Naruto had burnt out most of his energy running to the hospital, it didn't help that he had run into a couple of poles along the way. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't see through tears. He walked in slowly to the desk and looked up, "Where is Akihiro Uzumaki?" He got through a combination of heavy breathing and sniffles. His head was bleeding and the nurse at the counter ran around it. She got on her knees and looked at the boy's head, the wound already closed. She saw red in his eyes, and realized that she should just bring him there quietly. She walked him down the hall and let him in, running back to her position at the desk.
Naruto walked up to the bed his uncle was laying on. Akihiro looked up at Naruto and smiled weakly, only to see the young boy's face full of tears. "Come on dunce, don't cry. I'll be fine in a few months. I just won't be able to use my chakra as easily." Naruto's face went from sadness to pale with shock.
"But isn't that your whole job? What happened?" Naruto's grip increased on the bed frame, leading to it denting slightly.
"I was learning how some techniques worked in the Hyuga clan. They have a prodigy and needed me to take a look at his moves. He hit me a few too many times and damaged my chakra system. I think his name was Neji. He was a bit older than you!" Akihiro laughed lightly and started coughing. He smiled again and patted Naruto's head. "I've been recording everything I'm going to teach you since you were five. I have different sections in a storage shed on the Hokage's property. It's all planned out. Once you finish with the leaf, ask the Hokage for wind section one, and once Zabuza gives the okay, ask for clan section three. I've asked him to keep these as a clan secret just for us."
Naruto's irises were purely red at this point. The marks on his face looked deeper and he chakra once again boiling over in the rippling spikes. His teeth almost looked sharper, and his scars glowed a light red. At this point Akihiro chopped him on the head. "Calm down you animal. In about two months the Chunin exams are happening. He will definitely be there, and so should you. Don't do it for revenge though. Do it to prove we are not weak, and sometimes being stronger means to show mercy." Naruto nodded, not listening to his uncle at all. All he could hear was the words "Kill That Brat, NOW!" over and over. He left his uncle to rest and went right to the Hyuga clan's land. He slammed his fist on the gate and dented the door.
"COME OUT, I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE NEJI." Naruto's voice was distorted, fluctuating between his normal pitch and a much deeper one. His chakra boiling over even more rapidly at this point, his teeth definitly more like a Inuzuka's dog-like teeth. The marks on his face stretching across his cheeks. His eyes a deep red, similar to the sharingan. His fingernails almost like claws.
Soon a guard opened the door and let him in. Naruto smelled the air, and dashed straight to Neji. He didn't even notice that the guard didn't have the Hyuga's unique white eyes and a devilish grin. The only one Naruto had the time for was Neji.
He spotted Neji in a training area and dashed over, grabbing his head and slamming Neji into the ground, making a crater. The brick of the ground shattering against Neji's head as blood leaked out. He didn't even have time to react to Naruto's assault. A group of ninja wearing all black and animal masks came and moved Neji out of there. They then quickly threw up hand signs, breathing harshly letting out a gas. Naruto soon felt drowsy and fell to the ground.
Naruto woke up in an unfamiliar room, laying on a bed that he thought must have been as old at their apartment building. He got up and saw one of his biggest fears, Zabuza cracking his knuckles at him. "Kid are you sure you're worth the trouble. I have to take care of you for the time being? What is this bullshit?"
Naruto just held his head, groaning "What happened, and what time is it?" Zabuza threw a scroll at Naruto and then left the room, his sword almost getting caught on the door frame.
Naruto unraveled the scroll and read it, "Naruto, this is the worst way one could tell you, but you are a jinchuriki. More specifically the Nine Tailed fox. This scroll was to be given to you when you first showed signs of it. I had never seen it while we were training, and figured that in the best case scenario we would never hear of the beast. I have prepared a set of instructions for each rank you are when you discover it. As a genin you are to be put on a team with a sharingan user. As a Chunin you would be put on a form of house arrest until we could get someone to train you. As a Jonnin I would use a favor I gathered during the Third Great Ninja War to get you trained by the eight tails jinchuriki. I happened to meet his master on the battlefield and got a friend to spare his life. I hope that something I did didn't set this off. I would hate to be the cause of a rampage. I also hope that I'm alive but out on a mission and in good health while you are reading this. I'm a little too young to die this soon. I hope. -Akihiro"
Naruto was in tears yet again. He sat there in a depressed state for about three hours, till he wiped away his tears and put on his regular smile. He walked out into the kitchen where Haku and Zabuza were eating, "I'm ready. Sensei!" He said as he snapped his goggles on his forehead.
