Sorry this chapter's taken so long, work and life in general along with e-mail issues stopped this chapter from getting posted sooner.
With that said, hope it's worth the wait.
Chapter 9
Train to Gain
Naruto nodded slowly so the blade at his throat didn't dig in enough to draw blood.
"I don't know exactly what's going on but you're going to explain it all to me, starting with what happens to the 'coughing guy'." The voice whispered harshly in his ear before the hand was slowly taken off his mouth.
Naruto gulped nervously and was about to speak when he heard another voice behind him.
"Why do cats always feel a need to play with their food?" Next thing he knew he was on a rooftop above the alleyway, dizzy with a thin scratch on his neck. "Have fun!" The second voice shouted down to Naruto's attacker with glee before they grabbed his collar and dragged him away.
Kakashi appeared above the alleyway a split second later and dropped down to find a female member of the ANBU, wearing a cat mask, laying on the ground wrapped in snakes.
"Yugao, I believe the Hokage will want to have a word with you." He sighed before hoisting her onto his shoulder and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Eventually Naruto's collar was released and he slumped to the ground, as he tried to stop the world from spinning. Amidst the spinning a part of his brain finally connected the second voice to a person,
"Sorry about that, had to go full speed to make sure the kitty cat would give up the chase." Anko said kneeling next to Naruto and placing a hand on his head, green chakra appeared around her hand as she helped steady his equilibrium. "You good now?" She asked after a minute. Naruto gave a thumbs up and he sat on down in the training ground Anko had brought him too, with his eyes closed. Taking his flask out of his pouch he slowly sipped from it trying to settle his stomach, as much as he loved ramen he didn't want to see his lunch again.
"Thanks for the save." He said as he opened his eyes.
"Don't worry about it and don't tell anyone, I've got a rep to maintain." Anko replied, moving to lean against a training post. "Welcome to my home away from home." A grin slowly crept across Anko's lips. "The Forest of Death." She pouted when the name didn't get a reaction from Naruto. "Anyway, I don't know what went on in the Boss' office but it had Shikaku moving for once, seriously I've never seen more than a lazy stroll from that guy. Must be something big to have a Nara actually run for once. He must've been out drinking with Inochi and Choza, I saw them trying to catch up." Anko smirked as she folded her arms under her bust. "I didn't save you for your own good, I want a little info from you."
"I can't talk about it." Naruto said.
"I'm not after anything big, I'm just looking to make a bit of cash from some friendly bets."
"What kind of friendly bets?"
"Do the smokestack and Nai stop dancing around and start knocking boots, does the cyclops end up marrying one of his dirty books, stuff like that." Anko shrugged, "So? What can you tell me?"
"No to the second question. No comment to any others you might ask."
"Urgh, fine." Anko groaned, "I'll give you a cut, 10%. You don't have to tell me the actual answer, just hint towards the most likely outcome."
"No. Comment."
"20%, maybe 25 depending on how much I get."
"I'm not telling you anything, I don't want a cut of anything you might win."
"Can you at least show me what some of them will look like when they're older?"
Naruto was about to say no again but paused, thinking it over. It shouldn't cause any issues with changing the timeline from what he remembered.
"Three people, I'll show you three people of my choosing."
"Five."
"Three and one won't be Kakashi cause the mask hides his face anyway." Anko thought about it for a minute.
"Four, leaving the cyclops out."
"Deal, but I want something from you."
"Maybe when you're older." Naruto stared at Anko blankly. "Oh, come on as if that thought hasn't bounced through that head of yours." Anko said with a smirk, crossing her arms under her bust. Her smirk widened as she saw Naruto fighting to keep his eyes on her face. "What is it you want, Blondie?"
"Go to the Old Man and ask if you can help with the Genin training."
"Why would I want to do that?" Anko asked frowning.
"You enjoyed tormenting 3 of us for a few days, imagine the fun you could have with 12 for a couple of months at least." Anko's face split into a wolfish grin.
"Oh, you've no idea what you've just done. You've got yourself a deal Blondie." Anko held her hand out towards him.
Naruto nodded and shook her hand before taking a minute to think about who he could show her.
"First one's a two for one." He said before a puff of smoke hid him from sight, when it cleared he looked as he did during the war. "This is me in a couple of years," another puff of smoke covered Naruto before revealing his older self, but he changed the bandaged arm for a normal looking one. "And this is Hokage Uzumaki."
"Should've kept the longer hair." Anko said after giving him older self a once over.
"H…My wife likes it short." Naruto said running his hand through the short spiky hair.
"Let's see the wife." Anko grinned.
"Nope, not happening."
"That means I know who it is." Anko's grin widened. "It's Pinkie, isn't it?"
"No, it's not Sakura."
"Oooh, it's the Mental Break then. I knew he was a sub, all that talk about wanting power, it's a dead giveaway." Naruto dropped his transformation.
"Do you want me to show you the other three or not?"
"Alright, alright. Geez, you try to have a little fun." Anko grumbled.
"Hiashi Hyuga." Naruto turned into his future father-in-law. "Iruka Sensei." Another cloud of smoke came and went revealing an older Iruka. "And finally, Tsume Inuzuka." Naruto created a single Shadow Clone that turned into Kuromaru as he changed into an older Tsume. She looked practically the same except for a few wrinkles and a streak of white hair on the right side of her head.
"Figures Wolf Bitch would still look badass as an old lady." Anko was silent for a few moments "Show me what I look like again." Naruto complied, dismissing his Shadow Clone at the same time. "Damn, I let myself go didn't I?...You're sure it was dango that did it?"
"I never stopped to ask, but as far as I know nothing 'happened' to make you gain the weight. To be honest, you didn't seem to care about it. You looked happy the way you were….will be…whatever."
"Yeah, suppose a fuller figure doesn't hurt, just means there's more of me to love….And you're sure I became a teacher, cause that doesn't sound like me."
"It was a few months before I became Hokage that you joined the Academy. I was curious about why you chose to become a teacher but never got the chance to ask or look up the paperwork, too many other things to deal with. Paperwork is one of the biggest downside to being Hokage."
"Alright, you can drop the change now." Naruto did as Anko said. "So what are your plans now?" She asked as she folded her arms.
"We were told to have a week off and only light training."
"You're not going to listen to that are you?"
"Not a chance."
"Good." Anko smirked. "Cause I'm starting that Genin training right now." She whipped her arms out towards Naruto with snakes flying from her sleeves. "Try to last more than 5 seconds."
"I'm sure you say that to all the guys." Naruto retorted as he dove to the side, rolling to his feet and drawing his tonfa.
"Kid, we're going to get along famously. I can tell." Anko laughed as she charged at the blonde.
A few hours later Naruto was laying on the ground panting, even with his insane stamina and willpower Anko had run him ragged. She was merciless with her teaching methods but they were effective, no doubt about that. While he was trying to summon the energy to stand, Naruto realised that Anko, while giving them the training they needed to survive Zabuza, had treated them lightly due to the fact they might've been attacked at any time. Being in the village meant she could go full throttle and Naruto was starting to think he'd made a terrible mistake asking for her help in the group training.
