Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's Note: Hello my dear readers! A little faster than before, huh? Luckily, I found more inspiration for this chapter, but it will be boring I warn you. Lots of talking, but most of it is going to tell you guys some planned events I have in the future. Sorry to all you guys who want action. The chapter became much longer than expected and fitting an action sequence would be too long. So next chapter will be focused on fights and I hope to reveal more of Naruto's abilities.
This chapter is focused on character development and foreshadowing.
Chapter 14
The Fortune and its Teller
The next few days passed without incident. Naruto always left early in the morning with Hinata after doing the morning warm ups. After their talk over a game of cards that night, Kiba accepted the fact that his two teammates needed to work together on their 'issue'. Although feeling left out, he never tried to ask about their secret, giving them the privacy they needed. Naruto respected him deeply for this. However, Hinata never learned about their conversation.
Hinata steadily improved with the chain whip, along with their ninja tool spars. She had finally gotten the courage to use explosive tags against him, after a lot of reassurance. They were mostly careful when she used them. As a precaution, they used the training types that gave a large but non-lethal explosion. Naruto didn't ever use them in spars as he had the tendency to be normally plain deadly with all types. Duds or not.
Since he couldn't teach her more on her clan's Gentle Fist, Naruto also began teaching his own form of taijutsu. It was the basic style taught to all ANBU operators. Quick, simple, efficient. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy. Just the best way to disable, disarm and defeat your opponent. Three Ds, three standard rules to it, nothing else. He showed her how to force her opponent into a submissive position and how to strike vital points without using her Gentle Fist. Apparently the tenketsu mirrored the position of the pressure points, killing two birds with one stone if they were struck properly. This was a major boost to Hinata skill with the Gentle Fist, now being able to somewhat pinpoint the tenketsu, even if she couldn't see them quite yet.
They hadn't gotten around to ninjutsu. Although she was tested for her elemental affinity, which was water, Naruto didn't have any jutsu that suited her at the moment. He only knew wind jutsu and could use a couple of lightning jutsu with the usage of his left hand. So they left that area for later, once they got back to Konoha.
Speaking about leaving something for later... Fuuinjutsu was also on that list. Naruto did comtemplate teaching her how to create her own storage seals and explosive tags, but found that it could be a little time consuming by himself. While he was amazingly profficient in such an area at a rather young age, Hinata was not quite as gifted as he was in fuuinjutsu. He ended up lending one of his books on basic fuuinjutsu. However, he noted that it might take a while to finish.
The sixth day of their training trip was a relaxing day. Gai stated that one should not overtrain the body as it would only degenerate it. So he forbid anyone from doing any strenuous activity. Although Naruto didn't feel like taking a break (there'd been weeks were he had trained continuously for hours non-stop), he did take heed to his temporary sensei's advice and decided to spend the morning studying his fuuinjutsu.
When he was younger, there were times where he could not sit still for even a quarter hour. However, after that incident, he grew and matured inmmensely in many good ways and more bad ways. Naruto often felt horribly detached from the world, like he wasn't even alive or normal. Sometimes he didn't feel sorrow at a comrade's death, horror at immense bloodshed or anger at injustice. Sometimes he found it strange when someone laughed. He could barely remember how it felt to be overflowing with happiness.
According to his psychologist, Akito Yuka, he had a severe case of PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Naruto once had the tendency to withdraw from others, but had only recently stopped a month or so before the genin graduation exam. Even so, he still had a uncomfortable feeling around large, hustling bustling crowds. He avoided lively crowds altogether. He also had extreme reluctance to talk about the incident. It felt like they were trying to pry at him, open him up like he was chest full of secrets that belonged to himself only. He hated it, even if they meant to help.
His psychological condition was also the cause of his insomnia. Horrible recurring nightmares of torture appeared in his head almost every time he fell asleep. So he simply stopped.
Naruto scribbled down a few notes as scanned through the information. He dimly wondered why the Academy never taught fuuinjutsu. It felt so natural to him, like breathing air. Maybe he wouldn't have dozed off as much in class if the teacher just showed them the basics. Then again, nobody really understood what he was talking about, even if he was using all the correct terms.
Perhaps he should explain with metaphors...
Lee's voice shouted out loudly about youth and Naruto twitched at the disturbance. It had just interrupted his train of thought on the formula of a particularily advanced blood seal. He briefly considered throwing his pen at the back the mini-Gai's head in annoyance, but decided against it as it was too time consuming to unseal another pen. He was on an interesting chapter and nothing was going to stop him from absorbing that information.
Hinata yawned and sat up from her sleeping bag, gently rubbing her eyes. She wasn't really a morning person, but given enough time to wake up, she was as good as one. The lack of a exhausting early morning work out helped on this matter.
"Ohayo, Hinata-chan." Naruto greeted, looking up briefly from his messy pile of notes. She absentmindedly wondered how he was able to find anything.
"Don't worry," he said as if he read her thoughts. "I'm used to it."
"So... W-What are you doing?" Hinata hoped that she wasn't intruding on anything. He seemed quite immersed in whatever it was.
"Studying some fuuinjutsu formulas. Here," he passed her a few of his notes, almost gathered randomly from the scattered papers. "You can take a look if you want."
As she scanned through them, she realized that this was complex stuff. No kidding. Although she had quite a bit of book smarts in her (however, not as much as Sakura or Ino), this was far beyond any pre-teen's level.
"What is this?" she murmured accidently out loud. Hinata turned a little pink in embarrassment for the somewhat impolite question. Naruto simply shrugged it off as if he was used to it.
"I forget how hard it is for some people to understand my work. It comes easily to me and is strange how others cannot comprehend certain principals in fuuinjutsu." Hinata blinked at this. Was he...
"A-Are you a p-prodigy?" she asked nervously. The same intruding feeling popped up inside her as Naruto let a small frown slide out across his face.
"I suppose." he said, mentally blocking familiar memories from invading his mind. "It's something I never thought much of." A partial lie. It was the nicest thing anyone ever called him. For a no-name orphan like he was before and called a loser for most of his short time in the Ninja Academy, it was first the true positive thing about his skill level as a shinobi. While even the most complicated of fuuinjutsu felt natural to him, it wasn't something he ever boasted or took pride in. However, he pushed his own mind to his limits, living up to his title. A sentimental attachment he never bothered to push away. Living up to the name of prodigy was something he did to make them proud and make sure that they weren't meaningless to the world.
