Now that Tatsu's speech had finished, the room was beginning to disperse. Most of the remaining Genin were going off to rest and then train in some cases, the only exception being Kabuto's. However, Naruto and his friends had no such thoughts in mind. The blonde strode determined towards his mentor, with his friends coming to support him.
"Tatsu-sensei…" Naruto growled. "I want some answers. I think I'm entitled."
To their surprise, Tatsu just nodded absentmindedly. "You're right, and I'm sorry. You'll get your answers… but we have to do it someplace more private."
Taken aback by Tatsu's acceptance, the Genin could do nothing but blindly follow him. They walked up to the balcony, and to even Naruto's surprise, Mitarashi Anko followed his teacher. Tatsu lead them into an empty room and looked from side to side, as if checking for intruders. After a few seconds he seemed satisfied and the Genin were forced to sit on various crates, tables and old chairs. Tatsu himself settled on the floor, a peaceful look coming onto his face.
"So kid, tell me… what's on your mind?" Tatsu asked.
"Well… first I want to know… who exactly WAS Ryu? He had our last name, and it seemed as if he knew how to use abilities that only you and I can use, Tatsu-sensei!" Naruto asked. "I think that as a member of the Muhi clan, I have a right to know!"
As Tatsu sighed, the 'rookie nine' all perked up. They had been wondering the same thing; and what was this about powers?
"That's a complicated answer Naruto, but the short version is that Ryu was meant to be a spy of sorts." He replied.
Gasps went out. "What do you mean a spy, Tatsu-san? Are you and Naruto trying to do something to the village?" Kiba growled.
Tatsu chuckled mirthlessly. "No. Little one over here would gut me alive if I did something to usurp his dream; and even if I was planning something, I wouldn't need a spy."
Tatsu absentmindedly rubbed an arm. "No, Ryu was meant to be a spy who wouldn't arouse suspicion to certain parties; these certain parties are trying to infiltrate the village and are planning on an invasion at the very Chuunin exam itself."
"What? Which parties are these?" Shino's brow furrowed.
"Someone that most of you should know fairly well. The former legendary Sannin, Orochimaru."
THAT got quite a reaction out of the whole crowd, and Tatsu chuckled mischievously, deciding not to wait for them to calm down.
"Orochimaru is the leader of the newly established Otogakure no Sato, and though he supposedly broke off his ties with Konoha years ago, he has come here in order to fulfill his ambition."
"What ambition is that, Tatsu-sensei?" Naruto asked in trepidation.
Tatsu shook his head. "The idiot thinks that if he learns every single jutsu in the world, he'll be able to become a green god… or something. I don't understand it myself, but in order to do so, he's trying to obtain the Sharingan eye through Sasuke here."
Sasuke began to look alarmed. "Wouldn't it take too long to learn every jutsu, even with the Sharingan? Not that I'm willing, mind you."
Tatsu nodded. "Somehow, he's been able to figure out a method to make himself immortal. I guess he figures that he can learn every jutsu in the world by staying forever young. To do so, he's come here to this Chuunin exam and hoped of destroying his former home and obtaining the last true Uchiha. You've felt him, haven't you Anko-chan?"
Sasuke's visage darkened at the implication of Itachi, while Anko nodded somberly.
"Yes. He gave me a seal long ago and it flares up in pain whenever he is nearby."
While the Genin went silent, Tatsu began looking pensive. Naruto broke the silence.
"You still didn't answer my question sensei! What about Ryu?"
"I was getting to that." Tatsu said irritated. "Because I knew that the Snake Sannin was after your team Little One, I wanted to make sure that I could employ protective measures. Because I wanted to make sure that you came out safe, and because the old man was worried too, I created Ryu out of my DNA. He was to act as my eyes and ears during this exam, and wouldn't arouse too much suspicion to the Oto-nin."
"So… hold on a minute," Naruto thought. "You mean to tell me, that Ryu was a CLONE of you?"
"A younger clone, but yes, that's essentially it." Tatsu confirmed.
Naruto's friends were confused at what was going on, but they tried to go with it.
"Wait. Why did you not try to save him though? I mean, he was literally your flesh and blood!" Naruto asked in shock.
Tatsu sighed again. "For two reasons: the first of which is that Ryu had an… affliction that is common to clones, called ICD."
