A/N: And now we have a new chapter.
Hopefully it's up to snuff.
…
[Hokage's Office, Konohagakure no Sato]
All was quiet as Team Seven surrounded their target, who was sitting in front of Hiruzen, after the debriefing of what had occurred in Training Ground 44.
Sasuke and Sakura levelled glares at Naruto…no doubt because of that jutsu he'd put them under. Sakura held onto his confiscated spear and knife, ready to impale him with it at a moment's notice, while Sasuke and Hanabi stood at the ready, no doubt to make short work of him if Naruto were to misbehave. Kakashi on the other hand, simply looked on at the boy in disbelief…no doubt with a sense of nostalgia, a sentiment of which Hiruzen shared.
Still, if the reports he'd been given by his minder had any merit, Naruto probably didn't even need his weapons, and was likely gathering chakra from the environment as they spoke; instant senjutsu chakra at the palm of his hand for jutsu that required no hand seals was an instant force-multiplier. Besides that, being able to summon the spirit of Ishihime, Inuzuka Tōboe's ninken, only served to muddy the waters further; after all, if he could resurrect a dog this way, what's to stop him from doing the same with legends like Senju Hashirama or his father Sarutobi Sasuke? And for that matter, if his teacher Sarkhan Vol was any indication, what's to stop him from summoning creatures and beings from other planes of existence?
Hiruzen would address these concerns, but the fact remained that he had to deal with what was in front of him.
"So how did you enjoy your tour of our village?" Hiruzen asked.
"Not bad," Naruto answered simply, "I heard a lot about it, though I wish I could've seen more."
"And you will…once you officially become a part of our village."
Upon hearing this, the collection of Shinobi and Kunoichi in the room looked at the Hokage as though he'd sprouted a second head. While Hanabi was shocked, Hiruzen thought he'd detected a measure of delight in the Hyūga girl's eyes.
"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious!" Sakura barked, "You're willing to make this…this…drifter into a Shinobi of this village?!"
"Technically, he was never originally a drifter to begin with," Hiruzen explained, belting out the cover-story he'd fed to the council, "In fact, he's supposed to be a dead Konoha citizen." The entire shinobi team was stunned into silence at the Hokage's remark. "He'd been kidnapped from the village at a very young age, but by the time we were able to catch up to his kidnappers, they'd already sold him off and we lost the trail. Naruto-kun may have gotten older, but there's no mistaking those whisker-marks."
"Honestly, I don't know what the truth is," Naruto answered, "All I know is that I was taken from this village when I was a baby, then I grew up with my master."
"You are also technically a born citizen of Konoha," Hiruzen noted, "The problem is that you're too old to be joining the Ninja Academy. That being said, the fact that you were able to take down Mizuki makes it clear that you're way past being a Genin-level shinobi…and if my grandson is to be believed, you also fought and defeated the Demon of the Hidden Mist himself. All things considered, I should be making you a Jōnin…with stipulations of course."
"What kind of stipulations?" asked Naruto.
"First off, I want you to hide the techniques you've learned while you were away from the village," began Hiruzen, continuing without a beat as Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I know you've probably gotten used to using whatever you've been learning under your master, and they may be better, but it would be best for everyone involved if you kept a low profile and didn't use them at all."
As Naruto remained silent, Hiruzen took it as his clue to continue. "You've been taught by your master to utilize Senjutsu without the use of hand seals; that alone would make you a priority target for assassination everywhere you go. That's assuming, of course, that the other nations are not interested in learning your teacher's methods."
Naruto sighed in frustration. "I know Ishihime clued me in on the whole summoning the dead thing, but this is the first time I've heard that my using magic is a big deal."
"Which leads to my second stipulation," Hiruzen added, "I know that you are capable of summoning the spirits of the dead, and I know Ishihime just clarified the matter with you before she went back to the afterlife, but I feel it bears repeating that you refrain from doing so in the future."
Naruto sighed as he reclined back in his seat. "And if I were to refuse those stipulations?"
