Hey guys, I just wanted to let y'all know out front that the way things are progressing isn't permanent. Naruto isn't changing into an uncaring, toxic asshole. He just wanted to make a point to Sakura, and he's thought a lot about what he should have said to Sasuke when they would go back and forth. Everybody's done that after an argument, "ah what I should have said was…" but it never comes that easily mid-argument. Ya know? The bashing on the Hiruzen was because of a misunderstanding between Naruto and the third and was clarified. Naruto doesn't like what he did but understands he had no other choice but to go along with the council. The Sakura bashing is mostly to make a point and shake her out of the fangirl mentality. Remember he didn't hit her back, he stopped her and warned her to take training seriously or she'd end up dead. This is a Naruto who was a punching bag his whole life (literally) and got fed up with it. He gets a second chance and wants to ensure she gets the idea that she can't do that to him anymore very early. He has no obligation to keep her alive anymore and she isn't on the same level Sasuke was in his eyes. He's not gonna keep trying to get her to wake up and face facts that Sasuke doesn't actually care about anyone or anything other than revenge. Soon he will simply focus on his training and attempting to change a few key things that could impact his life greatly, as well as the main point of preparing to fight Obito and Madara and save the world. Anyway, I don't own Naruto and I hope y'all enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter four
Naruto has explained his plan to them, and they begrudgingly go along with it, as it seems to make some sort of sense. They quickly begin putting it into action and pretend to be looking for him on their own, but in reality, they sent clones out in different directions while sticking together in a deep part of the trees. They keep mostly quiet and make their clones act sloppier than they normally would, making more noise as they moved about, and calling out to Kakashi as a challenge in a one-on-one fight. Sasuke's clone is being followed loosely by Sakura's, who is loudly fawning over Sasuke as a means to draw out Kakashi. This plan seems to be working so far, as Naruto's clone has caught sight of Kakashi, who is tracking the loud voice of Sakura and the noisy, clumsy movements of Sasuke. They then move into a clearing just short of where the three are actually hiding, and Kakashi puts Sakura's clone in a genjutsu, which makes her believe that Sasuke's clone was dying in front of her. He quickly takes the alienated clone of Sasuke and buries him from the neck down in the ground, leaving only Naruto's clone. This is something Naruto had accounted for and the plan is really set off from there.
"Okay, now," Naruto says as he sends his clone in to do a light-hearted taijutsu battle with his sensei. Using this as a distraction he jumps down behind Kakashi and grabs his arms behind his back. The clone uses a famous jutsu that Naruto almost swore he'd never use again. Suddenly a puff of smoke envelops his clone and there stands his Sexy jutsu transformation in front of Kakashi, whose nose would be bleeding for all to see if he weren't wearing his mask. The clone makes a shadow clone of his own and Naruto releases Kakashi's arms, sending him forward with a kick to his lower back. The sexy jutsu clone wraps its(?) arms around him and the second clone launches Naruto into the air. He forms a few seals and Sasuke jumps up, going through his own hand signs.
"Wind Style: wind bullet!" Naruto yells and breathes in deeply.
"Fire style: fireball jutsu!" Sasuke yells at the same time, following Naruto's lead. He waits for Naruto to flash the ready symbol and unleashes his fireball. Naruto then shoots six wind bullets at the fireball and it grows larger and moves even faster. Kakashi's eyes widen, and he attempts to break free of the clone's grasp. The fireball collides with the ground and sets off a huge explosion to the surrounding area. When the smoke clears Kakashi releases his rock wall that he brought close to him almost like a suit of armor. Their combined attack had no effect. This was also another distraction, however, and Naruto grabs Sasuke's legs. He twirls him around and sends him careening towards Kakashi, kunai in hand. Naruto then throws multiple shruriken at his sensei and forms his most famous seal.
