Naruto: Archer and Loner
After a very long break, I'm back with another chapter. I have to say sorry for the delay. Real life took a lot out of me. More so with the Covid situation. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things and pump out more chapters faster. Now, onto the chapter!
As usual, I own neither Naruto nor Bleach.
Chapter 28: The Problem with Truth
The sun slowly rose over the horizon, bathing Kohona in light slowly. As the light hit the Hokage Monument, a blonde-haired figure dashed onto the head of the Fourth Hokage. As he sat down on the monument's head he smiled brightly at the view. 'Man, I'm glad I finally got a day off from training,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Zabuza-sensei and Kiski-sensei have been running me ragged these past few weeks.'
He suddenly turned around as he hears the rustle of leaves in the forest behind him. Standing up, he gazes into the shadows of the forest looking for any movement.
"Who's there," he asks warily.
A figure steps out from behind a tree and steps into the light. "It's me, Na-Naruto-kun," Hinata stammers, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun.
"Why are you here, Hinata," Naruto asks.
"I thought…" Hinata begins before lowering her face and mumbles the rest at a level Naruto couldn't hear.
"You thought we could spend time together," Naruto suggests.
"Hai," Hinata replies. "You said we need to get to know each other more."
"I did say that" Naruto says with a smile. "I'm sorry that I have been so busy lately. Between the Clan stuff and training, I haven't had much time to do anything else. Heck, I don't even know what Neji or Haku have been up to."
"I understand, Naruto-kun," Hinata states. "I know how busy a Clan head can be. I saw it with my father growing up. I just thought that if you had time, we could spend it together for once."
"I have no problem with that," Naruto states. "Come over here, Hinata. I'll show you one of my favorite things about our village." Hinata warily walks over to Naruto and steps out onto the Fourth Hokage's head. Her head bowed down looking at her feet to watch where she stepped. Once she was close enough, Naruto reached out a hand and gently gripped her upper arm and pulled her closer to him.
"You know, you won't see what I mean by just looking at your feet, Hinata," Naruto says, teasingly. "Look up and see a view few ever take the time to see."
Hinata raises her head and looks out over the village. Her breath stops in her chest as she sees the light bathing Kohona in a rare beauty.
"It's beautiful," Hinata says quietly.
"Yeah, it is," Naruto replies looking at the amazed look on her face. "I try to come and see this as often as possible. It relaxes me and reminds me just why I became a ninja. To protect. Not just the people in the village, but beautiful things like this."
Feeling emboldened by the sight before her, Hinata leans her head against Naruto's shoulder and sighs in contentment. Naruto smiles wider and just stands there with her looking out over the village.
Below the monument unknown to the two taking in the view, Sasuke Uchiha stood in the shadow of a tree glaring up at them. 'He doesn't deserve the things he has,' he thought angerly. 'Only an Uchiha deserves it. I will take everything away from the dobe. He will rue the day he decided to show up an Uchiha!' Sasuke turned around and stomped down the street, brooding the whole way. 'Just wait, dobe. I will put you in your place. In the dirt beneath my feet,' he thought.
Up on top of the monument, the couple stood and stared out over the village in quiet contentment. The sound of a shun shin suddenly breaks the pair out of their state. Turning around, the two watch as the screen of leaves and dust fade revealing Kakashi Hatake.
"Yo," Kakashi says with an eye smile. "I've been looking for you, Naruto."
"What do you need, Hatake-san," Naruto asks.
"For you to actually call me sensei," Kakashi says laughingly.
"For that to happen, you'd have to actually teach me something, Hatake-san," Naruto replies coldly.
"Well, it is a good thing I found you then," Kakashi replies. "Meet me at our training grounds in an hour. We have a team meeting and I'll be teaching you each something." With that, Kakashi vanishes in a shun shin.
"Well, Hinata," Naruto begins. "It looks like our day got cut short. I will try and get back to the compound before dinner tonight. Maybe we can have dinner together. Just the two of us."
"I'd like that," Hinata replies with a shy smile. "I'll head back to the compound and continue my training with Neji-neesan and my grandfather."
"Ok, Hinata," Naruto says with a smile. "I'll see you later." He vanishes in a shun shin leaving Hinata alone.