'Oh well, too late to change it now. A deal's a deal.'
I think I might've found a human I actually like. Kurama commented.
'Shut up furball.'
Naruto had improved his substitution jutsu to the point where he didn't need handsigns, Anko wouldn't give him the time to make any when telling him to dodge. The Snake Mistress had him create a horde of clones to train in other aspects such as his weapons training, chakra control exercises and refining his martial arts skills with help from some of her earth clones. All while she pushed Naruto to his limits and make him us all the tricks in his arsenal.
Part way through the training session Kakashi appeared, he wasn't surprised to see Naruto training, it was mildly surprising to see Anko acting as an actual teacher instead of a sadistic drill sergeant. He told Naruto there wouldn't be any team training in the morning and to go to Training Ground 12 at noon, disappearing once the message had been left but instead of leaving he stayed to watch Naruto train from the branches of a tree.
There was a relentlessness in Naruto's training that felt familiar to Kakashi but he couldn't place it. He knew that he should've stopped the training but the grim expression on the Hokage's face and some of the changes he was making to the village defences, quietly so no-one would realise it was happening, made Kakashi pause. If things were going to be as bad as he thought they were going to be then letting Naruto train would help in the long run. As he sat hidden within the branches Kakashi thought about what had happened once he'd returned to the Hokage's office with Yugao.
He'd been told some of the plans for the group training and ordered to get back into the shape he had been while in ANBU. Truthfully Kakashi knew he shouldn't have let himself relax his training as much as he had but being out from under the constant state of alertness that came from being in ANBU he'd given himself some time to relax and reacclimate to everyday life. While he definitely wasn't out of shape he didn't have the same strength and stamina he'd had previously, he needed to improve his ability to use the Sharingan as well. Using it drained his chakra reserves and swapping between normal vision and the slowed perception of time that came from using the Sharingan took him too long to adjust too. His opponents would always hesitate when he revealed his Sharingan and that gave his mind the chance to adjust to the difference in perception.
Jiraiya had been given a mission of finding Tsunade and Shizune, he was planning on leaving in the morning after making some seals that would help strengthen the village walls and some others to provide additional security for the areas that Orochimaru would most likely target. The Toad Sannin had also created a few seals that could store elemental chakra for Lee to try and activate, partly as a start to making him a weapon and partly to see if he could actually trigger the seals.
After watching Anko and Naruto for a while Kakashi left to begin his own training, going to the special ANBU training course hidden deep inside the Forest of Death.
"Ok, I've been here long enough." Naruto said half an hour after Anko had left, slowly getting to his feet and brushing dirt off himself. He suppressed a wince when his hands went over this right side, remembering the kick Anko had sent into him when he didn't dodge quick enough. "Good thing I don't bruise for long." He hissed as he gently poked the area. "Definitely cracked, should be healed by morning though." Getting as much dirt off himself as he could Naruto made his way back into the village from inside the Forest of Death. The area Anko had claimed as her training ground wasn't too far from the border fence and wasn't somewhere the various creatures of the forest ventured into, most likely because of how ruthless Anko would've been claiming it as her territory.
After getting home safely, Naruto quickly made himself something to eat before going to bed and passing out the second his head hit the pillow.
A light tapping slowly brought Naruto to consciousness, looking at his clock he saw it was half four in the morning.
"Damn pigeons." Naruto muttered and he turned over to throw a slipper at the window to scare the bird away when he stopped, blinked and then rubbed his eyes. "Oh yeah."
"Naruto, are you ready to explode with the flames of your youth!" Guy shouted from Naruto's window ledge.
"Be right there Guy-Sensei, just (yawn) let me get ready." Naruto climbed out of bed, quickly cleaned himself up and changed into a t-shirt and shorts before putting on his training weights. He took a minute considering whether to take his tonfa and see if Guy knew any tips for him, seeing no harm in asking Naruto strapped the holster on and exited his apartment making sure to lock to door behind him. Meeting up with Guy and Lee outside the building the three of them started jogging together, when Naruto saw they were heading towards Sakura's home he told Guy that the mission they'd just come back from had been more difficult then it should've been and she'd need a few days to fully recover before being able to join the morning work outs.
"Very well then, we shall let Sakura rest so she can allow her flame of youth to recover from the blaze they were on your mission." Guy shouted.
"Er,…yeah that." Naruto said before following Guy and Lee on their run around the edges of village. His step faltered and stopped as he started to pass an old boarded up building that would've been his home if things had been different.
"Is everything ok Naruto?" Lee asked jogging backwards to be alongside the blonde, running on the spot as he drew level.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine Lee. Let's catch up to Guy-Sensei." Naruto replied as he started running again. Lee stayed where he was running on the spot for a couple of seconds, looking at the building Naruto had been staring at and wondering why his eyes had looked watery.
"Are you sure Naruto? Do you know the people that lived there?" Lee asked as he caught up to Naruto.
"No, not really." Was Naruto's only answer as he pushed himself to catch up to Guy. For the next hour Naruto exercised in silence the only noises he'd make were grunts of exertion, Guy left the two Genin at quarter to six stating he had an important meeting with the Hokage. The following half hour passed quietly until Lee spoke up, not breaking his routine as he hammered kicks into a training post.
"Naruto, I am aware that we do not know each other very well but I consider you my friend and I would like you to know that if you ever wish to talk I am willing to listen."
Naruto paused mid-press up and turned his head to look at Lee, who was still focussed on his training.
"…You're my friend too Lee,…it's complicated but I'll keep that in mind. Someday I might be able to talk about it but I don't think that's going to be any time soon. Thanks for the offer though and if you need to talk, I'll listen."
Lee stopped his kicks and turned to face Naruto, his eyes looking watery.
'Crap.' Naruto thought as Lee crushed him in a hug much like he would Guy. Patting Lee's back Naruto eventually managed to get out of his friend's grip and went back to his training, a small smile on his lips as he heard Lee's fists thudding against the rope bound training post.
Another hour passed before Guy returned to find the pair still training, he nodded with a smile seeing their dedication. Putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder Guy guided him off to one side, out of Lee's hearing range.
"Naruto, I think given what your Team went through on your last mission you should call it a day for training. Go home and rest up but be sure to turn up to Training Ground 12 at noon. Lord Hokage told myself and the other Jonin Sensei an outline of what you seem to have experienced, I know you can't say anything about it but worry not, together myself and the other Jonin Sensei will have you ready to take on the world single handed."
"Thanks Guy-Sensei but I can keep going, I need to be better." Naruto made to go back to training but Guy's hand kept him in place.
