I don't own Naruto.
"You wanted to see me, Jiji?"
"That I did, Naruto-kun. You too, Sakura-kun. Please sit down."
He indicated two of the chairs that lined the outside of the room.
"As you know, Konoha genin take missions as a four-man cell, consisting of three genin and one jōnin. This is different for institute genin, but that doesn't matter right now."
"Institute genin?" Naruto blurted.
"People who fail the jōnin test don't just get thrown back into the civilian population, baka," Sakura said, weakly. "There's an institute that trains dropouts so that they're able to undertake simpler missions in five-man teams and eventually become chūnin."
"That's right. I've heard much about your prodigious memory, Sakura-kun. But that's not why we're here. I wanted to hear, in your own words, what happened on that mission, how Kakashi led your team, and how you feel about the consequences."
What followed was a description of the mission and the training Kakashi had put them through after Sasuke's death.
"It made me realise that there's no point becoming Hokage if I can't protect the people who are close to me. If I can't do that, how can I protect the village? Becoming Hokage won't make people magically respect me or instantly make me powerful. I need to make that happen before I become Hokage, so that's my ambition now. Not to mention that Sasuke needs somebody to carry on his ambition. I don't know how to revive his clan, but I can try my best to kill his brother."
Sarutobi nodded, turning to Sakura.
"And you?"
"I… I thought Sasuke was my reason for existing. Everything I did was to impress him. But then he was gone, and it left a void in my life. I had to find something to fill it, and all I could think of…"
She glanced at the blond to her side.
"Is that I don't ever want to feel like that again. I want to be strong enough to protect Naruto, and any other teammates I might have. I guess that's not a glamorous ideal, but it'll do for now."
"That's more than admirable. You seem to be dealing with things very maturely. Now don't take it as me underestimating you when I say that I'm going to order you to take a series of sessions with Yamanaka psychiatrists, because I'm not, but our earliest traumas as ninja are often our deepest. I remember the first time I lost a teammate, and I wish I'd had a professional to talk to about it.
Now that I know you're well, I need to broach a more painful subject. Are you familiar with the story of how Kakashi came to possess his Sharingan eye?"
"Yes. Sensei told us when he started training us."
"Then you'll know that Sharingan eye transplants are possible. And… we now have two unused eyes that need new users."
"What?" Naruto shouted. "Butcher Sasuke's body? For what? A little bit of power? You keep telling me that there are no shortcuts to power, Jiji, just like there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. Just take his body and bury it - put him to rest, and let the rest of us remember him as he was!"
"That would never happen, Naruto," the Hokage said. "While I agree that there should be no shortcuts, the council will demand that the eyes are transplanted. I can overrule them, but honestly, I see no reason not to. They are a useful resource, just another weapon in any good shinobi's arsenal, and they will be used to protect the village. The only question is who receives the implant. Right now I'm minded to give them to the two of you. If this goes to the council, I've no idea who Sasuke's eyes will go to. You said you wanted to let his memory live on. You can do that personally, looking through his eyes, or you can watch another random shinobi member do it."
"He has a point, Naruto," Sakura said. "Sasuke died to protect you. To protect both of us. He'd want his eyes to protect us too."
Naruto calmed down and crossed his arms.
"I… is this a good idea? I get the logic, but it just doesn't feel right."
"Would seeing somebody else with his eyes feel more right?"
"No. No, it wouldn't. Okay, I'll do it. Sakura?"
"I'll do it too."
"That's all I needed to hear," Sarutobi said. He raised his voice. "Tenshu?"
A distinguished-looking medic walked into the office, carrying a box full of files. He placed them on the desk and adjusted his glasses.
"Medical files for Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. The onsite clinic is prepped. All I need is the eyes and your permission, Hokage-sama."
"You may have them both. I will need to oversee the operations."
"I understand. If you would all come with me?"
The medic led them from the office and down a level to a room the same size as the Hokage's office. It had been built in Hashirama's day for if the Hokage or other highly-placed personnel needed immediate medical attention. This meant that it was fully stocked, with an emergency team on 24/7 standby. The two genin were stripped down and given gowns before being placed on beds and given anaesthetic masks.
