"Talking"
'Thinking'
Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons
Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 50: Preparing for the Tournament
In Sasuke's Infirmary Room
Naruto sat in the chair next to Sasuke's bed as he waited for the medics to move him to the hospital, while Narumi sat by the small table next to it, where she unsealed some food and was having her first meal in a while.
Naruto had a lot to think about, not only considering the dicey security situation of the Chunin Exams and the village as a whole, but also regarding how he needed to help his students get ready for the tournament which would be held in a month's time.
Flashback
"The preliminary stage of the third stage of the Chunin Exams is now over." Hayate started when the arena had been cleared up and all the contestants were either getting medical attention or listening to him.
"This now leaves us with the final roster of contestants who will be fighting in the tournament, a total of 12 Genin. While I congratulate you all for making it this far, we unfortunately have an awkward number of contestants making it to the last round."
"Ugh… please don't tell me you'll eliminate another 4 people with some sort of post-preliminaries." Shikamaru complained. He really didn't want to go through another hassle like that before he got some time to relax.
"You don't have to worry about any more eliminations for now. The contestants for the tournament are locked in now." Hayate explained.
"What about the awkward number of contestants then?" Narumi asked, asking a question that was on the minds of everyone.
A Chunin assistant brought in a blackboard where Hayate began to draw the tournament brackets.
"As you can see here, this tournament will have to be structured slightly differently from some you might have seen before."
"Wait, some people have to fight more than others?" Narumi asked in surprise at the shape of the tournament brackets.
Hayate nodded. "Indeed. In the first round, 4 contestants will get a bye to the next round."
"How is that fair for the people who have to fight an extra round? What is the selection process for the bye based on anyway?" Temari questioned.
"It's not equal, but this is the best we can do with the number of people we have. We can't have it be a round robin style tournament, because that will take too long." Hayate replied.
"And as for the selection process…"
Hayate reached into a bowl that held folded up papers with the names of the remaining contestants written on them.
"Don't tell me we're gonna have it be random…" Temari complained.
"Despite what you might think, having a bye isn't necessarily an advantage. Sure, you'll have more energy compared to your competition in the 2nd round, but you also won't know who you'll be fighting until the 1st round is over. The others who don't get a bye to the 2nd round will learn here and now who they'll be fighting, and they'll have time to prepare and strategize. Let me remind you that selection for promotion is based on performance and showing, and not necessarily on winning. If we can see in your first fight that you show the skills and mindset befitting a Chunin, then you can be promoted even if you lose in the 2nd round, or maybe even the 1st round."
"Not to mention, you'll have more chances to show what you got!" Anko added from the viewing deck as she entered with Ibiki.
"Well… that as well…" Hayate agreed. "Getting back to business, these are the 4 competitors who will be getting a bye.
He began to open up the papers he pulled up. "Uzumaki Narumi. Yuki Haku. Gaara of Suna. And finally, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Yay! Or wait, is that bad?" Narumi wondered as she looked at her brother for confirmation. He merely shrugged.
"Eh. Depends on how you look at it, I guess. I guess a small yay works." Narumi said as she shrugged.
Haku chuckled at Narumi's comments. She had missed the vibrant energy of her friend during the war.
Haku was surprised she got a bye, but she was pleased with the outcome. While she had faith in her abilities, her biggest weakness was her smaller chakra reserves, so this worked out great for her.
Gaara on the other hand, was less enthused at the prospect of having fewer people to introduce to mother.
Temari was not convinced that these were randomly picked, as each contestant who got a bye seemed to be some of the most promising Genin here. However, there was nothing she could do.
"Now as for the matchup for the first round of the tournament," Hayate began as he reached into the bowl again. "The first match will be between Hozuki Suigetsu and… Hyuuga Hinata."
Suigetsu looked over at Hinata and smirked. She didn't look tough in the slightest. He'd get to the next round easily, he thought.
"The next match will be between Rock Lee and… Chojuro of Kiri."
"Yosh! Let's a have a youthful battle!" Lee said to his opponent as he gave him a blinding smile.
"Uh… umm… yeah. O-ok." Chojuro replied, not knowing how to respond to such a character. There definitely wasn't anyone so… flamboyant(?) like him in Kiri.
"Next will be Nara Shikamaru and Temari of Suna."
Shikamaru gave a glance at Temari before sighing. "Great… She looks troublesome already."
"And the last match of the 1st round will be between Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Neji."
Both Genin named didn't show much of a reaction, preferring to keep their thoughts to themselves for now.
Naruto looked at the matchups that were written on the board and began to plan what he should do to help his students do well.
He was looking at the blackboard when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Well well. Would you look at that? Both of our teams had all members make it to the final tournament." Zabuza said to Naruto.
"What can I say. Should I be surprised? Though it does seem a little cheap that you brought a team of war veterans."
Zabuza smirked. "You know what they say. All is fair in love, war, and the Chunin Exams."