"I know you trained with Anko yesterday, that you've been training hard on your own and you've been pushing yourself while training with myself and Lee on top of the training you have with your own team, with all of this you are in danger of overdoing it. You need to allow your body time to recover. I have been training like this since I was younger than you and Lee has been doing so for just over a year now, you've only been doing this for a couple of months. Your body hasn't had the time to adjust to the stress you're putting on it, if you keep the pace you have been then you're going to do more harm than good." Naruto opened his mouth to reply but Guy cut him off. "You may be an Uzumaki but even they knew not to push themselves as hard as you have been, whatever danger it is that you believe is in our future you won't be able to face it if you permanently injure yourself now."
An image of Guy in a wheelchair flashed through Naruto's mind.
"It's important to know your limits and while you should always try to exceed them, don't go to far otherwise you'll undo all the hard work that got you to that point in the first place. I can see your flames of youth burning strong but flames need fuel and if all of that fuel is used then those flames will extinguish. Try to find something to help you unwind which has nothing to do with physical training, a muscle can't do anything without a brain to tell it what to do. Work on your mind as much as your body, I'm sure you could find someone to give you some puzzles to work on." Guy continued before lowering his voice. " Your dedication to protecting this village is something to be admired, especially with how the village has treated you and while I didn't know them very well, I know without a shadow of a doubt that your parents would be proud of you. I also know that your mother would not like it if you hurt yourself by over training." Guy gave a small chuckle. "Kakashi and Obito would end up sporting a few extra bruises from your mother when they over did things." Seeing Naruto's eyes starting to fill with tears Guy patted Naruto's shoulder a couple of times. "I'll tell you what, leave a few Shadow Clones with me and I'll have them work on your technique. At some point I want to see that fighting style you were hiding from me the first time we sparred too, I need a full understanding of what you can do so I can tailor your training properly. Now go home, have some breakfast and rest until you need to go to ground 12."
Naruto nodded and quickly made 20 clones for Guy to instruct before saying goodbye to Lee and slowly jogging home but taking the route he had to get to the training ground. As he came to the boarded up building he stopped jogging and walked carefully towards it, as if he expected it to explode if he went too quickly. The blonde gingerly put his hand against the door and let out a slow breath as his hand made contact with the cool wood.
"I wondered if you'd come back here." A deep voice said behind him, causing Naruto to jump and let out a small squeak. Spinning around with his guard up, Naruto threw a punch that was easily caught by the man he was now facing. "Sorry kid, couldn't resist the opportunity." Jiraiya chuckled as he easily caught the punch.
"What are you doing here Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, lowering his guard and pulling his fist out of Jiraiya's grip.
"I was on my way to check in on you when I saw Guy hanging on your window ledge, thought I'd follow and see what was happening." Jiraiya smirked and crossed his arms. "He's right about you needing to take a break and not train so hard and I have an idea about training that peanut you call a brain."
"And what's the idea?"
"You're an Uzumaki, if you know anything about them you should be able to figure it out."
"Seals aren't really my thing."
"Oh, I know. You're more of a brawler but I'm not talking about making seals in the middle of a battle, having some pre-made seals that can block chakra, slow down your opponent or screw up their perceptions would be useful though, wouldn't they?"
"…I'm listening."
"You'd need higher level seals to have any real effect on stronger opponents but the split second they spend dealing with a basic seal can be just what you need to pull out a win." Jiraiya moved to lean against the wall of the building. "I'm not talking about giving you a full education on seals, hell I'm not a full seal user cause hardly anyone uses them anymore, but I can give you a basic to mid-level crash course that'll help you in the long run. Granted, I won't be here to teach you all the time but Sarutobi-Sensei can check your work if I'm not here. So, what do you say?"
"Alright, I'll give it a go. Probably need to work on my handwriting first though."
"That would be helpful." Jiraiya chuckled, "A wrong brush stroke and you'll be missing an arm or be turned inside out. Saw that happen once, not a pretty sight." Jiraiya used his shoulders to push off the wall. "Let's begin." He bit his thumb and pressed it against the door knob, a low click was heard before the door swung open slightly. Naruto looked at Jiraiya with wide eyes. "What? You thought the village would abandon the home of the Fourth Hokage? Not that the public know this is where he lived, as far as they knew this was Kushina's place. To keep her and you safe from his enemies Minato always used the Hiraishin to get in. I bought the place as soon as I found out what happened and locked it up with the strongest seal I could do at the time, I've been adding to it over the years to make sure no-one can get in unless I allow it. There's things here that are special and I'm not talking about jutsu. Memories are all that remain of Minato and Kushina, well, memories and you but only a few people know that last bit." Jiraiya spat out a tiny ball of fire at the door knob, destroying all traces of his blood. "Can never be too careful." Jiraiya pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Naruto stood in front of the door dumbfounded, he never thought he'd be inside this house. He was frozen to the spot expecting himself to wake up from a dream.
"Hey, you coming in or what?" Jiraiya called back to him. Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Jiraiya gave him a small understanding smile as he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gently pulled him forward, urging Naruto to enter the house. "Welcome home."
Naruto heard the door click closed behind him and Jiraiya slap his hand against the door locking the seal again. Naruto slowly walked down the hallway, taking in the photographs on the wall. One showed Minato and Kushina's wedding, a small simple affair taken place in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen conducting the ceremony, Mikoto Uchiha standing alongside Kushina as her maid of honour with Tsume Inuzuka and a woman Naruto didn't recognise as bridesmaids. Standing next to Minato as his best man was Choza followed by Shikaku and Inoichi as his groomsmen.
"In case you're wondering I'm the one taking the picture." Jiraiya said over Naruto's shoulder. "I'm guessing you don't recognise one of the bridesmaids. That's Hitomi Hyuga."
The next few pictures Naruto looked at were one of Team Minato, one showing Minato with his team as a Genin, Kushina in her Genin team with Mikoto and Hitomi, various pictures of the couple throughout their lives with friends. Naruto chuckled at one from what he assumes was a Chunin exam showing his mother aged around fourteen or fifteen standing victorious on top of an unconscious Kiri-nin that looked to be in his thirties. Naruto stopped at one photograph and stared at it, it showed Minato and Kushina hugging each other with a baby between them.
"I found that when I went to the safe house your dad set up, he must've taken it before…well, you know." Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and steered the blonde into the main room. Still in a stunned silence, Naruto absentmindedly noticed that the room looked like the one he'd seen in the alternate world he and Sakura has experienced. He'd expected there to be a layer of dust covering everything but what he'd seen so far was spotlessly clean, probably due to a seal. Light came in through the windows, which must've meant the boards on the outside were illusions.
"I use this as my base when I'm in the village, only 4 people other than me have been in here since I bought it. Sarutobi-Sensei, Shizune, Tsunade and now you. Don't worry though, I don't sleep in your parent's room, I'm not perverted enough to do that…well, not when I'm here at least." Jiraiya said guiding the stunned Naruto to a chair. "By rights this place is yours and will be when you're old enough but for now it's under my guardianship. Since I'm not here that often or for that long I haven't changed anything, this is still the way your parents had it. Have a seat and take a minute, I'll get you a drink." Naruto nodded more from instinct than conscious thought, his mind was still processing the fact he was inside what would've, should've, been him home and it wasn't an abandoned building like he'd thought, it was a fully furnished house, clean, tidy and comfortable. "Here, drink this." Jiraiya put a glass into Naruto's hand, the blonde lifted the glass to his lips and took a mouthful before immediately spitting the drink back out. "Thought that'd snap you out of it." Jiraiya managed to say before laughing.
