"All told, I think that went well," Naruto said as Hinata led him to the front gate of the Hyuuga Clan Estate. They'd just come from the sparring match Hiashi had with Naruto after a delicious if tense dinner. Naruto's victory had secured her father's blessing for their nascent relationship, up to and including their future marriage.
"Better than I dared to hope," Hinata told Naruto as they walked slowly along.
"I hope you didn't worry too much. I hate it when you worry," Naruto confessed.
Hinata shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't mess it up. I just never thought you'd actually defeat my father in single combat and secure his blessing for our wedding!"
"Well, some say you don't truly know someone until you fight them. Whatever he saw in me, he must have liked. Sure who my Mom and Dad were was a big selling point, too."
Hinata turned to smile at Naruto. "I thought I saw a resemblance when we first met. But why didn't you tell me you were the son of Namikaze Minato?"
"It never came up. I wasn't out to hide it from you. I'd take out an ad in the paper to let the village know… but I'm afraid I'd end up with fangirls like Sasuke-san," Naruto told his girlfriend, shuddering at the thought of fending off estrogen-fueled masses.
Hinata's face became hard as steel. "None of those shallow bitches will ever touch you."
Naruto grinned. "You're sexy when you're possessive, Hinata-chan."
And the blushing Hinata was back.
They reached the front gate. Naruto turned to face Hinata and gently gripped her chin. Leaning in, he deliberately kissed her left cheek. Hinata went tomato red, but when Naruto let go she swooped in to plant her own peck on his whisker-marked cheek. Naruto grinned bright enough to light up the whole village.
"What're your plans for the weekend?" Naruto asked as they recovered from their amorous exchange.
"I have none, other than attending the Kyuubi Festival. Oh! That's your birthday too! Are you having a party or anything?!" Hinata asked, suddenly fretting over whether her beloved was having a celebration of surviving another year.
"I'll be training tomorrow and Sunday. I'm taking my birthday off, though. If you want, you could come train with me. And I'd very much like it if you'd accompany me to the Festival. Don't worry, I'm not one for big birthday parties," Naruto laid out.
"Done. When will you pick me up?" Hinata asked. She'd have agreed if Naruto said he was going for a stroll in the infamous Forest of Death.
"Let's say 9:00 a.m. for the training and 5:00 p.m. for the Festival. And I'm aware Ko will most likely be shadowing you. I imagine I'm going to get very used to him walking behind us as we do things together," Naruto grinned. He squeezed Hinata's hand once more, savoring the feeling of their energies syncing, and then he let go. "Good night, Hinata-chan."
"Good night, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a bittersweet smile as Naruto turned and walked back towards his apartment.
The next day, bright and ready to take on the day, Naruto returned to the Hyuuga Clan Estate. He was 10 minutes early, but he found Hinata already waiting, Ko looming behind her. "Good morning Hinata-chan, Ko-san," Naruto greeted.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a beautiful smile.
"Greetings, Uzumaki-san. Which Training Ground shall we be traveling to?" Ko asked no nonsense.
"Seven. A friend of mine regularly books it. Time's a-wastin'!" Naruto took Hinata's offered hand and began to lead the trio of Konoha residents to the Training Grounds. Naruto kept up a constant stream of chatter, Hinata eagerly taking part and Ko reluctantly answering when directly addressed. Eventually they reached Training Ground Seven, which contained a stream, forested area, a large clearing, and the Memorial Stone. Hatake Kakashi was leaning against a tree, reading the copy of Icha Icha he'd bought with Anko on Naruto's first day in Konoha.
Kakashi looked up and waved. "Yo! Hey, Naruto. And who might these two Hyuuga be?"
"Hey, Kakashi. This is Hinata, my girlfriend and intended. And this is Ko, her protection detail," Naruto answered.
Kakashi raised his brow. "Damn, you work fast kid. You get Hiashi's okay to marry her already?"
"We had dinner, then a short spar. He was convinced I would be a worthy son-in-law," Naruto said with a shrug. "Anyway, you've just been reading the whole time?"
"I actually got here at 4:30 a.m. I'm just taking an hour break to let my breakfast settle before I get back to it. Convenient for us, you and I can discuss how we're going to train together. And no offense to the young lady, but I doubt Hinata will be able to keep up with our training," Kakashi drawled.
"True enough." Within a blink, there were seven copies of Uzumaki Naruto in the Training Ground. Ko barely kept his composure at seeing an Academy student use Shadow Clones. Four of the Clones went off to make their own Clones and continue Naruto's current training regimen. One went to sit by a tree and read a book, his job to relax and recover chakra. One bowed gallantly to Hinata and reached to take her hand. Hinata exchanged a look and a nod with the original Naruto before she and Ko followed the Clone to an unoccupied area of the suddenly crowded Training Ground. The 'real' Naruto walked up to Kakashi. "So, what do you want to work on today?"
Kakashi eyed the literal thousands of orange-clad ninja trainees that filled the Training Ground before refocusing on the one in front of him.. "I spent the first four hours working on physical conditioning. Now I was going to iron out my Taijutsu against a Shadow Clone, but now that you're here I guess we could just spar. Though I'm not sure how good I'll be against someone who beat Hiashi in hand-to-hand."
