Youkou Shukuen: Crimson Destiny

Disclaimer: Naruto is a product of Masashi Kishimoto, so I don't own him. Legend: "": quote, "italic": thought, italic: Japanese word,
(): translation/explication, underline: techniques (check the end for invented techniques).

Chapter 3: Following the footsteps

The day started as scheduled with Naruto waking up at dawn and as always he had recovered from last night's fatigue and injuries, even though he had slept in a uncomfortable position by leaning on a hard rock. He did not mind the comfort as the shinning stars, which he was dazzled by, consoled him. It gave him something to put his mind off his usual problems.

The training began with the tag game during which Naruto still did not manage to catch the wild fox, but came closer then previous his attempts. He was also starting to read in the fox's retaliations better, it was a consequence of yesterday's beating, he still got bruised a lot but one or two less was always a sign of improvement, which he was. In fact, he was starting to nearly feel Kyuubi's thoughts, which was one of the other ability both had due to 13 years of merger. For the second exam, Naruto tried his luck and catch the fishes without any shortcuts. He managed to catch a small one, to which Kyuubi congratulated, but it was obvious that it would not fill his poor belly. So with thirty minutes remaining he applied the shortcut method to catch another one, to which Kyuubi congratulated again. The fox told him the first one was for his effort and the second one was for using his mind, as even the best shinobi should know they could not always go by the rules when it comes to survival and besides he was still improving his sense either way since the only difference between the two method was that one involved an additional chakra manipulation exercise. He still was blindfolded and still had to use his other senses to detect his prey.

Naruto still regretted deviating, as he knew his chakra manipulation needed to become better if he ever wanted to be a competent warrior. A shinobi with perfect chakra manipulation skills can use his chakra to fool their adversaries and fix mismatches between them, which as a side effect could create a psychological effect of superiority on the opponent.

After eating his baked fishes thanks to Kyuubi and his fire jutsu, Naruto proceeded to the village to buy the scrolls asked by the fox. After an hour he came back with three scrolls in hand for which he had spent all his allowances. As suggested he had bought kanashibari (body paralysis) and doton shinjuu zanshu (earth element inner decapitation) and the shaolin kempo style learning scroll. Kyuubi was surprised with the selection and enquired why the boy selected this fighting style as it did not resemble how he usually fought to which the boy replied that it was due to its involvement with five animals as its base form two of which, the tiger and the leopard, closely resembled the style Kyuubi Naruto uses.

The training session resumed with the accuracy training. While Naruto was out, Kyuubi had installed 10 different targets around the training field and gave the boy the same number of kunais and began to explain the exercise.

"This exercise is simple in principle but difficult in practice. You have ten kunais and ten targets setup all around you, but you can only use nine movements. Your goal is to find a way to hit all the targets accurately while following this imposed restriction. As you progress further the restriction of your limited movement will be more severe to the point where you can only make half of the amount of movements as your given targets", explained the great fox.

"Hmm, I see, this means that in order to hit all the targets I will have to deviate one of the kunais in mid-air with another. So basically the exercise involves making a series of complex kunai deviations by factoring in the wind speed, direction, and the deviation angles the kunais would have to hit each other. I see what you mean by complication, this involves more mind then matter", replied the boy.

"Precisely, your goal here is to not only develop your accuracy but also your mind. Strategies and tactics are a shinobi's greatest allies, when it comes to facing multiple adversaries or even hidden adversaries. You cannot always throw a jutsu at them; you must learn how to use your resources efficiently. In real life battles will be usually end in minutes and usually involve kunais and shurikens. If you can master this type of exercise, you will be able to soar above your opponents by taking them out at point-blank range. It gives you the best counter-offense available as now you can not only surprise attack them but also prevent them from directly retaliating at you at the same time", added the fox.

The boy knew the fox was right about the usefulness of the exercise and worked hard till he finally hit the ten targets with nine movements by the end of the session. It took Kyuubi by surprise, as he did not expect the boy to pull it off the first day, clearly the boy was improving faster then expected.

By late afternoon after learning how to use doton shinjuu zanshu, Naruto was in process of mastering his rasengan (spiral sphere). He had been training the one handed rasengan for quiet some time, however it took him way too much time to gather the chakra and for this reason he still resorted to use one of his shadow clones to shorten the delay. Now he was being forced to use it the proper way and Kyuubi was giving his pointers to fix his problem.

