Chapter 3. Discovery.
Aoi listened carefully to her sensei explaining the basics of elemental ninjutsu. It has been a month since that heartfelt day, and, for once in her life, she felt truly happy. Her sensei was truly an amazing man, not once criticizing her lack of knowledge regarding the most basic of ninja techniques or her almost nonexistent taijutsu style.
Staying at the edge of the pond, his body orientated towards the water, Naruto made a series of hand signs (Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger) and exclaiming, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
The massive inferno, as it was the only suitable word to describe the majestic flame, surprised Aoi to her very core, not knowing what to say she stared wide-eyed at her sensei's manifestation of power. Naruto stopped supplying the justu with his chakra, thus putting a stop to the technique. Turning away from the pond, he smiled at his student's reaction, stopping for a second to dig into his ninja pouch, fishing for something which Aoi identified as a small piece of paper.
"What is that, sensei?"
"This, Aoi-Chan, is a piece of chakra-conductive paper. If you send some chakra into this, we will be able to find out your chakra nature." When he finished his explanation, he sent a small amount of chakra into the paper, ultimately making it wrinkle.
"So, if you have a fire nature the paper will catch on fire, if you have a wind nature it will split in half, if you have a lightning nature like me it will wrinkle, if you have earth it will crumble away and, if you have a water nature it will dampen."
He gave the paper to his student, his interest being at an all-time high. He watched emotionlessly at his student's now damp paper. Aoi turned to look expectantly at her sensei, observing his facial expressions going from totally dead to seemingly pleased.
"Perfect! A water nature!" he said on the outside, however on the inside he was perplexed, "Surely the Kyuubi chakra should influence her chakra nature. It did mine and I only have the soul. The seal should be able to filter the Biju chakra."
His facial expression once more turned emotionless as he spoke, "Aoi, come with me."
Noticing the change in her sensei's voice, she obediently followed him until they arrived in front of the hospital.
Seeing her normally easy-going sensei act so unemotionally kind of unnerves her.
"What is going on, sensei?"
That seemed to snap Naruto out of his serious state as he turns around and smiles at his apprentice.
"Just a precaution, nothing for you to worry about now, Aoi-chan." He says as he rolls up his left sleeve.
Aoi watches curiously as Naruto bites his finger and does a series of 5 hand seals, her musing being cut off as Naruto shouted, "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!".
A cloud of smoke could be seen in front of the two as a small monkey climbed on the jonin's shoulder.
"To Sandaime-sama, Code 1-9, Threat level Green, ANBU hospital FOB."
"Understood, Naruto-sama!"
The little monkey disappeared in another cloud of smoke as Aoi spoke, "What was that, sensei?"
"A temporary summoning."
"What is code 1-9, and what are we doing at the hospital?"
"We are going to check on your seal, seeing as your affinities weren't meddled with by the fox like mine were; we have to make sure that the seal works as intended."
Hearing that Aoi stopped mid-step, almost falling. Her heart skipped a beat as her almost forgotten fears came back. She stared wide-eyed at nothing as her breathing became erratic...
"Hey! Aoi-Chan," Naruto smiled encouragingly, "Everything is going to be fine, I promise."
Albeit still scared, Aoi seemed to accept Naruto's words as the truth and continued towards the locked area of the hospital.
They arrived at a door, resembling every other door that they have passed on the way there, nothing out of place indicating that this was in fact a top secret facility that Konoha's silent protectors used on a daily basis.
"I shouldn't mention that you will not tell anyone about this location." Naruto spoke in a grave tone.
Aoi mutely nodded as Naruto went through another series of hand signs, this time performing them in such a fast succession that she couldn't tell how many he has done.
Whispering something under his breath, Naruto finished his jutsu and dispelled the high level illusion that had been cast.
Placing a hand over the seals that marked the entrance to the facility, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. Just a month into his retirement and he was already back in one of the ANBU FOBs.
With a satisfying click, the door to the base was opened, the two ninjas getting inside and closing the door behind them, activating the illusion once again, fuinjutsu was so useful!