"Now these records say that Haruno-san's left eye is slightly dominant, so we will replace her right eye. Uzumaki-san's eyes are equally effective, so he will get Uchiha-san's left eye. I will perform Uzumaki-san's operation, while the hospital's head of opthalmology will perform Haruno-san's operate. Hokage-sama, are we clear to proceed?"
"You are. I'll see the two of you when you wake up."
The anaesthetist turned the valve and the gas started to flow into their masks. They were told to count back from ten. Sakura fell unconscious at six, but Naruto was still awake when he reached zero. Surprising the others in the room, he continued counting in negative numbers, finally dropping off at minus twelve.
"Is the resilience due to…"
"You can say that here, Tenshu. Yes, his tenant grants him resilience to all manner of things, and he will likely recover faster. Be careful to keep him under."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
Naruto woke up after the operation, but just as he was being cleaned in the post-operation cleanup.
"Gah! Stop wiping my eyeball!"
"Naruto-kun, you're awake. How does it feel?"
Naruto's gaze swept around the room, one red and one blue eye trying to find focus.
"Whoa, it's weird. Like one eye sees things in normal and the other in slow motion. And I can see chakra! Old man, you're like a bonfire!"
"If I look like that, I can only imagine what you look like, Naruto. In fact, it might be best for the two of us to leave the room before Sakura wakes up. Seeing this much chakra may cause her eye strain."
Naruto nodded and jumped off the bed, strolling out of the room after giving Sakura a concerned glance.
"Hokage-sama, it should take days for the body to accept the implant, and for vision to be possible. He needs to be lying down!"
"You underestimate the Uzumaki physical resilience, coupled with his tenant's gifts. Naruto could run a marathon right now and feel no ill effects. But don't worry, I'm taking him to my office where I will make sure he sits down. Please inform us when Sakura is awake."
"Of course, Hokage-sama. Could you at least give him this eyepatch to wear?"
"I'll see what I can do."
The Hokage and the genin walked back up to Sarutobi's office, Naruto fussing over the eyepatch forced on him by the older man. The door closed behind them and Sarutobi dismissed his guards before asking Naruto the question that had been bugging him.
"Naruto, as Hokage I had to become proficient in just about every aspect of being a ninja. I can perform techniques from every element. I can interrogate a prisoner, build a pit trap, command an army and disembowel a man with my fingernails. But I am also an accomplished sensor, and that's why I wanted to talk to you. Your chakra has always felt wild and erratic. It must be, because your seal injects the kyūbi's chakra into your system periodically, increasing your reserves. But now your chakra is calm, tranquil, and controlled. How did this happen? I've met fire monks who have meditated their whole lives whose chakra isn't as calm as yours."
Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head.
"Heheh. I remembered what the scroll said about the shadow clone technique, and figured it could be used for training too. Since then I've been using it a lot, look."
The blond held out both hands and started to concentrate. After a few seconds, a gust of wind started to circulate around Naruto's right hand, eventually creating what looked like a weak rasengan made out of wind. After that, water started to coalesce out of thin air and form an unstable globe over his left hand. After a few more seconds he let the chakra flow fade away and the water dropped to the floor, the wind simply dissipating.
"That's all I've got for my elemental training so far. Sensei told me to only practice with shadow clones when I can be sure that I've got the technique for each step perfectly, otherwise my mistakes could become instinct. So he teaches me the leaf cutting exercise, makes sure I know what I'm doing, and then lets me train with shadow clones. It's slower than I could go, but it makes a lot of sense."
"Naruto, that's nothing short of amazing. Hang on, there's something I want to give you."
He got up from his seat and walked over to the bookcase, picking out a slim and faded red volume. He walked back to Naruto and handed it over.
"A Shinobi Performance Manual. I wrote it myself. It contains the uncompromising standards I held myself to when training, but it was too exacting to become required reading. I don't believe in over-specialisation. If a genjutsu specialist fights a Sharingan user, they'll have nearly no chance to survive. Taijutsu specialist against an advanced genjutsu user? Not everybody can learn a thousand jutsus, but you, with your ability to throw out shadow clones, can do it. Take a read. You may even enjoy it."
"Wow, thanks Jiji. I'll treasure it."
