Chapter 10
Waking up for Namikaze Naruto today was definitely…odd. No, it wasn't the fact that he woke up at around seven in the afternoon, considering how little he slept lately. No, its mostly because how many people can say they have been strangled by themselves.
So as soon as his eyes snapped open to look right into his clones he plunged his right hand through it's head. Safe to say, he learned his lesson of never going to sleep with a still active clone.
"Ok, so my clones are like me when bored; they get homicidally violent. Good to know," were the waking thoughts of our blond/red-haired hero.
He groaned as he slowly made his way out of his bed and got dressed in his regular clothes. He cursed as he realized that what he was wearing yesterday was effectively a rag now considering all the cuts, holes and blood caked into it. Sighing to himself once again, he tied his new hitaite with a black tie on it to his forehead, hopefully it would keep some of his wayward hair back. Before leaving his room in the cave he quickly entered into his mindscape and found the Kyuubi peacefully yipping in his sleep. He left before he wouldn't have been able to hold his laughter. How the fox got out of his special room he didn't want to figure out right now.
Walking out of his room and into his kitchen sort of area he pulled out a package of chopsticks and a bowl of instant ramen. It was then, in that still waking up haze, that he noticed something sitting on his windowsill. Another clone doing something far worse then the one before hand, surrounding the clone were several empty ramen cups.
"HE…IS…EATING…MY…RAMEN! On a side note, remember to find out how that is even possible." Were the murderous thoughts coming from Naruto.
He silently stood up and picked out several more chopstick sets and, with a malicious grin, walked slowly over to the clone. Several moments later said clone was seen pinned to the STONE wall by several WOODEN chopsticks going through the clone's clothes in a crucified position. The clone's face was twisting between stunned, horrified at how close one chopstick was to it's groin and enraged. Enraged won it's inner battle it seemed.
"What the hell man! Its not like I tried to kill you like the other guy did!" It screamed in frustration as it tried to pry itself off the wall.
Naruto absentmindedly waved a single finger in front of the clone's face as he sighed. "You touched my ramen. The only reason you are still here is because I figure you watched the place and I just decided to give you some time to think instead of dispelling yourself." He sighed once again. "That and its nice to talk to someone who isn't the fur ball." He concluded honestly.
"Well I guess that's a curse and a blessing on my part since I don't have to deal with the fox, only you do." The clone responded while still trying to break away from the wall.
"How come you haven't gotten off yet? I could have easily by now."
"Been out too long, I guess. I barely have any chakra left, so I guess I'm weakening." The clone offered just as curious as the original about this.
"Oh well, back to ramen then." He said with glee as he sat down facing the clone with a Cheshire grin on his face as he devoured the ramen in front of him. Safe to say that two minutes and several bowls later the clone was crying and begging to be let loose.
"You are pure EVIL!" the clone cried out once again.
Looking up he grinned again. "You ate my ramen and this is your punishment." He said then went back to eating.
Three minutes later the clone committed suicide by biting through his jugular vein and bleeding to death. After disposing of the empty cartons of ramen, Naruto yawned and stretched. "What a good way to start my day." He though cheerfully while going back over everything that clone learned while skipping over the last few minutes in it's life.
"Well now that's interesting. It seems he had some success with the manipulation. I figured Kyuubi would work with it, just not like that. Well, either way it should rain tomorrow, so with a little preparation I should be able to get everything ready to try again with Hinata-chan. Though I probably should refine it a bit so maybe I'll create another few clones to work on it. The dance of the dragon just keeps getting more and more interesting." He thought with a fox-like grin.
"You promised kit." A rumbling voice in his head said as his gaze drifted towards a brown envelope.
He sighed inwardly yet again as all cheer left him. "I know fox. God do I know."
"So then, open it and get it over with."
"Do you have any idea how difficult this is? I've been an orphan all my life and now I have parents. Well, I know who they are. Don't you think I would really be a bit worried about this?"
"Suck it up and open it! While you're at it, get the fuck out of the kids' body imposter! The kit I knew wouldn't run from a challenge!" Kyuubi roared.
"Shut it fox! I know of their legacy but I don't know them or if I even measure up in the slightest to who they wanted me to be! I hate to say this, especially to you but………for the first time in a while, I'm scared for myself."
For a few moments the Kyuubi was silent before it returned in a slightly sad tone. "You have lost your spine boy. You are not the kit I know and right now, I'm sure the blond baka who sealed me in you is rolling over in his grave at this. I, at one point, thought you may have been above the rest of this pathetic rabble that you call humanity when you were born anew, but it seems I was wrong……you're a disgrace." And with that said the voice of the kitsune left leaving a dejected Naruto.
"You're a disgrace." Those parting words echoed through his head. With three words he pretty much killed the boy.
"Demon!"
"Monster!"
"Murderer"
"Hell spawn!"
"Worthless!"
"Disgrace." Every insult, every beating, every moment of pain in his life, none of them amounted to that single word.
Flashing back to that first day he met the Kyuubi, back to the day he was reborn anew the fox called him that then as well. "Have I really changed that little? Am I still that pathetic child crying over why the villagers hated me?" In the deepest corners of his mind he had the answer. "Yes. 'Born anew' eh? What a joke." He thought with a bitter laugh.
Then it hit him like he was just punched in the stomach as his eyes widened. "Born anew, I was remade, I'm not them again, I am my own self. Their shadow shall not stand over me."
Inwardly the Kyuubi grinned, it had taken a shove that he rather wished he didn't have to do but it was necessary. "It's time you stop living in the shadows kit and step into the light."
Reaching forward with a shaky hand, Naruto grabbed the envelope and opened it. The first thing he pulled out was a picture that he slowly turned over.
It was his parents, obviously enough. The hokage robe in the picture gave that away. They were standing out on a hill overlooking a sunset, and even now they had their weapons. The man on the left had sun-kissed blond hair and electric blue eyes that shined of mischief. His face was quite tanned and elegant and the childish grin on his face completed the picture of his father. He had a black long-sleeve shirt underneath his jounin vest and his hokage robes over those. He had an elegant silver sword being held in a resting position over his shoulder. Even from a picture, he could tell the man, his father, was staring lovingly at the women in the picture, his mother.
