A/N: Welcome back.
Note: There is an update to Chapter 11 you might want to check out...
Chapter 13: Best Served Cold
~I I I~
The sun was just starting to lighten up the horizon as Naruto trudged out of the Market quarter. These early morning starts at the forge were wearing him down and his stomach had been yelling at him for the last hour wondering if his throat had been ripped out. Looking down to his left, he could see Tatsua happily trotting alongside him since she refused to ride on his shoulders after a shift at Higurashi's unless he'd been hosed off, always complaining that the soot was impossible to get out of her fur. She seemed a little too pleased with herself - she got to nap the whole time or get petted by Tenten once the girl was back from her early morning workouts with Maito Guy, her sensei.
His nose wrinkled up in displeasure at the thought, especially since she all but browbeat him into accepting the offer to begin with.
Now he was hungry but he wasn't sure if he had time to rush home, shower, change, eat and then make it to school on time given that (he glanced up at the greying sky) he probably had forty-five minutes at best to do all of the above.
With a grunt, the slumped Genin hopeful made a quick detour. Cutting over to one of Konoha's many parks, he found one with a shallow stream leading to a small pond complete with ducks taking an early morning bath. Well, if it's good for them he didn't see why it wouldn't be the same for him.
'Wait... what are you...'
She never got the time to finish that sentence as the bright glint hit the blond's face just before he took a deep breath and leaped head-first into the pond. Sitting at the bottom, Naruto slapped his palms together in a quick seal, pulled a small amount of chakra into his core, then pushed. The end result was a small current centered around his body that churned the water and sent the ducks scattering into the early morning sky.
Tatsua grimaced at the churning mini-whirlpool and the slowly expanding spot of grungy water. She could see the soot liquefying and spreading from her dry spot on the shore.
Another twenty seconds or so of this human washing machine action and the blond's head erupted from the surface followed by the rest of his body as he landed on the settling water's surface. He was standing in the middle of a ring of dirty surface water, as the churning action of his chakra had pushed residue out away from his location in all directions. With a satisfied smirk, Naruto trudged back to the shore and repeated the action but this time with wind chakra, the resulting mini-tornado ruffling his clothes and hair as he dried himself thoroughly.
Curious, Tatsua's head quirked over in an unspoken question once her Taichou finished his field grooming.
"Simple Sua-chan. Next, we eat." Tired of his stomach asking why he was punishing it, Naruto hustled back to the main road and, before too long, flopped down onto a stool at his favorite ramen stand to the happy smiles of his extended family.
"Good morning, Naruto!" Ayame was always glad to see him. "You're here early. What's going on?"
The girl had just finished setting up the tables and counter section and had moved to prep work behind the countertop itself. Naruto propped his elbows up on the bar after depositing the fox kit onto a barstool to his right.
"Just finished my morning shift at Higurashi-san's and I'm starving!" Anime tears of suffering poured down his face only to receive a friendly chuckle in return.
"Well, it's too early for ramen as the broth isn't ready yet but I'm sure we can find something you'll eat from our breakfast menu.
Ichiraku's did make more than just ramen. In fact, some of the early morning workers came by as it was one of the few places open so early in the morning and the father-daughter team made everyone welcome. Naruto was happy to have caught them before the morning rush. Perhaps he could eat and get to class without costing them customers.
Today they had a fish stew simmering and it made his mouth water. Ordering that to go with his freshly steaming bowl of rice, a few boiled eggs, and tsukemono pickles, he chewed on his lower lip lost in thought while watching Ayame move effortlessly around the counter stations.
"I know I'm a sight to behold, Ruto, but you're starting to make me blush."
He started as if snapping out of a daydream and blushed a bright red color as she started setting huge servings in front of the dazed student.
"Sorry, nee-chan." With a quick, "Itadakimasu," he snapped his chopsticks and went to work on the stew although not with his normal enthusiasm. The bright customer service specialist that she was, Ayame took note. Placing strips of fish she'd grilled up for the eagerly watching fox kit next to the happily chirping cuddle magnet, she flopped her elbows onto the counter and braced for her intervention of the unlikely introvert.
"Okay, spill!"
Naruto stopped shoveling rice into his face and looked back into the concerned brown eyes of one of the few friends he knew. Taking a few more chews before swallowing a mouthful of tea to wash it down, his eyes flicked down to the bowl of stew that suddenly seemed to captivate all of his focus and took a deep breath.
"Ayame-chan, have you ever... dated... before?"
The girl's face brightened like someone stuck a light bulb in her mouth. Naruto's face scrunched up in a wince when she started squealing and he noticed Tatsua had flicked an ear in his direction despite her ongoing attack of the fish quickly disappearing from her plate.
"Don't tell me our Naru-kun has a girlfriend?!" He winced. Kami how he hated that nickname.
Naruto's hands were patting down the air as he tried to bring down her enthusiasm... and the noise level.
"No, I do NOT have a girlfriend. Iiiiiiiiii... just want to know, if I ever wanted to get one of those that is, what... would a guy like me need to do to impress her-someone! enough to get her to like me and... maybe, just maybe mind you...be able to take her out on like an actual date...someday...maybe."
Ayame was grinning like loon despite the lawyer-ish barrage of caveats.
"Maybe, huh?" The girl seemed to be ecstatic for reasons he could not fathom.
"Yes, a definite maybe."
