Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Author's Notes
This is part of a triple release. So before reading this chapter make sure you have read chapter 10.
Chapter 11
Naruto leisurely walked towards a tree, near the river bed. The soft rustling of the leaves by the slow wind, the languid splashes of water hitting the rocks, rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds produced a strong hypnotic effect, the day was warm and comfortable; Naruto was desperately fighting drowsiness. He had much to do.
For instance, right now he was struggling to figure out what to do next with his training; the new revelation that he was so close to an incredible technique only to later find out that the outcome was doomed from the start was disheartening. Whatever he might have said to Gai he felt worn down after agonising about the mechanics of implementing the Yin-seal and applying it correctly. He had been ready to just be done with it. After grandma Mito had passed on, he had spent close to a year on it, time he could have spent furthering his mastery of the sword or his chains.
He had found the strength technique in the library a while back, and he had felt that with some creative thinking, he would have gained a way to use it, giving him a significant boost. He had been so proud over his accomplishment. Now he had achieved near-perfect chakra control, but it appeared to be useless.
Naruto sighed, nestling himself by leaning back on a tree trunk he enjoyed the evening sunset. The setting sun partially obstructed by the dense trees was colouring everything with a beautiful shade of orange.
Absentmindedly, he took out a pencil and a small notebook from his pants pocket, a handy water-proof writing medium; carrying the two everywhere was a habit he had actively cultivated.
On a new page, he wrote the words perfect chakra control, encircling it he then proceeded to draw a line coming out from it. Genjutsu. After thinking about it a bit, he crossed that out. With his newfound control, if he detected the effects of an illusion, he could quickly dispel it but casting one was another matter. Similar to fuinjutsu where knowing a simple seal was not enough, as more often than not, they had to be tailored according to the environment and the opponent, casting genjutsu was a very involved process. It would take too much time for him to be proficient in it. He already had his hands full.
Drawing another line, he wrote the most obvious beneficiary of chakra control, medical ninjutsu. With his healing, it wasn't much help to him, and the amount of studying he would have to do was astronomical. He didn't have the stomach for it, either. All that blood, flesh, the red stuff and the even grosser yellow stuff in the human body were too much for him to handle. A short glimpse was somewhat okay with him but looking at the squishy innards for any longer than that was enough to make him puke his guts out.
Sighing, he was about to cross it out too, when a memory flashed through his mind. Kotetsu with his leg impaled, blood flowing freely out of the wound, staining his hands. He could smell the scent of metal filling his lungs, flinching he bought his fingers to his nose and tentatively touched above his lips. Sighing in relief, he pulled his hand back, at least his nose wasn't bleeding.
Naruto slowly leaned back, scooting down, he sprawled on the soft ground. Medics, he had a great deal of respect for the profession, destruction was easy, but mending something already broken was difficult. He didn't think he had an affinity towards it. He knew his limitations, stuff like anatomy and biology looked like sorcery to him. Laying his open notebook on his chest faced down, he let both his hands comb through the grass. 'Maybe, I could learn a little bit. Just enough to help out in an emergency, clean up an open wound, stitch it back, the simple stuff. But who would be willing to teach me?'
Summoning a considerable amount of willpower to get back to work rather than take a nap, he flipped through his little notebook idly, and he chanced once again on another one of his frustrations. Written in big, bold letters, Hiraishin, pages after pages dedicated to finding the secret. Groaning he snappily closed his notebook and stuffed it back inside. Just by seeing that problem, he had lost all his motivation. He was done.
In the box his mother had left for him he had found a piece of cloth with a formula written on it. It took Mito a couple of minutes to conclude that the formula was describing something related to time and space. After a while, she concluded that it was a Hiraishin marker. She had seen a similar formula a couple of times before. The thing was, just the tag alone wasn't enough for him to extrapolate a working version for his use.
Closing his eyes, he could almost entirely visualise the mark, which lent to the fact that he had stared at that piece of cloth for hours. It was made of a collection Kanji reading 'endurance' 'love' 'of' and 'sword'. Merely decoration. Fuinjutsu and its complementary arts had nothing to do with what was written. It was purely a matter of personal preference; some people liked using kanji while some used geometrical shapes, there were even instances of people employing characters from lost languages. Naruto himself always incorporated a swirl in the middle with various kanji surrounding it.
It didn't mean that he couldn't decipher and breakdown a technique formula created by someone else, with enough time he could. There were some universal set of rules every mark or seal followed, like chakra flow and the positioning of the characters. It was just a matter of understanding how it all unfurled.
The problem was that unlike the others, Hiraishin had a single very complicated factor. Time. He could take the mark apart, but he couldn't combine it back again as its construction didn't make sense to him. Some of the parts were clearly being applied last, but somehow they were present even before the first symbol was drawn. It was as if the technique didn't see time as moving forward. For it, time could also move backwards and sometimes it made time sit still.
He had a couple of theories how Tobirama Senju had achieved such an unbelievable feat- the first and most unlikely one was that he had ascended to a higher realm, something above the understanding of mere mortals. This theory was simply a product of his imagination running wild.
The second which he felt was far more likely was that he had a cheat sheet. Why did he think that? Well because of how the Uzumaki clan had designed the Reaper death seal. As much as he wanted to believe that the Uzumaki were awesome like that it wasn't because of some genius, who figured out a way to contact the god of death. It was because of their heritage, a mask. It was a specific mask that they possessed which allowed them to make the seal. The mask still held untold mysteries and as soon as he was able to Naruto had secured it from the Uzumaki mask shrine. He had retrieved it using his summons when he had been near the shrine on one of his shinobi missions.
