Author's Note: And we just reached chapter number twenty five! Let's give a review of this story's stats now that we reached such a milestone.
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Chapter 25:
The Training Begins
or
My new justu is stronger than yours!
Icharaku's Restaurant
Naruto, Hinata and Haku were celebrating that the three of them had passed. The celebration turned even better when Teuchi decided to treat them to the first bowl of ramen, as a way to reward and encourage them for their hard work.
"Whoa, thanks old man!" Naruto cheered as he started to wolf down the food.
"But remember, just the first bowl!" Ayame reminded Naruto, shaking her index finger at him. "Seriously, with that bottomless pit you call a stomach, we can't be too generous with you or else you'll bankrupt us!"
Everybody, including Naruto, laughed at Ayame's jab.
"By the way, how is that your sensei is not here celebrating with you? It's as much a victory for her as it is for you, given that she taught you and all that," Teuchi asked.
"Kurenai-sensei went to a bar with the other senseis to celebrate on their own," Hinata replied. "She didn't say anything, but she's a bit miffed that she won't be training any of us for the finals. Though, she will check on our progress every few days."
"How so?" Ayame asked.
"I will be training with dad, Hinata with her mom and Haku with Zabuza," Naruto explained.
"Kurenai-sensei is a great teacher, but unfortunately for her, we have other people better suited to train us in our specialties," Haku added. " Then again, I might ask her to continue training me in genjutsu if I have some time."
"I don't think genjutsu will be very useful against an Uchiha. The Sharingan can see through all but the most potent of genjutsu," Hinata interceded.
"I know," Haku replied. "But Sasuke won't be my only opponent. If I win, I'll get to fight either Choji-san or that Kumo kunoichi, and I think genjutsu will work on them just fine."
After all, genjutsu pretty much gave Haku the victory against Lee, his newfound enthusiasm about it was understandable.
"How do you feel about fighting Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he finished his bowl.
"I'm going to admit that I'm a bit worried. Sasuke-san is really strong, and I never managed to beat him in the Academy. I know how he fights, but that won't be enough. Plus I'm sure his brother and Shisui-san will train him this month, and I know that those two are among Konoha's strongest."
"Well, you're going to train with a Swordsman of Kiri," Naruto replied. "Your teacher isn't that bad, you know."
"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't doubting about Zabuza-sama's teaching capabilities, but I will need to learn all I need to defeat Sasuke-san. Besides, I'll have to make sure he doesn't get angry. Sasuke is really vicious when angry," Haku recalled.
Naruto shivered upon remembering Sasuke's fight with Neji. "Indeed! I know that that idiot had a short fuse, but that...boy, that was too much! I swear he would have killed Neji if Shisui didn't intervene. Let's hope Shizune-neechan can knock some sense into that thick skull of his. And if he does something to you..." Naruto cracked his fingers. "Well, I'll make sure he regrets such a thing."
Haku smiled at the blond. "Thanks for wanting to avenge me, but I'm sure that it won't be necessary. Then again, even if Sasuke shows restraint, it won't be an easy fight. I'm a bit jealous of Hinata-san, her opponent isn't that strong."
"Well, Tamaki-san might not have been the strongest kunoichi of our class, but underestimating your rival is unwise," Hinata replied. "Besides, her fighting style is wild and chaotic, and thus hard to fight against."
"I'm sure that you'll do fine," Naruto reassured.
"What about you, Naruto-kun? We don't know anything about those Suna ninja, but you seem to know them really well. What do you know about the girl?"
"Temari?" He was about to reply, when something dawned upon him. "Well, I know her, but I never saw her fighting until yesterday. She's really good with Wind Jutsu, even better than me, so I guess that won't be an option. Anyway, I'm sure dad can teach me something to help me beat her."
"By the way," Haku interceded. "There's a high chance we might end up fighting each other. In fact, you two will end up fighting each other if you win your first match."
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, a bit shocked upon hearing Haku's words. Sure, they had fought a lot in the past, but those were sparring matches in which both of them held back a lot. And they couldn't afford holding back if they wanted to become Chunin.
"Eh, we'll worry about that when the moment comes," Naruto said, dismissing the topic at hand.
…
Not far from there, Sasuke was heading towards his house. After listening to what appeared to be hours of both Shizune and Shisui chastising him for his brutality during the match with Neji, Karin had asked Sasuke to go to celebrate together their victories. Sasuke declined it before Sakura had any time to protest. The Uchiha wasn't in the mood for any sort of celebration. All he wanted to do was head home, have some light dinner, sleep and erase this day from his memory.
However, when he arrived home, he'll find a surprise waiting for him.
"Hello, little brother. I presume that you made it to the finals, am I right?"
Sasuke blinked, and repressed the urge to show a smile. "Itachi?"
"Good, you still remember me. I was worried, given how little time we spend together now," Itachi chuckled as he walked towards Sasuke. "As for my question..."
Sasuke averted his gaze. "Yeah, I passed. The finals are in one month."
"Good. I suggest you to get a good night of sleep, because starting tomorrow, you're going to train as you never did before," Itachi told him.
Sasuke frowned a bit. "Yeah, I had that in mind," then, a realization dawned upon the youngest Uchiha. "Wait a minute, are you going to train me?"
