurama's stories that his father did not even show mercy to fleeing nin. Every enemy within his sight died, no matter what they did. Naruto allowed a small shudder as he wondered if he was going have to do something similar in the future for the sake of 'protecting his precious people'.
"Now that we're done with the search, we'll get started on learning how to properly maintain swords and some basic exercises to strengthen your arms and hand grips while holding the swords. That's before we move on to the beginning kata for this style. Meanwhile, we'll see if we can't at least get some practice bokkens from the old fart or elsewhere. By the time you graduate you need to buy your own set of sabers that you're comfortable with. That's a long way off, but they will be expensive because of their rarity. Better to see if you can put aside some money each month from your monthly allowances for that starting now."
Naruto let out a groan. Even with the stores forced to sell anything to him at regular prices, he wouldn't have much left over for savings. Would he even be able to buy anything decent?
"With that out of the way, let's go ahead and get you rested up. We'll get started on your weapon training tomorrow. Last thing...I wonder what we should call this style? The name was never given by this master." Kurama put a finger up to her muzzle in thought, as she seemed to absent-mindedly swing some of her tails around behind her. Naruto watched the tails flicker around while thinking. He knew his tenant's tails were extremely deadly. They could destroy mountains, uproot entire sections of forests, and generate tsunamis. She could also practically slash anything into pieces with them… more like the style he was shown a few minutes ago.
He raised his eyebrows as an idea struck him.
"How about 'Thrashing Tails'? It keeps in theme with the Raging Fox and everything else you're teaching me!" the blonde exclaimed excitedly. Kurama widened her eyes before grinning toothily.
"That's a good name. I don't think I'll be able to come up with anything better. Thrashing Tails it is then, Naruto."
Later at Naruto's Apartment
Naruto was feeling despondent as he watched the sunlight begin to fade from his bedroom's window in the waning hours of this day. He was lying on his bed that he hadn't left all day since he woke up; even with his stomach rumbling for food.
He'd be happy 364 days out of the year if he could help it, but not on this day. It was October Tenth, the day of the Kyuubi disaster exactly nine years ago, and also his birthday. It was also the day each year the village threw a festival for the Kyuubi's 'death', and the hatred rose exponentially for the blond jinchuuriki for one night as the villagers bitterly remembered how much were lost on that fateful night. He couldn't go out without causing riots so he decided to lock himself in on this day every year.
Kurama gave him the day off from training because she knew his mind wouldn't be in the right frame for anything. She felt somewhat responsible for him hating this day but there was nothing she could do or say to improve her container's mood.
Naruto was going to be content with wasting away for the rest of the night, at least until he jolted into a sitting position upon hearing knocking at the front door. Timid and polite...he knew that kind of knock to be done by only one person. He let out a sigh, as he couldn't pretend to not be home since it'd be impossible to hide from that person. He stood up from his bed, wearing just a t-shirt and shorts, and walked to the door to slowly open it.
It revealed Hinata standing with four other people he wasn't expecting. A cute platinum blond girl was standing in front of the others waving with a mischievous smile.
"Oi, Naruto! Witness my new technique...Hijutsu: Happy Birthday Hug!" Yamanaka Ino exclaimed playfully as she pounced on the surprised blonde for an enveloping hug, causing them to stumble to the floor. He inwardly blushed at such close contact with this girl on whom he was beginning to realize he had a small crush.
"Onii-chan! I know the same technique too! Mine's much more powerful, obviously!" a cute little Hyuuga girl with long black hair piped up and then joined Ino by hopping on him and hugging his other side.
"Hanabi-chan!" Naruto exclaimed with half surprise and half happiness seeing Hinata's younger sister here as well.
"Troublesome…don't hurt our birthday boy, girls. I need him for our celebratory shoji match." Shikamaru warned with a smirk.
"Hurry up and let us in so we can get started on the birthday cake Hinata-san baked for you." Choji insisted good-naturedly as he munched on his bag of chips. Hinata blushed upon having all attention on her now.
"Sorry for coming by unannounced, but we wanted to celebrate your birthday." she spoke shyly with a gentle smile as she held up a large box, presumably holding the cake she baked.
"It was her who convinced us come by. We're sorry for not doing this earlier, but we thought since you hated this day that you'd want to be left alone. We know now that's not what you need." Ino explained, making Hinata stammer for having her part in this revealed.
"You're a troublesome one, but I speak for all of us that we're glad to have you as our friend. To show that, we must celebrate your day of birth that allowed you to be alive with us." Shikamaru added, before glancing away with some embarrassment when everyone stared at him for saying such profound words.
Naruto was stunned. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't be upset with this 'intrusion' on his self-imposed private day to wallow in self-pity. In fact, he was truly happy to know that people were truly thankful for his existence, and this was the first time anyone wanted to celebrate his birthday other than his surrogate grandfather. He allowed a true smile as he got up to his feet then hugged Ino and Hanabi back tightly in thanks, making them giggle happily.
"Thank you for doing this, Hinata-chan." he said gratefully to his indigo-haired friend, who was smiling happily. He then turned to the others.
"Thank you as well, everyone! C'mon in!"
Soon at the shinobi academy
"So we're finally about to take the first step to becoming shinobi!" Naruto announced out loud as he stood in front of the shinobi academy building. Hinata was standing next to him in her dark blue baggy pants, a black sleeveless spandex top covered by her fur-lined pink overcoat that went down to her thighs and was zipped up. Her indigo hair was showing signs of growing beyond her familiar short hairstyle, with it barely covering the back of her neck now.
"Yes!" she asserted with a cute determined expression while adorably clenching her fists. She was happy to be around Naruto nearly every day in the class.
But…there was an issue already, at least in her opinion.
"Ano…Naruto-kun, is there a reason you're wearing that?" she pointed out to Naruto's odd outfit. It looked like a full workman's jumpsuit two sizes too large for him, with very durable fabric and lots of useful pockets. She didn't have a problem with that. She was more perturbed by the color. Blindingly bright 'kill-me-now' neon orange accented with blue from top to bottom threatened to burn out her precious Byakugan if she was too close. Naruto smiled sheepishly.
"This? Don't worry, Hinata-chan. I wouldn't be caught dead in this if I had a choice. I was shopping for an outfit when my sensei and I came across this in the bargains bin. I joked that I'd improve my stealth if I wore this doing pranks and got away scot-free. She got that idea and is making me wear this until I graduate." he grumbled.
"Oh thank Ka- I-I mean… I suppose that's a good challenge." Hinata did her best to hide her relief that her growing love interest did not suddenly have a horrible sense of fashion. Instead, she just had to put up with this for four years and hopefully be rewarded with seeing him in an outfit that complimented his good looks. She blushed lightly at the thought of what he could look like at that time with his body well into puberty by then.
She wondered about herself, and one thing she was sure about was that she'd get a small chest like most women in her clan. She was quite certain about that...deciding to ignore that nudging sensation in the back of her head that seemed to imply she was going to be proven quite wrong.
