5. Final Preparations/Meeting On The Bridge

Scene: Tazuna's House

Naruto and Sai were seated next to Tazuna and Tsunami as they ate their dinner waiting for the rest of Team 7 to come in from training. Inari sat across from the two nin glaring at them as he ate.

Hearing the door open, Naruto sent a quick chakra pulse that was so small, only a sensor could sense it if they weren't right next to the blond. Sai rose an eyebrow as Naruto went back to eating unconcerned with whoever was coming in.

Sai understood why as Kakashi walked in with a slightly exhausted Sakura and a moderately tired Sasuke following him. As the three sat down, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said "So how did Sai do?"

Naruto shrugged and said "About as well as can be expected. He got the concept almost instantly but as we both know, it takes more than that when it comes to walking on any kind of liquid." Kakashi nodded as Naruto continued "He was able to stand after about half an hour but it took him a bit longer to learn how to walk around a bit without sinking. He still can't do it while fighting though so we'll have to work on that tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded before he began eating. Turning to the other two Gennin, Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "And how are you two doing?"

Sasuke glared at him while Sakura hesitantly said "I pretty much have it completely mastered. Right now Kakashi-sensei has me running up and down as many times as I can to build up my Chakra reserves. And Sasuke-kun is a little over three-fourths of the way to the top."

Naruto nodded as Sasuke sent Sakura a glare for telling the blond that he still felt was a dead last that he hadn't reached the top yet.

"Why do you even bother?" Inari asked as he glared at them all.

"Come again?" Naruto asked as he took another bite and swallowed before looking at Inari in curiosity.

"I said why do you even bother? It's not like it will help you when Gato comes to kill you all. You're just wasting your time. Gato is invincible and nothing you do will stop him. You don't even know anything about us or this village and yet you come prancing in so happy and carefree, not knowing anything about pain and you make me sick!"

"Inari!" Tsunami said sternly before a raised hand from both Kakashi and Naruto stopped her from berating her child. Naruto shot a questioning look to Kakashi who nodded answering the unspoken question.

Naruto then turned back to Inari and said "Inari, don't talk about what you don't know as if you do. You say we don't know anything about what pain is, but in reality, compared to some of us at this table, you don't even know the meaning of the word."

Inari glared but before he could open his mouth, Naruto continued. "Let me guess. You probably lost someone to Gato right? Most likely your father or someone who was like one to you since it's only you, your mother, and your grandfather living here and that picture on the wall looks like a person has been ripped out of it. Well let me tell you something, you only lost one person, but Uncle Kakashi lost not only his father, but his two teammates and his teacher as well. The Uchiha kid here lost his entire clan in one night. And I've had it even worse. I've seen the dark side of humanity and let me tell you, it is not pretty. I grew up an orphan the day I was born. From day one I was on my own because almost my entire village sees me as worse than an outcast and let me tell you, it was not easy. The orphanage threw me out when I was around three and I've had to live about two and a half years on the streets wondering if I will be able to find my next meal in time. I've had to avoid mobs who wanted to beat me into an inch of my life over as long a period of time as they could before finally finishing me off. Store owners spit in my face and throw me out of their stores almost constantly. And those who do sell to me usually overcharge me or sell me shoddy goods. I can't even make any friends of my own age because parents would always tell their kids that I was either a bad person or even a monster. Some would even beat me if I even tried to speak to their kids. You think you got it bad? You have no idea how truly blessed you are to live like you do. You at least still have your mother and grandfather. So don't say that I don't know what pain is because in my eyes you're just a little kid who can't handle the real world. People die Inari. It's a fact of life that none of us can escape. Yeah you lost someone when he was killed by Gato, but you aren't the first person to lose someone and you sure as hell won't be the last. It's not the pain that we face in our lives that define us but how we handle it. There are those like you who throw themselves pity parties all their lives doing nothing about it. And then there are those like your grandfather who feels the pain but still goes on doing his absolute best to make a difference. Think about that and then ask yourself this. Do you want to continue doing nothing as the pain constantly builds on itself, or do you want to do your absolute best to make sure nothing like the event happens again? Well you stand up in the night and stand firm, or well you let the darkness consume you? Only you can make that choice Inari, and there will come a time when you must choose. And that choice well have an impact so large on your life that you will only be able to tell how much it did years from the event."

Everyone besides Kakashi was staring at him as he stood up and walked out of the house.

As the door to the house closed, Tazuna turned to Kakashi and said "If I wasn't looking at him as he said that, I would have thought an adult was doing the talking."

Kakashi nodded as he sighed and said "He's had to grow up faster than anyone else in his generation."

"Was he telling the truth? Did he really have it that bad?" Tsunami asked as she wiped away the tears that had sprouted during Naruto's little speech.

"Worse." Kakashi said before turning to Inari and said "Naruto is right Inari. Everyone feels pain at some point in their life, but it's how you handle it that shows what kind of person you really are."

