As usual there's another A.N. at the end with replies to some reviews.
LOOKING FOR BETA!
I don't own Naruto!
What happened last time
"I see. You've also become much more quiet. You stopped running around shouting about becoming Hokage. I always thought it was rather adorable." Being reminded of his past behaviour made Naruto blush in embarrassment.
"Yeah, my first sensei was super quiet and I somewhat tried to emulate him, because I really looked up to him," Naruto said with sadness in his voice.
Naruto and Yūgao spent the rest of their meal talking about water jutsu and nature manipulation. Since Yūgao only had little time to help him, they decided that she would simply look for him, when she actually had time. After all, she knew where to find him.
Chapter 6
6. October 1299
Naruto Uzumaki had never been and probably would never be the sharpest kunai in the pouch – academically speaking. There were precious few subjects he was interested in and even fewer he had a talent for. He had however more determination to reach his goals than might be good for him. This determination, coupled with a healthy dose of tutoring from one of the most brilliant shinobi, made it possible for Naruto to graduate after only one year at the academy.
His tutor, namely one Itachi Uchiha, made more than a fleeting impression on the young blond. Aside from the practical aspects that were needed for his graduation, he tried to challenge Naruto mentally and morally. The boy developed a logical thinking mind surprisingly fast, which helped him immensely. While he wasn't particularly interested in mathematics and physics, he had a talent for it. It was after all, a glorified version of problem solving and therefore perfectly suited for a logical mind.
After over one year of living as a shinobi, Naruto's opinion of the academy had plummeted even further than he thought possible. There were so many things, that the academy simply didn't cover, which were extremely important. Proper chakra theory, jutsu theory, stealth and battle tactics amongst other things. It was enough to know, that chakra was a mix of physical and spiritual energy to pass the academy. No one mentioned how chakra behaved, why good control was so important or that every persons' chakra behaved differently and therefore different affinities existed. It was up to the shinobi and kunoichi themselves to study those things after their graduation.
The problem was, that the jonin-sensei were supposed to push their genin in the right direction, to improve their knowledge. Up until his integration into team Hayate, Naruto had thought, that he was coming along nicely in both practical work and his additional studies. The sudden influx of knowledgeable shinobi around him however, showed him just how much he had missed out, when he had failed his genin-exam.
In his life, Naruto had had help from two sensei and a little from the Hokage. His first sensei had been occupied with bringing his practical skills up to snuff and pound some basic knowledge into Naruto's thick head. Maybe even more importantly, Itachi taught him what it meant to be ninja. That it wasn't as glorious as many youngsters thought it to be. That it meant to steal, to kill, to lie, to deceit. It had a rather big impact on the impressionable mind of a – then – eight-year-old. This and the general desire to emulate his first sensei had mellowed Naruto's exuberant behaviour of his younger days somewhat.
His second sensei focused most of his time on Naruto's taijutsu. Maito Gai was an active jonin and therefore didn't have the time for much else. Now however, Naruto had suddenly many people around him, trying to help him along. While everyone had their own training, his team and their immediate friends made sure, that Naruto had someone to go to with his problems. His own slightly dysfunctional family, as he liked to call them. In short, Naruto's improvement was staggering.
Both Emiko and Yūgao helped him with ninjutsu. While Yūgao was more interested and proficient in kenjutsu, she was extremely good with Suiton. It was her main affinity and more importantly, she incorporated water manipulation in her kenjutsu-style. The purple haired kunoichi had been rather surprised, that Naruto had been able to master the first step of water manipulation with very little help. It was clear to her, that Naruto had a talent for chakra manipulation. After five months working on the second step with the help from Yūgao, Naruto had the exercise almost down.
Naruto's partner in crime on the other hand, helped him along in the more scholastic aspects of ninjutsu, chakra- and ninjutsu-theory. Emiko was still working on the Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku (Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation), but her main problem was her limited chakra reserve. Hence, she had a new project, her first original jutsu. Naruto had taken interest and therefore asked Emiko to help him with the more complex theories, which she did with enthusiasm.
Of course, his other team mates helped him along as well. Naruto quickly expanded on his ninjutsu repertoire. Koji helped him with the Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique) and the Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique). Two simple earth jutsu he mastered quickly. The two jutsu worked well together, the former making it possible to move underground and the latter letting you pull down enemies by their ankles.
With some pointers from Yūgao, Naruto also mastered two B-rank jutsu, the Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique) and the Suiton: Suijinheki (Water style: Water Formation Wall). The latter being a defensive technique creating a huge wall of water surrounding the user. Thanks to Yūgao and her help with water manipulation, Naruto was now able to use surrounding resources for his jutsu, which made him immensely proud. Naruto had still a long way until he could sap the water out of the air however.
Due to Emiko's fire affinity, Naruto took it upon himself to learn the Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind style: Great Breakthrough). In simple terms, it was a more devastating version of the Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind style: Gate Palm) and at the same time much more dangerous for the user. While the main effect of the jutsu was blunt force, the winds were also able to cut. Exhaling pretty much anything that is sharp from your lungs and mouth was never a good idea without at least some skill. Naruto got around that issue by having shadow clones kill themselves with the jutsu until they got it down and soon Emiko and Naruto started practising her fire jutsu in collaboration with Naruto's wind jutsu, but it was a rather tedious process.
After their first mission, team Hayate had assumed, that Naruto was some sort of ninjutsu prodigy. It was quite impressive for a genin of eight months and without a sensei, to have over six jutsu mastered. However, they soon found out that the blond wasn't what others would consider a prodigy. Naruto was simply stubborn, had a good work ethic and insanely large chakra reserves for someone so young and could therefore practice longer without exhausting himself.
