NARUTO UZUMAKI - THE GREATEST PRODIGY
CHAPTER 18
NOTE:- Hello everyone welcome back to the story. I hope you'll doing good. I know some of you may be angry at me for not uploading the story for so long, for that I really apologise and I'll to be more frequent with the updates.
Even after that the response I got from you guys was something that kept motivated and that is why I'm here with the new chapter for you guys. So thank you for your messages and reviews I really appreciate that. ( Now please enjoy the story)
"Talking" - Normal person
"Thinking" - Person inner thoughts
"Talking" - Bijuu/Summons/Jutsu
-"Thinking" - Bijuu/Summons
(Disclaimer:- I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. This is only for entertainment)
It was a warm beautiful early morning in Konohagakure with a clear blue sky, not much people could be seen on streets other than some shopkeepers opening up their shops, starting their day while the merchants and dealers brought out their goods.
Soon enough the quieter streets started buzzing with life, as people filled the streets, starting their day-to-day life, as more and more people coming out of their houses to buy the goods.
In middle of all this, a girl was standing outside of a Dango restaurant, quietly with a noticeable frown on her face, her arms folded and her back leaning on the wall. She wore a black tank top under a tan vest, black skin-tight shorts and matching pair of black shinobi sandals. But the most noticeable feature was her fang like red tattoos on her cheeks.
Hana Inuzuka was not in very best of moods at the moment, which could be clearly seen on her face and her repeatedly tapping foot on the ground in annoyance. She had been standing on the same spot for the past half an hour, waiting for her old friends to show up.
They hardly got to spend time together like they used to, because of their responsibilities as ninjas and also with Naruto and Yugao being part of the Anbu forces, it was impossible to see each other like their genin days. So, once in a while they all came together to spend some time together, to relax and catch up. Hana sighed tiredly and leaned her back on the wall.
She was really looking forward to meeting her two best friends, it had been a while since she spent some time with Yugao and Naruto.
Thinking of Naruto, a sad smile appeared on her face. She hardly got to see him anymore, with him being always busy with his missions and training, and if she thought about it, it had been almost a month since she last saw him.
Hana remembered the time when she used to have secret crush on him, during the time when they were genins. Which was now funny when she thought about it, but still it was hard not to fall for him. But soon noticing the growing closeness between Naruto and Yugao she had to let go of her feelings in fear of compromising her friendship with Yugao.
Hana doubted that her feelings could ever be compared to Yugao's even in slightest. She chuckled lightly at that thought, Yugao had done so much for him, she has been like a pillar for him in every situation without asking anything in return.
She was just glad that Naruto finally returned the feelings Yugao deserved and if he ever hurt Yugao, well then nobody could save him from the wrath of Hana Inuzuka, even though he was her friend.
"What's with that look." And with that, her annoyed expression returned with full force, as she snapped her head and glared towards the person who spoke,
"Took you long enough you stupid women, do you even realize how long I've been waiting here."
"Let's just go Hana, you can get angry after we eat something." Yugao spoke apologetically and before giving Hana any time to respond, she grabbed her wrist and started dragging her inside the restaurant.
"Hey hey...wait Yugao, what about Naruto."
"He won't be joining us this time."
Hana frowned hearing that as they went inside the restaurant before Hana spoke again. "Why I'm not surprised, it's not like, this is the first time he had done something like this. Why won't he just say no, instead of making these excuses"
Sometimes she really didn't understand Naruto. If she didn't know Naruto better, she would have thought Naruto doesn't have any value for friendship at all. This is the third time he'd done this.
"No no no... I swear Hana, he's really busy this time with his new assignment."
"I've heard that before, try something new." Was the flat response Yugao got from her. "And why am I even arguing with you, you'll just keep making excuses for that jerk like always!"
"Would please give me chance to explain?" Yugao let out a tired sigh trying to get a chance to speak. "He's really busy with his new assignment by the Hokage-sama."
"Whatever..." Hana responded with a sigh, and knowing arguing with her wouldn't do any better, and she could tell from the look on her face, that she was not lying. "And what's up with you. You don't seem like the usual to me."
Yugao waved her casually before responding. "I'm just tired that's all, I hardly got any sleep last night."
