Kakashi was beyond proud, all three of his genin had made it to the finals. Even Sakura had managed to get there. Despite his joy there was a slight problem, as soon as they left the tower all three had asked him to train them.
"You guys have been fine without Kakashi-sensei giving you extra training, my opponent will kill me if I don't get some real jonin training!" Sakura was surprisingly not just going along with what Sasuke wanted, Kakashi was a little offended that she didn't consider teamwork drills real training.
"Dosu Kinuta? That guy is a push over, my opponent will kill both of us if Kakashi doesn't teach me an assassination ninjutsu." Sasuke was alarmingly direct about what he wanted, but at least he was showing some concern for his teammates now. The copy nin wasn't sure whether or not to be proud yet.
"Teach me an awesome kickass ninjutsu to kick Neji's ass!" Naruto was as simple and direct as ever in his demands.
Kakashi was an elite, and he swiftly thought of a way to deal with this, "Naruto-kun, you already know awesome ninjutsu that can defeat Neji." he said, "Sakura-chan I'll get you a tokubetsu jonin who specializes in advanced training." Ebisu owed him a favour anyway, "Sasuke-kun, honestly yeah fair enough Gaara will probably kill you." he finished. Sasuke looked awfully smug about the fact that another genin would apparently easily kill him.
Naruto was stunned, Kakashi thought Neji didn't stand a chance against him. The blonde boy wasn't used to being praised like that, then he realized Sasuke was getting personal training and glared at the Uchiha who continued to look smug. Surprisingly Sakura was glaring too.
"Haku-chan, buy me training weights." Naruto demanded, pulling out his wallet. Haku saw this coming and accepted the wallet, glad Naruto apparently wasn't coming so he couldn't demand the heaviest weights he could afford.
"Where should I find you, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, happy to help Naruto get closer to achieving his dream. Karin frowned at the exchange, having forgotten that Naruto could technically order Haku around, the young girl did find it odd how pleased Haku seemed to be at getting ordered around.
Sakura wasn't happy about being palmed off to some other jonin, she wanted Kakashi-sensei. She knew damn well he was stronger than he liked to act, she'd seem him get serious against Zabuza. That should have been her wake up call but it just didn't click until now that she should be getting stronger than she was.
Ebisu was thankfully a good personal trainer, helping her refine her basics and bring all her skills up to a more acceptable and well rounded level. She even got him to teach her some basic genjutsu, so Sakura could only hope it would be enough.
Before Kakashi left with Sasuke he stopped Naruto, "I can't promise anything, but a great Sennin is actually in the village, check by the hot springs if you think you can convince someone like that to train you." the man told his student, intentionally leaving out any details about who it was.
Then Kakashi took off to train Sasuke, which seemed like a good idea at the time, he worked himself to exhaustion and trained hard. There was just one problem with training Sasuke.
"Teach me Hachimon." Sasuke demanded, he demanded a lot. The boy wanted to get stronger, that much was obvious.
"Absolutely not." Kakashi wasn't having it, "I'm teaching you an A rank assasination ninjutsu that I developed. I'm not teaching you how to tear your body apart while doing it."
"Some last minute weight training isn't going to be enough to land it on that guy, you saw them fight." Sasuke had a good point there.
"Sasuke-kun, I am teaching you a Raiton no Jutsu, Gaara's sand seems to be Doton in some way so the Chidori should cut through his defenses." Kakashi explained, "I'm not trying to get you fast enough that taijutsu alone could touch Gaara, I'm trying to get you fast enough to keep up with your eyes and avoid dying since that is the only way you'll be fast enough to perform this ninjutsu." he lectured, Sasuke didn't look happy about it.
Naruto practiced the Gokakyu no Jutsu he'd copied from Sasuke back in the forest while waiting for Haku in the training grounds they usually used. He was frustrated because he still hadn't gotten it, ever since he saw Kakashi using it he thought the dojutsu were practically cheating at being a ninja.
The more he practiced the Katon no Jutsu the more he appreciated Kakashi had apparently copied a thousand ninjutsu. So far his efforts on this one were slow going, he'd released a bunch of chakra infused breath, some of it hot, but no flame yet.
"Naruto-kun, I have your weights." Haku announced his arrival, the blonde was there instantly and took the weights eagerly to strap them to his legs.
"Thanks, Haku-chan!" Naruto said gratefully as he covered the weights with the leg warmers Haku had gotten him, leg warmers suspiciously similar in design to the arm warmers that Zabuza had worn. If Naruto noticed the similarity he didn't say anything.
"You said you wanted to teach me a ninjutsu, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked curiously, the blonde jumped up with a wide grin.
"I saw a Futon no Jutsu with Sasuke's eye!" Naruto explained and Haku was confused, "The seals were dog, horse, then bird. I saw him build up chakra in his lungs and expelled it, so I did the same and it worked!" the blonde was excited and Haku realized that Naruto was talking about the ability to copy ninjutsu that the Sharingan contained.
So Haku practiced with Naruto for a bit, the blonde was annoyed when the older boy figured out Toppa before he figured out Gokakyu. Haku was impressed that Naruto was already trying to learn a third element. Haku knew three now too but his affinity was special, they didn't even know what Naruto's affinity was although the former mercenary assumed it was probably Futon no Jutsu.
"Oh yeah, Kakashi-sensei said there was a Sennin at the hot springs." Naruto said suddenly towards the end of training. Haku had no idea if that was Kakashi's way of getting the boy to relax or if he planned on teasing Haku somehow. The older shinobi considered that Naruto was just trying to get him to go to the hot springs and dismissed the idea, the blonde was sadly too innocent and honest for such a plan.
"Well then we should go to the hot springs." Haku said with eagerness that Naruto assumed had to do with meeting someone venerable enough to be considered Sennin.
Haku had insisted that he and Naruto enjoy the hot spring for what it was while looking for the Sennin, as the man likely was relaxing himself and being approached directly for training would be impolite. So Naruto was dressed in a towel around his waist, as was Haku.
Naruto tried not to consider that Haku being bare chested was uncomfortable, even with the older boys long black hair covering his nipples that the blonde was trying very hard not to think about. The Uzumaki took the first distraction he could, becoming annoyed at some fully clothed old man being the only one here and presumably the Sennin. The man had long white hair in a ponytail, a short green kimono with matching pants, a red haori, wooden sandals, arm guards, mesh armor, and had a large scroll.
"Look, Haku-chan, he has clothes on and everything, we didn't have to get naked at all!" Naruto exclaimed, catching the attention of the man he was pointing at and revealing a strange forehead protector with the kanji for 'oil' on it, red lines under his eyes, and a wart on the left side of his nose.
"Naruto-kun that man is clearly not bathing." Haku said in a disapproving tone which got the attention of the man even more, "I don't think he's the Sennin anyway, we should just enjoy the water and wait."
"Hold up now!" The old man spoke, approaching the two boys, "I'll have you know I am the gallant Jiraiya! Gama Sennin of Mount Myoboku!" he introduced while doing kabuki poses.
Haku found it hard to believe, "You were just peeping on the other side of the baths." he pointed out. Jiraiya could tell the pretty boy was a boy but somehow he looked like a girl even with a shirt off, the Sennin was glad he could tell, that would be embarrassing if he got tricked by the classic crossdressing pretty boy bit at his age.
"You're a pervert." Naruto agreed with a nod.
Jiraiya frowned, "I'm not a mere pervert, I am a super pervert!" he corrected with a grin.
Haku stared at the man with disillusioned eyes, "Naruto-kun I don't think you should ask him to train you." the boy said. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that and watched to see how the blonde would react.
"Aw man, I wanted to learn Senjutsu or something." Naruto was clearly disappointed, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at that which earned him a scowl from the blonde.
"Kid, you are one hundred years too early to be learning Senjutsu." Jiraiya mocked.
"I am not! I'll prove it!" Naruto challenged angrily.
Jiraiya smirked, "Prove it, huh? Alright, perform three Seishitsu Henka," he began with a sly grin, "of three different elements." he finished only to be surprised at the blonde boy grinning back.
"You'll teach me a cool Senjutsu if I can, right?" Naruto asked with such confidence that the Gama Sennin hesitated a moment.
"Look kid, Senpo isn't something you can learn in a day, a month, or even a year. It could take a long time," Jiraiya began his excuse, "but if you can actually do three different forms of Seishitsu Henka then I'll start your training tomorrow." the man finished with a shrug. Haku didn't look happy about that but allowed Naruto to decide.