"Sure. Or do you prefer somebody else?" Itachi asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's that, well, with your new job...do you have time for that?"
Itachi's mouth curved into a smile. "I took this month off. Let's say that Hokage-sama owed me some vacation weeks, and I'm going to take them now."
"Really? That's great!" Sasuke said in an unusual display of cheerfulness.
"Good to see that the news improved your mood a bit. Because I can tell that something happened to you today that soured your mood. At first I thought that maybe you didn't make it to the finals, but it looked like it was something else..."
"Well, it was something that I did during the preliminaries..." Sasuke began, but Itachi held up his hand.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me. At least not now. Go and make yourself some dinner if you're hungry, and go to bed. Tomorrow you will tell me everything, and whatever wrong you did, we'll make sure to fix it," Itachi reassured.
Sasuke doubted that, but decided not to contradict his brother, and he was too tired for another argument. It was better to do what Itachi said.
…
At the same time, in a bar of Konoha, the five Jonin-sensei of the Konoha teams that made it to the finals were also celebrating their victory.
"To our Genin! May their victory in the finals be swift and decisive!" Asuma said, raising his glass, and the other four joined his toast.
"You know, I can't help but find it funny that, with the exception of Tenten, all the Genin that passed to the finals are actually rookies," Kakashi commented.
"Well, this generation has a lot of potential," Shizune chimed in. "We have quite a few clan heirs, and those who aren't have displayed a lot of talent. Not to mention Jiraiya-sama's Academy reform."
"But still, you'd think that age and experience would triumph over potential," Kakashi continued. "Many Konoha teams that took the exam multiple times barely made it to the second phase."
"I know luck is a factor in these exams, but the fact that no veteran Genin from the previous exams made it to the finals speaks poorly either of the Genin themselves, or their sensei," Kurenai mentioned as she took a sip of her drink, then smiled cockily. "And my guess is the latter."
Asuma chuckled. "Of course you'd say that, the only sensei whose whole team made it to the finals."
"Well, my team would have made it to the finals too if Sakura didn't have the misfortune of fighting Naruto," Shizune added, clearly miffed by Kurenai's comment. "You might not see it now, but Naruto's scarily strong. In a few years, he'll leave all of us in the dust."
"Like I said before, luck is also factor, Shizune-chan," Kurenai replied as she winked at the medic-nin, while Shizune stuck her tongue out at the genjutsu mistress.
"Well, it's all great that at least one of our respective Genin made it to the finals, but the exam is not over yet! Pretty much the opposite, the worst is yet to come!" Gai exclaimed. Upon noticing the looks he was getting, the green clad Jonin decided to get to the point. "What are you training plans for your Genin?"
Everybody stared at Gai incredulously, who was still expecting an answer, while flashing his impossibly white and pearly smile.
"Gai, some of our Genin will fight each other. Not all of them in the first round, like Tenten, but if Tenten wins her match, then there's a chance she will fight another Konoha Genin. You can't expect us to tell you what kind of training are we going to give our Genin," Kakashi calmly explained.
Gai was taken aback. "What? You think I'm asking you this in order to gain some leverage! Come on Kakashi, that would be mostly unyouthful! We're all Konoha ninja, and we should be in this together! I asked because maybe we could trade training tips and advice, nothing else!"
"Well, I can tell you what I'm going to do: nothing," Kurenai dryly replied. Before Gai could voice his reaction, the red-eyed woman continued. "Naruto is going to be trained by Jiraiya, Hinata by her clan, and Haku by Zabuza, and I think that Yugao and Hayate may train him too. Which means that other than making weekly checks on their progress, I have nothing to do."
"Really?" Shizune asked, her interest peaking. "Because if that's the case I might ask you for a favor..."
"The same goes for me. Choji is going to train with his clan, but I know I can still teach him a few useful things before the finals begin," Asuma interjected.
"Well, the only one of my Genin who passed has no clan to train her, so lucky me, I'll spend the whole month training Tamaki," Kakashi added, and then turned at Gai. "And I believe that you're going to the same with Tenten."
"True! But that doesn't mean that my two other Genin will spend the month slacking off! They will keep their flames of youth as bright as they were when they entered the exam!" Gai replied.
"Still, you should focus more on Tenten. She's the one who will fight for a promotion," the white haired Jonin insisted. "Especially given who she will be fighting against in the first round."
"Indeed. That Gaara kid is sure something. I'm glad Choji doesn't have to fight a Jinchuriki. At least in the first round," Asuma added, as he took a sip from his sake.
Shizune perked up, as if she suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, speaking of Jinchuriki, I believe there is another one in the finals besides Naruto and Gaara: that girl from Taki. Fu, I think is her name."
"She has displayed unusual abilities, but Naruto didn't tell me anything. How do you reach such conclusion?" Kurenai asked her.
"My Genin told me. Karin said that her chakra was very potent, and it felt as if she has two kinds of chakra in her body," the medic-nin explained.
"Well, four if we count the sensei of the Kumo team," Kakashi punctualized. "But he won't fight in the finals, so it's kind of a moot point."