"I'd be glad to help you work through this. This means you'll have to stop by more in the mornings so we have time to talk."
Naruto looked like she'd just thrown him a lifeline. Nodding furiously he began to eat with a little more energy, almost as if a huge weight had shifted from his back.
"Honestly though, Naruto. The best way to impress a girl worth being with is to just be yourself. If she can't accept you for who you are, then she's not worth the effort in my opinion."
The boy stopped frantically shoveling fish stew into his mouth, to be soon followed by more rice and pickles, as he chewed on that bit of advice. It made good sense but he had no worries about her liking him for who he was.
"So, when do we get to meet your little Hyuuga friend?"
Naruto managed to turn his head just in time to not spit tea on or over Ayame's clean counter.
~I I I~
Year three at the academy ended with Naruto firmly in second place, only two points in overall score behind Sasuke but taking the top spot in both taijutsu and ninjutsu. When Iruka asked him why he wasn't working harder to take the top spot, he shrugged and replied, "Let the Uchiha take the glory. Less attention on me so long as I prove my point."
Iruka's brows twisted in curiosity. "Just what point is that, Naruto?"
"That he can't beat me on the battlefield. So long as he keeps that firmly in mind, perhaps he won't be as arrogant."
It was a noble thought Iruka had to admit but it was one that completely bypassed the clan survivor.
Uchihas were never humble.
Uchihas never accepted defeat.
Uchihas didn't take "no" for an answer.
They were the elite of the elite, the best of the best of the best of the… yeah, you get the hint, and the sooner you accepted that the sooner all things could fall into their proper place. In short, they were biologically wired to be arrogant arses.
Naruto was intentionally walking that fine line between the last Uchiha and the Aburame heir when it came to grades. Anytime that subtle balanced shifted too far one way or the other, Naruto's test scores adjusted appropriately to correct the deficiency. The boy could quote texts chapter and verse just as easily as argue why something in the text was wrong or partially outdated. He knew the material and could probably ace the curriculum if he'd but apply himself. For a teacher, he was the model student… unless you knew that he could do better and just refused. Naruto flat out refused, and, to Umino Iruka, that was frustrating to no end tantamount to scholarly treason punishable only by Iruka.
It was through this give-and-take interplay that Iruka's perception of the boy began to change ever so slowly. Before he knew it, he began to see Uzumaki Naruto the boy and less of Uzumaki Naruto the container.
Iruka sighed and glanced up from his stack of papers, Naruto's latest test, a score of ninety-four percent, on top of the stack with two empty blanks (well, technically not empty since he wrote in two smiley faces for answers) and glanced out of the classroom window at the familiar quartet eating lunch under their usual tree just in time to see one Uchiha Sasuke storming up to the blonde ring leader, his deranged fangirls in hot pursuit.
"Oh my, this looks interesting." He body flickered out to the tree branches right above the growing mob.
"On your feet, dobe." One Uchiha Sasuke stood above the lackadaisical blond with his face contorted in full-on pout mode.
"Kiba is already standing behind you, teme." Naruto smirked insolently.
Hinata hid her giggle behind her hands.
Outrage followed from Sakura and the Fangirl Mafia, except for Ino who had a conflicted look on her admittedly pretty face. Sakura was yelling something about showing proper respect to the top rookie.
Growls came from both Kiba and Akamaru.
A trilling hiss from the newly switched out Tatsua, her tail waving in a very snake-like fashion, caused Akamaru to whimper and hide behind Kiba's mop of hair.
"Once I take you in taijutsu, I'll be the undisputed top rookie."
"Congratulations. I'll send you a fruit basket, now if you don't mind-."
"Now! Dobe!"
Sasuke's rude manners were beginning to grate. Iruka saw the tension rise and was about to hop down to intervene. He would have to talk with the boy later.
When Naruto looked up from his meal, the temperature around the tree appeared to drop ten degrees. It was enough to make Ino shiver and Iruka pause. As the Yamanaka heiress glanced from Sasuke to Naruto then back to Sasuke, she caught the barest flicker in the blond's eyes almost as if the pupils had become slits, animal-like and unfeeling. When she quickly looked back, whatever it was had gone.
When Naruto stood and stepped the four paces to stand nose-to-nose with the Uchiha, everyone spread out reflexively to make room for the brawl about to happen. Naruto merely looked down to the duck-haired emo and hissed, "Stop being a princess. You know we're not allowed to fight outside of spars but don't worry. I'll happily be your first… and last… challenge today."
And just like that, whatever clouds had gathered parted and Naruto returned to his seat while the Uchiha fumed. Sasuke opened his mouth to scream something else when a voice behind him postponed the conflict.
"Everything okay here?" Iruka had body flickered behind the surrounding instigators.
Everything paused while everyone froze and glanced to the blond demon then, like magic, the waters of humanity parted, and people escaped to the other side of the academy yard very intent on various leaf shapes or plumage on the nearest pigeon.
Kiba was trying desperately to coax his partner into another battle this afternoon.
"We're fine Iruka-sensei," Naruto piped up leaving Sasuke blinking in confusion and annoyance. "Sasuke was sharing his passion for today's spars with us."
Iruka nodded and walked back to the classroom. "I look forward to it then."
