AURA
by Random Writer 46

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Are you sure none of your guys liked the Zero-Wing spouting Demonic Brothers? Cause I loved writing their dialogue. 'All Your Base Are Belong To Us'... Heh, pure genius. Even if those guys that did the translation fluked it. Tell you the truth, they were gonna appear anyway, I just added the illiterate part to make them a bit more interesting. Quirky personalities are the way to go, baby!

People, people... The pairings still aren't decided yet. The part about Naruto being a lady-killer last chapter? That was just good fun. With all of you guys out there reading this thing, I'm not sure if I should have pairings. After all, I kind of want you guys to keep reading, and I'm sure I'll alienate people with pairings if there are any.

Oh yeah. Though you might have doubts about it after this chapter, Haku is not dead. Let me repeat, Haku is not dead. There, you guys happy?

I love writing this thing, and I'm surprised that I haven't gotten bored of it yet. That's what happened to my other (dead) stories. I think this time, the main difference is that I'm getting reviews constantly, most of them either encouraging me to continue or boosting my ego. Maybe this is the real reason I'm working hard to pump out a new chapter everyday. Anything to keep the readers happy! I happen to like the longer reviews the best, though.

With any luck, I'll be able to get this thing to 100,000 words.

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Chapter 8

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"Alright then." Kakashi said. "You might be wondering what you're doing here. Well, the short part is, I need to see your fighting styles and try to improve teamwork. I've realized that not a lot of you have shown each other all your skills yet, so that's what we need to do here."

Naruto nodded, it made sense. To tell the truth, he had only ever seen a few techniques of his teammates, a few of Kiba's, the Jyuuken style of Hinata's, and none of Shino's except for the fact that he used Kikkai bugs in battle. He really wanted to get to know his teammates, and maybe their techniques might speak more about them.

"Well then, first up is me, I guess." Kakashi said. "Lesse here... I've got the Sharingan..."

At his students' confused and wondering glances, he chose to elaborate.

"...Surgical operation, and don't ask how you might go about getting one. The person has to give permission for the Sharingan to not kill you, and all the Uchiha's are dead except for two."

Naruto wondered, was this part of the reason Sasuke was so bitter? And if Sasuke was one of them, then who was the other?

"...I've learnt over a thousand jutsus, maybe. I've never really counted."

His students sweatdropped. This man didn't know his own strength.

"That's about it. I can fill any situation in a battle. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, just say it. Next, Kiba."

Kiba grinned, and patted Akamaru on the head.

"My family specializes in beast-man techniques, jutsu that utilize Akamaru here and myself in battle. It makes me more animal-like, and a lot more powerful and faster. My techniques can also turn Akamaru into another me, so he can kick-ass in fights too!" Kiba said. "I know a few simple Doton jutsu, though I don't use them a lot. My main attack is Gatsuuga, yeah!"

"Very good." Kakashi said. "Next, Hinata."

The Hyuuga heiress blushed.

"Umm... I'm not the best, but I use my family's taijutsu style, Jyuuken." Hinata said. "My Byakugan allows me to see nearly three-sixty degrees, though I'm not sure exactly how far. I know some basic academy ninjutsu, but that's about it."

Naruto smiled to himself. She wasn't stuttering anymore! What an improvement.

"Alright, so that means both Kiba and Hinata need to work on their ninjutsu." Kakashi said. With Kiba's growl of irritation and Hinata's confused look, he felt like he needed to elaborate. "Both of you are taijutsu-heavy... That's not always going to work. Most taijutsu is close-range... How will you deal with long-ranger attackers? I'm not saying you need to be too balanced, but not being helpless would be a good idea."

Even Kiba had to agree that Kakashi made sense.

"Alright, next. Shino."

"...I use my kikkai bugs." Shino said. "I can use them to make clones of myself, attack enemies, and to scout. If Hinata and Kiba's weaknesses are long-range enemies, then my weakness would be close-range, as I don't have many taijutsu techniques."

"Glad to see you know your disadvantages. Naruto, you're up."

Naruto felt the eyes of his teammates and jounin-sensei on him, and suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"Ah, I incorporate a lot of Bunshins into my fighting style." Naruto said. "I can use them to scout, attack, defend, a lot of stuff. I have a pretty large arsenal, around thirty, of long-range jutsu, and enough chakra to use at least half of them before I get tired. I use my clan's taijutsu style," at the looks on their faces, he sighed. "My biological father's clan. So... I guess I'm pretty all-rounded."

Kakashi nodded.

"Good. Alright then, how about you help out Hinata and Kiba with their ninjutsu?" He asked. "I'll teach Shino some taijutsu, since you obviously can't just give away clan secrets, right?"