She was beautiful, no other way to put it. She was slightly more tanned than her male counterpart, with a vibrant red hair that stopped at roughly her neck and a vibrant smile on her face while her hazel eyes seemed to light up with delight as she noticed the man was looking at her. She was wearing a mostly white shirt with orange-gold spirals on her shoulders and black stripes going down her sides. Holding up her dark blue skirt was a golden orange sash that was woven in a heavy criss-cross pattern that seemed to finish her outfit. She also had her sword clasped lightly over her head, one arm holding the handle, the other holding the blade. In a way, it could be said they completed each other.
He smiled warmly at the picture before going to get a frame for it where he placed it in his bedroom. There were two more things he had to look at before this could be put to rest finally. The next thing he looked at was the note left by his father, Namikaze Minato.
Well Naruto, I guess I should be saying 'Happy fifteenth birthday Naruto', that is if Sarutobi managed to keep his mouth shut. If not, then well, I don't know what to say other than the old monkey must think you're ready. If that's true, then well son…I'm proud of you, both of us are. Never forget that.
Now I'm not a fool like some people seem to think I am. As much as I may wish it weren't true, I know in my heart that the village won't respect my last wish for you to be seen as a hero. One day, I hope you can forgive me for not being there to protect you, my son, and know that I am truly sorry for all you have been put through. Hopefully, the old man will be able to protect you, though I doubt he will be able to do much with being reinstated as Hokage after this. Sometimes I really curse my urge to prank because if I had just told him to use Kage Bunshins to work on the paperwork, your life would probably be infinitely better.
I told Sarutobi to give you your mother's name for two reasons. One is that you wouldn't grow up to be a spoiled brat in my absence and the second was that, if my enemies ever found out you were my son, the assassination attempts would never stop. Believe me, that was the main reason for all the defenses on the manor. I trust that Sarutobi managed to figure out some way to make everyone believe you weren't my son as he can be crafty when the situation deems it necessary, and right now it definitely does.
Now if you are not fifteen you are not to open your mother's letter.
"NANI?" Naruto asked.
The main reason is that she has threatened to drag my sorry ass up the hokage monument by my leg several times if I didn't. Now, she refuses to tell me why except that it has something to do with her family's traditions. Something about a right of passage that someone under the age of seventeen is not supposed to take. In other words, she's giving you time to prepare for it. I don't know any more than that, so don't bother asking the old man about it. She's doing this for your own good.
Now something I should mention, because if I know the old monkey he forgot about this, you have two godfathers who should still be alive unless their perverted ways have finally done them in. Their names are Hatake Kakashi or Sharingan no Kakashi as his alias, the other one is Gama Jiraiya or the gama-sennin of the denetsu no sannin. Kakashi is the easy one to find, all you have to do is set up a meeting about three hours earlier than you want him to show up. Yes, he is normally that late, it's a habit he picked up after a close friend of his passed away. To find Jiraiya, all you have to do is listen for screams coming from the women's bath house. Oh, just a warning to you, he is a self-proclaimed super pervert, so when you notice he starts going on a rant or just starts doing something perverted, stop him right away or you won't find him again until he wants to be found or you just get a headache, either one.
Anyway, there is not much else I can say to you my son; though this is something I can do for you. I know you probably won't grow up happily, but please give the village a chance. There is some good in their hearts…somewhere. However, if you truly wish to leave, I give you free right to leave Konoha forever with no strings attached. Consider it my parting gift to you. Naruto, don't ever forget this, we love you with all our hearts and we are proud of you my son.
Live free my son. Let the southerly wind guide and form your maelstrom.
Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha
Oh and say hi to Teuchi for me. I'm so going to miss his ramen! You're a lucky bastard in that regard, you know that?
"There, was that really so bad?" Kyuubi butted in mockingly.
"You just completely ruined the moment, you know that right?" Naruto asked with a tick mark forming on his forehead.
"Yep! Someone has to keep you out of that depression of yours. God only knows what would happen to the world if you went emo." The fox replied with a shudder.
"I resent that! How could you even think of referring to me like the Uchiha?" He replied with indignation.
"It's actually pretty easy. I just want you to sit down, lace your fingers together and stare unflinchingly ahead. Oh, and you have to completely ignore everyone and everything beneath you, especially women. See how easy it is?" Kyuubi responded in a matter of fact kind of sarcastic tone.
Naruto had to resist the urge to puke as he was pointed put how alike they acted at that moment. "Don't EVER bring that up again!" He said in horror.
"Ah but are you even reasonably depressed about the letter now?"
"…Shit."
"Exactly. Now don't you have some more work to do before you get back to sleep?"
"Oh ya! I still have to drop by the old man to see if he got the pictures." Naruto said while snapping his fingers.
"And?"
"Umm, I should ask Hinata-chan about tomorrow?"
"AND?"
"Umm ... go check on Sentai's squad as well as the rest of the guys?"
"AND?"
"Train, I guess."
"AND?"
"God damn it fox, what else is there!" Naruto pretty much shouted.
"Nothing really. I just kept saying and to see how long it would take for you to crack. I didn't really even know we were doing anything." Kyuubi said with a chuckle.
Queue the twitching eyebrow. "You really are a bastard, aren't you?"
"I'm a demon, what's your point?" Kyuubi deadpanned.
Naruto started to open and close his mouth saying nothing, looking like a fish out of water. "Shit." And the demon simply laughed as he made his way to the window.
"Do you want to go back in the room?" Naruto asked.
Inwardly, he could feel Kyuubi grinning at him. "Just how many times did you think you could toss me in there before I found a way out?"
"… Well now, that is an inconvenience. Oh well, I guess that means plan B."
"Wait, what do you mean 'plan B'?" the fox asked sounding worried.
"Ohh it's nothing much ... I just figured that I would completely wipe every rabbit from my mindscape for the rest of our time together." Now this Naruto was enjoying.
"I'll take the room please." Kyuubi said meekly.
"I thought you might. Now, time to go visit the old man." He thought cheerfully as he scared the crap out of the fox.
Sarutobi was having one of the best days he's had in a long time. Why you ask? Simple, really. Its because of the Kage Bunshin trick Naruto gave him, which actually allows him to sit back on the couch in his office while his clones do the work.
The old man sighed contently. "Life is good." He said happily as he was passed a bottle of sake from one of his clones.
"I really don't think you should be drinking on the job old man. What would the old war hawk Danzo do if he found you drunk?" A smug voice called from the window of his office.
