Chapter Nine - Prelude To The Exams
Naruto is finally home after a long day of dealing with the fiasco that was the attack on his life by three Iwa Genin. He had to give a report to the Anbu that approached him as the surviving shinobi were detained, and Kakashi had also arrived among the Jonin and Anbu. He was proud of his student's thinking, as there was already some possible backlash for killing a foreign shinobi, but the fact that he let the other two live and be apprehended allowed for deterrence of any call for compensation.
He gave his sensei his share of the bounty before bidding farewell, saying he was tired and wanted to rest in his home. The man had agreed that he should get some rest and bid him farewell.
When he finally made it home, he took a much-needed hot shower and dressed in comfortable sleeping robes before entering his workroom. The room held a few shelves of books and scrolls that he took interest in learning, whether it was skill or notes from previous Uzumaki Princes, as well as a desk that held the communication scroll and the Sealed Book.
The communication scroll is straightforward. It is a scroll that is littered with seals on the back that allow for it to communicate with a single paired scroll. It allows for easy communication between two individuals, which Naruto used to keep in contact with Ginrei for any important matters and relay orders while he stayed in Konoha. They can't use it as their main source of information as what they write doesn't disappear or anything so they have a limited amount of space before they would have to make another one. It is certainly handy and an Uzushio secret.
The Sealed Book is a book containing 350 pages of Uzumaki clan secret techniques; fuinjutsu, ninjutsu, kinjutsu, taijutsu, and kenjutsu. Many are created by various generations and cataloged for future learning, but there are also dangerous techniques that are deemed dangerous to public knowledge. While many are pretty standard for clan secrets, like the Hyuuga with their clan taijutsu and fighting techniques, the Uzumaki were fighters of the mind, and as such many of their fuinjutsu is their scariest techniques.
One of the most unique and dangerous techniques that Naruto had read from the book is an Uzumaki clan secret fuinjutsu seal; the Special Transference Seal. While it sounds harmless, what it does is anything but that. Two seals are applied to two individuals' bodies, the Giver and the Receiver. Once activated by a third person, the seal transfers the genetic mutation of the Giver and gives it to the Receiver, applying that to the existing genes of the Receiver. This came at the cost of the Giver's life, killing them.
The Uzumaki developed this to see if special abilities like Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Mora, and even Dojutsu could be transferred between lineages. They succeeded, but because the Giver ended up dying they deemed it a failure and locked the technique away so it wouldn't be abused. Naruto thought of the repercussions if such a technique were to get into the wrong hands. The Hyuuga incident would have gone a lot differently if they had this in their hands.
Sighing, Naruto finished relaying his orders to Ginrei to send a Whirling Tide unit to approach Honoka. He set the brush aside and looked at the paper to his right that had the words in bold 'Chunin Exam Application'. According to the paper, he had to sign the paper, and once received by the Hokage he would be entered into the Exams. However, under the stipulations, they must be in teams of three and they will not be accepted if all three are not in attendance.
That's where his concern now lies; Sakura has been a little quiet since the mission to Wave. While not like when it first happened, she is still horrified by the deaths of Meizu and Gozu even if she denies it. So whether she will attend the Exams or get cold feet remains to be seen but if he's honest he would be pissed if she ruined this for him. To be Chunin gives him some freedoms and liberties that he doesn't otherwise have as a Genin and he needed that to continue on the next step of restoring his clan.
Deciding to leave it for tomorrow when they would hand in their applications, he turned off the light in the workroom and walked to his bedroom to get some much-needed sleep.
"Big bro!"
Naruto smiled and turned around to see Konohamaru running to him with his two friends, Udon and Moegi, on his heels. The young boy skidded to a stop in front of the blonde and grinned, his friends not looking as enthusiastic but were nonetheless happy to see the older boy. He was, after all, like an older brother to them and they looked up to him in such high regard despite their Jonin Instructor having lesser opinions of him.
"How are ya doing," Naruto asked them with a smile as he patted each of their heads. "Staying in trouble I hope!"
