Author's Note: Really long chapter this time. Sorry if the punctuation is still fugged.
Chapter 5 : Familiar Faces
Naruto was dreaming. He was sitting on top of the Hokage monument, watching the sun rise over Konoha. Next to him sat Hinata, smiling shyly and looking up at him with bright white eyes. They had been sitting there for what seemed like hours, not talking, just being.
Just then, Hinata poked him in the forehead. Hard.
Naruto glanced at her, confused.
Without a word, she poked him again.
Naruto's eyes snapped open. About a foot from where he slept, the massive, white-maned head of Jiraiya loomed. The sennin was crouching on the balls of his feet, his eyes narrowed and face tight with concentration. He was just about to give Naruto a third poke, when the boy decided to do some poking of his own.
SMACK!
A vicious backhand sent the frog hermit rolling backwards, coming to rest in a closet.
"Ow."
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" bellowed Naruto. He was angry at the sennin for waking him, though he was not entirely sure why.
"I might say the same," grumped Jiraiya, flipping himself to his feet.
"Hmmph."
"Anyway, her highness wants to see us."
"Baa-san wants to...? At this hour?" Naruto gestured at his clock, which read 6:30 AM. "Shit."
"My sentiments exactly."
Five minutes, a dressed and ready Naruto joined Jiraiya at the bottom of the stairs. With a nod, the two meandered towards the Hokage's offices.
"Enjoy your first night back?" inquired Jiraiya.
"Yeah, I guess so," Naruto said, eyes fixed on his feet. His eyes flicked up towards his teacher. "You?"
"Oh yeah. I had a fine old time." Jiraiya's face creased into a perverted grin. "I met these two-"
"Gahhh! Nevermind. I don't think I want to hear it." Naruto waved his hands wildly around his head.
"Tch. You asked." Jiraiya turned his head away petulantly.
The shinobi approached the stairs which ran around the side of the Hokage's central building. A light morning mist swirled around the steps, giving the building a vaguely sinister air. As they crested the stairs, they encountered Kotetsu and Izumo, Tsunade's adjutants.
"Go right in," said Kotetsu. "She should be waiting."
"Right."
Naruto opened the door and proceeded to the Hokage's office. He took in the contents of the room as he entered, noting especially the pile of haphazardly organized papers and the snoring woman who was using them as a pillow. Tsunade's face faced the door, and a stream of drool clung to her lips.
"Wha? She calls us in at this hour of the morning just so we can watch her sleep?" Naruto took a deep breath in preparation for awakening the sleeping Hokage, but stopped and exhaled. There were better ways than just shouting. A foxlike grin crept over Naruto's face once again as he maneuvered himself in front of the snoring Tsunade. He turned his head away as he dug in his pocket. After a few seconds, he pulled out a marker, his grin widening. He turned back to the Hokage to find-
A pair of alert brown eyes...
Crap.
And an index finger ready to fire.
Double crap.
There was no time to think of anything else, as Tsunade flicked Naruto's forehead protector, bashing the young shinobi backwards and into the doorjamb with a hollow thud.
"Itai..."
"Ha!" crowed the Godaime triumphantly. "Told you he'd try something like that! Pay up, sucker!"
Grumbling, Jiraiya fished through Naruto's coin purse and tossed a handful of coins onto Tsunade's desk. "Hmph. Your luck seems to be improving."
Tsunade gloated, closing her eyes and flashing a quick 'victory' sign.
"All right," interjected Naruto. "Why'd you call us out so early in the morning, Baa-chan?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed, then relaxed. "I called you here so you could report as to the results of your training."
"I suppose I'll begin," said Jiraiya, raising his arm and scratching his head. "I primarily instructed him in chakra manipulation and control, as it is Naruto's weakest area."
"Sensible."
"It was during these experiments that we discovered something very interesting." Jiraiya cleared his throat. "It would appear that Naruto is more fully able to use the chakra of the nine-tails."
"WHAT?"
Naruto picked up the narrative. "Yeah, now, I can get more chakra when I call on the baka-kitsune. Plus, my techniques are stronger than ever before." He crossed his arms.
"How so?"
"Maybe it would be better if I show you an example."
Naruto stepped to the middle of the room and planted his feet. In his right hand, he concentrated his chakra. In seconds, there was a ball of swirling air and chakra in his palm.
