Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise nor do I make any money off of my work. This is done entirely for fun.
Wow! I'm sorry that this is so late. Unfortunately, I ran into the dual problems of writer's block and finals. Fortunately, I have overcome my writers block. Unfortunately, I still have finals to deal with so my next chapter will probably be late too. Sorry.
I decided to start a new line break convention to make the time line a little clearer. The "A Kumo Ninja" line break denotes the end of author's notes, or the beginning if I use it at the end of the story. The "Scene Break" line break means a large shift in time or position. The shift will usually be anywhere from a week to a few months. The "Break" line break means a short break still within the scene. This will mean a few hours or days have passed and will probably occur in the story even after the "Scene breaks" start to disappear.
For anyone who is confused with the timeline, each chapter from chapter 4 to probably chapter 9 will be around one year each. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people have a quick, one week training segment and suddenly a character is ridiculously powerful. This will hopefully show his training so you have an understanding of who this Naruto is and what he can do, without making a one-hundred chapter story on his childhood.
This chapter is still without a beta reader. The author who previously offered to edit this ended up with too much work in his personal life and had to withdraw his offer. If anyone wants to help me out, send a private message. It would help if you have experience as a beta reader because I don't know anything about the process and I would need help figuring it out. Thank you.
On a final note, many thanks to everyone who favorited, followed or commented on my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you have the previous ones.
_A Kumo Ninja_
Naruto shivered with impatience and excitement as he followed C. It was a week after his birthday and he was finally allowed to go to training ground one-hundred four, the training ground used for mastering lightning transformation.
Naruto noticed C glance back at him and tried his best to hide his excitement. It was another lesson that Yugito had told him about. A good shinobi must always be able to hide his emotions so that others couldn't use them against him. The smirk that crossed C's face showed that he was less than successful at his self-imposed training.
Finally, five minutes later, C stopped. He turned towards Naruto and motioned for him to move closer.
"Alright Naruto, I know that you're excited but we have to go over a few rules."
Naruto groaned in disappointment but nodded to show that he was listening.
"The first rule that you need to remember is that this is an active training ground. That means that unlike the ones you use for training, shinobi regularly train here. That means that you must make sure to have your permission pass with you at all times."
Naruto nodded his head.
"No problem C-sensei, I had case made to hold it so I could keep it with me. I even had the case put on a necklace so I won't forget it anywhere."
C smiled at Naruto's forethought.
"Good. As long as you have that pass the shinobi shouldn't give you any problems. If they do though, don't cause a scene. Just leave and get me or Mabui-san. We can straighten out anyone being difficult."
Naruto took longer to nod his acceptance to this rule than the first one. He didn't usually ask others for help, not because he didn't like to but because he usually didn't think to. He was extremely used to looking after himself.
"Alright C-sensei. I'll get you or Mabui-chan if anything happens."
C waited for a moment to make sure that Naruto was actually sincere before continuing.
"Alright. The final thing that you need to know is that the training you will be doing can actually be dangerous, especially if you want to continue with internal lightning transformation. To make sure that you are as safe as possible, don't experiment with exercises that I give you, at least until I say that your good enough to. That means do the exercise exactly as I tell you to until you master it. You can always change it up later."
Naruto nodded again, this time very quickly. He remembered how much he had gotten hurt when first figuring out internal lightning transformation, and that was only working with enough lightning to turn the lights on. He didn't want to know what would happen with the more advanced exercises.
C smiled at Naruto's quick acceptance. He turned back to the trail to finish the journey to training ground one-hundred four but didn't move. After another second, he turned his head towards Naruto again.
"One last thing, all those lessons about how a shinobi should act? You should consider this one of them. One of the greatest weapons a shinobi can have is surprise, and nothing is more surprising than using a technique no one knows that you know. Keep your training a secret as much as you can. Especially, anything to do with your internal lightning transformation."
Naruto's smile grew as he thought about the extra training he was getting. Not only did he get to learn new exercises and techniques but he also got to practice his shinobi attitude.
"Alright C-sensei. I'll be the greatest shinobi in no time. No one will learn about my training."
C snorted at his enthusiasm for such a simple exercise but he nodded hid head and started down the path again. Naruto followed C for another two minutes before they found the end of the path, a shallow cave in the mountain side.
Naruto started to ask about the training ground but decided to hold his question instead. He was not disappointed when a moment later C walked up to the small cave. C lifted his hand and pressed it against a small rock and gave a brief burst of lightning chakra. The pushed inward, the back of the cave following a moment later.
Naruto stared in awe at the massive cavern that was newly revealed. The cavern was as long as the entire block his apartment building was a part of and twice as wide. Inset into the walls on both sides of the cavern were a series of iron doors. At the far side of the cavern was a single, massive iron door with a large five imprinted on it.
Naruto was shaken from his inspection of the room by movement from C. He turned his head and noticed that C was moving towards a shinobi wearing a mask in the shape of a bear. Naruto shook himself and hurried to follow his sensei. The bear-masked shinobi raised a hand in greeting to C.
"Hey, C-san. How you doing?"
"Great bear-san. I just got some time of from mission. You never really appreciate just how soft a good mattress is until you spend a month sleeping on the floor."
The bear-masked shinobi let out a bark of laughter.
"True, true. I bet the food is nothing to sneeze at either."
It was C's turn to laugh.
"You know it."
The bear-masked shinobi noticed Naruto and looked at him.
"Hey C-san, what's with the kid?"
C gestured towards Naruto and replied.
"This is Naruto, he's the kid we brought back from Konoha last year. He's training a little to become a shinobi and I agreed to help out when I have free time."
The bear-masked man snorted.
