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CHAPTER FOUR – Present day, Human world, a few dozen kilometers from the Land of the Waves
The beaming brightness of the morning sun shone brilliantly through the forest canopy. A sleepy pair of eyes opened up, painfully accepting the sun's rays. Birds chirping and bug noises awoke Naruto, and he groggily yawned and rose to greet the day. He slapped himself to completely remove tiredness from his face, and stood up. Sakura gave him a thumbs up. "All's clear on this front, Naruto-sama!" Her cheerful exclamation reminded him of himself more than her, but understood and smiled. Sasuke forced a half-smile and nodded.
"You are truly skilled," Kakashi complimented. "You're probably jounin material as is!" Being a high-ranked ninja, he had come across many young, yet powerful shinobi. Naruto certainly ranked up there amongst them. "Your combination of the Rasengan jutsu with your trademark Naruto Rendan I can only describe as flawless. I doubt I'd have pulled off a victory against Haku quite as completely." Sasuke turned his back to such praise not being directed at him. After all, no one ever noticed him.
"You kept up with the combat, didn't you, Sasuke?" Startled, the Uchiha faced a grinning Naruto. "I could sense you in the distance, observing, seeing through the illusion." He patted his comrade on the shoulder. "You developed your sharingan. Impressive for a genin." Sasuke very nearly choked on his own breath. Almost unable to comprehend the idea of being noticed by someone, the prospect of actually being praised by someone, he found it difficult but smiled.
"I…" Sasuke stammered. He didn't want to say it, but it had to be said. He felt it would betray weakness. "I want to be…" He swallowed his pride as his eyes began to water. "I want to be as good as you, Naruto!" A tear slid from his left eye down his cheek. Several more followed as a mass of emotion all erupted at once. "I'm…I'm never a help to you at all!"
"No Sasuke," Naruto argued, "You're a huge help!" He pulled his comrade closer in for a warm embrace as he silenced the boy's doubts. "You just keep training, and anything's possible." Scarcely could he believe that such an outpour of feelings had come from such a staunchly drawn boy.
Of all those startled by Sasuke's admittance, none were affected more so than Kakashi. He'd felt a bit of sanity, a bit of humanity return to the loner. Sasuke himself felt better as his eyes began to slowly dry back to normal. As tense moment of sorrow ended, quickly did their attention turn back to the mission. Naruto had certainly not expected to hear such a strange outpour, but as of the moment he had to use every ounce of his heightened senses to his advantage. Zabuza and Haku quite likely were the greatest threat, but still, Gatou could be hiding some more trump cards. The rich bastard certainly wouldn't let something as pitiful as the death of a primary weapon stop his plan. The blonde estimated, though, that the missing nin he'd eliminated were the most powerful ninja he could get. Now, he figured, they'd be fielding swarms of bandits.
"Um, Kakashi?" The jounin craned his neck towards Tazuna. The bridge builder had a concern. "I lied to your village and that could've gotten you all killed. Why'd you stick around?"
"Because true shinobi do not merely bend to the will of whomever pays the piper," Kakashi explained. "If we simply left you to die after seeing your agony, we'd be no better than Zabuza." He smiled as they walked on. "Don't worry. We'll make the land of the Waves by mid-afternoon." They would complete their journey without a severe hindrance. Gatou's final act would be as Naruto predicted, and would result in a flawless execution of a plan conceived by Sasuke. The money "borrowed" from Gatou would help replenish the Land of the Waves's economy. Tazuna would, in all of his days, never forget the four from the Leaf who chose to do what they did not have to, and save his life. Kakashi could never have been prouder of his team.
The palace of the Hokage, for obvious reason, stood grander and more wondrous than any other building of the Village Hidden in the Leaf. To Naruto, it had much more meaning than that, it had been his home and place of fondest memories. The bottom two floors above the basement and ground level were used for offices of those belonging to Yondaime's cabinet. A Hokage had innumerable tasks to attend to, so Konoha had six departments answering to four secretaries. They were organized as such: The Department of Warfare, and the Department of ANBU Defense, both of which answered to the Secretary of Village Security, the Department of Special Services, which answered to a secretary of the same title, the Department of the Ruling Committee, which answered to the Village Chancellor, the Department of Education, which gave a weekly report to the Principal General, and the newly-formed Department of Territory, who answered also to the Village Chancellor. Currently, Naruto sat with the three jounin who'd forwarded their without-an-unkind-word recommendation letters to the Secretary of Special Services.
