Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. Gimpy and Sora are mine… hehe
Summary: Takes place four years after the rescue for Sasuke. Of course he gets rescued. Everyone is at least Chuunin and Anbu rank/training. Naruto is sent to the future with a jutsu mess up… Created by Kabuto and Orochimaru.
Rating: PG-13 to R. And soon to be rated M for later chapters, but I will get to that eventually.
Pairings: Hinata/Naruto, Sasuke/Sakura…. More pairings to come! Everyone will be a little OC… Sorry.
' ' Are inner thoughts
" " Spoken
Bold is Kyuubi speaking
(A/N:) Thanks for all the reviews everyone. I'm working up to the time skip/jutsu business. Must be well rounded!
Warning: Some fluff contained in this chapter. Hehe
On with the Chapter!
Chapter 3: Epiphany! Naruto's Training Commences!
Hinata sweat dropped while looking at an almost unconscious Lee and a fuming Sakura. 'She really has a temper like Tsunade-sensei,' thought Hinata.
Rolling his eyes, Naruto walked over to the door and opened it so he could grab a hold of Lee to put him on the examining table. 'For being so thin, Lee sure is heavy,' mentally grunted Naruto. Pulling Lee's arm over his shoulder, Naruto looked at Hinata with a sympathetic look on his face.
Hinata agreed with him silently and strode over to the table to examine Lee.
Activating her Byuukagan, she took a look at the green clad shinobi.
"H-He seems to be fine, just a little bump and some bruising. We should leave him here to rest."
Nodding silently, Naruto secured Gimpy to his shoulders and put his hand to the small of Hinata's back and guided her through the newly formed door, courtesy of Haruno Sakura.
Hinata grew 5 shades redder at his gesture and fell like faint. 'Naruto-kun… When will you ever see me? I see you.'
Naruto noticed that Hinata looked like a ripe tomato this time. Smiling softly to himself, ' I know I did that.' Walking past the irritated kunoichi, Naruto and Hinata strolled down the hall to the Registration desk.
Glancing down at Hinata, he smiled even wider. 'Maybe this will be the perfect time to ask her out. I hope she accepts. She is so gorgeous when she blushes like that.'
Stopping at the Registration desk, Naruto noticed the regular staff that was usually on duty was out and a note was scribbled sloppily in place of a person. Looking around the room, he noticed he was alone with Hinata. 'Now's my chance!' Thought Naruto.
Hinata looked up at Naruto, 'He sure hit a growth spurt, so tall. Mmm' Hinata had an affinity for tall men, especially a tall Naruto. Averting her eyes quickly as Naruto and Gimpy both peered down at Hinata; she started to wring her hand in the bottom of her shirt.
The blonde shinobi noticed Hinata's nervousness and began to clear his throat.
"Hinata-chan, would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow evening?"
The Hyuuga heiress jerked her head up skywards meeting those unfathomable blue eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, but all came was a squeak. Covering her mouth with her hand, she blushed abundantly and thought, 'this is it! Fairy-tale moment!' Removing her hand she calmed herself down a bit before responding.
Naruto cocked his head sideways a bit and raised one brow at her actions, 'she must be really nervous.' Putting his hand on her shoulder, he placed his hand under her chin and pulled upwards so he was looking into those beautiful pearl orbs he loved so much.
"What is your answer, Hinata-chan?" Whispered Naruto.
'Sexxxxxy! Screamed inner Hinata'
The white-eyed Hyuuga swallowed hard and responded, "I-I-I'd love to N-Naruto-kun." She thought, 'I'd never get the answer out if he kept looking at me like that.'
Naruto was doing high fives in his head and thanking Ero-sennin for his perverted nature, otherwise, he wouldn't have the gall to ask Hinata out. While on a training trip, Naruto snuck off with a rough copy of Jiryaiya's book to see what exactly he wrote about. Needless to say, he almost died of blood loss, through the nose. When Jiraiya found him, he was twitching in a pool of blood with his book of notes scattered everywhere; that he'd been taking for the past month and half. Grabbing one of Naruto's ankles he drug him over to the nearest river and threw him in, earning him a death glare that would put Sasuke's to shame.
Shaken from his thoughts, he felt a small hand grip his wrist. 'Her hands are so small,' he mused.
"I'll pick you up around eight o'clock tomorrow, is that fine?"