Naruto decided to show off and walked onto the surface of the hot springs water. The blonde created a mizu bunshin then launched a Gokakyu into the air, it was small but the bunshin enhanced with a Toppa. Jiraiya was stunned at the ball of fire turning to steam in the hot springs water, most shinobi struggled to master two elements as jonin, there was a reason most people specialized. This one eyed blonde kid already knew three, he wasn't a master by any means but it was still impressive.
You call that a Katon no Jutsu?" Jiraiya asked, deciding not to make it easy, "It was barely a flame until your Toppa kicked it up, you're lucky the Futon no Jutsu didn't just extinguish it." the old man said as Naruto glared.
"I still did it!" Naruto insisted, "It's a work in progress I only learned it recently!" the young boy excused, Haku nodded in agreement since he thought Naruto was doing quite well.
"Who thought it was a good idea to teach you that anyway?" Jiraiya asked, watching Haku out of the corner of his eye, "You clearly haven't mastered chakra control or the other two forms of Seishitsu Hensha you used, your Suiton is a little slow to form and your Futon wastes excess chakra." he lectured to Naruto's dismay and chagrin.
"Haku-chan taught me Suiton no Jutsu, I stole the other two." Naruto said, causing Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow, both at the honorific that he'd assumed he'd misheard earlier and the part about stealing ninjutsu, then Naruto opened his left eye and Jiraiya understood.
"What the hell are you doing with one of those?" Jiraiya was stunned, he hadn't heard of anything lethal happening to the last Uchiha in Konoha, he'd heard they fought Orochimaru in the forest and lived.
"Sasuke gave it to me so we could fight some snake summoning bastard, he also wants me to help him with something using it in the future but he didn't say what." Naruto explained simply with a shrug as he closed his left eye over the dojutsu again. Jiraiya was surprised by this information, no one expected an Uchiha to give up one of their precious eyes even with living proof it could be done in Kakashi.
"Alright," Jiraiya said finally, "on one condition I'll teach you." he said and Naruto grinned while Haku gave him a wary look, "Bring me proof you understand the female form!" the old man demanded and Haku just looked disappointed, to both their surprise Naruto grinned.
"Oiroke no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed, concealing himself with a burst of chakra smoke, Jiraiya was confused since the boy had just poured a bunch of chakra into what he was pretty sure was a henge and Haku just blinked owlishly at the name. When the smoke cleared in Naruto's place stood a teen girl that was very clearly just a more feminine and older Naruto with long hair in twin tails and an incredibly sexual figure, with a thin waist, wide hips, and bouncy breasts.
Haku was shocked and worried he'd had some influence on the young blonde he hadn't realized. Jiraiya thought it was a shame that the smoke covered the naughty bits but was still stunned at the jutsu, "Very nice!" the old man praised which earned him a glare from Haku, "I will teach you as long as you remain in that form in front of me." he bargained and Haku glared harder.
Naruto looked a mix of impressed and annoyed, "Damn it, I thought for sure that jutsu would get you, it's an instant kill against perverts!" he groused as he transformed back into a twelve year old boy. Haku was relieved that Naruto developed that technique without his influence but concerned that he developed it at all, "It even worked on Hokage-jiji." the blonde added and Haku applied his face to the palms of his hands in mortification.
Jiraiya just laughed, "I am a super pervert after all!" he exclaimed proudly, "Well you managed to do as I asked, and I promised to train you if you somehow did," the old man began, "but the sun is starting to set so let me just see how you mold chakra before I go and we'll I'll show you an ace ninjutsu tomorrow." he finished and Naruto nodded eagerly, making a hand seal and gathering chakra.
Jiraiya crouched down and watched as the boy focused, more interested in the sealing array forming on the young boys navel than the visible chakra the boy was giving off. The man was pleased to see the seal was still intact and unaltered as he traced his fingers lightly over the seal work.
"That tickles, old man." Naruto said, trying not to laugh or lose his focus. Jiraiya was about to respond when he felt the killing intent and looked to the source to see Haku giving him an icy glare, given how it looked the disgust and anger were expected but the old man thought it was funny that there was a hint of jealousy to the anger.
Jiraiya decided to add some teasing to his excuse, "Relax, pretty boy," he told Haku smoothly as he stood up, "I'm just getting a feel for how his chakra moves, I'm not a sensor type so I can't do it without getting close while he gathers it." the man lied smoother than butter, "I'm not trying to defile your territory or anything." he added with a grin and Haku went from indignant to flustered in an instant. Naruto didn't seem to get it.
After Jiraiya left the two boys Haku convinced Naruto to enjoy the hot springs since they were there anyway. Haku insisted his red cheeks were due to the heat of the water as he and the blonde relaxed in the water.
"This is actually nice," Naruto said as he lazed in the hot water, "we should do this after training more often." he added with a grin as the hot water soak relaxed his muscles. Haku nodded, intending on giving a hum of agreement only for his voice to betray him.
The moan of content that came from Haku had both boys blushing and trying not to look at each other, it was as girly as it was sensual so Haku was mortified. Naruto shakily glanced first since he didn't even know Haku could make that noise, the blonde confirmed that Haku was the only one there as Haku sank deeper into the water in an attempt to reduce visibility and pretend he hadn't just made that kind of noise.
Karin was surprised when Naruto and Haku got home in the evening, the two boys were blushing and not looking at each other. The red head tried to figure them out, well she'd been trying to figure them out anyway but still. Due to being a sensor she usually judged based on how chakra made her feel, which she suspects is why she grew attached to her blonde family member so quickly.
Naruto's chakra was bright, it dazzled and calmed. The red chakra scared her like nothing else, it felt evil and angry and violent. In a word, the red chakra was toxic, but it wasn't always there, without it Naruto's chakra was just relaxing.
Haku was cold, and his chakra felt oddly soft. Karin could tell he was stronger than her but she still felt relatively safe around him.
The two boys weren't just avoiding each others gazes, they were avoiding looking at each other entirely and Karin could tell they were embarrassed, "Where were you two?" she decided to probe, she assumed training.
"Naruto-kun was looking for someone at the hot springs." Haku answered, hesitating on the final words. Karin raised an eyebrow.
"Haku-chan insisted we get naked." Naruto added and Karin raised both eyebrows. Haku didn't deny it and Karin's jaw dropped.
"Oh my," Karin said with a sudden mischievous grin that convinced Haku the red head and the blonde were definitely related by blood, "so you two finally-?" she began, much to the horror of the two boys.
"We bathed!" Haku insisted hotly as Naruto desperately looked for a distraction.
"Uh, who was sleeping on the couch?" Naruto asked, pointing at the pillow and blanket on the furniture.
"Haku-kun," Karin said simply, "he gave me the bed while you were gone," the red head explained, remembering that Haku had mentioned they'd have to deal with Naruto when the blonde got back, which made sense since yeah, they clearly needed a bigger living space, "why?" she asked.
Naruto seemed confused for a moment, swiftly getting over the fact Karin was living with him since she was family and family lived together, "Why didn't you both just use the bed?" he asked and Haku knew what was coming.
"Naruto-nii, I am not sharing your bed with an older boy," Karin began, choosing her words carefully, intending on teasing Naruto by calling Haku his girlfriend again.
"Why not? Haku-chan and I share the bed." Naruto interrupted, Haku wasn't even embarrassed by that one anymore and Karin noticed that neither boy had any embarrassment about that.
The red head decided to put a stop to that, "Haku!" Karin said hotly, startling the boys, "You should have given me the couch, I don't want to sleep where you and Naruto did that!" she accused and Haku sputtered.
"Did what?" Naruto asked obliviously.
"Sleep!" Haku insisted, "We sleep there." he was very insistent on this point. Naruto didn't get it and Karin was trying not to laugh.
"Well anyway, Naruto-nii," Karin decided to alter the topic to spare Haku explaining what people thought he and Naruto did when they slept together, "Haku-kun and I went apartment hunting while you were stuck in that tower, we found a three bedroom one that you should be able to afford since Hokage-sama set up a small supplement stipend to help take care of me until I can find some kind of work." she explained.
Naruto frowned, "Why can't you just do missions?" he asked, clearly confused.
"I'm on a probationary period of three years, I won't be allowed to become a genin of Konohagakure no Sato until I'm fifteen." Karin explained with a shrug, "It's for the best, Kusa needs some time to forget me, so I should stay out of public eye too, especially with a bunch of people in town for the finals."
"Damn," Naruto made it sound like not being allowed to be a ninja was the worst thing he could imagine, "well anyway I don't want three bedrooms." he added, surprising the other two.
Haku suspected he knew why but it was Karin who spoke up, "Why not?" the red head asked with that mischievous grin. Naruto blanked on an answer as for once he thought before he spoke and blushed bright red.