"Another Anbu mission?"
"Actually, I was at Naruto's place last night and-." She didn't get to finish her sentence before Hana interrupted her.
"Aah… that's explains why you're late." Hana said with her eyes glittering and palms clapped together in excitement forgetting all about her bad mood. "Did your mother know that, you're sneaking out your house at late nights to sleep with your boyfriend?"
"W-what..."A heavy blush rose up on Yugao's cheeks, as her whole face turned red from the look she was receiving from her friend. "No t-that's not-…"
"I didn't know you two reached this far in your relationship, I'm soo proud of you Yugao." She squealed with delight.
"W-will you shut up and listen to me once." Yugao snapped at her embarrassed with small blush still present on her cheeks. "I just spend the night at his place. We didn't DO anything."
"Yeah...Like I believe you." Hana stated playfully as side of her lip twitched upward in a smirk. "Is he still sleeping, tired from last night activities. Though it's hard to believe that, that guy is ever going to get tired."
This whole time she spoke, Yugao just kept looking at her in embarrassment while noticing several faces looking at them, before she whispered harshly. "For a sec. Get your mind out of gutter and listen to me, you crazy bitch."
"Heheh..." Hana giggled lightly, trying to control herself from laughing out loud seeing the look of embarrassment on her friend's face. After a second or so she responded calmly. "Fine."
"Seriously it's not a joke Hana, he was so troubled last night that he hardly got any sleep."
"Is everything alright with him?" She asked.
"Well I don't know, yesterday Hokage-sama released him from the ranks of Anbu and appointed him as a Jonin sensei of a genin squad." Yugao confesses with a frown. "And believe me, he was really not happy with that decision."
"I told him we'll talk in the morning and before I could wake up he just left without saying anything."
Hana just sat there with a blank face having difficulty trying to process what she just heard. Anbu were the elite of elites and achieving the ranks of Anbu was not an easy goal to accomplish.
But for Naruto, making a place for himself in the Anbu had been far more difficult than the others. He had to face a lot of resistance not only from the high officials but from his fellow colleagues as well. Even she had been quite concerned at the start because of his age, when she got to learn Naruto was joining the ranks of Anbu.
But he had proved them all wrong, and earned their respect with his determination and commitment towards the village. His growing strength and achievements made his name spread like wildfire across the shinobi nations.
Now, Naruto's name considered among top ninjas like Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy. Some even said that he could become a candidate for the title of Hokage in future, if he continued to progress like this.
She had seen his struggle and hard work from the academy days, and how much pride he took being in the Anbu ranks. Because of that, she could understand what Naruto must have been going through.
But on the other hand, this also told, how much trust the third Hokage had in Naruto, to let him lead a squad of genin without any experience. But the question was, did Naruto believe in himself like the Hokage did.
(Training Field)
A loud explosion rang out through the field, as the smoke covered the area and a moment later a figure jumped out of it unharmed before landing on the ground safely.
Naruto eyed his surrounding carefully, for any sign of his opponent. Slowly the smoke started fading, letting his vision clear. But still no sign of his opponent, "The skill level of genins coming out of academy has really gone down."
It had been an hour since the battle with the team 10 has started and the only thing Naruto could say he liked about them was their ability to work as team. At least they had the right mind-sets to be ninjas of Konohagakure. But so not much the skills to back that up.
This whole time, Naruto had been doing his best to hold himself back and give them every chance to show off their skills.
From what Naruto had seen so far, he could say that this team had the potential to be one of the best, if not the best. Their individual strength might not be at the level that he would've liked, but in given time he was sure they would get there, if guided properly.
The balance between brain and brawn. This was the most important element of Naruto's ideal ninja, maybe not as an individual but as a team they had that element all covered.
Suddenly Naruto's senses kicked in, and with his fast reflexes allowed him to jump backwards in time to dodge Choji's attack. Choji followed the dodge with a side kick aimed to his chest.
Before Choji could land the hit, Naruto grabbed his ankle and countered the attack with solid kick of his own, that connected with Choji's stomach, making him skid back on the ground so roughly that he couldn't stop the painful grunt escaping his mouth.
No matter how good a ninja worked in group, he needed to be ready for any situation and individually strong as well.
