Well, I gave it a couple days and got virtually no feedback on the poll, so I just decided to move ahead on my own. As always, I welcome all comments/criticism in the hopes that it will make me a better writer.
Also like always, I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Lucky Sevens?
The sun was barely rising over the Hokage Mountain, and the first signs of life were stirring in Konoha. Store owners were just making their way from their homes to their shops to prepare to open. Even restaurants which served breakfast were just beginning to clean the various fruits and vegetables they would be using. For two villagers, however, the day had begun long ago. One, a blond ball of energy, had been up for hours already, pestering his desperately tired older brother about when they could get started. Said older brother, finally realizing that sleep was simply not to be his, groaned and made his way to the shower. "Alright, little man, you win. Let me take a shower, and we'll head down and get started." Even in his frustrated and exhausted state, he couldn't hold back his chuckle when Naruto cried out with joy, most likely waking anybody within two miles of the apartment.
Thirty minutes later, finally on the road, Naruto realized that he had no idea where they were going or what they were going to do when they got there. "Hey, Ken? What do we need to do to make my sword?"
"Well bro," Ken yawned out, "First, I'll be putting a bunch of seals on the ore. Some of them will make the blade almost unbreakable, others will make the sword recognize your chakra signature so it will reject anyone other than you who tries to use it, but the most important ones will actually receive your chakra and an imprint of your soul." Ken stopped to look at his adoptive brother and wasn't disappointed. Sure enough, Naruto's jaw was practically on the ground and his face was pale. Ken couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "Relax, bro, relax! It doesn't take your soul, just an imprint, an image. That's what will make the sword really your own. The blade will, while in the forge, take on a shape and ability which matches the strongest desires of your soul. Take Matomeyaku, for example. The strongest desire of my soul was to end fighting, to bring peace." Ken looked to see if Naruto was still with him, and found his brother staring at him in awe. "Don't get too impressed. I didn't even know that was my strongest desire. In fact, when I first got Matomeyaku, I was pissed that my blade was dull. It was only after years of working with her that I came to really understand what my soul had known all along."
"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed. "You mean that I may not know what my soul's strongest desire is?"
"Yeah, in fact, at your age, it's not uncommon." Ken saw Naruto suddenly looking worried. "What's the problem? What happened to your excitement?"
"What if…What if my soul isn't the one with the strongest desire?" he asked, barely above a whisper.
The question, though, stopped Ken in his tracks. It was true, Ken had never considered the possible impact of the Kyuubi's presence. "Naruto, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I mean, think about it. If your soul wasn't the strongest at this point, why hasn't…the other one taken over? And besides," as he dropped down to look Naruto in the eyes, "no matter the blade, the one who wields it will determine if it is good or evil. Matomeyaku is only used for good because that's what I use her for. She would be just as strong if I used her to protect bad guys. Even if your sword were to somehow have an evil influence, you will be the one wielding it. Just like your guest, you would be able to use it for good. What do you think?"
It took all Naruto's strength to keep the tears from falling after hearing how much faith his brother had in him. As his eyes regained their former determined and excited gleam, he nodded and thought, 'I won't let him down! Not just him, either. The old man, Teuchi, Ayame, my friends, I'll use whatever I can to protect them all!'
As they continued the walk in a comfortable silence, they eventually reached the weapon shop which the Hokage had told them they could use. After knocking on the door, Naruto was shocked to see Tenten answer. "Tenten? This is your shop?"
"Nope. I just work here when not on missions so that I can forge and repair my weapons cheaper. And besides," she continued with stars in her eyes, "when I found out that a Heiwa blade was being made this morning, there was no way I was going to miss it!"
