I don't own anything related to the Naruto franchise
Chapter 6 - Gifts, Skills, Techniques, and Training
One month into Naruto's second year at the Ninja Academy… October the 10th….
It was the weekend of the Kyuubi festival once again, and as per usual the village was going all out. Food stalls and vendors from all over the country had been brought in and real money had been shelled out to create a festive atmosphere. A lot of effort went into this festival every year in order to avoid the villagers becoming melancholy and depressed. It never really worked, but of course it was better than doing absolutely nothing.
Once again this year, a large group of villagers planned on getting drunk and pursuing their favorite pastime. They were planning to beat the unholy Hell out of the demon... Naruto Uzumaki.
The disgruntled villagers weren't going to succeed this year (or any year from now on).
First of all, Naruto wasn't even within the village's walls this year because he was out enjoying a celebration with his friends. Oh sure, it was his birthday and that was important, but it was also the day they'd chosen every year for him to turn off all of the seals on his body. It was the day set out for him to try out all of his newly unveiled strength. Naruto, Shikamaru, Tenten, Ino and Hinata were spending the weekend with Alsea Nara as a chaperone. They were vacationing in a cabin behind the cliff face that was owned by the Hokage himself. It was a real mini paradise, hidden within the forests nearby the village and ringed by a perfectly blue lake.
Naruto's apartment on the other hand, was being babysat by a small team of Anbu, who were going to relax on his balcony and have a good time, paid for by the Hokage. The fact that the Anbu team were relaxing, drinking and enjoying the holiday didn't mean that they weren't prepared for trouble. Any villager who approached Naruto's apartment with anything even the least bit resembling weapons or paint, were going to disappear into a Hellhole jail cell for at least a month, and they were going to need that time to get over their injuries. The team of six included both Dog and Turtle, but to be honest they weren't really the scary ones on guard this weekend. Cat was waiting, Cat was watching and Cat was... eager...
Deep in the woods, near a cabin by a lake, Naruto was wrapping up his day's allotment of physical drills, courtesy of Turtle. He was doing so by hanging from a tree by his feet. He was completing hundreds of hanging sit ups and dripping sweat onto the ground below. He'd just finished doing hundreds up pull ups in a similar fashion and he'd done a ton more exercises before that...
"Knight to F4," Naruto gasped out, as his head rose to between his feet.
"Hmmmm..." Shikamaru was sitting in the nook of a nearby tree branch, with a magnetized chess board that Naruto had gifted him balanced upon his knees. "That's an unconventional move and I don't see its point."
"That's... pant... exactly... pant... the point... pant," Naruto gasped out, as he curled upwards to face the boy. "I need to... pant... ignore common sense... to beat you."
"Well I will admit you're in a slump. I've figured out all of your favorite strategies lately." Shikamaru looked pleased with this new development but he also scrutinized the board extremely carefully.
"I... pant... got better at chess... pant, but forgot... about spontaneity." Naruto didn't say the words, but he was also pretty sure he was in a slump because he was always completely exhausted these days. Turtle's unbelievable workload was both punishing and ever evolving. He made you stretch yourself into contortionist pretzels and do hundreds of reps of every conceivable exercise over and over all day and that was only so that you're fit enough to just start practicing his style of Taijutsu. Not only that, but Naruto was up to three and a half gravities now, and if Turtle even got a glimmer that he was finding his current workload manageable, the man would up the ante in a massive way. Naruto had been doing these workouts every day for the past month, and he felt like he might pass out right now, exactly like he had on the very first day. Naruto stopped zoning out because Shikamaru was still waiting for him to finish his explanation. "I need to... pant... surprise you if... grunt... I want to win."
"Fair enough... You've done over the amount of sit ups you needed to do by the way." Shikamaru grinned when Naruto started cursing himself out and he snapped shut their chess game. "Well... You're done your torture session for the day, and it's that day of the year. Want to go collect everyone and get this show on the road?"
Naruto swung under the branch hanging by his calves and then flipped onto the branch next to Shikamaru. "I'm super excited to find out what my body feels like unburdened. I'm also a little concerned." When Shikamaru gave Naruto a puzzled look, he shrugged and flicked a bug off of his pant leg. "It's simple. I don't want to hurt anyone by accident."
"We'll aim you away from us at first," Shikamaru replied in a sarcastic voice, as he slid out of the tree and moved back towards the cabin. Naruto and Shikamaru had decided they'd eat when Naruto was done slaving away, but everyone else was having lunch at the moment.
Naruto could smell both baked goods inside and feel eyes on him through the windows of the cabin. Needless to say, he had his suspicions about what was coming next. Nonetheless, he really was extremely touched, when he crossed through the door and saw everyone jump out.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Everyone was standing around the communal area of the cabin with presents in hand, and the dining area was piled high with food. There was also a birthday cake on a side table and it was the first one he'd ever received... Naruto was still encountering firsts on a regular basis, and he was always surprised by the things that hit him on an emotional level. Birthday cake was apparently something that meant a lot to him. Go figure...
"Thank... thank you everybody. This is amazing!" Naruto took a deep breath and then smiled as wide as he possibly could at his friends.
"Come on sit down," Ino called out. "We'll eat and then hand out presents."
Alsea smiled at Ino even as she pulled Naruto towards the dining room table. "We waited for you to finally stop training Naruto, but now it's time to eat. Take a seat."