"You? A sensei? Heh, that's gonna be an interesting one. Unfortunately, this is a restricted training ground, level three clearance only, so you can't bring the kid here."
C shook his head in reply.
"I know that. You think I don't? I got the kid permission to be here." He turned and gestured at Naruto. Guessing that C wanted his permission card, Naruto pulled it out of its case and handed it to C. C turned and handed it to the other shinobi. "See? Conditional permission to use training ground one-hundred four, signed by the Raikage himself."
Bear looked down at the card, clearly surprised at C's reply. He glanced at the card before handing it back to Naruto.
"Damn, I can't imagine what you had to do to get that. To get a non-shinobi into a jonin training ground. Just, wow."
C laughed at bear's surprise.
"It wasn't that bad actually. The Raikage's interested in the kid and the training's not that difficult, or classified."
Bear just shook his head in amusement. C turned to head to one of the nearest rooms but paused speak to Bear one last time.
"I'm not always going to be with Naruto while he trains. Could you spread it around to the other ANBU that he's allowed to be here. I don't really want him getting hassled if I can help it."
Bear nodded his head in reply.
"Yeah, no problem. I'll get the guys to help out, don't want to get in the Raikage's way after all."
The two men shared a short laugh before C continued on his previous path. Naruto hurried after C while continuing to examine the area around him. His attention was quickly drawn to the door of the room they were approaching.
C opened the door and walked inside. Naruto paused to look around, trying to be more observant. He noticed that the door did not have a handle. Instead, there was a large metal "one" inlaid where a handle should have been.
Naruto moved into the room allowing C to swing the door shut. Naruto examined the room, only to be slightly disappointed. There was no big secret training room filled with shinobi equipment like he had half expected. Instead, there was only a large pool of water, four feet deep, and a length of cable hanging from the wall.
Naruto looked up at C who was letting him look around without interruption. Seeing that Naruto had finished examining his surroundings, C began to explain the new exercise.
"Alright Naruto, this is training ground one-hundred four. Like I said before, it is used to master lightning transformation. I know that you probably have a lot of questions but hold them for the moment. You can ask any that you still have after I finish my explanation."
Naruto snapped his mouth closed and nodded causing C to smile.
"Alright then, I'm sure you noticed the doors while walking in. Each door leads to a separate training area. This is for two reasons. The first reason is to lower the level of distractions that a shinobi must face while beginning training. The other reason is help keep your training secret. While everyone is basically doing the same thing, each person will develop their own tricks that they want to keep quite. For you that will be internal lightning transformation."
Naruto nodded his understanding.
"I understand, like you said outside the training ground, right?"
"Right. Now for the next thing. I'm sure you noticed the lack of a handle on the door. That's there on purpose to help protect shinobi from trying too much, too fast. You need to use the training you get from a previous exercise to open the door, ensuring that you can only move on once you master a technique. To open section one doors, you need to create lightning and push it into the one."
Naruto smiled as he understood the meaning behind C's words.
"That's like the first exercise then, creating lightning from my chakra." He paused as a puzzled look crossed his face. "What do you mean 'section 1'?"
C took little time to reply.
"Surely you didn't think that all the rooms were exactly like this one? Each door has a number on it, the higher the number the more advanced the exercise it is meant to handle. For example, your only ready for doors with the number one on them right now. When you master this exercise you can move to any door with the number two one it. You are considered a master when you finish section eight, although there are ten possible sections you can do."
Naruto frowned as some questions came to him.
"Why don't people only do eight sections if there are ten to do?"
C sighed as he answered.
"This is another example of mastering things versus learning things. As you increase in level, the exercises get harder and take longer to complete. For example, getting from level one to eight typically takes about one year. Moving just from level eight to level nine can also take about one year. Most people just decide that they get enough from training at level eight and that the extra boost of higher levels isn't worth the extra time it takes to learn."
Naruto shook his head in disbelief. How could anyone willingly give up the benefits of training just because it took a little time. That was like saying that hitting a target eight times out of every ten tries was good enough because it took to much effort to continue throwing.
"That's dumb. I don't care how long it takes, I'm making it to level ten. I'll become a master of lightning elemental transformation, you can count on that!"
C laughed and reached over to ruffle Naruto's hair.
"That's some promise, but I think it will be a little harder to keep than you think it will be. In fact, there have only been fourteen shinobi to ever complete level ten training."
Naruto shook his head stubbornly.
"I don't care that no one else wants to put the time in to train to level ten. I'll do it anyway."
C's face became very serious causing Naruto to quite down.
"You don't understand, Naruto-kun. Dozens of shinobi have tried to complete level ten training, only fourteen of them actually survived."
Seeing Naruto's shocked face, C continued his warning.
"This is not a game anymore, Naruto-kun. Each level of training is more difficult and dangerous than the last. If you mess up you can et seriously hurt, or worse, killed." He paused before throwing in one last piece of information. "I only ever managed to finish level eight training. I tried level nine but ended up nearly killing myself. I was down for over a year while I healed. I've never tried again."
Naruto's head fell as he realized just how dangerous this could be. After a moment, Naruto's face lifted up and he looked C directly in the eyes. C was taken aback by just how much determination and fire he could see.
"It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. I'll finish all ten levels of lightning elemental transformation and become the most powerful shinobi in the world."
C smiled at his promise, while silently hoping that nothing would be able to dim his fierce determination and will to do good. He reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair again.
"I'm sure that you will too."
C took a minute to appreciate the moment before he shook his head and returned to the actual purpose of the room.
"Now then, let's get to training. Each stage of training is unique and different from the last. If I'm ever unavailable you can ask the ANBU on duty for instruction. They will help up till level eight. After that, you'll have to ask the Raikage."
"I understand C-sensei, I'll ask the animal masked people for help if your on a mission."
