Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
It has been a few weeks since Naruto had begun working as a member of Team 8, working in his first ever Genin team and he was enjoying it. He even enjoyed the really boring D-rank missions they were assigned, regardless of the task which was surprising Kurenai with each one. This led her to asking Naruto about it during one of the team's missions late in the afternoon. "Naruto you've been really accepting of these missions, I thought you would have complained about them by now." she said, Naruto giving her a little laugh and a shake of his head. "I don't really mind them Kurenai-Sensei. They need to be done and it's like I'm getting a good amount of pocket money for doing it. It's worth it and it's training in it's own way really. There's a lot of physical labour for building muscle and stamina, plus Hinata and Shino are finding great uses for their kekkei genkai which is giving them their own training benefits." Naruto explained, Kurenai nodding and accepting the explanation.
"That's true. Also Naruto I've been meaning to ask, why do you have your eye covered up like that?" she asked, Naruto tensing up and looking nervous. "It's... something I'd rather not show or explain sensei... It's something I live with as a reminder of what you can lose when you're weak. It's a reminder that I have to become strong to protect everything I hold dear to me. I can't lose if other people's lives are on the line, especially if I'm going to become the next Hokage. That's something that the fourth Hokage understood, and he learnt that from the third Hokage. It's a teaching I'm going to live with until the day I die. Which I hope is going to be me surrounded by my family and because I'm old." Naruto said softly, Kurenai smiling softly at him.
"You're a lot more mature than the reports said about you Naruto, I like it. I was worried you'd be the type that would scream about ramen." Kurenai said, Naruto laughing behind his facemask. "I'm a lot different than anyone would expect Kurenai-sensei... if you truly wish to know the truth about me... I give you permission to find out from Lord Third. It's something that virtually nobody else will find out. I only ask one thing of you and that is to not reveal a single thing of what you have learned to anybody, even Hinata and Shino." he said, his voice soft.
Kurenai looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay Naruto, may I ask him after this mission?" she asked, Naruto just giving her a quick nod before going to assist his teammates. "He seems way too different than what his records said, something has definitely happened to this kid. Or maybe this is how he truly is. Either way I need to get confirmation from the Hokage about him." she thought, resigning herself back to the task at hand.
"Hey Shino, Hinata, you two wanna go grab something to eat after this mission? We could do with a good rest after all the ones we've been doing today." he asked, his teammates both nodding and they began working even faster, wanting to take a break as soon as they could. It was around an hour later that Team 8 finished their mission and made their way to the Hokage tower to collect their pay for the missions they had completed. As they walked to the Hokage tower, Kurenai couldn't help but notice the constant tension in Naruto's body, almost like he expected an attack from any possible moment but she chose not to say anything just yet, choosing to question him when they were both alone.
"Lord Hokage. Team 8 coming to return their missions for the day." Kurenai said as they stepped into the mission room, Sarutobi nodding with a smile and grabbing a couple of money bundles. "Of course Kurenai-Chan, I trust everything went well as normal?" he asked, Kurenai nodding. "Um Lord Hokage... I have something to talk to you about, Naruto has told me I'm allowed to know, whatever that is."
She was rather confused when Hiruzen's face went from his usual grandfatherly one to hard and calculating. "Kurenai. What you are about to hear is to never leave this room under penalty of death. You understand?" he asked, his tone telling two things. Either she accepted this and got to hear under the threat of death should she divulge it or tol eave and never know what her blonde student meant.
"I understand Lord Hokage. I really wish to know." she replied, a confident but serious tone tinting her melodic voice. "Good. The truth is that Naruto-"
Ichiraku Ramen
"Hey old man, can me and my teammates get a few bowls of Ramen?" Naruto asked as he, Hinata and Shino all stepped into the ramen stand. They were all greeted with the different smells of flavored ramen in the air. "Of course Naruto! Anything for my favorite customer!" Teuchi replied with his usual loud laugh, Ayame smiling at him and leaning on the counter. "So Naruto, is this your girlfriend and your friend?" she asked teasingly, Naruto blushing in response.
"Ayame. I see you as a sister. But I WILL hit you with that wok you're so fond of." he replied, smirking at her and she smirked back, neither daring to blink until Naruto did, Ayame cheering. "As usual I win!" she cheered, Naruto pouting in response. "Anyway, what can we get you exactly?" she asked, looking at Shino and Hinata.
