Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Reviews:
Dsecret: According to my online dictionary shounin means merchant.
naruhina1: No this isn't yaoi although I'm not yet sure as to which pairings I'm going to use. And as for Hinata's stutter, don't forget that Naruto hasn't been around for her to spy on. It seemed in the anime as if Naruto really was an inspiration for her to stop being so shy.
Gohen-fire: I'm not yet sure on which pairings I'm going to use.
As for the rest of you, thanks for all the positive reviews, it really encouraged me to start writing up the next chapter.
Summary last chapter:
Kakashi and the rest of the of Rook Genin are on border patrol when they encounter a young merchant by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, apparently on speaking terms with the infamous Daemon Brothers both missing-nins from the Hidden Mist Village.
"Of course I have your order, and please do not call me shounin-sama, makes me feel so old. Just call me Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." The blond cheerfully told the duo of missing-nins. While he spoke he expertly folded his cart open, revealing numerous shelves with all kinds of goods and strange gadgets. Various spring-loaded items shot out of the cart, several posters giving information on which items had discount, a money till and last but not least a big sign with a red spiral on it and it read 'UZUMAKI NARUTO, SHOUNIN' in blue letters.
The young merchant proudly gestured around whilst addressing the two ninja's in front of him. "Please feel free to browse around, as you can see the kunai's are on discount buy ten and get the eleventh for free." Though the blond seemed to be rummaging amongst the shelves, testing a few crossbows he was paying close attention to his two customers determined not to let them steal any of his merchandise.
While the two fearsome Daemon Brothers were out shopping, Shino returned with Asuma and his team of Genin; Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and the plump Akimichi Chouji.
"Yo." Kakashi lazy welcomed the four ninja's. Pointing towards the strange stall with his orange book. "The two nins with slashed for-head are the Daemon Brothers and are shopping for supplies. The one in the orange coat is the shopkeeper, apparently his name is Uzumaki Naruto."
"Really? Uzumaki eh?" Asuma took the cigarette from his mouth and regretfully put it out. He hated wasting a good cigarette, but the smoke might be smelled by an enemy ninja and endangering his squad was not something he wished to do. "So what do you plan on doing Kakashi?"
The silver-haired Jounin thought about that question for a little while. Underneath him the two ninja's were bartering with the merchant, haggling over the price of the newest in ninja fashion. I never expected the infamous Daemon Brothers to be so feminine, shopping and haggling over clothes.
Chuckling softly at his thought Kakashi motioned the other ninja's to wait, if the two missing-nins would cross the border then they probably would have to fight them. Kakashi went back to his book, trying to block out the haggling.
"It's a deal." Naruto finally conceded. These two drive a hard bargain, we've haggling for the last thirty minutes. Only Haku takes longer to haggle and I'm sure he's gay. Hmmm makes you wonder. The blond-haired merchant thought as he handed his customers their wares. In return he received two scrolls. Not looking he stuffed them both in his orange coat. "Please feel free to drop by any time." As the two nins disappeared out of sight, Naruto rummaged in the pockets of his cloak. "Where is it, not there. Damn that blasted thing. Ah here it is!" With a grin he extracted a for-head protector from his cloak. "Damn this is Mist, I'm looking for Sand. Nope, this Grass. Where is that Sand hitai-ate? Ah there it is! Finally." After pulling out the right for-head protector, Naruto quickly fastened it around right upper arm. As Naruto was about to close down his cart his 'tenant' decided to have a small chat with him.
How you doing Brat? Still as small as ever?
Fuzzy, what's up? How about we go and have a stroll in the park? Oh, that's right I forgot you're in a cage. Now isn't that a shame.
As good mannered as ever I see, not now though. We're being watched.
Really? Thanks for the heads-up Furball.
Anytime, and by the way did you know that orange is the new pink?
Shaking his head at the usual banter he endured when talking to Kyuubi, Naruto thought about what he should do. Several plans flashed through his mind but he settled on the easiest. Taking of his straw hat the shounin spoke up. "Alright, I know you're out there, you can come out now."
