Naruto: Kung Fu Guardian
Chapter 7: Genin Exam
Revised - Final Version
…o.0.O.0.o…
A/N: Hi readers and reviewers. I've decided to keep my future chapters around this length, which is more manageable for me. I have a lot going on in my personal life while writing this chapter. My family and I will soon be grieving over the death of a loved one. Though ideas hadn't flowed as freely for this chapter, I enjoyed writing it anyway; writing was a way for me to mentally escape the things around me. I had originally wanted to add more to this, but dealing with what I have to deal with right now makes it quite difficult to do so. (29.8.2008)
I thank all who had given me their support through these difficult times. Please read, enjoy, and leave a review.
On a side note, I've posted another story. It was hatched a month ago, right before things hit the fan in my personal life. It's an AU Naruto story that is fun and adventurous on the surface. On a deeper level, it takes you on a journey exploring a wide range of human emotions. Once you get past the obvious, though very minimal use of Sci-Fi, you'll find my new story enjoyable. You can find it under my profile. Go there after you're done reading and reviewing here.
Thanks again to KyLewin for beta'ing this chapter for me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
…o.0.O.0.o…
Time Skip – Four Years Later
Sarutobi Naruto.
That was the name he wanted to be called.
However, both his father and grandfather denied him of his wish. They insisted on him keeping his given name, saying that it would pave way for claiming his true heritage in the near future. Nevertheless, Naruto was insistent on adding the name Sarutobi in one form or another. As the villager-certified "Prankmaster from Hell," Naruto was a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to be. When he really wanted something, his persistence coupled with his unpredictable pranks made him quite persuasive.
Uzumaki Naruto Sarutobi.
That became his new name.
As he continued towards the classroom, he was forced to pass through a slew of spit wads. Though the disgusting projectiles were numerous, traveling at speeds only possible when aided by chakra, and randomly crisscrossing trajectories, Naruto navigated through them as if they were frozen in mid-fight.
Rounding the corner into the next hallway, Naruto nimbly spun to his left, side-stepped someone who was not paying attention to where he was running to, and coincidentally caught a fellow classmate who was falling toward his spin after she had tripped over her own books. He had caught her and held her in his arms and would not have wanted it any other way.
Her serene, pale lavender eyes stared into his cerulean blue ones, completely mesmerized by them. For that brief moment, her universe was at peace. And so was his.
"Hinata-hime."
Alas, her peace was interrupted. Her beautiful porcelain face suddenly turned crimson red. Her calm, regal Hyuuga composition melted under the intense heat that erupted within her body.
"Hinata-hime, are you alright?" asked Naruto, clueless as ever. "Why do you suddenly feel like you're burning up? If you're too hot, I could help you take off your jacket. Do you want that?"
"N-naruto-kun," she managed to will herself into saying before she fainted. Her satisfied smile continued to enhance her already beautiful face.
Unsure of what exactly happened or what else to do about it, the blond made a Kage Bunshin to carry their books while his original self picked up the blue-haired girl bridal style and carried her with him to class.
"Boss, you shouldn't strain yourself," the clone offered a little too innocently. "Here, let me carry her, and you can carry the much lighter books."
"Shut up before I use you as a practice target for kunai throwing training with Anko." Naruto hissed. Sometimes it was frustrating to have to ward off his clones who also shared the same desires as his original self.
"Ha, Kit," spoke a voice in his mind, "admit it, you enjoy being near her, inhaling her intoxicating aroma. Um, she's almost ready. In a few years…"
"Shut up!"
"Naruto, who are you talking to?"
The blond boy raised his head towards the new voice. "Iruka-sensei, I…."
"The boss was talking to me, Iruka-sensei," said the clone behind him, rescuing the original from answering the awkward question.
"Alright, Naruto, you know how I don't like you showing off in front of your peers."
"Sorry, sensei, but I thought for the Genin Exam, we'll all be making bunshins; so it's not like I'm doing something we shouldn't already know."
"Well, Bunshin no Jutsu is one of the techniques you'll be tested on, but nobody else's clones can carry books."
"Okay, sensei. Since my arms are a little occupied, would you mind carrying those books once I dispel my clone?"
In his four years in the Ninja Academy, Iruka-sensei was the only teacher who took a personal interest in Naruto. That was perhaps because the Chuunin instructor had a similar background as the blond boy when he was younger. As an orphan himself, a young Iruka had desperately sought attention and acknowledgement from people around him. Or perhaps taking a personal interest in his students was just Iruka's constitution. In Naruto's eyes, it was a trait that put him in a league above the other academy teachers.