She was brought out of her reverie by Ken chuckling and shaking his head lightly. "Sorry, Tenten, but the forging of a Heiwa blade is a closely guarded family secret. The only people who will be present for the forging will be Naruto and myself." Ken couldn't help but feel a little guilty at seeing how crushed Tenten was. So, he did the only thing he could think of to change her mood. "Tell ya what, Tenten. All you need to do to see a Heiwa blade is…" as he paused to build the tension and see Tenten completely engrossed, a smirk played across his face, "marry the little man. As a member of the family, you'd even be able to get your own!" At their simultaneous shout of, "WHAT?" Ken could no longer contain his laughter. Even as he dragged the still stunned Naruto to the forge room, he was crying with laughter.
Tenten, on the other hand, was left standing at the door, mouth agape and cheeks bright red. When her stupor wore off, she finally noticed that she was alone and the door to the forge was closed. Anyone in Konoha who had managed to sleep through Naruto's excited yell was awoken by Tenten's enraged cry of, "KEN! YOU JERK!"
Her yell actually finally snapped Naruto back into the realm of the living as well, as he turned his glare at his brother. "Ken, you're an ass!"
"Aw, come on, little man. It was just a joke." Naruto got nervous, seeing the mischievous glint in his brother's eye. "Although, you have to admit, it's not a bad idea. She's pretty cute, and you guys get along pretty well during spars…" he continued as he stroked his chin, as if in deep thought.
Naruto, for once not rising to the bait, simply rolled his eyes. "Whatever, bro. Can we pleeeease just make my sword now?"
"Yeah yeah, alright," Ken chuckled. "First things first, get the forge going. We need it white hot for this. While you do that, I'll start putting seals on the ore, then I'll call you over to put some chakra into the seals, and we can get started."
As the forge got up to temperature, Naruto channeled his chakra into the necessary seals, and then placed the ore into the forge. Using tongs made of a more common chakra conducting metal, Naruto pumped his chakra into the chunk of ore for an hour, watching it gradually shift shape from a simple block, to what looked like an amorphous blob, and finally into his blade. After he removed it from the fire and Ken dumped water on it to cool it, Naruto began to really examine his blade. It was like nothing he had ever seen. Whereas Ken's blade was a traditional katana, his sword was a straight sword that was double edged. It was shorter than Ken's sword, but not by much, with the blade being 42" as opposed to Ken's 48". The blade itself was also slightly thicker than Ken's, but what really made the sword stand out was the tang, where the blade would connect to the handle and guard. More precisely, what stood out was the presence of two tangs.
Ken was deeply puzzled by this as well. While every sword was unique, there was no record of this type of thing having happened before. He did, however, have one theory he wanted to test. "Nice work, little man. Looks like a real beauty. Before we make your handle, I want you to try something for me first." Seeing he had Naruto's undivided attention, he continued, "Try holding both tangs as you pump some chakra in to activate the blade." Nodding, Naruto did just that, only to have his eyes fly wide open and jaw drop, yet again, as the blade split down the middle, leaving him with two katana. "I thought so. Well bro, looks like the shocks just keep coming. You are the first Heiwa I know of to have two blades."
As Naruto took this in, he examined his pair of blades and noticed differences between them. One of them looked a lot like Matomeyaku, except for the slightly golden hue mixed in with the natural darkness of the ore. In other words, it appeared to have no edge to it. Naruto was ecstatic that he had a blade like Ken's, it put to rest some of his remaining fears about the Kyuubi's influence. His second blade, on the other hand, looked very sharp and almost looked as if it was on fire with many faint flame like patterns of dark orange running the length of the blade.
Seeing Naruto's distrustful look directed at the second blade, Ken decided to distract him a bit. "Alright bro, time to get to work on a handle and guard for both of your swords. You should probably go get your girlfriend. She'll be excited to see your swords and also be able to help you fashion what we need."
It took Naruto a second to process what Ken had said, but when he did, he snapped his head around and shot his most intense glare to date at the man. The impact, however, was significantly weakened by the intense red blush that had claimed his cheeks, causing Ken to laugh hysterically once again. After another hour and a half of intense work, and even more intense teasing, Ken and a heavily blushing Naruto waved goodbye to an equally red Tenten and made their way home.