Aside from ninjutsu, Koji took it upon himself to improve Naruto's knowledge on genjutsu and his ability to detect and break them. He also started the young blond on the environmental branch of genjutsu It came as a surprise to Naruto, that there was a whole aspect of genjutsu, that wasn't discussed in the academy. As far as he could remember, Itachi never broached the subject either. Unfortunately, Naruto had no talent for genjutsu, even for the chakra intensive ones, but he vowed to get a least proficient enough to use some of them.
Hayate had taken up the role left open in Naruto's life by Itachi's defection. The young adult was an avid reader and was interested in lots of different things. He particularly excelled in kenjutsu, strategy and history and was very passionate about the moral and philosophical sides of shinobi life. Something he found important to impart into someone as young as Naruto. In his opinion there was something inherently wrong with a not yet ten-year-old boy already slitting throats. Therefore, he tried to make time for Naruto to simply talk about everything that was on the young boy's mind. While Naruto had a talent for in-battle-tactic and could find a counter for his opponents, Hayate tried to further him also in overall strategical thinking.
Another important skill the team leader started teaching Naruto was chakra sensing. It was the learnable alternative to being a natural sensor, although never as accurate. During their life ninja developed like a sixth sense, which was sensitive to chakra. While it only had a rather short range at about 20 feet, it was still useful. Added to that, Hayate started to use short bursts of KI against Naruto, to improve his tolerance.
One of the more profound improvement was Naruto's chakra control. During the summer, he persuaded his ji-san, to allow him the use of more shadow clones. The Sandaime was a little apprehensive at first, but some trial and error, the two found out that Naruto could train with ten shadow clones without suffering any backslash.
After mastering water-walking a few months ago, Naruto had started levitating a kunai on the palm of his hand. He added the first step of shape manipulation soon thereafter and added a spin to the kunai. It didn't take long for Naruto to create his own deviation of the exercise and added a leaf and a pebble to the spinning kunai. He tried to move the three items in a circle in his palm, this meant, that he had to constantly adjust his chakra-output for the different items.
In a moment of inspiration, the young blond had figured, that he could use the clones to work on both chakra control and his taijutsu. He left four of the ten clones on his self-invented exercise, while another four started performing taijutsu katas on the water. The remaining two clones were set on sparring, on the water as well. Having two clones spar had the advantage, that he could see his own flaws a lot easier from their memories.
Naruto's daily routine after his integration into team Hayate changed a lot. After his morning exercises, Naruto would venture into training ground 42 and work with his team until lunch. In the afternoon, he either trained one on one with someone or just kept up with his skills for a few hours, before meeting with Gai to work on his taijutsu-style. According to his sensei, they would soon start working on the easy stances of the Shio no ken and the development of his own style, while simultaneously working up on the difficulty of his father's style. Needless to say, Naruto was thrilled.
His evenings were mostly occupied by fūinjutsu studies or going out. One other change he made, was starting his day at 4 a.m. like Gai, but instead of running around the village, he did his usual physical work-out. Suffice to say, that he went to bed rather early.
The biggest impact of his training and the now regularly dangerous missions however, was visible in his spars with Hana. Even though Naruto was still a tad weaker, Naruto won the majority of their spars. The experience he gained from fighting during missions and training with his team, had honed his instincts. He was simply put the better fighter. During all their sparring sessions Naruto also got to know Hana a little better. Since he knew about her interest in medical ninjutsu he introduced her to Koji and the two of them got along rather well.
Naruto learned to handle killing disturbingly easy, with good reasoning, at least according to him. After all, he killed his enemies not only because the missions required it, but also because they kind off deserved it. After his first B-rank he looked up, what crimes the various nuke-nin had committed and it made him sick. As a nine-year-old, soon-to-be-ten, his mind couldn't understand why someone would do those unspeakable things. Subsequently, he simply figured, that bandits probably weren't much better and no one would miss them greatly.
Even though he had been in other fierce battles, he didn't get those feelings of immense exhilaration again. It was much more subdued and burned down to simple enjoyment of a good fight.
Fūinjutsu was still somewhat of a sore point for Naruto. While he did make progress, and had started with level four, it was still slower than he'd like it to be. His social life on the other hand kept improving. He still often had breakfast with Gai, provided by said green beast and lunch almost always with his team. He had dinner predominantly by himself, but still met up with his former class-mates from time to time or sometimes again with members of his team or Yūgao.
On one such occasion he had also had the distinct pleasure of meeting his predecessor, one Anko Mitarashi. At first, Naruto had been terrified of her. Two years ago, he would've probably started a shouting match with her, about how much better ramen was than dango. Fortunately, shinobi-life had further mellowed him out a little and he simply scoffed. That however, triggered Anko quite a bit. A few moments later, his team mates – and dare he say friends – were holding their stomachs, laughing, while Anko was threatening him with multiple 10-foot snakes.
They called it a 'rookie-mistake'. Never insult dango in Anko's vicinity. The newly dubbed snake lady, also found perverse pleasure in dropping heavy innuendo around the nine-year-old. Naruto's reaction to that particular line of teasing varied. While he had had to study the body of both males and females for his academy exams, and knew about the technicalities of that, he was nine years old – girls were still icky.
