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Chapter 9.
One more friend.
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"Class dismissed," Iruka said.
Ino waited for Sasuke to leave the classroom before standing up. Every time she looked at the last Uchiha, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Now that she knew how the boy was on the inside, she could only shake her head in disgust as fangirls tried to ask Sasuke for a date.
Still, I was like them, the blond girl told herself. Who am I to judge?
As Ino exited the academy, she was ambushed by Sakura. "Ino-pig!"
Ino sighed. "What do you want, forehead?"
"What's up with you? You've been acting strange lately."
"I'm fine, Sakura."
"No you're not," Sakura shot back. "You haven't asked Sasuke out on a date in two weeks."
Ino shrugged and tried to move past the pink haired girl.
"Why? Are you playing hard to get? Or are you..."
"No Sakura," Ino interrupted. "I am no longer interested in Sasuke. You can have him, if you want!"
Sakura gaped at the blond girl. "What do you mean you are no longer interested?"
"It means what I said."
"But... but... he's Sasuke! How can you not be interested? You can't be serious!" Sakura's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're lying. I just know it. You're planning something!"
"No, I'm not Sakura."
"Then..."
"Sakura! I am serious. I am no longer interested in him."
"Why not?"
Ino shook her head. "The question is why should I be? I admit he is handsome, smart and skilled, but for a long time, I ignored his many faults and flaws."
Sakura gaped at the blond girl. "Sasuke has flaws?"
"Yeah forehead. You didn't think he's perfect, did you?"
"Of course he's perfect. He's Sasuke!"
Ino snorted. "No, he's not. First, he's completely antisocial and he doesn't want to change that. I don't think he's capable of love or even friendship. I don't know if he'll ever be."
"You're really serious!" Sakura said.
"Yes Sakura. You should forget about him. He will never return your feelings."
"That's not true!" Sakura snarled, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Ah... I see."
"See what?"
"You confessed to Sasuke and he rejected you. It isn't that you're no longer interested in him, but that he's not interested in you."
"Sakura, he isn't interested in anyone. You know what? I don't care! Do whatever you like! I was just trying to help you."
Ino left her confused former friend behind her and headed towards the center of the village.
The girl kept walking before she found herself before a ramen stand. "Ichiraku," she murmured. His favorite place to eat, she thought.
For a strange reason, she decided to enter the ramen bar. Two of the chairs were already occupied. Naruto was sitting on his favorite spot and Hinata was next to him. Ino froze in indecision, wondering what to do.
"Ino-san?"
Ino blinked. "Hello Hinata-chan, Naruto..."
Hinata made a wave at the empty chair next to her. "Please sit,"
Ino nodded and sat on the indicated place.
A black haired girl, older than Ino by a few years came from the back of the bar. "Naruto-kun, is this a friend of yours?" she asked.
"She's my classmate, Yamanaka Ino," Naruto answered. "Ino-san, this is Ayame."
Ino remembered the girl from Naruto's memories. "Hello, Ayame-san."
The older girl smiled at the blond girl. "Nice to meet you, Ino-chan. What would you like to have?"
"Um..."
"She'll have a beef ramen on us," Naruto said.
Ayame smiled and headed in the back of the bar.
"You like beef ramen, don't you?" Hinata asked.
Ino sighed and looked down. "It's my favorite, but I'm on a diet."
"Why?" Hinata asked.
"Because," Ino paused to search for an answer. "You know? I have no idea."
"We are kunoichi," Hinata said. "We are not supposed to go on diets. That's only for civilians. Since we are kunoichi, we train regularly. Therefore, diets are actually unhealthy for us. Yes, there is a limit to how much we can eat, but as active growing kunoichi, we need a lot of food."
"Going on a diet or eating unhealthy can stunt your growth," Naruto said. "Eating plenty of healthy food is necessary for our bodies to develop properly. As evidence we can take Hinata here," he said grinning.
Ino frowned and looked past Hinata, at Naruto, who had his mask on the table. "I don't understand."
Naruto glanced for a moment towards Hinata's breasts and Ino understood. She remembered from Naruto's memories how developed Hinata was. "Oh," Ino blushed and her hand twitched slightly as she dived into memories that were not her own.
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Next school day, Ino walked outside with her bento box. In the past, she would have tried to find Sasuke to have lunch with him. Sometimes, she managed to corner the boy only to be ignored. Usually, she would have failed in her search. When that happened, she usually got together with the other members of the Uchiha fan club. Sometimes she found her childhood friends Shikamaru and Chouji. Looking around for the two boys, she saw Naruto and Hinata under a tree.
She walked towards them. For a moment, as she stood before them, the girl thought about ignoring them, but then, she remembered the day before. Ino had ended spending over an hour talking with Hinata and Naruto. They never talked about Sasuke or the Kyuubi, only about food, training, being a ninja and related things. Now...