"Alright bro, I know you're probably raring to go and try out your new blades, but first thing is first. You need to meditate." Seeing Naruto about to protest, Ken held his hand up to stall him. "We've been over this already, bro. A mind at peace is essential to good swordsmanship. Besides, you need to connect with your blades. They represent parts of your soul, your soul's deepest desires, so you need to figure out what they are so you can name and properly use them."
In spite of his pouting, Naruto assumed his meditative pose and began trying to calm himself. When his breathing had become slower and more relaxed, Ken placed the swords in his lap and left him to his meditation, knowing it would probably take most of the afternoon before met his swords.
As Naruto began to meditate, he felt a tug at the back of his mind. Having been advised by Ken to follow such feelings in meditation, he let the pull take him. As the pull lessened, he began to feel moisture under his legs, causing his eyes to shoot open. When they opened, he was shocked to be in what looked to be a sewer. His first thought was that Ken must have played some kind of joke on him, causing him to start plotting his revenge. All such thoughts vanished, however, when he heard what sounded like yelling down the corridor. After racing to the end of the hall, he was stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw waiting for him. There were two men in samurai armor, one in white armor with gold trim and the other in black armor with red trim, right in front of a gigantic cage which housed what appeared to be two massive blood red eyes and a similarly sized mouth full of teeth, and Naruto was pretty sure he was hearing a terrifyingly deep growl coming from that mouth.
Before Naruto could ask what was going on, the samurai dressed in white spoke to the disembodied eyes and mouth. "Your power is indeed impressive, Kyuubi, but in here we are stronger. Your days of tormenting our master are done."
"Fool!" came the rumbling, growling reply from behind the cage. "Do not underestimate me! I am the Kyuubi, most powerful of the tailed beasts. I am the reason for you master's strength and even the reason behind one of your existences!"
At this, the second samurai, the one in black, spoke up. "You truly are a fool, Kyuubi. Yes, Naruto could potentially pull from your power, but we all know that, to date, he never has. Furthermore, your hatred and bloodlust may indeed be the reason behind there being two of us, but he has purified that thirst for chaotic destruction into a noble desire for justice. I have but one master, and it is not, nor shall it ever be, you."
Naruto found himself glued to his spot, and for once in his life, left completely speechless. Apparently, he was in his mind, which he absently noted meant Ken was off the hook. Furthermore, two samurai were arguing with the Kyuubi in defense of their master, who one of them had said was Naruto. While Naruto was processing all this information, he was oblivious to the fact that Kyuubi's eyes had locked onto him. Well, he was oblivious, until the roar nearly made him soil himself.
In addition to knocking Naruto on his butt, however, it also brought his presence to the attention of the two samurai who simultaneously hollered out, "Lord Naruto!" while racing to his side and helping him to stand. Once he was upright again, the samurai in black fixed his glare on the Kyuubi and drew a sword. "Be warned, Kyuubi, that if you threaten our lord in our presence that we have the power necessary to protect him here."
"Hn. Very well, fools. But know this: one day, I will be free of this damned seal, and when that happens, nothing you or anyone else can do will stop me from destroying all three of you." Having finished his warning, the two red eyes seemed to close, leaving the other side of the cage completely obscured in darkness.
At this point, both samurai turned to Naruto and knelt in front of him like he had seen the ANBU do to the Hokage before saying, "Lord Naruto! It is our honor to serve you."
Both lifted their heads in concern when they heard Naruto laughing. As they feared, it looked as though the preceding exchange may have been too much for him. Shortly, though, Naruto regained most of his composure and spoke to the two. "Sorry, but you guys are too funny. 'Lord Naruto!' Ha, yeah right. I'm no lord."
At this point, the samurai in white felt it was his turn. "Lord Naruto, this is no joke. We are your swords. Or, more accurately, we are the manifestation of the desires which gave birth to your blades. Let us introduce ourselves. As a pair, we are Tenraihan. I am Renbin. I am your blade which resembles Ken's Matomeyaku, and I am born out of your desire to protect those who are precious to you."
