And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 14!
I lived! I survived! I conquered the lazy impulses and wrote the chapter! Hurray!
So when I look for a new story to read, I have a process to it. Other people may or may not do the same thing, but this is how I do it. I go to the series/crossover page. I click on filters. I allow any rating. I sort by number of follows. That's probably what a lot of people do. But anyways, you know what I would see if I went to the Naruto/Kingdom Hearts crossover list? I would see this story on the front page! Holy crap.
I thought of a world I absolutely am going to put. I'm a big fan of the series, too.
I seriously want to write the parts where Naruto goes to other worlds, but can't. I am going to do this part first. I won't be doing that until I get to the time skip. But I'm really looking forward to it.
The Kingdom Comes: I'll get there when I get there. But not right now. Soon-ish.
LordGhostStriker: Glad you like it. As I said above, it was meant to be like that before (Where Naruto absolutely hates his parents and the brother is an ass-face), but it changed as I continued writing the story. That is also why I only had interactions with Narumi at first. Also, there wasn't really much of a deal. It was just a way to test Naruto's skills. That's it.
The Sith'ari: Sorry for the confusion. No, he won't be. In this story, Saito is a character born in the elemental nations. I only used Zero no Tsukaima's character because I didn't want to make my own.
Adjuster: I will start asking for suggestions when we get closer for the time skip. But for now, keep them in mind. :)
OmegaDelta: Eventually, Eventually, and who can say? :P
Drakon45: It will come up probably around the time I have Naruto reveal his keyblade.
Anyways, on with the Story!
I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or anything else, I'm just a broke college student...
Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Biju/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Biju/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Scene Change: Insert Place Here
Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here
Uzumaki-Namikaze Household (The Next Day)
The day following the team assignments finds Naruto ambling around the kitchen as he prepared some breakfast for himself. He had gotten up earlier than needed so he could stop by Urahara shop before he went to the training grounds. He needed to let the annoying candy shop owner know his new schedule so he would know that Naruto couldn't come in as often anymore to help work. Naruto just hoped it would be a quick and easy process.
Knowing Urahara…that was hoping for too much.
As he was buttering his toast, Naruto heard someone enter the room behind him. Looking over his shoulder he noted that it was his sister who had come stumbling in with bleary eyes. It looked as if she just stumbled out of bed. The fact that she was still in her pajamas supported this idea. He lazily waved at her. "Morning." Naruto said.
She blinked at him. "…Good morning…" She mumbled.
Naruto smiled and shook his head as he went back to his toast. All three of them had trouble getting up, but he was the best at accomplishing it and becoming alert. While both of his younger siblings needed some time to full wake up, Naruto was able to do so much quicker. The hard part was actually getting out of bed.
Behind him, Narumi frowned at him as she took in his appearance. He was already fully dressed and ready to go? He even had that sword on his back. Didn't he have some more time before he had to meet his team today? "Nii-chan…" He looked over at her again. "How come you are already dressed and ready to go? Does your team really meet this early?" She asked with a horrified tone.
Naruto chuckled slightly as he shook his head. "No, I don't have to meet my team for another hour or so. I actually need to go meet someone beforehand. After that, I will go meet my team." He responded.
Narumi tilted her head to the side as she thought over what he said. "Oh. Ok. Who are you meeting?" She was curious as to who her older brother's friends were. She didn't really know of any of them he hung out with besides for Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba. And apparently, that Misa girl.
Naruto considered his next words. He got the feeling that if people began to figure out he had learned kenjutsu from a civilian, it would raise some questions. While he didn't doubt Urahara could somehow get out of any trouble he found himself in, it was still a pain in the ass he would undoubtedly be dragged into as well. "It is just a candy store owner I know and help out once in a while. He is a friendly guy, if not a bit annoying."
Hearing this, Narumi nodded her head. She was pretty sure that she has heard Naruto grumble to himself in the past about 'damn candy shop bastards…' or something like that. "Oh yeah, I think I heard you mention this guy once or twice in the past."
Naruto scowled faintly. The only times he would have mentioned Urahara out loud while in the house were on the days he was plotting the man's murder or something. "Yeah, anyways, I need to tell him I may be around less now that we have our teams."
Comprehension dawned on Narumi's face. "Oh. That makes sense."
A yawn came from the door. "What makes sense?" Naruto looked over towards the door. Standing there was Menma, who also looked tired. Although he looked more alert than Narumi.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I have to meet someone to tell them that I may be around less because we got our teams."
Hearing this, Menma perked up. He appeared to be more awake now. "That's right. We're full shinobi now! I can't wait to get this started, it will be so awesome!" This reminder seemed to wake Narumi up as well.
Naruto gave them a bitter smile. "Don't forget though. We will only be doing D-rank missions for a while. That won't be awesome. It's going to suck…"
Menma frowned. "You're right…But after a while we should be able to do C-ranks or something…D-ranks don't last forever, after all."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders again. "That's true, I guess." He paused as a thought came to him. "What about you guys? When does your day start? I mean, everybody on your team lives here, so what do you guys do?"
Narumi looked over from the bowl of cereal she had in front of her. "Kaa-chan said that we will start our days around eight or nine each day. She didn't really set a specific time."
Naruto nodded. "And what about training? And missions? Will you be doing both each day? That is what Yūgao-sensei told my team we would be doing."
His sister was the one to answer again. "Kaa-chan said we would do that too. Training in the morning followed by missions in the afternoon. It looks like that is the normal way for genin teams to do things."
Menma pitched in his own two cents at this point. "She said that we will be doing much of the same training we have been doing before now, except on a higher level. Some teamwork exercises too. So the typical family training stuff, I guess." He noticed the smile on Naruto's face became slightly strained when he said this. He gained an uncomfortable look on his face as Narumi glared at him. "Ah…sorry, Aniki…I mean…"
Naruto waved him off. All three of them were aware that neither of their parents ever bothered to help Naruto in his training. And Naruto had given up on hoping that they eventually will long ago. Not to mention the nonexistent relationship between Naruto and his parents. It was a semi-taboo subject between the three siblings. "It's fine, don't worry about it. Nothing new about it, anyways." The last part was said to himself quietly, but they both heard it.