"Well, we could very easily put you in the bingo book, and slap the highest price possible on your head," Hiruzen answered, "You see, nobody likes the idea of anybody with the power to potentially conquer the world single-handedly, much less a drifter that could summon an army of the dead at a moment's notice. But if you accept these conditions, I will guarantee that you'll have a safe haven, and legal travel documents so that you won't have to do whatever it is that you did to enter the village ever again."
Unimpressed with the threat he'd made earlier, Naruto leaned forward with his hands in front. "Y'know, I could very easily leave this plane of existence and never come back, but my master told me to explore this one before I go anywhere else. So I'm proposing a middle-ground: I'll be a Shinobi under your banner, and refrain from using the flashier spells I've got in my arsenal, sticking mostly to spells that are technically 'chakra flow jutsu.' If I do have to use them, then I'll make sure there's a very justifiable reason to do so."
As he thought of the arrangement, Hiruzen took a deep drag of his pipe before letting out a stream of smoke from his lips. "Fair enough. All that's needed now is the proper paperwork and to find the right team for you, and you're all set."
…
[Strixhaven University, Arcavios]
Grading homework assignments had its ups and downs.
For the woman in black, it meant that she had the opportunity to find some worthwhile talent to take under her wing…on the other hand, she'd had to deal with students that were dull, but acceptable. At the same time, she had to deal with the rare dullard that somehow found their way to an academy as prestigious as Strixhaven; they weren't exactly bright, but they were better than that goblin she'd heard about that kept shouting "Apply!" at the administrators.
It'd been a while since she'd last seen the young Planeswalker named Naruto, but she'd remember the time he spent in the Arcavios plane, particularly while he attended Strixhaven.
The first time they met, it was completely by accident; he was a first-year Lorehold student in the Biblioplex looking for books to borrow for an assignment, but she knew exactly what he really was. How could she not? He had the spark within him, along with a natural affinity for White mana…and yet the strange thing was that he also seemed to have an affinity for Red and (to a lesser extent) Black that didn't seem to be his own.
Naruto was an interesting soul; not terribly bright with his books, but she did see brilliance in him nonetheless when it came to more…practical applications of magic. Whenever he made his decisions, he was quick to weigh the risks against the rewards, a mentality that helped his team win quite a few Mage Tower matches, or whenever he took part in sparring matches in duels. High-risk, high-reward
She laughed when she remembered how he outwitted that bullying Silverquill student in the sparring matches and made him literally eat his words…words that were written on a six-page mid-term dissertation he'd threatened his classmate into writing for three days straight.
His exact words at the time were: "Now you can't say the dog ate your homework!"
She honestly had no idea what to make of the boy, but she did admit he had the pluck to stand up for the Silverquill girl that was being threatened by the bully. Apparently, he'd befriended her for quite some time, and the duel in question had taken place just three days after she'd been extorted. The boy got in trouble for that action (though Plargg was actually impressed with him for it), and were it not for the fact that the bully's actions had come to light, Naruto would have been expelled.
Indeed, Naruto wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, but he did have his own set of values: he was brave, loyal, determined, and very hard-working. There was also a sort of charisma about him that drew people towards him…possibly largely due to his earnest nature. In fact, he reminded her a lot of another person she knew of.
"Is he your reincarnation, Gideon?" she mused to herself, "The one to take up your sword?"
She had no idea what sort of things were in Naruto's future, nor did she know who his original teacher was, but the Kenrith twins were very good teachers on how to planeshift.
But if he were the second coming of Gideon Jura, then it would be interesting to hear the tales he'd tell of his own plane.
…
[Somewhere in Konoha]
A girl with her brown hair done up in buns sat at a large stump, dressed in a white long-sleeve and red pants. She had the build of a teen that was athletically-built for an even mix of speed, strength, and durability, but she had an agility in her hands when she tossed and caught a kunai by the handle. Agitation was written all over a face that was normally fairly genial.
