"Good. Now I'm going to test you on the skills that you will need on our missions. I will be testing you in stealth, tracking, and combat. First, you will attempt to hide from me in the forest for one hour. Are you ready?"
Naruto nodded, and Anko closed her eyes and began to count to ten. When she opened her eyes, Naruto was nowhere to be seen, nor could she detect his chakra anywhere near. "The kid's good at hiding, I'll give him that." Anko muttered as she made her way into the forest.
Chapter Four: Come AliveOne hour laterWhen Anko heard the timer she had set go off, she let out a scream of frustration. For the last hour, her and ten shadow clones had been combing the forest for Naruto. However, no matter how hard they searched, they were unsuccessful in locating him. To make matters worse, Naruto had some how laid out several false trails scattered all around the forest. These on several occasions had fooled Anko, putting her in a very bad mood.
When she arrived back in the clearing, her eye began to twitch at what she saw. Naruto was there, casually leaning against a tree. "Yo." He said with a casual wave.
"How the hell did you hide so well!" She yelled. "I know this forest like the back of my hand. There's no way you should have been able to hide from me."
In answer, Naruto's form shimmered for a moment before disappearing. "A simple illusion. I just had to mask my chakra and send out some shadow clones to make those false trails." He said as he reappeared.
"Wow. I'm actually impressed. Let's see how good you are at tracking, though. The goal this time will be to track me down in the forest, and capture me. Once again, the time limit will be one hour. Ready to begin?"
Naruto nodded, and Anko raced off into the forest. After giving her a sixty-second head start, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Almost immediately, he was able to get a lock on Anko's chakra.
With her location in mind, he raced into the forest to intercept her, keeping his chakra masked and his invisibility genjutsu activated. As he made his way into the forest, he spotted Anko about thirty feet in front of him, Hopping through the trees at a steady pace. Keeping pace with her but maintaining his distance, he performed a string of hand seals and whispered the name of his jutsu.
As Anko was jumping through the trees, she felt the branch she was on shudder. 'Could he have found me already?' she wondered. 'I'll have to be cautious.' Suddenly, the branch she was on twisted around, holding her arms to her sides and binding her legs as well. "What the hell?" she shouted.
After struggling futilely to escape the trees grasp, Anko decided that she had indeed been caught. "Alright, fine. You win!" she yelled into the forest. Naruto revealed himself to be standing right next to her and with a wave of his hand, caused the branches to resume their normal form.
"Was that Mokuton? I didn't know you were related to the Senju." Asked Anko as she rubbed her bruised arms. Naruto shook his head and replied, "That was Mokuton, but as far as I know I'm not related to the Senju. However, one of my clansmen, Uzumaki Mito, was the wife of the Shodaime."
Anko looked at Naruto in surprise. "Wow, I didn't know that. That's pretty impressive. Anyway, let's get on with the third part of this test, and my personal favorite, the combat portion. And guess what? I'm not holding back!"
They arrived back in their clearing, and faced each other across a distance of ten feet. "Ok, this is going to be a full on battle, no holding back. You will be graded on how long you last against me. Start in three, two, ONE!"
Anko rushed towards naruto, hoping to end the fight early. She launched a punch at his gut, and naruto grabbed her wrist and sent two kicks to her stomach, both of which connected. Anko grunted in pain. 'Holy shit! He kicks fucking hard!' She broke his grip on her wrist and jumped back, performing hand seals. "Sen'eijashu!" She yelled, sending snakes out of her sleeves towards Naruto.
As they reached him, Naruto quickly drew his sword and decapitated all of them before sheathing his sword again, all within the space of a second. Anko growled. "Try this, you little prick!" she did some more hand seals before biting her thumb and slamming her hand down on the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared, revealing Anko standing next to a giant snake. "Who do you need me to crush, Anko?" the snake asked in a hissing voice. Anko pointed at Naruto and yelled, "Him! He's been pissing me off all day! Leave him alive, though, or the old man will yell at me."
The snake launched itself towards Naruto, who simply raised his hand towards it. From his outstretched fingertips came a spiraling dragon of fire, which wound itself around the snake, burning its body. The dragon sank its fangs into the skull of the snake, dispelling it with a puff of smoke.
