Chapter Fifteen.
Naruto Uzumaki - Part 9.
(New Beginnings - Part 2.)
29th March 1914 - Morning, Naruto's Apartment:
Naruto woke up refreshed and happy, he hadn't a decent sleep in a long while, as he was bothered by those around him and what they thought of him. But after talking to Akane and the Hokage the day before, he came to peace with his life and that he shouldn't be bothered about what people should think about him. Sure Hana and Tsume told him this before, but for reasons he didn't understand, he didn't believe them. Maybe it was because they were part of the village and so part of his mind was thinking that they were saying it for some reason, but for a stranger to saying it, someone who had no reason to, seemed to help him. This helped to claim his mind and for the first time in awhile without training so hard to sleep, he had the best night sleep ever.
As he woke up and got ready for the day, he looked at Mirai and Aiko and said with a smile, "Well girls, today is the day that I start becoming a even better ninja than I already was." here the two kitsune yipped in agreement, happy that their friend and master was going to start to become the ninja they knew he could become if he had the help to do so. Sure he couldn't had strength and skill already, but they knew that without someone to show him what mistakes he was making, he become the ninja he wanted to become.
"I know that Akane said she would help me, but I'm not sure how can she." Naruto told his two friends, "Whilst I'm decent enough in taijutsu, thanks to you two and the scrolls that someone left me from time to time, I still need help with the forms. As I've been told my footing and stance are wrong, but no one was willing to help me. Which she might be able to help, but I don't know if she can help with my ninjutsu and genjutsu, which I find impossible to do."
Here the two kitsune whined at this, seeing how they knew how bad Naruto was with genjutsu, he couldn't do the basic clone which was a genjutsu/ninjutsu hybrid. Sure that his chakra control was awful, which explains why he was bad ninjutsu and genjutsu, but even then it doesn't explain why he can't do a few basics genjutsu or how he can't cancel or detect a basic one when he was caught in one.
"But even if Akane can help me if I want to become a great ninja and the next Hokage, I need to be able to do things on my own. But that would mean I have to create a clone, learn to better control my emotions, and pretty much change everything about me." He said becoming more annoyed toward the end of his statement.
"The question then would be, is without the help of Akane, how am I supposed to do that?" he asked Mirai and Aiko. He knew he could try the library, but two problems with that, one is that he had problems reading, which is one of the reasons he was better learning by doing than reading. The other is that the librarians made it very clear that he wasn't welcomed there, and no one would be able to help him. Outside of the Third Hokage, Hana and Tsume, the people at the ramen stand didn't know anything about being a ninja, and the old man certainly couldn't drop what he was doing and train him.
'Well, I guess I'll have to see the old man and see what he can do to help.' Naruto thought to himself with a sigh, as he got dressed and left his apartment, with Mirai and Aiko. 'And if he can't help, I should take up Hana and Tsume's offer of help up at least.' Hana and Tsume often offered to help, as they won't worried about what the village thought of them, as they were one of the most important clan's in the village. They won't as important as the Uchiha and Hyūga Clans, they still had a standing in the village that villagers wouldn't risk upsetting them. But over the years Naruto didn't want to risk it, but now with this new conviction to do better, if Hana and Tsume were still willing to help, he would take it up.
o0OoO0o
Hokage's Office:
As he walked through the village to get to the Academy, he was once again greeted with the same hateful and cold glares as he got most of his life, but after the talk with Akane the day before, he refused to even acknowledge the people. They didn't want to acknowledge him, so he would return the treatment.
Naruto entered the Academy, and got to the corridor to the Hokage's Office, he ran into a strange female. She had purple hair in a bun, a trench coat that went to her ankles, a fishnet shirt that left little to the imagination, a tan skirt and shin guards. The outfit left him feeling strange, this isn't the first time he felt such a thing, but there was no one he could go to, to ask about it. He felt embarrassed about it, as one of the strange things that happened to him was that his penis got hard. This is why it was embarrassing, he couldn't ask about it because of this. In fact, this happened to him a few times before, but no one was willing to tell him why it was happening to him.