"It's kinda embarrassing but I'll live with it. It's durable and big so I probably won't grow into it for a good while. It'll be fun telling Hokage-jiji that I avoided squads of ANBU and jounin wearing this." Naruto asserted with a foxy grin that would make his tenant proud. Hinata giggled at her friend's antics as they stepped into the building.
Arriving at their assigned classroom which was set up with desks cascading down in rows from the back wall, they saw it was beginning to fill up. They immediately picked two free seats in the middle several rows up. They then found Choji and Shikamaru sitting all the way back in the rear corner, far away from everyone else. Naruto smirked, knowing that it was so that lazy Nara could get more sleep while being disturbed the least.
They found Ino standing at the front of the room, as if she seemed to be waiting for something. She noticed them and waved happily before suddenly showing an affronted frown. Forgetting her post, she stomped up next to where her fellow blonde was sitting.
"What the hell is that, Naruto?!" the platinum blonde bellowed with disgust, pointing rudely at his questionable choice in wardrobe. Everyone that was present in the room looked at the sheepish orange-clad boy.
Shikamaru was heard saying "Troublesome blondes..."
"Hehe…It's a dare. I'm wearing this till I graduate," Naruto timidly said as he did his sheepish gesture while some people in the classroom sniggered.
"Why?! You're pretty cute and you could get a lot of girls before you graduate if you dress cool!" Ino retorted, slamming her hands on Naruto's desk as she leaned in close, making him blush slightly at this closeness and her compliment. Hinata perked up at Ino's words and displayed a flash of jealousy in her eyes at the notion of girls going after him. Ino didn't miss this and smirked slightly.
"Why would I care about that, Ino-chan? I'm here to train to be a shinobi. Hell, you know I've already started on that long before I even set foot in this building!" Naruto retorted with a serious expression, looking offended at the notion he was interested in anything other than shinobi training in this sacred building. Hinata had to hide her victorious smile. Not only was that horrid outfit going to scare away image-conscious girls, he also wasn't going to be easily swayed into looking for any girl's affection. If everything went right, he'd be left all to her when the time for romance came.
"Well, the way you said that is pretty cool. Maybe that crappy outfit won't repel girls so much if you're still going to be cool about anything else." Ino retorted with a smirk, feeling a little warm inwardly upon seeing Naruto's serious gaze. She was also enjoying the slightly panicked look in Hinata's eyes as both girls noted several other girls in the classroom blushing at Naruto's serious but very handsome expression, despite his awful orange outfit.
Before Naruto could reply, the entire room went silent.
Ino perked up and turned away from her fellow blonde to see what was going on. All three friends found the source at the classroom's door. A raven-haired boy with onyx-black eyes stood there, his eyes carefully surveying the entire room. He displayed a disinterested and arrogant expression, as if he couldn't be bothered with anything that wasn't relevant to him. He was wearing a short-sleeved and high-collared black zip-up shirt with white shorts. His hair was styled to look like a duck's butt. If one were to look at the back of his shirt, it would display his clan's symbol, denoting that he was an Uchiha.
"I-is that Uchiha Sasuke?" One girl said in a trembling voice. Ino let out a squeal as she and many other girls scrambled over to near Sasuke and asked him many questions. Hiding the slight pang in his chest at seeing his slight crush fawn over someone else, he amused himself with watching one of Sasuke's eyes twitch constantly at this smothering attention. He glanced over to his left to see Hinata sitting there, looking on with disinterest.
"Not gonna go for duckbutt like everyone else?" he whispered near her ear, which nearly made her jump. After taking a second to think over what he said to her, she turned to him with a look of annoyance. Naruto was surprised to see that since it was rare for her to get cross with him.
Hinata was a little angry with Naruto. She already matured quickly under the harsh environment within her clan. So much that she already developed a more advanced view on many subjects, including romance. While they were still too young to worry about that subject seriously, he was going to be her future love interest when they grew older; that much she knew about herself. For her love interest to suggest that she went after someone else, even if it was a joke, upset her greatly.
"I have absolutely no interest in the Uchiha." she replied with such cold indifference Naruto had to check if he was covered in frost at that moment. It was as if she perfected the Hyuuga composure.
I think I might've pissed her off somehow.
I'd say...even that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Sorry, Hinata-chan. I was just teasing."
Hinata sighed and glanced away outside the window as the rest of the girls in the classroom continued to crowd around Sasuke while he tried to push his way through to his seat. Naruto silently cursed his stupidity and thought about what to say to his friend before a loud and high-pitched screech filled the classroom.
"INO-PIG! Get away from Sasuke-kun! You're bothering him!"
"ARGH!" A loud pained yell snapped the entire classroom from whatever they were doing to look toward the source. Naruto was tightly pressing his hands over his ears while Hinata was fussing over him, concerned for his pain.
"What the hell that all about?" a pink-haired girl near Sasuke, who was also covering his ears, yelled at the interruption, not dropping her volume at all.
"For fuck's sake! Be quiet!" Naruto cried as he slammed his forehead onto the desk, followed by a jolt and a yelp from Hinata as she was a little distressed over his discomfort.
It was at this point that he discovered that both he and Kurama were quite sensitive to high-pitched noises. The great fox was now roaring in pain and rolling all over in his mindscape with hands clamped tightly over her ears as well.
"What the hell?! I can't be that loud!" the banshee kept the volume up as she looked around the classroom and saw several people covering their ears. Embarrassed, her mouth flapped like a fish before Ino's hand slapped over it.
"Forehead... shut up! You're hurting Naruto with his sensitive hearing!" the blonde hissed harshly to her friend/rival. She might have been competing for Sasuke, but she wasn't going to let anyone hurt her best friend, even if it was unintentional.
That finally seemed to shut Haruno Sakura up for the moment, much to the relief of everyone in the room, Naruto especially. Recovering, he scowled menacingly at the pink-haired girl, who recoiled under his icy glare.
Kurama was now ranting in his head about exterminating all pink-haired humans in existence. He was sorely tempted to take that suggestion for a moment.
"Ano…are you ok, Naruto-kun?" Hinata inquired of the blonde, her annoyance from earlier completely forgotten.
"I'll barely live," he grumbled as his mood took a temporary dive from his failed joke and the banshee. They remained silent as more people filed into the classroom. A young female chunin stepped into the room and the entire room went silent.
The instructor greeted and welcomed everyone with a long speech on this being the first step to becoming a shinobi of Konohagakure. As this was going on, Naruto gazed silently at Sasuke sitting in the next row down by the windows.
He seems a little arrogant.
Like I said in the past, he looks like he's focused on only one goal, which I assume to be avenging the loss of his clan. You see all those people throwing themselves at his feet with hope of becoming his 'friend' yet he doesn't care about that. I'd bet he got the civilian council backing his every move, yet he's just using them so he can get stronger any way possible until they ran out of options. He'd then betray them to look for more power.
The blonde scowled.
So he's likely getting advanced training. I suppose I'm lucky I have a powerful entity for a sensei.
Not just a powerful entity...I am the almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune! Bow before me, puny mortals! Kurama retorted with mock haughtiness.
Naruto had to hold in a snort of laughter.