"Still, it's kind of suspicious that the Raikage allowed his brother to come here unsupervised," Asuma pondered.
"Oh, I'm sure he isn't unsupervised," Kurenai added.
Asuma turned at her. "What do you mean, that there are Kumo spies among us right now?"
"Indeed they are," it was Kakashi who answered. "Though they'll be more focused on keeping an eye on the Jinchuriki than anything else."
"Still, we better keep our eyes open, just in case," Kurenai added.
"Isn't that part of our job description?" Shizune asked with a chuckle.
...
Next day, Training Ground Three
Naruto and Jiraiya were at their usual training ground, ready to begin the former's training for the finals. Jiraiya contemplated his adoptive son, pensive. He was overflowing with excitement, and for good reason. He looked far more confident than usual. Guess that being one of the few to make it to the very end of the exams out of the hundred Genin who took part in the exam had such effect on him.
"Okay, you've been doing great so far, but now things will get really uphill. You won't have your teammates to rely upon if things go wrong, plus you need to do your best to impress the examiners," Jiraiya explained.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You explained that when the preliminaries ended. I have memory, you know!"
Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. I wanted to make sure that you know what you're going against."
"By the way, are you the real dad or a Shadow Clone?" Naruto asked, remembering that after Jiraiya had become Hokage, Naruto almost never trained with the real one.
"I'm the real Jiraiya," the Sannin replied, and before Naruto could say anything, he added: "Sarutobi-sensei is standing in for me until the finals begin. I want to make sure you have the very best overseeing your training. Now, your first opponent, Temari, looks to be quite strong, and has very powerful wind jutsu, which means-"
"...that I shouldn't use my own wind jutsu to counter hers. I can reach that conclusion on my own, dad. Can we just start the training?" Naruto impatiently asked. "Besides, Temari won't be the only opponent I'm going to face."
"She will be the only if you lose against her," Jiraiya added, making Naruto frown. "So we need to make sure such a thing won't happen. She specializes in long range jutsu, so if you manage to reach her in hand to hand combat, victory will be yours."
"Okay, get close to her, and strike her down, got it. Do you have a jutsu that can help me with that?" Naruto asked.
"While I was planning to teach you a new jutsu, I believe you won't need it to defeat Temari. Between your clones and the toads, you should be fine. That's why you will train to improve those two jutsu. Your clones need to be stronger, and you need to learn to summon toads stronger than Gamakazu."
"I already summoned stronger toads," Naruto countered.
"Intentionally?"
The blond awkwardly scratched the back of his head, and smiled sheepishly. "Okay, you got me there. But about that new jutsu...?"
"Ah yes. My fault for mentioning it so soon, but guess that the sooner you see it, the sooner you will master it," Jiraiya extended his arm, and opened his hand. "Okay, take a look at my hand."
Naruto did so, and while he didn't see anything at first, soon a spinning sphere of pure chakra appeared on the Sannin's hand.
"Now, behold!" Jiraiya said before smashing the chakra ball against a large boulder, shattering it completely on impact.
After being stunned for a few seconds, Naruto was starry eyed. "WHOA! That was so cool! What is that jutsu?"
Jiraiya smiled, pleased he got the desired reaction. Though in Naruto's case, it wasn't that hard. The kid was easy to impress. "That, is the Rasengan. A jutsu developed by your father, the Fourth Hokage!"
"Great! Then with that jutsu, no opponent will stand in my way!" Naruto cheered as he imagined himself easily defeating all his potential opponents with the Rasengan.
"Slow down, kid. You're going to need something more than a strong jutsu to impress the judges. There's more to being a Chunin than mere power. But it will definitely help. Now," Jiraiya made a hand seal, and six Jiraiya clones appeared besides him. "We will take advantage of the Shadow Clones to speed up the training. Create twenty clones."
Naruto did so, and created as many clones as Jiraiya requested. "I can create more if you want."
"No, that will be enough," Jiraiya replied. "That way, there will be three Narutos for every me. Now, the real you and two clones, come with me. The rest, form groups of three, and follow one of my clones each."
All Narutos looked around and followed the Jiraiya that was closest to them, until all of them were gone, leaving the original Jiraiya and Naruto with just two clones.
"My clones will work with your clones in other areas that I think you could improve a little, like the aforementioned summons. Now, you will start practicing the Rasengan."
"Great! What do I do?"
Jiraiya pulled a sealing scroll from under his clothes. "The learning process consists in three steps. Now, you will need this for the first step," Jiraiya said as he unsealed the scroll's contents, revealing a large opened cardboard box.
The three Narutos quickly went to check the box, and their excitement faded upon seeing its content.
"Water balloons?" Naruto incredulously asked.
"Indeed. Now, get to work."
…
Hyuga Estate
Hinata began her training with a spar against Neji, her attacking and him mostly defending from his cousin's palm strikes. From time to time, Hikari, who was watching the match, would point whenever Hinata was doing anything wrong.
"Come on Hinata, a bit faster! Speed is essential for the Gentle Fist!" Hikari pointed out.
"Y-Yes, Mother!" Hinata replied, as she tried to attack at a faster pace. It made little difference for Neji, who continued blocking her strikes as if nothing had happened.
