AURA
by Random Writer 46

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Oh... A recent review has brought up something that I don't think I've ever talked about. I'm not sure where in the story I've ever said that Naruto had two Bloodlines, though if I have then I must apologize. He only has one, which'll be revealed pretty soon (probably in the Haku story arc). So, I hope that the reviewer who brought this issue up will continue reading, though if she won't then I understand.

Another issue is how Sasuke apparently knew about it. I like to think that somebody as sharp as Sasuke is probably listens to rumours and gossip to pick up current information. One of the possible reasons is scouting for Itachi, as he probably knows that the adults that he works with don't trust his avenger like attitude and might withold info from him. The other genin haven't heard about it because they wouldn't really care about stuff like that.

And Naruto's personality... I really liked the original Naruto from the manga, and his striving for the villager's acknowledgement really touched me. He's one of the most influential characters in the original story, so I wanted to see what would happen if I made him a little bit sharper and less dedicated to becoming strong. He has the amazing ability to change people, and with a more observant mind, he might be able to put this ability to more use.

Oh, and I'll be updating this regularly. At least once a week. More if I can fit it in.

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Chapter 4

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"Hiya, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto said as he walked into the hospital room.

Mizuki turned his head around as he looked at the blonde foxboy. His arm was in a sling, and the large gash that ran down his body had been stitched. Parts of his body that had been pierced by kunai and shuriken were all bandaged, and though he didn't look perfectly well yet, the expression on his face showed that he had enough excitement to last him for a while.

"Ah, ohayo, Naruto." Mizuki said. "Come here and sit down."

Naruto pulled up a chair, and sunk into it. Fumbling around in his pocket, he withdrew a package of squashed, sorry-looking peanuts.

"Here you go, sensei!" Naruto grinned. "I heard the hospital food here in Konoha tastes like crap, so I brought this along to cheer you up!"

Mizuki looked at the package, and raised an eyebrow.

"'Jacky's Jellybean Flavoured Peanuts?'"

Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I got it from a client when I was doing missions with my dad. He thought I was a kid or something, and gave me this... it kind of creeps me out, but I dunno. You might like it or something."

Mizuki laughed.

"Well, it's the thought that counts. Thanks." He took the package from Naruto and put it on the bedside table. "I wanted to thank you for saving me, Naruto-kun. If you hadn't been there that night... Well... I probably wouldn't be here now."

All of a sudden, Naruto seemed embarassed. There was a light flush on his cheeks.

"Ummm... You don't have to thank me, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto grinned. "Any other ninja would've done it, and the only reason I did it's because I was there."

Mizuki smiled.

"But the thing is that you were there." Mizuki stressed. "You saved my life just by being there, and fighting the imposter for me. And then after that you were still ready to help me prove my innocence. That's something to be proud of."

Naruto's blush deepened. He wasn't used to hearing compliments that didn't come from either his father or clients. This was the first time that a comrade, a friend, was praising him. Probably because he didn't have a lot of comrades and friends before... His father didn't count for obvious reasons.

"...I wanted to thank you, by giving you this."

Mizuki withdrew a fuuma shuriken from underneath the bed. It looked kind of old, but was very well taken care of. There were markings on the edges of the blade... Probably seals that increased power. On the ring near the center was inscribed Mizuki's name. With one look Naruto could tell that this was something of incredible personal significance to Mizuki.

"This was my first fuuma shuriken... It was made by my jounin-sensei. He sealed a jutsu within it to make it always return to me no matter how I throw it. It's sort of like a boomerang, except that it's really, really sharp." Mizuki said, smiling. "I wanted to give it to you, to thank you for saving my life. It may not seem like much, but it's very important to me."

Naruto was speechless.

"Mizuki-sensei, I don't... I don't think I can... I mean, I don't want to accept rewards for something I wanted to do." Naruto said, and his head fell. He felt a little ashamed for declining such a heartfelt gift.

The silver-haired chuunin thought about this for a bit.

"Well... If you don't want to accept it as a reward... How about you accept it as a gift of friendship?" Mizuki asked.

Naruto as speechless. Again.

"Really...? Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Of course. You'll have to promise to take good care of it though."

And Naruto hugged him.

Mizuki was surprised at first, but then he relaxed. He had always been sort of an empath... Pretty good at figuring out people's emotions. When he had first seen Naruto, he had realized how different he was from the rest of the students. He was neither a genius, nor somebody normal. While kids his age thought of girls, guys, or ways to increase their power, he seemed to think of other things. But it was during this moment, that he truly realized how lonely Uzumaki Naruto was.

With a smile, Mizuki hugged him back like an older brother would to a younger.

After a few minutes, Naruto broke off the hug. There were a few tears in his eyes, Mizuki realized.

"S--Sorry about that, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto struggled with his words.

"No worries, Naruto-kun. And stop calling me sensei. It sounds too formal."

"Uhm, well then, what should I call you?"

Mizuki thought about it for a while.

"How about... aniki?"

Naruto grinned.

"Okay... aniki."

"Good, otouto." Mizuki smiled. "Now... let's find a way to pass the time. There's practically nothing to do here in the hospital, you know."

