Author's Note: Viridian, thanks for the wonderful review. I'll be keeping all your points in mind, and I'll say this now: I will be trying to restrict Naruto from super-poweredness, as I think it just makes a boring story, among other things.
Disclaimer: Naruto and etc. aren't mine, but there is a growing collection of original characters that will undoubtedly make their appearances.
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Namikaze Brothers Arc One : Magirekomu Bettenchi(to be lost in another world)
By Renatus
Chapter 02 – Omotedatsu (to be known)
oooOoooOoooOooo
Two weeks after arrival…
Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha, taking in the subtle changes that he could notice in the buildings and shops around him. It was largely the same. Konoha had a certain atmosphere to it that Naruto had always thought to be steady and unchangeable; a rhythm that seeped through the taped and bandaged structures of the hidden village. It was home, no matter the year or time.
Naruto pushed the red fabric of his coat aside and stuffed his hands into his pant pockets. The knee-length coat was a new addition to his wardrobe. It bore the swirled icon on the sleeves and back, and had a thick bar of black around its base. He had rolled its sleeves up past his elbows, baring the sleeves of the dull navy shirt he wore under the collar-less flak vest. Kushina had presented it to him, the red color different from what he normally wore, but he would never refuse her. She was his mother, even if she didn't yet know it. He treasured the gift.
Kushina had visited him at Minato's side, her face a bit strained and her movements slow, but her smile had been bright and real. Naruto knew that the past couple weeks had been hard for the two. They had lost a child. Even though Naruto was that same child from some now-impossible future, they had lost a child. Naruto had no idea how to relate, and so kept his distance, letting them come to him if they wanted to, no matter his on-again-off-again desire to get to know them. Naruto didn't know how to react to either of his parents anyways. Minato was easier, Naruto could see him as the Yondaime and half ignore the father role, but Naruto was generally left a bit confused the few times he had seen them so far.
Naruto approached a yellow apartment building and unlocked the door, making his way inside and up the two flights of stairs. He knew the building. Kakashi had lived in it during his time as his Sensei, though Naruto had yet to meet him in the past. Minato had informed him that Kakashi had joined ANBU some months ago and that it would be unlikely to run into him much. This had been said with both pride and a mischievous smirk that Naruto recognized immediately as the prequel to something devious and likely directed at whoever the smirk was pointed towards, which at the time had been Naruto. Naruto had yet to figure out what plot his father was forming against him.
Naruto unlocked and entered his apartment, bypassing the booby-trapped light switch by the door and shuffling into the small space. It was large enough to hold a kitchen area and a living room combined, though it left it feeling a little crowded. His bedroom and bathroom were off to the side through a door. Overall it was larger than the one he had used as a child, and a bit nicer. A monthly stipend pay from the Hokage would allow such a thing. Naruto was hoping he would be able to start missions relatively soon and take over his own expenses.
"Kinatsu-san." A voice floated over from the windows.
Naruto glanced in the direction out of the corner of his eyes, spotting the half-hidden form of a shinobi perched on the ledge outside the window. He was young, likely a Chunin serving in the Hokage's tower. He had seen him a couple times before but didn't know the man, though that wasn't unusual.
"Careful," Naruto said, pointing to the sealing tags along the edge of the window, "Don't set them off."
The shinobi's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the tags booby-trapping the window near his head. "Hai, Kinatsu-san. Thanks for telling me."
Naruto shrugged and turned to look at him fully, "Need something?"
"Uh, hai, Hokage-sama has requested your presence in his office." The man said.
Naruto nodded and the shinobi gave one last uneasy look at the tags near him before dropping out of the window to the street below. Naruto sighed and looked around his apartment before following, jumping out the window rather than making his way back down the stairs and through the doors. It was just easier to use the window, shock tags or not.
He scaled the outside of the Hokage tower and climbed through the glass doors of the balcony outside the Hokage's office. Minato was seated at his desk, with two others in the room with him. Naruto looked at the two in mild surprise, recognizing the Third seated in a chair to the side of the desk. Naruto glanced to the side, spotting Jiraiya leaning against the wall.
"You could use the door, you know." Minato said with a scowl.
Naruto grinned sheepishly at him, even though it was hidden by his scarf and entered the room. "Yeah, but the window is faster and you're kinda fun to antagonize."
Minato growled at him, which caused Naruto to stare at him for a minute before grinning widely. He had always thought his penchant for growling had been from the fox, but apparently it ran in the family a bit. Granted, Naruto's growls tended to sound distinctly feral and animalistic, while Minato still sounded perfectly human, but the habit was still the same.
Minato sighed and gestured to the other two men, both of whom were watching Naruto with open curiosity. Naruto eyed them in return, noticing the speculation and hesitation in their expressions. Naruto raised an eyebrow at his father.
"You told them?" he asked, watching the growing smile on Minato's face.