"Okay, think of it this way, you have a ball in your hand and you need to spin it very fast or it will deflate. To keep its shape you must constantly input air inside it and to keep the air from flowing out you must constantly keep it spinning. At a certain point, the gyro-force created by the constant spin will create an invisible barrier that will force the air from ever getting out of the ball and will no longer require your help to spin as the force itself will be sufficient to keep itself spinning, it is at that point that your rasengan is complete. So in other words, you must first reach that point of velocity to create the perfect rasengan", instructed the fox.

"So the ball is my invisible frame which I must imagine, while the air is the chakra and I must concentrate my chakra to flow in the invisible ball while spinning itself and reach the point of velocity where the ball itself becomes self-sufficient. Okay got the idea, it should be much easier to form it now and I am starting to understand why father took three years to perfect this", said the boy as he went back to work.

"Yes, but your goal is not to just form the perfect rasengan but to form it in a near instant. The faster you make the deadlier it is for your adversary as they have less time to react. It is a great jutsu when you see its versatility, you can use it to kill, push, blast and even grind someone, all trough chakra manipulation. Your opponent will have even less predictability on how you intend to use this jutsu on them, if they have ever had the chance to see it once. It is the reason why even the sharingan cannot copy it. It is way to versatile and complex for the eyes to understand it", ended the Kyuubi with a smile.

Naruto was amazed of the actual power of the rasengan after getting a better understanding it thanks to Kyuubi. He now knew that he had not really learned the jutsu as he thought he did and in fact what he had been using was an 80 version of the jutsu. He now felt sorry that he had earned Tsunade's necklace without even leaning the jutsu fully. It made him work twice as hard, as now his motivation had doubled. He kept working on it till he was finally able to create the rasengan in one hand, but it was not instant and he vowed to do so by the time Jiraiya returned. After dinner, which involved a bowl of ramen (noodles soup), they proceeded to their final exercise of extreme tag under the starry night before sleeping.

The next four days followed the similar routine, during which Naruto learned all of the jutsus he had acquired and improved his physical skills day by day. Kyuubi was a rough teacher, as usual, he always updated the exercises to become harder at the same rate his student had been improving so that Naruto would not become arrogant and lazy and their friendship grew as both explored a little bit of each other day by day.

In Konoha things were also slowly starting to pick up for the genin squads. Neji and Chouji had regained their conscience but would still require a month to rehabilitate themselves to their original conditions. Akamaru and Kiba needed two more weeks for their recovery and Shikamaru was given the week off from tough labor even though he only had a broken pinky. Lee had the week off to rest after facing Tsunade's tantrum for risking his life following such a complicated surgery. As for the girls they were starting to become useful assets in the village. Sakura had become Tsunade's apprentice and was working hard under her guidance. Ino, Tenten and Hinata were currently helping their fellow teammates recover from their injuries, while learning a bit of medical science for future purposes. Knowing how to treat small injuries is always helpful in missions, especially for them since they usually played the role for the supporter in their respective teams.

Naruto's absence was somewhat missed by his comrade who had not heard from him since they heard he was off to his self-training. Sakura was starting to doubt weather he had seriously gone to train or was looking for Sasuke again, while Gaara was also loosing his patience, which meant trouble for poor Kankuro. Tsunade was the only one too busy with her Hokage duties to notice Naruto's disappearance. However, on the sixth day all hell broke lose, as she made a quick visit to the hospital only to find her favorite genin missing. Within five minutes all available shinobi's were dispersed on his search thanks to her rage. Sakura who was on her way to the hospital for her daily training with Shizune overheard her sensei giving her ANBU squads order to capture Naruto and was fearful of the outcome, thus remained by her sensei's side. Unfortunately during the panic everyone in the hospital forgot to tell the Godaime about Naruto's letter and Kaori the one holding it was still absent from the scene as her shift was only starting after lunch. Jiraiya had also returned from his adventures and was on his way to the administration building when he heard Tsunade's loud roars from the hospital and rushed for her, fearing the worst. He found her giving the nursing staff a piece of her mind only to find out that the subject involved his pupil. Unlike Tsunade, who was furious, Jiraiya simply asked if Naruto had left any message for him, to which one staff suddenly remembered of it. Tsunade gave him her interrogative expression to which he reminded her of the deal he and the boy had made. The staff told them about Kaori who just happened to enter the institution for her shift and was confused upon the reason why everyone was looking at her with anticipation. After being questioned upon the subject she gave Jiraiya the letter to which Tsunade and Sakura sighed in relief. Tsunade even laughed sarcastically how she overreacted to the point of sending the whole ANBU on the boy's ass to which she received a glare from her old comrade before realizing that the ANBU might not have taken her words on the same tone. All three rushed for the waterfalls fearing for the worst.