Because of that Naruto had decided to take them on separately to test their individual strength. With the help of his Shadow clones he had successfully separated the three, where they couldn't help each other.
They might have been good in a team, but as individuals these genins wouldn't survive a day out in the field. He was seriously questioning the intentions of the academy instructors.
"You're quite strong compared to your teammates in regards of physical strength, still there is no real intent in your strikes at all, which makes me question your ability as a ninja of Konohagakure. So tell me why do keep holding back your attacks."
"I just don't like hurting others." Choji muttered and held his stomach in pain, blood coming out from the corner of his mouth.
Naruto just stood there looking at struggling Choji, clearly not amused with his attitude. "You can get your teammates killed with that kind of attitude of yours. Is that what you want, huh?"
"N-no, I will n-never l-let my friends get hurt." Just as he finished speaking, they heard a very loud explosion coming from the forest and a moment later Choji saw a large cloud of smoke where the explosion took place.
"Are you sure about that." Choji looked at him confusingly before his eyes widened in fear seeing the ice cold blue eyes and light smirk on Naruto's face, which for some reason sent shivers down his spine. Suddenly everything went quiet around the area.
"What's going on?" Choji looked around in confusion seeing everything still, there was no sound of any battle or birds. Not even the leaves were moving.
It was like time has stopped and a very uneasy feeling started crawling up to him, when he heard whisper which could barely reach him. "Ch-hoji." He then again looked around seeing no one, not even Naruto.
"C-choji..." Again he heard the voice. This time more clear than before.
Choji looked around in confusion for the source of the sound, before his eyes landed on his long time friend and teammate, making his eyes widen even further with the condition his friend was in.
He could barely form words to speak, seeing his friend limping towards him, with blood flowing heavily from the multiple wounds and supporting his right broken arm. "N-naruto-taichou help him." He somehow manages to speak, but couldn't find him.
"SHIKAMARU." Choji ran up to him seeing his long time friend collapse halfway through. "H-hey get up Shikamaru."
"Get awa-y from h-here. H-he'll kill you."
"Don't worry Shikamaru, I'll call some help."
"What makes you think, I will allow that?" Choji looked on half shock and half confusion seeing the injured lying figure of his friend slowly disappeared to nothing. His eyes become narrowed and glared towards Naruto, who was standing at the same spot he was a moment ago.
"What did you do to Shikamaru..."
Naruto's expressions remained same as he continued to stare at Choji. "Look what happened because of you, if you fought me seriously then your friends wouldn't have gotten hurt, didn't you tell me you would never let your friends get hurt. Just look at yourself. How can you call yourself a leaf ninj-"
"S-shut up." Choji hissed loud enough for Naruto to listen, making Naruto to look at him curiously for a sec.
"You still believe you can save them with your strength, a weakling like yo-"
"I SAID SHUT UP..." Shouted Choji and run straight towards Naruto, with his fist pulled back and delivered a wild punch, which went right through Naruto's body and collided with tree making it crack.
"Just sleep for now, I already wasted too much time on this." He heard a Voice from behind and before he could even blink Naruto knocked him out swiftly. "Kid can't even detect a low rank genjutsu."
Naruto sighed looking down at Choji. "The others should've also finished by now." He whispered before picking Choji up carefully. "What have I gotten myself into..."
(With Shikamaru - Some minutes ago)
Shikamaru breathed heavily while struggling to catch Naruto in his shadow. With his already low chakra reserves he knew this was going to be troublesome from the start.
Going up against a Jonin, Shikamaru knew that he didn't stand a chance against the more skilled and experienced opponent. But this was not a case of who's stronger than who, this was just a test.
They had been holding their ground pretty well, before Naruto successfully managed to separate them to fight one on one. Shikamaru was already on his last leg since he has already used up a lot of chakra and so far all of his tactics had ended up useless against Naruto. He wasn't going to last much longer, that much he knew.
His mind was telling him give up when the result was obvious, but he was kind of having fun battling Naruto. It was like he was playing shogi with his father.
Shikamaru's fighting style was more of analyst then brute force, he liked to be two steps ahead of his opponent. But fighting Naruto felt like he already knew what move he was going to make, which was frustrating but exiting as well.