"Shuriken shadow clone jutsu!" He yells and the shuriken split into hundreds more, all surrounding Sasuke but none in his direct path. Kakashi quickly begins to deflect the shuriken with great skill and speed but has to stop and jump back when Sasuke nearly reaches him. A shuriken shadow clone transforms into the real Naruto once it lands behind Kakashi, and he sweeps at Kakashi's legs. He jumps over the kick, and Sasuke lands just in front of him. Using his momentum he leaps forward and forces Kakashi to deal with Naruto behind him, and Sasuke in front of him. This is when Sakura approaches him, having placed him under a weak, but effective genjutsu. Naruto chose for her to use a weaker one so it wouldn't be noticeable, but effective enough to act as active camouflage. When Kakashi grabs Naruto and Sasuke's arms she steadies herself and grabs the bells from his belt. Naruto smirks in satisfaction, and Sasuke narrows his eyes in slight annoyance that Naruto's plan worked and he didn't think of it.
"We did it!" She yells, jumping up and down with bells in hand. Kakashi releases the boys' arms and smiles.
"Congratulations. You pass… Sakura. You two are going to be sent back to the academy, however. Your plan was excellent, but the rules were clear. No bell, no passing, and Sakura was the only one to grab a bell," he says in a matter-of-fact tone.
Naruto cocks an eyebrow and crosses his arms over his chest. "You can't send us back to the academy. The point of this exercise is to get us to think as a team. We did that. The two bells don't work in a three-man team. That was the first clue. Iruka-sensei made it very clear that we would be working as a four-man cell, with three genin and one sensei. This test couldn't possibly work in that system because then it would be a three-man cell or even a two-man cell. Right, sensei? I once heard someone say that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. And this test forces us to either work together for the better of two teammates or put us in a state of competition against each other. It's an extreme situation that evaluates the ability of the subjects to make the hard call and damn one to return to the academy. But you aren't going to send us back, are you?" He asks confidently. He already knew the purpose of the exercise since he lived it, but he uses Kakashi's own words to his advantage. Kakashi simply smiles and gives Naruto a thumbs up.
"You got all that from just this exercise? You truly are unpredictable after all," he says and Naruto just smiles in response. "Alright, you all pass. I'm glad to see not all new shinobi are so self-centered and conceited to think they can or should do it all on their own. Teamwork is vital to mission success and that is my first lesson for you three," he says and brings his book back out close to his face. "How did you know that transformation would work?" He asks, curiosity getting the better of him.
Naruto laughs and gestures to the book with a nod of his head. "I know what kind of stuff is in those books, sensei. You're one step above the closet perv Iruka-sensei is. You're somewhat open about it, but you also stay mostly serious when you have to be. You weren't expecting me to have such a transformation lined up, but it got me into and out of a lot of trouble in the academy. That's why I knew it would work," he finishes his speech with a swipe under his nose and a smirk. Sakura is glaring at him for using such a perverse jutsu, but it got them all to pass, and she would be close to Sasuke for a much longer time because of it, so she bites her tongue.
"That was a smart plan, Naruto. Great job," he says with a smile. 'He's so much like his father and Jiraiya-sama already. And he applied his shadow clones to shuriken just like Nidaime-sama. Should he learn his father's flying raijin he will be a real force to be reckoned with' he thinks to himself. "Everyone is to meet at Hokage tower tomorrow morning and we will be taking our first mission, so get a good night's rest tonight. Later," he says with his typical lazy wave and he disappears.
Sasuke stomps over to Naruto and glares right into his eyes. "How did you come up with such an effective plan, dobe? You couldn't even pass the tests in the academy, so when did you get to be so smart? And when did you learn wind style jutsu? Something isn't right here, and I'm gonna find out about it," he says angrily, not liking his rival to display such overwhelming talent seemingly out of nowhere.
"We're a team, Sasuke. You should be happy my plan worked and we can move on to taking missions. As for your questions, I never paid attention in the academy and I didn't care about the tests because the score on them wasn't what determined if you passed or failed. Why try so hard on a paper exam when it has no bearing on if you graduate? The wind style I have been training the last week or so after I watched you training with your fire style. I got a scroll about chakra natures and how to determine which one a person would have and then I figured out I had wind style naturally. After that, I just got a scroll of wind style jutsu and I've been practicing them ever since," he says, lying through his teeth but doing a surprisingly good job at it. Sasuke huffs and storms off, probably to train alone at the Uchiha compound. Sakura looks at Naruto as if she'd seen a new side of him, but her overall feelings remain. She still believes him to be annoying and useless to the team. She starts chasing behind Sasuke after a moment of looking at Naruto to determine if that were the real him or not.