Upon arriving at the location their fear turned into horror, as they found a blindfolded Naruto standing near the edge of the falls. The scene looked like a perfect case of attempted suicide, clearly not the proper image any of them wanted to see. Sakura being the most sensitive screamed at him to not kill himself, which nearly made him lose his balance and take a dive in the fast current. He was confused hearing her voice but soon realized she was not alone and one by one his improved senses revealed their identity to him.

"At first I thought I was hallucinating but it seems my senses tell me otherwise. What the hell are you all doing here and why scream so loud, you almost made me lose my balance. Do not tell me, something went horribly wrong right? Anyway do not start your great story yet I only got thirty minutes left to catch an additional fish. I hope you guys still have not eaten yet we are having grill fishes for lunch. So sit back for a few minutes and do not make a sound these damn fishes get irritated at the slightest disturbance", replied the blindfolded boy before Tsunade can unleash her wrath upon him.

After waiting ten minutes Naruto caught another fish and within seconds darted it to the tree behind him on the other side of the falls alongside his other kills of the day, all of which were done while he was still blindfolded. With the exercise completed the boy proceeded to cook his lunch while listening to the enchanting story of the day, which he frowned upon at first but ended up laughing. However, this was after getting scolded by Tsunade for ten full minutes and while they were chatting Kyuubi joined in which Naruto presented them as his new pet-pal, Youkou (Crimson). They had made up a back up story of their encounter that was so convincing and tearful that none would ever doubt them and both played their role so well that no questions were asked. After all Naruto was known to make odd friends and in odd manners so why would this be any different, considering it gave him someone to pass his time with and kept him off the Sasuke hunt.

The duo then invited their visitors for lunch, which was enough for all. Jiraiya then began to question about Naruto's training seeing that the field behind the boy were his fox's terrier lay was filled with booby traps and target boards that hinted it was his training zone. He know it was must have been one of his extreme methods giving the shape of his ripped outfit and the details suggested some were done by Youkou, which made him suspicious, which he hide from Tsunade and Sakura. Naruto happily answered all his questions and even added that most of it were based upon the daily routine he had seen the fox perform, he just made them harder by putting up several restrictions that made situation inconvenient forcing him to improve his weaknesses. Sakura being clueless about what Naruto was talking about but knowing him she questioned about how many jutsu he learned, which was Jiraiya's next question.

"Not much, well at least not the high ranked ones you would expect from me, mainly because Jiraiya-sama did not leave me any. So I was left with the option of learning D-rank jutsus which we as genin are allowed given we have the cash to buy them and since I am an orphan, you can guess that I was limited on that part too. With the cash I had and I acquired two new jutsus and perfected two of the jutsus I previously had acquired, Sasuke gave me the scroll for one of them. So overall, I mastered six jutsus: doton shinjuu zanshu, kanashibari, shunshin (body flicker) and kage shuriken (shadow shuriken), rasengan and gama kuchiyose (toad summoning). Oh yeah, due to Neji and Lee's taunting on how much my basic taijutsu sucks, I decided to make them pay by learning shaolin kempo, which I already started", replied Naruto with his usual grin.

"Hmm, I didn't know you knew shunshin, besides it's not really effective in battle, I mean very few people have managed to apply it. Also, if you are learning shaolin kempo, an odd choice considering that your usual fighting style is nothing close to it, it means you must be broke after buying those three scrolls. Maybe you are learning it to synchronize your style with your fox, which from what I can see, you plan to use as a battle companion. You should ask the Inuzuka clan for help if that is the case. What I am really interested to know though is how much did you really master the rasengan?" questioned Jiraiya.

