Chapter 3
"A Lifetime"
With Honoka
It has been two months since Honoka's first meeting with Naruto and her first week of volunteer work at the orphanage. It was a lot tougher than she had initially expected. Many of the orphans were younger than her and the oldest was only her age. Thankfully, that meant she had somebody her age to hang around with other than Konohamaru and his goon squad. Not that she minded them of course, it was just a nice change of pace.
Everyday after school, the young brunette girl would go straight to the orphanage and do small menial tasks such as carrying a few errands for the boss, help serve food to the kids and tell them stories. As expected, after the first day, Naruto became more and more active in the orphanage. According to those who lived there, he was always like that, but the past two days were just rather quiet. Also, Naruto took to teaching the kids before they all went to school and often helped the older kids with their own homework.
He was priceless as a teacher. His stern visage mixed very well with his natural charisma and good-natured smile. When ever Naruto spoke, every kid would hang on to his every syllable, always eager for their caretaker to teach them.
Honoka found herself admiring the man more and more as the days passed. Obviously, Naruto was very passionate about his profession. Despite being financially set, he would spend every single day looking after the children when he wasn't buried in paperwork. The days often went by quickly for Honoka now-a-days. She really did find life odd. When you are enjoying something, life would go very fast. But once you were miserable, life would slow down. Seriously, it made no sense.
One month ago, she had finally worked the courage to ask him to train her again. Much to her surprise, the stern blonde had seemed to be contemplating it before excusing himself. He hadn't said no to her, but rather said, "I'll sleep on it."
Of course, that had been a month ago and Honoka wasn't going to rush the man. She didn't want to feel like a pest to him in his own home after all. If he was going to make a decision like this, he should have a lot of time to think on it.
Maybe one month may have been too long. She would definitely ask him later.
"Man...things have been surprisingly good the last two months. Even Kenichi has been left alone by the stupid gangs around here!" She chirped happily. Having finally made it to the orphanage, Honoka opened up and looked around. More often than not, she would catch Naruto teaching the kids in the study room (which was just a large classroom) during this time of day.
He wasn't there.
"Huh, I wonder where he's at?" She mumbled and made her way outside to the backyard. On her way there, she met Haku.
"Hey, Haku-chan!" The male teen sincerely tried to hold back the twitch on his eye. "Where is Naruto? He's usually in the study!"
"Not today." The dark-haired boy replied with a shrug. "Sensei had to go on a trip late last night to meet an old friend. I don't really know what was up but he said to not worry about it. He'll be back later today I think."
"Oh. Ok." The girl nodded, disappointed that she wouldn't be talking with Naruto for a while. Honoka was very eager to get his answer.
"So...what should I do today?"
Motioning for her to follow, Honoka and Haku made their way to the field in the back. "Asuma-san will be in charge of the orphanage for the duration of our little trip."
"Huh? Trip?"
"Yes. I want you to accompany me to find Udon-kun's toy that he lost. Supposedly, they were wandering around in the forest again the other day, despite sensei's warning, and found themselves any angry mother bear. As they were running, Udon dropped his toy along the way. Some time later, sensei found them and scared off the bear."
Honoka couldn't help but sweat drop at the scene description.
"The kids sure do get themselves in a lot of trouble huh?" Haku nodded, agreeing with more than a little mirth.
"Yeah. That's why sensei is considering building some sort of fence to keep the children away from the forest. It really is troublesome for him to keep the kids out of harms way when they always find trouble voluntarily."
They then walked in silence before it was broken again, "So...what was the toy?"
"Ah! Right, sorry. It's an Astro Boy action figure. A classic. I believe sensei gave Udon that for his birthday last year."
"He sure is a really nice guy." Honoka let out a long sigh. "And he's strong too."
"Very." Haku seemed conflicted for a moment before continuing. With a grimace, he nodded to himself and spoke again.
"Honoka-san. Do you truly wish to learn martial arts from Naruto-sensei?"
The girl suddenly felt self-conscious and flushed under the boy's gaze. "Well, yeah! When I saw him take down those bullies in a flash, I just knew deep down that I wanted to learn how to protect people like he protected those kids. And he's strong...so you know, I thought he could teach me."
The boy's look turned very calculative before settling with a soft smile. "I see. I believe you were planning on asking him today, right?"
"H-how did you know?"