Nodding his head, Naruto sat down and everyone followed his lead. Soon after, they were all eating and joking around. Naruto had been placed at the head of the table with Alsea on his right and Hinata on his left. He somewhat assumed Hinata was close by so that it'd be easier for her to communicate when she needed to. So far, she seemed perfectly happy to smile and be adorable. Naruto finished a light meal of meat and vegetables because A) he was saving room for cake and B) he wanted to run around like a bat out of Hell later without puking.
Choji finished a remarkable amount of food all by himself and then he started to eye the cake hungrily.
When Alsea saw the writing on the wall, she walked over to the side table and whispered a small fire starting Jutsu, to light the candles on the cake. Soon after, she was returning to the main table carrying a vanilla cake with seven candles on it.
Naruto beamed at everyone as the birthday song was chorused, the cake was handed out and eaten in record time. Soon after, he was being dragged to the couches spanning the living room, where several wrapped up boxes were put in front of him.
"Where should I start," Naruto said, in a slightly overwhelmed voice.
"Oh me, me, go ahead," Choji said, while shoving a blue envelope in front of Naruto.
"Okay cool," Naruto chirped happily. He opened the envelope, read aloud the simple birthday card and then pulled out a slim card.
"It's a gift card for meals at this place called Ichiraku's Ramen," Choji called out. "The place is delicious and I'm sure you'll love it!"
"I can't wait," Naruto replied, with a smile. "You know... I'm not sure I've ever even had ramen before. I'll look forward to it."
Choji just nodded happily as he ate another slice of cake off a paper plate.
Next Naruto picked up a red wrapped box and read the card taped to its top. "Happy Birthday Naruto kun. You're the best! From Tenten." Naruto looked across the room at the bun haired girl and smiled. "This box is heavy..."
Everybody just grinned in response.
Naruto shook the box but there was no clink and clank like he would have expected from a box full of weapons. Now that was interesting... Naruto gave Tenten a sideways glance, but she looked completely comically innocent as she gazed back at him. Without further adieu, Naruto tore into the wrapping paper/cardboard and he found a... stylized wooden chest with a hinged lid. Pulling open the lid Naruto's eyes widened as he saw hundreds of FuinJutsu tags preloaded to contain different things. Naruto looked up at Tenten with a shocked expression. "How... it's too much!"
Tenten just smiled again and shook her head. This isn't from just me, Naruto kun. My dad wanted to give you a gift, so we collaborated. A lot of those tags have single Kunai in them or two or three. Some of the tags have shuriken or a few shuriken at a time. There's one tag in there that contains a training tool and when you find it my dad wants you to go talk to him about it... There's a second reason we gave you about a hundred projectiles within a senseless amount of storage scrolls."
"Actually, I already know exactly what it is," Naruto replied, while nodding his head. "You've given me about ninety more reusable containment scrolls than you would've needed to give me to hold even a thousand Kunai... You've gifted me with like unlimited closet space with these scrolls when I empty them..."
"Yes and yes," Tenten agreed with a wide smile upon her face. "I know that your class hasn't even accessed their chakra yet, but we all know you're an exception to that. Do you know how they work?"
"Narukun is an intermediate level FuinJutsu user at this point," Alsea added, from her couch across from Naruto. "He knows the theory behind how those tags are built, he can write them, and he knows how they work. It's a great gift Tenten. Narukun's never made a containment tag yet, but with those on hand I'm sure he'll want to eventually. Right now the only thing stopping him from building the simpler stuff is his truly awful chakra control. I'm not allowing him to infuse chakra into anything he designs right now because I'm legitimately concerned he'll blow himself up. Your gift should serve quite well as added motivation."
Both ladies gave Naruto twin shit eating grins.
Naruto smiled at the two ladies even as he shook his head. "You're missing something important here ladies. I want to practice my chakra control, but I'm being stopped at every turn. The librarians won't even allow me inside the Konoha library due to the fact that they hate me, and the Hokage is stonewalling me with the books I need. He seems to think it's important that I look as mediocre as possible for now. He doesn't want me to have any advanced knowledge."
"Couldn't Naruto just act clueless?" Shikamaru was growing tired of Naruto always being hindered like he is.
"The Hokage's definitely underestimating my cunning," Naruto agreed.
"Open m..my gift next," Hinata ordered, in a quiet but determined voice. "P..please don't... read the card aloud." The white/lavender eyed girl blushed a deep red, as all of the ladies in the room grinned at her.
Naruto smiled, nodded at Hinata and then found a nicely wrapped teal colored box. It was rather large and it was also kind of heavy. Naruto grabbed the card off the box, opened it and silently read the neatly written words.
.
Dear Naruto kun
Before I even knew your name you were my hero. For that alone I'd have cared about you, even if you never did anything else for me. Then I got to know you and you're so much more than just some single act of extreme bravery. You're an amazing person and you take such wonderful care of your friends. The best thing that ever happened to me was that abduction attempt. You've changed my life for the better just by being in it.
Happy Birthday
Love Hinata
.
As Naruto carefully placed the letter into his new wooden keepsake chest, he joined Hinata in an extremely vibrant blush.
Giggle... giggle... Ino and Tenten we're giving Hinata twin looks of appreciation. Several months ago Tenten had joined Ino on their "give Hinata some confidence" project, and they were going at it with a will.
