What should I do about Hinata? NO PAIRING with Naruto, but she deserves better. I don't hate her, at all but she needs to be her own person... but how? Any thoughts are welcome.
"How'd he do?"
Tsunade tried to keep her faith in Naruto as strong as she could, but there was only so much that she could manage. Her time with the boy had left her reluctant to accept that he could manage what he was trying to accomplish no matter how much she loved and adored the boy. So she decided to fake it until she made it, a proud smile on her face as she looked at her apprentice, who was currently grading Naruto's academy test.
Shizune looked up at her, smiling. "Last time I could barely read his writing and most of his sentences were incoherent. Now they are mostly clear and well written and accurate. I am not done yet but he has passed with just what I have graded so far."
Tsunade could not hide her excitement with that good news and so turned her attention to where Naruto was sparring with Iruka. He was doing incredibly well, dodging Iruka's open palm strikes easily and with great speed. She knew he had taken his weights off before they started to spar and it showed. His defensive abilities were great, and for that she was proud... but what about his offense?
Naruto seemed to know what she was looking for as he suddenly fell into his Strong Fist stance before almost blurring away to deliver a strong kick to Iruka's chest, sending the teacher back five fee. The boy did not let up, blasting towards Iruka with an open fist, forcing the man to back flip away. This went on for another few minutes until Iruka called it off, raising his hand in surrender.
"That's enough Naruto, you pass with flying colors. Seriously how did you improve so much, your taijutsu isn't far off from Chunin level!" Iruka was beaming a smile of sheer pride, however it didn't seem to uplift Naruto, who sighed.
"I had some good teachers and a style that worked better. I had better methods to train my body with, scrolls that told how to control the flow of a battle and I have people believing in me. I've changed a lot." His words stunned the teacher, who gaped at him. Naruto ignored that and turned to Tsunade. " How did I do on the written?"
It was Shizune who answered him, a happy smile on her face as well. "You passed Naruto, with an eighty seven. That's with just a month of studying too, so be proud of that."
That finally brought a smile to Naruto's face. "Yatta!" The familiar word made everyone smell for a moment. "Now for the jutsu portion, right?"
"Yes, Naruto, time for the jutsu portion. Are you ready, I only really saw you work on your taijutsu, academic work and chakra control." Tsunade wasn't trying to be patronizing, she was worried for the brat.
Naruto still frowned at her. "I did, not as much as everything else but I did. Watch." In a puff of smoke, with no handsigns, Naruto disappeared, with a perfectly shaped rock appearing in his place. A second later, Naruto switched places with the rock again, huffing a little. "I could do it before, I just wasn't great at it. With my chakra control being so much better it's so much easier, I don't even need handsigns for it... well most of the time." Naruto put up two fingers, before softly saying. "Transformation." And a puff of smoke wrapped over his body, fading to showcase Tsunade herself, in perfect form. "I don't know why, but I never realized that the transformation was the same as my sexy jutsu. I still have trouble focusing enough to make it a perfect match but I know you really well so it helps." The smoke returned to showcase the real Naruto, still frowning unhappily.
Tsunade understood Naruto's aggravation. 'With the new self confidence and self worth Inoichi is cultivating with his lessons, Naruto must finally realize how little faith people have had in him. It is making him too sensitive though, we'll have to talk about that.'
Iruka, not reading the room, smiled at them all. "Your doing amazing Naruto, now how about the clone jutsu? I know you were struggling with that before."
This time Naruto's hands shook, and his frown turned more panicky. "I... I'm not sure. I have been too afraid to try that one... but I think... Clone Jutsu!" The boy focused his chakra perfectly, and twenty clones appeared in near perfect form. The only problem was they were a touch paler then the real Naruto, but not noticeably. They would work just fine in a fight
"A little pale, but a passing grade. Congratulations Naruto, you passed your test!"
Naruto finally smiled, a calm but happy look that warmed Tsunade's heart considerably. "Good, I worked hard."
Tsunade pulled the boy into a warm hug. " Welcome back to regular service, Naruto. Your a full Genin again, though one without a team... unfortunately. Still you can take some D ranks by yourself, help with construction and join other teams on their C ranks and what not." She waited for a moment, she smirked. " Actually, I was thinking of you being my page."
"Your what?"
"My page, basically you would do small tasks for me as D ranks. Pass messages, collect paper work, help with mission assignments and reports, join me for meetings and write things down... I thought about this a lot lately, and I think it's perfect. You would get exposure to some political training, be familiar with my duties as Hokage and Head of the Hospital, giving you some connection within the village and a better understanding of how to be a Leader. Your D ranks would be more worth it, actually helpful for the village as a whole. It would be busy work but I thin you would be a worthy candidate. What do you say?"