"Good." C clapped his hand together making Naruto give a small jump. "Now then, training! In section one, you need to get into the water. When you are ready you will pull the cable into the water with you. In case it wasn't obvious, the cable is electrified, not a lot but enough to hurt if you aren't careful. Your job is to redirect the lightning in the water around your body so that it doesn't shock you. I suppose you could also learn to absorb it or something but make sure you can redirect it."
Seeing Naruto's horrified face caused C to snort in amusement.
"This room is relatively safe. The cable and pool is designed so that getting shocked will cause you to let go of the cable and letting go will make the cable leave the water. The worst you'll get is some nasty shocks."
Naruto looked between the pool of water lying innocently in the corner and his sensei's smirking face.
After a moment, he sighed and moved towards the pool, stripping down to his underwear as he went.
"Stupid sensei." He muttered. "And stupid training too."
This was going to hurt.
_ Scene Break _
Naruto walked towards training ground one-hundred four. He had only been training for two weeks and he was already almost done with the first stage. In fact, it had been a simple exercise to do with internal lightning transformation. It was only trying to figure out how everyone else did it that kept him from moving on.
He was jolted from his thoughts when a hand landed on his shoulder. He immediately looked up but relaxed when he noticed that it was only C.
"Hello C-sensei, how was your mission?"
"Good, well, good enough. I got a little roughed up but everyone was fine and we were successful so I can't complain. But I don't want to talk about me right now, I want to talk about you. How far have you gotten in your training?"
Naruto beamed at his sensei.
"I almost finished stage one! The lightning just kind of curls around me now."
C smiled back at Naruto.
"That's great Naruto-kun, and so quickly too. How far are you on chakra control?"
Naruto froze as he realized that he hadn't actually practiced his chakra control since he started lightning transformation training.
"Uh." he stalled.
C's smile dropped as he realized why Naruto hadn't answered.
"You haven't done any work on it have you?" he accused.
Naruto shook his head glumly in reply.
"And your book studies?"
His reply was another head shake.
C sighed and dropped to one knee. He rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked him in the eye.
"I figured that this would happen eventually, just not this soon. You can't stop training in one field just because I gave you another exercise or field to study in."
Naruto nodded his head.
"But when am I supposed to find the time? It took me two weeks of almost constant training to get this far. If I do book studies and chakra control I'll never finish all ten levels."
C nodded his head thoughtfully.
"You just ran into the shinobi training paradox. There are many fields a shinobi must study, many requiring constant training to upkeep. If you focus to much on any one, you risk letting the others slide, and that isn't a good thing."
"How do you deal with it C-sensei?" Naruto asked.
C smiled at Naruto as he replied.
"Well, one of the best things to do is multitask. The more training you can do at once, the more time you have for training the other things. For example, you can read while doing your lightning transformation training. It acts as a distraction making you better with your chakra and gets your studies out of the way."
Naruto nodded as he thought about the idea.
"Thanks C-sensei. I'll try not to focus to much on one thing." He turned around and began heading to a different training ground. "I think I need to work on my chakra control. I'll see you later sensei."
C smiled as he watched Naruto run off. He was happy to know that his student took his words to heart. It made him think that Naruto would survive long enough to become a great shinobi.
_ Scene Break _
Naruto raced into the apartment building he was looking for. He ignored the directory that was posted inside and moved to the stares. Bounding up the steps, it didn't take him long to reach the fourth floor.
Once there, he bounced up to the door he was looking for and began pounding on it with a great amount of enthusiasm. It only took a moment for the door to be pulled open.
"Yugi-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, before bouncing forward to hug the girl. The girl in question responded with a hug of her own, not taken by surprise at all. She was used to Naruto's natural exuberance by now and had expected the hug ever since she heard the pounding on her door.
"Naruto-kun! I thought you were planning on training today!"
Naruto pulled back from the girl and gave her a blinding smile.
"I finished with C-sensei really early today and he told me to relax a bit." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before continuing. "I guess I've been a little caught up in all the training I have to do recently and I haven't been relaxing enough."
The girl frowned at the boy in front of her.
"You have been. I haven't seen you in two weeks."
Naruto's face fell at the thought of upsetting his first friend his own age.
"I didn't mean to Yugi-chan, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm so close to finishing stage two of my lightning transformation training. I've been trying for a month now and I want to move on."
Yugito began to smile at her friend again.
"Just don't do it again. You're my friend and I don't want you to get hurt because you didn't rest enough."
Naruto nodded his acceptance causing Yugito to pull him into her apartment. Yugito's apartment followed the exact same lay out that Naruto's did. It was to be expected because she also lived in a shinobi's apartment complex.
The two children moved into the living room before collapsing onto the sofa together. Once seated, the girl turned to Naruto and began questioning him.
"So how far have you gotten?"
Naruto smiled at his friend's question. Training to be a shinobi was just one of the many things they both enjoyed. Naruto knew that Yugito trained just as hard as he did, although in different areas and with different sensei's.
"I'm almost done. Just a day or two more, I think. I've finished it regularly but I won't move on until I finish it using internal lightning transformation."
Yugito shook her head in exasperation.
"You know you would be done with the training much earlier if you stopped setting yourself extra goals."
"But how am I supposed to become the most powerful shinobi in the world if I just settle for learning techniques?" Naruto protested. "I need to master them, backwards and forwards, if I want to be the best."
His friend just nodded her head.
"I understand that, Naruto-kun. Just make sure that you don't get frustrated when your not moving forward quickly because you want to master techniques." she explained. "And don't get so caught up in training that you forget to have fun."
"I said that I was sorry, Yugi-chan. I'll make sure to take more breaks." Naruto winced before turning the conversation back to her.