"Wait what? That's not the saying-"
Zabuza cut off Naruto's interjection. "Anyway, why not spice up the tournament with a little wager hmm? It would make watching the tournament more interesting."
"What do you have in mind?" Naruto asked.
Zabuza gave him a smirk.
End Flashback
Naruto's attention turned to the door when they suddenly opened, and several ANBU including Kakashi walked in.
"Naruto-taichou!" The lower ranking ANBU saluted him as the Hokage followed them in.
When Naruto saw the Hokage and his guards, he immediately assumed Hiruzen was here to talk about the infiltrator Naruto had told him about.
When he saw Hiashi and Mikoto following the Hokage in though, he realized what else this could be about.
"Hello Hiashi-san, Mikoto-san." Naruto greeted politely.
He was used to seeing a dour look on Hiashi's face, but he was surprised to see it on Mikoto's face as well.
"Kakashi, stay here with some ANBU and watch over Sasuke and Narumi. I'll be taking my guards to another room to have a private conversation with Naruto, Hiashi-san, and Mikoto-san." Hiruzen ordered.
Kakashi nodded and began directing the ANBU into their positions.
Hiruzen gestured for Naruto to follow, and the 4 of them entered an empty room with the ANBU standing guard at the door.
"Naruto, please secure the privacy of our conversation." Hiruzen asked Naruto.
Naruto nodded and began weaving hand seals, before he slammed his palm to the ground, where a matrix of kanji emanated from the spot, and began crawling up the walls and ceiling before they vanished.
"Now that we have some privacy, there are some things we need to discuss." Hiruzen began.
"Judging by all this security, I'm guessing you're not here to congratulate my team on everyone making it to the last round as rookies, is it?" Naruto asked.
"While I am impressed at the unprecedented feat and congratulate you and your team on doing so, we have more important things to discuss." Hiruzen replied.
"Of course. What did you need to discuss, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked as his mind went to several places.
"Why don't we start by discussing the curse marks on our children!" Hiashi shouted out at Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, can you please tell us what happened?" Mikoto asked a little more politely with a worried look on her face. "We've heard what you told Hokage-sama, but we want more details."
Naruto sighed before he nodded. He was just as concerned, but he also only knew what he heard from Hinata and what he put together himself.
"From what I've heard from Hinata, I have reason to believe that Orochimaru has an interest in your children and marked them with a cursed seal to influence their minds. That's all I know myself."
"How could you let this happen!? You said you'd be responsible for their safety! Do you have any idea what this means for Hinata in our clan?" Hiashi shouted angrily.
Naruto did feel awful that such a thing happened to his students, but there was no way he could have guessed that someone like Orochimaru would make an appearance in the Chunin exams after he'd been silent for so long.
"I'm sorry Hiashi-san. But nobody expected Orochimaru to take an interest in your children, and nobody expected him to show up in the Chunin Exams." Hiruzen responded. "If it is indeed true that it is him, we have bigger issues to worry about."
That didn't do much to make Hiashi feel better. Right when Hinata was proving herself to the clan and Hiashi could openly be proud of her, a tragedy befell her.
As a member of the main family of Hyuuga, having unmarked skin was essential. It was what set them apart from the cadet branch. Having any mark on your skin was bad enough as a main branch Hyuuga, but a curse mark? Worse yet, a curse mark put on by someone outside of the clan? A curse mark was a means of controlling someone, and a Hyuuga under the control of someone else was simply not acceptable.
As such, Hiashi was extremely concerned about what would happen if the clan elders found out about the mark on Hinata. For the first time in her life, she was living up to her expectations as clan heiress, and Hiashi had been elated to show his pride in her publicly within the clan. But now there was a huge chance that Hinata might be delegated as a branch member. For years he had been pushing off marking either one of his daughters with the caged bird seal as he tried to come up with a plan to save them both, but now his plans were unraveling.
"You're the premier seal master of our village. You must do something about this!" Hiashi demanded to Naruto.
"I'll do what I can, but I'm sure you are well aware of how difficult and complex curse seals are." Naruto explained. "I'll need to do a lot of research on it, and even then, it might be impossible to fully decipher or remove them without Orochimaru's notes."
"A-are you saying nothing can be done?" Mikoto asked with a paling face.
Naruto put a hand on his aunt-figure's shoulder. "While we cannot currently fully remove the curse seal, it doesn't mean we can't do anything about it."
"Then what can be done?" Hiashi asked.
"Well from what I've seen and what we know about curse seals, we can assume that this seal is meant to control the marked person, corrupting them in exchange for power."
Mikoto couldn't help but cover her mouth as she choked out a sob for her son.
"However, my sister Narumi has done a splendid job in applying the evil containment seal on them. It was actually flawlessly done." Naruto went on to explain.
"What does this mean?" Mikoto asked in concern.
