Naruto: The Path of the Sage
I forgot to add this the last time but, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and all of the other variants (mostly games) are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
I hoped the prologue was enjoyable everyone and thanks to all those who actually read this fanfiction. It means a lot to me. I will try to funnel out more of my grammatical errors as I write.
Also, I don't know how to do polls but I am planning on also starting another NaruHina fanfiction which is based on Naruto's healing being a bloodline that was only enhanced by Kurama's excess and powerful chakra, but it always was his due to his mother, Namikaze neé Uzumaki Kushina's bloodline which apparently included very large chakra pools with it being adaptable to other chakras, a natural tendency towards Fuinjutsu allowing members of the said clan to become god-sent seal masters and in this fanfiction, perfect regeneration to the point where organs and limbs can be grown back including eyes. So What this idea I have is that, after the battle with Pein, Naruto after a talk with Minato, his father tells him he can save Hinata via a blood transfusion since his genes are full of life and can speed up others healing which he heads to Hinata first thing after the crowd cheers him on. Naruto, however, finds out she's okay but the Hyuga guards won't him see her due to the need for recovery since it was discovered that Hinata could no longer bear children due to the attack she took. Knowing this, Naruto being the dense and loud idiot says he can help with that and reveals his mother's hidden bloodline to the Hyuga clan; the perfect regeneration which completely heals Hinata including her womb to her joy. Now that the secret is out, the Hyuga now sees the potential that any offspring Naruto and Hinata may bear will have perfect Byakugan eyes that can just grow back if need be. Now yes it will be one of those fanfictions where a dojutsu clan wants Naruto's genes in the family, but this ain't a typical drama and romance fanfiction. Naruto and Hinata's friends who have been trying to get them together now have the support of the entire Hyuga clan. Now Naruto and Hinata will have to try resist each other when a one night stand is actually being encouraged by the Hyuga clan. I'll set up a poll soon, so let me know if you guys would want that.
Summary: The story begins with Naruto after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, during his Jounin studies, he also picks up his family's and most of all the Uzumaki clan's archives. His newly discovered affinity for Fuinjutsu enhanced by his Ashura ancestry will allow him to become history's greatest sealing master after him. Also he starts to experiment and train in new ways due to having all five elements as well as Six Paths Yang release chakra. Taking inspiration from his Six Paths Sage mode, he also trains himself in kenjutsu using dual swords to fill in for his now dormant Truth-seeking Orbs. Watch him become a Sage that surpasses the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother, Hamura as he becomes stronger to meld peace into the Shinobi world. Also, speaking of Hamura, Naruto will be getting quite familiar with Sage's younger brother's lavender-haired descendant.
Note: Yes, the Tenseigan will be introduced in my story, but the Last won't occur because as much as I loved the movie, I feel that Hinata should have actually gone on a information gathering mission with Naruto to investigate a strange disturbance at the location where Hagoromo and Hamura first lived. From there you guys can guess what will happen.
Chapter 1: A change in style
A week into Naruto's new regime
Third Person
Basking in Konoha no Sato's afternoon sun beyond its walls, situated considerably far from many of its training grounds, in fact close to where Konoha and Suna forces first encountered Deidara, was the one and only, Uzumaki Naruto in his own 'personal training field' that he easily made himself with a few Rasen Shurikens here and there along with his self-taught planting skills to make things look nicer and more natural.
Why he made one so far away, well to avoid harming anything and anyone near the village due to the scale his techniques can level, even if it was just a taijutsu move. Also, it was to avoid the fangirls, and unfortunately some fanboys from getting too eager to 'greet' him. Thanks to them, he took back everything he said to Sasuke about why not date his fans back during their academy and genin days; they were terrifying!
Back to Naruto, after waking up, he ran to his training field at 7 in the morning on the dot to begin his new training routine, after completing his new daily routine which consisted of a personal mix of his 'Six Paths Yang Fist' kata which was basically taking the basic circuit routine out of every style and Taijutsu moves base on a certain element, for example:
A Water-based style called the Cruising Waves which revolves around maintaining a constant momentum in all your movement and smashing all your bodyweight into a target without halting the users motion.
A Fire-based style like the 'Igniting Flare' where just like a fire, it starts off from nothing then lights up and before you know it is a raging flame then repeat; basically, it is based around adding gradual pressure on an opponent until they 'burn out'.
You get the idea!
He also modified the moves to suit his rather spontaneous tendencies.
He practiced the katas from all five elemental-based taijutsu styles he could actually learn in an alternating pattern so his body will never get used to the movements to increase his overall adaptability for about 3 hours. Then he moves on to his callisthenics, a warmup of 3 sets of 15 slow push-ups, followed by 3 sets of 10 pull-ups on a random tree branch and 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats which loosened up his joints for his actual workout. But before that, he activates some gravity seals he designed himself, which by the way, could be set higher than any other gravity seal in existence, on his body to ensure that he got a tough workout for about roughly an hour and a half. Then he spends the remaining 30 minutes meditating before going back to the village.