Anyway, you should keep your true talents hidden. Don't use anything you've learned already until the lessons covering them come up. You're also forbidden from using Raging Fox in any taijutsu spar on the school grounds. It will hurt the students too much, and you'll garner too much attention with that. You will learn the academy style instead to fool them. In fact, you probably should think about keeping a low profile throughout the years. Stay middle of the ground in grades.
I don't mind that. I don't need the attention that they're probably going to pile on that duckbutt to inflate his ego until it got too big to fit through the village's gates. Any particular reason why, though?
Take a look at the instructor.
Naruto shifted his eyes to look directly at the speaking chunin. He narrowed his eyes upon noting the familiar expression of loathing and disgust on her face each time she glanced up at the blond jinchuuriki.
They're going to find every reason that I'm you personified. I suppose being too smart or too advanced in skills will set them off and they'll try to sabotage me at every turn.
Right. I honestly don't care if my container do not come out top in this pathetic academy. If it was fifty years ago when the standards for graduating were much higher, I probably would have cared a tiny bit.
Naruto smirked.
It's nice having a doting parent in my head.
I doubt a parent would have you risk falling down a deep ravine on a regular basis, plan to have you go into a forest full of vicious monsters for 'training', teach you techniques that has the power to change the landscape for miles around, or especially have you dress up in that orange abomination for the next four years.
Love you too, foxy.
He nearly chuckled aloud upon hearing a snort from his friend.
One Month Later at the Academy
"Okay! It's time for our first exam. Don't turn your test over until I've finished passing them out, ok?" the female instructor ordered as she moved around the classroom handing out papers. She shot a particularly nasty glare at Naruto as she handed him his copy. He gave an uncaring shrug.
Stapling five pairs of her rather racy panties, which he snatched from her home, to the classroom's ceiling in full view of everyone a couple weeks ago likely didn't endear him to her.
Hinata seemed rather put out for a few days as well.
'You should only touch mi…I-I-I mean, you shouldn't touch any woman's underwear without permission!' were her words as she blushed a brilliant shade of red that day.
When the instructor gave the word to begin, he flipped the paper over. He narrowed his eyes immediately. He might have found the lectures boring, but he paid enough attention to know that his dear sensei didn't cover anything related to this exam's questions. In addition, they were much harder than what a first year student was supposed to be studying. He still could answer all the questions easily though.
Just as he was contemplating this issue, a growl came from inside his head.
So...they're going to try to sabotage my container anyway. Even if you answered them all correctly, they'd think you're me in human disguise. After all, there is no way dumb old Naruto could be this smart.
Oi...I think I was just insulted.
Whatever do you mean? she replied quickly in a far-too-innocent tone. He just decided to ignore this.
I guess she's still a little pissed about the panties incident. Let's see...I'm sure this is a genjutsu. Why would she stupidly give me any evidence that I can take to Hokage-jiji to get her in trouble?
There is no genjutsu. she replied in a perfect deadpan tone that broadcast exactly what she thought of the instructor's intelligence level. Naruto's eyes bulged out.
What the hell!? Is she really that stupid?
He leveled a gaze with the chunin at the front of the room and smirked evilly. She involuntarily shivered.
Think I should pretend to have no clue and answer them wrong? You did want me to keep a low profile.
No. I want you to keep a low profile, not be deemed dumb enough to not notice an obvious switcheroo. If you let this go by, they will keep doing this and it'll get annoying. Make an example of her so other instructors won't try the same thing.
"Excuse me, sensei. I believe you gave me the wrong copy. These questions have never been covered in your lectures," Naruto innocently said and everyone in the class perked their heads up, interested in the development. The instructor looked offended, but inwardly she was sweating.
"I-i-tt's not my fault you didn't pay attention to my lectures. Now complete the exam quietly or I will have you leave for disrupting the test."
Naruto allowed a cold smile to slowly form that chilled her. She was now feeling like she just blew her chance to back out.
"If you're so sure this is the correct exam, I'm taking this to the headmaster of this school, who happens to be Hokage-sama, and have him explain to me why I was given a much more difficult test than the rest of the class without any prior warning," Naruto declared with his icy cold eyes seemingly piercing through the profusely sweating instructor.
He merely stood with the paper in hand and stepped out of the classroom toward the Hokage's office. The entire room broke into murmurs while Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were glaring angrily at the instructor. She sank down to her knees in defeat as she briefly thought that perhaps she let her hatred for the Kyuubi consume her, and now she was going to pay dearly.
The next day, a new instructor came into the classroom. He flinched under Naruto's steely gaze as he remembered the Hokage's promise of pain if he did not do his job properly.
He didn't doubt that after he heard the previous instructor was permanently busted back down to genin.
Two months later at the academy
It was a beautiful spring day in May as all the first-year students mingled outside on the sparring grounds next to the academy building. They were enjoying their lunch break between learning the academy style and sparring with it after the meal. It was going to be the students' first time sparring with their partners.
"So what're you going to do, Naruto?" Shikamaru mumbled as he made a move on the improvised shogi board drawn in the dirt between him and Naruto. They were playing a quick shogi match before the instructor would come out to end the break. Hinata was sitting next to Naruto as she watched the match in fascination while Ino and Choji were making small talks behind the pineapple-haired boy.
"Huh? I'm fortifying my Mino Castle defense against your offensive." was the other player's reply as he moved one of his pieces to block his opponent's advance. Naruto had improved tremendously in his shogi playing. He actually won his first match against Shikamaru a few months ago, much to the Nara's dismay. Now he usually won three out of ten times at this point while consistently challenging Shikamaru's planning capacity each match.
"Troublesome…I meant the spars. We know you're working on that style of yours. We've never actually seen it in action. Are you going to use it?" the lazy genius drawled with feigned disinterest as he made another sneaky move on the board, much to his opponent's chagrin.
To be honest, Shikamaru really wanted to see how strong Naruto truly was. He knew the blonde was well beyond everyone, even Sasuke, in this class with the way he carried himself lately He might be a lazy ass and he'd find it troublesome to tell anyone otherwise, but he rather disliked not having all the data on anything that interested him.
"Sorry, Shika. I'd rather not." Naruto replied apologetically as he made a sneaky move of his own. Shikamaru's eye twitched before he went into his now-too-common thinking pose.
"Ano…why not? I have seen you practice with it and you are very far along with it. I am confident you can beat anyone here." Hinata interjected shly.
"Including you?" Naruto retorted cheekily. The Hyuuga blushed, but gave him a mock glare with puffed cheeks. Chuckling at his friend's cute reaction, he waved it off.
"Nah. I don't need the attention and it'll seriously hurt anyone here if I go too far. Also….Sasuke-teme will be on my ass 24/7 to fight him if I show off too much. I'll just stick with the academy style and see how far I can get with that."
Hinata nodded, a little dejected that she won't get to see her friend kick some ass. She was brought out of her thoughts upon hearing Shikamaru's sharp exhalation as he came out of his 'thinking pose'.
"Dammit…troublesome. You win. I can't think of any move from this point that will get me out of trouble."
Naruto punched his arm into the air in victory.
"Yatta! My record's 23 wins and 126 losses now!"