Zabuza smiled at the boy and went into the back, grabbing a basic Katana and throwing it at Naruto. Not gently, almost as if he was trying to take the younger boy's head off. The katana split Naruto's hair in two pieces down the middle. He gulped and pulled it out of the wall. On his way out Haku had two words of advice for him, "Good Luck."
Naruto walked out, holding the katana in one hand. Zabuza shook his head and put a palm to his face. He dashed up and smacked Naruto in the back of his head. "Don't try to imitate me brat. Before you even try to wield a sword one handed you need to be able to swing it with two. You need to learn how to swing it without breaking it, a katana is made to hit and parry is specific ways. If you hit correctly, it's unbreakable. If you don't, it shatters in your hands." Zabuza showed him the proper way to hold it, while there was a slight glint in the window across from the one they were training outside of.
"So he's going to be our new teammate? Why is that again and why do I have to watch out for him?" Asked a young, brooding teen that we know as Sasuke.
"Well I can't really tell you that, but think about it. You guys are in similar positions. I feel like you guys could be great friends." Answered an older man with a white poof of gravity defying hair. His head band went across his eye like an eyepatch, and he wore a mask on the lower part of his face. He put his hand on the younger ninja's shoulder. "Trust me, you guys have a lot in common." He said smiling with his one open eye.
The next three weeks of Naruto's life consisted of D-rank missions, training, eating and sleeping. First thing in the morning he had to make breakfast using at least four differently cut ingredients, while cutting them with a katana. After about the first week he was able to do it one handed, which sped the process up. Which was good considering he would get punished if he took too long. After breakfast he would do daily warm ups consisting of 200 horizontal push ups using the wall, a half an hour handstand, running around the entire Uchiha wing five times, and a ten minute sparring session. The trick was that he had to do the non-timed ones quickly, or else he would be late to doing missions with his new team. Speaking of which, he hated them. His new sensei, Kakashi, was lazy, and easy going. Which made for an awful would constantly be late for the team meetings that he scheduled. It was good for Naruto and bad for the team. The worst part is he picked up the missions on the way, so that Naruto couldn't open his big mouth and accidentally get them an A rank mission. His new male teammate was the one person he hated most, although he couldn't tell him considering that he was letting them live on his land. Sasuke Uchiha. He was the pompous prick that was top of the class in the academy. Every girl liked him except for a few and none of them would shut up about him. If you even spoke one bad word about him, you were in for a storm. Speaking of his fangirls, in comes one of the number one fangirls, Sakura Haruno. She had pink hair that split out from a widow's peak, showing off her larger forehead. She wore a red qipao dress and dark green shorts. She also seemed to have an anger issue. Anything Naruto "annoyed her" she would hit him square in the head.
Once he would get back from D-rank missions it was time for more sword training. From the Kata used for swinging the katana, then sparring, then more Kata, then channeling chakra into objects, to more and more beginner level stuff for Ninja Swordsmen. Naruto hated it all, but kept doing it. He went through the steps, all to show that he could do it. He could beat "the prodigy" that crippled his uncle. He could beat anyone he put his mind to. At the end of the third week, Zabuza took Naruto aside and put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I think you are ready to pick out a weapon you want to specialize in. Something you will become famous for. Now, I know you want to bring your clan to you, and you want fame so I picked out something that will make you stick out like a sore thumb." Zabuza whistled and Haku came around the corner, holding a scythe with a handle longer than Naruto and a blade about half as long as his body.
"What's this? A long sickle?" Zabuza laughed at what Naruto had said.
"It's a scythe. A weapon of the reaper himself, as well as a weapon that ninjas don't normally use, making you stick out and easier to get attention. You can broadcast the Uzumaki clan as the reapers of Konoha, and it's sacred protectors. It will add an intimidation factor to everything you do. Combining it with your wind chakra nature will make this thing the most deadly weapon." Naruto smirked at hearing this. Something that will not only make him stick out, but a threat. It was perfect. He took it into his hands, having trouble balancing it. He tried swinging it around and slammed himself on the ground, due to centripetal force. "It's gonna take some practice. Your training will be the same, although from now on instead of Katas you will be just working on how you like to swing it. As well as you will be working on the Jutsu that your uncle left for you. Go get them brat." Naruto nodded and ran off, dropping his scythe and moving at his top speed.
Naruto knocked on the Hokage's door. "Come on in, Naruto." He walked in with a confused face. "I know everything that happens in this village. I also have these for you." The Hokage opened a desk drawer and pulled out two scrolls, handing them to Naruto.
"Thank you Old Man Hokage!" Naruto bowed and took the scrolls, running out.