And to his shook, she had a scent of a snake on her. There were a few people with a scent of an animal in the village, it was mainly cats and dogs, or with the Inuzuka Clan they had a few who had the scent of a wolf, he even got a scent of a monkey from the Third Hokage for some reason. But he never got a scent of a snake from a person before and wondered why that was, like why Akane smelt strongly of a fox and birds.
Before he could think more about it, the snake lady said, "Watch where you're going you brat"
Naruto's first reaction was to yell back, saying she should do the same, but he was trying to reign in his emotions. When he didn't say anything but continued walking the female ninja grabbed him.
"Hey I'm talking to you!" she yelled, as the two kitsune growled at her, defending their friend and master.
"And you are?" Naruto asked.
"I don't have to introduce myself to someone like you." She stated.
"Well then, if you're not going to be polite enough to introduce yourself, I don't have to introduce myself." Naruto told the snake lady. "So if you can be so kind, could you please put me down and we can both go about our business, lady!" Naruto said trying to keep his temper and failing.
"And what kind of business could a kid like you possibly have?" she asked while neglecting to release him.
"I don't know who you are, so I don't have to answer your question." Naruto said smugly.
"Why you little…"
"Is there a problem here?" said a voice behind them, cutting in before the situation escalated.
"No Lord Hokage." Anko said releasing Naruto.
"Well that's good, Naruto did you need something?" he asked.
"Yeah, before this crazy woman grabbed me I was coming to talk to you." He said.
"Who are you calling crazy!" she yelled.
"Enough!" the Third Hokage told her, "Anko you are dismissed, Naruto come into my office and tell me what's on your mind."
"Whatever, I better not see you again you brat." Anko informed Naruto.
"Whatever crazy lady." Naruto said, not know what her problem was. Before she had a go at him, he was all for apologizing to her, seeing that he wasn't sure who's fault it was. But when she began name calling, all bets were off, and he let his emotions go.
As they entered his office Lord Hokage looked at Naruto with disappointment.
"I am disappointed in you Naruto." He said.
"What? Why?" he asked the last thing he wanted to do was lose the respect of those that cared for him.
"You could have handled the situation better. I know that Anko is a little extreme but you shouldn't have riled her up or called her crazy." The old leader said.
"I wasn't going to," Naruto admitted to the Third Hokage, "I was going to apologize to her, seeing that I didn't know who was to blame for running each other. But she had to go on and call me a brat for something I haven't done."
Hiruzen sighed at this, at one point he was glad to see that the young man was at least thinking of apologizing to Anko, but he allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Sure Anko could be a handful at most of the times, if Naruto wanted to become a better ninja, or become a good leader, the young man had to control his emotions. As there's a time and a place for them, and whilst they were taught to hide them it didn't they can't show them at all like many thought it meant.
What the young children at the Academy didn't realize, was that when on a mission, showing any sign of emotions, hate, sadness, happiness and so on, can be a liability. As people could use your emotions against you, or your feelings of hate, regret, love could get in your way, and fail your mission or worse, get someone killed because they allowed their emotions get in the way. It was the best for the mission and for them to leave your emotions at the Village, and deal with anything you feel when you return. So that no one could see them inside of a mission.
But for Naruto, it was different, seeing how he placed seals on the young man years ago to keep his anger in place, it would seem the seals were weakening. The problem was that he couldn't redo them without Naruto noticing, thanks to his age and training.
Hiruzen knew that there was only one way to deal with this, and that was to tell that to become a Kage, he had to control his emotions. So he said, "Yes she did, but was it really necessary to retaliate? If you want to become a good a good ninja and a good leader, then you must learn to control your emotions better." The Hokage informed the teenage, "If you are on a mission and your opponent taunts you, do you fall for it and possibly die? Or if one of your teammates would be killed, if by an accident or by your opponent, would you allow their death affect you and possibly get yourself killed too? Or do you control yourself and think clearly, and allow and deal with your emotions once your mission is done?" The Hokage asked Naruto, trying to make the teen see sense.
"And as a Hokage, you need to control your emotions even tighter, as showing your emotions at the wrong time could lead you and the village into trouble. As allowing your emotions show in a meeting, could lead to war if they are the wrong ones." It might seem harsh, but if the young man wanted to become a true leader of this village like he said yesterday that he needed to know what these things, and so needed to know what to expect as a leader. "I have seen many Village Leaders allowing their emotions to control them, and that leading them to lose of missions, or them going to war with another village. What if Anko was another village leader or a client, what would you think would have happened with the way you acted?"