After a few minutes, Hikari told them to switch roles, now Neji being the attacker and Hinata the defender. Neji attacked very slowly at first, but Hikari told him to increase his attack speed, until Hinata was no longer no able to keep up with him, and was overwhelmed.
"Okay, that's enough," Hikari told them, and the two teens immediately stopped. "I think I already saw enough."
"Mother...?" Hinata fearfully asked, afraid of her reaction.
"The two of you, follow me outside," Hikari said, leaving both Hinata and Neji a bit confused, but decided to obey her.
Once outside, Hikari cleared her throat before she began to speak again.
"I made you spar since I wanted to get a good look at your level with the Gentle Fist," She looked at her daughter. "Neji's level is above yours, but I believe that your level is still good enough to learn a new technique that will become really useful for the Chunin Exam finals. Now watch. Heavenly Spin!"
And without further ado, Hikari started to spin and turned into a spinning blue chakra dome. Hinata and Neji already saw her using that move against the Uchiha that invaded their home five years ago.
"This is the Heavenly Spin, our clan's ultimate defense. In order to use it, you need to spin at a high speed while releasing chakra from every tenketsu in your body at the same time. It's not easy to learn, but I think that you can learn the most basic version before the finals," the Hyuga Matriarch explained.
"Alright Mother, I' won't disappoint you. I'll make sure I'll learn the Heavenly Spin in time," Hinata stated, trying to sound determined. Doing so would leave the clan in a good place.
"Hikari-sama, if may I ask, why do you need me to teach this technique to Hinata-sama?" Neji asked.
"I didn't bring you here to be my assistant, Neji-kun. You'll be learning this jutsu as well," Hikari said, smiling warmly at Neji.
The Hyuga prodigy was taken aback. "B-But...but the Heavenly Spin is a Main House technique! I'm not allowed to be taught such a move!"
While what Neji said was true, there was no rule against trying to learn Main House techniques on your own, something Neji had already started to do.
"So? The Branch House's role is to protect the Main House, so it's in my interest for you to be stronger. Besides, I'm the clan head, so my word is law," Hikari firmly stated. "Now watch carefully, I'll explain you the steps to learn this technique..."
…
Training Ground Nine
The entire Medical Squad, minus their only male member, was in their usual training spot. Since Sasuke was going to be trained by his family and Karin had no one to train her, Shizune would dedicate most of her time to train the redhead.
"Er, Shizune-sensei?" Karin asked, while eying the pinkette
"Yes, Karin?" the medic-nin replied.
"Why is Sakura here? Are you going to train her alongside me?" Karin asked, though it made it sound like it was an accusation, something Sakura didn't appreciate in the slightest.
"Why, yes, of course. Just because she didn't make it to the finals doesn't mean that I should forget about her. What kind of neglectful sensei would do that?" the black haired woman asked to one in particular.
Meanwhile, on another training ground not far from there, a certain silver haired Jonin sneezed.
"But...shouldn't you focus on me instead? I mean, I'm the one with a promotion at stake," Karin told her.
"As much as I hate to admit it," Sakura interceded while gritting her teeth. "Karin has a point. I really appreciate the thought, sensei, but Karin needs you more than I do. For the time being, at least."
"Neither of you should worry. I'm going to focus on Karin, while I asked a friend to take over your training until the exam ends," Shizune explained. Before Sakura could have a chance to ask anything else, Shizune looked at something behind the girls and smiled. "And there she is!"
Sakura and Karin turned around to see Kurenai walking towards them. She also smiled and waved at them.
"I believe you already know Naruto-kun's sensei, Kurenai," Shizune said. "Like I said before, she will teach you a couple things that I believe will make you a more versatile kunoichi."
"Good morning, everybody," Kurenai greeted. Then she looked at Sakura and smiled. "Ready for the training?"
"Uh, sure," Sakura awkwardly replied. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you're taking time to train somebody who didn't even make it to the finals but...shouldn't you be training Naruto and his teammates?"
"Yeah, I should. But Naruto is training with Hokage-sama, Hinata with her clan, and Haku with Zabuza, so I have quite a lot of spare time this month," Kurenai explained, sounding not too happy about not being involved in her Genin's training.
"I see. And what are you going to teach me?" the pinkette asked.
"Genjutsu. From what Shizune told me, you have quite the chakra control, which is a must for genjutsu," Kurenai explained.
Sakura couldn't help but a smile a bit upon being praised for something. "Yeah, they told me that. That's one of the reasons for becoming a medic-nin, a fine chakra control is a must as well."
"Okay, we should put some distance while training so we don't get in each other's way," Shizune suggested. Kurenai nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should meet in a couple hours or so for a spar?"
"Alright. Come on Sakura, there's much for you to learn!" Kurenai enthusiastically stated as she turned back and started to walk.
...
Uchiha Training Grounds
Sasuke was unable to dodge the fist aimed to his face, which impacted with such force that sent the young Genin into the ground, spinning. Despite restricting himself to taijutsu, Itachi wasn't kidding when he said that he wasn't going to hold back during the training session.
"Come on, get up, we just got started," Itachi said.
Rubbing his pained jaw, Sasuke complied. "Alright, but this time, I get to use the Sharingan."