Naruto looks around for a moment and smiles, finding himself alone. "Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to train, and I've got the rest of the day to learn some cool wind style jutsu. But then again…", he trails off, remembering the familiar hand signs has used so many times in his previous life. He smirks and runs through them once, inhaling deeply and applying some wind chakra to them. "Fire style: fireball jutsu!", he yells and breaths out, but the fireball is tiny, even with the addition of wind chakra to enhance it. A drop of sweat forms on the back of his head and he sighs.
"Well, looks like it'll take a while to learn other natures, but that's what I have shadow clones for!" He ends on a high note and forms five hundred shadow clones. The clones are broken down into five groups of one hundred each, and they are set off on different tasks. One group is to practice the wind bullet jutsu and attempt to make it stronger and improve the range. Another group is to practice applying wind chakra to their kunai in order to improve the range and sharpness of the blade like Asuma-sensei told him about in his previous life. The third group is to practice the fireball jutsu and attempt to get the hang of fire chakra. The fourth group was all for taijutsu one versus a hundred for the real Naruto. Finally, the last group split into two subgroups and one practiced the tree-climbing exercise, while the other practiced walking on water.
Soon enough Naruto is having to replenish the clones working on the fireball jutsu as well as those in the taijutsu battle. The fireball is making some sort of progress, however, the jutsu is unpredictable at best and often explodes in the clone's face, causing it to dispel. The taijutsu clones simply get popped by Naruto as they're fighting. He's learned that shadow clones create an army, but with such large numbers, he can use one clone to pop others by kicking them into one another. After the second round of taijutsu training, he walks over to the nearby pond and removes his shirt. He then begins to cup water in his hands and pour it over his head and upper body in order to get some of the sweat off and cool himself down. He looks up quickly when he feels someone watching him, and he assumes it must be Sasuke or Kakashi, trying to figure out just how he got so strong in such a short time. He stands up from his knees and turns slowly in the direction of the person watching him. He hears a soft murmur of a curse and then the rustling of leaves in what he assumes is them trying to escape before being found. A shadow clone was already behind the person, however, and when they turn around it's standing on the tree branch directly across them.
"Going somewhere, Ino?" The clone calls out to her with a grin, and she frowns but doesn't respond. "Why were you watching me? Did someone put you up to this?" He asks, his face turning from the jovial expression it held when he caught her to a more serious one. Her eyes widen and she puts her hands up in defense, causing her long ponytail to sway slightly.
"N-no, I just thought Sasuke-kun would be training here and I could watch him," she quickly formulates her lie in order to cover her curiosity about Naruto's new behavior. Her face is slightly flushed red and the real Naruto lands on the branch just beside her. The clone dispels and she turns to look at the original.
"If you want to watch Sasuke, he's probably at his home training. We just finished our sensei's exam and he left followed by Sakura. I'm sure he's still there if you'd like to catch up to him," he says softly, the serious, edgy tone lost from his voice. She cocks her head in confusion and notices his shirtless form. He isn't ripped or huge or anything, but he's thin and well built. Slender, but strong muscles form his arms and shoulders and he has a flat stomach, accentuated by abs. She blushes a bit darker and Naruto grins cheekily. "Or maybe you weren't here for Sasuke after all. Maybe you were trying to watch me instead?" He asks in a teasing tone and she meets his gaze with wide eyes.
"You've lost your mind. I only love Sasuke-kun! And I especially don't like you!" She exclaims loudly and Naruto feigns hurt, clutching at his chest.
"Oh, you wound me with your words, Ino-chan," he smirks as he puts extra emphasis on the -chan, and she rolls her eyes, but the blush doesn't fade.
"W-whatever! I'm gonna go find Sasuke-kun. And don't you dare follow me!" She yells loudly and Naruto simply laughs, crossing his arms over his chest.
"And why would you think I'd want to follow you? I've got plenty of training to get to, and you spying on me has interrupted and thrown off my routine," Naruto says with a slight smirk on his lips. His tone is teasing and slightly cool and she just huffs in response. "If you're gonna leave, then I won't stop you. But I also won't chase you off should you choose to stick around. See you later, Ino-chan," he says, continuing the teasing, but this time accentuated with a wink. He then jumps from the branch back towards the training ground he was using moments ago. Ino is borderline frozen in place and watches him return to his training, noticing his taught back muscles as he jumps through the trees. She can't help but kneel on the branch and watch him for a little while.