"A great man just knows." Haku remembered the random mumbling of Asuma before answering. "You had that look in your eye." Complete bullshit.
"O-oh. Wow, you're pretty sharp."
"Not really." He denied modestly. "I believe if you told him your motivations, than he would be more open to teaching you. Maybe."
"You think so?!" Honoka practically glowed at that.
"I know so." The boy left unsaid. "Yes."
"Awesome! Thank you Haku-chan!" Honoka pushed at the boy and grabbed his waist in a large hug, ignoring his exasperated sigh of, "I'm a boy."
They had walked for about two hours from that point. Honoka was beginning to get severely impatient from the searching for what seemed like an endless forest. It was then when she heard a soft growl.
Turning around, Honoka screamed in fright.
"Honoka?!" Haku exclaimed and turn to find the girl. His eyes easily zeroed in on where the noise came from and easily found her.
In front of the young girl was a large bear. It was about five times were regular height and thrice as wide. It's fur coat was completely black and it had the same colored eyes.
"H-help!" The bear began to stalk on her.
Without another thought, the teen ran quickly and delivered a double jump kick on the beast's chest, knocking it back into the ground behind it using a forward momentum from running. As it got back up, Haku jumped in mid-air and spun body forward like a wheel before landing a nasty heel kick to it's head, taking advantage of the extra velocity he built up with the spin. "Mihandou (Sword Kick)!" The bear went face first into the ground and even leaked out some blood from it's mouth.
Quickly, Haku grabbed Honoka in his arms and ran away from the scene, leaving the bear in his dust.
Ten minutes later, Haku noticed a glint on the ground and found the toy before settling down to rest for a moment.
"Are you alright, Honoka-chan?" Haku asked gently. The girl took a deep breath and shook it off, forcing a bit of a smile.
"I-I'm OK. Thanks for that, Haku-chan!"
"I wouldn't forgive myself if I had let you get hurt on my watch." He gave her a small embrace and she didn't move for a few minutes.
Letting out a content sigh, Honoka couldn't help but speak up between her comfort. "Say, are you sure Naruto doesn't train you? You beat a bear in a fight!" Haku smiled and ruffled her hair.
"My adopted father trains me in martial arts. I suppose the skill is very useful since this city has many fierce gangs."
"That was amazing. I really want to ask Naruto-san to train me now! If I can get as strong as you."
The boy just kept his modest look up. He didn't really think it was special. He was pretty sure Naruto scared away bears by just glaring at them so fighting one-off wasn't really impressive in his point of view.
Haku then looked into her eyes and he was a bit startled by the sheer amount of fire in them. It was a determination he had never seen well up before in the eyes of any child. It reminded the dark-haired teen of the old saying: "A picture is worth one thousand words." Honoka's eyes, while childish at first glance, held a fire that seemed unquenchable.
Was this what Naruto saw in the girl?
Where did that come from? He wondered idly as they walked back to the orphanage.
Back at the Orphanage
It was almost evening already.
Upon arrival, Haku began to hear a bunch of loud, crude noises from the front of the building. "What the hel- heck is that?" He amended in front of his young friend. No one wanted to be responsible for a child learning informal language.
"Stay here." Haku has asked of her but Honoka, ever the nosy child, followed him and watched as a mob of gang members began to form in front of the orphanage. They all looked out of it, perhaps more than slightly tipsy, and began to vandalize the building with all sorts of paints, food and mayhem.
"What the-" Honoka exclaimed, "Why are they here?!"
"I don't know." Haku answered tightly, annoyance creeping up into his eyes as one of the members throw a bottle of beer at the side of the building. "Where is Asuma? He should have been here!"
"Hahahahaha! Let's paint the town red crew! This is the Red Devil gang's territory."
"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" The young Shirahama roared in anger as she ran to stop them.
"Wait! Honoka!" The dark-haired teen didn't expect her to just run out like that. "What a hot-head!"
Honoka made it in time and held her arms in front of the wall they were vandalizing. "Stop it! This is a home for orphaned kids! Don't you have any shame?"
"Huh?" One of the members, a brown-haired boy, grunted snidely. "Who's this little shit?"
"I dunno'." One of the others replied in a staggered voice. "Wuh? Why is there two of them?" He pointed at the defending girl.