Everyone but Shikamaru sweat dropped at their friend's delight over such a lopsided win-loss record.
"I doubt anyone will find that impressive," Ino said dully from behind Shikamaru, happy to be done waiting for the boys to finish that boring game.
"Well, imagine this. If it was against someone like… that Inuzuka, it'd really suck so badly. I'd think something's wrong with my head for losing to him so much." Naruto teased, getting a light swat on the back of his head from Hinata.
"Be nice, Naruto-kun."
"But…if it was against a genius like Shika here, it's impressive. Tell me, did any of you win even once against him?" Naruto finished, barely noticing the swat. Choji, Ino, and Hinata flinched and slumped to their fours with rainclouds hanging over their heads.
"Troublesome…do you have to be so brutal?" Shikamaru grumbled as he let out a yawn. Naruto just shot him a foxy smirk.
"OI! Lunch break's over! Time for the sparring matches!" the instructor yelled as he stepped out of the building toward a large circle of bricks buried into the ground.
Everyone gathered around the sparring ring at this point, and the instructor started things off with picking two random students to go up against each other for one three-minute round each pair. It went on for a while with Hinata, Choji, Sasuke, Ino, and Shikamaru winning their matches rather easily. Finally it was Naruto's turn up against the same Inuzuka he spoke of earlier.
This brown-haired boy was wearing a simple shirt and shorts with the red Inuzuka clan fangs tattooed on his cheeks. He was just introduced to his companion dog, Akamaru, and they haven't trained together enough to be able to fight alongside each other effectively yet. Due to that, the tiny Akamaru stayed on the sideline.
"Yeah! Looks like I got an easy one!" Inuzuka Kiba exclaimed loudly as he stepped up across from the waiting Naruto.
"Still as smelly as ever, dog breath." the blonde retorted as he pinched his nose. He really did smell strongly of wet dogs. Kiba immediately growled at the insult.
The instructor shouted 'Start!' just as Kiba leaped toward Naruto, his sharp canines bared in a snarl. Naruto simply sidestepped the lunge and countered with a basic palm strike at the Inuzuka's exposed side. Kiba let a pained gasp escape from his lips as he blindly swung his hand back around, its sharpened fingernails aimed at Naruto's head. The blonde effortlessly grabbed the hand and pulled the Inuzuka backward across to flip him over and onto the ground with a loud thud. Kiba grunted painfully as he landed hard on his back.
"Damn you!" he cursed as he recovered and shot to his feet, only to have a foot already meeting his chest as soon as he stood up. He was sent flying back from the unexpected thrust kick out of the ring, and then tumbled to a stop. Naruto was already moving toward the dazed Inuzuka when he was stopped.
Akamaru had moved in between him and his partner, barking and growling protectively. The surprised instructor decided to stop the spar at that point and unenthusiastically awarded Naruto the win. Kiba slowly sat up grumbling about his luck, but was surprised when he saw an offered hand in front of him. He glanced up to find Naruto standing over him with a friendly smile.
"No hard feelings, I hope?" he said easily. Kiba eyed him with suspicion for a moment before sighing and took the offered hand to get to his feet.
"I still want to kick your ass." he retorted with a challenging smile. Naruto laughed freely..
"I'll be looking forward to more matches with you then, dog breath." he shot back before walking off with a wave over his shoulder. His friends joined him since that was the last spar for the day and the class was over now.
The students who watched were impressed while Sasuke eyed Naruto suspiciously. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he walked alongside the smiling blonde.
That was a very sharp and precise use of the standard kata. It shows how much he trained on his actual style if he was able to use the standard style so easily already. he thought, filling in more blanks about the mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto.
Next Month in Hokage's Office, one day before
Naruto leaves for his first training trip
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the most powerful shinobi in the village, also known as the Kami of Shinobi, was rubbing his temples and sighing heavily as an enraged ANBU stood in front of the desk, ranting about a certain someone's latest prank.
Uzumaki Naruto was sitting on the floor next to the ranting ANBU, and he was tied up tightly with rope.
He had on a shit-eating grin.
"He broke into our locker room and switched out some of our uniforms and masks! Considering the fact that the HQ is actually supposed to be hidden, this is a serious breach of security! We have to do something about this damn brat!"
"Oi! That was supposed to be a secret? ! Every villager knew it out by watching where the ANBU hang around certain buildings! At least put a damn genjutsu up or something!" Naruto retorted loudly at the very animated ANBU.
Hiruzen sighed heavily again.
"What happened with the uniforms and masks, Naruto-kun? I do not see anything different." he tiredly said as he indicated the normal-looking ANBU next to the boy. He almost regretted his question as he watched Naruto's grin grow sinister. He easily felt his three hidden ANBU guards in the office shifting uncomfortably.
"I only picked three to victimize -I mean...have fun with. You probably can guess who." his surrogate grandson replied ominously. It only took the old man a second to understand his implications. He snapped his fingers.
No one appeared from the shadows in this room. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow and displayed a too-neutral smile that made everyone shiver.
"Now...I am willing to give all three of you one more chance. If any one of you do not come out now, I will bust all of you back down to genin and doing only Tora missions for a year. Is that clear?"
Naruto snickered as the Third easily felt the fear and shame radiating off his hidden guards. He took a moment before snapping his fingers again. All three hidden guards appeared behind the tied-up Naruto at the same time.
The Third winced as he raised a hand to block the blindingly bright colors radiating off the ANBU's new uniforms.
The one on the left was wearing a bright neon yellow ANBU uniform with a generic white mask that had a cartoonish scribbling of a 'henohenomoheji' on it. The one in the center was all neon pink and his generic mask's scribbling showed a perverted expression; a lecherous leer, peering eyes, and rosy cheeks. The last one on the right wore neon green. Her mask showed a scribbling of an 'awesome face'.
It took the Hokage all he had to suppress his laughter at the ridiculous display in front of him. Naruto didn't have the same reservation as he laughed uproariously at the sight of the three ANBU wearing nothing but eye-searing colors. Even the agent who caught the boy had to work to hold his laughter back.
"Our apologies, Hokage-sama. As you can see…i-it was d-difficult for us to come out here." the one in the center spoke quietly as he glared daggers at the laughing blonde.
"You weren't able to find any spare?" the Third inquired as he did everything to keep his composure on the inside.
"There weren't anything else in the locker room we could use and we could not afford to miss our shift so we were forced to use what we had." the neon green female ANBU with long purple hair spoke up. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at Naruto for an explanation.
"No worries, Hokage-jiji. I hid the stuff I switched out inside the storage room next door to the locker room. They'll find everything there."
The ANBU let out a sigh of relief.
"Very well. I'll take care of Naruto-kun. You may go back to work." the Third spoke dismissively. The three neon-colored ANBU prepared to leave the office to change, while the normal-looking ANBU already vanished into thin air.
"Where are you going? I didn't say you could leave your posts. Remain like that for the rest of the day. In fact, don't even change until after you have gotten home from your shift." the Hokage ordered with a pleasant smile. The three ANBU flinched in horror.
