Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Yu Yu Hakusho. In a perfect world I would, but in that perfect world I would have a robotic right arm, sculpted abs, and control lightning with a mighty hammer...Thor, I would be Thor.
"Talk" Character talking.
'Think' Character thinking.
"Talk" Jagan talking.
'Think' Jagan thinking.
"Talk" Tailed Beast talking.
"Think" Tailed Beast thinking.
"Mush! Mush damn you!" Zabuza roared.
"Graa I hate you so much Zabuza!" A struggling Naruto covered in dirt and scuff marks screamed out at the top of his lungs. His clothing, which only consisted of sandals, black pants and a orange t-shirt were absolutely ruined. "You put too much weight in the damn wagon!"
"No bitching boy, bitches get stitches. Now keep on pulling!" Zabuza bellowed before producing a whip and snapping it in the jinchuriki's direction.
"As a woman I take offense to that Zabuza." Haku huffed out.
"I honestly wonder where he got the whip." Meizu lightly remarked from the back of the wagon.
"Do you really want to know?" Gozu asked.
This continued until the presences of three people stepped onto the training ground. This was the sight the remaining members of Team Seven walked into of Naruto audibly cursing out his trainer and slowly dragging an ox cart that looked to be on its last legs if the bending wheels were any indication. Zabuza and Haku were in the drivers seat with a giant boulder in the back with both Gozu and Meizu sitting on top of it while the two fox kits looked on in stunned bewilderment.
"What in the fresh hell is going on here?" Sakura demanded, her face as pale as a ghost.
"It looks like...physical exercise." Sasuke replied, feeling a shiver of relief flying up his spine. Compared what his teammate was going through, he got off lucky with the exercises Kakashi was pushing on him.
"Has he been doing this for three days?" Kakashi himself wondered out loud before focusing on Zabuza. "What are you doing to my Genin?"
"I'm turning him into a lean mean killing machine!" The former Demon of the Mist replied before snapping the whip again. "Before this month is over he will be unstoppable! A stamina monster!"
"But he already had a great amount of stamina to begin with." Haku butted in. Running with a boulder on ones back for twenty-four hours and stubbornly wanting to fight afterwards showed that the boy was not to be trifled with.
"Not the point Haku. Trust me if he wants to be strong he'll need more than powerful ninjutsu, and a vast amount of chakra." Zabuza whispered in response before barking orders at his student for the month. "Keep pulling you brat, you think this is hard? My old teacher made me do his up hill during the winter!"
With one final pull of the cart, Naruto's stamina finally gave out and he collapsed to his knees, and planted his masked face firmly on the ground. "That's it...after eight hours I am out of gas."
"Zabuza I think the kid can be cut loose early today. He's been busting his ass for five days straight now." Gozu said, taking pity on the exhausted Genin.
"Freaky stamina or not, everyone has a limit. Besides I'm bored. After staying cooped up in that stupid house I want to do more than just stretch my legs." Meizu complained.
Zabuza only growled in response, he still had four hours left with the kid. But when he watched the fox kits bound over to his downed form and began pawing at him, the bandaged man had a small change of heart. "Kakashi I honestly hope you did not have any plans with the kid."
"Well I was going to give him a group lesson...but I think I might have to do a one on one session tomorrow. Is that okay Naruto?" Getting a shaky thumbs up in response, Kakashi eye-smiled. "All right, come on you two follow me."
"We're just going to leave him here?" Sakura questioned.
"No he'll get taken back home. There is nothing we can do Sakura." Sasuke said, lightly eyeing her. "Unless you've learned a thing or two in the hospital?"
"Kanpo-sensei has been having me read medical textbooks and doing chakra exercises, I'm supposed to practice how to actually heal people next week." Sakura said, giving their masked teammate a look of pity. "Naruto do you need some help getting up?"
"No...I'm fine. Give me a few minutes so I can get the feeling back in my legs again." He muffled from his position on the ground. "Go ahead, I expect to see you in the finals."
"All right if you're sure." Sakura was unconvinced, but there really was nothing she could do at this point. Maybe next week, but not today. "Take it easy okay? I don't want to learn that you crippled yourself the day before the finals."
"Do you hear yourself? The dobe would drag himself to the arena with his teeth if he had to." Sasuke remarked, and got another shaky thumbs up for it. "I'll see you later dobe."
The members of Team Seven departed, and Zabuza removed himself from the cart and nudged his student with his sandal. "So...can you move or was that false bravado?"
"I honestly cannot move to save my life right now." Naruto replied.
"Haku, take him and the animals home. We're done for the day." Stepping over the Genin, the former Demon of the Mist gestured towards the Demon Brothers. "As for you two, don't think we're going to just sit around all day. We need to shake the rust off."
Watching both Gozu and Meizu slump their shoulders, the twins followed after him. Haku only giggled before moving over towards the downed Genin. "Ready to go home?"
"Been ready since the fifth hour." Naruto grumbled.
Both Ichigo and Benihime took their positions on top of him, much to his annoyance before Haku laid one hand on his back, flexed her other hand into a seal, and all four of them disappeared into a small cloud of smoke.
They arrived at Sasuke's apartment minutes later, and Haku helped the exhausted Genin to his feet and threw his arm around her shoulders as he tried pulling a key out of his pocket. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine after some ramen and some sleep." Naruto said, shakily pulling the key out of his pocket. After failing to slide the key into the hold, Haku placed one hand on his and slid it inside, twisted it and the door swung inwards. "Thanks, you can go and do whatever you were going to do."
"I think I'll stay here. You need all the help you can get." The ice kunoichi replied, watching as the two fox kits darted inside the apartment. When they both walked in she was a little surprised to see the apartment clean as a whistle, she always assumed there would be piles of clothes on the floor, nicks on the corners and torn furniture. Haku was also a little surprised to see a clone sitting on the couch reading a scroll. "You left a clone here?"
"Kakashi-sensei left me a few scrolls to study, Zabuza has been breaking my back so I had to resort to using a clone to read them." Naruto replied before turning towards his clone. "Anything good?"
"Well he gave us an advanced chakra control exercise that I just read up on. And as you know he gave us a water and earth ninjutsu to practice with. I dunno what the hell this one is though boss." The clone picked up the only scroll that was unopened. "Shall I read it now or later?"
"Dispel, I need the couch." His clone giving him a salute, it disappeared in a small cloud of smoke allowing Haku to walk him towards the couch where he flopped down on it.
"So you live with Sasuke-san?" Haku curiously asked, noting a banner of the Uchiha fan on one of the doors.
