:Acknowledgement:
by Xaerox
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto never have and never will
Genre: Action/Adventure and Romance
Rating: G-13 - A fair bit of swearing but who can blame me - it's natural...
Paring: Naruto/Sakura and some others
Comments: Please feel free to add a comment for each chapter to express you own feelings throughout my progression with the story- cheers
:Chapter 3:
Whilst everyone else is still upset from Naruto's disappearance, Naruto, Itachi and Kisame reached their first town. On the way Naruto talked very little mainly thinking about the box and bandana as he clutched it tightly in tightly in his hands.
"Say...what's that in your hands Naruto?" Kisame asked kindly looking at the boy suspiciously "you been staring at it since we left"
"Oh..." Naruto stammered looking up at Kisame "it's something from my father, inside are some of the stuff he left plus some things from my mother as well"
Itachi and Kisame looked at each other surprised at what they heard; both have no idea or heard of anything based on Naruto's parents.
"I never knew who your dad was..." said Itachi "would you like to tell us his name Naruto?"
Naruto stopped and looked seriously in their eyes.
"His name was Yondaime-sama, the fourth Hokage... and I think know the rest..."
"...and I just found out now as well..." Naruto added still facing them.
He saw how shocked they were to hear this.
"Great! They probably laugh at me now as usual like everyone else" he thought looking away
However that was definitely not the case as both Senseis nodded showing the deepest of respect towards the boy.
"Your father was a great man Naruto" said Itachi "he showed us all how much he loved the village and proved how honorable and heroic he was and I can see that has passed down to you as well"
"Yes... that is true" added Kisame "he was a remarkable man, his name was well known in the Hidden Mist country, I feel honored to be training his son"
For the first time during the journey, Naruto smiled broadly feeling a great sense of warmness inside him and release of jumpy anticipation towards the two men.
They eventually stopped deep in to the heard of a vast lush forest with a pure and natural surrounding and stopped to unpack themselves. Although the time was close to midnight, there were still plentiful amounts of sunlight around them.
Kisame got out a metal kettle whilst Naruto brought some firewood and made an intense fire taught from Kakashi. He was about to get his deluxe-ramen packets from his bag when Itachi called.
"Here try this" he said whilst handling him out a large plastic pot.
"I heard you like ramen a lot but this is far more nutritious and gives you a much needed energy boost!"
"What is it?" Naruto asked thinking about anything that truly tasted better than his beloved ramen.
He was turning the pot around and as he saw the name logo, Itachi answered at the exact same time.
"Pot Noodles!" Itachi laughed, eyes still glistening "I know how much you like normal ramen but this is..."
"It's the slag of snacks..." interrupted Kisame, grinning at them both
"Just like the slogan says, its high in fat so high energy boost, though you will burn it away fast, and comes in many fantastically weird flavours to try out" he added
"My personal favourite is the new Seedy Sanchez..." said Itachi
"In my expert opinion the best flavoured Pot Noodle ever, not too spicy, not too hot, very nice subtle Mexican flavours with a hint of green chili, and this the only Pot Noodle which makes you want more, overall a great buy"
He stopped at looked at the bewildered eyes of the other two and decided its best to check the kettle.
"What about you?" Naruto asked, thinking its weird that he actually going to consider a substitute for ramen which is actually ramen which doesn't come in a packet but a fat plastic pot.
"Wow" he thought "what the world come to now, probably the best invention since sliced bread..."
"I only like one flavour really" Kisame replied "and the name suits me the best as well, it's called Bombay Big boy... I prefer things more hot and spicy personally"
"I'll go with that" Naruto said happily "never tried Indian before"
"But you want to watch it" said Itachi from behind "the flavour is known to give people like you sever diarrhea"
Naruto wasn't much bothered "I might as well try it anyway with the fact that Kyubi already threatened me with one week worth of diarrhea already if I don't stop pissing him off" "So you talk to kyubi... so what is it like a pissed of fox in you stomach" laughed Kisame
"Yea Pretty much"
"Although we argue a lot and he just real pain in ass at most times, he has helped me out in the past when I needed Chakra" Naruto added
"Lucky you" said Itachi
"I heard between your fight against Neji, it's a miracle kyubi decided to help you. If we could help you to be friends with him then the chances are... your Chakra limit will be more than anyone in this country... maybe even the world"
Naruto gasped at the found of that eyes returning in to dinner plate state.
