Yo…
Okay I know you're all pissed, and you rightly deserve to be. I mean I did say I'll update in 3 days, and it's been a week...
Gomen, gomen. I sincerely apologize from the deepest depths of my inky black heart.
I honestly had this chapter finished a long time ago, but I didn't have access to my computer. The reason: My computer suffered an untimely demise in the library in the form of hot coffee.
This lady was walking pass me, was texting and walking, not watching where she was going and somehow manged to trip tossing the hot coffee in her hand. And boy was her aim on point. My computer took the brunt of it, wordlessly protecting its owner as I shielded my face praying to god that none of that shit would land on me.
I wasn't really upset. It was an accident, right? Like my brand new 1000 $ plus windows 8 touch screen labtop, that was too expensive for the recommended insurance, that I put in eight hours at work for a month to save up for (I'm a piss poor university student), getting damaged beyond repair from coffee is no big deal…right?
… :'(
On another note I got a teary eyed apology and 10 digits plus a kiss for being 'sweet.' And she offered to pay for it!
Lol, anyways enjoy!
Chapter 9: The Root of all Fears II
Fu Yamanaka was considered to be the best that Root had to offer.
His mission record was that of utter perfection, never having failed a task and accepting even the most difficult of orders with unwavering loyalty and obedience. He was considered Danzou's most powerful tool. The very instrument of his will, more skilled in nature then his insect wielding Aburame partner. There wasn't a single Shinobi in Root that could match his prowess. Danzou had even openly stated to him that if he should die, the leadership of the Foundation would rest on his shoulders having already been handpicked as his one true successor.
And Danzou made his choice wisely. Fu was a natural leader. His right hand man that was armed with the responsibility of his very own protection. Fu could almost be considered the perfect son that he would never have.
Fu took all of this in with humble respect and only responded with serving his master all the more fiercely. That's why he felt confident when he accepted his dangerous task of tailing one Namikaze Naruto, the Yellow Fang of Konoha. Listed as an S-class in every bingo book on the continent. Skills so dangerous Iwagakure had given him an 'Avoid at all cost' warning.
There was only one other Shinobi that had struck such fear in Iwa. As the saying goes: like father, like son.
Fu ignored all that, favoring to classify Naruto as just another mission. His mission was his life. He never failed.
So that's why he favored to follow him in broad daylight where his presence would be least expected. His sister had informed him that the man tended to lower his guard whenever he was in the village. He would be easy prey, like a mouse ignorant to the hawk that circled high above.
But his sister had made a grave miscalculation. After years of service and experience, one didn't reach the level Naruto was at by relaxing whenever they reached the safety of a village. Many would call it paranoia but those having achieved the rank of S-class would call it instinct.
Always remain vigilant
Fu would never have guessed that he would be utterly reduced to nothing, knocked around like a play toy. The man toyed with him seeing his worth, before knocking him so hard he felt his spine rattle. Never in his life had he felt so outclassed. He knew he was fighting a losing battle and just tried to end it all by falling into that infinite void, but even then, the man was just too fast. He was finished. Plain and simple. He knew his fate was sealed as his mind was ripped open and had his thoughts dissected like an science experiment.
His skills that he had trained years to develop and master, a body worked tirelessly till it was numb to pain and a mind so deeply guarded that not even his consciousness had a voice, was all worthless. Utterly and despicably worthless.
Fu had already lost his sense of speech by the second day and his fine motor skills all but dulled leaving him with nothing to do other than groan as Naruto continued his mental dissection, ruthlessly cutting through his mind like a scalpel. He felt his body going numb indicating soon that he would lose all feeling.
Naruto blinked, cutting off the mental torture and Fu's head dropped lifelessly to the side. His mouth was wide open, a river of drool endlessly pouring out and his bloodshot eyes were wide open. They hadn't blinked since he had started his genjutsu.
That was seventy-two hours ago.
Naruto nearly collapsed as he felt the last of his reserves dip. He was breathing hard and his eye was twitching badly. Genjutsu was seriously not his forté. Despite his tired form, inside his mind was racing a mile a minute. A raw, burning anger fueled him to just kill the mentally scared man right where he was. But he relented. He would piece his mind back together then force the man to watch as that …whore suffered the same fate.
Only he would take his time with her.
She was Root right? He wanted to see if she was more resilient to pain than her brother.
He sighed deeply and tried to calm his racing heart. His limbs felt like they weighed a ton and he was forcing himself to try and not dispel. What had felt like three days in this room, was in reality really a second in the real world. It had taken its toil on him but it was worth it in the end. He had learned all he needed to know. Oh he had learned all about what Danzou was planning and how Riha was the key he needed – or should he say surrogate he needed to get his hands on his genes.
Fu was Danzou's right hand, his so called best of the best. His status had entitled him to some of the man's darkest secrets. Secrets that were all revealed to his eyes and played like a projector in a cinema.
The stunning realization of it all had made his body go numb at first. He …he was heartbroken. Confused. Hurt. Betrayed. But most of all he felt stupid. Stupid enough to allow for something like this to happen to him of all people. He had to hand it to the man for using a woman – a seductress – to get him to lower the carefully guarded barriers he had maintained for years and play him like a violin while slowly, ever so slowly cutting the strings.
