The New Naruto
Chapter 13 - Better, Faster, Stronger…
The chūnin exam finals were drawing ever closer.
Naruto had half the month left when he returned to Konoha with Jiraiya and company and he was going to put that time to good use.
For the first week and a half, everything almost followed a routine: Morning was summoning and jutsu training, afternoons were usually spent with Tenten training and at night his 'private tutor' would train him.
A certain white haired teacher of his stopped by every now and then to check how he was doing, though on the third day, he was looking a lot worse for wear. Bruises and lumps covered his head as well as a black eye, a swollen lip and a bloody nose. Turns out he came with a message.
"Anko says she looks forward to lunch." Was all Naruto could make out from Jiraiya's muffled speech. Seems Anko did catch up with him after all.
Last night, Naruto was put through an intense fitness test. His 'prisoner' had tempted him with some new toys if he didn't collapse.
The fact Naruto completed his test and still managed to struggle back from the training ground and into bed gave the Kyūbi reason to give Naruto his next 'present'.
Needless to say, last night it took a lot out of him.
The following morning, Naruto rose bright and early. A quick 'pleasant' conversation with the fox about pinching his chakra followed by breakfast was in order.
'Oi, fur ball!' Naruto thought as he quickly washed and dressed for the day.
He was greeted with the usual snores he got from the fox in the mornings. An evil thought quickly crossed his mind.
'Hey! My old, orange jumpsuit! I haven't worn it in ages!'
That quickly woke the beast up.
"…huh? Gah! Burn it with fire! Wha?" The fox jumped, his usual reaction to the blond's old attire was almost burned into his muscle memory. Any mention of it and that line was sure to follow.
'Oh good you're up.' Naruto thought cheerfully to the fox, yanking open his fridge and cupboard to see what goodies lay within.
"…I ever find my way out of here, you're the first one I'm coming for." The fox growled deeply.
'Noted. Anyway it's time to begin training.'
"That's what you got me up for? I told you I'd train you tonight.'
'Ahhh, but I can't wait that long!'
Ninja-o's landed in a bowl followed shortly by the last drops of milk in the carton.
"Sheesh, you're insufferable, you know that?" the fox shot back.
'At least his mother left me alone…'
'But you promised to teach me a new stuff!' Naruto complained, chucking the last empty carton into the bin full of empty instant ramen cups before tucking into breakfast.
"Don't you think you should try to come up with your own jutsu? Why not use your annoying prankster powers to, I dunno, make a trap jutsu or something?"
The silence in the room was surprisingly deafening to the great tailed beast.
What happened in Naruto's mind next could only be described as a small explosion of ideas.
With a soft clang Naruto's spoon dropped into the bowl.
He rose from his seat and silently headed out the door. With no response coming from the black and orange ninja, the fox settled back into its sleeping pose, unaware of the monster he had unleashed on both Konoha and the world. The time bomb that was Naruto locked his front door and leapt across the rooftops, arriving at the Konoha library at the base of the mountain. Research was in order.
Several books now lay atop another, for once Naruto was taking education seriously. He'd been in the library for over four hours now and he had learnt much.
"Uh… chakra…. control… uh… formation, yep erm…" He muttered as his eyes scanned the words in his latest book.
He may not look like it but when Naruto wanted to learn something, he learnt it so long as certain people didn't discourage his education.
So far he'd learnt much about hand signs and jutsu as well as shape and nature manipulation. Seems certain hand signs help certain jutsu like the tiger leans towards fire jutsu's power.
The new information was processed in his brain as multiple plans for jutsu appeared or disappeared after consideration
A voice called out to the genin.
"Naruto?"
The blonde's head raised. In front of him stood the always bored looking Shikamaru with a not so bored look on his face, more one of confusion.
"Why are you in the library?" He asked, doubting whether it was even the real Naruto.
"Oh, hey Shikamaru, I'm training." Was his reply. That didn't help Shikamaru whatsoever.
"Erm… how exactly?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm gonna make my own kick-ass jutsu!" Naruto said proudly, his voice rising above the acceptable level for the library provoking several glances from other readers.
Shikamaru shook his head.
"Naruto, there's no way you could make a jutsu up. You can barely mold your chakra as it is."
While it was true Naruto didn't have many techniques which required expert control, he wasn't about to let Shikamaru know that.
"If you must know, I've learned loads when I was away with pervy sage."
Shikamaru's eyebrow raised.
"Really, I've been practicing hard! You won't stand a chance against me."
The pony tailed boy chuckled.
"Whatever Naruto, besides it's not me you should be trying to convince."
Naruto cocked his head in confusion.
Shikamaru sighed.
'He's learning jutsu but he doesn't know who he's even fighting?! Man, my money's on that sand girl.' He thought.
"You're up against that sand chick, Temari, remember."
That broke through Naruto's concentrated thoughts before he briefly remembered her fighting style. If he got caught by her fan, it would probably be all over.
"Oh yea." he muttered thinking of a way to counter that fan.
"Man, now I think about it, I'm glad I'm against Chōji." Shikamaru muttered.
Naruto's head returned to its confused, cocked position.
"Why?"
"Well to be fair, most of the elite seem to be participating. Me, Sasuke, Lee, Neji, that Gaara kid. That guy and his family are scarier than that jōnin Anko." Shikamaru explained.
Naruto's brain was on fire today, the amount of activity it had experienced and it wasn't even lunch yet. Speaking of lunch and Anko, didn't he promise Anko that he'd…
He turned and looked at the clock.
"Gah! Half twelve already?!" He shouted, "I gotta go, later Shikamaru!"
One smoky outline of Naruto later and he sped through the doors to the library.