The scene Iruka saw before him could only be described as adorable.
"Alright, Naruto, let's get to class so you can put Hinata down," Iruka teased with a wink. "Should we take the direct route or the scenic route?"
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted while trying to hide his grin and blush.
When they entered the class, Iruka noticed that it was quieter than usual. Perhaps the students were nervous about their exam.
"Ino-pig, it's my turn to sit next to Naruto-kun. You've had him all week."
No, that was just wishful thinking on Iruka's part. It turned out to be another normal day at the Ninja Academy.
"Forehead, this is the last day of class. It would be more of a hassle to change seats than to stay put. Besides, you get to sit next to Sasuke-kun. So why are you complaining?"
"Ino-pig, that's beside the point. Rules are rules. You get Sasuke-kun today, and Naruto-kun is mine."
"Troublesome," said the scrawny pineapple-haired boy who was just awoken from his nap by the two fan-girl banshees.
"Shut up, Shikamaru!" shouted the boy-crazed rivals in unison.
"Um, actually, girls," interrupted Naruto, coming from behind them toward his regular seat, "if it's okay with you, I want Hinata-chan to sit next to me today. She fainted again, and I think it's probably my fault, so I want to make sure she's okay."
Naruto was the kind of person that would go out of his way to make people happy. When he had first met Ino and Sakura, he found them fighting over who should sit next to Sasuke. The blond boy told the girls that they did not have to ruin their friendship over something as insignificant as where they got to sit. Naruto assumed that they must have been fighting because they did not want to sit alone. He told them that they should each take a turn sitting next to Sasuke and the one that did not get to sit with the Uchiha could sit with him.
For reasons incomprehensible to Naruto, both girls' faces turned red, just like Hinata's did whenever he so much as glanced at her. Apparently, when others were not greeted by his pre-adoption messy and smelly self, they saw and were attracted to the real him, a kind and gentle soul.
During the last four years since his adoption, Naruto was not sure why girls acted that way around him or how to react to all this unfamiliar but pleasant attention. 'Maybe Dad had been right about the importance of hygiene.'
Since that fateful day when Asuma burned his orange jumpsuits, taught him proper hygiene, and bought him a whole new ninja wardrobe four years ago, he had been receiving these same weird looks from girls close to his age.
"Well, actually, the reason Hinata … mm … mm…."
"That's fine, Naruto-kun," interrupted Sakura while her hand covered Ino's mouth. "We'll find our own seats somewhere else."
Turning her attention to her platinum-blonde friend when they distanced themselves somewhat from Naruto, she removed her hand and said, "Where would that leave us once he finds out about Hinata's crush on him?"
"Oooh."
Her former best friend had always been a little slower than she was.
"You know Ino, you were right," stated Sakura with a sly grin. "I should just stay with Sasuke-kun today since it's the last day. Like you've said, it would be more of a hassle to change seats now, especially since Iruka-sensei's already here."
"I'm glad you are seeing things my way … Hey! Wait a minute Sakura…."
Sasuke, who was sitting in a chair next to the two standing girls, tuned out the rest of their conversation.
His eyes glanced over to his blond classmate seated before while his hands busied themselves petting his dog, Chame. Petting Chame had long since become his habit when he observed people or became lost in thought.
Naruto was an enigma to him. There seemed to be more to his blond classmate than what met the eyes.
'Why do the adults hate him? How much of his skills is he really hiding? What's with that sword he has strapped on his back? If he knows how to use a sword, how come he never uses it when we spar?'
His thoughts were interrupted by his adoptive brother, Inuzuka Kiba.
"Sasuke, you shouldn't be looking at another boy like that," teased Kiba, trying to withhold his snickers.
"Shut up mutt boy, or I'll turn you into a pincushion in our next kunai throwing practice."
"Hey, I'm not the only mutt boy here!" Kiba shouted back in defense.
Shino turned his head toward Kiba when he heard his remark. Because of his raised collar, dark shades and stoic demeanor, no one could see Shino's face to read exactly what he was thinking. However, Iruka believed that he was sighing at Kiba's stupidity in substantiating the 'mutt boy' insult.
The door opened, and in walked Mizuki-sensei. With the arrival of the second instructor, the class could finally begin.