"That's cold, old man." Naruto observed with an amused grin . The old man raised a finger to point at him.
"If they weren't able to detect you breaking into a building buzzing with the best trained nin stationed every twenty feet in that bright orange outfit, then either they need to be trained some more or you deserve an award. Maybe they'll learn from your example briefly, Naruto-kun." he smirked as he watched his guards glare and project their killing intent at the tied-up boy, who was getting nervous.
"Oi, there's no need to piss off people who can hide in shadows and stab things with pointy things! They're going to come for me in the middle of the night!"
The neon green ANBU's hand twitched slightly as if she was about to reach for her sword.
"I am sure they won't…especially after they hear what I have thought up for your punishment. I was thinking about having one of my former students join you on this training trip alongside Tenzo-san, who I have explained as having the unique ability to subdue any bijuu's chakra if it gets out of control. However I honestly do not think he will be needed until the next break and I could not find him in time anyway…so I will be replacing him with a certain someone. He's a taijutsu specialist who would be able to help you improve your taijutsu when you're taking breaks from bringing out the Kyuubi's chakra." the Hokage spoke neutrally, working to keep a full-blown dastardly smirk from forming on his face.
The three ANBU's demeanor changed completely at the mention of the taijutsu specialist and they were grinning evilly behind their masks. Naruto seemed to think nothing was wrong though.
"A taijutsu specialist, huh? I don't see how that'd be punishment." he cocked his head.
"You will find out, young boy, when you meet your two guardians tomorrow at the main gate." the Third replied with a pleasant smile.
Later that night, one Mitarashi Anko almost had to be admitted into the hospital after she hurt her stomach and facial muscles laughing so hard at her roommate's bright neon green uniform and mask.
Next Morning at the Hokage's Office
Sarutobi Hiruzen yawned loudly as he shook the tiredness out of his old body walking into the office to start his work for the day. Before sitting at the desk, he opened the window facing the village's main gate in the distance and sat down. He only had to wait a few minutes before a man's ear-splitting voice shook the quiet morning air.
"YOSH! YOUR FLAME OF YOUTH IS BURNING SO BRIGHTLY IF YOU ARE TRAINING AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE! WE SHALL TRAIN TOGETHER AS HARD AS WE CAN FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS AND MAKE YOUR YOUTHFULNESS BURN WHITE HOT!"
Followed by a child's horrified yell.
"ARGH! DON'T LET THE CATERPILLARS ON YOUR EYES NEAR ME! DAMN YOU, OLD MAN!"
Hiruzen leaned back into his chair and let a smile grow slowly on his face.
"Ah…music to my ear."
Three Months Later
Tenzo, a brown-haired ANBU with a somewhat plain-looking face framed by a silver happuri, was standing in front of the Hokage's desk in the office giving his report.
"Naruto-san trained himself nearly into the ground everyday over the past three months. After spending half of each day trying to control the Kyuubi's chakra, he spent the other half practicing what he learned from the Kyuubi overnight and getting into taijutsu spars with me and Gai-san. He never won, but we have seen vast improvements compared to when he left with us three months ago."
The Hokage nodded his head, indicating for Tenzo to continue.
"In the final spar against Gai-san before we left, we allowed Naruto-san to augment his new taijutsu style with the Kyuubi's power. I carefully monitored the battle so I could interfere with my sealing at any time if need be. The difference was incredible. It actually ended up with Gai-san getting several minor injuries before Naruto-san was knocked out. Gai-san still did not go all out, but for an nine-year-old boy to able to give an elite jounin like 'The Green Beast of Konoha' a little trouble for thirty minutes is nothing short of amazing."
The Third raised an eyebrow.
"How much of the Kyuubi's power is he able to control?"
"He is able to go up to two tails of the Kyuubi's chakra in a red shroud that completely surrounds his body and it's shaped to look like a fox. In that mode, he was as fast as a high chunin if all he focused on was running, his strength increased exponentially, he recovers from most minor injuries almost instantly, and the shroud defends him against low-level jutsu. He is also able to mold the chakra shroud into forming 'claws' that can extend from his body to reach long-distance targets. All of this was able to go up to thirty minutes of usage in which he was completely stable with no risk of losing control. After that, the malevolent chakra will begin to hurt his body, so we restricted him to only thirty minutes of the chakra's usage per day. From what I documented of Naruto-san's progress, he managed to control four levels of the demon fox's power."
"Didn't you say two tails worth of chakra?"
"There is also a tailless mode in which we did not see the red chakra surrounding him, but he still released the Kyuubi's killing intent and gained a significant speed and strength boost over his normal attributes. Not to mention at that level and higher, he displayed more defined Kyuubi-like features like red eyes with slitted pupils, extended canines, larger and darker whiskers, and sharp claw-like fingernails. Below that level, he is able to channel a small bit of the chakra to his eyes for improved vision, especially at nighttime where he could see everything as if it was daytime, and he can also use the chakra to extend his fingernails into claws or retract them. The chakra used for these functions was completely undetectable so he is able to use his eyes or claws any time he wishes to without worrying anyone around him with the Kyuubi's presence."
The Third leaned back into his chair, wondering if he was letting Naruto go too far with the training too fast.
"Tenzo-san, was there any doubt … even a tiny amount...from either you or Gai-san that Naruto remained completely himself?"
Tenzo shook his head with a smile.
"After spending three months with him, I can say with hundred percent confidence he is still the Uzumaki Naruto you know. In fact, he's planning a pr-"
He was interrupted by the office's door banging loudly open to reveal a horror unlike anything the Third had seen in his long life.
Naruto walked into the room. That was normal enough itself but everything ended after that. He was sporting a horrid green one-piece spandex with an orange sash around his waist and orange leg warmers. His blond hair was cut and smoothed into a bowl-cut style like Maito Gai, and he even sported two very thick and fuzzy blond eyebrows above his blue eyes. To make it worse, he opened his mouth.
"YOSH! I HAVE RETURNED FROM THREE MONTHS OF MAKING MY FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN WHITE HOT! I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE YOUTHFUL THAN I AM RIGHT NOW!"
The Hokage sat stock still in his chair with a dumb expression on his face, as if he was trying his best to unsee what had been wrought before him. He did not see Tenzo slap his forehead.
"YOUR YOUTHFULNESS BURNS BRIGHTLY COMPARED TO MINE. I SHALL TRAIN MYSELF AS HARD AS I CAN UNTIL MY YOUTHFULNESS CAN MATCH YOUR WHITE-HOT YOUTH!"
Maito Gai's voice boomed throughout the office as a tall black-haired man in the same green spandex with a jounin vest worn over it and light green legwarmers ran into the room to stand next to Naruto. He also sported the same horrid bowl-cut and thick black eyebrows. Naruto turned to Gai.
"GAI-SENSEI! I SHALL MAKE MY YOUTHFULNESS BURN EVEN MORE BRIGHTLY IF YOU DO THAT. IF I CANNOT DO IT, I'LL RUN TEN LAPS AROUND THE LAND OF FIRE!"