"Oh." Hinata thought about Neji and Sasuke, also called prodigies. Unlike those two, Naruto simply didn't care about his skill level and pride. He faded quietly into the background while people turned their heads when the Clan Prodigies walked down the street. They shined in the light while Naruto hid in the dark, unnoticed. Perhaps that was why Naruto seemed so much more dangerous.
Nobody really knew what he could do.
"Go ahead and eat some breakfast," he said dismissively. "I'll be out in a minute." Hinata nodded and left, leaving Naruto alone to his devices as the comatose Kiba continued to snore. Dog boy was not a very good morning person at all.
Naruto looked down on his research (that was not even close to perverted) and shifted through his book again. He was on to something big, a new seal combination that would be the bane of almost any ninjutsu. Sadly, he needed authorization to continue any further on his work. All work in fuuinjutsu needed the Hokage's clearance if it involved B-S rank seals. Those kinds had the tendency to be very volatile. He had all the research he needed, but without the Hokage's clearance, he was stuck. Naruto predicted that once he had it, the beta versions could be done in a month with the help of approximately a hundred shadow clones a day for six hours each day, which is about over two years worth of work. He had enough funds (his work in the ANBU had given him quite the pay) without going broke from the massive amounts of supplies he was going to just destroy.
Naruto let out a sigh, reminding himself of the council meeting that was going to have to attend and would take place soon for the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Clan heads, advisors and elders gathered for these meetings. The only actual civilian to be there was the Financial Advisor. The rest were shinobi, except sometimes the Head of the Medical Department, who could be a medical ninja or a very well known doctor.
Although the Hokage ran everything, smaller details were taken care of by the council. After all, you should see the paperwork on the old man's desk! In the end, however, the Hokage had ultimate power over everything in the village, especially the Shinobi Department.
Naruto rubbed the area around the center of his collarbone, where his swirl-like tattoo was. It was an important symbol to the Uzumaki. He was the youngest to ever receive it and was quite the statement to his abilities.
Naruto sighed and yawned, stretching his arms into the air. He hadn't been getting as much sleep as he should've (only two hours beforehand) and felt a little unsettled. Since they had some free time, maybe he should go visit that Fortuneteller or something. Satoro, right? Maybe he could help him out with Hinata and Konoha's state of being. Not to mention the reappearance of Ryouichi and his gang of missing nin.
Yeah, perhaps a nice long talk could clear up all the stress.
-
The walk into town was quiet. Hinata and Kiba tagged along with all of Team Gai. It didn't bother Naruto, but he did prefer to keep whatever personal stuff they talked about to a minimum. He didn't know why he decided to talk to the Fortuneteller, however, he felt that the world was rushing forward too fast and if Satoro could give any kind of guide, Naruto would take it.
Team Seven didn't come along as Sasuke prefered to train than waste time in seeking advice. Sakura, being one of his top fangirls, she agreed readily and Shino just thought that this was all too illogical to bother with, believing in straight, hard facts rather than something of a mystical reputation.
Team Ten was busy doing a teamwork exercise, courtesy of Gai. Although they did work well to a certain extent, but still clashed due to Ino's headstrong assertiveness and the boys laid back attitude, even if it normally wasn't too serious with Shikamaru relenting to Ino's arguments. Also since Sasuke was staying behind, Ino was too. Shikamaru was too lazy and Choji stayed with his best friend no matter what.
The walk into town was tense with Neji's antagonism towards Hinata and Kiba's growing annoyance at it. Naruto had stepped in between the two to stop anything from happening while shooting a warning glance towards Kiba, since Neji was only going to shrug it off. Kiba obeyed and kept quiet. Thankfully, it wasn't long before they arrived at the old man's place. It was small and a little rundown, but looked peaceful out alone here. Satoro waved from the inside, inviting them.
Team Eight and Team Nine soon found themselves sitting around a low table with hot tea in front of them. Everyone had taken a sip except for Naruto. It wasn't that he was trying to be disrespectful, he just didn't drink tea, but he didn't hate it like how he despised vegetables.
"I assume you're all here for advice or a reading of your future."
"Hai." Neji responded shortly. He wasn't quite what this man meant to destiny or fate. A man that could define the future. Honestly, it interested him. "Is there any charge?"
"No, it's all free." The old man smiled in a gentle manner. "Well, who wants to go next?"
"Oh me please! Can I go first?" Lee asked. "I wish to be able to see the success of hard work and the Power of Youth!"
"Of course. Now..." Satoro placed his thumb on Lee's forehead and closed his eyes. Naruto narrowed his eyes. Something was familiar about this... An old story came to his mind.
"Yo, Naruto-kun. Want to hear a bit of history about history about our clan?"
"History is boring, dattebayo!" He always failed in that area of learning. The droning voice of the teacher just wanted to make you go to sleep...
"Come on, Naruto-kun. It's a good bedtime story!"
"Bedtime story, oji-san?"
"Yeah! Once upon a time, before Senju Hashirama-"
"Senju Hashirama?"
"The founder of your village." Kitoshi deadpanned and Naruto pouted. "Anyways, there were three siblings, all triplets."
"Triplets?"
"Er... Like twins, but three babies are born at the same time."
"Oh... How are babies born?"
"... Anyways, these three kids were all geniuses, all from the Uzumaki clan."
"Cool! So we're related to them?"
"Sort of. But anyways, these three kids all had unique abilities. One was a prodigy in fuuinjutsu unlike anyone before! She was crafting high powered seals by ten years old and mastered most of the basics before eight years old."
"Wow. Did she kick lots of butt when someone tries to peep on her?"
"I bet she did. There were two boys as well. One was an inventor of sorts, always finding ingenius ways to apply seals. The last boy was considered the oddball of the trio. He was the weaker than his siblings and very quiet compared to the rest of the clan. His part of the story is much more obscure, but they say that he could predict the future."
"So awesome! What did these guys do?"
"It's an old legend, but you remember what I told you about how the clan leader is chosen, right?"
"Of course! Why?"
"Because their story is linked to it all. Anyways it begins like this..."
Could it be that the foresight had continued down a hidden lineage?
"I see great things for you. Although your path may seem hopeless, your sensei is not wrong. Through pain and hardship, you will prevail to see your the fruits of your labor crafted by blood, sweat and tears." Satoro lifted his thumb and opened his eyes. "That is as far as I can see, but things like tend to come into a full circle. Who knows? One day in the ever distant future, there'll be someone who'll follow you like how you follow your own sensei." Fire lit up in Lee's eyes. Whether or not the genin imagined it, they all leaned at least an inch away from the mini-Gai.