Poor Shikamaru was left getting all the stares from others from Naruto's little outburst. He could already see the Librarian making her way towards him.
"What a drag…"
"That brat's gonna get it!" A certain brown coated special jōnin grumbled as she stood outside the dango shop, pacing a little.
"I should've known better than to trust him, he probably just said that to escape my wrath…"
A black and orange flash appeared before her before a cloud of dust rose up from it.
"Sorry I'm late." Said the dust. "I was studying, honest!"
The dust soon cleared to reveal a worn out Naruto, smiling bashfully up at her.
An anger mark twitched on Anko's forehead but she decided to get what she could out of the brat first.
"Well, well, decided to finally show up eh? I thought I'd have to give you the same treatment I gave Jiraiya." Her hands met, one fist in her palm to crack the knuckles.
Naruto put his hands up in front of him in defense.
"No, no! I always keep my promises." He blurted out quickly.
"Good, well let's see how good you can keep this one. You did promise all I could eat." She smirked before stepping into the dango bar.
Naruto sighed deeply before he followed her, taking out Gamachan in the process.
"Looks like this is goodbye, buddy." he muttered softly before he and Anko ordered their lunches.
"Ahh! That's the spot!" Anko sighed loudly as she impaled her last dango stick on the table, making it her seventy eighth stick and completing her stick display. It was a small image of Jiraiya's head with crosses for eyes and the last stick impaled right in the center.
Naruto looked up at Anko with wide eyes as he looked down at his two thirds consumed stick. He was only up to twenty four.
"Wow, you really can put it away can't you?" Naruto complimented without thinking.
"What are you trying to say?" Anko glared at him darkly.
"Uh… I mean em… you eat dango like I eat ramen…" Naruto explained, hoping it would suffice. It did.
"Hmm, I guess, though you're not the champion of your food." Anko smirked, jabbing her thumb back towards the bar. Naruto turned and could make Anko's picture out inside along with 'Bar's best customer' and her record of one hundred sticks in one sitting.
While Naruto was impressed, she was wrong with one thing.
"Oh, you have one too."
"Eh?"
"Mister Ichiraku has the same thing for me, only it's for ramen." Naruto smirked. Anko was taken aback for a moment. She knew Chōji through his dad and those two could eat, but this shrimp holds the record at their favourite eatery?!
"No way." Anko laughed, "A puny thing like you can barely manage twenty five sticks let alone so much ramen."
Naruto's eye twitched.
"Fine, I'll prove it to you next time!" He challenged.
'Gotcha.'
"Great, then it's a date, and you're paying seeing as you set the challenge." Anko laughed.
Before Naruto's brain could comprehend the trap he'd fallen into, Anko chuckled and ruffled his hair before escaping from the scene.
Naruto just stared wide eyed at where Anko was sitting barely seconds ago. Customers around the area had several thoughts about what just played out before them. Many couldn't understand why the two were together in the first place, others wondered why the demon brat was allowed here and some thought about laughing out long and hard.
"Hey kid…" Naruto turned to see the dango seller calling to him. "…you, Anko and your wallet are welcome back anytime." He laughed.
Naruto laughed back, much to the dismay of the demon haters as they thought he was being insulted.
Naruto's hand found the back of his head as he rubbed it nervously.
"Yeah, I guess she got me, hehe." Naruto felt his now paper thin wallet through his pants and sighed at the feeling of an almost empty Gamachan. "Least she's not my girlfriend."
Naruto rose from the circular table and bench before walking away down the street, several laughs coming from a few patrons and the owner as he left.
Despite the lack of cash and the semi-humiliation Naruto suffered, he'd enjoyed lunch with the special jōnin. Surprisingly, after a few tales of his own which seemed to amuse her, she told Naruto about her own misadventures in the village at one point. Lord Hokage was not pleased when he found a file with a self-replicating paper tag inside it. Naruto liked that one the most.
Now he thought about it, he and Anko were similar in their sense of humour. Maybe he could run some ideas by her when he saw her next due to his… challenge.
Naruto leant back into both his hands as he walked through the street relaxing. Tenten had given him the day off today and Haku was going through a short course of the academy material to make sure she was fit to be a ninja, or at least a genin. Her final test was today.
His thoughts then turned back to Hinata. When he'd returned she'd been released from the hospital but put on bed rest for a while at the Hyūga estate. Even her team mates couldn't get in to see her so Naruto didn't know her current state, he wasn't going to worry about her though. If she was as strong as she proved in the preliminaries she would get better soon, no point worrying about the things you can't change. There wasn't much going on in the village so Naruto decided to make like Shikamaru and take some time out and watch the clouds.
Walking close to the edge of the village, Naruto found it easy to find an unoccupied field of grass that looked peaceful enough. It was mostly plain with a few trees at the end, it kind of separated the village from the training grounds.
Naruto strolled over and jumped up into one of the trees, navigating his way to the top branches before laying back on a rather thick branch that had a clear view of the sky. The sun was still pretty high in the sky and few clouds were around in the blue sky. After a few minutes of cloud gazing Naruto could feel the effects of sleep approaching him.
'As lazy as Shikamaru is… at least he got this right…' Were his last thoughts as he drifted off into slumber. The sun keeping watch over him as he slept, itself slowly sinking in the sky.
The boy had tuned over in his sleep and his arms and legs had fallen off the branch only leaving his body and head resting on it. Naruto had a look of content on his face as dreamt, a nose bubble inflating and deflating at a steady pace. If one were to compare him to anything, it would be a sloth.
"Ai-yah!" A voice shouted from somewhere nearby.
The initial shout didn't wake the sleeping genin but it sure awoke the flocks of birds around him. Hundreds of feathered fiends flapped their wings trying to escape whatever was causing all the noise and most flew right by Naruto; the sounds of wings beats rising him from sleep. Naruto's sleep was interrupted as the birds escaped into the orange sky.