The old man turned his head slightly towards the voice, what he found was a grinning Naruto sitting on the windowsill. The old man suddenly broke out in a grin of his own. "He's to busy putting out the fire in his office."
He looked at the old man accusingly. "And would you happen to know anything about that Hokage-sama?" Naruto responded stressing the title and honorific.
The old man looked at him in mock hurt. "How could you even think something like that of me Naruto-kun? I mean, how would it be in any way my fault that a lit match somehow made it onto the paperwork he had been doing at the time which created a fire that spread to almost the entire office?"
"Who indeed." Naruto responded with a raised eyebrow before they pretty much fell over from laughing.
After several minutes of laughing they managed to get their breath, that is until they heard the streams of curses coming from a little ways away from Danzo, they fell over laughing again at that. Wiping the tears from his eyes Naruto looked at the old man who seemed more alive by at least thirty years. "Well, I guess that answers my question of how you're doing with the Kage Bunshin trick, now did my clones drop the photos off or did they try and kill themselves before hand?" At hearing the last bit Sarutobi looked at him oddly.
"They've tried to kill each other?" he asked incredulously,
"No, not each other. Just me. When I woke up from my nap it was because I had one of my clone's hands around my neck. So I guess they made it here then."
"Yes, I have the photos and they have been secured away from prying eyes, now what I this business about you clones trying to murder you in your sleep?" The old man said while going into protective mode.
Naruto simply shrugged. "I just found out they are more like me then I thought. They get homicidal when bored. Actually, you might want to check if there has been any charges of arson placed against me over the last eight hours. God knows that I might find out that I might be a closet pyromaniac." He said with a chuckle as Sarutobi cringed at the thought of a pyromaniac Naruto.
Scratching his chin Sarutobi looked up at Naruto again sheepishly. "Well, about three hours ago a patient was admitted to the hospital for severe wounds. The report said you almost killed the man after he insulted the ramen stand your clone was eating at and ramen in general."
Naruto's entire demeanor changed in a heartbeat. "I hold no pity for the man and would have done the exact same to anyone who insults the food of the gods or the humble people who make it." He said coldly as the old man sighed.
Suddenly, Naruto heard a creaking noise coming from the door. Suddenly, a boy roughly nine years old with an overly large scarf charged through the door. "Fight me old man!"
The old man simply sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Does it ever end?" He asked so low only Naruto heard it.
Now Naruto had to admit the entrance the kid had was pretty good, that is until he tripped over his own overly large scarf and slammed head first into the ground. Naruto simply sweat dropped at the scene. At that exact moment an older man skidded to a stop in the door way, he was wearing the standard jounin black outfit, had a pair of black glasses, and lastly a Konoha hitaite.
"Damn it, who set a trap?" the kid cried out while getting up.
"Are you alright, and there wasn't a trap." The flustered man said while pushing up his glasses.
"Who is this kid?" Naruto thought to himself.
"Judging from what I can see, they look related." Kyuubi offered.
"Now that you mention it, I do see a bit of a resemblance between the kid and the old man." Naruto thought back while not paying any attention to the sneer that was playing across the man's face and the angry look from the kid.
"Hey! I know you did something!" the kid yelled while getting right up in Naruto's face.
In response, Naruto grabbed the kid by his scarf and lifted him to his eye level. "You just tripped on your own scarf you idiot!" Naruto responded angrily.
"Hey! Naruto, let go of him! That's the third's grandson!" The man yelled at him.
"Go ahead and punch me, I dare you!" the kid yelled in his face. "Now that he knows who I am, he can't do it. Its just as I thought, he's just the same as my tutor and everyone else." Were the kid's thoughts.
The old hokage simply sighed. "You shouldn't have done that. Naruto has no respect for authority of any kind, or people telling him what to do."
"You think I give a damn, you moron?!" And with that, the kid was introduced to good old mother earth. Seeing no further reason to stick around, Naruto walked back over to the window. "See ya later Old Man." He said with a wave before diving out of the window.
Naruto once again had to admit he was impressed. Although the kid's stealth skills sucked enough to make even Sakura seem useful, he had managed to keep up with him. And let's not forget that he knew this city like the back of his hand, which included every possible place to divert someone following him. Not once had the kid taken any of his bait, hell, the kid even managed to follow him once he took to the rooftops and began using storm speed (basically, the trick he uses in the storm fox style for movement).
Eventually, he felt that he had lost the kid and finally began looking around for Hinata, that is until he noticed something so out of place he smacked himself in the head and groaned. "Why the hell won't this kid leave me alone? I know it wasn't the old man now that I gave him the answer to his paperwork problems, so the chances of him being the one to sick the brat on me are low. Oh well, only one way to find out." He slowly turned around until he was looking at a wood patterned tarp that looked as if it was moving towards him.
"Kid I know you're there, so drop the tarp because you aren't fooling anyone." Naruto said kindly while omitting the part where he was too lost in thought to notice him.
"He, he. So you saw through it did you? Impressive, the rumors about you are true." The kid said almost silently, unfortunately Naruto heard it.
"Kid, don't bother whispering about me. I can hear you." Naruto replied calmly making the kid jump slightly.
That didn't last long before the kid pointed at Naruto. "Hey! I'll let you be my boss and in exchange, you have to teach me your Oiroke no Jutsu that you defeated grandpa with! PLEASE!" he said while using the puppy dog eyes on him.
"Thank god Hinata-chan does that a hell of a lot better or I'd be screwed every time someone tried that on me. Now this kid is basically looking for someone to train with. Now I could simply teach him the Oiroke no jutsu, but I probably shouldn't because the old man wouldn't let me hear the end of it. Well his stealth is abysmal at best ... might as well work on that." Naruto thought, relatively surprised at how this was going.
Slowly, he leaned closer down to the kid and said. "No."
"WHAT! What do you mean you won't teach me it? Why the hell not?" the kid screeched.
"Well, I simply mean I won't teach you it. As for why I won't, I'll give you four reasons." He held up a single finger. "One, your old man will never let me hear the end of it if I taught you it." He held up a second finger. "Two, I don't like people ordering me around like you just tried to." He held up a third finger. "The old man finally went through on his threat and made it a kin-jutsu, which means I'm not even allowed to teach you it without his permission." He held up a fourth finger. "Lastly, as much as I hate to admit it, the jutsu is pointless against anything but perverts. In the long run, it would simply be detrimental to teach you it when I could help you with something else." Naruto said as he watched the kid's face turn increasingly sullen, only to perk up at the end.