Naruto walked calmy onto team seven's training ground, looking around he didn't see anybody. 'Guess I got here first,' he thought to himself. Walking over to the three stumps, he sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes. 'Well, I can start working more on my situational awareness while I wait,' he thought. Naruto sat quietly for roughly 15 minutes before the minute sound of gravel shifting pulled him out of his trance. Opening his eyes, he looked in the direction the sound came from and saw Sakura walking towards him with her head down.
"Hello, Sakura-san," Naruto says as he stands up.
"Hello, Naruto-san," she replies. "I guess Kakashi-sensei told you about training today?"
"You could say that" Naruto says. "He told me he'll be teaching us all something today. I'll believe it when I see it, honestly."
"We'll just have to wait and see," Sakura replies. "Do you think Sasuke-kun will be here?"
"Probably," Naruto says as he resumes his earlier position. "I don't think he'd miss out on actual training."
Sakura sits beside him and calmly looks around. "I haven't seen you around in a while, Naruto," Sakura says after a few minutes of quiet.
Naruto cracks open one eye and lets out a low huff. "Yeah, I've been really busy with clan matters and training," Naruto replies. "Today was actually supposed to be my day off from training."
"Really," Sakura asks in surprise. "What have you been training in to not spend time with your team?"
"I cannot say," Naruto states. "It is my training. I don't ask what training you do outside of us meeting as a team. I'd appreciate the same courtesy in return."
"Sorry," Sakura mumbles.
"Oh, look. It's the dobe and the pink-haired weakling," a voice says from behind them. Naruto and Sakura turn and see Sasuke walking towards them. "And here I thought I'd have training with Kakashi all by myself again."
"Hi, Sasuke-kun," Sakura replies with a smile. "I guess Kakashi-sensei is running a bit late. He told Naruto and I to be here so he could train all of us."
"I don't see why he bothers," Sasuke replies smugly. "You two only hold me back. He should just focus on training me and drop the two of you from this team."
"Now if I did that," Kakashi suddenly says as he appears behind Sasuke making him jump and turn facing him, "I wouldn't be a sensei. Having a two-man team is something we do not do in Kohona. We pride ourselves on our teamwork. Something you have been lacking, Sasuke."
"Whatever," Sasuke mumbles. "I don't need these two on this team. They're holding me back."
"We will have to see, Sasuke," Kakashi replies, "I brought you here so I can teach each of you something you might not know. Sakura, I need you to go focus on the tree-climbing exercise for now."
"Hai, sensei," Sakura says and runs over to the nearest tree and starts the exercise. "When do you want me to stop?"
"I'll let you know," Kakashi says with an eye smile. He then turns to Sasuke with a slight frown. "Sasuke, you will put this blindfold on and go sit at the stumps. You need to learn patience, and this will be a good learning experience." He holds out a blindfold for the Uchiha. Sasuke glares at Kakashi and takes the blindfold. Stomping over to the stumps he sits down and puts the blindfold on. Feeling something strange when he has it fully on, he tries to pull it off with no success.
"What is this, Kakashi," he yells. "I can't take the blindfold off now."
"Of course, you can't," Kakashi replied. "I don't want you to cheat and see what I'm going to teach Naruto. It is only fair since he won't be seeing what you'll be learning later."
"Take this off me, Kakashi. Now! I won't be blinded by the likes of you," Sasuke bellows.
"Just wait there for a while, Sasuke. I'll be with you once I teach Naruto what I want to show him," Kakashi says with a smile. He walks over to Naruto and grabs his arm, vanishing in a shun-shin.
Naruto and Kakashi come out of the shun-shin in a clearing away from their normal training grounds. Naruto looks around seeing no one in the area.
"Why have you brought me here, Hatake-san," Naruto asks.
"I figured a quieter place would help you instead of our normal spot. With Sasuke shouting, you wouldn't be able to really concentrate on what I'll be teaching you," Kakashi states. "What I'll be teaching you," he begins before biting his thumb and pressing some blood to his palm before flying through hand-signs faster than Naruto can see, "is the summoning Jutsu." He presses his hand down on the ground with a poof of smoke. When the smoke clears, Naruto can see a small pug dog wearing a ninja hitai-ate and a vest.
"Yo," the dog says. "What'd you need Kakashi?"
"I summoned you to show Naruto how the Summoning Jutsu works. He's the only one on team seven who has the chakra requirements to be able to summon currently," Kakashi says.
"Cool. So, will he be signing the dog contract," the pug asks.