"Impressive. You can use Rasengan now one-handed."
"He's not done," corrected Jiraiya.
Indeed he was not. Naruto now extended his left hand and began concentrating even more chakra. After a couple of false starts, a second Rasengan whirled in Naruto's left hand. Tsunade gasped audibly while Jiraiya gave a satisfied smile. Naruto held the Rasengans at arm's length for a few seconds, then released them, panting.
"How long did that take to learn?"
"Let's just say that it took him a little longer than a week."
Naruto popped his wrists. "I still have to work on the speed of those things. I could get them out faster, but it would waste much more chakra than normal." He rested his hand on the seal on his stomach.
"Anything else?"
"Kyuubi's taught me a few things. He can be surprisingly helpful once you get to know him."
"You can talk to Kyuubi?" Tsunade's eyes were exceptionally wide now. "Is that even possible?"
"I would hope so, because the alternative is that I have voices in my head."
Jiraiya snorted. Tsunade raised her eyebrow at him.
"I'm inclined to believe it, given what I know about demons," said Jiraiya. "I've seen him do things that are seemingly beyond human capabilities. Take for example, when we received a visit from one of Naruto's biggest fans."
"Biggest fans? Wha? Oh." Tsunade grimaced. "Akatsuki."
"The very same."
"Tell me all about it."
Jiraiya leaned his head back, remembering. "It was eight months ago, in the Grass country. We had recently passed through Lightning and Earth and had stopped for training in Grass..."
FLASHBACK BEGINS
Naruto and Jiraiya stood in the middle of a field of grass. The only feature on the verdant plain was a single twisted tree, twenty meters from where the Leaf-nin trained. A light breeze ruffled the grass as the Frog Hermit instructed his pupil.
"Come on, kid. You can do better than that."
"Shut up! Ero-Sennin!" Naruto focused his chakra in his left hand, sweat beading his forehead. As the chakra coalesced into a sphere Naruto smiled triumphantly. His smile turned to confusion as Jiraiya smacked his shoulder and he lost concentration..
"What the hell-"
"No time, kid, somethings coming. Can you feel it?"
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. With Kyuubi's help, he could feel it almost immediately. An extremely powerful source of chakra was approaching, very close. Naruto opened his eyes. It was behind them, on the tree. The ninja turned and regarded the tree. The twisted bole of the tree seemed to have an additional growth that had not been there before. A squat, dark lump clung there, quivering of its own accord. Realizing that it had been seen, the figure bounded from the tree and charged, skidding to a stop ten meters from them.
He was tall. As tall as Jiraiya, though far more massive. He was more similar in size to Chouji or the Sound-nin Jiroubou. He wore a coat, black with red clouds, which was immediately recognizable by both shinobi. It was the symbol of Akatsuki. Naruto had seen similar coats on Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, when they had attempted to abduct him after the Chuunin exam. This figure's coat, however, was shorter than the others', barely reaching his ample waist. The man's stomach bulged out from under a black shirt, displaying a vicious looking scar. His round head was topped by a mane of black hair and a forehead protector bearing the symbol of the Hidden Stone with a slash through it. On his feet, he wore sandals much like Jiraiya's, but much taller. But the shinobi's arms were the most frightening of all. They were massive, as thick around as Naruto's torso. His hands were covered by long black steel coverings, the weight of which caused them to swing at the ninja's sides.
"You...you, you are Uzumaki Naruto?" grunted the monster haltingly.
"That's right," tensed Naruto.
The big man gave a horrible face-splitting grin. He raised one of his arms and gestured to himself. "I...Tatsuyoshi. Akatsuki. I am here to smash you."
"Smash me?"
"Not all the way," Tatsuyoshi looked disappointed, scratching the back of his leg with the other. "Just a little. Need you alive for things..."
"What things would that be?" inquired Jiraiya.
"I not knowing. New member," admitted Tatsuyoshi with a shrug. "But Tatsuyoshi will not disappoint master and new brothers and sisters!" Tatsuyoshi widened his stance and brought his arms up into a ready position. "Tatsuyoshi will smash you!"
"You said that already."
Suddenly, without warning, Tatsuyoshi was directly in front of Naruto, his face inches from the boy's.