Naruto took several deep breaths to decrease his flush, beamed a smile at Hinata and then ripped open the wrapping paper. Within the paper was a nondescript cardboard box. Then, after popping open the box, Naruto gaped openmouthed at what he saw... Books. Inside the box were books. It was full to the brim with dozens and dozens of books that spanned a great wealth of topics that Hinata knew he was interested in. Gods... Hinata must have been paying very close attention to his interests, to compile such a treasure trove.
There were books on ninja traps and tricks, tracking, stealth, body control, gardening, cooking and most importantly... chakra control basics and drills. At least ten books in the box were centered entirely on chakra control meditation and training, spanning all the way from beginner to advanced. Naruto felt himself going supernova, because this was easily a life changing gift and he didn't know how to express himself. "Hinata," he breathed out slowly. "Oh wow."
Hinata was beaming at Naruto now because it was plain for everyone to see that he was completely blown away. "I... I knew y..ou were having t..trouble Naruto Kun. I wish I c..could make the villagers be..behave themselves, but until then this... will have to do."
"It's more than enough Hinata!" Naruto was getting pumped, as he rifled through all of the books, and placed them on the table. "I have my own little library now! I'll need to empty a containment scroll just to carry all of this!"
For the next couple of seconds everyone watched Naruto geek out at just the idea of owning books... It was both heart warming and infuriating at exactly the same time. Everyone was extremely happy with Hinata for being a complete genius.
"Is anyone brave enough to follow that?" While Shikamaru had asked the question in a sarcastic voice, everyone knew he was being completely serious. Hinata's gift would be nearly impossible to beat and they all knew it. When no one answered Shikamaru pointed to a box and said "open mine next Naruto."
Naruto smiled as he picked up yet another large box. It was wrapped in the comic section of newspapers, but it definitely had its own variety of slapdash charm. After reading and putting aside the card, he cracked open the box... Games. The box was full of games, both board and card. They were mostly games centered around strategy, but there were games of chance thrown in for good measure. At the top of the pile, complete with a small green velvet tabletop dealer's rig, were several packs of cards and a set of chips for a well organized game of poker.
Naruto grinned at Shikamaru, Shikamaru grinned back at Naruto. The ladies in the room all shook their heads at the extreme minors trying their hands at gambling.
"This is another fantastic gift Shikamaru, and I appreciate it." Naruto couldn't even believe how spoiled he was being.
"I'll go next," Ino announced, with a happy smile upon her face. "It's that green box on the left! You can read my card out loud if you want..." Ino's mischievous tone announced that to do so would probably be a mistake."
Naruto laughed and shook his head as he dragged the box onto his lap. He saw that there was indeed a card on top and he pulled it off.
.
Dear Naruto Kun
You're sooo special! Kami, no words will work at all, but I'll try... You saved my life, made me welcome in yours, and you've made me a better person just from knowing you. You make me smile, and I want to snuggle you even as you're reading this card.
Someday, I will make you mine!
Happy Birthday!
Love Ino
.
For the second time in less than five minutes, Naruto was reduced to furiously blushing, as he stashed Ino's card in his brand new chest.
Giggle... giggle... giggle... This time it was all three girls giggling at Naruto's blush. Ino wasn't blushing at all, but rather staring right at him as if she was trying to prove the letter's words true.
Naruto really was a little bit overwhelmed by the card's bold declaration, but he shook it off, smiled back at the girl and then addressed the box in front of him. When he opened it he saw that it was another elaborate multi piece gift. There were plant seeds of many varieties, a new shirt in a deep green, a new pair of black pants, some kill me orange swim trunks, copious amounts of tape (the stuff really was hard to keep in stock) and a long dark charcoal gray colored leather... Something, with separated ends. After picking up the elaborate strip of leather, Naruto looked at Ino for help.
"Ah yeah!" Ino looked super self satisfied with her own genius as she moved closer to Naruto's side. "Ever since we first met you, you've resisted getting your long blond hair cut. You usually only do it when it's hindering your vision. That, in your hands, is a headband that cinches at the back and then the separated ends wrap tightly around your hair. This way you can have long hair and keep it under control.
"Oh!" Naruto saw immediately where Ino was going with this, and he broke out into a wide relieved smile. "This is going to be a game changer, Ino. I do prefer longer hair, but it does get in the way. It's another really thoughtful gift. Thank you!"
"I'm not done with you yet Naruto." Ino's smile was ready to reach her ears at this point. "There's one more gift in there, hidden amongst the clothes."
Naruto dug around until his hands began touching metal. When he pulled out the different objects he ended up with several empty picture frames and a really nice camera.
"We all know you keep us in your thoughts when we're not around?" Ino explained, with a soft smile. "That much is obvious just by walking into your apartment. I thought I could make that easier for you to do. Now we can stockpile photos of us all whenever we're hanging out."
"I love it, Ino! It's perfect." Naruto was becoming increasingly overwhelmed, and he was just trying to keep it together.
"Okay just two more gifts," Alsea announced, in a cheerful voice.
Naruto suspected the Nara matriarch was trying to distract him away from a teary eyed moment.
Alsea picked up a medium sized box and put it down in Naruto's lap. "Not to worry Naruto. My gift is a little less sentimental, but it should be fun nonetheless."
Naruto grinned at Alsea as he tore into the box and revealed… "Oh yeah, this is awesome!" Inside the box was an honest to Kami high quality radio/tape player. He'd been listening to terrible, tinny music on his clock radio all year and this would blow that stuff away. Then Naruto saw about half a dozen cords threading further into the box and he didn't know what he was looking at any more.