A stilted silence descended upon the kitchen. Suddenly feeling the desire to leave grow, Naruto finished his food and dropped the dishes in the sink. "I'll see you guys later, I've got to get going." Hearing the goodbyes of his siblings, he walked out the door and headed for Urahara Shop.
Urahara Shop
Naruto walked through the entrance of the shop and looked around. He was unable to spot Urahara anywhere, but he did see something that caused him to do a double take. Behind the counter reading a magazine, was a woman.
She was a dark skinned woman with a slender build, golden eyes and long purple hair that was done in a ponytail. She had on an orange over-shirt that had two white straps on each shoulder and a beige sash around her waist. Under this, it was possible to spot a black, long sleeved shirt. She also had on black stretch pants with a pair of brown shoes.
As Naruto blinked at her in surprise, he idly noticed that she also seemed surprised to see him, but was able to recover before him. She smirked at him. "You looking for Kisuke?"
This questioned allowed Naruto to recover from his stupor. "Um, yeah. Is he in?" Who was this? He had been coming here for the past six years but had never seen her before.
The woman and walked over to the door towards the backrooms. Motioning for him to follow, she called out to him. "Come on then. He is in the middle of one of his 'projects' right now." She said with a roll of her eyes.
This caused Naruto to grimace. It was always dangerous to suddenly walk in on Urahara while he was working on something. The one time Naruto had done so, he was nearly scarred for life. Mentally.
As he followed after her, Naruto looked at her with curiosity. "I don't mean to sound rude…but I haven't seen you around the store before. How do you know Urahara?" He asked.
The woman smirked again. "I've known Kisuke for years. Most definitely since before you were born." This confused Naruto greatly. If that was true, why hadn't he seen her before now? As if reading his mind, the woman continued speaking. With a shrug, she said, "We must have just been missing each other or something."
'For six years?' Naruto thought incredulously. Not to mention the fact that Urahara had never even mentioned her before. Naruto blinked as a sudden thought came to him. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. It's nice to meet you."
She smiled down at him as they walked. "I already know of you." She seemed to think for a moment. "Call me Soifon." She said at last. Naruto nodded as he memorized the name.
The two of them soon came upon the room which had been dubbed as the "workshop." The closer they got, the louder the noise coming from within. It was such a varied assortments of noises and sounds that Naruto couldn't even begin to comprehend what could possibly be going on inside the room. At one point, he was pretty sure he heard some type of animal.
Despite this, Soifon fearlessly walked up to the door and yanked it open. This action greatly startled Naruto. Either not noticing his reaction or ignoring it entirely, she yelled into the room. "Kisuke! Naruto is here to see you!" No response and the noise persisted. A scowl worked its way onto Soifon's face when she got no response. Glaring, she walked through the door. Seeing her begin to walk in, Naruto reached out to grab her, but it was too late. She had already entered the room.
Naruto stood fearfully as he waited for the result. She was obviously much braver than he was. Naruto would never have walked into the death trap like that. The wait stretched on for what felt like hours, although it was probably only seconds. Eventually, Naruto heard a familiar voice from the local candy store owner cry out and all of the noise stopped immediately after. "OW! The heck was that for?!" Urahara cried.
The voice of Soifon responded. "That was because you didn't hear me the first time I called! You know the drill, you get one chance. If you don't take it, I get to punch you to make you listen."
"Ow! Ok, I get it! Stop dragging me!" Naruto sweat dropped when he heard this.
A moment later, Naruto watched as Soifon dragged Urahara out of his workshop and into the hall. Seemingly without a care in the world, she threw in in front of Naruto. Seeing this scene play out before him, an amused smirk appeared on Naruto's face. Soon after, Urahara picked himself up off of the floor. In an instant, the man had made his fan appear out of nowhere as he looked at Naruto. "So what can I do for you, Naruto? You don't usually come by here this early in the day…Did you come just to see this handsome face?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "No. I came by to tell you that I got my team. We meet every day at eight and then we have a mission. I don't think that I will be able to come by as often anymore because of it." He said.
Urahara nodded as he fanned himself. "Hmm…I see. That's fine. Your training has gone fantastically. There are still a few things I can teach you, but you really do need some experience that can only be gained in battle."
Naruto smiled as he heard this. While Urahara constantly grated on Naruto's nerves, he did respect the man for his skill with a blade. To hear honest praise from him made it truly feel like Naruto has made great progress from when he first started. While he was confident in his ability, he hasn't really had much of a chance to fight anyone with it besides Urahara and Yūgao for a little bit. Urahara's evaluations always told him just where he stood.
Looking at a nearby clock, Naruto was surprised to see the time. "I have to go. I need to meet my team and I want to get there a bit before the designated time." He turned to the purple haired woman. "It was nice to meet you, Soifon-san."
She smiled at him. "Back at you. I would like to spar with you sometime. I could give you some pointers and it should be fun."
Naruto smiled back. "Sure. I look forward to it." With that final remark, he left.
After he was gone, the two remaining people stood in silence for a bit. Eventually, Urahara smirked and looked over to her. "'Soifon?'" He questioned.
She scowled and looked back over to him. "Shut up. I let my guard down while reading. I didn't notice his approach and I didn't want to spoil the surprise just yet. It's better when I transform in front of him without any warning. You know that." She then shrugged. "I needed a name and that is what I used."
Urahara smiled behind his fan again. "Ah, I see. I do indeed look forward to the moment when he figures it out." He agreed.
The both of them smirked in an evil manner.
Training Ground 12
As Naruto walked into the training ground they were in yesterday, he figured that he had about ten minutes before eight. Looking around, he noticed that both of his teammates were there already. The two of them were sitting over by the trees. As he walked over to them, they looked up.
He raised a hand in greeting. "Morning." Sai simply stayed silent while Yakumo responded.
"Good morning, Naruto." The three of them had agreed the day before to simply drop honorifics. "You looking forward to today? I am. I can't wait to see what kind of mission we get." She seemed excited at the prospect.
Naruto's smile strained a bit when he heard this. 'She doesn't know about the D-ranks. She is actually expecting some kind of real mission.' He thought with pity. But he didn't want to be the one to ruin all of her hopes and expectations, so he replied with something that wasn't the truth. "Who knows? Maybe we will get some kind of important document we need to deliver quickly or something." 'Bullshit.'