"What about you though? How's your training going?"
The girl paused to figure out how to answer the question.
"Good, I guess. I finally managed to pull of a triple cartwheel, so that's something. I just wish that Nana-sensei would let me use chakra."
Naruto snorted in amusement.
"It looks like out sensei's are opposites. Mine won't let me work on anything physical while your won't let you use any chakra."
Yugito shook her head at the strange ways adults worked. No matter how much, she tried she could never understand them.
"Enough about training. Today we are both taking a break. Why don't we go out and do something?"
Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Right. We could go to the park, the one near the Raikage's tower. Lyth-kun said that some shinobi recently changed it around. They even added a lake."
Yugito grinned and jumped to her feet.
"That sounds awesome. Last one there has to buy the ice cream." She shouted over her shoulder as she ran out of the room. Naruto jumped up and raced after her.
"That's not fair, Yugi-chan. You have to say that there's a race before you start running." He shouted. The only reply he got was her laughter drifting back to him.
_Break _
Naruto and Yugito shot into the park, both running as fast as they could. They crossed onto the grass, stopped and immediately turned to each other to begin yelling.
"You lose!" they shouted in unison.
"No way!" shouted Yugito. "I was way faster than you. I clearly won."
"Ha!" laughed Naruto. "You mean I clearly won. I touched the grass first."
Yugito shook her head vigorously. "No, I clearly won."
Naruto began looking around. "I won and I can prove it. Lets ask the nearest person who won. Then you'll know that I won."
Yugito nodded her head sharply and began to help him look around. "We'll ask someone but they'll never say you won, because I clearly did."
The two would have continued bickering over who had won their race to the park for quite some time but they noticed a strange fact that made them stop immediately. There was no one in the park around them.
The two children had been to the park many times, both separately and together, but they had never seen it empty before. There were always at least a few people around even at midnight, the latest either of them had been in the park.
The complete lack of people caused their fledgling shinobi skills to kick in. Naruto responded by dropping to the ground and rolling into a bush. Yugito followed close behind, thinking that separating would be a mistake.
Yugito motioned up causing Naruto to close his eyes in concentration. A minute later he opened his eyes and leaned closer to Yugito.
"I looked through Lyth-kun's eyes like you asked." He whispered. "There are three people deeper in the park. They seem to be having a meeting or something."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"I also saw a thin layer of chakra surrounding the park. I think it's a genjutsu and that it's why there is no one else here."
Yugito frowned in thought. "Are they our shinobi?" she asked wondering what exactly they had wandered into.
Naruto closed his eyed as he looked through Lyth's eyes again. His eyes snapped open a moment later and he began whispering frantically to Yugito.
"I can't be positive but I don't think so. One of the shinobi has a Konoha hitai-ate. It's hidden under a cloak but I caught a look when he moved."
Yugito nodded uncertainly as she thought about the situation. On one hand this could be a training exercise or a completely legitimate meeting, in which case they might end up in trouble. On the other hand, if this wasn't, then all of Kumo might be in trouble.
Naruto knew that, while he was pretty good at situation planning, Yugito was far better than him. After all, she was the one who was teaching him about the subject. He waited anxiously for her thoughts on the situation.
Finally, Yugito took a deep breath and turned to Naruto.
"Can Lyth-kun find out what the shinobi are doing?"
Naruto shook his head.
"His senses are really good but he's too far up for anything more than his vision. I don't want to risk him moving lower because they might see him."
Yugito nodded her head as if she had expected the answer.
"Then we'll have to get closer ourselves."
Naruto felt excitement begin to rise within him. This was probably a mistake that they would get in trouble for, and if it wasn't then it was an extremely dangerous situation but despite all that, it was his first, well second, real shinobi mission.
Naruto nodded firmly and the two children began to crawl towards the meeting. Their pace was agonizingly slow but they couldn't move faster for fear of making noise. The children crept from shadow to shadow, getting closer all the while.
It took ten minutes but they finally got close enough that snippets of conversation could be heard. Feeling that their stealth skills were not good enough to get any closer, the two settled down to listen in.
"You got the bonus money?" one voice said. The voice was deep and gravelly, as if the person regularly gargled rocks before breakfast. Naruto decided to name the man Rocky.
"Of course." said another voice. This one was quite and meek, like something you would expect from a librarian. Naruto decided to call this man Books.
"A lot of it?" asked Rocky. "Because this information is worth a lot."
They didn't hear a reply from Book's voice but it must have been an affirmative because the first voice continued.
"Alright, there's this kid that managed to create a bond to a golden chakra eagle, like the Shodai Raikage."
"Really?" purred the third voice. This one sounded like it belonged to a woman but that was all Naruto could tell. There were no other identifying features. Naruto decided to call her mystery because he had nothing else to work with. He closed his own eyes and looked through Lyth's eyes to see if he could put the voices to figures.
"Yah, it happened like a year ago but it was confirmed last month. The whole village is ridiculously excited, think that its confirmation that Kumo is meant to become the top shinobi village, or something. I haven't found out who the bird is actually bonded to but I'm close."
Books spoke up again. "That is very interesting news, and very troubling. How are you going to find out about bond?"
Rocky laughed a little. "That's really easy. I've got a job in the Raikage's tower. I'll just advance in position a little and they'll give me the information."
"I think you are a little too confident." said Mystery. "Just remember that if anything happens to you, we don't care."
"Harsh, but true." Said Books. "Do you have anything else for us?"
"Nothing quite as good but there are a few things. Kumo decided to change their ..."
The children sat perfectly still and listened intently as the meeting continued.
_Break _
It took two hours of sitting perfectly still but the three voices had broken apart and rushed away. The children continued to stay still for an hour longer in case it was a trick but no one came back, apparently confident in the strength of their genjutsu.