Naruto feels her and does his best to ignore her gaze. He makes several hundred clones and sets them back to their various tasks of chakra control, physical exercise, and ninjutsu training. The real Naruto, however, takes a page from his toad masters from his previous life and sits on the ground in a meditative pose. He sits extremely still and listens all around him in order to attempt an early sage mode transformation. He has total recollection of the feelings and nature chakra amount so, he assumes it won't take too long to relearn sage mode, and that it will help him to learn other nature affinities as well. He decides to spend the duration of his training in this state, having his clones continue the training and creating more whenever they begin to run low.
Naruto has no luck in achieving sage mode by the time the sun goes down and turns around to realize Ino has left long ago. He figured she would have, but he actually never noticed her leaving. Deciding not to put too much thought into it, he dispels the last of his clones, and all the experience and knowledge they gained returns to him at once. The strain of the chakra use hits him all at once, and he falls to the ground, gritting his teeth. His body is sore, and his chakra pool is pretty low as he writhes in pain from all the attacks and explosions the clones endured. Shortly after he falls the sensations fade and he slowly makes his way to his feet.
He more or less understands how to get the fireball jutsu under control, but that would be a task for another day. His wind bullets are much stronger and carry over a larger range. The group devoted to wind jutsu also deviated to learning a jutsu called needles of the wind, which creates hundreds of invisible senbon needles that are made of wind, and incredibly sharp. They learned the jutsu in a weaker form and were working on achieving a stronger, more durable variation. His taijutsu group learned a significant amount about his weaknesses and openings and slowly but surely started to cover their openings more effectively. They learned more efficient ways of moving for attacks and they gained speed and power in those attacks. The kunai infusing group had much luck and some even were able to cut through a whole fully grown tree with just a kunai. The chakra control group was becoming more and more efficient at staying above the water and sticking to the trees early on, and by the end of the day, they were able to fight one another while doing their exercise as well without falling.
Naruto smiled at his progress, despite his exhaustion, and went to his mind-scape for the first time in three days. "Oi, Kurama-sama! You've been sleeping for three days. Time to wake up! I need some chakra to get home. I overdid it in training today and I'm tapped out," he says, and Kurama's eyes open slowly. He gives Naruto a teasingly disappointed look and lets out a soft growl.
"Fine, kit. But don't make a habit of using everything you have in your training or you may die from overuse of the shadow clone technique. I can't heal you from death, ya know?" He asks, some small amount of concern in his voice as he reaches his fist through the bars of his cell. Naruto raises his fist to his and bumps it, feeling the chakra running through his body. There is no physical transformation this time, however, his chakra would feel more intense and savage to anyone around him.
"Thanks, Fox-sama. I'll keep that in mind for later," he says as he leaves the mind-scape and walks over to the pond. Kurama's chakra is already healing all his ailments and removing the soreness from his body. He puts his shirt back on and jumps through the trees toward the village. He notices the Yamanaka flower shop on his way home and decides to pay them a visit. He only has about five hundred yen, but he thinks it best to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to decorate his apartment with a plant, and what better place to go for such a thing than the shop owned by the family of the young lady he's attempting to woo.
He opens the door and it shakes the bell attached to it as he walks through. "Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop! Oh, it's you. What do you want, Naruto?" Ino asks, and Naruto smiles warmly.
"Aww, Ino-chan. Is that any way to greet a friend or customer? I came by because I heard you have the best flowers in all of Konoha, and I want to add a little bit of life to my apartment," he says coolly and he looks around at all the different flowers. He smells some tulips and smiles, spring being his favorite season.
"You? Want a flower for your home? You'll just let it die!" She yells and he simply laughs, making his way to the counter. He looks her in the eye and gives her a bright smile that causes her to blush slightly for a reason she can't put her finger on.