"You joking aren't you... haha that a really good one guys..."
"Itachi isn't joking Naruto" replied Kisame seriously, "its true that kyubi is one of the most powerful daemons ever sealed, it was the only way to control something of immense power as there wasn't a way yet decided to kill it..."
Naruto nodded slowly taking all this information in, still not believing it totally even though it made perfect sense.
"Since you are the fourth Hokage's son and because of the fact you have rescued my brother" said Itachi seriously looking directly at Naruto, "I will be more than honoured to train you as my student and as an apprentice"
"That goes the same with me" Kisame added "I bet having an apprentice like you with the bloodline of Yondaime-sama; it would be something every Jounins and Senins could dream about... so it's a big honour for me as well"
Hearing the words coming out of his new Senseis mouth and so see that fact they show so much respect towards him plus more importantly acknowledge him, Naruto was filled with emotions and much moved.
He went straight up in front of both Senseis, and bowed down on both knees.
"Senseis, I Uzumaki Naruto is deeply moved by your acknowledgement and will be honoured accept been your apprentice"
With that he attempted to kowtow (basically bowing the head on the ground, a sign of deep respect normally done in china and other Middle Eastern countries). However before he could do the third one, both Itachi and Kisame quickly grabbed him to stop and lifted him up.
"No need for that Naruto" gasped Itachi, surprised by the politeness and gratitude the boy shown "You will be my student whether you like it or not"
"Yes... from now on, Itachi and I will teach you everything we know in order for you to fulfill your dream" added Kisame
Naruto smiled and felt a rush of emotions and adrenaline going straight to his head. "Thank... thank you Senseis!" he managed at last
"No need to that" replied Kisame looking very calm and added
"You dream will be out dream as well from now on"
"Tomorrow we'll start off your new intense training" said Itachi "it will be intense trust me"
Naruto nodded as he finished his pot noodle feeling a lot better now. He decided the flavour was quite good and was eager to try out some more. It seems like he grown to some more types of ramen.
"So get some sleep... trust me you gonna need as much as you can get by the time we finished with you... and that will be a long time" Kisame added with a smile.
With that they all started packing their equipments, trashed the pots and prepared their bedding for the night.
"Nite guys..." muttered Kisame, and went to nod off at the top of the tree deciding no one was there.
"Nite" replied Itachi and Naruto at the same time
"This has been an interesting day" Naruto thought whilst leaning beside the base of the tree trunk.
"Most interesting "and fell off to sleep.
Next morning, Naruto woke up to the sounds of bird calls and slowly stood up with some stretches.
"Sleep well" asked Kisame looking down from a few braches above.
"Not too bad thanks" Naruto yawned "so... what's for breakfast?"
"Good question...that's where your training comes in come here and follow me"
Naruto shuddered because of the morning cold and followed Kisame sensei. They walked for few minutes before hitting a nearby stream. The water was clear and transparent and the odd number of fish would swim across now and then unexpectedly past them.
"Ok... in case you haven't guessed it already, you going to catch fish" said Kisame
"Watch"
He went into the water standing on top of it using Chakra, smiled at Naruto as if to tell him to concentrate. Suddenly with lightening fast reactions, his hand popped into the stream and grabbed a fish out of the water with ease.
"See" he said grinning "that's what you call catching a fish" with that he released the fish back into the stream
"I give you exactly half an hour to catch at least three fresh rainbow trout for breakfast" he said moving back
"Make sure that you catch it with a strong hold, it's a bit tricky but you get the hang of it sooner or later"
Naruto was excited with this task and jumped straight in and tired quickly to catch them but each attempts failed miserably.
"Naruto... remember diffraction in water so what you see, say the fish is not actually at that particular point as light speed changes as it enters a different medium or index" Kisame called and left
"What he means... I guess is that the fish isn't at the same point so I have to... see underneath the underneath like what Kakashi sensei told me...well I suppose I better get back to it then"
An hour later, both Itachi and Kisame came back to check on Naruto's progress with the training.
"Oi! Naruto!" shouted Itachi "We need our breakfast you know, you caught anything yet?"
"Oh I think I done ok" Naruto pointed to the basket beside him, with ten rainbow trout jumping around hopelessly.
"Hmmm, its ok I suppose" said Kisame, uncertainly
"Still this would have been a lot faster"
With that he did a hand seal and slammed his palm hard on the ground, sending a shockwave that cracked towards the stream making a gigantic burst of water blasting out. Hundred of fish in ever variety was flying up in mid air and with a swift move, Itachi grabbed the basket catching the falling fishes. He did this with immense precision and speed and finished in less than five seconds, the basketball was full up.
