I am trying to make the chapters longer but often two thousand words feels like the limit in the flow of the chapter, but I am trying...
I hope you enjoy this chapter, it sets him on his new path nicely... In my humble opinion.
As it turned out, Naruto could manage to have a clone channeling Kyuubi's power for more then fifty seven miles before the connection got fuzzy. So, naturally, they managed to find the Monk's Monestary quite easily. The clone, disgused to look not at all dissimilar to Haku only with red hair and maroon colored shirt, thought the temple was beautiful. It was one of the smaller satalite temples where Monks went on a baptismal pilgramage when they reached a certian age. The walls were red and about fifteen feet high, ringed by trees that Naruto's clone easily hid in,
In the inside, he saw a many armed Statue that had no clear name, but he knew from his studies with Azula was worshipped and channeled by the Monks for power. Apparently they had a variety of jutsu that could tap into the gods power, which was kind of amazing, kind of creepy all at once. Around that statue was about twenty of so monks of a vareity of ages, mostly bald, and all dressed in their ugly outfits of draping material. They were mostly sparring and none allowed a single hit to actually connect, which was typical of them from what he was told.
With his new knowledge of combat, from the hours and hours he spent training with Azula, he knew they were all far above him and even most pure Ninjas. They spent countless hours practicing, mastering there skills... However they did not expect an attack, spy or anything else and thus were not looking for someone like him to be near. Naruto knew that, in part, his time spent pranking was serving him well. He was used to hiding, but the fact that these Monks were not aware enough to be searching for him aided him greatly.
Carefully, he went from tree to tree, transforming into a squirrel after a few minutes, to get a better view of them Monks. He saw a lot of potential issues, mainly the more observant monks occasionaly and carefully gazing into the trees but never at him. He was supressing his chakra, even as he channled Kyuubi, and being the epitomy of silence. He knew he was fine, but the looks on the monk's face made him cautious none the less. Other then those monks, he saw seals on and around the walls of the compound that he could just barely break apart in his head. They were for detection, safety and more. He lacked the power to break it down, the doors or the walls, and so he would have to sneak around them and hope for the best...
At least, that was what he imagined... he only had a few days to break into this place, and so he prayed he had enough skill to do so.
Determined to get more knowledge for the real Naruto, he took a risk and hopped over the walls via the trees and waited for any sign of alert... and to his pleasure, he saw nothing. Heard less... no one seemed to notice him. He was safe so far... but for how long, he needed to see just what the limits were for this place...
All details had to be the definition of precise if he was to successfully break into this place and steal the stuff he would need to become as powerful as possible.
"""
"Rasengan barrage!" Naruto whispered as he slammed his dual rasengan, one in each hand, into a large boulder, crushing it apart effortlessly. The damn thing splintered and went everywhere, making him smirk. His improved Chakra control had done so much for him, making him that much more dangerous. He felt... powerful for the first time in his life and loved it. "My speed could use some work,... thankfully my dear foxy knows how to make gravity seals." He smirked, turning to a specific clone that was busy drawing gravity seals into a pair of weights he had recently bought from the town they were in, under disguise naturally. It was a sloppy job so far, a month only improved his caligraphy so much, but it was enough that it would work for the seals. "It's funny, but you said a past Uzumaki used these seals on you to capture you, and they failed but now your teaching it to me... funny how these things work."
The Fox laughed. "I am glad you find my past fascinating enough to get some pleasure out of it. Though yes, it is amusing to me. Your anscestors were masters with seals, as were both of your parents. If you can return to the village and go to your old home, which yes I know where that is, you may be able to extract some of your family seals. If it hasn't been stolen by the village already."
Naruto frowned, the reminder of how much had been stolen from him. "If that is the reality of my situation, I will be really pissed... sigh... it's a good idea either way but we are leaving the Land of Fire for some time, after we leave this town. It may have to wait for a while, maybe even for when I return to the Leaf period... still, a good idea for the future."