She had been playing him from the start, tying him to a leash and leading him along like a dog going for a walk. Everything that he had shared with her was reported to her brother, who then reported straight to Danzou. Everything from their intimate moments, his lifestyle, his jutsu, his friends, his deceased family, his Genin – even his conversations. Everything was reported.
Both Fu and Riha would communicate telepathically from the seals connected to their tongues, one that was painstakingly hidden on her so not even his sharingan would detect it. The man had taken to remove her first seal –which by Fu's memories was torturous enough – and then painfully extended her tongue to its unnatural full length and place another seal on her where he would never see it.
It had only showed him the great lengths Danzou took to make sure his personally whore was secured tight.
He deduced her new title fit her nicely as he wasn't the first of her many targets. Fu's mind had showed him that she had been all over the place. Kumo, Kiri, Suna even Iwa fell slave to her charms.
The thought of it all left him empty inside.
Then he felt a burn. Like a flickering flame slowly growing in strength.
The burning sensation was coming from the back of his head. More specifically it felt like the left side of his brain was on fire. His sharingan burned to the point it became uncomfortable and he was forced to cover it as the marginal drain that he usually didn't even notice, even when he was exhausted, now began to drain at an alarming rate.
He lowered his shaky arm from his headband and gazed on quietly in stony silence.
He was about to disperse. But he wanted the original to be present.
His skill in space-time ninjutsu was sub-par at the moment but he had been studying whenever he had time and his efforts had been rewarded as he gotten the Thunder God Jutsu just shy the level of its original creator.
Using it like his father was out of the question.
Holding up the ram sign he focused his chakra to the Thunder God marker on his back –the same one that his father had placed on him as a child – and sent the last of his chakra through it sending a signal through space and time to contact his original.
Naruto couldn't be prouder of Team 7.
Each one of them had come a long way from the first day they had all met in that classroom.
As he dodged Sakura's lethal strikes, redirected Sasuke's fire with some wind, and parried Konohamaru's blows he internally smiled despite them trying to kill him in another one of their training sessions.
He had thought that the S.D. test would tarnish their young minds and make them reject the true harshness of Shinobi life. He would never have expected them to bounce back so quickly, taking the reality of it all like true solders. It was relieving.
Even seasoned Chunin took weeks to recover but their young minds only took a nights rest. Maybe he had underestimated their minds but he would never again take them for granted and say there was wasn't anything they couldn't handle.
Mostly.
"Kick his ass guys!"
He ignored Riha's shout of encouragement as he blocked off their furious taijustu combination. They were getting better. He could no longer just easily walk over them like he used to. Now he had to actually put in a bit of effort to knock them into unconsciousness. But only a little.
Sasuke had his sharingan blazing as he palmed two kunai and tried to cut him to pieces. Ever since he had completed his dojutsu his strikes had become more precise and movements more fluid. His eyes could predict movements not allowing for Naruto to dance around him like the old days. Konohamaru was a different story. The boy was fierce. He knew of the Sarutobi talent but this little monkey was trying to bash his face in!
And Sakura.
His sweet, innocent little Pinkie-chan that use to hate even getting sweat on her form, now had the most vicious scowl he had ever seen on the girl as she kept up with both boys, trying to land a glowing fist on his form.
He carefully kept out of her reach.
He would say that she had improved the most out of the entire team. She was no longer the weak link that seemed to weigh down her two teammates. She now stood shoulder to shoulder, a proud Kunoichi that earned her place as soldier. She had long since taking her Shinobi life seriously ever since their conversation during the bell test. After one of their training sessions in the past she had come to him to personally for one on one training to try and get her up to her teammate's levels.
At first he was hesitant knowing that personal training for her would be extremely demanding if she wanted to keep up with her two teammates. But that look of determination and will manifested itself, something the boys had teasingly dubbed to her ire –inner Sakura – showing him she was ready for whatever he threw her way.
Was he ever in for a surprise.
During what Sakura would dub 'Torture', he would mercilessly knock her around till the point she passed out or his knuckles hurt from impacting against her forehead. As many times he would knock her down she would just get straight back up. He had to hand to the girl, she sure knew how to take a punch.
Sometimes he wouldn't touch her and just playfully keep out of her to the point she would get frustrated that she could never even touch him. And then that inner persona would manifest itself and she would become angry. Really angry. So angry to the point she would give a cry of righteous female fury and charge him like a reckless bull. Of course he would thrash her into the ground at being so reckless and lecture her over losing her composure.
A Shinobi should never lose composure.
But one day, when the inner persona blazed (he teased her about how he took a shit the same color as her hair) she managed to land a glancing blow. Now, normally he could swat away her punches like harmless flies but decided to give her a free shot.
He didn't expect to double over and be sent flying.
Her punch hurt. A lot. He had to reveal his sharingan to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Yes, sweet little Pinkie-chan had sent him flying with a nasty right hook to the stomach.
Naruto couldn't believe it at first. Heck, he was sure if he told the boys they would either laugh at him for telling a good joke or try and get him to sign in to the nearest mental institution.
But his sharingan entitled him to see what others could not.
