Chapter 4

[1 year later]

As another year passed, our favorite redhead was still in the midst of training. Over the year, he mastered the basics and moved onto the advanced katas of the hummingbird style. This involved more acrobatic motions and being able to step aside quickly and move to counteract. He also fully matured his sharingan but never became arrogant and overly relied on it as his father wrote in his diary that many uchiha became drunk on their own power and it led to their downfall. He had perfected his first jutsu and began to learn the 'fire style : dragon flame jutsu' which released a narrow stream of fire like a flamethrower. He also decided to try using the 'shadow clone jutsu' as he couldn't use the normal clone technique as, according to his mother's diary, uzumaki generally has large reserves of chakra and as such cannot usually do genjutsu or low level techniques. So he began learning the shadow clone jutsu from his mother's scrolls which said that the technique was forbidden one due to the chakra requirements but that was no concern for naruto.

Fuinjutsu was moving along nicely as he had just began level four after endless practice of calligraphy. He also fully mastered tree walking and moved onto water walking as seen in his parent's notes. At first he thought that it was a prank but upon attempting it, he found it works and so he worked tirelessly to master it. He eventually was able to fight on the water and when he performed his ninjutsu, he noticed that it took less chakra and was more powerful than before.

The one thing he had craved was friends but alas, no one in the park would play with him and the parents kept their children away from him. This was heartbreaking for him but he decided to just give up for now until the academy starts to see if he can make any friends. He took up pranking as well as he found it to be a form of training where he would evade and outrun his pursuers. The old man never punished him for his pranks as he found it to be good training for his forces as well as using naruto's pranks to devise new security measures for the village.

Training grounds

Present time

As naruto was going to begin his taijutsu practice, he felt a presence behind him. Throwing some shuriken at the person and taking out two kunai and slid into a defensive stance. The mystery person rolled and swerved and stood up facing him.

As he laid eyes on the person, he saw that it was a girl who was about two years older than him. She had silky raven hair tied in a high ponytail with a black ribbon and dropped down to her waist over her back. She was wearing a white battle kimono shirt with full sleeves with a blue skirt that had cuts on both legs for free movement that was midway to her thigh and had black fishnet stockings under the skirt. Her kunai holster rested on her left leg and her hip bag on her back and black ninja sandals. She had smooth pale white skin that gleamed in the sunlight. He relaxed his posture a little and asked "who are you?"

He dropped his stance and put away his kunai. At first glance he had to admit that she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever encountered. She looked at him impassively for a few moments before responding, "isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?" Blushing from embarrassment, naruto recalled that jiji had once said the same thing to him. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Can I know yours?" said naruto in a low polite tone.

The girl continued to stare at him while taking in his features. He had red hair that was almost like the colour of blood which was short but had some over his face hiding his forehead. His sapphire blue eyes was like an endless ocean and showed his nervousness, he had three whisker like marks on either side of his face which made him look like a fox and a little cute in her opinion. Her eyes trailed to his kunai holster and hip bag before returning to his sapphire ones. "Izumi Uchiha," replied the girl in a melodious monotone voice.

They stood there staring at each other as naruto tried to look everywhere but at her. He had to admit he had never been so unnerved before and he drew on the old man's face while he slept on his paperwork. Attempting to break the silence, he asked the first thing that came to mind, "You a ninja?" At this, Izumi stared at him with the same gaze that made him feel like an idiot. He was broken from his thoughts when she replied "I am a chunin."

He nodded and mused to himself that she must be strong to be a chunin at that age. Hell some children are not even genin yet at that age. "Are you a ninja?" asked Izumi as she indicated his outfit. Following her gaze, he answered " I will join the academy next year and I train in preparation for it."

"Would you like to spar?" asked izumi.

"Huh?" replied naruto as he tilted his head to one side.

"I asked if you wanted to spar." Responded izumi with a stoic face. Immediately closing his mouth and stuttering out yes, izumi slid into her stance and said taijutsu only. Nodding to her, he took his own stance and had to react quickly as she pounced on him throwing a left jab into his face. Sidestepping her and throwing his own right punch which was blocked with her free hand and hitting her leg forcing her to separate.

Moving to a defensive stance naruto prepared for her next strike. She charged again with a right hand that he attempted to block but this was merely a distraction as she pushed his hand away and threw a left hook. It connected and momentarily dazed naruto. Pressing her advantage, she jumped and launched a roundhouse kick to his face which sent naruto to the ground. He immediately felt a knee to the back and his arm crossed and felt a metal touching his neck. "Yield," whispered izumi into his ear slowly which gave him goosebumps and a shiver down his spine. Nodding, he replied "I yield." She removed the kunai and stood up off him, reentering her stance. Naruto stood up, rubbed his cheek and entered his own stance as the two individuals charged again. This continued for some time, each time naruto landing on his ass.

As the sun began to set and they sat down on a tree branch and watched the sun set, she jumped down and began heading out of the training grounds.

"W-wait" yelled naruto and she turned to look at him with her charcoal eyes.

"Will you come again tomorrow to train with me?" he asked. She continued to stare at him before raising an eyebrow at him. Noticing this he looked down and frowned. He should've known she wouldn't want to come again. He was about to turn and leave when her melodic voice cut through "you are quite good at taijutsu so I believe that it will be beneficial to both of us." His eyes widened and he looked at her with a startled expression for a moment before he gave a megawatt smile.

Smirking to him, izumi turned and left the clearing. She laughed at the look on his face. Staring at her retreating form, he had one thought running through his mind… 'she looks even more beautiful when she laughs.'

To be continued