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Something like that sounds good."
Once she looked away, Naruto shook his head in pity. 'Poor thing…she has no idea what's coming.' He then looked over to Sai. "What about you Sai? How you doing?" He asked.
Sai simply looked over to him. After a moment, he had a response. "I am doing well. I am capable of performing any task assigned to us today."
This caused Naruto to tilt his head in slight confusion. "Right…" He quickly shook his confusion off. "Do you guys have any idea what kind of training we will be doing? Like do you know if Yūgao-sensei ever told us?"
Yakumo frowned. "I don't think so…or if she did, I don't remember."
Sai shook his head. "She never disclosed to us what the training we will be doing is."
Naruto hummed in thought. "I wonder what it will be…"
"It all depends on what you guys have done so far." This response caused Naruto to jump slightly in surprise as it came from right behind him. In the back of his mind, he noticed that both Yakumo and Sai seemed surprised at this new voice as well.
"Whoa!" Spinning around while instinctively reaching for his sword, he saw a smiling Yūgao standing behind him. After he got his heart rate under control, Naruto sighed. "Please don't do that." He requested.
If anything, Yūgao's smile only got bigger. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings. It would have been bad if I was an enemy."
Naruto scowled. But before he could say anything, Sai spoke up. "While it is true that a shinobi should always be aware of the surrounding area, you are a jōnin. It would be extremely difficult for a genin like us to detect you if you did not desire to be found." He said logically.
Yūgao smiled over at him. "That's true enough, but you should still always stay alert." She looked over the three of them. After a moment, she clapped her hands. "Well then, as I said, our training from here will depend on what you guys have done already. All three of you graduated from the academy, so you have the three basic jutsus down. Can you guys give me an overview of your techniques and specializations? If you have any weaknesses you would like to work on, tell me that as well." She nodded towards Yakumo. "You will go in the same order you introduced yourselves in."
Taking her cue, Yakumo nodded. "Well, I am a long to mid-range genjutsu user. Although my bloodline allows me to deal real damage to my targets, I am best suited for a support type role. My bloodline also makes me capable of increasing the strength of my genjutsu using my paintings. And these paintings need more time depending on the complexity." She took on a thoughtful look. "Because I have dedicated most of my time and training to honing my genjutsu, my taijutsu and ninjutsu are lacking. However, it is also due to this fact that I can confidently say that I have the most advanced genjutsu skills of all the genin." She said with a bit of pride.
Yūgao mulled over all the information she was just given. "Ok. Based on the single genjutsu from yesterday, I can agree with you that you have the most advanced genjutsu of all the genins. It took a little bit for even my clone to notice it. It is safe to say that you are good enough in that area for now. We will mainly be working on your taijutsu while adding some ninjutsu as well. Am I correct in assuming that you have relatively low stamina both physically and chakra wise?" A hesitant nod was her answer. Yūgao smiled at her. "That's normal for genjutsu specialists. They focus on their genjutsu so they often do not work on physical capabilities as much and they don't work on chakra capacity as it is not needed. It would also be nice to have something else to fall back on if you are unable to create a genjutsu for some reason or your opponent is capable to break out of it somehow. We will work together to fix that." She looked over to Sai. "You're next."
"My specialties lie within my ink ninjutsu. I am able to create various animals with my techniques. Depending on the animal, I can use them for different tasks. For example, I can use smaller animals like mice for recon and larger animals such as tigers in order to attack. I am even able to use large birds for transportation. Because of this, I am capable of filling either a support or combat role on a team. My abilities in the taijutsu field is adequate while my ninjutsu is lacking. Furthermore, I have some training in using a tantō. I am also adept in stealth." Sai reported.
Yūgao mulled over everything she was just told. "I understand. You will do well as a recon specialist or mid-ranged fighter. Like Yakumo, we will be working on your ninjutsu, but it seems like you have well rounded abilities. If you ran out of ink, would you be out of the fight except for taijutsu?" She got a nod as an answer. "Then we will definitely be adding a jutsu or two to your arsenal." She motioned to Naruto. "And now you."
Naruto smiled. "I have training in kenjutsu, as you saw yesterday. I believe I have the best kenjutsu out of all the genins, and probably most chūnins, but I do not even know how many can use a sword. As I feel the most comfortable using kenjutsu and some taijutsu, I am a predominately close range fighter. Although I have some techniques that allow me to fight at mid-range if I need to." He seemed to hesitate over something. 'How much should I tell them? They are my team…I don't have to tell them everything, but I should tell them a little bit.' He came to a conclusion. "It isn't known, and I prefer it to stay that way, but I have a couple of jutsus that don't need hand seals."
This stunned the audience. No hand seals for his techniques? That took years of training to master! And he was capable of this for more than one jutsu? Yūgao was the first to recover from her surprise. She quickly made two clones and sent them off a little ways. "Can you show us?" She requested.
Naruto sighed inwardly, but he was expecting it. He stood up and faced the clones. He thought over which ones he should show them. After a moment, he raised his hand towards the clone on the right. "Thunder!" he yelled. A bolt of lightning promptly struck the clone, causing it to dispel. He then raised the hand towards the other clone. "Fire!" A fireball shot out of his hand and exploded upon hitting the clone. The clone was also dispelled. He decided upon these two spells as it would be easier to accept than seeing him shoot ice out of his hand. Which should be impossible as he didn't have that bloodline. Albeit a new genin having jutsu that didn't need hand signs was still insane.
He turned back to his team and noted their expressions. Yakumo had her jaw hanging open while both Sai and Yūgao only had widened eyes. Once again, Yūgao was the first to speak. "Wow, that's amazing! You actually have some jutsus that don't need hand seals. And they're of two different elements. Most jōnins don't even gain the ability to do that." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Although, they are a little low powered, but that doesn't matter. Such a thing would still greatly surprise the enemy and create some kind of opening that you can use." She smiled at him. "Sorry, please continue with your abilities."
Naruto nodded. "There isn't much else. Because I'm an Uzumaki and I inherited the large reserves and stamina of one, I have semi-poor chakra control. This means I have little to no ability in genjutsu. I would say I need to work the most on my chakra control while genjutsu is my weakness."
