A/N Sup! Let's not waste any time and get right to the chapter!
Chapter story thing: I kinda messed up around the part where we meet Akino Hyuuga, and I originally had it where Sasuke and Hinata were gone to treat Sasuke, but then I realized that I naturally had used the scene with Akino to further bring character development to the group while using everyone except for Hinata herself. I kinda realized this and went "Ah shit, oh no." before eventually deciding to just put the Hyuuga treatment scene before the Akino visit, and having Hinata check in on her father to make sure he was alright.
Chapter 5, Pre-Academy 3: On the hunt
(alternate title: Neji is a douchebag.)
Naruto yawned as he woke up, much to the snickering of Kurama. "Mornin' Kurama..." He greeted sleepily to his furry companion before blinking a few times. He stared at Kurama before blinking a few more times, not believing what he was seeing.
"Morning Naruto, how are you today?" Kurama sarcastically replied, snickering all the while as his charge finally fully woke with a slight yell of shock, "Love you too. All joking aside, I called you here for a reason." Kurama began, as Naruto sleepily motioned him to go on, Kurama snorted before doing just that, "Do you even know what a genjutsu is?" Kurama asked curiously, but expected a 'no' to be the answer.
"A genwhatsu?" Naruto asked, confused. Kurama rolled his eyes from the expected answer.
"A genjutsu." Kurama pronounced the word carefully and slowly, hoping that would rush it through Naruto's brain.
"You mean those magic illusions stuff?" Naruto asked, while Kurama groaned and struggled not to just drop the topic.
"I...guess you can call it that? A Genjutsu is a type of jutsu like Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and as you stated, it's used for illusions to trick the mind. It's by far the most powerful of the three types of jutsu, but as such has the highest restrictions upon it. In order to use a genjutsu, you must have been put underneath the same type of illusion...because of that, I really don't think it would help you to learn it, maybe minor ones that mess with the senses of the person, but nothing too serious. I only ask because of what happened to Pinky." Kurama explained, not at all remorseful for the genjutsu being placed on Sakura, Naruto rolled his eyes, "It's obvious whoever put them under it expected it to be a slow burn out, and it went through smell if it was based on flowers. To put them under such a high level genjutsu that no one noticed...I want to teach you how to break genjutsu, but my level is way too high to teach you, as mine would probably break your mind apart, even if I tone it to its simplest forms." Kurama sighed in frustration, obviously annoyed at this point. Naruto was about to ask how before thinking about it. Naruto sighed while Kurama snorted at the train of thought.
"I guess I can talk to the old man about it, see what he suggests. If that, maybe Kakashi-sensei can help?" Naruto suggested, only receiving a shrug before being kicked out to an alarm clock blaring off. Sighing in annoyance, Naruto turned off the alarm and started getting ready, having started to wake up earlier as to not wait on Choji when he takes his showers. Choza waved to Naruto, causing a light smile to spread upon their faces before Naruto started taking a shower.
"Man my days are starting to get busy..." Naruto mumbled aloud to himself. Not unsurprisingly, Kurama answered. "You got that right, between Pale face, Lecturesalot, Cyclops hunting and now Flower hunting, it's a wonder you're still focused in school...you totally been spacing out during school haven't you?" Kurama rolled his eyes when Naruto groaned out of annoyance. "Not my fault if it puts me to sleep!" Naruto whined to his friend, to only receive mental snickering as a reply.
"You okay there Naruto?" Choza's voice rang through in what sounded like just curiosity.
"Yeah I'm fine!" Naruto shouted back, to which he heard footsteps walking away.
"Making sure!" Choza's voice rang back again, a bit lower in volume due to being in the process of walking away. Sighing, Naruto continued his shower in peace. It took a little while, but soon Naruto and Choza were sitting eating breakfast while Choji took his shower. Once more, regular non-Akimichi'd food (Or so Kurama called it, seeing as all it was was the same food minus the Akimichi secret ingredient, which Kurama had found absolutely hilarious when Naruto had asked Choza why Yakiniku Q's food was the only kind of regular food that he cared for. Choza had sat explained about the secret ingredient's effects on a meal, including it's after effects of massively increasing the amount of calories to the food in exchange for the taste being massively increased.) was on the table. Naruto ravened and savored the taste of the food while Choza barely touched his food with a look of disappointment.
Choza looked up towards Naruto, "Hey, uh, Naruto." Choza seemed a bit nervous, noticing Naruto's peek up from his food towards him, "How's...school?" Choza asked, obviously not knowing how to ask. Naruto grinned.
"It's really boring!" Naruto cheerfully exclaimed without missing a single beat. Choza made a sound akin to a dying chicken as Naruto snickered a bit before elaborating, "Most of the stuff Iruka-sensei lectures on and on about are stuff I learned from Kakashi-sensei and Ho-" Naruto's voice tripped up on himself, cutting the obvious name short. He still wore a grin, but it seemed to stretch itself, desperate to not fall off. Naruto continued on a few seconds later, "S-So I haven't really needed to pay attention. Kurama says I still should, but then again, he falls asleep first! Most of the time I fall asleep is when Iruka-sensei takes a million years to enter the class, but it's also when he tries talking about Shonobi history. I been trying but...it's just sooooo boring!" Naruto explained, completely shoving the moment behind without a second thought. Choza smiled, but his eyes failed to show it, only showing a bit of sadness instead.
"I see, are you at least practicing Taijutsu and the like?" Choza asked calmly, feeling that until Naruto was personally ready, he wouldn't push his surrogate grandson. While he would love to say surrogate son, that was Honoke's and always would be Honoke's place. Naruto sighed.
"If you could even call it that. Mizuki keeps showing us the basic style and not really helping with the styles we all chose. On top of that, he hasn't really done much to help correct the forms...I was thinking of asking Pokerface-san later on if he would help with that since he's a Taijutsu god." Naruto said, not feeling like he was exaggerating even a small bit. Choza finally laughed his hardy laugh at the image.