Nodding her head, she released his wrist and stepped back looking back up at the little fox on his shoulder. Gimpy was glancing back and forth between his master and the pretty little Hyuuga.
"Yip, yip!" Tail twitching, the red kit licked his owner's face. Both shinobis' smiled brightly at the fox's antics. Turning on his heel, Naruto called over his shoulder, "I'll see you later, Hinata-chan." Waving his hand in greeting and Gimpy yipping gleefully, he exited the hospital. Watching his retreating back, Hinata slumped to her knees and let out an exasperated but satisfied sigh. 'My wish has come true,' she thought. How she longed to be held by her love, but she could wait until the feelings were mutual.
Hearing heavy footsteps in her direction, Hinata turned her head towards the noise.
Sakura came prancing down the long hallway from Tsunade-sensei's office. Stopping abruptly Sakura exclaimed, "Tsunade-sensei wants to see us immediately, what are you doing on the floor Hinata-chan?" With a dreamy look in her eyes, "Naruto-kun just asked me out."
"WHAT?"
"Uh-huh, he asked me out tomorrow night for dinner at 8 p.m."
Giving Hinata her hand, Sakura hoisted her up and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"It's about friggin' time! Naruto no Baka can be so dense sometimes."
Sweat dropping, Hinata smiled shyly and pride herself away from Sakura's ironclad grip.
"Well, now we go shopping. Got to find the perfect outfit for your date, but first things first, we need to talk to Tsunade-sensei." Dragging Hinata down the hall at lighting speed, she could only smile at the dazed but satisfied look in the dark-haired kunoichi's eyes. 'I wish Sasuke-kun would grow some balls and ask me out,' she harrumphed mentally.
-Back to Naruto-
Walking out the hospital door, Naruto glanced to his shoulder to see Gimpy's tail twitching excitedly. 'I wonder if I should go ahead and train?' "Come Gimpy, its time to train!" Pumping his fist into the air and taking off in a sprint towards the other side of the village to the training grounds. "Yip, yip!" Gimpy leaped onto his master's head and secured himself to his hiti-ate as Naruto sped through the village knocking over carts and old people as he darted by.
Old people toppled over screaming at the top of their lungs, "Narutooo! Watch where your going, you damn brat!" Wagging their canes in the air as they watched his retreating back; dismissing the antics of the fox container and mumbling under their breath, 'Damn demon-child… Making trouble, bah.'
Leaping over people and buildings, Naruto smiling his signature foxy grin sped up faster in hopes of catching Sasuke bastard before he left for lunch. 'For once, things are looking up,' he thought to himself. Jumping into a tree outside of the clearing, Naruto peered downward looking for the disgruntled shinobi whom was always in the training field. Hearing the forming words of his signature fire jutsu, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Yelled the dark-eyed ninja. Incinerating a span of 4 meters of tree foliage, Sasuke slumped to the ground panting heavily. Sweating buckets, he raised his had to his hiti-ate and removed it rubbing his forehead.
'All he does is train, train, and train some more. He needs to get out more, maybe even date a little. Take his mind off his retribution. Hehe.' Jumping down off the tree, Naruto jogged up to Sasuke and gazed down at the Uchiha.
Gimpy perked up and yipped signaling their arrival. "You know, Sasuke, a little to the right and you could have cooked me."
Smirking, Sasuke looked up at the blonde kit and replied, "Maybe you should learn to get out of the way of my jutsus, dobe." A vein pop and an eyebrow twitch later, Naruto got into an offensive stance. "Don't call me dobe, teme!" Screamed the fox clad shinobi. Leaping back, Naruto formed the seals for his signature jutsu and screamed, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen Narutos' appeared on either side of the original, complete with a Gimpy on top of his head.
Sasuke glanced over his teammate's head and noticed something red with ears and a tail twitching on all 13 Narutos. "Dobe, what is that?" Sasuke asked with a bored tone. Naruto visibly relaxed and dispelled his jutsu. "This, teme, is Gimpy." Raising his brow, then smirked. "Some name, Naruto, did you come up with it?" Taking the defensive, "Yes, I did. And I think it's a good name considering the condition I found him in." Replied the hyperactive blonde. Extending his hands in front of him, the little red kit leaped into his master's arms purring loudly. "He got gnawed by a larger animal on my way home from the Ramen joint. At first he was scared, but he let me take him home and patch him up. Gimpy reminds me of myself, hyperactive and rambunctious." Smiling softly as he replied. "So I named him Gimpy, because of his gimped leg, but I took him to the hospital where Hinata-chan fixed him up."