"You could've at least used good Sake, I'm going to be tasting that for the rest of the day."
"So, is there anything you can tell me about this…whatever it is you think you know?"
"Yeah, you're still as ugly as ever." Jiraiya slapped Naruto across the back of his head.
"Little shit, I'm sexy as it gets." Jiraiya grumbled. "From the way you reacted when you saw me, we must be close. I'm going to assume you know everything already but do you want to know why I didn't take you in, being your Godfather an' all." Naruto shook his head, looking at the glass in his hands.
"I never asked, did have a few ideas though. You couldn't cause of your spy network and travelling all the time, couldn't take the Jinchūriki away from the village or out of the country, you don't know shit about taking care of a kid, the Old Man said no knowing your lifestyle." Naruto turned his attention to Jiraiya, "Am I close?"
"All of the above and a bit more kid." Jiraiya replied, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not like other famous shinobi, I'm not from a clan, I don't have any special techniques of my own, I'm not a prodigy. I'm just a war orphan who got lucky by having talented teammates and an amazing Sensei. I thought I'd found a family in my team but I didn't full know what a family was like until I met Minato. I know it sounds cliché but he was like a son to me, I saw myself in him, a war orphan with nothing but he had so much more potential than I did, that's when I knew what it was really like to have a family. When…when I found out what happened, that he and Kushina had died protecting you and making you the Jinchūriki, I…I really wanted to take you in and give you the life me and your dad never had but hearing the news, it nearly killed me. I'm not proud of the way I acted, my network nearly fell apart, I was basically suicidal being reckless on even the simplest mission. I wasn't in any state to look after a kid when I couldn't even look after myself, Sarutobi-Sensei actually got Tsunade-Hime to find me and get me back on my feet."
"He paid her gambling debts, didn't he?" Naruto asked.
"You know her well too then." Jiraiya chuckled. "She beat hell out of me to get me back into fighting shape, kept me away from the vices and helped rebuild my network, even got me some new contacts due to her skill with Iryō Ninjutsu. But there it is, as much as I wanted too, it wouldn't have been good for you to grow up with me…maybe if Hime had offered to stick around and help raise you things could've been different. Nothing we can do about that now though, I did check up on you whenever I was in the village. Put a few of your tormentors in their place or passed them off to Ibiki." A savage grin flickered across the Toad Sage's face, "Serves those bastards right."
"You left me presents too."
"You still have that toad wallet?"
"Course I do, Gama's never far from me." Naruto pulled the wallet from his pocket. "I still have the sleeping hat too."
"Sleeping hat? That wasn't me kid."
"Really?" Naruto frowned, "Where did it come from then? I just assumed it was you or the Old Man…nevermind, I think I know."
"Care to share?"
"Nope." Naruto said with a smile.
"Oh, I know that look. It's from a girl, you get lucky don't you?"
"Yeah, lucky that a girl like her wanted an idiot like me. Anyway, you're going to show me seals right?"
"Let's see your handwriting first, before you blow us both to hell." Naruto picked up a brush and wrote out his name. "Yeah, we need to sort this out a little. It's passable but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Can I ask a question?" Naruto asked after about an hour, not looking away from the paper he was writing on.
"Knock yourself out kid."
"The wedding picture, do the Ino-Shika-Cho and Tsume know who I am?" Jiraiya shrugged.
"I don't know who your Mom and Dad told about being pregnant but there's a good chance. They're all smart, not Shikaku levels but from the way you look, the timing and everything else, I'd say they most likely know. Shikaku and Tsume would've definitely worked it out, he's a genius and Tsume probably would've worked it out from your scent, don't know if Shikaku would've shared though. Only one who definitely would've known was Mikoto, she was your mom's best friend." Jiraiya sighed and leant back on the couch. "I do know that all the clan heads have looked out for you to some degree, whether it was from knowing who you are or just from the fact you're the Jinchūriki, I'm not sure. It mightn't have felt like it but you did have some help." Naruto paused mid-stroke and nodded slowly once before continuing to write.
The pair spent the next few hours working on Naruto's penmanship and going over the basics of making seals before Jiraiya sent Naruto on his way back to his apartment and sealed the house up again. Returning home Naruto quickly showered and changed, fastening his tonfa harness on as well, before making himself a cup of instant ramen and heading back out to get to Training Ground 12. As he was locking his door, a wave of memories flooded his mind.
"Looks like Guy-Sensei's finished training. Huh, that's a new trick, can't wait to try it." Naruto muttered to himself. Checking his door was locked Naruto turned and jumped over the railing, channelling a little chakra into his hand as he slid down the wall to slow his fall. Upon landing he started jogging to the training ground, he'd kept his training weights on as he didn't see any harm in wearing them in general. They didn't slow him down too much and this meeting was probably just going to be an introduction to what they'd be doing for the foreseeable future.
Arriving at the Training Ground he saw that Sakura was already there sitting under a tree, reading from a scroll. He was about to go and say hello when the back of his collar was roughly grabbed and he was dragged off in a different direction. With a yank and a shove Naruto was spun around, coming face to face with an angry and embarrassed Tenten.
"I'm only going to say this once, you tell anyone I was wearing a dress and I will kill you." She growled, trying to make the embarrassed blush on her cheeks look like anger.
"No need for the threats, you could've just asked nicely you know." Naruto said, straightening his jacket. "I wasn't going to say anything anyway. It's none of my business if you want to wear a dress or not. I was actually going to ask you for a favour later, completely unrelated to the dress."
"Oh…" Tenten said quietly, her anger diffused into confusion. "What's the favour?"
"Guy-Sensei's talked about you when I've trained with him and he says you're really good with weapons, like the best there is in the village. I was hoping you could give me some tips on how to use these." Naruto pulled out his tonfa. "I've used them a bit but I need pointers. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you."
"Tenten Higurashi, right back at you, sorry for threatening you."
"Don't worry about it, so think you can help me out?
"Doesn't your Sensei help you?"
"He does but he doesn't have much experience with tonfa, I don't think anyone in the village does but with what Guy-Sensei says about your skills, I'm hoping you know how to use these properly."
Tenten thought for a moment.
"Pass them over for a second." Naruto slipped them from their holster and held then out to the brunette. Tenten took them, tested their weight and gave them a slow spin one at a time before jumping back and started to fight against imaginary opponents. She flowed from one move to another as if her body was made of water, seamlessly linking blocks, strikes and slashes with kicks and dodges. "Yeah, I think I can help you out." She said, spinning the tonfa in lazy circles as she walked back to Naruto.