Yūgao nodded along. "That's fine. After yesterday and what you just showed, you are definitely a close to mid-range fighter. We can work on your chakra control and we can get cast a few genjutsus on you to help you get used to noticing them and throwing them off." She looked over the three genins in front of her. "Based off of what was just disclosed about your abilities, do any of you three know what a good combat setup would be for this team?" She looked them over as she waited for an answer.
It was Sai that spoke up. "An optimal formation would be Naruto as the close range fighter that is able to fall back to mid-range as needed with myself providing additional fire from mid-range unless some sort of collaboration technique is required at close range. Yakumo would do the best as our long range specialist that provides support from a distance and casts genjutsu from out of the enemy's line of sight." This setup did make the most sense.
Yūgao grinned. "Exactly. And that is how it will go. While it would be ideal for each of you to have at least one technique that allowed you to fight from any distance, this is the basic setup of how our team will operate while in combat. Any questions?" None of them spoke up. "Good. Then today we will just be doing some basic exercises at first. Simple things like a few laps around the training ground and pushups. Over time, the training will increase in both difficulty as well as intensity. Although, today will be used to test your limits. Got it?"
A chorus of affirmations was released from the trio of genin. Yūgao nodded. "Good. Then let's get started. I want you to run around the training ground until you cannot do so anymore. When you reach that point…" Her grin suddenly looked a lot scarier. "Keep going."
It was at that point that the three of them realized that Yūgao wasn't always as nice as she appeared.
A Few Hours Later
"Come on, get up! You finished your training for now, it's time to get a mission!" Yūgao was now standing over the form of three genins on the floor. All three of them were tired from running and jumping and whatever other exercise she came up with. The end result showed that Naruto had the most stamina, although that wasn't a surprise, followed by Sai and then Yakumo. It came as a slight surprise to the others that Sai had higher stamina than average, but they took it in stride. Yakumo, as they expected, had the lowest stamina out of all three of them. And although it wasn't terrible, it would at best be called average.
"Aren't you guys excited for your first mission? Let's go!" Yūgao certainly looked like she was looking forward to it, but Naruto was fairly certain that she was actually only looking forward to seeing their reactions when they realized what kind of missions they would be getting.
Hearing the reminder that they would be getting their mission, both Yakumo and Sai found the energy to get to their feet. While Yakumo looked excited, Sai put on one of those unsettling smiles of his. Naruto, knowing what was coming, only groaned and stayed on the ground.
Yakumo bound over to Yūgao in an excited manner. "Oh, this will be great!" She said. "Our first mission, I wonder what we will get." Yūgao giggled at her excitement while Naruto shot her a look of pity. If only she knew what was coming…
Sai walked over to join them. "I do not think missions are something to get excited over. They are important for the village as they both provide an income and secure the safety of the village and the inhabitants. They need to be taken seriously." He paused. That smile then came back to his face. "Although, the first mission of a new genin can be something to look forward to as it shows they are ready to serve the village."
Naruto threw Sai another look. Something about the way he spoke always sounded somewhat unusual to Naruto. Whether it was the choice of words or the lack of real emotion behind the words. But ignoring these facts, Sai clearly had no idea what D-rank missions were about either. Thinking about what they were about to go through again, Naruto sighed.
All three of the other people in the training ground looked over to him when they heard this. When she saw him on the floor still, Yakumo called out to him. "Naruto, you need to get up now. Aren't you looking forward to our first mission?" She didn't seem to be able to understand his reluctance to get a mission.
Naruto's face morphed into one of distaste. He shook his head as he answered her question. "No, not really. I would rather keep training."
Yūgao's face lit up in understanding. It seemed she realized that Naruto knew what kind of missions were in store for them. She grinned at him. "Come on, Naruto. Get up. We are heading for the missions office now to get a mission. Think of it as an order." She said.
Naruto nearly groaned. Yūgao clearly has slight sadistic tendencies, he realized. Or maybe it was just something that all jōnin senseis had.
The love for making their students miserable.
Naruto sighed as he forced himself to his feet. He really did not want to do D-rank missions. He knew that it was something all new genin teams did, but he would much rather spend his time training. Or sleeping.
He walked over to his team his team and looked at each of their expressions. Yakumo was smiling happily at him. When he looked at Sai he got another smile, but it lacked emotion. Finally looking at Yūgao, he nearly scowled when he saw the amused expression on her face. She was enjoying this.
Sighing again, Naruto motioned towards the direction the Hokage tower was in. "Alright then, let's get going." He said.
Mission Office
"Team 12 reporting for their first mission." Yūgao reported. Team 12 had made it to the mission office and were now standing in front of the desk to receive their mission. The four of them were standing side by side with Yūgao on the far left.
The room was a large, wide-open space with six windows and a high ceiling. The ceiling also had the kanji for "Shinobi" printed on it. The mission desk was a long table where the people assigning the mission sat. On the front of the desk was a banner that read "mission assignment this way" as well as "everybody, do your best."
Sitting at the mission desk was an assortment of people that ranged from a civilian representative to a few chūnin. At the center of the table was a chair where the Hokage sat when he was there to assign missions, although he wasn't there right then. Iruka was also one of the people who was there to assign missions.
Looking up from his paperwork, Iruka smiled. "Oh, I see. First mission you said? Please give me a moment to check the list of available missions." He reach to grab a nearby piece of paper that listed the available missions. Before he began to speak though, he took in each of their expressions. He seemed to become amused when he noted the excitement on Yakumo's face, the seriousness of Sai's face, and the reluctance to be there on Naruto's. He cleared his throat. "Do you have any preference of what type of mission you receive?" He asked Yūgao.
'Not a chore…' Naruto thought to himself.
Yūgao smiled and shook her head. "No. Whatever you have will be fine with us." She responded.
Hearing this, Naruto gave a small huff. 'That isn't true. I'm not fine with D-ranks.' As if she read his mind, Yūgao shot Naruto an amused glance.
Iruka grinned. He briefly looked over the mission list before he found what he wanted. "Ok then. I have the perfect starting mission for you." Finding the appropriate scroll, he tossed it to Yūgao.