"ICD?"
"Internal Clone Disorder. It's a disease that almost all clones are afflicted with after being close to their genetic donors; the symptoms include paranoia, aggression and later, madness."
Anko looked surprised. "Is THAT why he was acting so weird?"
Tatsu nodded. "Sure. Why else would he act so strange?"
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Several dozen parallel multiverses away, a young author to be sneezed next to his computer.
At the same time, an azure haired albino by the name of Ayanami Rei did the same.
Finally, several thousand troops in a far off sector of the Galactic Republic also did the same.
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"So, what was the other reason you had Ryu die, sensei?" Naruto asked with eyes narrowed.
Tatsu cleared his throat. "That Gaara kid… you sensed it too right? How it was like he had two different selves in one?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Ummm….no Tatsu-sensei, I didn't."
Tatsu snorted. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to up your training then. That aside, this second presence inside Gaara was driving him mad. Unfortunately, Ryu's powers weren't strong enough to quell this presence without using ever fiber of his being. I can guess, but I'm not sure, that Ryu wanted his life to have meaning by helping another."
The Genin all went silent at this, in awe at Ryu's selflessness.
"Does that answer your questions?" Tatsu asked derisively.
"Yeah… it does for now. Thank you, sensei."
Tatsu's features softened. "Come on, let's walk and talk."
Tatsu now lead them out of the stadium and back towards the village. As he did, a running commentary was started.
"Now I know that some of you want to ask me this, so I'll answer beforehand to save time. Sorry, but none of you, even Naruto, may receive training from me for your exams."
Many disappointed sighs went up, faces pouted and Sasuke and Shino merely frowned.
"However," Tatsu raised a hand up. "That doesn't mean that you cannot use my training facilities!"
Excited murmuring broke out, and Naruto looked excitedly towards his teacher.
"Tatsu-sensei… do you mean… we're going to show them…?"
Tatsu smiled. "Yes indeed kid. We're taking your friends to our home."
Tatsu almost immediately frowned. "But not today. Today, even though I'm not your teacher, I'd like all of you to get some rest and enjoy yourselves. Tomorrow is going to be quite a day, and I'd prefer that all of you be prepared. That is, unless you don't want to train at the place my little 'student-teacher' does most of the time?"
Heated denials were what met Tatsu, and the man just chuckled.
"All right then. Meet me in front of Konoha's north gate, tomorrow at 2 p.m. See you all later! Anko-chan, please come with me. Naruto, I'll meet you at home."
Naruto and his friends walked into the village, many of them realizing just how tired they were. Many yawned and began to set off towards home.
Little did they realize what awaited them the next day; Tatsu continued to walk with his female companion and settled into a small forest clearing.
"Now Anko-chan, let's see that seal of yours…"
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The next day, all of the rookie nine had come bright and relatively early. Each of them had packed at least a weeks worth of clothes, as well as many of their ninja tools and a few soldier pills. They figured that Tatsu's facilities would be able to cover food and lodging, and also imagined that they would be busy enough training to do much else.
At about fifteen until two, Naruto showed up as usual reading his manga. None of them talked; they were either too anxious or nervous.
Finally, at two o'clock on the dot, a sheepish looking Muhi Tatsu came out of what seemed to be nowhere with a dreamy looking Mitarashi Anko draped over his back. Most of the Genin looked confused, but Naruto just sighed in exasperation.
"Bringing home women again, eh sensei?"
Tatsu frowned. "No, Anko-chan asked if she could come. She's quite grateful for removing that nasty seal from her shoulder; I'm glad for her company, but she's not like someone you could just pick up at the corner of fifth and main."
Naruto and Tatsu just stared at each other in exasperation, then met each other's eyes and laughed. Tatsu cleared his throat.
"Well, I have to say, it is good to see you all!" The man said heartily. "Now I have to warn you. What you see may shock and amaze you, but trust me, everything is real."
Even more confused at that statement, the Genin stared at Tatsu with apprehension. Tatsu sighed.
"I guess the best way I can explain how our home works to you is to show you. Watch closely!"
With a smile and a wink, Tatsu reached into his pockets and took out a piece of chalk. To the astonishment of Naruto's friends, Tatsu began to draw a door in the middle of the path. Making a rectangle, he finished with a small knob, and surprisingly, a door instantly appeared. Tatsu turned the knob, and amazingly, the door lead INTO another place. Chuckling to himself, Tatsu shepherded them in.