"Fight. Not talk," he grunted. Tatsuyoshi brought his arm around quickly, smashing Naruto in the arm and sending him skidding twenty feet to his left. His other arm snapped straight out at Jiraiya's face, but the alert Sennin was barely able to dodge back, one of his headband's horns receiving a glancing blow. Jiraiya picked at the bent tip.
"You're faster than you look."
"You too, funny man." Tatsuyoshi smashed his fists downward at Jiraiya again, but this time his opponent was far more prepared. Jiraiya skipped back nimbly, leapt over another haymaker, and landed on Tetsuyoshi's outstretched fist. The behemoth gaped. Jiraiya grinned.
"FROG KICK!" bellowed the Sennin, hopping on on leg. His other leg, coiled at his side, lashed out, smashing Tatsuyoshi in the face. The Akatsuki goon was driven backwards, his feet digging into the turf.
"Guh?"
"Frog kick. Lengthens my leg and increases its power tenfold. Hurts, doesn't it?"
"Not really. I never really feel much pain." He thumped his chest. "Strong."
Naruto had by this time struggled to his feet. He angrily faced his opponent. "Oy!" Tatsuyoshi turned and sniffed.
This infuriated Naruto. "Don't underestimate me you bastard! Kage Bunshin no-jutsu!"
Now twenty Narutos stood where one had before.
"Oooh, fun! I'll play with you a little more."
"Shut up!" The Naruto's charged, fanning out to attack him from as many directions as possible. Sensing a chance, Jiraiya joined in Naruto's attack. Tatsuyoshi stood impassively, accepting the charge, arms folded.
Realizing that the ex Stone-nin was in far too solid of a position to knock down, Naruto decided to utilize simple strikes. Each clone was able to strike Tatsuyoshi no more than twice before he struck them down with swift swings. Tatsuyoshi stood impassively, those each punch had Naruto's full force behind it. Small bruises developed on his skin, but he seemed not to feel it. A small smirk appeared on the fat buffoon's face. However, this smile quickly vanished when he saw Naruto's next move.
As the final clone burst into smoke, Tatsuyoshi's vision was temporarily blocked. His impassive smile vanished as the real Naruto burst from within the smoke, an orb of swirling air and chakra in his right hand. At the same time, the Frog Sennin appeared behind him, an identical ball in his hand.
"Wha?"
"RASENGAN!" cried Jiraiya and Naruto, striking simultaenously. Wind scythed around them, whipping the grass into a frenzy. In the center of the whirlwind, Tatsuyoshi gave a horrible animal snarl of agony, then slumped. Releasing their rasengans, the two Leaf-nin breathed hard.
"You...hurt...me..." mumbled Tatsuyoshi. "YOU...HURT...MEEEEE!" He grinned sickeningly. Then, with a horrible roar, flames sprung from the back of Tatsuyoshi's fists.
"Boutou Senkou!" he shrieked, as his fists suddenly gained the speed and force of rockets. He drove his left hand brutally into the stomach of Uzumaki Naruto, causing the boy to fly back like a ragdoll. His right sped backwards, catching Jiraiya and flinging directly over his head and smashing him into the ground before him.
Jiraiya struggled to his feet. "Naruto!" he called.
"Don't bother. He not hear you, I crush him good." Tatsuyoshi gestured. "He hurt, maybe die soon."
"Damn you!" Jiraiya flung himself at Tatsuyoshi, who was ready. With a quick spinning sidestep, he was behind him, fist smashing Jiraiya onto his face.
"Naruto may not last," said Tatsuyoshi in a mocking, almost-sad tone. "Tatsuyoshi will be in trouble if he dies." He sighed. "I regret there little time to play with you, silly frog-man." He began unleashing a rain of punches and kicks onto Jiraiya's prone form, beating him to the edge of conciousness. "It was fun, but over now."
"Don't be so sure, asshole."
Tatsuyoshi stiffened and turned around. There stood Uzumaki Naruto, upright and proud. A firey aura of orange chakra surrounded him.
"I heal quickly."
"Then Tatsuyoshi will smash you again! Smash you better!" Tatsuyoshi ran at the young ninja.
Naruto smiled. "Tch. I'll show you." An orange rasengan appeared in his left hand and Naruto grimaced. "Kitsune Rasengan!"
"Boutou Senkou!" snarled Tatsuyoshi, his arms bursting into flame again. When the two met, a huge explosion filled the clearing.