"Have you ever met a green-spandex wearing man yelling about..." Choza asked, looking around cautiously before whispering the next word, "youth?" He said, hesitating before there was a knock at his door. "ARE YOU FU-" Choza almost cursed aloud before cutting himself off, looking at Choji and Naruto before groaning, "I swear to Kami if its him I'm saying that he is summoned by that forsaken word..." Choza said instead, heading to the door to find it was in fact Guy, complete with green spandex and a nice guy smile.
"I HEARD SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT THE WONDERFUL POWERS OF YOUTH!" Guy screamed out loudly before Choza casually slammed the door on him. Kurama cackled at the action, Naruto just looked confused before saying it was rude, while Choji just rolled his eyes.
"You'll take the back door exit out, Choji, show him the way." Choza said with dead seriousness, causing Kurama's cackles to start becoming audible. Choza rolled his eyes before smirking. "Unless little Naruto here wants to see the most terrifying Genjutsu in his life." He said, but failed to get any response other than confusion and what looked to be annoyance towards Kurama's cackles. Kurama didn't really seem to care, but quieted the cackles to snickering.
"Oh yeah...Kurama was mentioning something about Genjutsu...hmm..." Naruto said, trying to remember as Choza looked absolutely floored.
"You don't know about Genjutsu?" Choza asked, shocked that Iruka didn't teach it.
"I think Iruka-sensei was saying something about 'Preserving our innocence and childhood.' or something, that and saying their supplies and the like been getting raided over the last two years and thus, they don't have the money to get genjutsu test dummies for us to practice on." Naruto explained, scrunching his face adorably as he tried remembering it all. "At least, that's what he told Hinata-chan and me." He gave a shrug of defeat before following Choji off out the back. Choza didn't even move for a few seconds, trying to wrap his brain around what Naruto told him.
Looks like I'm going to be having a chat with Iruka about this...could it be his comrades causing this behavior? Choza thought to himself, flashes of Iruka, Honoke and a dark-haired girl with sapphire blue eyes smiled back at him as he pushed the memories away. Barely holding back a sigh, he opened the door again to find Guy still standing there. Where once a bright grin took his face stood a light frown.
"Are you alright Choza-senpai? You called me earlier." Guy asked, for once being pretty light spoken, which meant he was serious. Choza sighed, motioning the green spandex wearing comrade inside before shutting the door. "Choza?" Guy asked, a tone of confusion appearing as Choza and him sat opposite each other.
"It's about Naruto." Choza began as Guy listened, "I'm worried about him, especially about how Honoke's death has been bothering him...I wish to tell him about how I was his sensei, but Lord Hokage had said not to, as it was his cover right before he died and Naruto wasn't ready to learn it. I know Honoke wouldn't have wanted it to stay a secret, but I don't want to tip Lord Hokage's hand when the Academy is under an attack of knowledge, as well as Danzo's whereabouts and how it all connects together. It's just an absolute mess and I don't even know where Naruto fits into all of this yet..." Choza sighed, letting all his worries out as he told Guy about what Naruto had told him not long before, "The mere fact that he didn't even know what Genjutsu was other than by Kurama means one of two things. Either one, Honoke's death has made Iruka terrified of what will happen to the students...or two, there's a spy that's intentionally sabotaging the Academy classes. Judging from what I've heard from Iruka, it seems to be the latter. I need you, with all your...youness, to find Kakashi and tell him I need to speak with him about that. Naruto isn't prepared for this mess, and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. Guy, I know I'm as-" Choza began before Guy grinned.
"Don't worry Choza-senpai! I'll be sure to get Kakashi and let Lord Hokage know your worries. Don't worry about Naruto, he'll pull through. Just believe in the power of youth!" Guy said, giving a much more tamed smile before continuing, "It's only natural to feel like this Choza-senpai, what with another one of your group having..." Guy faltered a bit when he saw Choza flinch back at the reminder, biting back a grimace, Guy continued, "But you have to remember that Naruto, Choji and the others need you here. Worry only makes things worse, but action...action is the road you must take. While I talk to Kakashi and Lord Hokage, try talking to Naruto and Iruka, and let them know your worries, okay? Maybe having someone to talk to will help you, instead of...bottling it in like this. I worry about you." Guy admitted with a sigh. Choza nodded briefly before Guy looked up in sudden realization, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Lord Hokage was wanting you to bring Naruto, Choji and Hinata to him after their respective lessons today. He said that he'll let them know about this, but it had to be secret and the like. He was wanting to see them around 8, give or take an hour or so, in order to talk to them about something." Guy explained with an excited voice. Choza smirked.
"Same old Guy huh? Still being used as a messenger boy..." Choza had a hearty laugh at the look of indignation that spread across the other's face. Guy sighed a bit as he smiled at Choza's laugh before chuckling himself at it.
"You got me there Choza-sempai. I think Kakashi is still adjusting to having quit Anbu just a while ago." Guy said, wanting to change the topic off of himself. Choza shrugged at that.
"Yeah, it was only a few months ago wasn't it? More surprised he was even nice to Naruto and them when he was training him with Honoke." Choza sighed, "Hopefully Kakashi isn't falling back into his Anbu ways with this mission. I would hate to see Minato's boys both be in danger like this." Choza said, to which Guy looked a bit confused.
"I know Kakashi trained under Minato, but who's the other one?" Guy asked as Choza shrugged, Guy groaned, "Need to know?" Choza heartily laughed once more as they continued talking about more leisurely topics from there on. Nothing important was really said and soon enough, Guy bid Choza farewell.
"You can come out of hiding Tenzo, or do you go by Yamato these days?" Choza said towards a corner in his room before Tenzo came out of the wall-frame.
"How did you know I was here?" Tenzo asked politely.
"The frame was a bit bigger than usual, as well as a tad rounded." Choza explained as Tenzo nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind next time I try hiding." Tenzo said as he looked towards Choza, "Do you need my help?" He asked as Choza looked to think about for a few seconds.