Every time her fist would impact against his body she would unconsciously build up and release her chakra with every strike she landed. In all his life he had only seen such a form of chakra control in one other woman. And at the time, she was trying to punch his head off as he ran for dear life with her prized necklace. His disbelief was confirmed as he instructed her to punch a large boulder the exact same way she had struck him.
The boulder had shattered under her blow.
He had almost started hyperventilating at the realization of it all and nearly crushed the girl to death from hugging her. Just to brag, he had halted training that day and transported her to Team Gai's training ground, where the green beast was training his young clone for a private lesson.
How he loved that boy like a son.
Sakura was confused. One second Naruto was hugging her, next he was talking to a man dressed in a green leotard with the largest eyebrows she had ever seen. And to make things even more awkward was the smaller clone of the man that had introduced himself as Rock Lee and pestered her to be his girlfriend. She had refused, trying to catch the whispered words of their Sensei's.
She saw Naruto throw his hands wide in the air gesturing to her before he smashed a fist into his open palm, and green wearing man's mouth dropped open. Naruto nodded fervently mimicking the boulder that she had broken apart with a shudder and the man's thick eyebrows reached his hairline before he started shouting words about youth. Before she could blink he was standing before her introducing himself.
He had only managed to say his name before Naruto blocked his view mouthing words of 'She's mine!' and Gai-Sensei started crying saying it wasn't fair. Naruto remained unmoved only responding with words that confused her to no end.
"I'm sorry Gai. But I will be the only one to light her flames of youth."
What a strange day that had been. But she never regretted a moment of it since Naruto had increased her training focusing on taijutsu that became her strong feat. He had explained to her that she was unknowingly using the beginning stages of a certain Sannin's monstrous strength. To compliment her style he taught her a modified version of the Rough Fist style that focused on key elements to the technique while retaining grace.
Naruto grinned as he remembered it all, glancing at Sakura as she tried to land one of her punches.
"Gah! Just stay still Sensei! I promise I won't hurt you too bad."
Naruto smiled as danced around her. "Aww, look boys, pinkie-chan is upset." He mocked.
The boys didn't react to his words only continuing their relentless assault, their scowls matching Sakura's as they had yet to even touch him.
Curse him and his speed.
Beside Sakura a red eyed Konomhamaru blitzed forward trying to surprise him in burst of speed but was always knocked back. He had taken to use the Kyuubi chakra around them after their team meeting…
"Yo."
Sasuke rolled his eyes as he leaned against the stump behind him. Despite his expression he couldn't hide his grin "You're both late." Beside him Sakura hopped off the tree stump she was resting on grinning at the sight of the duo.
"Hello Naruto-Sensei, Konohamaru-kun." Her eyes lit shined at the sight of the female behind the pair. "Riha-san!"
The female smiled at the young girl. "Hello my dear." When blue eyes turned to him, Sasuke blushed. "Hi Sasuke-kun." He nodded at her holding up a hand in a wordless greeting.
Naruto smiled as Konohamaru ran up to the two and bumped knuckles with Sasuke and accepted a hug from Sakura. Konohamaru tilted his head at the girl before gesturing to her hair. "You cut your hair?" Indeed the once long hair that had reached her back was now mid-length only scraping past her neck. She had accentuated it by putting it into a pony tail. Even adjustments were made to her clothes. She was still wearing her familiar pink dress only know it was shorter resembling a skirt held together at the sides with some straps.
Sakura rubbed her hair nervously. "It looks okay, right?" It was getting in the way when she trained and was becoming too much of a hassle. She had long since taken her Shinobi life more seriously ever since Naruto's words during the test and decided it was time for some changes.
And it showed. She was faster, stronger and more overall meeting the standards of an acceptable Kunoichi.
Konohamaru grinned. "Hell yeah, it looks really good." She smiled sweetly at him before she turned to Sasuke. Feeling two pair of eyes on him Sasuke grunted before a small smile formed on his face. "It's nice."
Konohamaru just grinned stupidly and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What?" He demanded.
"Nothing." Konohamaru replied teasingly. "It's just that mister big bad Uchiha has lost his touch."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed to slits. "You calling me soft?" He whispered dangerously.
Konohamaru's grin became so wide his eyes closed. "As a marshmallow."
The Uchiha snarled and speared Konohamaru to the ground. Both boys began to roll across the training field hailing insults all the while biting and scratching. Sakura growled at their forms.
"Why do the both of you always have to act like idiots! Don't you see you're embarrassing Sensei!"
Both boys topped, glancing at each other, then at Sakura and back again before they nodded. Before Sakura could react she was tackled and a three way battle ensued as they all began to fight.
Naruto sighed painfully, glancing up at the sky. Beside him Riha giggled watching as Sakura smashed both boys head together. "Oh my, what a rowdy bunch they are."
He didn't reply only extending his hand and letting a golden chain slither out and save the boys from their losing battle. Sakura could actually hurt the two if he didn't intervene. When they were all restrained he slowly walked closer to stand in front of them.
"Can we save the fighting for later …" He trailed off seeing both boys tremble as Sakura ran her thumb slowly across her neck and pointed at the two of them. "Sakura." She removed her glare and smiled sweetly up at him.
Naruto shook his head. "Right. As I was saying can you all save the fighting for later? I want to talk to everyone about the test." He knew that they all probably talked to the grief councilors that were present but he wanted to hear from each of them personally. Seeing their nods he retracted his chain before sitting down in front of them, Riha taking her time to sit beside him.