Vaguely hearing Tatsu close the door behind him, the Genin gasped in astonishment as they beheld the scene before them.
The room they entered looked wealthier than any damiyo's mansion; a grand hall awaited them, there were dozens of doors, hundreds of various types of soft chairs, a grand chandelier at least thirty feet wide at the top of the room and a solitary column that stood in the center, with what looked like a closed stone eye in it's own center.
Wordlessly, Tatsu walked up to the column, of which they eye had suddenly opened. Tatsu took off his shades and a beam of light emerged from the eye, going straight into Tatsu's own. Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"OCCULAR VERIFICATION COMPLETE. PLEASE RECITE YOUR PASSWORD."
They heard Tatsu curse for a second, and then sigh.
"Espers are sex gods."
"PASSWORD CONFIRMED. WELCOME HOME MASTER TATSU."
Tatsu grumbled thanks. A beam of light was cast down and engulfed the party and after two seconds, they were gone.
Five seconds later, eight severely disoriented ninja in training, one not disoriented and a self-proclaimed wacko were placed in what would look to us (the readers) as an amazingly ornate hotel lobby. Said wacko wasted no time and walked up to the desk, ringing the bell on top of it. Almost immediately, a nondescript yet sharply dressed man came up. He smiled in delight at who he saw.
"Ah! Master Tatsu, young Master Naruto! You've finally come home! And… did you bring guests? How lovely!"
Tatsu chuckled. "Yes indeed Garibaldi, these are the eight children who are the first new 'keyed guests' in a long time. Now come on up everyone, Garibaldi will give you your room keys. I made them especially for you."
Walking up with trepidation, the eight were each asked for their names. Nervously, they all gave their names and Garibaldi cheerfully gave them all shiny looking keys. Confused, they looked to Tatsu for explanation.
"Those keys are all keyed to your specific rooms. I still think you all deserve a bit more rest, so, just enjoy yourselves!" Tatsu said cheerfully. "Naruto will give you the tour. I have some business, so I'll see all of you later."
And with that, Tatsu left even more mysteriously than he had entered.
All nine Genin blinked for a moment. Naruto only realized later what his father had said.
"SENSEI!"
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Naruto had grumbled a bit, but it took little time for him to begin the tour of Tatsu's home.
The initial question had been where exactly they were. The answer was that they were in a 'place within a place' as Naruto had described it, a pocket dimension which lead exclusively to Tatsu's home. Naruto said that Tatsu's home was officially known as Havenwood. Unofficially, it was known as 'Downtown', though Naruto confessed that he didn't know why.
This raised even more questions as to how exactly Tatsu had gotten the place; if he had created it, the man must have been hideously powerful. However, that theory was shot down when Naruto had told them that his mentor had won the ever expanding home as a result of a fixed card game with various deities and higher dimensional beings.
"But Naruto-kun…" Hinata said after hearing this somewhat shocking bit of news. "How could Tatsu-san have gotten into such a game at all? Tatsu-san isn't a god himself, is he?"
Naruto shook his head. "No, sensei isn't, nor has he ever wanted to be a god. Sensei… he's been around for a VERY long time and he's had many adventures. Some of these adventures just happened to have him becoming friends with deities."
Hinata just stared, nonplussed, and Naruto took this to mean he could continue on with his tour.
"If I were to give you all a complete tour of Havenwood, we'd be here for more than a year, so I'll just show the important things, okay?"
They then proceeded to follow Naruto as close as they possibly could; with a statement like that, none of the Konoha nin wanted to risk being lost.
First, Naruto told them that because they weren't formally being trained by Tatsu himself, they were free to enter and exit the facility at their leisure. The key was… well, their keys! A drop of blood and a specific password that each of them would enter through voice was all that was needed and the keys would respond to the rookie nine and ONLY them.
With that little formality out of the way, Naruto first showed them what he called the 'Danger Room'. In reality, it was a large amount of rooms all together, with a balcony overhead for observers.
"This," Naruto began "Is where Tatsu-sensei and I do most of our training. The Danger Room is unique in that not only is it a great, wide open space to safely practice techniques and practice, but it also comes with a wide variety of opponents, specifically catered for difficulty level, fighting style and overall difficulty."