"For now, lost my apartment due to a fire." Naruto said before slowly pushing himself up to rid himself of his mask. He looked towards Haku, who's cheeks had a twinge of pink to them. "What?"
"I thought your face was...scarred." She said.
"Nope...it's kind of a long story, and I am too tired to tell it." He replied before plopping face first on the couch cushion. "Tell me Haku, was Zabuza's training this brutal for you?"
"It seems he took it a little easier with me than what you are going though." Haku said before sitting on top of the armrest where his feet were braced against. "I never had to pull a ox cart with a five-hundred pound boulder in it, alone with four other people."
"Lets not forget his big ass sword and the two giant gauntlets either." Naruto groused out. "Ugh, I'm going to be sore tomorrow."
"Perhaps I can help if you will allow me of course."
"Go ahead, I'm not gonna refuse..." Feeling her hand rest on his back, Naruto then felt the back of his shirt tear away. Literally, Haku tore it off his torso and flung it to the side. Before he could vocally demand what she was doing her hands rested on his upper back and then moved to his shoulders, then neck and finally his arms finding all the knots in them. He then felt a sudden coolness that began to numb the painful parts. "Ahh...oh what are you doing?"
"On the run sometimes Zabuza and the others pulled their muscles. We couldn't exactly go into town to get ice so I had to rely on my Kekkei Genkai stop any swelling and damage." Haku replied before she focused on a stubborn knot in his shoulders. "Is it helping?"
"Oh Kami yes." He sighed out, much to Shinigami's displeasure in Purgatory. "If I knew this I would have asked you to do it earlier...but why did you have to tear off my shirt?"
"It got in the way." She simply said, it was that simple for her. Haku then moved her hands to his arms and felt exactly how solid they were. "What is making you work so hard that you're damaging yourself to such an extent?"
"Other than the fact I want to become Chunin, there is this person I have to beat." Naruto said, lightly growling when she chilled a very tender spot, but it went way soon after. Man she was a miracle worker. "She tried hurting a friend of mine after beating her in the preliminary round. That is something I cannot forgive her for."
"So it's vengeance?" Haku frowned in response.
"No, I want to beat her because she is my opponent. Not because she tried crippling Tenten...well that is also one of the reasons, but also because she is a hurdle that I need to surpass to become Chunin. And that is one more step towards my dream of becoming Hokage." He said, cringing a bit when she hit a very tender spot on his right shoulder. By the Shinigami that hurt! But then the cooling sensation washed over his body. "Ahh so much better."
"I see...I think I understand." Haku said before targeting his lower back, goodness his muscles were tingling like crazy. "You know you remind me of Zabuza-san."
"Uhh what do you mean by that?" If she thought of him as a psychopathic killer with overwhelming bloodlust and an amoral attitude regarding human life, then he was going to be insulted.
"You both are ambitious." She replied with a small smile on her face. "He wanted to kill the Mizukage and bring change to Water Country as a whole. But...well you know how that turned out." A colossal failure that ended with him and his surviving followers fleeing for their lives. "You have the same drive, but you lack experience and power to obtain your goals."
"Ouch, that's brutal." Ishikawa remarked.
"Gee...thanks." Naruto muttered. "So how am I supposed to fix that? I've been busting my ass ever since the mission in Wave Country, I've upped my training program twice and I killed a freaking A-ranked Missing-nin." He even had the freaking powers of the Jagan Eye along with the powers of the Darkness Flame. "What more can I do?"
"There is always more Naruto. You're on the right track by training with Zabuza-san, by the end of the month I do not think anyone Genin-level will be able to stand a chance against you."
"I've been running around like pack mule since I saw you in the hot springs." Thank goodness he was facing away, otherwise Haku would had seen his face heating up. "I'm sorry about that by the way, I don't think I even apologized until now."
"It is okay, I admit I was embarrassed but it was an accident, and I found it unfair that Zabuza-san made you run twenty-four hours with a boulder tied to your back. That and you got slapped by all those women." Haku said before taking her hands to his spine and lightly pressed down upon it. "I am more sorry about that."
"Compared to the other perverts I got off easy." Naruto lightly chuckled before he felt a small popping in his back. "Ah man...Haku is it wrong if I ask you to do this after each training session?"
"I can do that. It's no problem." Haku replied with a small smile on her face.
"Hahaha, Blondie you're killing me here." Ishikawa laughed before he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Haku then yelped causing him to turn towards her as she rubbed her rear, and then back to what he saw earlier. "What the hell was that? Unless I'm going crazy I coulda sworn I saw a flying midget in a diaper with a crossbow."
Yea, Ishikawa figured he was going crazy.
(Konoha Intelligence Division – Two Days Later)
"I...do not know...what you're...talking about." Kabuto said through gritted teeth.
The bespectacled spy did not see it coming. Once his eye was wrapped up and he could begin the process of healing it, his entire team was whisked away after the Preliminary Exams ended, and since then he was grilled by various members of the Torture and Interrogation Force. From there he was probed by Inoichi Yamanaka himself, mentally tortured by Ibiki Morino himself, and physically tortured by Anko Mitarashi. Wasn't he just lucky?
Anko only sighed in annoyance as she yanked out a senbon needled from one of his pressure points. "Kid you know what I want. I want the location of that snake bastard and what he's planning."
"And I keep telling you I don't know about Orochimaru! My team never left the village during our C-ranked missions, and whenever we were in other villages for the exams we were under watch twenty-four seven from foreign shinobi!" Kabuto began to pitifully sob. "Please...I don't know anything."
The former student of Orochimaru only gritted her teeth before sticking him in the neck with a syringe, and once again pumped him full with a cocktail of truth serum, muscle relaxers, and morphine for him to sleep. The kid struggled after she pulled it out and slumped over in his special chair that kept his arms and legs bound.
Leaving the room she was greeted by the scarred face of Ibiki who had been watching through a two way mirror. "Either that kid knows nothing, or he is the best liar I have ever seen."
"I know what you mean. Inoichi dug through his mind and combed through everything. A good portion of Kabuto's memories are blocked off, now either it's through mental conditioning or something else entirely." Ibiki said with a frown on his face.
"So what should we do? Our source..." And Anko stressed that mildly due to the fact that their source of information was from one of Orochimaru's top shinobi that was reformed by their resident jinchuriki, or something along those lines. "Says that Kabuto and his entire team has been spying for him for years. We managed to get a lot out of both Yoroi and Misumi regarding bases and some of Orochimaru's activities, but Kabuto...we can't get anything."
"Keep him secured, his chakra sealed, under twenty-four hour watch. His teammates are not a great priority now due to their injuries, that Misumi kid still looks like a giant pool noodle, and with a broken ribcage Yoroi isn't going anywhere especially strapped down." Ibiki ordered before turning away. "Report everything to Hokage-sama, he needs the update."