The third and another likely candidate was a projection of time and space into a lower plane; Naruto was quite proficient in projecting space into a simple sheet of paper but again time messed him up.
He could think and imagine a multitude of reasons, but one thing was clear to him without the resources that were available to Tobirama Senju or Minato Namikaze, he would be unable to make any headway. In his frustrations, out of sheer spite, he had even started working on a counter formula to stop hiraishin teleportation, that was until he realised that there was no one alive who could use the technique, making his efforts meaningless. On the bright side, unlike the case with the Yin-seal, he quickly figured out when to give up. He only wasted a weeks' worth of time on that.
Quitting for the day Naruto decided to go to his shop and start the preparation to open it up, with his hand broken it might take him longer to get everything done in time. Or maybe he could take a long nap.
Inoichi made his way out of the interrogation room, his head filled with foreign memories. Quickly walking to his office room, he sat down behind his desk. Rubbing his temples, he tried to sift through the noise in his head.
The information he had uncovered seemed fantastical, fragmented visions of God and his Angel. He had briefly seen a memory of a man standing on a high tower, beneath him gathered the masses of weary villagers, lifting his hand he waved it above him gathering clouds, a torrent of rain following his will. Even now he felt an involuntary shiver run through him at the memory of otherworldly eyes sweeping over him.
He had only just gotten home last night, and he had planned to take it easy today, alas only this morning he received a summon from the hokage. He was tasked with gathering information from Aoi Rokusho and the other two Ame shinobi Naruto had captured. The matter was quite important as there had been no news coming out of Ame for years. All of them had assumed that Ame was still embroiled in a civil war, but it seemed they had been wrong. After going through some of the memories, he had quickly discovered that Hanzo of the Salamander had been dethroned by the one they called God. Inoichi was not convinced, although the new leader of Ame was certainly strong he had heard from his father the great strength the Shodaime and his greatest rival Madara Uchiha had wielded.
Still, the power he had witnessed from the eyes of the Ame shinobi had been something he had not seen in his own life. The only thing that came close to it was the destruction caused by the Kyuubi.
Feeling exhausted, he decided to clock out. He would have to make sure what he had seen was not an illusion, he would have to deconstruct the memories carefully, rushing through the process for something this large scale would be disastrous. The little bit of information he had gained was already quite enlightening; he would have to make sure that Naruto and his team got some extra benefits for securing the prisoners.
Thinking it was better for him to wind down for the day he decided a family gathering should do the trick. His princess had graduated, and so had the boys of his closest friends. It might seem like he was inconveniencing the others by springing such a last-minute arrangement, but he knew Choza and his family were always up for a celebration as long as there was plenty of food. Shikaku might find it troublesome, but with both him and Choza ganging on him, he could not do much.
Making some quick stops and discussing it with everyone, they had decided to meet up at the Akimichi compound and have a barbecue. Time passed quickly for Inoichi between subtly urging his wife to get ready and appeasing his daughter to go to the gathering. He couldn't quite understand her reluctance. He thought of Shikaku and Choza to be as close to him as a family could be, so the rare chance they got to be merry, he cherished very much.
Hours later, after they had eaten their fill, Inoichi sat with his two friends to talk and catch up. With sake filling their cups, the topics of their discussion ranged from the political climate of Konoha to the mundane happenings of their individual businesses. It was a natural progression of their conversation that they found themselves talking about their children's graduation from the academy and their new life as shinobi. A while later Choza decided to ask their kids directly how they were faring as newly minted genin.
"Chouji, Shikamaru, Ino come here," He shouted loudly.
Chouji and Shikamaru had been lying down, sprawled on the ground gazing silently at the stars and after hearing the call reluctantly walked towards them. Ino, on the other hand, seemed to have not heard them as she appeared to be engrossed in reading what looked to be a very heavy book.
'That's unusual.' Inoichi thought. "Ino." He called out. Ino looked around perplexedly, and it took her a while to register where the sound came from.
She walked over and asked, somewhat impatiently, "What is it?"
Chuckling amusedly at her attitude, Choza answered, "We just wanted to know how your first week as genin went by?"
Munching on after-meal snacks in the form of smoked barbecue flavoured chips, Chouji answered his father between bites, "It's been fine. We had to do D-rank missions every day, and between those, we get to do some team practices. Still, I think Asuma-sensei should give us more breaks between training."
"What are you talking about Chouji? We already spend about half of our time doing nothing. Asuma-sensei didn't even teach us anything." Ino interjected angrily.
"It's only been a week Ino, what do you expect. I like how things are going." Shikamaru said.
"Of course you would. All you do is sleep or play shogi with sensei."
Shikamaru didn't reply, it wasn't that he had nothing to say it was because he knew whatever he did say would be of no use.
Seeing Ino getting progressively angry, Chouji decided to calm her down, "It's fine Ino. Like Shikamaru said we are just starting out."
"But then we will be left behind. I bet you that the other teams are training super hard." Ino complained.
"I doubt it. Anyway aren't you already learning a new jutsu, so it's not like you aren't training," Shikamaru tried to reason.
"A new jutsu," Inoichi asked in surprise, "Which one?"
"Body flicker," Ino replied. She didn't want her father to find out about it so soon, but now because of Shikamaru's big mouth, the cat was out of the bag.
"That's a weird technique to teach a genin, isn't it?" Choza asked.
"Not necessarily." Shikaku supplied lazily. "It might offer her a chance to create some distance, you know, as a setup for her mind-body transfer. Asuma might be trying to create a team strategy."