"It means it will prevent the seal from actively corrupting or influencing their minds."
"So, this means they are safe from its effects?" Mikoto wondered.
"No. While it won't affect them too much directly, they will still be susceptible to its effects on their emotions. If they don't control their emotions and fight against the temptation of power the mark offers, they will fall under its influence. Basically, how much it affects them will be up to them." Naruto explained.
"This is the best that can be done under the current circumstances." Hiruzen chimed in. "We'll try to support Naruto in his search for a way to completely remove the curse seal, but we have more pressing matters if Orochimaru has infiltrated the village without us knowing. The curse seal issue will have to take a back seat for now."
"But what about the effects it will have for Hinata within my clan?" Hiashi asked.
"You'll have to come up with something, Hiashi-san. It is your clan after all." Hiruzen responded.
"I can cover up her seal with a seal that will cast a genjutsu over the mark, but I'm not sure that will do much for a clan full of people that can easily see through a genjutsu." Naruto commented.
"We have strict rules banning the use of the Byakugan within the clan compound. I'm willing to try anything right now." Hiashi replied. He was desperate.
"Good. Then Naruto here can do that for Hinata and Sasuke." Hiruzen concluded about the matter. "Meanwhile, keep close watch over them. I'll have ANBU watch over them as well, but if Orochimaru has his eyes set on them, we can't afford to be lax in their security."
Everyone in the room agreed, and Hiruzen and Mikoto left after discussing a few more details on what needed to be done regarding Orochimaru.
Naruto was about to leave too when Hiashi stopped him from getting to the door.
Naruto was confused and was about to get angry, when Hiashi dropped down on his knees.
"Please find a solution for Hinata. Her wellbeing depends on it."
Hiashi then bowed down with his forehead touching the floor. "I beg you Naruto-san! You're the only one in this village who can save her!"
Naruto had never liked Hiashi, and thought he was an arrogant prick who only cared about his reputation. But seeing him throwing away his dignity for the sake of his daughter made him reconsider his judgement of the man.
He helped Hiashi back to his feet. "I promise I'll do my best to come up with something for Hinata. All I ask is that you protect her from your own clan until I can find a solution."
Hiashi nodded. "Thank you, Naruto-san. I'll leave it in your hands."
He then gathered himself and opened the door to leave.
Just before he left, Hiashi spoke one last time to Naruto.
"By the way, you've done a splendid job with Hinata and the others. I thank you for believing in her and bringing out the true potential that even I could not see."
When Hiashi left, Naruto stood there, considering everything that just happened. Maybe Hiashi wasn't a total asshole after all.
At the Uzumaki Clan House
Naruto and Narumi were greeted with a scream when they got back home.
"AHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHH!" Narumi screamed in shock as she wasn't expecting that when she opened the door to her house.
"Geez, will everyone quit screaming?" Naruto asked as he picked his ears.
"You should let people know you're coming in when you enter!" Karin replied as she pointed a ladle at the two.
"Oh. Sorry. I guess we're not used to having other people in the house." Naruto answered back.
"What are you doing with that ladle and apron anyway?" Narumi asked as she pointed at Karin's outfit.
"Making dinner? Duh!"
"That's quite nice of you." Naruto told Karin with a warm smile.
"But why are you cooking? Usually Naruto nii-chan cooks." Narumi asked.
"Well, I was just trying to do something nice for you guys. Since you've been so nice to be me, letting me stay here and all." Karin said shyly.
Naruto walked up to Karin and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Karin. It's nice to have someone else cook for once."
A few minutes later, Narumi and Naruto were seated at the dinner table as Karin brought out the food.
"Hope you guys like curry! My mom used to make it for me all the time, but I never got her recipe so I sorta made it up as I went."
The Naru siblings thanked Karin and dug into their food.
Narumi took a bite and began to chew. She felt the undercooked vegetables and over cooked rice and tasted the terribly seasoned and watery curry which made her gag a little. She turned to her brother who was eating politely but had a disturbed look in his eyes that Karin didn't notice.
"So, how is it guys?" Karin asked as she poured some curry on her plate and sat at her seat.
"I-its great Karin-chan." Naruto lied as he tried to give a thumbs up and a smile reminiscent of Gai but couldn't manage such a brilliant smile as the sides of his mouth quivered from the terrible food in his mouth. "Isn't it Narumi-chan?"
Narumi felt betrayed as Naruto shifted the attention on her. She gave Karin a shaky smile as she nodded but couldn't bring herself to say that the food tasted good with her own mouth.
Karin smiled and dug into her own meal. Just a few bites were all she needed to realize that her food tasted awful.
She looked up to look at Naruto and Narumi whose hands were shaking as they continued to eat the food with a forced smile.
"Hehe… it's my first time cooking… I promise my mom's didn't taste like this." Karin said as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.
"By the way Karin, you're family, and you don't need to pay us back for taking care of you. That's just what family does." Naruto told Karin which garnered a grateful smile out of her.