Her companion was a dark-haired boy with his hitai-ate worn on his forehead, dressed in a white kimono top and trousers, with a dark gray apron around his waist. He bore no weapons, but he had the body of a trained and experienced fighter, and he had the stark white eyes of a Hyūga. His expression was a deadpan as he looked back at the girl, though the girl thought she'd felt a hint of smugness under his stone-faced expression.
"Don't you dare say it, Neji," she warned, "If I have to hear you saying how Lee getting injured was fated, I'm really gonna kick your ass."
"It really didn't need saying, Tenten," Neji replied.
"I know you didn't really like Lee that much, but he's still our teammate," Tenten reminded, "For better or worse, we're in this together, so I'd appreciate it if you'd ease up on him."
"I'm more concerned about the fresh face we're getting in our team," countered the Hyūga, "I'm hoping he won't hold us back."
Tenten sighed in frustration. With Lee still recovering from the last mission, that left them with one less person in the team; in all honesty, she did appreciate his enthusiasm and work ethic, but she wished he would tone it down whenever he needed to convalesce. Evidently, the doctors had to tie him to the bed to prevent him from training before they gave him the all-clear.
According to Gai-sensei, they were getting a new member to fill in for Lee in the interim; a newly-minted genin that was waiting for his own team to be formed.
"Well you'll never know until you meet the new guy," retorted a voice from the woods.
Looking at the speaker, Tenten was quick to spot a younger boy dressed in somewhat archaic-looking clothes sitting nearby. While most of his form was hidden under his baggy clothes, she could tell that he was pretty fit, with a body that seemed to suggest that he'd spent time as an athlete. He was easy on the eyes, looking through cerulean pools that complemented the short, spiky crop of yellow on top of his head, with whisker-marks on his cheeks that made him look like a fox that had reincarnated as a human.
"And what's it to you?" Neji challenged.
"Just saying, don't judge until you've really met him," replied the boy, walking towards them.
Neji snorted. "And what's the point? He's probably going to die for not being able to catch up."
The boy chuckled lightly. "You're certain of that?"
The Hyūga prodigy took a deep breath before blowing his tea cool. "It's a fact; all fates end the same way. No matter how you spin it, death will always be a guarantee, particularly in the work of a Shinobi. In the end, all that matters is death, and there is nothing that can change that fate or any fate for that matter."
Whatever the boy had to say was cut off when a well-muscled man with a black bowl cut stepped into the clearing wearing the standard flak jacket of the Konoha Jōnin over a green sweatsuit with orange leg warmers. Gai looked at the gathering of students that made up his team. "Good to see you all; and I see the two of you have met Lee's temporary replacement. So why don't we start with an introduction?"
"Uzumaki Naruto, newly-minted Genin," replied the boy, "Hope we get to know each other better after today."
"Since we've got a new teammate, I think now is a good time to break him in," Gai said, "So, I think it'd be youthful to start off with a sparring match so that we all get to know each other as fighters."
Tenten stood up, volunteering to be the newcomer's first opponent as she pulled out her weapons scroll; as soon as her eyes found the particular line she wanted to use, she found her opponent cutting off a bamboo stalk from the nearby grove with his knife and shortening it. He then took a thick wad of cotton, put it into a small bag he kept in his pocket before fastening it to one end of the pole with a tight knot. Being a weapons mistress, she was able to recognize what it was he was making.
"A spear?" she asked, almost teasingly as she summoned a pair of tonfa from her scroll, "Are you compensating for something?"
"Laugh all you want, but sometimes the old ways are just better," Naruto countered, sheathing his knife before twirling around his improvised training spear, "Besides, that's not the only weapon I know how to use. I'm assuming the first one to land a killing blow wins?"
"You know it," Tenten replied, spinning both tonfas in her hands so that the shorter ends were exposed, the longer ends guarding her forearms while Naruto raised the tip of his spear, his hold on the shaft loose to change grips when necessary.