Karin noticed this, "Oh right, sorry, Naruto-nii," she said in a teasing tone, "I forgot you'd want to sleep with your girlfriend." she finished with a wide and innocent smile. Haku thought it was cruelest smile he'd ever seen, he also didn't bother pointing out that he was male which made him wonder if he was getting too used to being called a girlfriend.
Naruto had enough denial for both of them anyway, "Haku-chan is not my girlfriend!" he insisted and Haku nodded in agreement.
"Why not?" Karin asked sweetly, enjoying the way both boys stopped as if startled by the question. Haku actually glanced at Naruto as if the answer worried him and didn't give an answer of his own.
Naruto didn't look certain, "Haku-chan isn't a girl." he decided after a moment, Haku nodded with agreement seeming fine with that answer.
"So?" Karin asked with a sly grin, "Haku-kun sure looks like a girl. I bet if you walked into the first phase of the exam with him on your arm you'd have been the envy of every male genin in that room." she added, teasing Haku in particular with that one. The pale boy was red in the face again and giving her an annoyed glare.
Naruto frowned but didn't disagree, he was trying to find a way to disagree without lying since figured the other Uzumaki was right, "Well, Haku-chan is a guy," he decided to fall back on all he had, "and we're not gay." he finished with a firm nod. Haku didn't disagree but he didn't nod in agreement either, which Karin definitely noticed.
The red haired girl was still grinning in amusement at the two, "But Naruto-nii," she began in an innocent tone, "it's not gay if he looks like a girl." she lied with a smile as the two boys struggled to come up with a response to that.
The next day, after Karin convinced Naruto to let her sleep on the couch, which was no easy feat, the red head went apartment hunting again while Naruto and Haku went to look for the Sennin that Naruto had somehow convinced to train him.
They were sketchy on the details of how this had occurred, but Karin figured it was probably some secret test of character or riddle they weren't allowed to give the answer to and promised to find a nice two bedroom place. She was pleased that still made the boys blush, although she was also glad she hadn't heard the bed moving last night. Just because she teased them didn't mean she wanted to know about if they did actually get over their nerves and denial.
Jiraiya looked at the two boys in front of him at the training ground, and he had to admit if he didn't already know the dark haired young teen was a boy he'd almost believe he was a girl. The Sennin was pretty sure he'd be able to tell, but without prior knowledge the choker and clothing obscured what little masculinity the pretty boy next to Naruto had.
The old man decided to be direct, "I said I'd train Naruto, I didn't agree to train you." he told Haku simply. Haku nodded in understanding as Naruto frowned.
"I understand, but as the vassal of Naruto-kun I would like to watch over him while you train." Haku said politely with a bow, impressing the old pervert who was pretty sure the boy didn't like him.
"Alright, it's not like you can copy this anyway," Jiraiya said with a shrug as he pulled the scroll off his back and unfurled it, "this is a Kuchiyose contract." the man began, "Sign your name in blood and you'll be able to use Kuchiyose no Jutsu to pull toads from Mount Myoboku." he explained. Haku noticed that one of the signed names was Jiraiya, but the one next to that was Minato Namikaze, the boy felt that name was familiar, like he'd seen it in a bingo book years ago before Zabuza threw it out.
Naruto eagerly signed his name and left five bloody fingerprints, "Now what!?" he asked eagerly, Haku supposed Naruto did like toads, going by the toad shaped wallet the boy used.
"The seals are boar, dog, bird, monkey, then ram. You need to mix some blood with your chakra and then put your palm and blood on the ground to Kuchiyose, the more chakra the bigger and stronger the toad. Eventually you'll get the hang of calling specific toads." Jiraiya explained before biting his thumb and giving a demonstration, summoning a toad big enough to sit on with two large swords strapped to its back, "Seriously though, Haku, don't try this without a contract." he warned and Haku nodded.
"Can you sign contracts with people?" Naruto asked suddenly, Jiraiya was surprised but nodded, it was possible, "So I could kuchiyose Haku-chan?" he asked and Haku wasn't even sure why he was embarrassed by that.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the question, "It's possible but contracts are a form of Fuinjutsu, you'd have to learn it to write one up between two people." he explained, "Anyway stick to toads for now."
Naruto nodded, bit his thumb open and tried out the Kuchiyose no Jutsu for the first time. He summoned a tadpole. Jiraiya tried not to make fun of the kid, but couldn't help himself.
Karin found a nice enough place that advertised an okay price, and found Naruto and Haku on their way to Ichiraku. The blonde looked frustrated, so the training probably hadn't gone great.
"Hey," Karin greeted as she approached them, "I found a place that should be affordable, but Naruto-nii should negotiate since everything will be in his name." she said, it was his money after all. Haku didn't seem to like the idea, which the red head found odd.
"Can't I just get Haku-chan to negotiate?" Naruto asked, "He does all the shopping anyway." the boy added and Karin assumed Naruto just trusted Haku that much and would rather train.
"Unfortunately, you have to sign the lease when it comes to this sort of thing, Naruto-kun," Haku interjected, "this isn't just groceries." he pointed out, Naruto didn't like it but agreed to go sign the lease.
Karin lead them to the landlord of the apartment she'd found and didn't appreciate the look he gave her blonde family. Haku was staring sternly at the man as if daring him to speak out against Naruto.
The blonde himself seemed unperturbed, "Karin-neechan tells me you're renting out a place with two bedrooms?" Naruto asked, arms crossed over his chest in what he assumed was a confident negotiating stance, the landlord just thought he looked rude.
The landlord was an old man with brown hair and was dressed in red pajamas, "She didn't mention you were her brother." the old man groused, Karin frowned in confusion and Naruto didn't respond.
Haku did with an icy stare, "Why would you not serve, Uzumaki-sama?" he asked which confused Karin and Naruto, "Although he is only genin he has completed two A rank missions and more D ranks than I am personally aware of, I as his vassal have completed D rank missions for this village in his name," the dark haired teen explained as he stared down the old man, "further he has reached the third phase of the exams. I am confident his performance will bring more customers to the village, increasing the prosperity of Konohagakure no Sato and granting him ample opportunity to make enough money to pay the rent you ask."
Naruto and Karin were stunned at the speech, the old landlord just looked annoyed, "Fine," he groused, "but I'm not going a damn digit under the advertised rent!" the old man insisted, giving the blonde a lease to sign. Haku nodded in agreement and Naruto signed it. Karin wanted to negotiate a better price but the way the man acted she felt like it was a bad idea.
Karin wondered why the old man didn't like Naruto, the blonde genin was usually bright and cheerful.
Naruto practiced Kuchiyose no Jutsu every day, and the best he got was a tadpole with legs. Haku supposed that chakra control was required to ensure most of your chakra actually went into the jutsu, the blonde still had poor chakra control, he'd learned to walk on water by now at least.
Jiraiya kept glancing at Haku like he didn't want the pale teen around, "Oi, Naruto, listen, there might be something else I can teach you." he said hesitantly. Naruto perked up at that, "It might help you kuchiyose an actual toad, but I can't discuss it in front of others.
Haku figured the old man was talking about him, "Haku-chan won't steal it unless I tell him to." Naruto insisted and the older boy knew the younger boy was right.
"It's not about him stealing a jutsu, this is something he can't do and I can't discuss in front of anyone who isn't in the know." Jiraiya argued, Haku assumed he knew what the old man was talking about, remembering the red chakra with a shiver.
Naruto seemed to get the idea too, "If you mean the damn kitsune then he knows about that already." the blonde said with his arms crossed.
Jiraiya looked quite surprised, "Well that's interesting," he began, "but alright, if you both know then I'll just skip to the point. Have you ever felt it?" he asked vaguely, Haku remembered the malevolent and angry chakra but didn't answer.
"Yeah, I think I've used it three times now." Naruto answered.
"Consciously?" Jiraiya asked, knowing the answer from the way Naruto frowned in confusion, "The Kyubi is a Chakra no Bakemono, it makes sense you can't call it at will, but I might be able to teach you to do so." the old man said, "However, your girlfriend can't come," he continued and Haku wondered who told him that term, "it's too dangerous, the kitsune has an influence that could take over and use your body to harm the people you care about." he finished his warning before Naruto could object to the terminology.
The blonde frowned, "Haku-chan isn't my girlfriend." he denied in a subdued tone before turning to the older boy, "But Ero-Sennin is right," he added and Jiraiya sputtered at the nickname, "I felt it before, I almost killed you the first time I used it." he pointed out and the teen was surprised the boy still seemed to feel guilty about that.
"Naruto-kun we were opponents in battle at the time," Haku said, "but I will abide and help Karin-san move while you take this training." he agreed with a polite bow to the two. Jiraiya noted that the two had apparently fought before and wondered what the full story was.