"I didn't beat him. I kept him busy while my Clones set up an area-of-effect Jutsu that guaranteed my victory," Naruto corrected.
"Still, that's not something most people can do," Kakashi countered.
"You spar with Might Gai and you're worried about going up against me?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow.
"Point taken," Kakashi granted. "Well, give me another 10 minutes to finish digesting and we'll get at it."
Over with Hinata, Naruto's Clone grinned and launched into a lecture. "I know you've learned the Leaf Floating exercise. And you've probably had to do specialized training for the Gentle Fist with your hands, right? Well, today I'm going to teach you a chakra control exercise that isn't only effective, but damn useful." Turning to a nearby tree, the Shadow Clone walked up to it and, in defiance of gravity, walked up the side of the tree so that he was horizontal. He paused and turned to look down at Hinata with a teasing smile. "Care to join me?"
Hinata bit her lip. "I don't know how."
"Lucky for you, you have a tool unique to your clan to help. Look at my feet with your Byakugan," 'Naruto' ordered.
Hinata made a hand seal to focus and then activated her Bloodline Limit. The world expanded from a 90 degree field of view to a full 360, except for the small blind spot that was a clan secret in the Hyuuga. Color leached from the world, leaving blacks, whites, and greys, except for the azure of chakra. Hinata focused on the Shadow Clone, making note it had almost as much chakra as her father and knowing it was just a fraction of her future fiance's chakra stores. Moving past that, she looked at his feet and observed how he was releasing the chakra he focused there to stick to the surface of the tree. She walked up to the same tree, did her best to mold her chakra the same way, and hesitantly placed first one, then both feet on the tree. She didn't fall to the ground. With intense focus on each step, she walked up the tree until she was standing in 'front' of 'Naruto'.
"On the first try, wow! You've got excellent chakra control, Hinata-chan!" He treated her to a massive grin before getting a serious expression. "Of course, just managing to stick to the tree is the easy part. How long do you think you can keep this up, with your Byakugan active at that?"
Hinata assessed how much chakra was in her body and calculated how fast it was being expended by the release of chakra from her feet and eyes. "I'd say… 45 minutes, maybe an hour before I was at risk of chakra exhaustion."
"That's what I thought. In the temple, we weren't considered to have mastered this until we could stick horizontal for a full 12 hours, and then upside-down for another 12. And it's not just chakra stores you need to worry about. Our bodies evolved to stand upright. It's going to take time to adjust to alternative positions. You're already feeling a bit of a burn to stay straight, aren't you?"
"Indeed, Naruto-kun," Hinata admitted, feeling the effort of staying what she thought of as 'up' while rotated 90 degrees from her usual orientation. "How do I get more chakra?"
"The old-fashioned way, strain your chakra reserves and your body will make more when it recovers. You can also work on increasing your Yin and Yang energies individually so they combine to make more chakra, like reading educationally or doing physical exercise respectively. Don't worry, we'll get to that. For now, I want you to stick to keeping your Byakugan open and sticking to this tree. Focusing chakra to opposite ends of your body is another chakra control exercise in and of itself, so you're technically doing two just standing here! Stay here with me for about 30 minutes, then we'll rest and plan the next part of our training today. Sound good?"
"Okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata nodded.
They stood there for a while, Naruto purposely testing Hinata's focus by keeping up a conversation. About a third of the way into the exercise, Hinata's attention was taken by the original Naruto and Kakashi having a no-holds-barred Taijutsu match. Her empowered eyes could barely keep pace with the movements of either fighter as they punched, kicked, grappled, and otherwise attempted to beat the other to a pulp. "It's like watching the fight between you and Father!" she gasped.
"Well, Kakashi is one of the candidates for Fifth Hokage according to the talk around town. Ninjutsu is his strong point but he's also best friends with Konoha's resident Taijutsu master Might Gai. He's not as good as your father, but I'd say he's in the same league as he is. Likewise, my specialty is my Fuinjutsu but I made sure to hone my martial arts so I could protect those I loved. Since we're both limiting ourselves to just Taijutsu, this might actually be a fairly even match," the Shadow Clone observed.
"What are the rules?" Hinata asked, entranced by seeing the superhuman fighters move so fast and decisively, as if locked in some dance of violence.
"No chakra besides reinforcing muscles, no weapons, a pin for 10 seconds counts as a victory," her personal 'Naruto' told her. "Oh, and no groin shots. That's just sort of unspoken between allied males."
Hinata nodded in understanding. "Isn't the height and reach difference a problem for you?" she asked, taking the policy that Naruto and his Shadow Clones counted as a whole and talking to one was as good as talking to any of them.
"Boss has been dealing with that problem almost every time he sparred against the other Order members back at the temple over the last 6 years. And keep in mind, being smaller means being harder to hit," the Clone said with a wink.
Hinata spent the rest of her half hour just watching her boyfriend and Hatake Kakashi spar, asking her Shadow Clone teacher to clarify something when she got confused. Then 'Naruto' clapped. "Right. We've actually run over, but I wanted to let you watch the fight. Byakugan off and walk back to the ground, Hinata-chan."
