Amen. Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Happy 2016!
Chapter Eight: League Of His Own
"I'm fucked, aren't I?"
A question asked rhetorically by one Inuzaka Kiba. He knew it. Tsunade had known it. And apparently, everyone else knew it too. He shouldn't have taken this bet.
"Yes, you are fucked. But you don't need my comments on the gaki to know that. Seems you already know," said Anko standing beside Kiba as they watched Naruto chat with Shizuka and Kakashi. Anko knew Kiba's question was rhetorical but, she felt it necessary to let him know. "Gaki is out of your league. Way out of your league." continued Anko getting Kiba's spirits to fall lower and lower the more she talked. "From what I saw, Naruto should easily be a Jonin. A step below Kakashi really. I don't know what Jiraiya-sama did to him on that training trip but, Naruto is much better than you pup."
"And you would know too," said Kiba dropping his head. He'd been on a mission with Anko recently. She'd filled in for Kurenai who couldn't come for some reason. And since Anko just came back off one with Naruto, she knew the skill sets of them both. "She doesn't even think I have a chance. There's no way Naruto's really that good."
He'd find out very soon. As would the plethora of shinobi entering the stands of the Chunin Exam stadium his and Naruto's spar would take place in. Apparently, everyone wanted to find out what Naruto could do. Kiba grew nervous thinking he might get embarrassed in front of an actual audience. All of them he knew, most only in passing, but he eventually spotted a few familiar faces.
"Good luck Kiba. Make Team 8 proud," said Kurenai, Kiba's sensei and leader of team 8.
Waving next to Kurenai was Kiba's older sister who added her own two cents.
"Mom said win or don't come home," said Hana, aforementioned older sister, as her three ninken let out a bark in agreement.
"Ha, of course she did," said Kiba turning to see Naruto walking toward him. He was getting into place for their exhibition. "It's just Naruto. Dead last Naruto. Akamaru and I got this. It's nothing."
"Sup Kiba." A very confident and normal greeting.
"Sup Naruto." Kiba cursed the lack of bass in his voice when he greeted Naruto back.
Naruto grinned at the brown-haired chunin before shifting into the opening stance of Frog Fu. Kiba did likewise in his family's brand of Taijutsu. Anko only smiled before raising her hand.
"No use stalling. You both know the rules?" asked Anko getting nods from the two shinobi. Shifting her hand down, Anko started the contest. "Hajime!"
Rushing Naruto immediately with Akamaru, Kiba placed his hands in the tiger seal.
"Jujin Bunshin (Beast Human Clone)," said Kiba as a poof of smoke covered Akamaru.
Naruto took a calming breath watching a second Kiba come out of the poof of smoke to join the original. One Kiba reached him quicker and swiped at him with a claw. Naruto shifted forward and threw a jab at the same time. His timing was perfect as it hit dead in the boy's palm.
Kiba grunted at the weird sensation of his palm hitting his wrist. Naruto wheeled into a roundhouse that Akamaru ducked under with ease. Exposed due to his spinning kick, Naruto almost received an uppercut from the transformed pup but he managed to shift his head out of danger's way.
Bringing his foot down, Naruto grabbed the extended Akamaru's arm right above the elbow before bending it back awkwardly. Avoiding a second swipe from Kiba by stepping forward, Naruto brought Akamaru with him. Forced to have a broken arm or follow Naruto's forward momentum, the pup chose the latter which was still a painful option. He was whipped into a backflip and landed roughly on his stomach and face.
Before Naruto could do any serious damage to his partner, Kiba launched a kick that the jinchuriki was forced to block. Naruto skidded back from the sturdy blow and smiled. Kiba looked to be getting serious. This was going to be fun.
A few more exchanges occurred between the three of them. Despite the 2 on 1, Naruto was winning each exchange. He'd not been hit cleanly once this whole time. Kiba and Akamaru couldn't say the same as they were roughed up pretty bad from the blows Naruto managed to land. Naruto hit hard.
"He can keep up with me and Akamaru. Neji wasn't lying that his Taijutsu was good." thought Kiba watching Naruto shift back into his opening stance ready to roll again. He didn't like how this spar was starting but, he did like that it wasn't as lopsided as people said and he once thought. Sure it was only Taijutsu that'd been showed but, Kiba felt pretty confident going forward since Naruto didn't seem any faster or stronger than he was. "Time to kick it up a notch."
Naruto watched both Kibas come sprinting at him again as he readied for another Taijutsu exchange. Naruto's eyes widened though when it wouldn't be just a few punches or kicks. Naruto watched the two Kibas slap hands before launching into twin tornadoes. Tornadoes full of razor-sharp claws that promised nothing nice.
"Gatsuga (Fang Passing Fang)." Naruto was not about to get hit by that and he jumped to avoid the two of them.
Kiba and Akamaru rotated in dangerous whirlwinds that were causing craters with their misses as they chased after the retreating Naruto. Naruto continued to dodge the two while they just kept coming with no hint of stopping anytime soon. Getting closer with each second that passed, Naruto barely avoided the last attempt that chipped away at his chunin vest.
"That one was too close." thought Naruto realizing he'd have to stand his ground now. It was that or be forced to take a glancing blow that could still tear a chunk out of him. Naruto waited until they were both on top of him before dodging one tornado and stepping right into the second. "Hopefully this works."