"Those are waterproof amplifiers that are attached to the radio," Alsea offered cheerfully. "You can have your music in every room of your apartment and the balcony, or in every corner of a single room."
"This is sooo cool," Naruto enthused. "Oh wow, this is going to be great for studying or having people over. I can't wait to hear it!"
"I'm glad you like it, Narukun!" Alsea beamed at Naruto, ruffled his long wild hair and then backed off towards her own couch.
"Umm guys... Does anyone know who left this here?" Naruto was looking at a lime green box with no name on it.
"I do but I'm not allowed to say," Alsea replied, with a somewhat strained smile. "Go ahead Naruto, open it."
After just a moment of hesitation, Naruto nodded and pulled open the box's flaps. Inside was the most interesting wallet Naruto had ever seen... It was... a toad. It was a lime green toad, and it's mouth was the lid you open to put anything in it. There was a tag attached with the name Gamachan on it.
Scoff… giggle… giggle… snort…
No one in the room was capable of keeping it together in the face of this absurdly cute wallet. Naruto joined everyone laughing and soon after they were all howling with it.
When they all calmed down again, Naruto shook his head at the sad, starved, little toad. "Gods... I need to put some money in this little guy, like ASAP... Leaving him in this state feels cruel."
Giggle… Giggle.
Ino stood up, pulled the kill me orange bathing suit out of her gift to Naruto and smiled. "Okay everyone. New Naruto Bday tradition. We're going to swim, we're going to goof around, and Naruto's turning off the bracelets."
Everyone nodded immediately and moved off to their rooms.
Smiling in excitement, Naruto caught the cheerfully colored swim trunks and moved off towards his room. He stripped down from his ninja gear and put on the trunks, but he left the bracelets turned on for now. He wanted some space to move in when he finally released the seals, because he didn't want to cause property damage. Soon after, Naruto was standing at the bank of the lake with everyone else and they were all looking at him expectantly.
"I suppose now's the time," Naruto said in a cheerful voice, with just a hint of nerves in there for good measure.
"You're going to love this," Alsea pointed out, enthusiastically. Most Anbu and Jonin wear sealing gear during all of their free time, just so that they have something to look forward to on their missions.
After beaming a smile at Alsea, Naruto quickly deactivated all four bracelets, without any signs of further hesitation.
From within Naruto's body an invisible pulse of chakra exploded out of him, in a dome shape that expanded outwards. It wasn't a physical force per se, but as it crashed through everyone they all took a reflexive step back.
Shikamaru felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and he rapidly shook his head to dispel the goosebumps he'd just received. "What in the name of?... Mom, what was that?"
Naruto hadn't moved yet, but he somehow seemed taller, more physically imposing. The irises of his eyes were also dilated wide as he carefully scanned their surroundings.
"I have actually heard of this before, but I wouldn't have expected it from a seven year old," Alsea began slowly. "Now... We all know that Turtle is insanely strong physically right?"
Everyone in the clearing just nodded because... yeah duh.
Alsea grinned as she waved her hands in an expansive way. "Well then, why isn't he like three hundred pounds of muscle then?"
Slapping his hands to his face, Shikamaru groaned at his own stupidity. "Ohhh... I get it. Naruto's chakra system has been boosting his muscles this entire time. Now that the extra strength isn't required, some of it was just released from his body as ambient chakra."
"That's it Shikakun," Alsea chirped, with a smile for her son. Normally that process wouldn't be noticed by our senses because it'd be far too weak. Naruto must have absolutely gigantic amounts of chakra running throughout his muscles."
"So... so I haven't achieved anything from my training then?" Naruto was bummed because he'd been tearing the ever loving Hell out of his muscles and he knew it.
"Calm down Naruto," Shikamaru said in a calm voice. "What my mom just explained is a positive thing. Your muscles have learned to use your chakra to bolster their strength. Muscles can and will atrophy with either time or disuse but your chakra capacity never does. This means that every time you get stronger the way you currently are, it's for life."
"That and you can continue to be this lean, flexible and yummy, instead of a three hundred pound muscle head. Your body's becoming that of a high level ninja's, Naruto!" Ino looked super jazzed as she stared at the boy's angular lines.
"I'll never have a filled out muscle tone?" Despite Ino's hungry gaze, Naruto didn't want to remain super thin forever.
"Of course you will," Alsea offered from the sidelines. "Your body is doing this for you right now, because it's necessary and for the best. A grown man's muscle tone on a seven year old is unnatural and would be damaging to you. You could potentially fail to reach your full height potential or something."
Naruto hadn't moved a muscle yet in his confusion. There was one more thing he needed to ask about before he'd be ready to relax. "Alsea... My hunter gatherer senses dulled somewhat over the past year, and I thought it was just lack of practice that was causing it. Just now, I could... feel... everything, for like a mile in every direction. I used to get this sensation off and on, but just now, it pressed in upon me extremely hard."
At first it looked like Naruto had really stumped Alsea for the very first time. Then, all of the sudden, she snapped her fingers and smiled. "Okay, here's my theory. It seems like the chakra you just released from your body created a sonar ping of some kind that fed information back to you. In the future you might think of releasing the bracelet seals just as you're entering enemy lines. Even better would be if you can figure out how to do that on purpose. You could become a very effective sensor type ninja."