Kakashi then stood up and went up the stairs to the room he was sharing with the other males. As he did, Sakura and Sasuke pondered what Naruto told them since they had no idea how rough his life had been. The only thing that they had seen when they saw Naruto had been the smiling idiot who was always claiming that he was going to be Hokage.

Sai was going over the information that Naruto had gave as well and thought 'So that is how he is so strong while still so young. He had to become stronger than most to survive. Danzo-sama was right, he is not one to be underestimated.'

Scene Change: Forest Clearing

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As the call went out, numerous clones appeared in bursts of smoke as the original stood in front of them.

"All right, listen up! I want all but five of you to work on moving through this forest as fast as you can without using our sonar technique. We're good up to low Jounin speeds, so lets see if we can't reach mid Jounin by morning. Remember to create and dispel every hour and a half. Understood?"

"Hai!"

"Get to it!"

Most of the clones took off leaving only the five clones who were at the front of the group. Naruto grinned as he looked at them while reaching into his kunai pouch with both hands and said "Well then, shall we get started?"

The five clones gave predatory grins as they also reached into their kunai pouches. In one simultaneous movement, the six blonds brought out their hands with the kunai twirling around their fingers before ending in reverse grips and disappeared. For the next three hours, the only thing that the clones working on night time travel without the sonar technique could hear was one practically continuous sound of metal against metal.

Scene Change: Tazuna's House

The next morning, everyone was seated at the kitchen table eating breakfast except for one blond.

Sakura glanced at the empty seat that had a plate placed in front of it before turning to her teacher and said "Kakashi-sensei, don't you think one of us should go looking for him?"

Kakashi chuckled and said "Now Sakura, I know you're worried that Naruto didn't come back in, but if there is one thing that I have learned about Naruto from all the years that I've known him, it's that he almost always comes back before losing consciousness."

Sakura frowned at this not really reassured by her sensei. The sound of the front door opening caught everyone's attention as Naruto tiredly shuffled in. Most of the people seated at the table widened their eyes or raised their eyebrows as they noticed all of the slashes and tears on Naruto's clothes.

As Naruto sat down with a tired grunt and pulled his plate towards him, Kakashi chuckled and said "So how many did you get up to and last against Naruto?"

Naruto tiredly took a bite out of his breakfast and swallowed before saying "Five, and we went all night. Wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have about a hundred clones working on moving at night at mid Jounin level speeds without using my technique. Damn clones all decided to pop within a few minutes of each other when the sun rose up when they knew that they were supposed to do one per minute."

Kakashi rose his visible eyebrow and said "Wow. That's pretty good all things considered. Usually you can only go halfway through the night if there's more than three of you."

Sakura looked confused as both Sai and Sasuke gave Naruto calculating looks. Turning back to Kakashi as Naruto began eating again clearly showing that he wanted food at the moment, she said "I don't understand Kakashi-sensei, why would Naruto need to work on moving at Jounin speeds at night if he's already so fast. And what kind of training are you talking about?"

"I'm right here you know." Naruto said with his mouth full before swallowing and said "To answer your question Haruno, yes thanks to my bloodline I can move faster than probably anyone on the planet, but it gives me tunnel vision when I move as fast as I normally do. To counter act it, I use my huge chakra reserves to make a constant field that is moving away from me that I use sort of like echolocation to be aware of my surroundings. However, if I ever fight that way with a Hyuga or a Uchiha with their dojutsu active, it would effectively blind them for a while if not permanently since they can see chakra. So I have to work on not relying on the technique so much when I move. As for the training I myself did, I merely went against five clones and we fought as fast and hard as we could all night while we had joined the slipstream. Does that answer your questions."

Sakura nodded than cocked her head and said "Wait, what's this slipstream?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed probably planning on somehow joining this slipstream that made Naruto so fast. Poor, ignorant fool.

Naruto smirked as he saw Sasuke's expression and said "Sorry Uchiha, this is one thing the council can't ever be coerced into handing over." Looking back to Sakura who was beginning to glare at Naruto for the statement he said "The slipstream is the name my father gave our bloodline since it doesn't have an official name. Understandable considering he was the first one to find out about it, maybe even the first one to ever have it. It explains the sensation we feel whenever we focus on the feeling of extreme speed it gives us, hence the term joining the slipstream whenever we do."

Naruto took a last couple of hurried bites before standing up and headed out of the kitchen without any sign of being tired calling over his shoulder "Give me a few minutes to get changed and we can head out to the bridge Tazuna. And Sai, don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because I had a training night. I swear I'm going to get you combat water walking by dinner time if it kills me."

Everyone but Kakashi stared at him with slightly dropped jaws before Sakura turned back to Kakashi and asked "Kakashi-sensei, how can he possibly be able to still move like that? He looked exhausted when he first came in."

Kakashi chuckled and said "That's Naruto for you. I've seen him train for two days straight, drop dead on his bed and then three hours later be right back at it again. He has chakra reserves that could make any kage envy him and the stamina to match." 'He's going to make who ever he marries one happy woman in bed.' Kakashi thought to himself giggling perversely drawing weird looks from everyone else that he waved away.