"You'll really help me? Wait a moment, what would you be helping me with?"
Naruto sighed in exasperation. "Well kid, follow me and I'll tell you when we get there." And so Naruto started moving away at a brisk pace.
"Ok boss."
Fifteen minutes later they arrived on the outskirts of the forest, close to where Naruto found Iruka last night. Gesturing the kid over, they both sat down on one of the logs.
"Okay kid you passed my first test." Naruto said casually.
"Wait, what do you mean a test? And when did you test me?" the kid protested.
Looking up Naruto began to realize he enjoyed the kid's loud attitude, he definitely found it odd when he realized that, if this was Kiba, he would be in a six foot deep crater by now. "The test was to see your speed and your stamina; needless to say, I was quite surprised when you managed to follow me the entire time today." Naruto said kindly as he watched the kid's expression change to a cocky grin. "However, your stealth was, well to put it bluntly, nonexistent." There goes the grin.
"Well what does that have to do with us being out here?" he asked quietly.
Placing a hand on the kid's head, he ruffled his hair a bit before standing up and placing a grin on his face. "We're here to work on your stealth."
"And just how good are you when it comes to stealth?" The kid accused as the grin on Naruto's face grew a little more, the next time the kid blinked Naruto was gone. He quickly started looking around before he felt a hand tap him on the shoulder. When he looked back, there was the blond/red haired enigma that is Naruto.
"Am I good enough to meet your expectations?" Naruto asked with a mock bow. When he looked up he saw the kid pretty much had stars in his eyes as he nodded. "Hell, he's like me when it comes to jutsu."
"Kami spare me! Not another you running around! One is already enough and god only knows how bad you'll be with Kage Bunshin," Kyuubi groaned,
"Ah, but you love me anyway."
"Okay! Now kid, what were going to do is play hide and seek." Mentall,y Naruto counted down.
"Nani!?" the kid screamed while Naruto simply sighed.
"Look, there is a reason I'm having you do this, now just trust me. I'll count to ten and while I'm doing this, you go hide. Oh, and each time I catch you, I'll give you a tip if the next time I catch you you don't go a few seconds longer, I won't give you another. Okay then?" The kid nodded. "Okay then Ichi, Ni, San, Yon, Go, Roku, Shichi, Hachi, Kyu, juu. Ok gaki, I'm on my way!"
A slight breeze blew by, causing Naruto's nose to twitch as the smell of the kid wafted on the wind. With a sigh, he walked over towards a bush and kicked it, resulting in a cry of pain. "Lesson one, always hide down wind of your enemy or else your scent will be noticed by people with good noses, like me." As the kid stood up out of the bush nursing his sore head.
Using the distraction Naruto created three Kage Bunshin to get the rest of the day's stuff done while he helped out the kid.
He wasn't sure just how much time had passed since he had begun working with the kid, but he had to say his progress was impressive. He was now to the point here Naruto had to actually think and start looking at the places he would use, the longest time he had needed to find the kid was currently two minutes thirty-six seconds. Safe to say, he was quite proud of his pupil.
Slowly, Naruto kneeled down to pick up a rock. When he came back up, he gently lobbed it overhead to a boulder which looked slightly disturbed. When the silent cry of pain came out, he knew he got him. It was the silent incentive to get better at this because each time he was found, he ended up with another lump. Safe to say, he had quite the collection by now. Slowly, the kid walked back over to Naruto with a frown on his face. "Only two minutes that time, you were a bit sloppy there. Anyway, want to take a break?" Naruto asked cheerfully.
"You enjoy beating on me too much, I think." The kid grumbled out but complied to follow Naruto back to the log.
After several minutes of silence Naruto finally asked the question that had been bugging him most of the time they were here. "By the way kid, why are you after the old man so much?"
The kid looked over at him solemnly. "Grandpa gave me the name Konohamaru; I'm named after the village. But even though everybody knows that name here, they only see me as… 'honorable grandson of the third'. Nobody sees me as me. I'm sick of it, that's why I want the Hokage title."
Looking up once again Naruto responded. "The Hokage name isn't so easy to get that a brat could take it. Tell me, do you even know what you need to do to become Hokage? I don't think so. It's not that easy kid, but if you want to be the Hokage so badly then…"
"What then?!" the kid yelled.
Naruto then turned his head and looked straight at Konohamaru with a fierce grin on his face. "Then kick my ass first." He had to admit the look on Konohamaru's face wasn't what he was expecting it to be. It was one that showed someone that was told something they weren't expecting.
Naruto suddenly cringed. "Well now, it seems Hinata-chan doesn't enjoy the idea of being asked out by a clone, note to self, don't ever do that again. That gen-jutsu hurt like a bitch." He thought grimly. "Well, at least she said yes and was happy until the idiot mentioned he was a clone …I just insulted myself again didn't I?"
"Yep!" Kyuubi said cheerfully.
"Do you want me to do bunny genocide?" Naruto replied dangerously, when no response came Naruto smirked. "Exactly."
Sighing again, he realized just how annoying seeing himself die over and over again will be as another one of his clones managed to kill itself. This was one of the ones working on the new ken-jutsu technique he stumbled upon. Safe to say, dieing due to being frozen in a block of ice isn't fun.
Looking over at the somber face of Konohamaru he sighed as he realized just how much he missed the kid's happy go lucky attitude. "Hey Konohamaru, I want to show you something I've been working on. You want to see it?" he asked with a slight smile, safe to say the chance to see something his boss was working on was a bit too much to pass up.
"I bet its something cool, right boss? Come on, show me. Is it some really powerful Katon jutsu or are you going to start shooting things with some really cool Raiton jutsu?" Konohamaru asked with glee as Naruto chuckled lightly.
"Nah, I can't use Katon jutsu. Besides, I prefer Fuuton ones over pretty much everything else. That, and my friend is the resident Raiton jutsu user for our age group. Besides, I don't let a lot of people see how I train or what I work on, so consider yourself someone I trust. Though, I hope you know you can't go telling anyone what you saw here." Naruto said while watching Konohamaru nod at him. "Alright then, stand back 'cause I'm not finished working out all the kinks."