"I'll have a m-miso ramen please..." Hinata said shyly, poking her fingers together which Ayame forced herself to not squeal at while Shino thought for a moment. "May I have some vegetable ramen?" he eventually pushed out, Ayame nodding and writing them down. "And you Naruto?"
"Um.. I-I'll have the miso too..." he said while smiling at Ayame who smiled wide and nodded, heading into the back to tell Teuchi what they were all having. "So Hinata, how is your training going in your family's style?" Naruto asked politely, Hinata frowning slightly. "Not well... it's too hard for me..." she said sadly, looking down at her hands.
"I see... ever thought about changing it to something better for you personally?" he asked, Hinata's jaw dropping at the realization. "Stupid stupid stupid!" she cried while slamming her head off the table in front of her, Naruto and Shino just staring until she eventually stopped. "Well... that was odd.." Naruto said with a laugh before turning his attention to the bug user of the team. "Shino, what about you? I know you're good with your bugs, but I was thinking that maybe you should grab a few ninjutsu while you can. It'll really help you out with your fighting style." Naruto said with a grin, Shino nodding after a little thought.
"Okay everybody! Here's your ramen!" Ayame called out, bringing over a couple of bowls for the three genin they all thanked her, Naruto paid for the food and they all began eating and chatting for a while. Hinata kept stealing glances over at Naruto during this time, she too wondering what was under the facemask he wore. They had all seen his face before so they were curious why he had it covered up. Naruto didn't seem to notice however, slowly reaching up to his facemask which had everybody staring at him, his fingers brushed against the edge of it then without a second thought...
Team 7 barreled into the stand, led by Kiba. "Hey guys!" he yelled, Hinata and Shino looking at him in shock before Hinata pretty much beat him with gentle fists after realizing she'd missed out on seeing what Naruto's face looked like under the mask. "DAMMIT KIBA!"
Naruto sighed in enjoyment as he finished off the ramen, his mask then back up before they all looked except for Teuchi and Ayame who looked both curious and quite giddy, mainly Ayame who had a small layer of drool coming down her chin. Hinata and even Shino were cursing Kiba for the bad luck of his team arriving when they did.
"Hm? Guys? Aren't you hungry?" Naruto asked, looking at the two in confusion before they started to eat. "Oh hey Naruto, how you doing?" Kiba asked, Naruto smiling and giving him a thumbs up. "I'm doing good. Missions are going well and we're all making quite the amount of money, we're working great together too. Sorry you couldn't be on a team with them pal but it's better that both teams have a tracker and a heavy hitter right?"Naruto said, Kiba nodding.
"That's true, well can't say I'm complaining anyway, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out anyway. Feel like having a spar sometime?" Kiba asked, Naruto nodding. "Not today though. I'm meeting up with Rock Lee to have a Taijutsu spar. He's been helping me improve quite a bit. Well I gotta get going guys. see you later!" And with that Naruto ran off towards Team 9's training grounds. It took a few minutes for the group to finish their ramen before they took off after him, wanting to see him fight.
Team 9's training ground
"Hey Lee! You ready for our spar?" Naruto called out, said Taijutsu specialist blurring in front of the blonde Jinchuriki. "Naruto-Kun! I'm more than ready my eternal rival!" he called out, giving Naruto a good guy pose and a thumbs up while Naruto just laughed and shook his head. "Alright. I won't use my clones, I need to improve solo. What's the rules of this bout?" he asked, Tenten walking over and grabbing his cloak saying she didn't want to see it get damaged.
"I believe the first one to draw blood shall be the winner! I hope you are ready Naruto-Kun!" Lee said, getting into his Goken pose while Naruto slipped into a stance none of them had seen before. It was at this point that his team and Team 7 had arrived, settling in to watch. "Okay Lee. Ready?" Lee just nodded in response.
"Okay guys... GO!" Tenten called, jumping back out of range which was a good move on her part as both Lee and Naruto started flying at each other, Lee aiming a few quick punches towards Naruto who ducked and weaved past them quickly, even slapping a couple of them away while aiming a couple of kicks at the Taijutsu user, Lee hopping and spinning around them. Naruto ducked under a spinning kick Lee aimed at his head and planted a hand on the floor, spinning around and sweeping Lee's legs out from under him, spinning to his other hand then bringing his right leg down in a vicious ax kick. Lee raised his arms up to block it however and used that chance to swing his own leg at Naruto's chest, slamming it into him and knocking him a couple of feet away, Naruto flipping himself onto his feet and began moving side to side, hopping from foot to foot, almost like he was preparing to dance.