"There's no need to go that far. There are other copies, but I appreciate the sentiment. As you know, the Sharingan can sense chakra through walls and bindings, so going near Sakura now may be too much for her. I suggest you create several clones to go home and start reading that book, and your chakra levels should have reduced to a low enough level that you won't cause your friend eye strain."
"No problem, old man! I'll see you soon!"
The knuckle-headed genin moved to leave the room.
"Oh, one more thing, old man. Would it be alright if I visited Haku?"
The Hokage's cheerful face dropped a few notches.
"I'm not sure I can allow that, Naruto. Although you must be hurting, we're still determining her guilt and punishment. She's under supervision at all times to ensure her safety."
"Oh, no, not that. I just wanted to talk to her. It's been really hard, dealing with Sasuke's death, and I didn't even do it. I've no idea how she must be feeling."
The Hokage's smile came back, realising that the boy didn't have the appetite for revenge.
"Well, in that case, I suppose I could authorise a few meetings. No more than a half-hour a day, but maybe it will do the both of you some good."
"Do you know what's going to happen to her?"
"Honestly? It's a toss-up. She ended one of the founding clans of this village, but she also represents the opportunity to give Konoha another bloodline, and it would be foolish to pass on the opportunity. And then there's the fact that she was all but brainwashed by her mentor, and holding her strictly accountable for her actions may not be fair. I don't think she'll ever be allowed to join the ninja forces, but she'll likely be allowed to live in the village, under supervision."
"That sounds fair, but perhaps the greatest punishment of all for somebody who only sees herself as a ninja tool. I'll see you soon."
He left the room, giving a wave to the secretary on his way out. Sarutobi had expressed an intense dislike of people using the window, and Naruto had weaselled enough concessions out of the man today that he felt it only fair to humour him.
When he reached the outdoors he split his chakra eleven ways, forming ten clones who dashed off without needing instruction. He'd been taught some katas by Kakashi in a few styles: the proper Academy style (without the incorrect stances some of the instructors had taught him), the basics of the Strong Fist (although Kakashi said that he'd promised not to teach anybody anything more than the basics) and some of the Uchiha's Intercepting Fist. Naruto hadn't seen the logic in learning a style optimised for the Sharingan, but his sensei had clearly had the transplant plan under his mask since they'd left Wave.
Ten clones with one dispersing every half hour would accumulate around six solid weeks of experience, which should be enough for Naruto's plan to seek advanced instruction elsewhere. Kakashi had warned him that this path would force him to redefine the meaning of hard work, but Naruto welcomed the challenge. Anything to give him the strength to protect.
With his chakra levels somewhat depleted, he went back inside and travelled straight to the clinic. Tenshu was sorting the equipment for disposal and cleaning, whilst keeping an eye on the comatose form of Sakura.
"Ah, Uzumaki-san, here to see your teammate? I'm afraid she isn't quite as resistant to chemical interference as you are; she's probably going to be out cold for a few more minutes. While you wait, would you mind if I had a look at your eye?"
"Do you think I'll be able to see properly yet?"
"Probably. Your healing rate is a blessing, and you should have accepted the transplant already."
The doctor gestured to a chart on the wall.
"Could you please close your right eye and read the chart?"
"Sure. A, O, W…"
Naruto read every letter on the chart, even the ones that forced Tenshu to walk up close and double-check.
"Miraculous, Uzumaki-san. From Uchiha-san's records it would appear that he was only able to read halfway down the chart. Although activating the Sharingan has been known to increase visual focus, this is never seen in the two-tomoe stage, and only rarely with three. Even then, the vision increase is mostly about speed of perception rather than focus. If I may theorise, it appears that your body recognised something that could be beneficial to it and healed it to the same level of visual clarity that your old eye enjoyed."
The pinkette behind them stirred, and the two were interrupted.
"I'll let the two of you speak privately. Please let me know when you're finished."
The medic left the room and Naruto rushed to Sakura's side.
"Hey sleepy. What kept you?"
Sakura's one visible eye narrowed and she feebly moved an arm.
"Damn, I'd hit you if I weren't so weak. Why are you so lively after the operation? And goodness, you're bright."
"Coming from the top scorer in the Academy I'll take that as a compliment."