'Orange? Must be early evening.' Naruto thought, as he dropped off the branch, contemplating his dream and time lost in the nap.
Several smaller shouts could be heard through the thicket.
Naruto turned and looked in the direction he guessed they were coming from. They sounded like a girl's shouts.
'Maybe that's Tenten…' Naruto thought. '…maybe I can see what new skills she's developing.' Reconnaissance was an aspect of being a ninja after all.
The blond grinned as he jumped back through the branches towards the training ground behind him.
Several more chakra-enhanced blows landed on the now damaged log. Her breathing was ragged and pain flooded her body. Hinata fell to her knees in front of the log, her usual jacket discarded and her black t-shirt and bandages underneath were drenched in sweat with her body threatening to emit a different, red substance out if she continued her efforts. Tears were falling freely from her eyes as she coughed, choked and spluttered all at once.
A voice called out to her as she turned her head towards the trees.
"Hinata!"
She didn't need her byakugan to see the orange and black ninja jumped from the branches and land in front of her, placing one hand on her back.
"Hinata, are you ok?" He asked hurriedly.
The normal red blush that usually graced Hinata's face was only present due to the work out.
"Yes, Naruto." She smiled before coughing again, a small amount of blood rising from her throat and colouring the grass below.
"What are you doing out here? Your family said you were resting."
Hinata smiled, he had at least cared enough to try and check up on her.
The young genin tried pushing herself onto at least her knees but her arms would have none of it.
"Hinata, you have to stop."
Naruto helped Hinata into a sitting position against the post she was, moments ago, destroying.
"Thank you… Naruto-kun…" Hinata mumbled softly as her eyelids began to close.
Naruto put a hand on her forehead and arms, they were both burning up. Hinata coughed again, a little more blood landed on her dark undershirt.
"You can't sleep Hinata, we need to get you home." Naruto was concerned for her health now, sleeping and blood were not good signs.
Naruto quickly slid his hands under her legs and her back and lifted the young Hyūga up.
Now Hinata was blushing. She was held within the strong arms of the boy she'd admired since pre-academy days. It was all a bit too much for the girl though as the stress of her wounds and the lack of blood anywhere but her face caused her lids to grow heavy again.
Naruto took off into the trees, staying as low as possible to keep stray branches to a minimum, the girl in his arms drifting in and out of consciousness.
The boy broke free of the trees and arrived back in the building jungle, quickly navigating his way up to the rooftops using several lower building rooftops and a chakra-enhanced jump or two.
The rooftops made it easier and faster to get to the Hyūga estate near the Hokage tower. Naruto wasn't sure but he thought that it was probably that they thought a Hyūga would become Hokage.
Several pale-eyed members were coming to the front gate as Naruto dropped from the rooftops to the entrance to the estate.
"Oi, what are you doing with Lady Hinata?" One of the clan members shouted.
Naruto ignored the shout and jumped over the main gate, looking for a certain Hyūga he'd seen with Hinata many times.
The certain Hyūga in question was just leaving the confines of the building, stretching after a good meal.
"Oi!" The particular Hyūga heard and turned towards the source.
The jinchūriki he'd warned Hinata to stay away from for so long was now approaching him with said heiress in his arms, seemingly out cold.
Before his logical side of the brain kicked in, he instantly blamed the boy for Hinata's wellbeing.
Before he could voice such blame, the boy spoke.
"Oi, Hinata pushed herself too hard training, I think something might be wrong."
Kō looked down at the girl and took her from Naruto's arms, quickly retreating inside the house.
The clan members that were around the gate looked on in caution with confused eyes.
Naruto had returned with the girl and given her back to the hands he believed best for her. Surprising many Hyūga, Naruto just walked over to the wall next to the door and sat himself down in a kneeling position facing outwards respectfully.
'What the hell is he waiting for?!' Many Hyūga thought angrily as they watched the young jinchūriki act with manners and respect he had not shown when bursting onto the grounds.
Several Hyūga slipped off, not wanting to be around when Hiashi discovered the demon vessel while others stayed out of curiosity.
It didn't take long for Kō to return with Hiashi, the elder's byakugan blaring but his eyes returned to their normal state once Naruto was within his normal vision.
"Uzumaki." He simply called.
Naruto turned to look him in the face, waiting for whatever the elder wanted.
Hiashi motioned him forwards before turning back into the house, specifically the small meeting room he was in at the time of said genin's arrival.
Naruto rose to his feet and walked after him, making sure to remove his sandals before stepping inside the manor before Kō reminded him.
Gob smacked Hyūga just stood in confusion at the scene, many looking round to keep any news of the head treating the beast like a person inside the compound where it would stay.
Hiashi knelt at the head of a small table while Naruto took the spot opposite. The table looked like it could hold three or four people on either side so Naruto guessed it was where elder meetings took place.
"Where was Hinata when you found her?" Hiashi cut right down to business.
"In training field six I think." Naruto answered honestly.
Several more questions followed about why he was there and what Hinata was doing to Naruto's knowledge when he arrived.
"…then she just collapsed so I thought I'd better bring her here." Naruto said, "I overheard the other girls in the academy saying the Hyūga have their own doctors so I thought the best place for her to be was here."
Hiashi's eyebrows relaxed, returning his face to a more neutral look instead of the frown he usually wore.
"Correct decision Uzumaki." He simply stated. "You are free to leave with my thanks."
After that, Hiashi rose and made his way towards one of the doors.
"Lord Hiashi?" Naruto called out respectfully.
The head of the Hyūga turned and looked back at the blonde.