"Roger that boss." Anko said before turning towards the guard stationed outside the door. "You heard the man, keep your eyes on him."
"Yea ma'am." The monkey masked Anbu member said.
After Anko left Soru the Anbu member to watch over Kabuto. For two hours he watched the kid slumped over in his chair, his hands and legs encased in chakra absorbing steel. He almost felt sorry for the kid, after getting mentally probed by Inoichi, mentally tortured by Ibiki, and Anko...well the kid needed a shower from what she did to him.
He then saw the spy raise his head, his eyes looking right at him. They seemed to shine with anger before he began convulsing, drool fell from his mouth, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Soru's eyes widened behind his mask and brought his hand to the radio he carried. "Medical team, Prisoner zero-zero-six-ten is going into cardiac arrest. I'm going to try and stabilize!"
Abandoning his post Soru entered the the room. Besides Anko and Ibiki every guard per rotation to watch the kid was given a key to unlock his shackles in case of an emergency. He pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked his feet and hands. "Don't swallow your tongue kid, come one!" He pulled Kabuto out of his chair and laid him flat on the ground and pried his mouth open to put something in it.
What he did not see was the ashen-haired spy's hands fly through five hand seals, his right hand glowing blue chakra before he sliced it across Soru's throat. He didn't feel anything, everything just went black as he toppled to the side.
Kabuto then pounded on his chest with his left hand once and began breathing normally after hacking a bit to clear his lungs. "To think...I would have to force myself to do this. To force my heart to become erratic. The things I do for Orochimaru-sama." He coughed before getting to one knee.
Help would be coming in three minutes, that didn't leave him with a lot of time. Utilizing the Dead Soul Jutsu Kabuto reanimated the fresh corpse and donned his clothing, he also used his expertise in morphing his face to match his. It wasn't going to be perfect, the face was a little more bloated than he wanted it to be, the bandages were haphazard at best, and his glasses were gone. He could make up a lie to cover it up, he was the best at it.
The medical team burst through the doors to see him pumping on 'Kabuto's' chest. "He had a seizure of sorts, I don't know help me!" 'Soru' screamed at them.
"We got this Soru," The female lead took the body from him and they began hooking him up to some machines on a gurney. "Take him to the ER now, I want him there yesterday!"
"Yes ma'am!" Came the cry of the doctor as they pushed the gurney out of the room and down the hallway.
Kabuto only smirked from behind his mask, it was time for him to depart...but first there were some loose ends to deal with.
The coast being clear, he went to the shared room where both Misumi and Yoroi were bound. The both of them were a pathetic sight, Misumi was shackled to a bed, his limbs still stretched out like rubber while Yoroi's neck was in a brace while being suspended upright due to his shattered ribcage.
"No more...we gave you everything we know." Yoroi barely managed to whisper out.
"It seems that you did." Kabuto said, alerting the chakra draining shinobi. Removing his Anbu mask to reveal his face, he slowly walked towards the bound Misumi and tisked at him. "I honestly should have known you would be the first to crack."
"We resisted the best we could." Yoroi protested. His voice came out garbled and pain filled, "I don't know how you got out, but I don't care. Listen patch my ribs up, and we can go back to Orochimaru-sama to warn him."
"And leave Misumi here?" Kabuto's glasses flashed. "How mortifying."
"He's all used up, and there is no way he can be fixed up in time to escape." The older shinobi panted out, Kami it felt like his lungs were being poked by his bones. "I can't do anything in my state but you can. I know it's too much to ask but..." Yoroi was cut off when Kabuto's right hand was coated in blue chakra. Then faster than he could blink he severed Misumi's jugular vein and then swiped his hand over his exposed throat, causing his words to die in mid sentence.
"You're right Yoroi, he couldn't be fixed up in time in order to escape. And neither could you." Kaburo said to his former teammate as his life began fading from his eyes. "But that is not the only reason I killed you, you betrayed Orochimaru-sama. And that is a crime punishable by death...but don't worry." His glasses flashed one last time as darkness began to cloud the older shinobi's eyes. "Your skills won't go to waste, I will make sure you both live on with his research."
(Hokage Tower – Later that Evening)
Hiruzen honestly couldn't believe his luck. They had three solid leads towards his former student, two had cracked and they learned of more locations and hideouts that even Kimimaro was not privy to. But Kabuto was the one they needed to crack, he was Orochimaru's right-hand man and knew everything the Snake Sannin knew. But after reading the report all his hopes were dashed, and he had escaped with a casualty on their side and whatever more information they could have gotten out of Misumi and Yoroi died with them.
Setting the report down on his desk, the Sandaime looked directly as an ashamed Anko and Ibiki. They were the last people to see Kabuto before his escape. "These reports...are they accurate?"
"Completely. Kabuto forced himself to go into a state of cardiac arrest, forcing Soru to try and revive him. He took a Chakra Scalpel to the throat, severing his jugular vein and caused him to bleed out internally." Ibiki replied with a low growl in his voice.
"He also used the Dead Soul Jutsu to temporarily reanimate Soru's corpse to keep his heart pumping long enough for the doctors to try and save him." Anko continued for her boss. "He managed to also reconstruct Soru's face to match his, it was crude but effective enough to fool those unfamiliar with the jutsu."
"And under the disguise of Soru he eliminated his teammates with the same Chakra Scalpel technique to cut away any loose ends before disappearing in plain sight." Hiruzen finished for the two of them. Leaning back into his chair he slowly brought his pipe to his lips and lit it, he needed his nicotine now more than ever. "Is there anything else?"
"We're still searching for him Hokage-sama, but I don't have any guarantee that he will be found." Ibiki said.
"That is where you're wrong." The Sandaime said after exhaling a mouthful of smoke. "Kabuto has not left the village yet, he has been chained up for nearly a week, his chakra needs time to recover, he's still too wounded and out of allies in the village. I want Anbu patrols posted at the walls and check in every five minutes. Dead or alive he is not leaving this village, is that understood?"
"Loud and clear Hokage-sama." Anko smirked with a hint of bloodlust creeping into her smile. Alive or dead, she didn't have to hold back then if she found him skirting around like a rat in an alleyway.
After dismissing them, Hiruzen sat alone in his office, the smell of cherry smoke being the only thing to fill his nostrils. He was beyond exhausted, his old bones just couldn't keep up with the times anymore. Political intrigue, espionage, trying to prevent an invasion. This was a young mans job.