Unlike most mornings, Iruka did not have to use the Head Expansion no Jutsu to settle the class down. The classroom had suddenly become eerily silent, each student waiting to take his or her Genin Exam.
"We'll be calling the names out alphabetically. When I call your name, please follow me to another room to take your exam. The rest of you remain quiet in this room while you wait for your turn. Any rowdiness could be grounds for your immediate failure."
Both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki boys sighed at the same time and buried their faces into their palms. Their names were among the last ones on the list. This day was going to be such a waste of time for them. They both wished that they could be using this time more wisely in training or studying instead of staring at the clock until their names got called.
"First up, Aburame Shino."
…o.0.O.0.o…
The Sandaime donned on his Hokage robe and stood proudly overlooking the balcony of the Hokage Tower. His wrinkled right hand steadied the pipe in his mouth as his left lit it with a weak fire jutsu. A gently breeze washed over him, wrapped his smoke briefly around him, and dispersed it into nothingness.
His thoughts wandered to the day Sasuke walked into his office four years ago. The Uchiha boy's words – words that in some ways still shook the Council today – remained vivid in his memory.
I choose … both.
Both? The Sandaime had questioned at the time. Why would Sasuke choose to be adopted by two different families? Unless … Danzou. He must have wanted to use the guise of adoption to enroll Sasuke into ROOT and had never presented to Sasuke the adoption aspect of things in effort to appeal to the boy's desire for power. How could he have not foreseen this in the Council meeting? Perhaps he was overly concerned with the matter of presenting before the Council Asuma's adoption of Naruto.
Since the Council had approved both Danzou and Tsume and had further stipulated that they were to honor Sasuke's choice, Sarutobi had no choice but to allow a shared custody between Tsume and Danzou.
It was times like those that Sarutobi wished he still had Itachi serving him.
Sarutobi had not forgotten Itachi's warnings about Danzou – his message vividly etched in his mind.
He had some of his ROOT agent infiltrate ANBU as his spies. He made no plan of complying with your order to disband ROOT. He is not to be trusted anymore. Please keep an eye on him.
And kept his eyes on him he had. Sarutobi was able to weed out most of the ROOT spies in ANBU. Those whose loyalty he was unsure of were assigned missions and duties that would not lead to a compromise in the safety of the village or undermine his authority or credibility as the Hokage.
The Hokage was not so naïve as to think that he had covered all bases and had unearthed Danzou's entire spy network. As a precautionary, he also assigned a few of his most trusted ANBU to spy on Danzou. There were some suspicious and questionable activities, such as private meetings with former ROOT agents and frequent purchases of expensive jewelry, but nothing definitively incriminating, though Sarutobi did note how some Clan Heads easily sided with Danzou on issues he had strong opinions on.
The cold war between Sarutobi and Danzou – all of their moves and countermoves – occurred behind scenes without the knowledge of the Clan Heads or the villagers. In many ways, both got what they had wanted – the war hawk got his war, and the pacifist got his peace.
Stuck in the middle of all the politics and maneuvering was Sasuke, who had certainly turned out to be an interesting kid. Twelve years old and already a low Chuunin level, or at least that was what he was leading people to believe. Sarutobi suspected his skills to be at least mid or high Chuunin; after all his older brother Itachi made ANBU captain at the tender age of thirteen. Under the strict training Danzou's ROOT offered, who was to say how strong Sasuke could become?
However, his skills were not what Sarutobi found interesting about the Uchiha survivor. It was his appearance of being a jovial, carefree twelve-year-old who enjoyed training with Kiba, with his dog Chame, and on occasions with Naruto. Sarutobi hoped that what he saw in Sasuke on those rare sparring matches with Naruto – the occasional darkening of his countenance when Naruto had let slip a hint of his true skills – was just a figment of his imagination, but inwardly he knew otherwise.
Damn you, Danzou!
Sasuke was someone dear to Itachi. Watching over Sasuke, Itachi's beloved little brother, was the only thing he ever asked for in return for his loyal service to Konoha, performed at a great cost to himself.
Four years ago, Itachi had performed the greatest act of loyalty to Konoha, that of eliminating traitors who also happened to be his clan members. Not only that, but he also delivered valuable information about a new threat to Konoha – Madara and his organization, Akatsuki. Additionally, he had done something more for his now adopted grandson. He had stolen two powerful Kung Fu manuscripts and given them to the boy, though that may have had more to do with paying back the debt he felt he owed Uzumaki Kushina.
Ah, Naruto….