"Pity you cannot summon the dead, the Second Hokage could do that from what little I knew of him. That would aid greatly in your training."
"Yes it would... sigh... time to work on my sword training, I haven't done enough with that lately." He pulled out his blade, pausing as a rush of memories overtook him for a moment. He shook his head, moving them to the side, before falling into his stance. With a single movement, he slashed with a pulse of chakra, slicing through a tree like butter. "How would your chakra make that easier?" The answer he got was a rush of Kyuubi's energy, which turned his sword a vibrant orange. With another strike, he sent a wave of that chakra through not one... but six trees! "That was the barest breathe of your powers... with your full strength I'd be Kage level even now, not in skill but power. Damn you are epic, Fox!"
The Fox preened, he could literally see it. "Of course I am, but feel free to remind me of that as often as you can."
"You've earned it!" Naruto then collapsed to his knees, mostly, out of shock, as a wave of memories overtook him. "Damn, those Monks seem badass... but so complacenet. They never saw him, he was there for hours too... and he sensed no traces of negative emotions directed towards him. We could so easily get in there... and we will, tonight. We have to rush this, it sucks, but we have to get the scrolls in case Jiriaya makes us leave earlier then we want."
"Agreed. Set some clones to make your plans, then continue working on your sword play. I will work with your clones on this mission, I may not have experience with stealth but I am smart enough to notice where it might fail."
Naruto nodded, obeying without question.
"""
Twenty minutes before Naruto, the Real Naruto, went to bed, he pretened to go to the bathroom and created a clone which slipped out the window and into the night. This Clone didn't channel a drop of Kyuubi's power until they left town entirely and were safe. The moment they did, they felt their eyes burn red as they blasted at super human speeds, rushing the fastest path to the Monk's compound. They reached it in less then an hour, where they threw themselves over the edge of the wall with practiced ease. Kyuubi's dark emotion sensing came in real handy, allowing them to detect the lack of presence of anyone near them. They could sense guards, but they were spaced enouhg apart that no one noticed them.
Rushing, in disguise naturally, they blasted into the Main part of the compound, clinging to the ceiling as they rushed. Creating ten clones, they sent them throughout the compound, sneaking into various rooms and finding nothing... for the first twenty minutes. It was by pure accident that they found an unprotected library, where the clones congratated as once. The library was large, mostly books on meditation, history and their faith... but there was a section, paltary that it was, that was dedicated to sealing, taijutsu and jutsu.
The Naruto clones all let out a skyward fist pump before stripping it bare, sealing the knowledge into tattoos all over their bodies before it was time to leave. They had managed to pilfer twenty three books and scroll, no where near the full collection as the compound was only a satalite facility, but enough to give him a serious edge if he mastered the techniques within.
Everything was going great, the various clones scattering over the edge of the wall and into the night... and then it wasn't. A fist slammed past the Head Clone, he barely dodged out of the way, lashing out with a kick that sent his assailant flying. He threw himself back, just in time to see his attacker. The man was bald, with a particularly oval shaped head. He radiated fury, but in a controlled sort of way that he could barely sense even with Kyuubi's power. That alone was scary...
Like Azula taught him too, his eyes roamed over the man, taking in every feature and he came to realize many things. The man had been a part of the Gaurdian Shinobi twelve according to the sash he had, the man was standing with sheer confidence and elegance that came from power and skill and experience. And, far more importantly he was worth 30,000,000 ryo in the Bingo book as Naruto knew his face from Azula's insistence that he read up on the Bingo book. His name was Chiriku, and he was not to be trifled with, a powerful A Ranked Ninja!
Naruto, or rather this clone, stood no chance... but he didn't need to and immediately a bluff came to him. He started to laugh, a cold sound far too similar to Azula's for comfort. "So I was caught and here I was, sure your people were too niave to notice me."
