LC; Naru-chan gets to spend some time with her godfather! YAY!
Naruto; Why can't you change who I train with? Make it, not a pervert?
LC; Because Jaraiya is the only one capable of it! Plus it's cool!
Naruto; What about the water walking technique? I had to get in my underwear for that.
LC; Me got idea! You musn't worry so much, Naru-chan!
Sasuke; the way she says that is making me worry.
Naruto;*Nods in agreement to Sasuke's comment*
LC; Anyway, Tick tock goes big Ben, now here comes, chapter ten!
Disclaimer; WAH! Kishimoto sic'ed his rabid plot guard dogs on my rabid plot bunnies! WAH! Me no own Naru-chan!
Chapter 10, One month to prepare for everything.
Naru knew that ANBU were watching her every move, it would be idiotic to try and leave the hospital today. She would wait until the situation concerning her became less urgent and they took away her guard dogs.
She sat down on the bed with a low groan, playing the in pain rookie she was supposed to be. "Geez, that fight took too much chakra." She complained aloud, for the benefit of her guards. "Note to self, Kishi is to be avoided should I want to stay out of the hospital."
She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes, concentrating on going to the clearing within her mind, to train with Kyu.
At the moment, she was trying to master a new jutsu Kyu had shown her using one of his memories. It was a wind type jutsu, called Aerial blast.
In theory, it was supposed to shoot out little bullets of wind, capable of ripping through enemy armor. Kind of like super strong, almost invisible shuriken.
Used typically for assassinations and the like.
"Come on Kit, all you got to do is envision what you want the wind to do, then guide it using your hand." Kyubi instructed, correcting her chakra flow whenever it began to go in the wrong direction, so to speak.
She tried it again, along with the several clones that were practicing along with her. Finally, one of the clones succeded in making a single bullet shoot to one of the trees.
"YEAH!" The clone cried in victory, holding up a victory sign. "I did it!"
She dismissed that clone and continued with her training, while in the real world, it appeared she was sleeping like a rock.
Finally, Kyu told her they'd moved her body from that room to a regular ward and she was alone. "Thanks for the heads up!" She thanked him, already fading from her mind world.
When her eyes opened, she saw Kyu had been right, she was now in a different room, and the ANBU were gone.
"Huh, guess it's time to get going." She muttered tiredly.
When she sat up and the covers fell down, she saw she was wearing one of those damned hospital gowns that never covered the important parts and showed too much for comfort.
"Where are my clothes?" She asked aloud, scanning the room for a closet or dresser they could be in.
Opening the closet, she saw her clothes had been washed and repaired, which saved trouble for her. She changed into them, then walked to the window.
"Alright, time to get to work." She decided, opening the window, and jumping down to the ground below.
She stopped by Ichiraku's for some lunch, she was starving, and there she met Kishi. "Yo, you like ramen too?" Kishi fell off of the stool in surprise.
From down on the ground, he looked up into the snickering face of Naru. "Naru-sama!" He gasped.
"Would you quit with the sama thing already?" She asked, offering him one of her hands. He took it hesitantly, then she pulled him to his feet.
"Come on, after we eat we can go somewhere more private for that talk." She said, like she'd planned on meeting him here for lunch or something.
Ten bowls of ramen later and a speechless Kishi later, found them sitting on top the fourth Hokage's head. "This is my favorite place to be to be alone." She informed him. "We shouldn't be disturbed here."
"Right, is there anything you want to ask about?" He asked.
"Yes, tell me everything." She said, watching him with undisguised interest. She'd been unable to find any information on the Uzumaki clan, a blow to her ego if ever there was one.
He told her about the clan history, gave her scrolls with clan techniques, and lastly, told her about their gekki genkai, and how to unlock it.
"It's called the Heaven's Seal." He told her. "It can only be awakened in a moment of near death. Not many in our clan have it, but those that do are destined for greatness."
"A moment near death." She repeated, staring into the now sinking Sun. A thought occured to her, and she chose to ask about it. "Kishi, I'd like your help with something." She said slowly, unsure of how he'd react. "I want you, to help me awaken this gekki genkai."
