New Teammates
(Unknown Location)
"Maiden's Fury!" Rin launched a barrage of punches at Obito and Kakashi. Obito used his spatial magic to avoid the barrage, whilst Kakashi dodged each punch. Kakashi saw an opening and managed to grab Rin's left arm, throwing her at Obito. Rin smirked and rolled in the air, almost landing a dropkick against Obito if not for the latter barely rolling out of the way.
"Are you trying to kill me!?" Obito saw Rin's kick made large crater on the ground. Rin giggled at him and stuck her tongue out.
"I know it won't kill you and besides, I can heal you afterwards. If we don't go all out, then we can't see who's the strongest one here." Rin told him confidently.
"When you put it that way….." Obito smirked and teleported away from Kakashi's sneak attack, who unleashed a stream of lightning which hit Rin, electrocuting her.
"Y-You'll pay for that Kakashi!" Rin's hair was sticking up and she was angry.
"You were the one who let her guard down." Kakashi eye smiled at her, but he was kicked by Obito, only to grab Obito's leg and threw him to the ground. "And all your moves are obvious, Obito." Kakashi then felt something was off. It proved to be the correct assumption as Kakashi was hit by a flame enhanced which came out of a portal from the ground.
"That wasn't obvious now, was it?" Obito smirked and saw Rin punch Kakashi, who crossed his arms the last second and channelled lightning through them, Rin stilled powered through and hit him.
"Blue Thunder!" A lightning bolt jolted out from Kakashi's right arm and then hit Rin, who used her Strength Magic to enhance her durability as the lightning bolt hit her.
"Rin!" Obito let his guard down and Kakashi capitalised, channelling his body with lightning and spinning rapidly, hitting Obito and taking him out as well.
"U-Ugh! You two really pack a punch. But this is my win." Kakashi was still standing. 'A few more hits and not even I could get up.' Kakashi realised in terms of power they were near equal, but his skill and quick thinking let him win their intense spar.
After an hour, the other two woke up and bandaged themselves up. Rin and Obito glared at Kakashi, who gave a small nervous laugh.
"You're lucky this was only a spar. If we used our full power, we could have killed you." Obito was sour about his loss, but he knew that between the three of them, Kakashi was the most balanced in terms of power, intelligence, and speed.
"But we also know that you did not use your own full power. Obito and I agree with Lord Hiruzen that you deserve the position. So, Obito?" Rin's glare turned into a sweet smile. Obito gave a cheeky grin and used his magic to summon a cake.
"Congratulations!" They both said at the same time. On the cake it said congratulations, which Kakashi appreciated. The reason why is that Kakashi has now become the 10th Wizard Saint.
(With Naruto)
"What is this place, Lee?" Naruto asked his first recruit who was grinning. They were in front of a restaurant.
"Akimichi Barbeque. Gai-sensei brought me here a few times and introduced me to the owner. Choza Akimichi, he's quite strong and is a former fighting champion. In fact, he is known as the 'Great Yokozuna', a great honour for one such as him." Lee stated in admiration for the man he mentioned.
"Okay…And what's a Yokozuna?" Naruto was confused, it was the first time he heard that word.
"Oh! Yokozuna is the highest rank one can achieve in Sumo Wrestling!" Lee told him with such joy. "Men who fight their hardest are the most youthful!"
"And is this Choza guy actually a sumo wrestler?" Naruto knew about the sport of Sumo wrestling, his father told him about the sport and how they ate a lot.
"Well, he was given the title after protecting the town from dark wizards by the Tarokichi Association, an organisation which controls and officiates Sumo Wrestling. It helps that he once trained to become a competitor, but he instead enlisted in the Magic Council's military service." Lee wanted to meet with former champion once more, as he heard from his former teacher that he was strong.
"Okay, but didn't you mention that he was a former champion. If he wasn't a sumo wrestler, then what was he champion of?" Naruto was truly confused by Lee's words.
"Oh. There is usually a festival where wizards enter to be crowned champion in this town, it's called the Festival of Neit. Choza won the festival a few years ago and is the only man to win that title twice. Now he owns his own restaurant, which is where we will find him. I believe he could be part of the team." Lee looked at the boy who recruited him with burning eyes.
"Fine, we'll meet up with him and ask him." Naruto sighed and gave a small smile. Lee yelled and hugged Naruto, before letting him go and screaming about 'youth', which disturbed Naruto. 'Maybe some barbeque will do me some good too.'
They entered the restaurant, where Naruto saw a large husky man with long brown hair into a ponytail and wearing a chef's uniform.
"Welcome to Akimichi Barbeque! Wait…..Lee my boy!" The chef went towards Lee and hugged him, who returned it.