The two of them were silent as they circled each other, waiting for the first move. As they waited, Tenten noted that there was a certain calm about her opponent; as if he were a lighthouse standing tall in the eye of a raging storm. She initiated the fight by charging in with her guard up, hoping to get within the spear's long reach only to be tripped up from a quick swing to her ankle mid-step, before vanishing in a puff of smoke from a recovery swing aimed at her neck. As she recovered, she vanished in another puff of smoke upon contact with the spear, and in her place was a thick log that was pushed away in midair with a thrust. She reappeared behind Naruto, rushing him while spinning her tonfas in preparation to strike him in the head only to be forced back as he turned around, swinging his spear as he did so, forcing her to block the shaft with both tonfas.
As she landed, she watched as Naruto twirled around the spear with no shortage of dexterity, effectively creating a 244-centimeter barrier around him before moving in for the counterassault, leaving her no time to set up another Kawarimi no Jutsu much less escape. With every blow she evaded and deflected, Tenten was able to note that his technique was good, using harassing cuts and the odd butt-strike to set her up for the more definitive strikes with the tip. She was so focused on the deluge of thrusts and slashes coming at her that she did not expect him to charge in, push her back with the shaft, sweep her legs from behind, and have her landing on her ass. The next thing she knew, she found the tip of his spear pointing down at the junction where her clavicles met her sternum; if it were a real spear, a single thrust was all it would've taken to pierce her heart.
It was her loss.
"I'll be honest, I never fought a tonfa-wielder before," Naruto said, moving his spear away to offer his hand, "You were pretty good at keeping up, though I think the reach of my weapon gave me the edge."
"To be fair, the tonfa wasn't my best weapon anyway," Tenten replied, accepting his hand before being pulled up, "Where'd you learn to use a spear like that?"
"My master taught me," Naruto answered, "He preferred to use jutsu and was a pretty decent swordsman, but I think he was really at his best with a spear. Me? I prefer to take my fights a little closer."
"It won't matter what weapon you use against me," said Neji, standing up to challenge, "You are fated to lose against me."
Naruto was silent as he neared his opponent. "This is a sparring match, Neji," Gai reminded, "If you use chakra for anything beyond your Byakugan, you are joining Lee in the hospital ward."
"Don't worry, Gai-sensei," Neji assured, cracking his knuckles, "I don't need to add chakra in order to show him the futility of fighting fate."
"If you're so confident you're gonna beat me, why don't we make a bet?" Naruto challenged, twirling his training spear lightly before planting the butt into the ground.
Neji smirked. "Intriguing; what's the game?"
"The loser has to wear women's clothing for a full week, makeup and all. In that time, they also have to donate a portion of their paycheck to charity; not all of it, but they still have to donate."
Tenten ruminated on the idea of Neji wearing women's clothing…the image seemed to be equal parts humorous and arousing. Naruto in drag was not too far off, though he seemed to be more on the spunky and adorable side of the equation. Either way, the charities were going to benefit from this bet for a week.
"Fair enough," Neji replied, "But just so you know, my Jūken makes it such that a single touch is all I need to kill you; all I need to win this is to touch you in the vitals in order to win."
"Remember, we have two witnesses, so we can't call off this bet," Naruto warned, twirling his spear into position, "You break your word, and I'll make your life hell."
Neji said nothing, and instead raised his hands. Tenten could see the confidence in his stance, ready to strike at a moment's notice, his feet planted to the ground. There was no doubt in her mind that Neji had been watching their sparring match intently, watching for any openings and tells to exploit; she'd been fighting alongside the Hyūga prodigy long enough to know that the odds were stacked against their temporary member. At the end of the day, it was going to be a battle between Neji's mastery of close-contact Jūken versus Naruto's reach advantage with his sōjutsu.
Naruto would initiate the fight with a quick jab of his spear, which was parried by Neji, who was forced to block an attempt to slash at his abdomen, followed by a third jab at his chest. All his attacks from then on were quick and light, as if to see what worked and what didn't, probing and prodding as he circled around her colleague to see if there were any weak spots to Neji's defense. At the same time, Neji was able to keep up the defense, parrying, blocking, even evading some of his attacks; all throughout, he'd been standing his ground.