"It wasn't Asuma-sensei, who taught me, it was Naruto. It was my idea too, I asked him to teach me." Ino said proudly after hearing Shikaku's explanation. She knew she was smart.
"He did?" Inoichi asked. "I will have to talk to him about this." He knew Ino, she probably would have strong-armed Naruto into teaching her. Poor boy.
"You will not," Ino huffed angrily, "you don't teach me new techniques, I only know mind-body transfer and the three academy ones, what's the problem if Naruto decided to teach me something."
"B-but princess, it's highly irresponsible to—"
"Irresponsible! Are you saying Naruto is irresponsible? Didn't you say I should learn from him about responsibility when he became a chunin last year or are you saying that I am the irresponsible one?" She barked. Her voice was rising in both pitch and volume. She knew she was being somewhat unreasonable but the whole week as a genin had been a giant let down for her. She wasn't going to let her father talk Naruto out of teaching her new stuff anymore.
"No dear, nothing like that," Inoichi said quickly, "I just want you to be safe. Naruto, as mature as he might be, doesn't have experience in teaching others. Things that might make sense to him don't mean they might be the same for you. Shinobi techniques are dangerous, if you learned something incorrectly, it might be disastrous." Inoichi tried to placate his daughter.
"I'm sure Naruto understands that Inoichi, the boy is quite considerate. Never asked me to teach him anything." Shikaku drawled.
"You know Naruto?" Ino asked in wonderment, ignoring the information that only supplied to the fact that both Shikamaru and his father were too lazy sometimes.
"I was his jonin instructor. You didn't know? I thought you were close friends," Shikaku said.
"He never tells me anything, didn't even tell me about how boring D-rank missions are. I don't even know who his teammates were," Ino complained. "He likes to keep secrets from me because he knows I hate it."
"Don't be so harsh on him. The boy has a very complicated life, so it's no wonder he would do that. I don't think there is anyone alive who truly knows him." Shikaku said.
"Shikaku, follow me. I think we need more wood for the fire." Inoichi interjected. Pulling Shikaku, rather forcibly to his feet, he led him to the nearby shed. Making sure no one was listening, he said, "What the hell do you think you're doing."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shikaku drawled.
"Don't try to act stupid, Shikaku, saying those things about Naruto in front of Ino. You are practically goading her to try and find Naruto's secrets." Inoichi hissed.
"And what is wrong with that. The boy is too closed off for his own good. I know you understand that he needs a friend he can open up to, preferably someone his own age." Shikaku replied seriously.
"I don't want anyone meddling with him, he is doing good on his own. I believe in him he will come around, he is already far more comfortable around my family than when I first met him. It has been a lot of work to earn his trust, nosing around in his personal business might make him think it was for an ulterior motive." Inoichi said.
"We don't have time, things are changing, our kids are growing up, sooner or later the younger generation will come to know about him, and I don't want their impression of him to be tinged by the fox. I don't know how he is so adjusted, I would have thought with the level of loneliness he had suffered he would be more resentful, hostile even."
"You are just troubled because you think he is too secretive," Inoichi said, harsh accusation tinging his voice.
"You should be too. Whether you like it or not, Naruto is dangerous. We have heard stories about the jinchuriki of other villages, they go wild all the time. We can't afford anything like that happening, not anymore, it was a miracle that the Fourth was capable enough to contain it once, we don't know if we could do it again. Konoha has no knowledge of how to keep a jinchuriki, all we can do is make sure Naruto remains stable and loyal by whatever means necessary." Shikaku picked up a couple of pieces of wood and walked past him, "Don't let your affection for him cloud your judgement Inoichi, the village always comes first."
Inoichi leaned on the door of the shed as he tried to clear his head from the effects of alcohol. He was no longer in the mood to drink anymore. Looking at the retreating back of his best friend all he could do was murmur softly, "I would like to know if you could make a choice so easily if it was between your family and the village, Shikaku."
Curling a massive barbell with his single hand, the Raikage absentmindedly flipped through some paperwork. It was a tiresome task that he would have to slough through for the majority of the day before he could free up some time to do some training. His attention was diverted when his secretary walked in and placed a new file in front of him.
"Some important information just came through," Mabui said.
A looked through the contents of the document, his eyes going quicker and quicker through it as he went on. He tossed the massive barbell to the side, cracking the floor of his office as he clutched the document with both hands. He turned to Mabui, "Call Bee and Yugito here."
"They should be arriving any minute now." She informed him succinctly.
A nodded, he was immensely grateful that he had the foresight to appoint Mabui as his secretary.
It was Yugito who silently arrived first, shortly followed by Bee. After receiving a salute from Yugito, and a greeting in the form of a tiresome rap, the Raikage said, "We have a confirmation of the Kyuubi's jinchuriki. Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki, chunin, 13 years old."
"How sure are we?" Yugito asked.
"No known sighting of him using the bijuu's power."
"I don't understand then. Didn't we already have multiple candidates before? What changed?"
"New information came. The source isn't reliable, but I'm inclined to believe it, the evidence speaks for itself." A said seriously.
"Brother. Why ya speakin' in tongues? Blowing out hot air from your iron lungs." Bee interjected his hands flying in ridiculous motions on beats only he could hear.
"Shut up Bee." Raikage roared angrily before continuing, "The Naruto brat, he is the son of the Yellow Flash and Kushina Uzumaki, seeing that he is the child of a Hokage he has been hidden too well. He has always been top of our suspect list, so I'm inclined to believe he is a jinchuriki."
"So what's the evidence?" Yugito asked.