As the dust cleared, the two shinobi stood at opposite ends of a wide burned spot. Naruto coughed, then fell to his knees, having taken another direct shot to the gut from Tatsuyoshi's rocketing punch. Tatsuyoshi stood tall, though his injuries were far more apparent than Naruto's. His right arm hung at his side, splinters of bone sticking out. His left arm could be found fifteen feet away, having been severed just above the elbow. Tatsuyoshi gaped at his missing arm, then screamed.
"You..." Tatsuyoshi breathed irregularly. "Never have I...experienced such...Rrrrrggrh!" The big man grimaced, clapping his broken arm to his stump. He raised his head, eyes flashing. "Tatsuyoshi not care about keeping you alive now. I will smash and break you! SMASH... AND... BREAK!" The crippled ninja began lurching towards Naruto.
(Wake up, kit.)
(Baka Kitsune? I can't. I'm spent.)
(Don't call me that.) Kyuubi snarled mentally. (I don't know about you, kit, but I don't intend to be ended by a phonetically challenged lummox!)
(If you have any ideas, I'm all ears.)
(You've reached your current limit for tapping my chakra, little one. That is true.) Kyuubi sighed. (We'll simply have to increase that limit.)
(That's crazy!)
(Just follow my instructions. You're new at this, so you'll only have one shot. Let's make sure it counts.)
Tatsuyoshi approached the boy, arm held upward for a killing blow. Just then, Naruto struggled to his feet and faced his foe. Jiraiya looked on weakly from the sidelines.
What the, he thought. His aura's different. It's smaller, but not weaker. It seems like he's containing it. Or concentrating it.
"You are weak now," sneered Tatsuyoshi. "Die."
His only answer was Naruto charging straight for him while desperately concentrating his chakra. There was a sudden bright flash of light. In the middle of it, Naruto could hear his own voice cry out, though he was not conciously aware of yelling.
"Haseibai!"
Then all was blackness and Naruto knew nothing.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Tsunade furrowed her brow. "Haseibai? It's not a technique with which I'm familiar. Perhaps the Third left some mention of it in his notes." She walked over to a bookshelf on the wall. "Do you recall what sort of technique it was?"
" 'fraid not," admitted Naruto. "I blacked out during it."
"The light was too bright to see anything," explained Jiraiya. "But before I lost conciousness, I heard a metallic keening, followed by a horrible ripping sound of meat."
Tsunade wrinkled her nose. Jiraiya grinned.
"Anyway, when I came to, I found Naruto still unconcious, and our assailant cut lengthwise."
He pointed to the top of his head. "Slashed him from here..." Jiraiya brought his finger all the way down. "To here."
"Brutal." The Hokage shook his head. "Oh, and Jiraiya?" she said, raising her face to stare the Sennin in the eye.
"Yes?"
"You can stop pointing down there."
"Eh? Oh..." Jiraiya blushed, realizing that he was still pointing at his nether region. "Whoops."
"You did that on purpose, ero-sennin," muttered Naruto.
"Shut up," Jiraiya whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
Tsunade's face twitched, one eye narrowed. She took a deep breath, calming her temper.
"Anyway," she said. "Why would Akatsuki have come after Naruto that early?" She drummed her fingers on the shelf. "More importantly, why would they have sent such an unprepared junior member alone to take Naruto? I am sure they have more competant and dangerous agents."
Jiraiya looked pensive. "I know. That worried me as well. A feint?"
"I can't see what kind." Tsunade turned to Naruto. "You can go now. I'll get the rest of the details from Jiraiya. Refamiliarize yourself with Konoha."
"Yosh! Later, baa-san!"
"Why you-"
Naruto ducked away from the Hokage's grab and rushed for the door. As he burst out, he knocked over Kotetsu, who had his ear pressed against the door.
"Oy!"
"Gomen, Kotetsu-san!" yelled Naruto as he sprinted for the exit.
Izumo snorted.
Naruto sprinted through the streets of Konoha, now warm with the midmorning sun. As he ran, he noticed a green figure jogging in an adjacent alley.
Is that? Naruto wondered. To satisfy his curiosity, he jumped over the building separating the two and began jogging alongside.
"Yo, eyebrows!" grinned Naruto. It was indeed Rock Lee, Konoha's Proud Azure Beast, who was now Naruto's running partner.