"NARUTO-SAN! YOUR YOUTH WILL BURN EVEN MORE WITH THAT! IF I CANNOT SUCCEED IN MATCHING YOUR YOUTHFULNESS, I SHALL RUN TEN LAPS AROUND THE ENTIRE ELEMENTAL NATIONS!"
The entire office went deathly silent for a moment until a thump was heard. Everyone looked toward the desk to see the Third laying his forehead on it whispering something no one could make out.
'It's my fault…I was too harsh on Naruto-kun before he left…and now he's turned into a mini-Gai! What horrors have I wrought! ? I'm so sorry, Minato-kun…I shall redeem myself by ending their lives then commit seppuku.'
An uproarious laughter erupted throughout the office, causing him to raise his head. He saw Gai and Naruto on their backs laughing.
"We sure got you, old man!" Gai exclaimed before laughing some more with the Naruto/Gai hybrid.
HIs eye twitched.
"What is going on? Is this a prank and why have you joined in, Gai-san?"
"I'm not him." the Gai imposter replied as he got up before puffing into some smoke. After a second, the smoke cleared away to reveal a regular-looking Naruto in his orange jumpsuit.
"I forgot to mention, Naruto-san here has learned Kage Bunshin no Jutsu from the Kyuubi and he can use it in combination with Henge with frightening ease." Tenzo suddenly interjected before there was any further confusion. As if on cue, the Gai/Naruto hybrid released its Henge to reveal another normal-looking Naruto.
A cold chill went deep into the very essence of the Third's being as he realized the implications of multiple solid copies of Naruto…each with his intelligence and mischievousness.
Terrified of that notion, he quickly pushed it aside, and made a mental note to hurry up and pick his replacement as soon as possible. Including the three guards hidden inside the office, the entire ANBU force, even the ones out of the village on missions, got an ice-cold chill down their spines as they had the feeling their greatest nemesis ever suddenly got much more powerful.
"Which one of you is the original?" the Hokage erratically asked as he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.
The one that was Gai raised his hand to show his fingernails sharpening into claws. He then stabbed them lightly into the other Naruto to pop it.
"I'm back, Hokage-jiji!" the blonde exclaimed with a foxy grin. The Hokage returned the grin with an uncertain smile.
"I am glad to see you are doing well. Tenzo-san here was telling me how much of a menac- I mean…how much of a good shinobi you will grow into."
"Hehe…I can't believe how much stronger I got. It's thanks to Gai-sensei and Tenzo-sensei here that I came this far. I actually almost became a mini-Gai a few times though."
Everyone in the office, including the hidden ANBU, shuddered.
"It's like he has some way of brainwashing people. I hope no one else will fall for his... enthusiasm."
Everyone shuddered again.
"(Ahem) That won't happen…hopefully. So you are able to use the Kage Bunshin... how many copies are you able to create, Naruto-kun?" the Hokage inquired.
"Hm…I was able to go up to two hundred but they're pathetically weak with so little chakra, and they won't last long. I can make 25 clones that last all day and they have about the same strength as me. Though they still pop after one hit."
"Very good. I daresay you are already ready to graduate with what you have learned. You're welcome to test out early if you'd like." the old man was not surprised to see his surrogate grandson shake his head no without any hesitation.
"No thanks, Hokage-jiji. The fox says I'm still not ready, and I'd rather enjoy my time with my friends before we all have to do missions and stuff. For the next year, I'm just going to focus on learning more about elemental jutsu and figure out my nature affinities. Fox also said I'd likely have a natural affinity for fire due to her chakra, but she believes there will be one or two more."
The Hokage nodded his head.
"I'm glad you made it back here safely. I'll let you go home, as I'm sure you'd like to rest before the academy starts again in two days. Before you go though, I would like to inquire of you and Tenzo-san on the whereabouts of Gai-san. He usually is the first one here upon returning from any mission, expressing his…. enthusiasm."
Tenzo let out an exasperated sigh. Naruto struck his usual sheepish pose.
"That'd be my fault, Hokage-jiji."
The old man raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting an explanation.
"I got tired of his…. youthfulness on the return trip so I challenged him to keep quiet the rest of the way or he'd run five laps around the Land of Fire. Needless to say…he failed miserably. Before we could tell him it was a joke, he took off with inhuman speed and we never found him. He's probably scaring the Kumo patrols shitless running along the Lightning border at this moment."
The God of Shinobi thumped his forehead on the desk while the hidden ANBU could not help but chuckle at the comedy they were watching.
On the Streets Heading Toward the Hyuuga Compound
Man…I really missed the glares of hatred from these lovely villagers. Naruto thought sarcastically as he walked through the village surrounded by glaring people. He heard whispers of 'The demon's back from wherever he disappeared to', 'I was hoping he'd stay away', and more. Kurama spoke up.
Oh well. Nothing we can do about that. Listen, Naruto...I never had a chance to say this but I want you to know I am proud and astonished at how quickly you have learned to control my chakra. I never would have expected you to get up to two tails in just three months. Not to mention you are doing well with your taijutsu and kenjutsu training.
Thanks, Kurama. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid we will hit a brick wall next break. You will obtain three tails with no problem, but fourth and beyond is when it's going to be tough. At the fourth tail and above you will gain more of the powerful abilities I use, like the Bijuudama. However, the chakra shroud will become so malevolent and dense that it'll hurt your body right away and you will find it almost impossible to keep control of your senses. If you go on a rampage, almost no one will be able to stop you…not even that wood ghoul.
Naruto frowned at that.
That sucks. I guess we'll have to make do with mastering three tails to the best of our abilities and leave it at that until we figure out something in the future.
I'm not saying we give up on this. There are options we can try next summer to see if they'll work.
And what if they fail? What'll happen?
Pain. Extreme and all-encompassing pain. So much pain that you'll wish you were dead. Kurama replied with no hesitation.
Geez…no need to sugarcoat it. Tell me how bad it really will be. Naruto retorted with sarcasm while his tenant snickered.
I never said it'd be easy. If what that old fart said about his student coming along to help you next year is true, it should help you in your progress.
You know of him?
Yes. His name is Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Naruto raised both his eyebrows.
Seriously?! I read about him in the history books. He's supposed to be very strong!
That's not all. You're more related to him than you realize.
Huh?
He's also supposed to be your godfather. I heard your parents appoint him as one when I was sealed in your mother.
Naruto stopped all of a sudden in the middle of the street, surprising several villagers nearby. He stood there for a minute as he slowly took in the revelation as some of the villagers looked on with curiosity. He started walking again, with a cold frown and his fists clenched tightly at his sides as he continued on his way to the Hyuuga compound.
When I meet him, I am going to kick that son of a bitch in the balls first thing.
Kurama snickered at that possibility.
A few minutes later, his anger dissipated. He decided it wasn't worth fuming over the latest revelation if Jiraiya wasn't going to be around to take his well-deserved punishment. He arrived at the gate of the Hyuuga compound. The guards quickly allowed him inside, used to his frequent presence by now.
Naruto made his way toward the main family's house. He wondered how Hinata, Hanabi, and Hiashi were doing after three months. He remembered that Hinata became distressed when he told her that he would be out of the village. Hanabi's reaction was more extreme as she refused to let him go for nearly all day on the day before his departure.