Hearing the words "Hinata-chan" from Naruto's mouth made the Uchiha's brow rise. "Hinata-chan? Where did the honorific come from, dobe?" Smirking as he said this. A slight blush could be seen on his whiskered face, while another vein pop appeared by his temple. "Shut up, teme! I don't know it just came out. And after she healed the little guy, I uh kind of asked her out tomorrow night." Blushing two shades redder as he said this. Snickering softly and shaking his head, Sasuke punched Naruto's shoulder. "I wish you all the luck and sense that you won't screw up, dobe." Sasuke replied as he turned on his heel to go back to training.
"Sasuke!"
The Uchiha turned around and looked at Naruto. "I need to talk to you about something important." Sasuke shrugged and sat on a patch of grass while Naruto taking the seat next to him. Gimpy hobbled over to Sasuke and ascended into his lap. Seeing this, Naruto decided to tease the cold Uchiha. "Awe, looks like teme made a new friend." Naruto stated sarcastically. Brow twitching, Sasuke made a grunt of acknowledgement and let the fox into his lap. Purring softly, Gimpy curled into a small ball to take a nap.
"What did you need to talk about that's so important?"
Naruto hesitated, bringing up his knees into his chest. Sasuke noticed this gesture and reasoned it must be really important for him to be acting so un-Naruto like. Looking at the ground, Naruto begin to speak, albeit softly.
"I found out something last night from Kakashi-sensei." Taking out the old worn out scroll and handed it to his teammate. "This is a my Father's legacy jutsu, he felt I should learn it." Furrowing his brow, Sasuke unrolled the scroll and began skimming over its contents.
"Shunshin no Jutsu?" Questioned the Uchiha. "Wait, it gets better, read the bottom." Extending his hand to point to the small writing at the bottom of the page. Following Naruto's finger he read what he was referring to. "Shunshin no Jutsu developed by Uzumaki Arashi, Yondaime Hokage." Sasuke rattled off. Sasuke's eyes grew wide and his jaw fell open. 'Holy shit. Naruto is Yondaime's son!' 'I had no idea the dobe had such a heritage.' Shaking his head in disbelief, he glanced to the side to see Naruto's face. Having a hurt look on his face, Naruto smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm still getting used to it myself. All this time I felt I was alone and now I find this out. It's too much, Sasuke." The ice cold Uchiha nodded silently.
He could relate how it felt, coming from a family of greatness always expecting the very best. The only difference is, he knew his family and where he came from, but Naruto never got to meet his. But nobody expected anything of the hyperactive shinobi because he was dead last and always screwing up the simplest things on missions. Sasuke didn't know which was worse, knowing you came from greatness or finding out that you came from greatness. 'I bet he's so confused right now on what he's feeling,' thought Sasuke. Coming to a conclusion, Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder; causing the fox container to look up.
"There's no sense in thinking on this too much, dobe. Be glad you now know who you really are and where you came from. So, what do you plan to do now?"
Considering what Sasuke said, he was right. There's nothing he could do but make the best of it. Getting excited, Naruto jumped up and shot his fist into the air emitting his battle cry. "Alright! Lets do this!" Gimpy perked up and yipped at his master's declaration. Shaking his head, Sasuke smirked and said, "What are the requirements for this jutsu?"
Naruto paused from his antics and sweat dropped. Smiling goofily, he scratched behind his head and replied, "I have no idea… buuuuut I was getting to that!" Now it was time for Sasuke's sweat drop. Looking over the scroll that Naruto handed him, he began to look for the prerequisites for the jutsu.
"Ah… I found it, Naruto."
Reading the scroll word for word, Sasuke began to rattle off the requirements.
"First things first, you need to build up your stamina and speed. So we'll have to work on that. Probably head to Tenten's father's shop to get you fitted for a weight-training suit. It says here after you get your speed up, you'll learn the seals and use that to execute it. But after awhile, it says you won't need the seals and just use it like you would Rasengan. No seals, interesting. The scroll also states that only people of the Uzumaki bloodline can use this specific jutsu. Something about an abundance of proteins etc. Even if I was able I couldn't copy it. I'll have Sakura look over it later to further explain it to you."