In the end, however, Naruto had to admit, that the young women with a sadistic streak a mile wide, was quite fun to hang out with. She even promised Naruto to introduce him to training ground 44, her home away from home and an area he hadn't dared to venture into yet. Plus, Yūgao had explained him Anko's situation. As the former apprentice of Orochimaru, she had to endure a lot of nasty whispers and accusations, since many people, both civilian and ninja, were still suspicious of her. Naruto felt some kind of kinship to her. Anko herself, found Naruto absolutely adorable.
Flashback
9. August 1299
It was Monday evening and Naruto was walking home from Yakiniku Q, after another outing with his former classmates. He had just rounded the corner into an empty alley, when he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. A second later, he felt himself being embraced from behind, with his head being squashed into the generous assets of a certain kunoichi.
"Ohayo Naru-chan, where are we heading?" The young blond sighed in defeat, he knew there was no way for him to escape that particular women.
"Home," was his simple answer. He was tired and not really up to a verbal sparring with the slightly insane kunoichi.
"Oh? Mind if we share a bed Naru-chan, I heard rumours about your outstanding stamina," she continued seductively. The whole thing went a little over young Naruto's head though.
"Er, you do realise that I'm only nine, right?"
"Meh, can't start training them too soon I say. And how comes you don't call me nee-chan like Yūgao?" Anko asked, releasing her victim. Naruto could almost hear her pouting before he turned around and actually saw it.
"That's simple, you're more the crazy snake-lady type than the nee-chan type," Naruto explained.
"And how do you determine that?" Anko asked sternly, crossing her arms below her bust, accentuating her assets even more.
"Well, that's quite simple to be honest. Generally, people I call nee-chan don't cut me only to lick my blood. Neither do they leave me alone in the forest of death, in the lair of a cluster of enraged, gigantic spiders in the middle of the night," Naruto deadpanned.
"Well, you asked me to teach you stealth. It's not my bad, that you woke them," Anko replied haughtily.
"You dropped my gama-chan in there! And when I went to retrieve it, you threw a bloody explosive-tag down there, causing utter havoc. Plus, I asked you to teach me after you snuck into my apartment, somehow getting past all my traps and injected me with poison! That doesn't speak for you either. Face it, you're crazy!"
"Hey! I had the best of intentions there. I only wanted to improve your resistance to poisons," Anko said indignantly, skipping over the 'little' spider-incident. "I was looking out for you, that's what family does. How would I know that the fur ball pretty much makes you immune to poisons anyway?"
"Uhh…" Naruto facepalmed. "Alright, here's the deal. You stop trying to kill me and I call you nee-chan?"
"Deal!" Anko exclaimed, pulling Naruto into an embrace and subsequently almost suffocating him with her breasts.
"Air, Anko-neechan!" the blond boy wheezed. "Need air!"
Flashback end
Obviously, not everything was always sunshine. There were the minor injuries and scars every member of Naruto's team earned him- or herself. In one particular fight against a trio of chūnin-level nuke-nin, Naruto was blindsided and took a kunai to the knee. It was only thanks to Koji's timely treatment, that his shinobi career didn't end then and there.
However, there was one thing, that vexed Naruto quite badly – the chūnin-exams. The exams had been scheduled to take place in early August, in Kirigakure and therein lay the problem. Ever since the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura took over the village, weird things tended to happen. It started a few years after the end of the 3rd shinobi war with the introduction of lethal genin-exams, which earned the village the nickname 'Village of the Bloody Mist'.
A few years later, Yagura started spreading word, that bloodline users were unnatural freaks. The defamation continued, until in 1296 Yagura began exterminating shinobi, that possessed a Kekkei Genkai. The so called 'blood-purges' started out in secret, and bit by bit, whole clans were slaughtered. All of this however, only came to light recently. Rebels established themselves in Mizu no Kuni and the information about the blood-purges started spreading over the borders. This led to Naruto's ire, the chūnin-exams had been called off.
Naruto would never admit it to anyone, but he knew he was a little childish about the whole thing. People were dying, because they were born with certain gifts and here he was complaining about not becoming chūnin for another six months. However, it was still annoying, especially because he knew, that he had the battle prowess of a chūnin. Even his team mates had told him so. While all three of them still outclassed him in taijutsu, in all-out spars Naruto held himself well.
The only problem: showing to the elders and the Hokage what he was capable of. Plus, chūnin were supposed to show leadership capabilities and Naruto found it rather difficult to demand respect as a nine-year-old. That was why the chūnin-exams were so important to him, a field promotion was just much less likely. With no other choice, Naruto accepted his situation and kept training, which is why, we find him currently screaming like a little girl, running through the Forest of Death.
"C'mon foxy-kun, they're just icky, little spiders!"
-xXx-
Later, Naruto would wonder how everything went to shit so fast, right now he was preoccupied with staying alive. The mission started out simple enough. Team Hayate was tasked with the retrieval of some documents from a Dead Drop in the east of Fire Country. After travelling two days straight, the team arrived at their destination early on the third day. Thanks to Koji, finding the Dead Drop was easy enough, he simply had to check the ground for a small cavity with his earth manipulation.
As soon as Hayate had the scroll stored away and the team was about to head back, the sound of crashing and breaking wood could be heard. The four shinobi turned simultaneously towards the sound, only then noticing the huge wave of water rolling towards them, mowing down everything in its way.
The team dispersed in an instant, jumping into trees, escaping the flood and at the same time spreading over the area. Looking around from atop a tree, Naruto saw three shinobi with Kirigakure headbands engaging one of his team mates each. He only realized after a moment, that Kiri apparently worked with three man squads, 'definitely have to look into policies of other villages', Naruto thought.