"You're pretty useless at the moment, if you don't have anything else than this shadow jutsu and with no one to back you up" Naruto commented when he saw the shadows retreating back.
Shikamaru's fighting style was more suited for support rather than offense. So he had no shame in admitting being powerless in front of his opponent.
"Though I admit your strategies and the way you analyse your opponent is not something expected from a kid your age."
Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief noticing Naruto's posture relaxing to speak. He eyed his surroundings for a second before his eyes landing on Naruto again. "I remember you now."
Naruto raised a single eyebrow at him with a question look. "And...?"
"You were on my father's genin team with Kiba Inuzuka's elder sister, weren't you? I knew I saw you somewhere before." Shikamaru stated.
"Indeed, I was on the same genin squad under Shikaku Nara." Naruto said. "But I don't think that has anything to do with this fight."
"No, it doesn't." He responded with a smirk. "I was just curious that's all."
"Well now then if your curiosity has died down, shall we continue? Since I don't have whole day to waste on you guys." Just as Naruto finished speaking he had to jump to the side to avoid a barrage of kunai with explosive tags attached to it.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom. The tags exploded one after another, covering the area with smoke for a while.
Naruto quickly summoned fistful of shuriken before flipping back on to a tree and launching them towards the direction of another barrage of kunai coming out of the smoke.
All the kunai collided in between before deflecting each other to a different direction and slamming into nearby trees.
Just as he was about to jump forward to counterattack, his body became stiff forcing him to his place. Naruto struggled to regain control over his body but despite all the effort his body didn't respond to his command.
Naruto then was forced to look towards Shikamaru, who couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "Shadow possession jutsu complete."
"You used the distraction caused by the smoke and used the shadows of the trees to hide your Shadow and trap me from behind." Naruto said, impressed with the strategy he used.
"My shadows aren't fast enough to keep up with your speed. Because of that, attacking you head on was pointless" Shikamaru admitted before he continued. "So, I had to get you close enough where I could use the shadows of trees to help extend my range to trap you from behind."
Naruto had to admit that he had underestimated the kid, behind all the act of laziness he possessed a very sharp mind which could outsmart anyone. Or maybe it was his lazy attitude which fooled the opponents to underestimate him.
Whatever it was, Naruto couldn't deny the fact that the Nara kid was smart. He continued to eye Shikamaru, unable to move his body. "So what now?" He asked. "Just because you trapped me, doesn't mean that you won."
Shikamaru let out tired sigh hearing his comment and muttered. "What a drag..." He looked at Naruto for moment and couldn't stop the grin coming on his face and spoke. "The fight's finished the moment you got trapped."
Before Naruto could respond to his comment Shikamaru moved his right hand and placed it inside his weapon pouch action followed by Naruto, but his was on opposite of Shikamaru, and took out a single kunai.
"I wasn't just randomly throwing kunai for you dodge them." He said while pointing out all the kunai stabbed among the various trees around them. "While pushing you back I was also setting up a trap."
Naruto followed his gaze around and saw a very thin wire attached to all the kunai making web around them. "I'm really not surprised. This kid could give some chunin and even jonin level ninja a run for their money."
With a swift motion of his arm Shikamaru cut the wire as Naruto just continued look on. Seeing that the wires got tangled together closing the web, Shikamaru's eyes got wide in shock as a wire wrapped around his ankle.
"W-what...?" Shikamaru looked on in shock and confusion as the web of wires closing in and trapping him instead, while making his Jutsu come undone.
Naruto relaxed and rolled his neck after getting the control back and jumped down the tree before strolling towards Shikamaru who was caught in between the wires in an awkward position.
"That was a pretty good plan. It would've certainly worked if I hadn't noticed it before."
With his arms and legs wrapped in wires Shikamaru couldn't help and ask in shock. "When did you set up this trap? I'm damn sure my targets were bang on."
Naruto chuckled at his obvious question and decided tell him. "I was bit confused seeing the of range your shadows so limited despite the sun being right behind you but after a while your range started to increase which got me thinking, that you were doing it on purpose to force me back-" He stopped himself for a moment to look around.
"And while you were throwing your kunais setting up the trap. I just change some of their directions without you noticing." Naruto finished and wanted to laugh at dumbfounded expressions on Shikamaru's face.