Naruto just looked and gasped "Guess I got a while to go before I am a fisherman..."
He grinned at them and muttered "Showoffs!"
"Don't worry" said Itachi "when we done with you, you don't need to look for on coming fish... you gonna feel them"
"Woa..." shouted Naruto "that's another thing I could show off to Sasuke"
"Naruto..." Itachi added with a serious tone "after we finished with you, Sasuke won't even be in your level...maybe not even Kakashi"
Naruto froze of a second thinking about this before jumping up high through the water with a punch in the air screaming
"HELL YEA! LET'S GET TRAINING!"
The two Senseis watched their new apprentice carrying the basket at full speed towards their camp.
"He sure determined and has great stamina" said Itachi looking at him go
"You can say that again" Kisame said shaking his head and sighed in wonder
After breakfast Naruto went through some more training. Itachi made illusions using Genjutsu testing Naruto's mental abilities. After that when Naruto finally showed progress they rested a while.
"Wow... Itachi sensei... I never thought the Sharingan was that powerful" he said whilst munching on an apple happily
"Well strictly speaking... it's only useful if you can control your Chakra well as it uses up a lot of it, so Stamina is the key to a good Sharingan user"
Naruto just nodded. After 5 minutes of quick break, Kisame came and helped work Naruto in Taijutsu making him run around the whole forest 200 laps, then some press ups, sits ups, tree punching, squats, split control, balance control on a ball and ended with some finger press ups. Some meaning around 100-200 each resulting into quite an intense training programme. He finally had some rest.
"Kisame sensei" groaned Naruto in a meditation position, "My body feels so weak... I am too tired to continue any further"
"Don't complain Naruto" sighed Kisame
"It's just that your body is weak at Taijutsu so we need to work on your physical attack... here have some bananas and pears, you need to start having a healthy diet and way of living now"
With that, he chucked Naruto a bunch of fruit, Naruto caught it, looked at it with a doubtful eye and started to munch again.
"Here, have some of this as well" Kisame chucked a bottle of mineral water at Naruto
"Fizzy drinks or soft drinks as you call them, only makes you want make you thirstier because of the high sugar levels and sweetness... drink some of this to wash your body internally and get ready to continue"
"Hai Kisame sensei" replied Naruto accepting the water eagerly and taking huge gulps each turn.
"Ohhhh... yeeaaa.... That's sure cools you down plus it tastes kinda sweet... I kinda feel energy coming already" Naruto gasped
"It's spring water taken from the mountains" replied Kisame "Its known to boost Chakra and strength, drinking this for a regular period of time will help to boost your vision, strength and your amount of Chakra permanently"
"Whoa... sensei" said Naruto at awe with the drink "this must be really expensive... here why don't you have some" he offered it to Kisame
"It's ok Naruto" laughed Kisame, liking the kid even more "we have a good enough stock of this... plus Itachi can make it from normal water"
"Great" smiled Naruto "I better get him to teach me that as well"
"You'll learn it soon I suppose" replied Kisame "But first give me two times more of what you did today so far"
"Oh man..." groaned Naruto as usual "Oh well..." and started doing his laps
After the afternoon, Naruto already done another 200 laps, a further number of everything else he did in the morning again. However this time he felt a lot easier than before and showing good progress already.
He then spent another two hours lying peacefully in a trance doing some mediation with both Itachi and Kisame sensei.
Evening dawned upon them but Naruto continued his training, practicing fighting techniques of both Itachi and Kisame. Whilst Itachi taught him about speed and strength in agility, Kisame taught him power formed in defense and storing his Chakra control.
Exhausted, he collapsed next to the tree trunk munching on some more fruit and drinking more of that special mineral water that Itachi prepared earlier. Like before, he felt all his Chakra returning and quickly did his stamina went up as well.
"What's for dinner sensei?" he asked eagerly
"Pot Noodles" replied Itachi handling him a Bombay Big Boy flavoured pot.
"Don't come to me when you get diarrhea remember" he added quickly, grinning "I ant got any tablets, you just have to do it the hard way and bare with it"
"Its ok Sensei..." laughed Naruto "I am kinda used to it by now..." whilst scratching the back of his head
Both sensei turned to look at him whilst eating their own noodles, stopped starred at it and slowly muttered "Great... thanks for sharing that Naruto, we really wanted to know that..." rolling their eyes and trying to force down their food.