"Is… how is Hinata? I mean after the chūnin exams she was hurt badly, she will be okay won't she?"
Several feelings graced Hiashi's head at this time.
"…she will be fine, I will see to it personally." He stated before leaving the room.
Naruto smiled and laughed lightly.
"I'm glad." he chuckled despite him being alone.
Without further ado, he rose to his feet and exited out into the courtyard, slipping on his shoes and made his way around on the wood floor before stepping onto the path and out the gate.
Several byakugan had been watching the event, the 'all seeing eye' was a good way to spy and lip reading was a second skill to Hyūga members. The ones that watched the exchange between the head of house and demon vessel were angry. One particular pair of byakugan disengaged from their room. The boy inside furrowed his brow and unwrapped his bandaged arm and leg, his Hitaiate left his forehead revealing his cage bird seal to the room as he prepared himself for rest.
"Uzumaki Naruto…" Neji muttered, "Even the lowest of humans kiss the feet of the main house…"
Naruto's thoughts were now mainly occupied with Hinata and her welfare.
'Man, I wonder if Hinata's gonna be okay. I've never seen her push herself that hard…'
The blond was now on the path back home, eager for a good night's rest.
"Given up on the new toys, hmmm?" The Kyūbi's voice echoed in his sewer-like mind.
Naruto reacted like he always did; like a kid in a candy shop.
"Oi oi, settle down brat." Kyūbi growled. Naruto had now taken a detour back towards the training fields he'd slept by earlier.
Once he arrived he settled down under a nearby tree and retreated into his mind.
"So what you gonna teach me, eh?" His imaginary form back in his head bounced up and down, hands clenched in anticipation.
"As useful as that blade of yours is kit, you can't rely on your skills with a blade to keep you out of any life or death scenario." Kyūbi explained. "A ninja must be efficient in all areas else another could pinpoint his weakness and take him out." Naruto nodded, thinking back to all his friends' skills like Kiba and Akamaru's teamwork, Tenten's kenjutsu, Hinata's taijutsu and Kakashi's ninjutsu.
"Looking at your current skills I can see that you are lacking in a few areas majorly. This one I can help you with hence the workout you had last night." Kyūbi explained.
Naruto nodded slowly and listened before replying.
"Which area?" he asked.
"Taijutsu."
Naruto returned home that night exhausted. Training that evening had turned out much like his training with a sword first time. He had the knowledge but not the dexterity nor practise to perform most if not nearly all moves effectively let alone combo with them.
He jumped high into the air from the street and landed on the platform outside his back door.
The usual white and green wall and wood now graced a layer of red paint once again.
The words 'Die Demon' were painted across the door and surrounding wall.
Naruto glanced up before looking back down at his feet in tiredness.
'I'll deal with that shit tomorrow.' He thought.
As much as he ignored it, the threats, names and other provocations still annoyed him to some degree.
Naruto wrenched open his door and slammed it fiercely, annoying some of the other residents in the surrounding apartments who were either sleeping or getting there.
He threw several angry words around the room before collapsing on his couch.
His resident had pushed him hard to learn some of the basic moves he now knew and had worn him out considerably. The last thing he wanted was to come home to things like that.
Naruto sighed deeply as he tried to shake off the depressed feeling and pulled the last cup of instant ramen out from the cupboard.
If things went the way they usually did, the message would be gone by morning.
A thought crossed his mind regarding his new jutsu he was going to develop. A bit of time and this might not happen again. He chuckled deeply, giving off a very evil sound. His new jutsu would definitely be beneficial to his trickery.
By four in the morning, the blond was sleeping soundly. The long training ensured he would be down for a while, or at least a few hours more than he usually got.
The sun was chasing away the dark colours from the sky. It was early even in the ninja world, but some were already up.
One such individual was late for their shift on the wall of their city. The reason being some annoying red paint.
"Damn bastards." The figure swore as the harsh sponge swept over the red paint, removing a fair amount.
"Just can't leave it alone can they." The figure muttered again. A few more minutes with the sponge and bucket and the nasty red paint was gone, leaving the usual white wall and green wood to grace the morning light.
The figure smiled at their achievement before faltering after remembering why they had to do it in the first place.
Bucket in hand, she jumped down to the alley way below to deposit the cleaning supplies under a drain pipe to collect water before jumping away towards the wall, thinking of ways to catch and crucify the people who make her late at least once a week.
Konoha's jinchūriki looked out into the morning as the giant ball of fire began it's ascent into the sky.
Naruto was standing on the platform overlooking the city from his apartment. As predicted, the red paint had vanished without a trace. He stretched on his overlook platform before sighing contently. A small grumble interrupted his morning stretches as his stomach longed for the taste of milk to accompany his dry cereal. He would have to go shopping again later.
The blonde genin leaped from his roof to another, heading towards team seven's training field, he had more practise to do.
As he ran, his thoughts turned to his rivals for the chūnin exams.
There was the person he'd have to face first, Temari of the sand. He didn't see much of her power during the preliminaries but if that first attack was anything to go by, he knew he'd have to counter with speed and stealth. Next would be Tenten, his teacher and rival in the kenjutsu art. There was only a slim chance he could beat her on pure skill with blades alone so other techniques would be needed to gain the upper hand.
The person he fought after that would be a mystery so he should prepare for anything.
He arrived in the grassy field and began stretching his muscles after his little warm up run here.
"Man, I gotta really think about my fights..." He muttered, "That sand girl has the fan and her attacks could take out loads of my shadow clones. If she deals in wind damage at a range then I have to get up close."
Completing his stretches, Naruto focused his chakra towards his hand, beginning his training of summoning a tiny toad or better.
