Shinobi of the Force
Graduation Continues
Spring Leaf Academy Arena: Just after lunch
The place the class was to meet after lunch, was not where they normally met, when they were training their taijutsu. That place was an open field, just outside the doors of the school. The place the students met for graduation was an open-air amphitheatre, shaped like a half-moon, with the same terraced structure as the classrooms. Unlike the classroom, the arena was only three tiers deep, but with the audience area in its current shape, there was ample room for the students to spread out, and relax before their turn, or lay down afterward.
In this part of the test, the object was not to win the fight, but to last against a much stronger opponent, one of your instructors. Each bout was three-minutes long, if you lasted for a minute and a half, you passed, and earned ninety points, for each additional second you stayed in the arena, you earned that many, extra points, up to 180. This is when Hinata raised a hand, and when Iruka pointed to her, with a nod to go ahead, she asked, "what if something happened and the instructor gets knocked out, that would end the battle, correct?" She did not need Iruka and Mizuki's obvious nod to continue, "well if that happens, will we only get the points we've earned so far, or is there some form of extra credit for knocking out the instructor?"
Mizuki and Iruka looked at each other, with blinking eyes, "I don't know," Iruka finally answered, "I don't think that has ever happened. I don't think that scenario has ever happened before," he added, "we're required to study the results of each Academy year since its foundation, but I've never heard of it happening. Not even, Orochimaru, or Minato Namikaze were able to pull off that scenario."
As their students talked amongst themselves, their instructors moved to the side for a private conference, though Naruto, and likely Kiba, still heard every word. It was Mizuki, who suggested setting a precedent, "How about, whomever is able to pull it off, regardless of the time, gets the full 180, plus however long one of us is out cold? We'd deserve it, if we let our training lapse so much that Academy students can knock us out," Mizuki added, seeing a possible opportunity to inflict some pain on the Kyūbi, "but that means we'd have to go all out, and attack them with the intent to kill, like any other battle."
Iruka was nodding his head as he listened, "I agree, and you're right, if we've let our training lapse so much that Academy students can take us down, we'd deserve whatever lumps and ridicule came our way. We'll just use the infamy as motivation to train harder," Iruka said with gravitas, then with a hard look, "just remember, its taijutsu only, no use of chakra or anything outside of what Kami gave us to fight. If I even suspect you're using chakra, I'll stop the match and award them the full points, plus an additional twenty, and write you up on charges of injuring a minor! Got it," Iruka growled? He was not as aloof to Mizuki's feelings for Naruto as people think, he just never had reason to suspect any maleficence.
"Yes, Iruka-sempai," Mizuki replied crisply!
Their secret exchange over, they decided it was time to address their students…
Elder Sarutobi's Office
Himora Keishin, junior instructor for the Spring Leaf Academy, stood at attention in front of the second, most powerful person in the village, in strength and political power. He had been granted an audience with the Sandaime, pretty quickly upon arriving with Number 9's test, it was apparently a slow day in the office, if such a low ranking issue, was granted an immediate hearing. Foolish ninja are dead ninja, and Keishin Himora was no fool, so he kept his confusion at this unexpected meeting, to himself.
He had handed Number 9's test to Hiruzen and outlined his concerns, over what may be going on from one of his or her teachers. He watched the Professor reading the exam, and even begin grading it, like a normal test, and even his eyes began to widen at the results of what he found. The test received a perfect score, the test itself was rigged to make whoever took it fail, but that is not what happened, each answer was written, the way a genius would word his answers, they were all correct.
Hiruzen sat back in his chair, stunned at what this could mean, he knew who Number 9 was, he and his staff had drawn the numbers for each of the students, using a bingo ball roller, and recorded it next to Naruto Uzumaki's name. Only the students know their numbers, the instructors do not, it was another part of the test, to teach them to compartmentalize secrets, even from their immediate supervisors. But a test this blatantly intended to fail a student, was sloppy, there is no way a Chunin would be so, one of them being a former ANBU, and the other, a member of a black-ops team, which is one step below ANBU in terms of covert operations, before becoming a teacher. There is no way, they would have survived as long as they did, if they were this careless. There's something going on here, something we're not seeing, underneath, the underneath.
"Well, since written tests are not returned to the instructor," Hiruzen began with a pleasant voice, "the grade is filled in by the grading official, I think you should fill it in exactly as it is written on the test itself."
"Hai, Sandaime-sama," Keishin acknowledged, popping back into attention, "I apologize for bothering you with such a trivial manner, but while I didn't have any concrete reason for suspecting them, I felt it in my gut that something was not right, so I felt justified in bypassing the chain of command for this scenario. I promise not to make it a habit," Himora bowed as he made his proclamation, "these were questions I had trouble answering, and I have been studying things like this since becoming a Chunin, Hell since my first Chunin Exam. I'm still having trouble with the mechanics aspects of things," he said, with an embarrassed expression and an awkward scratching of his head, "maths has never been my best class."
Hiruzen gave him a smile and a nod, "think nothing of it, and as long as you keep trying, there's nothing to be ashamed of for your lack of understanding. Most of them are usually learned through experience anyway," Sarutobi reassured him, "and the chain of command is not as sacred for ninja as it is for samurai, it might bruise a few egos for a subordinate to go around their immediate supervisors, but it's certainly not frowned upon." He handed over the test, and restated his instructions, "write the grade for number 9, as I have written it. He or she did answer the questions correctly, so there's no reason to put down anything else. You are dismissed."
Hai, Sandaime-sama," Keishin acknowledged with a bow, before turning to leave. In Hiruzen's mind, he begins to wonder, what is going on with your instructors, Naruto-kun?
Spring Leaf Academy Arena: almost 30 minutes later
Naruto's class had been participating in the taijutsu portion of the Genin-skills, assessment test, and it was almost over. Only Naruto and Ino were remaining to take the test, and so far, nobody had achieved a knockout against either of their instructors. The new scenario did, however, motivate many of them to try, and many more achieved the full three-minute mark than normal. Hinata, of course, reached it, as did Sasuke, and Shino, Kiba made it to two and a half minutes for 150 points, Choji and Shikamaru got 120 points for going two minutes, and Sakura went for a minute and 40 seconds to earn one hundred points.