"Not entirely sure yet on that, but I bet Lord Hokage will need your help about Danzo sooner or later. May I inquire on why you were here since Naruto walked into my kitchen?" Choza asked, the mood becoming somewhat tense at that.
"I was assigned as his guard, in case anything happened to him. I stayed because I was reassigned to help you deal with a special matter that will probably take a bit of time." Tenzo explained calmly.
"Ahh...scroll?" Choza asked, to which Tenzo handed him a mission scroll. Choza grimaced a bit at the contents. "Who's going to be looking after Choji and Naruto while I work this?" He asked.
"The Naras have agreed to look after the two of them while you're away on the mission, it's very urgent that this gets done by you as you still are the only one that can convince him to step off this path. Lord Hokage would do it himself, but he's still trying to get the information from the spies as well as the information surrounding Danzo and the Academy all sorted out. He needs you to do this so he can focus on those things. I'm sure you understand." Tenzo explained. Choza groaned a bit.
"Squad?" Choza asked as Tenzo pointed to them both, "Just us? Great...I'll accept on the condition that I talk to Naruto and Choji about it before heading out." Choza explained, not wanting to leave them a note and the like. Tenzo nodded.
"I'm assuming that's what the meeting with you and the three children later on was going to be about. That among many other things." Tenzo explained as the two nodded.
Choza mentally sighed. Great, looks like Rain is acting up again... The mission contents laid open before him.
With The Rain village cooks being written on top with the words Investigation Needed written in Red underneath it. Choza grimaced a bit, worried at what was happening in the village this time. The time before last, he was stopped before even entering and had to work outside the village before eventually leaving with no information whatsoever, then the last time he came and brought his food, he was welcomed in and heard talk of the 'Kami-sama' blessing them with Choza's cooking. Apparently this time they wanted information on this so called 'Kami-sama' and needed him to work with Jiraya to get it. Sighing physically this time, Choza pocketed the mission scroll and got up. It was just to be him and Tenzo on this mission, most likely using Tenzo as an apprentice to him and Jiraya as a local friend of his. He wished to just not do it, and to be with Naruto and Choji more, but sadly this was too important to deny, and Lord Hokage needed the time to focus on the other topics.
Naruto grinned as he and Choji arrived in class with the others. After taking their respective seats, Naruto finally had a layout of the room. Choji, Shikamaru and Ino-teme sat at the right corner on the top row, with Shino, a quiet kid that Naruto liked talking to when he realized he sat the seat above him, Kiba, who yelled nearly as much as him causing many arguments between the two of them sat to Shino's left, as well as a kid that Naruto really never talked to who sat to Shino's right. No one sat next to Naruto, but he didn't really mind. Sakura sat across the gap of Naruto, taking her seat next to Sasuke, who sat in the middle with a boy Naruto didn't know sitting next to him. Hinata sat in the middle of two boys that Naruto didn't know, but Hinata never cared to talk to them, preferring to turn around and talk to Naruto, which made him happy for some reason. In front of Sasuke sat a group of 2 boys and a girl that Naruto never really talked to, but remembered as those that took their time just to bully him when he was still in the Orphanage.
Why was Naruto listing all of this in his mind? Well, he was bored.
Really, really bored.
"UGhhhhhhh, Iruka-senseiiiiiii!" Naruto whined aloud to no one in particular, annoyed that it was ten minutes after the bell rang and his sensei still hadn't arrived yet. Hinata turned to face him with a hopeful smile.
"W-Well N-Naruto, maybe we can talk a bit with the G-Group wh-while he's n-not here?" Hinata asked, getting the attention of the aforementioned group. Naruto grinned in response while Sakura and Sasuke started walking over to sit on both sides of Naruto. Shino still sat above while Kiba snorted before turning away, though he didn't move. Shikamaru groaned as Choji dragged him over. Ino huffed before Naruto sent her a hateful glare. Ino flinched before staying where she was.
"I-Ino..." Sakura stuttered only to be ignored. She felt bad over what had happened yesterday in the Academy Library, but every try that Sakura tried to apologize, Ino would either ignore her completely, or would yell at her to stop trying. Sasuke sighed as he put his hand on Sakura.
"It's fine." Sasuke said, causing the group to stare at him. He felt a bit nervous from the glances, "I-I mean, remember what we talked about yesterday, if they're under a Genjutsu, then of course whoever's here doesn't want us learning Genjutsu and how to break it. All we gotta do is find a way for Kakashi-sensei and the others to believe us and have them break them out of it. If we do that, most likely it'll make Ino and the others back to how they were before whatever Genjutsu got placed on you all." Sasuke explained, causing the others to look in awe. "W-What!?" Sasuke stuttered out of nervousness.
"You...you actually said sentences!" Naruto said in disbelief, with many of the others agreeing with him. Sasuke was unable to hide the blush that rose with that before huffing and turning away. Naruto rolled his eyes before turning to Sakura. "So..." Naruto began, but was cut off by Iruka entering the room along with Mizuki.
"Morning class, get to your assigned seats!" Iruka said with a smile on his face as Sakura looked sorrowful towards Naruto, mouthing the words 'Maybe later?' before heading back to her seat. Naruto nodded with a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. Hinata gave him a hopeful smile, which caused his smile to become a bit less strained. A small voice in his head wondered if Hinata was under a similar Genjutsu and would hate her if they snapped her out of it. "Doubtful. the Hyuuga clan tend to have a natural immunity to Genjutsu due to their eyes. On top of that, even if she was one that had gotten the flowers, Paleface would most certainly have noticed and snapped her out of it." Kurama explained with a light shrug back. "Then what about Ino? Wouldn't her dad have noticed?" Naruto thought back as Iruka began another boring lecture. It was another one about the basics of Chakra, but this time he went into starting them off with a textbook. Groaning, Naruto turned along with them, noting that even Sakura was looking bored, Shikamaru and Choji were sleeping, and Shino was thinking of walking and sitting next to Naruto just to see if Iruka would say anything or notice him moving. Naruto looked at Shino with a light nod when Iruka closed his eyes as he went through his lecture, and as Shino and Naruto thought, didn't notice Shino sit right of Naruto. Shino looked crestfallen as Naruto snickered. "Honestly, I been asking myself the same question. Ask the sleepy brat, maybe he would know." Kurama groaned back, frustrated at his own ignorance. Naruto stared at the textbook, a passage catching his eye.