"I look forward to the day when I shall pass on the Flames of Youth to the next generation!" The kind smile never faded on the Fortuneteller's face. The others, however, just wondered how similar this new mini-mini-Gai or rather, mini-Lee, would be to either said men. Then they wondered if Gai had been a mini of another spandex wielding man.
The possibilities were staggering. It probably was contagious.
"Uh..." Tenten started. "Can I go next?" Satoro nodded and repeated the process after Tenten removed her forehead protector.
"You are a hardworker and a fan in all sorts of dangerous ninja tools. There aren't many down to earth kunoichi like you at your age, making you an interesting individual. Your dream is... Well that's certainly ambitious. You wish to become a great kunoichi like the Legendary Tsunade, one of the Sannin." Tenten smiled and nodded. "The journey towards that dream certainly will not be easy. You may not become as strong as Tsunade or as famous. However, you will learn a very important lesson." Tenten furrowed her brow.
"Then what is it that I will learn?"
"There are many ways to become a great kunoichi. You will learn that fame and power is not what makes a great kunoichi, but something else entirely." Her face morphed and looked thoughtful, confused and a bit disappointed at the same time. Then Kiba grinned.
"You know, I'm gonna try my own at fate. I'm going next." Kiba removed his own forehead protector and Satoro placed his thumb on the boy's temple.
"Hmmm... A brash, loud boy, seeking to be recognized." Kiba pouted at the very true words in denial. "Well, living in house with only your sister away at her work, mother always occupied with clan matters an absent father-"
"I don't have a father." Kiba normally rowdy voice was now deadly quiet. A touchy subject and everyone knew that instant. Akamaru whimpered quietly. "As far as I'm concerned, he's dead to me and my family."
"Very well. However one day, it will come back to you and someday, you will have to face your father." Kiba scowled, but said nothing. "Anyways, you will learn many lessons about this world, especially from your teammates." Team Nine drew their gazes towards the somewhat bewildered two. "Out of them all, you have the most complete family. You will also realize the reality of this world and will play a pivotal role in the hard choices your teammates will also make."
"What? What do you mean? What choices and role are you talking about?" Everyone else was confused as well, except for Naruto. All the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi knew was that the future was not going to be pretty and shit like this tended to track him down.
"I'm sorry, that is as far as my foresight can go. Anyone care to go next?" The mood now turned somber at the pecarious news. The last three left were Neji, Hinata and Naruto. The three most reluctant to speak about their own self.
The genin then knew that this visit was turning into a treasure trove of revealed secrets at an alarming speed and it wasn't going to be very good at all.
-
"Why the hell are we doing this?" Takashi asked and Takahiro and Kumiko rolled her eyes. They were travelling at ninja speeds through the forest. The large trees blurred as the three siblings made their way towards Senkensha.
"Look, Takashi. We're following Ryouichi's orders as our contract demands. Besides, we'll soon have fuffilled our vengeance if all goes well." Kimiko said.
"These are genin and technically kids. Why don't we just kill that green freak if we're going to make a statement against Konoha." Takashi disliked the fact that his sibling were disregarding that these were children. Yes, by the general laws of all the Shinobi Villages, they were genin and therefore considered adults, but that didn't matter at all to his eyes. He wasn't going to use some stupid law as an excuse to kill six minors as shinobi.
"Those kids will make easier targets and besides, they'll be a greater message to Konoha's injustice in the war." Takahiro coldly reasoned.
"There was never any injustice." Takashi countered. It was soon erupting into one their more violent fights. "Genin of all ages died along with many shinobi. It didn't matter what side they were on."
The three siblings all suddenly stopped on the branch. Kumiko and Takahiro glared down their younger brother as he glared right back.
"You're naive. Konoha won and wrote their side of history as the heroes. We are the villains to them, but we'll prove them wrong." Takahiro said, grabbing Takashi's shirt. "We'll show the world of their atrocities."
"Your blind by your own hate." Takashi said, holding Takahiro's wrist in an iron grip in retaliation. But he knew what his brother meant.
A young boy, barely old enough to be of adolescence, sat in the pooling blood sprayed evewhere across the battlefield. His father and mother were spread out in front of him, eyes gazing into nothing. His sensei was farther out, dead as well. He was the only one alive in the group. As well as the youngest.
That's why... When the yellow haired man came in a hail of three pronged kunai, he didn't touch him, just his comrades and left as soon as he came.
Takahiro gripped one of the kunai, his hand shaking in hate and rage at his helplessness and the bitter loss of his loved ones. And he vowed.
Konoha would pay.
"If you don't like what we're doing, then go home to that weak country of ours!" Takashi gritted his teeth and let go of Takahiro's arm.
"Fine, I'll drop it for now." Their sister had stayed away from the argument, maintaining her icy cold facade.
"Let's just get going." she said. Takashi grounded his teeth hard. Despite their radically different ideals, he would never abandon the last of his family. Never.
Because, that's what family did. They stuck together no matter what.
-
The tension flew into knew heights as the three genin with the most complicated pasts hesitated. After a minute of silence, Neji went.
He quietly removed his headband, revealing the ugly green Caged Bird Seal engraved on his front. Lee and Kiba stared, while Naruto, Hinata and Tenten looked away respectfully. Satoro placed his thumb directly on the seal, ignoring Neji's flinch.
"I can see that you're a young man filled with hate towards his clan. Or more specifically, towards the Main House." Neji stiffened and tension remained high. "Not to mention that you're the most talented Hyuuga to come in many generations. However since the incident involving your cousin here, your views on the world changed drastically." The Fortuneteller removed his thumb.
"You are arrogant in your abilities. Not uncommon in a genius, being ahead of everyone. Cold and distant because of your past." Neji clenched his hand.
"They killed my father." he said, speaking about him for the first time since he last lay eyes on his dead father. Hinata looked away pointedly while the others watched in confusion and morbid curiosity.
"The Hyuuga Incident?" Naruto murmured out, loud enough for everyone to hear and got a full blast of the Hyuuga Prodigy's glare.
"Mmmm, yes. Is that what you call it?" Satoro asked and Naruto nodded.
"How do you know?" Neji demanded. "That is not public knowledge."
"I have my ways." Like access to confidential archives and having a knack for hearing very interesting pieces of information from random gossip. Neji did not like his vague answer, but relented after realising that he wasn't going to get anything out of the blond without beating to death (which would be quite a difficult he would find if it were to ever happen) and gestured for Satoro to continue.