Ino was just now, facing off against Iruka, with her clan's taijutsu style, they called it, Fist and Foot, or Ken to Ashi, and it was remarkably close to the Academy's karate taijutsu, but it had more dynamic and powerful kicks, and the punches, were a little more rotational for added power. Ino charged in and sent in a lunging, snap kick, meant as a feint to his chest only for the rotation of her hips to bring her fist around to strike at Iruka's face. Iruka dodged the kick and parried the punch in the same move, a pivot with a forearm block, adding a little more power to the defense move. He completed the twist from the pivot, to bring his arm around to hook under her knee, before she could bring her leg back to start, then pulled up and dumped her on her backside.
Naruto was sitting on one of the tiers, overlooking the rest of the class, he was deep in meditation communing with the Force. While he wanted to get through the test without drawing upon the Force, he believed that ignoring the Force was wrong. At this point, The Living Force and Naruto were friends, it was sentient and thus it had feelings of its own, but for some reason when he communed with it, it reminded him of a pet, not a person, and just like any pet, you had to earn its trust, by giving it yours. It liked doing things for Naruto, it loved the things Naruto loved, and hated who Naruto hated, but it would not do anything until Naruto asked it, the right way.
Right now, Naruto was studying Mizuki through the Force, something had changed for the man today. Mizuki's hatred for Naruto was no secret, at least not to Naruto, it was Naruto's fox senses as much as the Force that said as much. Today, something was different though, because in the past, Mizuki was always content to let his hatred run silent, he never tried to sabotage Naruto's school work. He allowed his senses, Fox, and Force alike, to wash over his least favorite teacher. The emotions that came from him the most at the moment was fear, anxiety was there as well, but love seemed to over shadow all of those, even his hatred of Naruto was like a bolder, being surrounded and isolated by a river of love. It was even starting to eat away at the hatred bolder, Naruto decided to go deeper, into Mizuki's surface thoughts.
Immediately, the image of a woman, blossomed in his mind's eye, she had dark-eyes, and long black-hair, with jaw length bangs, framing her face, as well as a long braid going down her back. There were several images of this woman, wearing different outfits, but she seemed to mostly wear two outfits, an unusual form of the standard Konoha uniform, a sleeveless blouse with a flak-jacket, and shorts, with bandages going down her legs, or a simple red skirt, with a white, off-the-shoulder blouse. In every image, she smiled warm and lovingly at Naruto, which meant she was giving that smile to Mizuki, except for one image, which showed her joyful and happy as Mizuki placed a ring on her finger.
Naruto followed the progression of his thoughts, skipping over moments that were absolutely private, with a blush forming on Naruto's cheeks, until another woman's image began to appear. She also had fair-skin, long black-hair, but her eyes were white, Byakugan eyes. She wore a tan, qipao blouse, over a dull-blue undershirt, she was pretty, flat chested, with just enough of a bust to allow others to see her as a woman, but not much to boast about. She wore a dark-brown skirt that went to her knees, blue, high-heeled sandals, with a small headband over her brow, placed almost strategically, which probably meant she was a Branch member of the Hyuga. She seemed to be of an age with Mizuki and had a leering smirk in all of the images Naruto saw in Mizuki's mind. Except recently, when she had begun to take on a gloating, superior expression with hints of malice in it, when that happened any small vestiges of attractiveness she had previously, disappeared and she showed who she truly was, an ugly, spiteful, malicious bitch.
Naruto could tell all of that, just from viewing her through Mizuki's point of view, he dreaded meeting her, and the way things were shaping up, plus vibrations in the Force, told Naruto, he might be meeting her soon. Especially when, Naruto got to images from this past weekend, they were pictures of the first woman, in a blacked out location, tied up with wide frightened eyes, there appeared to be seal markings drawn on her clothing. Naruto only needed a cursory glance at them to deduce, they were markings describing an explosive tag, this was confirmed simultaneously by his mother, and Mara, using Minato's memories.
'There it is, that's the change,' Naruto exclaimed in his mind, 'whoever that woman is, is holding the other woman hostage!'
She's a Hyuga, and has some shinobi training, his mother informed him, you will have to be cautious, Naruto.
'I know, and I'm going to have to involve Hinata, and Neji, if he's in the village,' Naruto agreed, 'looks like I'm gonna be giving Neji-kun, his birthday present early. I was already gonna give Hinata the Chameleon Mask today for graduating, I'm sure Neji will love the Owl Mask,' Naruto concluded, 'I need to let the brass know about this too.'
All conversations in his mind and the spying by the Force, took about two minutes, which was all the time it took for Ino to lose to Iruka, and earn her 120 points.
"Naruto," Iruka called as, Naruto stood up, "you're up against Mizuki. Good luck," as he stepped up to the first tier of the amphitheatre, then to his kohai-sensei, "remember what I said."
"Taijutsu only," the white-haired man agreed with a nod, "understood, but I won't hold back either, because the enemy won't, they need to learn how ruthless an enemy can be."
"Very well, Mizuki," Iruka stated as Naruto made it onto the stage, then grinned as he looked at the boy's face. He looked supremely confident, and remembered him in throwing, and turned back to his fellow instructor, "but I think you will be the one that gets taught a lesson today."
Naruto and Mizuki took their places on the theatre floor, and just before Iruka was to begin the match, Naruto made an unusual bow. He brought his right-fist up in front of his face, and his left-hand came up to cover his fist, like a book covering a fist, an intent to understand one's opponent through conflict, and leaned back, which bowed his frame while keeping his feet firmly in place, while thrusting his fist configuration forward, and said innocuously, "May the Force be with You, Mizuki-sensei," which confused Mizuki as he completed, his more traditional bow, when Naruto added in a whisper, "and your fiancée."
That caused Mizuki's eyes to widen in fright, as he jerked his head up to look at his hated student. He had been a ninja long enough to know how to read people fairly well, the comment Naruto just made was delivered so that only he could hear it, but there was no gleam of superiority. As if Naruto knew about the abduction, and was going to hold it over Mizuki's head, but he was only half right, he knew about the abduction, but the look he gave Mizuki said he wanted to help his sensei, not exploit it to win. Mizuki had been wrong before, as he was when he met Tsubasa Hyuga, she had entered his and Tsubaki's lives as a friend but showed her true self, in many small ways, which he dismissed as his imagination, or misinterpretation of her actions.