He wasn't the only one. Shika, Hinata, and Tatsua were fuming, Tatsua trying fiercely to get away from the bluenette's lap she had been napping in completely forgetting her chibi cuteness factor, which did little to intimidate anyone. Even Choji was perturbed (he actually put his bag of chips down shocking Shikamaru). Needless to say, the afternoon spars became the most anticipated event of the day.
~I I I~
Sasuke wasted no time shouting, "I challenge Uzumaki!" Iruka sighed and motioned the two to the ring. Several of his fanbase cheered the emo princess on as he puffed out his chest, an act that provided humor to no great end in Naruto.
It was well known that Sasuke did not train his body, did no physical conditioning whatsoever and, as a result, had the physical musculature of soft clay. He'd removed his shirt once mimicking Naruto's display of male dominance to a chorus of snickers from every other male – and one female – in the class. He didn't even have a tan to detract from the fish-belly-white princess image.
Naruto wondered on some level if he exfoliated to get skin that smooth.
The Sasuke Fangirl Club viciously beat any male classmate that derogatively referred to Sasuke's sublime physique after the Great White-Out Sparring Incident, much to his continued annoyance.
With a shrug of his thickening shoulders, Naruto removed his jacket and, for good measure, his shirt since he didn't want another one destroyed. Apparently, this had become a badge of honor among classmates unable to beat him in a spar; "trashing the Dobe's tee shirt" earned you street cred, more or less.
Naruto made it a habit to punish anyone that tried but it never stopped the next attempt.
Hinata blushed as her eyes danced quickly over his flexing muscles and rushed forward to claim his items (to keep them off the dirty ground of course) and plant a quick peck on his left cheek.
Naruto tried not to blush especially when Choji and Shika began cooing.
Ino's eyes grew large as teacups. 'He's obviously packed on more muscle since the first year.'
"For luck," she squeaked before blushing bright red and jumping back to her group. Naruto tried not to notice she was sniffing his clothes, her eyes closed in…bliss?
Taking his spot in the ring, he routinely flexed his chest, shoulders, and triceps to force blood into them, also enjoying the effect his actions had on Hinata. He didn't care about what it did to the other girls in the class, including Sakura who was trying to win a losing argument with inner Sakura and failing miserably, but it was a price worth paying.
Two and a half years of conditioning with Tatsua and working the Higurashi forge had turned him into a thick block of lean muscle with arms and legs. He had to work hard, very hard to keep his agility but the results were clearly there. His skin had been bronzed by the forge's fire and Tatsua's efforts to mold him under the afternoon sun, making him an Adonis among his classmates. Now shirtless, the other girls (read Sasuke's fangirls) cooed at the sight, faces flush with blood and fresh hankies. When the bows were complete, and he had smoothly transitioned into the basic fighting stance, triceps and back muscles coiling and tensing, a few of them dropped to the ground unconscious.
A nervous tick appeared over Sasuke's right eye.
"Sasuke, are you ready?" Brisk nod in response.
"Naruto, are you ready?" Naruto mumbled a terse, "Hai!"
"Kumite!" The ANBU proctor hopped back as the boys charged each other.
Naruto planted himself in the middle of the ring and refused to be moved. Sasuke's movements were polished, which indicated that he practiced regularly but they lacked any sort of power. Given that Naruto was faster even with his weights on (Tatsua had left them static at forty-five kilos), his punches and kicks weren't difficult to dodge or block. By slapping a flat palm on Sasuke's chest and lazily pushing him away, Naruto was saying plainly that the younger boy (Sasuke was technically a year younger) was not a challenge.
That realization by the Uchiha, who was actually fairly sharp in the brainpan, translated immediately into a Katon-laced rage.
Sasuke bellowed, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Iruka tried to interrupt the bout when the seals started flying but it was too late. The fireball roared across the dirt-packed yard for some roasted bijuu container.
Naruto responded by orienting a Suiton jutsu (specifically a camping jutsu for condensing water from the atmosphere to refill canteens and such minor things) at the fireball and pumping four times his normal chakra into it, which was already considerable. The air moisture immediately evaporated drying out the hair on every female within twenty meters, and a mini-geyser of water shot across the yard, snuffed out the fireball, and rolled a very surprised Uchiha Sasuke out of the ring and into a growing puddle of mud.
The ANBU proctor and Iruka Sensei were trying very hard to stifle their guffaws as they recognized Naruto's chosen technique – he'd beaten the Last Uchiha with an overpowered, E-ranked camping jutsu (the ANBU proctor, Jackal, sighed and palmed a fifty-Ryu note over to Iruka).
Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Tatsua had no such qualms, high-fiving and cackling on the sidelines. Even Ino snickered at the sight of the Uchiha up to his ankles and elbows in mud, which earned her a nasty sneer from Sakura.
"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto by ring out!" (ANBU)
Naruto merely turned to Sasuke's fanbase and smirked, then flexed for good measure alternating his pectoral muscles making them jump and compress, earning jealous sneers by the males and more flushed faces from the females, much to Sakura's ire as inner Sakura was drooling, beating her flat chest, and yelling for Sakura to claim him. With two major rivals (Kiba had long accepted his status loss as the alpha among these two powerhouses) in the same class, things could only escalate from there.
It did have the unintended side effect of adding two more people to the small pool of Naruto friends.
Aburame Shino approached the reigning King of the Ring and bowed from the waist. Naruto nodded in return as he shrugged back into his shirt after having gently prying it from Hinata's surprisingly strong fingers.