A few seconds later, Naruto jumped towards the closest enemy nin, currently fighting Koji. He landed on a tree close to his target, just as he charged towards his friend. Koji glanced towards Naruto and recognized the signal the blond ninja was giving him in an instant and supressed the smirk, that was about to play over his lips. Right before the Kiri shinobi buried his kunai into Koji's neck, Naruto used the kawarimi to replace himself with his teammate. The enemy's kunai sliced empty air, due to Naruto's smaller frame and a moment later, two kunai were thrust into his upper body, the left into his liver, the right into his heart.
Koji landed beside him a moment later, nodding in gratitude, as a scream ripped through the forest. The two shinobi glanced towards each other, before setting off towards the sound. They came across Emiko still engaged with her opponent in a clearing. The fire and water jutsu being used generated a lot of steam, that obscured most of the battlefield. Sensing their approach, Emiko looked towards the incoming shinobi.
"Hayate-taichō is further along where you're headed. I think it was him screaming," Emiko shouted to them.
"Help her, I'll see what's up with our taichō," Naruto immediately said and dashed off.
Pushing chakra through his coils, Naruto used the shunshin to make multiple small jumps and surveyed the area looking for Hayate. He felt the continued use of the jutsu starting to put a strain on chakra-coils only moments before seeing the Kiri shinobi holding an unmoving Hayate by his neck, a kunai about to plunge into his belly. Naruto winced in pain as he pushed another load of chakra through is body, trying to enhance his speed enough to save his captain from being grievously injured.
The Kiri nin noticed the sudden spike of chakra and had just enough time to jump back from Hayate, before Naruto's kunai cut through the air he had occupied a moment ago.
"Didn't know Konoha was so desperate, that they're starting to send kids to their deaths," the shinobi stated with a sneer. Naruto took the pause to scrutinize his enemy. He seemed average in every aspect. Built, height, looks. Brown eyes, short brown hair, everything utterly non-descript. Taking his eyes of the Kiri-nin, Naruto glanced over his shoulder towards Hayate. He seemed to be alive, although unconscious.
Only his instincts saved Naruto form certain death. His enemy had used the short distraction and charged towards him. A few strands of blonde hair were all he got for his troubles. The two ninja quickly settled into a vicious taijutsu battle, with Naruto being on the defence.
Realising his inferiority, Naruto tried to lure the other shinobi away from Hayate's prone body. He didn't want to risk using ninjutsu in his vicinity. The moment he felt save enough, his hands blurred through hand seals.
"Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Trumpet Technique)!"
The Kiri-nin was hit head-on by the huge amount of water. Naruto's surprise over his success lasted only a moment, as the enemy shinobi 'poofed' into smoke, leaving behind a shattered log. Seeing this, Naruto jumped into a tree, constantly checking his surroundings. After a few moments, he realised, that his enemy was probably after the scroll, Hayate had on him. Cursing, Naruto rushed back to where he left Hayate.
-xXx-
"So, you actually managed to get rid of the rest of my team. Rather annoying, but no harm done. I got what I came for, so I'll be off." Naruto heard, just as he dropped onto the ground beside Emiko and Koji, who were protecting Hayate. The enemy ninja was throwing their mission objective carelessly up in his hand. His teammates glanced at him and the Kiri-nin used the moment to shunshin away.
Naruto cursed again and turned towards his teammates.
"Koji make a quick check on Hayate, we have to catch the bastard. How are both your chakra reserves?"
"I'm almost out," Emiko replied, breathing deeply, "but a soldier pill should do the job."
"Hayate-taichō is okay, slight chakra exhaustion and a few superficial wounds. I can take care of it quickly," Koji said, looking up at them.
"No, don't," Naruto said, shaking his head, "If it's nothing serious, let Emiko watch over him, while we catch the bastard. He should still be in your sensory radius, so let's get going. Emiko, make sure Hayate doesn't get harmed, we'll be back soon." Emiko nodded, before her two teammates sped off eastwards. Neither Emiko nor Koji ever thought about questioning Naruto's authority at that moment.
The Kiri-nin made it to the sea between Fire counter and Water country, before he was cut off by Naruto. The blond ninja had instructed Koji to stay back and wait for an opening, while he jumped right in front of his enemy, landing on the water. Further out on the sea, Naruto could make out the sails of a ship. Unlike their last fight, the blond didn't wait for his enemy to talk. Between being fooled by the Kiri-nin earlier and said ninja having injured his taichō, Naruto was rather pissed. He had longed to test his new skills with water manipulation in battle and this was a prime opportunity. He sped through 44 hand seals for his new favourite jutsu and whispered
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)
A huge dragon made of water with glowing yellow eyes coiled around Naruto, who was still holding the bird seal. Suddenly the water-dragon shot forwards towards the Kiri-nin, who jumped into the air, to avoid the attack. Naruto wasted no time and used his Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Bullets), shooting multiple small, high-velocity water balls at his enemy, hitting him.
The enemy ninja snarled, as he got back on his feet and used a jutsu of his own. All around Naruto, the water started to form some kind of net, trying to capture him. Using the shunshin the young blond made his way towards solid ground. The instant his feet hit earth, he threw multiple shuriken at his enemy. The Kiri-nin realised a moment too late, that Naruto's aim wasn't as bad as he thought and most of the shuriken had missed on purpose. He was tightly wrapped up in ninja wire as multiple senbon shot out of the forest behind, hitting him.
A moment later Koji landed beside Naruto
"That was almost too easy," the Yamanaka said. True to his words the ninja-wire around their enemy suddenly broke, the ninja glaring at Naruto and Koji.