They were finally convinced to move when they saw a family stroll by, letting them know that people were back in the park. Naruto and Yugito walked back to the edge of the park, completely silent. Once there they began to talk about what they had heard and seen.
"We need to go to the Raikage." stated Yugito.
Naruto shook his head immediately. "No, that's too dangerous. They might be looking for anyone who makes a sudden break for the tower."
Yugito nodded hesitantly, it made sense for them to do so. "Then we take the back alleys."
Naruto almost agreed but stopped as an idea came to him.
"No, we should go home."
Yugito froze in shock at the suggestion and turned to yell at Naruto but stopped when she saw the wicked smirk on his face. "Mabui-chan should be home by now and I think she would want to hear about our fun in the park."
Yugito slowly gained a grin to match Naruto's. It was safe, sneaky and unexpected, exactly like what a shinobi should do.
"You know, I think you're right."
The two children turned and began to head to Naruto's apartment, trying their best to not act unusually. This was an important shinobi assignment after all and they were determined not to fail.
_Break _
The Raikage looked up at the doors to his office were thrown open. He was confused because he was sure that he didn't have any more appointments for the day. In fact he had sent his secretary home because he wasn't supposed to meet anyone else for the day.
His confusion was only heightened when his secretary walked through the doors with two children following her. He quickly decided that his secretary wouldn't have bothered him unless it was important so he put his pen down. His opinion was gratified when she began to speak.
"We will need Kenji-san for this meeting."
Deciding that Mabui would have a very good reason for asking for Kenji and an even better one for disturbing him, A motioned to one of his ANBU guards causing him to appear and then vanish. The two shinobi and the two children waited in silence until Kenji finally appeared.
"You called, Raikage-sama. What can I do for you?"
The Raikage motioned towards Mabui as he replied.
"Not for me, Kenji-san, for Mabui-san."
The Raikage and his newly arrived head of intelligence turned their attention to Mabui. Mabui had had plenty of time to think about what she was going to say so she decided to just jump into the heart of the matter.
"Naruto-kun and Yugito-chan have apparently discovered a spy ring. They have cause to believe that the ring originates from Konoha."
The two men blinked in surprise. This was unexpected.
Kenji turned his focus onto the two children standing next to Mabui.
"Why do you think you found a spy ring?"
Naruto glanced at Yugito. She motioned for him to start so he began to tell their story for the second time in as many hours, switching off with Yugito when appropriate. When the children finished, Kenji immediately began to ask questions.
"Can you describe the three people involved?"
Naruto nodded his head slowly.
"I can but you have to understand that I only saw them through Lyth-kun's eyes. He sees a little differently than us so it probably won't be exactly what they look like. I also didn't get a clear look at the third person. She had a layer of chakra over her face and the quick glances I had weren't enough to see through it."
Kenji nodded to say that that was fine and motioned to one of the ANBU. The goat-masked shinobi appeared and handed the man a roll of paper and a pen. Motioning for Naruto to begin describing the shinobi, he began to draw them and add notes to fill in details. When he finished, he showed the picture to Naruto who agreed that that was what the men looked like to him. Yugito just shrugged her shoulders because she hadn't seen any of them.
Kenji sat back and studied the faces of the men Naruto had called Books and Rocky. Finally, Kenji turned his attention away from the pictures and handed them to the Raikage.
"Is it just me or does 'Rocky' look like scribe Suzuki-san?"
A nodded his head slowly as he thought about Kenji's question.
"I think that your right. It certainly fits the other information we have on him. He has a job in my tower and he is up for a promotion that would increase his clearance level."
After looking at the picture for another minute, A raised his hand. The goat masked ANBU agent appeared kneeling in front of him.
"Find Suzuki-san. Take him to interrogation. Be prepared for anything, if he really is a spy he might have hidden depths."
The agent nodded and disappeared. Satisfied that his agent would succeed, the Raikage turned his attention back to the children who had brought this to his attention.
"First, I want to congratulate the two of you on finding this and bringing it to my attention. It shows a remarkable amount of judgment and skill, especially for children your age. I will be proud to call you shinobi one day, provided that you keep up the good work."
The two children beamed at the praise they had been given. For Naruto, it was a further sign that he had been accepted into his new home. For Yugito, it was a step towards her dream of being a kunoichi of Kumo.
"I believe that such dedication to the protection of Kumo should be rewarded." the Raikage continued, "I shall add a successfully completed A-rank mission to your files when you become shinobi. You shall also receive a sum of one million ryō each by the end of the week."
The two Jinchuriki were ecstatic. They had never expected anything like this when they reported in. They were just trying to act like shinobi and keep their home safe.
Yugito was the most excited about the A rank added to her record. It was extremely rare for genin to get an A rank on their record, it was almost unheard of for children who weren't even academy students. She had been incredibly jealous about Naruto's A rank mission and now she had one of her own.
Naruto was most excited about the money. As an orphan, he was given an allowance that allowed him to get things like food and clothing. Unfortunately, it didn't really allow for things like luxury items or shinobi equipment.
The extra money would really help with his training. Or really, what was left of it would help his training, after Mabui-nee-chan made him invest most of it. She had made him save the previous mission pay he had gotten 'for the future'.
The children only had a moment to deal with their joy before they were interrupted by the Raikage.
"I'm sure you must be excited, and tired after your adventure. Head home for now but make sure someone knows where you are. Kenji-san might have a few more questions for you later."
The two blonds bowed and left the room. The shinobi watched them leave in silence. As soon as the door closed, the Raikage cleared his thought, bringing the room's attention back to him.
"Now, then," the Raikage said as he folded his hands on top of his desk, "how are we going to deal with our little spy problem?"