"Sparring partners?" Sasuke wondered.
"Yeah. I don't know how exactly to explain it, but this room was built in order to maximize training ability. What that means essentially, is that sensei wanted to make sure that when someone was training here, they wouldn't be fighting motionless dummies. They would be fighting people that would be real… but not."
Sakura looked pensive. "You mean that Tatsu-san figured out a way to duplicate the fighting abilities of real people, Naruto-kun? That they fight in here, just like the real thing?"
Naruto clapped in delight. "Very good Sakura-chan! That's exactly it! Sensei has collected data from every fighter he's ever been interested in, and their abilities have been duplicated almost to the point of near perfection. This will allow someone to get plenty of experience, especially when they fight increasingly more difficult opponents."
Eyes widening, many of Naruto's friends began to see the value of such a device.
"Now, there are a few things that you should be warned about." Naruto said in a serious tone. "If you want to use this device, it will ever increasingly adapt to your fighting level; there is NO beating the simulator, no matter how strong you are. If you get better, your opponent changes accordingly. Also, your opponents will constantly change, so there's no 'getting used' to a fighting style; this device was intended to force you to adapt, and quickly! Finally," Naruto sighed. "The Danger Room can also be used to simulate stealth missions, assassination and other things you may encounter, so there's no telling what levels you can get to with it. However… BE CAREFUL!" Naruto's eyes softened. "This device… it can't hurt someone… but it can make you feel like you're dying."
Seeing the seriousness on the young student-teacher's face, the Genin felt obligated to nod. Somewhat somberly, Naruto started the tour up again.
Tatsu's protégé cheered up at the next room. A room both he and his teacher considered very important was the self-proclaimed 'Shrine to Aquarius'; why it was called this was evident, as the entire room was nothing but water and platforms within the pools of water. There were pools, saunas, jacuzzi's, showers, onsen, bathtubs, and even five water slides! There was also an area off to the side where at least two dozen deck chairs sat to the side along with pile upon pile of fluffy towels; the effect of this room was made even more amazing when they saw a clear blue sky through a clear glass ceiling.
"Sensei and I come here whenever we need to relax. Water is quite soothing, especially when we can make it warm at anytime within the shrine. Oh, and the onsen is quite lovely, if I do say so myself."
Naruto grinned in a cheeky fashion, but his friends were simply glad he was feeling better. At the same time, several of them were wondering if it would be possible to lounge in the shrine all day, with several bottles of Elven Fizz to the side…
Naruto then proceeded to lead them through an enormous amount of doors until finally they came across a place that looked as though it had been waiting just for them.
An enormous pub awaited them, although it looked like Tatsu had fused a hotel ballroom along with it, giving it a somewhat regal, yet cozy feeling.
"This is sensei's personal watering hole, which he calls 'The Happy Dragon'. It's part bar, part showroom, and has a drink selection big enough to make you consider an all liquid diet! Hey Moe! How about you take our orders!" Naruto shouted this to a somewhat grubby looking barman.
"Okay. What'll ya have?" the barman asked.
Several of the ninja froze up, not knowing in the slightest what to order. Ino bravely stepped forward though.
"Would you happen to have any Elven Fizz?" she asked with trepidation.
'Moe' gave a wheezing chuckle, and with a flourish, a bottle of the blue drink was set down in front of her. Ino smiled in delight.
"Thank you. How much do I owe you?"
'Moe' shook his head. "Nothing. Tatsu-sama owns this bar, and he pays me well, so I'm happy to serve guests whenever they come in. It's been such a long time since the master had guests…" Moe sighed wistfully.
Now over their nervousness, the others placed their orders as well. Most of them ordered Elven Fizz, but Sasuke, who had never had the drink, merely asked for something that wasn't sweet. The barman smirked and handed over a bottle of a steaming hot substance. Sasuke took it with some trepidation, but bravely chugged down a glass quickly. Sasuke choked for a second and then blushed as steam began coming out of his ears. Naruto glared slightly at the barman, who just laughed.
"Ogden's old Firewhiskey! Some of the '94 vintage if I remember. Good stuff, isn't it kid?"
Now that the steam had stopped, Sasuke was seen licking his lips, a pensive look on his face. He then shrugged.