"You're gonna pay for that, you little shits," he snarled and charged towards them. The Kiri-nin was actually able to keep up with both of them simultaneously in taijutsu, showing, that he was probably a jōnin. Naruto signalled to Koji, that they should fall back and the two of them disengaged, grouping up again close to the shore.
"Listen, I have a plan, we have to get him to use some ninjutsu. Let's try to force him onto the water. He should be a lot more confident in his ninjutsu, when has direct access to it. As soon as he shoots something at us, create a mud wall along the shore, hopefully he will try to keep going at us. If he tries to get over the wall, we have him," Naruto said quickly, before flinging a few kunai with explosive tags towards the Kiri-nin.
The two Konoha-nin pincered their enemy, forcing him towards the waterline, by using ranged attacks. As soon as he was on the water, Naruto used another water dragon on him. The young blond was starting to feel the toll all the jutsu he used until now, took on him. The Kiri-nin however raised a water wall, deflecting the attack and immediately sped through another set of hand seals.
Suiton: Miwaku-tekina mizu no Jutsu (Water style: Captivating Water Technique)
As before, a net of water shot out of the sea and towards Naruto and Koji. Naruto had just enough time to realise, that the water had an unusual hue to it, before Koji's mud wall rose in front of him. Quickly creating two Kage Bunshin, Naruto grabbed Koji and used the Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique) and the two ninja vanished into the earth. Koji saw how one shadow clone used the Henge to transform into a copy of himself, just before he was surrounded by earth.
Koji had no idea what Naruto was planning and decided to stay where he was, until he could feel Naruto on the surface again. Naruto however was speeding through the underground towards the mud wall. On the surface the Kiri-nin was just running atop said mud wall, and prepared another jutsu. Just as he reached the top he looked down towards his two adversaries and shouted.
Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu (Water Style: Trumpet Technique)
The shinobi overpowered the rather simple jutsu immensely, creating a giant stream of water tearing down on the two shadow clones. However, he was unable to see the results of his attack, as all of a sudden pain erupted in the nape of his neck and not even a second later everything went dark.
Naruto had used his underground travel within the created mud wall and only waited for the enemy nin to jump over it. At soon as he had heard the ninja shouting his jutsu, he moved himself to the surface, appearing right behind the Kiri-nin. A simple kunai into his back did the job.
The enemy shinobi didn't even make a sound, discounting the 'thud' Naruto heard, when the body dropped from the 15 feet high mud wall down onto the ground. Naruto jumped down, landing beside his dead enemy, breathing heavily. The fight had been truly exhausting. Koji appeared beside him a second later.
"That was impressive Naruto. Never thought about using the Moguragakure together with a mud wall," Koji commented, before taking back the scroll the Kiri-nin had stolen and sealing up the body.
"Why are you sealing the body?" Naruto asked. He knew there were secrets to be found in the bodies of a few shinobi, but it was rare.
"Because it's time for you to get a new apartment. I know that guy, he's listed in ours and Kumo's Bingo Book. Sadao Mori, the U~ōtāu~ībā (Water-Weaver), Kiri jōnin, B-rank."
"Really! What's so special about the guy? It's not like he was super strong," Naruto said plopping down on the ground a little exhausted.
"He could take us both in taijutsu Naruto, but the real threat is his water manipulation." Koji said and Naruto perked up.
"How comes?" he asked.
"He knows some trick to transform water into ice. Before you ask, it's not the Hyōton Kekkei Genkai. Hyōton users directly transform their chakra into ice, but this guy has some trick to lower the temperature of water while using his jutsu. No one knows how he does it, that's why I'll take the body back too," Koji explained and took out a small book from one of his pockets. "Here he is. As I said he's listed as B-rank, five million ryō. Should be enough for a new apartment, don't you think?"
"Holy shit! Well, that's going to get all of us a new apartment, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, before blushing a little. He had made headway in getting rid of his verbal tic. Koji just chuckled at the young blond's antics.
"Let's get going Naruto, the others are probably already waiting and I'll have to check over Hayate."
"Hai!"
-xXx-
9. October 1299
Naruto was woken by loud knocking at seven in the morning. It was a Saturday and he had opted to sleep in for once. After the last mission, his team had had the rest of the week off, due to Hayate still recuperating and Naruto had found himself a new side project. Instead of buying a new apartment with the bounty he received for Sadao Mori's head he inquired about other available apartments in the building he currently lived in. Since it's location at the edge of the residential shinobi district between the Hokage Tower and the training grounds was quite good he opted to stay. However, since the apartments were all quite small only low ranked ninja used to live there. Low ranked ninja was, more often than not, synonymous with ignorant about seals and therefore a lot of them cancelled their lease and opted to move out.
Naruto took advantage of the empty apartments and with the help of his jiji bought out the whole top floor instead of only renting it. The boy had to hire someone to make sure he didn't accidently tear down support walls when connecting the four apartments that he now owned and to plan the layout of his new home. Turns out shadow clones are rather useful for construction work. There was still a lot of work to be done and he had to hire additional help for the electricity plumbing, but his new apartment should be ready within one or two months.
Still a little sleepy he opened the door to see an ANBU waiting there. On closer inspection, he recognized the cat mask.
"Neko-neechan! What are you doing here?"
"Hokage-sama requests your presence Uzumaki-san," came the monotone reply.
"Jeez, what's with all the seriousness nee-chan," Naruto muttered and walked back to his bedroom. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be out in a minute."
True to his word, Naruto was back fully clothed one minute later, his hitai-ate strapped to his forehead. Neko was still standing in front of the door, not having moved an inch. The two walked out of the building and Naruto used the shunshin to the Hokage tower. Walking towards his ji-san's office, Naruto noticed Yūgao still following him, 'what's that all about?' Naruto thought to himself.