"Man, what a drag, all this work for nothing" Shikamaru moaned tiredly and looked at Naruto with hopeful eyes and asked. "Hey… can you get these wires off me, it's really annoying."
Naruto couldn't help but just laugh at that and patted Shikamaru on the head. "Don't worry your other two teammates must have finished by now. So, you just relax and enjoy for a bit."
With that Naruto just puffed out without another word. While Shikamaru eyes widened in disbelief and anger. "Ohh... come on."
(With Ino)
"Ahhh..."Ino shouted as she tried to kick Naruto on the side which got blocked with little efforts. She didn't know what do anymore and was really getting frustrated at seeing her strikes getting blocked. She didn't land a single hit yet.
"Stop embarrassing yourself and just give up." Naruto taunted increasing her anger more.
"You called me weak." She growled at him in anger, yet again her punch got deflected to the side like it was nothing. "I'm not gonna stop until I prove you wrong."
What angered her even more is that Naruto wasn't even trying to fight her seriously. Ino had always considered herself as a strong and confident individual who liked to take charge in every situation, she might not be as strong as Choji or as smart as Shikamaru but Ino had never felt so humiliated in her life. She deserved to be treated as a ninja should.
"You're just wasting your time." Naruto spoke. "This is not some kind of fantasy world that you have created in your head. Most genin don't even live past their first ever mission outside the village."
"Just look at yourself. I can already tell you pay more attention to your looks than training, you don't even know what it means to be a ninja and I have no respect for your kind. So, do yourself a favour and just quit."
Tears started threatening to fall from her eyes, no one had ever talked to her with such disrespect the way Naruto was talking. All his words were like punches on the face and she couldn't describe how hurtful it was, but deep down she knew everything he said was true.
Fighting with Naruto she felt alone which she never felt in her life. Ino had always had people around her, who would protect her no matter what. A feeling of bitterness rose within her when thinking of her past.
Ino wondered if she could have taken a different approach, if she had put more efforts in her training rather than trying to impress a boy who wouldn't even glance at her.
And for what? Just because of some stupid rivalry with Sakura, just to prove she's better than her. Ino wished she had paid more attention to what her father and teachers were trying to teach her. Then maybe she wouldn't be feeling so useless as she was right now.
If Naruto had been an actual enemy, Ino was sure she wouldn't have survived a second, and died a worthless death. She didn't even dare to think if something happened to her teammates because she was not strong enough to protect them.
Ino didn't remember how long she has been fighting Naruto but as the fight continued something snapped inside her, which she ever felt in her life. The will to get stronger to protect her friends and family.
"Help me" Ino suddenly spoke with her eyes full of determination.
"What...?" Caught off guard at her sudden request Naruto grabbed Ino's wrist and saw her whole body shaking before he could say anything. Naruto noticed tears falling from her eyes and freed her wrist.
Ino dropped down to her knees and continued to cry while Naruto just stood there in silence not knowing what to do and just looked on awkwardly. His words may have been harsh but all he had said was true.
"Please h-help me get strong. I don't want to be weak anymore." She was sniffing as tears fell freely.
Feeling like a dick for making her cry Naruto crouched down to her level before speaking softly. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Ino shook her head while wiping her tears away and said. "No, what you said was all correct. B-but now I want to change that, that's why I'm asking you to help me improve."
"As your squad leader, it's my job to look after your training. " Naruto looked at Ino carefully before speaking. "But remember that, it won't be easy. You have to work harder than anyone in this team.
"I'm prepared for it." Her eyes burned with determination when she said that. "I want to earn other's respect as great ninja. I want to make everyone proud of me."
"Alright than." Naruto stood up and extended his hand to Ino for support, who accepted it with a large grin. "It's time to head back and join the other two."
"Hai..." Ino whispered and followed Naruto closely.
"Auumm..." Choji let out a light groan as he felt a pain around neck area which forced him to open his eyes.
He blinked several times trying to adjust to the light and rubbed the back of his neck softly and mumbled something trying to make out his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was raging at Naruto before he lost his consciousness.