"Summoning Jutsu!" He shouted out, completing the hand signs and slamming his hand down on the ground.
Gamakichi emerged from the smoke as bored as ever.
"Yo… Oh it's you again." He muttered.
An angry look passed over Naruto's face, not because of the toad's remark but how he still couldn't manage to summon anything bigger than this.
"Either use more chakra or more powerful chakra kid. Me and my brother can't be popping from once place to another every minute just because you're training. Try using more than you're using for me, lots more." The small orange toad scolded.
Naruto just didn't have powerful chakra.
Think of chakra reserves as a cup. Naruto's reserves were full of water while someone like Kakashi's reserves have fruit juice. To perform the same jutsu, Kakashi would use less total percentage of his chakra than Naruto as he had the same amount compacted into a smaller space.
A thought clicked in his head, he had access to an enormous power source all along yet never thought of using it. Getting permission to use it was another problem, the Kyūbi only lent him some to get him through the chūnin preliminaries, would he for training and general use too?
With a soft poof, the toad burst out of existence and back to his home while Naruto was wrapped up in his own thoughts inside his head.
'Oi, fur ball, you awake?' Naruto thought-whispered.
A low snore told him otherwise.
'I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing…' Naruto grinned
Mentally, Naruto focused his chakra on drawing some of the Kyūbi's out of the cage. Before too long, small trickles of red chakra were flowing between the bars. Taking only what he needed, Naruto left his mindscape and began the seals again, this time focusing the new chakra into the jutsu.
"Summoning Jutsu!" He cried out, his hand meeting the earth and the familiar smoke burst from the seal, only this time, the smoke was much bigger.
Naruto peered into the smoke, trying to make out who he summoned.
A black outline in the smoke stepped forward, the smoke was clearing to reveal a bright yellow jacket with orange trim covering a bright blue toad with a pale yellow underbelly. The jacket was similar to the robes people wore at home like the Hyūga clan. On its forehead it had six yellow beads in a similar position to a vertical six on a dice. The toad was just taller than Naruto as it stood on all fours before leaning back and resting it's arms on the inside of its thighs.
"So, you're the squirt that's been causing all the trouble." The blue toad laughed while Naruto's confused look answered for him. "Bunta's kids aren't very happy with you ya know."
Naruto lowered his head.
"Yea I kinda got that…" Naruto muttered dejectedly.
The blue toad laughed again to Naruto's embarrassment.
"Don't worry kid, everyone else has been enjoying the spectacle, though don't bug Bunta anytime soon else he'll take it out on ya. Besides, you finally managed to summon someone else."
Naruto looked back up at the toad, his smile back on his face.
"So since ya summoned me, is there anything I can do for ya kid?" The toad asked kindly.
Naruto's mind drew a blank.
"Uh…" He began.
"Lemme guess," The toad cut in, "Jiraiya-san didn't tell you anything about summoning right?"
"He did a little but not much." Naruto explained.
The toad sighed deeply before sucking in a large amount of air.
"Right, well as you obviously know, you signed the toad contract, and you can summon us from another place to you. The amount of chakra and power needed summons different toads like Bunta's kids or me. All of us have skills we either practise or specialise in."
Naruto watched in awe as the toad hopped over to a nearby tree, drew his right arm back and with an open palm, sliced with the side at the tree.
The impact sent out a small shock wave and a rustling of leaves above.
Naruto looked on at the toad as he stood back, smirking at Naruto and his left index finger pointing at the tree.
Naruto looked on in curiosity as the toad tapped the tree a little higher than where he struck.
A creaking could be heard as the tree swayed and tipped before finally crashing onto the ground below; the section that once held the trees together now had a clean slice right through the middle.
"My name is Gamasonshō. I am the resident Shaolin master on Mt. Myōboku, and the best toad in Taijutsu."
Afternoon rolled around and Naruto bid the Shaolin master goodbye as he returned to Mt. Myōboku. The toad and blond had talked about his skills in the taijutsu field and, one quick spar later, the toad knew how much skill Naruto had.
The morning had gone well, Naruto thought as he strolled into town for lunch. He'd gained a new taijutsu teacher and if Guy-sensei was anything like Tenten described, maybe Naruto got the better end of the deal being taught by a toad.
Approaching the ramen stand Naruto withdrew his wallet and opened it to grab some cash. Looking into Gamachan however, was not a pleasant sight. Only a few notes remained from his latest 'S' rank mission.
"Damnit Anko…" Naruto cursed under his breath as he walked past the ramen bar. "Only got enough for lunch or shopping."
He picked the latter and walked towards the local food store. Looking back at the ramen stand with tears in his eyes.
'I'll be back my love!'
Drawing closer to the shop, Naruto ducked down an alley and checked no one could see him.
A hand sign and a poof of smoke later, Umino Iruka exit the alley at the other end.
The 'chūnin' let out a soft sigh, he hated doing this but it was a way of life for him. He entered the shop and glanced around, it didn't seem too busy so he could get in and out quickly.
Shino, Kiba and Kurenai were walking back to the Hokage tower from another 'D' rank mission while Hinata was out of action. Things had been this way since their whole team's failure during the chūnin exams though each had their own 'rivals' to face. Hinata's was her cousin who despised the main branch, Kiba's was the Uchiha prodigy who both thought they were the leader of their team and Shino's logical thinking was beaten by Shikamaru's own hyper intelligence.
The bug boy looked up at the sun, his hands deep in his pockets as usual as they strolled down the street.
"Iruka-sensei!" Kiba called out accompanied with an Akamaru bark from his head.
Shino's attention returned to the earth to see their old teacher walking towards them with a smile on his face.
"Hey Kiba, Shino. How are you guys?" He asked kindly, stopping to talk to his old students.
