So again positive feedback from the previous chapter. Longtime followers of the story (If there even any still left) maybe wondering 'Two or three chapters in one-week …he has never done that before!' That is because I will be on an 8 or 9 day vacation from the 25th to the 2nd (it could go a little longer or shorter), and while I plan to be writing during that vacation I do not know whether or not I will have access to the internet or be able to publish any chapters, so expect a dry spell of chapters for a week or so following Christmas then a flood of a few chapters at once in the new year. Now the next few chapters are still getting the world set up. I still have to introduce Naruto's roles in Kumo, flesh out Kushina, Minato, Eri, and Yugito's character to an acceptable level, Get Minato's gang in Konoha, and get Naruto trained to an acceptable degree in order to get everyone meeting everyone. Then from there, I will follow the standard Arc style chapters. Anyway onto the chapter!
Groaning as the first rays of light hit his eyes Naruto got up and rubbed his eyes. He took a second to look at his surroundings. It was a decent sized bedroom with a private bathroom, closet, and dresser. While he knew where he was he didn't take any time to examine the room itself. The light colored wood and light lavender paint on the walls gave an extra reflection to the morning sunlight that was coming into the room via a medium sized window with a beautiful view was a trashy alleyway. 'Still better than that dump in the Leaf' thought Naruto.
Getting changed into his regular outfit Naruto began unpacking his belonging that was not shinobi related namely his toothbrush, toothpaste, extra outfits etc. into their correct places. Looking at the clock on the wall, which was the only object on the walls, Naruto saw it was about time for Bee to take him to train.
As if on queue Bee kicked down the door and got a yelp out of Naruto in response. Naruto mentally screamed 'I really need to put a seal on that damn door!'.
"Yo yo yo are you ready for training…" Bee paused and mumbled a curse before retrying a rhyme, which got a deadpan out of Naruto. "Yo yo yo you better hold on to your crouch, cause your training is getting taken up a notch! YEA" yelled Bee as he flashed his pose with his hand in the air. "That's a fresh rhyme! Only the best ones come with time!" Said Bee as he jotted these new rhymes into his little notebook.
"enough Bee can we please get on with training already…" Said Naruto in his emotionless tone to show that he was dead serious.
"Sure thang!… Follow me!" Bee then led Naruto through the apartment.
Not seeing his forced roommate Naruto decided to voice his confusion. "Where is that evil cat lady?"
Snickering at Naruto's comment seeing as he knew Naruto had no anger towards the two tails jinchuriki he simply replied: " is at the academy to get schooled in getting schooled dawg!"
Not wanting to engage Bee in a rapping argument before he gets to his new training Naruto opted to nod his head and keep moving.
Moving between the traffic of people trying to get to their jobs and whatnot the duo walked up one of the many staircases that connected tiers 2 and 3 going higher and higher. Eventually Wooden structures were replaced with rooms and buildings carved out of the mountain around them. The traffic got lighter and lighter the deeper they got into the third tier of the city. Eventually after about 45 minutes of walking and memorizing the path they took to get here, Naruto and Bee stood in front of a rather plain building. Looking like a enlarged basic store front the front simply said 'Storm HQ'. Looking rather shocked that this building would be where his life-changing training would occur in such an inconspicuous looking building. Bee saw thing look on Naruto's face and simply replied "Hey don't give me that look…Enemy says haven't found this building so far. They thing its so obvious that they believe it to be a trap." Bee smiled and walked inside.
Naruto following him came inside a rather normal looking waiting room with chairs, tables, magazines, and a female ninja behind the counter looking quite bored, but she perked up when she saw Bee. "Greeting Lord Bee!" see said standing up, and going into a small bow. Bee simply waved her off and told her she didn't need to do that with him.
"We are here to see lord Rashii…the Raikage told me he was expecting us!"