Naruto and Hinata watched her approaching them. "Hello, Ino-san," Naruto said. "Would you like to sit with us?"
Ino smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."
Naruto moved to one side, making room for the newcomer. Ino hesitated for a moment, but then she sat between him and Hinata.
All three Academy students looked into the distance, where members of the Uchiha fan club were searching for Sasuke.
"You no longer seem interested in Sasuke," Naruto said.
Ino flinched at the boy's words as if he struck her. "Yes."
"So, did you take her advice and visited his mind?"
Ino suppressed a shiver of revulsion and remained silent for a long time. "Yes," she finally said. "It was ... not pleasant. His mind is ... cold. His mind is filled by thoughts of vengeance. There was so much rage and hate. So much that it drowns the voice of the child he once was. Deep inside him there is a shattered fragment that still loves his brother. He feels so betrayed. It's probably what makes him hate Itachi - his idol so much, that he would do anything for revenge."
"You know," Hinata said, "If you told this to his fangirls, it would only make them fight even more for him."
"I know," Ino sighed. "Yesterday I had a talk with Sakura. For a moment I thought about telling her about the things I saw in his mind, but I realized it would do more harm than good. She would only think about how tragic it was for him. She would only delude herself about being the one to heal him." Ino once again fell silent. "She couldn't understand what his mind is truly like. I don't think he can be healed. I don't think he would want to. He makes my skin crawl."
Hinata moved closer to Ino and put an arm around her. "It's okay," Hinata whispered into the blond girl's ear.
Ino leaned in the Hinata's side, relaxing in the familiar presence. On her other side, she felt Naruto shift closer to her, offering his silent support.
The three Academy students stayed in silence until they had to return to class. Ino roused from a half asleep state and gave Hinata a peck on her cheek. "Thank you," she said before running to class.
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"Eight Divination Signs: Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand!" Hinata said.
Naruto cringed.
"Two palms..."
Naruto reeled back from the girl's opening strikes.
"Four palms..."
Anko munched on a dango stick.
"Eight palms..."
Anko threw the stick at Hinata, who moved her head from the path of the small projectile.
"Sixteen palms..."
Naruto stifled a squeak as a dango stick struck his mask.
"Thirty-two palms..."
A Naruto clone gave Anko more dango.
"Sixty-four palms!"
Naruto fell down and Kyuubi begun to heal his wounds and reopen his tenketsu. The boy groaned and climbed to his feet.
Three more dango sticks struck his chest. Naruto only grunted, took them out and threw them at Anko. "Dango Stick Shadow Clone Technique," Naruto snarled without making any hand signs. Three dango sticks became hundreds as they left Naruto's hand.
Anko chuckled and slammed her hand into the ground. "Earth Release: Mud Overturn." A wall of earth rose in front of the Special Jounin in time to stop the projectiles. "You're still a couple years too early to defeat me," the woman said as she approached her students. "Congratulations Hinata. I'm very proud of you; both of you. As a reward, I am going to teach you a new technique that can complement your gentle fist."
Anko turned around and made a few hand seals. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands," she said, then pointed her hands at a Naruto clone that was approaching with more dango. From each of Anko's sleeves, three snakes launched at the clone.
The test subject widened his eyes at the approaching danger and threw the tray of food at the incoming snakes. The snakes swerved out of the way and continued towards their target.
"My dango!" Anko snarled as her favorite food fell to the ground. The snakes from her left sleeves begun to approach their target faster.
The clone leaned back, barely dodging the first three snakes that passed above him and planted his hands into the ground. He then kicked up with his left foot, hitting the fourth snake. The clone tried to bring his foot down to kick the next snake, but unfortunately for Naruto's mental sanity, the snake dodged right and opened his jaws.
Even Anko winced as the snake bit down between the clone's legs. The clone opened his mouth to scream in pain. Unfortunately for the clone, it was not a regular clone, but a solid one, making it too resilient to be taken out instantaneously. Also, due to the pain, the clone could not muster the needed concentration to dispel itself. It tried to concentrate, but the sight of the snake between his legs made him lose his concentration yet again. "Fortunately" for him, the final snake opened wide its jaws as it flew towards the clone's head.
The Naruto clone felt fangs penetrating his braincase and then it lost cohesion, poofing out of existence.
A moment later, Naruto shuddered at the new memory.
"Cool, isn't it?" Anko said.
Naruto closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I think I need a hug."
Kyuubi came behind Naruto. "That was uncalled for, Anko," she said slipping her arms around him.
"Perhaps," Anko shrugged, "but it was important to demonstrate the techniques capabilities. "In my opinion, this is one of the best C-ranked technique. With sufficient experience, you can do all sort of things. Someone who has only learned the basics, could do little more than point and shoot in a straight direction. Someone more experienced in the technique can do a few more things. First thing is that the snakes can dodge and change direction. Second, they can be poisonous. Third, it has a better than decent speed and excellent precision. This technique would serve Hinata quite a bit. Since most Hyuuga concentrate only on their taijutsu and clan techniques, they are very strong at short range, but weak at mid range and long range."