"Congratulations on yet another victory, Uzumaki-san." Naruto grimaced at the formality, but his voice held no heat.
"No need for all that Shino, we're classmates." He held out his hand for the bug user to take. "Naruto has always been good enough for me."
Shino took the proffered hand, despite his hive's excited protests, and completed the informal acceptance ceremony. Just like that, he was part of the misfit group of friends, even if only in the outer ring of trust.
Promotion here came through merit.
Naruto noticed the other class blonde inching closer over Shino's shoulder just as he started round two of "Tug-of-War-for Naruto's-clothes." He decided to end it with bribery, once it was clear she intended to hang on, by leaning into her personal space, placing his lips by her ear, and whispering, "I will cook dinner for you if you give me back my clothes. Either that or I would like to take yours off so we're equally undressed."
The shock on her face was enough to get her to let go but, as Naruto pulled back, he noticed she was halfway through unzipping her jacket before he could stop her from undressing in the middle of class. He curiously wondered what would have happened if he'd said that when they were alone and tried to control his growing blush.
He was hoping she'd just pass out so he could reclaim his jacket without tearing it.
Turning back to the last visitor (and giving Hinata a chance to lose her raging blush), Naruto raised an eyebrow to the Yamanaka heir.
She knew that he wasn't fond of her. She just didn't know why. Previous attempts to infiltrate his mind had hit brick walls, literal walls made of mental bricks. When she asked her father about her discovery, he merely scolded her for invading the privacy of others and told her if she ever repeated that act without a direct order from the Hokage or the head of T&I, he'd seal her chakra for good. Rebuffed and intimidated, she decided to go straight to the source. You only live once, right?
Taking a deep breath, she spoke up to the blond hunk, the sole boy apparently immune to her charms.
"Hey…Naruto. Nice win!" Ino tried to be casual but he was watching her like someone would watch a snake or other dangerous animal. With no response, she pressed on.
"Do you mind if I hang out with you guys today?"
"I thought you were an honorary member of the Uchiha fan club?" (Shikamaru)
Ino chuffed at the pineapple-haired boy. "It's a one-sided affair. That boy only loves himself and you guys always seem to have a good time. At least Naruto talks to you instead of scowling all day long."
Hinata was watching the self-proclaimed party girl and frowned openly every time her eyes locked on to the target of her affection.
"Besides, I think I lost my best friend to that obsession a while ago."
The girl looked sad, lonely, and in the back of Naruto's mind, Tatsua was quietly urging him to accept her – she was a possible link to the missing Yamanaka. This was his chance to get close to someone on the inside and solve the riddle.
His eyes narrowed dangerously at that memory and it shocked the blonde socialite. Fearing that she'd be pushed away, Yamanaka Ino got desperate and lunged forward to grab his hands, which were still holding on to his newly-donned jacket.
Hinata nearly Jyuukened her into next week. She would have if not for Shika and Choji grabbing her arms and pulling. Hard. She was surprisingly strong.
"I don't know what I've done to make you hate me but… I-I'm sorry!"
There were tears forming in the corners of her ice-blue eyes. Thoughts of a saltwater jutsu floated across his mind before he swatted the idea away. Her grip was surprisingly strong like Hinata's. Maybe girls were taught these things at a young age? Was it genetic? Either way, it was pulling at his heart.
"Please! Give me a chance to make amends! If-if you still can't accept me then at least I know that I've tried and will never bother you again! P-P-Please! Don't cast me out until I've at least had a c-c-chance."
Head bowed, tears streaming down her face, Ino's legs gave out with her emotional outburst but her knees never hit the rocky ground. She blinked, her head was pressed against something hard wrapped in sturdy material and very strong arms were wrapped around her body, pinning her elbows between herself and the furnace of flesh that held her up. She blinked the tears from her eyes and looked up into the softening face of Uzumaki Naruto, who held her pressed against his body until she found her feet again.
'I'm soo going to regret this,' the blushing jinchuuriki groaned to himself.
When he kissed her forehead and released her, all without a word, her face flushed, and the world spun out of control as she passed out. Luckily for Ino, Choji caught her the second time since Hinata was too stunned to smack her around.
'That was very smooth, Taichou.'
Naruto tried to blow off the Kitsune's teasing. 'Keeping her interested is the easy part.' He glanced over his shoulder at the passed out girl while Chouji set her down off to the side of the sparring ring. 'Keeping her and Hinata from tearing each other apart will be the hard part.'
Eventually, he'd have to figure something out but, for now, he turned back to the matchups.
Her eyes opened later and she still had a smile on her face, plus a slightly bleeding nose. Choji had laid her against a tree right behind the group and they were all watching the rest of the matches. Hinata had staked a position right next to Naruto, her arms wrapped protectively around his left bicep, the occasional angry and possessive glance directed back over her shoulder to Ino, but that was okay. She was used to fighting for the attention of a desirable male. She doubted the Hyuuga princess could deliver properly on physical affection as a closeted heiress and that just strengthened Ino's resolve.
She had a shot this time.
Her dad stated over and over again how the Hyuuga clan head absolutely despised the blond orphan so that meant Hinata was headed nowhere quickly. With this challenge there was hope and those arms were very strong and very warm. She shivered from the memory.