Anko could only stare on with her mouth hanging open as this kid, this fourteen year old fresh out of the Academy Genin, destroyed one of her strongest summons without even moving. She realized she was going to have to get serious if she was going to win, which she was determined to do. "Kid," she growled, "If you know how to use that sword I would recommend using it now." "Sorry, Anko. I only use this sword when I intend to kill." Naruto replied.
Anko sped towards Naruto with a savage battle cry, hoping to overwhelm him with taijutsu. However, no matter how she tried to hit him, he would either dodge or block her attacks, never striking back. They continued like this for several minutes; before Naruto said, " If you don't mind, I'm going to finish this now." As Anko sent a straight jab at Naruto's face, he reared his head back before head butting the fist, breaking it with a sickening crunch.
Anko gasped in pain and cradled her hand to her body. She attempted to punch at Naruto with her good hand, but the punch was caught, and naruto twisted her arm painfully behind her back. Holding a kunai to her throat, he simply said, "Give." Anko nodded. "Alright, you win. God, if Kakashi finds out about this, I'll never live it down."
Naruto released her arm and removed his kunai, allowing her to sit down, shoulders sagging from a mixture of relief and pain. Anko examined her broken hand a moment before shaking her head. "Damn, Kid. You really messed me up. I had some other things I wanted to cover today, but those will have to wait. I need to get this hand checked out."
"Nonsense," Naruto said, "I can heal you myself." Anko looked at him skeptically, but held out her hand to him nonetheless. He gently covered her hand with his, while his hands started glowing a deep, forest green color. Anko smiled at the warm sensation that spread through her body, and frowned when it left a moment later, only to be pleasantly surprised when she noticed that her hand was perfectly healed.
"Awesome!" Anko yelled. "I hate hospitals, so this is great! Now we can-" she was interrupted by the arrival of a regular sized snake, who appeared in a puff of smoke on Anko's shoulder. Anko listened to the snake whisper in her ear for several minutes with a surprised look on her face, occasionally nodding.
After the snake the snake was done talking, it looked at Anko questioningly. She shrugged and said, "It's alright with me. He's already proven himself, as far as I'm concerned." The snake turned towards Naruto and hissed, "Greetingsss, Naruto-ssama. I have come to offer you the chance to ssign our ssummoning contract."
'Kit, you shouldn't do that. Their leader, Manda, is one of Orochimaru's allies. He could be doing this to spy on you. Plus, you already know that you have full command over the Kitsune Armies. You can summon thousands of capable fighters in an instant! You don't need smelly snakes. ' Kitanesaid in Naruto's mind.
'I know that, but this could prove beneficial. Turning them down could be perceived as an insult, and I feel no need to make enemies with them. Besides, if I play my cards right, I might be able to rob Orochimaru of a valuable ally. I think the benefits far outweigh the risks." Kitane was forced to concede to Naruto's logic.
Naruto nodded. "I will accept your offer. It is very rare for a Summon to request a specific summoner."
"Very well, Naruto-ssama. However, after you ssign the sscroll, you will have to sssummon our leader, Manda-ssama before you can ssummon any other ssnake."
"Whoa, hold on there," Anko said, alarmed. "I had to do the same thing when I started summoning snakes, but that was when I was a Genin, before Orochimaru betrayed the village. If you summon Manda now, he'd most likely eat you."
The snake shook its head. "I assure you, that is not the case. In fact, thisss invitation comesss directly from Manda-ssama himsself."
Anko looked at the snake surprisedly. "No shit? I thought Manda was allied with Orochimaru?" "There have been ssome…new developments, you will have to take it up with Manda-ssama himsself." The snake replied. The snake-summoning scroll appeared next to the snake in a puff of smoke, and Naruto rolled it open, seeing that the only names on it were Anko's and Orochimaru's. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and wrote his name in the space above Anko's name. The then smeared more blood on each of his fingers, and put his fingerprints on the scroll next to his name.
The snake nodded to Naruto, and to Anko, and disappeared along with the scroll. Naruto performed the necessary hand seals, bit his thumb, and slammed it on the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Naruto yelled. A huge amount of smoke appeared, revealing a gigantic purple pit viper. When the smoke cleared, the snake looked down at Naruto, and said in a loud voice, "You must be Naruto. I heard of your strength from my subordinate, who you defeated earlier. As you know, I am an ally of Orochimaru. However, I have been trying to distance myself from that man ever since I found out that he used a forbidden jutsu to bind several of my subordinates to this world, so that he could perform experiments on them. I tried to kill him for that, but he was able to slip away. The Snake clan no longer has any affiliation with Orochimaru. We have been searching for a suitable summoner ever since. When I heard of the ease with which you defeated my subordinate, I knew you would be right. So, my offer is this. We will allow you to summon us, provided that you do everything in your power to kill Orochimaru."
