Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do own all of the characters I introduce and the storyline of this fanfic.

Thanks for the reviews. I don't have anything witty to say, so I'll just start writing this chapter.

I'm fast forwarding here because nothing interesting happens (read: I can't come up with anything interesting).

"italics" whispering/soft voice

It was almost the end of the first week. Naruto had been training hard and he was already able to make the kunai float in mid-air. He still had some problems with aiming it when he launched it. He almost hit his sensei once.
Naruto also had less problems running with the weights, he barely had to use any extra chakra to keep up with his teacher. They had crossed the border to the Grass country the day before and were now heading towards the Grass village.

They were running through the forest, parallel to the road in order not to draw unneeded attention. Suddenly they noticed that there was a fight on the road. Three kids were being attacked by a man. The kids seemed to be losing, they were already down. The man was about to attack.
Naruto looked at his sensei. Hannoki gave him a quick nod.
The attacker finished his technique: "Whirlwind Blast!"
Naruto ran towards the man, "Ransengan!"
The two attacks collided, causing a huge explosion. The man was obviously startled. He watched his new enemy, unsure what to do. His assailant was only a boy, but that boy had stopped one of his more powerful moves. He decided it was best to get away.
The three kids were equally, if not more, surprised. They slowly got up, not sure what to think of their rescuer. Naruto noticed that the three of them were wearing Grass forehead protectors, they looked around his age. One of them was a boy, the other two were girls.
"Thank you for saving us. We only just graduated from the academy, so we're not really that good," the boy began, scratching his hair in the progress.
Hannoki now also came out of the forest. The three kids jumped back, not knowing him. "No need for thanks, we were glad to help. You guys got lucky we came by," the sensei spoke.
"We, it was the boy who helped us," whispered one girl to the other.
"You guys are genins, aren't you supposed to have a teacher accompanying you?" Hannoki asked.
"We are out on a quick errand for my parents. We weren't supposed to run into any trouble so we went by ourselves," the second girl explained
"I assume you're heading for Grass village?" continued his questioning.
The three genins nodded.
"We're heading there too, so if you don't mind we'll provide you with an escort. That guy may attack again if he sees the chance."
"Thanks, we appreciate it. I'm Tsuta" the boy said.
"I'm Yuri," the first girl said, she had light grayish hair.
"And I'm Bara," the second, pink haired, girl finished.
"I'm Hannoki and this is my brother Totei," Hannoki said, pointing at Naruto. Naruto understood.

The group of five now started walking towards their destination. Naruto noticed that Tsuta was looking at him. "Ne, from which village are you two? You don't seem to have any forehead protectors," he finally asked.
"We're not really from any specific village. Neither of us graduated from the academy," Hannoki answered. "I also have a question for you."
The three kids looked at him.
"Do you have any idea who that man was and why he attacked you?"
"I haven't seen him before and I have no idea why he attacked us either. We don't carry any money with us," Bara answered.

Naruto started walking besides his teacher: "Sensei, why are we really joining them. Doesn't this make us more visible?"
"It would be more suspicious if we would just leave them and disappear in the forest. Besides, the odds of that guy attacking again are pretty high. You wouldn't want them to get killed right after you saved them, would you?"
Naruto accepted the explanation and the rest of the trip was in silence.

It was almost evening when the group finally arrived at Grass village. A man was waiting at the entrance. "Ah, Tsuta, you're back."
The boy went up to him. "This is my father." He told Hannoki and Naruto.
The man walked up to the group.
"These two saved us when we were attack by someone. That's Hannoki," he said while pointing to the teacher, "and his brother's name is Totei."
The man bowed. "Nice to meet you and thanks for saving my son. To show you my gratitude, I'll offer you dinner. If you don't have a place to stay yet, we'll give you a room at our inn at no charge."
"Thank you for you offer," Hannoki replied. They started walking, the two girls said goodbye and left for their own homes.
"You had this in mind already, didn't you?" Naruto said as soon as the boy and his father couldn't hear him.
"Of course. I've been traveling for some time and I know how to get a free room."
"And to think I did all the work..."
"Think of it as payment for the times I paid for your food, Totei"

For the first time in a week, Naruto had some decent food. Afterwards, they went the room that was prepared for them.
"Naruto, the first week is almost over. Do you still intend to follow my teachings?" Hannoki asked.
After a brief pause, the boy gave his answer. "I have nothing to lose by doing so, so I'll stay with you."
"Good. You have no doubt noticed the symbol on my forehead."
Naruto nodded.
"It's not just some art, it has a special meaning. This symbol is the source of much of my power." After he said those words, he made a couple of quick hand seals. He then placed one hand on Naruto's forehead. A reversed triangle appeared where his hand was. "This is the first stage. You will receive the next stages when you are ready."
"So what does this seal do?"
"Although the seal doesn't give you any special powers at this stage, it allows me to track you down. It's a little security in case someone kidnaps you."
Naruto was a bit disgruntled. "Or if I run away?"
Hannoki ignored his question. "You have pretty much mastered the kunai control technique, so we will be moving to more advanced things."
"I'm still not happy about the entire tracking thing."
"It's needed for the next stages, which will give you the power I promised you." With those words, he went to his bed.
This meant discussion closed. 'I did say I was going to stick with him, so I guess it doesn't really matter. As long as he doesn't use it to cheat with the tag game."

Author's Notes:
I've had some trouble writing this chapter. The main reason was that I had a lot of other things on my mind and couldn't focus as much as I wanted to. This resulted in me writing this chapter in multiple pieces. The others were written in one go. I know it's a bit short, but I hope to make up for it in the future.

I'm currently not sure if the three kids are going to be involved again. Up to now, I haven't thought up anything for them.
All the names I've come up with until now (including Hannoki) have a meaning, can you guess them?