A copy of medical files from the Konoha academy, our informant received all three of them, Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and Naruto Uzumaki."
Yugito marvelled, "You're telling me that our informant got the medical files of the Fourth Hokage. That seems highly unlikely. It would be more likely that the document has been doctored."
"Yeah Yugito is right you'll be a fool to think otherwise." Bee supplied his own thoughts on the matter.
The Raikage clenched hard at the side of the table, cracking it, "I know that. But all of this seems too coincidental. Kyuubi's attack, Fourth Hokage's death, the initial reports of an Uzumaki jinchuriki, then after some time as if someone was trying to muddy the water several other candidates pop-up, all children too. Think about it, why would someone seal the Kyuubi in a child, wouldn't it be better to seal it inside a teenager, who could learn to use it like you two."
Thinking for a moment, Yugito said, "It does seem suspicious. So, what do you want to do about him?"
"We can try to capture him."
"Can we capture a jinchuriki without alerting Konoha?" Yugito asked doubtfully. To her, neither Konoha nor a jinchuriki was to be taken lightly.
"The brat doesn't seem too strong according to the intel. A couple of days ago, he barely survived against a group of chunin and a Jonin from a no-name village. Minato Namikaze was stronger than the kid at that age. He stopped the capture attempt of Kushina Uzumaki as a genin." A waved off her concerns.
"Don't be sleepin' on him, brother." Bee said solemnly, "You don't know him; if he is a jinchuriki from birth than he is carrying a burden that would break a man."
Killer Bee knew his brother was somewhat blind when it came to other Jinchuriki, he was biased towards him because of their bond. But the others, he believed them to be a tool to the village and nothing more, even Yugito wasn't an exception. Sure as a shinobi he accepted that he was a weapon for the village, but why was it that jinchuriki were asked to be something more, why were they asked to be the demon itself. The Raikage and the cloud village were accepting of him and Yugito, but even after all these years, they were far from understanding what it meant to be a host.
Bee always felt that he was blessed; Gyuuki was understanding, stubborn but understanding. As much as he would love to brag that it was all his doing, he knew that if it was anyone other than the Hachibi, he would not have succeeded in befriending it. What little he had gathered from when his friend had talked about its family, indicated that the others were not so accepting of partnering with humans. He just wished his brother would try and understand.
Seeing the intensity his normally easy-going brother punctuated his caution with, A relented, "What can you tell me about the kyuubi?" He asked as that was the main reason he had called them. It was so they could convene with their beasts.
Understanding their purpose, both Bee and Yugito closed their eyes and sat there silently.
A tapped his fingers anxiously on his table, things were never quick and straightforward with the bijuu. At least in Bee's case, since his brother had subdued the Hachibi, he expected a swifter response. Thankfully, for his sanity's sake, it didn't take them too long.
Bee stretched lightly as if to regain a better sense of his body. Shaking his head in negative, he said, "Number Eight doesn't wanna talk about Mister Nine. Unlike you and I, his connection with his brother isn't fine."
Yugito supplied promptly, "Matatabi is willing to talk a little bit about the Kyuubi, in exchange it wants to stretch its legs."
Before the Raikage could retort Bee piped up, "Stop Bro, before you make your answer ice, I'll keep them company, get some exercise. Shits getting boring."
Relenting as he was confident that Bee would be able to keep the Nibi in check, A asked Yugito, "How strong is it?"
After a couple of seconds, Yugito answered, "Matatabi says it's the strongest."
Bee was startled, "Gyuuki ain't down with that assessment."
Yugito scoffed, "Matatabi said the Hachibi would claim that." Turning to A, she continued, "Kyuubi is stronger, faster and bigger than any of the other bijuu."
"By how much."
Yugito hesitated before answering, "Absurdly so."
A frowned, "What's so special about it?"
"Nothing easily visible, but it might have the strongest ability of all the others. Kyuubi has an innate understanding of chakra."
"That's a very vague ability."
"Matatabi doesn't understand it fully either, all it says is that Kyuubi without even drawing on a special power could bring down the others with little effort." Sensing the underlying worry, she supplied, "There's no chance of the Kyuubi partnering with its jinchuriki. It's almost as bad as the Ichibi."
"That's good then," A said. No matter how strong a bijuu might be, a jinchuriki was different form its beast. Even a perfect jinchuriki like his brother was only capable of drawing a small part of his bijuu's power. Visibly relaxed he continued, "We will leave him alone for a while, no need to stir the nest ourselves. It might be better to leave it to the others, no matter what happens if we keep an eye from a distance we might get an opportunity. We'll just spread the news about the kid and his connection to the Yellow Flash around the elemental nations."
Although he hated backing down, he could feel a slight shift in the air. Throughout the history of the hidden villages, the only thing that had been unchanging was war. He could feel another one coming. As the leader of the strongest nation, he would do all in his power to make sure that this time Kumo came out on top.
Naruto had officially opened the shop yesterday, it took him days to properly set it up. At least halfway through his arm had healed, allowing him to speed up the process. He still had no customers, but he wasn't worried, he had known for a fact that he would receive very little traffic. Money wasn't his goal, it was to spread the name of the Uzumaki clan once more.
Finishing the usual workload and cleaning the countertop for the day Naruto plopped down on the chair behind it. Pulling out the scroll he was given by the Hokage and a book on basic genjutsu he had acquired from the shinobi library, he readied himself mentally to dive back into his new branch of study. Admittedly he was having a very difficult time with the subject. Reading through the mechanics of the jutsu had sent his head spinning. It all looked like magic to him, resigning himself he had grudgingly taken the task to read through the basics of genjutsu.