"So, don't feel like you have to cook for us anymore, ok? You're not you really don't owe us anything." Naruto subtly emphasized what he really wanted to say. "This is your home now. Don't mind us and make yourself comfortable.
Karin was very happy to be wholeheartedly accepted by the family she recently found she had but couldn't help but doubt if this would be a permanent arrangement.
"Are you sure I'll be able to stay here? I don't want to get comfortable here only to have to go back to Kusa. I want to be prepared for that if that happens."
"Look, I can't guarantee 100% that you will certainly be allowed to stay here, but I will promise you that I will do everything in my power to improve your chances of staying here. I already asked the Hokage to tell Kusa, and he's probably the person I trust most when it comes to diplomatic solutions." Naruto told Karin.
Karin's past experiences told her that things never went smoothly, but she decided to leave it in the hands of her clan head and the Hokage of her hopefully soon-to-be village.
A few days later, At Training Ground 7
After everyone had recovered from their injuries and got the rest they so desperately needed, Team 7 got together at their training ground to discuss what needed to be done.
"Let me start by saying that I am very happy to see you all in better shape than you were at the preliminary fights." Naruto began as he looked over his much fresher looking students.
"We don't have much time to waste when it comes to preparing for the tournament, but before we get to that there's something we need to discuss."
Hinata and Sasuke immediately knew what was coming, and subconsciously put their hands over the side of their necks.
"We need to talk about the curse seals you guys got in the forest. Have you talked to your parents about them yet?" Naruto asked.
The two of them quietly nodded.
"Like I'm sure your parents explained to you, the seal on your neck is dangerous. I don't know how much you know, but the person who put the seals on your neck is no ordinary Genin."
Sasuke had already heard from Mikoto about who the culprit was and how dangerous he was, but Hinata hadn't heard much from her father, other than to never show her curse mark and to never fall to it.
"Wh-who was it?" Hinata asked.
Naruto sighed. "I don't want to scare you, but the person you fought in the forest was Orochimaru. He's one of the most powerful shinobi Konoha has produced but is also one of the most sick and evil people Konoha has produced as well."
Hinata's face lost its color as she took in the info.
"Wh-why? What does he w-want with us?" Hinata asked.
"We don't know. But I doubt it's for anything good. That's why it's important that you learn to control the seal, instead of letting it control you."
Sasuke looked down in shame as he remembered how he let the seal control him during the preliminaries. He had always wanted to show off his own strength and talent, but he had fallen to the temptation of the seal and let it control him into depending on its strength.
Naruto noticed this and spoke up. "Now, while this is a serious situation, I don't want you guys to worry or stress too much about it. It's clear that it's dangerous and seeks to control you, but with the evil containment seal that Narumi placed on it, it becomes possible for you to fight back and control it instead. Now, I know that it offers you great power-"
"But we should fight against it and never use it because it can control us." Sasuke replied, saying what he thought Naruto would say.
"Well, kinda, but not really."
Hinata and Sasuke gave him a confused look.
"Look, if it was up to me, I would prefer that you guys were never branded with the seal. But the fact is, it is on you, and we can't get it off of you for now. But we're also ninja. We should use everything we have to our advantage. If the seal offers you a great power like we saw the preliminaries, we need to learn to control it so we can use it when we need to. Just because it's dangerous doesn't mean we should hide from it. We should instead learn to control it."
Sasuke and Hinata were surprised to hear this, after their parents had advised extreme caution regarding the seal and told them to always suppress it.
"Hey, that's kinda like me with the Kyuubi!"
Naruto's jaw dropped as Narumi released confidential information.
"NARUMI! What did I say about that information!?" Naruto shouted at her.
"Oh. Well, they already knew for a while now. It's no biggie."
This was news to Naruto. How did they find out? When did she tell them?
Naruto let out a sigh of exasperation. She had no idea how dangerous that information was, and there could have easily been someone nearby who could have heard that crucial information.
However, the cat was already out of the bag, and there was no point crying over spilled milk.
"Look Narumi, I don't know why you shared that information without telling me, but I don't want you sharing this information with anyone else without letting me know first, ok?
Narumi nodded.
Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose to gather himself before he turned back to his team.
"Well, anyway, like what Narumi said, it's important that you learn to control this power, but I don't want you relying on it ok? Only use it when it's absolutely necessary and it's a matter of life and death."
Sasuke and Hinata nodded.
"Alright, let's move on." Naruto said as he got back to what he gathered his team for. "Now let's talk about your training for the tournament."
He pulled out a notepad that had the matchups written on it. "So, Narumi and Sasuke get a bye to the next round, but Hinata fights Suigetsu in the first round…"
Hinata nodded nervously as she thought about her match. She remembered how Suigetsu dominated Kiba with his abilities and how strong he looked.