"Um, sensei?" Hinata asked. "Do you really think I'll be able to win mid range battles with this technique?"
Anko shook her head. "No. but it will certainly help you with long and mid range opponents. However, the reason I think this technique is perfect for you is because of your style. You are not a brute force fighter. You are a precision fighter. If you used, say a Grand Fireball on a enemy, he could dodge it fairly easy, but if you use six snakes that can dodge and change direction, you will have a very good chance to herd your opponent into a move that will be beneficial to you. And if he does, your gentle fist will have a much better chance of defeating him."
Hinata nodded. "I understand."
"Naruto," Anko continued, "you'll also learn this technique since it is such an integral part of my fighting style." At the boy's nod, she continued. "I will also give you six more C-ranked techniques. I want you to try and master these seven C-rank techniques by the time you become genin. First one is Earth Release: Mud Overturn. It's the same technique I stopped your dango stick attack. Basically it's a week defensive wall. The second one is Water Release: Bullet. It's a offensive technique that allows you to spit a water bullet. The third is Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. This one is an offensive technique that blows a blast of wind.
Fourth is Lightning Release: Shockwave. This is a defensive-offensive technique by which you emit a small amount of energy from your body, shocking anything that touches you. Fifth is Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique - an offensive technique that launches a fireball. The last technique is Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique, another fire technique. This technique launches several smaller fireballs. All in all, you have seven C-ranked techniques that if mastered, will make your clones far more powerful."
Naruto nodded. "I understand. If I use them together with kunai shadow clone and exploding clones, it will make my clones far more versatile."
"That's right," Anko nodded. "If you manage to master these techniques, your clones will be on par with a chuunin. And if you master them, they will consume vary little chakra."
"Is it truly such a big difference in chakra consumption?" Hinata asked.
"Yes," Anko replied. "Take the Second Hokage as an example. His affinity with water was so great that he didn't need a water source to perform techniques. He was able to use the moisture in the atmosphere. True, to do this you also need more chakra than normal, but since his chakra control and water affinity was so great, he actually needed less chakra to do a technique without having a water source than a Jounin who was on top of a lake."
Anko fell silent and Kyuubi continued. "Naruto, the problem is that you are a Jinchuuriki. Sooner or later, you'll end up fighting some S-rank. I'm afraid that it will happen before you get to that level. If worse comes to worst, you'll be able to use my chakra. Unfortunately this has a few drawbacks. First is that it is easier to suppress a Daemon's power when it is already sealed. This is why I don't want you to rely on my chakra. The second reason is that you can not properly control my power. The chakra of a Biju is extremely potent and extremely hard to control. Even for my kind, it takes a long time before we are able to control our power even slightly. I can not train you in using my power because the villagers might overreact if they feel my chakra. Also, while your body can handle a small amount of my power, using more will severely damage your body. That is why I want you to be able to control your human chakra as much as you can. For now, you are at Chuunin level. Right now, if you go all out, a run of the mill chuunin will stand no chance against you. If you keep training like this, by the time you finish the Academy, you'll probably be at low Jounin rank. If you master a few high level techniques, you'll be at high Jounin level, bordering S-rank. But before you pass that barrier to S-rank, if you meet an experienced S-rank, you will stand no chance against him."
"S-ranks are bad business," Anko interjected. "For the foreseeable future, your only chance of defeating such an opponent would be by using suicide techniques or resorting to using Kyuubi's chakra. And even then, this would only work against the weaker S-ranks."
"That is correct," Kyuubi nodded. You will probably need years of experience before reaching a solid S-rank. Until then, if we meet someone too strong we will have to flee. If that happens, you might be low on chakra. Having the ability to create clones that can use low ranked techniques without wasting chakra will allow you to at least delay our enemies before we escape. If we come face to face with an S-rank, you can create a few dozen clones, and while our enemy is dealing with the clones, we will be able to retreat."
Naruto frowned. "So you want me to run away if the fight gets too tough?"
"Yes," Kyuubi nodded.
"I'm not a coward," Naruto grumbled.