"Absolutely not," Itachi coldly stated.
"Oh come on, why not?" Sasuke asked in frustration, throwing his hands into the air. "What's the point of having a Sharingan if I can't use it? It's due to some sort of misguided attempt of giving my enemies a fair fight?"
"What's the point of learning hand to hand combat, if we have kunai? What's the point of learning to use kunai, if we have shuriken? What's the point of using shuriken, if we have ninjutsu?" Itachi asked in rapid succession, leaving Sasuke utterly flabbergasted.
It was then that the third Uchiha, who was a mere silent spectator, decided to intervene.
"What your older brother is trying to make you realize is that the Sharingan is a tool, no different from kunai and shuriken, and you should learn to fight without relying too much on it," Shisui calmly explained. "The Sharingan should be our trump card, not a crutch to replace genuine skill."
"But in a real fight, I will always use the Sharingan. If I have an advantage over the enemy, it would be stupid not to use it," Sasuke countered.
"Yes, but there will be times in which you won't be able to use the Sharingan, such as having your chakra reserves depleted. If you develop your reflexes and skill with the Sharingan, they will be gone if you can't use it," Itachi added.
"Think about training with weights. It makes training far more grueling, but when you remove them, you feel much lighter and move much faster. Think of not using the Sharingan as the weight in question," Shisui continued.
"Besides, there's more to that. If you rely too much on the Sharingan, your enemies will develop ways to counter it, and then you'll be defenseless," Itachi added.
Sasuke was skeptical. "Really? How can the Sharingan be countered then?"
"A mere smoke bomb will suffice," Was Itachi's answer. "Remember that, unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan can't see through solid matter or walls of mist or smoke."
"Plus your opponent is Zabuza's protégé, who knows how to use the Hidden Mist Jutsu," Shisui mentioned. "I'm ninety nine percent sure he'll try to use that in order to get you. So not only should you learn not to rely on your Sharingan, but not even on your eyes."
"Oh come on..." Sasuke scoffed, throwing his hands in the air.
"So that means no Sharingan until the finals," Itachi stated. "Enough chitchat, let's resume the spar. We won't stop fighting until you manage to land a hit on me."
Sasuke groaned, but complied. The youngest Uchiha adopted his usual fighting stance, and charged at his elder brother.
…
Training Ground Twenty Eight
Many of Konoha's training grounds had something that made them special. The Forest of Death has an extremely deadly fauna. The Shipyard is set in the middle of a very large lake. And many others had some sort of characteristic to emulate any possible environment a ninja might find themselves in. On the other hand, all what Training Ground Twenty Eight had was a small river crossing it, which made it a perfect place for Water Release users.
At least, that was on a normal day. Today, it had something that made it special: a very thick fog covered the place.
And inside that fog, a certain Genin was looking for his target. Pulling a few senbon from his tool pouch, Haku prepared to strike.
"Gotcha!" he whispered as he threw the metal needles at when he though his target lied, only to hear the sound of the senbon stabbing on the ground. "What?"
A kunai appeared on his throat. Haku raised his arms in defeat.
"If this was a real fight, you would be dead," his prey turned hunter told him in cold delight. Soon, the fog began to dissipate.
"Agreed. Though I don't think the proctors will allow death to happen in the exams, so you shouldn't be worried, Zabuza-sama," Haku replied.
Zabuza raised a nonexistent eyebrow and shook his head in disappointment. "This place has surely corrupted your mind if you think like that. Haku, you must treat every moment as a life or death situation. Never let your guard down, and be ready to kill. Otherwise, you won't be prepared to face enemies that will try to kill you."
"I already faced enemies that tried to kill me, Zabuza-sama. I believe I told you about my mission in the Land of Sound? We had to face one of the Sannin and his top underling," Haku explained.
Zabuza remained unconvinced. "And just because you saw your sensei fighting Orochimaru, you think you already saw everything?" Zabuza asked in a very disapproving tone. "Haku, when we return to the Land of Water, we will have to face opponents far worse than the Sannin, hard to believe as it may be. And I don't need you to let this place make you feel complacent. It could end in your death. Or worse, in my death."
"You'll know such thing won't happen. I'll die before letting anybody cause you any lasting damage," Haku quickly stated.
"That's the problem, that you might die and still won't accomplish anything," Zabuza pointed out. "Haku, in the face of our long term goal, promotions in this village means nothing. But even then, this exam will be a great chance to test your skills. And if you defeat that Uchiha, you will be one step closer to being the ally I need to conquer the Mizukage's hat."
Haku raised an eyebrow. "Ally? Not a tool?"
Zabuza grunted, and looked away. "Ally, tool, they're the same. Let's not waste more time, we have less than a month to get you ready for this," Zabuza said as he made a hand seal, and the fog covered the training ground again.
Haku nodded, and prepared to fight Zabuza without the aid of his eyes once more.
…
Downtown Konoha, a couple days later
After a nice lunch at home, Naruto decided to go for a walk before resuming his training with Jiraiya. Even with clones, learning the Rasengan was way harder than he had originally expected. Of course, that wasn't nowhere near enough to deter him from trying, but even if he loved challenges, his relatively slow progress left a sour taste in his mouth.