"Well, it looks like Narumi is most likely going to fight either Suigetsu or Hinata in the 2nd round, and Sasuke is going to fight Shino or Neji..."
Narumi and Sasuke nodded. "So how should we train?"
"Well, since we know who Hinata is fighting, I've got specific things I want her to train in, but for you guys…"
"Yeah? What about us?" Narumi asked as Naruto continued to stare at his notepad.
"If that's who I think it is, you guys might have to face quite the challenging opponent down the line." Naruto told his Genin as his eyes fell on a certain Suna Genin's name.
"Huh? Who is that?" Narumi wondered.
"I may be mistaken, but I think there might be another Jinchuuriki present in this exam." Naruto quietly told his team.
"What?" His Genin shouted out in surprise simultaneously. "Who?"
"I believe Gaara of Suna is the current Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi. I don't know how he fights exactly, but I heard he uses his sand for his impressive offense and defense, and that he's quite powerful."
Sasuke and Hinata began to feel concerned and wondered what they were to do if they faced him, as they saw how powerful Jinchuurikis could be back in their mission in Taki when Narumi and Fuu man-handled Jonin-level shinobi.
Meanwhile Narumi was more intrigued than worried. The redheaded boy had shown interest in her earlier, and she was now wondering if that was because he somehow knew she was a Jinchuuriki as well. She was now curious in how the boy would fight and wanted to see how she stacked up against other Jinchuuriki.
"H-how can we fight against a J-Jinchuuriki, sensei? Aren't they stronger than J-Jonin?" Hinata asked in concern.
"I'll be honest with you guys. If he proves to be too strong, I want you guys to forfeit. He's known to be pretty unstable, and you guys are honestly nowhere near the level to face the power of a bijuu yet, and nobody expects you or even any Chunin to be able to take one down."
"So, we'll have to automatically forfeit if we face him?" Sasuke asked.
"Well, not necessarily. If he fights you as a shinobi and doesn't use the powers of the bijuu inside him, you still have the chance to beat him." Naruto replied.
"But even then, it won't be easy. You'll be in extreme danger. That's why I'm going to have you guys learn something more powerful as an ace up your sleeve."
Sasuke's eyes lit up at that. He always wanted to learn newer and stronger jutsu. "An ace up our sleeves? What did you have in mind?"
"So far, the focus of your training was in learning the basics and having a strong foundation, so that you can learn more advanced jutsu more easily later, and to use what you do know with as much versatility as you can. Well, you guys are more versatile than any Genin I know, and your foundation is strong enough for me to believe that you're now ready for something stronger. Something more dangerous."
Sasuke was practically salivating now. Dangerous. Now that was a word that he wanted to be used to describe him.
"Are you gonna teach us some killer jutsu?" Sasuke asked as he practically bounced with excitement.
"Well, I do have something very powerful in mind for you, but unfortunately it's not something I can teach you."
Sasuke's shoulders fell. He wanted his hero to teach him one of his signature moves.
"So, are we going to teach ourselves through scrolls or something then?" Narumi asked Naruto.
Naruto shook his head. "You're going to be working on the family jutsu, which we've already been working on, but the others will be getting a sensei to teach them."
Sasuke and Narumi's eyes met as they looked at each other in concern. "Oh no… please don't tell me it's going to be-"
"Yo!" Kakashi greeted Team 7 from behind with a two-finger salute.
"-Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke completed his sentence as he turned around to look at Kakashi, while Narumi crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Oh great. We have hentai-sensei to teach us again."
"… I feel loved." Kakashi commented as he scratched the back of his head.
Naruto chuckled at the scene. "Actually, Hentai-sensei will only be teaching Sasuke."
Kakashi sweat dropped at Naruto's acceptance of Narumi's name for him. "Ummm… could you not call me that? One person calling me that is already one person too many."
"Sure thing, Hentai-senpai." Naruto responded.
Kakashi was starting to regret coming out here instead of staying home and reading his books.
"But I've trained with him before! What else is going to teach me? More raiton manipulation?" Sasuke complained.
"I wouldn't complain if I were you. He's one of the most powerful shinobi in our entire village. People who give up an arm to get the chance to be trained by him, you know. And he's here to teach you his signature move." Naruto told Sasuke.
"His signature move?" Narumi wondered out loud, matching Sasuke's curiosity about the subject.
"Maybe if you start treating me with respect and stop calling me Hentai-sensei or anything like that, I'll show you what it is someday."
"Why don't we have a quick demonstration for them to get excited about the prospect, and maybe regain some semblance of respect for you, senpai?" Naruto suggested.
Kakashi rolled his one visible eye. "Sheesh, what am I, a performing circus clown?"
"No, you're a shameless pervert who's always late." Narumi corrected him.
Kakashi cracked his knuckles as the vein on his forehead began to bulge. Alright. It was time to show them how cool he actually was.
"Ok, that's it. Time to show you I'm not some pervert, and that I'm an actually respectable ninja."
