And I brought you new-chapter goodness. This chapter is a bit of the same feel of the last chapter but with different focuses. As the chapter suggests, secrets of families are revealed in this chapter and another noticeable difference between the actual timeline and my timeline is seen. You might like it, you might not, and it might raise some odd questions about a certain arrogant individual, but which one? You'll have to read to find out. So without further ado.
Chapter 6 - Secrets of the Families
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BA-BUMP!
Naruto fidgeted in his bed.
BA-BUMP!
'What the hell is making that noise.' he thought to himself.
BA-BUMP!
'I thought I got rid of the alarm clock, what the hell is waking me up!' he screamed inwardly as he shot up in his bed, ready to smash his alarm clock, only to see it wasn't there. Then what was making the noise. He heard it again, like a pulse, coming from somewhere around him. It was in his room, he was sure of that, but exactly where he didn't know. Closing his eyes, he focused his chakra to his ears, something Jiraiya had taught him to do in order to pick up the slightest noises.
BA-BUMP!
He opened his eyes bitterly, realizing the noise was coming from his closet. He threw the sheets off the bed, leaving them looking disheveled. He scooted off the bed hurriedly and stormed his way to his closet. Gripping the handle, he slid the door open, and peered into the closet carefully, listening for the sound it made.
BA-BUMP!
He looked down and saw a long, thin box that seemed to be vibrating. Bending down and grabbing it angrily, he threw off the box's lid and looked at the contents, and instantly calmed. He was still angry at being awoken a bit early - the sun not even rising yet, but the way the wind blew told him it was close to six o'clock - but that attitude was replaced by one of intrigue. The content of this box was something he did not believe to have any use whatsoever.
On the day of his ninth birthday, he received many tools, scrolls, and parchments, but this one was given to him by his father. When he tried to read it, nothing happened. He questioned his father on its use but the only response he got was 'You'll know when the time comes.' He took the thick scroll out, surprised that a thing this big could fit into a box so small, and undid the rope that was used to tie it closed. He unrolled the scroll and smoothed it out, not sure why this thing was giving off such a unique chakra wave.
It suddenly pulsed with one more of those 'BA-BUMP's before something amazing happened. It glowed an amberish color and right before his eyes, words materialized.
'Uzumaki Secret Scroll. To bind you to this scroll, give proof of your heritage.'
Naruto sat down and pondered what that could mean. He then remembered seeing his father sign scrolls in his own blood before, a sign of an official documentation of him. Naruto bit his fore finger till it bled and signed his name on the scroll. Naruto waited for a moment before the bloody letters began to glow brightly and swirl towards the center of the scroll, making a red swirl - the Uzumaki's seal - and then fading, as if absorbed by the material.
A moment later from waiting for something to happen beared fruits to the blonde boy. Words formed on one corner of the scroll and gave a detailed description of what appeared to be a technique.
'A jutsu? This thing contains jutsus? But it said 'Uzumaki Secret Scroll,' does that mean that these are my FATHER'S techniques?' He was left speechless. The thing he considered to be junk had actually ended up being his father's legacy. Jumping to his feet, he ran out of his room in a hurry. 'Hopefully I can catch him before he leaves for the office.' Running as quietly as he could as fast as he could, he turned through corners and down hallways until he made his way to the garden, where his father always drank his morning tea before going off to work. And he was there this morning too.
Carefully walking up to him, he took a seat right next to his father, who looked a little surprised to see his son awake so early.
"I thought you weren't a morning person? Why the change?" asked the man trying his best to tease his son. It was the fact that his son had a genuine smile on his face in response that made Arashi think over his son's nature carefully. 'He almost looks as if he is grateful for something. But what?'
"Thank you…Otou-san." The formality, and yet familiarity, of the term threw Arashi for a loop.
"Okay, Naruto. What is this about?" His son just looked back up to him, beaming.
"I can read your scroll now. I'm capable of reading your scroll now."
Arashi turned to Naruto and examined him in scrutiny, but his eyes didn't hold any sharpness. 'So it responded to him after he was placed on his team and had his first full day of training. What exactly did Yamato do?' He was suddenly attacked by his son, the boy's arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug.
"It means a lot for you to give me something like that. Thank you so very much with entrusting me with it."
"Naruto, you have, by being able to read, proven that you are worthy of the scroll. You see, that scroll was put together by not just me, but Jiraiya and Kakashi, as well. What was designed into the scroll was that when your charka grew to a level that was deemed adequate, the seal we placed into it would activate and call to you. Knowing you, we believed that you would just consider it useless but would keep it so as to not show disrespect. I'm right, aren't I?" Naruto was about to voice a response, but chose to hold his tongue - he knew his father knew. "The scroll is yours and yours alone. If I am correct, you have already signed it. By doing so, this scroll is only for your eyes. Anyone who tries to read it, won't. Anyone who tries to destroy it, will pay. But Naruto, I want you to keep this a secret. I believe that if word got out that I handed down a scroll filled with strong, powerful, or unique techniques, the consensus response could be ugly."