Naruto knew he was only digging himself in deeper, but he was just unwilling to give up on all the work he had put in the seal, and the fruit the hokage had dangled in front of him was very juicy. Bringer of Darkness was too good to pass up, it just sounded so cool, whoever came up with the technique had an excellent naming sense.
Naruto was pulled out of his musings from the chiming of a bell. He looked towards the entrance of the shop and sensing no negative emotions relaxed. With their eyes wandering curiously, two people entered, a boy and a girl he recognised as Gai's student. Smiling pleasantly, he greeted his potential customers.
"Welcome to Uzumaki Arms. You are Gai's genin team, right?"
"Yes! Uzumaki-san." Lee declared, "I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast, Genin Rock Lee, and this is my youthful teammate Tenten."
"Well, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, chunin." Naruto tacked on awkwardly, he wasn't used to such treatment, "You don't have to be so formal with me. Call me Naruto."
"I understand Naruto-san," Lee exclaimed.
"Anyway, how can I help you, do you want some training equipment, weapons, or can I interest you in seals?" He said looking at the girl in the back who was busy scrutinising his shop and the merchandise displayed, with extreme concentration. She looked to be restraining herself from touching everything. Now that Naruto looked closely, he recognised the girl. Years before, when they were kids, she had been one of the many kids who had rejected his company in the playground.
The girl suddenly walked up to him and asked, "Is this a new shop? Why am I asking that? Of course, it is. I know all the weapon shops in Konoha." Looking around, she continued breathlessly, "Where did you get these weapons, I can recognise the works of all the smiths from Land of Fire but the ones here are so distinctly different. They are so beautiful, but some of the ones here look far more ornamental than necessary, why is that? Is this the work of some from foreign smith, maybe from Kiri? I heard they had some unconventional types of weaponry."
"Uhh, I will try and answer all I can," Naruto said uncertainly, "This is a new shop, I'm the owner as well as the one who forged these weapons. The weapons are so ornamental here because they are a showcase of my ability. I don't sell standard mass-produced weapons because I don't have a ton of time. I create equipment, weapons and seals on demand, whether it is for shinobi business or for display. I can also make replicas of famous weapons and armours."
"So, all you make is some flashy stuff," Tenten asked in disappointment.
"I didn't say that." Walking towards a display case he opened the latch, "You know about weapons right? Try these out."
Tenten walked forward and looked inside. Twelve kunai, evenly spaced apart, were laid down in a neat row inside. She gently picked one, the blade of the kunai was standard in length, the spine was darker in colour while the edges held a lighter shade. The gradual transition was beautiful.
"Why did you use two different types of metals?" Tenten asked.
"You know your stuff, The edge of the kunai is made of chakra metal the spine is regular steel. That's why the set is cheaper than one made of pure chakra conducting steel. The spine is also softer, it has more give, giving the kunai more impact resistance."
"Can I?" Tenten asked, picking another one.
"Go ahead," Naruto said as he backed up a bit.
She sent a kunai twirling up in the air, as it reached the apex, she sent the other one straight up with more speed. The later one hit the twirling kunai, sending it behind them, hitting the bell above the door. The other one she caught with her off-hand.
"Whoa. That was amazing," Naruto exclaimed.
Smirking Tenten quipped, "It was nothing."
Naruto retrieved the kunai and showed it to the others. "See no damage, not even a scratch."
"These are good, I like them, perfect balance, and they are identical. I didn't have to adjust my aim."
"Right! Would you like to but these or if you want I can make something special for you. How about it?"
Tenten looked at the set of kunai, the beautiful lines, the sharp and deadly edge reflecting the light just right. Clenching her hand, she reluctantly put the kunai back. "I wish I could, but I don't have that kind of money."
"Oh, well next time then. I think you should save some money and commission something. You are a true connoisseur of weapons, and it would be an honour to make something for you." Naruto said as he closed the latch.
Addressing Lee, who was standing on the side, silently watching the interaction, Naruto asked, "What about you. After watching this youthful display is your inner fire burning beautifully, Lee, are you overcome with a fervent desire to buy something."
Lee was visibly distraught. With shaking fists and watery eyes, he cried out loud, "Oh! Forgive me, Naruto-san. I am so ashamed at my short-sightedness. If only I had known of your incredible talents beforehand, I would have worked harder and saved my money to give you patronage. Alas, today we came here to tell you that Gai-sensei wished to talk to you about an important matter."
Seeing the effect of his words on Lee Naruto did feel a bit sorry, but he quickly consoled himself, it wasn't as if he as swindling him. He wouldn't do that to anyone, it was a matter of pride in his craft.
"Don't worry Lee, maybe next time. Let me lock up my shop, we can leave right now. I have to ask Gai about a couple of things." Naruto said ushering them out and locking the door behind him. He had almost finalised the design for the suit he planned to make for Gai he just needed to tweak it a bit, maybe find out a bit more about Gai's training method.
The walk to the training field was weird for Naruto. Tenten kept asking him about his forging techniques, as well as discussing other popular weapons throughout the ages. Lee had apparently decided that Naruto was a very youthful person and was talking to him about his training methods. Both of them were passionate people, he couldn't begrudge them their enthusiasm.
"So is there something you need?" Naruto asked Gai as soon as he reached the training ground.
"Didn't Tenten and Lee tell you?" Gai was surprised, knowing Lee's youthful personality he believed Lee would have made his intention clear as soon as he saw Naruto, passionately declaring his desire to battle.