They all but ordered him to stop by the compound as soon as he returned. He smiled at the memory of Hanabi threatening him with bodily harm if he upset Hinata by not making a beeline for the compound from the Hokage's office as soon as possible. He knew the younger Hyuuga would be just as upset herself, if more.
He frowned as he felt someone's cold fury directed at him. He shifted his eyes to the right to find the source.
Hyuuga Neji stepped out of the shadow under a tree near the main house's entrance. The blonde stopped in his track, his hands still at his sides as he glared directly at a pair of cold white eyes. They saw each other several times in passing but they haven't directly faced each other since Neji's brutal attack a year and half ago.
"Is there something you need, Neji-san?" Naruto said coolly as he kept his icy gaze leveled with Neji's.
"You look much stronger compared to the weakling I faced last time, Uzumaki-sama. How it that possible?" Neji's tone was just as cold and calculating as his eyes.
"Training and hard work, that's all. I feel like I could kick your ass right now. Too bad Hiashi-sama banned us from dueling." Naruto retorted with a nonchalant shrug. Neji smirked.
"I am not concerned about you catching up to me. Fate has decided I am the stronger of us and I will defeat you when we do have our battle."
"Yeah..yeah...I don't believe in all that fate crap and I'll prove that by taking in all your anger and returning it tenfold. Be ready because I'm constantly getting stronger. Can you afford to rely on your fate bailing you out when you find out you never really worked hard enough to back up your talk?"
Neji narrowed his eyes with a silent snarl while Naruto smirked darkly as he broke off the conversation and continued his walk toward Hiashi's house. The Hyuuga prodigy clenched his fists as he stormed off toward his residence.
I will do everything I can to prove him otherwise. I will make myself stronger and faster for I am fated to win.
A moment later, his confrontation with Neji forgotten, Naruto stood at the front door to Hiashi's house. He knocked once before he heard some thumping and rumbling and it was getting louder. He sweatdropped for an instant before the front door flew open to launch a tiny Hyuuga girl into the blonde's stomach. He could only expel air from his lungs involuntary as he caught the black-haired cannonball.
"Onii-chan! You're back! Did you come here straight from Hokage-sama's office like I told you to?" Hanabi excitedly yapped as she wrapped her arms around his waist for a tight hug. Naruto chuckled and patted her back.
"I did, little firecracker. Looks like you're very happy I followed your orders." he teased after catching his breath.
"T-That was for nee-chan's sake! I could wait until tomorrow, but she would be heartbroken if she heard you waited." Hanabi defended with a blush as she let go of his waist.
"I would've been fine, Hanabi-chan. He might have needed his rest upon returning from the trip, you know." Hinata admonished her little sister softly as she appeared at the doorway, but it was clear she was happy to see her friend as soon as possible too. Her attire hadn't changed much, but her hair had grown longer as it now reached her shoulders. Naruto had to admit she was looking cuter the longer her hair grew.
"Uzumaki-san, it is good to see you again after so long. Please come in." Hiashi appeared behind Hinata and gave a bow. Naruto returned the bow as he and Hanabi went inside with the rest.
A few minutes later, they were seated at the dining table enjoying some tempura and stir-fried vegetables cooked by Hinata. The children were chatting about what they did over the past three months.
"…And I was able pull a fast one on Gai-sensei when he thought he hit me but it was really a shadow clone that I substituted with!" Naruto was recounting his stories, carefully leaving out any mention of Kurama and her chakra.
"Ano…what is a shadow clone?" Hinata spoke up softly and Hanabi looked just as curious. Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the notion of a child learning a jounin-level kinjutsu. Naruto looked toward the clan head as if to silently ask permission; he got a nod.
"It's a jutsu I learned from my sensei. Not many can use this because of the high chakra requirement but I have plenty to spare." Naruto explained as he formed a cross shape with his hands and two fingers each. A puff of smoke appeared next to him, surprising both Hinata and Hanabi. The smoke cleared to reveal a perfect clone of Naruto waving at the girls. The girls looked shocked and could only dumbly wave back. Hiashi smirked a little.
"I-is that a solid copy?" Hinata squeaked as her Byakugan activated to check.
"That's right, Hinata-chan. I can do the same attacks as Boss if I was given enough chakra, and I can also think independently from him if I don't have an order to carry out." the clone spoke up.
"I also can learn whatever it learns when it dispels. Perfect for training, spying, reading, etc. The only thing that can't be transferred back to me is muscle training. I will have to do that myself. A major disadvantage is that the clone pops after one hit." the original explained as he demonstrated by lightly tapping the clone on its head to make it disappear in a puff of smoke.
"If I use a lot of chakra, the clone can last longer and might be able to take a couple more hits before dispelling."
Hinata sat still as the implications of multiple Narutos running around went through her mind. Unlike the perturbed reactions from the Hokage and ANBU, it made her happy.
So happy she promptly fainted and fell backward onto the floor from her kneeling position at the table with a silly grin plastered on her face.
"Hinata-chan/Nee-chan!" Naruto and Hanabi cried alarmingly as they moved around to hover over Hinata's form. Hiashi almost facepalmed as he seemed to have understood exactly what went through his daughter's mind.
She's starting out so young, like my beloved Hitomi. Uzumaki-san, it seems I will fear for your innocence sooner rather than later.
An hour later, our blond hero was found sitting on the living room's sofa next to Hiashi reading a scroll in his chair. His right eye was twitching with annoyance. Two reasons for this were found in an indigo-haired girl sleeping with her head on his lap, her arms tightly wrapped round his right thigh, and her younger black-haired sister resting her head against his left shoulder with both of her arms wrapped tightly around his left arm. Both of them cuddled up tightly against him as if refusing to let him have a chance to slip out.
"What's with Hyuuga girls using me as their personal teddy bear?" Naruto grumbled. Hiashi glanced up from the scroll with a small smirk.
"Perhaps it is part of your charm, Uzumaki-san."
"Even your servant looked at me as if I'm her favorite stuffed animal."
Hiashi raised an eyebrow.
"Tomoe-san is thirty-eight years old."
"Exactly! Not just these girls, but other Hyuuga females of all ages too! A while ago, I even saw one of the elders do a double take in my direction with that lovely-dovey look in her eyes!"
"That must have been my aunt. She is rather... odd. My apologies."
Naruto gave a slight shudder.
Hiashi shook his head slightly with an amused smirk. A comfortable silence followed, with the two girls' gentle breathing the only noise being made in the living room. Naruto's expression turned somewhat melancholy, as he seemed to be stuck on a subject in his mind.
"Hiashi-sama, are you really okay with your daughters being friends with me? The village pariah and the jinchuuriki?"
Hiashi raised his head.
"What has brought that up, Uzumaki-san?"
"With your position in the shinobi force, it shouldn't be hard for you to learn what I was really doing the past three months. I was learning to control the Kyuubi's chakra."
Hiashi nodded his head in affirmation.