"Only what I knew." He said, "I've asked you here to fill in a few gaps."
Naruto nodded and reached up to pull the scarf off his nose, letting it pool around his neck. The two men inspected his face curiously. Naruto knew now, how much he looked like his father. Despite the faint whisker lines on his cheeks from the Kyubi's influence, it was rather unmistakable that the two were closely related.
"Release the Hakinkage." Minato said.
Naruto pulled in a breath and formed a seal with one hand at his side, feeling his chakra swirl and settle. He let out the breath he had been holding, feeling the subtle affects of the release of the bloodline limit. He knew that his eyes had returned to their summer-blue color; the same shade of blue as his father's eyes.
"You look a lot alike." Jiraiya commented. "What's with the eye color?"
"It's the mark of the Namikaze Kekkai Genkai." Minato said. "It doesn't affect the sight of the ninja, but the activation of the bloodline limit changes the eye color to gold."
"What does it do exactly?" the Jiraiya asked. "You've spoken of it, but never fully explained it to me."
"Kinatsu?" Minato said, turning to him. Naruto shrugged and nodded.
"The complete Hakinkage affects your strength, speed and stamina." Naruto said. "In combination it increases healing ability a little, but that's more of a side-effect, at least for me. Tsunade-baachan wasn't sure, but she thought that it might be specific to me cause of the fox; something about my chakra being able to increase my healing rate, and the Hakinkage increasing the flow of my chakra or something. Anyways, there are different levels of the activation that increase the affects as the level goes up. Of course, the higher the level activated, the more chakra it sucks up."
"It has been many decades since I have seen an activated Hakinkage." The Third said. "To what level have you awoken yours?"
"Just the first." Naruto said. "I have all three aspects of the bloodline limit and I can activate the first level. At the first level, it simply enhances my natural abilities something like thirty percent, or so Kakashi-sensei guessed. I'm not sure how much the increase will be at the next level. I'm working on the second level, but it's taking me a while, and I've been distracted from my training what with crazy missing-nin coming after me and all."
"Impressive." Minato said with a proud smile. Naruto grinned at him, pleased and slightly ecstatic to see the pride in his father's eyes. He didn't bother to reactive it, he had wanted it for the extra healing after his fights with Madara, but he didn't like to rely on it on a day-to-day basis. He didn't need to. And it really did put a drain on his chakra levels if it was activated for days on end. And he no longer had the Kyubi's seemingly endless chakra supply to feed his own. It was going to take him a while to get used to that.
"Alright, Kinatsu." Minato said, "Tell us."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the three. Of all the ninjas he had come to know, these three were some of those he trusted the most. There were others, Tsunade, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara, but Naruto trusted and looked up to these three. He had called one sensei for years, and had gone through his childhood relishing the attention of the Third all the while staring up at the visage of the Fourth and vowing to surpass him.
So he told them. Not a lot, but enough. Naruto skipped over his childhood and glossed over his days as a Genin, mentioning Sasuke and Orochimaru if simply because they stood out in his head so much. But Naruto focused his story on Akatsuki and more importantly, Uchiha Madara, the man who had jumped through time in order to get rid of him before he became such a nuisance to the organization.
They listened silently and didn't ask him a single question. Naruto wasn't sure what the men's silence meant, but he continued his half-halting tale anyways, finally settling into a sort of rhythm in the telling that was reminiscent of when he reported after completing a mission. He focused on the facts and left out most of the personal stuff of his life. By the time he was done, finishing with his suicidal, desperate ploy of pulling on Kyubi's sixth tail in order to face down Madara, Naruto was feeling a little exhausted. He hadn't had to tell the story in full, well, ever. Those around him usually knew most of it. He hadn't realized how tiring it would be to relate the story of the last few years of his life. And he had left out so much.
"That's quite a story." Minato said softly, his fingers crossed under his chin. Naruto sighed and sat himself on the floor in front of the desk cross-legged, leaning his head on his hand. Minato followed him with his eyes, one of his eyebrows raised in a sign of amusement that Naruto was fast becoming familiar with.
"You don't know the half of it." Naruto grumbled. And it was true.
"I'm sure I don't." the Fourth said.
"How old are you now?" the Third asked.
"Eh, eighteen." Naruto said.
"So the Kyubi is no longer sealed inside you?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto shook his head. "I have no idea why, or what happened or how. Shit, I don't even know why I survived the damned fox's extraction if it was even that. Gaara sure hadn't. But the Kyubi is gone. Completely. The seal is dead, and a damned black hole has been left in my brain the size of the hokage mountain."
"It scarred you." Minato said a bit tightly.
Naruto sighed and nodded. "The seal is still there," he said, glancing down at his own stomach, "But it's barren – ah, inactive and there's no trace of the stupid fox in my system anywhere. Not even residual chakra floating around in some corner somewhere. I mean, I could have missed something, but I don't think so. It would have shown itself when I got so pissed off at Madara anyways."