The gathered shinobi knew they were in for a very long night.
_ Scene Break _
"Hey, sensei!" Naruto yelled as he raced towards the man who was teaching him to be a shinobi.
"Naruto?" C replied as he caught sight of his student. He had just gotten back from a week long escort mission to Cha no Kuni and he was looking forward to the long sleep he would take after he reported in. "What are you doing at the Raikage's tower?"
Naruto came to a halt in front of his sensei and gave a blinding smile.
"I was getting my mission payout from Mabui-nee-chan, C-sensei."
C smiled inwardly at Naruto calling Mabui 'nee-chan'. It had started as a joke he had made at Naruto's birthday after Mabui had told Naruto to stop eating cake for fear of giving himself a stomach ache. The two had decided amongst themselves that there was enough truth to the title that they just kept it and adopted each other as siblings. Then the rest of the sentence filtered through his tired brain.
"Wait, mission pay? What mission did you do that you got paid for?"
"Yugito-chan and I found a Konoha spy ring and brought it to the Raikage. He gave us an A rank mission for helping to keep Kumo, and its secrets, safe."
Shocked, C demanded a full accounting of the night one week ago. As the story progressed, C could feel his much deserved sleep slipping farther and farther away. When Naruto finished C shook his head and turned towards the Raikage's tower.
"Only you could get into so much trouble on your day off. I need to give a report on my mission to the Raikage. When I finish, the two of us are going to go training. If you want to go finding spies, you'll need to be a lot better with your hiding."
Naruto felt a sinking feeling start in the bottom of his stomach. It looked like C was not as happy with his adventures as he himself was. This was going to be painful.
_ Scene Break _
Naruto ducked into one of the low gullies that crossed the area and froze. Any movement at all would bring the enemy down on his head. After a tense minute of waiting, he felt it was safe to begin moving again. Slowly, silently, Naruto began to crawl along towards the other end of the gully.
It took him an agonizing thirty minutes to cross a meager fifty yards. Once he had reached his next staging position he paused again. The next gully was five feet away but those five feet might as well have been five miles. There was no cover between positions and that was a sure way to getting caught.
He briefly considered going back and trying another path but he was sure that was also a way to get caught. He had barely made it into this one in the first place. Taking a deep, but quite, breath, Naruto sat still and pondered his next move.
After a minute of thinking an idea came to Naruto that was so absurd he had to try it. Reaching out, Naruto grabbed a rock lying on the floor next to him and threw it to the point he was trying to reach. Then he froze, completely still, not even breathing or blinking would give him away.
The enemy was on the spot he had hit in an instant. He began poking around, his eagle eyes looking into every nook and shadow that could be seen. Naruto felt the eyes of his enemy land on him several times but he didn't move. Finally, satisfied that Naruto was not anywhere nearby, the enemy began moving along the path Naruto was planning on taking.
Seeing his moment, Naruto crept out of hiding and followed the enemies trail. He kept low to the ground, ready to drop if he thought the enemy might even think of looking his way. He breathed a sigh of relief as his luck held and he managed to get into the other gully. Glancing at his enemy, he was glad to see that his ploy had worked. His opponent had decided that the rock was a distraction and had moved to searching other gullies.
Still cautious but with more confidence, Naruto began the final trek of his journey. He crawled along the gully, occasionally slithering on his belly like a snake when the walls got to low, until he reached his destination. Glancing at his enemy one last time, he reached up and grabbed the target.
As soon as he had the target in hand, Naruto jumped up and began shouting.
"Finally! I got it! I got it! I can't believe I got it!"
The sound attracted his opponent who was searching through a dead bush, just ten yards away. He whipped around, saw Naruto standing with the prize in his hand, and froze. Then he reached up and pushed the hood off his head revealing the smiling face of C.
"Good job, Naruto-kun. I didn't expect you to use that gully, it had too little cover for it to be really viable."
Naruto grinned at his sensei and basked in the praise. It had taken three months of stealth training but it was finally beginning to pay off. He had been both wrong and right in his prediction about stealth training. It had been incredibly difficult and time consuming, slowing down his other shinobi training further, but it was also fun.
C had made the training into a giant game of hide and seek. C would search for Naruto, while Naruto would do his very best to make it to the center of the training ground undetected. To motivate Naruto in the face of multiple failures, he had added a prize in the middle of the field for Naruto to prize was a rolled-up scroll.
"I got the scroll C-sensei! That means you have to teach me my third jutsu!"
C chuckled at his student's enthusiasm.
"Don't worry, you won so I'll teach you your third jutsu. We'll start on Tuesday, the next day I'm free to teach you."
"What jutsu are you going to teach me C-sensei?! Is it going to be awesome?!"
C snorted in amusement.
"That depends on your point of view I guess. I'm going to teach you a D-rank lightning jutsu this time. It's called Lightning Release : Lightning Fence Jutsu. It is mostly used by genin for capturing animals or farmers who have a little knowledge of chakra. It's main use though, is getting you ready for more powerful lightning barriers in the future."
Naruto jumped up and down and cheered some more. C gave another laugh before he worked to calm down his excited student.
"Calm down Naruto-kun. I know that you're excited to learn a new jutsu but you have to focus now."
Naruto stopped himself from bouncing and took several deep breaths. C had taught him to take deep breaths whenever he needed to calm down. So far, it had worked extremely well. When he had finished C nodded his head and continued his lesson.
"For now, we need to go back to your stealth training."
"Aww," whined Naruto, "do we have to? I managed to get the scroll didn't I?"
"None of that now, Naruto-kun. You did manage to get the scroll but you still need work. Didn't you want to master every shinobi skill to become the most powerful shinobi ever? Stealth is a very important shinobi skill and you will need to use it often in the field."