Naruto then realized what could have happened, "It would have looked bad, she could have decided there could have been no missions for us, and I could have started a war with another village."
"Which is why when you're dealing with people, you need to control your emotions," the Hokage explained, "there are places in this village to allow you to let your emotions out so that you don't let them out at the wrong time."
Naruto sighed. He knew that controlling his emotions was important but he didn't know how to start. And he also he knew about places where people go to relax and allow their feelings go, most could be found near where he lived. "I know that old man and I'm trying to control myself." He said dejectedly.
The wise leader's face softened. "Take it one day at a time Naruto. It takes time to control one's emotions." the old man told him kindly before he went on to ask, "Now what did you want? I don't think you came here for a fight, and get a lecture."
"I want to know if you know how I can improve myself. I know what most of my weaknesses are, but I don't know how to improve on them." He said.
"Well what do you need help with?" he asked.
"I need help in many places," Naruto acknowledged, "but my main problem, and connecting to my ninja studies, whilst I'm decent enough in taijutsu, my forms aren't as good as they can be, so I need someone to help me, to tell me how to fix my footing and stance. The other problems I have is my ninjutsu, which is very limited, and my genjutsu is non-existent, seeing that I have problems with chakra control. And lastly, I suck at written tests and I'm hot-headed." Naruto stated.
"You have thought hard about this." Sarutobi said surprised.
Naruto had a sad look on his face. "I never used to think that hard about things."
"Why is that?" he asked
"Other than for my training, I never really need to think hard about anything because for one, I knew no one cared what I wanted to ask, and so wouldn't answer any of the questions I had and would tell me to get lost." Naruto informed the Hokage, "Two if I thought about it for too long, then I would start to wonder why the villagers hate me and become upset. That's why I decided that if I didn't understand something then I would just disregard it. But as a leader and a ninja, I came to realize yesterday that I would have to think things through, especially if I don't understand it. If I have to make a decision on a topic I didn't understand, I can't very well ignore the topic and rush a decision I have to think things through about."
Hiruzen sighed. He knew that Naruto had it hard in life, most of it was down to him, wanting to make Naruto tougher because of what he was. He knew that as a Jinchūriki, his life would be worse of as most people distrust them because of the power they old, and knew that it would be a long while before his life got better.
"Well I can't help you that much Naruto." the Third Hokage informed the blonde teen, "I don't have the time to train you and it wouldn't really be fair either. I can, however, allow you to go to the library and check out any scroll you want. If they try to give you trouble just tell them that I sent you." He said with an edge in his voice. He didn't like what the villagers did to Naruto, but after so much time passed, that there was very little he could do now. But he could help get the books and scrolls he needed to make Naruto a better ninja, it was the very least he could do after what he put the teen through.
"Thanks, old man." Naruto said as he started to walk away. 'Well I knew that was coming, what should I do now?' he thought to himself, not liking the idea of reading, seeing how he had problems with it and would often do as little of it as he can unless it was needed for part of his training.
"Guess we'll get something to eat then head to the library, before finding Akane.'' Naruto told himself and Mirai and Aiko.
o0OoO0o
As Naruto headed to the ramen stand he saw the lady from before.
'What was her name again? Oh, right it was Anko.' He thought.
He was about to leave it at that and continue on his was until he realized that the villagers were looking at her the same way they looked at him. He saw them whispering behind her back and glaring at her with hate and distrust. What intrigued Naruto, even more, was that she seemed to sense what was going on around her but didn't seem to care. While the glares used to make him feel bad, she didn't look as if they hurt her at all. Naruto followed her, discreetly, to see if he could talk to her.
Anko had entered the dango shop in a bad mood. She couldn't get over how that brat disrespected her earlier.
'I better not see him again for a long time.' She thought, 'Although I have to say he was cute, I could teach him a thing or two about females if he doesn't know already, once I made him pay for disrespecting me that is.' In the mood she was in, she didn't think that he might not have had any idea of who she was and that she was just another ninja.