"There are two ways your path will continue down." The Fortuneteller said, but Neji shook his head in denial at his words.
"Fate is fixated and cannot change. It is impossible."
"You may say so, but in truth, our paths are created by our choice." Naruto flinched at that, but it went unnoticed. "Destiny is not predetermined, but made and moulded by our hands and then sought after. You believe in such because of circumstance."
"Then the circumstances were always fated to be and nothing can change it." Neji countered stubbornly. Naruto was now feeling ill at the conversation. No... it wasn't-
"The leaders make the choices that effect everyone. Choose wisely, Naruto."
"You can say that. It is true in a way, but humans have created these circumstances through their own various choices that could have easily gone the other way."
"They were fated to do so." Satoro sighed at the Neji logic. Naruto was starting to shake a little. The conversation needed to stop now. He couldn't take anymore!
Neji opened his mouth to reply when Naruto stood up abruptly.
"I'm sorry. I'm feeling ill right now, so I'll be outside getting some fresh air." And he quickly exited much to everyone's confusion and worry. Outside, he quickly scambled behind a tree and collapsed onto his knees, bending over in bitter submission. Voices rang louder and louder in his head until they became reality.
"Naruto-chan, you know what I want and this is the price you will pay if you continue to defy me." The young boy stared blankly. Naruto stared blankly at the supposedly empty space. They both saw a pale man with snake-like eyes stare back.
The pale man twisted the kunai jammed in the boy's left hand. Naruto tried not to scream as detailed memories soon came rushing back. Fire, blood, pain, and horror flooded through him as cracks appeared through the mental dam he built over the years.
"Letting your uncle die? You're quite a cruel little boy." he remarked sadistically. "I thought you'd choose better." The little boy was beyond tears. He wanted to be stronger. Stronger.
Stronger.
Stronger.
Stronger.
Stronger.
Naruto wanted to become stronger to...
To...
To...
To...
To change. To be able to choose. To defy. To never be forced. To be able to decide the situation. To create the best outcome.
To stand against fate itself.
I don't want to be a slave to another man's will
I will never be a slave to another's hand.
I will never bow to another's power.
I will decide my own choice.
I will create my own choices.
I will be the one who decides.
I will be the leader.
I will be strong to do so.
Naruto stood. He stood tall and walked back inside with his head held high. No longer shaking or on the brink of of a mental breakdown, he still remembered some of himself. But not all.
Not all.
-
Gai watched the two squads tackle the exercise with incredible intensity that wanted him to shout out to the world about their Youth! It was a simple exercise he created to test teamwork and tatics. They had to guard their flag while getting their opponents.
The catch was that they could not attack each other directly. No physical contact or ninjutsu. Well, against each other that was. Both teams resorted to trapping the areas around their flag while evading each others nasty creations. No explosions allowed.
He watched Shino evade almost every trap with ease, until his foot caught in snare hidden extremely well. Gai could tell that Shikamaru lay that trap. That boy was a true tactical genius, especially being able to have caught someone as vigilant as Shino off guard.
Gai had only allowed this exercise because that they were bored. Well, Shikamaru was enjoying the day off and Choji didn't mind, but everyone else was plain bored. Heck, Sasuke just went straight off to train, completely ignoring his nothing-physical-for-today rule. The boy was absolutely desperate for power, willing to achieve it through any means necessary.
So he distracted him with this group exercise. Nothing too strenuous to involve combat, but rather to involve the mind. It was something quite a few shinobi had the tendency to avoid. Many held the belief that good taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu is the key to success in the shinobi world. In truth, it was the ability to properly utilise their skills to gain the advantage and eventually win the battle or complete the mission.
Anyone promoted past chuunin knew this.
Gai spotted Sakura lagging behind Sasuke as he charged straight for the concealed dummy flag Choji had layed out. Suddenly, Sasuke stopped.
'He has good instincts.' Gai thought. It was expected as Rookie of the Year, but like Neji, he had the tendency to ignore his teammates and have a nice big superiority complex. Not to mention an angsty, angsty past. The joys of having a prodigy on a team...
Sakura caught up to him, panting hard, but not as bad she used to. The tough training regime had really tested her limits, but she had improved slowly. Not as much as some of the others, but well enough. The waterfall training exercise was a real killer though.
"What's up Sasuke-kun? Why did you stop?" she asked him. Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes. Fox told him regularily ever since he ended up on Team Seven to look out for his teammates and Fox's advice was always important to listen to, even if he did think that his teammates would drag him down.
"I want to make sure this is the real deal here. We've already been fooled once, who knows if it this isn't the same." Sakura nodded understanding immediately. Gai smiled.
'It seems that my Eternal Rival has trained his team well!' he thought. Shikamaru would have a somewhat harder time cornering them.
Minutes passed and Shino was freed from the trap using his kikai to knaw off the wire, Ino let out a shriek somewhere away from Gai's position. He rushed over to see the problem and let out a small chuckle when he saw that Ino was just covered in vibrant green paint.
Gai then wondered where had the paint come from until he remembered that Naruto had been trading ninja supplies with Shikamaru and Shino over a debate of trap building, of all things. Ino tried to walk away, but then she realised that she was stuck and let out a few screams of frustration.
Gai then remembered Naruto's subtle reputation as a master of trap building. The boy had the mind of a expert prankster and anyone who'd been a victim to any of his creations would never ever enter an area he had personally booby trapped. The idea was simply ludicrous even without some of his... unique weaponry.
No wonder why the boys' booby traps were quite interesting.
Gai placed a hand on the tree and a startling crack sounded out. He cautiously pulled back his hand and saw a small jagged line appeared across the bark of the tree he was standing on. An omnimous warning.
Something was going to happen, but he didn't know what. He quickly made hand signs to alert the ANBU nearby.
There were no chances taken here.
-
Naruto rejoined the others calmly and quietly. The genin not involved in Neji's argument on fate all gave him looks of concern and worry, but he ignored them all.
"Anyways, Neji, you will still have two paths in your life," Said boy gave an annoyed look, but said nothing this time. "If you continue the way you are, you will live a life governed by your hate and arrogance. It will be cold and it will harden your heart beyond the capacity for love. It will also be self-destructive in nature and you will realise the truth too late."
"What truth?" Neji asked sharply.
"I cannot say as you must find out yourself. Your second path will be chosen if decide to change for the better and abandon your ideals. However, this may only be done once you are confronted with the evidence of faults of your views and the truth of that day."