Catching it, Yūgao opened it and read the mission. Her smile kept getting bigger as she continued to read whatever was on the scroll. She nodded to Iruka before turning to face her team. "Ok. Our mission is straightforward. We are to report to the designated client and apprehend the specified targets." She said.
Hearing this, Naruto was starting to grow hopeful that things wouldn't actually suck. But he was hesitant to truly believe that new genins were actually assigned a mission to capture some enemies. Sai and Yakumo, who didn't have the same hesitation, nodded and spoke at the same time. "Yes, ma'am."
Naruto only sighed to himself and nodded. 'Troublesome…' He froze. After a moment, he rubbed his temples as he felt a headache come on. 'Now I sound like Shikamaru…'
Totally unaware to Naruto's inner turmoil as she was too excited to see their expressions crumble, Yūgao ushered her team out the door.
She was grinning like mad the entire time.
15 Minutes Later
After a bit of walking, they had reached the client's home. Naruto noticed the closer they got, the more Yakumo seemed to look forward to hearing about what the mission was. Yūgao wasn't answering any questions about the mission when they asked. And after hearing the description, even Naruto felt some hesitant hope being made. But he was reluctant to give into it.
As they walked up the path to the front door, Naruto looked around. It was a typical house in the village. Nothing special about it at all. But he knew that the best way to stay hidden was to be in plain sight, so he did not take things as they appeared to be.
Yūgao knocked on the door after they reached it. After a minute of waiting, it opened to reveal an elderly looking woman. When she saw them, she gave a kind looking smile. Looking at Yūgao, she spoke. "Yes? How may I help you?"
Yūgao smiled back at her. "Hello, we are the team who were assigned the mission you put in at the missions desk." She said.
Hearing this, the smile on the woman grew. "Oh yes, of course. Please, follow me." She gestured into the house and led them through it. She led them down the hall towards the other side of the house. After a moment, they reached the door that led to the backyard. The woman opened it and walked through. As they followed after her, they saw that she had a large backyard.
Looking around, Naruto immediately caught onto what was happening. When he thought back on the wording that Yūgao gave them for the mission, he sighed. 'I shouldn't have ever even let that shred of hope get started. I was so stupid for doing that.' He thought to himself.
The woman turned to face them and gestured around her. All throughout the large backyard were numerous fruits and vegetables that were growing. They appeared to all be ripe and ready to be harvested. And there were so many of them. Naruto was seriously confused on how they all fit in the yard. He turned his attention back to the woman when she began to speak to them. "I need you to pick all of the fruits and vegetables here. And please be careful with them, I sell some of them as well."
Yūgao smiled and nodded to her. "Don't worry. I will make sure that they will be careful with all of it. Just leave it to us." The woman nodded, and after telling them where the baskets were, walked off. Yūgao turned to the three genins. "Ok, team. Your mission is to collect all of the ripe crops and deposit them in the designated baskets. You must also complete this task in a timely manner. Any questions?" She seemed to truly enjoy the expressions that the three of them were making. Even Sai had a confused look on his face.
Yakumo was the one who hesitantly spoke up. "Um…Yūgao-sensei…picking fruits is our mission?" She seemed truly confused by this idea. When Yūgao grinned at her, she got her answer. "But…back at the mission office you told us we were getting a mission to apprehend the specified target."
If it was possible, Naruto would have claimed that Yūgao's grin somehow got even bigger than it was before. "What are you talking about, Yakumo?" Their sensei asked. "This fits perfectly here. The vegetables are your specified target. You need to apprehend them and move them to the basket." This response seemed to stun both of Naruto's teammates. Naruto on the other hand only sighed to himself again. Yūgao clapped. "Now then, time for you three to get to work!"
3 Hours later
It took a few hours for them to actually manage to collect all of the ripened food. And throughout the entire process, both Yakumo and Naruto were grumbling about it not being a real mission. Although Naruto wasn't really surprised that it had turned out that their mission was a chore, it was clear that both Sai and Yakumo were completely blindsided by it. They would have finished sooner, but the client offered to give a bonus if they also cleaned all of the fruit and vegetables they had picked.
Each of the three genins were now finished with their portion of the cleaning and were eager to just get out of there. As they were waved off by the elderly woman after getting the signed mission scroll, Yakumo looked over to Yūgao who had a smile on her face throughout the entire process.
"Yūgao-sensei…" Yakumo began, getting the purple haired woman's attention. "…Will all of our missions be like…" She seemed to struggle to find words needed to express her dissatisfaction over getting such a trivial mission. Eventually, she found a word that expressed her displeasure. "…that?" She said finally.
Yūgao smiled at her. She seemed to be doing that a lot today. "Like what?" She asked innocently. Naruto nearly snorted when he heard this. As if she didn't know…
"Are all of missions going to be a chore?" Yakumo elaborated.
Yūgao seemed to think about it. "If by chore you are referring to missions to assists the civilians of the village, then yes." She seemed to take twisted joy out of the way that they crumbled when they heard that. It must be a jōnin sensei thing. "Welcome to D-rank missions! Training and D-rank missions will be your life for a while." She said with grand hand motions.
All she got in response were two groans and a blank look.
Uzumaki-Namikaze Household (Later that Day)
After he separated from his team, Naruto decided there was still enough time to get some more training in. So he went back to the training ground and practiced his katas for a while as he reflected on the day. The training wasn't too bad, although it was tiring. But it wasn't really anything Naruto wasn't expecting. But then there was the mission.
While it wasn't the harvesting itself was really challenging, the state of being hunched over in the hot sun for a couple hours while they had an overbearing elderly woman breathing down their necks tired him out mentally. The best part was that Naruto was fairly sure there were even worse D-rank missions out there he was going to get.
After following this line of thought, Naruto thought about how he felt about the team so far and possible combinations they could create based on what he already knew about his teammates and their abilities. Naruto was so lost in thought that he never noticed the day seemed to just disappear. The next thing he knew, he had been in the training ground for three hours. Deciding that he had spent enough time there, Naruto headed back home.
Heaving a sigh, Naruto walked into the living room. When he entered, he saw an identical scene to the one from the day before. Both of his siblings were slouched in chairs in the room. Just like the day before, they both looked tired.