"And I," began the samurai dressed in black, "am your other blade, Danzai. As you may have heard upon your arrival, I was originally born from Kyuubi's hatred, as you had feared. However, please believe me, Lord Naruto. I am the embodiment of what your soul has done with that hatred. I am your sense of justice, your desire to punish those who would harm others. I am yours and yours alone, the Kyuubi has no claims on me."
Naruto could hear the desperation in Danzai's voice, begging Naruto to trust him. "Of course I believe you both. I'm sorry for my earlier doubts, Danzai. I suppose I'm still getting used to the fact that I house the Kyuubi."
At this, both samurai looked at Naruto with big smiles before bowing their heads again and saying, "Thank you, Lord Naruto."
During the exchange, Naruto took the time to more closely examine the two. They were almost negative images of each other. Renbin, in addition to his white and gold armor, had light green eyes, and pale, blond hair. It was so pale, in fact, that Naruto first thought it was white. It was in a style similar to Ken's pony tail, though he also wore a hitai-ate on his forehead. Unlike Naruto's recently acquired blue one with the leaf symbol, Renbin's was white with the kanji for guardian on what looked like a golden plate. Danzai, on the other hand, had crimson eyes, black hair, and a red cloth hitai-ate with the kanji for judge on an onyx plate.
Noticing that they were both back in their kneeling position at his feet and uncomfortable with their respectful address, Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Hey, uh, could you guys drop the 'Lord Naruto' stuff? It feels weird. I mean, I'm just a kid."
"While we appreciate your humility, we will continue to call you Lord Naruto, Lord Naruto," came the reply from Renbin.
"What? Why?" asked a confused, and slightly frustrated, Naruto.
To his shock, Renbin and Danzai both looked up at him wearing an all too familiar smile. "Because, Lord Naruto, we also inherited your love of messing with people."
As he continued to talk with Tenraihan, Naruto found out that his swords could not tell him about their abilities. They were going to have to discover what they were together thru intense training. They also revealed a major weakness to his two blades. Both swords being katana, they were both intended to be wielded with two hands. In the long run, Naruto was going to have to really step up his strength training so that he could wield one in each hand. Renbin, however, did offer a short term solution by pointing out that since Naruto's shadow clones would exactly match his chakra signature, one of them could wield whichever sword the real Naruto wasn't using.
When Naruto came out of his meditation, he realized that the sun had nearly completed its descent, meaning it was well past dinner time. "Hey Ken! Let's go get Ichiraku's to celebrate!"
"How much money do you think I have, bro?" came the exasperated reply from the kitchen. "Look, that ore and the rights to use the forge weren't cheap. We're going to have to limit our dinners out for a while." Just before Naruto could fully enter into his pouting, Ken continued, "But don't worry, while you were meditating I went to the store and got the ingredients to make ramen here. Come give it a shot and tell me what you think." He could only laugh as his little brother had wolfed down three bowls in the time it took Ken to turn around. "Not too shabby, eh?"
"It's no Ichiraku's…" he began, "but it ought to hold me over for now!" After dinner, Naruto told Ken what he had learned from his swords and Ken began to think up a training schedule for him.
"Alright bro, here's the deal." Seeing Naruto staring at him intently, he figured he was probably paying attention. "You have just under two weeks before team assignments, and after that you'll be training with your jonin sensei and doing missions, so we'll be a little limited on training time." He almost cracked up when he saw Naruto pouting, but reined it in and continued, "So I'm going to train you into the ground for the next two weeks and during any free time you have. After all, can't have the last of the Heiwa blades wielded by an amateur swordsman!"