He turned his eyes to Sasuke. "How are you feeling?"
Sasuke shrugged avoiding his gaze. "Okay I guess. I didn't really get much sleep that night." Naruto nodded expecting that type of answer. "Did you feel regretful? Or maybe sad that you had to take an innocent life?"
Sasuke met his gaze. "I…I couldn't fail. Failure would mean I'd never be able to see you guys again. I did what I had to do, right?" Naruto stared at him before he nodded. "Yeah, you did." He turned his eyes to Sakura smiling inwardly when she didn't shy away from his gaze.
"What about you Sakura?"
She fisted her hands into her dress. "I couldn't really eat anything last night without trying not to puke." She bit her lip. "I didn't get much sleep either. Not that it mattered anyway. It felt strange at first but then after a while it …settles. It's like my body and mind are used to it." She finished with a whisper.
Naruto nodded at her before he turned to Konohamaru. "We already talked Ko, but do you want to tell them what we discussed before we got here?"
The Genin nodded slowly before he faced his two teammates. "Um, I have something to tell you guys." Seeing their curious gazes he took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I…I am the Jinchuurki of the Kyuubi."
Silence.
Naruto stared at the two and took in their reactions. Sasuke curiously just seemed content, smirking as if he already knew such a secret. Sakura meanwhile had her brow scrunched up in confusion before her eyes widened.
"Jerk!" She thumped Sasuke on the head. "That's what you meant when you said Jinchuurki."
Naruto raised a brow and Konohamaru gawked. Riha tried not to giggle as Sasuke rubbed his head glaring at her. "It's not my fault you were an oblivious moron. For the so called smartest kunoichi you're pretty slow. I mean come on how obvious was it when – dammit stop hitting me Sakura." Sasuke tried to block her hands but she managed to pin him and wrap her fingers around his throat.
"Ack!"
Her attempt at strangling was halted by a throat clear. "S-so both of you already know?" Konohamaru's confusion was evident in his voice as he stared at the two of them dumbly.
Sakura nodded, ignoring the way Sasuke was prying at her hands. "Well I didn't know, but I guess Sasuke-kun already did. Remember the day of our test?" He nodded. "Well right after you stormed off duck-butt here asked me if I knew you were a Jinchuurki. I kind of slowly figured it out after that. " She smiled at sweet him before she frowned. "Is that why you acted so arrogant were you in the academy? To hide your status?"
Konohamaru slowly nodded. "Yeah I was ordered to take up a fake persona…"He trailed off pointing to Sasuke. "Ah, Sakura-chan?" Seeing his finger she glanced down at Sasuke and hastily let go of his neck seeing his face turning blue. Sasuke immediately began to heave, greedily sucking in the much needed oxygen. Sakura got off of him allowing him to sit up,as he placed a hand over his chest trying to calm his racing heart.
His murderous gaze turned to her. "Bitch! Were you trying to kill me!?"
Sakura smiled sweetly before she roughly grabbed his hair ignoring his cry of pain. "What was that Sasuke-kun? You love your Sakura-chan?"
"Ah Fuck y–!"She pinched his cheek till he cried out. "Now, now duck-butt-kun don't be rude." She shoved him hard enough to make his back hit the ground. When green eyes turned to him Konohamaru failed to hide his flinch. "You were saying Konohamru-kun."
"R-Right. I was ordered to take up a fake persona so that's the reason why I acted like that. The idiot you knew through the academy isn't the real me."
Sasuke sat up brushing himself off, briefly glaring at Sakura before he focused his attention on the Genin. "So what's the real you?" Konohamaru sighed painfully before his eyes grew distant.
"A weapon." He elaborated seeing their confusion. "After the Kyuubi attack Konoha was weakened. Other countries were monitoring the Leaf and there was almost a Cold War between Kumogakure. So they decided that I was to become that weapon. The ace that Konoha needed." He fisted his hands on his pants tightly. "When I turned seven I was taken from my home and put into a training facility. From there I was subjected to two years of intense physical and metal training to condition my body. When I turned nine my real test began."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "To control the beast inside of you?" Beside him Sakura gasped in shock. Konohamaru nodded grimly before he continued. "Yeah, they wanted for me to gain control of the Kyuubi's chakra. But for some reason my body couldn't handle the corrosive chakra and I suffered a great deal of pain when I used it. For the first time in my life …I failed."
He slowly lifted his shirt revealing his navel. He focused his chakra and seal appeared before their eyes. "This is the Eight Trigrams Seal." Both Sakura and Sasuke leaned forward to get a better look and even Naruto looked on in interest.
Consisting of two four-symbol seals joined together circling around a spiral, the Eight Trigrams Seal stood as a pinnacle of genius. Naruto had to marvel at is utterly perfect design and briefly exposed his sharingan to see the many lines flowing with chakra. Behind it a veil of burning red was slowly mixing with Konohamaru's own chakra network.
"Wow. It looks so beautiful." She stretched her hand forward and traced the design lately. "To think this contains something like the Kyuubi."