Choji's eyes widened when he remembered the image of injured Shikamaru he quickly stood up and frantically looked around just when he turned back to look, his eyes landed on particular figure and screamed in surprise. "SHIKAMARUUU..." and again fell back.
"Jeez... keep your voice down Choji." Shikamaru said in irritation, still trapped in the wires. "It's already troublesome hanging like this."
"Wh-what the heck Shikamaru, I saw you before you were heavily injured and barely able to walk and how did you get in there." Choji was sure he wasn't imagining things before but the Shikamaru in front of him was absolutely fine.
All he had was tears on his clothes, a few scratches and wired keeping him in an awkward position. Other than that Shikamaru was absolutely fine.
"What on earth are talking about." Shikamaru asked in confusion. "More than that why the heck are you still talking instead of helping me get out of this troublesome thing."
"Ohh... sorry." Choji quickly went up to him before picking up a kunai from the ground and cut the wire freeing Shikamaru."
"Good to have you back with us Choji, Shikamaru." A voice said getting their attention.
They turned towards the source of the sound and saw Naruto standing with Ino to his side who was busy giggling softly at scene front her.
"You were looking so funny Shikamaru."
"Shut up Ino." Shikamaru grunted and glared at Naruto trying to make an intimidating look.
Naruto just waved him off before looking towards Choji and asked. "How are you feeling Choji."
"I felt a little dizzy but I'm fine now." Choji replied before he asked. "But taichou I'm sure I saw Shikamaru badly injured, but he is perfectly fine?"
Naruto sighed and told them to settle down before continued speaking. "That wasn't real, it was just low level genjutsu… I thought you guys were already taught to notice change in your flow of chakra."
"We weren't taught that yet. Asuma sensei only focused on how to improve our teamwork." Shikamaru informed him.
"But that is something you're supposed to learn in the academy?"
"They would have known, if they weren't running from the academy all the time and getting in trouble with Iruka sensei." Ino said making both of them to look away.
Naruto closed his eyes and took a long breath. "Alright," And said. "You guys really need to take your training seriously. This is not some kind of a game."
"Every time you step out of this village walls, your lives will be at risk. Out there all you can rely is your skills and teammates. Just think about your family and friends how crushed they would feel if something happened to any of you."
They looked down in sadness understanding what Naruto meant. "I'm not saying that just to scare you. But to make you guys realize that your ignorance could cost you your lives."
"Choji you are the strongest in this team but what's the use of that strength if you're not willing to use it." Naruto looked Shikamaru and said. "Shikamaru you can't fight an opponent by standing on same spot, you are talented and smart but what's the use if you don't have the physical strength to back it up."
Naruto's gaze shifted towards Ino who looked down in shame not meeting his eyes. "You can't just stand behind your teammates and hope they will save you Ino. There will come a time when you have to take the charge and help your team. That's what teamwork means."
He shook his head seeing their faces down and said. "Just think of what I said and always remember that the life of a ninja is full of sacrifices, it will never be easy."
Naruto realized he had said enough and noticed the three of them taking his words seriously. Naruto just hoped that they realize their flaws and work to better themselves. Because when fighting them Naruto had seen they all had potential to surpass their parents and make a name for themselves.
Naruto took out a scroll and unsealed something from it. The 'POOF' sound got their attention. Naruto walked up to them. "Here take this." Handing them tree boxes of lunch. "Finish this up and rest to get your energy back. Then we can start your training."
They took the boxes gratefully without saying anything and watched him walk away and sit down resting his back against a tree and close his eyes.
Ino seeing that got up and walked up to him. Naruto snapped his eyes open when felt a presence near him and saw Ino standing nervously in front of him and said. "What...?"
Ino shifted nervously then slowly offered him some food from her lunch box. "I noticed you don't have any lunch box for yourself. If you want, I can share with you."
Just as she said that Shikamaru and Choji also came around before settling beside Naruto quietly, seeing that Ino also sat down in front of Naruto. "It's our team rule we always eat lunch together and you're also a part of this team now." Shikamaru said.
"I appreciate that." Naruto said as he took small bite. "But I don't usually eat anything at this time of a day. So, don't worry about me."
They nodded in understanding and sat there eating their lunch while making small conversation among them. Naruto just sat quietly listening to them.