They thought about it for a while. It was just their luck that Naruto had forgotten his pack of playing cards at home.

"...So... hey, otouto..." Mizuki said. Naruto looked up. "...You play this?"

With a flourish, Mizuki withdrew a deck of some sort from his back pocket. Naruto's eye widened as he realized what it was. Both the silver-haired chuunin and the blonde genin grinned. Naruto took his own deck out of his weapons pouch, and started setting up the cards.

"Eight-thousand life points?"

"Eight-thousand life points."

---

"...And then I attack with 'C-Class Missing-Nin'!" Naruto cried.

Mizuki grinned.

"Not so fast." The silver-haired chuunin countered. "I activate the Ninja Tool card, 'Log Trap'. Anything over 1000 attack is immediately destroyed."

Naruto swore and Mizuki laughed as the blonde genin moved the 'C-Class Missing-Nin' to the graveyard. It was now Mizuki's turn.

"I play the Jutsu card, 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'." Mizuki said. "Now I get to summon any ninja card that has less than 2000 attack. I summon 'Gamakichi'."

"Why do you wanna play that card? It only has 900 attack."

"Watch and learn." Mizuki said, sagely. "I'll now use the 'Frog Scroll', which allows me to sacrifice any frog card for 'Gamabunta'."

He looked through his deck, and found the right card. Naruto gasped as he saw it, it was the super shiny holo first edition! Even the normal version was hard enough to get... Mizuki put it down, and Naruto blanched at the attack written. 3500. Dear Shodaime... 3500.

"I give, aniki." Naruto sighed.

Mizuki grinned, "Wise choice, otouto."

Naruto took a look at the time.

"Oh, it's already noon." Naruto noted. "Sorry, aniki. I've got to go get lunch now."

"Alright, thanks for stopping by." Mizuki said.

Naruto got up from his chaira, and moved the table where they had been playing the card game to its proper position in another corner of the room. He picked up his cards, and put them in his weapons pouch. Mizuki did the same with his cards, except he put them in his back pocket. Naruto gave a wave to the silver-haired chuunin, and was just about to leave before Mizuki called him back.

"Naruto! You forgot your fuuma shuriken!"

The blonde foxboy grinned sheepishly, and retrieved it.

"Whoops."

Mizuki waved it away.

"No worries... Oh by the way, would you like some lessons in using that thing once I get out of the hospital?" Mizuki asked. "There's a lot of jutsu that can be used with a fuuma shuriken. I used two of them against that faker, remember?"

Naruto thought back to it, and nodded.

"An explosion jutsu of some sort, and some sort of Kage Bunshin...?"

"That's right." Mizuki grinned. "Stuff like that."

"Alright, sure!" Naruto said. "Though... don't you have a lot of work to do once you get out of here?"

"Naw... All I have to do is help Iruka teach kids ninja tools. I'm the master of that, you know, and one more to teach won't matter at all. Back in my genin days I was the long-ranger, you know."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, then. Thanks, aniki." Naruto said. "See you tomorrow!"

Mizuki waved Naruto goodbye, and watched as the blonde foxboy ran off. He took the package of peanuts off the bedside table, and after eyeing it for a few seconds, opened it up. He had an intense look of concentration as he took out a peanut, examined it closely, and popped it into his mouth.

---

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned around at the sound of somebody calling his name. Iruka caught up to him, panting. It seemed like he had been doing that a lot recently. He stood next to the blonde genin, and scratched the back of his head. Naruto looked up at the taller chuunin, wondering what he was doing here.

"Yeah?"

Iruka grinned sheepishly.

"Ah..." Iruka said. "I wanted to thank you for saving Mizuki."

Naruto smiled.

"No need, sensei." Naruto said. "Aniki's already thanked me."

"Aniki?" Iruka asked, confused.

"Yeah! Mizuki's my aniki now. He gave me his first fuuma shuriken and told me to expect some training in the use of it right after he gets out of the hospital."

Iruka nodded, and a little lightbulb lit up over his head.

"Ah, well. Since Mizuki's already thanked you, I guess you don't want to come to a ramen place with me then..." He muttered, turning around and made as if he was about to walk off.

Naruto suddenly stopped still.

"...And I guess I don't need these ramen coupons then, since I don't eat much ramen myself..." Iruka lamented, and took a few steps. He could practically feel the psychic energy that Naruto was giving off behind him. "...Ah, well... Can't help it... I'll probably just throw them in the garbage somewhere..."

Naruto snapped.

"Wait!" The orange-clad genin cried, and Iruka grinned.

Hook, line, and sinker.

---

Naruto groaned. He had been conned by the chuunin sensei into accepting a reward that he didn't want to accept. Stupid... There were only a few people in the world that knew about his ramen addiction, and he didn't even have to think to know who had told Iruka about it. Who else but his tousan?

As he walked along, deep in thought, he didn't realize he had accidently entered the training grounds.

The sounds of training reached his ears, and he perked his head up, turning towards the source of the grunts and thuds. There, in front of a few training dummies, stood a green-wearing boy that was punching the lights out of a straw-hat wearing practice target. As he watched, bits and pieces of straw flew out of the dummy. It was being hit so fast and furiously, that Naruto was amazed that it hadn't turned to dust yet.