Wiping the blood from her nose (being held in his arms produced all sorts of pleasant images) she trotted over to Naruto's right arm and gently leaned into him, her budding figure pressing against his triceps. With a gentle smile up to the beautiful boy, she turned her eyes over to the Sasuke club and realized her membership had been completely revoked judging by the shocked stares of betrayal.
The interesting thing was she didn't really care. She had much less competition here and, from what she could see, more interaction in three minutes than Sasuke had given her in almost three years. Besides, she'd hugged the Uchiha (to his prompt protest and non-interest) and felt none of the hard muscle bunched up under Naruto's jacket; the boy was solid.
Her mind made up, she turned her eyes back out to the remaining spars and tried to plan out how she could win the heart of the strongest ninja in her class. She had discovered the true top rookie.
~ I I I ~
It didn't take her long in their impromptu study group to find out how smart he really was and that was only the beginning of her eye-opening experiences with the village pariah.
Naruto, on the other hand, continued to learn and grow.
In addition to his physical development, Naruto's Fūinjutsu practice grew and now included explosive tags plus that Kitsune communication array that apparently didn't work on normal humans but did include a useful ability to speak with his clones.
He had a couple of selective storage seals on each of his forearms he used to keep ready mission gear and his now completed punch knives. Through introductory books he'd found at the library (under a henge), he also learned rudimentary alarm seals and discovered that their basic sealing elements could be combined into complex arrays. Take for example an alarm that triggered a remote seal on your body while locking the door or window it was written on and paralyzing the intruder breaching the array for later interrogation – if you knew that particular seal combination.
And Naruto's comprehension of seals, and Fūinjutsu in general, bordered on the freakishly savant-like realm of unnatural. It was almost as if seals could whisper their secrets to him.
Secretly Kyuubi (you all forgot about her, didn't you?) sat back and reveled in his growth. Her container was growing powerful indeed without a heavy reliance on her chakra, as it should be for the Golden Taichou. Soon they would need to make preparations for a journey home, to his true home and the inheritance therein.
Naruto made sure to learn as many basic seals to make those arrays as he could then began practicing on the seals Tama-chan had set up in his apartment. It was so very rewarding to find a frozen pair of burglars stiff from trying to break into his bedroom the night of his birthday (the village had long since found out that he'd moved). He took great joy in stripping them down, tying them up and leaving them on the building's roof for ANBU to find after being helpful and pulsing his chakra twice as a beacon.
In one of the three basic books he could find not checked out titled, "Fūinjutsu For Fun: An Intermediate Analysis of Creative Arrays," Naruto discovered his love of limiting seals. While none were nearly as powerful as the limiters linked to his overly complex tetragram sealing matrix, they did provide seals used for three very specific purposes employed by Konoha jailers and ANBU squads transporting prisoners to confinement.
First off, they were used to completely block access to chakra and could be used to isolate low to mid-level chakra users making them docile for confinement or transfer. Their one downside being that shinobi with strong enough chakra reserves and knowledge could overwhelm them and burst the seals just like Kyuubi did on his internal limiters. Complicated enough limiter arrays, a combination of seals linked together, could be built for stronger prisoners or to completely seal off an area, like a prison cell, but that was beyond this book's scope.
Second, there were pass through filters which allowed access lower level jutsu but sealed off C-rank equivalent and higher-level bursts of chakra. They were more useful for stronger prisoners but provided some chakra access running a higher risk of escape. Using the first two types of seals together could effectively isolate a prisoner from any use of chakra and typically made up most prison-related seal arrays.
Naruto mused that the first two were part of more complicated seal arrays and that, given enough time, he could deduce their structure on his own. He persisted, sacrificing countless clones when a seal went wrong and detonated the user into powder, and learned to use the limiters even going so far as to have Tamami permanently inscribe a set of constrictor seals as part of a tribal tattoo across his shoulders that could be activated and deactivated through controlled pulses of chakra through connected tenketsu. When activated, these modified pass-through seals reduced his chakra flow by sixty percent, which had the added benefit of boosting his control to near-perfect levels. By pulsing those tenketsu again in rapid-fire sequence, he could deactivate them and restore full access to his reserves.
He practiced the transition until it was natural, almost reflexive. More importantly, it made it easier to reduce his chakra signature and gave him the ability to produce perfect bunshins. He could graduate with certainty so long as he had those seals. Not originally a fan of limiter seals, these definitely had their uses.
Third, there were also feedback seals that converted chakra used into either Katon or Raiton chakra before redirecting it back to the caster in a constant feedback loop. Raiton tended to be very useful often shocking prisoners into unconsciousness if they were too persistent.
It was not enough. He knew there was much more to be done with seals, but he had eclipsed Tama-chan's knowledge on the subject. Until he could find another mentor in Fūinjutsu or more source material, he was effectively stuck at finding ways to modify or adapt new versions of what he already knew.
He was also effectively capped on ninjutsu. The basic academy techniques (with the help of his limiter seals) were now mastered, both seal-less and almost undetectable. With the help of his new limiters, he'd even mastered normal bunshin and Kage bunshin without seals, able to cast both near-simultaneously so that he could mix the two variants and (hopefully) prolonging the life of his already tough Kage clones. If they didn't have to burn through chakra using reinforcement, their combat effectiveness could only increase. It also helps when you can detonate them remotely without seals, which he could.
