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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 2
Two weeks had come and gone. Naruto could already feel the effects of all the training he had been going through starting to pay off. It was the day of team assignments and Gai and Lee had agreed that Naruto should take the day off. He was already making wonderful progress to the point that he could actually spar with Lee now.
Naruto lost of course, as Lee had much more experience with the style and was a lot stronger than Naruto. Gai had commented though, that if he kept up at this rate, he would be on even ground with Lee in a few months time. Naruto beamed at this, but said nothing, having been taught by Gai in a few other subjects as well.
Naruto had to increase his weights every four days, as his muscles would get used to them quickly and Gai had quickly explained the reason being his healing factor.
'One good thing about being a Jinchuriki…' Naruto had thought gloomily. He had finally figured out what he was technically called in the Shinobi world, and he hated the term straight away. 'Human sacrifice? That's all I am?'
He had nearly tossed the book out the window, but realized that it was a hard truth… He didn't have to like it though.
He had to admit, reading wasn't so bad now that he thought about it. In a way, it was slightly entertaining, reading about past wars. Especially when he got to the parts about the third great Shinobi war.
There were chapters just about his father's battles. All of them being wins.
'I have a lot to live up to' Naruto thought to himself.
And now, here was Naruto, smiling into his pillow as he awoke that morning. The sun streamed through his window and lit up his one room apartment, warming the sheets that lay on top of Naruto. He could hear the people on the streets going about their business. The noon air was like perfume and…
'Wait a minute…' Naruto sniffed the air, his enhanced senses kicking in.
"SHIT!" he yelled as he threw the covers off of him. "I'm late! I'm sooo late! Shit shit shit shit!" Naruto scrambled around his apartment. "The one day I sleep in past five and I wake up at noon!" Naruto jumped into the shower in the bathroom and grimaced when he realized that there was only cold water.
'Fix that later…' he thought to himself.
Once he was cleaned, he jumped out and threw on his boxers, his weights, and then the rest of his clothes that he taken to wearing now.
He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his face was a bit leaner.
"Wow… That training's starting to pay off!" Naruto looked himself up and down, getting used to his new look. 'May as well measure myself again…' he thought.
Back in the academy, Naruto would always measure his height, to see if he was getting any taller. His height was a sensitive subject for him and he hated being so short.
He walked to the wall and placed his back to it, standing straight up. He took a kunai out of his holster and pressed it against his scalp. He then pressed it into the wall until he was sure that it was in there properly.
He stepped away and looked.
"No way… I'm an inch taller!"
Naruto was jumping for joy at this point. He grabbed his kunai out of his wall and placed it back in the holster and left his apartment at high speed for the academy.
Where the hell are they?" Sakura screamed.
Sasuke didn't say anything as he merely glared at the pink haired girl.
"Naruto's late, and so is our new sensei!" Sakura was pacing around the front of the classroom, vaguely reminding Sasuke of Iruka when he was irritated.
Sakura kept glancing at the door and her crush, torn between adoration, and irritation.
'Naruto's been keeping us waiting way too long… That BAKA!'
'At least it's just me and Sasuke though! I owe you Naruto! Shannaro!'
Suddenly, they heard a crash outside the door.
Sakura ran to it and opened it to find two people lying on the ground.
"I'm so sorry sir I… Kakashi?" One of them was Naruto, but he was dressed differently.
The other one was a mask wearing Jonin, with only one eye visible and gravity defying silver hair.
"Hello again Naruto" the man said lazily.
Naruto got to his feet first and offered a hand to the Jonin.
"Sorry… I was running late and so I wasn't really watching where I was going."
Kakashi waved his hand, his eye in a U shape indicating he was smiling.
"It's okay; it must be our thing, to literally bump into each other."
Naruto chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.
That's when Naruto noticed Sakura looking at him, torn between shock, and rage.
"Ah! Hi Sakura-chan! Have the teams already been formed?"
"Naruto you BAKA!" she yelled, throwing a punch at the blonde Genin.
Naruto was torn at the moment. He saw the punch coming and had the choice to avoid it, or take it. As usual, the blonde took the latter and impacted on the wall.
"G…gomen Sakura-chan…" he muttered from the wall.
'Weird… That didn't hurt too badly. Gai and Lee throw harder punches.'
Kakashi looked on at the situation; wondering if now would be the best time to announce who he was…
"I take it you are Haruno Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
Sakura hesitated, slightly shocked that he knew who she was.
"H…Hai…"
"Good! I guess I'm in the right place! I'm sorry I'm late, I was walking past a tree and a cat was stuck in it, so I got it down and hunted down the owner to return the cat!"
'What a lame excuse…' thought Naruto.
"Meet me on the roof in five minutes" Kakashi said with a bored expression on his mostly covered face. With that said, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Sakura could only blink.
"Hey, uh… Sakura-chan? whose team am I on?" Naruto asked.
"Dobe…" came Sasuke's voice. "What's with the new outfit?"
Naruto glared at the Uchiha. "None of your business Teme!"
"Hn" Sasuke retorted as usual.
Sasuke started towards the stairs to head to the roof. Sakura quickly followed as Naruto poked his head inside the room.
'Damn… I'm on the same team as Sasuke… great… Oh well. At least I'm with Sakura-chan!'
With that, Naruto followed his new teammates to the roof of the academy.
"How about we all introduce ourselves?" Kakashi suggested.
"Um… how?" Sakura asked.
"Oh you know… Likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies, you know!" he answered with a bored expression.
"How about you show us how?" Sakura suggested.
Kakashi shrugged. "My name is Hatake Kakashi; my dreams are none of your business… I like plenty of things and I have tons of hobbies."
'All we learnt was his name…' thought the Kunoichi of the group.
"You next" Kakashi said as he pointed to Sakura, who was on the right of the group.
"Ok… Um… My name is Haruno Sakura and I like…" she glanced at Sasuke.
"My dreams are…" she glanced at Sasuke again, only this time, she blushed and squealed.
'It seems that she's just a fangirl… great…'
"I hate Naruto!" she declared angrily.
Naruto hung his head slightly, hurt by the statement.
'Maybe I should just give up on her… She obviously only has eyes for Sasuke.'
"You next" Kakashi said as he pointed at Sasuke.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes but I dislike many things. I don't have a dream; but a goal. To restore my clan and to kill… a certain man."
Sakura looked on in amazement while Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 'That's to be expected.'
Naruto had mixed emotions. 'From what I read, I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's his brother… Who else would he want to kill? Uchiha Itachi is in the bingo book for killing off his entire clan save for Sasuke.'
"Last one up."
Naruto glanced at Kakashi.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are pranks and training as well as the few friends that I've made in the past few weeks. My dislikes are people who judge someone for something out of their control. My dreams are to become Hokage and to surpass my father."