"Give me everything you've got, and regardless of the outcome, I will help you get her back," Naruto declared, in an intense whisper!
Mizuki did not know why, but he believed Naruto, believed it perhaps because he wanted to believe him, needed to believe him. Then he hardened his heart and eyes, and quipped, "it is going to take more than a sensor technique to get you through this, Naruto. Let's see what the once and future Dead-Last has in him." Mizuki charged in with a jumping-side kick, Naruto had seen his muscles tense up right before he did it, Naruto parried the kick, then threw a clothesline at Mizuki, who bent himself back and allowed his momentum from the kick to carry-over and take him the rest of the way passed the Academy student. Naruto was already turned around and ready, when Mizuki aimed a powerful, punching combo at his face, which Naruto employing some Soresu and Ataru, again parried before immediately jabbing him in the face, before a backfist for distraction to the other side of his face, and a right-cross to Mizuki's cheek sent him to the floor. Mizuki used the momentum of his fall, to reverse somersault back to his feet, and continued his frontal assault on Naruto, which caused the boy to lean back and plant a powerful thrust kick into his teacher's midsection, most of the force was depleted by the Chunin's flak-jacket, but it still made him grunt in discomfort. Mizuki did a skipping sidekick at Naruto's head, who sidestepped behind the kick, performing a reverse, jumping roundhouse, which impacted the back of his head, and set Mizuki up on jelly-legs, though not down for the count, he was completely surprised, when Naruto reversed his spin, performing a high roundhouse into his teacher's face sending him down to the floor in a heap.
Iruka set his clipboard down and rushed to his fellow instructor, thus employing, emergency field medicine, checked to make sure there was no permanent damage, before using smelling-salts brought his fellow teacher back to the land of the living. When Mizuki came to, he was disoriented for only an instant, before his full faculties returned to him, and he realized what had happened. He was surprisingly philosophical about it, "so, how long was I out?"
Iruka smiled magnanimously at his friend, as he checked his watch, "Oh, about 20 seconds."
Mizuki groaned, as much in pain as from the embarrassment of having his ass handed to him by one of his Academy students, then looked at his superior, "you're never gonna let me live this down are you, Iruka?"
"Heh-heh, nope," Iruka grinned sadistically now, "but don't worry, I won't be as bad as Tsubaki-chan, when she gets back from that escort mission. It'll be something she can bust your chops over for years to come," Iruka reminded him, "I hear that's what makes for a strong marriage… the ability to make fun of each other."
Mizuki's face seemed to darken when his fiancée's name was mentioned, though Iruka dismissed it, before standing up to congratulate his blonde student. "Well, well, Naruto," he grinned with some pleasant surprise, "you continuously surprise us, first you are practically Jonin-level with your throwing abilities, earning a perfect score, and now you set the bar high by doing something, nobody in the history of Konoha has ever done. You are the first academy student to defeat an academy sensei, and earned a full 180 points, you knocked him out for a solid 20 seconds, bringing your total score up to two hundred points," Iruka finished, then added, "are there any more surprises you wish to show us today, or are you quite through?"
"I don't know, sensei," Naruto playfully snarked, "we'll have to wait and see now, won't we?"
Iruka turned to Hinata with a playfully, suspicious glare, "you knew it was a possibility for Naruto to achieve this sort of outcome, which is why you mentioned the possibility of a student knocking us out. Didn't you?"
Hinata just grinned impishly, her meek personality, long since dissolved, "Naruto-kun, often spars with four, upper-level kunoichi, two of them are Uchiha, two of them are ANBU as well. While he still has a long way to go before, he can beat them, he consistently holds his own against them." Hinata's face was devoid of any meekness she once demonstrated, "I'm sure you've all heard of the Kumo Incident a few years ago, it was the talk of Konoha for years now," at the nod of most of the class, and both instructors, "what you don't know, is that Naruto was able to bring down a Jonin-ranked ninja, the Ambassador from Kumo, with two well-placed shuriken strikes to the back of his knees."
"Hey, you're the one that paralyzed him, and screwed up his chakra," Naruto griped out, "he chose to defect from Kumo and retire, because your jūken made him unable to use more chakra than it would take to light a match."
"Naruto-kun, I was just lucky to be in the right position to do that," Hinata stated ultra-calmly, as if they had had this conversation quite a few times, and this was her way of looking at things, "he was trying to kidnap me, he had me in a sack on his back. We were just four years old, well, you had just turned five that day, and I was your typical four year old, little girl, I was able to do that because he underestimated me. He didn't even know you existed if I weren't where I was you would still have saved me," Hinata's voice, was picking up speed as if she was losing patience, "so stop trying to make me feel better by downgrading your contribution to saving my life, OR I'M NOT GONNA BUY YOU RAMEN LATER," that last bit was delivered with an exasperated scream!
"Wha… but you promised," Naruto shouted with outrage-tinged-fear, that she would follow through on her threat!
"I said I'd get you a surprise, I never said what it would be," Hinata returned with a twitching, narrowed eye, "I was planning on buying you ramen when you pass, but I could change my mind and do something else."
"I foresaw us eating ramen today," Naruto complained, "so that's what is going to happen!"
This is where Hinata's grin became vicious, "are you not often saying that the future is always in motion, even the smallest actions can change any outcome?"
Naruto turned his back on her and crossed his arms, "you're so mean, Hinata-chan," he sulked.
Hinata turned her face to her senseis and classmates, who were all just staring at her like she was an alien, she took a threatening step forward, "what, Naruto-kun wasn't the only one of us to hide our skills and personalities?" The rest of the class reflexively retreated from her threatening advance.
Mizuki was looking at her with awe, she's so much like Tsubaki-chan, with the way she managed the Kyūbi-brat, it was the way she oversees me.