"You had claws." Minato pointed out.
Naruto blinked and looked down at his hands. His nails were a bit more claw-like than normal for a human but they had been like that for years. Really, Naruto was a little surprised that there wasn't more physical markers of the Kyubi's presence on him.
"An interesting side-effect perhaps." The Third said. "It makes some sense, considering it has affected your physiology in other areas."
Naruto nodded. "I would get the slitted, red eyes and glowing chakra fox shroud deal, but only when I got too angry."
The three were silent for a while as Naruto stared at his hands and pondered his new, subtle physical changes. "Ne, did my eyes turn red?" he asked, looking back up to his father. "When I was fighting Madara?"
"No."
"Then I'm pretty sure the Kyubi is gone." Naruto said. "Maybe because he was sealed in me for eighteen years I got some physical side-effects. I've always had these," he said, pointing to his cheeks, "And over the years I developed some of the others, like my teeth and nails. But the fox isn't in me anymore. No fiery chakra, no bitchy fox spirit growling crudeness at the world, no endless pit of rage and fury burning in the back of my head. Gone." Naruto tilted his head to the side slightly, finally really thinking about the sudden absence of his life-long tenant. "It's… kinda strange, actually."
"Interesting." Jiraiya said. "I wouldn't mind taking a look at that seal sometime."
Naruto nodded. "Sure."
"Why did Orochimaru want Uchiha Sasuke so badly?" Minato asked, changing the subject a bit and throwing Naruto off guard.
"Huh?"
"Why Sasuke? Why not one of the other Uchihas?"
Naruto blinked at him before it hit him. Itachi hadn't killed the clan yet. "Because Sasuke was the last."
All three of their eyes widened a bit at that. "The last?" Minato asked.
"Itachi murdered the entire clan when Sasuke was a kid. He only left Sasuke alive. Itachi joined the Akatsuki. Sasuke killed him later, but they were both labeled as missing nins by that point." Naruto left out the bit about Sasuke taking his brother's place among the Akatsuki and attacking Konoha. Things were crazy enough without mentioning that. Actually, Naruto preferred not to talk about a lot of things that happened – or would happen.
"There was a twisted reason for it all that you probably don't really want to know." Naruto said. "Itachi's hands killed the clan, but he had help and he was – eh. Well, like I said, you probably really don't want to know."
The three gave him a variety of looks but Naruto refused to elaborate. He wasn't ready to tell them that Itachi had destroyed one of Konoha's greatest clans on the order of his own council, no matter the reason. Naruto thought about the Uchiha's, and wondered if he could – or even wanted to – change things. He would have to think about it.
Minato heaved a sigh, shaking his head slightly.
"I suppose you are stuck here, then." the Fourth said after a minute.
"Unless you know how to get me back." Naruto said, looking up at the man in a mixture of hope and fear. He wanted to get back to his friends, but he knew what awaited him. He wasn't sure he was ready to face those challenges yet. He wasn't strong enough yet, even with the Kyubi's sixth tail, he couldn't beat Madara, and he no longer had the Kyubi's power anymore. Only with the Fourth's speed and strength were they able to kill a severely weakened Uchiha Madara. And there was still one more out there with the Kyubi still under his control.
Minato shook his head. "My time and space techniques do not focus on such long range time manipulations."
Naruto sighed into his hand. "Alright." Trying to settle into the idea of his situation. He was in his own past and was stuck there, unless this time's Madara felt inclined to take him back, but Naruto kind of doubted that.
"What about Madara?" Naruto asked.
"What about him?" Jiraiya asked. "He's dead."
"The one from the future is." Naruto said. "This time's Madara is still out there and collecting the tailed beasts. He still has the Kyubi since it didn't finish its attack and get sealed."
Naruto quieted at that, remembering that his younger self had died, stillborn by Madara's attack on Kushina. Even if the Kyubi had continued its attack, the Kyubi would not have been sealed inside the baby body of Uzumaki Naruto. Things were different; already very different. Naruto wondered how much more things would change. He couldn't predict the future, he realized, even though he had lived it.
"Let me worry about Madara." The Fourth said. Naruto raised his eyebrows, but didn't question him. The Fourth was one of, if not the – strongest shinobi of Konoha. Naruto knew that, and was comforted by it.
"Heh, alright." Naruto said, shifting his legs so that one was propped up for his chin to rest on. "Akatsuki should already be formed by now. Orochimaru will be joining it soon if he hasn't already."
"He already has." Jiraiya said. "Last year."
"I don't know how many of the tailed beasts they have yet, but they'll be collecting them for the next decade. They didn't go after Gaara until I was sixteen, and they never got their hands on me, however much they tried."
"Gaara?" the Third asked.
"Oh, yea." Naruto said, smiling a bit, "Gaara of the Sand. He's the youngest of the Kage's children in Sunagakure. He has the one-tailed Shukaku inside of him."