"You think so little of me, Ino-chan. I'm not so careless as to let something beautiful fall out of my grasp," he says, purposefully choosing his words to tease her as well as demonstrate his seriousness about buying a plant. "I really like colorful flowers, but I want something that is a little out of the ordinary if possible. I only have five hundred yen, but I'm determined to liven up my apartment and I would love to hear your expert opinion on what I should get," he says with an even tone and a warm smile. The teasing tone has left his voice, and she can feel his sincerity. His praise lingers in her mind for a moment. She wonders why she's feeling such a strange attraction to someone she thought so detestable just a week ago, and why the sudden shift in his attention from Sakura to herself.
"Well, if you want something colorful and interesting, how about a Kinmokusei?" She asks, gesturing to a small orange flower, and Naruto examines it carefully. Upon further inspection, Naruto turns and smiles, but shakes his head.
"I was thinking something more along the lines of a Sakurasou," he starts and she gasps softly at his out-of-character knowledge of flowers. "They're so beautiful, and I really love the color purple," he continues with a small smirk and a slight bit of a teasing tone. She blushes, knowing exactly what he's getting at, but says nothing. "They symbolize long-lasting love and desire, right?" He asks and she nods silently, the blush still present on her face. "Then it's perfect! I'll take one of those and a pot, please," he finishes and she nods and gets the flower and puts it in a pot with a small amount of soil to get him started. She places it on the counter and he beams up at her.
"Don't worry about paying, Naruto. This one is on the house. But only this time, so if you forget to water it and it dies you'll have to pay next time!" She says, and Naruto smiles kindly at her.
"Hai, Ino-chan. Thank you so much for your help, and for the flower. I'll treasure it always," he says as he grabs the flower and begins walking out. Ino watches him leave and decides she just has to say something.
"Naruto?", she calls out to him and he stops, turning to look at her over her shoulder. "Why have you been acting so differently recently? Not that I'm complaining, but you used to be so loud and obnoxious and determined to take Sakura on a date. She told me that you said you've given up on her and that you're a lot smarter and stronger than we thought. Did something happen?" She asks, and can't help but have a slightly concerned tone. Naruto smiles brilliantly at her and shakes his head.
"I just opened my eyes, Ino-chan. She's never gonna give up on Sasuke, and I grew tired of the abuse, so I decided I'd go after who I truly wanted all along. I really only went after Sakura to get close to her, but she never really noticed me, so I decided to quit acting that way and just be the real me. Seems like she's coming around finally," he finishes with a wink and exits the store. Ino is left stunned and confused with a bright blush on her cheeks.
Her mother walks in from where she was watching in the doorframe and smiles teasingly at her daughter. "Ino-hime, seems you found someone who truly values you. Good for you. That Uchiha boy is always so cold and unfeeling, and he has so many girls around him at all times. I'm glad you found someone truly worth your time," she says sweetly, and Ino's whole face turns bright red.
"I-I don't like him, kaa-chan! A-and he doesn't like me either. He just told me he has some other girl he's trying to pursue," she says, trying her best to sound convincing, but her mother just smiles and shakes her head.
"I know you better than you think, Ino-hime. That boy likes you a great deal, and I know you're confused but I sense you return his feelings. Whether you want to admit it or not, I can see it all over your face," she says with a soft laugh, and Inoichi then walks into the room.
"What are we talking about, my love?" He asks his wife with a peck on the lips. She smiles and turns to her husband, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers.
"Your little hime likes Uzumaki Naruto and simply refuses to admit it. He was in here just a moment ago buying a flower for his apartment and made it very obvious why he was really here. He even bought a Sakurasou the same color as Ino-hime's clothes," she explains with a soft tone and gentle smile.
Inoichi looks at his little girl and smiles. "That boy is a good one. I used to misunderstand that young man, but Naruto-san is a good boy, and I approve of him, Ino-hime. He's a much better choice than that Uchiha with all those girls chasing after him," he says, his voice serious but also teasing in order to get a rise out of his little princess.
"Tou-san! Not you too. I d-don't like Naruto. I still love Sasuke-kun!" She exclaims, but her voice is anything but convincing. Her parents just laugh and shake their heads, exchanging a knowing look to one another.
Meanwhile, Naruto is nearly home and carrying his new prized plant. He opens the door and cuts on the light, Kurama's limited chakra he was given running low finally. He's exhausted, and more than ready for bed, but he makes sure to place the flower just under a window and gives it a healthy amount of water before he lays down to end the day.