The girl nodded and started flipping through her papers, before frowning and looking up at Bee. I am sorry Lord Bee, but I do not seem to see your papers any-
Her sentence was cut off by a plum of smoke appearing right next to Naruto. Naruto being shocked by the smoke jumped back and got into a defensive stance, ready to engage an enemy if needed. As the smoke dissipated it revealed an old man who looked about the same age as the Third Hokage, but somehow more fragile. He had a long, grey, hair, bushy mustache and beard. He had white featureless eyes with dark rims underneath and thick eyebrows. Due to his old age, Naruto also noted that because of his age he had visible cheek bones and wrinkles. He was wearing a white bandanna-styled forehead protector and a standard black jumpsuit, however unlike most ninjas he has seen in the village so far Rashii was in Kumo's ANBU attire. Unlike Most other ANBU Naruto has seen Kumo ANBU have Black pants custom to the necessities ANBU will need access to while in the field. They also appeared to have metal plates located in the front of the thigh, and lower leg for increase protection without being too bulky. The thin white flak jacket was accompanied with a white chest plate that would protect its wearer from basic damage. He was also wearing a cream colored light hooded coat with elegant silver designs embroiled all over the coat. over all of the outfit that tied together using a single string at his mid-chest…
Naruto thought the outfit was actually kind of badass. Then Rashii spoke. "Do not worry about the paperwork kahmiri…I was indeed expecting them. He took a look at Naruto to get a better look at his future student, however Naruto was freaked out about his pupil-less eyes. After a long pause he simply stated "You look semi-competent. Lets get started." And before anyone could respond Rashii closed the gap between him and Naruto put his hand on his head and the two disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
See that he completed his only task for the morning Bee glanced over at the only other person in the room, flexed his muscles, and said " hey sexy lady, hows about you me make a baby!". Despite being the 8 tails jinchuriki he could not avoid the slap that sent him flying out of the structure, past the road and over the cliff…falling down over 100 feet down to the second tier of the village…Groaning as his body ached in pain he rapped "Damn, good thing I didn't take a bet…why are the women so hard to get?" Before getting up and heading to his mountain training grounds just outside of the village.
MEANWHILE DEEP INSIDE STORM TRAINING FACILITY
Naruto and Rashii reappeared in a poof of smoke in a large dark windowless room that was large enough to train around 4 teams of three with room to spare. There were several racks of weapons and other equipments scattered around the edge of the room. The room was moderately lit with several large lights coming down from the ceiling, but were high enough that it wouldn't interfere with training. The thing that caught Naruto's attention the most however were the two figures in standard tuning attire standing in the middle of the room sitting down and idly taking to one another. While they were both about a head taller than Naruto he could tell they were not that much older than him…maybe 2 or 3 years at the most. He was broken from his thoughts when Rashii called the two boys over. "C, Darui come here." Both boys seeing their sensei has returned started to make their way over towards the old man.
'Who the hell is this? A new student…Why didn't Rashii-Sensei tell us about this?' Thought C and Darui. When both students made their way over to the old man and Naruto. Rashii put his hand towards the two boys. Naruto these will be your training mates C, He gestured towards a blonde with hair very similar to Naruto if not a little bit longer and flatter. With brown eyes and no readable expression Rashii gestured over to the final boy. "And this is Darui." Darui unlike the other boy Darui had light brown skin and had whitish spiky hair that was so short one could say it was more fluffy than anything else. He too like the other boy had brown eyes and an unreadable expression. "Now that introductions have been made I will give you guys a simple bell test…But first I will give you a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves in order to understand each other better." And with that Rashii vanished once again into a puff of smoke.
The three boys sat in silence for what seemed like hours but was only a minute at most. The silence being unbearable for all three boys was visible on Naruto and C's faces while Darui kept the same layer back expression. The silence was broken when C piped up "Alright since we are going up against sensei we should probably know each other's skill sets…While Darui and I already know ours we need to inform you of our skills and vise versa so that we have the highest chance of success.
Darui nodded his head in agreement and put his own thoughts into the mix. "I agree and while after the academy teams do a full introduction, we are STORM trainees and knowing our favorite foods will not save us in battle, but knowing our strengths and weaknesses will…"
though they both made a valid were shocked when Naruto looked at them suspiciously. Taking a few moments to respond Naruto simply said: "you guys go first."
Both boys sighing at see Naruto being more difficult and defensive about giving out his own skills decided to go along with his attitude in hopes of being able to work with him through this exercise. Darui was the first to go. "My main strength is short to mid range ninjutsu with my elemental affinity being lightning, however, I have access to black lightning and thus can make my attacks even more powerful. I can use kenjutsu well enough to use it as my second line of attack or defense, and I know a handful of jutsu, both elemental and normal chakra based." as Darui finished the run down of his abilities C started his introduction
"My specialty is long range support. I have an abnormally powerful sensor ability that allows me to pick out specific people from even a large village. I have the ability to utilize the Yin Release, and I am also well versed in medical ninjutsu allowed me to heal teammate at a respectable pace. My elemental affinity is fire and I know a small handful of long-range fire jutsu in order to help pick off enemies. I also know the basics of kenjustu in order to protect myself from a close ranged attack."
