Naruto X
AN: Well then. I believe it's time to start cranking out the filler. More filler than filler itself. I'm talking enough to fill up all the plotholes of the anime and still have enough to cover at least thirty episodes of various others.
Still wondering what I'm on about? Well I need to write SOMETHING for the three years. Naruto isn't going on the trip, as such he's staying in Konoha so I need to push some things out. I mean I could skip the three years but where's the fun in that?
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Naruto's eye twitched as he sat on the couch reading one of his books as he tried to block out the noise all the girls were making. That's right, ALL the girls. Ino had come back to visit Sakura which sparked Tenten, Hinata and surprisingly Anko to come back and they were having tea and talking about random gossip.
Sasuke had made his excuses and left the house, leaving our blonde as the only male in the house which was quickly becoming quite the chore. The girls had even poked fun at him a few times trying to get him to say or do something.
Some went as far as openly flirting with him or even draping themselves over him but he showed incredible resolve by not reacting to them. Outside he looked bored and entirely focused on his book but on the inside he was panicky and sweating, Shikamaru's advice coming back to him and making him scared of the possible scenarios which was actually making him not read his book and just moved his body on autopilot.
"Heeey Naru-kun, wha'cha reading?" Ino asked as she suddenly wrapped her arms around him and was rubbing her cheek against his. For his credit, the boy didn't look as put off as he was feeling and calmly answered her.
"Just a story about a samurai." he answered, hoping that would be enough information, but he made the big mistake of actually gracing her with an answer. "Really now, a samurai? Do you fancy yourself a samurai Naruto?" Ino asked and the boy almost sobbed, why was she doing this?
"Why on earth would I consider myself a samurai?" he asked and she suddenly poked a finger into his other cheek. "Weeeell that black armor you had on from before looked like a shoguns and you use a sword. It's not far fetched to say you could be one." She said and he resisted the urge to sigh.
"So what are you saying? That I should switch careers?" he asked and the girl just let out a small giggle. "Well I will admit it'd be kinda cool if you did. Imagine you slaying thousands of bandits in the name of justice." she said and this time the boy did sigh.
"But I'd have to give up becoming the hokage if I went that route." He said and the girl gave a hum before poking his cheek again. "You COULD become a lord and then take over for the daimyo. He's higher up than that hokage." She said and he shook his head.
"But he doesn't protect the village like the hokage does. Besides, I don't want to become a lord or even a daimyo." he said and Ino honestly looked surprised. "You're so humble, just like a samurai." she said as she patted him on the head, much to the boys annoyance.
He suddenly stood up which made Ino fall off of him with a surprised cry before he walked out the door. The girl grinned as she watched him walk off before she went back to the other room to talk to the girls.
Naruto eventually found Sasuke talking with Shikamaru and Chouji at a random restaurant. When Naruto walked in the patrons seemed to go quiet and turned away from the boy, getting a confused look from the three others.
Naruto sat at the table with the others. "Hey guys, what's up?" he said and the Nara nodded at him. "Not much honestly. Just figured we'd stop and get a bite." he said, taking note that none of the hosts or waiters was attempting to make their way to Naruto.
"I've noticed this behavior before. Any particular reason these people seem to not want anything to do with you?" the blonde shrugged. "I had the nine tailed fox sealed inside me when I was born and the villagers think taking their frustrations out on me will somehow punish it." he said in a nonchalant manner which made all three boys either spit on their drinks or start choking in Chouji's case as the other patrons looked on in shock that he admitted it so easily.
"Whoa whoa, hold the god damn phone!" Shikamaru said as he patted Chouji on the back. "You had the fox sealed inside you?" he said and Naruto nodded. "Well that would explain a lot of things. So how's that working out for you with your new body?" he asked.
Naruto blinked. "You're taking this quite well, anyways the fox is no longer inside me." He said getting more spit takes from the other customers. "Wait, then where is it?" Shikamaru asked and the boy shrugged. "Dead. I found a way to remove it ages ago but it never really came up so I never talked about it." he said and the patrons were all taking glances at the boy to gauge his honesty.