Hinata blinked, not realizing how much time had passed. She cut off her Byakugan, feeling immediate relief. She'd never kept it on for so long without a break before. She returned to the ground. 'Naruto' had jumped to stand near Ko.
"Let's all sit down for this next part. You too, Ko-san," the blond instructed. Hinata did so readily, but Ko eyed the Shadow Clone dubiously before doing the same.
"While Hinata-chan gets a chance to rest, I'm going to share a secret of the Order. In my opinion, it's not much of a secret, it's a basic facet of chakra theory. Yet to our knowledge, we're the only organization in the world that trains this core skill, no Hidden Village or clan does it!" 'Naruto' told them.
"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, a little out of breath as the strain of the Tree Walking caught up with her.
"Chakra purity, or in other words, how efficiently your Yin and Yang energies mix together," the replica revealed. "You think it's automatically at 100%? Hell no! Your average civilian is in the 20s or maybe low 30s. Shinobi who do a lot of training with their chakra are naturally higher, but I can state with certainty that I'm the only person in the village with a perfect mixture rate." 'Naruto' crossed his arms. "Don't believe me? Look at me with the Byakugan, then look at yourselves and Kakashi. See a difference?"
Ko activated his eyes and did just that. Hinata had observed the differences while she was sticking to the tree. "Your chakra is brighter, has more depth. It's… purer," Hinata said.
"Hence the name, chakra purity," 'Naruto' grinned. "And here's the best part. Increasing the mixture rate doesn't just result in more chakra, but better-quality chakra! It's a double exponential! So if a person went from, say, 50% to 100%, they'd effectively quadruple their chakra reserves!"
"Amazing!" Hinata gushed.
Ko was more skeptical. "If it's such a simple thing, why is the Order the only ones to practice it? Why hasn't any ninja clan in history figured it out for themselves?"
"Moving a boulder is simple, Ko-san. Hard, but simple," Naruto replied. "Increasing chakra purity requires you to directly manipulate your Yin and Yang energies. Most ninja go their whole lives not learning how to control either, let alone both."
Ko reluctantly nodded. "I see. I take it Yin-Yang control is taught in the Order?"
"When we first start training in chakra, we aren't even taught the Leaf Floating exercise until we're at 100% purity. The ultimate goal of any Order member is to achieve mastery of self. If you can't control your mind or body at the most basic level, you can hardly claim mastery of either," Naruto explained. "Now, the first step to making your Yin and Yang mix better is to make them unmix. I'm going to give a guided meditation on separating your chakra into its composite energies. Ko-san, feel free to participate," Naruto stated.
Naruto spent the next two hours speaking in a calm, measured pace as he all but hypnotized Hinata and Ko into feeling their chakra, sinking into it, feeling every flicker of its ethereal fire. Then he explained how, much like an ocean, their chakra was made up of countless drops. Two kinds of drops, actually. White dots that felt positive and energetic, and black dots that felt negative and calm. With gentle encouragement, Naruto told them how to separate the two, positive to the right, negative to the left. When they had finally completely halved their chakra, he told them to mix them back together, focusing on making sure every drop on each side coalesced together into a whole.
At the end, Hinata and Ko opened their eyes. "Nothing happened," she said, looking deathly afraid of disappointing Naruto.
"Hey, relax. Getting things perfect on the first try is a rare occurrence, It took me a good two months to get this down. You'll achieve 100% purity one day, I know it! The only way you couldn't is if you stop trying," Naruto reassured his girlfriend.
Ko kept his mouth shut, not admitting that he'd had zero success as well. He turned to where Naruto and Kakashi were still fighting. "I think this is the longest Taijutsu fight I've ever seen in person."
"You should have seen when Master Feng and Master Kanojo battled for leadership of the temple. The audience had to sleep in shifts so we didn't miss anything. They lasted a whole week. I'm not exaggerating, over 168 hours of continuous combat!" Naruto recalled.
Hinata's jaw dropped. "How is that possible?"
"Keep in mind, a Master of the Order of the Horned One would be classified as S-rank. And that's a Master who just earned the title. Over the years, they can develop even further. I don't hesitate to say the Order has produced some of the most powerful people in the history of the world. But since we're pacifists and tend to sequester ourselves in temples, the outside world rarely gets to see our skills in action," Naruto elaborated.
Before either Hyuuga could ask another question, Kakashi's voice reached them. "Secret Taijutsu: Thousand Years of Death!" They all turned to see Kakashi, who'd maneuvered himself behind Naruto somehow and, before their disbelieving eyes, shoved his four index fingers and middle fingers up the original Naruto's ass.
There was an infinitely awkward moment.
"Was that supposed to hurt? Kakashi, you're too old for me and we're both currently in relationships. Kindly get your fingers out my ass before I charge you with sexual assault," Naruto said with a facial expression that could best be summarized as "Why me?"
Kakashi, what little of his visible face red as a carnation, blurred away until he was a good 15 feet from Naruto. "Why didn't that work on you?! That move never fails to send the target flying!"
"Why didn't that work on you?" Ko asked past his mixed shock and disgust.
The original faced Kakashi as the Shadow Clone faced Ko. In unison they said "Think about this one; do you really want to know?"