Neji glared at the old man as if to extract information through sheer willpower, but then looked away, thoroughly disgruntled. His teammates gave more concerned looks, but stopped when they realised that it was only making the situation worse. Hinata had her whole unfocused gaze on her now cold tea, no doubt remembering her third birthday. Kiba had the out-of-place look to him, witnessing personal things that had nothing to do with him. Rather awkward.
Satoro turned to the remaining two genin, Naruto and Hinata.
"Are both of you willing to go next?" Naruto nodded slowly, but Hinata hesitated. Naruto lay a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.
"It's up to you." he said and removed his hand. Hinata bit her lip and breathed in deeply, then she nodded.
"I'll g-go next." she stuttered nervously and cautiously took off her forehead protector, revealing the awful green curse seal on her temple. The same concerned looks flashed all around the room, but quickly died. Satoro placed his thumb on her forehead. He let a small frown appear across his face as he removed it.
"You are a lonely child even if you don't show it. Bearing a burden that seeks to destroy much, you must place your faith in the one who shares the same pain and you will prevail against those who wish to crush you." His normally closed eyes opened slightly and flickered towards Naruto's direction, revealing a vibrant shade of purple irises. [A/N: Before you get any idea's, no this is not the Rinnegan or any dojutsu, but a very recognizable eye color. More on that later on.] However, nobody really noticed this small gesture.
"Like him, you are an orphan, but surrounded by the cold faces of your own clan. You have no sanctuary to take shelter in, except for the few people who welcome you as your friend. Even your own sister refuses to acknowledge you." Hinata flinched. The reading only seemed to remind her of all the depressing things that've happened to her, especially the ones she'd tried to ignore. Naruto said nothing, not looking surprised at all.
"The world will not be so kind to you either. A group of shinobi will seek what you hold to gain its power for their own wishes." Hinata bit her lip, an action that displayed her anxiety. Naruto narrowed his eyes in understanding while everyone else tried to find the meaning to the old man's words. "Tread carefully. If they succeed, you will die and many others will die as well. The power you hold is not something to be triffled with. You go through many trials, learn many things, experience much in the world, suffer from loss and loneliness. If you prevail without losing yourself, you find the future to be bittersweet, yet still rewarding in the end."
"Who is this man like her?" Neji asked sharply, having noticed that smaller detail. Kiba narrowed his eyes, remembering the conversation he had with Naruto a while back.
"All I can say it that it's a mutual thing we share. I'm the only one that can help her deal with... her issue. We are legacies of tragedies, unwanted and sometimes even hated. It's not something we wanted. Call us sacrifices if you want to put a name to it."
'Something they shared... Legacies of tragedies, unwanted and hated. Just what are you guys?' Kiba thought. He wanted to know, he needed to know if he was suppose to help them like the old man said. He could not be kept in the dark forever. Maybe that's why Naruto acted indifferent to the matter when it was brought up. He probably realized that whatever this secret is, it was going to be revealed sooner or later.
Kiba looked over towards Naruto. His face hadn't changed at all, emotionless and stoic. Impossible to read. He nearly grinded his teeth in frustration.
'Just what is going on in your mind, Naruto?' he wondered silently.
"I will not say, but he is closer than you may think." Neji didn't let any disappointment show, if he really was disappointed. He simply nodded and kept his calm.
"Can you tell us anything about this group of shinobi that will seek what she has?" Naruto asked. His careful wording told nothing else of importance. Kiba barely managed to note the very vague question as a disguise for information while revealing nothing of himself. Clever.
"Not much, but they are very powerful and can rival the leaders of your village." Naruto nodded while eyes went wide.
"Hey, wait a minute. You mean people as powerful as our Hokage?" Tenten asked with incredulity lacing her voice.
"The Kage's aren't the only most powerful men and women to walk the world. Criminals and heroes alike rival each others strength to immense heights. Only five are chosen by their villages to be considered the strongest. That doesn't mean that there aren't people with power close to their level."
Tenten nodded and grumbled something about how the world hadn't ended yet. Satoro cracked a smile.
"Well, they probably were too lazy to go toe-to-toe with a Kage. Besides, there wouldn't be much to experience with the world gone. Anyways," Satoro's face turned serious. "Beware of the ones who wear red clouds." Everyone's mood turned solemn at the warning.
"Satoro-san, may I go next?" Naruto asked, having many questions that were bound to have difficult answers. He knew his session would be the most... unpleasant, but he needed answers. Satoro nodded and Naruto untied his forehead protector. The old man placed his thumb on Naruto's front, frowning deeply in the process. Unlike the others, his took much longer. Minutes passed before he removed it, his face holding a grave expression.
"Uzumaki... A name that used to carry great weight, but has long since been forgotten, much like any other dead clan." Damn, he was right about it being unpleasant. Naruto could not hold back a grimace. He could tell the rising morbid curiousity in the others had just soared to new heights. "Your past has not been the greatest, ignored by many, orphaned and left alone in the world with no living relatives. Even if you had many downs, there were also many ups in your childhood. Your adoption was everything you ever wanted." Naruto looked down at his tea, feeling the need to quickly statisfy his drying throat.
"My name is Uzumaki Kitoshi, your uncle. I'm here to adopt you, Naruto."
"It didn't last, though." he said shortly, almost retorting. He hated talking about them, from personality quirks to their skills and abilities to their possessions. Anything about them. Naruto finally began to slowly sip his now cold tea.
"No, it did not." Satoro agreed. "Even if Kaito-kun said otherwise."
The tea cup shattered instantly in Naruto's hand. Making everyone jump, besides the old man. The cold tea ran over his hand as the sharp shards dug in deeply into his palms, but not enough to draw blood.
"Kaito fucking lied." he said, his voice colder than ice. Naruto leaned forward towards Satoro. "Are you trying to open up everything I tried to heal!?" His voice did not rise, but sounded intimidating nonetheless. Mild killing intent seeped out of him, making each of the genin extremely unnerved. The conversation was rapidly turning deadly.
"You are asking for answers you cannot find because they lay only in the past you've buried. You cannot run forever from what happened." Satoro remained calm despite the intense rage Naruto was starting to emit.
"The past is dead. There's nothing worth gaining by lingering within it."
"You deny everything that happened and he answers you want are denied as well. You are denying everything about yourself. You used to be a child who placed his hopes and dreams in the beautiful sunlight. Why do you deny your own ways?"
"They were foolish and naive. There was no point in believing in them anymore." Naruto countered bitterly. Those kinds of ideals would only survive in the most stubborn or the lucky. He was neither of them. Loss and suffering made him such a cynic and he knew it. Satoro sighed.