Turning his seat to view at the three previous Fire Shadows who came and went, his tired gaze settled on the Yondaime's portrait. "I wish that I had been the one to do the sealing Minato, at least your son would have had some normalcy in his life if you and Kushina lived. I made many mistakes and can't change the past, but I cleaned up some of my messes and my successor will hopefully right the rest of them."
Exhaling another thick cloud of smoke, Hiruzen closed his eyes to get a wink or two before he set off for home that night. "And after they retire, hopefully Naruto will take the mantle with pride. He'd done so much for this village in his young age...I only hope that I'm alive to see him do more."
When the Sandaime Hokage fell asleep, he missed the picture of the Yondaime Hokage beaming in response. The Nidaime Hokage gave the older man a deadpanned stare while the Shodaime Hokage was laughing.
(Five Days Later)
Zabuza gave him the day off from training, leaving Naruto to practice by himself in the Forest of Death. It was quiet, it was tranquil, and if you ignored the giant tigers, insects and man eating plants quite peaceful for the likes of him.
Naruto had his Jagan Eye uncovered for one and was sitting in a circle of stones that were levitating three feet off the ground. He had been trying to play catch up with his abilities regarding the artificial eye the Shinigami granted him, some of the stuff he had used, briefly, and suffered a backlash with migraines from hell because of it.
During this month when he could manage it, the Kyuubi jinchuriki practiced with it almost religiously. The first few times he knocked himself out by overdoing it. But now he could levitate objects for an hour at a time without suffering for it, he could see up to three miles through buildings and was working on hearing conversations between people.
The Hyuuga Clan had nothing on him. Up yours Neji.
He even managed to control some of the animals within the forest, it kept them at bay when he was training. It didn't hurt that he could use telepathy with his clones to relay information. The Yamanaka Clan could suck it as well, they couldn't do a thing against him.
"Well that is quite a feat kid." Jiraiya's voice snapped Naruto out of his concentration, causing the rocks to drop to the ground. "Telekinesis, that's a rare ability that even I haven't seen."
"What the hell are you doing here!" Naruto angrily demanded, "How did you even find me!?"
"Kid your chakra is so large that even a blind man could find you." The Toad Sannin deadpanned before he hopped out of the tree and approached him. "Second, you don't have to worry. Sensei told me all about your Jagan Eye thing, the ghost boy and even the Shinigami."
"Dammit old man, and you!" Naruto pointed at Ishikawa, "Why didn't you warn me of anything?"
"Kid, that is the freaking Toad Sage. You wouldn't have done squat." The deceased Kamizuru yawned out before scratching his belly.
"You're an asshole Ishi!"
"Love you too Blondie."
"He also told me you argue with him. But that's to be expected given your...personality." Jiraiya chuckled before he stood in front of the younger man. "Listen, I have a proposition for you brat."
"For what exactly?" Naruto wearily asked.
"I was told of your growth and your prowess. The Sandaime told me everything, and I mean everything. I want to see how far you can go, you already know who your old man is. Then you know that I am the one who trained him." Getting a dull nod from the Genin, the older man continued. "Well I want to train you as well. But I want to see how strong you are before I do it."
Getting trained by one of the three Sannin? Naruto's blue eyes widened in response, if he squealed it would have been unmanly so he tried to play it cool...they keyword being tried.
"All right! Tell me what I need to do and you'll call me your number one pupil in no time!"
"Reign in that ego Blondie, this is a Sannin we're talking about."
"The rules are simple kid. All you have to do is lay one clean hit on me. Just one." Jiraiya said with an air of confidence. "And I will take you under my wing. I spoke with Zabuza and he doesn't mind me taking you off his hands every couple of days."
That sounded ominous, but what the hell. This actually got Naruto's blood pumping. "All right, you're asking for it!" Grabbing Handanryoku by its hilt he unsheathed the black blade and rushed at him with a stabbing motion.
Jiraiya took note that the brat was faster than he looked, but easily shifted out of the way before rapping Naruto on the back of his head with his fist, causing him to stumble from the sudden hit. "You have to do better than that kid."
"I'll show you better you old hermit! Earth Style: Great Mud River!" Stabbing his blade into the ground, Naruto struck his hand into the tiger seal and the ground underneath Jiraiya transformed into a river of mud that caught him off guard that swept him off his feet and carried him down stream. "Followed by Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" Flashing his hands through the seals Naruto created a dragon-like head to shoot mud balls at Jiraiya.
The compact mud balls struck Jiraiya right in the kisser, only for his smirking visage to disappear in a small cloud of smoke. It was a freaking shadow clone?
"Ninja Art: Needle Senbon!" Jiraiya's hair hardened to fine points before curving outwards and firing hundred upon hundreds of senbon-like needles made out of his own hair.
"Gah! Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Naruto flashed his hands through the seal and slammed his hands upon the ground. A still primitive, but very thick mud wall rose from the ground and protected him just in time from being skewered by hundreds of needles.
"You should watch your back brat!" Another clone of Jiraiya appeared behind him and threw several shuriken. "Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" In a matter of seconds a dozen shuriken became a hundred.
"You really think I'm falling for that? Thank you Kakashi-sensei for giving me three scrolls to work with! Wind Style: Gale Palm!" Clapping his hands together, and throwing them outwards, Naruto created a powerful gale wind that knocked the hundreds of shuriken aside and making them disappear in a large cloud of smoke. Using that distraction he dug himself into the ground, leaving no trace of of his former position.
"Sneaky brat." Jiraiya exclaimed with a grin on his face. His sensei was right Naruto was more cunning than he let on, "Come on show me what you got."
He didn't have to wait long. Naruto burst out of the ground behind him, and then another one on his side, several more then popped up around both him and his clone, each carrying that black sword of his, others were forming through seals.
Not on his watch. "Ninja Art: Needle Jizo." Jiraiya calmly said, his long hair hardening into thick spikes of armor that wrapped around his body. His clone only nodded towards him before he went into the next phase of his technique. "Needle Hell!" He extend the hair around his body, firing a barrage of hardened hair needles towards their the multiple copies of the jinchuriki.
The clones did not stand a chance, they were all struck by the multitude of sharp hair needles that skewered them in a very brutal manner, the clone of Jiraiya only glowed before exploding in a massive fireball that blew the clones back to where they came from, it also caused a massive crater where it once stood. That wasn't the only casualty, many trees toppled over from Jiraiya's technique, crashing in the forest and scaring off any wildlife.
"Whoops, I might of overdid it." The Toad Sannin laughed out before he ended the technique, his hair becoming its usual spiky mop. "Hey kid, you still alive?"