Kiba smiled wide despite missing his attack since Naruto stepped right into Akamaru. They'd been getting closer and closer with each pass and finally nailed him. That smile ended though when he saw Naruto catch his partner mid-spin. There was no way he could have seen where Akamaru's arms were to grab him like that.
"How did you just block that?!" questioned Kiba jumping toward Naruto to save his partner.
"Seikuken (Control of the Air Sphere)." Kiba heard Naruto's whispered technique name.
The Jinchuriki took a calming breath as he held Akamaru in midair. Naruto dragged the pup down before turning with him the moment before Kiba reached him. Naruto's spin not only let him dodge Kiba, but it also brought Akamaru into the line of fire. Kiba decked his own partner with a punch meant for Naruto.
Kiba gasped while Naruto swept the dog's feet at the same time. Akamaru went parallel with the ground due to the conflicting attacks and fell achingly to the ground with a soft thud. Kiba got deja vu. He'd hit his own partner the last time he and Naruto fought.
"Akamaru!"
After Akamaru hit the ground, Naruto stepped over the fallen dog to deliver a palm strike to Kiba's face. He never saw it coming over his checking on Akamaru. The palm strike was powered by wind chakra so Kiba launched back to the stadium wall. Naruto grabbed Akamaru's arm and flipped the dog before placing his knee in his back. Naruto charged a Rasengan up that he held to the back of the dog's head.
"Give up," said Naruto threateningly before noticing something on his arm. It was blood dripping down a long cut across his forearm. He didn't fully block the Gatsuga earlier. "Hmm, always harder with a fast target. Still better than what it would have been."
"Not gonna be that easy Naruto," said Kiba moving off the wall and walking toward Naruto. Naruto looked confused at Kiba's statement before realizing what he meant. Kiba just popped a soldier pill and Naruto would bet money Akamaru did too. "Yeah, you won't be able to keep him down anymore."
"Does anyone do anything new? Or is it just me?" questioned Naruto attempting to put Akamaru down. It was too late as the dog had grown much stronger. So strong that he managed to throw Naruto off of him while avoiding a blow to the back of the head. Naruto frowned seeing the puppy jump back to land beside his owner. "I should have put him down instead of asking nicely. I'll remember that next time."
"There won't be a next time. This is over," said Kiba putting his hands in the tiger seal along with Akamaru. It was time to bring out the big guns. He needed to win this spar and he was getting nowhere exchanging hands with Naruto. "Jinju Konbi Henge: Sotoro (Human Beast Combination Transformation: Two-Headed Wolf)"
A large poof of smoke covered Kiba and Akamaru as out of the smoke stepped a massive twin-headed dog. Naruto's eyes widened before a smirk crossed his face. That looked impressive and a little scary.
"Yeah, really should've knocked him out and not asked nicely. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see this though. Well played Kiba," said Naruto standing and whistling at the massive wolf. Naruto bit his thumb before placing it on the ground. "This should be enough."
A massive plume of smoke rose to cover Naruto just as Kiba launched over at him. Kiba headed full on into the smoke trying to catch whatever toad Naruto summoned off guard. It just sucked that Naruto didn't summon a toad. He actually created a monster of a chakra wall that glowed gold when Kiba came into contact with it.
"Uzumakigaeshi (Uzumaki Reflection)," said Naruto as the smoke cleared to see him standing behind the massive chakra barrier. Naruto smiled seeing Kiba on the other side of the barrier he erected with the chain he'd sent into the ground. "Thought I was going to summon a toad?"
Kiba would have answered if he wasn't repelled by the barrier wall in a wave of golden chakra. Naruto only bit his thumb to make Kiba think he'd summon a toad. He'd never had that intention as he instead sent a chain underground to set up his actual move. A solid wall made of the same chakra properties of his chakra barriers.
Kiba flew across the stadium and rolled to a stop near one edge of it. Naruto noticed no one in the stands above Kiba and crossed his fingers. Naruto's hands moved to the ram seal just as a clone poofed into existence beside him. The clone held the tiger seal as they both channeled their chakra seeing Kiba shake off the cobwebs.
"Baa-chan warned me that you read up on my stats," said Naruto knowing Kiba had gone over his information. He'd even been told that Neji had given Kiba a heads up too. Sadly for Kiba, neither one of them knew he could do this. Naruto smirked seeing Kiba still shaky after getting thrown back. "She'll need to update my stats again after this one. Katon: Gamayu Endan (Toad Oil Flame Bullet)."
Kiba's vision stopped swimming just in time for him to look up. The eight Narutos he thought he saw turned into two. One was blowing out oil while the other was shooting a stream of fire. Both of them combined into a massive inferno of fire.
Wait, didn't that folder say Naruto could only use Wind?
(With The Audience - Earlier)
"My my, who would have guessed he'd grow to be so strong?" questioned Kurenai watching the Taijutsu exchanges between Naruto and Kiba. She knew how good Kiba was at hand-to-hand and how formidable his clan's fighting style was in the art. For Naruto to go against that and win each exchange was impressive. "He must have focused on his Taijutsu during his travels. He's countering Kiba perfectly."