The boy continued on like that for a while, never noticing Naruto's presence as he thumped and punched, jabbed and hooked. At long last he swayed on his feet, and toppled to the floor in exhaustion. He raised a dirtied bandaged arm, and wiped away his sweat away. The sounds of clapping reached his ears, and he moved his head to get a clearer view.

There, a few feet away from him stood Naruto, clapping softly with a smile on his face.

"That was amazing."

Rock Lee flushed, unused to praises coming from strangers. The only person that had ever complimented him was Gai-sensei.

Naruto walked up beside the tired Leaf-nin, and sat down beside him.

"That was some pretty rough training going on there."

The green-clad boy barely had enough energy to breathe, yet he nodded.

"So... What's your name?"

"Ro... Rock... Lee."

"."

Lee nodded again.

"...Any reason you were training so hard?"

"Must... get stronger... prove... ninja way... defeat... genius... hard-working... strong too..."

Naruto nodded, and took out a water bottle.

"Want some?"

Lee nodded. Naruto unscrewed the cap, and poured it over the green-clad genin's face. As Rock Lee choked and sputtered, Naruto grinned. After the green-clad genin had his share of water, he couldn't help but grin back.

"Had enough?"

"Yeah... thanks..."

Naruto took a look at Lee's hand. One of the bandages had become unraveled, and he could see the physical torture that the boy one year his senior had put himself through. He took a look at the genin's prone form again, and noticed that he didn't have any chakra residue around his body. It was weird... especially for a ninja who depended on chakra for life and strength.

"You don't have any chakra around your body..." Naruto observed.

"Yeah..." Lee gasped. "I was born this way... I can't use ninjutsu, genjutsu too... There's no way for me to use chakra to power my body up without doing a lot of damage to myself..."

Naruto nodded. What an existence he had... And this boy still wanted to be a ninja? It took willpower, guts to do something like that, and Naruto was both happy for and amazed by him. Judging by the speed and ferocity of Lee's attacks, he was a very powerful taijutsu specialist. Very powerful... even for a normal ninja. A handicapped shinobi that could duke it out with the best... There was something to be said about hard work, after all.

"So... tired..."

The blonde genin nodded. The workout that the boy had put himself through would, without the use of chakra, topple even himself. It was amazing that he hadn't already fainted yet. If nothing else, at least Lee had been blessed with extraordinary endurance and consitution.

"It's okay. Okaeri nasai, Lee-kun."

Lee found his eyes starting to droop.

"Wait... what's... name...?"

"Me? Well... I'm just a person who works hard, like you."

Naruto wasn't sure if his words went completely to the young genin, but he knew it wouldn't matter anyway. By the time the green-clad genin gets up, he would've already categorized the blonde foxboy as a figment of a tired imagination.

He stood up from where he had been sitting, and walked off into the distance.

---

"So... Rassetsumaru failed."

The room was hidden in darkness. Several figures stood around a glittering pond, which shone even though there wasn't any light in the room to reflect. It was one of the figures that had been talking, and it had an agitated air around it. Its voice was distorted, making the gender of the speaker hard to figure.

"He was weak. When he took that pact with the demon, he had expected power tens of times more than what he had gained." Another figure said. "He didn't realize that neither his body nor his mind were suited... Demonic powers need to be trained to become stronger, just like normal shinobi abilities."

"But what matters is that he didn't even manage to retrieve the Forbidden Scroll..." The first figure said. "This won't do."

Another figure, neither the first nor the second, seemed to think about this for a while.

"Hmmm... This will be problematic." The third deducted. "But we don't need the scroll right now anyway. If the time comes and we are truly without it, I shall send one of my best warriors to remove it from its place in 'leaves within the flame'."

The first accepted this suggestion.

"Very well then, Mokuyobi. But for now, we wait."

Mokuyobi bowed, and retreated into the rest of the figures. In the dim lighting, it was hard to tell which one he was.

"Any reports, Kaiyobi?" The first figure asked.

Another figure, Kaiyobi, stepped forwards.

"...There's been reports. The snake is starting to move out. It seems like its target is the 'leaves within the flame'. For what reason, my spies do not know, but there are rumours among their ranks. The red wheel is one of the land's most protected treasures, and its value is such that the other Hidden Villages look upon it with envy and jealousy. The red moon group are still in hibernation, though some of my spies have reported that there have been various avatars in various villages attacked at the same time. It can't all be coincidence."

"Thank you, you may step down." The first figure said, slowly.

Kaiyobi did so.

The second figure cursed.

"So they're still trying to use the power of demons for themselves, eh?"

The first figure nodded.

"The power of a demon is something to behold. Humans are controlled easily by jealousy and the need for power. As long as there is power in the world, people will have the desire to hold it within their own hands. This is one advantage that our own group has, remember?" It said. "But everything happens for a reason... After all..."

A hand suddenly appeared out of the cloak that it had hid itself in. The hand looked perfectly normal, though looks could be decieving. With a flick of the wrist, flames suddenly erupted out of it.

"...We hold the favour of Kyuubi-sama. Together, we will not fall."