"That boy is a lot of trouble, but he will be a great man. I hope." The Hokage spoke out loud, a figure walking in from the window. He had long spiky white hair that went down his back. He was quite taller than the Hokage, wearing a short green kimono with a chain mail, long sleeve shirt underneath. It was the same man who had sneezed when the Hokage was talking about him with Akihiro.
"It seems you don't need me for now. He has a few good teachers. Plus his chakra levels are monstrous. Let's talk about our old friend, Orichimaru." The man turned to the Hokage, and opened a scroll across his desk. There was a long description of people going missing, as well as a new village appearing, The village Hidden in the Sound. "I think he may be the Kage of this fake village, using it as a place for his experiments."
"Yes Jiraiya, but can you be sure, this is quite the claim." The Hokage and Jiraiya started working into the details.
Naruto had made his way back to the Uchiha clan property, when he was stopped from entering. He was stopped by none other than Tenten and Lee. "What do you two want? It better be important." Anyone could tell from Naruto's voice that he wasn't messing around today.
"Is it true? Did it really happen?" Tenten spoke up, gently and almost scared.
"What that your teammate crippled the last of my family? Why, yes it is. Leave now." Naruto went to walk inside the compound when Lee stepped in front of him.
"No, we are talking about you smashing Neji's head into the ground and injuring him." Lee's face was stern and his large eyebrows furled. "I do not know why you would attack our teammate like that, and if he did injure your family, I do apologize. But I can not let this go. He may be rude, but he is our teammate." Lee got into his fighting stance, low with his legs spread, one hand up and the other to his side. At this point, Sasuke left the compound seeing a fight break out in front of his home.
"Take it somewhere else losers. I don't want to have to ask twice. Especially you Naruto. I don't want to have to kick you out." Lee moved his focus to Sasuke and stared him down.
"I also have business with you, young Uchiha. I need to fight and win against you." At this point, even Zabuza heard the commotion. He came out wielding his sword.
"LISTEN UP BRATS. The exams are coming up soon, so fight it out there. I'm sure you will get enough chances." He swung his sword into the ground, bringing up quite a bit of dust. "I'm sure everyone can agree to that." Lee got out of the stance he was in and bowed.
"I will see you two there then." Lee grabbed Tenten and they all left. Sasuke glared at Zabuza.
"Relax weakling, I'll clean it up. You can't kick me out anyway, that's up to the Hokage." Zabuza used a light earth jutsu to close the gash in the land, and Naruto entered the compound. He opened the Clan section three scroll and read the title, "Uzumaki: Chakra Chains." He got to learning. He had three to four weeks to master this technique and his new weapon. He had to work.
Omake- Zabuza's First time Teaching
As part of the deal to live and raise an army in the leaf, Zabuza had to teach a class at the academy. What he wasn't told is that he would be teaching the first years their kunai basics. As soon as he walked in with the large sword on his back, he heard a wave of screams. He looked around, his face growing angrier and angrier, seeing five and six year olds across the room. Haku walked in after him and gained the attention of all the boys in the class.
"Hello Brats. I'm Zabuza, the demon of the mist. I'm going to be teaching you kunai basics along with my personal student, Haku."
The kids mirrored back the words, "Good morning Zabuza and Haku sensei."
Haku waved with a smile and Zabuza nodded. Maybe he could get used to being called sensei. He had Haku bring out a box full of wooden kunai. "Okay brats, pick up and hold your kunai so your thumb side of your dominant hand is near the non bladed part." Zabuza demonstrated with his own metal kunai. Haku used his ice style to create a row of dummies, all that looked like Zabuza. "Haku! What is up with that!"
"I figured that the students needed a target, and something big and scary would help them not be afraid in the future." Haku bowed for the students. "Despite being very good with a sword, Master Zabuza is bad with throwing and using a kunai. Don't be wrong he is still deadly with it, but not as good as others at his level. When striking with a kunai, move as if you are punching your target, and then turn your wrist." Haku demonstrated, and all the boys listened eagerly, the girls rolling their eyes. This continued for a bit, with Zabuza sitting on the sidelines.
One of the boys yelled out, "Why is Zabuza sensei making the cute and fragile Haku sensei do all the work? A girl shouldn't have to work this hard!"
At which point Zabuza started to laugh. It was a boy wearing a long blue scarf, pointy brown hair, and yellow shirt with the symbol of the leaf on it. Haku spoke up, "That's because I'm not a girl Konohamaru." At which point all the boys yelled out "huh" and the girls started laughing at them.
XXX Author's Note XXX
Sorry about the shorter chapter, but I added the intro to Konohamaru, as well as a bit more of Zabuza and Haku's time in the leaf. The next chapter will take a while as I hope to write the entire Chunin exams in it, as well as I'm going to be working on my My Hero stories, and Hope to get at least 5 chapters done between the two of them.
