Okay, I hate to do this to everybody, but I feel that now is time for a rant.
I appreciate reviews. I really do. But I have a very big problem with reviews that simply say something like "good chapter", or "I like this" or "update soon", or pretty much anything that consists of anywhere between a mere 1-5 words. Therefore, I have a request for you, the readers:
If you want to submit a review to my story please point out:
At least one thing you like about the story/my writing.
At least one thing you don't like about the story or my writing/something that doesn't make sense and needs clarification.
There are currently maybe… one or two reviewers who have done that so far. To those who have, I thank you; to those who haven't, either write an actual freaking review, or don't review at all. I know this seems a little harsh, but it's a waste of my inbox space if all you do is write something that doesn't even come close to a critique.
But anyways, my rant is done. If any of you have figured out what I was leading you on to when I mentioned Hyouton nature chakra, Juken, and the Byakugan, congrats to you. If not, here's another hint: One of the main aspects of Juken is pushing your own chakra into somebody else's body. Go from there…
Also, if I'm spelling anything wrong, please tell me ASAP; I'm fairly certain I was misspelling Juken by spelling it Jyuuken. Now, on with the story!
* * * * * * *
Four Years Later
A little over four years had passed since Naruto had learned of his heritage as a member of the Hyuuga clan and a possessor of the Byakugan, as well as the son and legacy of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. In that time, many aspects of Naruto's life had improved greatly, some of them improving so much that he would never have guessed it if it he hadn't actually experienced it.
The first thing of note is the way he was treated around town. After what Anko and Hiashi had done at the Academy four years ago (namely, torturing and killing the three worst offendors in terms of sabotaging Naruto's time at the Academy), the villagers and citizens of Konoha had tended not to avoid doing anything that might put them on the 'shit list' of the village's resident 'demon brat', if only as a method of self-preservation against whatever had happened at the Academy. The village council had found itself at a loss as to what had happened when none of the merchants or restaurant owners ever came to them with a complaint about Naruto stealing their wares, or damaging their merchandise. A direct result of this was the disintegration of the 'fund' that had built up to repay the merchants that had formerly made these claims, when in actuality most of these claims had merely been the result of accidents and mistakes made at work.
Another event that was noticed at the council meeting, especially among the clan heads, was that Naruto's grades and skills in the ninja Academy had apparently gone skyrocketing as a direct result of the events at the Academy. Many of the clan heads were led to believe that either Naruto had been holding himself back so as not to be noticed, or that his efforts were being sabotaged by some of the more bigoted Academy employees. The latter hypothesis, proposed by Aburame Shibi, was later confirmed when Anko brought evidence to the council, namely in the form of comparing the tests given to Naruto with the tests given to Uchiha Sasuke, along with the practice weapons that had been given to Naruto.
The evidence didn't stop Haruno Akira, the Haruno clan head, from shrieking like the pink-haired banshee she was that the 'demon' had bewitched the other council members. She proceeded to say that he needed to be executed, which was then countered with Danzo suggesting for what must have been the four hundredth time that Naruto be taken into his ROOT program and be made into a weapon for Konoha's use. Sarutobi shot down his plan once again, and also secretly set Anko on any ROOT ANBU that happened to be around Konoha at the time. Needless to say, Danzo found a significant lack of forces the next day.
In every following council meeting, Haruno Akira would take up half the meeting yelling about how Naruto would be executed; that is, until Yamanaka Inoichi, who was finally fed up with her bigotry, used his clan's Shintenshin no Jutsu to take over Akira's body and force her to do some rather embarrassing actions, such as strip down to her undergarments and dance around the room. Every following council meeting, she was noticeably quieter, but that didn't eliminate the need for Nara Shikaku to make the pink-haired banshee stick her fist in her mouth via his Kagemane no Jutsu.
During all of these meetings, nobody noticed that Hiashi was wearing clothing with a higher collar to cover the shit-eating grin he wore.
The other major change in Naruto's life and also the lives of every Academy student came in the form of the new teachers that had replaced the three who had been so brutally 'brought to justice,' as Hiashi and Anko put it. Their executions were so brutal, in fact, that images of their deaths were shown to Academy students to help harden them and prepare them for the reality of being a shinobi.
The new weapons instructor, one Higarashi Raiga, was selected only partially because he was one of Naruto's supporters in the village, who was able to differentiate between the prisoner and the jailor or, as he put it, 'the kunai and the scroll it's sealed in'. It was also because he was incredible when it came to teaching students about the workings of weapons. By the time everybody had graduated from the Academy, even the worst students, who couldn't hit water if they jumped off the side of a boat, were hitting the center of the targets every so often. It was a great testament to the man's skill, and had the Hokage wondering how he'd never noticed the man before.