Grinning madly, Naruto bounded into the air. "Sounds good Sasuke bastard, you coming to the shop?" Shaking his head no, the Uchiha stood up with Gimpy cradled in his arms.
"I still need to train some more before I go find lunch. Here's your pet rat, dobe." Gimpy scrunched his nose at the comment and hissed at the Uchiha. Stretching up, the little kit slobbered all over Sasuke's face before leaping onto Naruto's shoulder yipping ecstatically.
Laughing hysterically at the wet faced bastard, "He's a fox not a rat, teme."
Sasuke gave Gimpy his ultra fabulous 99 daggers Uchiha glare and turned swiftly grumbling under his breath on his way to the field.
"You got 'em good Gimpy! Way to go!" Said Naruto still snickering. "Well you heard the bastard, we need to get fitted for a weight suite. Lets go." Picking the fox up and placing him on his head, Naruto turned around and started to jog towards the Market Square of Konoha.
Walking down the busy Market streets, Naruto glanced back and forth to the stands of food. Gimpy sniffed the air as they passed by a butcher stand. His mouth fell open as a little drool oozed out of jaws. Noticing they weren't stopping, Gimpy whimpered a little bit to get his owner's attention. Naruto observed this and spoke, "After this stop, I'll get you something to eat."
"Yip!"
Coming to the Weapon's shop, Naruto pushed the door open ringing the store bell; alerting the salesperson. Walking from the back of the store, a tall almond-eyed kunoichi strolled to the counter with a smile on her face.
"Naruto! What brings you here this afternoon?"
Naruto glanced at Tenten and smiled warmly. She has grown much since our Genin days also. Tenten no longer wore her Chinese style shirt or Capri pants. Her hair was cut into a small bob that reached right below her ears. She was sporting a dark blue tube top with a tight forest green mesh over it and a short black skirt with a slit on one side. Underneath the skirt was a pair of black boy shorts (really short). Her shoes were still the same shinobi sandals.
"I'm here to purchase weights, for my stamina and speed training."
"Ohh? Getting ready for the Jounin exam?" Asked the weapon's master.
Naruto gave his foxy grin and nodded. Looking over the blonde haired shinobi, Tenten leaned closer to take a better look at his head. Feeling eyes on him, Gimpy perked up and sniffed the air.
"Yip!"
"Awe Naruto, how cuuute! Where did you get him?" Smiling sheepishly he replied, "I found him last night while walking home." Pointing to his head, "This is Gimpy, my new roommate. He was injured when I found him, so I had Hinata-chan fix him up this morning."
Raising her brow and shaking her head she proceeded to turn on her heel to go to the back. Hearing noises from where Tenten re-entered the back, Naruto and Gimpy were looking at the assorted weapons the shop carried. Leaning over the glass case, he found some cool looking curve-bladed shurikens and double sided kunai. Thinking to him, 'now that would be handy in bad spot.' As agreeing with him, Gimpy yipped. Giving a puzzled look he thought, 'its like he can read my mind.' Chuckling to himself, Naruto reached for Gimpy to give him a scratch earning him a purr.
Emerging from the back with a large box in her arms, Tenten lugged it toward the counter settling the contents with a thud startling Naruto. Unfolding the box, Tenten began pulling out assorted sizes of weights. Picking up one of the weights he thought, 'this shit weighs a ton!' Setting it back on the counter, Naruto looked up to Tenten as if looking for some explanation.
Clearing her throat she began to speak, "Now Naruto, some of these weights you can load into your Chuunin vest. I have some ankle weights like what Lee uses for his legs, you can holster those under your pants. Also I have some weighted arm guards and belts made from a heavy thick metal, they look pretty cool. Now I would advise getting something else, like a jacket or whatever you can think of. Be creative. You can take these other weights and have them sewn into your outerwear by a tailor. I wouldn't advise taking them off except to sleep and shower. Any questions?"
Naruto and Gimpy exchanged glances, smiling widely, "I'll take it all. Can you have someone deliver it to my house?" Having a Chuunin salary wasn't the best, but it was a step up from Genin pay. He didn't go on lavish spending sprees, only when he needed it. Nodding, Tenten began putting the assorted weights back into the box and began taping it shut. He would have to go shopping for an overcoat of some kind to load with weights.