Karin was surprised to see Haku so soon, and without Naruto too, "What's up?" she asked casually, having come out of the old apartment carrying a box of Naruto's stuff.
"Naruto-kun is performing training I may not be witness to," Haku began, "so I have come to assist you with the move." he finished the explanation but Karin felt like she wasn't being told something.
Still the red head accepted the help and the two hoped to be finished by the time Naruto finished his training.
"So why are we out here, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked, they were near a ravine in the woods.
"Check this out." Jiraiya called the blonde over to the ravine instead of answering and the blonde walked over to check out the deep canyon, "There are sharp rocks at the bottom and the walls are slippery." the Gama Sennin explained cheerfully, "So use the kitsune to Kuchiyose a big toad and save yourself." he finished, shoving the blonde into the ravine before he could react.
Naruto screamed as he fell, panicked by the sudden apparent betrayal. The blonde tried to think of a way to use the red chakra, usually being angry worked. Naruto made a hand seal and focused on his anger, trying to call on the red chakra. He focused on being angry at Jiraiya for tossing him in the ravine, Neji for what he'd done to Hinata, and the kitsune itself for being the reason behind most of Naruto's misery.
Naruto found himself a sewer and was confused, it didn't seem like a genjutsu so he wandered around, trying to figure it out when he came upon a large gate.
"So, my jailer comes to visit me finally?" A booming voice asked from behind the bars, a giant baleful eye opened, the red of the eye practically glowing as the slit pupil glared down at the blonde genin with malevolence.
Naruto was stunned, that had to be the demon he was accused of being the spawn of by villagers. His blue eye glared back alongside Sasuke's red dojutsu, "So you're the Kyubi no Kitsune?" he asked rhetorically closing his eye over the Sharingan, "Well listen up because you've been free loading in my body for twelve years, you owe me rent!" the blonde demanded. The kitsune seemed surprised by Naruto's demand, or maybe the way he worded it.
"You petulant brat!" The booming voice roared, "You dare think you are worthy of my chakra!?" it asked furiously.
Naruto frowned, "I used it before, don't act like I haven't!" he shot back angrily, "The Yondaime sealed you in me but I didn't get a say in it either and the village thinks I'm your second coming or something!" the blonde explained and the eye glaring down at him widened, "I don't care how powerful you are, you're stuck with me and you'll pay rent to make it up to me!" he demanded.
The kitsune was silent for a moment before dark chuckles broke out from the darkness, "Rent?" the voice was not as booming now, "Alright then, brat, I'll let my malevolent chakra flow to your hate and rage, how is that for rent?'
Naruto grinned, "Hell yeah, now you're talking!" he said eagerly, only to give a strangled yelp of fear as the chakra of the fox washed over him.
The blonde genin opened his eyes and found he was back where he was, falling down a ravine. Naruto bit the skin of his thumb open and performed the hand seals, focusing on remaining angry as he did he felt the chakra of the kitsune flow into the Kuchiyose.
Jiraiya hoped he hadn't made a mistake, the man didn't want the kid to die but he knew others would judge him harshly for his training method. He thought of how some birds threw their young from the nest to teach them to fly and winced as the image of a mangled yellow baby bird forced itself into his mind.
The old Sennin was relieved when he saw the massive burst of smoke that indicated his new student had in fact summoned a large toad, but his short celebration was interrupted before it began when he saw the boss of the toads hop out of the ravine.
"Jiraiya you snot nosed punk," The toad was not happy, "why have you summoned me here?" the large creature asked, clearly not happy.
"Hey, I'm the one who summoned you!" Naruto interrupted from on top of the toad, Jiraiya was impressed at the guts on the blonde.
"Jiraiya let some wet behind the ears child sign our contract!?" The toad sounded furious, "I, Gamabunta, refuse to acknowledge you as my underling until you pass my test and we share some sake."
Naruto blinked, trying to figure out where to begin with that, "Underling!?" he decided was the most offensive part, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" he blonde declared, "I'll pass your test and prove that the toads of Mount Myoboku should be proud to be vassals of the Uzumaki clan!"
Jiraiya and Gamabunta were both stunned at the audacity of the blonde genin, "Vassal!?" the toad boss took offense, "You don't seem to get who you're dealing with, punk! I've fought against biju before, the Gama clan have some of the strongest Sennin in the world! If anyone is going to be the vassal it's going to be you!"
"Like hell!" Naruto denied, "I'll accept friends and allies, nothing less! I just faced off against my very own biju and convinced it to give me their power!" the blonde declared and Jiraiya wondered about the details of that as Gamabunta realized what was on his head.
"So, you're Jinchuriki then?" Gamabunta asked and Naruto said nothing, "That explains how some shrimp like you managed to call me. Jiraiya should have explained how the contract works before this but I guess he's making me spell it out to you." the toad boss said with an annoyed tone, "I am Gamabunta, boss of all toads, even Jiraiya is my underling." he explained, "If you pass my test and accept becoming my underling, you'll be able to freely summon the help of my brethren."
Naruto was displeased with this idea, "No way, the Hokage can't be underling to some outside force!" he denied again and Jiraiya sighed, wondering when the boy would get the hint, "I'll ace whatever test you got and share sake as equals and brothers if you need our alliance to be that strong." the blonde didn't seem to realize how arrogant he sounded.
Gamabunta couldn't help but laugh, a deep rumbling chuckle that built up in his chest before his mouth opened and released his mirth, "You got guts, kid," the toad boss praised, "tell you what, this test, it's going to be rougher than I usually give underlings, so if you can somehow survive I'll accept your terms. All you need to do is stay on my back until the sun sets." it didn't sound like the giant toad intended for the genin to survive.
"Bring it on!" Naruto declared confidently before Gamabunta rampaged, the blonde struggled to stay on and had to stick with chakra as the giant toad leaped and rolled through the forest outside of Konoha. Jiraiya winced at the erratic movements of Gamabunta, he really hoped the blonde somehow survived.
Karin didn't know who the long haired old man was, but he was clearly a ninja and Haku seemed to be surprised, "Hey, Naruto pulled it off, but the kid exhausted himself. I dropped him off at the hospital and they said it's only mild chakra exhaustion" the man said without introducing himself to Karin but now she figured he was the Sennin.
Haku seemed surprised, "Chakra exhaustion? Naruto-kun?" he asked for clarification, clearly having some difficulty believing that.
"It's a chakra intensive jutsu," The old man shrugged, "I'm honestly amazing he pulled it off already." he explained before turning to leave, "The kid should be awake by tomorrow morning." he finished.
Karin and Haku both went to the hospital early the next morning, and on request they were lead to Naruto's room. The blonde seemed fully recovered already and grinned at them when they walked in.
"I drank sake with a giant toad!" Naruto declared proudly, Karin wondered if the boy had hit his head too and Haku was more worried about the sake.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Karin asked warily, concerned about the well being of the blonde boy.
"You aren't?" Naruto answered and seemed confused.
The red head frowned at his response, "Lucky guess." she said as Haku rolled his eyes. Naruto was just more confused.
"Naruto-kun, the nurse told us you were free to leave." Haku informed, eager to get Naruto out of the place. The blonde leaped out of bed.
"Oh yeah, Hinata-san is allowed to see visitors now too." Karin spoke up and Haku wondered why Karin was concerned about that, only catching a sly grin from the red head.
"Oh yeah, we should check on Hinata-chan!" Naruto agreed, "I should tell her that I'm going to kick Neji's ass." he added with a grin and Haku understood what Karin was doing. The red haired Uzumaki could be quite cruel at times.
Hinata was pleasantly surprised to see Naruto, even if he did bring Haku and that red haired girl with him. The Hyuga didn't know them very well, she knew the red head was called Karin and Naruto referred to her as a sister, but Haku made her nervous.
"Hey, how are you, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked simply and all the pale eyed genin's concerns about Haku melted away. A lot of things melted away actually, including Hinata's ability to respond. It was embarrassing for the girl to be unable to even stammer a response in front of so many people and she blushed.
"Woah, Hinata-chan you're bright red, are you okay?" Naruto asked and this time leaned in to check her temperature with the back of his hand. Haku thought the naivety was kind of cute and Karin felt bad for the Hyuga.
Hinata herself swooned from Naruto's caress and fainted. Later she would blame the fainting on the fact she was recovering from a heart injury, no one would argue with that. Haku and Karin knew better, but they wouldn't tell.
"Teach me to open my Hachimon."
Kakashi was getting sick of this, "Sasuke-kun, I don't even actually know how to do it myself." he finally told the boy, which was part true. It wasn't something he practiced but he did actually know the training to learn how. Sasuke didn't need to know that part.