This statement surprised Kakashi so much he nearly fell out of his tree. Composing himself quickly the Jounin jumped out of the tree, while motioning the rest of his squad to follow him. Slightly apprehensive of this strange merchant the five Genin readied themselves while the two Jounin keenly observed this stranger.
Hearing leaves rustle to his left, Naruto faced that direction. He saw seven ninja's, five were cautious and ready for surprises while the other two were just staring at him. Flashing his fox-grin he spoke up. "Heh, nice to know that I wasn't talking to air."
"What do you mean?" the silver-haired one asked. His silver hair seemed to defy gravity while his whole face was covered save for his right eye.
"Easy" Naruto replied as his fox-grin grew across his face. "I just guessed the borders would be guarded and tested my theory. I really had no idea if somebody was there."
Kakashi silently thanks the Kami for his mask because his face was flushed slightly pink in shame. I've been tricked like I was some kind of Genin. Who is this guy?
Unbeknownst to Kakashi the rest of the ninja had exactly the same though; Who is this guy? As if sensing their unspoken question Naruto shifted back into merchant-mode. "Welcome to my humble enterprise. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, a shounin. I bring you the finest silk imported from Mist, the classiest pottery from Sand and the deadliest poisons from Grass. At the moment we have a special discount on kunai's; discount buy ten and get the eleventh for free."
Coming to his senses Kakashi pointedly at the hitai-ate the Uzumaki boy was wearing. "How come you've got so many of them? And why did you choose Sand?" The boy rolled his eyes at the question. It had been one of the things he learned when he had become a merchant. "It's really simple. Look, people buy more from you when you come from an exotic place. And since Leaf is allied with Sand I'm more likely to sell stuff when I'm from Sand."
Ino blinked at the explanation the blond gave while Shikamaru just sagely nodded. Finally finding back his voice Asuma said "But you can't just go and say you're a Genin. You have to have received proper training and learned the basics of chakra. And since you do not have a lot of chakra you cannot be a Genin." Feel proud at his comment, Asuma lit a cigarette in satisfaction.
Rolling his eyes Naruto answered the weird chain-smoker "You don't need any chakra to be a ninja. For once, I'll give a small demonstration. Most Genin teams are three-man teams right? Well bring me three Genin and I'll defeat them."
You sure about that Brat? Without chakra even three can be an awful lot.
Aww, the great fuzzy wuzzy hairball cares! He really cares, now that warms my heart
Your funeral Kit, and call me fuzzy wuzzy again and I'll devour you while shredding your sole into little pieces.
Now that's the Kyuubi I know, I was wondering what had happened to the real Kyuubi.
Ending his insult-throwing spree against Kyuubi, Naruto pressed on. "Well, do you have three Genin for me to beat?" Shocked at the boy's confidence Asuma motioned his team to attack the blond boy. Seeing her sensei motion her to attack Ino leapt forward while introducing herself.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino, deadliest Kunoichi of all Konoha."
" Che, how troublesome. My name is Nara Shikamaru."
"And my name is Akamichi Chouji"
"And together we are the InoShikaCho Team!"
What the? How retarded are these Konoha nins?
For once I agree with you Brat. This is just plain laughable.
"Right, pleasure meeting you all." Naruto politely replied while trying to keep himself from laughing out loud. Alright, so what did Uncle Ero-Sennin tell me about Konoha Bloodlines? The Yamanako's specialise in mind-control, the Nara's in shadow and…I can't remember what the Akamichi do. So the first one to go down is the blond girl, she yells too loud anyway. I pity her teammates.
Naruto shifted his foot, while rummaging in his pouch for. This action had several different reactions on the Genin in front of him. Ino quickly jumped back, launching into a set of handseals. Shikamaru reached for his kunai determined to protect Ino from any attacks. And Chouji just increased his rate of eating.