"First of all, I learned the shunshin way before I learned tajuu kage bunshin (multiple shadow clone), because it was the jutsu used by my idol Yondaime Hokage. The one in the scroll was the basic one which added some element, like leaf or sand to indicate it's use which was way to exposing, hence why it's reputation was so bad in battle. The one I am using however, is the one used by him, I just happened to recall it was the jutsu written after the tajuu kage bunshin in the scroll of the forbidden seals (the scroll which Naruto stole in chapter one of the manga) and I would have learned at the same time if I was not interrupted by Iruka-sensei and that damn bastard Mizuki. You should know how effective that one is in battle. I have learned all of these jutsus because they make my strategies much more effective not to mention to mention that they complement by base jutsu kage bunshin (shadow clone) very well. As for the taijutsu style, I am using a fox the Inuzuka use dogs, they are not the same. I also do not plan to fight like them and certainly do not require their help and yes I am broke, but I will manage unless I got to pay for hunting here, that is. As for the rasengan, here is a demonstration of what you wanted to see", replied the angry Naruto as he formed the jutsu on his right palm with which he grinded trough the nearest rock.

"Amazing, this kid really is his… to think to fully master it this quickly, not to mention now learning the shadow version of the shunshin, means that he has become as deadly as him. On top of that he is also improving physically. I am sorry I have ever doubted you were the real heir to the Uzumaki clan, Naruto. I still wonder who your mother is though, that man, he made your existence so shrouded with mystery that it even made me suspicious", thought the old man.

"What's wrong old-man… do not tell me you wish me to summon Gamabunta to force you to speak again. You know I summoned him yesterday and he was quiet angry that you did not give me another toad to practice my summoning with", smiled Naruto.

"Sweet now I will have to please that damn toad again. Man, I guess I was wrong your first failed mission actually had more positive consequences then the negative did, as I feared. I always thought you had great potential but you are even surpassing my own expectation. Anyway, I am sorry but I have a bad news that might ruin your day", replied Jiraiya.

"Let me guess your job requires more time, which means that we wont be leaving for that two and half years training trip you had mentioned, right?" asked the boy.

"What he is leaving Konoha for two and half years without telling me? How come Tsunade-sama never told me… am I nothing to him?" thought Sakura giving a look towards her sensei.

"It seems that neither of you have told the others of the plan judging by Sakura's facial reaction. Anyway you got it right Naruto, this mission will require another month and is for the safety of the village. It's concerning our friends the black and red cloud jackets, so I know you will understand. This does not mean that your training should suffer. I was worried a bit but now I am sure you can handle it. Anyway, the first thing I want you to do is to continue with your current schedule and here are the jutsus you will be learning during the month, as I had formally planned. The first one contains katon gamayu endan (fire element toad oil blast), learn it the last, as it requires a combination with a toad. In the other scroll I am giving you permission for four other jutsus that you can buy from the library and here is money for their cost. You will also receive additional allowances for personal expense", said the old man while handing Naruto the two scrolls.

"Wow, that is a lot of jutsus it will surely keep me busy for the whole month", said the boy while scratching his head.

"Speaking of which, I have heard plenty of complains about you totally ignoring the village during your six days of crazy training. That includes the fact that you kept our long trip hidden from your friends. I do not like such acts of anti-socialism, so you better spend some time in the village, even if that means you might miss some additional time for one of the jutsus that you did not have enough time to master. Or else, Tsunade is going to have my head in a platter", silently thought the old man while fake smiling Tsunade.

"First, I am not anti-social, I did visit the village once, it's not my fault I did not met anyone along the way, it is simply unfortunate. As for keeping the secret, I did not. I just did not feel like being on the spotlight after what just happened. I will tell them sometime before the departure, I am not that cold hearted, you know. I was going to them till I realized that it would be the talk of the village, which neither of us wants. In fact given the last reactions I was sure no body would really care if I was missing or not. In fact if I knew that I had so many visitors I would have not made them wait that long", replied the angry boy upon the accusation, making Sakura smile and curse herself for ever doubting his spirit.