"Not smarts, you idiot. Your chakra. It's… huge. But pleasant."
"Those control exercises sensei made us do have calmed it down some. And you know I have loads of chakra, how else do you think I keep using shadow clones? Anyway, seems your eye's working."
"Yes, and right after waking up from the operation. Blurry right now, but still. Medic-nins are incredible. I wonder how long it takes to get to that stage…"
"All you need to start is excellent chakra control, Sakura, something we both know you have. If you want to learn and teach me afterwards, I'd be happy to do the same for you with something else."
"Why don't you do it yourself, you lazy bum?"
"I try not to go to the hospital unless I really need to. I'm sure you've noticed how most people don't like me… I doubt many would want to teach me, or let me operate on them."
Sakura's head slumped as she realised she'd brought up some bad memories.
"Well those people are idiots! You're too slow to have any ill intentions; it'd take too much brainpower for you to be evil. If anybody tries to get at you like that again, send them my way and I'll teach them a lesson!"
Naruto was unsure how to take the mixed compliment, so he decided to go with 'thanks'.
"Now that you're better, I'm going to get out of your hair and let you go home. Sensei has given us the week off, and you need to rest your eye. I'm going to see Haku now."
"Her? What do you want with her?"
"I don't know, I guess I feel sorry for her. I know she killed Sasuke, but she had plenty of opportunities to kill me and she just tried to knock me out. I think it was an accident, but she thought Sasuke was at my level when she tried to hit him and he just moved too fast."
"Well you're right that Sasuke-kun was far above your level," Sakura conceded, causing Naruto to face-fault. "But I don't feel sorry for her. She took away our teammate. She deserves to burn."
"And it must be eating her up inside. Not to mention that her reason for living died as well. Now she has nothing to live for, must think she's going to be executed, and who cares? I'm not saying I've forgiven her, but she at least deserves a chance to explain herself."
Sakura nodded struggling to keep her eyes open.
"It's getting late. You should ask Tenshu-san whether you need to go home or to the hospital for the night. I'll be off now, Sakura-chan."
"See you soon Naruto-kun…"
The jinchūriki left his teammate and nodded to Tenshu as he left. The walk from the Hokage's tower to Torture & Interrogation was very short and he made it in a few minutes. He walked through the entrance and past the front desk; however was meant to man it having left it abandoned. He wandered around until a kunai made its way out of the darkness at the end of the corridor and came flying towards his face.
The knife would have merely left a shallow cut along his cheek, but with his new and enhanced perceptions it was a simple thing to tilt his head to the side and snatch the weapon out of the air.
"You're coming dangerously close to the holding cells, brat," came a threatening voice from afar. "Maybe you should be on your way."
"The Hokage said that I could visit one of the prisoners here. He's probably sent word."
A figure burst out of the gloom and came to a rest next to him, grinning like a madwoman.
"Then why didn't you say so?" she chirped, cheerfully snatching her kunai out of his hand. "Name's Anko, you must be red-eyed brat number one. Feel lucky I saw you first, otherwise you'd be brat number two. Where is the other one?"
"Still recovering. May I ask how you know?"
"Oh, the entire village is buzzing about those eyes. Hoshi really can't keep his yap shut about anything. The only reason he's so high up in the hospital is that barely anyone needs eye surgery. The Hyūga all have their own doctors, so he doesn't really do much. Good for the occasional snippet of gossip though, or for threatening."
"I'm fine with you calling me red-eyes, but could you please hold off on Sakura? She might not take it as well as I do."
"Well, that depends on what you can offer me."
"Um, what do you want?"
"Geez kid, your negotiating sucks. You could've at least given me a lowball offer. I'd've argued you up, but it's the principle of the thing. You need to wise up before you get eaten out there."
"Well how about this. You like criticising people and being sadistic. How about you train me?"
Anko frowned and dug her fingers into his shoulder. Hard.
"I'm really not seeing how you're doing me a favour there."
"You get to throw pointy things at me and mess with my mind. I get to learn how to dodge pointy things and resist psychological torture. If you did that to another Konoha shinobi without their consent you'd be court marshalled on assault charges."