"How the hell could you NOT talk about it? If that was the entire reason the village was giving you the cold shoulder then wouldn't it have been better to inform the village of the creatures death so they would STOP giving you the cold shoulder?" Shikamaru asked, getting a nod from Sasuke.
"Well for starters I could care less what the villagers think. Second, who would believe me? I don't even have proof except maybe if a Hyuuga decided to check me with their eyes and you know how stuck up most of them are." he said getting another nod from Sasuke.
"Fair point but that brings up another question, why did the fourth hokage seal the monster in you in the first place?" Shikamaru asked and Naruto sighed before looking the Nara dead in the eye, which put everyone in the building on edge.
"Because the fourth hokage IS my father." he said, getting a collective gasp from everyone and Chouji spit his drink out once more. "WHOA! Hold the damn phone!" Shikamaru said as he fully turned towards Naruto.
"Now THAT one is a bit harder to believe, why would the fourth, assuming he is your father, choose his own son as the container?" he said and Naruto turned to Shikamaru. "Well put yourself in his shoes. Would you subject any other child to that kind of life?" he said and the Nara just sighed once more.
"Okay, anything else?" he asked and Naruto just pointed at himself. "Fourth hokage had blonde hair and blue eyes, I have blonde hair and blue eyes and I'm told I even look like him. I'm not part of the Yamanaka clan and outside of them, blondes are rare in Konoha." he said, making the boy nod.
"Okay, what about your mother?" He asked and the boy smiled. "Kushina Uzumaki was her name. Found out she was a redhead and came from a village called whirlpool, but it was wiped out years ago. She was in the village during that attack and later died giving birth to me." he said.
"Well at least you know who your parents were, but what about an inheritance? I'm sure the fourth would have set some things aside for you?" Chouji said and Naruto gave a nod. "They did actually but I've had no use for them. Scrolls, money, a clan home…" he said that last part and Sasuke looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait, if you had a clan house, then why were you still living in that dump of an apartment?" he said and Naruto shrugged, getting a growl from the Uchiha. "You mean to tell me that we went through all that trouble when you already had a nicer house you could have stayed in?" he said as he slammed his fists on the table.
Naruto blinked, not expecting this kind of reaction. "Don't blame me for it! You and Sakura were the ones who decided to remodel the place. I was fine with it being a broken down building." he said and the Uchiha shook his head.
"Then what about the other place? What does it look like? How big is it? Where is it even located?" he asked and Naruto just rubbed the back of his head. "I've never actually gone to see it." he said, the following silence was so deafening that Naruto swore he could hear someone down the road sneeze.
"Naruto, what am I going to do with you?" Sasuke said as he put his face in his hands. Naruto just shrugged before giving the Uchiha a critical stare. "So you don't care about the fox?" He asked and his three friends shook their heads.
"For starters, it was before our time so we shouldn't care in the first place. Second, anyone with a basic understanding of sealing would know how the process works. People put a kunai into a scroll, does that mean the scroll is now a kunai? No, it doesn't work that way. Finally, you said the fox is gone so even if we DID care about it, why would we care now that it's gone? Any hate picked up would be irrelevant." he said and a few people in the bar began to whisper to each other, a few looking guilty.
Naruto was about to stand up when the waiter walked up. "So uh…what can I get you?" he said and Naruto looked surprised before shaking his head and walking out, his friends quickly following after.
"So why didn't you get a bite for the road?" Chouji asked and Naruto just shook his head. "I don't eat or sleep so it'd be kind of a waste." he said as they made their way back to his renovated apartment.
When they walked in the girls looked at him and smirked, only for their smiles to change when they noticed the serious expression the three boys had on their faces. "So apparently Naruto has a clan home." Sasuke said and the girls eyes widened in shock.
"He had the nine tailed fox sealed inside him." Shikamaru added and the other girls looked taken back, except Anko who was narrowing her eyes at the Nara.