Naruto just laughed some more, the mischievous face was still there as ever.
After dinner, Itachi went up to Naruto and sat beside him.
"Naruto you may want to look at what your father left you" he said gently "It's a private matter I know so me and Kisame are able to leave to leave you in peace in your thoughts if you want... its no problem at all"
Naruto stared at his father's box left for him beside the tree trunk and nodded slowly to agree.
"C'mon Kisame" said Itachi "Lets go and check around this area" signaling to leave
Kisame nodded and carried his Samahada and left with Itachi, disappearing quickly vanishing in thin air.
Naruto watched his Senseis go, finished his Pot Noodle and packed up. He sat quietly next to the trunk and slowly grabbed the box. He looked down at it, the beautiful carvings and light engravings, it really is quite a spectacular piece of work. In the center was the logo on a swirling circle, the sign of Uzumaki clan.
He pressed on it, the swirling circle logo began to glow bright yellow and then to a bright light and then slowly it clicked. Naruto was at awe by this thinking it must have been tightly sealed with some Jutsu.
Slowly and carefully, he opened the box and looked in wonder. He saw inside a long bunch of scrolls and an envelope in the center on top of it all. The envelope as addressed in beautiful handwriting "For my son, Uzumaki Naruto"
Naruto opened up the letter carefully and began to read
To my son Naruto
I guess if you are reading this now means you have now matured enough to understand about your past. As your father Naruto, I sealed kyubi inside of you not to cause your harm in any way whatsoever. The demon that will be inside of you is a blessing, in the sense that it shows you true strength of carrying such a heavy burden upon yourself proving the Uzumaki clan remains the strongest and most faithful.
Inside this box, I left you the most important teachings of our clan. It includes Jutsu that only known to us and no one else ever. It's so secretive that we are forbidden to talk about it because of its powers. Before I say anything, our clan is based on agility and silence or silent killing I suppose. We were trained to be the most advanced lethal assassins on the village and probably the whole country considering the other clans abilities, so the scrolls I left for you can teach you the ways of our footsteps and I would be most proud for you to follow this route
Your mother, Yun kinemistsu, was half Chinese, Chinese father, Japanese mother. She lived in China most of her life before I met her. After giving birth to you, she sacrificed her life to save those fighting Orochimaru protecting her team of ANBU days after you were born.
Her last request before she past way, was that you are to return to China to the mount Tai San or Tai San Mountain to learn the teachings of Grand Mast Chang, also known as Three Mountain Chang. He is very well known, at over 100 years old, he already reached enlightenment. A Tai-chi specialist and knows some of the oldest ancient teachings in martial arts. He won't teach much Jutsus as his ways, just like mother was heavily based on extreme Taijutsu and Chi control which is the same basically as Chakra. Your mother has also left you some of the most useful and powerful techniques, such as the "Golden Finger" Which you must promise me never to use unless its life or death situations or protecting an important person, as it's a high class trump card move. It is a move originated from the Shaolin Temple, where the bone in the wrist is broken with only three fingers, which sends a shockwave through the victims body internally and crippling him for life. They will never able to use any sort of martial art or Jutsu for life. Plus if it's used hard enough, the shockwave could be directed towards the brain, killing them instantly.
I know this sounds extremely harsh; but it is a move purely for the most desperate situations, however it will take you a very long time to master it. Yet I am sure you will master, I have full faith in you son.
You are the last sole survivor of both clans as both your mother and I were lonely childs and we want you to be more strong then both of us put together. That is out only hope and wish every success in life, we know you have the talent son to achieve anything, maybe you could become Hokage like me as well.
Been the fourth Hokage has been a great honour for me and I would have done anything to save the village I loved. I only hope you feel the same way. Don't back away from what others say as your heart is much than that to listen to them and always become determined to achieve your goal like I did in life.
Do not be sad that we are not here with you but remember we are never that far away.
Son, we will be your forever guardians in your life and watch over you in your heart. You are the son we will forever protect and will never look back upon it.
We both want to fulfill you dream and gain your rightful honour of the Hidden Leaf village.
Your forever watching Father
Yondaime
P.S
It's best to learn all the Jutsu and techniques we have left you at the same time with all your other training. This will speed you up a bit since most of the moves take a while to perfect – I wish you all the luck in the world
We will for all eternity love you with our hearts.