This was the routine Naruto and Kurama made and agreed on. Ever since he started, his friends and other people well acquainted with him were genuinely shocked and worried to see him in the early afternoons so drained of energy when he'd usually be bouncing around.
Back in the Village, Ichiraku's Ramen
The first one to inquire about this was none other than Konoha's shiest resident, Hyuga Hinata, since the day Naruto began hanging out with her after his first Jounin lesson, they have been spending a lot more time together and this became widespread knowledge due to Ino. She was so scared of the low-energy levels that Naruto was displaying that she even brought out her healing balm and even told him to see Sakura to get better, honestly, Naruto found her frantic worrying cute to be honest, but all good things must come to an end.
"Don't worry Hinata, I just started a new training schedule that starts early in the morning when no one is awake" he assured her along with poking his chest where his heart would be. Although Hinata was relieved that he didn't come down with anything, it still didn't stop her from advising him.
"O-Okay, if you say so Na-Naruto-kun but still please don't push y-yourself too hard too often" she told him.
"Hey! Come on Hinata, you know me, I need to push myself hard if I even want to improve just even a little bit" he exclaimed, but what came next made him surrender.
She made a puppy-eyed look and said, "Just not too often okay, I-I don't want to s-see you get hurt". Naruto's head went haywire 'How the hell are you meant to say no to that!?' he questioned himself inwardly whilst keeping a calm look outside.
"Okay Hinata! I promise you that I won't hurt myself so you won't need to worry about me, tebayo!" he promised with a hint of a pink blush on his face.
She smiled "Mm, t-thank you, b-by the way, how are y-you training with just on-one-arm? You can b-b-barely eat with your left hand" she asked stuttering.
Naruto gave her a proud smile, "I use a chakra arm to substitute for my missing arm to avoid the problem during training only, I don't want to use it for something like ramen" he declared.
"B-But wouldn't it be b-better if you used one in-instead of m-me f-feeding y-you, I'm sure t-that I b-bother you" she finished with a sad look.
Naruto rebutted with "Hey come on, don't make that face, I like it when you feed me!" he admitted with no shame, but Hinata took a red hue and began stuttering the word 'what' in disbelief. "You're always helping me, even when I don't ask, others just greet me and go away but you stick with me and I like that since I like having you around" he added making Hinata feel faint.
"I-I-I d-don't know what to s-say Naruto" she stuttered out still embarrassed.
It was the truth, he really did like having her around even though he didn't quite understand why he did but she always made him feel more like himself when they were together and made his heart feel bigger. Then in a moment of epiphany, Naruto proclaimed,
"Y'know Hinata, I actually don't like people like you…" Hinata's breath hitched with tears beginning to well in her eyes "… I just like you because you're you!" the tears threatening to come out stopped, which were replaced by a face of pure bliss and then she fainted onto Naruto's lap face first.
"Ehh… ehh!? Hinata, was it something I said!?" Ayame and Teuchi were just crackling up at the scene that unfolded, unfortunately for the hyperactive blond, Hinata's teammates, Kiba with Akamaru and Shino, and Kurenai-sensei just happened to walk in after the she just fainted and just saw Hinata's face on his lap with his left hand on the back of her head but somehow still sitting on her stool; the image suggested a much more vulgar scenario than it should have.
Suddenly Naruto felt a chill down his spine, followed by a massive amount of killing intent directed towards him that rivalled Kaguya's. He turned his head around slowly and twitching in fear, to bear witness to Kiba cracking his knuckles, Shino's Kikaichu buzzing around him violently and Kurenai-sensei with a sickly-sweet smile. What they all shared was a dark purple aura.
Kiba went first "Oi Naruto, I know you two have been hanging out a lot, but what do you think you are doing to our teammate in public!?" he spat out with malice in his voice.
"I coincide with Kiba, why is that it is because you seem to be taking her away from everyone else and off to anywhere by yourselves and that leads us to conclude that you are taking advantage of her fondness to force her into some explicit activities." Shino stated menacingly with his Kikaichu bugs buzzing louder. 'What!?' he exclaimed in his mind 'Okay, I admit, I have been hanging out with her a lot recently but I never just up and grabbed her from our other friends!?' inwardly argued.
"W-w-wait! This isn't what it seems like! You got this al-"he tried to placate his situation. But Kurenai cut him off "Oh we know exactly what is going on Naruto. And we'll see to it that Hinata is safe."
"Ho-hold up, let finish- ack arghh!" Naruto tried to defend himself but got cut off painfully.
TOO LATE!
He was bombarded with a Gatsuga combo from Kiba and Akamaru, with Shino's bugs biting him and sucking out his chakra, and to add to the mix Kurenai cast a genjutsu on him where he laid witness to all the ramen around him being eaten in front of him or being replaced by green vegetables that have spoiled and force fed it by a Genjutsu Kurenai.