Opening the doors to the Hokage's office, Naruto walked in casually, waving lazily towards the Hokage.
"Yo jiji, what's up? Why do you have to get me up here the one day I wanted to sleep in?" Naruto whined.
The Hokage set down his brush and looked towards Naruto, his gaze unusually stern.
"Genin Uzumaki Naruto, I received the report about your latest mission yesterday and there are things that need to be discussed." the Hokage said in a grave voice.
Naruto stiffened, something was wrong. Checking his surroundings, he noticed that it felt weird. Naruto wasn't a sensor by any means, but shinobi learned the feeling of nearby chakra, due to simple exposure and need. There were definitely more shinobi in here than the usual four ANBU guards, the Hokage, Neko and Naruto.
"Hayate-san and Koji-san described your actions in great detail. After all, the mission was supposed to be simple enough, but two individuals of your team were admitted to the hospital upon your return," the Hokage continued.
"Hai, jiji. But Emiko-chan was only a little exhausted and Hayate-taichō had some damage to his chakra network, due to overuse, nothing serious." Naruto said somewhat apologetic, still trying to figure out what he did wrong, for his ji-san to be so serious.
"According to the reports, you took charge as soon as your team's leader was out of commission and were responsible for the kill of a B-rank Kiri-nin," the Hokage continued, ignoring Naruto's interjection and still looking very stern. "Under those circumstances, I have no other option than… promote you to the rank of chūnin."
Naruto stood stock-still, not a single muscle twitching until laughter erupted from Neko behind him and the Hokage started grinning. Naruto noticed how the air shimmered for a second before Hayate, Emiko and Koji appeared in the office, laughing at Naruto's expression. The young blond found his voice after another moment.
"You… you assholes! I was terrified I did something wrong!"
"My apology Naruto-kun," the Hokage said with mirth in his voice now, "but it was not my idea. Apparently some ANBU wanted to get back at you."
"Oh, they're going to pay for that, may kami be my witness," Naruto was about to continue his rant, but a scroll hit him straight in the head. Taking the scroll his looked towards the Hokage questionably, but the Sandaime only motioned form him to open it. Naruto channelled some chakra into it and a standard Konoha chūnin-vest appeared. Naruto held it at arm's length, marvelling at it, but was interrupted again.
"Now Naruto-kun, since you made chūnin, there's something I wish to tell you. The people in this room are already aware of it, so there's no need for them to leave. You can go celebrating in a few minutes," the Hokage explained.
Naruto was fidgeting a little, wondering which secret his ji-san would finally trust him with.
"Naruto-kun, when you were younger, you asked me, why many of the villagers had some unjustified dislike for you. I think it's time for you to get an answer," the Sandaime explained.
"Erh Hokage-sama, Naruto is aware of the kyūbi," Hayate interjected, a little flummoxed. After all, the team had discussed the topic already and it was Naruto who had started the discussion.
"Oh, is that so?" the Hokage asked, with a maniacal twinkle in his eyes. He seemed to rather enjoy the situation. "How would you know about that Naruto-kun and since when?"
"I know, that you know, that I know jiji," Naruto said with conviction. "Gai-sensei told me, that there's very little you're not aware of, especially concerning me. And you should know, what's in the first chapter of that fūinjutsu book you bought me." The Sandaime chuckled a little before answering.
"Hai, hai Naruto-kun, I knew. I just wanted to see you squirm a little more, the last few minutes were quite entertaining. Now, get out of here. Go celebrate or something." Hiruzen said, motioning for them to get a move. "Oh, and Naruto-kun, how about we meet at Ichiraku's for dinner, yes?"
"It's on your tab old man!" Naruto exclaimed before rushing out of the office. The Sandaime's personal guards cringed a little while watching their boss slam his head onto his desk repeatedly. Mutterings of 'That's not what I meant' and 'I should've known' could be heard.
-xXx-
10. October 1299
Instead of immediately celebrating Naruto's promotion, it had been decided to have a little party on the next day, since it was also Naruto's birthday. The young blond spent the morning of his birthday training. Hana was more than ready for a few spars, but only after congratulation him on his promotion. She didn't forget to wish him a happy birthday either.
Since there was no team practice on weekends and Naruto wanted to keep his afternoon free, he followed up the spars with his physical work-out. The remaining time until lunch, he spent working on his taijutsu. Although Naruto had stuffed himself with ramen just the previous evening, he decided for another visit to Ichiraku's for lunch. After all, the party would be held at Yakiniku Q and there was no way for Naruto to spend his birthday completely without ramen.
His walk to the ramen stand was rather curious for Naruto. He had never walked through the village during the kyūbi-festival all on his own. Even last year, he spent most of the time in his apartment and only went into the village with his ji-san. He learned that lesson early on, when he had to be saved by ANBU from a mob of drunken villagers.
Fortunately for Naruto, such violent gatherings were very rare and he never had to suffer through them. He had to endure the glares and nasty remarks, the loneliness and isolation of his younger years, but his ANBU guard always made sure that no one ever physically harmed him. At least not adults.
Wearing his chūnin flak jacket, he noticed, that most of the civilian crowd simply ignored him. There was the occasional idiot still glaring at him, but it was rare. Naruto didn't know whether he was ignored because the people's opinion of him had changed slightly for the better or because they simply didn't recognize him. Either way, he was quite content with it, especially since most ninja gave him a respectful nod.