As for the idea of teaching him about females, she had a few sexual ideas how to do that, ideas that some people would be against seeing he was still young. But in her mind, one you become a ninja, if they believe the child is old enough to kill for the village, they are old enough to drink and fuck as they like. As they could die should the mission go wrong. That's most ninja live as if it was their last, seeing it could be. Although until they become a Chūnin, the chances of that are slim but still possible if their luck is bad.
Either way, she was at her favorite dango shop and as she checked her money, she found that she was short on money so she only ordered a few sticks of dango, but was surprised when the waiter brought more then she ordered.
"What's going on I didn't order all this, and I can't pay for it either." She said.
"They were paid for by that dem… er… kid." he said with disgust on his face, as he pointed to Naruto.
Anko looked over to see Naruto walking toward her, as his two pets stayed where they were.
"What do you want brat!" she said still angry about earlier.
"I wanted to say that I was sorry." Naruto said.
"What?" Anko asked confused. She wasn't expecting that he would apologize to her.
"I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. I shouldn't have lost my temper and escalated the argument." Naruto said.
Anko, as a rule, didn't apologize. She thought it would make her look weak. However, she was fair and if the kid would go out of his way to buy her dango as well as apologize then she should be women enough to accept.
"Apology accepted brat, and for what it's worth I guess I'm sorry too. It was my fault anyway." She said.
Naruto smiled, normally if he were to apologize to someone, it was not uncommon for them to brush him aside or completely ignore him as if he wasn't there.
"Well enjoy the dango, it's not as good as ramen but it's still okay. Maybe I'll see you around." He said as he walked away feeling better.
Anko looked at him as he left and noticed the way the people looked and talked about him. She never thought that there was someone else in the village that was treated the same, if not worse than her. She knew about the kitsune within him, but to her, the kid was simply the jailor. Many thought of him as a demon in human form, it didn't help that he had two kitsune as pets, but she knew better. She knew from personal experience what a demon in human form was like and the kid was nothing like that. She continued to eat as she thought more about the strange kid.
'Naruto Uzumaki,' Anko thought thoughtfully, realizing the teen wasn't the type person she heard about, 'your nothing like what I've heard.'
o0OoO0o
Late Afternoon, Naruto's Apartment:
It was a few hours later since Naruto apologized to Anko, and went to the library to get a few scrolls to learn from. The librarian there wasn't happy to about allowing the demon in, but after confirming that the Hokage really did send the brat there, the librarian had to allow him in. But they kept a close eye on the demon whilst he was there. During which time, Naruto checked out almost every scroll on chakra control that he could.
He knew that he had to start somewhere on improving himself and so he chose to work on his chakra control, seeing that it was something he really needed to work on. Not only that, but it was the only thing he was allowed to look up seeing that he wasn't allowed to look at ninjutsu or genjutsu scrolls, as the librarian said he had to be a ninja to read them. He wasn't sure if that was true or not, he would have to ask the Hokage about this later on. But he was allowed to take a chakra control exercise book out. Although he wasn't sure how much help it would be, at least he would try and see if the book could help or not.
As he got home with Mirai and Aiko, he found that Akane was waiting for him. Upon seeing him, Akane said with a smile, "So Naruto, are you ready for me to teach you to become a better ninja?"
"Sure, but can I ask how? Aren't you a normal citizen?" asked Naruto, wondering how this lady could help him in becoming a better Hokage.
"Let's talk in your apartment." the older teen told Naruto, not wanting to be overheard by anyone. Naruto nodded and he unlocked his door, and the four of them entered the building.
Once in the building, Akane started to place seals around the apartment, so that no one could spy on them or overhear them from the outside. Once done Naruto asked, "What were those seals for?"
"It is so that no one overhears us, or spy on us." Akane informed the blonde.
"Why would someone want to spy on us?" Naruto asked the teen, "I'm not someone important to spy on."
'Oh you're important in more than one way Naruto.' Akane thought to herself, but aloud she said, "It's so that certain people don't learn too about me. As when I came to the village a month ago, I limited certain information about myself."
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't you want people to learn about you?" asked Naruto, "What do you have to hide?"