Naruto smirked in a tired manner at them. "So…how were your days? I can safely say mine would have been much better if I didn't have that D-rank mission." He started the conversation.
And just like the day before, they both groaned at him. Menma spoke up. "It was horrible, Aniki. Kaa-chan gave us some training from hell first. That went on for a while, then we had to go put up with this nagging old man who just wouldn't shut up! He was practically criticizing us every second as we painted his stupid fence. I know how to paint a fence, dammit! I don't need his critique on how I'm holding the brush!"
Narumi then took the chance to speak. "Menma is totally right, Nii-chan. And then after we finally finished, Kaa-chan decided to make us run until we collapse because she 'forgot to make us do that earlier.' What the heck is that? I mean come on!"
Naruto chuckled when he heard this. It made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one who had a teacher who seemed to enjoy making them collapse from laps or it wasn't just his team suffering from helping annoying old people. He shrugged his shoulders in a helpless manner. "My day went along much of the same line as yours. Started with training until we collapse, then deal with an elderly woman who wanted us to harvest her food. She also seemed to enjoy directing our every move. The only difference is that Yūgao-sensei let us go after we turned in our mission."
""Lucky."" They spoke together.
Naruto shook his head. "I don't think anyone could be considered lucky in any way as long as they are assigned a D-rank mission. It just doesn't work that way." After a moment, they both agreed with him. That just wasn't how the world worked. Naruto then spoke up again. "Were you told how long you will be doing D-ranks?" He asked.
Menma shook his head. "Kaa-chan said that we would keep doing them until she felt that we were good enough for a higher ranked mission. Or until she got bored of watching us suffer. Whatever comes first. So probably when we are ready for a higher ranked mission." He looked over towards Naruto. "What about you? Did your teacher tell you how long you will have to do D-ranks?" He asked.
Naruto shook his head as he replied. "We were only told that training and D-ranks would be all we did as a team for a while. So no, I don't have any clue when we will stop doing them, same as you two."
Narumi pouted. "I don't want to spend all our time doing this. I want a higher ranked mission-ttebane!"
Naruto looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "We all do, Narumi. But it won't happen until the higher ups get enough of watching us suffer." He threw on an unconvincing grin. "But who knows? They may let us off the hook soon." He said. After a few moments of silence where they simply looked at each other, all three of them hung their heads and sighed.
As if that would really happen any time soon.
Urahara Shop (Two Weeks Later)
Naruto dragged his feet as he entered the candy shop owned by Urahara. It had been a mentally draining two weeks. Although Yūgao didn't make them collapse from fatigue like she had on the first day, her training was still tiring and often left all three of the genin a little short on breath. And after they finished the training, she would take them to the mission office to get a new D-rank mission. In hindsight, they were not as bad as Naruto had expected them to be.
They were so much worse.
In the past, he, Narumi and Menma had always dreaded D-ranks because they were chores. But the truth was that they were so much more than that. Not only were these…missions -and he hesitated to really refer to them as that- chores like they had expected, most of them also came with an annoying client!
Whether they were picking flowers, babysitting, walking dogs or anything else, they all had a client that would somehow know all of the buttons they needed to push to get Naruto mad. Granted, not all of the missions were like that, but a lot of them really did have that kind of client.
It also seemed that both Yakumo and Sai were quickly disillusioned as to what the beginning of their shinobi careers were. It was truly a sight to watch Yakumo become increasingly depressed and resigned with each passing mission. Not to mention that Sai seemed truly confused for some reason that these chores were even considered missions. Going back to what he said before they got assigned their first one, it was probably because he thought all of the missions assigned were important for the village in some way.
Shaking off these thoughts, Naruto walked into the shop and looked around. They had gotten out relatively earlier than usual today and he was here to see if Soifon was willing to spar with him. If she had known Urahara for as long as she had said, then he wouldn't be surprised if she was also extremely strong. And it had been a while before he had fought someone who was far stronger than him and was willing to use their free time to give him tips. Yūgao didn't really count as she was his sensei.
Looking over to the counter, Naruto smiled when he saw that the dark skinned woman was there again. As he walked over to her, she looked up from her magazine and smiled at him. "Hey there, Naruto. What's up?" She asked.
Naruto shrugged with a smile. "Not much. Just swung by to see if you were still up for a spar. I got off early from my team today so I thought it would be a good time to come by."
Soifon grinned. "Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun. Come on, let's grab Kisuke to play referee and head to the training ground." With that, she walked through the door that led deeper into the building with Naruto following behind her.
They walked through the hall and stepped into the back room. Urahara was sitting at the table looking over some papers again. When they walked in, he looked up. When he saw who it was, he gained a smile. "Oh, Naruto-kun!" He lunged and latched onto Naruto in a vice-like hug. "I knew you would come back! You missed me that much, huh? Just couldn't get enough of me, could you?" Naruto's eyebrow started to twitch again. "Don't worry. It's nothing to be ashamed about! It's perfectly normal."
It was at this point that a growling sound was beginning to emanate from Naruto's throat. With probably more force than was strictly necessary, Naruto shoved Urahara off of him and onto the floor. "Shut up, moron. I'm only here to see if Soifon-san is willing to have that spar she talked about last time I was here. She is. Now are you willing to ref the spar or not?" He glared at the bucket hat wearing man.
Urahara was back on his feet in an instant, fan out again to cover the grin on his face. "A spar? Oh sure, I can proctor a spar between you two." He pointed dramatically towards the door. "Now then, off we go! I want to get a good spot to watch this one sided beat down!" With that, he walked out the door, listening as the growling sound came back as he did so.
Naruto scowled as he followed Urahara out the door with a grinning Soifon. While he was sure that he was going to lose, the way Urahara said it pissed him off. But that was probably the point. Urahara always did get a kick out of pissing Naruto off.
Underground Training Ground
Once they made it to the training ground that was hidden underneath the shop, both Naruto and Soifon walked off a bit and then faced one another. Urahara walked over to a nearby boulder and stood on top of it to get a better view.