"Oh?" the Third said. "I knew Suna had the Shukaku, but not that the host had been changed."
Naruto shrugged.
"So, kiddo," Jiraiya said, a smirk growing on his face. "Got any more good stories to tell?"
Naruto grinned. "I've a few good ones about you, Ero-sennin, (1) but I don't think you would want me to tell them in front of your sensei and student."
Naruto smirked as Jiraiya's eyes flickered over to the other two men before narrowing on Naruto, a clear warning to watch what he said. Naruto chuckled. "Like your books. Have you started writing them yet? I never asked when the first one came out in print. Icha Icha, right, Ero-sennin!"
Jiraiya's eyes widened in surprise, telling Naruto that the man had at least started to write, even if he wasn't publishing the books yet. His smirk grew.
"How's your research coming along?" Naruto asked, his smirk nearly devious now.
"None of your business, brat." Jiraiya said, sniffing and looking away with crossed arms. Naruto laughed at the sight. He had missed the man severely over the years. It was good to pick on him again, to see the quick changes of emotion and attitude that reminded him so much of himself.
Minato cleared his throat, getting their attention. He was clearly amused, and if Naruto had to guess, likely knew what sort of research Jiraiya was up to.
"Kinatsu," Minato said, his face serious though his eyes were still amused. "I am sending you with Jiraiya. You'll leave in a week and I'm sending some mission scrolls along with for you to complete while you're gone."
"Eh? What for?" Naruto asked, getting to his feet.
"Jiraiya is keeping an eye on Orchimaru and Akatsuki." Minato said, "I want you to go with him because you are the only one who has dealt with them to any extent."
"And I'm going to train you." Jiraiya said.
"You already did that." Naruto grinned. "I get to do it again, huh? This should be fun. What are you going to teach me, Ero-sennin?"
"That depends on what you know."
Naruto tilted his head to the side, grinning at them, "I know the Rasengan."
He got the surprised look out of all three of them again, though Minato's was less pronounced.
"I've also added an elemental recomposition to it." Naruto said with a smirk, "And developed it into three separate advanced attacks."
"You – " Minato stopped, his eyes wide now, "You added an elemental recomposition to the Rasengan?"
Naruto nodded. "Yup. Kakashi-sensei helped me."
"He taught you the Rasengan?" Minato asked.
"No. Jiraiya did that when I was thirteen." Naruto said, pointing to the white-haired ninja. "Kakashi-sensei taught me about elemental recomposition and then I had to add the two together on my own."
Minato sighed and leaned back in his chair, chuckling lightly. "Naruto, son, you are full of surprises."
Naruto grinned widely at his father. "You want to see it?"
oooOoooOoooOooo
The next day Naruto made his way to the training grounds, looking around the familiar area. It was the same training ground he had been in when he had taken Kakashi's bell tests. It even still had the three posts stuck in the center of the clearing. It was nice to know that some things didn't change.
"Kinatsu!" Minato called from his position leaning on one of the posts.
"Heya!" Naruto called out in greeting, waving one hand as he jogged to join the small group waiting for him.
"Kinatsu, let me introduce you." Minato said with a smile, gesturing to the two three Chunin-dressed ninja beside him, "These are Saotome Tetsu, Shiranui Genma and Hatake Kakashi."
Naruto looked them over, trying not to stare at the younger Kakashi. Naruto didn't know Tetsu. She had her dark auburn hair pulled to the back of her head, her bangs fanned out around her face and half obstructing the leaf hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead. Her pants had been cut to shorts, and she wore guards over her shins and arms. Genma and Kakashi, Naruto had known before. They were both, like Tetsu, dressed in the standard Chunin outfit, though without the modifications. Genma had a senbon between his teeth and was grinning at him, while Kakashi watched him silently from behind his half-mask. Naruto rather thought that Kakashi didn't look much different. He even still had his hitai-ate covering one of his eyes.
"Guys," Minato said, "This is a friend of mine, Kinatsu."
"Hiya!" Naruto said, waving his hand at them again.
"Friend of the Hokage, eh?" Tetsu said, grinning at him.
"Hey, Tetsu." Genma said, "Try not to scare him off."
"Hey, hey!" Tetsu said, "What are you saying? That I'm scary?"
"Yes." Genma said with a smirk.
Tetsu growled at him, her fist clenched at her sides.
"You're not supposed to fight with each other, you know." Minato commented.
The two shot him looks and Naruto grinned.
"Hey! Why are they here?" Naruto asked, looking the three over with a critical eye.
"They are going to spar with you." Minato said, "So we can test your skills a bit more officially."
"Eh?" Naruto looked at them again. "These three?"
"Oy! What are you implying!" Tetsu said.
"I'm stronger than you are." Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down his nose at her. He was taller, not by a lot, but still taller than her.