That night, they began fighting eachother, except Naru had lots of handicaps. Kishi was going to drive her over the edge, push her to near death, so the power would awaken.
At first, he hadn't wanted to do it. After an hour or so, he began to wonder if he even could! She never seemed to tire!
She wasn't allowed to use weapons or jutsu, all she could do was run and dodge from Kishi and his naginata.
Twice now he had cut her, but she was still going strong. Curse her inhuman stamina! How was she supposed to awaken her blood line limit if she couldn't tire?
They fought through the night, and when the Sun arose, both were ready to collapse. But being who they were, they refused to quit, they fought on.
Around noon, Naru collected several more cuts on her arms and legs. She had removed her jacket through instinct to move faster, but her pants were tatters, shorts really. Her shirt only had one cut on it, right above the bust, but below the neckline. Kishi could go on for maybe another hour, but Naru could go on for a few more hours. Her stamina and speed training were coming back to haunt her. Who knew it would work against her someday?
Her teammates found them, and assumed they were merely training together. Finally, Kishi lost his footing and was unable to get up again. "Are you, alright?" Naru panted, still in her battle stance.
"Can't move." Kishi gasped, breathing harder than Naru. "My body just won't move!"
After that, Sasuke took over, pushing Naru to her absolute limit.
Around three in the after noon, Naru got stuck in some mud, (From all those mud shots Kishi threw at her) she tried to get loose, but she was stuck.
Sasuke could see she was stuck, but it was too late, he had already finished the handsigns and the fireball was moving towards her. "Naru!" Kakashi cried, knowing he would never reach her in time.
But just before the fireball would have hit, Naru vanished.
It took about two seconds for everyone there to ask the same question. "Where'd she go!" They cried, surveying the area for a blonde kunoichi.
"Up here!" A voice called from the air. When they looked up, they saw Naru, with a pair of golden chakra wings. "Someone tell me how to get down!" She said, tumbling in the air currents, unable to stay in one spot. "Solid ground sounds good right about now!"
Kishi was staring at her like she was from another planet. He'd seen the chakra wing technique used before, but never such a golden color. Usually it was blue, or even purple on rare occasion. But never gold!
"Naru-sama, concentrate on what you want the wings to do!" Kishi instructed. "They should respond!"
She tried and found herself lowering to tree top level. When she touched down, the wings dissappeared.
"Okay, that was cool." She said, glancing at her back to see if her shirt had been ripped. "How do I do that again?" She asked Kishi, her eyes shining with the determination to master this new ability.
However, to Naru's great dismay, Kishi refused to tell her anything until she'd recovered from their, 'spar to the death'.
She went home for a shower, and then decided to walk about the village.
Just as she was passing the hot springs, she saw an old man with long white hair peeking through a knot hole. From past expierence, she knew that behind that wall was the women's bath, making this man one of the things she hated.
Grinning her signature foxy grin of doom, Naru yelled. "PERVERT!" She shrieked.
The old man cried out and tried to find who had ratted him out, but he was blinded by the many fists of the many towel covered women from the bath.
Once they had beaten him to a bloody pulp on the ground, they left, and Jaraiya heard the laughter of a young woman.
He looked up into a tree, and saw a female clone of his student! 'Holy crap, it's a Minata!' He shouted in his head, allowing his jaw to break through the concrete. 'She's taking after her mother in the body department though.' He noticed, eyeing her jacket covered breasts.
"Hey now," He said pitiously. "it's not nice to laugh at a man's misfortune." He whipped out the puppy dog jutsu, which he himself had invented and passed down through the generations. (Yes, he is that old.)
"Sorry old man." She chuckled, trying to stifle her laugh. "It's just I personally hate perverts. You were just a means to relieve stress! And I gotta say, it worked!"
She doubled over and laughed some more, until she was sure the old man's hair was turning red with rage.
Her face relaxed into something more serious, and Jaraiya had to fight himself not to run away when she began to grin. "Uh, why are you smiling like that?" He asked nervously.
She continued smirking and jumped down to the ground from her branch. "I just realised who you are." She informed him. "Your Jaraiya, the toad sannin, a sage."