The new taijutsu instructor, Hyuuga Hitashi, received an even better response from the Academy students than Raiga had. He was, quite simply, the best taijutsu instructor that the Academy had ever seen (Maito Gai didn't count, simply because he was a Jounin, not an Academy teacher). During his sessions, he would stand in the middle of all of the students and use his Byakugan to observe them, allowing him to more accurately note the problems in his students' forms. He taught with a very nurturing style, helping the students that needed it most and critiquing where necessary. Hiashi had seen fit to tell Hitashi Naruto's heritage as a Hyuuga, and the two of them had developed a rather close relationship, much like an older and younger brother. It didn't hurt that Naruto and Hiashi had removed the Caged Bird Seal from the Academy's new taijutsu instructor.
Last but most certainly not least was Yuuhi Kurenai. Although she was a Jounin, she still opted to be an Academy instructor, if even for just a few years. The woman took the place of Mizuki as a sensei in the class that Naruto and Hinata were in, and proceeded to help the class in several important areas. Firstly, she purged the class of all the girls that were at the ninja academy solely for the sake of being near Sasuke. After the first day, where Kurenai talked about the dangers of being a kunoichi (rape, the sex trade, etc.), over half of the prospective kunoichi in the class left for more mundane professions. Not even a chance with 'their' Uchiha Sasuke was worth putting themselves in danger of being raped. Of course, the three prospective kunoichi that were completely immune to Kurenai's speech were Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, the first two much to the Uchiha's dismay.
Naruto would never be able to forget the day nearly one year ago when he let Kurenai on to the secret of his heritage. Her reaction was one of the funniest he had ever seen.
Flashback no Jutsu, one year ago…
It was nearing the end of the day at the Academy, and Naruto was slightly nervous. Today was the day that he, Hinata, Anko, and Hiashi had agreed that they would let Kurenai in on the secret of Naruto's true heritage, and to say that he was anxious would be an understatement. He wasn't at all sure how his future Jounin sensei and genjutsu mistress would react to the revelation. He already knew that she was completely impartial in regards to the Kyuubi, but he still had the jitters.
Nervous? Don't worry kit, it'll be fine.
You keep saying that, but how can we know for sure? I mean, what if she tells somebody, or—
Naruto! Relax! This is almost as bad as your Bunshin problem a year ago… good thing that Anko-chan thought of the Kage Bunshin, huh?
Yeah, neechan sure can come through when you need her. She's even helping me mix her Hebi style with my Juken so that I can beat the Uchiha-teme!
I know kit, but we need to lay low. We can't just have you show up one day guns blazing; that just wouldn't be right. At the very least we were able to pass off your not wearing those horrific orange jumpsuits anymore by saying Hinata took you shopping…
Hey! Those jumpsuits were the only thing anybody would sell me, and according to ojisan I was sold them for five times the price!... um, Megami-chan?
Yes?
What's 'guns blazing' mean?
Inside of her cage, the Kyuubi smacked herself in the forehead with her palm.
* * * * * * *
About two hours later, the trio of Kurenai, Hinata, and Naruto arrived at Training Ground 44, where the two Hyuuga cousins had been training after their days at the Academy. Kurenai was led inside despite her protests about the danger of the training ground, and was more than a little surprised when she was met with Hiashi and Anko.
"Anko-chan? Hiashi-sama? I don't wish to be rude, but what are you two doing here?"
"I am here training my daughter and nephew in the Juken, with Mitarashi-san helping teach the two of them ninjutsu."
Kurenai looked around confusedly for a second, looking for somebody that wasn't there. Naruto meanwhile was taking off his blue contact lenses while Kurenai was busy.
"Hiashi-sama?" Kurenai finally asked, her fruitless search given up. "Where is your nephew, Neji-san? I thought you said you were training him here?"
Anko took the time to burst into a fit of laughter, with Hinata giggling slightly while Hiashi and Naruto held their laughter in.
"I have more than one nephew, Kurenai-san. If you would turn around please?"
Kurenai was about to protest, and did as asked, turning around to face Hinata and Naruto. She got a glimpse of Naruto's eyes, and immediately stiffened, her gaze dropping to the contact lens case in his left hand. Her eyes immediately darted back to Naruto's, her crimson eyes locking gazes with Naruto's now lavender ones.
"Ne, Kurenai-sensei, do I have something on my face?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not in the least fazed by the fact that his eyes were now a different color, and identified him as a member of the Hyuuga clan.