Naruto chuckled to himself as he watched his usually calm, cool, and collected senpai get so easily riled up by his little sister.
"Watch carefully, kiddos. I won't be showing you again.
After Kakashi rapidly formed a few hand seals, lightning began to spark from his hands.
'Such power! So, this is the difference between me and an elite Jonin?' Sasuke thought to himself as the intense lighting focused on Kakashi's hand sparked.
"Raikiri! (Lightning Cutter)" Kakashi moved like a blur, only visible by the bright blue streak the lightning in his hand left behind as he ran towards a tree.
When he struck the tree, it cut in half with a sickening crunch as the smell of burning wood filled the air.
The 3 Genin looked on in awe at the sheer destructive power that jutsu packed.
"That demonstration didn't even show you what it's truly capable of. That jutsu is capable of cutting through anything. He even cut through a bolt of lightning once." Naruto explained.
Sasuke tried to wipe his mouth secretly as he was basically drooling at the prospect of learning such a jutsu.
"Can me and Hinata-chan learn it as well, nii-chan?" Narumi asked.
"Ummm… not really. There are some requirements to use the jutsu, and only Sasuke has them from the 3 of you."
Sasuke looked up at Kakashi wondering what that could be, as all three of them had lightning affinities. The only thing that came to mind were his Sharingan, but only Uchiha had those, and Kakashi was no Uchiha.
"But don't worry. I have plans for both of you as well! I guarantee you that they'll suit you better, and they're just as good."
The three Genin looked at each other and smiled. They were excited to find out what they were going to learn. This was going to be a fun month.
Or at least, that's what they were thinking.
Kakashi and Naruto gave each other a smirk. It was indeed going to be a fun month, but not for the Genin.
Later, At Ichiraku's
After a rough day of training, Team 7 had gathered at Narumi's favorite eatery, and what was becoming their team's hangout spot: Ichiraku's Ramen.
"Hey look, it's Naruto and his Genin! How have you all been!" Teuchi shouted out as he greeted Naruto and Narumi who smiled back, and the other two who looked like they had seen better days.
"Hi everyone!" Ayame greeted as she showed Team 7 to their seats. "You had a guest waiting for you!"
Naruto saw a familiar redhead waiting for them like they had planned earlier.
"Sheesh! I thought you guys were gonna be here by 6:30! I've been waiting for like 30 minutes now!" Karin complained.
She stopped complaining however, when Sasuke was seated next to her. Her face began to heat up.
"Sorry Karin-chan. Sasuke here was pretty adamant about getting something down before coming." Naruto explained as he sat on the other side of Karin.
Karin shyly looked at Sasuke with a side-glance and saw how beat up he looked.
Immediately, her demeanor changed from bashful to mama-mode.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok Sasuke-kun?" She gasped out as she started grabbed him and looked over him.
Sasuke was taken by surprise and didn't know how to act.
"Uh… umm… Yeah… I'm alright."
Narumi chuckled as she pointed out the scene to Hinata. "Looks like Ino-chan and the others got some competition, eh?" She whispered to Hinata who giggled.
"Geez, Sasuke-kun, be careful! What if you get hurt?" Karin asked as she looked over his training wounds.
"Looks like you guys are quite familiar with each other. When did you guys get so close?" Naruto asked.
Karin's face turned the same shade as her hair when she realized she had only seen him once before, and that she had gotten close to him in her daydreams only, and it was definitely a one-sided thing.
"Umm… I mean… we met in the forest…" Karin mumbled as she went back to being timid as she looked at her toes.
Naruto laughed at the awkward scene he had created accidentally as he ordered for everyone.
As everyone waited for their food to arrive, Naruto made another announcement to his team.
"Alright guys, I there's something else I need to tell you."
His Genin looked up at him and wondered what it was. "What is it Naruto-sensei?"
"With the tournament coming up and only having 1 month to prepare for some very tough fights, I thought it would be best if we can maximize our training during that time. That's why I asked your parents if you guys could stay with me and train for the month. They gave me their permission, so after dinner, you will all be coming to me and Narumi's house."
The 3 Genin's faces lit up at the news, all for different reasons. Narumi was glad to have more friends with her, being the extrovert that she was, Hinata was happy to see her sensei, who she had a small crush on, and Sasuke was excited to spend more time with his hero and to get more training.
Karin too, was screaming with joy in the inside, as she would now have more time to spend with her Sasuke-kun and develop some of the scenarios she had in her head.
Unbeknownst to the Genin however, Naruto was bringing them to his house for other reasons as well. While on the surface this was for training, it was actually a two-fold maneuver. One reason was to prevent Hinata's seal from being seen by her clan while he worked on a way to hide or get rid of it, and the other reason was to protect them from Orochimaru or whatever other minions he had hidden within the walls of Konoha.