"No. The dog contract is a Hatake family contract. Since Naruto has no contract, I'll teach him the hand-signs for it and he'll be summoned to the animal he will be most connected to," Kakashi replies. "You can go for now." The summon dog nods and vanishes in another poof of smoke.
"What was that Hatake-san," Naruto asks. "I have never seen an animal talk."
"That was a summon animal. There are many different types of summons. As many as there are animals in the world. And they can do more than just talk. They can do pretty much everything a ninja can do," Kakashi lectures. "They are useful in tough situations and great companions on lonely missions or patrols. The reason I'm going to teach you, Naruto, is because you have more chakra than either of your teammates. This would be a great asset to the team."
"Or it could drive the team further apart," Naruto states. "With how Sasuke acts, this could just piss him off more."
"That is true, Naruto. However, I'll be teaching Sasuke something you won't know as well. I'm trying to play to each of your strengths. You have a high chakra capacity, Sakura has excellent chakra control and Sasuke has more jutsu repertoire than either of you," Kakashi replies. "Yes, I know the difference between Sasuke, and you could change if we pumped you full of jutsu, but that is something to think on later. Now, shall we begin?"
"Very well," Naruto replies.
"Ok. Now the hand-signs for the summoning are, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. Then you press your hand down onto a surface or even the air if you are airborne, while pumping as much chakra into and out of your palm," Kakashi states. "Before you try it with chakra, I want you to go over the hand-signs a hundred times until you are comfortable with them. Once you are comfortable, do it once more and pour out as much chakra as possible."
"Ok, Hatake-san," Naruto replies. "What about when you bit your thumb?"
"That comes after you sign a summon contract," Kakashi replies. "Once you sign a contract, you must give up a blood sacrifice and chakra in order to summon an animal."
"Ok, Hatake-san. What will happen to me though," Naruto asks?
"Since you don't have a current contract, you'll be 'reverse-summoned' to the animal summon you are most in tune with. Nothing bad will happen to you. All summons have a pact to never harm a human who shows up in their realm unless the human harms them first," Kakashi states. "I'll leave you for now. The less distractions you have, the better it will be." He then vanishes in a shun-shin leaving Naruto alone.
Naruto sighs and starts going through the hand-signs slowly, remembering Kakashi's words. 'At least he finally decided to teach me something,' he thinks to himself. 'I wonder what summon I will be compatible with?'
A while later, Naruto finished going through the hand-signs like Kakashi told him. 'Done with that. Now one last time but with chakra,' Naruto thought with a grin. 'Here goes nothing!' He goes through the hand-signs and pumps as much chakra to his palm as possible before slamming his hand down to the ground. A large cloud of smoke appears and when it dissipates, Naruto is no longer in the clearing.
{Thought about ending it here, but decided I've been away long enough. Maybe I'll make this chapter longer than usual this time. :D}
After the darkness of the summoning, Naruto opened his eyes and saw he was standing on a ledge on a high mountain. Looking around, he didn't see any animals around him. He saw a slight crack in the mountain face in front of him and slowly walked towards it. Getting closer, Naruto strained his ears to hear anything coming from the crack. He heard nothing. 'Great. I do the summoning correctly and end up in a place with no animals,' he thought to himself. 'Looks like I've got to go exploring.'
As he stepped closer to the crack in the mountain face, he suddenly jumped back in shock when a white, heart-shaped face suddenly popped out of the crack. The face continued coming out and, in the light, Naruto could see that it was a barn owl.
"Greetings, youngling," the owl said in a melodious voice, "I am Hakir, and you are?"
"Umm… I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto replies after a moment of shock. "I was hoping to obtain a summon after my squad leader taught me the hand-signs."
"Ah, you are a ninja then," Hakir states. "From what village do you hail from, young Uzumaki?"
"I hail from Konohagakure. The Village Hidden in the Leaves," Naruto replies. "I am a Genin ranked ninja."
"We will have to see if you are worthy of the Barn Owl contract," Hakir says. "I shall guide you to the Great Owl." The owl leaps up onto Naruto's shoulder and points a wing towards the crack he came from. "Follow my directions, young Uzumaki. It is very easy to get lost in the caverns here."
Naruto nods and squeezes into the crack. As he slips in fully, the darkness sets in. "I can't see, Hakir," Naruto states.
"Worry not for I will not lead you astray," Hakir replies. "You will not stumble nor fall while I guide you." Naruto nods and walks slowly into the creeping darkness putting his trust in a being he just met.