His elemental jutsus categorized an impressive collection up to and including a few C-rank variants. He'd need higher-ranked scrolls to move on but a vast majority of what he knew could be done without hand seals, helpful when fighting the emo wonder if he ever got his Sharingan switched on.
If he couldn't see it, he couldn't copy it. That meant that distance and obfuscation were his greatest allies against the Sharingan. Those history books on the clans were quite helpful.
About halfway through his third academy year, Tatsua had begun training him further on physical reinforcement techniques, which is using chakra to toughen his physical density or increase certain characteristics like strength and speed even further. It was the next logical step beyond using chakra to enhance his already super hearing, sight, and smell. As his control improved, Tatsua kept driving him to improve it further by using it during physical conditioning. She would keep adding weight until his chakra gave out and he'd have to drop the weight from physical exhaustion. Once recovered to about half his max capacity, she would have him go back to pushups and sit-ups, so she could strike him with bundled bamboo reeds. If he lost count or lost focus, she would force him to start again. By the time summer arrived, he could stream enough chakra to keep his armor up for half the day or triple his strength and speed levels for about two hours. He could do more in shorter bursts but her primary focus was endurance.
Just Downwind from the Inuzuka Compound…
By the time the Shadow Twins located Inuzuka Pagu, Naruto was looking forward to a distraction from the constant training. The fiend's location didn't surprise Naruto, as the dog-nin was living on the Inuzuka compound. What did surprise him was the nin didn't live the life that Naruto thought he would. Certainly, it was nothing like Watanabe and just barely a step above the incarcerated life of the average prison inmate.
His respect for the Inuzuka Clan, minus Kiba, rose a notch.
As Naruto stood high in the branches downwind from the Inuzuka compound, he again thanked Kyuubi for the gift of his binocular eyesight. As she preened in the mindscape, the boy focused on the sole Inuzuka shinobi staggering around the lower acreage of dog central, a half-empty bottle of sake grasped feebly in one hand. He didn't even need to trickle chakra to his nose as the man smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks, perhaps months.
Naruto wondered if he even needed his Kitsune sense of smell. A small child could find the drunk with their eyes closed.
"We didn't even have to work hard to find him," Kokuten said. "His entire clan is disgusted with his actions from the attack on you, Taichou. Inuzuka loyalty is legendary so they can't turn on him. Instead, they isolate and ignore him. His own nin-ken, a female that sired two batches of pups, abandoned him when he joined an angry mob to kill a small boy child and that meant all of the dogs turned on him as well. The dogs saw you no different than any other defenseless pup. He has fallen as low in the clan ranking as he can go, just one step above homeless vagabond."
Naruto didn't know if being Taichou gave him the ability to tell these two apart, but it came in handy.
"They randomly send one unlucky clan member to check on him once a week to make sure he still breathes. Sometimes they toss him a bundle of food and soap, hoping the idea of bathing will take."
Kokutan pointed with her muzzle to the discarded soap multiplying outside the rickety shed Pagu called his home.
"Judging from the size of that pile, it has been many weeks since they started that habit."
Almost as if summoned by the female twin, a very unhappy Inuzuka Hana tromped down to the hut yelling for Pagu to come out. Naruto noted, aside from her very athletic figure, she was sure to stay upwind from the unhygienic exile. After a few minutes of struggling to his feet and stumbling to the door, the Inuzuka heiress tossed him a scroll and turned to leave without waiting for a reply.
Pagu merely grunted, picked up the scroll, then returned to his hut. A minute later the unwanted toiletries sailed out of the door and into the pile of discarded supplies.
"He almost takes the challenge out of it," Naruto sighed. "Meet me back at the apartment later tonight. I will summon what is needed to address this failure of a human." The foxes seemed perplexed.
"Will you not deal with him personally, Taichou?" Naruto paused.
"I would love nothing more, but the Council is becoming… aware of my actions. They are spending more time focusing on the survivors."
The Kitsune lord nodded to the two Special Assassination and Tactical Squad agents trying to stay concealed a hundred yards just off to the right from where he stood. He was also grateful for the Kitsune illusions that kept him hidden from view and his sounds suppressed from the sharpest ears.
"If I am to complete my plans of revenge, then I need to stay out of prison. That means I need alibis, unbreakable alibis." Naruto looked down to the Twins with an evil sneer.
"Besides, the Kitsune have been idle for too long and I, as a good General, need to become familiar with every aspect of my army. Tonight, we flex another muscle of the Legion."
The foxes happily swayed their tails from side to side. They liked the way this Taichou thought.
At the Uzumaki Apartment…
Hedgehog stifled a yawn and earned another smack on the arm from Dove.
"Sorry but this isn't the most exciting duty." He motioned to the Uzumaki heir lounging on the couch of his apartment surrounded by two beautiful women. It made the bored ANBU dream lustily of the beaches that would be packed soon with scantily clad bodies. If he was still stuck here in the summer, he hoped some of those pretty young girls in the Namikaze apartment would shed more of their clothes, especially the bustier honey-blonde currently feeding him sliced fruit.
"Be serious, Hedge. We are to report if he does anything suspicious or disappears for any significant length of time." As if on cue, the taller ANBU stiffened and Dove whipped her head back around.
It was pointless. The boy had gotten up and excused himself to the bathroom. He was back less than four minutes later.