All that was heard from Naruto was a loud "NNNOOOOOO!" and the rest of the Ichiraku's stand being destroyed in the process. Fortunately, before any real harm was done, Teuchi flared out some crazy killer intent, even more so than all of team 8, with the exception of a passed out Hinata, that was directed to Naruto earlier. He demanded them to pay for the repairs and Naruto and Hinata's check whilst telling them what happened, of course they weren't entirely convinced until Hinata woke up telling them that nothing happened and she just fainted because Naruto said something really sweet to her, although that part Naruto didn't catch as he was still disorientated.
A few apologies to Naruto for doubting his morals and actions towards Hinata from her team (though one was half-hearted). Hinata turned her attention to Naruto who somehow recovered, but she was blushing madly at him along with a bit of drool leaking from the corner of her mouth at what she saw, of course she has seen guys with no shirt on, as Kiba really had no problem with hanging up his cloths around her and she has seen a lot of her clan's men without their top robes on due to her giving them medical attention at times but was never really too bothered by it, impressed with some of their physiques yes a little, but never really amazed. However, it was different with Naruto, the attack left his shirt all shredded revealing what was underneath showing that he was so much more built than other guys; he had strong looking vascular arms (well arm for now), hanging off his slightly boulder shoulders where you could see every muscle fiber on them, a very well-built and sculpted pectorals that made a solid square without a hint of bodyfat with clearly seen separation between the upper and lower sections, he didn't have a six-pack like the guys she has seen shirtless, but instead, Naruto had a perfectly formed eight-pack with fully worked obliques and to top it off his back could be seen from the from forming a perfect V-taper. However, she was knocked out of her hypnotised state when Naruto asked her "Hey Hinata, you coming or are you gonna stone all day?" oblivious to the fact that he was being eaten by her eyes and his state of undress.
"Ah.. U-um, yes I'm coming!" she hastily replied whilst following him. Along the way to wherever Naruto was taking her, she noticed that everyone especially the female populace was staring at Naruto with hungry eyes. She would be a hypocrite if she told them to buzz off, but instead Hinata decided tell Naruto "Ano, N-Naruto-kun?" whilst averting her eyes from the 'delectable' in front of her, the said 'delectable' answered "Wassup!?" "Ano, where are headed?" she timidly replied. Naruto brightened up and told her "Oh, we're headed to Tenten's store, I have something I wanted to get for a while" Hinata tilted her head sideways "Eh, w-what is it t-that you wanted to b-buy?" she asked confused as Naruto recently hasn't been on a mission that involved combat, especially with the war being over and hoping that he was going to buy a shirt too (okay, maybe not teehee).
At Tenten's store
The pair finally arrived at their destination, Tenten seeing customers was excited as not many people come as often as before, but to her glee and disappointment due to wanting customer, she saw Hinata come in thinking that maybe she was just here to talk and maybe ask for advice on sealing for her own ambitions; the infamous Caged Bird Seal's abolishment which Tenten from her days researching the seal on Neji's forehead, she came up short and was really sorry towards Hinata, but she wasn't as good at Fuinjutsu as many people believed. However, what caught her off-guard was to see a shirtless Naruto walk in with her which made her blush madly before summoning a few blunted weapons towards him making him squirm and shouting "Naruto! Put a shirt on you idiot!" He looked at Tenten dumbly until he looked down and noticed his shirtless state "Oh, so that's why everyone was staring at me! Why didn't you tell me earlier Hinata!?" he whined, Hinata in response meekly said "I-I thought that was w-why you decided to come here" Tenten eye twitched at his denseness and Hinata's blind faith in him.
Tenten recovered "Okay, then why don't you buy one now? All good are on sale" she cheerfully stated hoping to make an exchange for once.
"Actually, I only came here to buy a pair of weapons, but since I don't have a shirt and can't afford both I guess it'll have to wait for tommor-" he was gonna finish until Hinata suggested "That's okay N-Naruto-kun, you probably really need that weapon so I'll help you buy it." "But I don't want to leech off you" Naruto protested.
In a rare moment of boldness, Hinata suggested again "I'll lend y-you my jacket since i-i-it could fit you" she began taking it off before he could protest again.
Well he really couldn't protest as soon as her jacket came off, now it was his time to be caught in a trance due to seeing Hinata's top half of her figure in a skin-tight mesh shirt. 'When was Hinata so well grown? Like damyum! She could bag any guy she wanted, I just wanna- NOPE! Bad Naruto! She's your best friend! (Sorry Sasuke) Not one of my special limited-edition bowls of ramen I save for special occasions! But I'd love to have a special occasion with Hi- No! Stop thinking of her that way! She is your friend and too good for you idiot!' Unaware of the inner conflict happening in his head, Hinata nudge him snapping him out of his trance "H-here put this on" she told him with a heavy blush on her cheeks 'Oh my god! I can't believe I'm doing this! Does he think I look good or does he think I eat too much?' she rapidly thought about the possibilities.