"But dad, the scroll only showed one technique. If it is filled with more than that one then when will I be able to read the rest?"
"Naruto. You'll know when. The scroll will know when. In the meantime, I have a job to do. I must be off and I'm guessing I'll be seeing you later today for your first mission." He gave his son a mischievous smile before standing up, ruffling the boy's hair, and leaping over the large wall towards the tower. 'He's going to be sore with me when he realizes what his "missions" are going to be' thought Arashi to himself.
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Hinata had woken up and stretched out her tight muscles. The workout from yesterday had been extremely hard, especially since she had to do some training with her father. He had been a bit more kind around her than usual and she could only guess that he was happy with her progress. Hinata was grasping some of the more difficult aspects of the 'gentle-fist' fighting style the Hyuugas were so proud of. Her sister was even impressed. She knew her family was of a more blood-thirsty clan, desiring always to be the strongest. She was not deaf to the words of the elders who paid frequent visits to Hiashi whenever some sort of news would come up. Last night was no exception.
Those men in their ceremonial robes constantly bickering about who was stronger and who should be named successor. Hinata wanted to cry when she heard one particular man say that Neji should be adopted into the main family and be made the heir. It would make her happy that her cousin would no longer be apart of that side of his family and be a slave but she wanted that position. Neji was too much like those cruel old men who wanted an heir of great strength and strong character. Not to say that Hinata doubted her abilities but when pitted against Neji, she believed she was outclassed. The issue with character, however, was that while she wanted to be the heir, her attitude wasn't what the elders had come to expect out of the Hyuuga bloodline. The heir was the prototypical genius of the bloodline that could learn all the techniques flawlessly and be a strong leader. She did not meet those requirements, in the eyes of her family. Neji was what they were expecting, and were pushing her father to make such a decision as to adopt Neji into the main family so that he could be named the heir. But Neji would run the clan with an iron fist and any changes he made would be seen as tactless and heartless.
Hinata's view on the workings of her family and its politics was that she wanted to tear down the barrier separating the Main and Branch families. A family was just that, in her eyes. A family. She wanted her family to be unified and to bring peace to the sides and hopefully make amends for the years of damage done by the previous heads' actions.
Sipping on her tea in the kitchen area, she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, her eyes became locked with the very person she had been thinking about. Neji's calculative stare and unreadable face usually unnerved her but something was different about this time. He held a more curious air around him than anything else, which was piquing her curiosity.
"Hinata-sama, I understand that you were placed into an attack team, correct?" She nodded in response. "Fitting, that they put every family's cherished child into a team that will likely see many dangerous scenarios. Tell me Hinata, do you truly understand the position you are in?" That struck a chord in her.
"I'm not a child anymore, Neji-nii-san. I have grown up. You could be surprised if you'd open your eyes more." Neji noticed the trace amounts of sarcasm that laced her words and he was taken back a bit.
"I just hope the blonde idiot doesn't hold you back. I'd hate for the Main Family's prodigy to be held back by the black sheep of the Uzumaki clan." he stated with utter spite in his voice. His distaste for her did not go unnoticed and she saddened inside. She always hoped that somewhere along the way, Neji might warm up to her, but he seemed to take the whole family-house-separation-thing seriously. But after the words replayed through her mind, she felt the sudden urge to defend Naruto and his honor.
"Neji-nii-san, I wish you would not judge so quickly and easily. Naruto-kun has become much stronger since you and him fought. He even learned a Jounin level technique. Naruto-kun has changed."
"You seem pretty confident in that. But nobody changes so easily Hinata, not even you. You, who-" but he was cut off by the man who stood behind him. Neji flinched when he felt the hand on his shoulder and he didn't even need to look up to know who it was.
"Neji, perhaps you should not speak in such a manner to your cousin." The voice of the man, while gentle and warm, was not of a tone that asked for clarity on his words. It was clearly a warning/demand to not speak to Hinata as if he was superior to her. Hinata always knew that when her uncle was around, Neji was the most well-behaved person to be around. But when he wasn't, Neji completely changed. "I apologize if he offended you, Lady Hinata."
"It's okay, Uncle Hizashi-san. And there is no need for such formality around me, I've told you so many times." Hizashi laughed warmly, which caused Hinata to join in. Neji, however, stood there unflinching and determined. He probably had made up his mind that he wouldn't apologize.
"If you do not mind, Otou-san, I was just about to excuse myself from the manor. I must meet with my team for training. Good day to you, and to you, Lady Hinata." He then turned around and walked with an attitude that made her wish he could be humbled. It did Naruto a world of good, she had to admit, and that was the one thing she was thankful about when it came to his and Neji's altercation. He was humbled and rededicated himself. Speaking of Naruto and teams, she needed to hurry to the Hokage's tower. Looking at her uncle she smiled warmly to him and said her farewell for the day and ran to meet her team at their designated meeting zone.