"Huh, you have a tongue in your mouth after all. We'll examine that later," she said, with a leer. She loosened her grip around his shoulder. "You're on, brat. Here, six in the morning, before I have to go to work. Then you'll watch me work my magic until four, and I'll beast you some more. You'll learn something and I'll leave your girlfriend alone. Deal. Now, we're here."
She stopped outside a metal door and channelled chakra into a seal.
"No touching, that's my job. That's just about the only rule."
The door creaked open and she shoved him in with a palm strike. As Naruto fell to the floor the door was slammed behind him. The room wasn't too small, but it was dark and impersonal.
"Naruto?"
Haku stood from the small cot in the corner and walked over to him.
"It's really you?"
Naruto let the kunoichi help him up and smiled at her.
"Of course it's me. Why wouldn't it be?"
"It could be a genjutsu designed to make me crack. It could be me hallucinating from dehydration. It could be your sensei under henge here to kill me…"
"Well it's not. Just me, Naruto. How're you doing?"
"But… why are you here? I thought you'd hate me, or at least not want to see me."
Naruto sighed and paced the room.
"My feelings towards you are difficult, but that didn't mean I shouldn't try and see you. You're one of the first people outside my team that I've truly connected with, but you also killed my teammate. But I don't believe you meant to, which doesn't affect the consequence, but maybe it makes it better, somehow. And then there's the fact that you were following the orders of a man who raised you and you worshipped. I'm not sure if I could even hold you fully responsible. In any event, I don't think you need punishing any more. You lost your precious person, as did I."
Haku's eyes started to water and she sat back down on the cot. Naruto followed, sitting next to her, and waited to let her speak.
"I know I just said I was his tool, but that was only because that's what he told me. But secretly, I imagined that he was my father. He was never too sentimental or loving, but he cared for me in his own way. And that's how I loved him - like an imperfect father, who doesn't quite know how to express his love. And I was too weak to save him, so no matter what I was to him, I failed him as both a tool and as a daughter. I don't know what the village is going to do to me for killing the Uchiha, but I find myself not caring. Maybe they'll end my suffering, maybe they'll prolong it. I'll happily accept them ending it, and I'll deserve it if they prolong it."
"Killing Sasuke, that was an accident, right?"
She nodded.
"He moved far faster than I thought he could. Suddenly he became able to react nearly twice as fast."
"That was him activating his Sharingan. So good. I'm glad it was an accident, at least. Haku, do you know what my reason for living was?"
The ice wielder shook her head.
"I wanted to become Hokage so that everyone would respect me and I could protect everyone - all my precious people. And I couldn't protect even one of my teammates. What kind of Hokage would I be? Are you seeing any similarities here? The only difference is, I know that Sasuke's will lives on."
Naruto shifted slightly and his eyes came into view. Haku had stopped looking at her lap as he talked and started to watch him. She caught sight of his mismatched eyes and gasped.
"His eye!"
"That's right. Each of us took one of Sasuke's eyes, just like we took his will. He had a goal to achieve and because we couldn't protect him, he'll never be able to achieve that goal. But that doesn't mean it will never happen. That means that the responsibility for making it happen now falls on us. Me, and Sakura, and you, Haku."
The kunoichi continued to look at him in surprise, tears still flowing slightly.
"You played a large part in this, and the responsibility falls on you too. Not just for carrying out Sasuke's will, but Zabuza's too. He had an ambition, right? A reason that he fought? He wasn't just some bloodthirsty monster, no matter what the bingo books say."
"To stop Yagura… to end the bloodline purges…"
"You see? Neither of us could protect our precious people. That means that we're responsible for making sure that their ambitions are achieved. We need to become stronger and work to make their memories proud. I know you feel like you don't have a reason for living anymore, but that's not true. You just have to live independently of Zabuza now, to achieve his goals. It's hard and it's scary, but if he was really precious to you, you'll live for his sake."
Haku flung her arms around the blond, finally sobbing freely, as he looked around uncomfortably, remembering Anko's warning. Hearing no objectors, he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.
"Not everyone is going to forgive you as easily, and people are going to be angry. Please be patient with them. If we're going to work together to achieve Sasuke's ambition, then we'll need to be there for each other. And I'll be here for you."
The two talked in quiet voices for the rest of the visiting period, before Anko turned up and booted him out.