He was hoping that either Hinata or Haku could hang out with him, but both of them were dedicating almost all their spare time to train. So since he had nobody to talk to, or even spar against, Naruto guessed that his walk would be short lived, and would return with his adopted father as soon as he grew bored.
However, there was something that snapped Naruto from his thoughts. A...presence. Naruto wasn't a sensor, but he could sense a certain person nearby, whose presence subtly pulled him towards it. With nothing better to do, Naruto decided to follow this.
His senses brought him to an almost empty bar, with a couple patrons in the counter, and a man sitting alone in one of the tables. Naruto immediately recognized the man as a Kumo ninja –the skin color was a dead giveaway–, and more specifically, as the sensei of the only Kumo team who made it to the prelims.
And, if he remember correctly, this man was, according to Jiraiya, is the Jinchuriki of the Eight Tails.
"So that's why I sensed him. Guess that the Kyubi just wanted to meet one of his old friends again," Naruto deduced.
"As if," the Kyubi unexpectedly replied. "Do you think I have any interest in associating with any of those weaklings?
Naruto shrugged. "I don't see why not. They're your kin, right? Or do you hate them too, just like you hate humans?"
"You know very little about me to make such assumptions, brat," The Kyubi scoffed.
"I know that you hate a lot of things. Maybe there is stuff you like?" Naruto asked.
"There is. A good massacre of your kind. The screams of terror are music to my ears," The Kyubi replied.
Naruto sighed, and shook his head. "You're hopeless. But you know what? Maybe that guy can help with that nasty attitude of yours."
This time, it was the Kyubi who shrugged. "You're welcome to try."
After finishing his mental conversation with his host, Naruto approached the man, Killer B, if his memory was right. He was writing something on a notebook, while he took a sip from a cup of sake from time to time.
"Hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto cheerfully said.
Killer B raised his eyes from his notebook and stared at Naruto for a couple seconds, before going back to writing.
"Rude," Naruto angrily thought. "Hey, don't ignore me like that!"
"Step aside, don't you see I'm occupied?" Killer B replied.
"Doing what?" Naruto asked, taking a look at the Kumo Ninja's notebook. "Is that a song? Do you write songs as a hobby?"
Killer B glared at Naruto. "Hobby? HOBBY? Killer B is no amateur, and saying so my wrath will incur! My lines and my rhymes are pretty sweet, all who listens to them are in for a treat!"
"Okay, okay! Geez, you are so susceptible..." Naruto replied.
"What do you want, brat? I'm occupied, didn't you notice that?" Killer B asked.
"Okay, I'll go directly to the point," Naruto breathed deeply before continuing. "I know you're a Jinchuriki."
Killer B stared at Naruto. Not in shock, but as if the blond had say something obvious. "So, do you want a prize? You must think you're pretty wise."
"I also know that you have control over your Tailed Beast," Naruto continued. "I'd like to know if you could teach me."
'Hm. So this is the kid that Jiraiya guy mentioned those years ago,' Killer B thought. 'He's the splitting image of the Yellow Flash. His son, maybe?'
"I'm sorry kid, but I already have people to train, and having more would be quite the pain," Killer B replied.
Naruto sighed in defeat. He was forced to admit that there was some truth in those words. Besides, he was a ninja of a non-allied foreign village. He wouldn't aid a potential enemy like that.
"Nice work, champ," the Kyubi laughed.
"Shut up, you furball!" Naruto snapped back.
Naruto then decided that it was time to do something productive, and went back to his usual training ground.
...
Nighttime, Senju residence, a few days later
"When was the last time we did this?" Jiraiya asked, as he poured some sake in a couple cups.
"I don't even remember doing this in the first place," Tsunade replied as she gulped her cup in one drink. "Turns out being married, taking care of children and having jobs that affect thousands of people doesn't leave you with too much time and energy for these kind of stuff. Who would have guessed?"
"See? This is why I didn't want to be Hokage. Seriously, Sarutobi-sensei might not be able to be a ninja anymore, but it's not that you need unique combat skills to do paperwork, you know?" Jiraiya complained as he also finished his sake in one sip.
"Eh, I think that sensei deserves to enjoy his twilight years in peace. He had been a Hokage for far longer than the other three put together," Tsunade replied.
"How is that you never take my side?" the white haired man protested.
"I'll take your side when you make a valid point," Tsunade replied before pointing at her empty cup, which Jiraiya proceeded to refill. "Besides, isn't sensei pretty much filling for you full time now?"
"Hey, it's a special circumstance so I can train Naruto! Besides, sensei himself admitted that he didn't know what to do with all the spare time he has now," Jiraiya countered. "Contrary to what Koharu and Homura claim, being an advisor doesn't have much of a workload."
"Speaking of which, how's Naruto's training going? Did you teach him anything new?" Tsunade asked.
"With the Shadow Clones, the training is going way better than I could hope. I can train Naruto at multiple areas at once, and check this out: he learned how to do the Rasengan!" Jiraiya proudly announced.
Tsunade stared at Jiraiya in disbelief for several seconds. "What?" she flatly asked. "You taught Naruto an A-Rank ninjutsu? Like, seriously?"