"Y-you're - YOU'RE ALL DRUNK! I HATE YOU STUPID GANGS! ALWAYS WALKING AROUND LIKE YOU OWN THE TOWN! WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST GET A LIFE AND LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE ALONE?!" Honoka screeched at them angrily. Her voice had broken a few times along the way, but tears welled as she saw the damage to the building.
"The kids don't have anything but this place. Why are you messing it up for them?!"
An unkempt teen walked up to her. Before Haku could find his common senses, he had to watch as the boy spat in her face.
"We can the whatever th' fuck we want girl. What the hell are you gonna do about i-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before a flash of blue sped in front and round-house kicked him to the other side of the street, knocking the young delinquent out-cold. It was Haku.
His entire body was shaking silently, but not in terror. He took one look at the group that had amassed in front of his old home.
Anger fueled him.
"How dare you." He spat out.
"Haku?" Honoka asked. He didn't answer her.
"To come here and have the gall to disrespect such a wonderful young lady. I think it is time for you all to leave."
Another one of the members stepped out. Honoka recognized him from a couple of months back when he was picking on Konohamaru. "And what are you going to do about it bitch?! Huh?"
"Nothing."
A cold, calm voice uttered quietly. The delinquent looked to the source and widened his eyes at who he saw. Fear gripped his heart once the blond, the one that had single-handedly destroyed his gang, had came into view from the shadow of the evening. Behind him was one other person, a slim man with a pine-apple like pony-tail that was tied vertically. He was wearing what looked like a very expensive suit and green tie. His face had a lazy expression but if one looked closely, he also seemed angered.
"Haku. Take Honoka back inside and have her cleaned up. Be sure to close the door and blinds. I don't want any of the children to watch." He said softly, before turning his eyes to the guy behind him. "Shika'. I'll see you in a minute."
"Troublesome. There's only about sixty of them. You could just knock them all out with your ki." The man pointed out half-heartedly. Without waiting for an answer, Shikamaru made for the door.
"I could." Naruto admitted easily. He then heard the door close and knob tighten. "But that wouldn't be much of a lesson, would it?" He whispered solemnly to himself.
As soon as he knew no one from the orphanage could see him, he spoke once more. This time, the barely contained rage leaked out.
"You are all lucky that I converted myself to the Katsujinken (Fist of Life) belief. However, that does not stop me from beating every single last one of you to an inch of your life."
Before the next sunrise, the police were quite confused by the sudden mystery of the appearance of sixty delinquents on their doorsteps; all of them looked like they had just been dropped off a slave ship, twitching sporadically and were mumbling about "demons" and "red eyes".
Naruto's Office: Later that Evening
Knock. Knock.
"Enter." Naruto said.
Honoka walked in looking refreshed from her earlier encounter. The dirt she had accumulated from her walk in the forest and any lingering spit from the delinquent were washed away in the shower sink. However, despite being spat on and losing her temper, Honoka managed to keep her spirits high and bright. Naruto could literally feel her aura bubbling like it was excited for something.
"Naruto-san. Haku-chan said that you wanted to talk to me before I left." Honoka said, kneeling down next to him.
Naruto had been sitting cross-legged on the perfectly smooth wooden floor, facing towards the door. "Yes." He reached for a kettle of tea and two cups. It only took a moment to set up a small table between them. Naruto always kept one of those small, portable tables around for occasions like these.
"Tea?" Honoka nodded, not wanting to seem rude by declining the offer. She took a sip and was impressed by the quality.
"It's good. Almost as good as my mom's."
Naruto smiled softly at that. "Thank you. I always aim for a high quality." He replied before pouring in his own.
"This room is nice." She observed. "The bookshelf is a very nice touch. It reminds me of my older brother's room. He's kind of a bookworm."
"Not a bad quality to have." Was Naruto's simple reply. "You seem...very intelligent for your age, Honoka-san."
"I'm an honors student!" Honoka puffed out her chest in pride, a smile on her face. "They say that I'm good enough to skip grades! But I don't wanna make my older brother feel bad about himself. He's very shy and he doesn't get very good grades because of it."
Naruto didn't answer immediately, preferring to pour more tea for the both of them. It was a very comfortable atmosphere.
"That's good. However, you shouldn't let something like that hold you back. Children should be allowed to be ambitious. You are too young to be holding yourself back." The blond said in a sage-like tone. His tone was not even a bit condescending, like most would when they referred to others as children. "The most important duty a student must uphold is the betterment of themselves from day-to-day. Nothing should come second."