When Naruto gave a grudging nod of understanding and acceptance, C continued with his lesson.
"You managed to get the scroll so we'll have to make it a little harder. You now need to get the prize and get back out again. I'll also be stepping up my detection skills. Make sure that you hide both yourself and your trail now."
Sighing, Naruto placed the scroll back on the pillar and moved towards the edge of the field. He just hoped it didn't take him another two months until he got the scroll again.
_ Scene Break _
Naruto grinned as he approached the massive waterfall in front of him. It was the last waterfall in the training field and the last barrier he had to learning the leaf sticking exercise.
C had told Naruto that he would have good enough control after he finished the twelve waterfalls chakra training method to begin the leaf sticking exercise. Then he would have to do an entire other set of exercises to work on finesse. Something that he had only barely touched on in his other training. It would be a long process to get genin level chakra control but he was almost half way done. He just needed to finish one last shape and he was going to do it today.
Naruto was feeling confident and he had every right to be. He had been training his chakra control with various exercises since he had gotten to Kumo, a little more than nineteen months ago, and had finally achieved slightly below average chakra control, an impressive feat for one so young and one with such large chakra reserves.
He was also extremely familiar with this exercise which added to his confidence. He had been training with the twelve waterfalls for thirteen months so he knew the exercises backwards and forwards. Literally as it turned out because he had gotten bored and done them backwards as a way to pass the time.
Naruto stepped up to the waterfall and ducked under its spray. As he did, he grasped the chakra inside of him and pushed it above him. Manipulating the chakra flow, Naruto formed a shield to keep the water off of him. From grabbing the chakra to forming the shield it had taken just under two seconds, keeping him completely dry, even as he continued further under the falling water.
Naruto laughed to himself at how easy the exercise was now compared to how it had been when he had started. He reached the stone he used as a platform and climbed up. Naruto took a moment to enjoy his surroundings. The rush of water and the constant roar of falling water had become soothing to him over his many months training.
Shaking himself out of his relaxation, Naruto began his exercises. He twisted the chakra shield above him into a variety of shapes changing the way the water fell around him. Each shape was more complicated than the last and took more concentration to complete. Finally, after twenty minutes standing under the pounding water, Naruto reached the final shape.
Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes to help his concentration. The shape was extremely complicated and he always failed on this step. Naruto quickly crushed any thoughts of failure and refocused on his chakra.
Naruto reached out and began gently pushing and pulling his chakra emission into shape. The shape was full of long, twisting lines, some as thin as a katana's blade, very small for this kind of work. He also had to maintain the original chakra dome under his construct because the construct had many holes and would let the water through to him.
Finally, after five minutes of intense concentration, longer than any other shape he had worked with, it was done. His name, made entirely out of chakra, holding up the immense force of the water above his head. Everywhere there were holes, the chakra shield dipped down into a flat dome shape to keep the water off his head.
The indented spaces quickly filled with water, increasing the weight he was holding and the difficulty of the exercise. The chakra construct held for a long moment, around ten seconds, before it began shaking uncontrollably. Recognizing the signs of an immanent collapse, Naruto quickly smoothed the construct out until it became a dome again.
Imminent collapse dealt with, Naruto began celebrating. It was shaky, uneven and short lived but he had did it. The last shape, his name, in the last waterfall, the twelfth one, meant that he was ready.
"Finally." He breathed to himself. "Almost two years of work but I'm finally ready."
He basked in the sense of accomplishment for another minute before he settled down. He was allowed to celebrate his achievements but he wasn't allowed to let it go to his head. The kanji only lasted for a few seconds and it had taken entirely to long to form. Settling back into his concentration stance, Naruto grabbed his chakra and began pushing the shield above his head.
_ Scene Break _
Naruto sat in the upper branches of a large maple tree, his back resting against the trunk and his face turned toward some point only he could see in the sky. He waited quietly, not moving or speaking, as if afraid that doing so would would cause whatever he was looking at to disappear.
Finally, after two hours of sitting still, he began to sir. He rolled his neck and began stretching out his muscles, stiff from resting in the cold for so long. Once sufficiently warmed up, Naruto climbed down the tree to get back to the ground. There, he turned his gaze back up to the sky, this time with an expectant look on his face.
A moment later, Lyth flew down from the sky and landed on Naruto's shoulder causing him to smile.
"That was awesome, Lyth-kun. Thanks for letting me see your hunt."
Lyth puffed up proudly and gave a bark causing Naruto to laugh.
"Yah, you sure showed that squirrel who was boss."
Lyth gave another bark causing Naruto to respond.
"My favorite part? I guess it would have to be from when you found the squirrel to when you dove. The sense of finding your prey and following it unseen was awesome." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you think that that feeling is what being a shinobi is like? Finding your target, following it and and then striking?"
Lyth contemplated Naruto's words for a minute. Then he twisted his head to the side and gave another bark causing Naruto to wrinkle his nose in disgust.
"What? Of course we don't eat our target."
Lyth began to cough in what sounded a lot like laughter causing Naruto to smile.
"I guess you're right then, being a shinobi is not quite like hunting after all."
The two were interrupted by a by a girl dropping down right in front of them.
"Hi!" Yugito said brightly. "What are you two doing?"
Naruto blinked in surprise but smiled and answered.
"Lyth-kun let me look through his eyes as he went hunting. It was awesome!"
Yugito nodded her head in agreement.
"I can see how it would be." She paused for a second before continuing. "So, something awesome happened today."
"What was it, Yugito-chan?" He replied, correctly reading her implied signal to ask her about it.
"I started stealth training! That means we are both doing the same type of training for the first time!"