As he slowly nodded his head, Naruto's face took on a thoughtful expression.
"Try to move Naruto." Shikamaru had a sly grin on his face at this point, because he'd noticed Naruto's hesitation. "Try to walk first and then increase your speed over time."
Rolling his eyes at Shikamaru's amusement, Naruto drew in a single very deep breath and then took a step... or at least he tried to. A jet of sand blasted back from under his foot, sending Naruto rocketing about a meter and a half forward. When he stopped and straightened he looked back at his friends with a sheepish expression upon his face. "Ummm that was..." Naruto looked down at his feet in both wonder and confusion.
"Okay, try to take just a quarter step and very slowly," Shikamaru amended, with a grin.
After nodding absently to Shikamaru's sarcastic advice, Naruto adopted a look of intense concentration.
Naruto's look of total focus ended up being completely hilarious for everyone involved, when all he ended up doing was a very normal step forward through the sand. The moment was surreal because of how anticlimactic it was.
"Pffft!.. Giggle... Giggle...
Even Naruto was grinning at this point, but he was mostly relieved that he was improving. After accomplishing a second step through the sand, he did it again and again, beginning a slow walk around the lake. "I'll umm, see you guys in about ten minutes. I'm going to iron this out." Naruto began slowly moving his arms and legs as he walked off into the distance.
Everyone gave each other another amused looks and then ran into the water. Five minutes later they all heard a very distant booming noise and they grinned at each other again. They all knew exactly who that had to be, and they knew that the show was about to start. Suddenly, off on the far bank of the lake, they saw a dusty contrail that began approaching them at extremely high speeds.
Naruto Uzumaki was hauling ass! This was great and it was a lot easier to get used to than he'd feared it'd be. He was moving in a blur of frantic speed, to the point that the hardest thing to do was keep up with his eyes. While it was obvious he was going to have to practice this some more, there was something else he had to do that was of even more importance. Naruto ran to the beach where his friends were bobbing in the water, grinned and then leapt through the air in their direction. They were about ten meters out in the water, but Naruto knew such a short distance wouldn't matter. For almost seven whole seconds, Naruto was airborne, as he smoothly arched high over his stunned friend's heads. "Cannonball," Naruto yelled out, as he screamed down towards the water like a... well, like a cannonball.
BOOM!
Eeeek!... Hahaha… Eeek splash!
Naruto's crash landing had caused both a large wave and an explosion of water to fly high in the air, pushing his friends away from him and then pummeling them with the deluge of water that followed. When Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Tenten and Choji finally sorted themselves out, they found a Naruto Uzumaki bobbing in the water amongst them, with a very self-satisfied look upon his face.
"Get him," roared Ino, with a determined expression and a wave of her arm.
After a single second of hesitation, it was time for the counterattack. Tenten, Choji, Shikamaru and Hinata, all nodded their understanding and relentlessly hunted Naruto down.
And a good time was had by all…
Back in Konoha Village Sunday night…..
Naruto entered his apartment to find it completely damage free, with the exception that there was a bin full of empty beer and sake bottles outside his door. It was a nice change of pace to not find graffiti and damages at the end of the Kyuubi festival, and he certainly didn't begrudge the Anbu having some fun on their holiday. As he entered his apartment, he saw three Anbu sitting on his couch listening to soft, slightly tinny music, on his clock radio.
"Welcome back," Dog called out, while rising to his feet. "You need a real radio."
"I actually received one for my birthday," Naruto responded cheerfully.
Dog walked closer and looked down at the boy. "Did you have fun?"
Naruto beamed back at the man and nodded his head in a rapid affirmative.
"Good... I have a favor to ask of you." Dog crouched down and whispered into Naruto's ear.
"Really?" Naruto looked a little incredulous.
"Really," Dog said, in a very serious voice. "You'd be making my life easier."
With his concerns reassured, Naruto nodded dutifully at the man and then walked further into his apartment. As he walked past Turtle, he nodded at the man and then he very slowly and cutely deposited himself onto Cat's sitting form, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. He really lay it on thick too, snuggling into the stunned woman and rubbing his face against her chest.
For just a single moment in time, Cat didn't respond at all. Then, very, very suddenly, the woman squeed in a very feminine way and gathered the boy up into the tightest hug he'd ever received. "Soooo cute, so cute, oh my Gods, it's too much!" Cat deposited Naruto firmly in her lap and began snuggling with him as if he were a teddy bear. "The Kyuubi festival's technically not over yet. I'm not going anywhere!"
Both Turtle and Dog began laughing and it was extremely hard to stop.
Later that same month, Sasuke Uchiha would become the last surviving member of his clan, when his entire family was wiped out by his older brother Itachi Uchiha. His older brother would go on to become an infamous S ranked rogue nin, wanted throughout all of the ninja nations.
Five years later….
Naruto Uzumaki sat cross-legged in a clearing, where he focused his entire being on affixing a leaf to the skin of his forehead. He'd been attempting to get down to this very basic form of chakra control for a very, very long time by now, but there was a problem. Naruto had extremely vast amounts of chakra running throughout his body, so anything requiring either very little power or large amounts of precision were still completely beyond him.
A good example of this odd disparity was the fact that Naruto and all of his friends could all wall-walk or water-walk at will at this point, but Naruto still found this leaf exercise completely impossible….