Naruto mistook her blush for being mad at him for staring at her so perversely, so he tried to make unnecessary amends "S-sorry Hi-Hinata! I just got caught off guard by how nice you look underneath- I mean without a jacket! Yeah! That's it, datttebayo!" he claimed sporting a blush rivalling hers.
Inwards Hinata was doing a victory dance at Naruto's thoughts about her figure. 'Maybe I should show up to him like this more often, but then other guys will see and I only want him to see me like this' she mused. Only to be interrupted by a laughing Tenten who bluntly said "Oi, you guys done eyeballing each other so we can either do business or you guys 'get down to business'" she finished her sentence with the latter option being in a sly tone embarrassing the two even further much to Tenten's delight.
The two mortified individuals quickly regained their composure with Naruto slipping on Hinata's bulky jacket that was rather form-fitting on him; the warmth from the jacket made him have more dirty thoughts that would've made Jiraiya bleed to death if he was still around.
"So, Naruto, you said you wanted a weapon earlier, are you after some kunai and shuriken again?" Tenten inquired in her usual cheery tone. Both Hinata and Tenten were surprised by his answer "Nah, I'm looking for a weapon set like dual swords or something similar, ya'know like the Land of Iron's Samurai" he nonchalantly dismissed her prediction.
"Ohohoho, finally seeing the awesomeness of weapons now, I see. Well I didn't expect you to take interest in weapons now that there isn't much action going on nowadays. But back to you, I see you already figured out what suits you already, when I saw the way you with all your Rasengan barrages, I noticed you had a natural tendency to either slightly slash it or thrust it instead of simply slamming it like a street brawler like you normally would. So, I'd say given your height right now, a set of dual Nodachi will be perfect for you in the long run" Tenten advised him in a matter-of-fact manner completely impressing him.
"Woah, you could tell all that from the way I fight!? You are amazing y'know!" Naruto warmly complimented but Tenten kindly shrugged it off "Eh, whatever, I'll bring the set that best suits you in sec" she informed. A minute later, she brought out a pair of huge heavy looking Katanas that didn't have a sheathe and Tenten wasn't kidding, it could only be used by someone of Naruto height which was much taller than he was a few months ago and it wasn't his 18th birthday yet.
Hinata would never admit it but she was envious of his sudden growth spurt since Naruto was now around 180cm tall whereas she stopped growing at about 160cm and to add injury to insult; he was still growing! All she ever seen him eat was ramen! Does that mean he could have been taller if he had a proper diet!? She pondered and inwardly pouting why she never inherited her father's height, but then again, she wanted to be like her late mother Hyuga Hikari.
Nevertheless, Naruto's eyes held a childlike gleam when he laid eyes upon the Dual Nodachi, "So cool! I can't wait to try them out, how much are they Tenten!?" he eagerly exclaimed making Hinata giggle, "About 10000 Ryo", Naruto was about to slam down Gama-chan until she stopped him "…But you can get it half price if you give me some of your seals" she negotiated, Naruto nodded in response before asking "Okay, but which ones do you want?" He was happy to comply.
Tenten eagerly asked whilst flailing her arms like a little kid getting a present "Oh! Oh! The small explosives ones that you made into a fire cracker seal that also made a good firework effect, can you make those formulas separate and increase the size and number of chain explosions if you can they would be great in both battles and parties, what else? Oh yeah! The beacon seal you said you accidentally made since it'd make finding people easy if you need to and it would complete my homing technique. And! And! That really cool summoning seal you designed yesterday, the one that could summon whatever equipment or supply you needed in any amount, no matter where you were as long as it was within range of the seal where you left them! With that Shinobi wouldn't have to hold so many scrolls containing different equipment when you can just leave it at home and summon it whenever they need it".
Hinata on the other hand was surprised. So many different thoughts went through her head 'When did Naruto learn Fuinjutsu? Why is Tenten asking him for seals? As far as I know, she is the more experienced one in seals? Could have I been wrong? Well if Tenten is asking Naruto for seals and his services, does that mean he is better than her? Maybe he could, no I can't get my hopes too high, but maybe, just maybe' thinking about the possibility that Naruto could have help in her endeavour to find a solution to removing the Caged Bird Seal.
"Ano, Ten-chan, why are asking N-Naruto-kun for seals? I thought you already made your own?" she asked out of curiosity, she wasn't doubting both of their skills, but she did want to know when this arrangement happened.