As Mizuki was thinking that, he saw Naruto turn his head to look at him, his childish look gone from his face like melted snow. He had seen that kind of shift in attitude on some of the more seasoned veterans of the shinobi force, guys like Kakashi and Maito, Genma and Anko. They all had these really laid back personalities, or in Gai's case an extremely, flamboyant personality when off duty, but like a switch, when it was time to fight or otherwise perform their duties as ninja and kunoichi, they became ultra-serious and as focused as the point of a kunai. Their relaxed personalities still shined through, Kakashi still spoke calmly and lazily, but his eyes, whether he used both or just one, became rock steady. Genma still chewed on his senbon, Gai talked about Flames of Youth, and Anko was still as sadistic as ever, but all of them gave their full attention to whatever task they needed to get done.
That look was on Naruto's face as he looked at Mizuki, his inner-childishness, was still there and made up a lot of his personality, but the rest of him had just gone to work, trying to figure out, the best way to rescue Tsubaki-chan. It was at that moment, when whatever hatred he still harbored for the Kyūbi that had killed his parents, began to evaporate, he never truly hated Naruto to begin with. At first, Mizuki was just like most of the people in the Leaf, he thought the Kyūbi was just trapped in human-form, as a mockery of their savior, the Kiiro Senko. It was not until, he became a ninja and began learning about Fuinjutsu, when he began to understand what a jinchuriki was, when his hatred for the boy ended and shifted its focus specifically on the Kyūbi.
When he looked at the boy now, with hatred in his eyes, it might be possible that it was misconstrued as spite against him. According to what he and Iruka were briefed on when they became his teachers, he had a sensor technique that could also sense emotions, and give him slight glimpses of the future, which he called the Life Force, or something of that nature. So maybe when Mizuki, allowed his loathing for the creature inside him to manifest, Naruto thought it was he that the Chunin-sensei despised?
Iruka gathered the students and began shepherding them back to the school, when Naruto fell into step beside Mizuki. They slowed down enough, to allow even Kiba's ear to miss them, while they talked about the situation with Tsubaki. "Is it safe to talk about what's going on with this Hyuga woman," Naruto asked?
Mizuki looked at him dubiously, "first tell me how you even know, I haven't figured out how to tell anybody? The most I could think of was to give you that written test, that was so blatantly above your head, that anybody grading it would be alarmed by it."
Naruto looked at him with an appraising eye, judging whether or not he could tell him about things without it getting out. He decided to go with it, and see what happened, he was never planning to keep the Force a secret anyway, not for long at least, he just wanted to keep it hidden, until the proper time to bring it into the general public. "I'm sure you've been told about the Force," Naruto assumed, and Mizuki nodded to confirm his knowledge, "well you've been told that it is a sensory technique, and can sense emotions, even a small glimpse into the future, right?" Again, the white-haired Chunin nodded, "well, it does do all of that, but that doesn't say what it is. The Living Force is an energy-field, it is the fabric of the universe, it surrounds us, it penetrates us, and it connects us. Those who are skilled in the use of the Force can perform many unbelievable feats," Naruto opened his palm and a rock the size of his head lifted off the ground, and vectored toward his hand, but stopped about a foot away, and followed them along as they walked steadily to the building, for the final portion of the exam: chakra usage.
Mizuki was having trouble keeping his face expressionless, as he looked at a feat that defied, even what chakra could do. There are advanced, chakra-control exercises that allow a chakra-user to lift, maybe something as small as a kunai, but the kunai started from the palm of your hand and was lifted, directly above, said palm. Maybe a more advanced version could be performed that allowed for the performance his student was giving him, but Mizuki had certainly never heard of it, let alone knew anybody to have done it.
Naruto, with a casual flick sent the rock back to where he got it from, "anyway, today while I was waiting to fight you, you probably saw me meditate – I have used none of my powers in the Force, by the way, while completing this exam, everything you saw or heard from me today, came from well-trained skill, I promise you – well as I was meditating I sent my feelings out toward you, to determine why you decided to demonstrate your despite for me today, when you have never displayed that sort of behavior toward me before." Naruto began to blush as he admitted the truth to his teacher, "I normally stay on the surface of people's minds, because I don't like to intrude on other people's privacy, but today, since I already knew you hated me, and have a pretty good idea why," he said, while holding his belly and looking straight ahead. "So, I looked into your thoughts, and found images of your fiancée there, as well as the Hyuga woman, following them until I saw the image of a polaroid, with your fiancée tied up, and explosive tags marking her clothing. I apologize for invading your privacy, Mizuki-sensei, and I offer no excuse for my transgression."
Wow, Mizuki's mind practically screamed, I don't even know where to begin with everything he's just told me! So, he decided to look at everything he was told, piece by piece, a power that used the fabric of reality, he decided to think about another day. He was not even really mad about the invasion of privacy, it was not right, of course it was not right, so as a form of rebuke, he reached out and flicked the kid on the ear, with a little chakra to make it hurt more. Afterward, when Naruto was done rubbing his ear, Mizuki began his explanation…
White Wings in the Sun
Tsubasa Hyuga was a member of the Branch family of Hyuga, and in Mizuki and Tsubaki, Mizuki's fiancée's Academy class. Unlike Naruto's class, she was the only student in class from a major clan, with everybody else in that class, coming from civilian families. In the classroom, she had an air of superiority, because she came from a noble clan, and nobody else did. She was the best among the females in taijutsu, but the rest of her grades were nothing special. She could use her chakra as well as any other graduate of the Academy, throw just as well as anybody else, and among her family, within her clan, she was nothing special.
Just another member of the Branch family, using the Branch family style of the jūken, with mediocre control over the Byakugan. Tsubasa graduated fifth in the class, and was placed on a team, specializing in tracking and espionage. Her mission record was consistent, no great blunders, yet no great successes, her team went to the Chunin Exams, three separate times before she was promoted to Chunin. It was once her team separated and went their separate ways, that things began to go south for her. While she still performed at her best, she began to fail more missions, nothing too vital, but still important missions that began to go south. The failures were not completely her fault, but as a squad leader, all failed missions were deemed to be her responsibility, and thus, placed on her record as her failures.
All ninja fail missions, it comes with the territory, even the most skilled ninja, can run afoul of bad luck. Tsubasa's failure rate had become abominable, her record showed that she was failing way more missions than she was succeeding and was in danger of being demoted back down to Genin, which if it happened, would spell the end of her career. Then something happened on a Secret Document Recovery Mission, this was a vital mission it had to succeed, for both the village and the kunoichi. The document retrieval part of the mission went very well, it was planned and executed without flaw. Mizuki was one of the Chunin on that mission, his team was set to rendezvous with Tsubasa's team, to take custody of the documents, and get them out of the area as soon as possible, while her team would function as decoys to keep the enemy forces occupied.