A tear dropped from Naruto's eyes as he finished reading his fathers letter.
"Dad... don't worry dad... I will fur fill your hopes and dreams you have left me"
With that he carefully put it back into the envelope and back to the box with everything else.
The other things left in the box were all the scrolls of all the Jutsus they have left hi. They were categorized under his dad and mum Jutsus.
After counting them all, he received or inherited four scrolls from his father and three from his mother. By the sound of the techniques, they are all extremely hard Jutsus given to him. He wondered how long it shall take him to learn them all.
He sat there for a while browsing through each of the hidden techniques. After reading a few, he began to realise the difficulty and hardship involved to learn them. Particularly the techniques his mother left him, since she practised mainly on Taijutsu and martial arts, the techniques requires constant practise and training with enormous amounts of will power to succeed.
Just after reading most of the scrolls, he saw Itachi and Kisame coming to approach him from the other side.
"Hey Itachi and Kisame Sensei" bowed Naruto
"Naruto you seem to brightened up a bit since we left" smiled Itachi, feeling relieved
"Yea... well..." muttered Naruto quietly "After reading my dads letter, it helped me a lot and given me a new found strength to believe in myself"
Naruto smiled "My parents also left me their Jutsus and techniques as well..." he added
"They want me to learn them all... but I am not sure I am good enough... itall seems a bit too difficult" looking nervous
"Nothing is ever too difficult" replied Itachi
"If that's what your parents left for you then we will help you learn it all, don't worry Naruto... we will personally make sure you mastered you parents techniques"
Itachi just nodded looking up at the relieved boy's face.
"Well he told me to learn all of them at once as it takes a long time to master because of the complexity on things... I just hope I get them done sooner or later..."
"Come on..." said Itachi "Lets see what Jutsus they left you..."
Naruto nodded and showed both Senseis the scrolls his parents left. Upon looking at the names of the Jutsus and techniques he handed him, both Itachi and Kisame eye widened quickly.
"It... it can't be..." gasped Itachi "How is this possible... the Bei Kuro, Silent Air technique, the Invisible Light Speed technique and... and the Kage Shinbou..."
He looked up at Naruto with a fascinated eyes.
"These Jutsus were considered a myth... now it explains everything... it explains why the Uzumaki clan was most secretive... here is a phenomenal amount of power... what you dad has left you"
"If you think that's amusing" said Kisame looking at his Naruto's mum scrolls.
"You should see what his mum left him... the Tiger Soul... Hidden Diamond Technique... and oh god..."
"What?" asked both Naruto and Itachi highly interested
"I can't believe this..." said Kisame "She left him the Golden Finger move... these moves she left him... are all the most famous techniques from martial art originated mainly... mainly from China"
"Oh yea... the Golden Finger" said Naruto jogging his memories of the letter.
"My dad kinda warned me not to use it unless a life or death situation... he told me it's my trump card move..."
Both Senseis looked worried at this. Itachi was the first to speak out loud in the end at Naruto looking very serious.
"Naruto... the Golden Finger is more than just a trump card move... when you mastered it, it can cripple anyone for life regardless of their strength... it's a very dangerous move... and must be used carefully"
Naruto just looked at the ground, kicking gently some dust and nodded his head slowly.
"However..." added Kisame "Since it is the way your parents wanted to teach you this... I guess we have no choice but to fur fill their wishes" and smiled
Naruto jumped up straight into Kisame sensei's arms, hugging him tightly filled with happiness.
"HELL YEA!" he cried even louder than normal and laughed.
Itachi and Kisame looked at him with a weird look and decided to laugh with him as well.
"Don't think its going to be easy Naruto"smiled Itachi
"You are in for one hell of an intense training programme and it is going to start exactly tomorrow at dawn... now go and get some rest"
"Thank you Itachi sensei!" boomed Naruto and went next to the tree trump to lie down
:Author Note:
A fairly long chapter i suppose but i prefer it like that - sorry about the update speed, its just that i have my exams whilst writing this... not a good plan to be honest...
Pleaz write some honest reviews about the whole story itself and how its going... comment on things where i am going wrong and other tips and advice - that would be much appreciated - so pleaz add a note!
BTW i would just like to say thanks to all who reviewed so far - especially those in the beginnign which made be change the beginning again with the stupid spelling mistakes - :P
Until next time - Cya later all!