"No one entirely knows where Chakra had come from, but research shows that there once was no chakra ruling the land. After an event of unknown origin, Chakra filled the world and fractured it. The zone we live in contains the least amount of what is known as Natural Chakra, since an overload of this would cause humans to turn into stone, however Sages are humans that have mastered the balance between their own Chakra and the Natural Chakra that now rules the world. Summons, or animal clans that allow Ninjas to summon them to help with battle, each took a zone to their own to rule, which when taught the Summoning Jutsu, can be used to create a pact with a certain clan, or clans as some have been known to associate with. Most only can form with one clan of summons; however, there are examples of some forming with two summonable clans." Naruto read aloud, not noticing how the class, along with Iruka-sensei, turned to stare at him while he read. Naruto was thinking of continuing before Iruka-sensei coughed, snagging his attention. "WAH!" He shouted, falling back from his bench from the shock, much to the chuckles of his classmates. Embarrassed, Naruto pouted slightly, but a smile slid onto his face when Hinata smiled at him. Kurama and Iruka-sensei mentally snickered at the sight before Iruka-sensei rolled his eyes at his students.
"Naruto, you do know that's the Third year's book, right?" Iruka-sensei asked, showing him a copy of the Pre-Academy book, which Naruto had already read through, as well as the first and second years. He had been bored and Choza and Choji read through it with him.
"But sensei, I already read through the Pre, First, and Second year books. Most of them are just the bare basics of Chakra and nothing more." Naruto explained, surprising most of the class aside from Choji, who smirked.
"He has, Dad and I read it with him over the last few days. The problem is that most of what the book contains are just the foundations that the clans teach you even before entering the Academy. Naruto was curious, as was I, so we asked Dad and we were going through the other books. I'm only about halfway through the second year book, but Naruto had read through the night it seems." Choji shrugged, smirk still on his face. Shikamaru and Ino stared at him like he grown a second head.
"C-Can I read some of those books later on?" Shikamaru and Sakura asked Choji and Naruto respectfully simultaneously, much to their laughter.
"Sure!" The two spoke in union, resulting in a groan from Iruka-sensei. Iruka-sensei had a light frown on his face as he stared at the four.
"You know, the reason we put it like this is to make sure we build up your Chakra reserves and physical strength a good bit before complicating it more. It's best to start it in the third and second years since you would have a good baseline by then." Iruka-sensei explained, which Sakura frowned to.
"Sure that can be the case, but we would still need the information. That's two to three years with nothing but the bare basics of Chakra when we could at least learn about Chakra control as well." Sakura said, having glanced at the word in the brief bit she had grabbed Naruto's third year book. Naruto rolled his eyes when he realized that it happened. Iruka-sensei deflated slightly.
"Okay, how about I come to a compromise with you all. You have five total years in the Academy instead of the normal four most do, so I can start with this year to build up your reserves, teach you all the basics of Chakra and Chakra control, and the Shinobi history. But, jutsus wouldn't really be touched until year two, or until you can all be able to use the two jutsus you have grabbed. Deal?" Iruka-sensei asked, reduced to having to bargain with his class at Sakura's comment, since she was right in that fact. Chakra control was one of the most basic aspects of Chakra and wasn't touched until year four of all things.
"DEAL!" The class shouted, aside from a few people, as one. Iruka sighed before nodding himself.
"Okay then, let's explain Chakra control a bit real quick then. As everyone knows," Iruka-sensei started, heading to the board and bringing down a Chakra Network diagram, composed from both a Hyuuga's help of seeing the Network, as well as a Genjutsu user to draw it down, and continued, "the entire body of anyone contains what is known as a Chakra Network. A normal Chakra Network consists of...?" Iruka-sensei asked, wanting to call on someone. Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata's hand shot up, even though Hinata's shot up a bit shaky compared to the others. Iruka-sensei smiled as he asked, "Hinata?" Hinata froze a bit before coughing and standing up.
"The Chakra Network consists of the Chakra Core, where all the Chakra builds up and is stored in, the Eight Chakra Gates, which limits the amount of Chakra that goes to each point, with Chakra Signs being used to direct the Chakra flow across the Network, as well as 361 Chakra Points, spreading across the entire body." Hinata stuttered heavily through the explanation, but the meaning still reined clear throughout it all. Iruka-sensei nodded happily.
"Correct! Now, the amount of Chakra within the Chakra Core can go up or down via use and practice, as well as physical training. Chakra acts as natural energy for the body and the more you use, the more it recovers for tomorrow. Let's say our Chakra was a number of 100 for everyone for an example. If I use all 100 points, I would die from a severe lack of Chakra. I can use 95 without dying, but be left with Chakra Exhaustion, which is...?" Iruka-sensei said, freezing the class with the word death. Naruto paled over and struggled to calm himself. Iruka mentally cursed himself for the lack of tact as Shino raised his hand. "Shino?" Iruka-sensei asked, though his eyes still stayed somewhat locked towards Naruto nervously.
"If someone uses too much Chakra, your body can pass out, like if you jogged too much, you would naturally get exhausted. Fact: Chakra Exhaustion comes in three types, Severe which is mostly always fatal, Moderate which can leave someone on bed rest for four to five days, and Mild which can leave someone on bed rest for one to three days." Shino said quietly, knowing no one else would have recovered fast enough to avoid talking. Shino turned towards Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder, noting the lack of reaction, he let one of his insects on over. The insect bit and soon Naruto snapped out of his funk with a jolt. Though Naruto was a bit angry at this, nearly shouting in pain from it, he instead turned to Shino with a grin.