The glossy, happy look in Naruto's eyes gave away his feelings. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course I do. You've show me that you can accept a serious challenge and rise to the occasion. You are determined to be Hokage, so you should start your training earlier then when you've been nominated. Even if you decided it isn't for you, you can use the skills you learn in politics, running a clan and a whole host of other things. Today is Friday, so you start Monday. Shizune is your boss when I am not around, since she is my secretary and apprentice. You won't work for me every day, only three days a week so you can train and study so you can become Chunin and Jonin one of these days."
"Yatta!" Naruto crowed, before diving into her chest, squeezing her tight. "Thank you thank you thank you, thank you!" She just hugged him tighter then before, letting him radiate as much happiness as she was able. Then, suddenly, he pulled back. " Wait, first I wanted to tell and show you something. I'm a sensor now, and Ino taught me how to control it! "
Tsunade pretended she hadn't figured it out. " What's your range?"
"Half of the village for my range so far, but I have some trouble latching onto specific chakra. That is what Ino was helping me with, I've gotten better. I can narrow it down to groups now and tell people apart."
"That is a serious boon Naruto, it will carry you even further as a ninja. Keep at your training."
"I will!"
"Good... now go, enjoy your weekend off before you go back to work full time. I don't put up with slacking, expect to work you ass off."
Naruto nodded and turned on heel, all but skipping away, with the lightest expression she had ever seen on his handsome face. 'I got him to grow up and get stronger, and more skilled... now only if I could get him to work on his ugly orange suit. That's my next project, and then to make him a chunin.'
''''
'One project down... next step, Chunin!' Excited and happy, Naruto all but skipped away, towards his apartment where he was planning on some serious celebrations... after his sensory training. Ino was mean and a bully but she was a good teacher, that much was as clear as it was odd.
"Alright, Naruto, what do you want to learn?" Ino had sat in his apartment, after taking in the simplicity of it all and the stacks of scrolls and books he had been reading. "Mind Control Jutsu, Mind Disturbance?"
Naruto shook his head. " Sensory control. I am a sensor now, and I need to learn to control it. I have been getting headaches when I try to focus on people despite being able to sense half of the village outright. I can't figure out how to get passed that."
"You won't at first, your mind has to get used to the strain especially if your talents have just surfaced. You need to start by looking for specific groups, then more specific groups, then eventually people. People your familiar with, like friends and coworkers and whatnot." Ino pulled out a scroll, a pen and ink from the bag she carried on her back. "There is actually several ways to do this, but your going to need to pick someone or a group to focus on. Get really good at sensing their chakra... until you can recognize it on the fly. Then work on connecting traits between groups, so you can determine heritage, powers, chakra natures and whatever your able to personally sense. I can sense potency of chakra, and any changes in it which is pretty basic to be honest. I can also tell family members apart, and I am beginning to be able to tell the different between humans and ninja animals which is harder then you'd think. More specific changes or things like nature and density and whatnot are harder to sense buy possible. They tend to be innate gifts, so you shouldn't expect to be able to sense that stuff right off or possibly at all."
Naruto nodded, baffled. " Wow that... was detailed. No wonder you were Kunoichi of the year."
Ino laughed, a soft sweet sound. "Yeah, I am pretty smart. So, let's get started. Your going to try and focus on me, and my chakra since I am the closest person to you. Then when we work on this next you can work on it around my house so you have a group to compare and focus on. Sound fair?"
"Very, thank you Ino."
"No problem, I am happy to finally start making amends."
So far, Naruto had not the power to sense specific things like chakra nature or density but he could sense stronger or weaker and the amount of people. He just struggled with the raw focus needed to foresee specific people. He figured that with his new training and his work on focus that that would level out as time went on. Or so he hoped...
He had a lot of busy times ahead of him, a lot of training, boring days and so much more. He could only hope that he would be able to spend enough time on his training. Four days left to just training would make things harder but he was sure he could manage it. He had come so far with just one month of training, who knew what would happen in a year, or two? Hell he was sure he'd be chunin level in a few months period...
"Wait, I need... the Library! I need more jutsu and the academy books said the library was where you went to get stronger, it was made for clanless ninja and even though I'm not technically clanless I might as well be... so to the library I go!" he stopped, thinking about what he said. "Tomorrow. To the library I go tomorrow... for now I celebrate. Time for Ichiraku Ramen! Yatta!"
"""
Kakashi hated himself as he watched Naruto's happiness. The reminder of his failings, watching Naruto easily pass the academy test with just a month of studying showcased that Tsunade was right. He had failed... failed Minato, Obito, Sakura and most importantly,... Naruto. He had failed them all...
How powerful would Naruto be had he had a good teacher that cared?
If Kakashi himself had cared more?
To think that he had sabotaged Naruto's education in his attempts to curry favor with Sasuke...
What a waste he was...
He could only pray the boy would forgive him one day.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was beyond fun to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.