Sarutobi's thoughts brightened slightly when they wandered onto his adoptive grandson. Naruto had been a breath of fresh air to the Sarutobi clan. His harmless, but quite embarrassing – and usually hilarious – pranks brought an unmistakable energy and life back to the clan that had grown too serious to enjoy the finer things in life, especially since the Sandaime's inauguration. Naruto's cousin, Konohamaru, certainly enjoyed having Naruto as a "ni-san." Sarutobi could not imagine what his and Asuma's lives would be like now without the sun-kissed blond.
He supposed the same fondness for Naruto could be said of Asuma's romantic interest, Anko, who had been seen together with Asuma whenever they did not have missions outside of the village. Naruto and Anko, the two village pariahs, had hit it off instantly when they first met. They easily detected the figurative mask they each donned on in front of others and the desire to be acknowledged for who they were instead of being labeled due to things they had no control over. Anko often had a hand in Naruto's sword training, provided him with a sparring partner whose movement could be almost as unpredictable as Naruto could be using the Nine Stances.
Their other deviant "training sessions" consisted of Anko using Naruto as target practice. Naruto was to dodge Anko's barrage of kunais, senbons, and shurikens as nimbly as he could, while remaining in the circle drawn around him. Once Naruto was able to dodge all of Anko's weapons – some of his midair twists were simply so incredible that one would need to see him perform them to believe – she had him catch her weapons, instead of dodging them.
Sarutobi remembered one of those rare occasions that he had an afternoon off from his village duties. He had with him another set of scrolls on seals and chakra manipulation. At that time, Naruto was doing a lot of reading, delving into the theories of the how's and why's of seal and chakra techniques. Sarutobi firmly believed that his adoptive grandson would one day surpass the Yondaime, his biological father, a once-in-a-million genius. Naruto's studies in seals and chakra theories, starting at such a young age, would pave way for him to continue Minato's legacy – become a seal master and a jutsu inventor sans parallel.
When Sarutobi had arrived to the training ground, he had been shocked by the sight that greeted him. Naruto was catching Anko's kunai while struggling to remain in the circle. His movements were swift and graceful, though only a shadow of what he was capable of doing in his mindscape. The movements were, however, definite derivatives of the Nine Stances. It seemed to Sarutobi that Naruto was subconsciously incorporating his understanding of the Nine Stances into everything he was learning.
A year ago, Sarutobi had asked Anko about her opinion of Naruto's progress, of which she was more than just impressed. Anko was one of the few people with whom Naruto dropped his mask; the others were Sarutobi and Asuma. Therefore, Sarutobi knew that Anko's assessment of his grandson would be as close to Naruto's then true abilities as anyone was able to give. A low to mid Chuunin was where she assessed him at. Naruto was barely eleven at the time.
Every time he thought of Anko, Sarutobi could not help but feel guilty for somehow having failed her. Of course, he had never failed her as the Hokage by purposely sending her to suicide missions, despite much urging from the Council who wanted nothing but to rid the village of all remnant of the traitor Orochimaru – in this case, ridding the village of his apprentice and a fellow snake summoner.
His guilt lay in his failure as Orochimaru's sensei. If he had done a better job with Orochimaru, or killed his wayward student when he discovered him performing dangerous human experiments on fellow Leaf Shinobis, there was no telling how many lives would have been spared – not to mention how differently Anko would have been perceived by the village.
Taking another puff on his pipe, Sarutobi turned his thoughts onto Kyuubi.
He would never forget the first time he met her in Naruto's mindscape.
- Flashback -
"I wish you have those cool red eyes like Itachi. Then, you can join me and Kyuubi in my mindscape."
"I believe I have an idea that might work, even without the Sharingan."
Sarutobi was not called 'the god of the shinobis' for nothing. With knowledge of nearly every jutsu in Konoha, his aged hands made the necessary hand seals for a mind invasion jutsu and found himself standing with Naruto in front of the cage that housed the Nine-Tails.
"Sarutobi, to what do I owe this displeasure?" Kyuubi growled from within her cage, her gargantuan eyes glaring down at him.
"Hello, Kyuubi."
"It's 'Kyuubi no Kitsune' to you, you old prune! And if it wasn't for you correcting some of your mistakes recently, I would have crushed you with my paws by now."
A look of concern and confusion appeared on Naruto's face as he glanced back and forth between Sarutobi and Kyuubi. Finally he had enough of Kyuubi yelling at his grandfather and broke silence.