"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Jiraiya got his answer when every hole created by both him and the copies gushed out massive amounts of water. They didn't even come close to hitting him, but he guessed that was not the point in this technique.
Naruto had to honestly thank Kakashi for thinking he was mature enough to use that technique, because it was a dozy with what he was going to do next. "Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"
"Shit! Summoning Jutsu!" Biting his thumb Jiraiya slammed his right hand down on his forearm, in a large cloud of smoke he appeared on the back of a blue toad with two giant round shields on his arms. The summoned creature wasted no time in covering both him and Jiraiya until it looked like they were in a giant sphere. "All right enough games. Earth Style: Dark Swamp!"
The entire ground underneath him and his summoned toad turned into a dark, mucky-like swamp. They were battered by Naruto's water jutsu for a minute before it came to and end, good thing too because the both of them felt like they were being battered around like a ball of yarn. Dispelling his companion Jiraiya wisely back flipped in midair before landing on the edge of the swamp he created. Dozens of trees fell into it, and Naruto himself was trapped in the middle, covered, cursing and straining against the tar-like substance.
"Dammit, you stupid old man let me out! I haven't even begun to fight!" He snarled in anger. The red in the Jagan Eye was burning brightly in fury.
"I'm ending it right here kid, you did very good, you almost had me several times." Jiraiya laughed in response. "But if we continued, things woulda escalated, and we would have gotten berated by the Sandaime again." He then had to duck out of the way by a black laser beam that erupted from the eye in the middle of his forehead, it struck the tree behind him and turned it into nothing but ash. "Hey! Knock it off kid, you may have lost but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna train you!"
"It's not me, Jagan has gotten all pissy at you!" Naruto exclaimed. Another black laser beam flew from his third eye, Jiraiya jumped behind him and ended the jutsu leaving him in what looked like a molten pool of brown wax. "Dammit knock it off!"
After a few more blasts that erupted from his forehead, the Jagan Eye stopped trying to kill his inhabitants teacher...for now. No one made a fool out of him. "All right I think he's done."
"Geeze, you're full of surprises kid. I like that in a shinobi, it makes things interesting." Jiraiya said before he cautiously stood in front of him. Getting onto one knee, he widely grinned. "So tell me, was that you going all out, or were you holding back?"
An embarrassed look formed over the mud-clad Genin's face. "I had to hold back, if I just start using Kyuubi's chakra out of nowhere people will panic, and that'll get me into some hot water. It's a real hassle."
"You can use the fox's chakra?" That was honestly surprising, Jiraiya didn't think the kid could fully access it yet. "How far have you been able to go with it?"
"Two tails so far, I tried three once when I was training in Wave Country and...I blacked out." Hey he wasn't just sitting out in the woods admiring nature, he was regaining some lost practice time. "And even then it was less than five minutes."
Two tails? That was even more impressive. Jiraiya laughed, he honestly did. "Kid, I think I'm going to like training you."
"But I didn't even hit you once." Naruto protested.
"Naruto I'm a Sannin, my teammates and I are Kage-level. If the Sandaime ever retired one of us would definitely be candidates for the position...except for Orochimaru, but you already know about that don't you?" Receiving a nod in reply, the Toad Sannin continued. "So for a Genin like yourself to hit me is a thousand years too early, I just wanted to see how you would hold up."
"Um...thanks?"
"Thank nothing of it Blondie, it he got even remotely serious you would be a bloodstain on the ground." Ishikawa said with a serious face. He was never serious, not since Naruto had met him in ghost form. "He may be...odd and goofy, but this man trained the Yondaime, and survived through two Great Shinobi Wars. He took on Hanzo the Salamander and survived, trust me, I bet even the current Tsuchikage would have trouble against him."
That was honestly horrifying to think about. And this man wanted to train him? Well this just got a lot more interesting. His respect for Jiraiya rose that day.
"And he is also me favorite author! The man who created the Icha Icha series!"
And just like that it plummeted to the bottom of a ocean. He was the one who wrote that book Kakashi always read? What a pervert.
"Can you get me out of here?" Naruto eventually said. Pervert or not, he was offered to be trained by a Sannin of all people, who could say no to that?
"Of course, but it's going to suck for you."
Wait, what?
Grabbing the tar-like substance that was coating his head Jiraiya pulled with all his might. There was a sharp tearing sound, and at least a thousand people withing the village hearing Naruto screaming and cursing his lungs out.
(Later that Night)
"Ow...ow...I can't believe he did that." Naruto said, gingerly poking his head while he looked in the bathroom mirror.
Jiraiya freed him all right, he first peeled the tar-like substance off his face. He lost a couple layers of skin and the black highlights in his hair. How he managed that, Naruto would never know, but now he was poking his fully blonde head with his finger, gingerly wincing when he hit a sore spot.
"At least your skin grew back in the first few minutes Blondie." Ishikawa was definitely enjoying this, the bastard. "Besides, blonde suits you better than having highlights in it."
"But I kinda liked them, I mean I got Uchiha blood in me, so having black hair just seemed appropriate right?"
"I come from a clan with hair ranging from black to blonde, and that goes double for eye color. You don't need to have the same eye or hair color to affiliate with a clan. That's what clan symbols are for. Just ask super emo for one after the Chunin Exams when you reveal that you're part Uchiha."
As if it were that simple. Sasuke was used to the idea of him being the Last Uchiha, if another one, mainly him popped out of nowhere and revealed he kept it a secret how would he react? Probably with anger, that sounded about right. "Wait a second, your clan doesn't even have a clan symbol."
The laid back ghost raised his finger to dispute him, but came up short. He thought back to his earliest memories and honestly could not recall seeing any sort of clan symbol. He seemed to visibly deflate at that. "Honestly...I never thought of that until now. Thanks for shattering the glass ceiling kid."
"I'm...sorry?" Naruto apologized.
A frantic knocking came at his door, interrupting both Chunin and would-be Chunin from their conversation. Both Benihime and Ichigo moved to the door from their position on Sasuke's bed, oddly enough yipping like dogs, or what came close enough for their species. Naruto followed them to the door dressed in a white shirt and some orange pajama pants.
When he opened the door, the last thing he expected to see was both Tenten and Hinata standing at his doorstep in hospital gowns this late at night. That honestly threw him for a loop, especially since Hinata was holding onto the older girl like she was some sort of lifeline.
"Hinata...Tenten? What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Search me kid, but it looks like trouble." Ishikawa remarked.
'I can't be that.' Naruto thought in response.
"Naruto, Hinata is in trouble." Tenten said.
"Told ya Blondie."