Arriving at the ramen stand, he received another round of happy-birthday wishes and was informed, that his meal was on the house today. Naruto decided not to go overboard, it wouldn't do to abuse his first friends' generosity. Halfway through his meal, Naruto was interrupted by a very welcome voice.
"Ohayo Naruto-kun. Happy birthday!" Naruto's head towards the owner of the voice and smiled.
"Hey Neko-neechan. Thanks, how are you?"
"I'm perfectly fine, but I was actually looking for you."
"What for? I thought we were meeting at Yakiniku's?" Naruto asked, before another mouthful of noodles vanished between his lips.
"Well, I wanted to give you your birthday gift a little early." Yūgao replied grinning. Naruto didn't like that grin one bit and became a little apprehensive.
"What are you planning?" he asked, fear laced in his voice.
"Well, you see, your new vest clashes horribly with that red trim on your hoody. And you have easily grown another five inches since you bought that outfit. How tall are you now, 4'10"? Finish your lunch, we're going to Hirashi's, Emiko-chan is meeting us there!" she exclaimed happily. Naruto had never seen the purple haired kunoichi so giddy.
-xXx-
One year ago, Naruto had enjoyed buying new equipment and a new outfit together with his ji-san. After today he actually hoped, that he wouldn't grow anymore. He was also certain, that women were evil. Obviously, shinobi clothing should primarily be functional and aesthetic only secondarily. His two female friends however, made sure, that Naruto's new outfit was pleasing to the eyes as well.
After two gruesome hours of switching clothes, Naruto exited Hirashi's shop with his new outfit. Naruto, or rather Yūgao, decided on the standard black 'ANBU-style' pants. Instead of the previously black bandages, they were now red and finished off by black sandals. Since red was apparently a no-go directly under the green flak jacket, he now wore a black high-collared shirt. The sleeves ended just below the elbows, an elastic band holding it in place. On both upper arms were two small, red Uzumaki swirls and he bought a bigger pair of red fingerless gloves. Due to his shirt being open in the front from his collarbone upwards, Naruto was wearing a fishnet-shirt underneath. His flak jacket was closed only up to his collarbone as well, it was 'stylish' according to Emiko.
Since he was in the shop anyway, he stocked up on kunai and other equipment as well, which was now sealed into a scroll together with two similar sets of clothing to the one he was currently wearing. In hindsight, it was probably not the brightest idea, since birthday gifts for ninja are usually equipment oriented. After returning to his new apartment, Naruto took a nap in order to recover from the insanity that was girls.
-xXx-
It was definitely the best birthday party Naruto had ever had. His friends Shikamaru and Chōji had come, as well as Gai and Hana. While Gai's gift was appreciated, Naruto decided against wearing the green spandex-suit. Having just bought new clothes, made a passable excuse. His team was of course there, together with Yūgao and Anko. Emiko had even brought her four-year-old sister, Kiyomi, along. Their parents had been merchants and died a few years ago, while travelling between villages. Ever since then, Emiko had been taking care of her with the help of friends. The little girl looked quite similar to Emiko, her hair being a shade darker and was absolutely adorable. She rather enjoyed all the attention she got, although Emiko tried to limit Anko's influence at least a little.
Out of the many gifts, his team gave him by far the best. They put their money together and got Naruto a brand new ninjatō. It was a simple sword with a black sheath and black handle. Red ribbons crossed over the hilt, perfectly complementing his new outfit. Otherwise there was nothing out of the ordinary about the blade.
"Yūgao-chan mentioned that your training in water manipulation is almost completed, so we thought you would need a sword sometime soon anyway. A katana would've been too big for your current body and anything like a tantō would've been too short to really get into reach, so we got you something in-between. It's not chakra conductive, but you would only need that later anyway." Hayate explained.
Midway through their meal, Shikamaru addressed Naruto. "You know Naruto, while you deserve that promotion, I wished you were still a genin."
"Huh? How comes?"
"When I mentioned to my mother yesterday, that you were promoted, she really got on my case. Father is quite happy with me being still in the academy, I only heard him muttering something about troublesome, insane prodigies. Mum however, decided that she had to up my training to at least keep somewhat up with you. Troublesome women…"
"Yeah, dad said he would accelerate my training as well. Even told me how happy he is, that I made friends with you." Chōji interjected.
"Look at the bright side guys, you get out of the academy and can take the chūnin-exams right after it. They should be held in Konoha right then." Naruto said.
"Troublesome…"
The rest of the evening flew by, even though Emiko had to head home rather soon to put her baby sister to bed. Naruto himself fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Ninja – A how-to, Chapter 5 Bukijutsu
One of most versatile arts when it comes to ninja is bukijutsu. It can be argued that it is so versatile because it is very generalized. Weapons have been in use well before chakra and has thus developed farther. From simple kunai and shuriken to the more sophisticated weapons such as swords, kusarigama and so on.
It is important to have a general foundation in bukijutsu and at least theoretical knowledge of most weapons and their capabilities. While mastering any weapon will require a great deal of dedication it is interesting to note, that not only the art itself is versatile but the weapons themselves often too. Incorporating chakra into your chosen weapon opens almost limitless possibilities. It can be taken even a step further by integrating chakra into the creation of weapons. It was only recently, that the new hidden Village in the land of waters received seven extremely powerful weapons that were created in such a way.
Fighting a master of any weapon is always a challenge simply due to the difference in range. It is rare, that one can defend himself with taijutsu (even enhanced by kunai) against a true master of any weapon. As such another shinobi art is often required to handle such an opponent. However, due to chakra infused metal, weapons are often capable of their own ninjutsu and as such caution is advised.