Hizashi, after seeing her leave, began to ponder his earlier thinking of the girl. He watched as she grew older and saw when she seemed to not show any signs of being what the clan would call 'respectable.' But now, her technique was becoming polished and he was seeing hints of a new wave of the 'gentle-fist' in the making with the girl. Her nature did not call for the precise and deadly movements associated with the Jyuuken but, if she were trained in the right way - and her father did not disagree - she might be able to effectively progress the 'Gentle-Fist' towards a whole new wave and make her own style. Maybe he should bring that up with his brother, he thought to himself.
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"Naruto-kun" shouted Hinata as she got closer to him. He was making his way down the street towards the tower and she was hoping they'd be able to walk together to the building. The past few weeks were so hectic that they hadn't had any time to hang out outside of school. He smiled and waved to her as she landed next to him.
"Ohayo, Hinata-chan." he said, greeting her. She looked the same as she had for the past couple of years, the same jacket, the same pants, the same hairstyle, the same shoes. But even though she would appear so normal and plain to most people, he knew otherwise. She had told him that it was because she just didn't 'fancy' any of the attire other girls wore. In a sense, what she wore was what made her unique.
"How are you this morning, Naruto-kun." She inwardly cheered that she had yet to stutter over her words and turn into her usual nervous self. Perhaps after finally overcoming the shock that her good fortune had kept her and Naruto together as team mates, she might be able to be more comfortable around him and the rest of the team.
"Just fine, though something cool did happen this morning." He then slapped his mouth with his hands. 'Crap, Father told me to keep it a secret and I already blew it. Hinata won't let this go until she finds out, as well.' Naruto figured that since he probably trusted her more than their sensei or ero-sennin that it might be okay. He hoped, at least.
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun? Is it a secret or something? You don't have to tell me if it is, I'll understand." But that was the problem. Hinata had a tendency to play the 'My-supposed-best-friend-can't-tell-me-a-secret' card and make him feel guilty. Damn these predictable outcomes.
"If you promise to keep it between just you and me, I'll tell you, alright?" She nodded to confirm and so he continued. "This morning, the scroll that my father gave me four years ago started making a weird noise and when I opened it, words appeared. The scroll asked me to prove my heritage, or something like that, so I signed my name in blood. After the scroll did something with my signature, new words were formed, giving a detailed description of a new technique. My father says that only I can read it and that it is filled with cool stuff like that but the only way for me to read the rest is wait for the scroll to make that weird noise again." When he finished, he looked at her anxiously and nervously, afraid that she might get jealous or something. She instead smiled warmly at him.
"That's great, Naruto-kun. What's the technique on the scroll." He pondered for a moment then gained a look like something clicked in his head.
"It's a wind jutsu, a minor one from the description it gave, but it's usefulness is vast, just like that water gathering jutsu I learned from Jiraiya-sannin. I'm not sure what it does yet, I didn't read that part yet." He suddenly realized that they had made their way to the tower and he hadn't even noticed. Furthermore, Sasuke was there looking at them like they had interrupted his most precious of thought processes.
"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun." Hinata greeted him. His response was a simple 'hn' in acknowledgement. They didn't have to wait but a few more seconds for Yamato to appear in a cloud of smoke.
"Well, well, well. You all beat my projections. Guess you are really looking forward to your mission today, huh?" Naruto nodded eagerly, which only made Yamato want to laugh harder inside, because he could just picture Naruto's face when he realized what the D-rank missions would entail. "Good, then let's make our way up, shall we?" They all turned to the doors of the tower and slowly made their way up the stairs. Once inside the room, the Yondaime looked up from his paperwork and smiled at the team.
"Ah, Team Seven, I've been expecting you all. Yamato tells me that you all are ready for a mission. Good, here is your assignment." He tossed a vanilla folder to Yamato, who opened it, grinned, and then passed the lone sheet inside the folder to Sasuke, who passed it to Hinata, who passed it to Naruto, who dropped his jaw.
"Are you kidding me? We have to do this! Our mission is to 'Mend-a-fence.' You're serious about this?" Yamato gave him a look that even made Sasuke shiver. (A/N: Those who want a mental picture of the look Yamato is giving, go look at the manga issue where Yamato does the 'Scary Mode On' look.)
"Naruto, you will be respectful of the wishes of your Hokage. Relative or not, he is to hand down the same missions to everybody else." Naruto shuddered and cowered behind Hinata, his teeth chattering and his body shaking from fear. 'That's the scariest thing I've ever seen in my entire freaking life.' He could hear Hinata lightly giggle.
"Besides, dobe, all D-rank missions are like this. Did you already forget he told us about this yesterday?" added in Sasuke.
"Well, no, but I didn't think he meant 'these' kind of local tasks. I thought we'd have to find spies in our village and stuff like that. I don't know, I guess I just was expecting something more." Hinata giggled at the red tint on Naruto's face. He was so embarrassed and it was so adorable.
"Naruto, those kinds of missions would be classified middle B-rank to high C-rank." said Yamato again.
"Then when can we do C-rank missions?" asked Naruto, bouncing on his heels. Sasuke rolled his eyes at him while Yondaime closed his eyes and thought about it for a moment.