"Naruto-kun!" Lee exclaimed, his eyes widening. "So good to see you!" Lee proffered his hand, and the two shared an bizarre running handshake.
"So, I hear you're a Jounin now."
"That's right," Lee looked proud. "But I will not let that go to my head. Rather, I will use it to push myself further, for the good of the Village and the precious people within."
Naruto grinned. That still sounded like the Lee he knew.
"You and Neji spar much these days?"
"Not as often as before," Lee executed a cartwheel. "We are both very busy. He has ANBU business and training with his uncle and cousin to deal with. I have my own training to do, both to enter ANBU and for myself."
He switched to running on his hands.
"I still have yet to defeat him in battle," Lee admitted. "You are the only one I know who has done that. However each time, my margin of defeat shrinks. I will not use the Ura Renge on him. Though he is a rival, he is also a friend."
"I understand, I think."
"Do not forget, Naruto-kun. In a way, you a rival of mine now too."
Naruto look quizically at him.
"You have always poured all your heart and soul into everything that you do. You possess phenomenal spirit, a spirit that led you to defeat foes that I myself could not. Your determination is inspirational, and I often strive to match it."
"You're embarrassing me..."
"I trust you've been working hard."
"Of course! I'm not just gonna let two and a half years go to waste."
Naruto's stomach growled insistently.
"Man, I'm starving. All this talking and running is getting to me." He turned to Lee. "I gotta go. See you later."
"All right. Goodbye Naruto-kun!"
Naruto slowed and watched the jumpsuit-clad ninja vanish into the distance. Naruto spun on his heel and sprinted for Ichiraku.
"Aw, man! I don't believe this!' Naruto wailed as he stared up helplessly at the sign on the closed front of Ichiraku.
CLOSED: Back in 1 hour
Next to the sign was a picture of a clock set to 10:00. It was now a quarter past nine. This was far too long for the hungry Naruto to wait. And so he trudged towards the Yakuniku joint across town.
As he entered, a voice accosted him.
"Oy, Naruto." There was no mistaking that lazy tone. Nara Shikamaru sat at the bar with Akimichi Chouji and their former sensei, Sarutobi Asuma. "Don't you usually eat at that ramen place?"
"Closed," said Naruto miserably.
"It's not so bad," said Chouji through a mouthful of barbecue. "The food here is great."
"Bit early for lunch, isn't it?"
"Yeah well, mmph. We've been gromph training all morning, and this is what you might call snrf brunch."
Naruto sighed. Chouji had changed very little. A little taller, a bit wider, but overall, little had changed. He now wore a Chuunin vest over his shirt, and his shorts were fancier, with more pockets. He was also obsessed with eating, just as Shikamaru was obsessed with clouds and Ino was obsessed with bossing people around.
"Hey," Naruto realized. "Where is Ino?"
"Feh. Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru. "She's probably still out shopping."
"You're lucky you're not still together or she would've dragged you into it," quipped Asuma. "That poor boy..."
"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto.
"You'll see."
There was a sound at the front door. In walked Yamanaka Ino. She raised her hand. "Morning!"
"Morning," came the general reply.
Ino stretched. "Shopping is such hard work. Come along, Kiba-kun." She moved over to take a seat next to Asuma. The next figure through the door did not resemble a ninja so much as a pile of packages and bags. Underneath, a tired-looking Kiba attempted a weary greeting, but gave up. He staggered over and sat between Ino and Naruto, setting down the packages next to him.
"Looks like you're having woman trouble," mused Naruto.
"Shaddup," was all the exhausted Inuzuka could manage.
Ino noticed Naruto. "Oh! Didn't see you. Looks like the village loudmouth has returned."
"Yey and verily. Let a proclamation go out unto the people, the future Hokage has returned," proclaimed Naruto dramatically.
Ino looked put off while the men sniggered. As they laughed, Akamaru tottered in. Akamaru was bigger now, but he was still titchy. The dog was dragging an additional bag along behind him.
"There you are," Kiba exclaimed.
"So," Ino said, turning her attention back to Naruto. "How does it feel to be the oldest Genin in the village?"
Naruto's face burned with embarassment. "Shaddup," he pouted, just like Kiba. He regained his composure and grinned. "I'll be rectifying that soon enough."
Next Chapter: They're off: Tourney Hopefuls