"Don't yell at Jiji anymore," he pleaded. "What mistakes are you talking about?"
Kyuubi softened her tone slightly in response to Naruto's bidding and replied, "Those mistakes are about you, you ingrate."
Despite her façade, Sarutobi could clearly see Kyuubi's concern for Naruto.
'Looks like Naruto was correct about her.'
"Thank you for watching over Naruto until I was able to rectify certain inadequacies. However, today, I'm here to …"
"I know why you are here," interrupted the Nine-tailed Fox. Transforming into her elegant human form, clothed in a white gown with red swirling patterns, she held in her hands those two manuscripts and continued, "You want to find out what's in these manuscripts and why Madara wants them so much, correct?"
Stunned by her beauty, Sarutobi could only nod dumbly. He tried not to ogle at her humanoid form, but failed miserably.
'Naruto's description doesn't do her beauty justice.'
"Jiji! Why are you looking at my sensei that way?"
Kyuubi smirked, satisfied that she still had such an effect on men, but her mind soon registered that the old pervert was undressing her with his eyes, and her righteous fury became evident in her voice.
"Naruto, reach in here and hand these over to that old fart and tell him to stop eye-stripping me."
"Jiji, what is eye-stripping? Is that a special doujutsu?" asked the curious blond when he handed the manuscripts to his grandfather.
"Uh," replied Sarutobi nervously, "you'll understand when you're older."
What Sarutobi read in those two manuscripts was nothing short of amazing. Even if Naruto could only do half of what they claimed those trained in them could do, he could easily end up among the top twenty Shinobis in the world. It was too incredible since there had never been any ninja techniques capable of a tenth of what was described in each of these two manuscripts; and Sarutobi, nicknamed 'The Professor,' would be a good judge of that.
The only way to confirm what these techniques could do was to see them both in action, but since Naruto had not mastered the Nine Yangs yet, the Professor settled for a sparring match: his monkey-style yari verses Naruto's Nine Stances sword.
"Naruto, let's spar. Show me the power of the Nine Stances."
He had wanted badly to see the Nine Stances in its mastery in action, having had doubts about whether or not his grandson was actually able to defeat Itachi. Even harder to believe was that he had Itachi so outclassed in kenjutsu that their weapons did not even clash.
"Alright, Jiji, but don't cry to Dad when you had your hinny handed to you by your grandson."
The first match with Sarutobi was the most challenging match Naruto had ever had in his mindscape. Sarutobi's fluid mastery and his experience put him in a whole different class above Itachi. His choice of a longer weapon also presented a challenge for Naruto, limited Naruto's sword reach. However in the end, the Nine Stances' Spear-Conquering Stance overcame Sarutobi's yari and monkey style attacks.
The second match, however, Naruto elected to match his grandfather's weapon with his own Yari and easily applied the Nine Stances to his longer weapon choice. The Nine Stances could easily be used with any choice of weapon and still be just as formidable as if they were performed with a sword. The creator of these stances, the Lonesome Hermit, at the acme of his skills, used nothing but tree branches, leaves, grass blades, or rocks to defeat his enemies. The application of the Nine Stances could only be limited by the user's degree of mastery and the vividness of his imagination.
The second match did not go as well for Naruto. In fact, it came as Naruto's first defeat in his mindscape.
Sarutobi had it figured out.
The Nine Stances technique was a reactionary attack technique, or at least that was as far as Naruto was able to apply it. The more advanced the opponents' attack patterns were, the more advanced the Nine Stances became. Sarutobi figured that if he was to limit his monkey style to just the very basics, then the Nine Stances would also revert to their basics as well.
Using this tactic, Sarutobi was able to catch Naruto off guard by switching between basic and advanced attack forms. Of course, this would never have worked if Sarutobi had not had the time to think of a way to defeat the Nine Stances. Also this would never have worked had Naruto been a student of at least one other sword technique, one not dependent on feeding off the attacks of its opponent. However, since Naruto had only learned how to react to attacks by attacking the weakness in the opponent's offense and had never been taught how to initiate attacks, he was quickly overcome by his grandfather.
- End Flashback -
Sarutobi took another puff as he concluded his inner musing on his first visit to Naruto's mindscape.
During these past four years, Naruto took to his training like a fish took to water. While Sarutobi focused on giving him scrolls detailing chakra and seal theories along with a variety of ninjutsus, Asuma provided him with physical training, such as jogging around Konoha and wearing chakra-enhanced weights.