"Can I ask you something?" Ino asked Naruto.
"Yeah..."
"You don't look much older than us. So how come you are a Jonin?"
"I'm 16 years old but age has nothing to do with ranks. In fact, there are ninjas who are younger than you guys but far stronger than me." Naruto stated making their eyes widen.
"What...?" Choji said with his eyes wide. "No way that's possible."
"Yeah it is. That life outside of the village is very different. That's why you have to be prepared before you head out."
They set there and continued to talk and asked Naruto some questions to get to know him to get comfortable with each other. This continued for a while before they left Naruto to go and rest.
While Naruto just set there alone writing a report. Never in his life he had thought that he would leave the Anbu to look after some young genins.
Naruto shifted his eyes on side to see Shikamaru sleeping on the ground while Choji and Ino slept with their back resting against the tree.
There was a time when things were same during genin days with his team. Those were some of the happiest days of his life. When he looked at these kids he couldn't help but respect the bond they shared.
Now they were his responsibility and he would do his hundred percent to help them improve as ninjas in whatever time he got with them.
Naruto finished his report and rolled up the scroll before he pocketed it and stood up. He looked at them sleeping and couldn't stop the smile coming on his face and left.
Naruto arrived back a moment later with bucket full of water and threw it on them as they woke up in surprise. "Alright, rest time is over."
"WHY THE HECK YOU HAVE TO THROW WATER ON US..." came the scream from Ino.
(Hokagee Tower - Some Hours Later)
Naruto stood in front of the third Hokage. The Hokage's eyes scanned through the scroll before he addressed Naruto. "I hope you're adjusting comfortably in your new position."
"I'm trying to fit in." Naruto responded truthfully.
Hiruzen nodded with a kind smile and said. "Don't worry my boy you'll be perfectly fine. I have full confidence in you."
Naruto was surprised with amount of trust the Hokage had in him and was grateful getting a compliment from the one he looked up to as a grandfather figure.
"So tell me how was your first experience with team 10?"
"It went pretty well compared to what I expected." Naruto admitted and said. "At the start I didn't know how I was going to react towards them. Guess, I just went with the flow." Naruto muttered the last part to himself.
"I can understand that." Hiruzen nodded and looked at Naruto. "But from what I can see in the report you submitted, I'd say you did an excellent job in analysing their strength and weaknesses."
"The kids have potential that must I could say. Their teamwork is excellent without a doubt but as an individual their skills are very limited."
Hiruzen sighed and closed his eyes for second. "It's the same thing Asuma mentioned in his report and said they lack focus."
"During the training they said that Asuma was focusing on improving their teamwork. So, I was thinking I should work on their individual skills." Naruto said. His time with them was limited so he didn't want to waste it on something they were already good at.
"You have my full backing Naruto and I'm sure Asuma will also appreciate you looking after his team."
"I'm just doing my job Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen laughed at his response and looked at Naruto. "Don't forget to enjoy your time Naruto."
Naruto nodded and wanted to ask something but hesitated to continue. Hiruzen seeing that motioned Naruto to speak. "I wanted to know, will I ever be able to join Anbu again?"
Hiruzen was taken back a little by his question and responded harshly. "I think we have already talked about this matter Naruto. You have served enough from within the darkness, it's time for you to come into light."
Naruto didn't want to get in an argument with him again, so he just nodded his head. "Can I leave now, I've already written down the full details in the report."
"Alright, you can go." Hiruzen sighed and watched him bow in respect before leaving without a word.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Finally its finished, took lot of time then intended and hopefully it was good and you guy have enjoyed it. That's all that matters.
Now let's talk about the chapter a little bit or more specifically Ino. I know some of you may complain that she has accepted her flaws to easily when she was soo fixed on Sasuke.
About that let me clear one thing, Ino is my personal favourite and I love Naruto × Ino because of that I can't write her character as useless fangirl who was too stubborn to listen to anybody. So yeah, it was my personal reasons.
Also in future I may come up with new story with Naruto × Ino.
Soon the cannon events going to start and a lot of familiar faces will be introduce in the story so stay tuned for that.
AND PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS OR ANY SUGGESTION YOU GUYS WANT TO SHARE.
See you guys next chapter...