"Hmmm...after 14 successfully completed D-rank missions." Naruto's jaw hit the ground again. 'I'm gonna have to do 13 more of these stupid chores before I can do something interesting?' His shoulders slumped and he began sulking. Arashi had to contain himself from laughing his ass off. The reaction was more priceless than he had first thought. He composed himself, though, and prepared himself to address the team before him.
"After completing this mission, report back here for your share of the profits and then continue with your plans for the day. Now off you go." They all bowed to him, even Naruto, and then left out the door.
The last person to leave was Sasuke and Arashi gave him a careful look as he walked out and closed the door behind him. The words from Itachi still lingered in his head. Arashi could only hope that Itachi would be able to help Sasuke.
(Flashback)
"Okay, go on, Itachi." The young man was especially serious this evening than previous times, which could only mean news of grave importance.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. My father appears to have taken a rather serious disliking to your decision to have Sasuke in the same team as both Hyuuga Hinata and your son. He is going to try and use this decision you have made and somehow twist it around to make it seem as though you have used your power to put the three of them together in hopes of bringing the three houses closer. He already has had a visit from Danzou from R.O.O.T." Kakashi's visible eye raised upon hearing Danzou's name. This would not be good, he knew that.
"Okay, Itachi-san. Thank you for the information. Is that all?"
"No sir, I have more." Arashi was a bit taken back by the tone in Itachi's voice. It seemed to be hinting towards despair. "I have written down a document that fell upon my sight this evening. The document told of a transfer of funds from our clans' account to an anonymous account in Tea Country." Arashi visibly became angry. Even Itachi's determined facial expression faltered when he felt the spike of killer intent rise in the Hokage.
"Itachi, after this mission is done, you will perform a background check into your clans' funds and any transactions from the account and report anything that stands out to me, understood? And we must do our best to not let Sasuke be drawn in by your father's ideals and philosophies. You are dismissed, now head to Wave and stop Gatou and the rogue nins if they don't surrender." With a nod, Itachi stood up, bowed to Arashi, touched the doorframe - effectively unsealing it - and left with Kakashi.
(End Flashback)
'Politics this, positions that, problems here, problems there. This job requires too much from an individual and if that fool of an Uchiha thinks he will overthrow me from the seat of Hokage, he will be sorely mistaken.' With that he went back to work on his papers, getting together all the paperwork for the other teams. Team Eight should be arriving soon.
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"Well that was very interesting." said Naruto, kicking at a rock on the ground. He was still upset that his first mission was to mend an old man's fence. Granted, the old guy couldn't do it himself, but wasn't that what construction crews were for? 'Oh well, we still got paid for it so I guess it doesn't matter.' "Yamato-sensei, what are we going to do next?"
"Well, Naruto, that is up to you. Do you all want to train or would you all like to do another mission and get closer to doing a C-rank mission?" The answer was obvious, at least to Sasuke.
"Training, Yamato-sensei. That is my vote." Naruto pondered and agreed.
"Yeah, I'm with the teme on this one. What about you, Hinata-chan?" He expected her to just nod her head or to say 'If you all want to then I will as well.' What actually happened threw him off. This was a different Hinata from the past few days.
"I would like to train as well, sensei." Yamato closed his eyes, nodding in understanding.
"Very well then. Let us move to our training grounds and then we can continue where we left off yesterday."
After a few minutes of dashing at full speed, they arrived at Area Thirteen and awaited Yamato's orders. "Alright. I'm gonna work with each of you individually on an area of weakness that you MUST bring to my attention, so go ahead and think about a weakness that I can help you with." They all thought for a while and then they looked at him, almost at the exact same time, with a look of knowing. "Good, then let's start with Naruto and then I'll decide after that. Sasuke and Hinata, you two spar for a bit while I work with Naruto." Sasuke turned to look at Hinata, who did the same thing, and they walked a little bit away from Yamato and Naruto and got into taijutsu stances. "Okay now Naruto, what is a weakness you have."
"My kage bunshins, they seem to suck up so much of my chakra and I don't know what I should do about it. I mean, it is my best technique but if it cripples me then how good can it be to use?"
"And that is where the solution comes in. It won't be of any use if it hurts you more than helps you. What you need to do is increase your chakra reserves more than you already have. I can tell you have a large amount of chakra but if you plan to use the Kage Bunshin as your technique of choice then you have to develop an even larger storage of chakra. Okay? Well let's start. First way to increase your reserves is to do what?"
"One way is to practice exercises that require extreme amounts of chakra control, right?"
"Very good. Now, another way, and a much more effective way, is to expend almost all of your chakra before you go to sleep. Then, after a full night's rest and a healthy breakfast, your reserves will be replenished and slightly larger. Continue this cycle, and your stores will increase. Yet another method I can tell you is to try and perform some of those chakra control exercises with the Kage Bunshins. If you and, say, three Kage Bunshins perform meditation while staying afloat on top of water, their control increases, and when they are dispelled, you gain those benefits." Naruto's eyes beamed and his jaw hung open in awe.
"You're saying that whatever my bunshins do, I get the credit for in the long run?"