"Before I tell you this, I need to remind you, whilst I won't lie to you, there'll be times that I can't tell you everything for one reason or another. At which point if I can, I'll tell you why otherwise I just tell you that I can't tell you." Akane reminded the younger teen, "So knowing that, do you still want me to teach you?"
"As long as you can be honest with me where you can, I would like that." Naruto told Akane, he wanted total honestly, but knew that sometimes he couldn't always get what he wanted - he learnt that the hard way.
"Good to hear," Akane said with a smile, "now as for why I don't want people to know more about me, it's because if they learn who I am, and why I'm really in this village, they'll try and try and control me or make me disappear. Before you ask, I can't say who I really am, or at least just yet. But I will when I think it's safe to do so." Akane told her brother, as she saw he was about to say something and expected that it was to ask who she was. And she was right as he closed his mouth and listened to her.
"Now before we begin, I would like to ask you one question," said Akane, "a question I think all kids should be asked before they become a shinobi or kunoichi."
"Oh?" wondered Naruto, "What's so important about this question?"
"It's so that the child can understand what it means to be a ninja, so they can decide if they want to become one or not." Akane explained to the young teen, "So the question is this: what do you think a true shinobi or kunoichi is?"
"Their heroes aren't they?" Naruto asked the older teen, "A ninja is someone who protects everyone and everything they hold dear to their hearts, and to protect their village."
Akane couldn't help but smile at this, as when their grandfather asked the very same question to her, she gave the same answer as Naruto. That they were heroes, done the noble deeds to protect their friends, family and village. But her grandfather gave her the truth about what a ninja was. The truth that she was about to give Naruto.
"Heroes? We might be heroes, but only to our villages." Akane informed her brother, "And that's normally when we have done a great deed of some kind, be it winning a great fight, or be a great help in a war." Akane told Naruto.
"What do you mean heroes only to our village?" the teenage boy asked confused, "We help and protect not only our village but those from other Lands too."
"The truth is we're not heroes, instead we nothing more than hired mercenaries, the best of the best of the mercenary world." Akane informed Naruto, "We might help and protect people from our and other villages, but that's just one side of what a ninja do, the lighter side of our jobs. But a shinobi/kunoichi, have a darker side, a side that the village ANBU normally deal with, we are also assassins… terrorists… hired hands for any job as long as the pay is right. It doesn't matter if they were innocent or not, we use the tools of killing, lying, stealing, cheating, misdirection and deception to get the job we were hired to do done, no matter who it might hurt."
"Th, that can't be true." said a shocked and confused Naruto. Sure he knew that they lie, cheat and steal, and sometimes kill if they had no other option. But the way Akane was telling, a ninja assassinated people, hurt people or any other dark jobs without problems.
He always thought that a hero was to protect people and get information from those who meant to do harm to those who can stop it. That's the reason he wanted to be a ninja, to be a hero to keep the peace and protect people. "I always thought that being a ninja, we protect people and keep the peace." Naruto told Akane honestly.
"And we do, but not in the way that you think." the red head told him.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked in confusion, not understanding how being assassins or terrorists could keep the peace.
"For you to understand, let me ask you something. Why do some people hate the ninja world?" asked Akane.
As much as Naruto hated to admit it, there were a few people who seemed to hate the ninja world, and after some thought, Naruto said thoughtfully and honestly, "I don't really know, but if I have to guess it's because we have control over chakra and they don't. That, and we seem to have more wars than those without chakra."
"That's about sums it up," acknowledge the female teen, "and do you know why shinobi and kunoichi go to war."
If she asked before yesterday, he would have said he didn't know or come up with a stupid answer, but thanks to the talk with the Third Hokage, he believed he knew the answer. "We go to war because someone said the wrong thing to the Village Leader, or to one of the Kage. Either that, or we pissed them off somehow."
"That's right, but there's another reason why they sometimes go to war," Akane told Naruto, "and that's because one clan or Land has become too powerful and some group fear they could become a threat. And so instead of waiting, they go to war with the Land/Clan to defeat them before they could become a threat." She felt sad at this, as she remembered the story of her Clan and Land being destroyed because they become too powerful for some people.