"Not bad."
The bartender just laughed harder at this. Naruto just sighed.
"Give me the usual Moe."
The barman just nodded and reached up above. He set a mug full of a frothing yellow liquid in front of the boy and Naruto accepted it happily. He flipped a coin with his thumb, aiming it at the barman. The barman accepted the coin happily.
"Thanks kid, it's always nice to get something new for the collection. Master Tatsu gives me new ones all the time, but it's nice to get a souvenir from an actual traveler nowadays."
Naruto just nodded, happily gulping down his drink.
"Ah, Butterbeer. Nothing like it in Konoha; are you all ready now? Uh… hello?"
Naruto slapped his forehead in exasperation. The bottles of Elven Fizz were all empty, and a group that looked as if they had just recently tried a certain crystal drug had replaced his friends
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Thankfully, the Elven Fizz had worn off slightly in about ten minutes and the tour continued.
"Finally, we come to the last part of the tour. Your rooms!" Naruto shouted with glee.
At this proclamation, several of his friends let out a startled gasp, the faces of others widened their eyes and a select few only raised their eyebrows.
"N-Naruto-kun… you're serious?!" Hinata said, a barely visible smile gracing her face. "Tatsu-san is giving us our own guest rooms in your home?"
Naruto gave an even wider smile and shook his head. "No, 'tousan is giving you all PERMANENT rooms here."
This gave way to an even larger amount of surprise. "But, Naruto man, why would Tatsu-san do something like that for us?" Kiba asked doubtfully.
Naruto gave a sigh at this. "It's because… a long time ago, Tatsu-sensei was part of a group of friends, a lot like us. All of them… they were outcasts. They had no place to call home, and one of his greatest dreams was to make a place where anyone could go when they were having problems; a place you could go when life was getting you down."
A silence ensued. Though it went unspoken, a sense of awe could be felt at the man who was Naruto's teacher, and a desire to know more about him.
Naruto continued with his tour, and let his friends know that their rooms had been designed by both Tatsu and himself, but they could be changed at any time to whatever the recipient desired. Although the ninja were wary at first, especially seeing how eccentric Tatsu had seemed, when they saw their rooms those worries flew away.
Shikamaru's room was relatively simple, but it had almost everything he needed. An enormous bed was situated in the center, as soft and comfortable as if he were actually on a cloud; an ornate game table that could be changed to play almost any board game, including Shogi was surrounded by two comfortable armchairs and a fireplace that had been installed near the foot of the bed. The best part, however, was a remote controlled skylight that opened up to a sky filled with white, fluffy clouds. Needless to say, Shikamaru had surprised them all by actually hugging his friend.
Shino's room was relatively barren, other than a similar bed to Shikamaru's, as well as a direct door to the Entomology preserve, in which insect species that even Shino had never heard of were ripe for the study and cultivation. The best part, however, was that his very room was an ideal breeding ground for his Kikai bugs, and was so silent that Shino could feel his resonance with his insects increase almost tenfold. Though it may have been a trick of the light, some of the young ninja could have sworn that a tear came down the Aburame's face.
Kiba and Akamaru's room wasn't actually a room… but they both loved it anyway. Instead of a traditional room, the two were given a tract of forested land which was filled with plants, animals and grass to roam around in freely. Especially nice was the fact that regardless of whether they hunted or not, Akamaru would be given his choice of meat every day. The duo just stared in awe, eyes wide.
"I think that's the first time I've seen him speechless." Hinata commented.
Chouji's room wasn't quite as ornate as the previous three, but he loved it all the same, thanks in no small part to the fact that it not only lead right to the kitchens, but was filled with posters that depicted heavy, muscular men, handsome and strong who ate an absolute TON of meat.
Sasuke's room in particular didn't feature much in the way of frills, but he loved it all the same. In addition to the bed, his room lead right to the simulator and had a bookshelf, filled with combat techniques and abilities. The centerpiece to this room and what essentially sealed the deal, was a set of pictures on his ceiling. The first was of Sasuke's mother, father, aunt and uncle; underneath the picture was a caption that read:
THEY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU
The second picture was just as important. It was a group photograph of the entire 'rookie nine' along with Tatsu himself. The photo had been taken right after they had completed Team 7's first C-rank mission in an effort to try and boost their morale; a similar caption was under this photo as well:
YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE
Although no tears were shown, Naruto could see that Sasuke had been suppressing a choked sob as he hugged the 'student-teacher'.