Naruto bowed to the giant snake and said, "I want nothing more in this world than to have that bastard's head on a stake. I will gladly kill him." Manda nodded and said, "Excellent. Feel free to summon me, should you ever need my help." With that, he vanished in another giant puff of smoke.
Anko was staring with disbelief during the entire exchange. "Damn, kid. Just damn. You're dismissed for today, I need to tell the Hokage that you passed." Anko then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Hokage's officeThe Jounin whose teams had passed the tests they had been given now stood in the Hokage's office. The only three there were Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai. "So you three are the only ones whose teams passed, huh." The Hokage commented. "Kakashi, I'm surprised our team managed to pass this time."
Suddenly, the door to the office opened loudly, revealing a tired-looking Anko. "Namikaze Naruto passes." She said tiredly, before collapsing in a chair. Kurenai looked at her strangely. "Anko, I didn't know you were getting a student." Kakashi turned to the Hokage and asked, "Is this why my request to have Naruto put on my team was denied?"
Sarutobi nodded and said, "Yes. I didn't want to put naruto on a team, and you seemed best to teach Sasuke." "I would have taken Naruto as an apprentice, and you know it! Hokage-sama, you know how important this was to me." Kakashi said angrily.
Sarutobi turned to Anko and asked, "So, what kind of test did you decide to give Naruto? I assume he managed to pass it, yes?" Anko looked at the expectant faces and chuckled. "Oh, you guys are gonna love this." She then told them all about the tests she had given Naruto, how he had healed her broken hand, and about his meeting with Manda. Needless to say, when Anko was done telling them what had happened, they were all gaping just as she had been.
Kurenai shook her head and said, "Wow. That kid is amazing. He hid from you for a whole hour using a genjutsu and masking his chakra?" Asuma spoke up, "I'm impressed how he thought to distract you with false trails. The kid's definitely a strategist." Kakashi said, "Yeah, and it sounds like he was just toying with you during your fight. You say he used a jutsu without any hand seals to kill a giant snake? It takes lots of skill to be able to do that, especially with a jutsu that big."
Sarutobi said, "Are you sure of the situation with Manda? Orochimaru could be using him to spy on the village." Anko shook her head. "Even if that were true, he wouldn't be able to get any really valuable information. The benefits far outweigh the potential risks. Besides, experimenting on his summons is exactly the kind of thing Orochimaru would do."
Sarutobi nodded and said, "Very well. I trust your judgement, Anko-chan. Any way, that about concludes our business here. Anko, the next time you see Naruto, please tell him that you two will be getting your first mission tomorrow."
A flash of light suddenly appeared in the room, putting all the Jounin on guard. They relaxed, however when they saw it was Naruto. "No need to tell me, I'm already here."
"Ok, this has been bothering me for awhile. What the hell is that technique you use? These random surprises cannot be good for my health." Sarutobi said. Naruto shrugged and replied, "Modified Hiraishin. But anyway, that's not why I'm here. I heard you guys talking, and I was wondering why Kakashi-san asked to have me put on his team."
"Modified Hiraishin?" Sarutobi asked surprisedly. Naruto groaned. "Yes, modified. I was trying to figure it out on my own a couple years ago, and I discovered a way to make it work without the need for seals. I've also made several variations of the Rasengan. Now can I get my question answered?"
Sarutobi just shook his head disbelievingly. Kakashi turned to naruto and said, "I wanted to have the opportunity to get to know you. You see, your father trained me when I was a Genin. When my father died, Sensei became like a father to me. We were very close."
Naruto nodded and said, "I understand. Well, then we should train together sometime. I could show you some of the jutsu I invented." "I would like that." Kakashi replied, giving one of his patented eye smiles.
Anko jumped out of her chair and motioned for Naruto to follow her. "Come on, kid. I still have some shit to talk to you about, so we might as well get something to eat." Naruto shrugged and followed her out the door.