"Well, yeah..." Naruto said, wondering how he had gotten roped into doing a teacher's position.

---

"Alright then, guys..." Naruto said, uncomfortable. They were alone in the clearing now, with Kakashi taken Shino away somewhere else to train. "Umm, I'm not too sure what to do here, so I guess I'm gonna have to see your jutsu before I can really do anything about it. How about you show me some of yours first, Kiba?"

Kiba grinned his doggy grin.

"Yeah, yeah! Gimme a target!"

Naruto pondered a moment, before light bulb flashed ontop his head.

"Alright then, Hagane Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With that, a few Narutos popped up around them. One of them detached from the group, and walked over into the center of the clearing.

"That one." Naruto said, pointing at the lone Bunshin. Kiba flashed through a series of seals.

"DOTON: SHINJUU ZANSHU NO JUTSU!"

He slammed his hand into the ground, and suddenly Naruto felt his Bunshin sink, as if something was grabbing onto his legs. Though no matter how much he made his Bunshin struggle, it didn't help him when it sunk beneath the earth, leaving only its head up. The Hagane gave the real Naruto an angry look, and he just shrugged.

"Good work, Kiba." Naruto said, nodding. "Though I'm not sure that's what Kakashi-sensei as askign for when he said long-range..."

Kiba nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that. But the only other one I know is a Doton defense jutsu." He said, sheepishly.

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, we're gonna have to work on that. You have an affinity for Doton jutsu, right?"

Kiba scratched his head, and Akamaru barked from the sidelines.

"Affini-wha?"

"An affinity. It's when you're better with a certain type of jutsu than another. Like how I'm good with Bunshins when my dad can't pull off Kage to save his life."

Kiba thought about this.

"Well, I guess so. That's probably why my mom only taught me Doton when she taught sis Katon..."

Naruto smiled. "Alright then, we know what you've got to work on. I've got just the thing here." And he produced a scroll from his vest. He threw it to Kiba, who caught it and flipped it open.

"A list of Doton jutsu?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, you might want to study the theory a bit before you try practical. That's what works best for me, anyway."

Kiba looked at it dirtily, though he still sat down under a tree to study it. He didn't like theory, but hey, Naruto wouldn't steer him wrong, right? Funny how he had only known the guy for a week and was already like that. Reflecting, he noticed that Naruto had that influence on people.

Smartass could probably make friend with a missing-nin too...

---

"Alright, Hinata." Naruto said, slowly. "You don't use a lot of jutsu, do you?"

Hinata shook her head shyly. Naruto grinned.

"Well, we're gonna hafta fix that." Naruto said. "My dad always says that the only thing that diffrentiates a ninja from a martial artist is that they use more than taijutsu. I'm not saying taijutsu's bad, especially for people with no other options," he thought about Rock Lee and his determination, "...But a good shinobi has to use a mix, neither overspecializing nor being too balanced."

Hinata nodded, absorbing this information.

"Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna teach you a list of useless jutsu, and you're going to tell me which ones you find the easiest to learn. Nine times out of ten that's your affinity, okay?" Naruto asked, and Hinata nodded again. This affinity talk was starting to interest her... Something that she could be good at, all her own... "Here's a list of them, I'll help you with any parts you don't understand."

---

"Damn them... idiots..." One of the illiterate Demonic Brothers said. He was Onitaro, the big brother. "Set us up the trap..."

The second brother, Youniro, was still unconscious. He was the one that had been beat to the ground by the blonde kid when they had tried raiding the camp, and was now currently sporting swirly eyes and a large bump on his head. The third brother, Gensanro, kicked him.

"I think he get dead." Gensanro reported. Akuyonro, the fourth brother, snorted.

"He stupid idiot, die not easy." Akuyonro said, and the brothers fell into silence.

Suddenly, they felt the presence of chakra behind them. For a second, Onitaro though it was maybe some reinforcements that the Leaf-nin had sent for before realizing who it was. He quickly calmed his near panicking brothers.

"Up shut, idiots. Reinforcements come." Onitaro said.

The shadowy figure nodded. Using a chakra-infused senbon, it quickly cut through their bindings.

"Much thanks." Onitaro said, rising up from his position. "What big boss want for us?"

"Even though you've failed, my master still hasn't gotten tired of you, apparently. Why didn't you unleash your full power?"

Onitaro chuckled. It was a dark, sinister sound.

"Testing waters." He said. "Tough, yes, nothing can't handle."

The figure sighed.

"Do you mean they're nothing you can't handle, or there's nothing they can't handle?" The figure said. "Start making sense, or I'll kill you."

"You can't do that..." Onitaro said, grinning darkly. "You much too kind, Haku-san."