Ayame soon brought out their ramens, and they all began to eat, with the Genin talking about their training.
Karin just listened as she ate, as she wasn't as close to Sasuke and Hinata, and also wasn't part of their team and didn't have much to contribute.
Naruto noticed this and began to talk to her.
"Would you like to be trained as well?" Naruto asked.
"Hmm? What? Training?" Karin asked as she was taken by surprise.
When Naruto nodded back, she started to think about the proposal.
She wanted to be stronger and be able to join in the conversation with Team 7, but she really wasn't much of a fighter and she hated fighting. She had seen how strong Team 7 could be, and knew she was out of her league.
"Umm… I'm not sure… I'm not really much of a fighter…"
"That can change with training. But if you're not interested in being a combat shinobi, there are other things you can do as well you know." Naruto pointed out.
Karin's ears perked up. This was something she hadn't considered. In her mind you were either a combat shinobi or you were useless. At least that's what her former team had drilled into her.
"What else could I do?" She asked.
"Well, there are a lot of things. Not every shinobi in Konoha is a fighter you know. I'm training my team to be combat specialists, but you can also be a medic, work as a sealing expert, a cryptographer, interrogator, researcher-"
"Or you can even work in the police department!" Izumi added as she joined the group at Ichirakus.
"Izumi nee-chan!" Narumi shouted in greeting as she waved at her.
"Hey guys! Noticed you guys as I was walking back home and decided to join your little party. Hope you don't mind!" Izumi told the team.
"You're always welcome with our team, Izumi nee-chan!" Narumi replied. "Isn't that right, Onii-chan?"
Naruto shrugged. "I suppose so."
"Well thanks for the enthusiastic response!" Izumi joked as she sat next to Naruto.
"So, what is this I hear about Naruto giving career advice?"
"Well, I was just asking Karin-chan here if she wanted to train in something specific." Naruto replied.
Izumi looked at the red-haired girl sitting shyly between Naruto and Sasuke and greeted her.
"Hi! You must be Karin-chan! I don't think I've met you before. How do you guys know each other again?" Izumi asked.
"Umm… well I met Sasuke-kun, Narumi-chan, and Hinata-chan during the Chunin exams. Then I found out I was related to Narumi-chan and then she invited me to stay with her." Karin responded.
Izumi was a little surprised to hear that. "Wait, so you're an Uzumaki? And you're not from Konoha?"
Karin nodded.
Izumi could definitely see the similarities between her and Narumi. "I mean, I can definitely see that you're an Uzumaki from the similarities you have with Narumi and Kushina-san, but still, I can't say I'm not surprised to see you. I had always thought Naruto-kun and Narumi-chan were the last 2 Uzumaki left out there. Where were you this whole time?"
"She's originally from Kusa!" Narumi responded in Karin's stead.
"Kusa?" Izumi thought out loud to herself. "That's… interesting…"
Naruto continued the conversation he was having with Karin as Izumi broke out of her thoughts and ordered her usual.
"So anyway, are you interested in specializing in something else?" Naruto asked.
Karin considered the things she heard. While she did have healing powers, it came at a cost, and her mother had died by being used as a glorified panacea for the Kusa shinobi. She had been used in this way as well, and she had hated it. She decided being a medic was not something she wanted to do.
She didn't think she had the stomach to work in interrogation, but being the intellectually oriented person that she was, cryptography and research sounded pretty appealing.
However, what appealed to her most was something that was part of her recently discovered heritage. Sealing.
"I think I want to be a sealing expert. I want to learn our clan techniques." Karin told Naruto.
Naruto smiled as he ruffled her hair. "That sounds like a great choice, Karin-chan."
The two of them smiled at each other before they went back to eating.
Izumi quietly nudged Naruto in his side.
"Psst. Listen, I'm really happy that you found another family member, and it's warming my heart to see you guys bonding. But what's the situation with her and Kusa? Are they just gonna let her live here?" Izumi whispered.
"I'm not really sure yet, but I've told Hokage-sama about the situation, and he said he'll do everything he can to make things work. And if there's one person I trust to sort things out diplomatically, it's him. So, I'll leave it in his hands. I'm ready to follow through with whatever demands they make though, within reason."
Izumi tilted her head, unsure of how things would go, but she hoped everything would turn out well. Her friend could sure use more family.
A few days later, At the Hokage's Office
Naruto was heading towards the Hokage's office late at night after receiving his summons.
He was almost there when he spotted Izumi heading the same way.
He sped forward to catch up to her.
"Yo! Where are you going?" he asked.
"Oh! Hey Naruto! I was summoned to the Hokage's office, so I was heading over there now. What are you doing out here?"
Naruto was surprised to hear her answer. "I'm going for the same reason."
"I wonder what's going on?" Izumi wondered out loud as they traveled to the Hokage's office together.
Naruto shrugged. "I have no clue, but I guess we'll find out soon enough."