Konohamaru laughed nervously as his cheeks burned. "Ah, Sakura-chan that tickles." She retracted her hand smiling sheepishly. He lowered his shirt before he nodded at his two teammates. They all stared at each other awkwardly, each trying to think of something to say. Konohamaru rubbed the back of his head nervously before he cleared his throat. "So..um, I hope you guys don't view me differently –"He froze as Sakura hugged him tightly.
"Idiot." She whispered into his hair. "How could you ever think we would view you any differently?" Konohamaru slumped against her in relief and accepted the hug. Sasuke gave him pat on the back content to let Sakura do all the hugging. Sakura frowned and before Sasuke could react he was shoved into their embrace
"You guys are the best."Konohamaru whispered quietly.
Naruto and Riha had been watching the entire exchange quietly before they shared a small glance. Naruto raised his eyebrow seeing her teary expression and wordlessly reached into his pouch and handed her a tissue.
Riha blew her nose. "Oh! That was so beautiful." Naruto rolled his eye before he stood up stretching, gaining their attention. "That was truly heartwarming, but we're here for training remember?" They nodded separating from their hug and stood on their feet, immediately readying themselves.
Naruto grinned before he gestured for Riha to take cover. "You might want to find a comfy branch so you can enjoy the show."
She nodded before she kissed his cheek and winked at the trio. "Kick his butt guys!" She disappeared in a body flicker appearing high in a tree branch having a good view of the entire training field.
Naruto eye smiled. "Alright kiddies, you remember the rules. Let's see how long you last shall we?"
Naruto smiled fondly at the memory before he decided that he had been on the defensive enough and it was time for some offense. He flipped forward over them at the same time grabbing both Sasuke and Konohamaru by their shirts and using his momentum to throw them through the air.
He landed gracefully but had to immediately block the strike from Sakura that was aimed for his head. Sakura knew that her strikes could now break bones but the only sign of pain from her Sensei was the tightening of his eye before he returned the blow knocking the air out of her before he tossed her through the air like her teammates.
Both boys were getting to their feet before they were knocked to the ground by a pink blur.
Groaning they all slowly sat up wincing as they tried to make their heads stop spinning. Naruto was quietly observing them, his form completely relaxed having not a speck of dirt anywhere. On the other hand they were covered in dirt and sweating looking like they had just been dragged through mud.
"Maa, come on guys. I'm not even breaking a sweat here." He drawled lazily.
Konohamaru grit his teeth. "Well screw you for being so strong!" It was all but impossible to try beat him. All their tactics, all their combinations proved worthless against him. What was even worst was that he openly toyed with them before knocking them into the dirt.
Sasuke stayed quiet on the ground. He would admit that he had improved –heck they all had improved by leaps and bounds over their short period of time together. He hadn't felt stronger. Naruto was an excellent teacher providing lessons that he soaked up like a sponge in water. He was blunt, unforgiving, held nothing back in training and for that Sasuke absolutely appreciated the man. But the gap between them seemed to grow wider each day and showed no signs of closing.
He would never admit it aloud but he knew for certain that Naruto was stronger than Itachi. He could feel it in his bones like a voice silently whispering in the back of his head that this man would lead him to his revenge. He knew if he could at least match his Sensei, then he would be ready for Itachi.
Despite everything that desire for revenge still fueled his young mind. And by Kami he needed more training. Every loss just added fuel to his fire.
Naruto slowly shook his head. "That's it for today guys. You all need –"
"No." All eyes turned to Sasuke as he struggled to his feet. He grit his teeth as he forced himself to stand before leveling Naruto a look of raw determination. His sharingan blazed in his eye, the tomoes rapidly beginning to spin. "No." He reiterated. "I'm not finished yet."
His courage seemed to fuel his teammates and Sakura grinned despite her pain and pushed herself to stand beside him. Seeing her struggle Sasuke offered her a hand and helped her to her feet. "Hell yeah." She grounded out. "I won't quit."
Konohamaru watched his teammates in awe before his jaw locked and his eyes flashed red. He tightened his headband around his head and stood shakily on his feet. Naruto saw the feral grin the boy gave him as he thumped a fist against his chest. "Quitting is something I don't do. As much as you knock us down, we'll get back up."
Naruto's eyebrow reached his hairline as he watched the three of them stand on shaken legs. He could feel that their chakra reserves were low and their bodies must have been aching from his hits. They even looked like they were about to pass out. Despite it all their determination shined in their eyes and the desire to win outlasted their pain.
"Soon we'll be strong…stronger than even you." Konohamaru trusted his fist forwards and beside him Sasuke and Sakura grinned.
"That's a promise." They echoed.
Naruto stared at one face from another before he closed his eye and let a small smile form underneath his mask. Team 7. They were a special bunch. He remembered his comment to Danzou long ago talking about the hidden potential that this generation had. The village leaders underestimated these kids, but Naruto saw what others could not.
Who knows? Maybe he was training the second generation Sannin.
He smirked at the thought before he slowly lifted his hand to his headband. Sannin or not it was time for them to learn defeat.
"So you guys want to be stronger than me, eh?" He allowed his sharingan to spin slowly in his eye. The trio took a hesitant step back as heavy pressure filled the air. A chilling breeze blew through the training grounds, sending a tingling sensation through their spines, before that overbearing pressure suddenly began to increase to the point it became hard to breathe.