"So I am trying to control the wild and terrible chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the bogeyman of this entire village's dreams for the past eight years. It could get dangerous for me and my friends around me one day."
Hiashi put his scroll down as he leaned back into the chair deep in thought. After a long moment, he spoke up.
"I will admit I did think about possible situations between you and my daughters that would not end favorably for everyone involved. However, these are just mere speculations. I feel if one of these situations ever came to pass, we all would deal with whatever may happen at that time. Until then, I know for certain that my daughters implicitly trust you and are perfectly happy having you around. You are also doing wonders for Hinata's confidence issues. I don't see any reason why I have to be premature and try to change anything between the three of you. You're even directing my nephew's anger into improving himself constantly after what I just saw before dinner."
Naruto flinched before doing his sheepish gesture with his free hand.
"Hehe…you saw?"
"My eyes are not all-seeing for nothing," Hiashi retorted with a smirk before continuing.
"Uzumaki-san, my feeling is that you are doing a great service to this village by keeping the Kyuubi contained within you. That should have been good enough for you, but you're going above and beyond the call of duty by learning to be in control of the chakra so may be able to grow stronger to protect people you consider important, even with a risk of anything going wrong in that quest."
Naruto sat there with a blank face as he looked into Hiashi's sincere eyes. After a moment, he allowed a gentle smile to grow on his face.
"Thanks, Hiashi-sama. It's the first time anyone in this village ever described my situation like that. I feel much better. I'll be careful about how I progress in my training, though. For everyone's sake."
Hiashi allowed a small smile as he nodded. Another long silence followed as he returned to reading more of the scroll. Naruto grew bored with the two girls still clutching on to him.
"Let's see how I should escape this booby trap of dangerous júken strikes," he mumbled as Hiashi raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving the scroll.
"I would think you would understand by now, Uzumaki-san. It is not possible to escape my daughters without suffering a strike or two in painful places." he dryly said. He could feel Naruto's foxy grin out of view.
"I never give up. Besides, I have something new to try, Hiashi-sama."
Hiashi heard a slight popping sound. Intrigued, he looked over to see a confused-looking clone of Naruto standing behind the sofa that the original and his daughters were on. Naruto then did a simple series of hand seals and there was another puff of smoke. It was not hard for Hiashi to see that the original did a Kawarimi with the clone, leaving the poor clone to precariously hold his daughters' dangerous sleeping habits at bay. The original displayed a triumphant grin while the clone shifted nervously under the girls' tightening grips.
"That takes care of that. Hold down the fort for me, would ya, buddy?" the original patted his clone's head, which glowered at the Boss's cruelty. Hiashi smirked as he saw an idea clearly form in the clone's head and it showed an evil smirk. It then did the same series of seals and another puff of smoke followed.
"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent reply as he found himself back under the two girls' clutches and the clone was standing behind the sofa with a shit-eating grin.
"It's you who should be holding down the fort, Boss. Ja ne!" the clone said cheerfully before dispelling itself.
It took a moment for Naruto to realize that his clone pulled a fast one on its own creator. An annoyed frown formed on the blonde's face.
"Just why can't I get away from here?" he moaned in dejection.
Ah…another pleasant evening for me to remember. Hiashi amusedly thought as he watched Naruto get flustered under his daughters' clutches..
Five Days Later at the Main Gate into Konoha
Newly promoted Chunins Izumo and Kotetsu, who would soon be known as the "Eternal Chunins" in the future, were spending their day at the main gate's guardhouse.
"Man, this is bullshit. We finally get promoted after five years of being genin –we even came close to being called the 'Eternal Genins'- and they stick us in this damn guardhouse!" Kotetsu complained.
"Shut up. You should see this as a great honor to serve the village by protecting it from hostiles trying to sneak past us." Izumo retorted harshly.
Before they were able to argue further, they noticed a large party of foreign nins with a man in a large official-looking haori and a prepubescent dirty blond-haired girl walking alongside him at the front of the party. The guards remained silent but on guard for any possible attack as the foreign nins stopped at a short distance before the gate, allowing the leader and the young girl to walk up to the guardhouse alone; an apparent attempt to calm any tension.
"I am the Fourth Kazekage and this is my daughter Sabaku no Temari." the veiled man in a robe and hat similar to the Hokage's, only with dark blue accents instead of red, introduced himself and the blond girl. The young but pretty girl with her hair tied into four pigtails shot a hard look at the guards before nodding stiffly. The Kazekage continued.
"We come from Sunagakure and I was invited here by Hokage-dono to discuss several items about our alliance. Here is the message from Hokage-dono."
Izumo nervously took the scroll to open it slowly. He easily confirmed the Hokage's handwriting and his official seal on the letter. He rolled it back up and handed it back to the Kazekage respectfully.
"Welcome to Konohagakure, Kazekage-sama and Sabaku-sama. I will escort you and your party to meet up with the Hokage. He is expecting you." he stiffly said with a respectful bow.
The Kazekage simply nodded for the guard to continue. Izumo turned around and lead the Suna party into the village, leaving Kotetsu alone at the guardhouse. He let out a sigh.
"Well, that was interesting. That blond girl's would have been very cute if she'd been closer to our age. Though she looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here next to her father. Wonder why that is." he mused while he was moving to get back to his seat. As he was about to sit down, he noticed something far down the road from the gate… a green speck on the horizon.
Curious, the guard decided to walk down the road to get a closer look at the odd sight. Realization slowly crept on him as he got closer and broke into an easy run. Upon arriving at the green speck, he finally confirmed this to be the beaten and battered body of Maito Gai.
"What the hell happened here, Gai-san?" Kotetsu inquired with worry as he bent down to the body to check for any wound. There were none but the body stunk as if it acclimated a week's worth of sweat without cleaning up.
"Ugh…my youthfulness…is rather…drained. Water…please…" Gai managed to get out. Kotetsu sighed and shrugged as he reached for his canteen to pour some water through Gai's parched lips.
"My…advice to you, young one…don't ever challenge… Uzumaki Naruto to any contest of…youthfulness. He…will beat you." Gai painfully warned as if he was drawing his last breath and trying to identify whoever murdered him. Kotetsu shook his head and laughed.
"That blond brat? The entire village could have warned you about that before you did whatever you tried with him. Don't mess with the Prankster King of Konoha.."
After a few minutes, Gai finally regained enough strength to stand up and be helped into the village by Kotetsu, mumbling about depleted youth the whole way.
Not a whole lot of changes. Just added a few things here and there, and improved the dialogue.
Changed the training scene in the beginning...I didn't like how I wrote the fight scene the first time, and this one isn't too much better, but it's still better in my opinion.
I also made the birthday scene a bit more touching, with a touch of Hanabi being cute. Hope you enjoyed that. I also changed the scene between Naruto and Kiba a bit to make them at least start out on neutral ground instead of having Kiba dislike him outright. That never went anywhere in the future chapters as they still became friends anyway.
The next chapter will have some major work done. I never liked the forest fight scene...felt it needed to be more intense. Plus the dialogue between Temari and Naruto need a bit more work. So it'll be a couple day before I post a chapter I'd be satisfied with.