---

"Why are you two eating so much?" Kakashi asked.

They were sitting around the Tazuna family's dinner table. Tsunami, the old bridgebuilder's daughter, had prepared a lot more food than they had expected from somebody that lived in a ruined country like this one. When asked why she had done this, all she had said was that she had placed a lot of faith on them, and expected them to eat enough to keep her father alive.

Naruto had been genuinely touched by this. It was really a pity that his father hadn't let him outside much back when he had been living here in the Wave... Maybe he would've gotten to know the locals a little bit better.

Kiba and Hinata, however, were shovelling food down their throats. Well, maybe only Kiba was shovelling, Hinata was just eating it the way she always did, except a little, well, maybe a lot faster.

"We need stamina to practice our jutsu with!" Kiba roared, like a dog slobbering after a piece of meat. "I can't practice if I don't got no chakra, man!"

"Ah, what Kiba-kun said." Hinata smiled, the eternal blush on her face, though this time it made her look rather cute than as if she had a sunburn that just wouldn't heal. "We need to get stronger. Those missing-nin that had been sent to kill us we defeated... Gatou wouldn't stand for that. We need to prepare ourselves for the next battle.

Kurenai wasn't really talking much, and neither was Sasuke or Sakura. It seemed like they each had their minds on something else. Kurenai was surveying Kakashi's students, and was wondering if he was willing to transfer one of them over to her team. Sasuke was thinking about revenge, and the words that Naruto had said. Sakura was, of course, thinking about Sasuke, except in a not-so-fangirly way.

They resumed their hyper-speed eating, and Naruto just smiled at their actions. They had a lot of enthusiasm, and that was something he liked.

Kakashi looked towards Naruto, then Kiba and Hinata, and finally Shino. Then he wondered what he was doing wrong.

"Why do you fight?" A voice asked.

Naruto turned around. The voice had come from the kid, probably Tsunami's son and Tazuna's grandson, the way they looked at him. He stared past Naruto, looking directly at Kiba and Hinata.

"Why do you fight?" He asked again.

Kiba swallowed the mouthful of rice he had been chewing.

"So we can win, stupid." He said, tactless as usual. Both Hinata and Naruto blanched, they would need to work on etiquette with Kiba. "We've gotta win, so the Wave can get back to what it used to be before Gatou came!"

Hinata nodded.

"That's why we fight." She agreed.

"Well, you're wrong!" The boy yelled. "What's the point of fighting when all that's gonna happen is that you're gonna get killed!"

It had quite an impact. Tazuna gripped his chopsticks and Tsunami's lips visibly tightened. Each of the shinobi had observed these actions, and wondered what exactly was going on.

"...Who says we're going to get killed?" Naruto asked.

Inari turned to look at them, anger in his eyes. "You are! Nobody can stand against those guys! They're going to kill you, and when he finds out who you are he's gonna make your family suffer too! What's the point of fighting when you're just going to lose!"

Tazuna's chopsticks broke in half with a hard snap, and Tsunami quickly replaced it with another pair.

"...How do you know we're gonna lose?" Naruto asked. "Have you ever tried fighting against them?"

Inari bit his tongue.

"...If you want to stay here and cry... It's okay." Naruto said. "I don't know what Gatou's put you through, but if you don't want to fight, then fine with me. I'll take care of it, so you don't... crybaby."

Inari's eyes widened, and he ran out of the room. The shinobi looked towards Naruto, who ignored them. Turning around, he addressed Tazuna and Tsunami.

"What's happened here?"

And so the entire story came out...

---

"...That's why he's lost hope." Tazuna said, looking at the picture that Tsunami carried in her hands. "Please don't blame him. It's not his fault."

Naruto looked at the two for a bit more, before putting down the bowl of food that he held.

"Thanks for the meal." He said, and stood up. Opening the door, he walked outside.

The cold air hit his face. It was a lot different from the warm atmosphere in the house, but he knew he had to do it.

"Where are you going?" Sakura exclaimed from her seat.

Naruto turned around, taking one last look before going into the woods where Kiba and Hinata had their training earlier.

"I'm going to prove to them that heroes exist. Don't wait up for me!" He said with a grin, and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

---

Everything was peaceful.

It was a new day. The birds were chirping, the grass was a fresh, lush green, and the breeze was nice. It was almost enough to keep Naruto from getting up from his comfortable position on the ground. Almost.

With a groan, Naruto opened his eyes. The sunlight streaming over his prone form was so comfortable...

"Hello there... Are you awake?"

Naruto rose. Quietly, he blinked his eyes trying to clear his vision. In front of him was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was wearing a kimono, and in her hand was a basket of herbs. Medicinal herbs, by the look of it. Naruto yawned.