"Oh Hinata, I do make my own seals, like most ninjas we can make a basic storage or explosive seal, but I can confidently say I specialise in summoning seals. But when I was on a stroll in the forest, I saw Naruto in training grounds 7 writing something in an open space so I got curious…"
Flashback seal
Tenten was just taking a stroll through the forest just outside Konoha's walls, however she stumbles across training grounds 7 where she spots Naruto writing down a seal of some sort, now she was no slouch when it came to seals and people see her as the best at seals due to her ravenous usage of storage and summoning seals for her weapons but that's all her expertise in seals ever applied to; taking the basics and expanding its use, nothing new or unique.
What she saw Naruto do was complicated even for her, she just figured out it was a type of explosive formula, but it also featured two symbols she could make out from this distance on the small tag; a kanji for repetition and a symbol that meant copy, but everything else see could or could not see was a completely new alien language for her mind that even she believed would never understand. When she saw that Naruto back off a bit and perform a hand seal, the following result was a beautiful scene of large colourful explosions that resembled fireworks but the best part was that despite only one tag was used, it resulted in at least 15 more explosions each one equal in magnitude and force. Each of those explosion on their own put even some of the best explosive tags Tenten has ever seen look like a spark compared to Naruto's seal, and those tags were from Iwa whose 'seal masters' pride themselves in stone-sturdy standards.
Out of excitement and a willingness to learn more she appeared out on the training field and asked Naruto questions when he began doing Fuinjutsu and what seals he has been working on so far.
Flashback end
"What Naruto made makes my work look like a kid's school project, so ever since then I have been nagging Naruto for his sealing services for both business and personal needs" Tenten finished reciting.
"That's amazing Naruto!" Hinata chanted, happiest knowing that Naruto keeps surprising everyone when you least expect it.
Naruto looked at Hinata "Huh? Yeah, you got that right, Fuinjutsu is amazing! To think that a few strokes of drawing on a surface could make your imagination literally come to life!" he glorified the art whilst completely missing the point of what, or rather who was amazing.
Hinata just gave him a small smile, 'I was meant to say you were amazing, but that's just like you, always giving the credit to others'. Then the big question came "So Na-Naruto-kun, how l-long have you been studying Fuinjutsu?" she asked meekly.
Naruto replied nonchalantly "About a week" along with a shrug.
Tenten and Hinata however found themselves wide-eyed and jaws on the floor. "EEHHHHH!" They screamed their disbelief out loud. Tenten reacted as well since the response she got from him the first time was in his exact words "For a while now".
Tenten was the first to speak "That's impossible, no one on Earth can study Fuinjutsu for a week and start making 100% original sealing methods!"
Hinata recovered next "I-I don't d-d-doubt y-y-you Naruto-k-kun, but it j-just seems so un-un-likely!" for a lack of a better statement.
"Well I started seriously studying Fuinjutsu for about a week now" he put much emphasis on the word 'seriously' earning a questioning look from the two girls whilst Naruto put down the money and seals in question whilst taking the dual Nodachi set then sending it back to his apartment via an unseen seal. Hinata and Tenten looked at the seals, the latter was kidding; Naruto's seals were very advanced, hell it was so complicated that it made all those medical studies look like a children's picture book.
"You girls remember my pranking days?" they nodded "Ever wondered how I made all those traps on the go so quickly and pulled out random things out of seemingly nowhere from my body?" the girls eyes began to widen in realisation "I never knew at the time, but I was actually using seals most of the times when I ran out of traps I prepared or need extra equipment for huge pranks. I discovered that my random scribbles one day just did something I thought was magic and later after I trained under Jiraiya, I learnt that what I used turned out to be Fuinjutsu which might be why some of my graffiti exploded, that's why I never took it seriously under Pervy Sage's guidance since all he gave me about the topic was stuff I figured out about it on my own through trial and error" he declared.
"Okay, I get that, but that still should not have made you get to this level suddenly after a week of picking it back up" Tenten argued. "Well that is the joy of having 1000 shadow clones studying the same topic and experimenting in hundreds of different ways whilst I do my physical training" Hinata piped up "W-What does Shadow Clones h-have anything t-to do with your sudden improvement?" she asked.
"Anything they learn or experience, it gets sent back to me after dispelling except physical body development, which I'm making a new clone technique for that one, say a fire technique would take 2 days to learn on your own, but having one clone alongside you would cut the time in half. So, girls do the math, 7 days of studying Fuinjutsu with 1000 shadow clones for 5 hours each day, which is 5000 hours of experience which is how many days?" Naruto said with a smirk.
"Oh" Tenten and Hinata finally understanding the reason behind his progression rate but then Hinata asked one thing "Ano Na-Naruto-k-kun, why don't you u-use clones t-to fi-finish your jounin st-studies faster?"
"For my personal training sure, I'll do what I can to get better no matter what as long as I put the work in. For things like that no, everyone else goes through it too. It would be unfair and if I want to be Hokage, I need to be among the people I protect, not above or below." Naruto stated with conviction.