"He's a bit strange, don't you think?" asked Kurenai after the two left.
"Indeed."
After making their way through the village, Naruto and Anko stopped at a dango stand to have their conversation. "So, I meant to ask these things earlier, but the whole business with Manda distracted me. I have a few questions I want to ask you." Anko said as she finished a stick of dango.
"Fire away." Naruto replied. Anko paused in consideration for a moment before asking, "What's up with you're eyes?" Naruto rolled said eyes and answered, "Why does everybody ask that? Any way, let's just say there because of the Kyuubi. Next question?"
"Where did you go for the last seven years, and how did you get so strong?"
"I'll answer those later. Next question."
"Earlier, when you refused to use your sword, you made it sound as of you had killed before. Have you?"
"Many times."
Anko paused at this, considering her next question carefully. "Ok, well that was informative. If we're going to be taking high-level missions together, I want to have at least a general idea of your strength. How strong would you say you are?"
Naruto smirked. "Guess." He said. Anko thought for a moment, answering, "Well, you took me down pretty easily, so you're at least high Jounin. If I had to guess, I would say mid-to-high ANBU level, which I'll admit, is very impressive for someone your age."
Naruto debated with himself for a moment, before deciding to tell her the truth. "Well, that was a very good guess, based on the abilities that I demonstrated earlier. However, you failed to take into account the abilities that I may not have shown you. The truth is, I am far above Kage level."
"Sure, kid." Anko laughed. "I'll admit you're strong, but don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" "Not at all." Naruto replied. "You asked where I've been for the last seven years? How I got so strong? I am ready to answer those questions." With that, Naruto grabbed Anko by the shoulder, and teleported them away.
They reappeared in their training clearing in the Forest of Death, with Anko slightly disoriented from the unexpected trip. She turned to see Naruto removing his coat and sword, setting them on the ground and leaving him in his vest and shirt. Anko felt her cheeks tinge slightly at seeing Naruto's muscled form.
"Like you said Anko, as my teammate you deserve to know the full extent of my abilities. It could hamper our teamwork, and could potentially prove fatal if one of us made a mistake. Additionally, the foundation of any good teamwork is trust. If I am constantly hiding things from you, it creates a lack of trust, and we will not be as effective as a unit. Please keep in mind that the Hokage already knows of what I am about to show you."
Anko could only nod, feeling a knot of anticipation and a little fear building in her stomach. Seeing Anko's nod of confirmation, Naruto closed his eyes. Staring in fascination, Anko watched as Naruto's form shimmered for a moment before revealing something that, in all honesty, frightened her. She saw as Naruto's ears seemingly vanished off his head, being replaced by a pair of fox ears on top. She saw as nine long tails materialized behind Naruto, one by one. The transformation complete, Anko looked into Naruto's blood red eyes, finally recognizing them for what they were. They were the eyes of the Kyuubi.
Looking into those eyes, she noticed that these were not the eyes of the enraged beast from so many years ago. There was no hate or malice anywhere in those eyes, nor could she sense any trace of the malicious aura that the Kyuubi had had around it. In fact, those eyes were almost soothing to look into. Remembering the words that naruto had spoken before his transformation, she relaxed somewhat. Anko trusted the Hokage, and if he trusted Naruto, then that was good enough for her. Still, of all the things she was expecting, this was not on the list.
"H-how is this possible?" she stammered. "I knew you were the Kyuubi's jinchurriki, but this is just…will you please explain to me what is going on?"
Naruto gave her a nod and a reassuring smile before proceeding to explain everything to Anko. He told her about the attack, waking up in his mind, learning of his parentage and the fact that he was dying, meeting the Shinigami, being given a second chance at life at the cost of his humanity, his time spent in Makai and the home he had found there, and his eventual departure to roam the Elemental Countries, his encounter with Jiraiya and finally his return to the village.
By the end of his tale, night had fallen, and they were both lying on their backs, looking up at the stars. "Wow." Anko said. "To think that someone your age has gone through so much. And here the other people your age haven't even been out of the village."
Naruto chuckled. "Their time will come soon enough. For the most part, they are still children. They do not need to rush so hurriedly into adulthood."