'That shouldn't be too much information' Naruto thought to himself.
Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi all looked surprised at the last part.
'Father?' Sasuke asked himself. 'I thought he was a nameless orphan.'
'He's lying about that last part I bet…' thought Sakura.
'Hmm… I guess he really does know about Sensei being his father.'
"Well, I think that's all for now. Take these as tomorrow, we'll be doing an exercise to see if you all have what it takes to be Genin" said Kakashi as he handed them each a piece of paper with the rules he was about to explain.
"Exercise?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded. "A test, to see if you can have what it takes to be Genin."
"But we already took a test" Naruto retorted.
"That was to weed out the weaklings. You all have the potential, but let's see if you have enough. Tomorrow, we'll meet at the training grounds listed on that paper. Seven in the morning, oh and don't eat breakfast."
"Why not?" Sakura asked.
"If you do, then I hope you enjoy puking it up" he said simply.
"What kind of test is it?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi started to chuckle.
"Well, let's just say that this test has a sixty-six percent fail rate. Meaning that only nine Genin out of the twenty-seven that graduated will make it. The rest will be sent back to the academy for more schooling."
At this, all three Genin gulped.
"Till tomorrow… Ja ne!"
With that, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind.
Immediately Sasuke got up and started to walk away.
"Sasuke! Do you want to practice together to prepare for tomorrow?" Sakura asked as she got up to follow him.
"No" he said simply, walking away.
Sakura stopped in her tracks, rejection sinking in.
"Hey Sakura-chan, if you want, I can…"
"NO WAY!" she yelled at him.
Naruto scowled slightly, irritated at Sakura.
"No need to yell Sakura… I was just trying to offer you help."
"You? The dobe? Offering me help?" Sakura asked, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, but I guess you'll be alright" Naruto said politely as he walked past her.
"Of course I will be!"
Naruto shrugged. "If you say so. See you tomorrow Sakura." With that said Naruto opened the door to the stairs and walked away, just as Sasuke had done.
It took Sakura a moment to figure it out, but it finally hit her.
"Wait… he didn't call me Sakura-chan!" 'Maybe he's finally out of my hair!'
Sakura beamed at this new revelation and skipped the rest of the way home.
Naruto stood on one of the highest branches. He had been training for a few hours, perfecting the technique he had learned.
Now, he was simply staring at the setting sun, which was casting an orange glow on the trees.
'It's so peaceful… I can't believe I never noticed before.'
Naruto continued to watch the setting sun for a few more minutes before deciding to head back to the village for some food.
He jumped down to a lower branch, and then to another branch even lower.
'I'm not risking breaking my legs again…' Naruto finally reached the ground in about ten seconds.
He looked around; taking in the damage he had done to the shore of the river.
Small craters dotted the ground here and there, showing his improvement over the past two weeks.
Naruto grinned to himself, planning on celebrating by ordering a few extra large bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's that night.
Naruto started walking back to the village, deciding that he would enjoy taking it easy for the rest of the evening.
Slowly though, his mind started to wander until it hit one specific subject.
'Sakura… Why did I have to pursue you for so long…? I'm such an idiot for doing that.'
Naruto sighed to himself as he kicked a small rock in his way. 'I mean, what did I see in you?'
Naruto suddenly remembered just why he had fallen for the pink haired girl.
"She was being picked on…" Naruto mumbled to himself. 'I related to her I guess… We both knew what it felt like… Then she fell in with Ino and the others, and she started bullying as well…'
Naruto stopped for a moment clenching his fist as he remembered all the times he had been bullied by the Kunoichi.
Then it hit him. "I was the only one she bullied!" Naruto's face was filled with surprise before it twisted into a frown.
"I was the only one…" Naruto breathed in deeply, before exhaling.
'Control your emotions… You're a Shinobi now.'
Naruto clenched his fist, feeling his nails digging into his palm painfully.
'Why was it only me…'
Naruto just stood there until he felt like he had composed himself.
'It doesn't matter now… I'm trying to get over her, and I will succeed. I don't need that abuse any longer; it's time to stand up for myself!'
Naruto shook his head, trying to change what he was thinking about when he remembered his newest sensei.
'Kakashi… He seems alright… The mask is kinda weird, and his Hitai-ate… Then what does he mean by, don't eat any breakfast…'
Naruto started to wonder about this as it didn't seem to make sense to him.
'I remember reading in those books Jii-san and Iruka-sensei bought me that you should always eat breakfast… Never skip it if you can help it. Otherwise, you're giving yourself a huge handicap…'
Naruto just couldn't understand why Kakashi didn't want them to eat breakfast.
'Wait! Maybe he's just stupid! Damn it!'
Naruto was just walking through the village gates as he screamed, "Why does my sensei have to be the stupid one?!"
The two Chunin currently on guard duty stared after the young blonde in confusion.
Naruto noticed that he had just yelled out something seemingly random in front of other Shinobi and had the good graces to be embarrassed.
Naruto sighed as he continued on his way to Ichiraku's when he felt his heart stop.
'Why now!'
Sakura was walking home from the library, wondering about her brooding wonder.
'Sasuke-kun… I can't believe he's actually on my squad! I'll win him over in no time!'
She blushed as she imagined herself in Sasuke's arms.
'Oh… It would be terrific! Ha, and that would show Ino-pig!'
Sakura continued to think of various fantasies of her and Sasuke being together until she caught sight of her other teammate.
'Oh great… It's Naruto…'
Sakura was already preparing to reject his request for a date and pummel him into the ground.
She clenched her fist, getting ready for the moment.
She kept walking forward as Naruto walked towards her.
'All right, here we go…'
'Shannaro! You're gonna pay Naruto!'
She kept walking, and walking, straight past Naruto without a word.
'What the hell? What just happened?'
At first, Sakura was confused at what had happened, but she quickly figured out what was happening as anger filled her very being.
Naruto groaned inwardly as he kept walking down the street. There was no way he could turn around and run, it was the cowardly thing to do.
So he decided to just not say anything to his teammate, not after how she had reacted to him asking if she wanted help earlier today after meeting their sensei.
'If she wasn't such a bitch, maybe I would be polite…' Naruto thought to himself. 'I mean, all I wanted to do was help, but she just had to insult me yet again.'
Flashes of being bullied by her resurfaced. Her harsh rejections to his date proposals.
'All she needed to do was say no, not flip out and knock me senseless.'
Naruto walked straight past the Kunoichi without a glance.
'I… I did it! I got past her!'
Naruto felt as if his world had just brightened a bit. For the first time since meeting her, he had simply ignored Sakura. This was a big step in his opinion as he had never done that before.
'This seems a lot easier than I thought!' Naruto exclaimed mentally. Suddenly, something felt off.
He turned to see Sakura's fist rocketing at his face.
Out of instinct from training with Gai and Lee for the past two weeks, he went to block the strike.