"I'll use you for a pin cushion, don't you think you being buddy-buddy to the Hokage will save your ass!"
"You'll have to catch me first, Tetsu-chan." Naruto said with a leering grin, "I'm pretty fast."
Tetsu cocked her fist and swung, Naruto ducked and dodged out of her immediate reach, though he needn't have bothered. Minato had caught her wrist before her fist would have reached him. Tetsu stood glaring at Naruto, not bothering to share her death-glare with the one holding her back.
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.
"You're dead, carrot-top!" She ground out, a kunai in her free hand suddenly.
"Tetsu, calm down." Minato said. "Kinatsu, quit antagonizing her."
"Hmph." Naruto kept half an eye on the Kunoichi, not too sure about her. She seemed a bit bloodthirsty to him, though considerably less crazy about it than Anko had been.
"So why are they here, then?" Naruto asked, "Aren't they a bit young?"
"Kinatsu." Minato said sternly. Naruto shut his mouth and scowled but didn't say anything else.
"As I said," the Fourth continued, "They are here to spar against you."
Naruto looked the three over again but held his tongue.
Minato sighed. "You told me that you had not gained Chunin."
Naruto shrugged. "Yea, but I still took A-rank missions. So?"
"They may be younger than you," Minato said. "But they are Chunin, and Kakashi is a Jonin"
Naruto looked the three over, not bothering to say anything and trying to size them all up. He didn't know Tetsu, but she reminded him of Mitarashi Anko an awful lot. He only knew Genma in passing, but he knew Kakashi very well. Naruto sniffed and nodded a couple times.
"Yeah! I'll take them all on!" he announced, crossing his arms over his chest and nodded again at the Fourth. He caught sight of Kakashi's narrowed eye and the glower from the two Chunin.
Minato stared at him for a minute before laughing and shaking his head, still holding Tetsu's wrist as she tried to attack him again.
"You little pip-sqeak!' She hollered at him, "You bastard! I'll gut you myself!"
"Hey, Hey!" Naruto said, pointing at her, "Aren't ninja supposed to be able to control their emotions? What's up with you? And you're a Chunin!"
"Ahhh!" She yelled, and chucked the kunai in her hand at him. Naruto dodged it, glancing back as it struck the ground behind him, buried to the hilt.
"Tetsu!" Minato said, though he was still smiling. The girl stopped her struggling but she glared at Naruto, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Naruto watched her warily and kept his silence, having flashbacks to his Chunin exam, and the first time that Anko had thrown a kunai at him. He was wondering if the two were related.
Minato sighed. "Kinatsu, this is a team sparing match." He said, holding up a hand to forestall whatever Naruto was about to say. "You'll join Genma to make a two-man team against Tetsu and Kakashi."
"What?" Naruto said, looking at the three again.
"They're stronger than they may look." Minato said, raising his eyebrow at him in amusement.
"Eh, fine." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi. Kakashi simply looked at him blankly, his one uncovered eye watching him closely. Genma's face was more expressive, but it still didn't tell him much about the guy.
"Yes!" Naruto said, psyching himself up. It had been a while since he got the chance to spar with Kakashi, after all. "Let's go! Say start already!"
"You better watch yourself, shithead!" Tetsu said, grinning a bit manically at him, "You're mine!"
"Eh," Naruto waved his hand nonchalantly as he joined Genma to face off against the other two. Genma rolled the senbon in his mouth around, grinning at their opponents.
Tetsu growled at him, but didn't say anything. Naruto stood next to Genma and sized the two across from him up. Of all of them, Naruto was probably the eldest, though Genma had to be near his age. He thought it a bit odd that Kakashi and Tetsu, the obvious younger ones, were placed on a team together. Neither could have been more than fourteen or fifteen. Then again, Minato had said that Kakashi was already a Jonin.
"Don't use anything that'll seriously hurt anyone." Minato said to them. "This is simply meant to judge your levels, not kill each other."
"Ah, how am I supposed to show you what I can do then?" Naruto asked.
Minato gave him a look and Naruto grinned in response.
"You don't need to show off in order to prove that you can be a Chunin." Minato said. "Being a Chunin isn't about high powered jutsus (2)."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said. "Whatever. Can we start now?"
Minato sighed and nodded.
Naruto grinned and threw a few shuriken at the two. They dodged, Tetsu ducking under them and retaliating in kind. Naruto jumped over the low throw, and caught sight of a few more coming at his head in the air. Naruto's grin widened as he formed a familiar hand seal.
"Shadow Clone!" He said, and a clone appeared beside him, pulling him out of the shurikens' path.
"Hey" Minato's slightly exasperated voice floated over to him, "I didn't say start yet."
Naruto ignored him, grinning as his clone landed first and Naruto used it as a springboard and launched himself straight at his two opponents, a kunai in his hand. Tetsu's eyes widened slightly at his attack, and dodged, swinging her leg around to connect solidly to his ribs as he passed over her. Naruto landed awkwardly, but charged at Kakashi, ignoring Tetsu's sprawled form on the ground behind him.