Paying Tenten, Naruto exited the building and headed to the nearest clothes store. Walking a few blocks, a few children darted out in front of him almost making him trip. Regaining his balance, Naruto entered the clothing store on the corner and looked around. Spotting a familiar blonde haired kunoichi, Naruto raised his hand in greeting.
"Ino! Wassup?"
Pausing from her browsing the racks, Ino looked up and saw a familiar whiskered faced shinobi.
"Naruto, what are you doing here? I don't see you in here often, so you must be desperate." Ino said sarcastically. Grinning sheepishly with a slight blush on his face, he rubbed the back of his head. 'Man, he was doing that a lot lately.'
"I need to find an overcoat of some kind so I can fit it with weights for my training, for the upcoming Jounin exam in three months." Shifting slightly under the blue-eyed kunoichi's gaze, Naruto looked her over musing to himself. 'Ino is gorgeous, but I don't see what Shikamaru sees in her. She's more loudmouthed than me.' Naruto mentally sweat dropped. Ino changed her look as well, but the bandages she had in Genin days has been slightly altered. Ino's upper left bicep was wrapped stopping at her elbow. On her right forearm, wrapped from her elbows to her hands (kind of like Lee). She wore a baby blue halter-top that cut off right above her navel. Right below her navel, the bandages started again. No longer sporting the purple dress, she traded it for low-rise jeans that were flared at the bottom. She also swapped out her shinobi sandals for steel-toed black combat boots. Her hair had grown out again, but she styled it different so it wouldn't get in the way. She decided to go with the two low pigtails like Hokage-sama, but they were braided and intertwined with baby blue fabric. Naruto had to admit Ino was hot, but not compared to his white-eyed Hyuuga heiress. The fox clad shinobi slightly blushed thinking about how cute she was when she blushed.
Dreamily staring off into space, Ino's brow twitched and started tapping her large boot loudly.
"Naruto!" Ino yelled.
Snapping out of his reverie, he visibly sweat dropped. 'I did it again.'
"Sorry, sorry Ino." Rubbing the back of his head and smiling awkwardly. "I was thinking about something."
Raising her brow, Ino shrugged and stalked over to wear Naruto was standing.
"Need some help finding something?" Shrugging, he nodded and followed Ino to a rack of moderately priced clothes were hanging.
Thinking out loud, "Hmm lets see what we can find you." As Ino searched through some jackets she came across something stunning. Pulling it out she checked the material to make sure it was weight resistant, in other words, durable.
It was of lightweight material and sturdy. It was an ordinary black jacket complete with hood but it had a symbol of a small flaming fox head in the bottom corner. Seeing this, Ino thought it was perfect for Naruto.
"Look here, Naruto." Holding up the jacket, Naruto glanced over it nodding silently.
Clearing his throat, "It looks gre—"Yip!" Startled, he looked up to see Gimpy perked up with his tail twitching excitedly. The little booger hopped off his head and onto Ino's shoulder to take a closer look at the article of clothing she was holding.
Scared shitless, Ino squealed loudly. Gimpy yipped some more and rubbed his head on Ino's neck purring softly.
"Ha, ha, ha… Gimpy likes your taste in clothing, Ino." Chuckling softly, he reached over for the jacket and tried it on. Tail waving around, Gimpy stole a glance at his owner with his jacket on.
"Naruto, you have a new pet?" Ino asked shakily, still getting over her shock.
"Yup, found him last night while walking home. His name is Gimpy. He was injured, so I had Hinata-chan look at his leg; he was bitten by a large animal."
Face softening, she smiled warmly and pet the little fox's head.
"Oh Ino! Can you help me with something?" He blushed at what he was about to ask. Ino looked up and shook her head. "Well, you see, I kind of have a date tomorrow night and I need to find something to wear that's nice."
Ino's face went from surprised to shit eating grin in .2 seconds flat. "I'll help you since I have more fashion sense than forehead girl. So, who's the lucky lady?"
Going two shades redder, Naruto visibly fidgeted. "Well I-uh kind of-uh asked out Hin----"
"HELP ME!"
Hearing the door being ripped off the hinges, a scared shinobi could be seen panting behind one of the store's displays.
Ino, Naruto and Gimpy visibly sweat dropped.
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Crimsonails