After watching Konohamaru take a few steps back, Naruto took a deep breath and reached up for his sword. When he drew it, he could feel the heat radiating from it in the Ryu no Mai form. Slowly, he took a step back and settled into a wide stance with both hands on the hilt, holding it horizontally behind his head. "Ok, the clone figured out how the flame is created and managed to reverse it, now let's see how much the other clones have improved upon it. Ok Naruto, focus! The flames are created by using your chakra as the igniter and the fuel, the oxygen is all present, now just remove the chakra that sustains the heat so that the flames must draw heat from the surrounding oxygen." As he continued to concentrate, Naruto began to watch the flame spread along the blades begin to dissipateslowly as the air around them slowly chilled. "Good, now continue to chill the air around the blade until it hits below zero. There!" And with that thought, Naruto thrust the blade into a tree trunk. He watched in satisfaction as the entire tree began to slowly freeze over, even to the point of having most of the leaves freeze with a thin sheen of ice as the blade continued to draw heat from the tree.
"Damn, I'm still too slow on the preparation of it! In a real combat situation, I'd be dead by now. Oh well, back to the drawing board." He said with a sigh as he turned around to face Konohamaru. "So what do you think?"
When he turned around, he noticed Konohamaru was gone with only a small area of disturbed grass to show he was once there. "Well, he's definitely getting better, I didn't even detect him leave. Though, if that was because of a lack of attention or he if he's actually getting better, I don't know. He, he, he! Iruka is going to kill me when Konohamaru gets to the academy for teaching him this…On second thought, I really SHOULD have taught him Oiroke no jutsu!"
Casually, Naruto began turning his head from side to side, scanning the area for any other signs that would lead to Konohamaru's location. "Well, let's see. I can't get a hint of his scent because of the wind, though I could change that, but where would the fun in that be? Well, at least he remembered rule one. If he remembers what I said about rule seven, he shouldn't be at my eye level, no matter what, so the chance of him being on the ground is rather slim. He's not bolting every time I happen to look at him, so he remembers rule nine." Suddenly Naruto heard the slightest creak of a tree branch near by him, along with the crack of ice being put under pressure. "Well, at least he's not as noisy as he used to be, which is a good sign considering just how loud he was before. Hmmm, now how should I get him this time?" he thought dangerously as he noticed a rock a little smaller then his fist right by his foot. At seeing this, he grinned evilly. "Thank you god, for allowing me to torture this child in a different way every time I find him! In tribute, I will lock the Kyuubi in a room in his human form where he will be repeatedly kicked in the nuts by men on enough steroids to make Sakura strong." He prayed. When he finished, he rolled the rock onto his foot and kicked it up into the now frozen tree, hard. Less then a second later a satisfying thump rang out as Konohamaru crashed into the ground face first.
"Ah man boss! Did you have to do that? It hurt a lot you know!" Konohamaru said while picking his face out of the mud and rubbing the new lump on his head.
"That's what you get for running off while I'm talking to you." Naruto replied with a smirk.
"But boss." He replied in a whiny voice.
Squatting down to Konohamaru's height, Naruto looked him in the eyes. "Well kid, congratulations. You just made it through Naruto's stealth training from hell! How do you feel?"
"It wasn't that bad boss." He replied sheepishly.
"Wow, that's a first. Every one of my friends except one that I tried to put through this little training session gave up about half way through it and was screaming bloody murder at me… he, he, he! I was only a head above ground after Chouji tried, damn that hammer of his hurts. Anyway, what I was going to say before that was some speech about how there is nothing else I can teach you about stealth and that you have to find your own way from here on, but you know what? I forgot it all." Naruto said sheepishly as well.
Looking down a bit in embarrassment Konohamaru replied quietly. "Thanks boss."
Standing up again Naruto ruffled the kid's hair and began to walk away with a wave. "See you another time, Gaki. I have some stuff to do."
"I've found you!" a third voice exclaimed while Naruto slowly turned around again. What he saw was the same glasses wearing man from the old man's office. Said man was currently glaring at him with cold eyes.
Inwardly Naruto sighed. "Do they think I'm retarded or something? Because they never seem to think I notice them glaring at me, fucking dumb asses."
"Agreed, and what was that earlier about me getting repeatedly kicked in the nuts?" Kyuubi asked.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all." Naruto replied innocently while terminating the link. "Speaking of links, it seems one of my clones is nearby, well just means its time to try something out from the scroll." Naruto thought while laughing darkly inside his head.
"Now young master, let's go home." The man said while coming down from his tree.
"No, don't bother me right now. I'm training, then one day I'll take the title away from grandpa!" Konohamaru shouted while the man simply sighed, still not paying any attention to Naruto.
"A hokage must be well versed in all aspects of being a ninja. Also, you must know over one thousand skills before finally…" this was all he got before a blood curdling scream came from his mouth as he was sent flying away while grabbing his ass. In his place was a smirking Naruto clone who was squatting down low and poking his fingers into the air.
With a grin still present the clone stood. "Konohagakure: Tai-jutsu no Ôgi Sennen Goroshi." And with that said, both the clone and original fell over laughing their asses off. (No pun intended with that)
Eventually, they stopped rolling on the ground laughing long enough to catch their breath as Naruto dispersed his clone and began to walk off again with a chuckle. "Hey Konohamaru, do a favor for me will ya? The next time you see your old man, try THAT on him!" He waved again leaving a stunned Konohamaru.
"You know what, I'm not going to let you be my boss any longer. From now on, we're rivals." Konohamaru shouted.
Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at the kid "You know that come Monday I'll be taking my first steps as a shinobi of Konoha. But one day gaki, I'll fight you for that hokage name. In fact, I'll be looking forward to it." And with that Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed leaving a smiling Konohamaru.
Late afternoon the next day.
Once again, Naruto was nervous as hell. Here he was, walking down the street towards Hinata's again with an umbrella in hand, worrying his head off. Because it was raining he was wearing something he normally wouldn't, a black and red jumpsuit a FREAKING JUMPSUIT. "Don't you DARE fuck this up or I will make sure you die in the most painful way I can think of." He mentally transmitted to his clones.
"Don't forget when we die you see and remember everything that happens to us." One replied through the link causing Naruto to curse loudly.