Kakashi had a kunai in his hand already. Naruto lunged and was blocked, their blades sparking as they connected. Kakashi aimed a kick for his gut and Naruto blocked it but was sent skidding backwards, giving the other boy time to pull a short sword from his back into his hands. Naruto eyed the blade, having been unaware that Kakashi used a ninjato.
Kakashi charged during his hesitation, and Naruto jumped over him, somersaulting over his head and aiming a kick to the boy's back. Kakashi dodged but took the kick in his shoulder, spinning him slightly at the force of it.
Naruto landed and struck under the boy's guard, a kunai clutched between his hands and aiming for the ribs. Kakashi's blade swept his kunai away from its aim, and tore it from Naruto's grip. Naruto cocked his fist and swung up at his chin, forcing the other boy backwards to avoid the upper cut.
A kunai sliced through the air between them, forcing them apart. Naruto jumped backwards and looked to the direction it had come from, spotting Tetsu smirking at him. He glanced beyond her and found Genma circling behind her, his eyes on Kakashi.
"I told you you were mine!" Tetsu said, pulling another kunai from her bag.
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said, forming a cross hand seal. "Shadow Clone!" he called out, looking behind him to see his dozen clones, all shaking their fists and taunting the dark-haired girl.
"I'm all yours, Tetsu-chan!" Naruto called out brightly, grinning at her widely as the clones rushed at her. Tetsu's eyes widened slightly at the clones before narrowing as she fell into a ready stance, kunai in each hand. Naruto turned his attention back to Kakashi, but frowned as he found the other boy going against Genma, their weapons clanging against each other.
His clone's memories filtered into his brain and Naruto looked back at Tetsu, watching with some surprise as she dispatched the clones with a wild, deadly precision.
"Hey, hey!" he called towards her, standing far enough back to be able to dodge should she attack him. "You're pretty good!"
"You're dead!" she hollered back, gutting one of his clones viscously. Naruto winced as the clone's memory absorbed into his brain. She wasn't very nice with her killing thrusts.
"You'll have to find me first, Tetsu-chan!" he said cheerily, forming hands seals. "Multiple Shadow Clone!"
The army of Narutos grinned as the small clearing was nearly overwhelmed with a hundred clones. The others had all paused in their fighting, staring around them in shock at the small army. One of the clones, perched on top of the post that the Fourth was still leaning against, looking down at the man with a crooked grin.
"Hey, hey!" the Naruto clone said, waving at the man, "Why don't you come and join in? I don't think they can handle it without some help!"
Minato's eyes narrowed slightly at the clone before flipping a kunai up at it. The Naruto clone vanished in a puff of smoke, prompting a few of the others nearby to look at the man warily.
Naruto eyed his father for a minute, trying to decide if the man was going to join in the fray or not before shrugging and turning his attention to the fights. His clones were overwhelming Tetsu, though the girl certainly dispatched many of them. The scene was a bit funny to watch as the Naruto's hollered and yelled and taunted before disappearing in a puff of smoke from Tetsu's blades or foot.
Genma was scowling at the army, and had cut through a few of the clones himself in order to continue his duel with Kakashi, who now had a large shuriken twirling around his hand in a spinning blade that he aimed at any Naruto that got close enough. Naruto had the brief thought that this young version of Kakashi was reminding him an awful lot of Sasuke.
"Fire Release: Fire Ring Defense!" Tetsu's voice called out from the middle of the army. Naruto, from his relatively safe position behind the Fourth and the posts, watched as a ring of fire flared out from her and decimated a good portion of his clone army, leaving a dissipating cloud of smoke in its wake.
Tetsu stood at the center of the cleared space, glaring around her at the surprised clones in a manner that promised death and likely a lot of pain along with it.
The Naruto clones all glanced at each other before charging at her, shuriken in hand. The Narutos jumped into the air, all of them calling out in unison as they threw the blades at Tetsu.
"Shuriken from All Directions!"
Tetsu's eyes widened at the rain of throwing stars. The Shuriken struck her with dull thunks, and a log was revealed in her place, peppered with the weapons. The Naruto clones looked around for her, spreading out a bit to find her. Naruto found her just in time to see her hands flash through a set of seals.
"Lightning Release: Electric Bolt!" She called out from her crouched position on a tree branch. A bolt of lightning shot out from her hands, striking the nearest clone and branching out to hit more. The clones scattered, some of them having the mind to throw a kunai or shuriken at the girl in the tree before they were struck by the lightning attack and puffed out.
Tetsu followed her lightning with a strong kick to one of the clone's throat, and spinning to stab a second in the chest with a kunai. The Naruto clones recovered from the shock of her attack and began to retaliate, though Tetsu was dispatching them with a fierce ease, growling whenever one got close enough to land a hit on her.