"Oh he knows what he's doing," Gai noted, getting Tenten's attention, "No fancy flourish, just lots of quick, but still lethal slashes and thrusts combined with fast footwork—if one of them hits, he wins; if it doesn't, he finds another way to attack. With his dignity and paycheck on the line, and the fact that he's never fought Neji before, my guess is that he's saving his fancier moves for when he sees an opportunity to go all-in. That being said, he's keeping up fairly well with Neji; by and large, Neji's still much faster, but he's no slouch either."
The tide of the battle changed when instead of directly attacking his opponent, Naruto aimed his spear at the ground and stabbed at Neji's feet, forcing the Hyūga prodigy to raise a leg to avoid the attack, before being forced to hop over a leg sweep aimed at his ankle. He was barely able to deflect a thrust aimed at his chest in midair, this one heavier than the previous ones given how close the tip was to his sternum. As soon as he landed, Naruto doubled back to deliver another stab at Neji's chest, which he deflected before forcing his opponent to dance as he attacked at his legs while taking an opportunity to jab at every opening made.
"Attacking his footwork, a very good way to defeat a Hyūga," Gai mused, "Looks like he's discovered that Neji's not just going to present him with an opening…so he's trying to make an opening."
Neji leaped over a stab at his leg, stomping on the shaft of the training spear to break it before Naruto could pull it back. As he approached, Naruto shifted his grip so that his hands were close to the broken end of the spear with enough space in between both to accommodate a third hand, and swung at his abdomen, forcing Neji back. Seeing the opportunity to press the attack, Neji charged in after Naruto as he recovered; as he defended, his swings were quicker, more aggressive, but still methodical even as he evaded and parried counter-blows from his opponent. The weapon was different, but it was more than clear to Tenten that Naruto was a brute force-style swordsman.
The fight could only be described as a battle between gods of war as the two combatants tried to evade attacks while trying to land decisive blows on each other. It was clear that Neji was by and large the better fighter, but Naruto was doing everything in his power to try and compensate by outwitting him. As the two fighters broke off from each other, they both charged in; Neji was faster, but Naruto was able to push him back with a thrust before swinging down on Neji at the same time he was nailed in the shoulder.
It was a tie.
"I've got you," he said with a smirk.
"Yeah, but I've also got you," Naruto reminded, his eyes motioning towards the improvised sword.
Even if Neji struck Naruto's shoulder first, he still had to deal with the fact that the shaft would have hit him at the junction where the shoulder met his neck. Had he used a proper sword, Naruto would have cut him down instantly, but the improvised club would still have done quite a bit of damage; even if the strike didn't paralyze him from the neck down, his arm would still be out of commission.
"I learned pretty quickly that I wouldn't win a close-up fight against you," Naruto explained, "So I figured, what the hell, might as well give it my best shot."
"Since this match has ended in a draw, I would have to say that the bet is null and void," Gai responded, "I'm impressed though, even though Neji negated your reach advantage, you still made the best out of the situation. Clever."
"I had pretty good teachers."
Gai let out a 'hn' of approval as he offered his hand to shake. "Perhaps I could meet these teachers of yours one day. In any case, welcome to the team, even if it's temporary."
"I'll be in your care," Naruto replied, shaking his hand.
…
[Unknown Location]
At a small tea house by the road, a traveler sat at a table. Much was hidden under a thick-brimmed sando-gasa and a cotton haori, but the form underneath was very clearly feminine. Her delicate features, pale skin, and ebon hair that were complemented with rosy lips gave the impression of a Yuki-onna that was traveling incognito.
Haku had been following the trail for several days now; her target had quite a headstart on her to vanish. From what she'd understood, her target was heading to Konoha after getting proper directions and a lift. As she sat at the tea house, she began to contemplate the events that had happened not too long ago.