"I have faith that you'll make jounin, Naruto," Gai cheered, then struck a seated pose. "Just have faith in the power of youth!" He, as well as the other two, had already spoken privately and separately, with the secretary, their words being part of the decision on Naruto's future. If anyone could be worthy of jounin it would be the honorable son, thought Gai, and the feeling held somewhat mutually among the other two. The anticipation could not have been any higher when the door opened. With a nearly stilled breath Naruto entered the office.
"Take a seat, Naruto," Jiraiya kindly offered. As the blonde chunin sat across from the secretary, the mood in the room became distinctly more matter-of-fact. He coughed as the old pervert shuffled his papers. "Naruto, let's get down to business." He tried to word his sentences carefully. "I must admit, your progress as of late is simply breathtaking. Only a year after achieving stat7us as a chunin already you have procured sufficient missions and recommendations to be trained formally as a jounin. I would certainly not have taken this decision lightly, even though you are the Honorable Son." Even with the word of three respectable jounin, Jiraiya doubted Naruto's preparedness for jounin status. Still, the blow-by-blow description of the boy's fight with Haku from Kakashi held some more weight.
"Have you made your decision, Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto forced the end of the discussion by asking the final question. He could feel his stomach twisting from anticipation.
Jiraiya squirmed. "I…Really you just aren't quite ready," he could almost feel Naruto attempting to avoid betraying his sense of let down, and it began to weigh on him. Uchiha Itachi also had not been "quite ready," yet look at his final skill level before dying. He put up a near Kage-level fight against Yondaime-sama. Every instinct shouted of Naruto's potential. "But I could very well be wrong. I'll allow it in this case. A week from today you'll be assigned to a skilled team of ANBU and other jounin who'll oversee your training and examination." Naruto sprung from his seat to shake Jiraiya's hand.
"Thank you very much, sir!" He had waited for this moment for quite some time.
Sakura had experienced nothing quite like the previous week. Her new third teammate after Naruto had left had nowhere near the same level of talent. She'd grown somewhat attached to him during their single mission together. She missed his simply amazing resourcefulness, and ability to strategize under unbelievable pressure. The human flesh eating, however, that she could do without. As of the current moment she would be meeting with Sasuke to see Naruto off on his first day of the three months of training as a jounin. Predictably, the Uchiha already had arrived, and waited still for his former teammate to show up.
"You guys really care about me, don'tcha!"
They turned to see him behind them. Sasuke smiled; the strong suit of Naruto could only be speed and stealth. Sakura gave the blonde chunin a tight hug. "You do your best and make jounin for me!" she cooed. "You're so talented." She separated from their warm embrace to allow Sasuke an opportunity to shake his hand.
"I wish you the best, Naruto," he wished. "And thank you," he grinned, "because now I'll work to surpass you!"
"You'll be working for quite some time, then." Naruto grinned as well. "A few months from now you'll be taking the chunin exam and I hope you'll have as much faith in yourselves as I had in me." A figure approached.
"Your training shall soon begin, Honorable Son!" Naruto turned, and rolled his eyes; it could only be Ebisu, the closet pervert.
"Very soon, Ebisu-sama," he said through clenched teeth. Ebisu boiled where he stood. He's with that Uchiha brat, he thought. Reject whose brother betrayed Hokage-sama. The jounin opened his mouth to protest, but a single lift of Naruto's hand forced his silence. "I said, very soon, Ebisu-sama." The blonde said goodbye to his friends and left with the pervert. His former comrades from Gai and Asuma's squads already had seen him.
About ten meters away, Ebisu uttered, "You'd be best not hanging around that riffraff." Naruto glared at him, and he swallowed hard. "I shall shut up now, Honorable Son." Naruto beamed.