The rooms assigned to Ino, Sakura and Hinata weren't as impressive as some of the others, Naruto apologized, because he and Tatsu had thought that for the most part, they would rather make up the rooms themselves. However, each girl did receive at least one small surprise.
Sakura's room had a small pile of trivia books and quizzes, and she was left confused because Sakura had never mentioned her hobby to either Naruto or his teacher. It also had several shelves dedicated to techniques and knowledge that involved medicine, anatomy and energy manipulation of all kinds. The clincher for Sakura was a large desk next to the bed with an incredibly comfortable chair positioned right next to it. The desk was filled with paper, writing utensils and various other supplies and Sakura squealed in delight when she saw it.
Hinata was similarly surprised when she discovered that her room was similar to Sakura's, the difference being that instead of quiz books and writing utensils, Hinata's was given special treatment towards her own hobby, namely the art of flower pressing. A door in the room lead to one of Tatsu's many gardens, in which Hinata was free to take petals at her leisure, and use the included press and art supplies. Hinata was happy enough that she gave Naruto a chaste kiss, which left them both blushing.
Finally, Ino's room was similarly outfitted with a shelf filled with techniques and knowledge, a bed, a desk and the group photo which was found in every room. However, it also came with a surprise; there was a simple white envelope on the bed. When Ino opened it, it contained two items: the first was a Delinthium credit card, which was keyed to Tatsu's private account and would work in any store. When Ino managed to calm down from her happiness high, she noticed the other item inside… a free pass for a training session with Tatsu himself. This earned him a rather pleasing hug.
Naruto finally ended the tour by giving his friends back their keys and leading them all to a large yet comfortable sitting room. He motioned for them to sit down.
"So, that is essentially the tour. If you'd like to visit any of the other rooms, just ask your keys for a map and you should have everything you need. So, that being said, you can now do whatever you want. You can use your keys to go home, you can stay here and start training, you could relax a bit, and whatever you want really."
Teams eight and ten glanced at their teammates.
"If it's all the same to you, Naruto-kun, I think we should check in with Kurenai-sensei first." Hinata responded.
"Yeah, and despite how much I'd love to just stay here forever," Shikamaru grumbled "Ino and Chouji probably want to see Asuma-sensei first as well."
Naruto nodded. "Sasuke, Sakura, what about you both?"
"I think we should all see Kakashi first Naruto, and then go from there. I could bring him here, right?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, but you would have to identify him as a guest to the system. You'll know when it happens. Sakura?"
"I… I think I ought to let my mother know first Naruto. Otherwise, I'd love to get some training done here. There are more… perks after all."
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While Tatsu couldn't join them that night, he sent a note to assure his erstwhile son that his business was just taking a little longer than usual, and for them all to get some sleep.
The Genin had then spent the night at Tatsu's majestic and mysterious home, resting and marveling at the ever expanding space.
The next day, they had decided on their training arrangements. Sasuke had persuaded Kakashi to help train his team in Havenwood; although Kakashi was initially reluctant at first, the fact that SOMEHOW Tatsu's library contained signed copies of the entire Icha Icha series made sure that they had little trouble after that.
Although Sakura's mother had been reluctant to let her daughter stay with her 'boyfriend' for a month, when she had heard that there would be a chaperone in the form of Muhi Tatsu, she soon gave in. So, Sakura had decided to alternate her time between learning from Naruto and technique scrolls, working on self-made abilities that she thought would be useful and using the Danger Room.
Hinata, tired of how things were going for her at home, decided that she would alternate her time between working on her Genjutsu with Kurenai and taking advantage of Havenwood's facilities. Although Hinata didn't see as much of Kurenai as she would have liked, it was worth it to have such a useful training tool and two amazing teachers in the form of Naruto and his father.
Kiba and Shino likewise spent a little time with Kurenai, but most of the time they spent time in the Danger Room, working on their flaws and making themselves stronger in both body and mind. Both managed to create new jutsu.
Shikamaru, quite simply, never wanted to leave Havenwood. Unfortunately, he knew that he had troublesome responsibilities, and eventually came home. While most of his time was spent training with Asuma, Shikamaru reluctantly spent a few days in the Danger Room.