The adopted blond was no longer the scrawny orange-wearing, loudmouth knucklehead. He had grown to a respectable height for boys his age, no longer wearing orange, and could remain cool and collected under pressure. He only acted like a knucklehead in front of others.
Finding a sensei to teach Naruto sword art had been challenging.
The foremost quality Sarutobi had looked at when selecting a trainer for his adoptive grandson was whether or not the person could maintain secrets and keep his nose out of where it was not welcomed. A curious trainer would ask too many questions, possible arousing others' suspicion or prompting them to do their own investigation. The Hokage definitely did not want any of Danzou's ROOT to get suspicious of Naruto's training with the Nine-Tails or to investigate into his true abilities.
Next to the importance of the trainer's ability to maintain absolute secrecy was his or her skill level in kenjutsu and genuine desire to help Naruto get stronger. Ideally, Itachi would be the best candidate, since he was the one best trained in the Uzumaki kenjutsu, trained by none other than Naruto's own mother. The next ones whom Kushina also had a hand in training were Uzuki Yuugao and Gekkou Hayate, among whom the Sandaime selected Yuugao, since she was already sworn in under the ANBU oath of secrecy.
Yuugao proved to be a good choice. Not only were her kenjutsu skills highly developed, she was also a person who sympathized with the jinchuuriki's childhood and cared for him as a person.
With another puff, Sarutobi's thoughts drifted to his son, the council, and the Chuunin Exam ahead in the horizon.
'Naruto will become a Genin today. With Konoha hosting the Chuunin Exam in six months, Naruto will become a Chuunin in no time. Minato, soon, your long-awaited heir will be making his own marks among the Shinobi nations. Kami help them.'
…o.0.O.0.o…
Yuugao was mindlessly making her way to the ANBU headquarter. Her thoughts were on Naruto, the past four years of her training him, and his Genin Exam.
In her mind, there was no doubt that Naruto would pass with flying colors. She was deep in thought because Naruto had specifically requested his grandfather to place him and Sasuke together in the same Genin team.
Sarutobi, Asuma, and Yuugao, all had asked Naruto why, with Yuugao looking for ways to talk Naruto out of electing to be teamed with Danzou's newest protégé.
Naruto's response was so that he could fulfill his promise to a friend, to watch over the Uchiha survivor. It appeared to Yuugao then that Sarutobi seemed aware of the promise Naruto was referring to and reluctantly agreed to his request.
'It's been a week, and I still can't get Naruto to tell me whom he made the promise to.'
At first, Yuugao was also reluctant to support Naruto's decision, but in the end she was left with no choice. These four years with Naruto had taught her that his promises would prove truer than gold.
With Naruto, 'a promise is a promise is a promise.' There was no talking him out of it. Such an honorable trait was commendable; though, Asuma did end the discussion with a stern caution against making promises on impulse, without thinking things through. He feared that this noble trait would become his son's Achilles heel.
Yuugao's thoughts traveled down the memory lane to four years ago when Asuma surprised her with an invitation to family dinner at the Sarutobi compound.
She was not sure what to make of his invitation. By then, Kurenai had already informed her that he was one of the perpetrators of the hot spring perversion. If it had not been for Kurenai there to calm down her fury and Anko there to inform her of their budding romance, Yuugao would have torn Asuma a new hole.
'Lucky bastard.'
Another thought came to her mind at the time: Such an invitation should have been extended to Anko, but if Asuma was going to cheat on her friend, then Yuugao would make a big stink about it at the family dinner.
However, all of Yuugao's suspicions were invalidated. The dinner invitation had been a guise to offer her a personal, secret mission from the Sandaime, one concerning a newly adopted blond – one Uzumaki Naruto.
Uzumaki Naruto. That child had been on Yuugao's mind since the assumed death of Kushina, the person who taught her the Uzumaki family jutsus. Back when Kushina had offered them to her, she had not understood why anyone would be so willing to teach another person her family jutsus.
But, back then, with war and the possibility of more wars looming in the air, she was so eager to get stronger that she accepted Kushina's offer without the mind to ask for the details that would later plague her curiosity for years to come.
Sarutobi's words that night brought Yuugao her first attainable goal toward fulfillment regarding her sense of loss when it came to Kushina-sensei.
"I want you to train Naruto and pass on to him his family jutsus like his mother would have liked had she been here to do so herself."