They arrived at the Hokage's office after a few minutes and knocked on the door.
"Hokage-sama? It's Naruto and Izumi." Naruto said out loud. "May we come in?"
"Yes, of course. Please come in." Hiruzen responded from the other side of the door.
When the two walked in, they saw Hiruzen at his desk and Shizune standing in front of it, looking confused as to what was going on as well.
Naruto and Izumi saluted the Hokage as they stood in front of his desk next to Shizune.
"You summoned us, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen nodded. "I did indeed. I've got news for you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "News?"
"I got a response from Kusa, and simply put, they are not happy with the idea of giving up Karin, and they are even less happy with the fact that she's practically been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped? She's just staying with her own clan!" Naruto argued.
"Of course, I know this. But you do understand that from their perspective, one of their shinobi didn't return from the Chunin exams, and now they hear that she wants to stay in Konoha without seeing or hearing from her." Hiruzen explained.
Naruto couldn't argue with that. "So, what do they want?"
"They say she's invaluable to the village as a medic and refuse to hand her over."
"As a medic?" Naruto wondered.
Hiruzen nodded. "I've had people look into it, and it looks like she has a unique chakra and ability, where people can bite her to absorb her chakra and recover from horrific wounds."
"So, they want to keep her so people can just bite her whenever they need to?" Naruto asked in disbelief as he began to get angry.
"I know that's not something you want happening to your family, but you do understand how she would be seen as a valuable asset, right?" Hiruzen asked.
Naruto didn't respond to that question, instead asking one of his own. "So, what's gonna happen?"
"That is why I have gathered you all here." Hiruzen told the 3 shinobi in front of him.
Izumi and Shizune shared a look. They had been wondering this whole time how any of this had to do with them for some time.
"In return for Uzumaki Karin, I've offered to teach their medics some of the techniques from Konoha, as well as give them some benefits in trade, but they've turned it down." Hiruzen explained.
"They don't want to negotiate?" Naruto asked.
"While the leader of Kusa made it seem like he wasn't willing to negotiate, I know the man well. He wants more. He already knows teaching Konoha medical jutsu and techniques to their medical system will be more useful than having one Genin who is limited in availability. He just wants to milk the deal as much as he can."
Hiruzen then turned to all of them.
"That is why I have summoned all of you. I'm putting a negotiation team under Izumi, and Shizune will go there to teach the medical techniques."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good plan."
"You'll be going as well." Hiruzen told him.
Naruto was not happy to hear that. "Wait what? How about my team? Not only do I have to train them, I have to make sure they're safe! I can't go!"
"Naruto, they're furious about the fact that Karin has been practically 'kidnapped'. They demanded that we send her over so they can talk to her."
"Yeah, and I bet they'll manipulate her or do something to her when she gets there." Naruto scoffed.
"Precisely. That is why the head of the Uzumaki needs to go to explain and pacify them with direct negotiations." Hiruzen argued.
"Is that what they wanted?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen nodded.
Naruto sighed. He promised he'd do everything he could to make sure Karin could stay with him. But he didn't want to endanger his students in doing so.
"How about the safety of my team?" Naruto asked.
"I'll have Kakashi and what remains of Team Omega take over their training and have my most trusted ANBU watch over their safety."
Naruto sighed again. This wasn't ideal, but he had to do what he had to do. "Fine. When will be leaving?"
Hiruzen pulled out a scroll and handed it to Izumi. "I'll give you a day to put things into order. You'll be leaving in the morning after tomorrow. My instructions for you are in the scroll."
The 3 shinobi in front Hiruzen saluted him and left.
"Now, to deal with the other problem…"
He pricked his thumb with a sharp kunai and slammed his hand on his desk.
With a puff of smoke, a small monkey appeared.
"You summoned, Hiruzen-sama?"
"Indeed." Hiruzen told the monkey as he pulled out a scroll.
"Take this to Jiraiya. There's a snake problem in Konoha I'll need his help dealing with."
*Author's Notes*
And that's the latest chapter of the Jinchuuriki's Brother! I can't believe I reached 50 chapters! I expected this story to be much shorter than that when I started writing, but here we are!
So… my biweekly update plan failed miserably. I'm just busier than I expected I would be, which is nice in some ways, but it does get in the way of my writing schedule. Sorry guys.
Anyway, what do you guys think about not making Karin a medic? She's a medic in a lot of fics, but I feel like she wouldn't want to be a medic after what she's gone through. She's not really much of a fighter, so I feel like she could be an interesting juxtaposition to Narumi who is a very competent fighter for her age, especially when it comes to how the Uzumaki heritage and legacy play out for them.
A lot of you guys were waiting for Jiraiya to appear in the story again! Well, we'll be seeing him again really soon.
Anyway, thanks for reading the story! Hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! Let me know if you have any questions, and please leave a comment or review!
I hope you guys all stay safe and have a great day! Until next time!