The two spent the rest of the evening in relaxed conversation before going to bed early, knowing the next two weeks were going to be incredibly intense. Ken was better than his word, having Naruto use one hundred shadow clones to practice his sword katas while the real Naruto was walking on his hands with additional weights on to try and build his upper body strength to wield each blade one-handed until lunch. After a short break, Naruto's resumed kata training with his clones while the real Naruto and Ken would spar for four hours with a ten minute break at the two hour mark. Naruto sparred using Renbin for the first two hours and Danzai for the second. After sparring, they would eat dinner and then Naruto would spend two hours in meditation before going to bed and starting all over again.
Midway thru the first week, Ken had asked to meet with the Hokage while Naruto was meditating. Curious as to how his adopted grandson was doing, he agreed to the meeting. When he heard the knock at his office door, he invited him in.
"Good evening, Lord Hokage," Ken began while bowing. "Thank you for meeting me."
"Anytime, Ken. I must admit to being very curious about Naruto's progress," the aged leader responded with a kind smile.
Ken returned his smile before answering. "He's doing well. In addition to improving his swordsmanship, it seems that the bond with his swords is actually helping repress the Kyuubi."
Sarutobi couldn't keep the shock off his face. "How is that possible?" Ken proceeded to explain about how a Heiwa blade, because it is a manifestation of the souls strongest desire, gives "birth" to a mental manifestation of that desire, and how, in Naruto's case, there were two desires, both of which helped Naruto to subconsciously keep the Kyuubi in check. "That is a wonderful surprise. I had no idea just how special the Heiwa blades were."
"Thank you, Sarutobi. However, that's not the real reason I wanted to see you." As the Hokage looked at him questioningly, Ken couldn't help but feel awkward and began to scratch his cheek sheepishly. "Well, Lord Hokage, I know I'm not really in any position to ask favors, but…"
After waiting a little while, but seeing Ken no closer to finishing his sentence, Sarutobi finally intervened. "Ken, please know that you can ask anything of me you like. As I told you before, Naruto is like a grandson to me, and you have been such a tremendous help to him. If there is anything in my power to give you, you need only ask."
Emboldened by how generous the man was being, Ken decided to just shoot out his question. "I would like to know about Naruto's genin team."
Again, the Hokage could only chuckle. "Is that all? I've had clan heads in here asking and making requests all week about that. Very well, we haven't actually made the assignments yet. If you'd like, you can come in tomorrow and be part of my meeting with the jonin and give your input."
Ken was blown away by the offer. "Are you sure, Lord Hokage? Won't your ninja be upset having an outsider like myself as part of the decision process?"
"Oh please!" the Hokage scoffed. "Ken, you will be invited, but you will have no say in the final decisions. Besides, it might be beneficial to have a new perspective on our methods, especially from someone trained to fight ninja. You will probably be better at seeing potential team weaknesses than even we will."
Ken bowed deeply to the Hokage, thanking him, before leaving, bringing with him the profiles of nine of the better graduates which the Hokage asked him to study before the meeting. At the meeting the next day, Ken was shocked to see that only three jonin were joining the Hokage and Naruto's teacher, Iruka, to pick the teams. They explained that most of the teams were already picked. While most of Naruto's classmates had passed the first test, most figured to be life-long genin. Only nine students showed the potential to be exceptional ninja, and so choosing members for the three remaining teams would get a great deal more attention. After Ken was introduced to the three jonin, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma, the meeting began.
Sarutobi got things started. "Ken, I have put together my initial arrangement for the teams. Allow me to explain the reasoning behind them to you. Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Shikamaru Nara. This is one of the older traditions in Konoha. We have paired the top male student, Sasuke, and the top female, Sakura, with the lowest scoring student, Shikamaru. Normally this is done to force the top two to learn teamwork by working with someone who needs their help. In this case, however, they have potentially gotten very lucky, as Shikamaru scored low due to laziness in the classroom. In reality, the boy is a strategic genius, as vouched for by jonin commander, his father Shikaku Nara."