Training him in his mother's fighting skills. Words could not describe how happy she was that night when Sarutobi told her that she would be secretly training Naruto in the Uzumaki techniques. Finally those techniques would be passed to their rightful heir.
Unfortunately, the offer brought with it another question to plague Yuugao: Was that the reason that Kushina had trained her in the Uzumaki family jutsus, because she had known all alone that something would prevent her from teaching them to her children?
"One area I want you to focus on is the Uzumaki sword art."
For reasons unknown to Yuugao, the Uzumaki sword art came easier for Naruto than the other family jutsus. She reasoned that perhaps it was because of the type of training he had with Anko. That was not to say that Naruto had a hard time learning the rest of the family jutsus. Surprisingly, Yuugao found that the boy was a good student material, as long as she showed him how to do it, instead of trying to explain it to him.
In addition to being an exceptional learner, there were times that Yuugao suspected that there was more to the blond jinchuuriki than what met the eyes. It did not happen often, and when it did, there was always enough circumstantial evidence to argue that it was a coincidence or a beginner's luck rather than Naruto having slipped his mask and fed into her suspicion that the blond was hiding the true depth of his abilities.
A good example of this happened while she was teaching him the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. While technically not an Uzumaki family jutsu, it was a favorite technique of Kushina's. It was while she was explaining the hand seals needed to perform the jutsu and its many applications that she saw it – the spark of understanding – in Naruto's eyes. But then it was gone just as quickly as it was detected, and Naruto reverted back to his show-it-to-me-first way of learning jutsus.
Furthermore, when her not-yet-a-Genin blond student practiced the jutsu, he made three perfect Jounin-level Kage Bunshins on his first try, all without breaking a sweat. Yuugao was convinced that that was not just because he was Kushina's son. Maybe it was because the Nine-Tails sealed in him, but still, he was not overpumping the jutsu with chakra. In fact, on that very first try when he created those three Kage Bunshins, he apportioned his chakra with the precision control of a medic-nin. Not a gram of chakra – not even a single milligram – was wasted.
'Could it be the genes, or are you hiding something, Naruto?'
She began to believe that what she saw was not a fluke but rather a rare occasion that Naruto had let slip a hint of his true abilities. After all, how dumb could the boy be if he kept getting new jutsu scrolls from the Hokage every few weeks? Of them, she figured, even if he was only able to master half, he would already have a repertoire of techniques that would make most Chuunins jealous. Then again, she could very well be underestimating his ability to learn by merely reading from the scrolls.
Though she had no way to assess Naruto's true strength, she was even more clueless when it came to Sasuke, which was what got her worried.
Finally, she arrived at her destination.
As it had been her custom upon entering the ANBU complex, she headed to the lounge, hoping to find the person she was looking for, and she did.
Anko. The skimpily dressed interrogator saw Yuugao eying her as she walked in. A smirk appeared on her face.
"Like what you see?"
"Sorry, Anko-chan, I don't swing that way," replied Yuugao, a little embarrassed by the implication of that remark. "Besides, aren't you already taken?"
"True, but it doesn't feel that way this week," said the new arrival with a sigh. Her playful smirk turned into a dejected frown.
"Hm," Yuugao asked, "trouble in paradise?"
"Urgh! I wish. At least there's the make-up sex to go along," said Anko, making obvious the reason of her frustration. "He's been really busy training Naruto the past week. Saying something about "needing to take things more seriously." He's been obsessing about training son since he returned from his mission to a civilian village near the Water Country."
"Oh," remarked Yuugao. Normally she or Kurenai would be quick to tease Anko about her relationship with Asuma, especially having an opportunity as good as this landing before her; however, at the moment, her mind was still thinking about Naruto's promise to watch over Sasuke.
Since Naruto's unusual request last week, Yuugao had narrowed down the possible candidates that Naruto could have made the promise to, namely, Kakashi, Itachi, and Danzou.
Kakashi, because his feelings of indebtedness for his deceased teammate Uchiha Obito might be transferred to the sole Uchiha survivor; Itachi, because he did not kill his brother during the massacre and could have wanted someone to watch over Sasuke; Danzou, because he had invested four years of training on his Sharingan protégé.
Of them, Itachi remained prime suspect number one.
After finding the right question to ask so she could verify her conjecture, she directed it at Anko.
"Do you think it's possible for someone as highly targeted as Itachi to enter and leave Konoha without being detected?"