"The path of a leader is harsh, no?" Naruto glared. Even with just one eye, it was damn well frightening to almost anyone. "You tried to learn from a mistake that never happened. You cannot find the solution or the better path because you don't accept it." He gritted his teeth and drew blood from the shards that dug in even deeper from his clenched hand. The sick feeling came back in full force.
"I don't know if it was right." he almost choked out. Naruto looked down, avoiding everyone's stares.
"Naruto-kun, have you ever felt like you could've done things better?"
"Why are you asking, oji-san?"
"I know that you're a bit young to understand this, but I've done a lot of bad things in my life, had many regrets. I just hope you don't do the same, Naruto-kun."
"Well, I did fail every single test in the Academy, dattebayo. I might've passed if I studied... Does that count?"
"Sort of. You'll understand once you become the Seal Master."
"I will deal with it when I have to." Naruto continued, composing himself. "But please, I need to know what obstacles lie in the future." Satoro nodded gravely, signifying more and more grim news to come and the genin fidgeted. The killing intent died down and the suffocating atmosphere changed once again into a much more somber one.
"In the coming days, you will gain many names. Lightning Hand and Red Demon, to name a couple. You will also be called the Killer of Men as a tribute to your sins." A deep chill went through everyone in the room. However, Naruto wasn't surprised at all, his anonymity in the Black Ops was the only thing that had stopped from publicly going by the last one.
"The Seal Master is the most formal of your titles. Many do not recognize it, but holds remarkable weight in the shinobi world to those who do." Naruto gave another hard stare. Nobody could tell what he was thinking about at that moment. His teammates stored all of that information away for future reference. Each name spoken seemed to be pretty important.
Team Nine felt more awkward than the third wheel. The normally cheerful and exuberant Lee had been uncannily silent after Kiba's turn. Although considered outrageous and far too energetic for almost anyone's tastes, he was very respectful and polite to everyone around him. His silence was what upheld those traits during the entire visit. Tenten also acted the same way, except with a hidden curiosity and Neji's stony face gave nothing away, making it incredibly hard to discern his feelings.
"There are many ways for your story to end." Satoro continued. "To find which path to choose, you must decide what you want."
"Want?"
"You are still confused about yourself. You act with both heart and mind, muddling your true motives and reasons to each action you take. You are unable to see your true reason with no goal to strive for or a dream to chase and with mixed ideals, you walk a dangerous path between light and dark. You can choose either motive for your action, good or bad. Yet you choose because of both. That's why you can't find peace within you."
"I don't..." Naruto fiddled with his hands. No, he knew what the old man was saying. It was like, did you kill that man to protect people or did you do it because of orders?
"Then why did you return to Konoha?" Satoro questioned. That just earned him incredulous stares. There went their belief in his cover story. Secrets were gushing out today, not really pleasing or surprising.
"A request." Naruto said. That was all that they needed to know.
"I know that's not all of it." Satoro reprimanded him and Naruto bit back a curse. Of course he wasn't going to let it go.
"I don't feel comfortable discussing it right now." he replied, mainly because it concerned the person next to him. It certainly would not be the easiest thing to talk about. Satoro nodded. At least he knew not to push things.
Satoro was right, though, about his personality. He didn't know which one was the right one. He had never noticed. Working for Konoha was his purpose, a reason for his existence. He would take any order because it gave a him something to help him move forward, something to survive for. But deep inside, Naruto knew that he couldn't turn his back on thousands of others in need, even if most did hate him. That's why he stayed.
He also stayed for her.
"Anyways, Naruto. What do you want in life? You've refused vengeance, halted insanity, ignored shortcuts to power, and rejected the chase for infinite knowledge, but held firm to duty above all. Why?" Naruto rested his head on his hand.
"I don't know." It was truth through and through. He had knew that he had to work for power, regressing into insanity was a no-no, he didn't need vast amounts of knowledge for no reason and he promised never to persue vengeance. Duty and the creation of the best outcome was his goal.
However, he could sense a wave of change was soon to blow over.
"Well, no matter what happens, your future is dim, filled with pain and suffering. You will be the turning point of the shinobi world, the catalyst to the fate of the future. There are three possible outcomes to your life. All will greatly impact everyone around, but all will be short and bitter." The genin looked sick. The early death of anyone was always unsettling, especially when it's someone they know and even more when it is someone close. Both Hinata and Kiba looked over in concern and slight horror knowing that their friend's death was so much closer.
It made their powerful and most reliable teammate much more mortal and vunerable.
Naruto felt no surprise or fear. It was expected for someone like him. The danger was immense in ANBU, being constantly on A and S-rank missions. The death toll was high and chances coming home intact weren't even close to favorable. His genin position wasn't permanent, nor his place in the regular forces. It was likely that after Team Eight made chuunin and Hinata had adequate control over the Nanabi that he would withdraw from the normal shinobi division and return to ROOT and ANBU. One day, there will be somebody stronger than him and he would likely die in battle.
The life of a Black Op was always difficult, but Naruto had a feeling that it wasn't it. No, something personal was going to come back and haunt him. He just knew it.
"The first path will begin not long from now. You will be faced with a difficult decision, not unlike the one you made over three years." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Another battle between mind and heart, one that will forever change the world. If you choose mind, you will lose yourself for good. You will remain in the world of shadows, filled with regret and sorrow. Your sole purpose will be duty and you will attempt to make your commander's dream a reality. You will die alone with no friend by your side before the age of twenty, having lived a lonely life filled with blood and a desire for something better."
The genin all adverted their eyes, unable to comment on that horrible future. Their silence was like their mourning for the dead.
"In your second path, you have chosen heart over mind. You will be confronted by many objects from your past and will be consumed by your hatred and suffering. You will bring the end of the world and the rebirth of a new twisted one. However, you will find no happiness or redemption in your goal, only bare statisfaction and regret."
This really depressed everyone even more, although the two stony-faced prodigies didn't admit it. End of the world? Now that was some serious shit.
"Your third path will also begin by choosing heart over mind. This time, you remember things that will eventually save you. Important lessons and irreplaceable experiences. Believe in them, cherish them, find their meanings. Salvation lies in the past and your actions. If you follow this path, you will find a sweet fruit at the end of a long and tiring journey. You will, unfortunately, die before the age of thirty, but with a bittersweet end."