As if on autopilot, he caught the fist, threw it to the side, unbalancing Sakura, and aimed a kick for her head.
Naruto realized what he was about to do and slightly altered the path of his foot, causing it to fly over Sakura's head.
Sakura's jaw dropped at this action as she fell flat on her butt.
'What was that just now?' Sakura asked herself.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the pink haired Kunoichi.
"Don't do that Sakura! I could have given you a concussion!" He snapped.
Sakura's rage returned as she stood up and glared at Naruto.
"What the fuck Naruto! You nearly give me a concussion and you yell at ME?!"
Naruto glared at Sakura. "Shut it billboard brow!"
Sakura was shocked at this. She didn't know what to say as Naruto continued.
"You were the one that initiated an attack and I just reacted like I would normally when caught off guard! Don't blame me for that!"
Naruto spun around and started to walk away.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" he said without looking back.
Sakura's jaw was feeling slack, tears stinging her eyes.
'He… he called me billboard brow… Maybe he wasn't trying to get my attention by ignoring me…'
Sakura stood up and ran straight home, not wanting to be seen crying. Those days were behind her. The days when she would be bullied for her forehead and she would cry for everyone to see were over.
Naruto got to his apartment and slammed the door behind him, panting slightly.
'What was that just now? I've never felt that angry before! It was like it wasn't even me speaking…'
Naruto felt even more tired than he had after training.
'I don't think I can make it to Ichiraku's tonight… I'm just… I…'
Everything seemed to spin as Naruto fell onto his mattress, unconscious.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Naruto pass out through his crystal ball.
'It seems as if young Naruto slightly tapped into the fox's chakra… Not enough to be noticeable, but it did drain him when the foxes influence left him… Interesting… If this continues, he'll be able to use the demon's chakra in a battle… He'll become a true Jinchuriki.'
Sarutobi glanced up at Minato's photo.
"This is something that I must keep to myself… If Danzo were to discover this, he would push for Naruto to join Root again, and I don't need him trying to convince Homura or Koharu… They may agree with him this time" he mumbled.
Sarutobi stood up and popped his back as turned towards Kakashi and Gai.
"You two will have to keep this a secret as well. Monitor him whenever possible. If he is able to tap into the demon's chakra at will, I may need to send for Jiraiya to check up on the seal. I want to make sure we are all safe before I allow Naruto to use the Kyuubi's chakra."
Gai and Kakashi both nodded.
"Kakashi, you are dismissed for now; I wish to speak with Gai alone."
Kakashi nodded as he pulled out his infamous orange book.
"Yes Hokage-sama."
He turned and walked out of the room as he skimmed through his book, trying to find where he was at previously.
Once the door was shut, the Sandaime motioned for Gai to take a seat.
"How is his Taijutsu training coming along Gai?" Hiruzen asked.
Gai took a breath before starting, looking completely serious.
"Well, it was rough at first… I thought that he would be perfect for the Goken at first, but something always seemed to be off."
Sarutobi nodded as he took his own seat at his desk, reaching into his robes for his pipe and some tobacco.
"So we started to experiment for a bit. I mean, don't get me wrong Hokage-sama, he is quite proficient at the Goken, given enough time he could surpass Lee, but I think he could be better."
Sarutobi closed his eyes and nodded again as he lit his pipe and inhaled.
"So we began tweaking the Goken a bit to fit Naruto."
"How are you tweaking it?" The aged Hokage asked.
"We've already begun. We've decided to incorporate his Kage Bunshin jutsu into the style. Before you object Hokage-sama" Gai said at the look of horror on Sarutobi's face. "Naruto's chakra capacity is enormous. I've had him create enough clones to resemble an army, and he still wasn't out of chakra!"
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at this.
"So Naruto and I have been slowly creating a style by combining the Goken style with the Kage Bunshin jutsu."
"What have been the results thus far?" Hiruzen asked the Taijutsu specialist.
Gai grinned, flashing his sparkling teeth in the process.
"Fantastic! It's a style only Naruto can use, and it far surpasses the Goken alone. There were a few stances that have been changed around, making it a defensive and more fluid style than the Goken, but much of it is similar."
"So it isn't the exact same?" Sarutobi inquired as he exhaled more smoke.
Gai shook his head. "No. There are variations to this style. It requires even more speed than the Goken though to be truly successful."
"When do you think Naruto will be able to use this style effectively in combat?"
Gai thought for moment before answering. "Well, at his current rate, by the time the Chunin exams begin, he should be able to crush much opposition. The only ones I think would give him a challenge would be my own two students, Lee and Neji."
"Only a challenge though?" Sarutobi asked, wanting clarification.
"Well, Naruto's speed and strength are going up quickly thanks to the demon sealed within him. The healing factor is giving Naruto the edge in his training. He has more stamina than anyone I have ever met, and his drive surpasses even my own."
The Hokage chuckled at this.
"He trains as hard as he can, and attempts to surpass what he has done constantly. The other day he…" Gai was interrupted by a knock at the Sarutobi's door.
"Come in" the Hokage spoke.
"Hello Sarutobi-dono."
"Danzo…" the Hokage nearly growled.
"Ah… Maito Gai… It has been a while."
Gai simply nodded, not trusting the old war hawk. He turned to the Hokage.
"I shall give you the rest of my report later Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi nodded to the Jonin as he stood up and left the room.
"What is it Danzo?"
Naruto woke up the next morning, feeling slightly sore, but otherwise ok.
He looked out the window to find that the sun hadn't even risen yet.
He yawned as he sat up on his bed and looked around before noticing that something was off.
He looked down at himself and found that he hadn't changed out of his clothes the night before or even taken his weights off.
"Better get a shower and change before breakfast…" Naruto mumbled just before he yawned.
He stretched out, feeling his joints pop slightly, before rising to his feet, noticing that his sandals were still on as well.
"What happened to me last night?" he asked himself. 'I just got so tired after Sakura pissed me off… Weird.'
Naruto took his jacket off followed by his clothes and his weights as he headed for the shower.
The hot water was broken, again, but it helped wake him up at least.
He quickly dried himself off and put on some boxers before sitting down and pouring him a bowl of cereal and grabbing a green apple.
'Wait… Kakashi said not to eat…'
Naruto wondered whether he should do what he was told by his superior, or to go with his gut and eat.
'Wait… He only suggested that we don't eat tomorrow… It wasn't an order!' Naruto thought with a foxy grin etched on his face.
He dug into his breakfast with gusto. Once finished, he grabbed another one of his clean outfits form the closet and threw it on.
'Alright, let's see here. What do I need?'
He decided to bring what he normally would. Kunai, shuriken, wire, a few scrolls with a couple things sealed inside.
He then strapped on his weights and looked out his window again.
The sun was finally starting to rise, signaling that morning was approaching quickly.
