A/N: I'm just gonna leave this right here...
II: Training Festival
"...And that about wraps up what happened, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, looking his leader in the eye. Even if it's the Hokage, Naruto's eyes are far more piercing… Perhaps it was due to the obvious stupefaction present on Hiruzen's face, which in and of itself may have been an understatement…
"Naruto-kun, may I see your eyes for a moment? I'm curious," Hiruzen said kindly. Naruto nodded, and his pupil contracted. His irides spread over his sclerae, and rings spiraled out from the tiny dot of a pupil. "It's… different from the drawings, but still… such an intense aura…" Hiruzen muttered. It's like the effect of ki, but different… no, this isn't just ki. It's not a physical pressure. It's more… primal. Like I'm not even locking eyes with a human. Looking at his Rinnegan is like… looking into the mouth of the Shinigami.
Hiruzen steeled himself. "Those eyes are valuable. You shouldn't see them as just tools, as much as I hate to admit it. You shouldn't even see them as eyes. They're more like a unique resource that any other superpower would go to Hell and back to possess. Unlocking their secrets is more than just defending yourself. You'd be unlocking the secrets to the world and beyond. Even Sasuke-kun's Sharingan pales when compared to your eyes, Naruto-kun. Do you understand?"
Surprisingly, Naruto nodded humbly, his eyes widening as he looked at the floor. "I understand, Hokage-sama. I don't know why I have such a scary power… but I do know what I'm going to do with it. I'm going to serve our village as best as I can, and as best as I know how. I'm going to show the world that we don't need to fight each other in order to survive. That's what I hope to accomplish— making a better world for the innocent and guilty alike. That's my wish, and my duty. And I never go back on my word." The others were shocked at him, but he wasn't shocked at himself. Hearing his grandfather figure speak in such a way about his potential was terrifying. He didn't want the power to see into what a human shouldn't. But if he had it, he'd do his best to use it responsibly.
"Even the most noble humans will succumb to the toxins of power. Not even Ashura was free from this guilt, and certainly no one after him. It's only a matter of how long you can last, and what will push you over the edge." He again ignored his tenant. It would do no good to listen to the ramblings of a mad old fox demon.
Hiruzen smiled at him. "You'll make a fine shinobi, Naruto. Dismissed, except Kakashi-kun."
"Remember, we have a team meeting tomorrow," Kakashi noted to his Genin. They all gave their affirmatives and departed.
"Kakashi, you understand what this means, don't you?" Hiruzen asked. Kakashi nodded gravely. He looked out the office window.
"I have to make sure those kids are strong. They've improved greatly since I first got them, but that isn't enough. I'll have to push them— Naruto especially— to even greater heights. I'll do to them what Minato-sensei did to me."
"That's the response I wanted. Jiraiya is coming back to the village in time for our Chuunin Exams, and I believe that he will take on Naruto as his ward from then on. He did, after all, encounter the Rinnegan once before, in Ame no Kuni during the last war. It apparently looked different, but it was similar enough for me to recognize it. And if Naruto makes it to the finals of the exams, I'll give him his inheritance." Hiruzen took a hit from his pipe.
Kakashi turned to his leader. "So, Jiraiya-sama will be able to teach him some things about it, then… I'll have to plan for the things that Jiraiya-sama would be inclined to pass on. — What did you mean by 'inheritance'?"
"I'm sure you've seen the resemblance between my successor and your student, Kakashi-kun. He even has Kushina-san's surname."
Kakashi sighed lightly. "Like father, like son, I suppose… but why wouldn't Sensei show me that he had such a power?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "It's more likely that Kushina had it, or at least the potential for it. Jiraiya's previous student in Amegakure had red hair, after all."
Kakashi gave a nod. "Another Uzumaki, then. Anything else?"
"No. You're dismissed." Kakashi gave a bow before exiting the room, leaving nothing but a pile of leaves in the wind.
Naruto sat at the counter of his favorite restaurant, his Executioner's Blade leaning against the wall next to him. He was slurping into a large bowl of noodles, chatting away with his longtime friends Teuchi and Ayame. "So, did anything interesting happen on your mission, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked, face resting in her palms. Naruto gave her a great grin.