"God damn smart ass clones." He grumbled under his breath as he continued down the raining streets. "Oh well, I'm sure Hinata-chan will be happy for this. Its the least I can do for her after that first catastrophe and saving my ass from Oto-shinobi."
"Oh ho kit, are you taking your mate out again?" Kyuubi asked.
"What happened to you can hear everything I'm thinking so nothing would get by you?"
"I fell asleep." Kyuubi replied sheepishly causing Naruto to sweat drop.
"Baka-kitsune! You don't need sleep and you know it. Bloody hypocrite calling ME lazy, just look at you sleeping all day." Naruto snapped.
"Speaking of which, you're about to walk into her door and, as much as I'm sure your hard head will allow you to walk right through her door, I think you should knock before barging in." The fox replied smugly, causing Naruto to stop walking just millimeters from the door.
Letting out a deep sigh, Naruto knocked on the door. After the first rap, the door opened quickly showing a rather flustered Hinata. Grabbing his free hand, she began dragging him away from the house with a blush on her face. "What's wrong Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked curiously, which caused Hinata to squeak before turning to face him with a rather large blush on her face as well as a mortified look.
"You remember Asuma-san from the other night, right?" she asked while Naruto nodded still remembering the bearded smoker. "Well he came over about ten minutes ago…."
Now, Naruto being the overprotective person he is immediately jumped to the worse case scenario. "I'LL KILL HIM." He yelled while trying to run back to her house with a murderous gleam in his eyes. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for Asuma, Hinata still had a tight grip on Naruto's hand.
"No, it's not anything like that." Hinata said quietly trying to calm Naruto. When plan A didn't work, she resorted to plan B. She reached forward with her free hand and began scratching right where she knew his fox ears were, which caused a low growling sound to emit from Naruto as he began to calm down (yes she has seen his form enough times without the gen-jutsu to know where they are, don't bother me about it). "Now will you listen to me?" she asked sweetly as Naruto gave a little nod. "Now, while I was waiting for you I kind of activated my Byakugan to watch for you. When I did, I kind of saw something in Nee-chan's room." She said as she blushed a deep red that would have had a rose jealous.
Thankfully, Naruto can add two and two together to get four so he already guessed at it while the Kyuubi was simply laughing his ass off. They both continued to blush a dark red as they started walking hand in hand away from that very awkward situation. Kyuubi was still laughing though which warranted him a few minutes in the room.
"So, how was your first day without me in it Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked jokingly to lift the tension.
"Oh pretty good. It was rather quiet though. No screams of pain from Kiba, no screams of mayhem from your pranks. All together, rather boring." She then turned to look at him with a very serious look on her face. "Don't ever leave me alone like that again." Naruto simply chuckled.
"Alright, I promise I won't ever leave you to have a boring day again. On that note, want to see some mayhem?" She immediately gave him one of those 'am I going to regret this?' looks. Naruto started to grin evilly as he pulled a small scroll out of his pocket; after he found it, he created a Kage Bunshin to take the scroll. With a silent nod, it left into one of the many restaurants that refuse to serve the couple. Several seconds later, the windows were covered in rainbow colored paint as possibly the most horrible smell imaginable began to waft out of the building. A few more seconds later, the screams started up as all the occupants of the restaurant wanted out and fast. Naruto had to laugh again as he got the memory of the clone opening the scroll and unleashing all hell right in the manager's stuck up face. Yep, those looks of sheer terror are always fun to watch.
That is, until the occupants of the building see the couple walking away laughing nicely. Safe to say, the crowd quickly took chase in the rain. "Oh shit! Hinata get on!" Naruto called as he kneeled down and passed the umbrella to Hinata.
"Wait, what do you meeeeeeeeeean!" she screamed at the end as Naruto grabbed her and placed her on his back while taking off at terrifying speeds. It took him a good few minutes, but eventually Naruto managed to finally lose the shinobi patrons of the restaurant and begin heading to the meeting place, the waterfall from two days ago.
"Well guys, I hope you're ready, 'cause we're on our way." Naruto messaged to the clones.
"We are, we are. Just get her here on time and things will be fine. Kami, you're just as big of a nag as Iruka, you know that?" one responded
"You just called yourself a nag as well you know that?" Naruto replied.
"…………GOD DAMN IT!"
"Oh shut up, just be ready."
"No you shut up, asshole."
"You just insulted yourself again, asshole."
"You're no better, dumb ass."
"Oh will you two shut the fuck up!" And so the mind war between the clones continues.
As the pair went deeper into the woods, Hinata began to notice something odd happening to the temperature. It was getting colder the farther in they went. Eventually, she started trying to bury herself closer to Naruto just to stay warm; inwardly she was cursing herself for not having her jacket today. "How could it possibly be this cold? I mean, its called fire country for a reason! This just doesn't happen. Naruto-kun's warm. though." Her thoughts were cut short as the pair broke the tree line. Hinata simply gasped at what she saw.
The entire clearing, waterfall and all was frozen solid. The entire clearing was lightly covered in pure white snow instead of the rain everywhere else. As she took a better look at the waterfall, she saw the entire fall was frozen mid-way along the rocks. The sight was simply gorgeous to her as she started to remember back to what Naruto had asked her several days ago. "So Hinata-chan, you still want to see snow right?" only one thought came to mind for Hinata. "No reason at all my behind! That's it, as soon as he puts me down, there is going to be snow down his back for not warning me. On second thought, I'm comfy right here."
Naruto simply groaned when he realized Hinata wasn't going to get off him again. "Not again, well I'm almost one hundred percent sure Kakashi isn't hiding somewhere in the trees again. Oh, screw the consequences if he is!" he thought with a grin as he slowly released the gen-jutsu surrounding him as not to have Hinata notice as her face was currently buried into his back.
Suddenly, nine tails converged on every bit of exposed skin on her. As they did, they did the most horrible and tormenting thing possible, they tickled her. By the time she realized she was under attack, she had already started to feel it making her loosen her grip on Naruto in favor of stopping her furry attackers, to bad she forgot he wasn't holding on to her anymore so she fell down into the cold snow.
Mentally, Naruto counted down from three before he should start running his ass off. As soon as he got to one, Hinata got out of her stunned look and glared daggers at him, Naruto simply chuckled sheepishly in response while bolting in the other direction as fast as he could, Hinata soon followed.