Seeing that the other two were done with their skill break down he noted off-handedly how their combat styles and strengths helped the other's weaknesses. 'Well I guess this is it…no harm from holding some stuff back yea?' Thought Naruto to himself. "I am skilled in mid and long-ranged ninjutsu, my affinity being Wind, basic sealing, and I am also skilled in taijutsu to make up for a lack of short-ranged jutsu. Said Naruto. The two boys nodded at the conclusion of his skill set breakdown. Naruto internally smirked knowing that he kept the bulk of his skills hidden, which could only benefit him in the future.
Before anything else could be said Rashii reappeared and immediately got down to business. "Alright, boys…now that you have a better understanding of one another it is time for the bell test…the purpose of the test is to grab these two sets of bells from me." Rashii then flashed three pairs of bells that jangled together as he presented them.
"That's it!" said Naruto as he looked confused at the supposedly easy task presented to him. "This should be easy." He didn't see Darui or C's uneasy glances as they have tried and failed this test several times in the past…It was going to be anything but easy.
"That we shall see." Said Rashii as he put the bells on his pouch at his hip. "Begin!"
Darui and C darted off to the left side of the room to plan an course of attack. Naruto glanced back at them to see Darui waving Naruto over to come join in the planning. Naruto scoffed at them and then charged the still Rashii. Using a signless clone jutsu in order to confuse his enemy the several copies of the Naruto came in at once, however as they got closer Rashii could tell which were clones and which one was the original. Ignoring all of the others Rashii back petalled to avoid a barrage of punches and well located kicked from Naruto. Then Naruto using his advanced speed from months of body conditioning appeared behind Rashii ready to deliver a roundhouse kick to the old mans head, however much to Naruto's surprise the old man managed to grab his leg by the ankle and hold him in place. A small shock wave emanated from the grip and kicked up dust on the ground showing everyone just how much power was behind Naruto's kick.
'Damn one kick like that could take someone out in a single blow' though C as he took a second from planning to watch the battle in front of him..or rather a game of cat and mouse as it was Naruto unleashing a barrage of taijutsu while Rashii skillfully dodged almost everything Naruto threw at him, and everything Rashii couldn't dodge he blocked.
Darui was racking his brain having a plan but not having the resources to enact it. 'Damn this plan could surely work but I alone cannot distract him long enough for C to do his part in the plan'. Darui looked over at Naruto and knew that if he could get the blonde to work with them then victory could be possible, but as of right now he wasn't much help just attacking on his own.
Deciding to take the offensive Rashii Disappeared from Naruto's frame of view only to quickly reappear directly behind him bashing his elbow into the his upper back. Naruto only being able to widen his eyes in response before crashing and making an indent in the floor. Groggy and slow to stand up Naruto glared his eyes at the old man, who had yet to take a formal fighting stance, instead opting to stand up straight with his hand at his sides. This only served to infuriate Naruto and he dropped back into a Taijutsu stance and tried again. With a flurry of punches and kicks, Naruto mercilessly attack Rashii, but the old man wasn't the leader of Kumo's most elite Storm units for no reason and his defenses remained unbroken, However, Naruto's attack was stopped by a simple open hand palm strike that sent Naruto tumbling back several yards.
Recovering himself quite nicely Naruto again charged into his new sensei who had instantly gained the respect of Kurama. 'This man is strong…he has many flaws such as being old and a mere human, but he can be quite a good teach for Naruto…' With that Kurama went back to sleep, the sounds of Naruto getting his ass beat music to his ears.
After a new set of punches and kicked Rashii delivered another open palm strike to Naruto's chest pushing and tumbling him with so much force that he skidded past both C and Darui who were now running towards Rashii and trying to enact their plan despite not having enough support. Naruto only stopped tumbling because the wall on the other side of the wall painfully stopped him.
Darui and C started the first stage of the very simply elegant plan. Darui would engage Rashii in mid-range combat, Meanwhile, C was positioning himself and was reading up his only powerful Yin Release jutsu, which would be used to blind Rashii and allow Darui to grab the bells.