"Better get there early!"
Naruto ran out of his apartment and took to the building.
'Man… My weights are feeling light again… I guess I'll increase the weight when I get to the training grounds…'
Naruto felt the cool morning air whipping his face as he increased his speed when he reached the trees.
Finally, he reached the training grounds that his team had been told to meet at.
When Naruto landed on the ground, it slightly buckled under his weight.
'Whoa…I gotta be careful about doing that…'
Naruto quickly formed the ram hand seal and focused a bit more chakra into his weights, feeling them weigh down even more.
"Ok! That should be okay!" Naruto exclaimed at the change. 'I better start getting used to these! This test may involve some fighting if we're outside' Naruto thought as he started to walk around slowly, weighed down by his weights.
Naruto kept it up for about thirty minutes before he felt that he was starting to get used to it enough that he could fight somewhat.
"If this is going to be a drawn out fight, it'll help me get used to the weights faster." Naruto kept it up for about thirty minutes before he felt that he was starting to get used to it enough that he could fight somewhat.
"If this is going to be a drawn out fight, it'll help me get used to the weights faster."
Naruto decided to sit down and wait for his teammates and sensei as he had gotten there early and there was still at least half an hour to wait before seven.
Finally, Sasuke was the next one to arrive.
The Uchiha still wasn't used to Naruto's new look and almost didn't recognize the blonde Genin.
"Hey there Sasuke" Naruto greeted politely.
Sasuke nodded his head, not saying anything.
'He's different… Not as loud or obnoxious. I wonder what happened in the past few weeks…'
Sasuke didn't mind though, far from it. He preferred this new persona of Naruto's. One less problem for him, although he was sure that the dobe hadn't gotten much better since the academy. After all, what could change within two weeks?
Sasuke stood a slight distance from his blonde teammate with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the last two members of squad seven to arrive.
Not much later, Sakura skipped onto the field, but halted when she saw Naruto, his words still fresh in her mind.
She focused her attention on her crush, deciding that it didn't matter what Naruto thought anyway.
"Hi Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed as she ran up to the brooding boy.
Sasuke ignored the Kunoichi, already irritated by her presence.
"Isn't today a great day! I mean, this is the first day of our team!"
Sasuke nearly shivered. 'The dobe and the banshee… Kami must hate me or something…'
Then Sasuke noticed that something was off. He glanced at the other male Genin in wonder. 'Why didn't he greet Sakura like normal? He isn't even looking at her! Did I miss something?'
He glanced at the pink haired Kunoichi, making her blush in the process before returning his gaze to Naruto.
'It's none of my business I guess…'
Sasuke closed his eyes and began going over different battle tactics in his mind.
'This must be a test to find out what we are capable of in the field, why else would we be meeting at a training ground?'
Sakura noticed that Sasuke had glanced at not only her, but Naruto as well.
'Great… Sasuke must have been comparing me to the dobe…'
'How could he compare us? I'm so much better than that Baka!' inner Sakura exclaimed.
Sakura sighed as she sat down on the grass next to Sasuke.
'At least Sasuke is here to keep my mind off of things.'
That was when Sasuke had decided to go and lean against one of the three training posts in the middle of the grounds.
'Or maybe not…'
For the next two hours, the three Genin sat in an awkward silence. But that was also when Sakura and Sasuke noticed something strange.
Naruto sat in the lotus position, meditating.
'Since when did the dobe meditate? I remember back in the academy he couldn't even sit still for more than five minutes unless he was asleep… I know he isn't asleep; his breathing is too light… He's aware of his surroundings.'
Sakura however just took it as he was trying to show Sasuke up.
'That Baka! I should give him a piece of my mind!' Sakura screamed mentally until she remembered what had happened the day before when she had tried attacking him.
'On second thought…'
Naruto was aware of what Sasuke and Sakura were up to at the moment, standing there staring at him.
One was confused, while the other was… angry.
Finally, Naruto sensed him…
"It's about damn time!" Naruto yelled as he opened his eyes.
Sasuke noticed Kakashi's presence at the same time as Naruto and was slightly surprised that the dobe had gotten it just as fast as he had.
Sakura however was slightly confused.
"What the hell are you talking about you Baka!?" she screamed at him as she stood up, starting towards him until she heard Kakashi speak.
"Sorry for my being late, but there was this old lady that needed help getting her cat out of a tree and someone accidently aimed a Katon jutsu at the tree, so I had to take the cat to a vet" their sensei explained.
Sasuke glared at the silver haired Jonin for his lame excuse.
"You liar!" Naruto declared angrily.
Sakura nodded in agreement.
Kakashi ignored them as he set down the backpack he was wearing and pulled out an alarm clock.
"Well, I think it's time we started, don't you agree?"
The three Genin nodded in agreement; ready to face whatever Kakashi had planned.
"Your objective is to get these bells from me before the timer goes off. Whoever doesn't receive a bell, shall be tied to one of the posts right behind you, and have their lunch eaten in front of them by me!" Kakashi declared with a smile on his face.
Sakura and Sasuke both felt their stomachs growl in hunger, loud enough for both Kakashi and Naruto to hear.
Kakashi narrowed an eye at Naruto. 'It seems as if Naruto didn't take the bait like the others… Strange… He's really surprising me since I met him. Then again, he has been catching up with his classmates. He's probably surpassed them in certain aspects.'
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Sounds like somebody didn't take my advice… Care to tell us why you ate breakfast Naruto?"
Sasuke and Sakura both glared at the blonde.
"Naruto you Baka! That's not fair that you get to eat while we starve to death!" Sakura yelled, ready to pound Naruto into the ground.
Naruto aimed a glare at the pink haired Kunoichi, making her stop in her tracks. This didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi and Sasuke. Kakashi already knew what had happened the day before and wasn't surprised at this.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So you're not rivals?"
Kakashi shrugged. "Don't forget Naruto, the test has begun."
Suddenly, Kakashi was behind Naruto, throwing the shuriken faster than Naruto had ever seen a shuriken thrown.
Within seconds, shuriken riddled Naruto's body as he fell to the ground.
Sakura and Sasuke both gasped from their hiding spots in the bushes.
'He killed him! This Jonin isn't fucking around!' Sasuke thought as a chill ran through his body.
Sakura couldn't comprehend what she had just seen. Their sensei had just murdered their teammate. She felt her eyes tearing up when Naruto's limp body exploded into a cloud of smoke.
'A bunshin?' thought the two Genin.
'It was solid though… What technique was that?' Sasuke asked himself.
Suddenly Naruto flew out of the trees at Kakashi faster than usual.
Kakashi jumped out of the way as Naruto impacted on the spot where Kakashi had just been a split second before, creating a small crater covered in dust blown up from the impact.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. 'He's increased his weights quite a bit… He must be training himself into the ground to make that kind of progress.'