"Yeah, I'm better than little bro and I don't see a way to hit Naruto," said Hana analyzing Naruto's movements. It was something off about them. And that was actually a good thing. "Naruto is fighting impossibly well."
"Hmm, what do you mean?"
"Doesn't it seem like he's making this look easy?" questioned Hana furrowing her brow. There was no difference in the speed and strength of Kiba and Naruto. The only visible difference was that Naruto's defense was insanely better. "He's not faster than Kiba but, his timing on his counters is near perfect. As if he's moving off instinct to block Kiba."
"Now that you mention it, you're right," confirmed Kurenai seeing it. Naruto didn't move any faster than Kiba but, since his timing and countering was so pinpoint, he would win each exchange the two had. "Naruto isn't a sensor or anything. But, he's behaving like one. Especially since there are two Kibas he's fighting." Kurenai saw Naruto fending off attacks from Kiba and Akamaru simultaneously. Which was something since he couldn't keep his eyes on both of them at all times. "He hasn't really moved to attack and chooses to counter Kiba and Akamaru's advances more times than not. But, how does he keep knowing when to move when he's not even looking? Can Naruto sense people?"
"I don't think so but, it has to be something. Did he maybe put up a barrier? Jiraiya-sama is said to be able to do the same."
"That's possibly it."
"You're headed in the right direction." thought Tsunade overhearing Hana and Kurenai's conversation. It took Tsunade some time to figure it out herself and that was only after she'd spoke with Jiraiya. "His Kaze no Tate is able to spring up so fast because Naruto is always saturating the air with his chakra. Because he does that with his mastery of wind, he creates a sphere of wind around himself. And when he really focuses on it, it becomes something more."
Tsunade could see, in her mind, a wind bubble around a comically sized Naruto. She could see the transformed Akamaru enter Naruto's bubble with his Gatsuga. And at that point, Naruto received a ping and knew where a threat was coming from. Now Naruto would win the exchange easily because of it.
Through trial and error, Naruto had learned to know how an attack was coming based on how it breached his air sphere. The aptly dubbed Seikuken (Control of the Air Sphere) showed itself beautifully. Naruto caught Akamaru by his wrists and froze him mid-spin. Quite the ability if Tsunade ever saw.
"Anything that breaks the sphere, Naruto knows without seeing it. He's trained his body to react to anything entering his space and that's how he can counter so well." thought Tsunade seeing Naruto drag Akamaru down. His knocking Kiba across the stadium and holding down Akamaru made her smile. "It helps that he inherited Minato's reaction time to really augment it. Mom's chakra chains and dad's reaction time. Good genes if I've ever seen."
"Aw, what?! Boss should win because of that Rasengan. He had him!" came the shout of a brown-haired Academy student seated next to Tsunade. This was Sarutobi Konohamaru, an aspiring ninja and grandson of the third Hokage. And right now, he was skipping school to cheer on his favorite person in Naruto. "Kiba is so cheating! Naruto won, right Hokage-sama?"
"The proctor of the match didn't say he won, did she?"
"...no. But-"
"Then Naruto hasn't won," said Tsunade patting the boy on the head. She then realized today was a school day. "Aren't you supposed to be in class anyway Konohamaru-chan? Why are you here instead of there?"
"..." Konohamaru had the decency to blush at getting caught. "Iruka-sensei said it was okay that I came. You kind of told him."
"I told him?" Tsunade didn't remember talking to Iruka.
"Yeah, it was a nice letter you wrote," said Konohamaru getting Tsunade to shake her head.
Tsunade was ready to chide the boy but, the spar got her attention. Mainly the next sequence of moves by Naruto. His reflecting chakra wall was nice but, the use of fire and toad oil ninjutsu simultaneously made her jaw drop. Okay, Tsunade needed to know what Jiraiya and Naruto did on that training trip. In full detail because Naruto's progression shouldn't be possible.
"How the hell did that pervert get Naruto to master wind and then learn how to use fire and oil too? And then perform a Konbijutsu (Collaboration Technique) with a clone?" thought Tsunade baffled at the firestorm created by the two Narutos. Jiraiya was right. She was very impressed with the brat's improvements. She then remembered she was supposed to admonish Konohamaru for skipping school. "I should make you go to Iruka and admit what you did. But, I'm feeling good from what I'm seeing. So, I'll allow it this time but, don't do it that again. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!"
She'd give the kid a break. He was Naruto's biggest fan and this was probably the first he'd gotten to see of him since his return. With that, the two returned back to the spar.
(Naruto vs Kiba - Con't)
Naruto and his clone stood waiting with bated breath to see if they'd managed to hit Kiba. Naruto didn't think they did considering there wasn't any wolf howling at being burned alive. He was proven correct when he needed to dodge a massive Gatsuga from the twin-headed wolf coming out of the smoke of his attack. Naruto could see a hole and realized Kiba hid underground to avoid his attack.
"This has been fun Kiba but," said Naruto landing from his dodge and putting his hands in the tiger seal. Naruto watched Kiba land before charging at him with another gatsuga. Too bad for him, Naruto had a jutsu ready for the massive wolf. "Futon: Kami Oroshi (Wind Style: Godly Wind from the Mountains)"
Kiba charged headlong into a wind vortex. The wolf could be seen winning the battle as Naruto grinned. Naruto's use of the tiger seal hadn't been for his wind vortex. He could do that without hand seals these days.