"That was awesome!" Naruto said in awe, he'd known Tenten was skilled but this was something else, an entire level above what he'd thought. "How did you learn to do that?" He asked as Tenten handed his tonfa back.
"Heh, not a clue." Tenten replied with an embarrassed chuckle, "It tends to just happen whenever I pick up a weapon, it's like the skill is already in me and I just need to pick up a weapon to know the skill…does that make sense?"
"Kinda, must be a natural talent. Like Nara using shadows or Yamanaka knowing the best hair products."
"Maybe." Tenten giggled. "So, when are you free to train?"
"Anytime you can give me, I want to get better as soon as I can."
"Well, we'll see what this meeting's about and sort something out after that. You might want to ask Arashi, he's good with weapons too. If I'm not around to help then he probably can."
"I'll ask next time I pass the shop. You know he likes you right?" A split second after the words had left his mouth Naruto's face was planted into the ground as Tenten punched him in the top of the head. "…Ow….Sorry."
"Idiot." Tenten muttered as she turned to walk away. "I'll still help you but it's going to be hell."
"Bring it on." Naruto said as he got to his feet. "I'll take whatever you can dish out." A dark chuckle came from Tenten as she kept walking.
"We'll see about that."
"Oh, I'm in so much danger." Naruto whispered to himself before grinning. "Can't wait." Brushing himself off he made his way over to the tree Sakura was sat under and dropped down onto the grass.
"What did you do?" Sakura asked not looking up from her scroll.
"What makes you think I did something?"
"Two reasons, one, you're you and two, she punched you. So, what did you do?"
"I just asked her if she knew that one of her friends liked her." Sakura slowly looked up from her scroll and just stared at Naruto blankly. "Yeah, I know. It just came out before I could stop it." Sakura continued to stare at him. "Sorry?" Sakura sighed.
"I'm not the one you need to apologise too….Why did she drag you off to begin with?"
"…Can't say."
"Why?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I like living, Tenten threatened to kill me if I told anyone."
"Something embarrassing?"
"For her yes, for you or Ino no. Before you even think it, it wasn't perverted and it was an accident that I found out. I went to the weapon shop where I bought my tonfa and she was there." Naruto stiffened. "Can you stop asking me questions? I can feel her glaring at me." Shifting her position Sakura snuck a peek over Naruto's shoulder and did see Tenten glaring at the back of his head.
"Ok, but one last question."
"Please make it quick, I think her eyes are starting to burn through my head."
"Why did you let her use your tonfa?"
"I was asking for training, Guy-Sensei says she's the best weapon user in the village." Naruto turned and placed his back against the tree. "You owe me one anyway."
"Why do I owe you anything?"
"Guy-Sensei came and got me for training this morning and was on his way to get you when I stopped him."
"We were told not to do any training for a week and I could've told him that myself."
"We were told no missions and light training only and you would've have told him at half four in the morning?"
"…What?"
"I was training with Guy-Sensei and Lee as half four this morning. They come and get me every morning they're in the village, takes some getting used too. I'll tell him not get you that early for training but I don't know how long he'll listen to that, I'd start getting some early nights if I were you."
"…"
"Er…Sakura?" Naruto slowly waved a hand in front of her face. "Sakura? You in there?" He shook her shoulder, no response. "I know I said early nights but it's still daytime. Wake up." He poked her cheek. "Hrm…" Naruto turned and called out. "Tenten, I need a little help here." The brunette was partway through a rice ball when he called her, a couple of rice grains suck around her mouth. Packing her lunch up, she carried it over to where Naruto was sitting while wiping the rice from her face.
"What's up?"
"Well, Sakura's going to start training with me, Lee and Guy-Sensei soon I told her what time Guy-Sensei came and got me this morning and now she's…well, like this." Naruto poked Sakura's cheek again, once more getting no reaction from her.
"Alright, you're probably going to want to get back." Tenten said as she put her lunch into Naruto's hands and crouched in front of the pinkette. Naruto scrambled a few feet away and watched to see what Tenten would do.
Tenten, gently shook Sakura's shoulder, then gave a gentle tug on her hair causing Sakura's eye to twitch slightly. A light smile crossed Tenten's lips as she placed her hand on Sakura's hair and leant back on her heels.
"You've got two choices, either wake up now or wake up later, bald." Sakura's eyes widened as she shot to her feet, Tenten leapt back still grinning as Sakura's arms flailed around her head. "There, one awake kunoinchi, now give me my lunch back." Tenten said as she walked up to Naruto and taking her food out of his hands.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, stomping towards the blonde.
"I just asked for help waking you up, that was all Tenten. Don't kill me." He replied, dropping to the ground and curling into the foetal position.
"It's true." Tenten said, "It was threaten what you hold precious or empty a water bottle over your head. I figured the threat would've been preferable. I'm Tenten Higurashi, by the way."
"Sakura Haruno, was he telling the truth about the training time?"
"Yeah, Guy-Sensei tried to get me to train at that time when I became a Genin. He let me come to training at a later time though cause it's nearly impossible to keep up with his pace." Tenten nodded her head towards the still cowering Naruto. "He said you're going to train with Guy-Sensei too, can I ask why?"
"Kakashi-Sensei says that Guy-Sensei is better at training fitness and with me being the weakest member of Team 7 I have the most work to do."
"He didn't call you the weakest." Naruto said as he got to his feet, finally realising that he wasn't about to get a beating. He put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and smiled at her. "Your skills are just in other areas. With that punch of yours, you're stronger then me and Sasuke put together. It's your fitness that needs work, it wasn't for long but with how smart you must've noticed a bit of a difference since Anko trained us. You've already started learning Iryō Ninjutsu, I can't do that. Sakura, remember what I said, you're capable of being an amazing kunoinchi, you just need to give it your all."
"You two need some time alone?" Tenten asked, taking a bite of her rice ball. Seeing the pair stiffen she smirked. "Did I ruin the moment?"
"Yes, but not in the way you think. Sakura only has eyes for someone else and I'm not looking for anyone right now." Naruto replied, There's more immediate things to deal with. He thought.
"Naruto thinks Team 7 can be the next generation of Sannin." Sakura said, trying to make the blush on her face fade though her mind lingered for a second on how Naruto instantly dismissed the suggestion where previously he'd been nearly begging to date her.
"I don't think it, I know it."
"The Sannin, really?" The scepticism clear in Tenten's voice.
"You have a shield on you?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"I want to prove a point, you're probably going to need it repaired afterwards though." Intrigued Tenten unsealed a round shield that Naruto put on to his arm, he took a few steps away from the girls and stood so that there wasn't anything close behind him. "Sakura, full power punch. Give me everything you've got." He said as he channelled chakra to his feet to try and keep himself in place.
"You sure, I've never tried it at full power before."
"I'm sure."
"I don't want to hurt you though."