They all nodded their heads, Konohamaru shouting, "in trouble but never caught! Just like you said!"
Naruto grinned at that, as it is one of the things he always teaches to kids that he ends up meeting and making an impression on. "That's what I like to hear! Are you just passing by or are you up to coming to have some Ichiraku ramen with me? It's my treat!"
"Yeah!" They shouted with a fist pump to the air.
Naruto laughed as he led the three kids to his favorite food stand and watched as they ran ahead and took the shortcut through the alley. However, as soon as Konohamaru took the turn there was a sound of impact and a shout.
"Watch it, kid!"
Naruto began walking faster as he saw Udon and Moegi cowering just outside the alley. He didn't like people who scared kids, no matter their reason, and he approached the threshold to see two individuals; one is a man in a black outfit with makeup on his face who grabbed Konohamaru by the neck of his shirt, and the other is a blonde girl with a large fan on her back.
"Put him down, Kankuro, he looks like he's gonna piss himself," the girl tried to sound condescending but there was an amused twitch dancing along her lips.
"Hold on, Temari, let me teach him a lesson real quick" Kankuro, the boy, answered as he cocked his fist back.
"Do that, and you'll no longer have an arm," Naruto threatened as he walked forward to stand ten feet away. "It won't do well to have foreign shinobi acting out against our civilians.
"And who are you!"
Naruto cocked his head to the side, eying the hand that still held Konohamaru up. He wasn't going to ask again, and he gave a warning.
"I said-"
He flashed forward and grabbed the man's wrist with one hand and gripped his neck with the other, making him drop Konohamaru and pushed him away.
Naruto squeezed until he could feel the strong muscles and veins in Kankuro's neck, watching his face turn a bright reddish-purple color. "I said to let him go, now look what you made me do. I hope you apologize for antagonizing me."
Naruto grinned as his fingernails became claw-like and his eyes shifted red with a slit pupil. When he saw the boy's eyes rolling back, he dropped him to the ground and took a few steps back to watch as he gasped for breath and held his bruising neck. He chuckled at the fearful look on Temari's face but otherwise did nothing more.
"Who the fuck are you? Do you know who we are? We're the-!"
"You're the current Kazekage's children, your names proved that," Naruto supplied, getting a wary look from Temari and a surprised look from Kankuro. "However, if you think your status will protect you, let me tell you that the boy you were about to hit is the grandson of our current Hokage. If you were to act out on your aggression and I was not here to stop you…well, let's just say wars have been started over less."
The duo paled, but it wasn't entirely to what he had said but because halfway through a new presence entered the area, and this one radiated a lot of bloodlust. Looking over, Naruto saw the final child of the Kazekage; with red hair, sea-green eyes, and a sand gourd on his back, he could feel the Biju he contained rolling off of him in waves.
"That's a warning to you as well," Naruto stated as the redhead dropped down to stand by his siblings.
"Kankuro," the redhead spoke deeply but without emotion, turning to his brother with a dead stare, "stop embarrassing us before I decide to kill you."
"S-sorry, Gaara," Kankuro stuttered quietly and looked down to avoid his younger brother's eyes.
"Now while family discourse is fun to watch and all," Naruto said sarcastically, he motioned to the three kids behind him who were hiding from the scary redhead. "We were on our way to eat. Now, if you will excuse us."
The redhead stared at the blonde and noted his eyes are back to blue and he moved to the side to allow the four of them passage. He watched as Naruto guided the three out of the alley and just as they were leaving he said, "I'll see you in the exams, Kyuubi."
"The name's Naruto, dammit," Naruto muttered to himself and continued walking with the kids. "We're two separate people, you schizophrenic murderous ginger."
The three kids stared at Naruto with wide eyes as he continued muttering about stupid redheads, unstable Jinchuuriki, and bastard foreigners. He had finally calmed down when they reached the ramen stand and entered, being greeted by a duo already there. The first is Kakashi, not reading his porn book, and the second is a white-haired man with a kabuki outfit that Naruto knew as Jiraiya of the Sannin, his often-absent godfather.