That was the plan anyway. From the very start of the plan, things did not seem to go well. Darui was quickly losing ground to Rashii's effortless counter attacks. Rashii was right on top of Darui when he felt the surge of chakra coming from C as he charged up his just. Turning around Rashii moved to attack C while he was defenseless much to Darui horror, however before anyone could react a large and powerful bolt of lightning struck where Rashii was and also caught Darui in the blast.
"AHH!" screamed Darui has he had taken quite a bit of damage from that attack. the blast landed him far enough away from Rashii that C could cancel his attack and jumped over to where his comrade laid. C inspecting the damage noted that because of his power Lightning affinity the damage wasn't nearly as bad. 'light to moderate burns on the upper body and slight nervous system damage…I can still fix this in a couple of minutes.' thought C. He looked over at Naruto with a light glare. 'He didn't say anything about lightning jutsu.'
Naruto slightly cursed as he saw he had hit one of the other boys as well as Rashii with that attack but oh well 'I have to defeat this man.' thought Naruto. 'Now I just need the grab the bells off of hi-' Naruto paused seeing that Rashii was no where left to be seen. leaving only a small charred crater instead. 'He substituted!' Though Naruto. His ninja sense told him something was coming behind him and used a powerful round house kick to block an oncoming punch from Rashii. Using the momentum from the first kick Naruto followed through with a second kick only to be punched in the gut and sent flying ten or so yards. Getting up on shaky legs Naruto unsealed the Sutōmufangu from a storage seal tattooed on the back of his right hand, though Rashii didn't seem to take much notice to it seeing as it didn't have a blade.
Charging the blade up with a little bit of charka and seeing the outline of the air based katana blade form Naruto charged Rashi with renewed vigor. Carelessly dodging the swipes from due to both Naruto not having a proper kenjutsu form, and not noticing the danger he was in. Until Rashii flew through hand signs quicker than Naruto could even dream of and said a wind jutsu he hadn't heard of before and before he knew it he was flung into the up and over Rashii. Doing a backflip maneuver Naruto took one last swipe at Rashii. This time however the blade connected. As Naruto made a soft landing on his feet near Darui and C.
'How did he do this?' thought Rashii to himself. A thin red line went diagonal across a few inches of his face, a small trail of blood running down from the wound. That was when he turned around and truly looked at the hilt that he was holding. Is eyes momentarily widened in shock before going back to his normal old aloof expression. 'He holds the Sutōmufangu…how on earth did he find it!?…and where did Ae even find this kid…?' thought Rashii to himself. 'This just got a whole lot more interesting.'
Looking over at C finishing up healing Darui Naruto clearly had regret in his eyes. "I am sorry for getting you hurt in that attack." Darui managed to get up and C did as well, but C still had that light glare in his eyes. Dusting off his uniform Darui gave him a light nod. "Don't worry about it..if anything it makes things less dull…You have a lot to explain once we are done with this test, but for now you can pay me back by helping up with this plan to get the bells." Naruto nodded and Dauri proceeded to give Naruto a run down of the plan they tried earlier.
'Good they are finally working together…this will make things even more interesting.' thought Rashii. He took note that both Darui and Naruto were charging him while C got in position behind him, powering up his jutsu. 'It will be interesting to see what they have planning…this is the first time hey have had a powerful enough third member for one of their plans.' Seeing Naruto still using the Sutōmufangu Rashii took out a medium length katana of his own and counter charged the two boys. Using basic taijutsu to keep Darui at bay while using his blade to keep Naruto back was working out for Rashii, however he felt C charging up that jutsu and from the concentration of chakra in his hands he was almost done. Having ducked under a slash from Naruto Rashii was at a slight disadvantage when C yelled "Naruto, Darui now!"
Both boys jumped over Rashii so that the boy's backs were facing C. Having been in a crouched position from the horizontal swipe from Naruto he wasn't in a position to prevent them from moving. Getting up and turning to face the three boys he quickly regretted it as a Giant source of light emanated from C's hands. 'So that was what he was using the Yin Release for.' thought Rashii. He took a step back and covered his eyes as it hurt more than staring into the sun. Feeling Naruto charging him he narrowly dodged another horizontal strike this time striking him around waist level. The slash didn't miss entirely however as a large gash was now in his coat. 'Why did he strike there? I know he is inexperience in formal kenjutsu but everyone knows the waist is one of the worst places to strike someone.' thought Rashii to himself. 'He didn't even go with a full extension…he only did enough to cut through my coat and my pou-The bells!' Thought Rashii to himself. he reached at his hips to see if the bells were still there and much to his dismay they were missing.