Naruto's chakra rapidly began to spike at enormous levels. His form became outlined in a blue glow and the ground began to rumble. Ground and rocks in the nearby vicinity began to levitate in the air before disintegrating under the enormous pressure. The blue outline around him became brighter and brighter until it enveloped his form. Behind him his long ponytail danced in the wind and his sharingan began to glow as his raw, powerful chakra saturated the air.
"If you want to be stronger than I am, you have to realize the differences in our power."
His chakra pulsed out and they were knocked off their feet as lighting sparked around his form and the breeze blowing through the air suddenly turned into a gale force.
"Know now... what that difference is."
His already enormous chakra levels began to grow again and the landscape began to tear itself apart. The glow around Naruto became bright enough to the point it became blinding. A hurricane wind blew through the training grounds and the trio had to attach their bodies to ground with chakra less be blown away.
Trees surrounding the area were upheaved from their roots thrown into the wind. The ground heaved under the pressure, leveling large chucks of landscape before suffering the same fate. The sky seemed to darken and fill with ominous clouds as lighting suddenly shot out in all directions.
The trio held unto to the ground for dear life.
This was unreal. They had never felt so much chakra in their lifetime. Even Konohamaru had been subjected to the old man's chakra before and saw how it had damaged the landscape. But he never had felt anything like this.
This was unbelievable.
He managed to lift his head up off the ground, using his enhanced strength that the Kyuubi's chakra provided him. The wind rippled the skin on his face and his eyes burned from the stinging sensation of the wind. Both his eyes opened wide at the sight that he saw.
Naruto's form was completely shrouded by the blue glow only giving his form a black outline. Lighting continued to spark around him and the wind danced alongside of him. Beneath his feet the ground was sunken, a mini crater forming under the enormous pressure. But all of that didn't cause his heart to stop.
His sharingan glowed red, seeming to highlight against his dark outline. With the shroud covering his form the only thing he could see was the burning red orb that stared right back at him. Raw killing intent hit his form and he felt the beast inside of him begin to stir.
He had never felt so afraid in his life.
In the depth of his mindscape, hidden deep in the murky waters behind his cage, the Kyuubi opened its eyes. It swam up to the cage willing the dark waters to clear to their crystal blue revealing the pitch black sky overhead.
The once slowly drifting clouds were rapidly moving across the sky and the red of the moon seemed to glow with the color of blood as it began to bleed the dark sky into an ominous red. The beast gripped the bars of the cage with his hands and squeezed.
The seemingly unbreakable bars dented ever so slightly.
Behind his cage the Kyuubi smirked. "Naruto." Yes he is the one. He had felt it the moment he had laid eyes on him. For his chakra to even effect the environment of the boy's mindscape…he was the true descendant. He had felt chakra like that in only one human in his entire existence.
Tilting its large head back and opening its enormous jaws, the Kyuubi's roar echoed through the empty mindscape.
In the real world Konohamaru felt his stomach begin to burn. Whisker marks formed on his face and his features became more feral as his body started to react to Naruto's chakra. Seeing this, the powerful Jounin halted his display of power and the hurricanes wind slowly died down and the darkened sky began to clear.
His enormous chakra levels lowered to their normal suppressed levels and the outline around his form vanished. Konohamaru felt the burn cease and he blinked as his features returned back to normal. The rest of Team 7 slowly lifted their heads from the ground and glanced at blank faced Naruto then to the surrounding landscape.
Their jaws dropped open.
Their training ground was ruined. The surrounding trees were bent at unnatural angles, some even occasionally crashing to the ground. The landscape was leveled, scarred to pieces from the rapid lighting strikes and debris of wood was everywhere.
Three set of eyes stared wide eyed at Naruto.
He shoved his hands in this pockets and gave them an eye smile. "Maa, I think I went a little overboard."
Before anyone could say anything they heard retching noises and saw Riha stumble out of the forest dropping to her knees looking relatively unharmed save for puking up her insides. Naruto was immediately by her side in a flash, Team 7 slowly trailing behind, as he tried to help the woman to her feet.
"Riha-chan what's wrong…"Naruto trailed off as he instantly felt incoming chakra signatures and in the blink of an eye two combat ready platoons of Anbu appeared followed by a squad of heavily armed Military Police.
Naruto held a hand up. "Oh …my bad guys. Just a false alarm!"
A familiar cat faced Anbu marched up to him and before Naruto could react he was smacked upside the head.
For the second time that day, three jaws dropped open.
"Naruto-Senpai! You put the whole village on a level 1 alert!" What was that again? Oh right, the entire military would mobilize and the village would prepare for a skirmish. Civilians were rushed to their homes and rapid deployment teams would be sent out to find and eliminate the threat and blah, blah.
"The entire country probably felt your chakra!" Naruto looked like a kick puppy as he rubbed his head tenderly. "Jeez, Cat-chan I was just giving a little demonstration –"
"Your Genin were present!?" She cut him off. "What did you want to do, kill them!?"
Naruto eye smiled. "No…but the little buggers said they wanted to be stronger than me, so I just showed them the measuring ladder." By the looks of their faces they knew it would be a very, very long climb.