"Oh they are, but I have experience against real criminals, like you. I know better then to ignore the signs. Your good, very good, so I had to adjust the seals on the walls and you were easy to find." The man smirked a little, settling into a stance. "Tell me, who are you? I would like to know before I turn you in to the Fire Lord."
Naruto laughed again. "I am the Crimson Fox, and I am merely doing as I was paid to do... but you need not worry about that, for we will never speak again." With that, The Naruto clone expanded his chakra and summoned ten clones before flipping over the wall and vanishing into the night. He felt his clones vanishing one by one, easily being torn apart by the far more powerful Ninja. Desperate, He summoned all of the residual chakra from the Fox, and blasted away to his training ground. Quickly, he sealed away his stolen good, before hopping away and poofing, just as Chiriku would have found him after having easily destroyed his clones.
As he vanished, the clones only thought was the hope that the real Naruto would find the stolen goods, the ones he and the various clones had hidden around the training ground before poofing away themselves...
"''
"Damn it, he got a way." Chiriku frowned, hating that his fellow monks had lost so much to an amaetur! " We need to bolster their training, this should not have gone undetected for so long... and to think that this isn't even a time of war. Sad..." Turning on heel, he shot away from the empty clearing and ran back towards the compound. "Why steal from us though, there are many villages... with far more to offer. We will need to keep an eye on this Crimsion Fox... I guess the Bingo Book will have an new entry in the coming days... he or she was not an amazing fighter, but they were skilled enough in evasion and had enough chakra to use a physical clone jutsu... perhaps they were merely young? That would explain their cockiness...
Yes... that would make sense. Perhaps I should contact Asuma, he would be able to get this into the Leaf's Bingo Book as well. It has been far too long since I had any communication with that bastard as it's been. Might as well get some use out of him."
""'
"That went well."
Naruto laughed as he, with the aid of several clones, gathered, the scrolls and books hidden around. "We got lucky, I need more combat skill and more observational skill. Had he actually hit my clone, all would have been over. I need to master more Taijutsu so I can actually hold my own against foes like that, and figure out what he noticed that allowed him to detect me."
"Lucky yes, but also skilled. Do not detract from your own successes, that helps no one." The Fox wisely stated. "We can work on stealth in a number of ways, but sneaking into Bandit camps, killing missing Ninjas and so on will only help... besides, I have a feeling you will be in the Bingo book soon enough, for breaking into the Monk's Compound. You can use that to mask what you are doing until you are ready to come clean to the Leaf."
"Perhaps I should make two identities then, I don't think the Leaf will protect me for stealing from the Monks they are allied to... no... the Crimison Fox will be for the less legal things, the more Leaf aligned things needs a new identity. Why we never considere this, I have no idea but we really should have before."
"A valid point. Perhaps something in honor of Azula, using monkish skills for stealing from the Monks and your Samuraiish skills for killing the Missing Ninja and Bandits."
"We will start in a month, after I master stuff from the Monks... as fun as it would be to have two seperate identities other then myself, the skills will blend wiether or not I like it... no, it would be best to stick to just the Crimison Fox and take the heat later. I need the bolstering skills from the Monk's scrolls master Taijutsu, sealing and Ninjutsu which will be used in my full form."
"Good point... life is complicated."
"It is, but since I plan on leaving the Leaf eventually, it won't matter what they say anyway... so... let's start with the Monk scrolls, shall we?" Naruto created twenty three clones and set them about to reading the scrolls, where as he set about to bettering his current style of Tai and Ken jutsu.
Hopefully, with these new additions, he would succeed in becoming something to be feared... and powerful enough to kick Sasuke's ass. It was the one promise he wanted to fulfill even if he no longer adored Sakura, seeing her for the abuser she was. He owed Sasuke for nearly killing him and that was enough... besides, Sasuke would be a good marker, what with his Sharingan, Cursed Seal and natural talent, for how powerful Naruto had become...
A stepping stool to see where Naruto needed to grow and where he was...
Helping to shape his own future once and for all.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a joy to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.