"Bring it on!" Naruto roared as he launched himself at Chouji while pulling a smoke bomb out of his pouch. With a POOF both Naruto and Chouji were shrouded in smoke. Ino paused in her jutsu because she did not have anyone to aim it at, while Shikamaru tensed. Both flinched when they heard the enraged voice of their third teammate. "You dirty thief! Give me back my snacks! NIKUDAN SENSHA NO JUTSU! (Meat Tank)
Damn that fatso is fast, and scary when he's angry. He's scarier than you are Kyuubi when you're throwing a tantrum.
I agr- I mean, no way I'm much more menacing than that rolling piece of fat.
Che troublesome, that smoke bomb obscures our vision making it impossible for us to do anything. Shikamaru thought when suddenly he spotted a frantic Naruto with a snack bag under his arm running towards them. Closely on the blonde's heels followed an enraged Chouji in his Meat Tank jutsu. Got you now. Grinning Shikamaru threw a kunai towards Naruto only to see it pass straight through. A bunshin? Shit, Chouji! "Chouji stop!" But it was too late. Before any of the three Genin could react Chouji crashed into Ino and Shikamaru.
Grinning fox-grin Naruto watched as Chouji shrunk to his normal form and the passed out from dizziness. The other two were already unconscious. Feeling satisfied the Kyuubi vessel ripped the bag open and started to munch on the snacks inside.
Kakashi once again found himself thanking the Kami for his mask. At this moment it prevented his jaw from hitting the floor, unlike that of Asuma. Giving the chain-smoking Jounin some time to recover, Kakashi studied the blond in front of him. Hmmm…. he didn't any chakra, so how did he make that bunshin. Other than that his strategy is very impressive, but he must have known the Akamichi fighting style. Still, that was not bad. The Jounin finished his analysis of the fight.
Having finished the snacks, Naruto crumpled the bag and stuffed it away. He chuckled slightly when he saw the still awe-struck Asuma, but quickly became serious when he saw the other Jounin staring intently at him. "You probably want to know how I made that bunshin right?" Not waiting for a reply Naruto went on while pulling a small slip of paper out of his pouch. "You have probably heard of summoning scrolls right? Add a little blood to the scrolls and you have an instant Jutsu. Now I modified this concept slightly." Naruto paused slightly to let the idea sink in, in the mean time the three Genin had woken up and were listening carefully, except for Chouji who was pouting about his stolen snack and was hurriedly consuming some more snacks.
"I see." Kakashi said. "I was wondering why those two missing-nins paid in scrolls." Nodding his head Naruto continued his explanation. "That's right. I carry a lot of scrolls with jutsus in the, enabling me to fight without chakra. This one here for example is a simple Bunshin no Justu, while the one the Daemon Brothers gave me is a Suirou no Jutsu (water prison)." Seeing Kakashi's surprised look Naruto just grinned. Let him think on that the one-eyed weirdo.
You said only one scroll Brat, yet the one-eye spoke of two scrolls.
That's right, the other scroll was information. Uncle Jiraiya will be happy with the information.
Whatever shortie.
Ignoring the Kyuubi Naruto started to collapse his cart, making it ready for travelling. Just as he was about to leave a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Sighing Naruto turned around. Damn, and here I was hoping they would let me go. "What is it that you want, it's illegal to stop allies from entering the border."
Kakashi chuckled and increased his grip on Naruto's shoulder. "Something tells me you're not a normal ninja. So you're coming with me." Sighing in exasperation, Naruto considered his options.
What do you think Kyuubi, I could try and get of here but that would result in me burning off most of my scrolls.
And since you were going to become a Konoha Ninja anyway it seems a little stupid to go blasting your future teammates into oblivion, although I would applaud such an action…
Grinning at the fox's joke, Naruto made up his mind. "Alright, but I'm not leaving my cart so if you could please place your hands on the two circles." Kakashi hesitantly did so, the circles were part of a intricate design that, until now, Kakashi had assumed was for decoration only. After the Jounin had placed his hands on the circles, Naruto made a few handseals after which he slammed his hand on the smaller circle opposite those of Kakashi while muttering "Ultimate Henge no Jutsu". Kakashi felt a lurch as chakra poured from his hands into the circles. With a POOF the cart vanished leaving a heavy looking scroll. Nice. This one is just as big as the one Ero-Sennin carries, only his is filled with all kinds of perverted books.