Underneath her mask Yugao sighed. At times, Naruto was worst then Kakashi. She turned to the contingent of soldiers waving them off. "False alarm!" Many of the Shinobi lost their tense forms and relaxed but some Anbu stayed guarded around Naruto deciding to give him a wide berth. She rolled her eyes before she fingered the radio in her ear relaying orders directly to the Jounin Commander.
"This is Anbu squad leader Cat, of Alpha squad. Reporting that Level 1 alert can be lowered. I repeat Level 1 alert can be lowered. False alarm." At the affirmative reply over the radio she released the device and turned her attention back to Naruto.
Naruto eye smiled. "My apologies for the alarm. But I need a medic asap." He pointed at the seated blond beside him. Yugao nodded and gestured to one of the females officers. The brown haired woman nodded in acceptance before kneeling before the panting blond and running glowing green hands across her form.
"Ok hun, what's the problem?"
Riha was breathing hard. "My stomach… heave… hurts." Her skin had taken on a pale hue and perspiration coated her brow.
The medic hummed. "Hmm, my diagnostics are telling me your physically unharmed but…I'm getting nausea build up in your stomach and your nerves are going haywire –intense preparation and alleviated heartbeat shows signs of extreme..."She trailed off locking gazes with Riha.
All eyes turned to Naruto who was looking at her carefully. His sharingan spun slowly in his eye allowing him to see her chakra fluctuating wildly and her increased heart rate. He shifted his head as he saw the medics chakra become disturbed for a split second before it vanished as quickly.
What happened just now?
The medic allowed her soothing chakra to calm the woman. "Breathe slowly please. Your heart rate is beating too fast. Any faster and you'll go into shock."
Riha nodded slowly and began to calm her tense form. Soon enough her breathing calmed and her heart rate lowered. Over the top of the medics head she caught Naruto's eyes and offered him a small smile.
He didn't return it.
That heart rate and tense posture didn't just come out of the blue. Before his little show of force, he had felt her chakra start to go haywire. He had thought at first it had been shock but after he had finished he still felt her chakra fluctuating alarmingly. Almost like she was …afraid. Of what? Had he scared her? Made her so frightened to the point she started vomiting?
Something wasn't right.
"Naruto-kun." Hearing the soft whisper Naruto turned to the cat masked Anbu before slowly following her as she led him away from the group. Finally having some privacy Yugao addressed him personally. "Jeez Naruto-kun not only did you scare my squad but your own girlfriend to. What are you, some type of sadist?" She joked.
Naruto chuckled. "I'm really sorry about the alarm." He offered sincerely.
Yugao smiled underneath her mask. "Yeah you made the hireups nearly shit themselves. People thought a tailed beast was attacking from all that chakra." They both laughed quietly before Yugao frowned under her mask.
Using his tall form to block any onlookers line of sight she took off her mask partially leaving it hanging off the side of her face. Naruto raised an eyebrow as dark eyes stared up at him seriously.
"Are the rumors true about you and the Hokage?"
Ah. So he would guess that there was a mole in the Anbu force for such sensitive information to leak. He knew for certain the Old Man wouldn't let what happened that night to spread out. The only person Naruto had told was Riha but he trusted her.
Right?
Rumors in any hidden village tended to spread faster than wildfires and before he knew it the whole Military was gossiping about how the Yellow Fang had taken out an entire Anbu force and attacked the Hokage.
Which was untrue. Partially.
Naruto sighed. "What did you hear?"
"That you cut through the Anbu Guard Platoon like knife through butter and broke the Hokage's jaw…which is all untrue. Right Naruto-kun?" When he didn't respond her eyes grew wide. "Tell me it isn't true Naruto."
Naruto slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it is."
Yugao recoiled slightly before her eyes reflected anguish. "What are you doing Naruto. Wha –why? Why do this!? You can be put to death for Kami's sake!" If anything ever happened to him she would never forgive herself. She knew he was a grown man but the bonds their Anbu team had formed was for life.
Plus she made a promise long ago to watch over him.
She almost took a step back from the look in his eye. "The old man can do nothing. He can't even sue me even if he wanted to."
Yugao looked at him in confusion. "What happened?"
Naruto sighed. "I can't tell you. At least not here." The less people knew the better. Yugao was someone he would trust with his life. She helped raise him beside Kakashi during his Anbu days. But he had to least show her what she was dealing with.
"Yugao, I'll tell you everything when we meet. But I have to know right now, that I can trust you." Her eyes narrowed in anger and underlying hurt.
"What? You questioning my trust Naru" – She went still as her eyes connected with his sharingan and a mental conversation took place in the span of a second. Her eyes widened at him and she would have lost her footing if it wasn't for the hands that wrapped around her waist.
"Can I trust you Yugao?" She saw the silent plea in his eyes and hesitated before nodding slowly. Naruto nearly sagged in relief and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
"Thank you Yugao-chan."
She smiled at him before she hugged him tightly. "You already know I'll stand by your side Naruto."
"Captain!"
The shout caused the two to split apart and Yugao had her mask on in a flash as she turned her attention to her subordinate. "Command wants us to report back to HQ."
She nodded in acceptance. "Roger that." She cleared her throat before beginning to bark out orders. "Okay everyone, you heard the man. Back to HQ." The contingent of Shinobi began to disperse. The medical officer gave Riha a few whispered words before disappearing as well till only Yugao remained.