"Naruto," Kyuubi said sharply, "there is a difference between cowardice and common sense. I have lived for eons and in my long life, I had to retreat from battle many times." 'Also,' Kyuubi continued on their mental link, 'the Academy and the stories of the Hokages filled your head with stories of bravery, heroes who fight against insurmountable odds and all that rot. But that is only propaganda. Sometimes, the villages need to send some of their shinobi on suicide missions; sometimes a smaller sacrifice is needed to gain something - from money, information, wealth and reputation, to the village safety or saving more lives than they sacrificed. Never forget that there are many villagers who would not even blink if we were send on a suicide mission, even if it the mission would never provide any advantage to Konoha. There are those who wish to harm us. Until we die, I will always follow you. If you wish to end our life as we know it, it is your choice. If you choose to serve this village that despises you rather than continuing your life along me, our Hinata and our friends, it is your choice. But before you do anything foolish like sacrificing our life for some stupid reason, be it some twisted sense of honor or serving this hateful village, think of what your ... our death would mean. What would happen to Hinata? Do you think she will have the will to survive if both of us are gone? Even if she does, do you think she will find any sort of happiness? No, her life will be empty. Think of how it was before we met. Would you return to that hollow existence? And what of Anko? She may not be our mate, but she is our friend. Like us, she has few people who care about her. Losing us would be a hard blow for her. And then there's that hot Yamanaka. What is more honorable? Dieing because of stupid pride or for strangers? Or living for our loved ones?'
Naruto nodded in sadness.
Kyuubi smiled gently at her container. She had not chosen Hinata just on a whim. It was far more than that. Despite no longer being a moron, Naruto was still a human who had his head filled by foolish ideals. After all, the Academy was far more than a place to train children in the use of their bodies and chakra. It was also a place where children were brainwashed into the loyal Shinobi mindset. Even if Konoha shinobi were known as tree-hugger weaklings, a shinobi was a shinobi; they were assassins, killers and murderers, tools for their Kage. To control these dangerous humans, the village leaders employed (consciously and unconsciously) many different ways of control. The first one was the shinobi rules, but rules only take into account the rational part of a ninja. To deal with the other - the emotions, other methods were employed. Children were taught to love and revere their village and leaders. They were told stories of their great deeds. Emotional bonds were formed between teacher and student, teammates, clans and so on. These emotional bonds chained shinobi together. Then, they were further shackled by chains of human duty, honor and morality. The Hokage had turned Naruto into a boy who would love his village no matter what. Even after all these months, she was still dealing with the damage done by the old man. Sarutobi had manipulated young Naruto into loving his village no matter what. She doubted it was an unconscious action, after all he was a Kage. To climb to that height and survive to his long age, the man had to be an exceptional man. He would have found it easy to mold Naruto's mentality. At first, he showed Naruto that the Hokage was respected and loved by the villagers. Naturally, Naruto would want to be like the only person who showed him love. He would want to become the Hokage, and to become the Hokage, Naruto would have to have the qualities to go with the title. The old man told him that the Hokage serves, loves and protects his people with his life. So Naruto tried to become like the only source of kindness. He suppressed his anger, he forgave the villagers, he smiled and gave his all in becoming a good Ninja. Kyuubi doubted that Sarutobi considered this manipulation. For him, it was more like education, the way a parent or grandfather taught a child. For him, it was only a way of educating Naruto into becoming a loyal Konoha nin with the "will of fire." Still, that did not change the fact that it was also manipulation. What she tried to do with the boy was also manipulation, but unlike the old man, she had Naruto's best interest as her top priority. The Hokage's first priority was the village. After all, if Naruto was the man's first priority, he would have raised Naruto himself, even if it meant leaving the village.
Before she met Naruto, Hinata was a lost soul, filled by sorrow, searching for a place to belong. Some people would call the girl weak, but not all people were able to go through life alone and unloved. Even Kyuubi herself desired companionship. The difference between the Daemon Lord and the Hyuuga girl was that Kyuubi would be able to survive even if she lost all of her new friends. True, she would be sad, but it would not be the first time she lost everything. Even if her soul and Naruto's were chained together, she did not doubt that even they would not be together for eternity. After all, all good things come to an end, even if it takes eons.
But Hinata was not like her. She was so very fragile. Being alone would shatter her and Naruto knew it. This would make Naruto think twice before jumping to his death.
There were other reasons for her choice. Hinata was a Hyuuga. Even if she was part of the main branch, only one of her children would remain in the main family. The rest would have the curse seal applied to them before being sent to the branch family. Yes, Hinata wanted to change that and Naruto would want to help her, but even if Hinata became the clan leader, the rest of the main family would be opposed to the abolition of the Hyuuga curse seal. After all, there was a reason why the seal had been applied for generations. There must have been clan leaders and main family members who did not want to brand all but one of their children as slaves. And yet, for generations it happened. She doubted that the clan could be changed by mere words. This would be another reason for Naruto to abandon the village. Hopefully, her container would eventually learn that his priority was not the village, Fire country or the whole world, but their new family.
"My Naruto," Kyuubi continued out loud, "you must learn that there is always someone stronger and fighting with someone that is on a whole level than you is foolish."
"I understand," Naruto said.
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Author's Note: Next chapter, someone will discover Naruto's secret. By my timeline, the academy ark will end in about two chapters.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Published: November 3, 2009.
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