Naruto jumped up after his sensei through the smoke, using it as a cover.
Kakashi had been expecting this and had heard his student come after him.
Kakashi's fist made contact with Naruto's stomach, knocking the wind out of the blonde.
'He hit's just as hard as Gai…' he thought to himself.
Kakashi then grabbed Naruto's collar with his other hand and spun him around and throwing him at a tree.
Naruto twisted in the air and used the tree as a springboard to launch himself back at Kakashi who was now visible as the smoke had cleared.
Kakashi was starting to descend towards the ground when he saw Naruto hurtling at him yet again. Kakashi pulled out a few kunai and threw them at Naruto, expecting him to use a Kawarimi.
Naruto quickly made the one hand seal for the Kage Bunshin.
Without a word, a clone appeared next to him and grabbed his sleeve, tossing him just under the kunai, towards the spot that Kakashi was going to land.
'Impressive usage of Kage Bunshin…' Kakashi thought with mild surprise.
Naruto landed first, thanks to his bunshin throwing him, and pulled out a kunai, ready to throw it up at his sensei only to find that he wasn't there.
"You know" a voice said behind Naruto. "That was a clever idea, using your shadow clone to do that."
Naruto felt a kunai on his throat.
"It's a shame that I know that jutsu and felt like trying out your idea."
Naruto smiled to himself. "Gotcha." Naruto exploded into smoke.
"Another Bunshin!" Kakashi exclaimed.
"That's right!" Naruto said as he stood in the ready stance of the Goken style.
'Great… Gai just had to teach him this style… His form seems fantastic for only a beginner.'
Naruto smirked. "It's not what you think"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "The Goken style, correct?"
"Not quite" Naruto said as he disappeared.
Kakashi knew this move already; Naruto was going to attack from behind.
The Jonin spun around to find not one, but two Naruto's.
'This is different!'
Kakashi intercepted their punches before quickly kneeing one, and elbowing the other. However, they both exploded into smoke.
'Decoys!' Kakashi berated himself mentally.
Before he could whirl around, Naruto's foot collided with the side of Kakashi's face.
Unprepared for the blow, Kakashi flew across the training grounds and crashed just short of the river.
Sakura and Sasuke stared; jaws open at the fight before them. They had never seen Naruto fight like this ever! He seemed to have improved quickly within the past two weeks.
Kakashi picked himself up and looked at the blonde Genin.
'His improvement is astounding. He really could achieve his dream of surpassing his father… I mean if two weeks did this, imagine if he kept up at this rate for five years.'
Kakashi rubbed the left side of his face where he had been hit.
'That's one hell of a kick he's got there, and I don't know if that was him holding back or not.'
"Interesting style you have there" Kakashi said as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes.
Naruto grinned. "It's unique to me only. Gai-sensei is helping me develop it."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the new information. 'Unique huh… I'll have to agree to that… Incorporating Kage Bunshin with that style is a risky maneuver, but Naruto may have the chakra reserves for it.'
"Here I thought I could get a few chapters of my book read… My miscalculation…" Kakashi mumbled to himself.
"You know Naruto; I never expected the dead last of the graduating year to be this good."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Naruto yelled as he jabbed a finger at Kakashi.
"It means you're much better than I had anticipated. I may have to stop holding back as much."
Naruto gulped. 'He was holding back? I don't think I'll be able to get through this match without lowering my weights… which I promised Gai-sensei I wouldn't do at all for a few months… Until the Chunin exams…'
Kakashi quickly disappeared, leaving Naruto slightly baffled.
'Where the hell did he go?'
Kakashi's voice sounded behind. "This is one of Konoha's most sacred and dangerous techniques."
Naruto paled when he realized that Kakashi was behind him, ready to unveil this jutsu.
Kakashi was crouched behind Naruto, forming the tiger seal with his hands.
"Sennen Goroshi!" he declared as he preformed the technique.
At first Naruto didn't know what to think until he was propelled forward through the air, his butt feeling as if it were on fire.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Naruto landed in the river, holding on to his butt in pain.
Sasuke and Sakura both blushed, wondering the exact same thing. 'Is our sensei an idiot?'
Kakashi stood up, watching the river in anticipation.
"What could he be up to now?" Kakashi wondered.
Meanwhile, in the water, Naruto was struggling with his weights yet again.
'FUCK! Why did I have to land in the river?'
Naruto formed the ram seal, focusing some chakra into his limbs, just as he had been doing for most of the fight to increase his speed with the weights on.
He started swimming up to the surface, trying to come up with a new battle plan.
'I don't want to reveal my new jutsu yet, but I may have to.'
Naruto broke through the surface of the water to find that Kakashi wasn't around.
'What the hell? Maybe he located one of the others… He didn't say whether he would look for us as well…'
Naruto got out of the river and looked around for any sign of their sensei.
Sasuke cursed his luck as he heard Sakura scream in the distance.
"I shouldn't have thrown those damn shuriken when Naruto disappeared. He was on guard the whole damn time."
Sasuke sighed as he sensed his teacher.
"I'm not like the others" he declared.
"Well Sasuke, I wouldn't be bragging until you've gotten a bell." Kakashi said as he was reading an orange book while leaning on the tree behind Sasuke.
Sasuke whirled around, unleashing a barrage of shuriken at the Jonin who quickly evaded the projectiles by jumping out of the way.
Sasuke followed up with some Taijutsu, surprising the Jonin with the ferocity of the attacks.
'I can't even read my book with him either! In fact, this kid may be better than Naruto!'
Sasuke kicked at Kakashi, which was blocked with one hand. Sasuke then went to punch him but that hand was caught. Sasuke then used his other foot to attack Kakashi, but was yet again blocked, this time by Kakashi's forearm. Sasuke smirked as he used his last remaining hand to reach for a bell quickly. His finger had brushed against it when he felt himself being thrown back by the silver haired Jonin.
Sasuke landed and glared at his teacher. 'I was so close…'
Kakashi was surprised at the Uchiha's strategy.
'He was close… too close…'
Kakashi looked at his forearm, checking to see if Sasuke's kick could have done any damage but found there was nothing wrong.
'He doesn't hit as hard, but maybe that's because Naruto was wearing weights…'
Kakashi stowed his book in his equipment pouch.
"Lesson one, Taijutsu."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the teacher.
"Let's skip that lesson then" he said as he started forming hand seals.
Kakashi's eye widened when he recognized the seals. 'A fire release jutsu? He's just a Genin; he shouldn't be able to use that!'
Sasuke smirked as he inhaled.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed out, creating a large fireball that seemingly incinerated their new sensei.
Sasuke halted the technique a few seconds later to find nothing remaining.
'Where is he? Behind, above? Wait…'
Suddenly, Kakashi's hand broke through the ground beneath Sasuke and grabbed his ankle.