"Great Iruka-sensei, Kurenai-sensei's taught us a lot since we became genin." Kiba boasted before his smile faded a little. "Though we didn't make it as chūnin…" Akamaru whimpered on top of Kiba's head at the admittance of failure.
Iruka just smiled at the genin and chuckled.
"Hey, not everyone makes chūnin at your age. You still have time to develop your skills. I didn't become a chūnin till I was sixteen ya know."
Kiba felt better at this revelation, his determination to become stronger rekindled inside. While Shino wasn't as dejected as Kiba, he did find inspiration in his teacher's words.
"Don't worry Iruka. They're in good hands." Kurenai said to the smiling genin teacher.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Iruka continued, his smile faltering a little when he remembered the missing member from the team.
"How is…" he began.
"Better." Kurenai interrupted, predicting his question. She didn't wish to dwell on the subject as much as anyone until she could see Hinata again.
"Well then I won't keep you." Iruka walked past them towards the gates. "See ya later." He waved back without looking.
The reduced team eight continued onto their destination, their meeting with Iruka warming their spirits and Kiba was showing it, asking Kurenai for either training or another mission.
The jōnin sighed at Kiba's eagerness.
"I can take care of the mission debrief myself, why don't you go work on your new technique with Akamaru." She said.
Kiba grinned before getting an affirmative yip off Akamaru.
"Right you are buddy. Later Shino, Kurenai-sensei." he shouted as Akamaru jumped off his head and the duo ran off towards their training field.
"Go on Shino, I'm sure you have better things to do too." Kurenai coerced.
Shino nodded his head.
"Thank you Kurenai-sensei." He replied politely before breaking off from her down another path leading back to his clan's residence.
The doors to the shop opened and 'Iruka' emerged with his bags of shopping gripped tightly in each hand. Despite that big lunch with Anko, Naruto still had enough cash left to keep food in the cupboards if only barely.
He set off towards his home with thoughts of today's session with Tenten in his mind and how well he would fair.
"Iruka-sensei?" A voice called out.
'Crap!' Naruto thought as he turned to spot the owner of said voice.
It was Shino, the bug user.
"Oh Hello Shino. Nice day we're having, eh?" Naruto made small talk as he continued towards home. Instead of just a casual two line chat as he'd hoped, Shino turned with him down the street, walking alongside him.
"Yes it is." Was all he got in reply. Naruto had to think fast before he led Shino back to his home.
"How is your training coming along? Been working hard since the preliminaries?"
"I have been working on a few new techniques but I prefer not to reveal them unless I need to." Shino answered logically.
Naruto was now forced to take a long route back to his apartment, missing the quickest turn in towards his place since Shino insisted on continuing the conversation.
"How are the new genin Iruka-sensei?" Shino asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Naruto was now thinking hard, he knew Konohamaru was in Iruka's class with his two friends but that was it.
"They're coming on fine, Konohamaru has quietened down a lot since Naruto talked to him." Naruto replied. Truth be told, he hadn't seen his own apprentice in a while, he was rather busy with the exams and his own missions.
"I see, how would you rate the classes skills compared to ours?" Shino's questions continued. Naruto was sweating now.
"Er… Well I don't like to play favourites…"
"Well at least they can't be as bad as Naruto…" Shino smirked a little under his jacket. "He couldn't tell which end of a kunai was which unless you drew him a map."
"Oi, I can so!" 'Iruka' shouted back at the bug user. His façade lost in attempts to preserve his pride. It took his brain a few seconds before his words came back to him and took a step back from Shino.
"Oh, can you now, Naruto?" Shino smirked, his glasses looking directly into Naruto's eyes. It was quite the intimidating sight.
A poof of smoke later and a black and orange genin was standing in Iruka's space, still clutching his shopping. No one was around to see the small spectacle leaving the current street unusually bare.
"How'd you know it was me?" Naruto asked, genuinely surprised.
"Well your outburst helped." Naruto had put two and two together and knew the insult was to provoke a reaction, it was just too late to respond appropriately. "I also saw Iruka-sensei on his way to guard duty, watching you transform was a big hint too."
Naruto flinched.
"Which brings me to my next question; why do you transform into Iruka-sensei to do something as simple as shopping?"
Naruto's eyes widened before looking down at the ground, his usual smile replaced with a dull emotionless look.
"That is none of your concern Shino." he muttered just loud enough for Shino to hear before turning down the alley behind him, making his way back to his home.
Shino still didn't take the hint and kept pace behind Naruto, staying about five feet behind him.
Naruto didn't want to deal with this and sped up. Shino's footsteps continued to match his own. Growing annoyed Naruto pushed chakra to his feet and ran up the side of the nearest building. Shino followed calmly, his hands still not leaving his pockets.
Naruto jumped over few buildings before landing on his own, quickly running round to the front to escape into his lonely apartment.
He turned the corner and looked down at his jacket, quickly trying to remember where he put the key.
Standing outside his front door Naruto grabbed the key with his left hand from his trouser pocket before looking up at the door.
Spread across the door and wall was another blood red message.
'Demons should die!' was clearly written across the white and green wall and wood.
Shino chose this moment to round the corner to follow Naruto, glancing to his left only to see the same words Naruto saw.
His gaze quickly switched to the blond's face, looking for any sign of emotion.
"Naruto…" he began but before he could finish, Naruto had unlocked the door, hurried inside and slammed it shut.
Shino walked up to the door and examined the paint. It was still wet.
"Naruto. I've seen the way people look at you," He said quietly to the door.
Inside Naruto had dropped his shopping bags and pressed his back against the door before sliding down into a crouching position, preventing Shino from even trying to open the door.