Twenty minutes later, Ebisu stood across from the Honorable Son he served, in a classroom-like setting. Naruto sat in one of six desks in an area. Behind him nearly seven jounin and five ANBU stared at the boy. "Now then," Ebisu began. "What will follow for the next three months is intense training which will prepare you for the tasks and challenges that await you as a jounin." He took a sip of water. "Four stages of instruction will follow and then you will automatically be enrolled in the jounin exam. Stage one will be 'Strategy Training.' Any good jounin must know the strengths and weaknesses of his team, and must pick the proper staff for each mission. Furthermore, a good jounin must know how to make use of, or not use that team in combat. This will involve some basic classroom tutoring and a lot of field instruction. I will instruct you in the class," two of the jounin approached from the back, "and these two will provide field instruction."
An almost lustfully dressed kunoichi approached as Ebisu took a seat. Naruto saw the pervert sit down quickly so as to hide his hard-on. "My name is Mitarashi Anko," she beckoned," and I am your instructor for stage two. Stage two is 'Fight Training.' A jounin who lacks taijutsu begs to die. Although you and I may use different styles, I still have much to instruct you on the art of physical combat." What followed could only be described as a fifteen-second-long nervous breakdown cleverly disguised as an attempt to impress him with a taijutsu display. "There will be in-dojo and field exercises." She took a seat.
A pale, sickly figure with heavy bags under his eyes approached from the back. He let a few mild coughs, then a near Earth-shattering one before blowing his nose. "I am Gekkou Hayate, he introduced. "Stage three is my specialty, because you'll be given 'Weapons Training.'" He drew his ninja-to. "In the wrong hands, this is nothing more than a metal stick. Any skilled jounin must know the sword, as well as any of a dozen different weapons." He sheathed his blade. "There have been myths of shinobi swordsmen capable of cutting down a hundred men from a single stroke." Once more he coughed a brief fit. His partner jounin, reluctant to come within ten feet of him, had to be coaxed. "I will provide in-field and in-dojo instruction, and my partner will lecture." He sat down, his partner putting a whole desk's distance between them. When Hayate nearly coughed in Anko's direction, the kunoichi covered her face.
A man whose head curvature from the forehead up sat underneath a black bandana approached, along with the one remaining jounin and all five ANBU. "The last stage will be a two-parter," he started. "My name is Morino Ibiki. Stage four will be 'Interrogation Training,' that's part one under my command, and 'Instruction training.' I will teach you the fine art of extracting information." He and his partner took a seat. An ANBU operative with a raccoon mask, whose muscles looked thin and stringy, approached.
"Instruction Training shall be the last two weeks. We shall accompany you as you're sent on actual missions with teams of genin and give instruction two aspiring chunin." Naruto raised his hand. "Yes, Honorable Son?"
"Um, I don't recall ever receiving instruction when I was an aspiring chunin," he recalled.
"You never put in a formal request," the simple answer was. "Some genin do."
"Ah." His question answered, another came to mind. "This tutoring you're all doing for my jounin exam preparation is great, but isn't it a bit much just for me?" The ANBU operative chuckled.
"Just for you, that would be a lot." He cleared his throat. "But one other will receive this briefing after you; the other candidate, Umino Iruka." He checked his watch. "You are dismissed to your room. Each night you are here, lights out is at ten sharp, and lights on is at six A.M."
Naruto smiled as he left the classroom. Iruka-sensei's finally getting his chance.
For the next two and a half weeks, Ebisu and his two jounin assistants proctored stage one. A young chunin and a mid twenties chunin walked lockstep to the first classroom instruction. Iruka looked down at his former academy student. "Top of your class genin at age six," he remembered, "I never imagined we'd be training as jounin together." He doubted his purpose.
"I never imagined myself teaching genin at my age," Naruto joked. "That's what'll happen if I make it."
Iruka smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Naruto, even for a fox demon, you're amazingly talented. I am proud to have been your senior academy instructor." He knew the boy had talent. Much more talent than I, he thought.