"Ah, Naruto, I was wondering if you would be here for dinner," Kakashi greeted with an eye-smile. "And you have the knucklehead trio."
"I offered them ramen on my tab, we got sidetracked by the children of the Kazekage," Naruto answered as he sat down next to his sensei.
"No problems, I hope," Jiraiya commented as he continued eating from his bowl.
"Other than a warning, it was fine," Naruto said and gave a stare at Konohamaru before he could say anything. "Just reminded them of the expectations of them as foreign ninjas."
"After yesterday with those Iwa shinobi, I would have thought you'd keep your head down," Kakashi chuckled but he did send a glance at the blonde.
"Why should I," Naruto asked before Teuchu approached. "How are you doing, old man Teuchi?"
"I'm doing just fine, Naruto," the man laughed as he loved seeing his favorite customer come by. "What'll it be for you four?"
"A bowl of beef ramen for me," Konohamaru ordered.
"Miso, please," Moegi blushed.
"I'll have miso too," Udon shrugged, laying his head on the table.
"Three bowls of chicken and vegetables for me," Naruto grinned before the man nodded his head and set to work. "As I was saying, why should I have to tiptoe in my own village?"
"You know why, Naruto," Kakashi looked at him.
"This is the first time in seventeen years where all of the major ninja villages are in attendance, as well as many minor ones," Jiraiya stated, eating a few noodles before continuing, "and there are also a few Jinchuuriki in the Exams this time around."
"Yeah, I ran into one," Naruto muttered as he thought of the unstable redhead. "He's lucky his red hair is his redeeming quality, the bastard."
Ignoring the boy's muttering, Jiraiya continued. "He's not the only one, that's just the One-Tail. There's also the Two-Tail from Kumo,"
Sister Matatabi, Kyuubi hummed to himself. He and Matatabi never really got along because she wanted to help humans and he would rather be left alone.
"The Seven-Tail from Taki,"
Little bro Chomei, Kyuubi now seemed pleased. He liked most of his younger siblings with the exception of Shukaku because he was always complaining and Kokuo because she always worried so much.
"And the Eight-Tail will be in attendance as the Jonin instructor for the Kumo team containing the Two-Tail."
Haha knowing Gyuki his container will be funny!
Naruto smirked in amusement at Kurama's musings but hid it the best he could from the Sannin. "Nevertheless, there should be no problem with the added security. Considering I am participating in the Exams, I can't avoid the other Jinchuuriki forever."
Teuchi dropped off the bowls ordered and Naruto and the kids thanked him before eating. As he broke apart his chopsticks, he saw Jiraiya give Kakashi an annoyed stare. "I'm guessing you didn't know that, and judging from your expression you don't approve."
"No, I think it is stupid to have you on display to the other villages," Jiraiya stated. "It's bad enough Iwa is on edge because everyone knows you're Minato's kid, we don't need them looking at you for the Nine-Tail."
"Hokage-sama already approved," Kakashi said in an effort to throw the Sannin's attitude away from him. "He said he trusted Naruto to keep himself under control and that he had no desire to hold him back."
"Unless it's in your opinion that Jinchuuriki shouldn't hold places of power and authority," Naruto stated coldly while looking at his father's sensei out of the corner of his eye.
"That's not what I mean, brat, and you know it."
"Tch." Naruto ignored the man after even as he continued to rant to Kakashi about his participation.
He never forgave the man for leaving him alone for eight years in the village, even if it's not like the man sought forgiveness. He always had an excuse that he lost someone who was practically a son to him, that he had to maintain his spy network, and that he wanted to protect him from other villages. Naruto didn't buy any of that shit and because of that he always kept the man at arm's length, not letting him get too close to try to rebuild a broken relationship - which to Naruto was nonexistent.