"People look at you with confusion and hate." Shino continued. "I know, I have felt that same gaze myself… all my clan have. We may be respected ninja but we are not the same as others. Our contract with the bugs makes us unique. It also makes us feared."
Naruto's ears had pricked up at this bit of information. His head was still buried into his arms laying across his knees however.
"People do not understand our cooperation with insects and label us as weird. Do you remember the academy, Naruto?"
Naruto's thoughts flashed back to his third year in the academy. The class had about twenty seven kids in it, many he couldn't even remember their names.
"Remember how everyone made friends, the girls like Ino and Sakura and boys like Shikamaru and Chōji."
Naruto remembered how on the first day recess everyone had been nervous and few people stood or played together.
By lunch though others were already playing together or hanging out in the shade. He remembered Ino and Sakura picking flowers and holding them against each other's hair. Shikamaru and Chōji were laying under a tree, looking out at the clouds. Naruto also remembered standing behind the tree with the swing, observing all this taking place while wishing he could have made friends that easily. Nearly all the people he'd talked to had brushed him off or avoided him. He'd lost confidence and hid at the area he felt safest at the time.
"People avoided you for a reason you couldn't understand correct?"
Silence was all greeted Shino.
"I was also told to avoid you by my mother. My father however told me to keep an open mind to your situation."
Naruto lifted his head out of his arms, his face sombre.
"I, myself, was alone. I stayed away from it all, preferring not to get involved with such shallow people. I did however see you and your courage do what most people couldn't and introduce yourself to all your class mates."
Naruto remembered the pain of rejection that day, some worse than others.
"I couldn't understand how one as friendly as you seemed to be being turned away by most of the population of our year. When I examined your case more closely, it seemed eerily similar to my own. People fearing what they don't understand."
Naruto rose from his door and slowly began walking towards his bedroom, not wishing to take another trip down memory lane with Shino.
"Even though I do not yet understand you myself Naruto, I have never feared you."
Naruto froze.
"While I have yet to understand you, Uzumaki, I do not fear you. Instead I wish to learn more about you as a person and do not care about why people give you the looks they do."
Silence.
"We share several similarities Naruto. Other people who judge you for your negatives do not deserve your attention." Shino finished, turning his back to the red, white and green.
"Think about it… Naruto." He muttered before taking a few steps towards the edge of the building and leaping off back towards his original destination.
Many thoughts stirred in Naruto. Shino had given him food for thought. Hearing the tell-tale 'whoosh' of a chakra enhanced jump, Naruto returned to his discarded shopping by the entrance and proceeded to unpack, barely making any sound as he did.
Once the perishables were away Naruto returned to his small haven inside his room. The one place in the town he felt truly safe, where he could be himself without being judged. Slipping out of his sandals Naruto dropped himself into bed and pulled the covers over his balled up form.
A certain brunette paced the grass, she was beginning to draw mud to the surface or rather crush all the grass in her path as her muttering continued.
"Where is he…" she stirred as her consciousness remained focused in her thoughts and not at the muddy patch she was creating.
"Hey! Tenten!" A feminine voice called out to the pacing weapons mistress.
Tenten looked around and saw a familiar pink blur jump over to her.
"Haku? What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for Naruto…" She blushed slightly, "…you haven't seen him around have you?"
Tenten didn't miss the blush as an anger mark graced the girl's head.
"No I haven't." She replied in a sickly sweet voice. Her thoughts then doubled back. "Hey yea, I wonder where that idiot is."
Haku looked at Tenten with confusion evident in her features.
"That orange idiot is supposed to be training with me!" Tenten raised her voice to the surrounding area as though her quarry were hiding nearby and raising a questionable look from the newcomer.
"Oh… I wonder why he hasn't turned up." Haku smiled sweetly and innocently while her thoughts ran more along the lines of; 'Because he's probably looking for me.'
"Well, if you see him, tell him I'm looking for him." Haku asked kindly as she jumped away into the small concrete jungle.
'Not if I find him first.' Tenten thought before following Haku's lead into the town.
Eventually the sky began to darken, turning from pale blue to light orange to an evening glow. Tenten and Haku were still in the midst of their search for Naruto and had now even teamed up to locate the blonde.
The blonde, however, was nowhere to be seen.
It was the end of a long day for some people, shops had begun closing and shifts were being switched between ninja for guarding the city walls.
One such ninja was making her own way home with the dark orange sky casting a long shadow of her.
She sighed deeply as she stretched mid-jump.
"Man, I can't believe Hamaki bitched that much. I was only a little late and it was only because…" She caught herself mid-sentence.
Her home and usual assignment had a particular blond's home between them. Since she could remember, she'd kept an eye on him as a favour to the Third. Now she did it because the kid wasn't as bad as everyone made out.
Unfortunately, everyone was a problem.
Landing on the edge of a roof Anko gazed over at Naruto's apartment. The lights were still all out despite many other people's being on so he wasn't home. The last rays of sun had helped her catch one thing; red paint.
The figure cursed under her breath as her head and arms lolled forward in defeat.
"Jeez, I really gotta catch these bastards at some point. I'm sure it's not doing the kid any mental favours." She said to herself before fetching her cleaning supplies and jumping up to Naruto's front door.
Dipping the sponge in the water pre-treated with chemicals, she set to work scrubbing the nasty message away from the jinchūriki's property.
After a very slow twenty minutes, only the last word remained.
'Ah, nearly done.' She thought as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
"He might be at the ramen bar now." A voice called out.
"Well it is his favourite so why wouldn't he be." Another replied.
The woman looked out to see a pair of female ninja jumping across buildings towards the town centre on the opposite site of the street.
'I wonder who they're looking for.' She thought before turning back to her task.