"Yes, that even goes with learning something like a jutsu. Try it in your free time. In the meantime, let's work on techniques." Yamato slid into a taijutsu stance and Naruto followed suit. "Now, for this exercise, I want you to use any jutsus you know."
"Alright then, sensei, here I come." And after finishing that statement, he dashed at Yamato as fast as he could. Punches and kicks were thrown at Yamato, but he was dodging and blocking them all too easily, no longer being lackadaisical like he was the day before. Naruto then understood why Yamato had said he wanted him to use jutsus. It was because Yamato was no longer going to take it easy on him with the taijutsu. Naruto jumped back, made three seals and drove his palm into the ground. "Doton: Quicksand."
Yamato was shocked that Naruto was able to not only use an earth technique but very well, nonetheless. He was stuck sinking into the ground and when Naruto stopped feeding chakra into the sandtrap, the soil quickly solidified. "Very well done, Naruto. Just remember, don't use a technique like this against an opponent who is well-versed in the Earth element." Yamato then started sinking even further into the ground until he couldn't be seen. Naruto started looking around, waiting for him to pop up anywhere, until it was too late. Vines had started to grow underneath him and had him captured.
Sasuke and Hinata, who had been going at it for a while now, had stopped and watched Yamato and Naruto in action against each other. Sasuke was slightly impressed that Naruto had seemingly gotten the jump on Yamato, until the vines captured him. 'That dobe, he should've known not to use an earth technique against Yamato-sensei. Oh well, that's what he gets for not thinking.'
Yamato now reassimilated from the ground and looked at Naruto all bundled up in the vines. "Just submit for now and we can move on, okay?" Yamato liked to taunt people who were easily aggravated. Using a weakness that played upon the egos of the opponent usually had a positive result. Naruto, however, instead of screaming and resisting, closed his eyes, calmed his breathing, and managed to bring his hands together. Two handseals.
"Katon: Heat Gatherer." Yamato and Sasuke's eyes bulged at that.
"The dobe can use a Katon jutsu?" he said out loud, not realizing he did so.
"You'd be surprised what Naruto is capable of doing, Sasuke-kun. He's better than you give him credit for." Sasuke looked at Hinata, who seemed to have a look of the utmost confidence in the blonde boy, who was ending up becoming more of an enigma than an open book like he originally thought the goof was.
The air around the blonde boy started to became hazy with the increasing heat that was gathering around him and they could all feel the chakra that was being pumped into it. Slowly but surely, the vines began to sizzle and smoke and Naruto jerked his arms and broke the bindings that had become loosened. He was sweating from the heat but it had apparently worked. Now he made two more handseals. "Futon: Siphon." Sasuke almost gagged when he heard 'Futon' spoken from his voice. 'And now a futon jutsu. I have to get better or he is going to quickly surpass me.'
The air around him started to twist violently and was being drawn towards him. The pressure it created around Naruto was too much and was sucking away all his air. 'I can't breath.'
"Naruto, dispell the jutsu!" shouted Yamato. Naruto jerked his hands apart and felt out the chakra of the jutsu around him and forced the feed from his chakra to stop. The wind finally stopped and Naruto gasped for air, falling to his knees and gagging. Yamato bent down to make sure he was alright. "You fool, you didn't know how to use that technique, did you?" Naruto shook his head to confirm he didn't, not able to find his voice yet. "Never, ever, use a technique you are unsure of in the heat of battle. If you use it improperly, you could die, just like you almost did, Naruto." He paled when Yamato told him he might have died and mentally got to work kicking himself in the ass for the stupid mistake he made. "It's okay. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's done. Now tell me. What do you think went wrong there?"
"I just used the technique the same way I used the 'Heat Gatherer' " he said to him.
"And what happens when you use the Heat Gatherer?"
"Well, I force my chakra into the air around me to heat it. The more I pump, the hotter it gets. So I figured if I pumped out chakra using that technique, the Siphon, then I would be able to generate winds around me. But that's not how it works, is it Sensei?" Yamato smiled at him and shook his head. "Yeah I figured, so could you help me to understand it?" he asked him sheepishly.
"I guess I could do that much. Ironic, you learn yesterday that you are of the wind element and here you are struggling with a wind jutsu. Anyways, you do not use this technique in the same manner you would the Heat Gatherer, simply because you do not need to produce wind around you. The word of the technique you tried to use, Siphon, does exactly what it says. It siphons the air around you. What you have to do is when you perform this technique, you have to take your chakra and create a pulling effect. The air around you will then circulate around your body. The technique in general is of a bit more difficulty than the others you have used, but it opens up a new door of possible tactical maneuvers and abilities. The Siphon technique is the beginning step to many 'Futon' jutsus. When you have mastered this technique on your own free time, I will then help you further the benefits it will provide you with, okay?" Naruto smiled, happy that his sensei wasn't afraid of assisting him in his growth and was afraid to help instruct him how to use techniques properly. Naruto's previous sensei, Jiraiya, was more of a man who would show you something and then expect you to figure it out on your own. Yamato seemed to be the perfect example of an instructor.