Well at least that sounded much better compared to the last two. Team Eight was seriously unnerved by the horrific fates their teammate would supposedly endure. What unsettled them even more was the fact that said teammate seemed to be taking it in stride, as if it didn't bother him at all.
In all honesty, it did bother him like any other human being, but he wanted to live in the present, not the past or the future. Naruto knew not to stress over it. He would deal with it when the time came because you couldn't make time go faster or rewind. It was pointless to worry over something that hasn't happened yet. Going to happen, yes, but what would it be? A never ending freakstorm?
Not gonna happen.
Neji stood suddenly, the tension visible in his arms.
"Thank you, Satoro-san. Your fortunetelling has been a great experience to us. However, we must get going as Gai-sensei wants us back at camp soon." And without another word, he dragged Lee out the door and Tenten quickly followed after saying her thanks and goodbyes. Team Eight were the only ones left.
"Go on ahead," Naruto said, waving his hand dismissively towards Kiba and Hinata. "I still need to ask Satoro-san a few things."
"Naruto-" Kiba said, but he didn't listen.
"I'll catch up later." Kiba grumbled something under his breath. Naruto could be more stubborn than a mule when he got into this mood. There was no changing his mind on this matter. He left with a thanks to Satoro and went out the door with a slight whine from Akamaru. Hinata trailed behind him, shooting one last concerned look at Naruto and nodding her thanks before catching up to the others.
That left two.
-
"Damn it, Neji. Is the whole thing so disturbing that you had to barge out like that?" Neji glared at Kiba, while ignoring the more insultive message in his biting comment.
"It was a waste of time." he replied dismissively.
"Denial."
"Hn."
"Look," Tenten interjected. "Satoro-san has given us good advice and a reading on the future. Whether or not it will come true, we'll see." Hinata silently thanked Tenten for stopping a potential fight between the two. Neji's cool personality clashed badly with Kiba's rowdier one. Unlike the the exuberant Lee, Kiba was more aggressive and have his fists do all the talking. Not to mention that Kiba had the tendency to act rather protective of her and Neji was already straight on his hit list. If those two ever ended up in the same team for whatever reason, it would be a dynamic disaster.
To make the statement even more clear, Kiba and Neji both had their teammates between them, creating a nice big gap.
"When do you t-think Naruto-kun will catch up?" Hinata asked softly. Kiba let out his own sigh.
"Dunno. He'll probably be pretty late. I mean, he has to deal with imminent death..." Everyone sobered up real fast.
"His Flames of Youth shine much differently than ours." Lee said. "It is imperative that we help him as much as we can!"
"How do we know what to help him with, Lee?" Neji countered. "It would be best that we leave him alone. After all, fate cannot be changed." This simply created the spark for another argument.
"We cannot ever leave a comrade on his own! I will show you that his fate is not fixated! Together with the Power of Youth, we shall prevail!" Neji scoffed.
"No matter what happens, it is all inevitable. Naruto-san will die as predicted as it is fated." The two began to bicker back and forth. It was like an argument between an adult and a child. Neji's formal speech and Lee's youth would've made the entire thing ridiculous if they were not talking about someone's death.
"I swear those are so annoying." Tenten muttered to Hinata who nodded shyly. "At least Neji's normal enough, otherwise it would be an absolute nightmare."
"N-Neji-niisan is very mature."
"Yeah. Your teammate, Naruto-san, is actually a lot like him." Tenten commented. "I'm worried that he didn't seem to care much about his future, morbid as it is."
"Neji-niisan didn't react e-either."
"Actually, he was already unnerved by the end of his turn. He's not one to show his emotions, but I'm pretty good at Neji-talk. So far, I've found ten possible meanings to his 'hn'." Neji paused in his argument and shot a somewhat annoyed look towards her, but she ignored it. "However, that teammate of yours is looser with his own feelings, but can lock them up tighter than a high security prison for S-rank shinobi."
"He's always been hard to read." Kiba added. Then he stopped abruptly, nose twitching. "Guys... Something smells off here..."
All of a sudden, a hail of kunai came raining down upon them. They scattered all in different directions, diving out of the way from the storm of metal. Team Nine regrouped and stood back to back, covering all blind spots as they'd practiced while Kiba and Hinata stood only side by side, the inexperience showing in their eyes. Nothing moved in the forest, only dead stillness and deafening silence.
"Show yourselves!" Kiba yelled, not intimidated at all. Hinata bit her lip and Neji rolled his eyes.
"As you wish," A feminin voice sounded out, filled with malice. A small movement from behind the tree went unnoticed until she stepped out into the light. "Little mutt."
"What did you call me?!" Kiba's temper sparked and began to burn. Who the hell was this women?
"Enough, Kumiko." A male voice commanded. It was completely apathetic and colder than steel. A dark shadow opposite to her stepped out into the light, revealing a fairly tall man whose hair was covered by a black bandana. His unnerving silver eyes glinted in the sun. "You don't one of these brats to accidently kill themselves by using an impaired thinking."
"Really, niisan? What are they gonna do? Somehow impale themselves on my sword?" Kumiko deadpanned, gripping the sword on her back.
"It's easier to deal with an obedient dog than a rabid one." Kiba gritted his teeth and Akamaru growled.
"Hey! Don't insult me and pretend that I'm not here! If you want a fight, you've got one! Ninja Art: Man Beast Clone!" The now two feral Kiba's charged towards the man. "Fang Over Fang!"
Twin vortexes spinned towards him. His silver eyes narrowed at the oncoming boy and dog. Just as they were about to collide, he sidestepped and the two smashed into the tree behind him.
Undeterred, the duo rebounded, aiming again at his back. Takahiro rolled his eyes and went through several hand seals.
"Earth style: Mud Wall jutsu!" Hardened earth shot out of the ground, forming a thick barrier in front of its caster. Although, the duo attempted to move out of the way, they crashed head first into the tough wall. Being too unexpected, they were unable to prepare for the impact. Neji grumbled something under his breath about impulsive idiots.
"Hmm..." Takahiro murmured and Kiba rolled out of the debris, thoroughly winded. "Quite a high powered attack for a genin. You managed to destroy a good chunk out of my jutsu." Kumiko grinned.
"Nice one, niisan. Now for the rest..." She drew her katana sheathe on her back and pointed it to Team Nine. "I've got these guys."
"I understand that what you wish to ask is more private than anything revealed here today." Satoro said, sipping his tea. Naruto ignored the shattered remains around his lap and the slippery feel on his hands.