"I said no touching, but I guess there's no need to tell the Hokage. I'll just have to be twice as harsh tomorrow," she said, with an evil grin marring her features. "Try not to die."
Naruto trudged back to his apartment, ready for a week of sadistic torture. His clones were dispelling and adding functional knowledge of taijutsu forms to his repertoire as he walked. He could even feel his gait becoming more graceful as he gained a more intimate knowledge of his body and balance. Just as he was turning off the main road and into the residential district-
"Naruto-baka! Wait up!"
Naruto winced at the brash voice, knowing who was coming. He turned around with hands raised, trying to calm her down.
"Hey Ino, what can I-?
"Never mind you, where is Sasuke? My dad said I wouldn't want to hear it but he had to wait for the Hokage's say-so before the general population could know. Is he hurt? Worse - did he start dating Sakura?"
Naruto considered his response as he noted her teammates catching up. Clearly the other two teams had been socialising, as Hinata, Shino and Kiba were close behind Ino's teammates. Three of them immediately took stock of the facts and made the correct conclusions. Shikamaru and Shino were observant enough to see his mismatched eyes, and logical enough to extrapolate from that. Hinata was observant enough, at least when it came to Naruto, and smart enough to jump to a conclusion.
"Geez Ino, you're so troublesome. Clearly Sasuke was hurt, the only question is, how bad?"
"Hey everyone. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, and I don't have any fancy words prepared for you. So, yes. Sasuke was hurt on our last mission. In fact, he was killed in action." He waited for the gasps to subside, the only person who hadn't gasped having been Ino. "We completed the mission and came back. The Hokage gave us the opportunity to have a reminder of Sasuke, and carry on his will."
"So Sakura has the other eye?" Shikamaru asked. "I'm sorry to hear that. Sasuke could be difficult, but he was quiet. He wasn't that troublesome at all."
"Yeah, she's taking longer to recover. And she took the death harder as well. Ino, I know you were rivals, but you were friends once too, and I think the two of you might really need each other right now."
The blonde was roused from her stupor and nodded dumbly at Naruto, before wandering off in the direction of Sakura's home.
"Wow," said Chōji. "She didn't hit anyone. It must be bad."
"Sakura will be better for her than us," Shikamaru added. "She needs to talk to another woman. Men aren't useful in situations like this."
"Hey!" said Kiba. "I'd be great at counselling Ino! Shino too, right?"
"The two of them share a closer bond with each other than with any of us. It would be logical to conclude that they are best suited to comfort one another."
"Pah, everyone's a critic. I'm right, aren't I Akamaru?"
The puppy gave a noncommittal bark and flattened itself further into Kiba's hair.
"Fine, fine. But still, that's rough, man. Let me know if you need to talk."
"Thanks everyone, but I really need to sleep first. It's been an emotional day, and I have training from hell tomorrow to look forward to."
He started to set off, but was interrupted by Hinata.
"N-n-naruto-kun?"
"Yes Hinata-chan?"
The timid Hyūga nearly swooned at the affectionate term and was overcome by a blush.
"N-never mind. See you soon." she squeaked.
Naruto waved and finally left, shaking his head over his friends' antics.
"Rise 'n' shine, pinkeye! I got bored so we're playing early!"
Naruto woke up to realise that he couldn't move, not even to open his eyes. He tried to tense his muscles to escape, but there was no give at all.
"That's a paralysis seal, brat. Thought I'd introduce you to all the toys in an interrogator's arsenal. You can't move an inch, but you still feel just fine. But never mind, the seal will be wearing off in three, two, one…"
Suddenly he could move, and he tried to make a break for it, only to find that he was still restrained. The ropes seemed… cool. And moving.
"Tricks within tricks to make the perps lose their minds before they spill their guts. Give an avenue of escape that you've prepared for them yourself. You taking notes?"
Naruto opened his eyes to see Mitarashi Anko leering above him as he was bound fully by a mass of snakes.
"Gah!" he started, frantically shooting off wind chakra in spurts along his body. It must have done something, because the snakes disappeared in a puff of smoke and Anko started to pout.