After a minute the remaining clones gave the girl some space, watching her carefully. Tetsu was breathing a bit heavily, and scowling at the clones circling her. Naruto – the original Naruto – jumped up on top of one of the posts and looked at the devastation that Tetsu had wrought of his clone army. Naruto made a face in her direction. She had gotten rid of a lot of his clones, and he didn't have a lot left in the clearing. He glanced at the other two, finding that Kakashi and Genma had moved their weapons battle into the tree line, just out of his sight. The occasional flash of a jutsu lit up the trees.
Naruto grinned and returned his attention to Tetsu.
Naruto jumped off of his perch to join in the fun, saluting his father as he jumped over the other man's head. Minato followed his progress with his eyes, one of his eyebrows raised in amusement. Naruto landed, grinning as he formed hand seals and ran towards Tetsu. His clones saw him coming and moved around him, disguising his approach.
"Wind Release: Wild Wind Attack!" Naruto said, throwing his hands at Tetsu as he broke through his circle of clones. Tetsu spun at his voice, her eyes narrowed as she threw a kunai at him. Naruto stopped and grinned as his jutsu flew at her, barely visible.
The wind spun wildly, almost out of control, pulling the kunai off its course and flinging it through the air. The wind attack continued towards Tetsu, who dodged out of its way to the side. She didn't dodge quite far enough though, as the edges of the wind whipped at her clothes and hair, picking up dirt and grass and leaves and spinning them through the air in a wild dance. Some of clones got caught in its path, popping out as the wind reached them and pummeled the debris it had picked up at them.
Naruto watched as the attack died down and Tetsu pushed her self to her feet. He hadn't put a lot of chakra into it, and tried to generally dull it down. The first time he had used the attack he had leveled the area in front of him, leaving a wildly decimated small forest in ruins. Well, he had been a bit desperate and highly frustrated at the time.
Naruto watched as Tetsu regained her footing, looking a bit hassled. She glared at him, her eyes narrowed to slits and her fist clenched at her sides. Naruto watched her back, well aware that she was putting up a nice little fight.
A crash and yell interrupted their stand off, and Naruto looked behind him to see Genma fly through the tree branches and skid to a crouched stop in the clearing. He had gained a gash across the top of his arm. Kakashi followed him into the clearing, his sword poised to stab along the length of his chest. Naruto watched them clash again, their weapons sparking before they jumped backwards from each other. They both looked a little out of breath, though Kakashi was hiding it a little better. Naruto wondered why he didn't have his sharingan uncovered.
Naruto waved at some of the clones around him, and they grinned as they raced off to annoy the two boys still fighting. Naruto turned his own grin back to the girl and threw a shuriken at the ground in front of her feet to catch her attention again.
"You're starting to piss me off, bastard!" she growled, waving a fist at him.
"Hey, hey!" Naruto said, "It took you this long?"
Tetsu growled at him wordlessly. Naruto grinned.
"Your teammate is getting beat." Naruto said, pointing over his shoulder at the other two boys and ignoring the fact that Genma was obviously starting to struggle against Kakashi. "It's just you and me, now."
"Heh. You're easy." Tetsu said, pulling a kunai from her belt pouch and settling into a ready stance. Naruto put his hands up behind his head, chuckling as his few clones nearby imitated his pose.
Tetsu charged at him, and Naruto jumped out of her way, pulling a kunai from his bag. Tetsu changed directions quickly and stabbed at him. Naruto blocked her blade, but took her sudden sweeping strike full on. Her foot crashed into his chest, sending him flying backwards. He rolled once and skidded to stop crouched on one knee.
Tetsu followed after him closely, throwing shuriken at him. Naruto jumped over them and struck out with a quick double kick, flipping over as his second foot connected with her forearm. He landed and dodged in under her guard, digging his fist into her gut. She coughed and spluttered, bending over as she tried to catch her breath. Naruto took the opportunity to grab one of her wrists and twist it around behind her back and pushed her down to the ground. Naruto planted one of his feet on her back, and held her still as she struggled under his foot.
"Ahh!" She growled, "I'll kill you!"
"Ah, Tetsu-chan!" Naruto said with a wide grin, "You're – " Naruto's eyes widened as Tetsu's body disappeared in a cloud and was replaced with a log. He jumped back from it and spun around, looking for where she disappeared to again. Her displacement techniques were a bit annoying.
A sharp edge touched his neck and Naruto stilled, feeling her closeness to his back.
"You little bastard." Tetsu said in his ear, "You're not that good."
"Heh, heh." Naruto said, holding his hands up in surrender, "Good one, Tetsu-chan."
Naruto felt the kunai's edge press closer to his neck and he smirked.
"But not good enough." He said and disappeared in a cloud, leaving Tetsu to swear at the dispersed clone.
"Where are you, you little shit?" she snarled, looking around her.