Tenten smiled at his determination whilst Hinata found that if possible, falling even more in love with Naruto. Soon eventually after the little revelation about Naruto, he and Hinata needed to head back to their respective homes. But Naruto remembered he was wearing her jacket and still had about 5000 Ryo, just enough for three sets of Ninja clothing that caught his eye (I'm guessing Ninja clothes are of much higher quality than civilian clothing). He picked out a black military vest with an orange zipper and red mini cape over his entire former right hand, and three pairs of burnt orange pants to go along with his black sandals. He needed some new mission and training gear, but he did it because for some odd reason he hated the feeling of other people staring at Hinata's jacket deprived figure. Then he slipped on a complimentary mesh shirt that came with it and one of his new jackets and did he liked the cape since it gave him an idea whilst he handed Hinata back her jacket.
They headed back to their homes and most others retired for the night, but Naruto however immediately went to work on adding sealing formulas to his new outfits' red capes. He couldn't wait for the next day to come so he could try it out during training.
The next day, 5:30am, sunrise
Naruto woke up in a zombie-like state, therefore he took a cold shower to wake him up whilst brushed his teeth at the same time. Back then, he would have made some ramen to eat right away after he cooked it for breakfast, but one thing Kurama suggested was to run all the way to his training field and finish training first every morning before breakfast, since it worked well for the monks who practised Ninshu all those thousand years ago and needless to say, Naruto saw the benefits; he could fight or do physically intensive labour for a longer period of time at full strength minus the power ups like sage mode on an empty stomach, meaning he could fight much longer when he was satisfied.
So, he just made it and stored them in some of his personal storage seals on a talisman tag; the thing special about his ones was that once you store an item inside it, that said item would never expire since time didn't move in his storage seal and that was great for him since it mean he could have something to eat as soon as he was done training.
Outside the village
While he was making a full sprint halfway toward his training field, someone along the way called out his name in an overly dramatic voice.
"NARUTO-KUN!" Lee called whilst he was running towards him "Are you taking a youthful jog this youthful morning!? He asked with a twinkle in his eyes. How early does this guy get up to be so energetic already?
"Um… I guess you can say I am. What cha up to Lee?" Naruto answered and asked.
Lee exclaimed "I'm fanning my Flames of Youth by getting in some morning training so I can protect the peace, but seeing you put so much effort today makes me feel hot-blooded! So as punishment, I'll do 500 laps outside Konoha's walls!" with wide eyes, making Naruto sweat drop.
Then Naruto had an idea, Lee, despite his obvious 'Youthful' quirks, he was the best Taijutsu user around the entire Shinobi Nations without a doubt. Having Lee train with him would brighten up the morning, so having some 'youth' isn't so bad every now and then.
"Or you can come and train with me? I'd love to have a training partner to test myself against" Naruto proposed with his wide grin. Lee responded with his own smile literally flashed, did it upgrade? And of course, his 'Good guy' pose to tell him he would love to. Therefore, from where they left off they continued sprinting all the way to Naruto's personal training and arrived there within an hour, exactly 2 minutes before 7, meaning Naruto knew he was getting faster.
After the usual warmup and katas (or circuit training) they both went through whilst encouraging each other. Naruto decided to do what he needed Lee for.
"Yo, Lee! I've been training in a new Taijutsu style for a while now and I'd like to spar with you to see how far I've come!" Naruto said knowing Lee would never pass up a chance like this. He was not disappointed. Lee's eyes shone "Of course Naruto-kun! I get the chance to fight my eternal rival in hard-work! Let's see how far we've come!" he exclaimed while he took off his weights and took his Goken stance. Naruto likewise took his own and what Lee saw surprised him, instead of seeing Naruto take a stance with him putting weight on his left foot at the front and bouncing back and forth. He saw Naruto's feet spread slight wider than shoulder length apart with the left foot edged forward in front of his body and holding his left arm in front hooked whilst twisting his waist one direction and the other repeatedly. His right arm would have been held next to his face if he still had it, so he opted for leaving it covered in his red cape.
Nevertheless, the two geniuses of hard-work clashed forearms with each other in the centre of the training field creating small crater around them. Lee then tried to set the pace by planting his left foot into the ground to pivot his body using his right leg to initiate a whirling kick combo dubbed 'Leaf Kicking combo', if Naruto was anything like he was before he started training, he would have flipped back but instead he jumped a little letting Lee's leg hook one of his feet to make himself cartwheel then he used the momentum to slice the wind downwards with his right foot before attempting to slam Lee down into the ground.