"Thanks Shino!" He instead said. Shino nodded and soon the entire class was back to normal. Iruka coughed, noting how each one needed Shino's insect to snap them out of it and didn't care to mention Shino talking for once.
"Thank you Shino for the explanation, as that is correct." Iruka-sensei said after a moment of awe. The entire class turned to Shino with a look of shock.
"HE TALKS!?" Ino shouted out of surprise, never knowing Shino to talk. Naruto and the rest of the Academy Group, currently consisting of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru was dragged in this morning by Choji, and Shino joined with Hinata's help, rolled their eyes. Kiba was still on the fence on if he'll join, but even he rolled his eyes at Ino's comment.
"Of course he talks! He's like Hinata and shy!" Kiba and Naruto both shouted, "Don't Copy me Dobe/Dog breath!" The two got into another argument before Sasuke and Sakura got them to break it up. Ino looked hurt as she stared at Sasuke. What does she have that I don't!? Ino thought miserably as Sakura looked towards her, sorrow on her face. Ino made an angry sound before looking away. A part of her felt like it was dying, but she ignored it even when part of her wished she didn't.
"Enough." Iruka-sensei groaned as the bell rang. Iruka-sensei sighed, before realizing no one had moved, "I take it you want to learn more?" Iruka-sensei looked surprised at this, since most days they couldn't wait to run out...even if it had only been three days in total. They shook their heads as Iruka continued explaining Chakra control before the Academy bell rang. Then Iruka had to let them go. The Academy Group got together, with Kiba also joining them.
"So, any plans?" Sakura asked the others. Most shrugged or shook their heads, aside from Naruto.
"Well, I gotta talk to Pokerface-san and ask if he can help me with the Taijutsu style. Sasuke, want to come with?" Naruto asked, not noticing the blush that rushed to Hinata's face.
Sakura had a look on her face before Sasuke beat her to it, "How about we all go with? We all could use the help and it could help us learn in the end." Sasuke asked, to which Shikamaru shook his head.
"Can't, Dad said to not go to other clans for help with it, I'm to train with him." He explained, much to the disappointment of the others.
Choji was next with a disappointed face of his own, "Sadly Dad is the only one that can help with it, but I can if he lets me." Choji explained, much to the determined face of Naruto, who promised to help with that. Choji smiled to that.
"I can probably see if my father would let me, but I'm not entirely sure he'll let me." Shino explained as Naruto put a hand on his shoulder out of understanding.
"WHEN WERE YOU HERE!?" Kiba shouted, having not noticed him. Shino pouted at this.
"I've been here the whole time..." Shino whined while Naruto and Sakura comforted him.
"W-Well, Mom wants me to train with her, N-Not like I'm a part of this or anything!" Kiba stuttered out, trying to act like he wasn't part of the group. Akamaru bit his foot before getting on Naruto's head. Kurama growled a bit at that before Akamaru growled back. "YOU WANT TO GO YOU DOG BREATH!?" Kurama mentally screamed at Akamaru as Naruto covered his mouth. Most of them looked confused before Hinata and Choji had a realization.
"Don't mind him, this happens a lot. He kinda has a...split personality." Choji tried explaining it, not wanting to let on the fact about Kurama. Sakura gained a glint in her eyes at this. I found another one! Shannaro!
"You mean that imaginary friend of his?" Sasuke asked, remembering Naruto having mentioned something about a Kurama during training, as well as that time he and Hinata were trapped in that storage closet. Choji panicked.
"Y-Yeah, I-I guess that's a-a good way to d-describe it?" Choji looked completely unsure, stuttering just as bad as Hinata before hurrying them out the door. Kurama and Akamaru continued yelling at each before Naruto went into his head, eyes glossing into blankness. "WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP ALREADY!?" Naruto yelled at Kurama and Akamaru, knowing that somehow Akamaru was hearing Kurama. The two stopped their growling and stared at him. "Please!? You guys are giving me a headache and the others are trying to talk! At least agree to disagree or something!" Naruto continued as the two snorted and looked away from each other, "No food for a week and I will subject you to Choji's eating for the next week." Naruto threatened the two, Kurama looked downright terrified as Akamaru looked confused, "As for you, I will tell Kiba's mom you were the one that peed on her sandals." Naruto threatened, mostly guessing and somehow getting it right again. Akamaru looked just as terrified as Kurama did as Kiba looked completely confused along with the others. Naruto smirked, "Then stop fighting each other, become friends and I won't do that." Naruto commanded as the two immediately stopped fighting, shook hands before Naruto exited his mind, eyes turning back to blue with a backdrop of red.
"W-What was that?" Kiba stuttered, watching as Akamaru bowed towards Naruto before jumping on Kiba's face. Naruto smirked.
"Call me the dog whisperer, cause me and Akamaru came to an understanding just now." Naruto joked, not noticing Sasuke's shocked face. Did his eyes just pale out? Is that a type of DÅjutsu? Sasuke wasn't sure what he had saw, but Naruto's eyes shifted a lot now that he thought about it. Was Kurama, whoever he was, actually an imaginary friend? Naruto grinned at Sasuke at this.
"Well, we best be heading out I guess, wouldn't want to keep Pokerface-san waiting! Oh, but first!" Naruto said, rushing ahead towards a store.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" The group heard as Naruto was, quite literally mind you, kicked out of the store.
"STUPID OLD MAN!" Naruto yelled back at him, only to have to head to the others defeated.
"Yesh, you okay man?" Kiba asked, oddly calm for once. Naruto shrugged.
"This always happens to be honest, why I have this." Naruto said, tugging at his standard orange jumpsuit, "Only thing I could get." He explained. "Was trying to buy something for the Hyuugas, there was an old lady that wanted some...uh." Naruto said as Hinata rolled her eyes.