"Hmm, I guess you have the right excuses, so I apologies for the comment, just make sure you visit them sometimes. Anyway, I will give you an insight on the jutsus. The katon karyuu dan (fire element fire dragon projectile) and katon kaga dan (fire element fire fang projectile) are powerful multiple target hitter jutsus, while katon karyuu endan (fire element fire dragon blast) is a powerful jutsu. Finally, shuriken kage bunshin (shuriken shadow clone) will be an easy one considering you know the original one", explained the Jiraiya.

"Cool this means that soon I wont have too prepare these campfires for grilling my food. Although it would be nice if the shuriken kage bunshin was instead kunai kage bunshin (kunai shadow clone). I am not a shuriken type you know?" joked the boy.

"Stop making me doubt you again, you dumbass! Besides, you can just switch the tools after mastering the shuriken version, since the concept is the same", yelled back Jiraiya.

"I was just joking okay. Do not worry old man you wish are my command. I promise you by the time you return your jutsus will be learned and my social skills will not give you trouble. Now, Sakura what's this about Gaara wanting to see me last time I met him he wanted to dig my grave", joked the boy.

"I thought you guys met recently. I mean did Team Sand not heal your burns with that special burn medicine they brought along?" asked the suspicious pink haired girl.

Naruto gave a confused look towards Tsunade trying to understand what the game was. From her facial reaction both he and Kyuubi understood that she was using Team Sand as the explication to hide his regeneration powers and he had to elaborate.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that part. Kankuro and Temari had passed me that special cream, man I am sure glad for it, without it I would still be in bed", added the boy trying to play along.

"That sounded too sarcastic. I still do not understand why team Sand was so interested in you though. I mean we did stop them from their all-important mission at the Sand and Sound invasion and well you did defeat Gaara according to Sasuke-kun. But Lee-san said that he said something about he helping the mission because of something he owes you", said the pondering Sakura.

"Sakura, leave my matters to me, will you? Just concentrate on your training with Obaasan (old woman, reference to Tsunade) and about Sasuke, okay? Gaara is my problem not yours, so leave it to me", replied Naruto.

"Since when you became Mr. Solo? We are a team you remember or did you forget already that you are in team 7?" asked an angry Sakura by Naruto's comments.

"You are getting angry for the wrong reasons. I never said anything about the team or our teamwork, just that there is something that I have to do alone. Actually let us be honest, if you did not know by now, team 7 has been officially dissolved since the incident. Kakashi-sensei is too busy with high-ranked missions and we each are now following different teachers, even if he is following a snake, speaking of snake…" said Naruto as he suddenly withdrew a kunai from his sleeve and threw it towards Sakura missing her going into the bushes behind her.

After the sudden action a feint sound of the kunai hitting a tree towards which the fox ran for leaving behind Sakura, Jiraiya and Tsunade confused of Naruto's action who smiled to them.

"What was that for you moron you almost killed me back there", shouted an angry and scared Sakura.

Just as she finished, the fox returned towards Naruto with his kunai in his mouth along with a dead snake stuck on it.

"Sorry to scare all of you like that but I hate snakes and this one has been hissing in my neck for quiet some time. He was also near a new trap I had set in for a new exercise I am creating, if it had triggered it then you would been facing a barrage of projectiles which I can avoid more or less but not with a passenger yet. Anyway, shouldn't we return to the village, it is getting pretty late or are you all in vacation now? I, myself, got to go visit my fans", finally added Naruto with a laugh.

Seeing that they had wasted enough time already Tsunade, Jiraiya and Sakura decided to return to their duties, followed by Naruto and Kyuubi. Arriving at the village each followed their own path, that is Tsunade back to her Hokage duties followed by Jiraiya, while Sakura went to the hospital were her training with Shizune was scheduled for the day. Naruto first went for his apartment to restock on outfit, his current one was so battered that it looked like he had just got out from a war. Then he proceeded to the library to buy the jutsus permitted by Jiraiya. He walked there without paying attention to the villagers as he knew without even looking that they were giving him the usual glares, a treatment they reserved for him for the last 13 years. Since Kyuubi followed him today he figured that it would be an even more intense version.