'Fuck!' Naruto mentally screamed, a small chibi version of him was actually screaming his head off and running in circles before the Kyuubi swatted him down, and Jagan burned him. "Well don't just stand out there, come in." He actually said, opening the door wider for both girls, they came inside and shut the door behind them before locking it. It probably wouldn't have done a single difference against a shinobi, but it was a sense of safety...even if it was a false sense of safety.
With both fox kits walking around their bare feet, both kunoichi made their way to the couch. It was then for the first time Naruto saw the state of their bodies. Tenten had several cuts on her arms and legs; along with several shards of glass in them, her hospital gown was ripped in several places to the point it was nearly falling off.
Hinata also had a few cuts on her pale skin, but compared to Tenten they were not significant. Her hospital gown was also torn, but she was mostly modest, but on her forehead was some ink of a symbol that looked to be smudged halfway through. Her pale eyes were red and puffy, it was obvious she had been weeping.
"What happened?" He asked, there was just no way he could beat around the bush with their state of appearance.
Hinata seemed ready to break down, and Tenten buried the younger girls face into her chest. Honestly if the situation wasn't so serious, it would have been arousing. "Hinata was banished from her clan."
Naruto held his right hand up to stop her. This was a serious matter, but also...he couldn't stand to look seeing the both of them hurt in such a way. "One second please." He went to the bathroom and took out the first aid kit from under the sink and brought it into the living room where his adorable foxes were sitting on the armrests of the couch like watch dogs. He then went to the kitchen and took out the small jar of medical cream he kept in the fridge and returned to them.
"All right, start at the beginning. How did this happen?" He asked, getting some tweezers out of the medical kit and began to pull the shards of glass from Tenten's arms.
The older girl winced a bit when he pulled the glass out of her arms, the adrenaline dump was finally kicking in and she was feeling the pain of her injuries. "I had just finished with some minor check ups, they wanted me to stay over to make sure there were no complications. I was roomed with Hinata who was still in physical therapy from her injuries."
Naruto glared in response to that, if Sasuke didn't beat him, he was going to give Gaara the asskicking of a lifetime. "I'm going to kick his ass for that, right after I kick Temari's when my match comes during the finals."
"I know you will." Tenten's cheeks flushed a little hearing him say that. She lost her fight, it honestly wasn't the end of the world, but it honestly felt nice hearing her more...well she didn't know what Naruto was to her just yet. But she saw him in a very good light, just like Hinata did, and all the other girls were too blind to see instead focusing on a certain dark brooding avenger. She had to get serious again, her affections had to be sidelined for now. "We were talking, just normal stuff you know, but then her father and an elderly clan member barged into the room."
"Barged into her room?" Naruto demanded, pulling another bit of glass out of her arm and setting it on the coffee table with the others. "Where were the doctors. Weren't visiting hours over?"
"Clan business overrules hospital regulations." Hinata softly whispered.
"Damn it." The blonde cursed out. He then focused on the girl in question and placed a warm hand on her thigh. "Hinata, what did they do. I want to hear it in your own words."
"My father...he said that I failed him and the clan for the last time. My latest loss against a foreign shinobi was the final straw." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "He said the Elemental Nations viewed the Hyuuga Clan as weak, and to save the clan from any further humiliation he was to cut me loose."
"Fucking hell." Ishikawa cursed out, that nearly floored Naruto. He didn't curse out that often, but he never said the f-word with such anger. "I heard that the Hyuuga Clan were purists, and had a bunch of sticks shoved up their asses, but I thought it was all propaganda that they cut loose their less successful members."
'Ishi...what am I supposed to do?' Naruto mentally asked the deceased Stone Chunin. 'This is beyond what I know what to do. An enemy shinobi I can deal with, but this is an entire clan, one of the most prodigious and and oldest clans to join the village since its founding. I can't fight all of them.'
"Kid, you need to go the Biju option"
'Not an option.'
"Dammit kid, you can't go to the Hokage himself."
'Depends...this is going to suck though.' Naruto thought to himself before talking to Hinata again. "Hinata, what did he say to you. Word for word, I need to know this."
"Naruto, this is barely even an hour old. What are you thinking?" Tenten demanded.
"Please...I need to know." He said before pulling out a roll of gauze and pulled Hinata's right leg towards him. He applied the medical cream to a nasty cut on her calf, she didn't even wince when it was applied. He then began to bandaged it up. "I promise that I will help, and I always keep my promises."
Even though her cheeks were flushed scarlet, Hinata managed to talk about her experience. "When they came...my father, he said that he was sick and tired of my constant failures. Losing to a Sand Rat was the last straw, now that the Elemental Na-nations knew how w-weak the clan was, I could not be allowed to be apa-rt of the Main Family." Her eyes began misting up again, and then the waterworks began. "He disowned me as his daughter, the Hyuuga name stripped from me...and I was banished to the Branch Family. My grandfather..." She honestly couldn't finish.
"He was the one who began applying some sort of curse seal. Neji has the same thing...I saw it once, and only once. So I know what it looks like." Tenten finished for her. "Her father left, her grandfather held her down with some sort of paralyzing jutsu and began to create his seal. I was completely overlooked and smacked him in the head with a bedpan, grabbed her and we both jumped out of the window."
"How did you get so much glass on you?" He asked.
"We had to jump through a lot of windows, the Yamanaka Clan is going to be pissed when they see their flower shop in the morning. The paralysis jutsu wore off only a few minutes ago, I had to carry her the entire way."
He did not even know how they managed to do that, but she risked her life for Hinata, a girl she only knew in passing; as far as he knew at least. But he got what he needed to hear, removing himself from both girls he created a shadow clone. "Go to the Hokage, we need him now about this right now."
"Were they followed?" The clone asked.
"What do you think? Go."
"On it boss." Clone Naruto saluted the original before he left the apartment, he then created a few hundred clones that ran in different directions towards the Hokage Tower, and the Sarutobi Clan compound. No amount of Hyuuga's could get all of them if he had anything to say about it.
"What do we do now?" Tenten asked.
"Play the waiting game, and hope that nothing tries to break into Sasuke's apartment." Naruto said before he went to finish cleaning and dressing their wounds. "So tell me, how did you find out where I live?"
"Miss peepers here." Tenten replied, she did not mention that Hinata stalked him at times. The girl in question flushed scarlet.
"Why me of all people? Why not the Hokage, or your place?"
"You think my parents could stop the Hyuuga Clan?" Tenten dryly asked. "We came to you because we trust you, because we know you would do everything in your power to make sure your precious people were safe."
"Playing you like a fiddle Blondie."