The two adult men suddenly started to look anywhere but at Naruto. Hinata leaned in to whisper to the 'Naruto' assigned to her. "Really, why didn't that work on you?"
The Shadow Clone blushed. "Let's just say that, once we're married, if you ever want to be the 'giver', I won't mind being the 'receiver'. I've… practiced."
Once the right synapses fired in Hinata's brain to understand what 'Naruto' was saying, three things happened. Steam exploded out her ears, blood spurted from her nose, and she collapsed in a dead faint.
"Hinata-sama!" Ko worried.
"Relax, Ko-san," 'Naruto' said in a soothing tone. The doppelganger pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off Hinata's face. Then he summoned smelling salts from his storage seals and cracked them open under Hinata's nose. The ammonia in the vapors forced her to gasp, waking her up with its intensity. "See, she's fine."
The original Naruto called out "I think that's as good an excuse as any to break for lunch!"
The Shadow Clones continued to do training in the background, having no need for food. Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, and Ko sat in a square and pulled out their respective bento. "So, Kakashi, how are things with Anko-san?" Naruto asked after eating a fishcake, a bit ironic given his name's alternate meaning besides 'maelstrom'.
"She's stayed over every night since you came to the village. And we don't just bump pelvises, we talk and shit too. I think you're right, she and I are extremely compatible," Kakashi said with a smile, his one visible eye closing.
"Can we not discuss this filth in front of Hinata-sama?" Ko said sharply.
"I'm 11 years old, Ko-san, not 11 months. I know what sex is," Hinata said in deadpan. "And I say congratulations to Kakashi-san for finding a partner he enjoys spending time with."
"I hear you've gotten a dozen noise complaints since the day I came back. You want me to soundproof your apartment? Or might I recommend you and Anko-san try to be quiet during your lovemaking?" Naruto suggested.
"I'll take that offer. Or maybe I'll just invest in a good quality gag," Kakashi mused.
"If I know Anko-san at all, you'd end up the one wearing that gag, Kakashi," Naruto pointed out flatly.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "You're not wrong, Naruto. You are not wrong."
Hinata, despite her bold words to Ko, was indeed feeling a bit scandalized listening to such bawdy talk. "Naruto-kun, why isn't your family name Namikaze?"
Ko furrowed his brow. "Wait a minute, that's the family name of Fourth-sama. What relevance does that have to Uzumaki-san?"
"I'm his son. What, the blond spiky hair and blue eyes didn't give me away?" Naruto said in fake confusion.
While Ko's jaw dislocated so he could drop it as low as his shock demanded, Kakashi shook his head. "It really is obvious, the resemblance is so strong. I can't believe none of the civilians figured it out."
"To answer your question, Hinata-chan, two reasons. The first was to hide my identity so Iwa or any other entity that wanted revenge on the Fourth Hokage wouldn't come after me. Secondly, the Namikaze were an unremarkable civilian family that just happened to produce my Dad. The Uzumaki are an ancient ninja clan that's sadly on the verge of dying out. Just as my Mom kept her maiden name when she married Dad, I carry the Uzumaki name I inherited from my mom because it's the more noteworthy and arguably important family," Naruto told his lady love.
"So what should I do when we get married?" Hinata asked.
"Whatever you want! It's your name, Hinata-chan, you're the one who has to live with it," Naruto shrugged with a smile.
"Hmm… Hyuuga Hinata… Uzumaki Hinata…" If Naruto didn't know better, he'd have sworn Hinata's ghost came out her mouth and flew towards the heavens when she heard his name attached to hers. Hinata shook her head and regained focus. "Definitely taking your name, Naruto-kun."
"Alright!" Naruto cast his mind for another lunch topic. "If it's not a clan secret or anything, how come there are no kicks or leg moves in the Gentle Fist?"
"Because the Gentle Fist is effective enough without such attacks," Ko stated as if reciting from a book of religious doctrine.
Hinata frowned. "The Gentle Fist is a very grounded style. Foot and knee moves could leave us unbalanced. Also, the feet are the hardest part of the body to channel chakra. It was decided by the Main House centuries ago that we would stick to only our arms and hands when using the Gentle Fist," she elaborated for Naruto and Kakashi's sake.
"Okay. I'd argue you're sticking to an outdated method out of pride and a conservative mindset, but I don't want to ruin this meal with an argument. Next question, why not incorporate Elemental Chakra into the Gentle Fist?" Naruto continued.
Ko blinked. "I… don't know," he admitted.
Hinata looked down. "Hyuuga are forbidden from learning Elemental Chakra. The idea is that 'pure' chakra is all that's necessary to down our opponents. After the Curse Seal, it's the second stupidest thing about Hyuuga Clan rules in my opinion."
"Hinata-sama! Don't say such things!" Ko warned her.
"She's among friends, what's the big deal?" Kakashi asked drolly.
Naruto frowned. "If the true motivation was to prevent the Byakugan from being stolen, every member of the clan would be marked by a protective seal. It's worth noting the Uchiha Clan didn't bother with that. The Hyuuga Curse Seal seems designed to create a privileged elite with an army of slaves who obey on pain of torture and/or death."