"And his father was the fourth hokage." Chouji stated getting even more shocked looks from the girls.
"Well why don't you tell the entire village while you're at it?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone. Shikamaru just shook his head. "You revealed all of this in a public location in front of a large group of people and you know how gossip travels. The only way it could have been spread faster was the hokage giving a public announcement." Shikamaru said.
"…Crap." Naruto said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Cats out of the bag then?" Anko said, getting a nod from Naruto and confused looks from the rest of the ninja. "You knew?" Tenten asked and the purple haired woman nodded.
"Of course I knew. I was heavily against the decision to let the world know about what happened to the fox and even more to let them know who the fox was sealed inside. Everything would have been better off if everyone was told the fox had died and Naruto was a regular orphan." she said, getting a couple nods from the others.
"So the fox is inside you?" Ino asked and Naruto shook his head. "It's dead now. I had it removed some time ago." he answered which shocked the jounin. "Dead? How? The fourth couldn't kill it because it was a construct of pure chakra." she asked and Naruto cleared his throat.
"Well you know how we recently began to use technology that let us charge them with chakra for power?" he began which made the purple haired woman nod. "Well the fox was pulled out of me and put inside of a battery." he said with a shrug, and the woman looked shocked at first before finally her face settled on a grin.
"Well that's great. I haven't been this pleased since Orochimaru kicked the bucket." she said before giving, what Naruto deemed, an odd smile. "And if I recall, I have you to thank for that." she said and the boy shifted uncomfortably.
"It wasn't just me." he said and Shikamaru let out a small cough and Naruto's eyes widened. "I-I mean yeah, it was nothi-" another cough and Naruto began to look panicky. "I-I m-mean I was in the ar-" another louder cough and Naruto just stopped. "I'm just gonna remain quiet." He said and Shikamaru gave him a pat on the back.
Some of the girls looked confused, Anko looked incredibly amused however and the boys looked relieved, save Chouji who was oblivious and just munching on some chips.
Sasuke leaned forward and whispered into Naruto's ear. "Cutting it close Naruto, you're supposed to avoid drawing in more women." Sasuke said and the blonde gave a small nod. As they were about to continue their discussion however, there was a knock on the door.
Everyone blinked before Naruto walked over and opened the door, outside was a member of the ANBU. "Uzumaki-san, your presence is requested at the Hokage's office." The masked ninja said before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"Huh, wonder what this is about?" Sakura said getting a few shrugs from everyone else in the room. Naruto gave a quick nod to everyone before rushing out and making his way to the tower.
Once he had arrived, he saw Tsunade and Jiraiya in the office waiting for him. "Where's the old man?" he asked and the two smiled. "Enjoying retirement again. Since Tsunade has finished her training, he decided his presence was no longer needed and has taken to relaxing at his house." The toad sage said, getting a nod from the boy before the door opened again and Gaara suddenly entered the office.
The two chuunin gave a nod at each other before Tsunade cleared her throat. "The reason I called you here is because Jiraiya has some information regarding the both of you." she said, getting both of their attention.
"It's about that criminal group I told you about before, Akatsuki. We've finally figured out part of their plan. They want to capture all the tailed beast containers. For what? We don't know yet, but it still spells bad news." he explained, getting blank stares from both boys. "What?" he asked and Naruto shook his head.
"We're no longer containers, remember?" he said and the mans eyes widened. "Well I knew YOU weren't, but when did he have his removed?" the sennin asked as he looked at Gaara.
"Shortly after the invasion." was his reply and the sage just shook his head. "I'm so out of the loop." he said. "Well if that's all…" Naruto said as he and Gaara turned to leave but the man held up his hand.
"Wait. That doesn't mean you two are off the hook yet. Akatsuki knows you used to be the containers and that puts you at risk. I want to take you out of the village with me on a training tr-" Naruto immediately cut him off by raising his hand.