Ignoring Ishikawa, Naruto could only smile at the two of them before realizing that he did not have his mask on. "Shit, my mask...you two weren't supposed to-"
"We already know Naruto-kun...about everything." Hinata spoke up. He looked at her, surprise betraying his features. "The Kyuubi, the Jagan Eye, the deal with the Shinigami, and even your ghost friend...we know."
"I...uh...wha?" Naruto could only babble out.
"Hahaha! Oh I have been waiting for this Blondie!"
"You fucking knew about this Ishi?" Naruto turned towards the ghost clutching his sides behind him. "You son of a bitch, why didn't you tell me this dattebayo!"
"Because of this reason, haha! You should have seen your face dude."
"I'll kick your ass!"
"Focus on the girls first kid, I'm gonna keep watch outside." Ishikawa said before phasing through the walls of the apartment to keep watch.
"That cocky son of a..." Turning towards the two girls he sheepishly chuckled. "So...um...how did you find out?"
"When you told Sasuke, we just happened to be behind a pillar." Tenten replied before slowly getting to her feet. "Listen, we don't care of you got the Kyuubi in you, or can see ghosts, or even have this thing with the Shinigami." She slowly walked towards him and undid his hitai-ate, and did not shy away as a third eye looked at her from the middle of his forehead. "I don't even care that you have another eye. We see you as the kind Genin that was never given a chance."
"I, uh...I don't know what to say." Naruto had a bit of pink on his cheeks now, Tenten was so close now, and that damn hospital gown wasn't doing his blood pressure any favors.
Not to be outdone by her rival/friend, Hinata slowly removed herself from the couch and took her right hand in hers. "Just...keep being yourself Naruto-kun...we l-like you the way you are."
They liked him? As in like liked? If Ishikawa was here he would be laughing his ass off. Kyuubi however snorted from behind his cage. "They both got it bad for you boy. Do what you will with this information." He grunted before going back to sleep.
Making sure his nose wasn't bleeding, and he didn't have a funny look on his face, Naruto slowly breathed outwards. "Lets get you two taken care of first. Your hospital gowns are a little distracting."
"We don't exactly have any clothes on us, Naruto." Tenten stated the obvious.
"Well I got a few spare shirts, and some pajama pants. They're behind the couch." He offered, pointing in that general direction.
"Aw, you're such a gentleman." Tenten then kissed him on the cheek and moved to get his sack of clothes.
Puffing her cheeks out in jealousy that Tenten did it first, Hinata boldly kissed him on the opposite cheek. "Thank you Naruto-kun." She whispered before following her into Sasuke's bedroom to change into something.
That left poor Naruto giving a good impression of a tomato. Slowly he stumbled and sat on the couch, both Ichigo and Benihime moved to his opposite sides, looking at him curiously. "I'm just as confused as you two."
Ichigo yipped and batted his nuzzle against his arm. Thanks to Jagan, he read his thoughts that basically said. "Are they your chosen mates?"
"I think we're a little young for that."
Benihime tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, Jagan took over from there. "What are you going to do daddy?"
"Keep them safe for one, after that...go one step at a time. I thought I would be lucky enough to get one girl to like me, but two is kinda unbelievable."
"Don't forget the ice lady pops." Ichigo barked. "She likes ya."
"Haku? No way."
"When she does those muscle rubs she is getting awfully chummy daddy." Benihime said wagging her tail. "She likes you~" She added in a singsong voice.
"Oh knock it off you two, I need to sleep and think about all this because I do not know if I either pissed someone off or got in their favor at the moment."
The door opened to Sasuke's room, thankfully ending the conversation between man and beast. Tenten was dressed in one of his black shirts that hung off her body, she was wearing one of his orange boxer shorts leaving her legs exposed from under his shirt making her look very daring. It didn't help she had her hair out of her usual buns, making it cascade to her shoulder blades. Even with bandages on her arms and legs she made it look good.
Hinata herself was a little more modest, she took to wearing one of his orange shirts that did nothing to hide how well developed she was. Wow, that was what she was hiding under that jacket of hers? She was also wearing a pair of black pajama pants, she certainly wasn't as daring as Tenten was. The ink that was on her forehead was also washed off, thank the Shinigami for that.
"Will that...suit you two?" He asked, trying to not look slack jawed. Both fox kits snickered in response.
"It's a little loose." Tenten admitted, pulling on the shirt. "But it will do for now. Thanks for letting us borrow them."
"Y-yes thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata seconded with an embarrassed gaze.
"Well I don't got much in lodging, but if one of you want to take Sasuke's bed and one of you the couch I could-"
Tenten stopped him mid-sentence. "We actually want you to sleep with us." And so Naruto's mind went straight to the gutter, she could see it right away. It was actually cute to watch. "What I mean is, no one should be alone tonight."
"Please Naruto-kun?" Hinata boldly asked.
Under normal circumstances he would have said no, but then again he was not a orange-wearing midget, and these were far from normal circumstances, and he wasn't that little idiot anymore. Was it weird? Yes. Would Hiroshi try and flay him alive if he found out? Probably. Would Sasuke try and set him on fire upon learning he slept in his bed with two girls? More than likely. Did he care about it at all? Not right now.
"All right, I'm not going to argue."
He followed them into Sasuke's spartan room, honestly would it kill the guy to get some stuff in there? He settled himself in the middle of the bed, Tenten took his left side, Hinata took his right. At first they lied still, both girls fell asleep within minutes. Naruto however stayed awake out of fear and paranoia. Who could blame him? He had a literal clan that was searching for them, more than likely found them by now thanks to their eyes, and were gearing to attack. Sure Ishikawa was standing guard, and both Ichigo and Benihime were by the door, their cute little ears twitching for any sort of movement. But what could a ghost and two fox kits do against against such intruders, he doubted that even he could take on all of them without getting decimated, otherworldly powers or not.
But then Hinata cuddled up next to him, she threw one of her legs over his and entangled it. She nuzzled her face onto his chest to listen to his strong heartbeat. Tenten followed soon after, he pressed her body fully against his side and rested her tired head on his shoulder. Finally Naruto gave in and wrapped both his arms around them, they gave content sighs when he did it, and nodded off soon after.
It turned out to be the best night sleep he had in a long while.
Meanwhile
"Move out of the way." Hiashi insisted on the individual blocking his path from his runaway former daughter. After his father was assaulted by his nephews impudent teammate, he and a group of ten other Hyuuga's tracked them down. It wasn't too hard, they left a trail of clues that even a blind man could follow. They tracked them towards Sasuke Uchiha's apartment, and to his knowledge the Uchiha wasn't home, but someone was, and they were keeping him away from the rogue Hyuuga. They would have snatched her if it wasn't for one problem.