"Thanks for the chakra, I couldn't have done it without you." Naruto said while grinning fox-like. Strapping the scroll onto his back the former merchant waited for Asuma to recover from yet another mind-numbing surprise.
After Asuma had recovered he motioned towards the other two Genin that had stayed out of the fight. "Naruto, meet Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino." Both Genin continued doing what they had been doing during the entire encounter; Shino just stood there, as impassive as a rock, while Hinata kept on blushing and poking her index fingers against each other.
Okay what a bunch of weirdo's came to Naruto's mind as he observed the strange people in front of him. Unbeknownst to Naruto a certain demon fox was furiously nodding his head at that thought, agreeing with it entirely. "Well shall we go then?" Kakashi asked while making sure Naruto was following him.
"Yo." Kakashi lazily greeted Kurenai, it seemed he had slipped back into lazy-mode as the threat was over. "Kakashi, who is this?" And why is he wearing orange, does he want to get killed or something? He is of the Sand, yet I cannot detect a lot of chakra in him. Strange.
"Kurenai, I'll introduce him but it would be quicker to do it in front of everybody." Kurenai nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke to go and get the other Genin. Once they were all present, Kakashi lazily pointed at Naruto while introducing him. "Ma, everybody this is Uzumaki Naruto, he is a merchant and a shinobi of the Sand Hidden Village. Naruto, I'd like you to meet Sarutobi Asuma" A chain-smoker and he's easily surprised. I wonder if he's a pervert?
"Yuuhei Kurenai" Jiraiya better not see her or he'd never leave Konoha She seems a genjutsu or ninjutsu type, as she doesn't carry any weapons
"Hyuuga Hinata" She's shy isn't she? And she looks sunburned to me. Bwuahahahaha clueless as ever. eh? Whatever you stupid fox.
"Aburame Shino" He looks as interesting as a rock. Don't forget, the more boring or foolish a ninja looks the more power he has. Yep, and that's why I wear this orange coat. No, that's because you are stupid and like eye-gouging colour.
"Inuzuka Kiba" He looks dog-like, is he from that dog-clan? Yes. Good, then I finally get a chance to test my dog repellent.
"Yamanaka Ino" She looks like she's more interested in hair-sprays than kunai and shurikens. Great, that means I can finally get rid of that batch of shampoo. Have I ever told you that I hate blondes?
"Nara Shikamaru" Damn he looks bored. The more boring the more power.
"Akamichi Chouji" Kyuubi, if I ever try to steal food from this guy again then stop me please. My idea exactly, he's just plain scary when he's angry.
"Hyuuga Hanabi" Woah, what crawled up her ass and died? Kyuubi you didn't do what I think you did? I swear it wasn't me! I swear on your grave. I don't even have a grave furball. That can be arranged if you wish.
"Haruno Sakura" Looks like another empty-headed bimbo. Those are always great for business. Pink? Gah, it burns me. My EYES! THEY BURN! Stop howling like that you oversized…ehm you oversized fox!How original, what's the matter? Has your brain overloaded...again?
"Uchiha Sasuke" A prick if I've ever seen one. He looks kind of familiar. That would be a mirror you're looking at.
"And finally me, Hatake Kakashi" Wait, is he reading Icha Icha? He's a pervert! Hold on for a minute, I've run out of snide remarks to make. Damn.
Snickering at the last comment the Kyuubi made Naruto flashed a smile the assembled ninja's. "Pleasure to meet you all."
Author's note: Phew, that fight really was more difficult than I expected. I hope it's a bit clear what happened. As for Naruto's past, I'll drop hints here and there but for the all revealing flashback you'll have to wait a few more chapters. Hope you liked this one.
Until the next chapter
P.S. Akki, is this chapter long enough for you?