"Actually, yeah! It was supposed to be a C-Ranked escort mission, but we encountered two B-Ranked missing-nin, one A-Ranked, and another with a rare bloodline!"
The ramen chefs both gasped. "And you fought them? Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.
Naruto nodded. "Don't worry about me so much. No one can take down the future Hokage!"
"Well, did anything else happen?" Teuchi asked. Naruto took another slurp before responding.
"Yeah. The fight let me get my own bloodline. He switched on his eyes, and Ayama and Teuchi gasped, as they saw it. Both of them didn't feel the same ki as everyone else who'd seen it did, however.
"Who'd've thought you'd get something like that?" Teuchi asked with a grin. "I told you, you're special, Naruto. What does it do?"
"Hmm… it lets me see chakra, slows down my perception, makes things look clearer, adds more detail and color, and gives me a technique that lets me attract things to myself. There's more it can do, but I haven't figured it out yet."
Ayame beamed at him. "My little Naruto-kun is growing up! There's no way you won't be Hokage now!" she encouraged.
Naruto looked at her and her father lovingly. "Amen to that."
The next day, Team Seven was assembled at their training ground. "Okay, guys; it's time to really begin training. You're not a normal Genin team, so I'm not going to train you like Genin," Kakashi explained. Naruto looked excited, while Sasuke seemed anxious to begin, and Sakura looked worried. "Saa… alright, then; since Sakura looks the most perturbed, I guess I'll begin by picking on her.
"What I said before about Sakura being closest to Hokage and above the Uchiha was wrong. Her chakra control comes from having reserves almost identical to a civilian's. Sasuke's is high for even a Chuunin, and Naruto… I'd put your chakra at around four times higher than myself, even without any extra aid. That control of Sakura's, in any case, puts her on a static path. She can either be a genjutsu specialist, or a medic. It's really up to you." While Sakura thought over her options, Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, copy this jutsu." Sasuke's Sharingan flashed on, and Kakashi went through three hand seals. "Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter." His signature jutsu lit his hand.
Sasuke grinned and performed the technique himself, but it sounded different. I see… Kakashi thought. His Yin-natured chakra warps the technique slightly, making it less powerful but more malleable.
"I may have to rename your jutsu, Kakashi. How about… A Thousand Birds?" Sasuke released it and deactivated his Sharingan.
"Fitting," Kakashi eye-smiled. "Practice molding the chakra until it becomes second nature, and you can move on. Naruto…" Naruto looked at his sensei eagerly. "You're going to be studying a lot."
"Eh…?" Naruto said lamely.
"There's a reason for that," Kakashi said. "Your chakra control has improved immensely since you activated your Rinnegan, so there's no need to train that. Instead I want you to learn the things you've missed out on since your days of not paying attention in class. I'll start your ninjutsu training a bit later than theirs considering you've got the edge there." Kakashi unsealed a few books and put them on the ground.
"'Beginner Sealing Arts'? 'Longevity Techniques'? 'Tactics and Quantitative Reasoning'? Are you trying to kill me, Sensei?" Naruto asked incredulously. Kakashi just smiled and turned to Sakura.
"Have you decided yet?"
Sakura hummed in thought. "I'd like to go the medic route. Someone will need to take care of these two…"
Kakashi gave a thumbs up before flipping a page in his book. "I suppose I could start with a simple technique from the medical ninjutsu branch… it's called the Mystical Healing Palm."
It had been around two months since Team Seven began training in earnest. Sasuke could now perform the Thousand Birds three times, and knew two lightning ninjutsu outside of that : False Darkness and Electromagnetic Murder. He was working on his fire release a bit more.
Sakura had begun learning the Mystical Healing Palm and basic anatomy— where she excelled— as well as her taijutsu. Kakashi wanted to surprise her opponents who saw her hang back and heal with a deadly-up-close kunoichi. With the insane conditioning Kakashi put her under, she quickly became high-Genin level with that alone.
Naruto evolved the most, showing off an amazing talent with trap=making and out-maneuvering his opponent with Shadow Clones. He'd also had a bit of a chat with his tenant.