He seemed surprised to be recognized so easily. "If you knew that, then are you a kunoichi?" Dear Kami he hoped not, kunoichis all hated perverts with a burning passion. He caught sight of the headband previously hidden by the shadows of the tree. Oh yeah, this was a kunoichi.
"Oh come now, what's with the face?" She asked, shooting him her still grinning mug. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
She stopped her creepy grinning, much to the sannin's relief. "You know, your the second sannin I've met so far."
Oh yeah, that caught his attention.
"The second, sannin?" There was no way, Tsunade would never return, so that only left one man. Orochimaru? "Who was it? Which sannin?" He asked, keeping his cool on the outside, though internally he was wigging out.
"His name was Orochimaru." She revealed seriously, hand reaching for her shoulder. "He confronted me and my team while we were in the forest of death. We were beaten, and badly."
He watched her expression closely, but she was telling the honest truth. "Did he mark you?" He asked, eyeing her hand on her shoulder and slightly pained expression.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei sealed it for me, but it still twinges a bit." She admitted feeling uncomfortable about revealing any weaknesses. "You can ask him if you don't believe me."
He didn't need to, he already knew she wasn't lying to him. "Kid, let's talk."
He and Naru made their way to a river, Naru sat on the bank, gesturing to the spot next to her. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked.
"Hehe," He chuckled. "I should be asking you that, brat."
She grinned, but this one was an actually happy grin, not the evil, I'm-gonna-kill-you-in-a-painful-way, grin.
"I'm not entirely sure why he would give me this mark, but I do know that he expects me to join him for something." She started uncertainly. "I managed to make him sweat, but I was still no match for him." She continued. "Most of the time, I think he was just playing with me." It hurt her pride to admit it, but she couldn't very well deny it either. "Just before I would have fallen to my death though, he grabbed my arm and bit me. Making this mark."
Jaraiya nodded sagely, (Well that's what he is!) this made sense, Orochimaru always went for the strong ones. "Do you remember anything afterwards? Or about when you just woke up?"
Something about what he said, it made her think for a moment. "I remember him telling me I would search for power for revenge, he probably meant against the Leaf, but I couldn't even if I wanted to."
"Why not? You know what you hold, don't you?" He asked, wondering if maybe she didn't bear a grudge.
"My parents both loved this village, I guess I inherited it." She said, too wise for someone who was thirteen. "Besides, if I were to kill everyone, how would that prove them wrong?"
Okay, he'd been following her so far, until she dropped that bomb about proving them wrong. "Prove who wrong?" He asked curiously.
"The entire village has hated me since my birth." She told him. "They call me demon, monster, and killer. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to show them who I really was. I am not the demon within me, I am Naru Uzumaki, and I want them to see that."
They talked until the Sun began to set. "So let me get this straight, you've been able to contact the nine tails for years, and he trains you inside your mind scape?" It was a bit too much to take in on one day.
"That's about the gist of it." She told him, lying down on her back. "Kyu has been kinder to me than the entire village combined, along with the land of Fire. He's actually a bit of a softie once you get to know him. I started my training at three."
Well, Jaraiya was brain dead. Who knew one girl could do all that without going mad? He'd have given up long ago!
"Pervy sage, do you need proof?" She asked, prepared to reveal her tail and ears should she need to. "I know it's a lot to take in."
"Don't call me that brat." He grumbled, trying to figure out if this was some trick. But no, the girl was too serious for that! She certainly was a Minata, but she was Kushina when it came to her sense of humor and personality.
"What kind of proof did you have in mind?" He asked after careful consideration. She made a handsign, and the genjutsu immediatly dispelled. His jaw went for a swim when he saw his student's daughter was some kind of fox/girl hybrid.
"Okay, I can't think of a way to combat that." He admitted, after retrieving his jaw from the river. "But why are you telling me this? Why trust me when you just met me?"
She reached into her jacket, and pulled out one of her favorite pictures. It was one of her parents, and of the toad sannin.
She handed it to him reluctantly, not wanting to part with her most prized possession.