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!"
Before Sasuke could react, his entire body, save for his head, was buried in the ground.
"Lesson three, would be Ninjutsu." Kakashi said as he crouched over the head of Sasuke with a smile on his covered face.
Sasuke could only glare at the man.
Kakashi walked away, leaving the Genin alone, or so he thought.
"Sasuke…" Naruto's voice whispered.
"N…Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he attempted to look behind him, with no success.
"Yeah. Let me help you get out of here."
Sasuke said nothing as Naruto walked around Sasuke's head so that he could see that it was actually him.
Naruto made the cross seal for the Kage Bunshin jutsu and began to use his clones to quickly dig the raven haired Uchiha out of the ground.
It only took a minute or so to do and once he was free, Sasuke nodded in appreciation to his new teammate.
"I guess I owe you…" he mumbled.
Naruto grinned. "Well, I wanted to ask you a favor Sasuke."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. 'Never thought I'd see the day that Naruto would ask me to help him out…'
"It's obvious that we can't take this guy on alone, how about you and I team up and get those bells!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde.
"I got pretty close, he just took me by surprise" Sasuke sneered.
Naruto frowned. "He's just playing with us Sasuke. He even managed to escape your little bonfire."
"Shut it dobe" Sasuke said, angry that Naruto had just insulted the fireball technique.
"Fine, I'll leave you alone Sasuke… I tried."
Naruto whirled around and took to the trees, heading back to find Kakashi, and try to get a bell.
Sasuke glared after Naruto.
'May as well watch to see if there could be any openings…' he thought as he took off after Naruto.
Kakashi stood in the middle of the clearing that they had started from, reading his book yet again.
'Here comes our maverick ninja yet again' Kakashi thought as he put his book back in his pouch, knowing he was going to need both hands in this spar.
Naruto exploded from the trees, already charging at Kakashi.
"It's not going to work" Kakashi said as he prepared himself.
Just as Naruto was a few feet from the Jonin, he jumped into the air and threw a kunai at the Jonin.
Kakashi quickly snatched it out of the air and threw it back at the Genin.
Naruto threw a shuriken to intercept it and landed on Kakashi's other side.
Naruto whirled around, throwing a roundhouse kick at Kakashi which was dodged.
'I don't feel like getting hit again' Kakashi thought to himself.
Naruto continued to attempt to hit his sensei, but to no avail. Kakashi would keep dodging the strikes, just by mere centimeters.
'He knows what he's doing…' Naruto thought to himself. He then jumped back, leaving quite a bit of space between the two.
Naruto was back in the ready stance of the Goken.
'I've got to end this quickly; I can't keep using my chakra to compensate for the weights…' Naruto thought to himself. 'Guess I'll have to use it.'
Naruto sprang into action, pumping chakra into the soles of his feet, making him rocket towards Kakashi.
'Good chakra control' Kakashi made a mental note of it for later.
Kakashi was now forced to actually have to block as the hits came. They were to fast to merely dodge.
That's when Kakashi noticed that Naruto was driving him back towards the river.
'There must be a bunshin hiding in the water, waiting for me' Kakashi thought.
He grabbed one of Naruto's fists and whirled him around, throwing him into the river.
Kakashi was surprised when Naruto jumped back out of the water, two seconds later, with a grin on his face.
"Too bad for you sensei" he said with a grin.
Kakashi was confused for a moment until he noticed several Kage Bunshin jump out of the river and latch onto him.
'What's he planning?' Kakashi thought as he felt Naruto's chakra spike a bit.
He quickly noticed that he was focusing his chakra into his palm.
'Is that, the Rasengan?' Kakashi wondered in amazement and slight fear. He knew the destructive force of that jutsu and knew it wouldn't end well if he was hit by it.
But then he noticed something different.
'He's manipulating the water… Swirling it… I know that jutsu!'
Naruto smirked as he used the water on him to form the jutsu.
"Suiton: Hahonryu!" The water swirled around in Naruto's palm in a clockwise motion, reminding Kakashi of the Rasengan in a way.
Then Naruto held out his palm, facing Kakashi and the water shot out at the Jonin.
'Oh shit!' thought the Jonin before being hit with the torrent of water.
Kakashi flew across the grounds, hitting a tree painfully and pinning him there until jutsu stopped a few seconds later.
Kakashi panted as he felt the pain in his chest where the jutsu had struck him.
'I was definitely not expecting Naruto to know any elemental release jutsu… Where did he learn that jutsu?'
Naruto landed on the riverbank and stared at Kakashi.
"Here I come" he said as he started to run towards him, but then the alarm suddenly rang, signaling the end of the test.
Kakashi sighed, not wanting to find out if Naruto knew any more jutsu to surprise him with.
'I won't be underestimating him anymore…'
Sasuke appeared from the forest, with Sakura trailing behind him.
'So she's conscious again… I hope I didn't overdo it with that Genjutsu of Sasuke dying…'
Kakashi shrugged and walked forward. Sakura seemed confused as to why Kakashi was dripping wet, but didn't say anything as she hadn't gotten a bell.
Sasuke was staring at Naruto, having witnessed the jutsu he had used during the fight.
'Where the hell is he learning all of this!?'
Kakashi looked at the three Genin as the sat down. His eyes traveled to Sakura, who was the only one tied up currently.
"None of you seemed to get a bell… How disappointing" Kakashi said in a bored tone.
The three Genin said nothing. "The three of you obviously didn't get the point of this exercise… At least not completely."
The three of the Genin looked confused at this.
"The purpose of this test was teamwork. You were supposed to act and work as a team to get the bells from me."
"There were only two bells though!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's not fair for us to have to choose."
"Nothing is ever fair Sakura. One of you partially got the point of this exercise. Naruto eventually figured that it would be easier to get to the bells by having someone help, in this case Sasuke, but Sasuke found that he was good enough to get a bell for himself without help. Sakura, you were looking for Sasuke the whole time while Naruto was clearly in front of you the majority of the time."
The three Genin looked ashamed.
"Do you know what this is?" Kakashi asked them as he turned to a large stone with writing on it.
None of them said anything.
"It's a memorial for those that have died during a mission, in the line of duty."
The three Genin were silent.
"I'm going to give you one more chance. Naruto, Sasuke, you two can eat lunch and attempt to get a bell again. Sakura, you may also have another go at a bell, but you don't get to eat. If either of you two gives her any food, I'll fail you automatically."
With that said, Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Sakura's stomach growled as she stayed silent, watching the two boys grabbing bentos that were left behind by Kakashi.
'Maybe Sasuke will offer me some food…' Sakura thought hungrily as she watched them open the bentos.
Again, Sakura's stomach growled. Sasuke glanced at her, making Sakura's heart skip a beat in anticipation, but felt it plummet when he looked away without a word.