Brushing aside the anger and settling on annoyance, he continued eating while talking a bit to the kids. They decided to leave shortly after finishing eating because they had early morning training with Ebisu the next day and they didn't want to be too tired. He bid them farewell and gave each of them hugs before they left.
"Now that the kids are gone I can bring up what I originally intended to talk about," Jiraiya stated after Naruto turned around to continue eating.
"Whether I choose to answer will depend on the question," Naruto shrugged, ignoring the annoyed stare his godfather gave him.
"I think it best that you do because I have stumbled upon something very interesting. I was visiting one of the eastern ports to make my way into Water when I heard some interesting rumors. Apparently, ships have been delivering cargo from an island east of Fire, and the company delivering it is called Phantomhive."
Naruto turned to look at the man, still slurping up noodles with a raised eyebrow. "And?"
Kakashi had now brought out his book and was purposefully ignoring the conversation. He desired to stay out of this conversation as much as possible. It had nothing to do with him and as far as he was concerned the Hokage did not care and even supported whatever his blonde student had been doing. If the Hokage trusted him then he had no problem with it but he was not one to speak out against the Toad Sannin.
"The rumors also state that the island they come from can only be the haunted whirlpool island that nobody goes near," Jiraiya stared into his godson's eyes. "Uzushiogakure."
"Uh-huh, I got that," Naruto slurped up a few more noodles without breaking eye contact. "Where's the question?"
Jiraiya's eye twitched at the stubborn nature of the blonde. "Are you responsible?"
"Well, I'm clearly no Phantomhive, so no I am not responsible for the new trade you have seen," Naruto answered with a smirk, dodging the question that he knew the man meant.
"Are you rebuilding Uzushiogakure!"
It's now quiet after Jiraiya shouted and slammed a hand on the table, having lost all patience for the blonde's tricks. Teuchi now stood still without moving away from the table, in the middle of wiping his hands after washing them. Kakashi buried his head further in his book and was blatantly ignoring the tension he is between. Naruto, however, now stared into Jiraiya's eyes with a dead serious glare tinting his expression.
"Why does it matter to you," Naruto asked with a bit of venom in his voice. "It's not your ancestral island so what's it to you? It's not like you've been putting in the effort to learn and care for the process that it takes to rebuild a destroyed country or to learn the history that was lost due to fear. So I ask once more. What's. It. To. You?"
Jiraiya clenched his hands as he stared down at his student's son. "You act like he means nothing to you."
Naruto sat back in his seat when he heard the man whisper, his glare withering slightly. "Be specific, pervy toad."
"Minato died for you and you care more for a dead clan than you do your father."
Naruto just turned away to continue eating, his glare now focused on his third bowl. "That's not true, he and my mother mean everything to me. I would love to have both of my parents here over trying to rebuild a scattered clan. I sleep with a picture of my parents every night and I think about what it would be like to wake up to a proud father and a loving mother. To have trained and enjoyed training with them as they would do their best to show me what they knew. That I can learn the Rasengan from the man that created it, to be proud to have mastered it!"
"If you would rather I dwell on the past as you or sensei do rather than try to live my life for something they can be proud of me for, then I'm sorry but I won't waste my life like that. Their sacrifice does not deserve to be tarnished because I was stuck in what could have been and the never-ending cycles of what-ifs. I will not be like you."
Naruto stood up, ignoring the hurt and angered expression on his godfather's face, and tossed down more than the sufficient amount of cash on the counter before turning to leave. "I don't want to see you until your next visit in a year or so, Jiraiya."
Jiraiya watched his godson walk away until he turned a corner out of sight before sitting back in his seat. He ran a hand through his hair before looking to see Kakashi looking at him from over one of his books. "Don't look at me like that. You know as well as I the danger he would be in if it was found out the Uzumaki clan are reestablishing their former home island."
"I didn't say I disagree with your opinion," Kakashi sighed and set his book down. "But you could have handled that a bit better. You exploded on him and accused him of ignoring the sacrifice of his father. I'm surprised you're still standing but I guess that's just Naruto's way of ignoring a problem."