"That's just stupid." Naruto replied in wonder, why go to war with a group who they believe are too powerful? It could just mean they would end up dying, and/or make the Land/Clan a threat to the people who were trying to destroy them.
"I know, I didn't say it makes sense, but it's one of the reasons why shinobi and kunoichi go to war." said Akane.
"But what does all this get to the point that being assassins and terrorists bring peace to our world?" asked Naruto, as he didn't see the point.
"I'm getting to it," Akane told the teen, "I'm just trying to make a point, so you can understand why we do what we do. Now a few more questions, first do you think that if there was no ninja, do you think chakra would just disappear?"
"I don't think so no." admitted Naruto, whilst he didn't do well in class, it didn't mean he didn't get some of it and one thing he understood was that whilst everyone got chakra, not everyone could use it. But those who can become a shinobi or a kunoichi.
"Right," acknowledged Akane, "if they didn't have the ninja to teach those with chakra, they would find another way to learn to control chakra. Next question, if we didn't have the ninja system, do you think the wars would stop or do you think they would continue?"
Naruto thought about this, before answering, "I think they would continue."
"That would be right, but the wars would be worse than anything that we would have." Akane told him.
"Why would that be?" asked Naruto, not sure why wars would be worse for not having ninja in them.
Akane sighed at this, how can her brother not get this, was he just that stupid or did the village do more harm to Naruto than she first thought. So with another sigh, she said, "Because without a Hidden Village to monitor those with chakra, those who learned to control their chakra would go to those who are willing to pay top ryō for their services. This can do so much more damage.
So whilst the ninja world go to war because we have either too much power for one Land or Clan, or we upset the wrong Village Leader/Kage, those who don't have chakra would go to war for the same reasons but more. A Daimyō of the Land could want to go to war over territory, so they can have more land to rule or build on. Another is that one Land has a resource that another Land doesn't have, and so that Daimyō would go to war to get that Land to gain the resource."
"And being an assassin or a terrorist helps how?" asked Naruto, who still didn't get it.
The older teenage wanted to bang her head, and kill someone. Either Naruto was just that stupid, or no one seemed to bother to teach him in the ways of a ninja, or in anyway possible. So with another sigh, she said, "There's two things to stop a war, either kill the leaders and the key players of the war, this should stop most fighting as without leaders and key players, the others will loss the will to fight as they have no one to lead them. However sometimes that might not be possible, and so acts of terrorism to destroy buildings that creates their weapons and help with their resources. As without them, they couldn't keep on fighting for long without them."
That was a lot Naruto to get at, but what he did understand that for war time, to stop a war from lasting for so long. But seeing how there's no wars going on either in the ninja world and the normal world, he didn't see the point of it, as there's no point. "Whilst I don't like it, I can understand in doing so such things, but the thing is we're not at war so we don't have to do such things. So why would we need to do it now?"
"There are criminals and Crime Lords that people want dead and their buildings to be destroyed." Akane explained to Naruto, "Then there are times we might get hired to kill those who might be a threat to the Daimyō or a boss of a high ranking company. Or we start a terrorist attack for some reason but blame it on someone else."
"What if we have to kill children and the elderly?" asked a fearful Naruto.
"You need to understand Naruto, more often than not, as a shinobi and kunoichi, we'll be forced to do things that we never dream of doing. Like killing the children, although that is rare for us to do, we sometimes do so, so that they don't come back looking for payback for what happened to them when they were young. Or someone fears they can be a risk to their Land for some reason." Akane explained simply, "As a ninja, this is the burden we're forced to carry. So that for the rest of the world can have some form of peace, not only do we need to be the good guys, we also need to be the bad guys. I'll admit that the Leaf Village don't normally do those sort of missions as far as I know, but it can happen. Now if we're lucky, as long as we don't get caught, life goes on. But if a shinobi or a kunoichi gets unlucky, their name gets into the Bingo Book."
Naruto didn't know what to think, he had just learnt that if he wanted to become a real ninja, and keep the peace of the world, he might have to kill innocent people, be it a child or an elderly person. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a ninja now if it meant he had to do this. But as he was thinking about this, and heard about this Bingo Book, he asked, "What is this Bingo Book?"