"They wanted some red tomatoes. Don't worry, I'll grab it for you." Hinata said, coolly grabbing the cash from Naruto as she went in, desperately avoiding mentioning the blush that went across her face. Kiba giving a wolf whissle ended both of them in blushes. Sakura sighed as she and Shino grabbed Hinata and Naruto respectfully, before Sasuke bought the tomatoes for them. Shino looked around as Choji walked and picked Naruto up.
"I'm sure Dad will forgive me this time, thanks Shino." Choji grinned as Shino nodded.
"No problem." Shino said quietly before he, Kiba and Shikamaru, who was oddly silent, split from the group. Shikamaru looked towards Naruto, thoughtful, but said nothing as he left. A shiver went down Choji's back. Yesh, seems he picked up the mystery! Was hoping he wouldn't! Choji thought, not wanting to be the idiot to release the information of an S ranked secret. He and Hinata were both sworn in to secrecy that first night after finding out by the Hokage himself, and it terrified them both when he stressed the importance of "Tell and you will be hunted as criminals." to them both. Another shiver fled down his spine as they had reached the Hyuuga estate. At this point, Naruto and Hinata had finally gotten up and got out of their grips with a "t-t-thank you." from Hinata and a "Thanks Choji!" from Naruto.
The group knocked on the door as Neji opened it with a groan. "Oh great, it brought friends." Neji bitterly spat out with a glare.
"Hey knock it off!" Naruto spat back with his own glare, "Hinata is her own person, so what if she brings friends? Still more than you would ever have with your 'Holier than thou' attitude!" Naruto continued, mocking Neji's tone during the insult. Hinata and the others barely withheld snickers as it showed upon their face. Neji growled.
"Shut up!" Neji said, pushing past him, only to be stopped by Sasuke. "Unhand me!" Neji tried shaking him off, but Sasuke refused.
"Apologize to them." Sasuke said, eyes pointing towards Naruto and Hinata. Neji brought his palm to Sasuke's Chakra point, removing the feeling from it and his knee as Sasuke was forced to let go. Neji looked unrepentant as Sasuke yelled in pain, collapsing to the ground in a dry heap from the hits to his knee. Hinata stepped forward with anger filling her eyes.
"That's enough!" A voice boomed from in the gate as Hinata was about to stand her ground against her cousin brother person. Hiashi walked forward towards Sasuke to help him up. "Hinata bring him towards the nursery while I deal with this. You all, head inside." Hiashi coldly instructed them, to which, even if reluctantly, complied. Naruto looked back. "Go." Hiashi replied with a smile as Naruto nodded and closed the gate behind him. Immediately the smile fell. "That was completely uncalled for Neji." Hiashi began his scolding. Neji scoffed.
"Yeah right, like you're any better! All you do is baby Hinata, Hinata this, Hinata that!" Neji spat back with rage boiling.
"NEJI HYUUGA!" Hiashi yelled, "You are the representation of this clan!" Hiashi continued as Neji ripped his head scarf off, revealing a bird-like seal that the scarf was hiding.
"YEAH AND WHAT DOES THIS THING MEAN!?" Neji shouted back, pointing to a seal placed on his head, "THIS THING ALREADY BEEN USED AGAIN AND AGAIN AS A WAY FOR YOU ALL TO GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING. ALL YOU DO IS JUST CONTINUE USING THAT DAMN JUTSU AGAINST ME!" Neji continued, tears unintentionally welling up in his eyes. "WHY!?" Neji sobbed out, deep with hurt and rage. "Why me!?" He sobbed onward, falling to his knees in a tearful sob. Hiashi sighed, walking towards his son as he noticed the audience forming round them. He glared as they all walked away as if they saw nothing. He looked back towards his son and knelt down, hugging him.
"I know it's tough Neji. And as much as I want to help you, I cannot. It's a curse you must learn to live with for now, but mark my words, I will not let you die to it. So hold strong." Hiashi comforted him, but Neji continued to cry more. The two continued this for a few hours as it grew dark.
Meanwhile
Sasuke groaned as Hinata took his arm and wrapped it around her body in order to carry him to the Hyuuga infirmary. "W-Why?" Sasuke groaned out, lightheaded as he was from the pain, to Hinata. She for her part, rolled her eyes.
"You're a friend of a friend, and that makes you my friend. I never ab-abandon friends in n-need. That's my ni-ninja way." Hinata said, stutter returning somewhat as she headed inside the compound, rounding a corner to drop Sasuke off.
"I-It doesn't hurt that much." Sasuke said, but Hinata looked unimpressed. Sasuke groaned out in pain as she lightly tapped his foot. Hinata put him on an infirmary bed, happy that it was one of the closest rooms to the entrance of the main clan building. The Hyuuga workers took one look at Sasuke, tapped the three spots that Neji had hastily closed off before looking to Hinata.
"I take it your brother went after him? Tell him that his skill is too rash, and he improperly closes the point, allowing just one touch to them to spring it back to full health." The nurse spat, but not towards Hinata. Hinata was nervous from the tone, even as she noted that it was Neji she was made at and not herself. It didn't help as Sasuke slowly got back up, testing his body before nodding.
Bowing slightly, the two were off to rejoin Naruto, having found him wandering around the center with the group as lost as can be.
"I'm sure it's this way!" the two heard Naruto said, before he spotted them, "Oh hey Sasuke, Hinata, we were waiting on you!" Naruto admitted, much to the anger of Sakura, who looked absolutely ready to punch him for leading them around in circles. No longer having to stall for time, they grouped up and moved on their way.
Naruto and the rest of the group traveled towards the more poor side of the large Hyuuga compound. Hinata went off to make sure that Hiashi didn't wait alone, as well as to see if he needed help with Neji, much to Naruto's chagrin after seeing her off with Sasuke. The old lady from earlier was on her porch, eating the red tomatoes that Neji had bought for her just the day before. Naruto groaned at his sudden and rather late realization that so many important events in his life loved to go one right after another.
"Hey I mean, it keeps you on your toes!" Kurama grinned as Naruto groaned that bit more. "Wow, so helpful!" Naruto thought back remorseless of the whine in his tone, much to the laughter of his friend. The groans caused the lady to notice them, mostly confused and a tad offended at being groaned at as a greeting.