No, the tiger seal was for something else. A bit of fire could be seen behind the jinchuriki's smile that got Kiba to panic. He'd walked right into it. And since he was caught in Naruto's vortex, there would be no diving underground to avoid this wind-fire combination.
"Katon: Endan (Fire Style: Flame Bullet)"
Naruto launched a torrent of flames from his mouth that swirled around his vortex before erupting it into a massive fire whirl. The searing-hot tornado engulfed Kiba and Akamaru whole as it grew in size being aided by Naruto's second jutsu's continued addition. Naruto ended his cooking Kiba and saw the wolf smoldering painfully on the ground. Naruto was about to smile at his victory until the wolf poofed away.
"Hah! It's not that easy Naruto!" Kiba could use shadow clones?
Naruto's eyes widened feeling the real Kiba enter his wind sphere. Naruto grit his teeth as he turned to dodge but was still slashed across his back. Kiba was moving too fast for him to react in time to dodge completely.
Thank Kami his chunin vest was made of such sturdy material. That slash would have been much deeper than it was had it not been. Despite the hit, Naruto's Seikuken missed the dodge but, Naruto had a counter to make regardlessly of the hit.
"It's over."
Naruto nabbed Kiba's tail in his dodge and yanked hard on it. Naruto thanked all those boulders he dragged and strength exercises during his training trip as he stopped the large wolf cold. Naruto gritted his teeth before heaving the wolf over his shoulder with authority. Naruto flung Kiba like he was shot out of a rocket right across the stadium. Kiba hit the wall with a resounding thud.
Naruto smiled and stood up happily. Kiba was defeated. Kiba stood and shrugged off the powerful throw to look at Naruto just grinning at him. He really thought that was enough to beat him?
He could take more punishment than that. Kiba didn't want to take any more punishment at all if he could swing it. But, he knew he was much tougher than that. And he felt obligated to let Naruto in on that fact.
"Going to take more than that Naruto." The old phrase went 'ask and you shall receive'.
"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer)"
Kiba had forgotten about Naruto's shadow clone. It'd never been defeated earlier as it dodged the attack with its original. It then had the foresight to hide amongst the crowd of gathered people as a transformed genin. Kiba had no clue.
Naruto did though so, when Naruto tossed Kiba back toward his clone, the clone knew its role. It jumped out of the crowd above Kiba and bit its thumb. Naruto's clone summoned a toad, unlike the original Naruto earlier, and this would be the more Kiba was attesting was needed to finish him. A giant sage toad crushing you was good at doing that to a lot of people.
"Oh, he's going to feel that in the morning," said Anko looking at the crushed and unconscious Kiba. Clone Naruto and the toad dispelled in poofs of smoke as Kiba and Akamaru unlinked and returned to normal. Hana jumped down to check on her brother and his pup as Anko smiled. "Kiba is unable to continue. Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto smiled wider and turned to see the amassed shinobi applauding him. Naruto gave a bow before turning to see Tsunade smirking at him. Naruto jumped into the crowd to land before her and held out his fist.
"That work for you baa-chan?" questioned Naruto getting Tsunade to smile.
"Yeah, just like I imagined," replied Tsunade fist bumping the Jinchuriki.
"Made that look easy hani-kun."
"Hani (Honey)?" Naruto perked up at that. He knew that was Shizuka who said it but, honey? Naruto turned to see his girlfriend seated next to Tsunade and rose an eyebrow. "You talking to me hime?"
"Well, yeah. You have a nickname for me so I came up with one for you," said Shizuka looking at Naruto's face. His expression wasn't one in favor of her choice. It wasn't one in disfavor either though. She couldn't read how he felt. "You don't look happy or sad about it. Does it work or not work?"
"Doesn't really fit," chimed in Tsunade as Shizuka frowned.
"But like, he's golden and sweet like honey. The hair and some of his techniques for the former. How he is to me is the latter." Shizuka had a pout that Naruto smiled at. A kiss from Naruto got Shizuka's pout to disappear. She looked up at him with a smile and nodded her head. "I'll come up with a better one Naruto-kun. I thought that one was good."
"You can call me that hime. I don't mind."
"Nope, Tsunade-sama didn't like it so, I'll figure one out," said Shizuka as Naruto's attention was drawn elsewhere.
"Boss! That was so awesome!" shouted Konohamaru getting Naruto to turn to him.
"Konohamaru, is that you?" questioned Naruto recognizing the boy after what he'd called him. Naruto's face lit up as he examined the boy. "Man, I didn't even recognize you at first. You got big!"
"You're finally back?!"
"Yeah, I came back two weeks ago. I was on a mission the day after I got back so, I wasn't actually here."
"Ah, but you're back though right?" A nod came from Naruto as Konohamaru pointed at Shizuka. He'd seen them kiss but, he had to know. "Hey boss, is she your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, I got lucky, didn't I?" questioned Naruto as Konohamaru nodded.
Shizuka was mighty fine and he felt boss did a great job. Konohamaru waved at Shizuka and got a wave back from the pretty kunoichi. Konohamaru blushed before turning back to congratulate Naruto on such a fine woman and converse further with his idol. Shizuka meanwhile was frowning again.