"What style is that?" Tenten pondered aloud, Guy giving her one of his usual winning smiles and thumbs up. "It's quite an old style, one that hasn't been used for many years. since before even Lord Third was born! This particular style focuses on very different movements that constantly vary. To be honest I'm very glad to have witnessed it in person myself." he said, looking at Naruto with a wide smile as the boy began attacking Lee more aggressively, spinning around and aiming a backhand to the bowl cut haired boy's face but instead dropped down by bending over backwards, lifting his foot to hit Lee then began spinning on his hands quickly, his legs swinging quickly and at different levels to vary the strikes, Lee moving back and blocking kicks form time to time in order to not be hit, actually struggling to find a hole in the blonde's defense.
"You are very impressive Naruto-Kun. This is a Taijutsu I have never seen before! But I won't allow you to simply defeat me!" Lee exclaimed, dodging a few more kicks before slipping low and charging into Naruto, his shoulder knocking one of Naruto's legs up high, allowing him to grab it and throw him away, chasing after him and once Naruto landed Lee began raining blows onto him that he was forced to either take, dodge or barely block. "Shit you're faster!" Naruto groaned, forced to now dodge Lee's own barrage which he hated to admit was much more powerful and faster than his own. Naruto had mastered his style of Taijutsu but knew that Lee was still a forced to be reckoned with due to his ability in the Goken. Plus Lee was built better for strength and pure speed whereas Naruto's Taijutsu aimed more on flexibility and speed, leaving him at a fair disadvantage against someone like Lee who had all of those things in spades.
Naruto was forced to defend as much as he could, most of it proving to be futile as Lee managed to land a variety of hits. Punches to the face, kicks to the chest, he even managed to knock Naruto off balance several times which resulted in Naruto receiving four cracked ribs from the follow up punches to his chest, barely managing to contain his cries of pain. He was sure he was going to bleed before Lee but he was willing to try a bit more before possibly stopping. It was with this determination that he began swinging his fists at Lee, looking rather sloppy which Lee was ready to capitalize on before Naruto ducked low, aiming a fist at Lee's right knee then doing a fast back-flip, his feet slamming into the Taijutsu users chin and knocking him into the air, smirking.
"Gotcha!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and moving quickly he spun like a drill, his feet slamming into seven specific points on Lee's body before the boy could defend. His first strike landed against Lee's left shoulder, cracking it as his foot ploughed straight into the bone. His second kick forced it's way into his gut which made Lee cough up a bit of saliva from the force. The third and fourth kicks were both aimed at his temples, failing to knock him out but it did succeed in dazing him, making it easier for the next three strikes to land. The fifth strike hit Lee in the back, launching him a little higher, the sixth strike hitting his left hip which spun him around and Naruto reached out, pulling Lee under him enough that it gave him the momentum advantage for his last strike.
"Take this Lee! Akkusu kōka!" he yelled, his heel coming down and hitting Lee straight in the solar plexus, slamming him down into the ground with a large amount of force. Naruto landed next to Lee who he expected to be out cold, panting weakly as he dropped to a knee before crying out in pain as Lee's fist found itself lodged in Naruto's gut, launching the male into a tree as Lee stood up, panting the same as Naruto. "You are powerful... Naruto-Kun. But I... I can't lose!" he coughed out, wiping his mouth from the little spit that had gathered from his exertion and rushed Naruto, roaring in effort as he began to rain down blows on Naruto like before, although this time every single one hit it's mark. Naruto was turned into Lee's punching bag, unable to defend himself form the onslaught of strikes, awaiting the last punch that would clearly knock him out before seeing Lee's fist stop an inch from his face, Lee grinning.
"I drew... first blood..." he forced out, Naruto soon feeling a trickle of blood go down the corner of his mouth before laughing weakly, giving Lee a little thumbs up. "Nice match Lee... you're as strong as ever..." he choked out before putting his hands together, both of them glowing green and he ran them over himself, healing each and every injury Lee had inflicted to him before doing the same for his friend, smiling happily when he was done. "Alright Lee. I'll see you again next week for our next spar. Maybe next time I'll use one of my other styles." he said, grinning as Lee looked very excited.