Sooner than expected the month of training time was over, the Chunin Exam Finals were held in a large stadium, filled with spectators. In a special box were the Hokage and Kazekage, the other Kage not bothering to show up as none of their own genin had made it to the finals this time.
"Impressive that two of our teams made it all the way to the finals like this." Hiruzen mused, "They're calling Team 7 the Nidaime Sannin." he added with a mirthful chuckle. The man dressed as the Kazekage returned the laugh politely, although he found it amusing that the real reason such a nickname was circulating was due to them facing their own Hanzo the Salamander in Orochimaru, but he didn't bring that up since it wasn't public knowledge.
Haku sat in a section for contestants and their teammates to spectate. Tenten was there with Gai and assistance Rock Lee who was using crutches, Hinata was being escorted by Kiba and Kurenai, and Baki was alone, but Kakashi, Zaku and the Oto jonin were missing. Karin had stayed home and wasn't happy about missing out on the spectacle, but the risk of someone from Kusagakure no Sato recognizing her wasn't worth it.
Sasuke was also missing, all the other contestants were standing in the arena on display, and there was some murmuring about the Uchiha. Some who were more familiar with Kakashi hoped the man was being responsible.
There was also a different proctor, a new jonin who was chewing on a senbon, "Yo, I'm Genma Shiranui, Hayate had an accident so I will be the acting referee." the man explained his presense.
Kin frowned, she had her orders but she didn't like them, she wondered why her opponent couldn't just forfeit as she raised her arm, "I don't think I can win, I quit." she said, earning the suspicion of a few jonin.
"I can't beat my opponent either, sorry but I quit too." Kankuro spoke up, not wanting to risk losing chakra to Shino. The Aburame stared at the puppeteer.
Dosu smirked from under his bandages at Sakura, he actually liked his orders since he just had to kill the pink haired girl. The girl herself was staring back, having altered her appearance slightly. Sakura still wore her red dress, but now had mesh armor under it and wore her forehead protector over her forehead. She also had a second shuriken holster and a fuma shuriken sheathed on her lower back.
The other contestants went up to the stands, grouping up with their teams, Naruto just sat with Haku. Neither of them knew where Kakashi and Sasuke were.
"Begin!" Genma announced and Dosu rushed Sakura who jumped back and palmed a kunai in each hand, the girl threw the one in her left hand at the ground as she leaped again, Dosu noticed the kibaku fuda tied to the kunai and dived to avoid the blast.
Sakura threw the other kunai as she palmed a trio of senbon in her left hand, Dosu rolled to his feet to avoid the kunai and jumped at the girl to leave the blast radius of the second kibaku fuda. The pink haired girl jumped back and tosed the senbon as she palmed a trio of shuriken in her right hand.
The Oto nin heard the familiar bells and, not risking any kage senbon, he swung his right arm at the projectiles, the gauntlet on his arm knocking the bell adorned senbon out of the air. Sakura performed the Bunshin no Jutsu and rushed him, twisting in and out of herself to confuse which one was the real her. Dosu couldn't tell so when they came at him he swung he arm at all of them.
None of them were real, the Oto nin looked around for his opponent confused. He frowned when he heard something land behind him, but saw nothing. Dosu fluttered his chakra to break the genjutsu and saw that a ball made entirely of kibaku fuda was activating behind him.
"Oh shit!" Dosu said succintly as he swung his special gauntlet at the problem on reflex as he jumped back. The sound waves disrupted the explosion but he was still sent flying further than he intended to jump. The boy rolled to his feet as a fuma shuriken came at him out of the bushes, his ears ringing and his head spinning.
The genin of Otogakure was growing frustrated with the pink haired girl and her explosions. Dosu dodged to the left, practically fuming that the fuma shuriken turned to follow him. The boy then dashed at the bushes and smirked under his bandages when he heard the fuma shuriken alter course again to chase him, palming a regular shuriken in his hand as he noticed some ninja wire go slack the Oto nin backflipped to let the fuma shuriken return to its owner.
The pink haired girl surprised and impressed as she jumped out of the bushes in a spin, twirling to grab hold of the over sized shuriken. Dosu revealed it was a bunshin by tossing the shuriken he'd palmed before he landed through her and scowled as the fuma shuriken came at him anyway.
The boy noticed the chakra thread and swung his gauntlet, smashing the fuma shuriken into the ground and scowling under his bandages at the kibaku fuda all over the blades. Dosu swung his gauntlet again to soften the explosion as he jumped away, rolling to his knees in a skid as he tried to catch his breath. His bandages were getting messed up and his straw coat was smouldering.
Suddenly Sakura appeared behind him with a shunshin and quickly palmed and tossed two handfuls of shuriken. She was too close for Dosu to effectively dodge so he twisted into the attack, taking some scratches as he rushed the girl. Sakura jumped back and palmed a kunai in her right hand and a handful of senbon in her left.
"Quit running away and fight me!" Dosu demanded angrily as his opponent tossed the kunai at him, the boy dodged to the left and the girl tossed her senbon in his path, catching him in the right leg as he twisted to dodge.
Now Dosu had a problem, the senbon was in an artery so the longer it was there the more his bloodflow to his leg would be messed up, but he couldn't pull it out because he'd bleed out in minutes without medical attention. The boy stared balefully at the pink haired girl who simply pulled out more shuriken and tossed them at him.
The Oto nin stood his ground and knocked every projectile she threw out of the air with his gauntlet and soon the two stood there glaring at each other.
Dosu smirked under his bandages, "You're out of shuriken aren't you?" he asked, "Now you have to get close to fight me, and you don't have the strength to win!" he declared without waiting for an answer.
To his surprise Sakura smiled, "Yeah, pretty much." she agreed, "I'm fresh out of weapons so I guess I give up, even if I did manage to beat you in taijutsu you'd definitely hurt me for the next fight, which would be either that scary red head or Sasuke-kun."
Realization dawned on Dosu Kinuta as he realized the position he was now in, "Oh." he summarized plainly as the pink haired girl went up to join the spectators. Dosu decided to get medical attention for his leg.
Hiruzen was impressed with the kunoichi in the red dress, "Sakura Haruno did quite well, she displayed a firm understanding of the fundamentals but didn't risk her health to prove herself." the old man said as a scribe copied down his thoughts, "Despite technically losing she didn't get a scratch on her and led her opponent by the nose."
The continued absence of Sasuke Uchiha became an issue and the fight was postponed at the insistence of the Kazekage. So the next fight would be the fifth round instead of the fourth.
Naruto pulled his leg weights off from under the leg warmers Haku had bought him and handed them to the dark haired older boy before jumped down to the arena across from Neji. Haku placed the weights on Naruto's seat.
"I know you were the dead last in the academy," Neji began, ignoring Naruto's glare, "you were a loser. Such is your fate." the pale eyed boy said as the blue eyed boy pulled out a canteen, "Fighting your fate is pointless, allow me to show you proof." the Hyuga said as the Uzumaki poured the water at his feet.
Then Neji took off his headband and showed off the seal on his forehead, "This fuinjutsu is a prison for any Hyuga not blessed to be born into the main branch." the boy said and Naruto felt some sympathy due to his situation as Jinchuriki, but didn't answer verbally as the other boy put his forehead protector back on.
"Begin!" Genma announced and Naruto made a mizu bunshin as Neji activated his dojutsu and took his stance. The blonde surprised his opponent by dashing at the dark haired genin as the bunshin circled around. Eleven kage bunshin appeared around Naruto and all twelve of them used shunshin as the mizu bunshin performed Kirigakure no Jutsu.
The mist was so thick with chakra even Neji's Byakugan could only see a small distance around him. Soon however he saw mutliple balls of flame converging on his position, "Kaiten!" the Hyuga shouted.
Hinata's father and little sister were watching from the stands, and the clan head was surprised to hear the name of a main branch Hijutsu being used by a member of the side branch. More shocking was the twisting pillar of flame that shot out of the top of the mist as the mist burned away to reveal Neji surrounded by charred grass and thirteen of Naruto.
"An impressive effort," Neji reluctantly commended, "but the Kaiten is the perfect defense. If you attempt to outlast me using such chakra intensive techniques then I will simply wait for you to kill yourself with chakra exhaustion." the Hyuga explained, clearly not having a clue who he was speaking to.
"You're on!" Naruto accepted the challenge and started going through hand signs, all thirteen of him. Neji's eyes widened as he realized the blonde was not bluffing and he prepared to use Kaiten again.
Without the mist Naruto revealed the source of the pillar of flame, six of Naruto used Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu and the other seven enhanced them with Futon: Toppa. Neji then used Kaiten to send the flames spinning harmlessly above him into the air, leaving the ground around the Hyuga charred.