"NARUTO!!!!" Hinata yelled while chasing Naruto.
"IT WAS JUST A JOKE!" he tried to apologize.
"Liar! You're laughing at me right now!" She yelled back.
"Well, since apologizing doesn't seem to be working, so its time for plan B." Naruto thought to himself.
"Give it a break, you planned this from the beginning." Kyuubi interjected jokingly.
"Shut up you love-less fur ball!"
"Hey! I will have you know that me and Gobi got along quite well before I was sealed, if you know what I mean." The fox replied with a perverted giggle.
"I did NOT need to know that, nor have those mental images, fox!" Naruto responded in disgust.
"What's wrong with furries?" Kyuubi asked innocently.
"You know what, screw it! I'm just going to leave you to your own twisted little fantasies as usual and leave."
"Ah, you're no fun."
Quickly taking a look behind him to check if Hinata is still coming at him he braced himself. As soon as he stopped he turned around and flashed a quick smile to Hinata as she almost reached him, in less then a second the distance was closed and he had her. Unfortunately for Hinata, it was the equivalent of running full speed into a brick wall. As soon as her head cleared, she realized she was back in his arms with almost all thoughts of revenge wiped from her mind.
"Still mad at me?" he asked jokingly.
"A little, give me a reason why I shouldn't be." She said sounding relatively annoyed.
"Just so you know, you have snow on your back." Naruto says while brushing it off.
"Trust me, I know although I think your tails are kind of helping it melt." She replied while shivering.
"Sorry about that. Still up for the last bit I have planned?" Naruto says while taking his jacket off and placing it on Hinata's shoulders.
"Depends on if it involves me getting dropped in any more snow." She chuckled while clutching the jacket closer around her.
"Don't worry, I think this is something you will enjoy." Naruto replied while beginning to guide her towards the water fall area. When they reach it again, she begins to notice just how completely frozen the entire area is.
"That shouldn't be right, water doesn't freeze like that, especially not that smoothly without some mold, could he be thinking what I think he is?"
He then looked back at her and smiled warmly. "Ever been ice skating?"
"No, have you?" she asked incredulously.
He chuckled slightly. "Nope, want to cheat?"
"Umm alright Naruto-kun." She replied timidly while looking at the ice.
"You've seen me do the movement for my Arashi Kitsune style enough times to figure it out, right Hinata-chan?" he asked getting a slight nod from her. "Well then, we cheat." He said while dragging Hinata out onto the ice.
On the first step getting onto the ice, they were shaky. On the second, they were trying to keep their legs underneath them. On the third step, they were barely standing anymore. And on the fourth step, Naruto finally slipped.
"Ah crap." He said while completely forgetting to let go of Hinata's hand, causing her to fall over as well with a faint "Eep."
The last thing that went through Naruto's mind at that point was "I am officially screwed if any of Iruka's friends saw this…or Kurenai." This thought was simply because of two things. One was that, when they fell Hinata landed on top of him in a rather compromising position as they slid across the ice. The other is that when they landed, they happened to land on each other and they ended up with their lips locked in a kiss. Now at any other time and place, Naruto probably wouldn't have done anything to change this as he was quite enjoying it. However, having his sword digging into his back as well as not having a jacket while laying down on very cold ice tends to change peoples perspectives rather quickly. So Naruto choses the only sensible solution to his problem. With little effort, he managed to squeeze three of his tails underneath him to separate himself from the ice while the other six tails slowly wrapped their way around Hinata, obscuring them from view, simply to sooth Naruto's worries.
In the trees at the edge of the clearing, a pineapple haired man with a scar across his nose was snickering evilly.
"Too late, Naruto, too late. Now I just to pick up the audio recording Kakashi said he got a few days ago and I'll be set for tomorrow!" He said as he slid the high resolution, digital, zoomable, camera into his pocket.
"Oh well, this will teach those two that you should never let your guard down. Well that, and to better cover stuff like this up so people won't see easily stumble across it."
"Oh Iruka-kun, where are you?" a sultry voice called out that chilled him to the bone.
"Oh no……not again… I need to get hell out of here before Anko-chan finds me, because there is no way in hell that I would survive in my current condition if she caught me…Damn the Christmas party!" And with that thought, the man took off at high speeds as far away from the she-devil as humanly possible.
Back with the cough, cough happy couple
After about five more minutes of simply laying there kissing each other, they eventually stopped and got up… actually, it was more because of a want for air on both sides but hey, they aren't complaining, just blushing.
Hinata, who quickly realized what she had just done, reverted back into shy Hinata and began pushing her index fingers together while looking down completely embarrassed. "Don't faint Hinata, don't you dare faint……Naruto-kun tasted good. AH! I'm not a hentai! I'm not a hentai! Clean thoughts, Hinata! His tails were so soft and I just want to scratch his cute little ears…God he has a gorgeous body…DAMN IT!" Safe to say that chain of thought wasn't going to go away as Naruto continued to stare at her.
"Is it just me, or is Hinata-chan getting bolder by the day?"
Naruto thought to himself.
"But you're not complaining, are you kit?" Kyuubi interjected.
"Shut up fox."
"You're not denying it kit. You enjoyed that more then you want to admit. Though, if you keep going like this, I'm a bit worried who will end up the dominant member." The fox said slyly.
"Shut up, I just got caught up in the moment. Its not everyday I get someone's tongue in my mouth… I didn't just say that, did I?"
"Yep, you did. Oh blackmail is good! Besides, I can still hear you thinking about how she even tastes as heavenly as she looks… you've even memorized her smell for crying out loud! Face it kit, she has you caught; hook, line, and sinker." Kyuubi replied with a mocking laugh.
"You're one step away from a bunny massacre fox." Naruto threatened.
"And if you do, then you will find out just what my good imagination can do with all the little tidbits you're thinking at the moment! Hmm ... definitely have to keep the nighty and, oh! That would work well! Hmm… I wonder just what I could do with you remembering how she tastes." Kyuubi replied with a perverted giggle as Naruto hurried to terminate the link.
"So, you want to try skating again Hinata-chan, or something else?" Naruto asked trying to break the tension. When she didn't respond, he tried again. "You awake Hinata-chan?" No answer except for a slight mumble that even with his heightened hearing he couldn't pick up. "Come on hime, wake up." He spoke softly to her while slightly shaking her. When he finally got a look at her face, he noticed her eyes were slightly gazed over as a little blood was flowing from her nose.