"It is good to see you again Mr Akimichi! Oh, please meet my new friend, Naruto. Naruto, this is Mr Akimichi." They dropped the hug as Lee gestured to the blonde giving a friendly smile and wave.
'This boy, he seems familiar, but I can't remember from where?' Choza put that thought aside and greeted Naruto with a handshake. "Pleased to meet you Naruto. A friend of Lee's is also a friend of mine."
"The pleasure's all mine. Lee told me about you and how you own this restaurant before we came in. I have to say, this place isn't too shabby at all." Naruto was impressed by the restaurant.
"Haha! I like you kid! I'll cook you some food if you like and since you're Lee's friend, it's on the house!" He saw Naruto's excited look and then patted his head, which annoyed him a little, but it was also a nice feeling because his father used to do that for him.
"I'll take up that offer then. Can't wait to try your food old man." Naruto said 'old man' in such a nice way that Choza did not mind it, he could tell Naruto was the type of person that was informal and was not trying to sound disrespectful.
"Then I'll show you how barbeque is done! Hahaha!" Choza then remembered something. "Oh right! I wanted to introduce you to him the last time you were here but couldn't. Choji! Get out here!" Choza called out a name and moments later, a boy who looked remarkably like a younger version of him arrived. "Lee, Naruto. Meet my son, Choji. Choji, he's Rock Lee and he's Naruto. Say hello Choji." Choza gestured to the two.
"Hello, my name is Choji. Nice to meet you, Lee and Naruto." Choji smiled at them. He then looked at Choza. The three boys began talking with each other until a sound was heard, two more people had arrived. One was a man around Choza's age wearing sunglasses and dark spiky short hair. He wore a coat and had a gourd strapped to his back. The other person looked like a younger version of him, presumably the older man's son.
"Shibi! You son of a gun, it's been a few weeks! How's the bug hunting going? And Shino my boy! Good to see you again!" Choza shook hands with Shibi and Shino gave a simple hello. "Oh, where are my manners. Lee! Naruto! Meet my old friend Shibi Aburame and his son, Shino. Shib and Shino, this is Rock Lee, Gai's former student and this is Naruto. We were just about to eat, join us."
They all greeted each other, with the Aburame family obliging to Choza's request. Shibi needed to talk to Choza after their meal anyways.
"This is good old man Choza, no wonder Lee speaks highly of you." Naruto took a bite out the meat and then took another bite. "I'd love to get the recipe, unless it's an old family secret?"
"Hahaha! If you want that recipe, you'll have to cook something for me first and I'll see if you're worthy of the Akimichi family recipe!" Choza replied to him with his usual laugh.
"My apologies, Choza, but we need to talk in private." Shibi interrupted. "I apologise to you too Naruto, but it is urgent that I speak to Choza privately. You too, Shino, Lee and Choji."
"Well, if you have to talk in private, guess we'll go for now. Come on guys, let's get out of here." Naruto wanted to see more of the town and speak to his new acquaintances.
"So, what do you want to tell me, Shibi? Knowing you, I know that this isn't a social visit, is it?" Choza turned serious.
"You are right. I was at the outskirts of the town, researching insects until I overheard bandits near the area. They mentioned heading towards this town and I attempted to confront them, but I was attacked by a shadow." This made Choza look at Shibi with concern.
"Does that mean it's a dark wizard who is proficient in Shadow Magic? Did they escape?" Choza asked his old friend, who stood up and opened his coat. He revealed bandages cover his upper torso.
"It was the opposite, I was the one who escaped. The Shadow user, I could not detect him at all, and he managed to cut me with his shadow. It's worse than you think, the user is the criminal, Pierrot the Dark Jester." Now Choza knew he had no choice but to battle.
"Then it's serious. I have one question for you my old friend. Will you help me?" He smiled at Shibi's nod.
"This town has been our home for more than a decade now. Our sons were raised here and the townsfolk are basically our hive. I will fight." Shibi and Choza prepared themselves for a fight.
(With Naruto's group)
"So, your magic is called Calorie Control and let's you change your size? And yours is called Hive? You can control bugs?" Naruto asked the two boys.
"Yeah, it's the reason why I have to eat a lot." Choji was eating potato chips again. "These chips have a lot of calories in them and are special made by my dad. I can convert my calories into mass and food helps me regulate my magic power."
"Well, for me, my insects can be used for information and tracking. But they can also be used to swarm enemies and release toxins. Though compared to our fathers, Choji and I cannot fully use our magic. We require more training." What Shino said made Naruto's decision easier.
"Well, you can only do so much by yourselves. You need experience and to test yourselves. So, how about you join our team, and we'll grow stronger together." Naruto offered them his hand.