"I stopped Lee, Gai-sensei. I wanted you to ask Naruto-san on his behalf." Tenten knew, not many people could digest the eccentric personalities of Gai-sensei and Lee. At least Naruto was familiar with the jonin and should be more receptive to his invitation for a spar.
"I see. Well, Naruto-kun, my student Lee, would like to ask you for a friendly spar. He is very passionate about his training and is always on the lookout to test his fists against a strong opponent."
"Oh, well, I don't mind, but I didn't bring my equipment." He could summon his sword, but he didn't want to use a real sword for a spar against an unarmed opponent.
"No need to worry, if you don't mind using regular weapons, Tenten here carries all sorts of items on her," Gai said.
"Do you have a wooden sword?" Naruto asked Tenten.
"I do have one, but I'm afraid you will break it. Lee hits hard." She said, pulling out a sword form her scroll.
Naruto took the sword and examined it carefully. The balance was good, it was slightly shorter than his own sword, but he could work with it.
"Don't worry about it. If I break it, I will give you a better one." Naruto told Tenten.
"Fine then, I will hold you to your word." Tenten conceded. "Anything else, shuriken, kunai, senbon. I have everything."
"No need. I don't have a great aim to do any of the fancy moves. I can only chuck them straight." He would rather use his chains or a water jutsu than try and aim with those things.
Taking his place in the middle of the ground, Naruto stood holding a loose stance, waiting. He ignored the spectators, Gai, Tenten and the Hyuuga kid, and focused his senses on his opponent.
"I'm ready," Naruto said.
Nodding, Lee started jumping up and down in place, loosening the tension in his body. He always enjoyed the building anticipation before the fight kicked off. Abruptly without giving anything away, he moved, his body low to the ground, his right leg going forward, the other trailing behind for a moment before taking the lead, one of his hand placed behind his back, his stride quickly consuming the distance between them. Halfway through he threw a kunai from his concealed hand. Using the kunai as a distraction, he flew in with a kick. The move worked better when used against an unsuspecting opponent, but he would have to make do.
Dynamic Entry.
Calmly, tilting his head, Naruto ignored the kunai and raising his wooden sword intercepted the blow, moving his hand, dispersing the force, redirecting the kick downward in a single motion. Taking advantage of his opponent's momentarily broken stance, he tried to bash his shoulder into Lee.
Hastily sidestepping, Lee threw a short punch, trying to regain his rhythm, only to be blocked again by the sword hitting his wrist, causing his fist to fly off course. Grasping the opportunity Naruto harshly jabbed him on the nose with the butt of his sword.
Naruto relaxed slightly as he allowed Lee to jump back and create distance. It seemed his opponent was holding back, "You have to do better than that, Lee."
"I will Naruto-san. I—" Lee was interrupted from his passionate declaration by Gai.
"Lee! Drop your weights." Gai said. Lee looked at him in surprise, so he continued, "The spar won't go anywhere otherwise."
Naruto curiously watched the situation unfold, his eyes widened in disbelief when Lee took off his weights and dropped them cracking the ground, and kicking up a massive dust cloud.
He looked at Gai, "These are the kind of weights you were talking about? I thought you meant things like you know…" holding both ends of his sword with each hand, he mimicked lifting up the sword over his head with great effort.
"No these are the weights I was talking about," Gai replied swiftly.
"Well, I have to make further adjustments to my design then. I thought you wanted something that would stress your body for a short while, not something like this." There were far better alternatives available to train your body. He couldn't help but ask, "Why do you use these weights?"
"Lee has trouble remembering how to mould chakra to enhance his taijutsu. He has no talent in moulding and manipulating chakra. When I started training him, I put these weights on him, without using chakra he could not move, even now he has to constantly regulate his chakra to perform techniques."
Looking at Lee Naruto understood, the weights were a learning aid, "Will he be using the seals I'm making?"
"Yes, after I test them."
"Well, that's just insulting." Naruto said, "My shop's main selling point is creating weapons and equipment to be perfect for the customer. You are seriously underestimating my craftsmanship. I will create a set for him as well, and it will be perfect." Putting his hands on his hips, straightening his back, he declared, "Then you will know to never ever doubt the genius of Naruto Uzumaki the greatest Seal-master in the making."
Turning to Lee, he continued, "Come at me, I want to see what you can do if I want to help you, don't hold back."
"Naruto-san you are so cool. Your brilliant fire has stoked the flames of my youth, here I come." Lee shouted. He kicked the ground, instantly shattering it from the force.
As soon as he reached Naruto, he jumped, twisting his body as if a whirlwind he kicked with bone-shattering force.
Naruto tracked his movement with his eyes, he blocked the kick, and weaved through the new barrage of hits Lee was dishing out, he was forced to back down. It was getting harder by the minute to divert the blows raining down on him. Lee was relentless, kicking, swerving around to reach a blind-spot, punching, circling around him to attack his side.
Weathering through the assault, he understood Lee's strong suit. It was surprising, Lee was fast but not absurdly so, it was his explosiveness that was extraordinary. Lee was capable of maintaining his speed even when turning at harsh angles, giving him a massive advantage in movement. Understanding the purpose of the seal he had promised to create, he thought it best to end the fight.
Pumping a bit more of his chakra into his system, he stepped in as Lee tried to kick him in the face, ducking under his sweeping leg he slashed upward, running his sword over Lee's chest, cutting through the cloth, drawing a very thin line of blood.
"You lose Lee," Naruto said.
"What a great fight! Lee, my youthful student you did great. You might have lost but do not despair, you just have to train harder," Gai said boisterously. He knew letting the fight escalate would do no good, Lee might have a chance by opening the gates, but that was dangerous and unnecessary.