Hakir leads Naruto assuredly in the quiet darkness. After what felt like ages to Naruto, he starts to notice a light in the distance. He glances at Hakir who only nods and points his wing in the direction of the light.
"You are correct, young Uzumaki. Head toward the light. Once you are there, kneel and look only at the ground until you are addressed by our nominal leader," Hakir says sternly. He then takes wing and flies ahead of Naruto.
'He must be going to let his leader know someone is here,' Naruto thought to himself as he continued towards the light. 'I just hope I'm worthy.' Naruto steps into the light and follows Hakir's orders. With his head bowed, he focuses on his hearing. He can hear claws scraping on stone, but nothing else. A sudden gust of wind threatens to knock him over, but Naruto holds his position with determination.
"Who comes before the Great Owl, Hakir," a deep, booming voice says from in front of Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki from Konohagakure. A Genin ranked ninja," Hakir says as he gently lands on Naruto's shoulder. "He wishes to have a summon after learning the hand-signs. He was summoned here, so apparently, we Barn Owls have a connection with the young Uzumaki."
"Stand and look upon me, young Uzumaki. I shall see if you are worthy of signing our contract," the voice says. Slowly, Naruto stands and gazes up. In front of him, towering over him like a two-story building is a Barn Owl. "I am Kain."
"Hello, Kain-sama," Naruto replies with a bow. "I hope to be worthy of you."
The barn owl lets out a chuckle at Naruto's words. "We do not stand on ceremony here, young Uzumaki. We shall look into your soul and see if we are worthy of each other," Kain replies staring intensely into Naruto's eyes. After a few minutes, the owl blinks and looks at Hakir. A silent conversation seems to occur between the two before Hakir nods once and leaps off Naruto's shoulder and lands in front of him.
"Sit, young Uzumaki. We will have words before we decide," Hakir says. Naruto sits in front of Hakir wondering what occurred. "Do you know what you hold?"
"Hai. I know I hold the Kyuubi inside me," Naruto replies.
"What about the other entity," Hakir asks.
"Yes, I know about Ywah or Kaiser Uzumaki," Naruto says. "I know that the Kyuubi can't take over my body. However, there is nothing I can do about Ywah."
"It is good you know the truth," Hakir states. "But do you know the full truth?"
"What do you mean," Naruto asks.
"The truth begins over five thousand years ago. During this time, the world was much different than it is today. Villages were constantly at war with each other. Until one day it all changed," Hakir says ominously. "That day was the birth of a monster. Ywah. When he was born, the heavens and earth shook in fear. From a young age he enjoyed killing. And when he killed, it wasn't necessarily clean or quick."
"If he was so powerful, how was he stopped," Naruto asks.
"It took many years, and many lives were lost in the battles. The Sage, his brother and his secret second wife eventually took Ywah out. The way they did it was by sealing Ywah into the second wife's blood," Hakir said. "That wife went on to become the founder of the Uzumaki clan. By sealing Ywah into her blood, she insured he'd be locked away if her bloodline was strong. Over the years, there have been less and less Uzumaki in the world. The fact Ywah has become present in you means only one thing, young Uzumaki. You are truly the Last Uzumaki in the world."
Naruto hung his head at hearing this. Tears glistening in his eyes. "Then I'm truly alone," he says quietly.
"You are not alone, young Uzumaki," Kain states sternly. "You have friends. And you will have us as your summons. I find your heart and soul worthy of signing our contract." Naruto looks up in shock as Kain pulls a scroll from behind him and opens it in front of Naruto.
"R-r-really," Naruto asks in disbelief.
"Yes," Kain replies. "Prick the fingertips on your dominate hand and sign your name and apply your handprint to the scroll. After this, you will be the summoner of the Barn Owls. We are stealthy and can see quite well in all light. May we help each other on our journey in life."
Naruto nodded as he signed his name and applied his palm print. Kain rolled up the scroll and looked to Hakir.
"Hakir, please make sure young Uzumaki makes it home safely," Kain says. "He's had a hard revelation today and rest would be best for him."
"Hai, Kain," Hakir replies and leaps onto Naruto's shoulder. Both vanish moments later in a puff of smoke.
"I hope we are able to help you keep this evil at bay, young Uzumaki," Kain says to himself. "I fear for the world if your resolve falters for even a moment."
Yay! Long chapter this time. Hope you all enjoy it. I only hope my muse stays around for a long while so I can continue to update chapters. Reviews are always welcome!