However, Lee using his hard-earned speed handsprang out of the way and laid witness to the area Naruto's unexpected kick uprooted which was at least three times larger than crater made earlier. Seeing this, Lee decided to open two of the gates to even the power gap between him and Naruto whilst hoping to gain an advantage in the speed department so he dashed forward hoping to catch him from behind. However, to Lee's surprise, Naruto kept up with him when he leaped back to avoid being blindsided whilst simultaneously throwing a left hook at him (Naruto was glad he had deactivated his gravity seals after his kick had landed or he would have been clobbered). Lee managed to narrowly avoid it by leaning back on time proving he had just a small advantage in speed despite two gates being opened, but what he didn't expect was for Naruto to transition into a butterfly flip motion using his legs to lock Lee's arms and head. And when they both landed on the ground with Lee face down, Naruto then laid back on Lee's legs to prevent him from kicking him off using chakra-enhanced strength. With that the spar came to an end in just 3 minutes.
Naruto relented his hold on Lee causing his to shoot right back up ignoring any fatigue he had from using two of the gates. "That was amazing Naruto-kun! A youthful display of your skills! I lost so I must train harder with 10,000 mountain climbers as a warm-up! Until then Naruto-kun, I'll challenge to another spar!" Lee shouted before running off, Naruto didn't have a chance to say goodbye.
With that spar, Naruto knew he had gotten better, he didn't even need to use shadow clones or sage mode to beat Lee in a straight-up Taijutsu match when he used two inner gates.
He got so excited about his achievement that he entered his mindscape to speak to Kurama. "Yo! Kurama, did you see that!? I did all those cool moves out of nowhere! I guess all this mastering the basics of every elemental Taijutsu style really works, huh!? I did all that by instinct as well, dattebayo!" Naruto excitedly bragged, Kurama on the other hand didn't have to train himself like Naruto, was still asleep so his first response was to yell "PISS OFF KIT! I'm still asleep and yes that was pretty good you are definitely getting better" he ended before severing the mental connection. Naruto however, kept grinning like an idiot when he brought out his new Dual Odachi and shadow fought with them with a chakra arm replacing his right-arm as if he was using his Six Paths Sage mode rods before he got out his stored ramen and chowed down on it in a few seconds. He even kept grinning on the way back to the village.
Konoha, near the Bean Jam restaurant
Naruto finally got back, then he decided walk around the village until he saw the place that made his second favourite food; Sweet bean Jam, or sensai. Heading inside, he saw Sakura and Ino together on a table.
He cheerfully greeted them "Hey! Sakura-chan, Ino how are things going?" he asked
"Oh, Naruto! It's been awhile, we've been fine just talking about the new medical program and mostly just the latest trends." Sakura informed.
"Yeah, say have you heard that rumour, the one about people saying that they saw Neji's spirit wandering around the village?" Ino asked hoping for something fun to talk about. Neji's name pulled on Naruto's heart, but he didn't let it show since he would have wanted him to grow passed his death.
Instead what she got was Naruto shivering from fear of a Neji ghost haunting him whenever he was getting overly friendly with Hinata (watch the SD series to know what I mean).
"Seriously, you're the world's hero and you are afraid of ghost!?" Sakura accused. "Hey, a reanimated zombie Ninja or some Chakra Goddess? Hell yeah! Bring it on! But a ghost ninja who you can't touch, nah-uh never!" Naruto argued back.
"Ku-ku, he's got a point actually!" Ino exclaimed and agreed with him, Sakura also did but begrudgingly so.
They talked about many random topics, nothing of sustenance except maybe for the medical program that was being implemented across the Allied Nations. Until one topic came up; relationships.
"So Ino, how are things going with claiming Sai? Sakura slyly asked her for the details causing Ino to flush a little.
"Oh, just fine, he finally comes to my flower shop to ask me for my advice on colouring for his drawing!" Ino squealed loudly almost making Naruto go deaf.
"Anyway, what about you Sakura, any progress with Sasuke?" Ino asked back whilst giving her the eyebrows.
Sakura however deflated a bit "Oh it's okay, but I haven't gotten a letter from him ever since he left on his journey", Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder "No worries Sakura-chan, he'll see you, don't lose faith in him because he believes in you" Naruto comforted her with a big grin. She thanked him gently whilst throwing his hand off herself. This talk about relationship struggles between the girls somehow managed to remind both of them a question they've been meaning to ask Naruto for about a week now.
"So, Naruto, during the time we haven't seen you, we heard you and Hinata have been spending a lot of time together. What's going on there?" Ino asked hoping for some spicy details with Sakura intently listening.
"Oh, Hinata and I just met up at some time last week at Ichiraku's, then we started talking…" the girls violently cut him off "YEAH! And then…?" making Naruto sweat drop.
"I found that Hinata when you get to know her is a really cool and fun person to hang out with once you get passed her shyness. I never thought that someone from a clan as boring as the Hyuga would be into something colourful like flowers, oh and she make a bad day become the best day by just being around!" Naruto described her surprising the two loud-mouthed girls with his thoughts.
"Anything else you like about her?" Ino asked wanting more details and Sakura too even though she didn't voice it.
Naruto took a thoughtful pose until his nose bleed slightly "And she looks real good without a jacket on! Better than you two even! Makes me wonder why no one goes after her" he pondered before being bopped on the head by the two girls who grew tick marks on their heads.