"Aww, I didn't realise you were so good with nature transformation. Otherwise I'd have chosen something else. My snake summons are going to be bitching at me for weeks now; thanks a lot. Anyway, rise and shine, time to party."
"Are you at least going to leave the room while I get dressed?"
"Why do you think I'd do that? And whoever do you think I'm letting you get dressed? Your pyjamas are just so cute. I want to see you bleed in them."
When the purple-haired woman started playing with a kunai far too nonchalantly for his liking, Naruto made a hasty escape through the window and out along the rooftops.
"Nice try brat, but this isn't the last you've seen of Mitarashi Anko!" she yelled. "Meet me at training ground 44; I'll see you in a few minutes!"
Against his better judgement, Naruto made his way to training ground 44, easily scaling the fence and looking for an open clearing to wait in. The training ground was a thick forest, with the canopy concealing nearly all of the sunlight. Naruto was naturally able to see quite well in the dark, so he was able to navigate easily, but he could imagine even walking around being a challenge for other genin.
In an instant, the 'feel' of the forest changed. It took Naruto a second to realise that the sounds of animal life had stopped and his danger sense kicked in. With a chakra-assisted leap to the side, he avoided the crashing impetus of a feline paw by little more than a foot. A savage, but regal-looking, tiger was crouched in the position he'd just vacated, with its head turned to glare at him. It slowly turned on the spot and stared him down, waiting for the right moment to pounce.
The blond turned serious nearly instantly, thoughts of light-heartedly finding a clearing and waiting for Anko evaporating. He channeled chakra to his feet and lifted himself off the ground slightly, using the chakra-skating technique to slowly move backwards and make a retreat. The tiger seemed to notice but allow his gradual escape, until Naruto's danger sense screamed at him again and he made another dive. It was just in time, as a gigantic spider landed on the ground, chittering in frustration. It was about two arm-lengths in size and had the telltale glint of poison on its mandibles. Before Naruto could recover, the tiger roared into action and pounced on the tiger, smashing its carapace with both paws and leaving the arachnid a crushed mess. The victorious tiger turned to Naruto, but before it could make any action the area was washed with killing intent.
Zabuza and Kakashi's face-off had been scarier in terms of KI, so Naruto managed to control himself with only a few shivers. The tiger, unaccustomed to the threatening aura, bolted.
"There's your first lesson of the Forest of Death, brat," Anko commented as she made a graceful landing next to the squashed spider carcass. She picked her teeth with a used dango stick as she talked. "Nature is brutal, and it doesn't give a shit about you. If you aren't a predator, you're prey or a parasite. You need to work out which one of the three you are."
The spider, seemingly not completely dead, made a last-ditch effort at finding prey and lunged towards the special jōnin. Without a pause, she flung her dango stick straight through one of its many eyes and halted its jump. The spider fell back, legs crunching together disturbingly as it fell on its back, dead.
"Others will be coming to feed now. I'll take you to one of my favourite training areas. Just watch out for more predators."
The purple-haired kunoichi took to the trees and Naruto followed her for about a kilometre to a clearing with a forked river.
"I like it here. Don't go too close to the water though, the fish are a bit vicious too. So, I got in touch with your one-eyed sensei after you were done 'comforting' the ice princess. He's in disgrace at the moment and the Hokage's sent him out on some simple scouting missions for a few weeks while the storm blows over. I'll be overseeing your training and the pinky's when she recovers. So for this week at least, you're all mine."
Naruto squawked indignantly at Anko's mention of Haku, but reigned himself in.
"I've got a general idea of your abilities from your sensei. He told me pretty much everything. Did you know I went on a date with him once? So no point hiding anything from me because I already know it. He was putty in my hands."
"Your date, was he late for it?"
Anko scowled, her threatening tirade interrupted.
"Yes, as a matter of fact he was late. For our first and last date," she muttered. "So anyway, I hear you're proficient in the Academy style, some Strong Fist and some Intercepting Fist. How good would you rate your taijutsu?"
"Erm, good for a genin?"
"Oh, you see, there's a world of difference between 'good' and 'good for a genin'. It's my job to see which one you are and make sure you end up halfway decent. So put your guard up."