A little over a year and a half ago, when Naruto finally mastered how to wall-walk, and then his friends saw him walking around on his ceiling as if it was nothing, the obvious result was that they all just had to figure it out for themselves... Of course, along with the wall/water-walking skills came a vastly increased level of chakra control, so all of Naruto's friends were very advanced for their age group.
These improvements didn't mean anything for Naruto in the short term however, because he still couldn't create a basic Bunshin clone to save his life..
Bunshin clones are nothing but an illusion of your body, and they're one of the three Jutsus required in order for a trainee to pass the academy. They require next to no power to create and that's why they're a staple in an academy populated by relatively weak civilian born trainees. Naruto just couldn't, for the life of him, get a Jutsu that insignificant to work. Every single damned time he attempted the Jutsu, he flooded it with boat loads of extra chakra and the results were always less than inspiring.
If it was something the test proctors would accept, Naruto would quite happily make like five-hundred of the damned things all at once and just be done with it. Too bad for him, he already knew that the proctors we're looking for any reason to fail him.
They were paid for by the civilian council after all…
He'd been avoiding the emotion for a long time now, but Naruto was beginning to feel legitimately concerned that in a little over a month, he'd fail his final ninja exams. It was obvious to everybody that if Naruto gave the proctors even a fraction of an excuse they'd fail him. He was still, to this day, hated by the vast majority of the village, and the Civilian Council did not want him to become a ninja.
A good chunk of Naruto's classmates thought that he was going to fail his final exam for his completely mediocre Kawarimi (body swap Jutsu) skills and complete inability to create a simple Bunshin clone, and a little less than one third of these students seemed to truly enjoy that idea, because they disliked him. While the dislike that Naruto's classmates had for him was different than it had been in the beginning, the emotion was there nonetheless.
By now, most of the trainees in Naruto's class had begrudgingly accepted the fact that he wasn't really a troublemaker. For that reason, the few females of the class who visibly disapproved of him, were really just following along with everyone else, and treating him like crap for the sake of convenience. On the other hand, all of the boys in the class that resented him felt the way they did for a very simple and yet far, far more genuine reason…
Naruto had two very close, very affectionate, very gorgeous, female friends in the form of Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga...
That's right… Nowadays, most of Naruto's haters were part of the male population of the Academy, because they were either jealous as all hell of him or completely enraged over his so-called "manipulation." On a regular basis, these boys accused Naruto of blackmailing the girl's, among several other equally ridiculous plots, and they refused to listen to reason even when it was Ino and Hinata that was telling them otherwise...
It was as if these boys were so thoroughly brainwashed by popular opinion that they couldn't see Naruto's positive attributes at all. The truth of the matter was that Naruto was among the best in his class in most elements of their training, and that was despite the fact that he was currently moving under nine gravities, with the corresponding air resistance to match. He was also a deft hand with any variety of Shuriken and Kunai, and he very rarely lost when sparring with his classmates...
Right now, with the weight Naruto was newly experiencing, it was a rough go to fight either Hinata or Sasuke. Both of them had access to speed he didn't have at the moment, and their fighting techniques were beyond reproach. Naruto knew that he was a far better fighter from a strictly martial arts perspective, but Hinata had a tendency to use her family's Kekkai Genkai and chakra expelling abilities to paralyze him with soft, friendly little blows, until he found himself on his back and completely at her mercy. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a deft hand at a wide variety of different Taijutsu and Ninjutsu techniques, so he wasn't easy to fight while under a handicap.
Despite all of his current shortcomings, it wasn't as if Naruto couldn't use Ninjutsu at all. The problem was merely a matter of scope. Naruto had no great desire to use a normal candle flame lighting Jutsu during a test, only to burn down both himself and the Academy around them. Despite years of effort at chakra control, it was still just that hard to control his power output. It felt to Naruto as if he was trying to crack open the valve of a sink only to find the entire damned ocean exploding out...
Despite his chakra control issues, Naruto can, and in fact had, completely mastered a Jutsu, which hypothetically meant that he could do the same with the rest of them. So far, the only requirement to mastering a Jutsu for Naruto was a level of familiarity bordering on the obsessive...
The one and only Jutsu that Naruto was able to perform at will is called the Henge.
The Henge is a light based illusion Jutsu (rather than the mind altering variety) that Naruto had basically needed to gain mastery over simply for convenience's sake. The ability to alter his own appearance at will was the only reason why Naruto could ever buy anything within the village's shopping district without paying over twenty times the original market price. For that reason, mastering the Henge Jutsu was always extremely high on Naruto's list of priorities right from the very beginning….
To try to recreate that level of familiarity with all of the other Academy Jutsus, Naruto would need to repeat them all a little over ten thousand times...
Ugh...
As yet another poor, defenseless leaf tore itself to shreds upon Naruto's forehead, he sighed in long suffering, and lay back within the grass... No luck today either. It was official... Naruto was screwed. He really needed to talk to the old man about this and see what he had in mind. For obvious reasons, Naruto didn't like burdening the Hokage with his problems, but if he failed the exams and then fell under the authority of the civilian council, that would definitely become a problem for the man.
"Ahh Naruto Kun! How may I help you today?" Hiruzen didn't see anywhere near enough of the young man, because much to his pleasure, the boy had a small pack of friends, with whom he diligently trained every day. It was an ideal situation for Hiruzen, who was finally able to sleep at night without worrying.