"I suppose. Why? What's on your mind?" asked Anko. She knew that there was something wrong with her friend when the anticipated opportunistic insults about her personal life never came.
"Nothing. I have couple of things I'm trying to piece together. That's all," said Yuugao. She wanted to run something by Anko, but she had yet to gather enough facts to support her idea, much less even to present it. After all, her theory about there being more to Itachi than merely a traitor was purely based on assumptions. If she was to present it to anyone, she would want to be able to support it with more than mere assumptions.
"By the way, heard anything about Itachi? Have they ever sent any hunter-nins after him?"
"No," replied Anko.
Of course, Anko as an interrogation specialist knew that Yuugao was keeping something big from her. Her loyalty to Konoha demanded that she ask the one question she hoped that her friends would always answer NO to.
"You're not thinking about betraying Konoha, are you?"
"What!?" exclaimed Yuugao in disbelief. She realized that she had to divulge what the situation was; otherwise, Anko might bring her to Ibiki. "Oh, you got it all wrong. The reason behind my question actually concerns Naruto. See, Naruto said he wanted to be placed on the same team as Sasuke because of a promise he made with someone. I'm just trying to figure out who what someone was."
"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to go all patriotic on you. By the way, did you say that the little dweeb requested to be placed on the same team with Sasuke? Did he request that I be his Jounin-sensei, or was he only focused on that mutt boy? He probably forgot, didn't he?"
By the end of her rant, Anko was self-perpetuating her own anger and became too angry at Naruto to wait for Yuugao to respond. She stood up abruptly and continued to mumble as she took her leave to find Naruto. Yuugao could still hear the words "I'll strip him naked and hang him upside down in the girls bathroom" ringing in her ears after Anko had been long gone.
She wanted to go after her and tell her that Naruto did ask, but she was afraid that a calmed-down Anko might ask her more questions she was not yet ready to answer. Besides, Naruto the Prankmaster getting humiliated in front of his peers might make him think twice about pulling another prank again.
…o.0.O.0.o…
In an undisclosed area, the man with a single eyehole orange mask sat alone in a cave, pondered over his plans with his group of missing-nins, especially on a certain traitor who left the organization four years ago, Orochimaru.
- Flashback -
"Kabuto, I have a new mission for you," said Madara. His tone hinted him nursing a wounded pride. Pein had initially opposed having Orochimaru added to the roster, citing Orochimaru's traitorous ways, but Madara pressed onward with adding him. Now, Pein took every opportunity to remind him that he alone bore this responsibility of his betrayal. His wounded pride easily turned into a need to exact revenge.
"I'm at your service, Madara-sama."
"It involves the Akatsuki traitor, Orochimaru. He recently left the organization to pursue his own plans. In addition to your continued services spying in Konoha, I want you to spy on Orochimaru as well. First, become his subordinate, and then gain his trust."
"Wouldn't it be easier to kill him? Isn't that the punishment for betraying you?" asked Kabuto, who was all too eager to repay his master.
"He will pay for the inconvenience and the loss of time that he caused me in the recruitment of another member. He knows too much about our organization and our plans. His betrayal will be dealt with, but, no, not yet. He'll still serve my purpose."
"You want him to attack Konoha?"
"Yes, looks like I've raised you well," replied Madara with a hardy laugh. "I want you to hide your true abilities and present yourself as someone he's looking for – a capable medic-nin."
"As you wish, Master."
"By the way, don't over do it when you're sowing into him the idea of attacking Konoha. If anything, that snake hates to be manipulated. So you must do so while letting him believe that it was his idea all along. Take your time. However, I expect you to have him attack Konoha in exactly four years time."
"Why four years, Madara-sama?" asked Kabuto as he shifted his specs higher on the bridge of his nose. "Does it have anything to do with your plans for Sasuke-kun?"
"Well, well! You turned out to be a smart one, didn't you?" said Madara while thinking, 'Maybe a little too smart for your own good.'
Pausing, through the lone eyehole of his orange mask, he pierced sternly at the young man that came under his care as a five-year-old child. He continued, "Make sure that you are smart enough to remain loyal to me … I would hate to have to destroy a sculpture that I've been carving for ten years."
"Yes, Master, I could never forget the kindness you've shown in raising me."
"Good. Dismissed."
- End Flashback -
"Konoha, the tides have turned against you. Wong of the Monastery, my time has come. Just you wait."
A/N: Don't forget to leave a review. Also, check out my other story, Naruto: A Different Beginning. Thanks!