"Yes sir, Gai-sensei. I will take this defeat as a lesson." Whipping around to face Naruto, he declared, "Next time Naruto-san victory will be mine." He had enjoyed the spar, fighting Naruto was a lot different than his teammates and sensei. Naruto kept diverting and dispersing his attack, he could barely make solid contact. He vowed, next time he would be faster, stronger and more skilled.
Before Naruto could respond, he was stopped because for a brief minute, he felt a heavy strike on his senses as if a hammer was used to deal a blow on something deep within him. As he tried to make sense of it, he heard Neji speak to his teammate, "Give it up loser. No matter how much you train, you will never be able to beat him."
Realising, who was the source of his sudden discomfort, he focused his attention on Neji, "Why do you think he won't be able to ever defeat me?" It wasn't that he disagreed with Neji, he had no intention of losing to anyone, but Neji's tone and his feelings implied something more.
Neji looked at him and said stoically, "He's an untalented loser, always has been, always will be. You are clearly more talented than him, he was destined to lose."
"I won the fight that's true, but that can be because I have more experience, I don't understand where talent comes into this," Naruto said. He was getting upset, and he wasn't entirely sure why.
"Do not think of me as a fool like Lee, Uzumaki-san, these eyes of mine show me many things. I can see the true nature of others. I know you were holding back." He continued, "Did you do it to spare his feelings I wonder if so I think that what you consider sportsmanship is cruelty. Those untalented should know their purpose; otherwise, they would die a meaningless death."
Naruto let out a long breath to rein in his temper, "I was holding back, I won't dent that, but I don't think Lee was giving it his all either. No one is born strong, everyone needs to train hard. I have been training for years to get where I am now, who's to say Lee wouldn't be able to catch up to me. I don't think you have a good reason to discourage someone from trying to do their best."
"I never said training and hard-work weren't required, but a person's limitations are set at birth; there is no changing that. You could change a lot of things about yourself, your looks, your clothes, you could train harder, but some things can't be changed, those that are inherent. People are judged by their true nature. It is the way of the world. We are who we are, and we must live with it." Gesturing towards Lee as if to emphasise his point, he continued, "A loser will always be a loser, an outcast always an outcast, a servant always a servant. We are slaves to our destiny. Lee will always be a failure, trying to change himself is foolish, sooner or later in his pursuit of this idiocy he will kill himself."
Naruto was feeling nauseous, he could taste bile, his thoughts spiralling, indifferent stares, silent jeers, shadows of malice and distrust swimming inside his head, he struggled to calm down. Neji's emotions were bearing down on his psyche. He had no answers to his claims. Will he truly be an outcast for the rest of his life, unloved?
"You must remember those who love you Naru, when you feel yourself wavering. Remember me, remember your mother."
Drawing strength from his memories, straightening his back slightly, his inner turmoil resolved for the moment, Naruto distanced himself from Neji's emotions. He said simply, "I see, and I assume you think that unless I stopped training, Lee would never be able to defeat me."
"That is correct."
"What about you then, can you defeat me?"
Neji didn't even hesitate for a moment, "I can."
Naruto looked around slightly he could see from the faces of the others that this had not been the first time Neji had said this to Lee. Tenten was looking at the ground refusing to look anyone in the eyes, Gai was expressionless looking at him as if wanting to see what he would do, Lee… Lee too was looking at him, but there was no hint of sadness or anger in his eyes. Lee, like the others, also chose silence, but Naruto could see a bright fire burning within him.
Smiling slightly, Naruto said, "I can tell you are wrong, Hyuuga-san."
"About me being able to defeat you?" Neji asked contemptuously.
"That too, but no, you are wrong about something else."
"And what is that?"
Laughing lightly, Naruto spoke, "How about a wager? We fight. If you defeat me, I'll tell you what you are wrong about, and I will become your training partner for a whole month. I will let you test any technique you want on me. A living dummy if you will."
Truthfully, Neji wasn't that interested in the current offer, from Gai-sensei's claim he had concluded that Naruto was strong. What he had found interesting about him was his boasts about being an expert in sealing. He had thought about changing the bet to get Naruto to look at his cage bird seal, but ultimately he decided against it. He could see that even if by some miracle Naruto succeeded in removing the seal as a branch member he would be put to death and made an example. It was his destiny to die, serving the main branch.
Still, it did not mean that he wouldn't go down as the strongest Hyuuga to ever live. He wanted to leave a legacy behind that the strongest Hyuuga was not of the main branch but a lowly servant. He had his pride, "And what do you get if I lose?"
"If I defeat you, you will buy me a shirt like the one I'm wearing, you will also work part-time for me advertising my shop for a month."
"This is an odd wager. I thought you would have asked me to apologise to Lee or something." Thinking for a bit, he said, "Fine, I accept."
"Alright then," Naruto said as he calmly took out his hands from the sleeves of his haori, he truly wished there was a way he could avoid the trouble of doing so every time. Picking up a pebble, he asked, "When it touches the ground?"
Neji nodded, readying himself, seamlessly slipping into the stance for the gentle fist. It wouldn't do him any favours if he decided to rush in, as he was sure his opponent would use some form of a long-range attack. It would be foolish to engage a Hyuuga in close-combat, it didn't matter if Uzumaki was proficient with the sword, he only needed to slightly alter the path of the blade with his palm. Then he could disable the chakra point in his wrist seizing the movement of the muscles around the area rendering his opponent unable to hold on to his weapon.