"A kid is outdoing me at nicknaming my boyfriend."
"It's fine. You'll find a good one for the gaki soon," said Tsunade before remembering something. Naruto and Shizuka were supposed to head to the North Gate. They had a mission to do. "Oi, gaki. You're supposed to meet with Kakashi and Sakura at the North Gate. You have another mission."
"Hmm, you're not going to let me get run ragged, are you?" questioned Naruto to his leader. They'd just come back off their mission with Team Jiraiya and were now right back on the road with Team Seven. "That would suck you know. Not that I wouldn't do it but, it'd suck."
"I only let you go with Jiraiya during your break because I owe him for winning our bet," said Tsunade having loss the pupil wager with Jiraiya. She was going to figure out Jiraiya's training method the next time she saw him. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure you don't get overwhelmed kiddo. Just get going for me would ya."
"Of course, I'm always willing to do anything you ask. Just wanted to know," said Naruto nodding to Shizuka. Shizuka stood and prepped to leave as Naruto turned to Konohamaru. "You'll have to show me your jutsu when we get back. I'll come find you when I do."
"Alright boss!" Naruto smiled and fist bumped with the academy student.
Naruto and Shizuka vanished in a swirl of leaves to get to their mission.
(Several Hours Later - Land of Fire)
A good thing Naruto found out about Team Seven's mission was that it was a short one. At least, short traveling one. The sun was up still and shining as they made their way roughly sixty miles from Konoha. A light and easy job for the four shinobi all on the mission.
They arrived at the requested location and found their contact. That contact being a white-haired man whose stern gaze was currently trained on Naruto. Everyone besides Naruto found the stare weird as Kakashi spoke to get the man's attention.
"Hello, I'm Hatake Kakashi and this is my team. Haruno Sakura, Shizuka, and Uzumaki Naruto," said Kakashi getting the man to turn to him at his words. Naruto waved to him as Shizuka and Sakura found his interest in Naruto weird and only gave curt nods. Kakashi pulled out his mission scroll and got down to brass tacks. "I presume you're Furido. The man commissioning this B-ranked mission?"
"You presume correctly Hatake-san!" exclaimed Furido in a goofy manner that got everyone, except Naruto, to blanch. The man's stern expression since they'd arrived belied the happy, aloof man he now looked like. "Konoha responded faster than I thought they would. For that, I am grateful!"
Furido is a long, spiky-haired man with a pale, diagonal scar running down his face. He was wearing a simple purple robe that extended to his knees where white pants could be seen. In his right hand, he also held a chain staff that looked detachable at the head. And he was also interested in Naruto as his eyes shifted back to the Jinchuriki who only smiled back.
"The mission scroll claimed the matter was urgent so, here we are," said Kakashi distracting Furido back to him. "Can you fill us in on the situation?"
"Ah, yes, yes. Follow me," instructed Furido leading the four shinobi down a path. Walking for a little over ten minutes, the group arrived at a small clearing. "And here we are. We have to thank you all in advance for your assistance." Kakashi nodded as Furido realized he was still waiting for information. How silly of him to forget. "Missing ninjas are attacking us. At least I think they are with the slashed headbands."
"Us?"
"Yes, us." The group turned and saw a beautiful woman looking at the five of them.
She is a tall and slender woman with blue eyes, fair skin, and long maroon hair that falls to her waist. She was wearing a dark-pink gi and disconnected arms warmers that reach down to her light-purple spandex shorts. Finishing her scantily clad attire was black, low-heeled boots.
And first impression, Shizuka did not like this woman. Not only was she a seductress from her walk over to them, but her eyes were looking at Naruto hungrily. That was not okay with Shizuka who stepped closer to Naruto as the woman reached them.
"Hello cutie, what's your name?" questioned the woman extending her hand to Naruto.
"It's common courtesy to give your name first before asking another's." The woman blinked and turned to Shizuka.
"Ah, you're correct. Where are my manners?" questioned the woman with a bubbly giggle. Shizuka didn't like that giggle. The woman turned her cat eyes back to Naruto and gave him a beautiful smile. "You may call me Fuka cutie."
"Nice to meet you Fuka. I'm Uzumaki Naruto," replied Naruto shaking hands with the woman.
"My my, your hand is very warm Naruto-kun," said Fuka getting Naruto to smile.
"I kind of always run hot."
"Mmm, I bet that sure comes in handy."
"Indeed it does. I've heard no complaints yet," replied Naruto getting Fuka to smile. Naruto removed his hand from hers and gestured to Shizuka. Fuka could see her protectively coddling him and grinned. Seems she was rather fond of Naruto. "This is my beautiful girlfriend, Shizuka-hime. That's Sakura-chan. And over there is Kakashi-sensei."
"Yo!" greeted Kakashi getting Fuka's attention.
"And how could I miss you, hello." Fuka walked over to the masked Jonin as Shizuka nodded her head.
"Yeah, go to the single guy. This one's mine." thought Shizuka watching the woman still.
"They seem nice."
"...yeah, nice," said Shizuka in reply getting Naruto to quirk an eyebrow at her tone.
"Something wrong hime?" questioned Naruto as she shook her head. Naruto felt there was something up but Kakashi grabbed his attention before he could ask. "What's up sensei?"