"Hai, Yamato-sensei."
"Alright then. Sasuke, you're up. Naruto, you can go over there and work on your technique or you can spar with Hinata or you can work on building your chakra reserves, which I highly suggest you do if you plan on using the techniques you have shown me today." Sasuke stepped up and told him that the weakness he thought that Yamato could help him with was his genjutsu awareness. They proceeded to talk with each other about the issues presented in certain scenarios with different genjutsus and the ability to see through them and break them effectively. Naruto walked over to Hinata but instead of sliding into a taijutsu stance, he just sat down close to her. She took a seat close to him as well and sort of waited for something to happen. When it didn't, she surprised him again by initiating a conversation.
"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" she asked, still a little worried, the image of him on his hands and knees, gasping for air, still fresh in her mind.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just surprised with what happened and all." He laughed afterwards to try and ease her suspicion that he might not be okay and decided to move on to something else. "So, what's the weakness that you are going to tell sensei?" She seemed to think about it a bit before she finally told him.
"Um...a weakness that 'sensei' could help out with is my chakra control, I guess. But there are others that I would need father to assist with." Naruto understood. She always told him about how her byakugan wasn't considered 'up-to-par' and that her father had begun helping her bring out more of her family's bloodline abilities but wasn't being all too successful. At least, he thought it wasn't because she hadn't said anything to disprove that theory. But that first part of her statement raised his curiosity.
"Hold on, Hinata-chan, I wanna go ask Yamato something." She said okay and he got a little closer to the two. "Excuse me, sensei. I was wondering if I could ask your permission for something."
"You don't need my permission to do that Naruto, you're not a kid in school anymore." Naruto almost gagged as he couldn't believe Yamato had just suggested that. Yamato laughed again at Naruto's reaction.
"NO, NOT THAT! Baka sensei. I was wondering, Hinata said that her weakness that she is probably gonna tell you about is chakra control. You mind if I take her to the stream close by and assist her with that so you two can have some more time to work on whatever it is you are working on?" He added that last little bit to sweeten the deal. Giving Yamato more time to work on genjutsu with Sasuke would benefit the team in the long run. Naruto knew he had no shot at 'recognizing' a genjutsu, so he would probably rely on his teammates to save his ass in that situation.
Yamato considered it for a moment and agreed. "I'll be by in about twenty or so minutes to check in and take over alright? But you two can go ahead and work in that area if you feel you can help her." Naruto turned to Hinata and waved at her to follow him. She got off the ground and jogged after him. When they came to the stream, Naruto couldn't help but reminisce. The very same stream, where they met.
"Naruto-kun, did you bring me here on purpose?" she asked him with a sly look on her face. He returned her look with a wink to tease her and she laughed at him. "You nerd. So, show me what I need to do to help with chakra control."
"Well, first we need to test how good you are with walking on water." She instantly stepped out and started twirling around on the tips of her feet like a ballet dancer. "Okay" he managed to cough out, "now let's see how well you move on the water. Apply a layer of chakra to your feet so that your feet are no longer touching the water." She then lifted up slightly on top of the water and Naruto could the see the ripples in the water underneath her feet from the waves of chakra being applied to them. "Good, you're doing great Hinata-chan. Now, maintain that and skate across the water for a while." She did so while he formed a couple of bunshins and told them to go meditate on the water with him. After a few minutes of this, Naruto was tagged on the back of the head playfully and looked up, seeing Hinata skate off and away from him. 'Damn she's a fast learner.'
"Come on, Naruto-kun. That's boring, what you are doing. Chase me, it will be better exercise. Besides, you need the exercise with all the barbeque you put down the other day." Naruto put on a look of mock shock at her teasingly harsh words. She started laughing and went racing down the stream as fast as she could. Naruto dismissed the bunshins and went chasing after her. Her playful laughter was enough to make him quickly realize that she was just wanting to have fun than to have a race. Hinata was in so many ways what he would expect a sister to be and that's what he always thought of her as, but now he has become more adept at thinking of her as a friend, but his best friend. Even he doesn't know the reason for that change. A couple minutes later, Naruto was starting to get close enough to catch her when a small pebble came out of nowhere and smacked Naruto upside the head hard enough to knock away his concentration so that he fell into the water. Getting back up to the surface and to the shore, he looked for the source and saw Yamato and Sasuke staring at them. Yamato was laughing at him while Sasuke was holding a few more pebbles and tossing them around casually in his hand.
"Grr...damnit Sasuke, you could've gotten my attention in a better way than that."
"I know, but this was more fun." Naruto choked on that last part. Sasuke just said that it was more 'fun.' Change is change. Maybe for the better or the worse, if that is what his idea of fun was - throwing pebbles at your teammates.
"Still pretty damn dirty. So I'm guessing twenty minutes is up huh?" Naruto asked his sensei with a stupid grin on his face.