"Naruto, take a break for once. You'll kill yourself at this rate like last time," Kakashi warned him as Naruto struck at a log with his fists and palms. His stance is intense, but relaxed… It only took him two days to pick up the basics of the Strong Fist. But even with that, he's pushing himself harder than even Rock Lee does.
Naruto ignored his teacher in favor of moving faster. He needed to be able to swing the Executioner's Blade as fluidly as Zabuza did. One overexerting punch snapped his forearm. Naruto grunted and fell to his knees, before passing out.
He stood in some sort of industrial plant then. In front of him was the cage of the annoying voice in his head. He stared up at the Kyuubi in wonder. "No wonder you were so feared… but why does your chakra look so… empty? Like it's missing something?"
"Hmph. Questions, demands, entitlements, judgements. That's all your species is full of. Do any of you do things besides simply seeking answers to that which you'd be better off not knowing?" Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox.
"Just as well, are you capable of anything other than condescension towards an entire group of conceptually unique beings? I don't judge you because you're a demon; I judge you because I've met you, and I talk to you, and I deal with your inane rambling everyday, and I've come to dislike you for it. Beyond that, you're far too intelligent to simply be a mindless beast. There's some history between you a humans, and I'm inclined to believe that humans started it."
Kyuubi cocked an eyebrow at him. "What do you want, human? My power? My knowledge? I know humans better than you think; they all have a subconscious urge to move things to their beat. Your compassions and empathies? All designed to make things better for yourselves. Your proclamations of purity, innocence, and teamwork? Nothing but lies to make yourselves out to be higher on the social cue. You aren't in here for any reason other than to gain something, so spit it out."
"Who is my father?" Naruto growled. "How is he connected to you?"
The Kyuubi guffawed at him. "If you want to know something like that, you won't get it from me. Not until you earn a certain amount of my respect, and you certainly aren't getting it by running around, shouting about how humans should come together. No, I'm not so sentimental. — I'll say this much, though. Our goals will end up aligned at some point, before moving apart again. By that point, everything I've said, and everything you're convicted about will come to pass, and one of us will be right. Will I see a corpse on the ground, despaired after tearing apart the forces of his rivals? Or will you prove me wrong?"
Naruto looked him in the eye. "Then let's make a deal. You show me how to use my eyes, and I'll take your view into account before proceeding. I'll make you change your mind about just how immovable my morals are. I'll show you the good side of the humans. I'll-"
"Shut up, Naruto," the Kyuubi growled. "Ashura said the same thing. The Old Man said it before him. And do you know what I got after that? I got Indra. I got Madara. The ancestors of that accursed Uchiha you're so attached to are the reasons I'm inside of you right now. They are why your parents are dead. Once you see that, you'll be no different from Ashura or Hashirama. You'll be worse, considering Indra's essence has infected you as well. Your words mean nothing, and your actions at this point are less than nothing. For now, I'll give you a gift. Every Rinnegan has a special ability. Yours is called Amaterasu. Get out of my sight."
Naruto stared up at the Kyuubi for a moment longer. "The least you could do is give me a chance to prove that I'm serious."
"You don't know how many times you and your incarnations have told me that over the centuries, Naruto. You. Aren't. Special. The only difference between you and the ones before you is that instead of just having the Sage's Body, you have his Eyes. But Madara managed that as well, and he is the reason why we both suffer. When you realize the truth, you'll die, and this entire thing will start over once again."
Naruto gave the Kyuubi a smirk. "I guess that just means I'm the one you've been waiting for… Kurama." the Kyuubi's eyes widened. "I'm more connected to the transmigrations than either of us could have guessed… but all I can pull is three names. Kurama. Ashura. Kaguya. That's more than what the others could do." He faded away. Kurama gave a small grin.
"When was the last time a human called me that name…?"
Something else the team did collectively was physically train. Everyone was set at their own pace, but it quickly became a contest to Naruto and Sasuke. Thus the duo began to rapidly improve upon their technique. Their weights increased, their laps lengthened, and their workouts intensified. One day the team met up and Kakashi handed them each slips of paper. "Congratulations, you three. I hereby nominate you for the Chuunin Exams."