The classroom door slid open and the two took seats apart from each other. Ebisu scratched his head and began speaking. "On A& B missions, there will be a lot of concern for combat, not to mention split-second decisions that you, the team leaders and officers, will be required to make." A piece of chalk he slid into his hand as he came to the blackboard. "You will have to choose your team carefully. As a very general rule, we categorize shinobi into these major categories." Several rows and columns of a table he drew. "Illusionists generally lack in the taijutsu area, but sometimes can be well educated in ninjutsu. Fighters are very strong and excel in taijutsu but usually lack genjutsu talent, although good many are somewhat decent at ninjutsu. Weapons Experts and/or Swordsmen will almost always be best with any number of non-chakra weapons. Usually good at taijutsu they often lack nin and genjutsu. A Jutsu Expert lacks genjutsu and is mediocre at taijutsu, and is excellent for long battles. These are the main specialized categories. Some are generalized and have all three types of jutsu, but don't excel in any one. Yes, Iruka?"
Iruka shook his head. "I noticed all these categories are physically related…"
"We have subcategories as well," he answered. "These subcategories usually refer to how the shinobi thinks or acts. A Non-Thinker reacts to given stimuli, relies almost entirely on observation, and is good for short battles. However, they almost never predict well. An Analyzer attempts to cross-examine all he or she sees and senses, depends on deductive reasoning, and is good for espionage. In a multi-on-multi combat situation they usually excel. A Predicter utilizes statistics as well as gut instinct and logic to figure out possible outcomes to scenarios. They are good at scouting in unknown areas. A Strategist can usually utilize their knowledge to figure out a plan for any contingency. They typically abstain from primary combat roles in order to be of supreme effective use to the team, so it is best to have no more than one. Can either of you tell me which of these categories you fit into?"
Iruka raised his hand. "I'm a generalized strategist, I believe." He'd given his categorization a lot of thought before answering.
Naruto raised his hand. "I'm an analyzing fighter," he answered, "but on occasion I can be a bit of a Non-thinker and I have a tendency to sometimes be an illusionist."
Ebisu seemed impressed. "Good. Now, for the first exercise, we'll be testing your ability to select teams as necessary for missions; you'll be presented with ten missions and one list of candidates for those missions. This period shall last another forty minutes, and you have the remaining time." He handed them a pile of papers. Quickly both chunin tore into their assignment.
Iruka examined each mission and each candidate and had his answered in less than ten minutes. Ebisu instructed him that after turning in his assignment he had free reign of any of several training rooms. Naruto looked on in amazement at his former sensei. It took him every one of the remaining minutes to complete his. After the period was over, the closet pervert examined the papers. Hmm, he thought. Iruka picked the best candidates for each mission, and Naruto picked the perfect missions for the candidates, based on who would develop their skills most from each mission. It was an interesting idea, but it just wasn't the right answer.
The fourth training room had enough room for Naruto to get in a great deal of practice. The Uzumaki way of training involved a forbidden technique that only members of the legendary demon bloodline had. A small pile of gravel the blonde shinobi took from his pocket he furiously crushed in his right hand. Once it resembled a gathering of fine powder, he sprinkled it on the floor in a pile. He then took his left thumb and cut it on his fangs, making sure to drip six droplets of blood onto it before his thumb healed. The gravel dust and blood droplets twisted and bubbled, rising like over-floured dough as it reshaped, until six exact duplicates of Naruto stood. These were not shadow clones to disappear when wounded, they were flesh and blood, real Naruto's. They, like the real thing, healed semi-instantly from any non-fatal wound and only killing them could make them disappear.
A tense moment of silence shattered when all vanished in puffs of smoke. Instinctively the six duplicates knew one another from the real Naruto, and worked as a cohesive unit. The real shinobi came down near a mark on the floor. He sensed an air disturbance near him and jabbed a kunai to his right. He caught one of the clones in the stomach, yanked out the blade, whirled around behind him and rammed it into the back of his head. The clone's surprised look came a moment before his body returned to dust. Almost at once a sword jabbed through his chest, inches from his heart. He grinned the clone had sacrificed itself to allow another an opening. "I didn't think I was that stupid," the other clone said after removing the blade. "An enemy would not have intentionally missed your heart." The real Naruto spun around with his own sword and chopped the clone in half.