"I see, so you know almost everything, don't you?" He mumbled, remembering the day of the photo.
"I actually know more than you know." She taunted good naturedly. "I know about my clan now."
He gaped again, almost catching a fish in the process. This girl would make a great spy! She's more knowledgable than I am! He thought to himself.
"What's wrong Pervy Sage?" She taunted, knees hugged to her chest. "Cat got your tongue? Or was it a fish?"
This brat certainly was something else. One minute dead serious, the next poking fun. She's more confusing than Kushina!
Jaraiya asked her to meet him there the next day, around noon, and with that, they parted ways. Both satisfied with the day's events.
When Naru got home, she ate a quick dinner then changed into her night clothes, making sure the blinds were closed. As she lay on her bed, she wondered what the next day would bring for her.
"Kit, you should get to sleep." Kyu advised, stifling a yawn himself. "Your exhausted, wether you care to admit it or not."
She sighed and turned on her side to stare at the blinking red letters of her clock. "Sometimes I wish no one had ever invented clocks." She sighed again. "Then I would not stare at mine all night and never get to sleep."
"Then stop staring at it." Kyu sweatdropped. He knew Naru's inability to sleep came from her almost endless amount of chakra, but even she needed her sleep.
The Sunlight came in through the window, waking Naru from her deep sleep. "Geez, the Sun's too early." She yawned, stretching on the bed. "It always has to come when I don't set my alarm, doesn't it?"
After a shower and breakfast, she went to go and find Kishi for more training. She wanted to be able to call up those wings without being near death, and wanted to know how to control them as well.
She found him waiting in the same clearing as before. "Morning!" She called. He waved back and she ran over to him. "So, sensei, what are we doing today?" She joked around.
"Well, Naru-sama, today, we'll see how well you can call up the wings with your will." He instructed, feeling older than he really was at being called sensei.
They trained until noon, then Naru had to leave to meet with Pervy Sage, as she'd dubbed him. He was waiting for her by the river, thinking about the best course of action.
"Alright kid," He said, noticing she was there. "you probably know the waterwalking excersise, right?"
She nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "Then you must have enough chakra control to do a summoning as well, right?"
She blushed, wondering is he'd somehow found out about her contract with the foxes.
"Actually, I can do summons." She said quietly, afraid to upset him.
"Yeah, I figured the fox would've given you a contract by now." He said thoughtfully. "Do you know your father's techniques?"
She nodded again, wondering where he was going with this.
"Well then, have you ever made your own jutsu?" He asked, barely suppressing a triumphant grin when she shook her head. "Well then, that's what we'll be working on during our time together."
Turned out, making her own jutsu was harder then she thought it would be. She could understand why it had taken her father three years to create the rasengan.
She had summoned enough clones to strip a tree of it's leaves, and now each one was trying to tear the leaf with their chakra alone.
After the Heaven's Seal training, she was already tired, but this threatened to knock her out completely. She hadn't fully recovered from that day and a half spar with Kishi.
Just before the Sun went down and the girls on the other side of the bushes left, all the clones succeded in cutting the leaf in half. "We did it!" They all cried in victory, throwing the leaves into the air and instantly dismissing themselves.
The exhaustion hit her all at once and she fell into Jaraiya's waiting arms. "How'd I know this was gonna happen?" He asked himself jokingly.
Seeing the Sun dissappearing under the horizon, Jaraiya carried his new student to her home, having learned where she lived from the third.
As he lay her in her bed, he made himself a promise. This time, he would not lose his student. He would not allow Naru to die.
The next few days were spent much the same. In the mornings she trained with Kishi to master her wings, in the afternoons she trained with Jaraiya until she dropped.
And every day, the final exam of the chunin exams was drawing nearer. The month was flying by, quickly becoming the happiest month of her life.
Every weekend, she spent the day with Kiba. Sometimes they would go for a picnic, sometimes they went swimming, other times they walked around and talked.
But all good times must come to an end, and this month was no exception. Finally, there was only a week until the exam, and Naru was training with Jaraiya, trying to complete the second part of creating her own jutsu.