The light died out and he turned to see the three boys smiling widely as they held the bells in their hands. 'These boys are something else…you three will be the greatest extension of Kumo's power.' Walking up to the three boys Rashii looked at them and smiled lightly. Well congratulations are in order I guess…you three did half way decent I suppose…here are three scrolls that hold your Storm gear including a trainee mask. Come wearing these tomorrow and we will get your actual training started. The three boys uncharacteristically cheered out and Rashii interrupted them long enough to get them to all touch index fingers. Rashii added his and with a poof they all reappeared in the lobby that Naruto was dropped off at. Everything looked the same except for the large gaping hole leading to the outside. "What happened here kahmiri?"
without missing a beat and without looking up she casually replied: "Lord Bee asked me out on a date."
That got a deadpan out of Naruto and Rashii. 'Of course, he was probably started hitting on her as we left.' thought Rashii.
Rashii let the boys go for the day and disappeared in a poof of smoke leaving the three boys to their own devices. Stepping outside the three boys looked at each other. Naruto again looking at Darui and apologizing again for the jutsu. "It is no worries Naruto…as long as it doesn't happen again." Darui's eyes went into an uncharacteristic glare to prove his point before saying. "Why don't we go get dinner tonight at Fugukaki's? We can talk about ours skills again, and also do a proper introduction."
C and Naruto nodded in agreement at this. Naruto, however, looked sheepish before replying "How do I get there? This is only my first full day in Kumo."
'Wait he only just got here and is already in the Storm program!' thought C and Darui. This put Naruto into a new light as it clearly showed the higher ups or even Raikage himself had a lot of trust and faith in this boy that was only 2 years younger than them.
Snapping out of his thoughts first C responded: "Well it's right off of the main road between the first and second tiers, a block or so down from the bath houses." Naruto nodded as Bee showed him where that was earlier when they walked through parts of the village.
"Alright! sounds good! should we meet up there say around 6?" said Naruto. Darui and C nodded and said their goodbyes. Naruto ran all the way back to Yugito's apartment 'Just cant get to calling it home yet.' thought Naruto. Instead of going through the front door he went through he bedroom window just so that he could avoid the cat like ninja in the event she was home. After taking a nice long shower to ease his sore muscles Naruto looked up and out of the window to see that night had taken over and it was soon time to go eat dinner with new comrades. 'Comrades…that is such a weird thought I never would have figured I would have comrades.' said Naruto to himself. Putting on the last pieces of clothing and keeping his scroll of Strom gear in his pocket Naruto headed out into the busy street towards the restaurant.
WITH YUGITO SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER
Yugito was walking out of the Academy, dumbfounded, The sun was high in the air indicating it was early afternoon. Yugito had just made friends. This was really weird as she never in her 12 years of life had never had friends in the academy. She had Bee, the raikage, and few older classmen that had graduated a few years ago but she hadn't heard from them in quite some time. When she got back into the academy earlier that morning several students in her class that she never really talked to came up and asked where she had been. After explaining that she went on a training trip the three kids were curious to say the least. After introducing themselves as Omoi, Karui, and Samui. They started talking about training, jutsu, and the such. It was quite the relief to Yugito as she feared that they would want to gossip about boys, makeup and that kind of thing.
After spending the entire time of lunch together Samui had suggested that they go eat dinner together to celebrate the creation of a new friendship and the start of their final year in the academy. After a few minutes of debating where to eat, they settled on Fugukaki's at around six thirty later that night, While Yugito was mildly worried about this restaurant as she specifically avoided it as they did not treat her well at all, but she agreed none the less. Splitting up to go get changed into civilian clothing Yugito was walking out of the academy dumbfounded at this sudden development. 'Did that really just happen…or am I dreaming…' She walked past Bee in a daze not hearing the massive barrage of rapped questions being fired at her. "yep, yea..no not today maybe tomorrow." Said Yugito as she walked past the confused Bee.
After snapping out of her daze and realizing she in fact did have plans with actual friends tonight she sped along the rooftops to her apartment. After taking a quick shower and realizing the blonde idiot was not home from his training yet she frowned. "That idiot probably got lost trying to get back…oh well that's not my problem." She said to herself. Failing to hear the shower going off in the guest bathroom. Putting on a loose purple teeshirt and black pants she looked at the clock and thought that there was no harm in going a little early. Leaving in a rush she was so happy she had already forgotten all of the glares and whatnot she would receive.