"Furido has some potatoes cooking at his campsite with his people. He offered us some while we wait for the missing ninjas to return," said Kakashi getting Naruto to perk up at that. He was quite starved since his earlier fight against Kiba. "So, we're headed there. We should see the enemy by nightfall."
Naruto just nodded as he and Shizuka followed Furido and Fuka along with the other members of Team Seven. Seems this was going to be a one day mission then. And that suited Naruto just fine.
(Konoha - Same Time)
"I think I'm perfect for the position Jiraiya-sama!" shouted a chunin standing before a seated Jiraiya. Jiraiya was sitting behind a desk with a rather large, blue toad wearing glasses sat next to him. "You can't go wrong with me as the final member in your squad!"
Jiraiya decided today that he'd go about trying to find the fourth member for his little team. He had Naruto, absolute wonderful choice because that kid just got stuff done. He had Shizuka, a great support kunoichi that was perfect in her role. And he had Jiraiya, there weren't enough words in the dictionary that could define that man's greatness. Now, he just wanted a fourth to cement an actual team.
"So, what can you do?"
"I'm a medic-nin that-"
"Next."
"-can heal most minor..." the chunin trailed off hearing Jiraiya quickly say next.
The chunin stood up sadly as he dismissed himself. Jiraiya shook his head as he looked to his toad companion.
"A medic, why would I need a medic?"
"As if you'd ever get hurt these days."
"Right," said Jiraiya watching the next shinobi come in. "Hi, what makes you think you should be on Team Jiraiya?"
"Well, I have a never say die attitude. I just passed the Chunin exams after my fourth try." Jiraiya liked that attitude a lot.
"Next." Too bad he didn't agree with taking so long to become a chunin. That was just signs they were a bad shinobi. "Whoa, babe coming in."
"Hello Jiraiya-sama." A busty redhead walked in that got Jiraiya's full attention.
"Hello back to you. And what makes you think you should be on Team Jiraiya."
"Well, I have two reasons," said the girl getting Jiraiya to nod and agree. She had two very big and perky reasons from what Jiraiya could see. "I'm hot. And two, who says a civilian can't be apart of a shinobi team? I plan to be the first model to do shinobi work."
"Huh? You're not a shinobi?" questioned Jiraiya getting the girl to shake her head. Jiraiya shrugged because hey, who said she had to be a shinobi? "Well, that shouldn't be a problem at all."
"Next." Jiraiya looked at his toad assistant to see him shaking his head. "Next and you know it. Tsunade-hime would castrate you."
"You're right. Sorry about that," said Jiraiya turning to the girl as he apologized. She just smiled and stood before waving cutely. "Meet me after this is over though. I might have something else you could help me with."
"Okay, bye Jiraiya-sama," waved the girl before leaving.
This trend continued for a few more hours. Jiraiya would bring in a candidate. There would be something wrong. Jiraiya would send them away. Rinse and repeat. Until there were no more people left.
"Ugh, all this time wasted and no progress was made," groaned Jiraiya as his toad assistant nodded his head. It had been a waste of time for sure. "Sorry about that. You can head on home. I'll be sure to pay ya for your help when I come next time."
The toad saluted Jiraiya before dispelling in a poof of smoke. Jiraiya grabbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He'd have to try again some other day.
Finding a fourth awesome shinobi was harder than he thought.
(With Naruto)
Silence greeted the Jinchuriki. Silence bar the usual comment or two over the course of his three years he'd known the Bijuu. So count Naruto surprised to see he'd been dragged into his mind after so long. Though rather than the sewer it once was, Naruto stood in a more bathhouse looking place. It was way cleaner looking in here than the last time he'd come.
"Seems the seal did change a bit, "said Naruto glancing around. It was a noticeable improvement that he'd never checked to see would happen. "The water is clearer. And rather than looking like a leaky faucet, it looks like a fountain pouring. Did those tweaks to the seal actually help?"
Getting better at Fuinjutsu, Naruto managed to tweak his own seal slightly. The same seal that the Yondaime placed on him to save Konoha from the Kyubi's rampage on the day of his birth. He'd dissected the seal over the latter half of his training trip and grew enough ability to improve it some. That improvement showed visibly here apparently.
Just because Naruto tweaked the Fourth's seal didn't make him better than the man at the art. A chef cooks you a masterpiece and you're not better than him just because you add cheese to make the meal taste better. Same difference here with Naruto tweaking his seal.
The Fourth's seal was a work of Fuinjutsu art. Naruto would never deny that. Studying the seal for over a year, Naruto still didn't know all of its inner workings or even how to unseal it. It was definitely good study material to further his sealing training from what Jiraiya couldn't. There was only so much that man could teach Naruto's quick learning self.
But Naruto also understood that the Fourth gave his life to make the seal. Likely dying as he created it so there were a few flaws. Flaws that visually showed in his mindscape when his seal looked more like a sewer. And apparently, his minor adjustments were confirmed the cause by the boy's Bijuu.
"Good job on the seal. It's much more bearable in here," said a deep voice that sat behind the large cage in Naruto's mind.
A large, red eye opened in the darkness behind the cage that looked ominously at Naruto. Another red eye opened beside the first as the darkness of the cage lifted. The light revealed a massive, orange fox with nine tails looking at Naruto. A stare down between the two followed for about a minute before Naruto eventually got tired of the silence. The fox brought him here for a reason, didn't it?