Hedgehog settled in for another boring round of "Watch the Women Jiggle as they Walk," and tried not to yawn again. Idly he wondered what Dove looked like under her cloak.
Flashback from Four Minutes Before
Naruto stealthed under Kitsune illusion through the bedroom window - left open because of the summer heat - and into the bathroom, summoned a clone, whispered, "I'm back," then stabbed the clone with a kunai. Not more than a minute later, the clone impersonating him in the living room walked in and closed the door.
"Any changes?" the original asked.
The clone shook his head, "None Boss. Those two are still watching from the rooftop across the street." Naruto nodded, and the doppelganger dispelled itself transferring its remaining memories.
Naruto washed his hands then returned to the couch to finish lunch and resume his spot seated in front of Tamami. He enjoyed the feel of her body pressed against his back and he smiled darkly as she popped another grape into his mouth.
Flashback from Four Minutes Before - KAI!
Later that night, all of the ANBU teams turned over. The pair watching as the Inuzuka recounted the visit from the clan heiress earlier and that the subject was due for his nightly… yup, there he was now relieving himself just outside the door of his shed. At least this time he managed to piss outside and not on the door jamb.
Muskrat and Lizard grimaced behind their masks, one making a disgusted sigh as the obviously inebriated Inuzuka turned, with his member still out, and staggered back inside. They hoped this assignment would end soon.
Other than the daily admonition to stay perpendicular from the downwind trades, otherwise, all you could smell was piss and unwashed dog-nin, the relieved pair had no new developments and body flickered away.
None of them saw the shadow slip around the corner of the shed and in through the door.
None of them saw the visitor apply a containment seal array to the unconscious dog-nin's forehead freezing him in place and locking his vocal cords, preventing him from making any movements or sounds.
None of them heard the visitor peel off the now bloody seal paper an hour later and leave via dispersion, the rest of the night passing by without incident.
It would be hours after the sun came up before anyone, including Pagu's ANBU observers, wondered why the drunken outcast had varied his daily routine. Thinking he was drunk, it would be noon when the heat was at its worst before the two ANBU flickered to the few patches of earth not covered in piss to peek in the shed at its only inhabitant.
Lizard would turn away just in time to lift his mask and add the contents of his stomach bile to the other bodily wastes on the ground. In another thirty minutes, the area would be swarming with an ANBU forensics team trying to keep an enraged Inuzuka clan back while trying to find trace elements of the killer that had left Inuzuka Pagu crippled (all of his ligaments and tendons had been cut with several removed and used to 'string him up' in the shed) and skinned alive to help him bleed to death while in his "home." Judging from the rather large pool of blood coagulating on the earthen floor of the shed, he bled for quite a while.
ANBU squads were dispatched before the forensic team's arrival to confirm the last twelve hours of their prime suspect's life. They were surprised to hear nothing about his routine had changed. The boy spent a lot of time with the various women in his life after his daily obligations had ended. He'd had arduous training early in the morning, an average day working for Higurashi, and spent the rest of the night sorting through battered kunai he'd found through various training fields. The Hyuuga and Yamanaka girls left after sharing a very appealing meal prepared by the suspect and he finished his night with a shower.
Some thought it odd that the two blondes didn't mix with the two heiresses often disappearing altogether.
The whole group had retired at their usual time and, as part of the normal duty rotation, a Hyuuga made up the night shift and alternately activated his Byakugan to confirm that the Uzumaki clan heir was asleep in his bedchamber with a mostly naked woman and a tiny fox. While that last fact was unnecessary, it pretty much solidified his alibi.
The ANBU watching him did wonder where the older woman spent her time when the two girls spent time in the apartment. More importantly, they wondered who she was.
The investigating team looked into the standard package, his finances for large outbound payments or withdrawals without commensurate purchases – every expense was accounted for in the clan ledgers and matched to their bank records (the amounts staggered a couple of the investigating ANBU when they realized how much cash the Uzumaki clan actually had). There were no unaccounted-for absences. Where would he have time to hire an assassin and pay for it without using cash? Worse still was the complete lack of evidence from the killer. Even the odd chakra residue left behind didn't match Naruto's. It was a mystery.
At the Hyuuga Compound…
The Hyuuga Elders were nervous and agitated. Heated words were being exchanged in a group of normally very stoic (and stuffy) old men who deemed themselves masters of all they surveyed. They were the Hyuuga, an unrivaled power in Konoha. All non-Hyuugas were beneath them. They feared nothing…except for the Kyuubi.
Hyuuga Hiashi, flanked by his daughters, listened to the chaotic chatter surrounding their clan meeting table and frowned. This noise solved nothing. His eyes flickered to Neji in the outer fringes of the room and the corners of his nephew's mouth were pressed in annoyance, just as Hiashi's were. The entire clan was flailing helplessly and that would serve no purpose. It did nothing to protect the elite clan. So, he would need to reign them in.
Hiashi funneled a minute amount of chakra into his palm and smacked the metal plate embedded into the tabletop. The echoing chime silenced the room almost instantly. Hinata and Hanabi both flinched being so close to the ringing boom.
"Now that we are centered once again, we must focus our efforts at the crisis before us." His eyes raked the chamber, and, for a moment, he was the decisive clan head that had steered the Hyuugas to the prominent position they held today. "What do we know?"
Hyuuga Suzu stood, his face flushed with anger and (nearly) shouted, "The demon brat will come for Hoheto next!"