Honoka seemed to ponder this for a moment. "But my brother..."
"Would never forgive himself if he ever found out that you held yourself back on his account. Nobody wants to be a burden on another." The blonde cut in respectfully. "Siblings should do everything they can to support one another, right?"
The girl brightened up and nodded. "Yeah! I guess you're right. But I can't really help it. I love my brother and I always want to protect him. I want to protect everything precious to me." She didn't know why she felt the need to add on the last sentence, it just came out of her mouth like an instinct.
Naruto let his thoughts linger on that last sentence before moving on.
"Haku told me what happened in the forest. I would like to apologize. I should have been the one to go retrieve the toy but I had something else to attend to. So I delegated that duty to Haku. Neither of you should have had to faced that bear. My negligence nearly lead you to injury or worse, death."
"It's OK. That was out of your control."
Naruto didn't show any outward facial responses. "Hm..." They sat comfortably for a while and made small talk.
"I don't want to pry." Honoka said shyly, scratching her head as she asked. "But I was just curious. The photo in the back of the room..."
"Ah." The caretaker nodded. The air grew briefly solemn. "That is my late wife and child. They passed away many years ago."
"O-oh. I'm so sorry." He waved if off dismissively.
"I've come to terms with it a long time ago. Do not worry yourself. After all, students should be allowed to ask their teacher's questions. Correct?"
Honoka nodded and sipped her tea serenely.
Only to freeze mid-way. Naruto noticed this and smirked at her, an expression she had never seen on him before. It was actually a very scary sight.
"H-huh?"
"How many times have you asked me to train you?"
Honoka tried to drop her stutter. And did so successfully. "Twice."
"Hm..." Naruto scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Lord Liu Bei* once traveled up a mountain in search for a great strategist. It was on the third time when he actually succeeded."
Honoka's aura seemed to burst in euphoria, he noticed, but her face stayed in a simple, shocked look. Her self-control was more than admirable. The blond definitely approved of it. However, that same quality would make it slightly difficult to truly assess what sort of style she would eventually settle into.
Dou or Sei?
Naruto watched as the girl made some space between herself and the table.
Honoka then humbly bowed her head down completely. Her posture was in complete submission.
"Naruto-san. Please teach me the way of martial arts."
The Master let one dramatic second pass.
"Very well, Shirahama Honoka. I accept you as my student. I will train you to become the most powerful martial artist in the world. That is my promise of a lifetime to you."
END
YOU KNOW I HAD TO USE THE PROMISE OF A LIFETIME LINE! Really, even though I thought it kind of cheesy the first time I saw it in the anime, it was just too memorable to forget. I grew to love that line because it sounds so...powerful. Not that lame when I'm older now. I can see how much it can mean to someone.
I think I might avoid writing Haku scenes for a while until I get this he/she thing out of my system. Seriously, I'm so damn paranoid right now.
Whelp, training begins next chapter. I'll admit, it's not the most extravagant way things could have went down but I wasn't really trying to beat around the bush. Naruto is looking down to pass on his teachings. He didn't decline the first time because he has some sort of issue. He did it because he was still unsure of her, and if taking the time to do it would be worth the effort. A Master must consider these things.
I will be revealing the name of the martial art Naruto will be teaching. I know some of you are expecting something that is real. Don't sweat it, even though the name of the martial art IS original, it had a lot of background from other martial arts. Like I said, it's an original style that branches from a real martial art.
Shikamaru is 31.
*Did you notice that I had Honoka ask Naruto 3 times and she was accepted in the Chapter 3? Yep, I am a huge fan of Zhuge Liang. Lord Liu Bei sent in search for him 3 times, and succeeded on the 3rd. That day, he gained a great strategist for Shu, one of the three great Kingdoms in that era.
Some Naruto characters make appearances, not all of them. Just enough to create a sub-plot.
Well, that's it. Also, the next arc will be a relatively small training arc, followed by some events, followed by canon. That's the set up so far. I might even feature a Ryouzanpaku master somewhere down the line of the pre-canon chapters.
The chapters will get longer soon. It'll probably begin hitting 5000 or 6000 words by CH5 or 6. But that means I will need to take more time to produce the chapters and read over them.
Have a nice day.