Jiraiya grunted and paid for his food. "I'm going to go talk to sensei about this when I get the chance."
Kakashi nodded his head and continued eating his food, quietly.
"Foxy-kun!"
Naruto was so lost in his emotions that he didn't sense the purple bullet speeding for him from five blocks away until he heard the shout and had to brace himself for the incoming tackle. He skidded on his feet as the woman latched onto him like a boa constrictor and squeezed him for everything he had - which was a lot and it was still impressive to him despite knowing how strong she was. He cracked a smile as he hugged the woman back only to be lifted off the ground and be carried away.
"What are you doing, Anko?"
"I caught you, I win, I want a prize," the woman chuckled deviously as her grip tightened in case he decided to try to escape.
"Ah," was his intelligent reply as he just stared at her like a child with her she held him. "Your place?"
"That's where my toys are," the woman grinned evilly.
"Good thing the exams aren't for another two days."
"Enough time for my fun!"
Woof.
Shut up, this is my fun not yours.
Good morning. It is 3 am and I am posting the next chapter. When the Chunin Exams finish the first part of this story will be ended and the next part will be started with hopefully a bit more consistency.
biginferno: I just introduce some characters and they will appear later with a bit more focus like with Kurotsuchi.
Freddielebron: Konan was possible, less possible now but that remains to see how I work out Nagato's response to being called back to the Uzumaki clan by Naruto. Mei is a maybe as I think it was mentioned in the last chapter I think that they might have descended from Uzumaki.
: Thank you :D
This gets its own section since it was a lot and I do like the criticism given but considering it seems the reviewer will not be reading this story again this is for anyone else who also agreed. This is answering Demonic Rebel's review, which you can read to see what I'm answering.
At least give me a chance to explain but alright, thank you for trying to read the story. This Naruto is similar to canon with the exception that at the age of 6-7 he met and talked to Kurama and they agreed to make him stronger. In doing so, Naruto found love for his clan's former home and his desires are more than just to be Hokage, which he no longer wants.
The villagers dying in the fourth or fifth chapter is not meant to make an impact on you but on the character, who has not experienced something like this, and I assume the reader will have enough empathy to understand how it would be if they themself came across something like that. I mean, considering how often we look at the devastation and normalize wars with games it is fine to not feel anything as it happens to all of us, but don't say that not feeling anything is what makes it bad. It is how it affected Naruto and what he learns from it.
Kurotsuchi purposely had time to develop interactions with Naruto and the feelings developed and they established a relationship vocally in the story. Haku and Naruto had not done that so far, as far as both of them know that was a one-time thing and they are just close friends. I did this since Haku and Zabuza would not be going to Konoha and so will not properly develop any interaction with Naruto just yet. Haku and Naruto ARE NOT in a relationship right now. If I don't have it only said in the story or implicated in some way, it isn't developed yet.
For your point challenges, Naruto will not face any until he actually runs into strong individuals. Zabuza is a mercenary, so it is safe to assume that like Kakashi getting rusty after leaving the Anbu Zabuza gets rusty from fighting weaker individuals. The people who can actually pose threats in this story are Jinchuuriki, the Sannin, the Hokage, and the Akatsuki. Practically all others are just stepping stones to the final boss. And the Uzumaki, a single clan, were attacked by a force of three combined villages in the canon. With the retainers and what I have changed in the story, the Uzumaki aren't regular ninjas the same how the Senju and the Uchiha were not regular clans in the Warring States period. They are beasts in terms of capability and that's due to their use of the least understood shinobi art; fuinjutsu.
Also, who wants to watch training montages? I want to see people get steamrolled. I can understand that it's not everyone's thing and that's fine, but actually showing six years of Naruto training would have been boring and definitely rushed. The things Naruto had to learn and go through are mentioned as things come up, and since he was trained to be the Uzumaki Prince he is much more rounded and knowledgeable compared to those his age.