Everyone's attention was brought to the stairs when they heard a shout from upstairs. "Oi Uncle Kakashi! You aren't reading that crap you call literature in front of Inari are you? You know he's only ten right?"

Kakashi sweat dropped as he rubbed the back of his head while Inari looked at him in confusion before saying "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Because I know you." Naruto deadpanned as he came down the stairs and walked over to the group and sat back down to finish his meal.

Kakashi somehow teleported to the nearest corner with his back to the others and a storm cloud over his head.

"He used to admire me. Where did that loveable kid who wanted to do everything like me go?" Kakashi asked as anime tears could be seen falling into a puddle.

Naruto and the others sweat dropped before he said "He ran away screaming when you showed him those books of yours."

The miniature storm cloud got even bigger and Kakashi said "I was only trying to show you the greatness that was your godfather's work."

Naruto snorted as he took a bite from his meal and said "That's not greatness, that's a sad man's attempt at showing the world his perverted fantasies and a release to all men for their frustrations at never being able to have their bedroom fantasies come true."

Everyone else's sweat drops grew bigger before Kakashi was suddenly beside Naruto and screaming in his ear "Sacrilege! You take that back you heathen!" right before the back of Naruto's fist implanted in his face causing him to slump to the floor with a pained grunt of "Ow."

Naruto looked down at his father's student while he dug his pinkie into the ear that the silver haired man had shouted into and said "Face it Uncle Kakashi, the only good book that he wrote was the first one. You know, the one with the main character that I'm named after and probably the only book that doesn't have more smut than actual plot that he'll probably ever write?"

Kakashi's hand shakily rose from his face down position as he said "I reject your reality and substitute it with my own."

Naruto snorted and said "Whatever you say Uncle Kakashi." Before taking one last bite and stood up again to place the plate in the sink.

Walking back around the table he said "I'll have a clone waiting for you outside Tazuna. Sai, if your not at the bridge in ten minutes, I'm throwing you're butt into the ocean along with a few kunai attached to some exploding notes."

Right after he said that, Naruto disappeared and it was only the sound of a clone coming into existence immediately after that informed them that Naruto was telling the truth.

Tazuna shook his head and said "That kid is really something else." Taking one last sip of his coffee, he stood up and said "Come on kid, we better get going."

Sai simply nodded and stood up as well before the two walked out of the house together accompanied by Naruto's clone.

Scene Change: Tazuna's Bridge

Naruto reappeared to see what was to him, a rather amusing sight. Most of Naruto's clones who were on guard duty the night before were standing in a line across the entrance of the bridge with Tazuna's workers behind them watching anxiously and a group of thugs in front of them. The supposed spokesperson and leader of the thugs looked as red in the face as a boiled lobster while most of the clones had grins on their faces. The clone directly opposite of the leader was brushing his nails over his shirt and looking for dirt.

The leader of the thug glared at the clone as he did this and said "Now you listen here you brat! I don't care if the original you is here or not! Now step aside and let us through!"

"And why would he do that when it's his job to keep people who are obviously not here to work on the bridge off of it?" Naruto asked as he disappeared and then reappeared in front of his clones surprising the man.

The man and the other thugs quickly got over their shock and he said "Are you the original?"

Naruto looked at him like he was stupid and said "No, I'm a water clone sent to shift the shadow clone guard you moron."

The bridge workers all laughed at this since Naruto had explained to them the differences between the clones he used and the other types of clones that ninjas often used.

The thug's face reddened even more if that was possible and he took a step as he said "You will let us pass right now or else-"

He was unable to get any further as Naruto's fist made residence in his stomach as Naruto glared up at the man as he folded over the fist before taking a quick step back and kicking the man in his jaw so hard that he went flying before crashing into the trunk of a nearby tree causing large cracks to form from the impact. The builders gave a cheer as the thugs looked on in shock.

Naruto turned his glare onto the other thugs who instantly took a step back. Unleashing a bit of killing intent to further unnerve them, he pointed to the fallen man and said "Get him out of here and don't come back."

The men quickly nodded before one of them rushed over to their leader and dragged him away as the others broke out into a run.

Sighing as he watched the men flee, Naruto dispelled the clones before making a fresh batch to help the workers. As he did, he spotted Tazuna and Sai with his clone walking down the path from his house.

As Tazuna walked up and noticed the damaged tree he said "What happened here?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Nothing much. Just showed some thugs why you don't want to mess with a Jounin."

Tazuna studied the blond for another moment before shrugging and went over to his workers who were talking excitedly about how Naruto had handled the situation.

Naruto then noticed Sai staring at him intently and said "What?"

Sai cocked his head as he gave a false smile and said "I'm just contemplating how I don't think I would want to fight you Naruto-san."

Naruto frowned at the formality and said "Just call me Naruto Sai. And why would you have to fight me?"

Sai made a motion of his shoulders that might have been intended to be a shrug and said "You never know." before walking down to the water and stepped on to it trying to get the hang of moving around on the liquid's surface.

Naruto and the clone traded looks before simultaneously rolling their eyes and heading to their respective charges for the day.