They made the handoff without a hitch, except that one of Tsubasa's subordinates, had been injured during the retreat phase of the document retrieval and was slowing them down. He looked to be in pretty bad shape, so much so, that Mizuki offered to alter the plan and let his team be the decoys, while they retreated with their precious cargo. Tsubasa declined, saying she would take care of her team, he should take care of his, basically a polite way of telling him to mind his own business. So, he did what she asked and left her to her own devices, while he went off and completed his part of the assignment.
It took a week for Tsubasa's team to ditch their pursuers, and when they returned to the village, one of their teammates had chosen to remain behind to delay pursuit, while they got away. It was their injured comrade, according to Tsubasa and the other, team member, he knew, he was slowing them down, so he decided to stay behind and sacrifice himself. Tsubasa knew her ninja career was over, even if they had succeeded in their part of the mission, in Konoha, losing a team member was an automatic mission failure, no matter what the outcome, so rather than suffer the ignominy of demotion, she chose to retire from active duty, and devote her time to domestic pursuits.
Tsubasa remained in the village, in the background, going about her daily business, he heard she even got a job working in the big house on the Hyuga compound, but left for undisclosed reasons about seven years ago. Then last week, she sent Mizuki a polaroid of his fiancée and a note that said, take the Scroll of Seals. Tsubaki had been sent on an escort mission, but it had been a ruse by Tsubasa, to capture her and hold power over Mizuki, who did not know what to do, nor how to proceed. He was sure Tsubasa was watching his every movement, and if he did anything she did not like, she would kill his betrothed. He needed to get somebody's attention, and the only thing he could think of was to send up a red flag, by giving Naruto such a blatantly high-level test, that he was sure would get somebody's attention. Mizuki had no intention of stealing the Scroll, as much as he loved Tsubaki, he loved his village more and she was a kunoichi of the village, she would understand, he hoped, if the tables were turned, she would feel the same way. He would rather sacrifice his own life to insure the safety of the Village, the Scroll was reputed to have techniques that could threaten the world, it would destroy him if she dies because he could not rescue her, but better him and Tsubaki than the village or worse.
Back in the classroom
Naruto had been waiting patiently in the hall, for the student in front of him to take his turn showing the Three jutsu, necessary for graduation from Spring Leaf Academy. He had thought of many scenarios to help Mizuki get his girl back, without risking the Scroll, but the more he thought about, they just might have to do that. Of course, it was not all up to him, he would need the Hokage's permission to do something like that, even he was not stupid enough to risk the Scroll for one person. His mother and Mara, using Minato's memories, told him what the thing contained, there was actually a jutsu in there that could bring the dead back to life, or a facsimile of it. What the Hell was Tobirama thinking creating that kind of kinjutsu, the dead should stay dead? Although a cloning technique that learns everything it experiences and passes it back to you, would be awesome, if I did not have the Force, it would be an interesting technique to have, and very useful in speeding up my training. The Force, however, already does that for me, it was awesome when we found out about it.
Either way, as soon as Naruto passes, he and Mizuki were going to see the Hokage, or at least the Elder, to see if they have any solutions. That did not involve leaving that poor woman to die.
The door opened and a dejected candidate walked out without a headband, she was just short of crying, she was so devastated. It was not the end of the world, nor the end of her chances to try, each candidate was allowed three chances to become Genin, if they failed on the third try, they were dropped from the program. They could still become a ninja, just not a Konoha-nin, they could become a ronin, or unaffiliated ninja, many of them became mercenaries, or hired on as guards for merchants, though they were still considered children in the eyes of the law, until their 16th birthday.
Naruto's name was called, and he ran in with enthusiasm, then seemed to pause for a brief instant as if listening for something, then continued his walk to stand in front of his desk, even with the looming issue of Tsubasa-san, he still could not wait to be a ninja. "Hai, sensei," Naruto stood at attention, "I'm ready for whatever you can throw at me."
Iruka smirked, "very well, Naruto," before lobbing a ball-baring at the boy, as he said, "think fast!" The projectile appeared to strike the shōrai-Genin, before a poof of smoke, and Iruka was hit in the chest, with his own thrown projectile, as he stood where Naruto once was, who in turn, was where his sensei once sat. They heard a thump as the ball-baring hit his flak-jacket, and looked at Naruto with a proud grin, "that was a nice touch, trading places with the one that threw the object, this exercise is a pass."
"Thanks, sensei," Naruto said happily, "it's an extension of my Uzumaki Aikijutsu training, I harmonize with my opponent's chakra, and bring them to me while I go to them."
"Uzumaki Aikijutsu," Iruka wondered, "as in a clan based taijutsu style?"
"Yep, and unfortunately that's all I can tell you, clan business, 'ttebane," Naruto answered with a small sweat drop on the back of his neck. Despite being a ninja, he was never a good liar, his deceptions were all based around letting others, think what they will with whatever evidence he showed them, never outright lies, so whenever he has to lie, he's always a little nervous, and thus the ubiquitous Uzumaki tic rears its annoying head. Izumi Uchiha often laughed when they were alone, about how Naruto can stare down an A-class ninja like Shisui and put a shuriken through a rabbit's neck at fifty-yards, without any signs of anxiety, from what she remembered hearing on the audio-scroll, but lying is where he has issues?
"Understood, Naruto," Mizuki nodded with an accommodating smile, then became professional again, and ordered, "give us your best transformation."
"This is another Uzumaki technique, called true-transformations, or shin-henge in high society," Naruto explained, "it works a little differently than the standard henge. I'm going to henge into a woman I admire as much if not more, than my kichōna ane," he closed his eyes, and without any hand signs, his body began to liquify and grow taller, but only slightly, it was also beginning to morph into a decidedly feminine shape, it was about to leave nothing to the imagination, when a minuscule adjustment later and it was clear, she was going to be wearing clothes. The figure solidified into a very, beautiful woman, with fair-skin, and tomato-red hair, tied in a high pony-tail, down to her waist. The outfit she wore showed off her curvy, kunoichi body without giving away too much, she wore a blue hitai-ate, the standard, Konoha flak-jacket, black, long-sleeved blouse, above capris-pants reaching down to her calves. The entire transformation took less than a second to complete, not as fast as the normal transformation, but whereas that one was a minor genjutsu, and not an actual transformation, that is to be expected.