"I thought that Naruto needed something with some more packing power, you know? Besides, given that it was one of Minato's signature jutsu, I find it fitting," Jiraiya explained.
Tsunade remained skeptical. "I don't know. Do you think he's ready to handle such a jutsu?"
"The sooner he learns it, the sooner he'll be able to master it. He still takes too much time preparing the jutsu, but he got the basics down pretty quickly. Still, I told him to keep the Rasengan as a last resort," Jiraiya told her.
"Speaking of which, I decided it was about time to introduce Kaida and Hagane to the basics of elemental ninjutsu. Especially Kaida, since she needs to master her wood release. Thank goodness we have Tenzo," Tsunade mentioned.
"Nice. We can't forget about the training of the Hokage's other children, right?" Jiraiya asked with a wide grin. "And how did it go?"
"Good, albeit something really weird happened while I was trying to determine Hagane's affinity..."
Tsunade then proceeded to retell what happened earlier that day...
...
Training Ground Four, earlier that day
Kaida was in front of an unmasked ANBU, a man her mother told her his name was Tenzo. For some reason, this man also had Wood Release just like her, despite not being part of the Senju Clan. When she asked Tsunade about it, Tsunade told her that it was classified information. When Kaida asked what "classified" meant, Tsunade told her "shut up and get to the training already".
"Wood Release is a combination of two basic elements, earth and water. But I'm sure you know this already, don't you?" Tenzo asked. Kaida merely nodded. "I know that you've experimented with Wood Release, but did you try to use an earth or water ninjutsu?" this time, Kaida shook her head. "And why's that?"
"Because Wood Release is way stronger and cooler than Water and Earth Release," Kaida replied, as if stating something obvious.
"True. But given that Wood Release is a complex element, you won't be able to master it completely unless you master its components. That's why, before we start with Wood Release, we'll train on its components first," Tenzo explained.
Kaida puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms indignantly. "But that sucks! I want to master Wood Release now!"
"I know, but you can't run if you don't learn to walk first. Besides, Earth and Water Release will provide you abilities that Wood Release lacks. While not technically necessary, mastering the basic elements makes mastering the complex one much easier, and this is especially true for Wood Release, since it's different from the other elemental combinations."
Kaida raised an eyebrow. "Different? How so?"
"Fire and earth produce lava. Water and wind produce ice. Earth and lightning creates explosions. And many more. Can't you guess what makes Wood Release different from the elemental combinations I just mentioned?" Tenzo asked.
Kaida spend a few minutes thinking, until the answer came to her mind. "Unlike ice or lava, wood and plants are actually alive."
"Exactly!" Tenzo replied. "You're not only combining two elements, you're creating life. That's what makes Wood Release such a special element, and that's why all its previous users had such a potent life force. But before you can tap that power, you need to learn how to use earth and water first. Are you ready then?"
Kaida sighed, and reluctantly nodded.
Meanwhile, not far from there, in the same training ground, Tsunade was about to introduce Hagane to the basics of elemental ninjutsu as well.
"Alright son. So far, you're doing pretty good on your medical ninjutsu training, but I know you're going to need something more potent if you want to defend yourself, and you're nowhere ready enough to learn my super strength technique," Tsunade told her son. "While this is more your father's specialty, I'm still good enough to introduce you to the basics," Tsunade produced a small brown paper, and handed it to Hagane. "The first step is to learn your elemental affinity. Channel chakra into that paper."
"Right!" Hagane enthusiastically said as he did what his mother told him. "It turned to stone! What does that mean?"
Tsunade was taken aback. "What do you mean, it turned into stone?" Tsunade took the petrified litmus paper and examined it. "No way, this thing has to be defective...do it again."
Tsunade gave him another paper, but the result was the same.
"Mom?" Hagane asked, noticing Tsunade's worried face. "Did I do something wrong?"
...
"...and every time I tried to give him a litmus paper, it turned to stone. What does that mean? No element has such a reaction!" Tsunade wondered aloud.
"Actually...I know something that causes petrifaction. Nature chakra," Jiraya told her.
"What? You're implying that our son's affinity is not an element, but nature itself? That's ridiculous!" Tsunade protested.
"I'm not saying it's not, but it makes sense. Remember when Hagane used that power boosting ability of his? It felt a lot like nature chakra, albeit more refined. I would need to make a few tests to determine if that's the case, though that will have to wait since I'm busy with Naruto," Jiraiya explained.
"What I'm supposed to do then if we don't know his real affinity?" the blond Sannin asked.
"Introduce him to the basics of elemental manipulation. I'm sure that there will be an element that will have an easier time mastering. Given that Kaida's affinities are earth and water, try those for starters," Jiraiya explained.
"Or maybe I could postpone this and continue with medical jutsu. He's almost as good as I was at his age," Tsunade added.
"You know, like you said, this may sound ridiculous, but maybe Hagane might be the first bearer of a new Bloodline Limit. I knew that there was something more to that power boosting ability," Jiraiya then couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle. "Ha! My genes are so good that not only they did awake a powerful dormant Bloodline Limit, but they created a completely new one from scratch!"