"I'm going to regret this." Naruto muttered under his breath. "JUST PUNCH THE FUCKING SHIELD BILLBOARD BROW!" A chill ran through his body as he felt death's shadow appear, an almighty bang was heard and Naruto went skidding across the ground, his chakra stopping him from leaving the earth but barely slowing his movement as his arm went numb and furrows were left in his wake. Wincing, Naruto managed to create a horde of Shadow Clones to act as a cushion to stop his movement, he crashed through them causing most of them to pop leaving a smoke cloud behind. Naruto eventually stopped when he crashed into a thicket.
"You okay in there?" Tenten shouted, concern and shock in her voice.
"…Give me a minute." Came Naruto's weak reply as he slowly got to his feet, staggering a little. "Sorry Sakura, I needed to make you angry so you'd go full power. Really sorry…any chance you could give my arm a bit of healing when I can get back?"
"O..k…" Sakura started to answer but her words caught in her throat as Naruto limped out of thicket as the smoke cloud cleared. The eyes of both girls widened when they saw the state Naruto was in. His jacket was torn up, hanging loosely around him and his t-shirt was shredded, the bottoms of his pants were tattered and the arm with the shield hung limply at his side while the other was across his chest holding his ribs. The shield itself had basically curled in on itself around the area Sakura had hit, an imprint of her fist clearly visible.
"Shit, that's a hell of a punch." Tenten muttered.
"I..I think that proves my point." Naruto panted as he started walking back towards the girls before stumbling and tipping forward.
"NARUTO!" Both girls shouted as they ran towards him, stopping short when five figures appeared between them, two of them catching Naruto before he could hit the ground.
"What the hell happened to him?" One of the figures, a tall man with a cigarette, asked.
"Damn Blondie, someone did a number on you." Another figure, Anko, said as she lay Naruto on the ground and started to heal him. Sakura ran past the rest of the figures, dropping to her knees alongside Anko and starting her own healing Jutsu, it flickered a few times before staying steady. Anko slipped a soldier pill and passed it to Sakura. "Take this, you're nearly out of chakra. We really need to work on that."
"Tenten, can you tell us what happened here?" Guy asked, Tenten nodded and quickly explained the situation.
"I didn't think it would be that strong." Sakura said quietly.
"I don't think this idiot did either." Anko replied. "He'll be fine though, I don't think anything could stop him. He's got Uzumaki blood in his veins. They were some of the biggest badasses to every exist."
"And don't you forget it." Naruto groan as his eyes fluttered open. "I'm in hell aren't I?"
"Now why would you think that?"
"Cause you're healing me just to beat the crap out of me."
"Aww, it's sweet that you think that I'd bother to heal you to beat the crap out of you." Anko smirked. "You're giving me too much credit." She said has her expression softened as she held a kunai in front of his mouth. "Bite down on the handle, this is going to hurt." Not bothering to question it, Naruto took the kunai between his teeth and held it tightly. Anko flicked her eyes to Kakashi, who had been carefully sliding the ruined shield from the blonde's arm.
The masked Jonin held onto Naruto's arm and with a shove relocated the limb before twisting and pulling on Naruto's forearm to straighten out the broken bones. An eerily quiet whimper came from Naruto as he tried not to let the pain show, knowing Sakura would feel bad enough as it was.
"Pinkie, you stick to the cuts and bruises. Leave the rest to me." Anko said as she moved around to Naruto's other side to start the healing process on his arm.
"Naruto, I'm..." Sakura started but Naruto cut her off as he let the kunai drop out of his mouth.
"It's my fault, I underestimated you and shouldn't have tried to stay in place." He smiled at her, letting out a small chuckle. "Told you, you were strong."
"What the hell happened here?" A voice said. Naruto turned his head to see who it belonged to, wincing as his neck cracked. He saw the rest of the Genin that were called for this meeting, wide eyed at the furrows in the ground and the condition he was in. The voice had come from Ino, having managed to pull her attention from Sasuke long enough to see the state of the training ground. "Did Naruto blow himself up trying to make clones?"
"I was helping Sakura with a jutsu and underestimated her." Naruto called back, "Never doing that again." He chuckled before groaning as his ribs shifted painfully.
"Shut your mouth Blondie, I can't fix your bones if you keep moving them." Anko said.
"Sorry nurse." Naruto snarked.
"You'd like that wouldn't you, me in a sexy nurses outfit."
"Anyone would like that, apart from Sasuke, unless you were a nurse out for revenge." Anko let out a bark of laughter and smirked.
"I knew we'd get along."
"Don't bad mouth Sasuke!" Ino shouted as she stalked towards Naruto, her hands balling into fists.
"You're right, his attitude does that enough without my help." Naruto replied. Ino closed with distance between herself and Naruto, she reared her leg back to kick him but was stopped when Asuma grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"You're really going to kick him when he's that injured?" He asked, a hint of anger under his usual laidback tone.
"But he…"
"No buts Ino, Sasuke's a big boy he can defend himself." Asuma sighed, "Looks like it was a good idea for you to join us after all Anko. I think this whole group needs to grow up a bit."
"Oh, don't worry about it Smokestack. Once I'm finished with this lot you won't recognise any of them." Anko didn't look up from Naruto, nor did she hide the evil grin that formed on her lips. All of the Genin felt a shiver of fear travel down their spines. "You guys start explaining why we're all here. I'll keep working on the training dummy here."
"Not a dummy." Naruto grumbled.
"You let Pinkie punch you at full power, you're a moron. Now shut up and let me fix you up so I can break you again."
"You're going to break me? Didn't think you liked me that much." Naruto smirked, drawing another bark of laughter from Anko.
"You're growing on me, maybe when you're older. Now shut your mouth so I can fix you up."
During all of this Kakashi had been examining the shield, looking between it, Sakura and Naruto. He felt both proud and worried for his Genin, he was proud that student could use such a powerful jutsu but if anyone other than Naruto had been hit by that they'd most likely be dead or at the very least crippled.
"Naruto, no more training for you until next week." Kakashi said, kneeling down next to the blonde. "You're pushing yourself too hard, I know you were training with Anko yesterday." His one visible eye flicking over to the kunoinchi, "We'll be talking about that later Anko." The eye moved back to Naruto. "And Guy said you were training with him this morning. I know you want to get stronger but you'll hinder yourself more than help if you don't take time to relax."
"I can handle it."
"No, you can't. Trust me, I speak from experience." Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "While your body rests, you can still train your mind. I've called in a bit more help for these training sessions, I'll ask if they can give you something to do for this week."
"But…"
"No. You're resting, if I hear that you've been training I'll take your hitai-ate." Kakashi gave Naruto a cold stare. "Am I clear?"
"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto muttered.
"Good. Now we can explain why everyone is here. Sakura, line up with the others." Kakashi stood up and turned to the assembled Genin. Naruto turned his head to watch while Anko continued to heal him, he felt Sakura place a gentle hand on his shoulder before she left to join the others. Kakashi turned to speak quietly with the other Jonin.