"I'm most likely going to fail my ninja exams," Naruto explained with a smile, as he sat down across from Hiruzen.
"Wait, what? Why?" Hiruzen was stunned. The last he'd heard Naruto was a very accomplished student in most areas of his classes, even with the seals in place.
"Do you think the exam proctors are going to accept a minimum of three hundred shadow clones, when I only need to make one?" While Naruto was casually leaning back in his chair, his eyes were completely serious.
"N... no they won't, but why would you even dream of doing something so absurd?" Hiruzen was confused.
Leaning forward over the desk, Naruto lay his arms out across its surface. "Gramps... I'm more likely to succeed in performing an unbelievably massive and destructive Jutsu, than I am making a single shadow clone. I have waaaaay too much chakra to only use that little. It's completely beyond me to even keep a leaf intact and stuck to my head. I could probably wall walk for a week straight without stopping, if that helps give you some idea of scope."
"Uh... oh... Well okay... sit tight and let me think." Contrary to his words, Hiruzen already knew the perfect solution to Naruto's problem. What he didn't immediately know, was how to make it available without the boy breaking the law. Then he remembered a man who'd used a special ability to learn exactly the Jutsu he had in mind. "Okay Naruto. I want you to go to training ground number seven tonight, and look for a monument for ninjas who've died in action. I want you to give the Anbu that you find there this letter that I'm writing for you. He'll show you what you need to know."
"Uhh okay. That sounds easy enough. Thank you." Naruto seemed stunned that the answer had been that simple.
"You should have come to me with this a long time ago, Naruto." Hiruzen was really quite annoyed with the boy.
Naruto looked chagrined for several moments, as he stared back at the Hokage. "You're right and I'm sorry." Naruto bowed his head in sincere apology. "I've become used to keeping secrets, but my failures shouldn't have become one of them. I should have come to you sooner."
"Good. It's best to learn that lesson while you're still young. I'm relieved actually. I feared you were keeping secrets from me out of spite. I know I've withheld resources that you could have used in the past, and I know you resent me for it. As Hiruzen's scowl disappeared, a look of sad resignation replaced it on his face. You may not understand my decisions right now Naruto, but I pray someday you will."
Hiruzen was right. Naruto did resent him. He resented him both for his lack of support over the years and for all the secrets he was keeping. On the other hand, the old man reeked of both goodwill and pain-filled weariness. Whatever burden the Hokage carried in regards to him, it wasn't light and it wasn't going away. Being the third Hokage of Konoha village wasn't relaxing to say the very least. With a small shrug of his shoulders, Naruto patted Hiruzen's arm consolingly and then straightened to his feet. It may not have been the great outpouring of forgiveness that the old man needed, but it was the best that Naruto could do...
After smiling up at the really rather kind young man, Hiruzen coughed and shuffled papers on his desk. "Yes well... Enjoy the rest of your afternoon Naruto. I'd ask you to visit with me longer, but unfortunately, I need to slay a dragon..."
Both Naruto and Hiruzen looked at the piles and piles of paperwork dominating an entire wing of the man's desk, and then they winced.
"Sorry old man. I'd spare you if I could." Naruto shrugged as he walked backwards towards the door.
"I believe you and that means a lot to me," Hiruzen said in a soft and hopeless little voice.
Naruto walked across training area number seven, towards an old war monument that was placed near its perimeter. When he arrived, he saw Dog standing there and staring at the carved stone. The man positively reeked of misery, but Naruto tried very hard not to pity him for it. He knew Dog well enough to know that the Anbu operative wouldn't appreciate pity from a subordinate... or anyone else for that matter. Instead, Naruto just walked up and stood with the man for several minutes.
"How can I help you Naruto?" Dog looked as if he wanted Naruto gone so he could wallow in peace.
Naruto handed over the Hokage's letter and then waited as Dog read it several times.
"You have that much trouble?" Dog looked a little bit amused and a little bit confused.
"I can flood this whole training area with illusions if you want me to, but if just one is what you need, it'll end up looking like it's been poisoned before exploding into smoke." Naruto shrugged. "Alsea says that if I ever get just one illusion to work, I'll have the control necessary to learn advanced medical Jutsus. I don't think she's being sarcastic."
"Ohhhkaaay... Sounds like a real problem. The exam proctors are hand chosen by the Civilian Council." Dog could already see that Naruto knew that, just by the look of long suffering on his face. "Okay then. I learned a Jutsu by accident many years ago, and it's exactly what you need right now."
"How is it going to help me create illusions?" Naruto couldn't help it. He was getting a little jazzed now.
"By cutting out the illusion part altogether," Dog responded immediately. "You're going to be creating a real replica of yourself, containing a little less than half of your chakra. Under normal circumstances, using this Jutsu is extremely dangerous. The reason for the danger is that only Jonin and above generally have the necessary chakra stores to survive using half in a single instant. This Jutsu can cause chakra shock and it can also hurt your brain. I'm surprised the Hokage is offering up such a radical solution."
"I have absolutely enormous chakra stores, and I've healed from debilitating brain injury in the past." In response to Dog's sudden indrawn breath, Naruto raised a hand in a don't ask fashion. "It was a long time ago and it was the villagers. It hurt, it was frightening in the extreme and it took quite a bit longer than normal to heal, but it did end up healing."