Once they had reached a good distance into the training ground, Naruto called out to Soifon. "How are we going to do this? Anything goes? Or weapons? Or hand to hand?" He had no idea how Soifon normally fought. He couldn't see any weapons on her, but she could just have them hidden away somewhere.
She grinned at him. "I have heard good things about your skills with a sword from Kisuke. While I can use a sword, I prefer hand to hand combat. That's definitely my specialty. I would like to see where you stand on that field, if you don't mind." She said.
Naruto grinned and nodded. He hadn't fought a taijutsu expert before. Getting into a battle stance, he responded. "That's fine with me. Let's get this thing going!" Soifon's grin got bigger as she too got into a battle stance.
When he saw they were both ready, Urahara called out to them. "Ok, you two! This will be a friendly spar, so no serious injuries! It will go until either Naruto gets subdued, gets his ass beat too much, or calls it quits like a baby." With each condition, Naruto's eyebrow twitched again. Urahara seemed to be pretty sure that Naruto had absolutely no chance to win this. While Naruto himself didn't quite believe he would win this, the way Urahara said it really pissed him off every time.
But that was pretty much true for most things the man said.
"Are both of you ready?" Urahara asked.
Soifon nodded. Her grin turned slightly feral, setting Naruto on edge a bit. "Ready and willing, Kisuke." She said.
Naruto gained a determined expression. If he was going to lose, it would definitely be after he got in a couple good hits. He nodded. "Ready whenever." He declared.
Urahara grinned. "Well then. On your mar-GO!" Urahara interrupted himself abruptly.
Caught off guard, Naruto was unprepared for the kick that came at him from the side. It seemed that Soifon didn't have the problem of being caught off guard at Urahara's antics.
As he was sent flying off to the side, there was only one thought in Naruto's head. 'She is freaking fast!' He had barely seen her move! It was as if she was propelled by some unseen force. Not only that, but she kicks really hard, too!
Naruto was able to land on his feet, and it was only instinct that told him to dodge to the side. It was extremely fortunate that he had. Right where he had been a second before was Soifon who had her fist embedded into the earth. Naruto could only gawk at the spider web of cracks and small crater that formed around her. 'The fuck is up with that strength?!' He had thought only Tsunade had insane strength like that. He looked up when he heard Urahara call out to them from a distance.
"Soifon, you should let up a bit. I know it has been a while since you fought, but you really should have better control over your strength and speed. Remember, I said not to cause serious injury to Naruto-kun. So please refrain from doing that. It would be annoying to have to heal him, after all." He requested.
"Wow, Urahara. Thank you so much for all of the concern you are showing for my wellbeing…" Naruto muttered sarcastically to himself. And somehow, Urahara actually heard him, because he was quick to respond.
"No problem, Naruto-kun!" He said cheerfully before turning back to Naruto's opponent. "But really, feel free to beat him to the ground, but please don't break him too much." He said while fanning himself.
Soifon grinned sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "Oh yeah, sure. I'll try to be more careful from now on."
Naruto was starting to get annoyed with the way that the two of them were treating this. He already knew he was going to lose! They didn't need to keep putting him down like that! He glared at Soifon and got back into a ready stance. "If I'm going down, I'm going to be sure to get at least one good hit in!" He declared.
This action caused Soifon to grin broadly. "Oh yeah?" She challenged. "Then let's keep going!" She said as she rushed him again.
Urahara Shop (45 Minutes Later)
A groan escaped his throat as Naruto returned to consciousness. He sluggishly sat up from his spot on the spare futon. Once he propped himself up with a hand, he realized just what condition his body was in as all the pain returned to him at once.
With a startled gasp, the hand that wasn't being used to prop himself up shot up to the back of his head as it throbbed in pain. "Son of a…" A muffled curse escaped his lips as he grit his teeth out of pain.
Once the pain subsided, he looked around. Naruto recognized the room as the guest room. It wasn't the first time he had collapsed from some sort of training or spar and woken up here, so he was familiar with the room. Gingerly getting to his feet while wincing all the while, Naruto moved over to the door. He exited the room and headed towards the backroom of the shop.
Upon entering the room, Naruto looked around and saw that both Soifon and Urahara were sitting around the table and talking. But they both stopped when they saw him come in. Urahara smiled at him and motioned towards an open seat. "Ah, Naruto-kun! You're alive. Wonderful, we were so worried about you!" The man said.
Naruto scowled at him. "Sure you were. And I'm also sure that you didn't get a kick out of seeing me get my ass kicked, right?" He asked sarcastically.
Urahara took on an offended look. "Why, I would never do such a thing! It hurts me to hear that you would believe that I would do that, Naruto-kun. Have I really led on such a horrible impression with you?" He asked.
"Yes." No hesitation was present for this statement. Not giving Urahara a chance to speak, Naruto turned to Soifon, who until now had been grinning throughout the conversation. "But you are seriously strong, Soifon-san. And fast. Like really fast."
She smiled at him. "Thanks. I take pride in my speed." She then gained an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about all that, I seem to have lost touch with my strength and speed." Her smile turned feral again. "I've decided to start sparring with Kisuke to fix that." Said candy shop owner suddenly stiffened. This reaction caused a huge grin to spread across Naruto's face. Any pain caused to Urahara was welcome with Naruto.
Naruto looked at both of the other people in the room with him. "But really, you both are insanely strong." He looked up to the ceiling. "Sometimes, it is like your strength is out of this world, or something." He completely missed the amused looks that Soifon and Urahara shot each other. "I mean, I wasn't even able to get a hit in on you at all…" He looked frustrated as he said this.
Soifon gained another amused look when she heard him say this. "What are you talking about?" She asked him. Naruto looked at her in confusion. She rolled up her shirt a bit to show her stomach area. Right in the center of it was a bruise. This seemed to stun Naruto. "Right at the end, you managed to get a hit in on me." She looked apologetic again. "It was that which caused me to hit you harder than I meant to out of instinct and knock you out. You really surprised me with that one." She looked at him quizzically. "You don't remember?" You asked him.
Naruto frowned and shook his head. "No…I don't."
Urahara hummed in thought. "You must have hit your head harder than we thought you did. You should take it easy for now. Probably go home and get some more rest."