Naruto slipped into the Gōken guard stance and waited for the snake mistress to make a move. She blurred forwards and sent a roundhouse jab into the side of his left arm, completely ignoring the raised fist and forearm that he'd been using to block. Despite trying to defend, her limb blurred with speed and all he could do was move slightly to the side. The attack was laced with chakra and numbed the appendage, leaving it dangling by his side.
"I've been told you heal fast. Well that's good, because my method of training may spill a bit of blood. Snake style is different to the Strong Fist and anything else you've been taught so far. You didn't even see the strike coming until it was nearly complete, did you?"
The blond shook his head, confused and abashed.
"Despite that pretty new red eye you have. That's because Snake style uses continuous motion and alternating angles of attack. I turned my arm angle enough times that the Sharingan predicted multiple outcomes and saw a blur instead of the proper angle of attack. Kakashi talked me through the stages of Sharingan development. Seeing as you got the eye with two tomoe, you're better able to predict future movement, but not nearly good enough to counteract Snake style. With three tomoe you'd do better, but I'd be able to strike faster and keep you confused. That's why your sensei bribed me to teach you Snake style. He said you want to kill the last Uchiha?"
"Yes. That was Sasuke's goal, so it has become mine in his stead."
"Then at least we share something in common - we both want to kill an S-ranked Konoha missing-nin. Now listen up. The viper is the predator that waits in the long grass, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. It bides its time, coils and tenses itself, and strikes only once with lightning speed and accuracy. Its fangs aren't huge, so it targets vital areas that will spread its poison the fastest - neck, face, groin… It sends the poison into the enemy's body and then hangs back, waiting for the enemy's struggles to hasten their demise. Then it moves back in to eat.
The boa is different, this one waits in the trees for its victim to pass beneath before dropping down and coiling around it. By the time the victim realises the boa is there, it is trapped, and the boa squeezes the life out of it.
The rattlesnake is mellower in comparison, warning off potential threats and blending into the surroundings rather than initiating combat. It has weak venom, so if it does strike it will do so quickly in an incapacitating area and then flee.
What this means is that each type of snake has a corresponding style within the larger Snake style.
Viper style is much like the viper, mainly focusing on concealment and quick, fatal, strikes. You won't telegraph your moves at all, but strike quickly with chakra-reinforced fingers at blood vessels, organs and chakra points, and anything else that will kill quickly. If you can't kill in one strike, you shouldn't be using viper style. Then you retreat until the enemy has bled out. Viper style also concentrates hugely on defence; you need to create a complete defence until you are ready to make your one strike.
Boa style focuses on strong and persistent assault. You use chakra-reinforced grabs at the enemy to crush bones and tear out flesh. It's definitely the bloodiest style, and the tradeoff is that it isn't as concerned with defence. You might have to take a hit in order to make an attack, but it is the best suited for fighting large numbers of enemies at once, when you don't have the time to defend and wait for the one perfect strike.
Rattlesnake style focuses on threat, deception, and concealment. By using killing intent and genjutsu, you can deter enemies rather than fighting them. If you still have to fight them, you can attack while they're shitting their pants from your KI, or fighting each other from your genjutsu. You can then take them down with crippling shots to limbs or senses and hide nearby, waiting for another move. Or you can use this style to whittle down a stronger opponent with hit-and-run tactics, or make a fast escape. As you may be able to tell, this is the style I just used on you and it is by far my favourite.
When you're skilled enough you can blend the styles or mix and match them as needed. I wouldn't worry about that though. Not for a few decades. What I need you to do now is finger-strengthening exercises while I take a clone away and teach it the starting poses for viper style. I'll start you off with that because you don't have the genjutsu knowledge or KI control for rattlesnake style and boa style is too similar to Gōken - I don't want you mixing the styles. We'll run you through the rest of the styles as you get better."
A clone of Anko directed him to a tree where he was instructed to hang from a branch using chakra and his fingertips before doing finger pushups, trying to crush the trunks of smaller trees, and other strengthening exercises. His clone was led off to learn the katas and he slaved on under the grinning gaze of his harsh taskmaster.
I don't have all that much to say. I like to give backstory and theory to styles and techniques. Oh and let me know if there are any spelling mistakes. This is all first draft and I don't have a beta. But do I need one? The story thickens...