"And who are you?" She raised an eyebrow as Naruto shook off his previous mood, handing the basket of red tomatoes to her. Her eyes gained a glint that Naruto realized he mirrored every time he saw or heard ramen mentioned in a conversation. "Why thank you! Now why are you doing this?" She said, putting the basket down as she stared at Naruto and the group. Naruto nervously laughed a bit.
"I...I kinda heard you yelling at that teme yesterday, and I was wanting to do something to help you out." Naruto said, oblivious to the unimpressed glare present on the lady's face, before Sakura moved him over with a pleading look on her face for the lady to forgive him.
"D-Don't mind him, he's dumb and the like! We came because we wanted to help you out with being able to do the things you wish to do, but can't because of age." Sakura amended, but even she was pushed aside by Sasuke as the lady still looked unimpressed with the motive behind it.
"We wished to share our bounty with you. We bought these tomatoes as a peace offering over what had happened yesterday as a sign of forgiveness." Sasuke explained, having learned of the events when the group met up that morning, and this time the lady relented. Sasuke smirked at the others with a stroke of pride before the lady began to speak.
"Ahh, that explains it. Well what are you waiting for, let's eat." She said, as Sasuke took the basket and the group headed inside, ready to make a meal. Sasuke and Naruto grabbed a few spare ingredients and wordlessly got to work on a basic recipe, having boiled the tomatoes down into a simple soup for her to be able to eat without much trouble. Naruto grabbed the noodles, and Sasuke began work on the soup base as Sakura and the rest of the group watched in speechless awe at the actions. The lady chuckled mirthfully at the cooks' friends, watching as the two began working at a rhythm that most struggled to fall into.
She knew the rumors, how the boy in orange was an orphan having lived without anyone watching over him for more than a few years, if the rumors about how he was treated in the Orphanage since he was two are anything to say. He probably also learned cooking since he now was under protection of the Akimichi, and by extension the Nara and Yamanaka, clan. The boy in a darkish red was said to be the second to last Uchiha left alive besides the now missing nin, Itachi Uchiha, and is even the younger brother of said missing nin, having been alone since the boy was just three. She watched the two continue cooking in near unison, much to even her own surprise.
Akino Hyuuga was not an easy woman to please by any account, having a temper that was not that far behind the legendary Sannin's own Tsunade. These two boys only very recently met each other if rumors were to be believed, and they most likely had not done this before if the reactions of her guests were to be believed. Soon after, the newly dubbed 'Tomato Ramen paste' was dished out to be served to them all. Naruto grinned happily while Sasuke smirked, both equally proud of their cooking skill. Akino might not have had the Byakugan, but even she could see the not-so-subtle fist pump the two shared. Rolling her eyes, she instead watched the group nearly attack the two with awe'd questions before both of them instead motioned for the meal. Before the Pink-haired one took a single bite, Naruto stopped her.
"Sakura wait, first, we must give respect for the ones that gave us this meal. To the farmers that gave us the ve-plants that eventually became the tomatoes in our paste. To the Kamis for sending down their ramen for us to enjoy, and to the water that became our broth, as well as to the ninja protecting us all that allow us to eat this meal in peaceful times." Naruto recited, head down in what looked to be a bastardized prayer. The pink-haired girl, now dubbed as Sakura, had her eye twitch in frustration. Akino laughed as she too joined him in this weird prayer over their meal. Sasuke had stayed silent, most likely understanding why Naruto had done this from his many times eating with the two. The rest of the group also stayed quiet, not wishing to interrupt.
The chubby one, obviously an Akimichi, groaned at him, "Can we eat now!? I'm starving!" The Akimichi whined as Naruto grinned once more. He immediately dug in to his meal and looked towards the two. "I want this recipe." He eventually said, much to the cheers of the two. Akino watched as similar praises spread across from the rest of the group before eventually Sakura ate hers.
"How can you two cook this good!?" Sakura childishly asked as the two laughed at the question.
"We been cooking for quite a long while, on top of that I guess I'm a natural. Uncle Choza lets me cook in the kitchen now and again, heck sometimes he invites Sasuke over so we can train together, so we would cook the supper that day." Naruto explains with a wide grin, which while somewhat reluctant, Sasuke mirrors with a small smile upon his face. Akino finally tasted her soup, which was quite good and easy to eat. Looking in surprise, she turned to the two.
"I have seen fully aged cooks that are honored as high ranking chefs make worse food then you two, I can see you two having a great future together." She said, causing a blush to mirror between the two as they quickly pushed the other away.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" The two shouted as one, causing laughter to spread to the others at the jab. Akino relented after a few more minutes of this.
"Thank you for visiting me, I know your days are busy as young ones' days should, but never forget to leave room for the nice restful moments you can get." Akino thanked them with as much respect as her old bones could give. The group nodded to them. "I hope you all can visit again someday, sorry about the small compartments." She continued on, motioning to the one room apartment she had, as the rest belonged to the other Byakugan-less Hyuugas. Naruto's grin faded at that.
"Why is this place so small, aren't you an Hyuuga?" Naruto asked, remembering what he seen of Hinata's house and thusly confused on Akino's living conditions. Akino smiled grimly.
"Yes, but I'm what's called a 'Failed Hyuuga' for my lack of the signature Byakugan that we're known for. About ten percent of all Hyuugas never gain their Byakugan, or are born without the DNA necessary to even contain it, and if we have no other clan to reside in, we are cast to the very shadows of this complex, heading the closest village homes in order to act as cannon fodder in case of any attackers come to us." Akino said sadly. Sakura and the others gasped in shock in some form or another.
"That's horrible!" Sakura exclaimed in great pity of Akino's situation. She simply waved the unwanted pity away.
"Please, I've been making due with my situation, and it's not all bad. Us Byakuganless people all stick together, and we know the full way around the compound that the main Hyuuga never focus on learning. We make due with our situation." Akino smiled as Naruto's eyes gained a glint to them.