After visiting the library and buying the scrolls, Naruto went to the store to restock his supplies. He then went and visited Gaara at team Sand's temporary residence. He first he had a brief chat with Temari and Kankuro. They led him to their brother who was located in a dark room meditating. After a brief silence the two started their conversation and were left alone. Their discussion started with thanking each other the services they rendered to the other, this was followed by their Jinchuuriki problems, particularly Gaara's case with controlling Shukaku. It was the main reason Gaara wanted to see Naruto for, as he know he was probably the only who could help him, given their similar background. Naruto's solution was to apply the same method Jiraiya used on him, which was to box the bijuu (tailed beast) into submission with a near death situation. Naruto however was not ready for such a battle yet; he set the date when he and Jiraiya would pass in the Wind country. Gaara was uneasy of the idea given his increase of power in the presence of sand but accepted anyway, after all this was the guy who put him trough near death without really having any deadly jutsus in their first clash. What he did not expect however was the revelation that they were the targets a rogue group of ninja's known as the Akatsuki. Naruto demanded that this information be kept secret even from Kankuro and Temari. The reason was that they are very keen about being kept in the dark and might attack if felt threatened, which would be very bad for them given that all of the group members are S ranked criminals and of whom they have no information about, so they need time to gather some details before they lunch their own offensive against these villains. Their work would be a rigorous one since Jiraiya is currently hinting that Akatsuki might have hidden spies in high grounds, requiring them to be very prudent. Naruto on his part asked a favor that Gaara was somewhat expecting that is being a bit lenient about future Uchiha Sasuke actions, at least out of the media of the Wind country, with his family influences. After the end of their conversation, which lasted more, then an hour the two boys parted their ways.

On the road Naruto was caught by Iruka, who, after freeing himself of his heavy schedule, invited him for ramen. It was an offer the boy could not refuse so he joined in. During the meal the former sensei and student discussed of his disappearance for the last six days. As for the ramen shop owner and his daughter Ayame, they were just glad their favorite customer had returned. Their only concern was that he was not eating as much.

After dark, Naruto visited his injured comrades at the hospital. He did not know how to face them at first, as he still felt guilty for the failed mission. He found Lee and Shikamaru playing shougi (Japanese chess) in the recreation hall with Shikamaru obvious winning. The arrival of Naruto surprised both, after a short talk they both joined him to meet Neji and Chouji at the intensive care section. Kiba and Akamaru met and joined them along the way. Having all of the members that participated in the mission assembled Naruto apologized for failing the mission and promised to make up for it the next time. He also apologized for not visiting them the last six days, mainly because he was self-training but also because he did not know how to face them with all the blame going on his back of Sasuke leaving the village. The group unanimously agreed to forgive him on the first account but not the second, because they felt that Naruto did not take them as his friend if he thought they would condemn him for the wrong reason. According to them Naruto should not feel guilty for failing the mission, after all they did their best and fought against enemies that were much more powerful then themselves. It was also not his fault for Sasuke's departure, every man has to accept that some one might be stronger then them, if one could not face that fact he or she did not deserve to be a shinobi. Besides, according to Kiba, those lame comments on Naruto were only added because it was Uchiha Sasuke, their "favorite pampered hunky genin". This of course made some laugh especially Naruto due to the funny aristocratic voice used by Kiba to mock the comment. As for Naruto's punishment, they unanimously decided that he had to visit them at least once a week till all are released from the hospital, which he agrees. They then followed up with talks about casual subject and their conversation went till late night only broken after the nurse in charge.

After returning to his apartment and packing up, Naruto along with Kyuubi returned to their training ground for another star counting night adventure, they had a lot of work waiting for them the next day. By lunch time of the next day both team Sand and Jiraiya were one their own ways. Elsewhere in the five great shinobi nation's Akatsuki acquires their third Jinchuuriki.

End of chapter 3

Finally chapter 3 is out, sorry for the delay. Anyway, time skip should be in the next chapter as well as more. As you can see I only explained the invented jutsus. The rest can be found at database sites in the Internet if you need more info. Reviews Please! Shingen .

New invented Techniques

Katon kaga dan / Fire element fire fang projectile: B ranked fire jutsus that hits multiple targets at the same time with dragon fangs. Invented from suiton suiga dan.

Kunai kage bunshin / Kunai shadow clone: A ranked jutsu derived from kage bunshin and variation of shuriken kage bunshin where the user creates clones of kunais that are launched at their opponent.