"Here." Naruto said, "Earth Release: Suicide Decapitation!"
Tetsu's eyes widened as her ankle was grabbed and she was pulled down into the ground suddenly. The rock and dirt closed in around her, pinning her limbs uselessly and leaving only her head above the ground. Naruto grinned brightly at her, crouched in front of her head.
"Ah, Tetsu-chan!" he said, "You almost got me there."
"I'll gut you!" she snarled at him. Naruto chuckled and rubbed his hand through his hair. She was a little intense, really. Naruto looked around and found Kakashi holding his sword to Genma's neck with the other boy sprawled on the ground below him.
"Hey!" Naruto called to his father, who was still in his spot against the posts. "It's your turn!"
Minato raised one eyebrow at him but didn't move. Naruto jumped to his feet, dispersing the few clones left and waved at the other blonde. "Hey, hey! Are you gonna get out here and do something or not?"
Minato shook his head. "Alright, nice job guys."
Naruto grinned and walked away from Tetsu, who glared after him, still stuck in the ground. Kakashi and Genma joined Minato at the posts.
"Hey you little bastard!" Tetsu called after him, "Let me out of here!"
Naruto didn't bother to look back at her and just waved his arm over his head.
"Hey, kiroii-ani (3)!" Naruto called, catching Minato's attention. "You too old to fight anymore or what?"
Minato watched him for a moment and Naruto smirked at him from his spot halfway between him and Tetsu. Naruto had a kunai in his hand and was twirling it around his finger, trying to goad the Fourth into displaying some of his skill. Naruto was hoping to be able to let loose some more of his skills than he could against the others. He wasn't always used to holding his strength back. He was used to going up against strong opponents that he had struggled against a bit. Sparing with a group of teenagers, while entertaining, wasn't what he was used to. Sparring with the Fourth Hokage could prove a great challenge.
Naruto grinned widely at him. "C'mon old man!" he called again.
Minato smiled and Naruto blinked at the growing smirk on the other man's face. 'Uh oh,' he thought, 'This might be difficult.' Naruto wondered about his brain's slowness in recognizing that fact. The Fourth was heralded as one of the best ninja of Konoha and Naruto had just challenged the man. Naruto remembered the few times he did the same thing to Jiraiya, only to get a good thump on his head for his trouble.
"Very well." Minato said slowly, reaching his hand into the tool pouch on his belt. Minato threw a kunai into the air, its arch on a loose path to land somewhere near where Naruto stood. Naruto watched it in the air for a second, noticing the odd, three-pronged blade.
"Kunai Shadow Clone." Minato said calmly. Naruto's eyes widened as the single, three-pronged kunai multiplied into a hundred in the air. Naruto dodged the incoming rain a bit frantically, though none of them actually struck him.
Naruto glanced around at the clearing littered with the kunai and then looked back to his father. Minato still stood leaning against the post, smirking at him deviously. Naruto watched him a bit warily, not sure what the kunai rain had been for.
Minato suddenly vanished and Naruto took a step backward, just in time to feel a blow connect with the side of his head and send him flying across the field in the growing black of unconsciousness.
Naruto woke to a bright light in front of his eyes and a headache. "Eh, what happened?"
"You got a first hand display of why the Hokage is called the Yellow Flash, little bastard."
Naruto cracked one eye open to see Tetsu leaning over him, her face cracked in a grin. Naruto groaned. "Ow."
He heard laughter around him and he finally managed to sit upright and take in the group. Genma was kneeling next to him, with Kakashi nearby. Minato was standing behind them with a small, satisfied smirk on his face. Naruto snarled silently at him.
"You better teach me that jutsu, Kiroii-ani," Naruto said, waving a fist at him, "Or you'll regret it."
"He just leveled you in one strike, and you're threatening him?" Genma asked. "You're crazier than I thought."
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at his father. "He got a lucky hit."
"Lucky hit my ass." Tetsu said straightening up. "He's not Hokage for nothing."
oooOoooOoooOooo
Author's Note: Lala… here's the Japanese:
1)Ero-sennin – perverted hermit (this is what Naruto steadily calls Jiraiya)
2)Jutsu – technique or art used by a ninja (typically utilize chakra, which is spiritual energy).
3)Kiroii-ani - kiroii means 'yellow' and ani means 'older brother' (ani is a less formal/honorable term than aniki/nii-san). Kiroii-ani is meant to be a throw off of Minato's nickname as the Yellow Flash, as Naruto just isn't all that into using honorifics unless they're slightly derogatory. I figure calling the Yondaime 'yellow-brother' fits into his usual pattern.
Saotome Tetsu is an original character.
A/N: Hmm. This little spar really doesn't showcase what Naruto is actually capable of now at eighteen… but that's ok. He'll get the chance to show off later… Besides, he just got decked by the Yondaime, he's a bit busy with a headache at the moment…