As with any other shinobi art, any weapon should fit its wielder and general style of fighting. Apart from shuriken and kunai Bukijutsu should also only be picked up after a good basis in the three main shinobi arts is built. It is without doubt, that weapon masters often grow overconfident of the capabilities of their chosen weapon which has been the downfall of many such ninja.
A.N. So, I finally got everything set up, social network and all that shit. The next chapters will fast forward a little. I think two max. three more chapters until we hit canon-time :) There's still some stuff flying around before reviews come up. I'll put the list of new jutsu after reviews, it's rather annoying tbh.
Both the Kiri-nin's bingo book name and the jutsu are google translate. If someone actually knows japanese, hit me up!
I wanted to clarify how sensor ninja will be handled in this story. A sensor-ninja won't be able to discern between the chakra levels of ninja, when they're standing right beside him. Higher levels of chakra, simply means that they can be spotted earlier, but their 'signal' won't get stronger once it's in reach. I wrote that Koji has a range of half a mile. This range is based on average mid-genin reserves, since skilled jonin are able to surpress their chakra to such levels (again - in this story). The strength of chakra could be felt by that 'sixth sense' I mentioned in this chapter, but as I said, that range is short...
Next chapter there might some fuinjutsu stuff coming up (not certain yet). Just some quick thoughts to this. In this story fuinjutsu won't be drawing some fancy stuff on a paper and then 'poof - magic'. I'll try to make it more scientific (or at least portray it to be scientific). That's btw. the reason I just made Naruto talented in maths out of nowhere..^^ I'm just happy that I worte that he's not interested in math in the first chapter, instead of writing that he's shit at it :)
I pushed back the end of the 2nd shinobi war for 2 years. Originally Minato was 4 years old at the end and therefore Kushina as well. However, it only makes sense that Uzushio was destroyed at the end of the war. Kushina was already in Konoha at that time and her earliest flashbacks show her at about the age of 6+. Updated the timeline in the other chapters...
I received some PM's about the whle Shadow clone issue, so I'm gonna explain it again, without having it in the story... For anyone with knowledge how a computer basically works, shadow clones work the same. You give a command, the thingy does it. No thinking, no intelligence, no own personality (at least in this story). That means that they don't draw conclusions from the information they're gathering. For exmple they would be useful to study geography but horrible for maths (since you have to understand and not only know). Their ability are from start to end of their existence the same. There's a way around my 'nerf' and in time Naruto will find it. A cookie for anyone who figures out how to do it!
Finally Bingo Book. It's shown kind of weird in canon. Anyway, it works as follows. Every village sends its 'wanted-list' to the main bounty-office (yeah, just pulled that out of my hat), like we've seen Kakuzu at. The whole thing gets compiled and the bingo book comes into existence. There are not only nuke-nin in there obviously, as the example of Minato shows. If there's someone killing Iwa-nin, he's getting onto the Iwa wanted-list, whether he's a ninja from a village or a nuke-nin. The five million bounty equals ~425'000 Euro. According to wiki 1ryo=10yen. It's kinda crazy, but if you consider, that Asuma is worth 35 million, I kinda thought it fair...
Reviews:
Noahendless: Nah, that doesn't help either if someone were to go for three masteries ;) It'll just be master in blah-blah and adept in blah-blah for example...
ElisabethMably: Thanks :) The rabbit-thingy was somewhat inspired by 'Trust by my side' by Kuru0. Great story that takes the whole shinobi stuff to a whole other level of seriousness. I only remember that there was something about emotional conditiong, but not what it was... Second part is spoiler-ish and answered per PM.
New jutsu:
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique): The Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique shapes a large amount of water into a giant, powerful dragon, which hits the opponent with formidable might, dealing physical damage. The ideal place to use it is near a body of water, but if the user's skill allows it, it is possible to use it even in a place where there is none. The amount of water used will be in proportion with the user's skill.
Suiton: Suijinheki (Water style: Water Formation Wall): This defensive technique creates a wall of water around the user. Enemy attacks are completely intercepted by a fence of water blown out from the mouth, and is raised from below with tremendous might. The water is blown out in the form of a circle around the user, and it makes for a defence without openings. It is also possible for the user to control the amount of water and duration at will. The wall's strength and resistance change following the quantity of chakra poured down into the water, so a skilful shinobi will be able to build a sturdy one. Furthermore, because the field of vision is maintained even while defending one can easily go on to the next move, which is a great advantage. The wall can also be formed from a pre-existing water source.
Suiton: Miwaku-tekina mizu no Jutsu (Water style: Captivating Water Technique): Doesnt exist in canon. The user uses water to weave a thight net and capture enemies. It only useful if the ninja is able to transform the water into ice. The chakra infused ice holds the victim in place.
Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique): This technique changes earth into fine sand by channelling chakra into it, allowing the user to dig through it like a mole. This effect goes around the body (not just the hands), making it just large enough for a person to move through. The user can pinpoint where they are, despite being underground, by sensing the magnetic forces. They can also sense what is happening on the surface and use that information to launch a surprise attack on the enemy.
Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique): This technique conceals the user underground and drags the object of their attack down into the earth, robbing them of their freedom, leaving them completely unable to move after they're underground. In addition, they can start another attack. This technique is normally used for torture, by cutting into the enemy's neck after it was used.
Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind style: Great Breakthrough): The Wind Release: Great Breakthrough is a technique that creates a gust of wind, whose scale and usage varies depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. The technique can also be used in the form of a devastation stream of wind expelled from the user's mouth.