Both Chunin marveled at the woman in front of them, they knew who she was, as did every serious kunoichi in the Leaf. She was just short of Tsunade Senju in terms of powerful kunoichi, if she had not died with her husband, some twelve years ago, Sealing Kyūbi within this very boy, she may have even grown to surpass the Sanin in strength. If she were not foreign-born, she would have been up for Hokage along with her husband, but she was and even then, did not stop from giving her life for the people of Konoha. She was known by many epithets: Red hot-blooded habanero, by most people here in the village, for her fiery temper, especially when you called her by another one of her nomme de guerre, Tomato; but it was another name she had, one that struck fear in the hearts of many of her, and thus Konoha's enemy: Akai Shi – Red Death. She was so fearsome in her battles, her enemies were said to say, those she let live, she could dye the skies red.
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself," the infamous kunoichi declared solemnly, "I am Kushina Uzumaki, the last daughter of Akira Uzumaki, the Uzukage of Uzushiogakure, and Daimyo of the Land of Whirling Tides. I believe you know my son, Naruto Uzumaki," her voice was harsh as she spoke, "the container of the Kyūbi no Kitsune no Yoko, in whom I place all of my faith and strength, and that of his father, he shall crack the Heavens with his might."
Even quicker than the change appeared, Naruto reverted back to his birth form, and bowed with an air of showmanship, "and that gentlemen was the Uzumaki transformation technique. It was fitting, don't you think, that its revival after twelve years of being lost, be to form one of Uzumaku-shio-no-kuni's last daughters," has asked before they could object, then added with fierce, defiant eyes, "and my mother?"
At that last addition, they looked at him and noting the fire in his eyes, and with a shared look they turned back at him and agreed, then added together, "You pass the transformation portion, Naruto."
"Now," Iruka ordered, "make at least three bunshin of any type, and if it's a bunshin-jutsu different than the standard version, please explain to us how it works."
Naruto brought his hands into two separate tiger's claw configurations, then brought them together in an almost prayer-like fashion, and said in a conversational tone, "Fujin bunshin no-jutsu." There were suddenly, three tiny cyclones spinning into existence, but instead of throwing off gales of wind, they seemed to draw in a little, before coalescing into three identical copies of Naruto. "This is known as the Kami bunshin no-jutsu, or god's avatar technique, it is an elemental clone technique, that allows you to use your primary element to make your clones. They have one-hundred percent of my physical and mental capabilities, including durability and mental fortitude, but may only use their born-element, when using chakra. Those that make them, need to have full-mastery of their elemental manipulation, anything less than full mastery and the clone will be a weakened version of yourself," Naruto signaled one of the clones with a nod of his head, "because of the Force, they have one other capability."
The clone walked up to Iruka, "Iruka-sensei, will you please take any piece of paper, and write a message to boss on it but don't show it to him. Show it to me, and perhaps, Mizuki-sensei," the clone explained as Iruka nodded, before stepping away to give him privacy to confer with his kohai-sensei.
They did not take long to talk about what they wanted to write, in fact all it took was a collusive nod from both teachers, before Iruka took some paper and wrote out a short, four-word message. Naruto-bunshin came over, when they indicated for him to do so, they showed him what was written, which brought an immediate smile to his face, before immediately dispelling. The message Naruto received when the memories blossomed in his mind was, [You pass, Naruto Uzumaki-Genin].
Camellia Rescue Op
The Raven-masked kunoichi remained concealed, as she watched the former Leaf-nin turned civilian, leave the Hyuga Estate. Tsubasa Hyuga, looked just like the picture Naruto-kun planted in her mind earlier this evening, as she was briefed over the particulars behind this op. Some bitch civilian that could not hack it as a real kunoichi, decided to sell out her village, and in the process kidnapped the fiancée of one of Naruto-kun's Academy teachers. All things being equal, tonight she would rather be celebrating her own fiancé's graduation from Spring Leaf Academy, and confessing to him about their betrothal contract, and the fact that their mothers were best-friends, who sought to join their houses, just like they did with the Senju, all those years ago.
Of course, the marriage agreement was just a formality at this point, Karasu was totally in love with her Kitsune-sama. She is more than ready to have him as her husband, more than willing, she considers it one of the great honors in her life, to become his wife. Not only is he handsome and sexy, with a body that makes her drool, when they swim in his hot-spring lake, he is strong, powerful, and resilient. She has never heard of anybody, being able to survive on their own in the wilderness, when they were four-years old. It is true he had his mother and Mara, and even the Kyūbi, giving him foxlike senses, as well as the Force, but he was still four. He had never had any wilderness survival training, and he had the body of a four-year old too, he basically survived on wild turnips, and edible produce he found in the forest for a whole month. He has confided in her and the rest of her team, that there were times when he almost lost faith and thought about taking his own life, just to stop suffering, but did not because he felt that he had a purpose here.
Raven ghosted along behind Tsubasa, acting as a scout to locate Tsubaki's whereabouts. The Raven-mask, Naruto presented to her for her birthday this year, gave her the ability to blend in seamlessly with shadows. It was mostly an illusion, an area effect genjutsu that made the observer ignore the parts of the wearer that reflected the light. It is the ultimate, optical illusion, and like all SEAL masks had the ability to work against all dojutsu, so the Byakugan, was no better at finding Izumi than normal eyes.
A small part of Izumi's brain was dedicated to thinking about her fiancé, the rest of her mind was focused on tailing her prey. They needed to find Tsubaki before they could take Tsubasa down, there might be other traps besides the explosive seal, wherever she is being kept, and there might be guards placed there to watch her when Tsubasa was gone. Tsubaki is a Konoha-nin, and the fact that her own fiancé would have been willing to let her die, before betraying the village, made getting her back all the more important. Loyalty is a two-way street and should be rewarded, that is the secret to Konoha's strength, not the Sharingan or Byakugan, or even the Kyūbi, if he would even be willing to help the people that had imprisoned him and his brethren, it was the fact that Konoha valued all of its citizens, not just the ninja. Even if most of the citizens of the Leaf treated their savior like garbage – something Izumi wanted to teach them a lesson for – they still banded together and looked out for one another.