Kurenai fainted from surprise.
Flashback no Jutsu Kai!
Now, it was the day of the Genin exams, after which Naruto and Hinata would become true shinobi of Konoha, and the next week they would be paired with their third teammate. The two of them had three guesses on who their teammate would be.
The first and, in Naruto's opinion, least likely option would be Inuzuka Kiba. He would certainly fill the role of a tracker well, and would fit in especially well in a reconnaissance squad, which was what Kurenai's Team 8 would be. However, Naruto's reasoning for why they would not get Kiba was that Naruto's senses, thanks to his holding the Kyuubi, were just as acute as any Inuzuka's.
Naruto's next guess was Nara Shikamaru. His reasoning was that despite being an incredibly (no, wait… incredibly doesn't do it justice… impossibly) lazy student, Shikamaru's strategic intellect was nothing short of incredible. While using his Byakugan in old man Sarutobi's office, Naruto accidentally caught sight of the results for an IQ test taken by the lazy Nara. The results were in the high 200s, somewhere between 260 and 280, and that was because Shikamaru had gotten a lazy spell and didn't finish the whole IQ test. However, Hinata shot down the idea, saying that she'd heard from her father that the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clan heads were pushing for another InoShikaCho trio, like the generation before them.
Hinata was wagering her money on the third Genin being Aburame Shino. His skills were also reconnaissance based, and he was quite intelligent, though not on the same level as the Nara (but then again, none of the other Genins were, not even Sakura). Also, due to the nature of the Aburame bug techniques and their being the living hives of entire colonies of kikai bugs, Shino was most likely to accept Naruto for holding Megami in the seal on his stomach. Naruto had told Hinata about Kyuubi about two years prior, and she had taken it rather well. Then again, it was nearly impossible for the Hyuuga heiress to hate anybody.
Banishing these thoughts from their minds, the two of them continued their normal walk to the Academy, unbothered by anything around them.
* * * * * * *
"Alright, today is the day you've all been waiting for, the Genin exams!" Iruka announced to the class. Everybody was ready to take the exam, including the ever-lazy Shikamaru, who for once was awake. In actuality, he was making a betting pool as to whether Naruto would pass the Genin exam or not. Naruto and Hinata declined the option to bet, and so it became a game of Shikamaru and Shino betting against everybody else in the class, with the two of them poised to receive fifty ryou from everybody else in the class should Naruto pass.
Naruto, on the other hand, was calmly waiting his turn, and his eyes had a slightly glazed-over look to them. In actuality, he was hiding his use of the Byakugan with a genjutsu that Kurenai had taught him.
Speaking of Kurenai, he had noticed that she had not been teaching their class for the past week, and Mizuki had taken her place for the time being. Taking note of this fact, Naruto went back to waiting for his name to be called.
"Hyuuga Hinata!"
Hinata heard her name called out, and went up to the front. She quickly performed a flawless Bunshin, creating three clones and passing the exam, receiving and tying her new headband around her neck in the process. When she returned to her seat, Naruto congratulated her, giving several of the girls in the class the idea that Naruto and Hinata might be a couple. Hinata would enjoy showing them just how wrong they were once her cousin got to reveal his heritage.
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto was the last one to go. He quickly got up from his seat after a hushed whisper of "good luck" from Hinata, going to the front.
"Alright Naruto," Iruka started, "I'm going to need you to create three Bunshins for me." Naruto scowled before putting his fingers in a familiar cross shape, and preparing to think one word of the jutsu while saying the others.
Kage…
"…Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Suddenly several puffs of smoke appeared in the examination area. Iruka and Mizuki waved away the smoke to reveal five Naruto clones surrounding Iruka, five surrounding Mizuki, and another five around Naruto, fifteen in total.
"We can't let him pass," Mizuki said suddenly. Everybody in the class turned to him, but it was Shino who spoke up.
"The graduation requirements set by the Academy were to create at least three Bunshin capable of use in combat. Uzumaki-san instead created fifteen clones without any noticeable physical exhaustion, all of which seem combat ready. I see no logical basis for your claim that Uzumaki-san not be allowed to pass."
Mizuki was seething inside, and quickly grabbed a kunai from his pocket before going straight for Naruto.
"Die demon!"
Before Mizuki could take two steps forward, he had five clones restraining him, much to the surprise of the rest of the class. None of them, save for Hinata, had ever seen a solid Bunshin before. Iruka himself was in shock.
Kage Bunshin? But that's a Jounin level kinjutsu! How did Naruto learn it, and how did he create fifteen clones? Most Jounin can't even make ten!