"Ahhhhhh... Oh, hey." Naruto said. "What're you doing here?"

The girl smiled.

"This field holds the best herbs for wounds and injuries, did you know that?" She asked. "In fact, you're lying on a patch of them right now."

Naruto quickly stood up and moved out of the way, and watched as she began to gather up herbs that grew where he had been sleeping. As he stared at their crushed forms, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. When the girl had finished, she stood up and faced him.

"...Hi, my name's Haku." The flower girl said, and reached out her hand. Naruto shook it.

"I'm Yaiba Naruto, shinobi of Konoha."

Haku rose a hand to her mouth. "Oh! That's rare. What's a Leaf-nin doing here?"

Naruto grinned.

"I was training, of course!" Naruto said. "I wanted to prove to somebody that heroes exist!"

Haku rose an eyebrow.

"...Heroes?" She questioned. Naruto felt obliged to explain.

---

"...Wow," said Haku. "That's quite a story you have going on there."

Naruto just smiled, and nodded his head. Silently, he went back down, and was soon facing the sky again. Haku sat down beside him.

"So, you believe heroes exist?" Haku asked. "How are you so sure?"

"Becaue there's proof." Naruto replied. "Heroes exist everywhere."

Haku smiled.

"Give me an example."

"The Nidaime Kazekage saved the Sand from a C-rank demon attack by sacrificing his four limbs, and afterwards, when the Hidden Grass attacked Suna when it was weak, sent his soul to hell to save his people and to erect an unbreakable sand barrier aroudn the village that lasted three years." Naruto recited. "The Yondaime Raikage. When his village was in danger of being drowned in the ocean, he created an army of Kumo Bunshin (Cloud Bunshin) that lifted the village up by its roots and flew it up into a mountain. The Yondaime Hokage, who gave his life to defeat the Kyuubi."

Haku's smile widened, and this time it reached her eyes.

"It seems like you've been doing a lot of research." She observed.

Naruto laughed. "I guess I've always had an interest in the Kages. I can't help it though. They're people to be respected... Their villages are so important to them, they'd give up their life to protect it. Their sacrifices... should be remembered."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Naruto just thinking and Haku sorting through her basket.

"...It sounds like you want to become Hokage." Haku noted.

Naruto blinked.

"Does it?"

"Yep, definitely." Haku smiled. "Do you want to become Hokage?"

Naruto thought about this.

"I don't know... do I?"

"Well, only you know, don't you." Haku said. "So you were training out here... What were you practicing?"

"Mostly my Bunshin jutsu..." Naruto trailed off.

Haku gazed around. "Really? From the marks on the trees it really seems like you were doing some intense training."

Naruto grinned.

"Nah, those are just my Bakuyaku Bunshin." He waved it off. "They explode."

Haku blinked.

"Oh."

They sat around some more in the same comfortable silence. Naruto was just enjoying the company of a new friend, while Haku realized she had never quite felt this comfortable around another person before, except maybe Zabuza. There was something about him, Haku realized... She never really felt it before. It was like he had the ability to make friends instantly.

Naruto didn't know how long they were there, not talking, and only thinking. Two people lost in their own private worlds. Before he knew it, it was time to go.

"Hey, yo!" Kiba yelled as he ran up to them. "Kakashi's waiting for you! It's our shift at guard duty!"

"Alright, coming!" Naruto cried, standing up.

Haku got up from her position, and brushed a bit of dirt off her kimono. "You're going then?"

Naruto nodded.

"Nice meeting you, Haku."

Haku smiled.

"Same here."

As the kimono-clad girl walked off, Kiba came up beside him.

"What was that guy doing here?" The dog-boy asked.

Naruto gazed at him, confused.

"What guy? I didn't see any guy here..."

"Dude, the guy that just walked off." Kiba said, swinging his arms around. "The guy that you were just talking to! What's his name, Haku?"

Naruto sweatdropped.

"Um, Kiba... Haku's a girl..."

"HA! That's what you think!" Kiba said. "I know that kind of guy! Acting all girly and shit, but then WHAM! When you ask them out on a date you find out he's actually a hairy guy underneath all that barbie nonsense!"

Naruto sweatdropped again.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Of course! I know their type!" Kiba said with a maniacal look in his eye. "Don't fall for it, buddy... Don't fall for it..."

Naruto felt another sweatdrop coming on, before curbing it to the side and letting a grin rise to the surface.

"Sounds like you have personal experience, Kiba." Naruto said, before running off laughing as Kiba screamed at him.

---

P.S. Lesse here. I've been thinking of making a forum for this story and my other ones. What do you guys say? I guess it'll all really depend on the reviewers, since if nobody cares it's not gonna work, right?