"Secret passages?" Naruto asked as the group leaned closer with their own looks of curiosity shining on their face. Akino laughed at the childish wonder before nodding.
"Yup. Long, long ago the Hyuuga were under constant threat as the vanguard of the village. However, they never had the mobility that many of the other clans were known for. The Senju, the leaders of the village, were known for their Wood Style and making trees to quickly send them into battle. The Uchiha used their crow summons as well as the Konoha tunnels to send them to battle, but the Hyuuga were denied access to these tunnels from a lack of knowledge on how to use them. Thus, the Hyuuga created their own network that might or might not connect to said Konoha tunnels, were made only to cover from all around the compound to four main cardinal planes from here in 10 miles of each direction. Using these tunnels, they surprised many of their opponents, who quoted Hyuugas to pop out of the ground all at once to surround and beat their opponents, while being able to use them in order to fight on the front line alongside the other two of the three great clans. Sadly, due to the more peaceful times, many Hyuuga have forgotten about these tunnels, and fail to teach the newer generation about their existence within due to a stuck up sense of arrogance that has emerged within the Elders of the clan. It's a truly sad fate." Akino continued on her explanation, noting the imagination of how the tunnels were used on their faces, her face took a more wistful look, "Because of many of them forgetting of the existence of the tunnels, we Byakuganless people often head down there to either escape those wanting to harm us for bringing 'them disgrace' and the like, as well as in order to try and steal whatever scraps of food we can. Thankfully there are Hyuuga in our clan that help buy us food, even if some do it very reluctantly." Akino finished, noting the flinch that Naruto had at the end, having known the struggle of hunting food from a young age. Many of the group looked like they were wanting to cry, but Akino smiled through it.
"Now, I don't want to take too much of your time, so run along now. I am more than capable of taking care of myself, but thank you for keeping me company through this. Come back again and make that ramen again!" Naruto and the others waved as she saw them off, seeing Hinata returning she sent a smile her way, to which Hinata returned a shy one of her own. Akino closed her door with a sight, looking at an old photograph, wondering not for the first time if things would have been different if she had a Byakugan of her own that day.
A/N And I think that'll be where I end this chapter. Oddly enough, not much actually happened in this chapter, but I don't think much really was meant to in the end. I sadly had to break this in two since this already is basically 10k words and I still haven't even touched the group's Taijutsu training, having to edit through this to make it flow a bit nicer, as well as Choza's mission.
Oh and yes, we will see Choza and Tenzo's mission as it'll provide a nice way to timeskip for the Academy years. It's a long time Spy Mission assigned to the two, and of S rank importance. They couldn't send too many people or it would blow their cover and could massively risk war falling out. I figure that the mission would overall take about Three years with constant letters being sent back informing the Hokage of what's going down. I figure between the mission and the search for the Flower Genjutsu user (And boy I have plans for that, don't you worry!) I think I'll be all set for the Academy years. If it's not this next chapter, the end of the Pre-Academy arc will be right after that (And yes, I know the irony of the Pre-Academy arc ending after they graduate from the Academy.) chapter.
The roadmap so far is pretty much as follows
This arc - Pre Academy Arc at 4/5 chapters
Genin Training Arc at about 3/4 chapters, along with 1 D rank mission (so far I got 2 requests for no D ranks. I understand that, but this one D rank is important for the character growth of the characters within Team 7 and shall be shown, the rest will be skip however. I also have 1 that requests to see Kakashi's training if the training is used later on, which it will be, just maybe not directly A causes B, and more the things I learned from A cause B from a unique application of A if that makes any sense.)
Wave Arc at about 2/3 chapters. I don't really have much to say about the Wave mission. It's a great arc, and honestly pushes the characters in a really good direction, all I would be doing is making some small changes really and not much more, so I doubt I'll talk that much about it because there's not much I can do to make it better other than adding some moments for the entire cast to get better with, as well as having the kids practice tree walking in a way that pushes it to it's theoritical maximum as a way to train teamwork and chakra control in the three genin.
? This mission I have in my head as I know how everything goes down, but I don't know the chapter count yet, and I'm not giving you any hints on what it might be ;) Just know that this is where we break from canon, and this might or might not be a Sakura-focused mission to push her and Kakashi forward as characters.
Chunin Exams: Oh trust me, these are not the Chunin Exams you know of, because of the previous arc, they had missed the ones held in Konoha and are going...to Kirigakuri!? Ohohoho! THIS is gonna be a fun arc to write and I have no idea the chapter count as of yet.
The Chunin Exams are basically the last arc of the story with me also adding (or not adding, who knows) the invasion of Konoha to it. So I think, just with my rough outline of this. We might be able to get away with about...20ish chapters? But I bet that number is gonna be nothing at the end of it all, so hey, more to read I guess? Well, thank you all for your endless support, absolutely blows me away, and I can't wait to see you next time.
Once more for the remaining question. I already got the answers for the other two so those two are closed, and I would love to hear your opinion on this one in all honestly.
1. Do you want to see Sasuke and Sakura interact with each other? I can show some scenes between them, but it wouldn't be from Naruto's POV as it has been (Been 3rd person limited btw.) and instead it would be from Sasuke's most likely. I have some ideas for scenes between them, but I think I'm gonna leave it towards you guys to decide, as most of their scenes happen away from Naruto.
Edit to Q1: They are gonna interact a bit, but I mean like individual scenes with just them, as well as showing when they first met as a Omake and the like. They would still be side characters, but they would get their own development.
The other two were Kakashi training his students, and seeing D ranks. Both received two votes for yes to training and no to D ranks. So we're moving on with a Genin training arc as well as just one D rank mission involving a certain demonic Cat that might or might not appear past this D rank.
Sorry for taking your time, but thanks in advance for answering the questions! I'll be seeing you next time with Chapter 6 or an update to the other chapters yet again!
Thank you all so much for the support,
-Char