Chouji and Ino continued to work on their own abilities, again, using the Danger Room. However, Chouji continued working on his 'secret style' that had yet to be revealed, and Ino experimented more with the usage of plants as weapons; she had offered to help the girl from the grass train in exchange for information on how to make the various poisons, medicines, explosives and other substances that the girl had displayed in her fight against Shino. In the final week, she took up the offer for Tatsu's lesson… and let's just say she learned quite a lot.
As for Naruto… well, he was about to go and meet his sensei the very next day at the Hokage tower.
Striding in confidently, Naruto assumed that he would be here only to collect Tatsu and go back. Unfortunately, fate wasn't on his side that day.
Naruto opened the door to Sandaime's office, and found Sarutobi, Tatsu and a man he didn't know with spiky long hair glance at him. Tatsu gave a smirk.
"Hi there Little One. Meet your teacher for the month: Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin and writer of Icha Icha Paradise!"
Naruto gaped at Tatsu.
"You're joking, right?"
TSUZUKU!
Omake: 'Sakura's Perks'
… There are more… perks after all." Sakura said with a wicked smirk.
Sasuke looked confused. "What kind of 'Perks' would those be?"
Sakura glanced at Naruto, licking her lips in a predatory fashion. "Give it to me, Naruto."
Naruto began to sweat nervously. "Um, Sakura-chan, are you sure this is the best time?"
"YES!" she growled. "Now, give it to me!"
Naruto nodded and began to unzip one of his pants pockets. One of his hands went inside…
And an instant later, a bottle of Elven Fizz was snatched by Sakura, now holding and hugging it as if it were her baby.
Naruto sobbed. "Why oh why couldn't sensei just have given her Grape Crush?!"
Omake 2: Tatsu's 'what-if' machine
"…and so, this machine will tell you what would have happened if something different had happened in your life."
Muhi Tatsu had finished explaining how the device he had stolen from a senile old inventor worked. Naruto and his friends seemed interested, and said blonde went up to try.
"What would happen if I had never met Tatsu-sensei?"
(Imagine that the What-if machine is showing them the entire story of Naruto from start to finish, but in a shorter form.)
Seeing what he could have become, and how he could have been the ramen-loving idiot who had no idea of what it was like to be a real ninja, Naruto did the first thing that came into his head.
Sobbing, he hugged his mentor. Tatsu awkwardly patted him on the head.
Author's Notes-
Well, it's been a long time since I started Mind's Eye, and the story has grown quite a bit in popularity. Admittedly, it's been a bit longer than I thought it would take, but overall I'm very pleased at the response.
While most reviews I've gotten have been positive (and I'm quite surprised at that) there have been a few that I don't quite agree with.
First of all, to the people who think that Havenwood and what is associated with it are a bit too 'weird', well, you don't have to read the story. I'm just having fun here, and I created Tatsu and Havenwood a very long time ago; if you're thinking that the story is going to be all about random elements, don't. Those were just things I put in for fun, and to explain a little of Tatsu's origins and how he was able to meet Naruto. I created the place because I personally have always wanted a place like that, and I imagine that the various heroes and heroines we meet in fiction could have used a break from time to time but didn't have a set place to go. That's the whole purpose behind Havenwood. Tatsu winning the place in a card game was purely a joke; exactly how he won Havenwood will be important to future story elements. Please, no more comments about this.
To whoever criticized me for 'making assumptions' about Sasuke's elemental affinity, you are right and wrong. You are right in that it hasn't been confirmed that he has a fire affinity, but wrong in that you're telling me it's wrong to say that. We already know that Sasuke has a lightning affinity (how else could he have come up with Chidori Current?) and we know that the Uchiha clan is talented in fire jutsu, so I'm making an educated guess; and if you think that I'm going to make the Yondaime Naruto's father… than I guess you're the one making assumptions.
Also, to those who told me about elemental affinities, thanks for the help. That was actually constructive criticism and I'll make a retcon… of sorts. Nartuo in the story doesn't actually say which elements are strong against each other, so just consider the previous author notes irrelevant.
P.S. If anyone is willing to send art or omake for the story I'll gladly host them.
Thanks to everyone for the support.