Hiashi sighed at the circular logic that led to the last session of noise despite the agreeing head nods and confirming murmurs.
"I asked for what we know, Suzu-san, not what we feel to be true. What can be proven with reasonable assurance?" Suzu's eyes dejectedly returned to the table in front of him.
Hyuuga Shunsuke spoke clearly into the room. "We know that the…boy… was observed at his home during the time that Inuzuka Pagu was murdered. The ANBU report," he held up copies of the original although Hinata had no idea where he obtained them from, "…shows that he was physically observed through the night in his acts of demonic debauchery with his blonde whore." His face left little doubt what he thought of the Uzumaki's behavior and whether it was fit enough for him to be engaged to a Hyuuga, even one as disappointing as Hinata.
Hinata, for her part, tried to keep a straight face and wondered if Ino snuck over after she left to spend time with Naruto late last night.
Hiashi nodded and Shunsuke continued. "This tells us that he is extremely clever, something we've already come to expect from the juvenile who has desecrated our Hokage monument on multiple occasions and managed to escape punishment for such sacrilege."
"Does the boy even have the skill to take on a more seasoned shinobi, even one as poor as Pagu?" Hiashi's disdain for the dog ninja was evident in the corner of his eyes.
"As inebriated as Pagu was when he was murdered, a fresh academy student could have taken him with little difficulty." Several elders snickered. "Oddly enough, school records indicate that the Uzumaki orphan is the top taijutsu practitioner in his class and has held that distinction for the last three years." This brought different sounds from the Hyuuga gathering, none of them favorable.
"He has routinely dominated in all but one match where the instructors called it due to the fairly disgusting technique employed by the Inuzuka boy in the class." Shinsuke let fly with complete disgust as he rifled through a file folder Hinata could see labeled "Uzumaki Naruto, Class 3-B."
Hinata wondered silently how the elder had come by that file on an active student.
"He routinely defeats both the Inuzuka and Uchiha heirs with little apparent difficulty. Our informant routinely listens to the head instructor complain that the boy applies just enough effort to stay two points behind the class top rookie so as to not draw unwanted attention to himself."
Hiashi's left eyebrow rose a hair at the revelation and reached for the file in question. Not looking up from the sheaf of paper, he fired off his next question to the clan information head.
"The boy's alibi is iron clad?" Shunsuke nodded in response to Hiashi's question.
"Even his finances passed ANBU forensics meaning that they found no ties to contracted services, internal or external to Konoha. No unexplained withdrawals and no recent wire transactions at alternate institutions. He has covered his tracks well."
"If his tracks are so well covered, why should we believe the boy is responsible? I understand that Pagu was an undesirable that made many enemies, even within his own clan."
Many now looked to Shunsuke as these facts were well-known, however, the main branch member turned to Hyuuga Ryota, an active duty ANBU from the Branch House, who stood from the outer ring of mats to speak. Hiashi nodded to acknowledge his contribution.
"All evidence points to a crime of extreme passion. Trace chakra elements indicate an advanced suppression seal along the frontal cranial lobes. This indicates full paralysis was used to prevent the victim from crying out yet allowed him to feel every violent act committed upon his person while the killer took their time in the act. The victim's own ligaments were stripped from his body and used to string the corpse up inside the shack. This allowed the killer to slowly and methodically partially dissect Pagu just enough to ruin his physical skills, should he be discovered and rescued, before he could bleed out. To the killer, this was very personal, and they made Pagu suffer to the utmost before he expired."
Hanabi was trying very hard not to turn green and vomit. Hiashi was proud of her strength and his heart swelled. When he switched his eyes to Hinata expecting her to on the verge of catatonia, he was silently shocked to see her eyes focused on the speakers and showing no sign of discomfort in the subject matter. Given her kind nature, Hiashi found this very disturbing but he had to press on. He turned back to the assembly.
"In and of itself, I would not normally concern the clan with the gruesome death of a rabid degenerate from the Inuzukas. Taken in light of his recent…affiliations, and the gruesome mauling of Watanabe-san within a few years, I am forced to believe that this is more than coincidence. I believe if the Yamanakas had not sacrificed their clan member to the Hokage's justice and if the Uchihas had not fallen prey to one of their own homicidal members, we would be hearing of two more corpses linked to the attempted purging during the Kyuubi Remembrance Festival five years ago. The Branch Family will keep an eye on Hoheto until we can prove without question he has nothing to fear from the… Uzumaki." While he couldn't openly vilify the boy for the murder, the seal used to silently kill the Inuzuka concerned Hiashi. How many of his own clan could fall to that same threat?
There were many sage nods at this. The Hyuugas could not let that savage dishonor the clan by taking Hoheto before his time.
At the Uzumaki Apartment…
After the investigators left for the fifth time, Naruto smiled and thought, for the fifth time, that they were grasping at straws. For the fifth time, he thought Shinkai really knew his work. He'd have to use that Kitsune again someday, someday very soon.
By the time summer rolled to a close, Naruto was happily awaiting his fourth and final year. He even devoted what time he could during the summer to finishing his shobe tanto early so that Tatsua could begin to teach him kenjutsu. He was looking forward to channeling Fuuton and Raiton chakra through the blade as he cut the last one, the Hyuuga, in half through his dreams.
From within the mindscape, Kyuubi smiled.
~I I I~