That problem was none other than Jiraiya the Toad Sannin. Before they even had a chance to get to the doorstep, the much larger man dropped at the doorstep and openly glared at them.
"I don't think so, I heard what you were going to do. And quite frankly Hiashi I am disappointed, and disgusted with you. How could you do such a thing to your own flesh and blood?" Jiraiya asked in a patronizing tone.
"You're damn right! If my clan did something bad it was just a plain old execution. You guys are messed up in the head!" Ishikawa said, being a backseat driver.
"This is clan business." Hiashi said. He was not about to get his hands dirty, but the ten he brought with him would suffice. "If you insist on being a nuisance then I must do what is necessary to retrieve what belongs to the clan."
"Oh so you're treating her as property now, eh?" Jiraiya cracked his knuckled in response. "You know, I am honestly looking forward to this, the big question is will it be one on one or eleven against one? Either way, it'll be a good warm up for me."
"Come on Toad dude, kick his ass!"
"That will not be necessary Jiraiya." Hiruzen's voice stopped them from fighting. The old Kage marched towards them in his Hokage robe, underneath it were his pajamas. "Hiashi Hyuuga, you are to return to your compound."
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, this is none of your business." Hiashi bit out.
"The fuck it is!"
"It is my business when you are threatening to enslave one of my shinobi." The Hokage openly glared at the clan head before leaking a small amount of killing intent. "From my source of information you banished your daughter from the clan, stripping her of the Hyuuga name. That means she falls under my jurisdiction as a shinobi and not yours. If you take one footstep towards that apartment, if you or members of your clan try to abduct her, they you are undermining my authority. And as such you will be given the maximum punishment."
Cold. Logical. That was what Hiashi was known for, but all that changed in an instant when he realized he was outplayed. He was too hasty in disowning Hinata, and now the Byakugan was no longer under his control, but wandering free.
This could not be accepted.
"She still has the Byakugan, Hokage-sama. Never once in the history of our clan has it fallen to any outsiders, and I intend to make sure it stays that way." Hiashi stressfully insisted. "You too are apart of a clan, a prominent clan that joined around the same time mine did when the village was founded. If you had a Kekkei Genkai that your enemies would kill for, you would go to extremes to protect it just like I have to."
"If you are trying to have me sympathize with you Hiashi-san, you have failed. Return to your compound, that is an order from your Hokage." The Sandaime ordered the Hyuuga Clan Head, his voice held a promise that failure to cooperate would result in a a punishment so severe that it would possibly ruin him.
Hiashi had to restrain himself from clenching his hands into fists. This was a grievous insult! His blood boiled in his veins, it took every part of him to now lash out in anger. Hinata was lost to him...for now at least. So he would tactically retreat, and try another day. "This not over Hokage-sama." He said before retreating along with the ten stoic Hyuuga members in his entourage.
"Thank you sensei, but how did you learn of this?" Jiraiya asked his old teacher.
"The same way you did, a certain blonde-haired boy in his pajamas bursting through my home and screaming his head off." Hiruzen replied with a tired yawn, it was past midnight and he really wanted to smoke his pipe. He was honestly getting too old for this shit.
"I literally bumped into him when I was...um researching for my newest book." Jiraiya lightly coughed into his hand when his sensei gave him a deadpanned look. "I raced here as fast as I could, and sure enough Hiashi Hyuuga's entourage was about ready to storm up the stairs and bust the door down."
"I am glad you came Jiraiya." Hiruzen tiredly sighed before resting on the steps of the apartment. "So I heard you trained Naruto today, did he exceed your expectations?"
"He's a spunky one, his use in ninjutsu reminds me of his mother. It's unorthodox, and his tactics are strange but effective. He has potential to be something great sensei."
"Like his father?"
"No, even better than his father. Better than you, better than me. He could become the strongest of us all." Jiraiya said that with such sincerity that Hiruzen couldn't help but believe him. "Tomorrow I'm going to introduce him to the toads. We will go from there, who knows I might even teach him the Rasengan if he exceeds my expectations."
"Seriously? Go toad dude."
"Should we go in? We must nip this in the bud before it gets worse." Hiruzen asked.
Jiraiya only had a devious smirk plastered on his face. "Lets leave them alone for the night. I'll stand guard until the morning."
"I find that hard to believe."
"All right I'm going to break in and crash on the couch before they awaken." That sounded more like the student he knew and trained. "Tomorrow I'm going to train the pants off that kid, you can handle all this political nonsense regarding the Hyuuga Clan."
"Are you sure you don't want to take my place?" Hiruzen pitifully asked.
"Oh no you're the Hokage. I'm just an amazing author and hermit." Jiraiya pridefully replied. The smile of his resembled the smile of an ass. It caused Hiruzen to sigh in defeat.
"Honestly...why the heak did my grandfather offer to be the Shodaime Tsuchikage, better yet how the hell is old man Onoki not dead from all this stress?" Ishikawa mused to himself. Either way he was glad he did not have a high ambition when he was alive, he would have hated his job.
Ishikawa stayed up all night keeping watch over his ward, snickering when he saw the three Genin sleeping together in the same bed. Jiraiya lazed on the couch snoring like a dog with two fox kits laying on his belly like cats and a small toad watching the door, croaking every five seconds.
They needed this rest, because the rest of the month was going to be quite hectic for them all.
Armageddon: Hello my dear fans I welcome you to my latest, and hopefully...well it ain't going to be my greatest chapter full of action and mayhem, but it definitely has more character development, interaction and intrigue than some stories that are drier than the Sierra desert.
Now I bet you're wondering what the hell was going on with some of this stuff? Well I can say for Kabuto that he is indeed the perfect spy, I wanted to emphasize that in this chapter to go to great lengths to get the job done.
As of Hinata being bolder? Well I had a bit of a thought regarding that, she is shy in nature, especially when it comes to her affections. Tenten however is the bolder of the two, give her some healthy competition that is not toxic, and she would step up or lose her place. I think it would work in a harem setting, at least it should what do you think?
And now regarding Hiashi being a major jerkwad. Like in my last story he was an antagonist, this one is no exception. He could either be a good character, or a bad one, it depends on the story. But in this one he is a major asshole that really has no redeeming qualities. Take it what you will.
Update: 11-09-17: It has come to my attention from reviewer Zeus501 that a certain scene was familiar in this story regarding Hinata and her banishment. I am sorry to say I dun goofed, without realizing it I ripped off a chapter from Naruto One Man Team by the author Ackdam. I say without realizing it is because that story has not been updated since 2012...that is my bad. Credit does go to him, along with an apology.