"Oh, if she really looks that much better than us, then why not go hang out with her instead of us right now!?" Sakura voiced her thoughts for both herself and Ino, but they didn't expect Naruto to get up and head towards the door.
"As a matter I will, she is more fun to be with anyway!" Naruto exclaimed then added "And she's even pretty on the inside!" before going out of the door leaving two kunoichi with their jaws on the floor due to the bomb Naruto dropped. However, that didn't last long as they heard a loud thud behind them. Looking behind them, they saw Tenten with a freshly fainted and steaming Hinata on a table in the far back corner, they put two and two together and figured she must have heard what nice things Naruto had to say about her.
"Well I guess we now know that Naruto might have a thing or two for little Hinata here" Tenten playfully jested.
"I know, to believe that knucklehead could be so sweet about a girl, heck, he has never even said anything like that about you Sakura" Ino squealed.
"Oh, please, that guy never even liked me the way he makes everyone think he likes me" Sakura put out their while rolling her eyes and earning some questioning looks from Ino and Tenten. "You girls remember how Naruto always tried to beat Sasuke at everything?" they nodded confirming they remember, so Sakura continued "He never once, talked or even looked at me for more than a second until everyone started muttering how I liked Sasuke" their eyes all widened in understanding including Hinata who had just woken up, "Not only that, but I think he's always actually had a thing for Hinata since then as well" again they were left confused again, Hinata was blushing obviously at the claim.
Sakura signed "Do you remember how during class sometime, three certain guys would be picking on or beating Naruto if they could" they nodded "Well Naruto picked a fight with them saying he's gonna be Hokage, but really it was to protect someone from them even if it meant getting beaten, tell you who that was?" they all looked to the girl who just woke up in time to hear the revelation "HINATA!" they yelled whilst she said "M-ME!?" at the same time.
"Yes Hinata, if Naruto really didn't feel anything towards you, do you believe he would have still come to your rescue? I mean that must mean you take a pretty big place in his heart" Sakura told Hinata who was blushing hotly now and feeling really giddy.
"I-I-I see, your right!" Hinata replied with a faraway look in her lavender orbs and a bright smile on her face.
With Naruto
"Hmmm, I can't find her, well maybe tomorrow" he said to himself.
He could always hang out with his favourite dojutsu using friend next time.
With Sasuke somewhere
"Achoo!" a dark-cloaked Sasuke sneezed.
He began to brood "I feel as if a rivalry between the Uchiha and the Hyuga clan has arisen once more" he darkly muttered.
He wasn't gay, but he couldn't help but suddenly feel jealous of a certain indigo-hair heiress who without a doubt took his place as Naruto's best friend and favourite Dojutsu using friend.
Finally another chapter!
Sorry this one is a bit longer than the last one, but I won't make any promises about consistent lengths because I believe in making my chapters have all relevant details rather than a skipping out on a few things just to keep consistent chapter lengths.
So, yeah as you can see Naruto is definitely progressing fast, but you can understand, his clan was feared for it Fuinjutsu prowess to the point the Land of Eddy was destroyed. Though Uzumaki members are known for their natural tendency towards Fuinjutsu leads people to believe that it is a bloodline trait, we I agree upon, since we have seen Naruto capable of skillfully utilizing the full functions of his Tetragram seal without much thought and it was even hinted that he made some modifications to it to allow a better mental connection between him and the other tailed beast.
Also the Uzumaki's were known for their Kenjutsu (or Sword techniques), so it's my fanfiction so I gave him swords. The reason why I gave him dual swords however, was really based on how I saw him handle the Truth-seeker orb rods in Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. He is actually pretty damn good with swords so I wanted to develop those skills in him.
For his development with Hinata, yes, I'm not going to agree that it happened kind of fast because in some animated installments of the series and some images I have seen, it was obvious that Naruto actually had some feelings for Hinata even before they graduated to genin. So as more chapters come along, I will reveal that Naruto does remember Hinata's confession, but never responded, I won't give the full reason, but it does have something to due with her happiness and the fear the Hyuga clan planted in him.
Also, as I mentioned somewhere, the Tenseigan will make as appearance, not sure when, but definitely on a mission that Naruto will request himself and since Sasuke isn't in the Village, he will take Hinata since to him, she has the greatest pair of eyes for the job. Which will inevitably cause Hinata to awaken Hamura's chakra, or Six Planes Techniques as I have heard people call it.
I'm didn't make Sakura an annoying person despite what she has done because she has become an scary older sister figure to Naruto who he can ask for advice and confide in. I'm also hoping to make her a key factor in getting Naruto to realise what he feels for Hinata is love, though I'll have Naruto say he already knew he was but decided against it believing he'd just bring Hinata more pain due to all the misfortunes that have happened to her when he was around.
Well, until then.
Seeya