Naruto quickly had his clones shove Mizuki up against the wall in such a position that when Naruto faced him, nobody could see the ebony-streaked blonde's front.
"Well, Mizuki-teme? Still say I don't graduate?"
"Demons like you don't deserve to live! You should have died when you were born!" Mizuki hissed in an evil tone, intending that Naruto be the only one to hear. Said whisker-marked shinobi faced Mizuki, and prepared for a strike that would crush Mizuki's rib cage, likely puncturing a lung in the process.
"Wrong answer, teme. I don't want to see you after ojisan and neechan finish with you," Naruto said before activating his Byakugan for a second, the veins bulging around his eyes. Mizuki's eyes narrowed before he collapsed unconscious from the pain of Naruto's strike, and Naruto's clones dropped the Chuunin to the floor, watching as some blood dribbled out of his mouth.
"Uh… well, that was rather, um, impressive Naruto. Congratulations on graduating."
Naruto flashed a V for victory to Iruka, and grabbed his headband before tying it around his neck like Hinata had.
"Thanks Iruka-sensei!"
Up in the seats, Uchiha Sasuke was silently fuming. Where did the dobe learn a jutsu like that?! Solid clones that can fight? He will teach that jutsu to me; I have to start somewhere, and I must have power if I'm ever going to defeat my brother!
After Iruka's long lecture on being real shinobi and the importance of life and death in their line of work, class was dismissed, Naruto and Hinata left as quickly as possible, and Sasuke raced to catch up to Naruto. Finally, he caught up to Naruto and, grasping him by the shoulder, whirled him around to face him.
"Dobe, what kind of jutsu was that?" Naruto laughed at the obvious jealousy on Sasuke's face.
"That was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It makes solid clones that can actually fight!"
Sasuke's right hand balled into a fist as his left grabbed Naruto by the collar, pulling him closer.
"I demand that you teach me that jutsu!" Naruto just laughed, and Sasuke punched the ebony-streaked blonde in a fit of rage, only to have him burst into a cloud of smoke.
What the—
Sasuke didn't get the chance to finish his thought, as the real Naruto had appeared behind him and, using his Byakugan for a near unnoticeable period of time, pressed a tenketsu on the back of Sasuke's neck, knocking him unconscious. He deactivated his Byakugan and, laughing up a storm, went off to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate with Anko and Hinata.
* * * * * * *
Later that night…
In his prison cell, Mizuki was currently attempting to ignore the burning pain in his chest while awaiting interrogation as to his actions earlier in the day. He had attempted to sabotage Naruto's Genin exam by putting a genjutsu on his test to make the questions appear different, and after seeing Naruto use the Byakugan if even for the smallest of moments, Mizuki saw how that plan had failed. But he still had no idea as to how the 'demon brat' had learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He knew the brat was close with the Tokubetsu Jounin Mitarashi Anko; could she have taught him the jutsu.
The door to his cell finally opened, and Mizuki stood up slowly. As the door opened, he saw Hyuuga Hiashi in the doorway, and sneered.
"Hyuuga-sama, I have some terrible news. The demon brat has stolen the Byakugan! He—"
Mizuki was cut off by a Juken strike to the stomach that sent him to his knees, and worsened his internal bleeding. Looking up, he saw the Byakugan-enhanced eyes of a furious Hyuuga Hiashi.
"I am well aware that Namikaze Hyuuga Naruto has the Byakugan. He is, after all, my nephew. And now, for your crimes… you shall die."
Mizuki's eyes widened at the realization as the events of four years prior suddenly became clear, especially the messages upon the walls. He was cut from his musings by a massive killing intent that suddenly flooded the area, and barely saw as Hiashi rushed in for a powerful attack.
"Two strikes! Four strikes! Eight strikes! Sixteen strikes! Thirty-two strikes! Sixty-four strikes! Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou!"
Hiashi landed the final blow of his jutsu and sent Mizuki flying against the wall, coughing up blood all over his now tattered clothing. Looking up, he saw Hiashi step aside as a new figure entered the room: Mitarashi Anko.
"Hello, Mizuki-kun" Anko said in her sickeningly evil voice. "You know, I don't really like when people hurt my otouto…"
Anko quickly pulled out a kunai and cut off Mizuki's belt, letting his pants drop. She pulled down what else he was wearing and quickly took the kunai to Mizuki's nether regions. One slash and a scream in soprano and the Chuunin collapsed unconscious, dying two minutes later from a combination of blood loss and drowning in his own blood.