The female Anbu watched quietly as the blonde woman was fussed over her by the Genin.
"So that's the girl who stole your heart?"
Naruto kept his gaze on Riha as she Sakura tried to smooth out her hair. "Yeah."
"What's her name?"
"Riha."
Underneath her mask, Yugao frowned. "Riha…Riha. Where have I heard that name before?" Naruto glanced at the Cat masked Anbu before turning his attention back to the blonde.
"Everyone knows her." If anyone knew him then they certainly heard of his blonde haired girlfriend.
Yugao slowly shook her head. "No, I mean I heard her name somewhere before." She could have sworn one of the Iwa Jounin prisoners at the HQ a few years ago talked about meeting this blonde woman. But the man couldn't remember her face for some reason. Chakra scans to his head showed lingering chakra residue of a certain mind technique indicating that his mind had been partially erased.
Whoever she was, she was good. To seduce an A-class Jounin was the work of a professional.
But this couldn't be the same girl…
Yugao had Naruto's undivided attention. "Where?" The female Anbu thought about it before she dismissed the memory and waved him off.
"It's nothing. Probably just confusing her with someone else."
Naruto stared at for a few moments before slowly nodding in acceptance. "If you say so."
Yugao smiled up at him before she nodded to him. "I'll see you later Naruto-Senpai." With a flicker of chakra she disappeared before his eyes.
A trio of Genin plus Jounin silently walked up to his form.
"Okay Sensei…why in the actual fuck are you so strong?" Konohamaru's question pierced the tense silence. "I mean holy shit, you nearly killed us from that." Beside him Sasuke nodded, a frown marring his face.
"So that's you true power, huh? You've been holding back this entire time." He accused with a glare. Sakura poked his chest with a finger.
"Yeah, even poor Riha-san was affected by that."
All eyes turned to the blonde woman. Seeing all the attention on her face flushed. "I told you guys I was feeling sick previously. I had nausea from the previous day."
The trio laughed at her embarrassment.
"Why are you lying?"
Naruto's quiet voice halted their laughter into dead silence. The trio of Genin became wary as he leveled a blank gaze at the woman. They had seen the occasional argument between the two but never seen Naruto look at the woman like that.
"Ever since I met you, you never showed no signs of nausea or sickness. You always keep your body in perfect shape and occasionally balance your nutrients. Never once had you ever been sick. Yesterday you weren't sick. This morning you weren't sick. The week before that you weren't sick."
The trio took a hesitant steps back feeling like they were intruding on a private moment. "What's going on Riha?"
Naruto's question rang out silently and a set of eyes turned to the blond woman. She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes looked anywhere but his."W-what? Naruto-kun…" She lowered her gaze and mumbled something.
"Pardon?" Naruto inquired.
"I said you're scaring me."
Naruto wasn't the only one to show confusion. His entire team mirrored his expression.
Naruto tilted his head at her. "I scared you enough to make you start to puke?" His sarcasm was evident. "You… a seasoned Jounin? Puking under a display of power? " He raised an eyebrow as he waited her response.
Riha stared at him before she slowly lifted a hand to cover her stomach. "I'm sorry."
Naruto kept up his stare. "For?"
"For lying to you." She slowly lifted her hand giving him a tearful smile. "I didn't want to say this infront of everyone so I just told the medic I was having some nausea." Seeing his gaze drift to her stomach and then back up to her face she offered him a careful smile.
Team 7 stared in confusion as Naruto suddenly went rigid still. His eyebrows reached his hairline and his didn't drift from her face.
Confused out of his mind Sasuke stared at one face to another. "What's going on?"
Riha let her eyes drift from Naruto before staring at Sasuke. What he heard next caused three jaws to drop open for the third time that day.
"I'm pregnant."
Okay this chapter was supposed to be wayyyyy longer but because of my supposed three day bullshit I cut it off right there to upload faster. I know people were dying to see Naruto's reaction but it will be the main focus of the stunning conclusion to the Root of all Fears...
After that will be the Chunin Exams. I decided to skip the wave arc and save it for later.
This just fueled the buildup. Now before your heads explode let me say that next chapter will be out in a week. No bullshit this time.
Story Notes
-Fu. His mind was subjected to three days of torture. His conscious was thoroughly raped inside and out, sideways and back ways, left and right, upside and down. He's not going anywhere anytime soon.
- Team 7 interaction. Their like family now. Plus those close bonds will make the scene when they get broken apart all the more sweeter... Bwahahahahaha
I kid. I'm not the cruel. Team 7 forever!
-Naruto's display of power. Got inspired from that after watching Fairy Tail for the first time. Fell in love with the Natsu vs Gildarts fight where the big man show's his true power. I was immediately like "That's motherfucking Naruto right here baby!"
-Riha pregnant. What? Where? Who?When? Why? How? You'll find out next chapter.
-Kyuubi scene. He knows Naruto's special. Really special. Can anyone say 'descendant.'
That's it for now. Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think with a review!
P.S Latest manga chapter. I'm calling bullshit right now and saying no way in hell is Sasuke going to die. Naruto's death is out of the question. He's the main character.
The question is, who's going to save the day.
My guess it's either going to be Tenten or Yamato…