"Mmhmm. Although I am surprised you and her are capable of such a technique. That is very impressive. I'm gonna have you teach Sasuke that, Naruto, while I spend more time with Hinata." Naruto got out of the water and did the 'Heat Gatherer,' drying himself off and begrudgingly walked over to Sasuke. Yamato grabbed a rock that you could hold in your hand and tossed it to Hinata, who caught it and looked at it questioningly. "Lay the rock flat on your palm and pump chakra into your hand. You want to pump enough chakra into your hand to make the rock float into the air. Begin."
Naruto, meanwhile, was doing his best to show Sasuke how to walk on water. "No, that's not enough chakra. You have to realize that with water, almost everything is considered too heavy to stay on the surface. You have to apply enough chakra into your feet and push it against the water's surface and you must do this constantly. Now try again." Sasuke had already fallen in once and he was beginning to be skeptical of Naruto's teaching abilities. 'I will do this. Naruto will not be better than me at something. I won't allow that to happen.' He stepped back out onto the water and started to float but lost his concentration and fell in again. Naruto had to refrain from laughing at Sasuke but couldn't help himself when Sasuke climbed back onto the surface, his hair sticking to his face damply. Sasuke glared at him but that only made him laugh harder.
"Alright, alright. Hey, your sharingan can see how chakra is applied right?" Sasuke, a little confused by the question, nodded. "Alright, then I want you to activate your sharingan and memorize how I apply my chakra when I walk onto the water, okay?" Sasuke nodded again, now understanding. 'Damn, why didn't I think of that? Maybe the dope isn't all that dumb.' He activated his sharingan and motioned to Naruto that he was ready. "Alright, now watch my feet." he told him as he stepped out into the water. Sasuke smirked as he realized what he was doing wrong but cursed inwardly that Naruto had been right. He hadn't been using enough chakra. "The real trick is maintaining it." Sasuke stepped to the water and applied chakra. Stepping out further, he applied the chakra to the next foot while doing everything in his power to maintain the same amount in the other foot. He took careful step after careful step out further into the water and grinned at his accomplishment.
"Very good, Sasuke. Excellent, Naruto. You might be a better teacher than I am." Yamato said jokingly. He turned back to Hinata who had managed to the get the rock to lift off of her hand, but struggled to keep it afloat in the air. She seemed to be getting frustrated when he chose to stop her. Impatience usually led to mistakes which led to more mistakes. "Good job, Hinata. This isn't an easy enough task to grasp. It might take some time before you master it but I'm confident you can." He then looked at the sky and realized that they probably had about an hour or so left of daylight. "Okay guys, I'm gonna let you all practice what you want to practice by yourselves while I supervise. If I think I can help you out then I will."
After another hour of training involving tested ninjutsus, polishing taijutsu, and water-walking exercises, Team Seven was dismissed and was just as sore as they were the day before. With the knowledge that they were to meet their sensei at 8 AM at the tower again tomorrow, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke walked together back to the main area of town. Naruto's stomach made an unpleasant sound which was met with a slight chuckle from Sasuke, who seemed to be more apt to warming up to Naruto and Hinata than he had the day before, and a look on Hinata's face that was a mix of sympathy and amusement.
"I feel like gettin some ramen. How bout you Hinata-chan? Wanna join me? My treat?" She blushed lightly at his invitation but managed to choke out a 'yes.' Naruto grinned and turned to Sasuke. "Hey, how bout you? Wanna join us for some ramen?" he offered to him
"Nah, I'm not much of a ramen fan. Maybe later though." He started to walk away but stopped before he got too far away. "See ya tomorrow. Good night." and he turned back around and walked back to his home. Naruto stared at the retreating form of Sasuke and made one declaration to himself. He wouldn't judge anybody so quickly the way he had judged Sasuke. Sasuke just seemed to be as stuck-up and arrogant as Neji was, but here was Sasuke being more friendly and outgoing in these past two days than he had been the entire time they were in the academy. He turned back to Hinata, who was waiting somewhat patiently and they headed to Ichiraku's Ramen stand for supper.
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Four men stood on an incomplete bridge facing around a hundred plus angry samurai, awaiting the inevitable encounter. Two badly injured ninja were behind a man with spiky silver hair. The said man's right hand was red from the blood of the young boy who had blocked his attack on the tall, slender man with the meat cleaver for a weapon. Kakashi was now exhausted from the battle with Zabuza and the boy, the two of them being a lot more powerful than they had all thought. But it seemed that Itachi was holding back the entire fight, saving his strength for something more important than the rogue nin and his accomplice and now he could see why. While being outclassed as far as experience goes, the sheer numbers of the men before them were enough to make them troublesome, but Itachi had stepped forward unflinchingly. Kakashi was not an idiot, he knew Itachi was powerful, but this was overconfidence if you had to ask him.
"Itachi, maybe we should attack them as a group."
"Kakashi, do not insult me with fear for my well being. I will be fine against these peons." All the men seemed to growl at him angrily and one stepped forward.
"Hey, pretty boy, if you feel froggy, why not jump while the water is still warm. I'd love to add your blood to my blade's collection."