Finally, after several minutes of following the girl, she and Izumi came to a lonely shack, tucked away from the rest of the village. It looked to be no bigger than a standard toolshed and seemed relatively sturdy, given that it looked to be a good twenty-years old. Smart, Izumi thought, complimenting her enemy, if anybody reported Tsubaki missing, with the Hokage knowing that she was sent on an escort mission, outside the village, it would take a while for the searchers to begin looking for her here. By that time, Tsubaki could be dead, and Tsubasa would be long gone without any evidence tying her to the scene of the crime.
Raven held up two fingers together and twitched them up and down two times. Two figures shunshinned next to her, one of them wearing a Cat mask, the other the mask of a Serpent, both of them gifts from their little brother. The rest of their clothing was standard ANBU armor, the only difference being that one of them wore a katana on her back, the other did not. Raven tapped her index finger on her forearm, then pointed to Hebi and her own eyes, then again with two fingers pointed toward the shed. Hebi nodded, and focused on the building, the serpent mask allowed the wearer to perceive infrared radiation, not as clear as the White-Eye, but enough to learn how many people are in a room, based on their body heat.
Hebi held up two fingers, so only two people in the cabin, that she could detect, there are ways to mask body heat. Tsubasa would probably be cautious while in the Village, especially with her own clan here, able to see right through the walls, which was why they did not bring any Hyuga, who better than their own clanmate to know how to block the Byakugan. Plus, clan loyalties could be a bit murky. The three ANBU staked out the cabin, scouting around looking for good approaches, they were waiting for Tsubasa to leave, so they could take a closer look and see if Tsubaki was actually in the shed, or if this was a trap.
Tsubasa was a ninja, and she did not retire due to lack of skill, she just had problems, coming through on missions. As cautious as Karasu was in following her, it is still possible she could have been detected, and a good ninja will not let it be known when their hunters have been spotted. They will let hunters think they are going to win, before turning the tables, and ensnaring them in one of their own traps. This place might even be a decoy spot, to see if she is being followed, they will hit the cabin thinking they have won only to have it blow up, once they are all inside. It might even have an anti-personnel, failsafe subroutine, written into the Seal, that samples the approaching Chakra, and if it is not hers or whatever accomplice's may be helping her, will trigger the explosive Seal threatening Tsubaki-san.
'It's okay, Izumi-chan,' came the voice of her beloved in her mind, 'you are wise to take precautions, my bride-to-be, if you did not, you would be a foolish kunoichi, and foolish kunoichi are dead kunoichi.'
'Bride-to-Be, huh,' Sasuke and Itachi's big sister returned not bothering to pretend to be surprised about him doing this? Naruto with the Force, has mind powers that a Master of Yamanaka Mind powers could only dream of, and Izumi is beginning to believe his abilities now, are only the tip of the ice-berg for his potential. He has wondered if he may be able to meld the use of his Chakra with his Force training, to augment his already formidable skills. He has learned through his Chakra-control exercises that he can separate his Mind-Chakra from his Body-Chakra and has begun experiments, to see if separating them for different tasks would work better for certain applications, than his Chakra as a whole.
'Yep, mom told me about an hour ago, about the betrothal,' he retorted, though there was a slight anxiety in his emotions, she realized he was uncertain how she thought about being destined to marry him. 'I am not… opposed to marrying you, Izumi-chan, you're damned hot, and I do have adolescent fantasies about you. I even already love you as my kichōna ane, but I don't really know anything about relationships, let alone marriage…'
'No one really does, Naruto-kun,' Izumi sent back, 'I watched my parents while growing up and I am still nervous about being a good wife to you. But, let's get to the root of why you are truly apprehensive about this whole thing,' she replied knowing how her love thought about things, and deciding to cut to the chase, 'you're wondering if this was forced upon me against my will. I'm sure your mother has told you it was not, but you being you, wanted to get it from me directly, and since we are communicating mentally, you will be able to know if what I am about to tell you is true or not. …that about right, my beloved?'
'Yeah, that is right,' Naruto sent back, 'if you want out of it, I will not have a problem if you want to dissolve the contract. I would rather have your love as my sister, than have you hate me for forcing you to marry me, if there is someone else you love that way.'
'I guess the end of my last statement went over your head, huh, Naruto-kun, Izumi sent back sardonically? 'Okay, let us try this,' she began again, 'Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, I love you deeply, and I would consider it not only a great honor, but a marvelous privilege to be your wife. I want to be the mother of your children, and I want lots of them, which means we are going to have lots of sex, when we get married. It is a good thing you have lots of stamina, because I am going to do my best to wear you out,' for some reason, Naruto's apprehension grew at that last transmission, and she could feel his blush, even through the distance from himself to her.
'I was not coerced nor forced into this contract. My mother and yours sat me down and explained to me what it meant, and I agreed,' Izumi told him, 'when I became a Genin, an adult in the eyes of the law, I was brought before the Elders of the Uchiha clan, and presented with the formal contract, where it was read to me in entirety with a solicitor hired by myself to help me understand all the legalese in the contract. I was not opposed to it, and signed it with my name, Izumi no Uchiha-ojo, Heiress of the Uchiha, Konohagakure no Genin. I have ratified it with every rise in rank to insure there is no loophole that may be used to nullify the contract, I have done everything short of tattoo it on my body to keep the contract legal and binding upon me. The only reason I have not done that is because, I will be pure and unsullied when you make me yours, one of the reasons I have dedicated to my training is to insure that no man may taint me, until you do it yourself.
So, to answer your question, no, I don't love you like a brother, I never wanted you as my brother, Naruto-koi. I have two and I know what it means to love a brother. My feelings for you run far more powerful, and a hell of a lot deeper, than I ever felt toward Sasuke or Itachi, and that was just from the first few months of knowing you, baby. Since then, you have saved a little girl from being kidnapped and used to breed children, saved the majority of my clan from dying at my little brother's hand, and killed the man responsible for sending Itachi on that bloody rampage. Tonight, we are rescuing a Chunin of the Leaf, as opposed to letting her die, because you peeked into the mind of your sensei, to learn why he hated you. You would not have had to say anything and let her die, purely out of spite, and nobody but you and Mizuki would have known what happened, but you have proven to be able to rise above your situation and be the bigger person. Do you have any idea, how much I love you, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?'