Tenten took this moment in time to glance over at the figure. The sun had now set and all she could see was a dark figure doing something to the wall.
"Hey you!" Tenten called out, stopping on the same building the recipient stood not half an hour ago. "What are you doing?"
The figure looked up, uncovering the red paint still left to wash. Now if you saw a suspicious person and the word 'die' written in red on someone's wall what would you think.
Haku stopped on the building just ahead and joined Tenten in observing the figure.
"Hey, it's not what you think." The figure shouted back hastily.
Wasting no time, Tenten and Haku leapt over to the same building to confront the figure.
"Then what is it?" Tenten half asked half demanded as she and her partner landed.
"I'm doing this kid a favour." The figure replied holding her hands up in surrender revealing her bucket and sponge with a red tint.
"Doesn't look like much of a favour to me." Haku murmured loud enough to hear but with an eerie emphasis in her voice, her hand reaching for her senbon pouch.
"Really!" The figure tried to persuade them again. "I'm cleaning it off, look." She held out the bucket that reeked of paint and cleaning agent.
Haku relaxed slightly but kept her guard up.
"Who are you?" She demanded. "Who lives here?"
Before the woman could get an answer out, the window looking out onto the porch lit up as a light inside was switched on.
All three knew it would look very awkward if they were discovered with the word 'die' on the wall and a very red sponge. All three jumped back onto different buildings before taking off. Tenten and Haku one way on the right, the figure another way on the left side of the building.
Tenten and Haku bounded away from the situation, thinking about what they saw. They didn't see her face clearly but Tenten could easily guess the 'cleaning culprit'. The mesh undershirt and brown overcoat didn't lie.
Naruto's eyes opened slowly to look up at the ceiling. He must've fallen asleep. Shino's little speech had given him plenty to think about. Naruto had lay awake till he drifted off thinking about the similarities between Shino and himself. Now he focused, he never remembered Shino being all too friendly at the academy, he mostly just kept to himself and people left him alone. Naruto went looking for the possibility of a friend and people focused on his shortcomings whenever he made himself known.
The nine tailed beast dwelled within the young child just as Shino's bugs lay within him, though his bugs were more physically present than Naruto's guest. Naruto thought hard about what he could remember of Shino. While Shino never approached him, he neither put him down during their time together at the academy. Shino did seem genuine when he said he didn't fear him. Many of the adults looked at him with fear or hate in their eyes but now Naruto understood their glares. While Shino's offer to learn more about Naruto filled him with joy, he couldn't help but dwell on what could happen if his 'furry problem' got out. If Shino was anyone to go by, none of the kids in his year knew of the fox inside him.
'If they found out would they treat me as the adults do?' he thought to himself.
Naruto sighed and kicked the covers off, rising from the bed and making his way to the kitchen.
It was getting dark, he'd missed his training with Tenten. He would have to beg and plead for her forgiveness. He laughed at that thought, flicking the kitchen light on in the process.
He switched the kettle on and rummaged in the cupboard for his newly bought ramen and prepared it. The kettle nearly covered up the sounds made by fleeing people made outside.
Naruto's new senses were keen and could still detect three presences leaving his porch. He didn't want to deal with whatever new message was outside so he let things lie for now. When he made his new trap jutsu he'd be able to catch the culprits. The jutsu was far from finished and was merely an idea in Naruto's head for now.
The blonde settled on his sofa a few minutes later, his jacket draped over the back as he tucked into one of the few pleasures he had.
"That boy was right…" A deep voice rumbled within Naruto. "…maybe it is time to show people what you're really like."
Naruto scoffed, if people thought he had half a brain they'd try to discourage him as much as possible.
"If you become Hokage, what do you want people to see in their leader? An immature prankster? Someone who isn't fit to lead?"
The blonde remainedsilent.
"If you don't show promise as a ninja, how is the old man ever going to see if you're ready to take his place?"
'Fine I get it alright.' Naruto thought back, his ramen still steaming in the cup.
The two sat in silence for a few minutes as thoughts and scenarios flashed through Naruto's head. Naruto sighed as he took in a few mouthfuls of ramen before looking up at his ceiling in deep thought.
"Fine… starting tomorrow, everyone's going to see a new Naruto." He announced proudly.
The next morning, the young blonde awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. A light breakfast later and he head off towards team seven's training ground. The red paint was gone and Naruto had renewed spirits about his future. At least in short term, everything was looking up.
The finals of the chūnin exam were fast approaching. Naruto followed his training schedule harshly after a few small modifications. Mornings were now spent researching jutsu knowledge or training with Gamasonshō in taijutsu. Naruto was making great headway with several advances in both fields. Small advances but still significant. Afternoons were spent training with Tenten. The training was more footing and skill based rather than actual combat. Tenten wanted to fight Naruto at his best and didn't want him to learn all her steps before the match. Another kenjutsu master dropped by every so often to watch the two, his new leaf headband proudly polished atop his head. Zabuza was greatly fascinated by Tenten's knowledge in swords and to learn that she was just as good with nearly every weapon imaginable was overwhelming. That was two students he was going to pass his knowledge onto, not counting Haku of course.
One week before the finals, Tenten told the blonde he had to train on his own. She needed more time to develop her own techniques to, quote "Kick your ass!"
With that, the duo's training finished and Naruto forced his body to comply with the knowledge of forms and footwork in his head. The ex-mist ninja admired his determination. He just hoped he showed such promise under his methods.
The nights were then spent either resting or training under a certain tailed demon on alternating days. Said beast was training him for his next 'gift' whatever it may be.
The next week and a half flew by with one being so busy. Naruto flopped on his bed the night before the finals, his body aching and tired but stronger. Everyone was going to see just what he was capable of tomorrow…