Ko got a look of resignation. "You're completely right, Uzumaki-san. But that's the way it's been for hundreds of years."
"Then maybe that's long enough to wait before someone shook things up," Naruto said forcefully. "Hinata-chan, you're marrying me so you're essentially out of the line of succession. Is there any chance Hiashi-sama or Hanabi-san once she's older could order the end of the Curse Seal?"
"Not without inciting a riot if not an attempted coup by the rest of the Main House," Hinata sighed.
Naruto frowned. "What if they were backed by the Hokage?"
"... Maybe. The dissident members of the clan would keep their mouths shut for fear of treason. But keep in mind that certain members of the Main House have used the Curse Seal for… criminal reasons. Those individuals might go down in a blaze of glory rather than face judgment once their victims are freed of the Curse Seal," Hinata mused.
"Hmm. Then that's another reason for me to become Hokage. So I can fix your clan, Hinata-chan," Naruto grinned.
She smiled as her heart got all toasty. "If anyone can do it, it's you Naruto-kun."
They moved on to more mundane topics until they'd all finished eating and for about an hour afterwards. Then Kakashi and the 'real' Naruto walked to an open area of the Training Ground while a Shadow Clone stuck with the two Hyuuga.
"Okay! So, we worked on trying to feel your Yin and Yang earlier. Now we're going to work on making them stronger. First off: Yin training. We're going to stretch your minds with new, complicated information. As your understanding of it increases, your Yin energy will increase," 'Naruto' said cheerily.
"What will you be teaching us, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"And why am I being included in these lessons?" Ko asked.
"Because, Ko-san, you're here and you don't really have to act as a bodyguard here in the heart of Konoha. So you can tag along with Hinata on this winding journey of self-improvement or you can just stand to the side and look imposing while Hinata does it herself. Your choice," Naruto answered.
Ko blushed a tiny bit but then sighed and sat down beside Hinata, looking attentive.
"Good. Now, Hinata-chan, to answer your question, I will be teaching you my personal specialty. Fuinjutsu, the Sealing Arts! Or as I like to call it, 'How To Make Reality Your Bitch With Just Some Ink And Paper'." Naruto grinned wide. "Today, we'll start with a simple Storage Seal. Don't be fooled, this seal may not have much combat potential but having a hammerspace on hand has tremendous utility!"
'Naruto' summoned paper, ink, and brushes from his personal Storage Seals, which was a bit of a case in point. As 'Naruto' coached his students stroke by stroke in the calligraphy that could alter the fabric of space-time, they had ample chances to be distracted as Kakashi and Naruto threw Ninjutsu at each other. "What are you and Kakashi-san doing?" Hinata asked once she finished the latest symbol.
"A game of catch, basically, except the ball is made of Ninjutsu. One of us sends a Jutsu at the other, and they either have to dodge or counter it with their own Jutsu. With my chakra reserves, I could do this for days. Kakashi is more an efficient assassin than a chakra battery like me, so we should be done within the hour," 'Naruto' told her.
Hinata nodded and returned her attention to the lesson.
At the end of an hour, Hinata and Ko had produced meticulously copied Storage Seals based off Naruto's example. He looked them over and nodded. "Perfectly functional. Good job, guys! But I won't move on to the next seal until you can make one in under a minute without mistakes. So take these ones home, stare at them, memorize them, see them in your sleep! As the gods are my witness, if you're going to learn Fuinjutsu you're going to learn it right!"
"Yes, Naruto-kun," Hinata nodded, taking this very seriously.
"Very well, Uzumaki-san," Ko said, personally thinking the young albeit ridiculously powerful man was taking this sealing thing a bit too seriously.
"So, you've trained your Yin energy and picked up a useful skill! Unfortunately, training your Yang is much less comfortable. This is the part that'll leave you sweaty and sore, and not in the good way! Time for Uzumaki Naruto's Physical Training Course!" Naruto said, getting a smile that would do Might Gai and his protege Rock Lee proud.
On the other side of the Training Field, Kakashi was panting after the highly taxing Ninjutsu match. His trained ears still caught what the Shadow Clone said and resulted in chills down his spine. "Naruto, if and when you meet Gai, promise me you won't ever wear any clothes he gives you."
"You mean that green unisuit he and his mini-me wear? I don't know, Kakashi, they do seem very slimming," the original Naruto, barely out of breath, said teasingly.
Kakashi covered his right eye to hide how he was weeping at the idea of three people wearing that crime against fashion. On the off chance Gai became Hokage, he'd probably make the damn thing official uniform!
Moving past his little moment, Kakashi stretched. "Between that Taijutsu and Ninjutsu training, I'm wiped. Want to call it an early day?"
Naruto frowned. "No way. How about I fill you up? Then we can have a real spar, everything allowed!"
"Fill me up?" Kakashi asked, uncomprehending.
Naruto walked up to him and held out his fist. "Go ahead. Bump it."
Trying to find the punchline, Kakashi touched his fist to Naruto's.
In an instant, a surge of raw chakra flooded Kakashi's system, filling him to the brim. It felt like it adapted to Kakashi, until it felt the same as his own chakra. In the space of 2 seconds, Kakashi was as full of chakra as he'd been before he started training that morning.