To the credit of the young Hyuga he managed another six Kaiten before he fell to his knees unable to stand. Naruto grinned proudly, "Fate doesn't mean a god damn thing." the blonde told Neji, "I couldn't even do Bunshin no Jutsu in the academy, now Mizu Bunshin and Kage Bunshin are my two most used ninjutsu because I worked hard."
Neji frowned at Naruto, but couldn't deny the truth of his words as the Hyuga could barely move while the blonde approached him, "Can you move?" Genma asked, giving the pale eyed boy an out that he considered taking for a moment, but nodded and raised his arms to defend himself.
Naruto and his bunshin used shunshin, surrounding Neji and overwhelming his taijutsu. The Hyuga blocked a left straight on the back of his right wrist and a right hook on his right forearm, but a pair of kicks struck the backs of his knees knocked him down into another kick, this one hit his chin.
Neji rose into the air and both Lee and Gai were surprised to see Naruto's pose during that last trike, the blonde swarm jumped after the rising Neji while the Naruto that kicked him up turned away before leaping after and over the other genin.
The bunshin grabbed Neji by his arms, legs, and head, twisting him to face the real blonde "Uzumaki Renge!" Naruto shouted as he drove his heel into the forehead protector of the other Konoha genin, dispelling his clones and sending Neji headfirst to the ground below.
Neji stared up at the sky, pretty sure he was concussed and considered that the blonde seriously could have killed him there, but instead chose to finish him with taijutsu while he was weakened. Taijutsu was supposed to be the specialty of the Hyuga but he'd allowed himself to become exhausted attempting to outlast the ninjutsu of the blonde with his Kaiten. Naruto had truly monstrous chakra reserves, and now Neji needed to be dragged to medical.
Hiruzen pulled his pipe out of his mouth, "Naruto-kun truly has come far," he said proudly, unashamed of his bias, "his ninjutsu display alone is worthy of promotion, and instead of charging in like he is known to do he wore his opponent down before engaging them directly." the man praised, the scribe looked less than enthused but copied the words without altering them or complaining.
Sasuke was still late and it was starting to look like he might actually be disqualified when the chronicly tardy Kakashi arrived with the boy using konoha shunshin, "Sorry, we got lost." the jonin excused shamelessly. The Hokage resolved to have words with Kakashi later as Sasuke stood across from his opponent. The Uchiha was dressed in a similar style of clothes, but they were black and bandages were wrapped around his left hand along with a leather brace.
Kakashi arrived next to Sakura, Haku, and Naruto with another shunshin, "So, what'd I miss?" he asked, earning a glare from the three and a few others, namely the other Konoha jonin.
"Sakura-san put up an amazing fight but surrendered at the end to avoid getting hurt," Haku decided to explain, "and Naruto-kun defeated his opponent with overwhelming ninjutsu power." the boy finished.
Kakashi nodded, "Well, don't feel bad Sakura, it's good you showed off some skill without getting hurt." he praised, "Congratulations Haku-chan, you must be very proud of your boyfriend." he added, unsure how to properly praise Naruto and reverting to teasing. The silver haired jonin was satisfied that the two teens were still flustered by that.
"Begin!" Genma announced and Sasuke moved fast, this time Gai frowned as he watched the boy open the fight in the same way Lee had. The spandex wearing genin recognized it too and watched with a sense of trepidation.
"You gave him the training I gave Lee?" The spandex wearing jonin asked as he came up next to the other members of Team 7 as Sasuke flipped away from the sand and tossed shuriken at the red head to force his defense up.
Kakashi shook his head, "Well, a little to give him enough speed to land ninjutsu. He copied the style of his own accord, he even insisted I teach him how to open his Hachimon." the man responded lazily, "I refused, told him I couldn't do it myself to get him to stop bugging me about it so he might approach you after the finals." the man added.
Gai frowned, "Lee worked hard to refine that still, it's quite bitter to see it copied so effortlessly." the man said as the fight progressed, Gaara was trying to get Sasuke but his sand couldn't catch the one eyed Sharingan user.
Naruto frowned since he understood the Sharingan better now, "It's not just copying, y'know," he spoke up to get Gai's attention, "that dojutsu does let him copy body movements and even chakra flow, but we still need to train in order to use them. Just because he can mimic the way you do something doesn't mean his body or chakra can keep up." the blonde explained.
Gai didn't respond, watching as Sasuke tried to beat through Gaara's defenses and noting the way the boy couldn't truly power through it like Lee had without his weights but instead feinted at it to try and get around it with the aid of his speed and clarivoiyant eyes. The way Sasuke shifted direction on a dime to avoid the nigh unpredictable sand was impressive, but Gai could see the truth of the blonde's words.
Gaara apparently had enough of Sasuke and encased himself in an orb of sand. Temari and Kankuro tensed up, looking on edge at whatever jutsu the red head was performing. Sasuke jumped up the side of the arena wall, sticking with chakra, and performed hand seals.
The sound of a thousand birds chirping carried from where Sasuke gathered chakra and Gai's eyes widened in shock, "You taught him an assassination ninjutsu?" the bowl cut jonin asked, surprising the genin around with the accusation. Kurenai seemed surprised as well.
"Yeah," Kakashi confessed, earning Kurenai's glare, "but he insisted, and honestly out of the thousand jutsu I know it's probably the only one that could beat Gaara." he explained and now the other two Konoha jonin were surprised that Sasuke had insisted on an assassination jutsu.
"Wait, is our team not being specialized for assassination missions?" Sakura asked, shocking all the jonin, Baki wondered if the shinobi of Konoha were not as soft as he thought, especially since the blonde genin was nodding emphatically to agree with the pinkette. Haku looked very concerned.
"What? No, I wasn't specializing you guys for anything, I wanted you to grow into your own ninja." Kakashi answered, stunning his two students as the third ran down the wall of the arena leaving a trail of carved concrete. Sakura looked relieved and sighed loudly to show it.
Naruto frowned, "So, can I learn that anyway?" he asked, pointing at Sasuke as the dark haired genin weaved through spears of sand and plunged his hand, wreathed in chakra, through the orb of sand.
Kakashi thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I'll give you instruction on the Chidori later." he said lazily. Gai and Kurenai realized Kakashi didn't seem to understand children, they decided not to interfere because Naruto looked happy to be told he'd get to learn a ninjutsu.
Gaara's scream halted any further discussion on the matter anyway as Sasuke frantically pulled back from the orb, a sand coloured appendage with blue marks was holding his arm as he desperately pulled his arm loose. The panic on Sasuke disappeared when he got free, although the sweat was still on his face as he jumped back to put more distance between himself and whatever that was.
The orb of sand collapsed to reveal Gaara, bleeding from the left shoulder and having a panic attack, "Ah! Blood! It's my blood! It hurts!" the boy shouted hysterically. Sasuke was confused and unnerved by the display since Gaara was acting like a scared child, and the flip from homocidal maniac to crying child was jarring.
The stands filled with feathers as Temari and Kankuro arrived next to Gaara with shunshin. Baki leaped at Kurenai as she broke the genjutsu first and slammed his elbow into her face before reaching for his ninjato. The genjutsu mistress was wide eyed as her nose was broken but she swiftly recovered, lifting her feet between herself and her attacker she launched him away, bracing her arms on her seat to give herself the leverage.
Genma took in the sounds of explosions happening and turned to Sasuke as the three Sunagakure shinobi retreated, "Alright looks like we're under attack," he told the Uchiha, "you have that ninjutsu that can beat that monster so go capture those three." he ordered before rushing into the stands to protect the unconscious civilians and fight off the invaders.
"Dosu, Kin, follow my genin." Baki ordered as he palmed shuriken, tossing a volley at Kurenai after he was pushed back and drawing his sword before he landed. Kurenai grabbed her three genin and dived out of the way, catching a couple of scratches on her left leg below the knee while the two Oto genin moved to follow the orders, chasing after Sasuke as Gai dived to grab a kunai that Baki threw at the unconscious Tenten and Kakashi caught Baki's sword, going for Sakura, with the metal guard on the back of his glove.
Haku was frozen not by the genjutsu, he'd broken that easily enough, but by Naruto sleeping on his shoulder, the sword going for the pink haired girl woke him out of his reveree and he was surprised to see Sakura waking up already. The bearer of Hyoton tried to hide his embarrassed blush as he fluttered his chakra through Naruto to wake the blonde up.
Baki used suna shunshin and was gone, the jonin realized he had covered for his team enough and was now retreating as the advantage of surprise disappeared. Kurenai and Gai swiftly woke their teams as Naruto, Haku, and Sakura got up.