On their first encounter, he defeated Zabuza in a fierce battle. It was by no means an easy fight for either of them, but she was able to see that the two of them were evenly matched, though much of it could be attributed to the different weapons they each used at the time. The fact that his vision was impaired by mist did not seem to do much to hamper his ability to avoid danger, though the slight hesitation in his movements implied that it was mostly due to intuition and luck.
Then there were those strange jutsu he was using throughout the fight; he didn't even need to form a single hand seal, and yet he was flinging lightning bolts and small fireballs with little trouble. Besides the speed at which he was casting them, this stranger's jutsu seemed different somehow; almost as if they were intuitive. However he was able to do it, the stranger was able to fire them off while still keeping up with Zabuza.
In the end, a single mistake was all it took to nearly impale his opponent, forcing her to put Zabuza in a state of near-death, and explaining herself as a kunoichi that had been hunting Zabuza down for a long time. When asked why she wasn't helping him in the fight, she was able to convince him that she was waiting for an opportune moment to strike…though she had a feeling he was far from convinced, she was able to get away without any incident.
On the second encounter, she'd met him personally while looking for medicines for Zabuza - at the time, he was cleaning and sharpening his weapons. He introduced himself as Naruto, and that he was on a mission to protect a very important woman in the village…and that he'd been fighting off Gatō's army of thugs. Eventually, she would ask if he had anyone he wanted to protect: he admitted that he had nobody that close to his heart, and that the person he originally wanted to protect was far too powerful for him to do so. When he asked her the reason for her question, she disclosed to him her belief that people were stronger when they had someone to protect.
Not necessarily disagreeing, he would in turn share his belief that every life was a story waiting to be told, death was guaranteed to be at the end of each one, and that until then, everyone was responsible for living their own stories. In his eyes, nobody was truly dead so long as their stories were still being told; because of this, he fought because wanted to live and tell those stories one day, and for his story to be told for generations. He would in turn ask if the one she wanted to protect would tell her story when she was gone.
"What if he won't tell my story?" she remembered asking, "What if he's willing to forget me when all is done?"
"I don't mean this as an offense, but he's probably not worth protecting," he answered, "On the other hand, if he's this close to your heart and you are to his, then there's a good chance he will still tell your story…maybe not to anyone else, but at least to himself."
She would leave the area, thinking about her life on the way back to the safe house…how her own father murdered her mother, and was about to join the village in killing her. She remembered how she killed her own attackers in self-defense, and the dark thoughts that followed, up until her encounter with her benefactor. Throughout her life, her story was intertwined with his for so long that it made her wonder if she had any say in her own story; if she'd been letting him tell her story for her.
On the third encounter, using what they'd learned about the stranger, they initially had the advantage; she was initially able to hamper Naruto's footwork, while giving Zabuza openings to try for definitive blows. Eventually, he would even the odds by using one of his strange jutsu to send her to a strange location; she didn't know where she was or how long she'd been there, she just knew that she was unable to help Zabuza. After she returned, she learned the result of their battle as soon as she found Zabuza cut down and Naruto nowhere to be found…no doubt to take out that sleazy rat Gatō. Zabuza used what was left of his life to make her swear off vengeance as he'd lost the duel fair and square, and to tell her that it was time for her to live her own life…to tell her own story.
She didn't know what she was going to do when she found Naruto; and at the moment, she didn't care. She just wanted to find him so that she could confront him…
…or perhaps to write her story with him.
…
A/N:
And there you have it. The chapter's done.
No word on Naruto's team yet, but suffice to say, he will only temporarily be working with Team Gai for a few missions until Lee recovers.
I give credit to ravenking64 for every bit of assistance throughout the chapter.
…
Translations:
Tōboe: The name means "howl" (遠吠え).
…
Cards used:
Banishing Light (2)(White)—Enchantment—When Banishing Light enters the battlefield, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until Banishing Light leaves the battlefield. (That permanent returns under its owner's control.)