Naruto gave a massive grin and stepped forward to hug her. He was interrupted by Lyth's startled squawk as he was jostled.
"Sorry, Lyth-kun. I forgot you were there for a moment." He turned his attention back to Yugito. "That's awesome! We can finally train together!"
Yugito nodded her head excitedly.
"I know! That's what's so awesome! I couldn't wait to tell you so I tried to find you as soon as I finished for the day."
Naruto looked up at the sun before nodding his head and turning towards his apartment. He waved to Yugito, motioning for her to follow him.
"It's getting late so I need to get home. Why don't you come over so we can figure out when we can practice?"
Yugito nodded and moved to follow him.
"Alright, sounds good." She took a few steps before continuing. "Do you think we should train against each other or with each other?"
Naruto considered the question for a moment before answering.
"I think we should do both. When we're shinobi we will need to be stealthy on our own and as a group. It would make sense to practice both."
Yugito nodded her head exasperatedly. "I know that, and of coarse we're going to do both. I was asking which we should do first."
"Well why didn't you say so?" Naruto asked.
"I did." she said dangerously, causing Naruto to frown. He knew that there was no way to win an argument when she was in one of her moods so he decided to go back to her previous question.
"With each other first. We get enough alone practice with our sensei's. We can practice together by ourselves.
Yugito nodded in agreement.
"That makes sense I guess." she replied.
Naruto decided to ask the next question. "What do you think of training in the city?"
Hearing no reply, he decided to explain himself a little. "Its just that when we become shinobi, we will have to take missions to hide in many places. We need to practice in fields and stuff but we also need to hide in villages."
"I got you." Yugito replied thoughtfully. "And it would make another difference training with out sensei's."
She paused before another problem occurred to her. "Who is going to be searching for us?"
"Huh?" questioned Naruto.
Yugito expanded on her previous question. "Well, when we are training, someone has to look for us so we can see how well we hide. Who is going to look for us if we are training to work together?"
Naruto frowned again as he processed her question. It was a problem that he had no answer to. They could ask their sensei's but that probably wouldn't work. Both of their sensei's were active shinobi and didn't have a lot of time to spend teaching them.
It took him two blocks before an inkling of an idea occurred to him. A wicked grin began to grow on his face as he continued to mull his idea over. It took him another block before he realized that he would need to collaborate with Yugito for it to continue any further.
"I have an idea, I think." He said carefully.
Yugito had was startled at the sudden break in the silence so it took her a moment to respond.
"Really? What is it?"
Naruto shook his head. "Not here. If my idea works we don't want anyone to overhear."
Yugito saw Naruto's grin and grinned herself. She knew that grin, it always meant that he had a wicked idea that would be a whole lot of fun.
"Well, then, let's not wait any longer. Last one to your apartment had to buy ice cream!"
Yugito immediately took off, hoping that Naruto would be surprised by her challenge and would give her a head start. Unfortunately for her, Naruto was used to her sudden challenges by now and was hard on her heels.
_ Scene Break _
A forgotten room in a forgotten base, Konohagakure
Danzo sat behind his desk, dealing with the many forms of paperwork that all bureaucracy generated. The paperwork was especially dense that day because he was supposed to be shutting root down. A consequence of doing of what he must to ensure the safety of Konohagakure while Sarutobi sat as Hokage.
He wasn't actually going to disband root of course, that would be the height of folly. He just had to make it look like he was, while hiding as many assents and resources as he could.
"Danzo-sama." a masked man, one of his root agents, spoke up to get his leader's attention.
Danzo looked up from his paperwork with a frown on his face. He had a strict deadline he was working with and he had told his guards to hold all visitor. He paused as he saw the expression on his agent's face. Finally, he caught his subordinate's gaze and nodded his head.
"This had better be important." He said. "Report."
The man immediately handed Danzo the folder he was holding. "The information report from Kumogakure. It seems that the cell we had in place was discovered and captured. This was all the information they could get out."
Danzo grimaced in distaste at the information. It was exceptionally hard to get spies into Kumo because they had never really demilitarized or lower security after the Third Shinobi World War. He only had the one cell in Kumo at the moment and it would take quite some time to replace them.
"A shame" he said to himself. Knowing that the arrival of the report, even with the capture of his spy cell, did not count as an important enough reason to merit an interruption in his work, Danzo began to look for the real reason for his agent's interruption. He opened the folder and began skimmed through its contents. He paused as he got to the fact that he instinctively knew was the cause of his shinobi's concern. Truthfully, it was causing him some concern as well.
"This is all the information we have on Kumo?" he asked.
"Yes Danzo-sama." the man replied causing Danzo to frown. "How long until we can get another team in place."
"Current estimates say it will take a minimum of four years to get through security safely." the masked shinobi replied.
Danzo immediately shook his head. "I need a team there immediately. It doesn't matter if they survive, I just need the information. We can worry about a permanent set up later."
The shinobi bowed to Danzo. "I shall send the orders immediately."
"Good." Danzo gave a cold smile toward his agent. "Tell the team to send as much information on this Golden chakra eagle incident as they can get."
The shinobi bowed again and left the room. Danzo put the folder down and gazed into the distance.
A golden chakra eagle was a big deal to the people of Kumo. It would raise their spirits and affirm their decisions. it would also upset many of his plans. Kumo was his biggest opposition and many of his operations were focused on weakening the other hidden village.
The more he thought about the situation, the more an idea began to form in his head. A way to turn this to his advantage, like a true shinobi must. If he was very careful, he could use this to weaken two of the greatest opponents to Konohagakure.
"Yes." He whispered to himself. "This will require a delicate touch but it can work to my advantage."
He smiled to himself and turned back to his paperwork. He would need more information before he could act but when he got what he was looking for, more than one person would die.