Kakashi used Kuchiyose to call a small ninken, "Pakkun, follow Sasuke's scent, Naruto, Haku, Sakura, back Sasuke up." the jonin gave his orders and the team rushed off swiftly.
"Tenten, get Lee to one of the bunkers." Gai gave his own orders, Tenten nodded and Lee looked distraught that he couldn't help.
"Kiba, Akamaru, take Hinata and go with Tenten," Kurenai began, "Shino, back up Team 7." she finished her orders and the rest of the genin left, leaving the jonin to join the fray in the stands.
Sasuke chased after the three Suna genin, intent on finishing his fight, he didn't know exactly what was going on but it seemed like Sunagakure had launched an invasion of Konohagakure. He noticed two ninja following him and heard the bells, diving out of the trees to avoid the senbon as he glared up at the two Oto nin who interrupted his chase.
"So Otogakure is part of this invasion too." Sasuke mused, checking his surroundings, he leaped towards a river as Dosu ran at him without answering and broke off to continue his chase towards where the Suna genin were going when he saw them last and going upstream next to the river. The Oto genin chased him and he knew it was risky to surround himself by enemies but his mission was to finish his fight, any other opponents were just a distraction.
He was lucky that his team caught up, but he didn't stop, "I'll deal with those two, Naruto-kun, you and Sakura-san should go help Sasuke-san." Haku said before using shunshin to get slightly ahead of the Oto nin and used Makyo Hosho to trap the two.
Kin stopped, taking a defensive stance as Dosu leaped ahead to a mirror, intent on crushing it with his gauntlet. The boy was halted as senbon struck his elbow and shoulder, knocking him out of the air and paralyzing his arm.
The Oto kunoichi didn't move and she was grazed by a hail of senbon from every direction, the girl had tried to cover her vitals but it was unnecessary as Haku never aimed for them. Kin saw Dosu stand only to be forced back down riddled with senbon in non-lethal target groupings, and the two Oto genin got the feeling they were way out of their depth.
Pakkun continued after Sasuke with Naruto and Sakura in tow, the blonde glancing back at the Makyo Hosho briefly before he tried to focus on the mission.
Shino also saw the Makyo Hosho, by the time he went past he could see that Haku had made the Oto genin into living pin cushions and left them to it. The Aburame genin was glad Kurenai had sent him after Team 7, he wanted his match with Kankuro.
Sasuke glared at Temari, the blonde girl with the fan had broken off to hold him off. The Uchiha reminded himself that his mission was technically to capture her team, so just rushing past her was a bad idea. He oppened with a flying kick and the girl blocked it on her fan, she opened her fan and he used kawarimi.
Temari risked using shunshin to escape back to her team as the pieces of the log fell and Sasuke gave chase, not risking his chakra on a shunshin just yet as Naruto used shunshin to catch up with him, "Naruto, use my eye for this, I want you to copy my ninjutsu when the fighting starts, it'll also help you find the puppeteer if he tries anything tricky." the Uchiha explained and Naruto wordlessly lifted his forehead protector to reveal the Sharingan.
Shino wordlessly caught up with Sakura and Pakkun and the three struggled to catch Sasuke and Naruto. The two Sharingan using genin were gaining on the Suna genin, for the third time in Sasuke's case. Kankuro broke off next, using his puppet to launch poison senbon at the boys. With the dojutsu spinning both genin dodged, moving closer to Kankuro with each dodge.
Before the two could engage Kankuro in taijutsu the Aburame arrived, his kikaichu eating through the chakra threads, "I'll deal with this one." he declared, staring Kankuro down as Naruto and Sasuke nodded at the Aburame and took off after Gaara and Temari.
Kankuro scowled at Shino, "You think draining my chakra through the threads will be enough?" he asked and twitched a finger, causing Karasu to spill poison gas that Shino dived to kikaichu on Karasu fell to the ground dead and Shino rushed Kankuro who leaped away from the other genin and had Karasu launch poisoned senbon.
Shino could feel he'd breathed some of the gas and while he was dodging admirably he couldn't last forever and was struck before collapsing into a mass of insects, revealing a kikaichu bunshin. Kankuro swiftly pulled his gas emitting puppet to the bugs as they dispersed, catching more in the toxic fumes. Then the black clad Suna genin felt the drain and looked down to see his feet covered in kikaichu.
"I got a female kikaichu on your forehead protector and tracked your position," Shino's voice spoke up from behind Kankuro who scowled, "you were never hidden." he finished as the puppeteer fell unconscious. The Aburame was proud of his victory, even as his vision blurred and the poison forced him to join his opponent in unconsciousness he felt like he had done well.
Sasuke and Naruto caught up, Gaara had recovered and noticed they were catching up. The red head swiped Temari aside, sick of being dragged by his older sister. The blonde kunoichi kept her distance, but watched the three genin face off as Pakkun and Sakura caught up.
"Sasuke! Mother wants your blood!" Gaara was focused on the Uchiha as his sand formed over the right side of his face and upper body, forming a monstrous clawed arm. Naruto frowned at being ignored by the red head.
Sasuke didn't like the attention, "Come and get it." he said, stepping into Naruto's peripheral and performing the hand seals for Chidori. The Uchiha knew this would be his last use of it for the day as he gathered the chakra in his left hand and launched himself at Gaara.
The boy turned monster swung his right arm at Sasuke, who carved through it with Chidori and left a new fist sized hole in the red head's right shoulder now. Instead of breaking down like before Gaara seemed more eager to fight, his monstrous arm reforming as he prepared to swing at Sasuke.
Naruto copied the hand seals and leaped, the sound of birds chirping alerted Gaara who altered his momentum to swipe the blonde out of the air. The blonde jinchuriki swung the half formed Chidori and carved through the attacking limb of sand, landing next to Sasuke and running through another set of hand seals.
The Futon: Toppa was not half formed and Gaara was blown back, breaking branches off trees as he tried to anchor himself. The red haired jinchuriki managed to catch himself by going to the ground and the sand formed over the rest of his face as his left arm became encased by another monstrous arm, the transformation covering up his injuries with sand.
Haku had dealt with Dosu and Kin but had a new problem, nine new problems of which eight were visible. A team of Oto shinobi. The boy had been inefficient in dealing with the genin and was now unsure if he had the chakra to deal with a large team like this.
He thought about what Naruto was rushing to fight and realized he could not and would not risk this team of ninja catch up to Naruto. The Oto genin were already beaten, Dosu was in a death like state and Kin was barely clinging to consciousness and breathless, so Haku dropped his Makyo Hosho since the new arrivals would just go around him to get to Naruto if he tried to lure them in while the mirrors were up and they were draining his chakra.
"Damn, those brats really are useless." One of the enemy ninja said, "One of them even died." he pointed out.
Another spoke up, "Dosu, huh? That kid had the melody arm and everything, I knew it should have been given to someone with real talent." he mocked the seemingly dead genin. Haku found their callousness disgusting but used their distraction to catch his breath and consider his options.
The vassal ninja didn't have the reserves to cancel their numbers with mizu bunshin and even if he did each bunshin was only a tenth as strong as the creator, so it could end up being a waste of his chakra if he did risk it. Luring them into a taijutsu fight on the river would be the best way to catch them in his Makyo Hosho but he was outnumbered, didn't know their skill with taijutsu, and one of them was hiding.
The shinobi turned their attention on the boy, "So this kid with the freaky ice took them out, looks like he's Konoha." one of the ninja pointed out, "I say we kill him." he finished, taking out a kunai. Haku frowned, making up his mind he swiftly popped a hyorogan, the military stimulants restoring some chakra as he used the river to perform a massive Makyo Hosho that caught eight of the Oto ninja by surprise.
Haku leaped into a mirror and was reflected everywhere, "I will not allow any of you to leave." he declared confidently, feeling the military grade drugs working their magic. He didn't like using the hyorogan due to the crash three days after taking it but he refused to allow these shinobi to hurt Naruto. It was unfortunate he couldn't catch all nine but the boy hoped the hidden ninja would watch and look for an opening instead of chasing after Naruto.
Sakura and Pakkun landed next to Sasuke as Naruto chased after Gaara, "Stay back, that Gaara," Sasuke told the pink haired girl and the dog, "there's something wrong with him. I'm out of chakra after two Chidori, but Naruto managed to copy it, barely." the Uchiha explained the situation swiftly, deactivating his Sharingan to conserve and recover chakra.
Sakura was stunned, "So Naruto is just going to fight that monster alone?" she asked, sounding worried for the blonde. Sasuke surprised the girl by laughing, Pakkun looked concerned too and turned a confused look on Sasuke, although he suspected he knew why the Uchiha was unconcerned.