Kakashi's jaw dropped. "How… just, how?"
"Once I reached a level where my peers in the Order couldn't keep up with me, I threw myself into learning how to transfer chakra. Now I'm like a waterfall anyone can fill their canteen from. Just takes physical contact. Of course, my chakra stores aren't infinite, just obscenely large. If you wanted me to recharge every shinobi in the village, that would be a tad beyond me… for now," Naruto said with a smirk.
Kakashi could only shake his head. Then he said, in all seriousness, "I want to be your Jonin sensei when you graduate."
Naruto blinked. "Oh. Sure, that sounds like fun. How do we make that happen? Ask Hokage-jiji?"
Kakashi tilted his head. "That's an option, I suppose. I was thinking more you earn your spot on my assigned team."
"Okay, elaborate please," Naruto prompted.
"I always get assigned to Team 7. And Team 7 is always made from the same 3 students. The Shinobi of the Year, the Kunoichi of the Year, and the Dead Last."
Naruto grinned as he got what Kakashi was implying. "And if, say, I were the Dead Last, then my teammates would be the two best students in my class."
"Exactly, in theory," Kakashi nodded.
"In theory," Naruto echoed.
"Now, I believe someone wanted an all-out spar?" Kakashi reminded, reaching up to grab his forehead protector. "In that case, I better pull out all the stops." With a dramatic move, Kakashi shifted his headband to reveal his transplanted Sharingan eye.
Naruto raised a brow. Then he summoned a very familiar type of kunai and gripped it in his fist. "You do realize, of course, this means war," Naruto said as he clutched a tri-pronged kunai with a sealing formula written down the handle.
Kakashi was having serious deja vu... and heart palpitations. "You know the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?"
"Relax, I've only made a dozen kunai with the formula. I can't take on an army like Dad did. I'll be nice and only use this one, since you have the handicap of your Sharingan gulping down your chakra," Naruto grinned.
Kakashi settled down and got into his battle stance. "Let's get started."
By the time the sun touched the horizon, all four of the party members were ready to call it a day. At least until Naruto's resting Shadow Clone popped and filled him with a day's worth of chakra. Then he was perky as a cheerleader. "Today was a productive day! Best part about it? We can do even more tomorrow!"
"Not everyone recovers overnight like you do, Naruto," Kakashi panted. It was more than a little humbling for an 11-year-old to beat him in a fight where he went hard as he could short of lethal force. Granted, that 11-year-old was an Uzumaki, a Jinchuuriki, AND trained by the mysterious Order of the Horned One, but still.
Naruto only grinned, then patted his three companions on the back, filling them all up with chakra with the touch. "True, but the people I like can."
Ko looked dumbstruck. "You can share your chakra?"
"Naruto-kun, that's supposed to be almost impossible," Hinata said in disbelief.
"It's really not that hard once you get the trick to it," Naruto waved off.
"And on that note, I'm leaving. See you here tomorrow, I guess. See ya," Kakashi waved before vanishing in Body Flicker.
Naruto took Hinata's hand and led her out of the Training Ground back toward the village, Ko following three steps behind. At the gate to the Hyuuga Clan Estate, they traded pecks on the cheek before Naruto left for his apartment. He checked in with the research team, made himself some dinner, and meditated until bathtime followed by bed.
Sunday went similarly to Saturday. Naruto had 2000 Shadow Clones training, one resting, one working with Hinata and Ko, and his 'real' body training with Kakashi. From 9:00 to 5:00, the Jonin, Chunin, and two Academy students strove to better themselves. Then they all parted ways to have dinner and unwind after a long day of training.
On Monday, Naruto woke with the dawn and just stared at the ceiling a moment. "Happy Birthday, Naruto," he said to himself. Then he sat up and closed his eyes. This wasn't for meditation though. This was a different kind of journey inward.
Naruto opened his eyes in a large room with darkness for a ceiling. The floor had two or three inches of water covering it. In front of him was a massive cage, the two doors held shut by a piece of paper with arcane symbols written on it.
"Family meeting!" he called out loud enough to echo around the room.
In the corner of the room, a bed laid incongruously. Its two occupants all but leapt out of the sheets. "Naruto! Happy Birthday, my baby boy, dattebane!" The fragment of Uzumaki Kushina made whole by Naruto's seal work exclaimed. She wrapped Naruto in a back-cracking hug.
"You seem more excited about it than I am, dattebayo," Naruto chuckled as he returned his mother's embrace.
Namikaze Minato's legacy in his son's seal smiled at his wife and child from the side. "Congratulations, son. Please forgive us, your Mom and I couldn't get you a gift."
"I don't need gifts, Dad," Naruto said as his mother finally released.
From the darkness behind the doors, the sound of something massive moving came. After a few footfalls, the Kyuubi became visible. "What is it brat?"
"Patience, Kyuubi-san. The whole family's not here yet," Naruto said to the Bijuu.
Out of the darkness of the hallway behind Naruto, what looked like his identical twin walked up to the group. The only observable difference between Naruto and this lookalike was that his eyes were a red iris with black sclera. "Why am I even here? You were supposed to absorb me when you defeated me, not leave me alive to stick around."