Anko sat up and looked at Naruto. "But what about you? You're the same age as them. You're still a child too." Naruto shook his head. "I stopped being a child seven years ago, Anko. I became a leader, someone that people would look up to. With the kind of power I have, I gained responsibilities that no child could handle. I chose to become what I was needed to be that night. I chose to stop being a child. And never once have I regretted that choice."
They were silent for several minutes before Anko asked, "Naruto? When was the first time you killed?" Naruto was silent for a moment before answering, "It was two days after I left Makai. I wandered into a small village to refill my supplies, but entering I found only death. Everyone in the village had been slaughtered and left to rot in the sun. They had stacked the bodies in the center of the village, piled up like garbage. They had cut the children's heads off, even the babies, and put them all on stakes around the pile of dead villagers. I tracked the scent of blood to the forest near by. When I found the camp of a group a large group of bandits, I knew they were responsible. One of them was holding a small child above his head, laughing as he threw the child into a pit of fire. The screams were too much…I just let myself go. When I regained consciousness, I was standing in the middle of a mile-wide crater, nothing but ash remaining of those men. After that, I returned to the village, and buried every one of the four hundred and sixty nine people who had been murdered for the sake of entertainment."
Anko stared at Naruto, shocked. "That was you! People were talking about that for months!" Naruto just stared ahead. "I changed, after that. I promised myself, promised all of the people who had died there, that I would never let something like that happen ever again. People like those bandits, who kill only for their own pleasure, and treat others as their playthings do not deserve to live."
Anko nodded. "I agree. I had a somewhat similar experience when I was young. Back then, I was the strongest Kunoichi to come out of the Academy since Tsunade. I, along with two others, was put on a team with the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru as our Sensei. He turned us into killing made us his soldiers. He made us love him. So, when he asked me to kill my teammates, I barely hesitated. I helped him do things, things that I knew were wrong, and I knew I should have told someone. Yet I was so devoted to Oro-Sensei, that I couldn't see that he was just using me, that he never loved me the way he made me love him. And when he was done with me, when I was of no further use to him, he put this curse mark on me, and tossed me away like trash. The ANBU found me outside the village, barely alive. They interrogated me for hours, asked me questions to which I had no answer, and so I just sat there, not speaking to anyone. Finally, I was summoned to the Hokage's Office. I was sure that he was about to tell me that I was going to be executed, but then, he came around his desk and hugged me, told me that what had happened was not my fault. That I was not to blame for the crimes of my sensei. He gave me a reason to continue living. The rest of the village couldn't see what he saw, though. All they saw was my connection to Orochimaru, the traitor. I was an outcast, a pariah. They called me the 'Snake Whore', and that's all I was to them. So I swore that I would hunt down and kill my former Sensei, and prove to this village that I was more than what my teacher had made me into."
As Anko finished, she had tears in her eyes from reliving the memories of her past. She almost jumped as she felt Naruto put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're two of a kind, Anko. Orochimaru is the cause of both our problems. We will hunt him together, and we won't stop until we rip that bastard's head from his body." He said in a strong and confident voice. Anko smiled. "Thank you, Naruto." Naruto smiled back at her.
Anko looked at her watch, and noticed that it was past midnight. "We need to get some sleep. We have our first mission tomorrow." She said. Naruto shrugged. "I'm just going to sleep out here, it's a nice night, and I like having the stars above me." He rolled his coat into a pillow and laid his head down on it, stretching out on the ground. Anko shrugged, and laid down next to him. "I think I'll join you." She rested her head on his chest, and closed her eyes, almost asleep already. Naruto smiled. "Good night, Anko."
In her half awake haze she mumbled, "Good night, Naruto-kun." Naruto just smiled and wrapped his tails around the two of them before drifting off to sleep.
Finished. This chapter is shorter than average, but I felt that this would be a good place to end it. Besides, I'm starting on chapter five almost immediately, and I'll be a lot longer. The song for this chapter is Come Alive by Foo Fighters.
Remember to review this chapter, and as always, thank you to those that have taken the time to review. The next chapter will mark the beginning of the Wave Arc. Yes, I know it's overdone, but it won't be just another retelling of the same events, I can guarantee that.
I threw in a little Naru-Anko romance in there, so let me know what you thought of that. I found a good English-Japanese translator, so thanks to anybody who might have had a suggestion, but it won't be needed. Once again, Chapter five will be up within three days tops.
Don't Fear the Reaper,
Kumo no Shinigami