Seeing all eyes on him, Ken said, "Please continue, Lord Hokage. I have some thoughts on this team, but I can't comment in a vacuum. It would be foolish to make suggestions based on this team without knowing how it will impact the others."
While all the jonin were slightly shocked at how clear Ken's point was, the Hokage inwardly smirked, knowing Ken had just cleared a huge hurdle in beginning to win the respect of some of the top jonin in the village. "Very well. Team eight will be under Kurenai Yuhi and will consist of Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. The combination of the eyes of the Hyuuga, the nose of the Inuzuka, and the versatile insects of the Aburame looks as though it may provide the village with one of the best tracking teams in recent memory." The Hokage paused to see Ken resting his chin in his hand, nodding his head slightly, suggesting that he was thinking about the team, before continuing. "Team ten, finally, will be lead by Asuma Sarutobi and consist of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and, of course, Naruto Uzumaki. This team would be an assault and interrogation unit. Choji and Naruto would provide the muscle for the extraction of enemies, and Ino would be able to use some of her family's jutsu for getting information out in the field. Now that you have heard the assignments and our reasons, I would like to hear your thoughts on the teams."
Ken, realizing that he was still an outsider in this meeting, took some time to consider his words, as he wanted to make sure to phrase things carefully as he moved forward with his concerns. "Lord Hokage, I believe that your teams would be quite strong, however I would recommend one switch between teams seven and ten. I would switch Shikamaru and Naruto."
At this point, Kakashi's visible eye widened before he appeared to smile. Asuma, on the other hand, just looked surprised. Before either could comment on that, however, Sarutobi spoke up. "And why, pray tell, would you make that change?"
"I believe Shikamaru, with his analytical brilliance and gift for strategy, actually improves your extraction team's ability. Yes, you give up some muscle, but as much as Naruto has matured, he still leaves something to be desired in terms of subtlety." Ken waited for the collective chuckles to die down before continuing. "The Akimichi are renowned for their incredible physical prowess, meaning from a pure muscle perspective he should be more than enough. Nara shadow techniques, however, provide a much better complement to those techniques than Naruto's blade or jutsu."
"I see how this would benefit Team Ten," started Asuma, "but doesn't it weaken Team Seven to lose that same strategic element?"
Stroking his chin absently, Ken answered, "I thought about that, but really, Team Seven was already without a specialization, so they might not need strategy as much as a team built for infiltration and extraction like your own Team Ten was intended for. Now, with Naruto on the team with Sasuke and Sakura, it seems like a team with the potential to be incredible front-line powerhouses."
As they considered the truth of his words, Kakashi spoke up. "As excited as I would be to have the top three students of the academy," 'Especially since it would mean having sensei's son in my team,' he thought, "I'm not sure Sakura fits into the mold of a powerhouse."
"It's true, Kakashi, that she lacks the chakra capacity of the other two, however she already has impeccable chakra control, correct?" Receiving nods from around the room, Ken turned to Sarutobi, "Lord Hokage, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't one of your greatest students manage to turn incredible chakra control into inhuman strength? Also, could there be a better help to a ninjutsu specialist like Sasuke and a raw chakra powerhouse like Naruto than a great field medic, like someone with Sakura's control could possibly become?"
Sartuobi's eyes widened and his pipe fell out of his mouth as he realized the potential similarities between the team that Ken had suggested and his own Team Seven, which developed into the Sannin. While it took the other jonin longer to draw the same conclusion, once they did, they had similar reactions.
Once he regained his composure, Sarutobi cleared his throat, regaining everyone's attention. "Excellent arguments, Ken. Is there anyone who opposes the recommended changes?" Seeing nobody moved to disagree, he decided to wrap things up. "Very well, then. Let us make it official. Team Seven will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki under the guidance of Kakashi Hatake. Team Eight will be Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame under Kurenai Yuhi. Team Ten will consist of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara under Asuma Sarutobi. Good luck to all of you and your teams."
Alright, sorry again for the delay. Let me know what you think.