As he continued to stare into her white eyes lovingly, he took notice of her increasing heart rate and a faint smell. "Note to self, file that smell away until after puberty if I'm right about it."
With a quick realization of just about the only thing that would break Hinata out of an embarrassed stupor, he gave her a passionate kiss on the lips.
"Are you sure that was for her own good and not your own kit?" Kyuubi asked perversely.
"Why won't you die!" Naruto cried out while slamming his fist into a tree in his mindscape.
"Because my foxy wisdom is as eternal as the perversion of the gama-sannin!" Kyuubi retorted sarcastically while Naruto simply sighed muttering 'troublesome bastard' over and over.
"Glad to see you're awake hime. Just out of curiosity, but do I even want to know what you were just thinking about a moment ago to make you faint like that?" Naruto asked slyly as Hinata kept blinking while turning a deeper and deeper red.
Hesitating slightly in embarrassment, Hinata stood up tall and whispered in Naruto's ear. What he heard had him turning a very deep red himself as Kyuubi was simply silent until. "And you think I'M a pervert!" The fox said before breaking out in laughter.
After shaking the highly perverted thoughts from his mind, Naruto cleared his throat. "Hinata-chan, have you been reading a small orange book lately?" he asked innocently.
"Actually, it was something I came across in Nii-chan's room lately. Why do you ask Naruto-kun? Because its a rather good book." she replied sweetly while giving him the beginning of the puppy dog look.
"Hook, line and sinker Naruto-kun." Inner Hinata thought deviously.
"And NOW do you see why I refuse to read that book?! It corrupts the innocent!" Naruto was inwardly ranting at the Kyuubi who was quickly getting a headache.
"Just kidding!" Hinata said sweetly before jumping to the top of the ice falls, leaving a stunned Naruto in her wake.
"Now why do I feel slightly disappointed after hearing that? Wait a moment, which did she mean when she said she was kidding?" He thought slightly confused before slowly walking up the side of the falls so as to gain time to think.
As Naruto finally made it to the top of the falls, he couldn't help but sigh at the last comment the fox made. "She has you whipped, you know that right?"
"And for some reason, that doesn't worry me in the slightest fox………Wow!" He thought as he saw his sunny place.
She was currently gliding across the ice, moving in intricate circles that came with countless repetitions. As she continued her spin, she slowly glided her arms up with the pale moonlight bathing her body in a gentle glow. As Naruto continued to watch the spectacle take place, he saw that the very air and light seemed to bending around her. It simply added to the effect. He grinned slightly as he realized her eyes were closed.
"We've certainly lost track of time. Oh well, I doubt Kurenai will mind if she's a bit late considering what she was doing." And so with a careful precision of a skilled thief, Naruto managed to make it behind her without making a single sound. When she next turned her back fully to him, he struck.
Hinata gave a small squeak of surprise before settling in as Naruto wrapped his arms around her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You do know you're supposed to wait 'till I'm done before you jump me, right?" she asked innocently.
"What can I say hime? Your beauty captivated me, I just couldn't resist being near you." He whispered into her ear causing her to blush.
There was a prolonged period of silence before Hinata replied in a low voice. "Do you really think that?"
Slowly turning over to look at her, Naruto placed a quick kiss on her cheek before answering softly. "With all my heart Hinata." And with that he walked her over to the side of the falls and sat down. "I always did think the moon in Konoha was beautiful." Naruto said silently as he looked up towards the moon between the parting clouds.
"It's weird; you never quite realize this kind of thing until someone points it out to you." Hinata agreed while leaning her head against Naruto's shoulder. "You know you probably should shake off before we leave Naruto-kun." She said with a slight giggle.
"Hmm, why?" Naruto replied while turning around to look at his tails, they were now covered in snow turning them to an almost pure white. "Oh, well that's annoying." He sighed out before sticking his lip out pouting slightly.
Hinata couldn't help it as her giggle turned into full blown peels of laughter as she looked at his expression. "I think it looks nice though. It reminds me of Yuki-chan's fur."
"Well I'm glad you like it so much. Here, let me help you into your new coat." Naruto grumbled out as he wrapped all nine of his snow covered tails around Hinata with most of them touching bare skin causing her to jump slightly and brush away the tails.
"That was mean Naruto-kun." Hinata pouted while gathering up all the snow that Naruto had dumped on her and with one quick motion put it down his back. "Now I feel better."
"Ok, now THAT was unnecessary." He replied in exasperation as he got the snow out from his shirt.
"Unnecessary yes, but still worth it." she replied with a slight smile on her face.
Taking a deep sigh Naruto looked up again. "Truce to not dump snow on each other? If we don't, we're probably going to be ice blocks by the time we get home."
"Umm alright." She replied before yawning slightly causing Naruto to chuckle slightly.
"Tired?" He asked while shaking all nine of his tails off behind him.
"A bit, I still want to stay here a little longer though." She quietly while leaning up against Naruto and blushing slightly.
"Well then, you might want to get comfortable Hime."
In a low voice that Naruto barely heard it in even with his heightened senses she replied. "But I'm always comfortable when I have you beside me."
"And I you." He replied while moving back slightly so that Hinata's head fell in his lap. "Though I'm pretty sure my shoulder isn't the most comfortable place when you're tired."
"Thank you." She replied lovingly while looking up at his smiling face as he stroked her hair. And for the rest of the night they lay there taking comfort each others presence as they watched the clouds part and the moon's rise until they had to leave.
Authors note
All right everyone chapter 10 is here and you better damn well be happy and if your not then well….screw you.
Anyway this was my way of making up to all the Hinata/Naruto fluff extreme fans out there for having an entire chapter not have Hinata in it, well this and the first date from what was it? Chapter 5 I think.
Anyway I have no idea when I'll have chapter 11 out simply because work has really started to get busy with me being at the new store and all…Damn the common customer.
Yes I did just teach Konohamaru how to be stealthy and yes I did make a set up for an Iruka/Anko pairing but deal with it because I don't know if I'll carry it through.
Ok next chapter I PROMISE will finally make it to the genin exam and begin missions, oh and a fair warning to all of you that there will be a new arc in the story before the wave one, lets just say it involves sand in a few places it shouldn't be on Naruto.