He watched as the stone was thrown high up into the air and tracked its movement, just as it hit the ground he activated his Byakugan.
The world swirled around him into a familiar focus, every single detail vivid, there was no need to look, no need to disregard things and just focus on his opponent, without effort he could see all.
He tensed slightly ready to spring into motion when he saw the built-up of chakra inside Naruto's pathway, anticipating a water style ninjutsu attack. He watched in irritation as rather than launch an attack Naruto deployed a different technique. Opening his mouth slightly, exhaling blue vapour from the corners of his mouth, Naruto released a dense mist, charged with chakra. A water release technique, with no offensive capability filling the area around them, obscuring everyone's eyesight.
It was a mess, he couldn't see. The chakra in the air was continually shifting, the slight change in the wind causing the mist to undulate. He was familiar with this tactic, it was similar to the one employed by the shinobi of Kiri; they were masters of it. Yet, the tactic was unsuccessful if used by others, because even if the mist obscured vision, the byakugan could still see better than any other eye. The fog also rendered chakra sensing useless, it was only successful when the Kiri shinobi employed the technique of silent killing with it, to obscure all sound and stalk their prey. Even in this dense mist, he was positive his vision was better than Naruto, it was a foolish gambit.
He concentrated on his vision, straining his ears, he waited, silently, he could see small clusters of denser chakra in the air. Suddenly, turning his torso, his hand moved, with his wrist twisting ever so slightly he struck behind him, making contact. The body he hit suddenly popped into a shower of water. Only a moment later all around him, he saw movement he couldn't make sense of, thin, long ropes of dense chakra whipping around frenziedly. Before he could move something hard as if made of metal, coiled around his wrists and feet. In a whirlwind, the world around him turned upside down.
Eventually, the mist receded, and he could see the blue sky below him and grassy field above his head, along with the tip of a wooden sword pressing uncomfortably on his throat.
"You lose," Naruto hummed thoughtfully, "Even though you lost I think I will still tell you what I think you were wrong about. You weren't wrong about some people having more talent, you weren't even wrong about some form of a limit being determined at birth, after all, I could never gain a byakugan by working my ass off and staring at stuff. What you are wrong about however is your ability to discern others worth, you could not see your own defeat how could you see others'. If you had said you weren't confident in defeating me, then it would have meant that you could not discern my capability. The only way you could have been correct was if you would have accepted that you had no chance of defeating me, but you didn't even entertain the idea, doesn't this mean you didn't understand your own destiny."
Neji wasn't sure what to think at the moment, the idea of losing hadn't even crossed his mind beforehand, he had always believed himself to be strong. That was all he had, his strength. He didn't know what was left for him without it. Eternal life of grovelling? Living in fear like the other branch members, he didn't think he could live like that. Was that his destiny?
Naruto released his chains and spoke as if hearing his thoughts, "I don't know much about destiny, and I don't concern myself about it, because I believe it is beyond my understanding. What I do know is that the world is a very complex place, so much so, that even with your incredible eyes, you can only see so much of it. It's far too hasty to put quick, little labels on first impressions. Try and find more about the things you want to label. Like those who you think are losers." Tossing the wooden sword towards Tenten, he continued as an afterthought, "As for why I didn't ask you to apologise to Lee? It's because I believe Lee doesn't need my help. Isn't that right Lee?"
"Yes, Naruto-san, I will show my teammate that his way of thinking is unyouthful with my own strength," Lee shouted with tears streaming down his eyes.
Neji watched Naruto turn back and leave. He could see through the tattered shirt, black marking on his back, he did not know what prompted him to ask or what he hoped to learn, but he shouted, "Do you think someone can change their—" he wanted to say destiny but he could not, for the first time in a while he was at a loss for words.
Naruto turned around and looked at him intently, he spoke slowly as if mulling over his words, "I know what it feels like to be judged for something you have no control over and… it sucks. I don't know if I would ever be able to change what others think of me, but all I can say is, I'm unwilling to give up. Maybe I can make a small difference, it might not change my situation, but it might make it so that the person coming after me has an easier time." Turning back, he continued on his way, laughing lightly he continued, "We can talk about it some more tomorrow when you come by in the evening for work. We will be designing pamphlets to promote my shop, I hope you have good penmanship, don't be late."
Neji didn't know what Naruto's problem was, he wondered if they were as grave as his own. He was tired of being a slave.
Gai looked at the whole scene somberly he truly felt he had made the right decision by not stepping in, but he didn't feel any joy. "All of you are dismissed for today, rest up, we will continue our training tomorrow." He needed a drink and the company of his friends. He needed to mourn the fact that these children saw the world as such a bleak place.
Author's Notes:
One more chapter to go. I think I'm dying from exhaustion.
Anyway, a couple of things about this chapter.
Killer Bee's dialogue. I have no knowledge of rap. So, I tried to basically write his dialogue in the form of couplets, but without matching the syllable count every time, as canonically Bee is supposed to be bad at rapping.
Please tell me if you think I did an okay job or not if you have any suggestion do tell me.
As for the two fights, if you think they were too quick, that was the point. I hate it when in fics where Naruto is supposed to be stronger than canon but he still struggles against inferior opponents. Five-gate Lee and chunin exam Neji are solid high chunin level shinobi, maybe even one step into the special jonin category. Naruto here is a special-jonin level fighter without going all out.
Anyway, I will try to post the next chapter in a couple of hours. And thanks everyone for reading the fic, and leaving reviews. I finally crossed 100. Seeing all your support helps me trudge through the hell that is editing my gibberish and turning it into legible chapters.