Having only seen most of the Genin in passing, Naruto took a moment to study each of them. Neji was wearing the haughty look he had before the third round of the Chunin Exams, Shikamaru looked bored out of his skull, Ino was straightening her hair and stealing glances at Sasuke, Choji was munching of a riceball, Shino stood like a statue, Kiba was puffing his chest out trying to look like an alpha, Akamaru was on top of Kiba's head panting happily and Hinata was staring at the ground but Naruto could just make out her eyes flicking towards him every so often.
It hurt him to see Hinata so introverted and shy again, yes it was incredibly adorable and he wanted to get up and hold her, telling her it would all get better but this wasn't his Hinata, she wasn't his wife or the mother of his children. This was the downtrodden and dismissed Hinata that he'd never noticed and had thought was weird, nice but weird.
"Anko." He said quietly. "I need a favour."
"What do I get for doing it?" She replied, keeping her tone level with his so they wouldn't be overheard.
"…Anything except information."
"Anything?"
"Within reason."
"Before I agree to anything I need to know what you want."
"..." Naruto hesitated, trying to think of how to word things, without giving anything away. "I…Teach me how to help people."
"What?"
"You got through to Sasuke about using his anger, you've snapped Sakura out of her fangirl thing, I want to be able to do that. Everyone here has an issue and I want to do something to help them. Shino has trouble interacting with people, Ino's vain, Kiba has his ego, Choji's shy and sensitive about his weight, Shikamaru's a genius but he doesn't apply it unless it's something that challenges him, Neji's obsessed with fate and Hinata's self-image is a mess, she has no self-confidence and believes what everyone says about her being weak. I want, I need to help them get stronger so they can deal with what's coming."
"…"
"Well?"
"You'd be better asking someone else to teach you that stuff. My 'methods' are a…delicate balance, it's like using a hammer to crack an egg. You have to use just the right amount of control, too much or not enough and you've got one hell of a mess. Trust me, I know how much of a mess it can make. I only know how to do it cause…" Anko shifted her position to start focussing her healing away from Naruto's chest and on to his arm. "Anyway, what brought this on anyway? Is it about what the Cyclops said, about training your brain while your body recovers?"
"Kind of, it's them." He gave a subtle nod towards the Genin. "I want to help them be the people I know…knew, whatever, I…"
"You want your friends back. This time travel thing, or whatever it is, you're dealing with…I don't t know what it is but I do know that the things that happen to us, make us who we are. If you try and make them into the people you remember, you could end up making them someone else entirely. It's going to be hard but you might be better leaving them be, let them turn into the people you want them to be by letting them deal with everything that's coming." Anko said, a small smile on her lips. "Damn, you're going to make me soft. Look, like I said, my way of doing things won't work for you. Honestly, I think you're too much of a good person to use them properly. My advice, just be you and let things happen as they happen. That's what you did in the first place. Now shut up and listen."
"The reason you're all here is that it seems over the last couple of years the Academy syllabus has lacked certain requirements when it came to the Genin Exam." Kurenai started. "Previously, it was required that Genin have at least some form of tolerance to the most common poisons they might come across, knowledge of their primary elemental affinity, at least three jutsu for that element and the Academy Three. They'd know how to survive if they either ran out of rations or were forced to leave them behind, how to track and number of other skills they'd need to be proficient in. They would also have been blooded." A hand rose from amongst the Genin. "Yes, what's your question?"
"What do you mean 'blooded'?" Ino asked.
"It was different when we were Genin but during their last year Genin would be given an animal to look after and when it came to the final exam they would need to kill the animal." Ino paled a little. Another hand rose. "Yes, Shino."
"You said it was different when you were Genin. Why?"
"We graduated from the Academy in wartime." Kurenai glanced back to the other Jonin but before she could answer Anko called out.
"We were blooded with the enemy."
"Anko!"
"Sorry, Nai but they need to hear the hard truth. There's Shinobi, technically, they need to learn what they means. Guts and all." Anko moved her gaze from Naruto to the other Genin. "Sometime it was war prisoners that kept trying to escape, other times it was an enemy that was captured trying to infiltrate the village. War is hell, isn't just a saying. As Shinobi sometimes we have to do things we don't like or agree with but for the sake of our home and the people we care about we do it cause that's the job. You don't like it, the exit's that way and hand in your hitai-ate before you go. The village doesn't need your dead weight." With that said, Anko returned to healing Naruto.
"I..I've been blooded." A timid voice came from the back of the group said. All attention shifted to the slight form of Hinata as she rocked from foot to foot while looking at the ground and tapping her index fingers together. "As a member of the Hyuga clan it's required that the Main Family are willing to take a life." She mumbled, not meeting anyone's eyes.
"Damn, didn't expect that." Anko muttered.
"Team Guy's been blooded too." Tenten added, "Our first mission outside the village, bandits trying to take the package we were delivering."
"Anyone else?" Kurenai asked, she was met with silence. "In that case.."
"Might as well add me to the list." Naruto interrupted. "I went for the kill but was beaten to it by someone else."
"Like we'd believe that." Kiba scoffed.
"He's telling the truth." Kakashi said, looking over the edge of his book, all eyes turned to Naruto.
"He tried to hurt someone I care about." Naruto was looking up at the clouds as he spoke. "I didn't like doing it but I'll do whatever it take to protect the people precious to me."
"What the hell happened to you?" Ino asked. Naruto turned his head to look at her, his eyes harder then she'd ever seen from him in the past.
"I grew up." He stated before looking back to the sky.
"Moving swiftly on." Kurenai started. "Myself and the other Team Leaders along with Anko have been instructed by Lord Hokage to combine our knowledge to help you train. I will be teaching you chakra control and Genjutsu, both using it and defending against it. Asuma will be in charge of weaponry usage and how to use elemental chakra in conjunction with it. Guy has taijutsu and general fitness covered, from what I've heard he has already been helping Naruto. Kakashi will be working with you on Jutsu and Anko will be covering other skills such as survival, information gathering, interrogation, along with…" Kurenai hesitated. "anything else she thinks you might need." She eventually sighed.
"Why'd you have to say it like that Nai?" Anko asked sweetly, "It's not like I'll kill them…probably….actually, most of them look soft. I make no promises to their safety." A wicked gleam shone in her eyes making all of the Genin in front of her to flinch.
"Moving swiftly on." Kurenai continued, "Right now, apart from Naruto, you'll all be tested to see your general fitness and taijutu skill so we know what we're dealing with. Guy, I leave most of them to you. Team Guy will be with me so I can assess their level of chakra control."
"Gods help them." Asuma said under his breath as he leant close to Kakashi.
"Which ones?" Kakashi replied from behind his book. Asuma chuckled softly before a shiver went down his spine as he turned as saw a pair of red eyes piercing into his soul. "You're going to pay for that later." Kakashi said, turning the page of his book.
"Both of you are." Kurenai growled quietly before turning back to the Genin. "Team Guy, with me." Kurenai walked towards the far side of the training ground with Tenten, Lee and Neji followed after her.