"Yami, if I didn't have a little darkness in my soul, all the light would have no meaning. And your hatred lets you see the world differently. I need that perspective when times get hard to make the right decision," Naruto explained to the personification of all his negative emotions.
Yami just sighed. He'd tried and failed to take over his host's body. And Naruto had progressed leaps and bounds since. Any resistance was hopeless. This was his lot in life now. "Is High-and-Mighty-san coming or what?"
As if on cue, a flash of light blinded them all. When the spots vanished, a perfectly ordinary looking brunette in his 20s was standing among them, wearing archaic clothing. Naruto bowed at the waist to the man. "Thanks for coming, Asura-sama."
"Naruto-kun, I always tell you, I'm like your great-great-times-a-hundred-great-grandpa. You can call me ojiisan!" the second son of Ootsutsuki Hagoromo said with an exasperated expression.
"If you'll recall, the Order practically worships your father. I'm just paying you due respect," Naruto fired back. "Anyway, now that we're all here, I want to discuss something."
"So stop wasting my time and just spit it out already," the Kyuubi grumbled, tapping the floor with a claw.
Naruto ignored the giant multi-tailed fox. "As you know, I process relative years of information in just one day. Every now and then the random thoughts of a few clones combine into a real brainwave. Yesterday, I had a thought that I crunched on the whole way back home and during my meditation."
"Don't keep us in suspense, son! We can't read your mind, we only hear what you project to us, dattebane! What is it?" Kushina pressed, impatient as always.
Naruto explained his idea. To a man, all the residents of his mind dropped their jaws by the end of it. Naruto nodded. "So, now the meat of the matter: is this the right thing to do?"
"No," Yami said immediately.
"You're just saying that because he's not planning to use it on you," Asura chided.
"Well, it wouldn't work for you either, stupid reincarnating ghost thing!" Yami shouted.
"I vote for. Anything to make things a little less crowded in here," Kyuubi chimed in boredly.
Kushina was crying. "Idiot son. This is supposed to be the day we give you a gift, not the other way around, dattebane."
"The best gifts are the ones you give, Mom," Naruto grinned.
Minato had a serious expression. "While I admit this sounds ideal, I can't help but worry it won't work. So many things could go wrong."
"Isn't it at least worth a try though Dad, dattebayo?" Naruto countered.
The Fourth Hokage eventually nodded. "I suppose there's no harm in trying. We just need to get Third-sama on board."
"Mom? You in?' Naruto asked the redhead.
"Yes I'm in, dattebane! I'd be a fool not to take this chance." The kunoichi had wiped away her tears and now exuded pure enthusiasm.
"This will be good for the world. I approve," Asura contributed.
Yami scoffed. "I hate it, which means it's probably the thing you would usually do anyway."
"It's unanimous, then," Naruto stated. Then he woke up back in the real world. He got dressed and then left the apartment. Taking to the rooftops for speed, he went for the Hokage Tower.
Five minutes later, he let himself into the Hokage's office. The Third Hokage was leaning back in his chair with a copy of Icha Icha while a trio of Shadow Clones dealt with the paperwork that had accumulated overnight. Bureaucracy never sleeps.
"It was disturbingly easy to sneak up behind you, Hokage-jiji," Naruto said.
"I sensed you coming from 6 blocks away and signaled my security to let you pass. If you want to be stealthy, you need to find a way to suppress that massive signature of yours," Hiruzen said, not even looking away from his adult literature. "Happy Birthday, by the way."
"Thanks. I'm actually here for a serious reason, though," Naruto said, walking around to face his grandfather figure across his desk.
Hiruzen closed his book and tucked it in a pocket. "I'm all ears."
"I have a purely hypothetical, totally unprecedented procedure which has an uncertain probability of even working in the first place. And I need your permission to do it anyway."
"Consider me intrigued. What is this procedure? What is its purpose?" the Third asked with interest.
Naruto took a deep breath. "I might, just MIGHT, have a way to bring my parents back from the dead. Not the Impure World Reanimation Jutsu. Genuine resurrection. And I suppose it would work for any other person, it'd just be even harder to arrange."
The elderly Sarutobi's eyes looked liable to fall out of his head. Then the so-called 'God of Shinobi' made his appearance. "ANBU, everything you just heard and are about to hear is an S-rank secret. Acknowledge."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," came two disembodied voices.
"Explain, in detail," Hiruzen ordered Naruto.
"The thing this whole experiment hinges on is the Blood Clone. It's almost never used, that's why almost no one knows about it. It produces a fully corporeal clone of the caster, with all the strength and chakra of the one who made them. There's two catches though. First, ignoring the large even by my standards chakra requirement, each Blood Clone needs the caster to sacrifice a gallon of blood. Second, they're vegetables. No higher brain functions," Naruto started.
Hiruzen frowned. "I hate to tell you Naruto, but I don't have a gallon of your mother or your father's blood lying around."
"But we CAN visit their graves to get some genetic material. Then I can use a Genetic Conversion Seal to turn donor blood into their blood," Naruto answered.
"And the brain dead problem?" Hiruzen prompted.