"I look forward to it Naruto-Kun! If I cannot beat you with one of your other styles I shall run around Konoha two hundred times with Gai-Sensei strapped to my back!" he proclaimed, Naruto just chuckling at his friends exuberance before turning around, jumping when he was team 7 and his own gaping at him.
"What?"
The group just continued to stare until Kiba broke the silence with "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SKILL!? YOU WERE NEVER THAT GOOD IN TAIJUTSU BEFORE!" he yelled, everybody awkwardly agreeing with him. "Well, I just trained really hard. That's all there is to it! Now, I think I'll head home, I could do with some rest for tomorrow." he says, smiling and waving bye to everybody before dissapearing in a swirl of leaves. Sasuke stared in shock at the jutsu Naruto had done.
"He knows the Shunshin? That's a high speed jutsu... where did he learn it?" he spoke, frowning when he realised Naruto had learnt something very useful already. "I need to do more training. I'll see all of you tomorrow." he said, running home to train more. No way was he going to let the dobe get ahead of him!
Naruto's home
Naruto sighed as he appeared in his room, the little swirl of leaves dissapearing from sight as he stretched out and took off his face mask, grinning widely and walking over to his fridge, grabbing the carton of milk he'd bought that morning and pouring out a glass. "Man it felt good to have a good battle like that today, been a long time since somebody pushed me that far in Taijutsu without me using clones. Then again they're perfect for learning." he mused, raising the glass and gulping down the contents, cleaning out the glass when he was done and his thought began drifting. "It's been so long... would you wait for me...?" he whispered, looking out his window as a tear rolled down his cheek, his thought now taking a darker turn as memories came back to haunt him.
"I couldn't do it... I was too weak..." "I failed her." "Don't blame yourself, you did whatever you could." "You'll be with her again one day Naruto. Don't worry, she'll be waiting for you."
He swiped away his tears before his anger started to build, the whisker marks on his cheeks darkening and becoming more pronounced as Kyuubi's chakra made his anger heighten more before a voice cut through his head. "Naruto, calm down. I didn't train you to let your anger get the better of you. Just calm down. Things are going to be different here. Everything is different. Just trust in your strength and mine. Also, time for some blood, make sure you put it in the seal though, no fun wasting anything right?" the voice said, sounding stern at first before sounding fairly jovial. Naruto sighed a little, calming himself down and nodding while heading to his room, rummaging through it for a certain scroll and pulling it out when he found it, spreading it out on his bed and he inspected the seal that was on it, smiling. "After this it'll be half full, it won't be long sensei before it's finally ready." Naruto said.
He pulled out a kunai and ran it along his wrist, slitting it length ways to allow the blood to flow freely, pouring it onto the seal which glowed blue, absorbing the blood slowly into itself for about a minute before showing that it was now half full, Naruto giving a satisfied grin. "Perfect. A few more weeks of this and it's going to be fully prepared. We'll need to be careful though. Can't have anybody unfavorable finding out." he said, rolling the scroll up as his wound finished healing up, almost like nothing had just transpired.
"Yes, but for now you need to train. Sleep later, for now I want you practicing your Fuinjutsu. You're almost at Master level and with your little training tools you'll find this ridiculously easy. Just dont hold back learning this. It's your heritage after all." the voice said, Naruto nodding and pulling out a book, creating a large amount of shadow clones that all held their copies with looks of confidence. "Each time one of you manages to memorise something, dispel yourself to help speed the process. Take a soldier pill if you feel yourself low on chakra before you pop if you still haven't memorised it." he said, the clones agreeing and taking up different spots in the hosue whiel Naruto relaxed and read his own.
"Tonight is gonna be a long night."
Okay everyone! That's chapter two up and done! Now, if any of you have any kind of theory in mind, feel free to message it to me so I can see what you all come up with! Also, if anybody has an OC they want introduced into the story, feel free to send it, I'm trying to branch out into different character styles and would be honoured if anybody had an OC they'd like me to do :) anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you all next chapter!
Akkusu Koka- Axe Descent: The user makes sure they are above the opponent and is able to hit a point that will make the enemy vulnerable. Usually the neck, back or Solar Plexus and brings their heel down with immense force onto that spot. This attack is powerful and is mainly used to either cripple or knock out the enemy. It can be used to kill as well however if combined with a super strength jutsu or done on a weak enough opponent.