One fraction of a second before he'd have taken a fatal stab to the head from another clone behind him he delivered a backwards kick to the chin of his assailiant. He then turned, in the instant of recoil from the kick, and impaled the clone through the heart. Down to three enemies, Naruto suddenly felt better about the odds as he sheathed his weapon. He felt a bit peeved about falling for the earlier clone trap, but his wound wasn't too bad. It would slow him down, though. He just barely ducked below a right hook aimed at the back of his head. Crouching and aiming a rising kick at the clone behind him, he saw the attacker bend t dodge it, at the same time, a second clone delivered a sharp kick to his chest, throwing Naruto into the back wall.
A clone immediately appeared in front of Naruto, the blonde chunin just barely able to move out of the way. When he missed the punch and buried his fist in the wall, the clone got a kunai into the top of his head. The second clone had his chance and took it, summoning all of his speed. His katana sailed and caught Naruto in the side. The blonde shinobi made use of a replacement jutsu, reemerging behind the clone, a sharp kick broke the attacker's knee and allowed Naruto to bring him down. He then decapitated the clone with a roundhouse kick.
"They intentionally weakened their attack," the remaining clone said, grinning. "I'm your real threat."
"I see you got my ego." The real Naruto sneered.
"Pride cometh before the fall."
The clone kicked off the fight. The real Naruto barely dodged a furious jump kick. The clone landed and swung his foot again, the real shinobi blocking it and following with a roundhouse that connected, startling the clone long enough for Naruto to strike at his chest violently with a punch. Not able to move his head back swiftly enough to dodge, the clone brought down his left hand to push the punch aside. Spinning synergistically with the blocking, the clone attempted a sweep kick. Naruto leapt over it, only to be kicked in the cut on the descent. He used the motion to push off the floor with his hands, but got nailed in the back by a rising knee when he did so.
Recovering after being knocked across the room, Naruto wiped away sweat. He's too fast. He activated his demon eye, which gave him sight into the clone's chakra pathways. My pathways are slightly busy healing me, so my speed suffers. Perhaps if I switch to gentle fist style, hit a few tenketsu (chakra points), I can cut off some speed.
That's when he noticed it.
"Are you giving up?" He ignored the clone's arrogant question. There's a chakra point on his back a bit larger than any others. I wonder what'll happen if I hit THAT one with a lot of chakra? His objective, to be concise, was clear; he had only one opportunity, and it involved hitting one precise chakra point. The slightly larger one on the clone's back had to mean something. The clone persisted. "Come on!"
Naruto assumed stance. ; Hit me, you piece of trash. ;
The clone popped his knuckles. ; Can't be a good boy, now can you? ; In a heartbeat, the clone already stood in front of Naruto.
Summoning every bit of speed imaginable, Naruto ducked a right hook and spun behind his clone. Furiously did he funnel chakra to his right fingertip. The clone prepared to spin with fist clenched as Naruto jammed the chakra point with the fingertip. Gentle fist? The clone realized. That point won't do anything. What…? His thought process got cut off as he neared the real shinobi's head. Before completing the punch, it hit him.
He couldn't move at all.
As Naruto visually examined his clone's chakra pathways, he couldn't believe his eyes. That…that one point enabled me to seal all chakra flow for movement! He'd effectively discovered a weak spot. But did this revelation apply only to demons? He could worry about that later as the clone's demon power began to heal the damage. He returned the clone to dust with a swipe of his blade. Over the next hour, he tested the theory with eight clones and dozens of rocks. Some interesting points surfaced. One, even though they were exact clones, the larger chakra points were different for each new clone, and two, if twice the amount of chakra needed for paralysis got pumped in, it meant immediate death for the clone. Two theories emerged; either this had to be a fluke, a by-product of the jutsu, or otherwise…
This could be a deadly new technique. That night, he slept, dreaming of the possibilities, knowing he had to try it out, test it on human subjects.