"Sup?"
"I haven't taken a good look at you in a while," said the Kyubi getting Naruto to tilt his head. The Kyubi sized Naruto up before snorting dismissively. "Seems you're still weak."
Disregarding the knock at his skill level, Naruto's blue eyes met the Kyubi's without wavering. What was he going to say? When he judged people's strength, Naruto, like most people, used their own strength as a base.
The Kyubi was the Kyubi. Naruto was Naruto. If it judged like how Naruto judged, Naruto would say he was pretty weak by comparison too. But, that was whatever.
"Is that what you called me here for? Just to insult me?" questioned Naruto watching the fox lie down on its paws. Naruto held the bijuu's gaze and rose an eyebrow. "I'd think you're better than that."
"You're right, I am. But, I still felt like you should know," said the Kyubi getting Naruto to frown. "I called you here to warn you of those two you're currently contracted by." continued the large fox getting Naruto to perk up. The fox could see Naruto's question and wanted to answer it before he stupidly asked it. "I would destroy them but, I'm trapped in your body. And sadly, if you die then I perish as well. That doesn't work for me."
"Makes sense. What's the warning?"
"Those two you believe are friendly have ill intentions."
"Ill intentions?"
"Don't make me repeat myself," said the Kyubi with a flare of chakra. Naruto's hair blew back from the chakra flex by the fox. Other than that, he just kept staring at the Bijuu. Naruto was scared of the Kyubi but, he knew there was nothing it could actually do trapped within the seal. "I can sense negative emotions. Better than anyone in the world and the vibes from those two are negative. Very negative and directed mainly at you."
Naruto only stared at the Kyubi's warning before nodding his head. Then he proceeded to ask the stupid question the fox was trying to preempt earlier.
"Are you scared of an old man and a kunoichi? Guess you aren't as strong as I thought you were." The Kyubi promptly squashed Naruto's subtle insult.
"You know that I know that you know I'm stronger than what you think. I'm in your mind you know. I'm much stronger than what your current guess is," said the Kyubi getting Naruto to shrug. Naruto knew the fox was strong as hell. There was no getting around that. Apparently, it was stronger than hell though. "I'm just stuck inside your weak and useless body."
"Weak and useless? That hurts a little bit."
"It's only the truth."
"That feels more like an opinion. The truth part is definitely that you're stuck here. There's no question about it," said Naruto getting the Kyubi to narrow its eyes. Naruto didn't care about the glare from tossing the fox's situation in its face like that. "If I recall, you've been bested by a few humans. All of them were older than what I am now and probably were where I am in terms of strength at one point." Hashirama wasn't stopping the Kyubi at the age of fifteen. Maybe, Naruto didn't know for sure. He just guessed it was true since it only made sense. "So, if I just play my cards right, I'll be able to do it too someday. Just gotta study how they did it. Think it was the First and Fourth Hokages. And there was one more. That Uchiha guy, what was his name?"
"Tread lightly boy," warned the large fox as Naruto was headed down the wrong path.
"Whatever. That seemed pretty pointless to tell me," said Naruto not caring about the fox's anger. He knew the Bijuu hated anything Uchiha and would be quick to anger should they be brought up. It was wrong of Naruto to do so but, the fox insulted him. "If you think that old dude and chick can beat me in a fight, then you're stupid." Naruto threw up a peace sign as he turned to walk away. Not even giving the fox a chance to retort. He did pause before fully exiting. "Thank you, regardless."
"Thank you? I thought you said it was pointless."
"I wasn't talking about for that. I meant, for everything," said Naruto getting the fox's eyebrows to raise. He was thanking him for everything? "I may not necessarily like you. But then again, that could all be a misunderstanding by not knowing who you are. I don't know anything outside of what I've been told about you. And you've been here the whole time where I could easily find out the story from your perspective."
Naruto turned his head to glance at the fox fully as he continued speaking.
"You've been here keeping me alive and healthy since you were placed within me. And I don't ever remember thanking you for it," said Naruto seeing the fox not change expression at all from his words. He figured considering a thank you from him wouldn't make the fox all mushy on the inside. Naruto couldn't help himself from not expressing his gratitude still. "So thank you. Not only for the warning even though I don't think it'd matter. But, also for keeping me alive this long. Maybe one day I'll figure out something about you and get to understanding you better. Until then, thank you."
Restarting his stroll out of his mind, Naruto vanished as the Kyubi was left to ponder his words.
"Hm, you're welcome." Naruto heard the Kyubi and opened his eyes.
Naruto exited his mind and found himself exactly where he was before he began his internal conversation. He laid resting on his back in a tree branch with his head in Shizuka's lap. The girl was toying with his unruly hair and absentmindedly staring nowhere in particular. Naruto looked up at the girl and smiled.
"Hey Hime."
"Hey Himawari-kun."
"Himawari (sunflower)?"
"Because of your hair?" questioned Shizuka looking down at her boyfriend. Shizuka blew air out of her nose while continuing to play in Naruto's hair. "Wait, nicknames should be shorter than your name. Naruto has less syllables than Himawari. Ugh, I'm going to figure this out Naruto-kun."