Naruto glanced at the pink haired girl, wondering if he should offer some of his food.
'She'd probably just think I was trying to get another date from her though' Naruto thought angrily. He glanced at Sasuke as he ate his own bento quietly.
'But if we don't help her out, she'll just be a handicap… I mean, I already ate today; I could just say I'm not really hungry.' Naruto sighed as he made up his mind; however, Sasuke beat him to the punch.
"Here" he said as he held out his bento to the tied up Sakura.
Sakura stared wide eyed at the Uchiha.
'He…he really does care!'
Sasuke noticed Sakura's face light up, and figured out what she was thinking.
"You'll only drag us down if you don't eat anything" he said flatly.
Sakura's face fell a bit, but she remained happy.
"Sasuke" Naruto started. "She can have mine and you can have yours. I already ate once today and it wouldn't be fair to you guys if I ate two meals and you didn't have even one full meal."
Sakura glared at Naruto for a moment before he glared at her. "Wrong idea Sakura. I'll admit that my crush for you isn't completely gone, but I am trying to get rid of it. I'm sick of your abuse and I think moving on would be the best option for me. So just take the damn bento."
Naruto set his bento on the ground, stood up and walked off.
"I'll be back in a few minutes; I just want to scout the area before Kakashi-sensei gets back."
Sakura stared after the blonde Genin in confusion. 'I don't abuse him…' Suddenly, an explosion appeared in front of them and threw Naruto back, landing next to his other teammates.
Kakashi flew out of the smoke, anger in his one visible eye. "YOU!"
Sasuke pulled out a kunai, Sakura screamed, and Naruto didn't know what to do.
"…Pass!" Kakashi stopped right in front of the three Genin, the anger gone and a smile clearly visible.
"W…what?" Naruto stammered.
"You disobeyed my orders…" Kakashi said simply.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Sakura spoke. "Then why do we pass?"
Kakashi chuckled. "It was another test, of your teamwork. Sasuke offered you his food. Many people say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Sasuke knew this and offered you his food. Of course, I could see that Naruto was thinking the same thing and it did make sense that he didn't need to eat as he had eaten earlier today."
Naruto's jaw dropped. 'I didn't even sense him anywhere close by!'
"Remember,those who break the rules of the ninja world are scum...yes that's true. However...those who abandon their friends...are worse than scum. Starting tomorrow, squad seven will begin taking missions." Kakashi declared with a thumb up.
Sasuke gave a rare smile as Naruto gave one of his wide smiles.
Sakura had a small smile on her face, still wondering how she had abused Naruto.
Naruto pulled out a kunai as Sasuke and Kakashi were walking away, and cut the bonds that held Sakura.
"Don't worry; I'm not going to ask you out anymore. No need to even talk to each other unless it's necessary to do so. Other than that, don't talk to me, or even look at me Sakura. I'm sick of how you treat me when all I did was try to be nice to you. In a way, you're lucky I'm even being polite. Now if you'll excuse me, the dobe needs to go have some ramen." With that said, Naruto walked off in the opposite direction of Sasuke and Kakashi.
Sakura could only stare after the blonde, getting angry at him for accusing her of abusing him.
'I have never abused that dobe in any way!'
'Shannaro! We should kick his ass!'
Sakura nodded to herself until she realized just what she had thought.
'W…wait a second…' And then it sunk in, just exactly how she had been abusing him.
"Oh my god…" Sakura muttered to herself. She remembered all the times she had just hit him, even when he was just trying to be nice to her.
'I really did abuse him…'
Naruto jumped through the trees, wanting to get back to his training. 'Man… Sasuke still is better than me! I need to increase my training! He at least touched a bell, nearly grabbed the damn thing. I'll have to ask Gai about training more often with my Taijutsu.'
Naruto smiled to himself after a moment. "I'm getting smarter at least… I know the difference between Sasuke and me… He's still a jerk though" Naruto said to himself as he narrowed his eyes.
He finally reached his training spot that he had used for everything except his Suiton jutsu.
He landed and took off his jacket, not wanting to ruin it at the moment.
He stretched his limbs out, not wanting to cramp up. He stopped for a moment, glancing at his weights.
'I want to get stronger faster… I may not be used to this weight yet, but I may as well raise it just a bit more.'
Naruto formed the ram seal and focused a small amount of chakra into his weights, feeling them weigh down just a bit more.
Naruto grinned as he released the seal and tried moving.
'It's more difficult, but I bet I'll get stronger a lot faster now!'
Naruto started off with a few basic exercises, push ups, sit ups, running, jumping jacks, kicking a tree and punching the same tree.
He then moved on to the katas for his unique unnamed style.
He started slowly, making sure he had them alright, knowing that he had screwed a few of the stances up earlier in his fight with Kakashi. He quickly picked up the speed, straining his muscles a bit more.
He grunted as he twisted around, throwing a punch. 'Ok… this is pretty heavy…'
He kept it up for a few hours, not knowing that he was being watched.
'Wow… who knew Naruto would improve this much…' thought a certain lazy shadow user.
Next to him was a certain Akamichi, wondering just what Naruto was doing.
Sarutobi Hiruzen grinned as he watched the two Genin spying on Naruto.
'It seems Shikamaru is trying to figure out the enigma that is Naruto…'
He looked up from his crystal ball at the gathered Jonin who were all waiting for the chronically late Kakashi Hatake.
At the moment, he was three hours late, a new record.
A knock at the door caused the Hokage and the two other Jonin sigh.
"Come in Kakashi" the Sandaime called.
The door opened to reveal the one eyed Jonin, orange book in hand.
"Sorry I'm so late guys. I crossed a black cat on my way here and had to take the long way."
Kurenai and Asuma both sighed at the lame excuse, having heard that specific one many times.
"Yes, well now that you are here Kakashi, let us hear what the results are" the aged Hokage asked, already knowing the answer, but procedure came first.
"Ah yes" Kakashi said as he snapped his book shut, taking on a serious manner.
"Squad seven, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto…"
The two Jonin both knew the answer as it had been every year.
"…Pass."
Asuma chocked and nearly swallowed his entire cigarette while Kurenai widened her eyes.
The Hokage chuckled. "Good, that is very good news. Well, that is all I truly need at the moment, however I will need a detailed report done by tomorrow morning before you start any missions."
Kakashi only nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"The three of you are dismissed."
Kakashi quickly disappeared in a leaf Shunshin, leaving Asuma and Kurenai walking out of the door.
'Squad seven seems to have a lot of untapped potential…' Sarutobi Hiruzen thought as he leaned back in his chair, lighting his pipe full of tobacco.
Sakura walked slowly through the city, wondering just what she was supposed to do about the situation with Naruto.
'I guess I got what I've wanted for a while… He's stopped chasing after me' she sighed as she wandered the streets to a familiar location that she hadn't been to for a while.