"Yeah, keep thinking that," Tsunade rolled her eyes, as she took a sip from her cup. "I think that I've had enough. I'm going to bed. Wanna have sex?"
Jiraiya had a huge grin on his face. "Do you really need to ask?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes again, but smiled a bit as well. "Yeah, that was dumb."
…
Undisclosed Location
Inside a deep, underground, sealed chamber, laid a huge green cocoon, rhythmically beating as if it was a human heart. Multiple vines came from the cocoon that were attached to several White Zetsu surrounding it, each of the Zetsu standing immobile, while making a hand seal.
This chamber is Akatsuki's most well guarded secret, to the point that only two members are aware of its existence, and have the means to access it. The place was designed so it could never be accessed even if its existence or even its location managed to fall onto enemy hands.
And today marked the first day the chamber received visitors from the outside world in more than a year. From a spiraling portal, the mask wearing Akatsuki Obito Uchiha, known as Tobi or Madara to the rest of the world, stepped out. And emerging from the ground besides him appeared Zetsu, the black and white version engulfed by a giant Venus fly trap plant.
He removed his mask, since there was no danger of people learning his true identity, and without acknowledging the White Zetsu connected to the Cocoon, he walked towards it and inspected it with a critical eye.
"How long until it opens?" Obito asked one of the White Zetsu.
"It's hard to come up with an specific number, but I'd say four years. Maybe three," one of the White Zetsu replied, not moving a single muscle from his body.
"That long?" Obito complained. "This has been going on for more than a decade! Can't you do something to speed this up?"
"Please understand that this is a delicate process, Obito-sama," Zetsu told his leader. "If we fall victim to impatience, we may end up ruining all our hard work."
"Nonsense. The other cocoon already opened more than a month ago. I don't see why this one takes so long," Obito protested once again.
"The other subject was a mere test, something to see if the process was viable. If it opened so soon it was because it held an individual with far less power than this one," Zetsu explained. "Besides, what's the rush? We have all the time in the world to carry out our plans. Is not like we're on a schedule."
"Actually, we are," Obito corrected him. "Our failure in capturing the Kyubi cost us more than we thought. Konoha is now more aware of our presence and our operations, and I'm sure they won't be above sharing their intel on us with other villages, even if they aren't their allies."
"You worry about Konoha too much. We dealt a crippling blow to them by instigating the Uchiha Coup D'état" Zetsu replied.
"While that may be true, underestimating Konoha is always a mistake, which I made not once, but twice. There won't be a third time," Obito angrily stated. "Besides, Konoha is not the only thing I'm worried about. I believe Orochimaru knows that there's more to Akatsuki that we let him on."
"Do you think the snake might be a hindrance?" Zetsu asked.
"He's becoming harder and harder to control as of lately. I shouldn't let him start his own village, regardless of his excuses of how much it would benefit Akatsuki. Now he has a decent power base that can use to leave Akatsuki whenever he feels we are of no more use to him."
"Should we dispose of him before that happens then?" Zetsu suggested.
Obito shook his head. "Not yet. Unfortunately, I still need him. Besides, he more than likely made preparations in case we decided to go after him."
"Then what should we do?"
Obito smirked at his two-faced servant. "Easy. We're not the only ones interested in seeing Orochimaru's demise, are we?"
Zetsu smirked back "I see where you are going with this, boss. I'll make the preparations immediately."
"Good," Obito placed his mask back on his face. "But first, make sure our current guest feels as comfortable as possible."
And thus, both men disappeared from the chamber, each using their own method of teleportation.
Author's note:
Finally, Sakura will learn some genjtusu. Are you guys happy now? Geez, it's not that Sakura was a genjutsu specialist in canon, it was just a passing comment by Kakashi regarding her superb charka control...
Also, sorry if the meeting between Naruto and Killer B was so short. When they first met in the manga, the five villages had united against a common threat, and even then it still took Killer B a bit to train Naruto. So at this stage there's not much they can say to each other. But fear not, there will be more Naruto/Killer B interactions in future arcs.
Speaking of future arcs, since I know that the Chunin Exams loses a bit of its excitement without the invasion (I believe you all reached this conclusion by now) I left you that last scene with Obito and Zetsu as a teaser for some elements that will play a major role in future arcs, starting with the arc following the Chunin Exams, which will be the last one before the time skip (since there's obviously not going to be a Search for Tsunade Arc nor a Sasuke Retrieval Arc, I need something epic to end the first part ;)).
Also related to future arcs: as you saw, I usually write the names of the jutsus in english, with only a few exceptions (Rasengan, Chidori, and maybe one or two more). However, I have a hard time deciding what I should I do with Pain's attacks, since the official translations aren't very good and the japanese names sound kind of badass. Even if Pain is not going to appear anytime soon, I want you guys to give me your opinion on this issue when you leave a review. What do you prefer:
-Pain's attacks written in English (Almighty Push, Universal Pull, Planetary Devastation)
-Pain's attack being left untranslated (Shinra Tensei, Basho Ten'in, Chibaku Tensei)
Next chapter, the training continues, Naruto meets another Jinchuriki, and more hints towards the last arc of Part I. In the meantime, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!