"Well, okay then..." Dog turned towards Naruto and slowly demonstrated the hand signs needed for the Jutsu. The hand signs for the Kage shadow clone Jutsu are ram, serpent and tiger as opposed to just serpent and ram. In order to make it work you need to funnel a lot of chakra into it, so don't skimp, go all out."
With an all business nod, Naruto jumped back about ten feet and took a ready stance. "Go all out, got it!" Naruto's hands were a blur as he went through the signs and he screamed out the words "Kage Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
…
…
Nothing…
Both Dog and Naruto grinned because that had been the boy's one big chance for a super cool hero moment.
"Try again Naruto." Dog pantomimed the Jutsu again and fixed one of Naruto's fingers as he copied him.
Twenty minutes and about thirty failures later…..
"Kage Bunsin No Jutsu!"
Booom, poof, poof, poof X a lot!
"Well I'll be damned," Dog whispered to himself, as the whole clearing emptied of a cool, thick smoke.
Dammit X 50! I did it again X 50!
"Naruto! The real Naruto! You're the spokesperson here, you speak for them. You're deafening me." Dog was super amused despite his sharp tone. There were like fifty-five Naruto's standing around with no indication that they were winded, let alone chakra exhausted. Kami... No wonder Naruto can't create a normal bunshin.
"What should I do now?" The real Naruto walked up to Dog, with a subdued look upon his face. "Granted I was pushing for big, but I won't pass my exam if I make fifty corporeal clones either."
"Well you have a month to go and you have a team of yourself to practice with now." Dog was trying not to laugh at this point. "If you can't learn to create just one or two clones with these many of you practicing, then you just don't deserve to pass."
"Wait? What? Do you mean I can learn stuff through these versions of me?" Naruto looked stunned.
"Yes Naruto... That's exactly what I mean." Dog gestured out towards the small army of Naruto Uzumaki's. "When these clones dispel they send the remaining copies of you their collected experiences. It's part of what makes this Jutsu dangerous to the user. If you were to dispel all of these clones all at once, you'd almost certainly overwhelm and damage your brain. On the other hand, if one of those clones out there learns something and then disappears, the rest of you will have learned it too. Naruto... You're not a genius like Shikamaru is... but with this many of you running around, your potential is nearly limitless..."
"I... can see that..." Naruto had a very thoughtful expression on his face, as he looked around at his workforce. "How many can I safely dispel at a time?"
"Differs from person to person," Dog replied, with a shrug. "For now just stick to one or two at a time."
"This is... this is crazy. I can like, learn at an exponential rate if I do this correctly." Naruto looked stunned again.
"Maybe you are a genius Naruto. Not many ninjas would've realized what you just did as fast as you did." Dog looked impressed.
"I have Alsea tutoring me Fuinjutsu and Fuinjutsu requires math. It's not my favorite subject but I've become capable. Gods... At this rate I can iron out my Kawarimi and figure out how much chakra goes into the shadow clone Jutsu at exactly the same time..." As Naruto walked a few steps towards his army of clones, they all turned to regard him. "Okay everyone! Grab a log and get to work! I want to see instantaneous movement and I want to see it ASAP!"
When Naruto turned back towards Dog , he had a manic look of excitement on his face. "By the time the exam comes next month, I might actually have the control necessary to do a normal bunshin." Then Naruto looked out at his army of scrambling clones and shrugged. "Or maybe not... but I want to try anyway. Chakra control is easily my biggest weakness as a ninja."
"If you remain self aware enough to recognize your faults, you'll go far Naruto." Dog patted the boy on the shoulder and smiled underneath his mask. "Go on now. This clearing is a place of quiet contemplation, not a million hyperactive twelve year olds."
Before leaving the clearing, Naruto turned back towards Dog and gave the man a serious look. "Can I say just one thing that might anger you?"
For several seconds Dog didn't react. Then he suddenly nodded and gestured for Naruto to go ahead.
Dropping his hands to his sides, Naruto gave the Anbu a level and honest expression. "What you just did for me, Dog... it'll change my life... I think you'd be an excellent Jonin Sensei, and I think that's a far better way to honor your lost ones than standing here and suffering."
"You have no idea what I mourn, and you have no right to judge me," Dog immediately growled back, his words and tone extremely well-rehearsed.
"I'm not judging you at all, Dog." Naruto shook his head in a rapid negative. "You're a good man, a good ninja. Truly, I just want you to be happy, and I know you're not going to find that particular emotion here... Keep in mind, I've also tried the complete isolation route in the past, and it was you who dragged me back… I'd like to return the favor..."
Dog didn't respond verbally this time, but after about a minute passed, he nodded his understanding.
"Have a good night," Naruto quietly offered, as he walked over to his closest clone. After he whispered into its ear the clone nodded its understanding and ended its own existence. All of the sudden, the rest of the clones formed into ranks, and quietly followed the real Naruto out of the clearing.
"He really is similar to his old man," Dog whispered towards the monument, as the sunshine blond army walked out of the clearing. "He has the same attitudes, and although he's not quite as advanced technically, he's pretty damned sharp... He's going to be a scary, scary ninja."
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
I added a few hand signs to the Shadow clone Jutsu because it's always bothered me that such an incredibly sophisticated and multifaceted Jutsu only requires you form a T sign with your hands. Later on, Naruto will make it look as easy as falling off a log, but for now, it takes a few hand signs.
Author's Note 2:
If you like my writing, want to check on my release schedule + want to help support me, consider visiting my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page
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