Itachi just laughed at them all which sent shivers down Kakashi's, Genma's, and Hayate's spines. "You are all ignorant of how outclassed you are. Konoha has sent in their elite's to finish the job because that is what we, who are here on this bridge right now, are good at. I'm no different. My job is to take care of slime like you and put you in your place." He then untied the collar of his cape and slung it over his shoulder, where Genma caught it while smirking. 'They actually managed to provoked Itachi. They just don't know what they have done.'
Itachi was wearing a fishnet top over a dark blue muscle shirt, which showed that he wasn't some skinny, scrawny little kid. He was well-toned and the attire was meant to give him better freedom for close-range combat, something he wasn't all that well known for, but was more than willing to participate in when the time called for it. The time seemed to have called for it. "You will all help take some of my frustrations away." He reached behind his back and pulled off of a strap on his back a big ring, with one blade that looked like the wheels in the sharingan eye. After flicking the device, two more blades seemed to materialize from where there was only one previously and now he was holding a three-bladed Fuuma Shurikan. He started putting chakra into the device and threw it at the men. They all laughed at him for throwing such a meager weapon, but then again, they didn't know that much about ninjutsu.
"Sonic Shurikan no Jutsu." The words echoed across the bridge and the shurikan's speed increased 100 fold, cutting a path right down the middle and taking out more than thirty of the men. The resulting sonic boom knocked fifty or so over the sides of the bridge and many more off their feet. Itachi reached into his kunai holsters on his thighs and pulled out two rather large kunai and held one in each hand. Running towards the group with speed that not even Kakashi could keep up with unless he had the sharingan eye's help, Itach began blocking blade swings and wild punches and started to methodically and carefully pick his punches. Everytime it looked like he would be cut while his guard was down, he would just turn around and finish that person off. Not a single one landed a blow on the boy.
In a surprisingly quick amount of time, the hundreds of men who seemed so confident that they would win were dwindled down to a minüte few, who decided to turn tail and run, understanding finally just who they were dealing with. Itachi wiped off the sweat on his forehead and raised his hand into the air, sending a pulse of chakra out of it and a few moments later, the fuuma shurikan returned to him. Walking back to Kakashi and the others, they all looked at him in awe.
"Gatou wasn't with them, we need to find him. Let's move on." said Itachi, looking at Kakashi.
"Yeah, I guess but I think we should rest for a bit. These two are no longer threats-" he stated by pointing to the debilitated bodies of Zabuza and Haku,"-and besides, I think we did pretty good on the first day, taking them out and all those samurai. Not a bad day's work. Let's get some well-deserved sleep and start fresh first thing in the morning. At that time, I'll need you, Hayate, to send out a message for a recovery team to come and take back these two, as well as any injured Konoha nins." Itachi, Genma, and Hayate agreed with the decision and they made their way to Tazuna, the bridge-builder's house, since he graciously offered boarding for Konoha nin who needed a place to stay.
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Hey, what can I say? I thought you guys would like a little bit of an update as to how things would go in Wave since Naruto wouldn't be over there doing the job himself. So there you go. This chapter, once again, was just a chapter to set up more things for later. From this point on, things get interesting and fun, at least for me. I hope things will be interesting to you all as well. If there are any questions you have or you would like to make a suggestion for later on in the story, don't be afraid to message me; otherwise, I won't know if I have seemingly left you all in the dark about something. I believe I'm tying up a lot of the loose ends in this chapter.
As for people questioning the whole Naruto-chakra-stamina thing, remember I said that in the last chapter he had the Shikamaru disease. Also, he doesn't have nearly as much chakra as he did in the original timeline because of the very reason he was hated. It is my belief that the demon that was sealed inside of him was the reason his reserves were so massive. His chakra was in overtime, constantly in work to keep the Kyuubi's presence subdued. Also, he was a prankster and constantly got chased by people, which helped to increase stamina. He didn't have that hardship in my story and therefore, does not have the benefits of it. The hardship of bearing the demon is what made him so strong and such a chakra freak. Without that fox inside him, my Naruto needs a lot more time to develop that chakra storage. Give me a bit more time to work with him people, he won't suck, I promise. :)
Also, how do you all like the slowly emerging personality of Hinata? Giving her a personality outside of her shy, timid nature was difficult but I think this one is probably the best one I can think of. A Hinata that is comfortable enough around Naruto since they have been friends for a while and her playful nature with her best friend, and her slight attitude towards Neji when they exchange words. I'm trying my best to keep her Hinata while giving her more confidence. Naruto does seem to rub off on a lot of people, why not her? Just don't ask me to give her different clothing. I just can't, for the life of me, picture her in skimpy shorts and form fitting tops that show off her assets. She's still 12 years old in my story, first off, and secondly, she's Hinata. The tan jacket and baggy dark pants just fit. So please don't ask that out of me.
A preview for the next chapter: Huzzah for time skips, although the next chapter won't be much of a skip. A week or two's worth of time is skipped as Team Seven receives their first C-rank mission and it is an awkward one. The next chapter should be out soon too but then again, I've got a lot on my plate right now. Here's hoping.
Good bye for now.