Arriving just a few minutes early Yugito approaches the host's stand. "Excuse me, sir, I would like a table for four please." Said Yugito in an uncharacteristically polite voice, Hoping that the man will not be rude to her because of her burden. That was not to be, however.
Crouching down and not seeing who was talking the host responded. "Why certainly mam…Let me get a na-." As he stood up he saw who it was…that girl. Why couldn't she just leave here and never come back…everyone would be a lot happier if she did. "Sorry but we are out of tables."
"Please! I have friends coming to eat with me and they would really li." The host cut her off. As tears started build up in Yugito's eyes, threatening to burst out at any moment.
"No! You need to understand that you are not welcome here now get o-". He ended his sentence short when he saw his boss' son walking up with two other kids. "Aw Samui how are you doing mam?"
Instead of saying hi and walking inside to see her father who owned this restaurant Samui glared at him. "Is there a reason why you are preventing my friend from getting a table Sasichi?"
The now identified Sasichi widens his eyes in fear before shaking his head "N-no mam it was a miss-" Samui wouldn't let him finish
"No! what was a misunderstanding was why my father hired you in the first place…Leave! pack up your stuff and leave. My father will understand. Without saying a word Sasichi left the restaurant and Samui turned to her friends with an uncharacteristically apologetic look. "Sorry about that guys, but what he was doing was unacceptable. Yugito are you okay?"
Yugito sniffled as she wiped the tears off of her face and responded with a light smile. "Yea I will be fine…thank you for standing up for me." Before anyone could question Yugito as to why the host treated her the way he did Yugito's stomach rumbled. "Oh dang looks like its time for food!" and the four went into the restaurant ready to eat. They sat down at a booth that allowed them a view of almost the entire dinning portion of the restaurant. After getting their orders they talked about many different topics. Samui confirmed their meals were on her as her father would give her free meals to both her and any friends that she brought. Yugito found out that Samui was actually quite a emotional person, but she did a good job of hiding it. Karui was a calculating person despite her hot-headed personality. She also found out that Omoi had a tendency to over think scenarios and would come up with ridiculous ideas.
Towards the end of the meal Karui noticed two people eating a few booths away. "Hey guys is that…C and Darui over there?" Everyone turned around and saw that it was in fact Darui and C eating with a third person they couldn't see due to the angle of the booth they were sitting in. The four students knew Darui and C well as they were in their final year of the academy when Samui and them were in their second year of the academy. They were often looked up to by the younger students due to their willingness to train and tutor younger student (Samui, Omoi, Karui, Yugito and Samui included). However once they graduated the academy they rose through the ranks quite fast and eventually lost contact with almost every due to their introduction into the Storm program…although no one else knew about that.
Karui seeing that they had finished both their meals and their sake decided to call them over and catch up on lost time. When the two boys made their way over to their booth, the third party member was revealed to be Naruto. While Yugito shot him a dirty look and Naruto shot her one back the other three kids did not know who he was. When asked about it Darui simply replied he is our new teammate. After spending a few minutes catching up both tables decided it was time to leave. Yugito's group decided to split up at walk home, while Naruto's group took to the rooftops before splitting up. Naruto was lost in thought and almost at the apartment before he realized that he had left his wallet at the restaurant.
After going all of the way back and getting his wallet from the restaurant Naruto once again took to the roof tops trying to get back to the apartment, excited at the prospect of training to become an ANBU. He was broken out of his thoughts as he saw a group of civilians huddled around a dead end alleyway. Curiosity getting the best of him he decided to investigate. Getting a closer look, he was shocked to find a wounded Yugito getting attacked by the civilians. Bleeding profusely from her shoulder she dodged attack after attack from the mostly drunken civilians. 'Why on earth isn't she defending herself!?' Thought Naruto to himself. Then he saw it..as though it were a ghost from a time long since past. Standing next to the injured Yugito was the visage of a younger, yet equally battered Naruto..In a desperate fighting stance but not going all out…Then he heard those words he had said so long ago. "Do what you will with me tonight, but I will become the Hokage and earn your respect!". Getting a tear forming in his eye he took out the scroll that contained his Storm trainee gear. While he only had enough time to put on the mask and the solid cream white coat, Naruto knew that it would be enough. Now looking like a Storm agent Naruto jumped down just in time to prevent the civilians from finishing off Yugito. Landing on the hard ground with a solid thud Naruto stood up at full height. That alone cause most of the drunk villagers to take a step back, but one stood ready to attack again. Yugito looked at her defender in a slight sense of awe 'No one has stood up for me until today…' Tears were openly falling from her eyes.