"Hai, it is." Naruto gazed steadily at him. "I want to know if the name Uzumaki is familiar with you and that you knew of the name before today." Satoro leaned back, releasing some of his unseen tension.
"Not really. However, I have an old heirloom of mine." he stood and unlocked a nearby drawer. Satoro pulled out a small brown pouch and emptied its contents.
Only golden ring with a certain swirl came out. The ring was faded, the metal having no shine to it. The swirl itself was still there, faintly. It was a little dented on one side and a small chunk missing from the other. There were no valuable gems or stones imbedded in it, but pure gold and the symbol.
"It's the only object of my lineage. My father also had this ring, passed down from his mother. My grandmother also inherited this from her own mother and all the way from my fatherless ancestor." Satoro said with a wistful tone. "Do you recognise it?"
"When they were sixteen, their mother had three gold rings made with our clan's symbol. Pure gold and plain all around. She believed that they would carve a great and profound path in their era. The gold rings were meant to symbolize the childhood they would leave behind and the immergence of adulthood."
"Yes, I do. However, I've only heard its description."
"Good. Lately, I've recieved disturbing images resonating from it. An old, old struggle for power and vengeance that has sent waves throughout history, effecting you especially." Naruto tilted his head.
"How?" Satoro looked grim.
"Your uncle told you many stories about your clan. I couldn't see each one of them, but the story of the three siblings was the one he talked to you about the most. I believe that he tried to tell you something. A lesson or a warning. Perhaps both."
"What is it then?" His uncle was always vague about sensitive matters. He insisted about learning from the mistakes of others and often commented about the mundane of things by referencing to his own past. For an Uzumaki, Kitoshi was absurdly indirect.
"Your memories will tell you. Search them and you will find sinister undercurrent that runs under the shinobi world."
"Is that all? Any final warnings?" Naruto asked, feeling apprehensive.
"Normally, I can't see or speak of anything that could potentially change the future, but I can warn you of four things. First and I'm sure that you're aware of this, beware of those wearing red clouds. Second, your hardships begin at the Exams. Third, some who you've believed dead, will return. And fourth, beware the ones called the Mechanic and the Crimson Shadow."
These details sent Naruto's thoughts into a wild downward spiral. He recognised the Mechanic, but not the Crimson Shadow. People he thought dead? He saw the bodies. They were dead, end of story. The nearest exam was the Chuunin Exams in three weeks and the red clouds was the Akatsuki, a mercenary group of S-ranked criminals. Not good.
The Mechanic... He hadn't heard that name in a long time.
"Wow! Your sword is so cool, oji-san!"
"Well, otou-san never uses it."
"Why not, Akane-neechan?"
"It's well..."
"It's cursed, Naruto-kun." Kitoshi supplied.
"Then how come you got it? You never keep bad stuff in the house."
"Uh... A shadowy man gave it to me. He said to call him the Mechanic. This sword... Who knows what it's capable of... So, I really can't just toss it away. However, I never want to ever use it again."
Not exactly the best of memories. Naruto sighed, stood and picked up the shards of his cup.
"I'm sorry about losing my temper and destroying your cup."
"It's quite alright. I was actually expecting you to do it." Satoro replied, standing up as well.
"You're uncanny, old man." Naruto grumbled, throwing out the shards. Then he offered out his hand. "I need to get going. Goodbye, Satoro-san." The old man gripped it with surprising strength and shook it well.
"Not going to call me itoko?"(meaning cousin) Satoro asked teasingly. Naruto shrugged.
"I haven't had a living blood relative in a while. It takes some getting used to."
"Well, it's been a pleasure knowing that I'm not alone. Goodbye, Uzumaki-kun."
They parted on alright terms, according to Naruto's mind. He ran quickly through the forest, the trees flying past with ease. He already knew the way back, having memorized small landmarks or notable objects standing out of the undergrowth.
A few minutes passed before an awful knowing struck him. Where were they? They couldn't have been going that fast, unless Lee managed to persuade them into having a speedy race back to camp.
Naruto stopped abruptly and his Black Op paranoia began to take off. He had been sure that he'd gone the exact same path that they'd used to get to Satoro's house. So why were there no recent tracks? Naruto quickly reviewed the number one rule of when everything feels off.
When in doubt, check for genjutsu.
"Kai."
The path disappeared, leaving him alone in the small empty clearing he was now standing in. Naruto had an absolute immunity to genjutsu, but it didn't mean that he couldn't feel the effects of that shinobi skill. Genjutsu could be broken by disrupting the chakra flow because genjutsu takes control of your senses by controlling your chakra. There were two ways to break genjutsu. First was to disrupt the chakra flow yourself by halting it and then reversing. The second was to have someone else send chakra into you to disrupt it. This method was practically garanteed to work compared to the first since it relied solely on genjutsu and chakra control skill.
Having Kurama within him annihilated the disadvantage of being solo when dealing with genjutsu, making it thoroughly ineffective against him. Well, as long as he cooperated. If not... Then they both die and it was not a happy outcome no matter what disagreement they had.
Naruto stood still, senses searching for its caster. The chakra signature was well hidden with no trace of scent or glimpse of whoever it was. He knew immediately that the likely attackers would the group of missing nin, but why?
He quickly turned on his eyepiece over his Sharingan and the world blurred into clear sight. Scanning the area, he spotted small traces of chakra. Definitely a presence.
Suddenly, he caught a slight movement in the corner of his left eye. His honed instincts screamed danger! He swiftly leaned backwards as a crossbow bolt rocketed into the ground, flying right across his chest.
Naruto spun around to avoid losing his balance over the jerky move. Pivoting to face the originating point of the bolt, he looked up at a faraway branch to see a faint humanoid outline of chakra. To his right eye, it was invisible, but it wasn't to his left. Everything fell into place: the genjutsu, the crossbow, the famous Chameleon jutsu of Iwagakure. The familiar information flooded his mind.
"Come out, Takashi-san," Naruto calmly said, closing his right eye. "I can see you."
-
Another chapter done. I did try my best to make this flow as smoothly as possible so let me know if I can improve it or point out any inconsistencies or errors. Thanks again for reading.
Er... Final note on the council mentioned. They are advisors and only the Hokage has the final decision. Yeah its a cliché idea and the true canon council is only the Sandaime's former teammates, but it does exist as a full council in this fic.
Oh...And another note: There will be quite a few OCs involved with the plot on the Uzumaki clan (another cliché, but something interesting to expand on) and for those who dislike them... Well, they're mostly involved behind the scenes, but I guess you would want to skip them.