"Not surprising that you don't know it," admitted Akane, "you normally only learn it once you become chūnin if you're unlucky, or a jōnin if you are lucky enough not to be caught. Now each Land has its own Bingo Book with the names of ninja from other Lands, that are a great threat to their Land, or they were caught doing a mission in their Land. Minor things like getting caught stealing normal documents wouldn't get you into the Bingo Book, but top secret ones would, not only that an assassination gone wrong somehow, depending on who it was, would also put you into the Book.
"Now there are a few shinobi or kunoichi who believes that until you get into the Bingo Book, you're not really a real ninja. It is some kind of right of passage to these people. But for me and my grandfather, a real ninja is someone who is able to keep themselves out of the Bingo Book. As once you're in it, unless you are really good at being a ninja not getting caught, you would be limited in the jobs you are able to do, the only jobs you would be able to get is the ones in your own Land.
"For this reason, both my grandfather and I believe that all ninja should wear a facial mask and have code names to hide who they really are." Akane explained to Naruto, "This way you can do jobs in other Lands as long as you want to. To do so otherwise seems to be foolish, and could get you killed sooner rather than later."
It was getting too much for Naruto, he was learning a lot about being a ninja that not once was told in the Academy, things that Naruto thought they should know so they can decide if being a shinobi or kunoichi was something the child wanted to become. If some of the children knew what he was learning now, he wondered how many of them would still want to be a ninja. (Naruto didn't think once that he was being naive, that most of the children who join the Academy knew what they were signing up for. Only a handful didn't know about what it means to be a ninja.)
But he did agree about wearing a mask and having a code name after learning what it meant to be a true ninja. As if the public learned what the ninja did, killing the innocent, namely children, their life would be over, as many people would be after their heads. Or that's what Naruto thought anyway.
"So you know, I'll be teaching you how to become a true ninja," explained Akane, "someone who can sneak in and out of any town or village without getting caught, who knows how to sneak, gather information, lie, cheat and mislead others. I won't be teaching you this Will of Fire bullshit that the Hokage talks about."
"Why do you hate the Hokage so much?" asked Naruto, this wasn't the first time that he sensed that Akane hated the man he looked up as a grandfather.
"I can't say right now, but I do have my reasons for hating him." the older teen admitted.
"Why can't you tell me?" asked the prankster.
"Because you're not emotionally ready." Akane told Naruto bluntly, "If I told you what I know right now, you would more than likely do something stupid. And that would mean trouble not only for you but for me too. As there's many who might not like it that I'm willing to tell you things that a lot of people don't want you to know about just yet."
"Like what?" asked Naruto. He wasn't going to say that he wasn't going to do something stupid if he learnt something that upset him, as he knew that he would most likely would. That's why he wanted help with becoming better so that he wouldn't run off and do something foolish and get himself, those he cared about or his team killed.
"Until you're strong enough physically and mentally, I can't say, as I don't want you to run off and do something that both us would regret." explained Akane.
Naruto sighed, knowing that Akane was most likely right, about needing to be strong enough physically and mentally before learning what she knew. As if she told him something like about his parents, and that they were killed by another ninja, he would want to pay back whoever killed them. But he might not be strong enough to do so, and so he would have to wait for a while. He sensed that Akane would, in time, tell him what he wanted to know.
"In that case, can you tell me why you think that the Will of Fire is bullshit?" asked Naruto, he was confused because it was something that the village believed in. "It is something that the village was built on."
"Oh is it now?" the red head asked sceptically, "So tell me something Naruto if the Will of Fire is about the whole village being a big happy family, where everyone is meant to love, believe in each other, cherish, and fights to protect each other. Then tell me, why is it almost everyone hates you and would be more than happy to see you beaten, killed or kicked out of the village? How is that a family who meant to love, believe, cherish, and protect each other?"
As much as Naruto hated to admit it, he began to realize that Akane was right, if the village cared about the Will of Fire, then why would they hate him. What did he ever do to make them go against him. As far as he knew, no one knew who his family was, and so it couldn't it couldn't have been anything they have done. And he was about five or so when they started to treat him differently, too young to have done anything for the village to hate him. So what happened to change the way they treated him.