"Ninja sir can you please get out of my way so that I can kill the demon bitch?" said the lone gutsy villager. This caused the usually reserved Naruto to slowly release his massive amount of Killer Intent. This caused many of the villagers to faint out of fear and the gutsy villager to drop to a knee. Naruto walked up to him and without remorse slit his throat with a kunai.
"Attacking a fellow citizen of Kumo is illegal and since it is a child in question is punishable by death." The remaining villagers got the message and quickly fled, leaving everyone who fainted behind. Turning around he saw the badly wounded Yugito and picked her up bridal style. Hopping on the rooftops to the closest hospital that knew about Yugito finally spoke up. "Thank you for saving me ninja sir…Not many people have done that before." Naruto not responding prompted Yugito to continue. "Wh-why did you save me?" Naruto looked down. Her normally vibrant blonde hair was dirty, her clothing was a mess and torn up, and her cheeks were stained with both blood and tear streaks. After waiting a few minutes Naruto responded.
"Because there was a time I was treated just like you," Yugito's eyes widened in shock before she promptly fainted due to blood loss. And like that Naruto's silhouette flush against the full moon delivered Yugito to the Hospital.
After making sure that Yugito was going to get treated fairly by the doctors he immediately went to the Raikage's office to inform him of what had happened.
RAIKAGE'S OFFIECE 45 MINUTES LATER
After getting an in-depth report of what happened to Yugito could only frown. 'Those idiot villagers…if I wasn't Raikage Id kill them…but it looks like Naruto did it for me' Naruto stood in place. His Storm attire still being worn. "Naruto your being assigned your first mission…When you are not training with your team, your active mission is to act as a guardian for Yugito Nii…Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Naruto saluted. While he still didn't like her personality he did now see her in a new light…The same one he was in so many years ago.
"Good now get out of here. From what I understand your first training session is tomorrow." Ae chuckled " Trust me you're going to need the rest…" Naruto was walking out but stopped when Ae said one more thing. "oh and Naruto…Thank you."
Naruto nodded his head and walked out of the office.
MEANWHILE IN UZU
The moon was as full as it was the night before convincing Minato to go take a walk of his own by himself. The wind was picking up in the forest causing Minato's signature high collared coat to flutter in the wind. Thinking about the massive amount of progress his daughter has made caused him to smile. He was sure without a doubt that she was the chosen child. There was no doubt because…well there was only one child left that could be the chosen child. Going down that thought made him think about his dead son…Naruto. He had great plans for him. He was going to train him after he graduated from the academy, teach him his signature jutsus and if Eri wasn't the chosen child and Naruto was then he would have made him train under Jaryia, However, none of that was to be however…He had to make a choice to save his family and that choice had and effect on his family just like if he had chosen to stay in Konoha. He knew that if he had stayed with his family after the Kyuubi attacked then his enemies would have killed them all in retaliation for his actions in the last great war. At least if he left and faked his death then no one would suspect his child's existence.
His thoughts also drifted to Kakashi…'He just wasn't mentally stable enough to come with us' thought Minato to himself. He figured that if Kakashi stayed in Konoha then being so close to the will of fire would help him recover…His reports coming in from the Hidden Leaf have proved this theory true as he is somewhat close with Gai as an 'eternal rival' as Gai calls it. Minato chuckled lightly before frowning once again.
'I have made many tough choices in my life…Leaving Naruto and Kakashi behind were just the most recent of them.'
After walking another 15 minutes in silence Minato ended his thought process with'I…I can only hope Kakashi can forgive me in this life and that Naruto can forgive me in the next life.'
Boom another chapter complete! I tried really hard to reach that 7k word mark, but I just could not continue the chapter without forcing content that didn't need to be there and I just do not like that. So Naruto's team has been revealed, however it will expand in the future and I wouldn't mind hearing guesses for who will fill the open spots. There will be twist coming us in the future and another Time skip to get us further into Naruto's training and Maybe even Minato and the gang's return to Konoha! That will definitely happen in the next few chapter, but we will see where we are at by the end of the next chapter. Don't forget to review guys! It only makes me a better writer (when done correctly!)