"We've been over this, there's nothing you can teach me." he said which got both sennin to raise their eyebrows in shock before Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "You told me you had just started his training, what gives?" she said and Naruto growled in anger.
"I told you before I can't use chakra and taijutsu is out of the question because there's no style that will work for my body. I've even met the two members sent to capture me and they have no idea of what I'm capable of where I have the advantage of knowing exactly how they fight, what jutsu they know and if they're in a ten mile radius of me I'll know." Naruto then narrowed his eyes and glared at Jiraiya.
"Now what's this about being your student?" he said and the man grumbled. "I was concerned with your well being, you're acting extremely overconfident. I don't want you to get caught with your pants down." He said and Naruto shook his head.
"I'm confident because I know Kisame is the only one with a chance of being able to hurt me and without his sword, he doesn't stand a chance. Second, my well being is none of your concern. You had your chance ages ago and you blew it by deciding your spy network was more important than an orphaned godson who was ignored by everyone. You've lost the right and don't think you can get it back." Naruto said as Tsunade looked on in shock.
"Honestly, the only thing I fear right now is I'm not able to protect my friends or if my friends are unable to protect themselves if the Akatsuki decide to get to me through them. If you want a student so badly, then train one of them to fight the Akatsuki, I'm not your student and I would appreciate it if you stopped telling people lies concerning me." The blonde said as Tsunade growled and turned to her ex teammate.
"Jiraiya, what the hell?" she said and the man put up his hands. "Look, I was JUST trying to show some concern." he said. "By lying to me? To think I almost approved of this nonsense!" she said and his eyes widened. "But you already sa-"
"Well I take it back. I do not approve you taking Naruto out of the village, let alone for three years on a useless excursion around the countries." she said and both chuunins eyes widened. "THREE YEARS?!" Naruto and Gaara said in shock.
"Now wait just a minute, it wouldn't be useless!" Jiraiya tried to defend himself but Tsunade cut him off again. "Well what can you teach him? He said himself that he can't learn any jutsu."
Jiraiya slammed his fist onto the table. "Damn it, none of this is right! The prophecy stated that Naruto was to bring peace to the world and I was to help him do it. He would have the assistance of the toads and be able to control the nine tails chakra and become a sage." He said and the blonde looked annoyed.
"You follow stupid prophecies?" he asked and the white haired sennin rubbed his hair with both of his hands in annoyance. "You idiot! The elder toads of Mount Miyaboku told me this prophecy when I was a child and all of the steps were right until it gets to you, then this…this…THING happens to you and you replace your body with those stupid contraptions and now nothing is right anymore!" he said as Tsunade let out a sigh.
"Jiraiya, have you ever stopped to think how ridiculous that all sounds? How stupid prophecies in general are? And besides, you said so yourself, it gets to Naruto and it strays so perhaps Naruto isn't the one your prophecy told about." she said and he shook his head.
"The elders have never been wrong before and the prophecy specifically pointed all of its directions right at Naruto. There is NO way I'm wrong about this!" he argued and Naruto only shook his head.
"You obviously are if it gets to me and the trail goes cold. So I'm not the destined one to bring peace to this land, that's fine by me, then I can focus on the more important things like keeping my friends safe." Naruto said with a shrug.
"But the prophecy spoke about you right down to every last detail! You have a destiny to fulfill and you're going against it every step of the way! You weren't supposed to get this body, you were supposed to fight a sand monster to the brink of death, you fight with a friend who fell into darkness…and you haven't done a single one of these things!"
At this, Naruto had a confused look on his face. "Wait, it has details of my life? What about my name?" he said and Jiraiya nodded which got an angered look from the boy.
"You said the prophecy was told to you when you were a child and now you're telling me you knew what I looked like and what my name was, so does that mean you knew about me the entire time?" he asked and the toad sage froze but said nothing. The room was silent for a long time until Naruto turned around and walked out followed by Gaara.
Tsunade just shook her head. "Jiraiya, what have you done…" the old man didn't reply, he just stared out the window.