"Kit, you've been working too hard, relax a little." Kyu scolded when the third ball of chakra exploded in her hands, knocking her back several feet. "I relax on the weekends." She argued.
"And the rest of the week you drive yourself into the ground." He pointed out. As much as he admired her for never giving up, she was going to kill herself with all this training. "Look, your not going to create a new jutsu in a week, so relax a little and review everything else."
She would still be training but nothing would blow up in her face at least. That was a plus.
Kyubi was certain his student would not die in battle or in childbirth, oh no, she was going to die in training.
Normally Naru would have continued with her training as though Kyu had never spoken, but Kiba had much the same thoughts as the old fox.
"Naru, your going to kill yourself at this rate." He commented after moving out of the shadow of a tree. "Besides, Akamaru and I want you to come by our place."
"Your place?" She repeated, unsure if they were referring to the Inuzuka compound. "Yeah, I know we were supposed to keep it a secret and all, but everyone in my family can smell your scent on me. So now my mom's ordered me to bring you over so she can talk to you or something."
Having never been in this position before, Naru had no idea wether she should go or not. The animalistic instincts, to fight or flee, were beginning to raise their heads. Did she go and meet the head of the Inuzukas? Or did she run away?
Well, she had never been one for running in the first place. "Lead the way!" She said confidently.
However by time they had reached the compound, Naru was considering turning tail and running for all she was worth. Kiba didn't bother knocking and immediatly opened the door and walked inside, followed closely by Naru.
"Mom?" He called, Akamaru barked. "Um, I brought Naru like you asked!"
"We're in the main hall!" A gruff voice answered.
"Come on." Kiba commanded, suddenly more serious than Naru had ever seen him before. Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's jacket and began walked by his side.
Following some animal instinct, Naru kept her head raised high, despite the half urge to bow her head. She would not let them think her weak, she would show them she was strong.
Inside the main hall was every member of the Inuzuka clan, even the animals were given seats of honor, some could even talk.
Tsume, the clan head, was standing in the center of the room, her face was in a permanant scowl as she eyed the girl who was dating her son.
"Naru Uzumaki, you and Kiba have been seeing eachother a lot lately, and yet we have not gotten any notice of this." She pointed out.
Kiba moved to the side, so Naru was now in full view of the entire clan. "I will ask this once, what is your relationship with my son?" She asked, following clan protocal.
"Kiba and I have been seeing eachother since just before the chunin exams began, and while I am not sure yet if he and I will ever marry, I do care for him, and I hope he cares for me also." Naru said mechanically, knowing what was expected. They expected her to be servile, as a woman in their clan was supposed to be with their mate. But then again, she always had denounced the expectations of others, it was a favorite past time of hers.
Tsume had to admit, she was impressed with the girl's steadiness. She also had an animal's kindred spirit, she was kind, caring, and she was a force to be reckoned with on the battle field. She could always be counted on, wether it was to kill enemy ninja, or to protect the pups at home, this girl would not give up until she'd done it.
Just as she had risen to head of the clan, so too could this pup, what with her strength. "I like you pup." She announced, feeling everyone in the room relax slightly at her words. "Kiba you best be careful, don't want this little pup taking your spot as heir do ya?"
Everyone was soon laughing, Kiba's expression relaxed and Naru positively beemed at him.
Another hurdle jumped, Naru, Kiba, and Akamaru left to go and spend the rest of the day together. There was officialy six days until the chunin exam finals.
Naru could only be described as ready.
/LINE\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
LC; Whew, it took me long enough!
Naruto; Yeah, it took like three days!
Sasuke; I don't think another chapter has ever taken this long.
LC; It's not my fault! Blame the man who invented school for existing!
Naruto; Yeah, all that bookwork, it's a miracle you could find the time at all!
LC; Right! Anyway, time for a sneak peek at chappie 11! Next time on a Kunoichi's tail, The chunin exams begin again! Will Naru come out on top? Will Gaara's forces be vanquiched? Will Oro-teme drive poor Naru up the wall?
Who the Hell knows? I DO! You will have to wait and find out! Now review like you mean it!