"I expect all of you to show me the strength of your flames of youth!" Guy exclaimed as he stepped forward. "Team 7, I know you've just come back from a difficult mission but I still want you to give this your all." With that said Guy started to lead the Genin through an exercise to determine their levels of fitness. Ino was the first to drop out, Sakura was next after a few more minutes, Shikamaru tried to leave next but Guy made him continue knowing the dark haired boy was lazy, Shino, Shikamaru and Choji stopped together about thirty minutes into the exercises, Hinata moved to one side another ten minutes later, panting with sweat on her brow and her hands on her knees. Kiba and Sasuke were the last to finish, neither wanting the other to beat them. Eventually Guy stopped the pair, telling them to rest while he started testing Ino's taijutsu skills, continuing to test the others one after another in the order that they stopped the fitness exercises.
Meanwhile Kurenai was testing Team Guy's chakra control, predictably Neji's control was exceptional, there was still room for improvement but overall he had some of the best chakra control she'd seen. Tenten's control was very good probably due to her constant use of scrolls and channelling chakra into her weapons. Lee's control was decent but he couldn't extent it much further than an inch or so from his body, he could walk up vertical surfaces and on water easily enough but if he tried to use a jutsu of any sort it would just be a waste of chakra that would be better employed strengthening his body. Kurenai had a few ideas that could help Lee but she'd need to test them herself first before attempting to teach them to anyone.
The Genin were given half an hour to recover from Guy's training during which they were told that the group training would be taking place twice a week after their usual afternoon training sessions. It had already been cleared with parents and Clan heads so the Clan heirs were excused from any duties they may have on those days, though they would be expected to do them on a different day.
After the half hour, Kurenai took the rest of the Genin through the chakra control exercises, Hinata and Ino had exceptional control though their chakra pools weren't that big. Sakura had the same issue when it came to the chakra she had available to her but her control was near perfect, something Kurenai was excited about. Shino had extremely good control, which was to be expected with Kurenai as his sensei but while his chakra pool wasn't small it could stand to be bigger. Kiba's control was decent, as was Shikamaru's and Choji's, they had reasonably sized chakra pools varying in size with Shikamaru's being the smallest due to his laziness. Sasuke's control was good, as long as he stayed calm, if his pride was wounded in anyway his control dropped to terrible, he'd put too much chakra into a technique just to try and prove that he was better.
Kakashi and Asuma questioned Team Guy about any jutsu they knew while Guy lead Naruto to a quiet part of the training ground, had him make a Shadow Clone and asked to see what Naruto could really do taijutsu-wise.
"You want to see what I can really do right?" Naruto asked, Guy nodded. "Alright, give me a minute to prep." The clone dropped into a meditative position and Naruto pulled out one of this tonfa. "I really hated this part of the training. I was trained by the toads of Mount Myobuku. To see what I can really do I need Sage power but if I don't get it right..." Naruto trailed off as his clone started to take on toad-like features, swiftly bringing his tonfa around in an arc he dispelled the clone and allowed the natural chakra to disperse. He winced as the memory of the strike came through and unconsciously rubbed his head. "That happens."
"In that case, just have a clone go through the movements so I at least get a grasp of what you can do. With the Toads teaching you I may not be able to help much, I will give advice where I can though. Lord Jiraiya will probably be a better teach for you though, it would also allow you to easily explain why you are using a fighting style similar to his." Guy said as Naruto nodded as created he a pair of clone to spar against each other. About five minutes into the spar Guy spoke up. "I know you've made it clear to others that you won't reveal much about what you seem to know but I still have to ask…"
"Lee becomes one of the best ninja the village has ever known." Naruto said, knowing what Guy wanted to ask. "He only used taijutsu and showed the world what a splendid ninja he is. He never loses that competitive spirit or his good heart, Lee has a lot to learn about himself and the world but he does you proud."
"I already am proud of him."
"I know…don't tell anyone I said that."
"Your secret is safe with me." During the spar Guy offered a few pieces of advise and promised to look into other fighting styles that would complement the Toad Kata.
Kurenai took Naruto after that while Kakashi and Asuma were still going through Jutsu and weaponry skills with the other Genin, with Neji being predictably stubborn about using anything other than the Hyuga fighting style. She found that Naruto chakra control was better than she expected but it was still abysmal, she had been prepared for this though and after showing him a few training exercises gave him a scroll with the exercises on them explained in greater detail along with a few others she didn't have time to show him. Just before he went to join Kakashi and Asuma, Naruto stopped and looked at the kunoichi who has sat next to him.
"Hinata has a good life filled with love." He said softly before walking away, leaving the raven haired woman with a small smile on her face.
Finally joining Kakashi and Asuma as they'd finished with the other Genin Naruto quicky listed off the jutsu he knew and how his training with the tonfa was going, adding in that Tenten had agreed to help him train.
"You're forgetting something Naruto." Sakura spoke up.
"Er…I don't think so."
"Yes, you are. What was that blue cross you used against the Demon Brothers?"
"Blue cross?" Asuma questioned.
"He channelled too much chakra into his tonfa and then swung them sending a blast of pure chakra out. He briefly passed out from it but he sent his opponent into a tree, a bit more training and chakra control exercises and he should be able to use it without passing out." Kakashi explained, catching everyone in small genjutsu that showed them what happened.
"Naruto, I'm going to be working with you very closely on your chakra control." Kurenai stated, sending a shiver down Naruto's spine.
"Yes Kurenai-Sensei."
"Enough of that, my turn now." Anko said, smirking evilly. "I'm going to list off some skills, raise your hand if you think you can do it." She waited for everyone to nod before continuing. "Tracking." Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Neji raised their hands. "I expected as much. You need more than good eyesight to be a good tracker though. I'll test you when the training starts. Next is stealth. Don't bother raising your hand Blondie, I know what your stealth's like."
"Not even stealth can hide that bad fashion sense." Ino giggled under her breath, as she raised her hand alongside everyone else.
"Wrong, Petal." Anko whispered in Ino's ear making her jump and squeal in fright. "Blondie managed to paint Hokage monument wearing that in broad daylight without anyone noticing. He's good at stealth, bad fashion sense aside." Anko looked toward Asuma. "Looks like you need to beat some sense into your team Smokestack, I'll be happy to do it for you."
"You'll have to tell their clans why they died Anko, fancy your chances against the Ino-Shika-Cho?"
"No prob…"
"And their wives?"
"…alright, I'll try to keep them alive." Anko huffed, "Anyway, all of you think you're good at stealth? Let's put it to the test. Get from one side of the clearing to the other without being seen. If a Jonin calls your name come and sit down. If Blondie calls your name, remedial training with yours truly every day until I call your skill acceptable." Anko held her hand up as the gathered Genin started to protest. "To make sure he does it right he'll point out where you are and Nai will be watching over his shoulder to verify to sighting. If he gets it wrong he gets remedial perception training every day until I say so, the training will be in the form of stealth attacks." Anko's lips split into a feral grin as she let a little KI out, making the Genin twitch in fear. "Shall we begin?"