'Wow, Izumi-hime,' Naruto's mind returned, 'your passion is like one of Tan-san's forges, wafting down the connection like it is, I never felt such powerful, positive emotions. As I feel them, they are inflaming mine, I have been feeling these same feelings for a while now, it just, I could never put a name for them, until I felt you reveal yourself to me, you really laid yourself bare before me. It is for that reason, that I feel right in accepting your feelings, and returning them with my own, Izumi-hime.'
Raven felt giddiness swell in her chest as she felt his feelings wash over her heart, and she felt more confidence in that two second span of real time. At the end of it, Raven, whose attention never wavered from the shed, saw Tsubasa walk out of it and back towards town.
'I sent my mind into the cabin,' Izumi's kanojo informed her, 'and felt no danger within, just some determination and a little fear. It seems Tsubasa truly believed she has Mizuki over a barrel,' Naruto sent, 'you should still take precautions though, while the Force has never steered me wrong, I have misinterpreted what it told me.'
'Thanks, baby,' Izumi sent back warmly, as she motioned her comrades forward, she somehow felt more powerful with Naruto's mind riding hers. Not really though, she assumed this was what it felt like to perform in a sporting event, with your significant other in the stands watching you, she just wanted to perform well for him, to make him proud, though she could feel his pride in her already.
The three kunoichi moved up cautiously to the sides, Karasu moved toward the door, she paused before it, then had an idea. She crossed both ring and index finger of both hands, and said, "Kage bunshin no-jutsu," and with a puff of smoke, a perfect duplicate of the Uchiha heiress appeared beside her.
The clone moved to the door, to the side near the hinges, while the real Izumi moved to the knob-side, and with a flick of her arm, pushed the door open wide. She activated her Sharingan, the Raven mask's eyes began to glow the same shade of crimson, and did a quick peek inside, the only person she saw was Tsubaki, her clothing still marked with an explosive Seal. Then quickly ducked back out of sight, she signaled the clone to enter, who also activated her Sharingan. She completed a lunging somersault and tumble which put her against the right wall, by the same wall as Hebi, but to the right of the closed window. She looked around and saw nothing and nobody except the hostage, who was looking at her in surprised hope.
Tsubaki was wearing her short-sleeved blouse, and shorts but no flak-jacket. Kage-Izumi approached the Chunin, studying the Seal. It seemed that all of the Seal markings were on her clothing. "Izumi-hime," came the physical voice of her beloved, the Shadow Clone dispelled and outside, Izumi received her memories. She turned and saw her boyfriend of only a few minutes walking into the clearing, with his new headband, resting on his brow, as opposed to his goggles. He had changed out of his orange monstrosity, into navy-blue, one-piece coveralls, with flexible combat boots. He wore his kunai and shuriken holster on his right-thigh, his ginunting blade on his left hip, and just below his face, laying on his broad chest was his kitsune-mask.
"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here," Izumi asked, astonished but pleased that he was here?
"I came to see if I could help disarm the explosive Seal," Naruto said to her as he stepped closer, "you know I'm at the middle range of Uzumaki Fuinjutsu, which is advanced for everybody else."
Izumi nodded, at his current skill-level, Naruto was even better at Seals than Jiraiya-sama, "I sent a Shadow clone in to scout for traps and take a look at the Seal on Tsubaki-san. It appears to only be on her clothing, I saw nothing on her skin, at least the parts visible to my eyes," she reported, as he reached her, she really wanted to stake her claim, but she was on duty, it would have to wait.
"Oh, are you sure there are no Seal marks on her flesh," Naruto said as he began to turn a shade of red?
"Yeah, I didn't strip her or anything," she assured him, "but I didn't see any markings on her skin. Why would that matter," she wondered?
Naruto's blush got even darker, "well, if that's true, then the best way to disarm the explosive Seal, is to cut her clothes off."
Izumi's now normal eyes boggled for the moment, before looking at her boyfriend's face, and smirking, "why, Naruto-kun, if you wanted to see a naked woman, all you need to do is ask me. I'll be more than happy to show you some skin," she chortled as he got even redder, "as soon as we get somewhere private."
"No, no, no, no," he said, as he frantically waved his hands to stop her, "I meant that the fastest way to disarm the explosive Seal, is to disrupt it by cutting its array. That will prevent the chakra from flowing through the array to prevent activation."
Izumi chuckled at his expense, then nods as she understands, she quickly makes her way inside and makes short work of Tsubaki's clothing. Explaining as she went why she had to do it this way, and Tsubaki accepts it with a nod. Kunoichi have a complex sense of modesty, if it comes to being half-naked or alive, they will of course choose to live. She still had her skivvies, everything that should be covered, was covered, she showed no more skin than she would at the beach.
They walked out together, with Anko and Neko standing between her and a blindfolded Naruto. Izumi ordered Neko to take Tsubaki to the hospital for a check-up, then to Anko, she gave a fierce, sadistic glare and said menacingly, "go get that Hyuga-bitch." To which Anko, with a beatific smile rushes off to have some real fun. Once they are all away, Izumi turns to her still blindfolded boyfriend-fiancé, and begins to really smile as she removes her raven mask, and places it behind her head. She moves closer to him, caressing his whiskered cheek, her intent was clear, what she desired could not be more evident, but just before she was going to move in for the kill, her boyfriend beat her to it.
Naruto grabbed her by the back of the head and brought her into his lips. She quickly wound her arms around his neck and pressed her body against him. When air finally became necessary, they parted, his blindfold still on, and a gorgeous smile plastered to his lips. She took him by the arm and led him away into the dark forest, "I'm going to keep my promise to you, and show you a naked woman, the only one you shall ever see."
Naruto chuckled as he was led away, "but I thought I had to wait until I become Chunin to have sex?"
"Naruto-kanojo," Izumi retorted with a grin, "who said anything about having sex?"