"Mom and Dad both left chakra constructs in the seal. I can transfer them into the bodies, like a Yamanaka sending their mind into an opponent's body. In theory, Mom and Dad wake up in their own bodies as if the last 12 years never happened." Naruto's eyes held unwavering conviction.
Hiruzen thought it over and dared to hope. "I'll oversee the entire process. Clear?"
"Clear," Naruto agreed easily.
The Hokage and the Academy student visited the graves of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Disinterring them with Earth Release, Naruto carefully scraped some skin cells off the desiccated corpses of his parents into petri dishes. Then he prayed over their bodies before returning them to the earth's embrace. From there, he and Hiruzen went to a private room at the Hospital with two beds prepared. When the Hokage 'requested' two gallons of type B blood, the medics rushed to provide them. Naruto carefully wrote out the two Genetic Conversion Seals and, with a burst of activating chakra, used the skin samples to transform the blood into that of his parents.
"Now comes the hard part," Naruto said to himself. Centering himself, he did a long string of hand seals before dipping his chakra-laced fingers in the bowl of his father's blood. "Ninja Art: Blood Clone Jutsu," Naruto said fiercely.
Over half of Naruto's reserves were sucked out of him in an instant. But with a puff of smoke, the blood vanished and was replaced by a naked man's body. A man with tan skin and blond spiky hair.
"By the Sage, it worked!" Hiruzen gasped.
"Keep in mind, this is just an empty shell. It's still uncertain if I can transfer the construct in the seal into this body or that it will grant him control of it," Naruto reminded the elder. "Now let me recover a bit before I make the Clone for Mom."
Naruto meditated to speed up his chakra recovery. When he was at about 3/4ths full, he stood up and repeated the Blood Clone Jutsu using his mother's blood. He almost collapsed from exhaustion, Hiruzen rushing to steady him. "Fool! You're pushing yourself too hard! We don't have to do this all at once! Take the rest of the day to rest and we'll finish tomorrow."
"I finish what I start, Hokage-jiji. There's only one step left," Naruto panted. Walking to the bedside of his father, Naruto placed his palm on the Blood Clone's forehead. Those sensitive to chakra would have distinctly felt Minato's energy signature within Naruto's shift between the two bodies. Naruto walked over to his Mom's Blood Cone and repeated the process. "Please work," Naruto muttered under his breath.
For a minute, it seemed like the transfer had failed to animate either body. Then Minato's brow furrowed and he opened his eyes. He blinked up at the ceiling and then sat up. He looked at Naruto and HIruzen incredulously. "Am… am I alive again?" the Fourth Hokage asked in disbelief.
"Well, you're a chakra construct puppeteering a Blood Clone. In other words, a mind controlling a body of flesh and bone. Sounds like life to me, dattebayo," Naruto grinned.
Kushina woke up explosively. "Did it work? It worked, right?" she asked, not looking directly at any of them.
"Looks like it, Mom," Naruto told her.
"OH YEAH! Uzumaki Kushina, round two, dattebane!" Kushina roared to the heavens.
Hiruzen coughed delicately. "Minato-kun, Kushina-chan… you're both naked."
And so the two newly resurrected ninja almost died as soon as they were born from embarrassment.
Once Naruto's parents were dressed in some hastily fetched clothes, they, Naruto, and Hiruzen sat down together to iron out the specifics of how to reintroduce the two revenants.
"What's wrong with just announcing it today?" Kushina whined.
"Never underestimate the power of a dramatic entrance. The return of the Yellow Flash should be witnessed by people from around the world in order to maximize the impact and frighten our enemies before they even think to strike," Hiruzen explained.
"I'm thinking the Chunin Exams. But we should do this on home turf. When's the next time Konoha hosts them?" Minato asked.
"About 9 months from now," Naruto said. His daily data dump from the Library Shadow Clone had filled him with useful trivia.
Kushina sighed. "9 months undercover until we're allowed to show ourselves. Well, mostly Minato-kun but still, dattebane!"
"I can fashion some seal-based Genjutsu to hide your appearance," Naruto volunteered.
"You've done enough for one day, son. Your Mom and I can handle that part," Minato said, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Yeah, go get a nap or something, dattebane. You don't want to be exhausted when you take Hinata out to the Festival," Kushina said warmly.
Naruto was about to protest when he yawned. "I… I think I'll do just that, Mom. Mom, Dad, Hokage-jiji, see you later."
When Naruto had closed the door behind him, Hiruzen pulled out his pipe. "Tell it to me straight, Minato-kun. How strong is he? You've lived in his head for years, you must have a general idea."
"In terms of sheer destructive potential, he's stronger than the three of us combined when he goes all out. And that's without even touching the Kyuubi's chakra," Minato said frankly. "His weakness is his innocence. He believes the best of people. He's never looked into the abyss and have it stare right back at him. He's never had to pick the lesser of two evils. He could become the greatest shinobi to ever live… or the most terrifying threat the world's ever known. One way or another, we'll all find out."
Hiruzen mulled that over as he puffed smoke. Kushina had a small smile on her face. "Then it's our job to keep him on the right path. When he stumbles, we and his other precious people will be there to catch him before he falls, dattebane."
The trio of shinobi sat there in the hospital room and pondered the impact one Uzumaki Naruto could have on the world.