She looked up at the Yamanaka flower shop, hardly believing that she was here of all places.
She sucked it up and walked through the front door, hearing the bell ring as she did.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower… Forehead?" Ino called out, caught off guard by the appearance of the pink haired girl.
"What do you want Forehead?" The blonde asked her rival.
Sakura said nothing as she glanced at her friend before looking back down.
Ino raised an eyebrow at this. 'That's weird…'
"Hey forehead, you alright? What happened?"
Sakura glanced once more at her rival before speaking.
"Um… I have a question Ino…"
Ino raised an eyebrow again, noticing the lack of insult from Sakura.
'Something is really bothering her…'
Ino sighed as she folded her arms and leaned against the counter, staring at the pinkette.
"Go ahead."
Sakura looked up at Ino, and took a breath.
"Do you think I abuse Naruto?"
Ino was taken aback by the question.
"Uh… Wow… I wasn't expecting that!" Ino exclaimed. "I don't know Sakura. In a way I guess you could say that you do, but Naruto's doesn't really seem to give you any other choice from what you've told us."
Sakura shook her head. "Would you do the same thing as I have?"
Ino again, had not been expecting Sakura to ask her this.
"Well, I don't think I would have. I sometimes wonder why he chooses you over me!" Ino joked. "Then again, you and I are different people and we do things differently. What brought this on though?"
Sakura sighed, trying not to cry in front of her one time friend.
"Naruto got really angry at me and told me that he was sick of the abuse I give him."
Ino's eyebrows skyrocketed. "He said that? I don't know Sakura; he worships the ground you walk on."
"Naruto's changed though" came a voice from the front of the store.
Sakura turned around to see Shikamaru and Choji had just walked into the store.
"Really? How so?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru shrugged. "It's pretty weird, but lately Naruto's been training pretty hard. Not just in jutsu, but apparently he's been working on his skills socially and morally. It's impressive."
Choji nodded as he munched on his chips. "He's really improving; I bet he could beat the four of us!"
Ino scoffed. "The dead last from the academy? I really doubt that! He was horrible in all the subjects and he failed three times! He only got through this one with remedial work."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Think whatever you want, but I'm sure as his teammate, Sakura has noticed a huge difference. I'm pretty happy that he ditched the jumpsuit as well."
Ino's jaw dropped. "He ditched that thing? What's he wearing now?" she asked as her fashion sense kicked in.
Shikamaru sighed. "I don't pay attention to that trouble some stuff, it's too troublesome…"
Ino glared at her teammate. "Everything is too troublesome for you!"
Shikamaru said nothing as he turned to Sakura.
"To answer your question with my own answer, yes, you did abuse Naruto. He hasn't really had the best life, but he saw something within you. Too bad I don't see the same thing. You're a good person Sakura; you should start acting like one."
Sakura started to tear up but Shikamaru continued.
"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you, but you need to know that half the time Naruto even spoke to you he was just trying to be nice, but you always assumed he was trying to get a date with you. I sometimes wonder why he tried for so long; anyone else would have stopped trying."
Shikamaru sighed again. "I'm assuming he at least wants to be polite?"
Sakura nodded, not trusting her voice.
"Well, I would rather have that than him outright hating me. He's improving quickly enough that he would be a bad enemy to have."
Choji finished his bag of chips and glanced at Ino.
"Naruto was talking about trying to find another girl to start trying to go out with. You're available aren't you Ino?"
Ino went red at this, and started yelling at the portly Akamichi.
"NO WAY CHOJI! I love Sasuke, not Uzumaki!"
Choji just tilted his head to the side a bit. "Well he's a nice guy, you just need to talk to him once in a while to get to know him" he suggested.
"NO!"
Shikamaru chuckled. "Stop trying to play matchmaker Choji. It'll be way too troublesome for all of us if those two got together."
Choji chuckled. "You're right Shikamaru. The two loudest people in Konohagakure dating, that's something nobody needs to experience."
Naruto sneezed as he finished up the last of his training for the night. 'I better not be catching something…' he thought to himself.
Naruto pulled his jacket on, wincing at the pain in his limbs. 'Ugh… pushed myself too hard. I shouldn't have increased the weights that much today' he thought miserably.
He started walking through the forest, wincing at the popping of his joints.
"I wonder if this is how Lee feels at the end of the day…" Naruto pondered with a grin on his face.
Taking the same route, he made his way to the village, trying to figure out what he was going to eat at Ichiraku's in a few minutes when he got there.
Naruto just shook it off. "I'll just ask for anything!" he declared to himself.
Grinning with renewed vigor, he took off into the trees, craving the noodles that he missed.
It took only a few short minutes to reach the village gates and a few seconds for the ramen stand to be within sight.
Then, he stopped when he saw his pink haired teammate standing next to the stand.
'Great… There goes that idea.' Naruto thought glumly, not wanting to deal with her.
"Naruto!" she called as he turned around to walk away.
'Fuck…'
Naruto turned back around to see Sakura walking towards him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"
She reached him and looked at him for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry… For hitting you so much…"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'She's apologizing?'
"I know I shouldn't have hit you, I just kept thinking you were going to ask me out every time you spoke to me…"
Naruto returned to his glare. "That's what you're apologizing for? Hitting me so often?"
Sakura nodded at this.
"That's not the only thing you did Sakura. Until you can figure out just exactly what you did, entirely, I won't even consider forgiving you!"
Sakura glared at him. "I'm trying to apologize to you and you just shoot me down!?"
Naruto started to walk away when Sakura grabbed his wrist, trying to prevent him from leaving.
"Listen Naruto…"
"NO! YOU LISTEN! I am sick of being your punching bag! I'm not forgiving you for this at all!"
Naruto wrenched his arm from her grip and started walking away.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the training grounds."
Naruto took off to the roofs of the village, the anger burning him inside.
Sarutobi watched Naruto through his crystal ball, a frown on his face.
"Do you think he'll be able to learn how to control it?" he asked the one eyed Jonin next to him.
"Maybe… It's hard to say Hokage-sama. I'm sure it may be hard at first, but he is his father's son. I'm certain he'll find a way to do it."
Questions from last chapter:
Pairing: Right now i'm torn between Ino or Temari. Hinata is overused, Sakura well...just no and TenTen is TenTen. But if you have any suggestions then i will be more than happy to hear them out.
Eight-Gates: He will not learn 8 gates. I mean common, he will be too much powerful.
Info:
Kenjutsu(Using a sword): Naruto will use a sword after time skip
About Jōgan: Naruto will master it around Shippuden. Right now it will only appear in dangerous time.
Affinities: Right now he has Suiton(Water style). I was thinking about giving him Raiton (Lighting style) and Fuuton(Wind style).Maybe i even add Katon(Fire style) but i'm not sure.