"I believe in you," said Naruto smiling before remembering why he'd come to her. They were currently waiting for the enemy to arrive so they could handle them. So, Naruto decided to follow up on what he'd tried to earlier. "Were you jealous earlier hime?"
"Huh, jealous? Me?" questioned Shizuka with a smile. Shizuka shook her head looking into Naruto's eyes. "Why would I be jealous?"
"Of Fuka."
"You think I'd be jealous Naruto-kun?" asked Shizuka getting Naruto to sit up. Shizuka saw Naruto's look and frowned. "That obvious?"
"Would have to be since I'm kind of dimwitted." Naruto got Shizuka to laugh as she shook her head.
"That woman, I don't know. It felt like she wanted to eat you."
"I do look pretty delicious." Shizuka frowned as the boy just grinned. "Ill-timed, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's just," started Shizuka before pausing and looking down. Naruto scooted his way closer to her to get her to look back up at him. He patted her thighs which got her to continue talking. "I just got you. And not two weeks later, some succubus appears that tries to steal you away. It makes me worry."
"Worry Worry?"
"Yes, worry worry Naruto-kun. Two weeks and there's a lady already trying to take you away from me."
"You think she could have taken me away?" Shizuka gave a shrug at Naruto's question.
"It looked like she would have if you didn't tell her Kakashi was here." Naruto smiled and shook his head.
"No, she wouldn't have."
"How do you know-" A kiss promptly shut Shizuka up.
"Because that's why." Naruto ended the kiss and returned to smiling at her. Shizuka opened her eyes to see Naruto still close. His blue eyes were focused only on her and his intense gaze got her to blush. "I've been around a lot of the world with Ero-Sennin. You were there for a lot of it. You know I've seen and met women galore. But you, by far, are my favorite."
"I'm your favorite favorite?"
"Yes, my favorite favorite hime," confirmed Naruto kissing Shizuka once more. A light kiss it was as Shizuka began to smile. "If you ever need reminding. I don't remind repeating it hime."
"Okay, will do." Shizuka gave Naruto a kiss in return.
Naruto smiled sweetly at her before grabbing her hand. Naruto's next line was cut off when a clone's memory hit him.
"Looks like those bandits are here," said Naruto turning in the direction he knew they were coming from. Naruto gave a sharp whistle that was reciprocated a few seconds later. It was from Kakashi who sat with Sakura and was letting Naruto know they were ready. "Bet I beat more than you hime."
"You're on Hoshi!"
"Hoshi (prince)?"
"Oh, right. You're not royalty. I'll try again."
"Right, let's go wild!" shouted Naruto holding his hands in a familiar seal. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin"
An uncountable number of clones poofed to life that all smirked. It was showtime finally.
(The Next Day)
"You truly are an impressive young man. I can't help but say it again," spoke Fuka to a grinning Naruto.
The bandits that'd come back to collect payment from them were stymied last night. Despite the B-rank status of the mission, the threat wasn't much at all. Most of them were C-rank shinobi who wouldn't have threatened a 12-year-old Naruto. Let alone a 15-year-old Naruto who'd spammed over three hundred clones to deal with the fifty of them. It was no contest.
"Yes, yes he is. We were prepared to handle the ones who got past his clones but, none of them did," said Kakashi with an eye-smile to Naruto. He'd saved him chakra and gotten him a free B-rank mission pay. He enjoyed having his student back. "Really good job there."
"Thanks, from both of you. But it was really no problem," said Naruto smiling to Kakashi and then back at Fuka. Naruto felt Shizuka tug him and waved goodbye. "Well, we should really get going, right Kakashi-sensei?"
"Indeed we should. We stayed the night to make sure there weren't anymore but, we're not here to stay forever," said Kakashi with a wave as his team began to make their way back home. Kakashi made to follow them after waving one last time. "Good luck in the future Furido and Fuka."
"Thank you Hatake-san! All of you. We hope to see you all again someday!" yelled Furido back waving along with Fuka.
Kakashi caught up quickly with his team and walked in stride with them.
"Well, that was easy," said Kakashi getting the three others to nod.
"Yeah, I barely did anything at all," said Sakura getting to Shizuka and Kakashi to nod as well. None of them had outside of Naruto who'd froze at that moment. "Naruto? You alright?"
"Hmm," said Naruto feeling a familiar sensation. Naruto bit his thumb and shifted through a few hand seals. "Kuchiyose (Summoning)." A small black toad was summoned by Naruto that held a note. Naruto grabbed the note from the toad before petting him. "Thanks buddy. I'll have a two treats for you next time since I don't have one now."
The toad nodded before dispelling itself in a poof of smoke. Naruto stood before opening the scroll the toad gave him. Naruto's expression soured when reading it as Kakashi rose an eyebrow.
"A message from Jiraiya-sama?" questioned Kakashi figuring it was from the toad sage. Who else summoned toads outside of Naruto besides him? "Whatever is on there must be bad."
"Not from Ero-Sennin, from baa-chan," corrected Naruto confirming Kakashi's last thought. Naruto burned the note in his palm before his eyes glowed red. They returned back to blue as he looked at Kakashi. "Akatsuki, they got Gaara."
Well, guess they wouldn't be returning home just yet.
Thanks for Reading