Naruto nodded and stood up, wincing again as he did so. "You're probably right. I'm in pain and I'm tired. I will probably turn in early." He turned to Soifon and bowed as much as the pain would allow him. "Thank you for the spar."
She waved him off. "It was no problem. I had fun. You should work on your technique a bit more. Your speed and power are ahead for someone your age, but your form falls behind somewhat in comparison to that same speed and power. Come by some other time and then I can show you how to improve it."
Naruto nodded. "Will do, thanks." He waved at them and turned towards the door, but before he walked through, he paused. After some thought, he turned and spoke. "I haven't seen Yoruichi for a while. He usually comes by to greet me when I'm here. Did something happen?" He asked.
For some reason, Urahara sent an amused look to Soifon. Soifon was the one to reply though, an amused look of her own on her face. "No, nothing happened. Yoruichi just likes to disappear for a while every now and then. I like to do the same. You will see him again soon."
Hearing this, Naruto nodded and turned towards the door again. "See you two later." And with that, he left.
It was silent for a minute, but eventually it was broken when Soifon spoke up. "Do you have any idea what that light was?" She asked.
Urahara gained a serious look as he shook his head. "No, I don't know what it was. But did you notice how part of it looked and felt familiar?"
Soifon nodded gravely. "Yes. While the lighter portion looked new, the darker part of it was just like that aura that those creatures that started to appear on our world had. And the one they turned into when killed." She gained a slightly worried look. "Do you think it is something we should be concerned about?"
Urahara shook his head. "It is probably fine. We can safely say that Naruto isn't one of those creatures, and it only at the end of the fight."
Soifon thought back on the end of the spar.
Flashback (20 Minutes Ago)
Naruto was panting as he laid on the floor. There was sweat dripping down his face and he felt like his body weighed a ton. He was also in extreme pain and was certain that he would be getting numerous bruises later on. Looking up, Soifon stood nearby. He just couldn't understand how someone could be that fast or strong. This was the kind of level he expected a kage to be at. But both Urahara and Soifon were at such levels.
He grit his teeth in irritation when he saw the smirk on her face. He couldn't even get in a single hit! He doesn't know how long it has been since they started, but he was now on the floor with a bunch of injuries while his opponent was looking like they hadn't even exerted any effort at all!
When she saw him look over to her, Soifon spoke up. "Do you give up? You're good but you need to work harder before you can match me in hand to hand combat." She said.
Naruto grit his teeth in agitation. Was all of that work for nothing? Didn't he improve at all? He had been training for six years!
His thoughts were interrupted when Soifon spoke up again. "There is nothing wrong with admitting when you are beaten. It shows that you know your limit. Just give up now before you get seriously injured." She requested. She shrugged. "Hey, for a kid, you did great. But you aren't ready for this playing field yet." She turned and started to walk away.
Naruto was sorely tempted to just do that. He was in a lot of pain and he was extremely tired. But he also knew that there were times in the future when he may come against someone else who is this strong, and they may not be as merciful. He needed to keep going until he couldn't move anymore. He needed to truly know his limits.
The wind around Naruto began to pick up, but so far only Urahara noticed. "Don't screw around with me." He muttered. This gained Soifon's attention as she looked back to him. She was surprised to see Naruto start to stand. She narrowed her eyes as some sort of aura began to form around him.
She decided to speak up. "Be careful there, you're pretty hurt." She told him.
The wind started to pick up even more as the aura became more visible. It started to become a distinctive mix of silvery-white and purplish-black. Naruto's eyes were also glowing the same color. The blue one was glowing silvery-white while the violet one glowed purplish-black. "Don't. Screw. Around. With. ME!" The aura exploded around him in every direction.
The output of energy completely shocked Soifon and Urahara. They were both so surprised by the aura that they were unable to react as Naruto shot forward with new speed. Soifon only came back to awareness right before she was punched. But it was too late for her to dodge it as Naruto struck her in the stomach.
Soifon grunted at the unexpected strength behind the attack. Before she could stop herself, she reacted with a kick to Naruto's head that sent him flying into a bolder nearby. It was only after he impacted that she realized what had happened.
With widened eyes, she cursed. "Oh, shit!" Both she and Urahara sped over to make sure he was ok. When they got there, they found Naruto on the ground, surrounded by rubble and unconscious.
Flashback End
Soifon rubbed at her stomach. "It seriously surprised me to see that. I definitely wasn't expecting anything like that."
Urahara nodded. "I agree. I would have asked him if he knew about the aura, but once he admitted he didn't remember I decided it would probably be better if we didn't and let him tell us about it when he wanted to. You agree?" She nodded. "Good. Then we will just wait for him to tell us." He said as he fanned himself. "On to other manners, would you agree about how strong he is?"
Soifon grinned and nodded. "He is definitely at lieutenant level. I can guarantee that much. And he is only twelve right now?" She shook her head. "He has serious potential to become some sort of monster in the future. At least as much potential as Ichigo has"
Urahara smiled and nodded. "Yes, it truly is amazing, isn't it? I'm glad I began to teach him, he really has improved greatly."
Soifon smiled. But after a moment, it turned mischievous. "But that isn't the only thing that Naruto and Ichigo have in common." Urahara looked over to her in curiosity. She grinned at him. "They both find you to be a huge pain in the ass."
The only response she got was a huff and some muttering.
There we go! All done with Chapter 14!
Enter Yoruichi/Soifon! If you couldn't figure out that was actually Yoruichi, then you must not be a fan of Bleach.
I have some trouble writing Sai. I sometimes feel like I'm writing Shino or something instead…
When I want two or more people to speak together, is it better to simply say they spoke together or put double quotation marks? I mean like ""this."" Personally, I like the first one better, but I could work with the second.
So I was conflicted on exactly how I would pull off the spar between Naruto and Yoruichi. I wanted to have them spar, but I didn't want to write it and have it totally suck. I think this was a nice compromise. It happened, and I didn't have to actually write it! Double win!
The "Don't screw around with me" part was pulled from Negima.
So I had this idea. There is probably no way I will ever do it. But what if one of the worlds I had Naruto go to was actually the canon world? I can't decide if it is stupid or interesting. What do you think?
And why do these chapters keep getting longer?
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!
Until next time,
Kog6943