"Naruto Uzumaki has my eye and more chakra than any jonin in the village," Sasuke began, "and I don't even know what kind of training he did over the last month," he admitted, "but whatever kind of monster Gaara is, Naruto can match it." he finished confidently and Pakkun guessed the boy was talking about the Kyubi, Sakura was just stunned that Sasuke had given their blonde teammate such praise.
Naruto landed on a branch above Gaara in a crouch, Sasuke's eye spinning in his left socket as he created five kage bunshin. The red head noticed and swung both his monstrous arms at the branch, Naruto jumped and his bunshin escaped with shunshin as the branch was crushed.
The bunshin surrounded Gaara and swiftly performed seals, unleashing five Gokakyu no Jutsu over the enemy jinchuriki, who crouched and covered himself with sand. The red head was blind to the original blonde performing a different set of hand seals and was unprepared for the Toppa to launch the flames downward into him.
Gaara became surrounded by inferno, a maelstrom of fire that seared his senses and he swore he heard the roaring of some great beast from the flames as the wind buffeted them into him. The red head survived thanks to his sand and burst out of the glassed shell that came out of his defense gasping for air.
Naruto frowned as the entire upper body of his opponent had become encased in the strange transformation, "What the hell is happening to you?" he asked, clearly unaware of what he was truly facing.
"Uzumaki," Gaara began, "why do you fight?" he asked instead of answering, sounding manic and out of breath as he crushed the glass into sand with his sand.
"I'm fighting to protect my precious people!" Naruto answered instantly, remembering what Haku had told him ages ago.
"Liar!" Gaara accused, "I see it in your eye, like me you seek recognition!" he declared and Naruto was stunned, he couldn't deny that he did seek recognition, "Fool, don't you realize that you should only kill for yourself? That is how you become strong!" the crazed red head insisted.
The blonde jinchuriki disagreed with that sentiment, he trusted Haku on this one, "Why would you think that?" he asked.
"We must kill to prove our existence," Gaara answered, "so come and help me prove my existence!" he demanded, startling Naruto, "I know, why don't you prove your strength comes from your friends. If you fail to beat me, I'll feed mother not only your blood, but the blood of your teammates and those girls!"
Naruto took a second to realize Gaara was talking about Karin and Hinata, then took another second to realize he meant Haku too. The blonde decided not to correct the red head as his blue eye turned red, both his and Sasuke's pupil turned slit and the tomoe of the Sharingan turned jagged, "Who the hell is your mother?" Naruto asked with surprising calm to his fury.
Gaara crouched, spreading his arms as his new tail of sand waved behind him like the tail of a tanuki, "Shukaku! I am the child of the Ichibi!" he declared, leaping at the startled blonde. Naruto realized exactly how similar he and Gaara were, and considered that without Iruka he might have become like this.
Naruto's bunshin performed hand seals as he jumped up to a new branch, Gaara landed on the branch and the bunshin leaped with half formed Chidori in their hands. It was enough to cut the sand armor and a couple scored deep enough to injure Gaara further, but the ichibi jinchuriki dispelled all five with a swing of his tail.
The kyubi jinchuriki frowned and realized it was dangerous to get close, then he was forced to dodge as his opponent started sending sand after him up the trees while gathering a large dune of sand around himself. Naruto continued to dodge as the sand surrounded him and Gaara got higher up, soon there were no more trees to jump to and the sand was closing in.
Biting his thumb the red eyed blonde started doing hand seals.
Haku was exhausted, he'd taken out half of his opponenets, four of them were rendered immobile, but he couldn't maintain the Makyo Hosho much longer even with the stimulants in his system and as well as the four shinobi trapped in his ninjutsu there was still a hidden one outside of the mirrors.
He didn't want to risk them escaping but dropped the mirrors, standing across from his four opponents giving an icy glare with senbon in his hands and his arms ready to throw. The Oto nin who could still move took various stances, pointing kunai at the young teen.
Being outnumbered four to one with an extra hidden opponent without the chakra to perform another Makyo Hosho was a scary prospect. Haku steeled himself and tossed the senbon in his left hand into the path of the first ninja to move, jumping away as he did. The other three leaped after him and he tossed senbon from his right hand at them.
Haku started hand seals with his left hand as he palmed another handful of senbon in his right, the pursuing ninja caught scratches twisting out of the way of his last volley and leaped at him, "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suisho!" the boy declared and intercepted them with the assault of chakra sharpened water.
The Oto nin covered their vitals as they took in the assault and Haku disabled their legs with a volley of senbon from his right hand. The boy was almost relieved but kept his head in the fight and dived to avoid a kunai from the final enemy shinobi revealing himself. Haku hit the bank of the river on his shoulder and rolled in the shallows back to his feet on the surface of the water.
Haku was out of breath but palmed more senbon as he stared down his final opponent, "You're one slippery little minx, aren't ya girly?" the man asked, standing across from him with a tanto in his right hand.
"I'm a boy." Haku corrected simply, catching his breath swiftly thanks to the stimulants in his system. The Oto ninja seemed startled by the response but swiftly recovered and lunged. The tanto came at him and Haku tossed his left hand senbon in the path of the enemy, jumping to the right as he did.
The tanto wielding shinobi swiped most of the senbon out of the air, getting one in his shoulder, and turned to chase Haku. Another volley of senbon was knocked out of the air as Haku retreated back towards Konoha while performing a single unique hand seal as he landed on the surface of the river.
His opponent chased, and thrust his tanto under the arms performing the hand seal. The blade stopped short of Haku's chest as the legs of the Oto shinobi were held in place by ice that had crept up to halt the momentum of the arm holding the tanto. The man struggled against the ice, cracking it as Haku stared icily back to meet his furious glare. Soon the man was frozen entirely in place and Haku ran to catch up to Naruto.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he was encased in sand, using as much chakra as he could to call Gamabunta. The toad was surprised to see the rapidly forming Shukaku in front of him when the smoke cleared.
"Gamabunta!" The blonde shouted, getting the boss toad's attention, "Konoha is under attack, Sunagakure sent their jinchuriki!" he explained, pointing at Gaara, "I don't know where Ero-Sennin or Hokage-jiji are, but right now my team and I are the only things standing between that guy and Konoha," he added emphatically, "and I'm standing in between this guy and my team! Please help us!" he finished.
Gamabunta took a drag of his pipe as he took in the vacant expression on Shukaku, noting the fearsome ichibi was still waking up, "Damn kid, it's been a while since I fought a tailed beast, you got a plan for this?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just have to knock some sense into Gaara, get me close!" Naruto explained his simple minded plan and Gamabunta laughed. Gaara fell asleep as Shukaku woke up, the monstrous being laughing wildly before launching a Renkudan at the giant toad.
Gamabunta stopped laughing and jumped to dodge the blast, Naruto was stunned, he'd seen the ninjutsu used by the tailed beast with Sasuke's dojutsu but he didn't think he was capable of copying that one mid battle. The toad boss used Suiton: Teppodama to counter another Renkudan from the ichibi, the blonde wished he could see the hand seals for that one from his position.
The toad lunged at Shukaku as he drew his sword, "You better know what you're doing, Naruto!" Gamabunta called out as he swung the sword to catch the right arm of the ichibi. The blonde genin used shunshin and landed on the tip of the sword before using shunshin again to land a headbutt on the sleeping Gaara.
The red head blinked his eyes open, a surprised look on his face as blood ran down his forehead and the Shukaku retreated into his seal with a scream, the sand dropped the two boys as Gamabunta dispelled. Gaara looked at Naruto, saw the red eyes glaring back at him and feared for his life as they fell.
Some branches broke their fall and the two landed in the soft sand left behind by the defeat of Shukaku. Naruto struggled to stand, his right eye was blue again and his left eye was shut, he was out of breath and just decided to start dragging himself towards Gaara.
Temari and Haku leaped between the two, staring each other down, "Stay away!" they both demanded each other in unison. They didn't drop their guard, but they did realize they had similar goals of protecting their own jinchuriki.
Gaara was stunned that Temari was trying to protect him, and saw someone standing protectively over the other boy. The red head considered the words of the boy who beat him as Temari picked him up to retreat, Haku stood defensively over Naruto as they left.
"I'm sorry, Temari-nee." Gaara said, shocking his older sister as they ran from the battle.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Pakkun caught up with Haku and Naruto, the older dark haired boy had arrived at the end of the fight and ran headlong towards Naruto as soon as Shukaku and Gamabunta disappeared.
"Naruto actually did it." Sakura sounded as impressed as she did surprised, staring at the blonde as Haku helped him to his feet. Sasuke just nodded, impressed despite reminding himself that Naruto was jinchuriki. Pakkun lead them back to the village with Naruto leaning on Haku for support.