"If you must know, part of the reason I hate the village and the Hokage, is because they took everything from me and my grandfather." explained Akane, "There's more, but for now, until I know you won't do something foolish once you learn the truth, I'll limit what I say."
"But the Hokage has helped me." Naruto told the teen, trying to defend the man. Sure he could understand the hatred of the village and in parts the Hokage, but the old man was nothing but good towards him. So he couldn't see how Akane could hate him.
"Oh has he now?" Akane asked sceptically, "So tell me, what has the old man that you respect him so much."
"He helped me to get this place." Naruto started to explain to the other teen, "Not only that, but I'm a prankster, and sometimes I play pranks that people don't like and some people try to punish me, but the old man protects me from it. Letting me off any punishment that I might have, or stopping me from getting punished too bad."
"Big deal," snotted Akane, "I understand that he is the Kage of this village, and so is often busy. But for someone who preaches about the Will of Fire, he doesn't seem to do much when one of his own family members is hurt and getting bullied by other family members. He is meant to be some kind of grandfather to this Village, and you would have thought that he would try harder to protect his grandchildren. And if the others don't like it that he is protecting one of his grandchildren, then they could leave the village. But for some reason, the Hokage decided to leave you to the bullies, from my guess, so not to upset the rest of the villagers. What can of person would do that if he believed in the Will of Fire? If that's not the reason for helping you, then why hasn't he done more to help you?"
Hearing this was like having a punch in the guts, as much as he hated to admit it, but Akane was right. The old man told him about the Will of Fire, and that everyone was like family to him, but yet other than keeping him out of trouble, he did nothing to help him. Until now he never thought about it, as the Hokage always seemed to look out for him and keep him of trouble. But now, he didn't know what to think about it.
As he was thinking about this, a thought popped into his head a thought that he often thought about, "Akane, do you know why the village hates me so much?"
"I do, but at this time I can't tell you." Akane informed the young teen, but before he could ask why, she went on to say, "It's not that I don't want to, but not only are you not emotionally ready, but there are other things getting in the way from telling me. One such thing is that my grandfather wants to tell you this, as he feels he is the better one to tell you this, and any other questions you might have. My grandfather should be here in a few months or so, he has a few things before he can come here and inform you these details himself."
"Why are you so willing to help me?" asked Naruto, having no idea why she would be willing to help when everyone else wouldn't help him.
"Because my grandfather and I are interested in you," admitted Akane, "before you ask why we're interested in you, you'll have to wait for my grandfather. As he wants to tell you this himself."
Naruto sighed, whilst he didn't like to wait for things, but finding out why people hated him, he could wait for a while. Especially if they were willing to train him to get stronger. Before he could think more, Akane said, "Listen Naruto, I know its a lot to take in, so I'll go and come back in a few days to let you think about it all and decide what you want to do. If you still want me to train you, I will, and if you don't so be it. All I ask is that you keep what been said between us stays between us."
Naruto didn't say anything of than nodding in agreement, for the first time in his life he couldn't think what to say. He was deep in thought with everything that was said today, and he needed to think about it all. As Akane removed the seals around his apartment, he was deep in thought. The main thing that he was thinking about was about why people hated him, not for the first time he wondered why the village hated him.
Normally he wouldn't think too much about it, as he thought that one day he could change that when he becomes the next Hokage. But now though, he began to realize that even if he could become a Hokage, the people of Leaf Village would still hate him unless something major change. Realizing this, he began to think of when it all began, he couldn't remember exactly when it all started, but he knew it was when he was about five.
Naruto stayed in his apartment for the rest of the night, thinking about when the village turned on him, and how their hatred made him the way he was today.
To be Continued!
Author's Note - PLEASE READ TO THE END: Here ends the next chapter of The Ninja Overlord, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you'll take a few minutes to leave some feedback to what you thought of it. Now some of you might be thinking that I am bashing the Leaf Village and the Third Hokage in this chapter, but the thing is I'm not, in fact, I'm writing them as they were portrayed by Masashi Kishimoto at this point in the story.
Once again, you'll see that I have used parts of Naruto's True Nindo by Kyuubi123, I did so as I liked how they added Anko. I have been thinking about how I could add Anko to my story, and when I read Kyuubi123's story, I thought it was the ideal idea for my story.