"That's a great idea! Shino! Choji! Please accept the offer!" Lee was excited at the prospect of sparring with the two if they joined their team.
"I can see your point. I would need to discuss this with my father. And it would be nice to have comrades near our own age." Shino was thinking about Naruto's offer, as was Choji. You see, despite being the son of a former fighting champion, Choji had trouble having friends near his age as kids found him too slow because of his weight. Shino was considered weird because of his looks and his interest in insects.
"So, you don't have any friends? What about you Choji?" Naruto saw Choji shake his head negatively. "Then, I'll be your friend! And I'm sure Lee will be too! Right Lee?" He looked at the bow-cut haired boy, who flashed a smile and a thumbs up.
"Well, but we'll discuss it with our parents first." Shino told them and would have explained further until they heard screams nearby.
"W-What was that?" Choji almost choked on a chip after hearing the screams.
"Someone's in trouble, better check it out." Naruto moved first, then Lee and Shino. Choji followed afterward.
"W-Wait up!" Choji called out, being the slowest of the group.
(Other side of town)
"Hahaha! That's right! Run away you pathetic rats!"
"Let's rip some throats out!"
"I wonder if they have some pretty girls here!?"
Several bandits began ransacking the town and said their thoughts out loud. One of the more perverted bandits began to reach for a young woman.
"Come on bab…..AGH" He was kicked in the face by none other than Rock Lee. He was knocked into two more bandits.
"W-Who are you!?" One of them demanded from Lee.
"I am the handsome green beast. Rock Lee!" Lee rushed a lot of the bandits, many of whom could use magic, despite not being particularly powerful by themselves.
"Take our group fireball!" The all joined their multiple fireballs into a large one, only for Naruto arrive and channel his Darkness Magic into his right hand.
"Lame!" Naruto punched the fireball and vanquished it. "All you guys combined your power and that's the best you can do? You guys are amateurs." Naruto was not impressed as he had seen another member of his guild create a fireball much larger than the one he just destroyed and he was around Naruto's age. Naruto then stretched out his open left palm and blasted them, simply knocking them out.
"You brat!" Several of them began to move towards Naruto, only to be stopped by a swarm of bugs. "W-What the!?"
"You will not be harming anyone. Choji, now!" Shino stretched out his arms to reveal insects coming out of his sleeves.
"Got it!" Choji's size had increased slightly, mainly his torso. He then rolled to become a human boulder. "Human Boulder!" Choji knocked them down as if they were bowling pins after Shino's insects moved out of the way. Choji then return to normal.
"Whoa! You guys weren't kidding about your magic?" Naruto was impressed, he was not the only one. Lee was impressed too, as were the two adults who just appeared. Choza and Shibi had arrived.
"Looks like our sons are growing up in front of us. Atta boy Choji!" Choza yelled proudly at his son, who heard him and grinned at the praise.
"You did well too Shino, you have just realised your first steps into becoming a true wizard." Shibi told his son, who nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Whoa, old man Choza, nice get up you got there." Naruto saw Choza dressed up in red armoured battle gear.
"My battle gear. Wore this back when I used to be part of the military. Got to say though, I didn't picture you using Darkness Magic." 'His magic power is already greater than my own. Though this kid doesn't seem bad.'
'He manipulated darkness, my insects feel something off about him. However, the boy does not seem evil to me.' Shibi then felt a familiar presence at the last second. "Naruto! Get away from there now!"
It was too late as Naruto was struck by a shadow shaped like a large tendril.
"Naruto!" Lee was first to respond and ran towards Naruto.
"I'm good." Naruto's jacket was ripped, and his right side was covered by darkness. It dissipated a few seconds later.
'He covered the right side of his body with darkness, and it was a good thing he did. That attack could have been fatal to any other person.' Lee was happy that his leader was skilled.
'This kid is impressive indeed. Felt off for a second there though.' Choza looked at Naruto first and then stared at the shadow, which retracted and from the ground was a single shadow.
"I'm impressed." A figure slowly emerged from the ground. It was a male, around 5 ft 5, wearing a black and jester costume. He wore a masquerade mask with bells, it was white with black outlines. "A little boy like you has that much potential, I can tell. So, kid, will you entertain me?"
End. Apologies for the delay and the slightly shorter and rushed chapter. I've been so busy and not to mention the stress from family. I also have a third job, one which I enjoy.
Also, what would you think of a Naruto in the X-Men: Evolution world story? Not anytime soon because just writing two stories is a challenge. He would be paired with Shadowcat and I'm debating is he should have Shadow Powers or powers that let him his uses energy constructs or a beast transformation.
