Summary: Orphaned at birth then kicked out to the streets sat the tender age of four, nothing seems to be going right for young Naruto. That is, until, a winter storm comes, forcing Naruto to seek Shelter in one of the many training grounds. Just as Luck would have it, another man was also seeking refuge in the same training ground. What happens when that man finds an underweight, undersized, and over all pitiable looking five year old sleeping under a large oak tree? Will the two finally find happiness, or is it all just another façade?
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Naruto. Though I do own this plot line and my OC Ryuu…
Author's Note: So, I just thought that I should mention that in my story, children graduate from the ninja academy at the age of fifteen, not the usual age of twelve….
Also, I want to ask you all what animal that Naruto should be able to summon. Foxes are so over rated so I'm hoping for something original, and so I thought to ask. If you have any ideas, do tell.
Edited and re-posted on June 21, 2010. My thanks go out to Fuyuriku for pointing out some things that didn't seem all that realistic.
The sun was shining; birds were chirping; a pleasant breeze passing, and two people running for their lives from two angry, full grown, bears.
Yep. Just another day for the thirty-three year old man, Ryuu, and fifteen year old teen, Naruto.
As the two started to increase in speed and lose the two livid bears, Ryuu grabbed the teen and quickly hid behind a thick tree's trunk. Ryuu quickly created two shadow clones, one appearing as himself and one as Naruto. The two clones nodded to the real Ryuu and Naruto and took their place, running from the two bears.
The two real copies' held their breath even though both of their lungs were already burning from the lack of oxygen.
The two watched as the bears ran past them, none the wiser that they were now chasing clones. As soon as they were out of sight, both Ryuu and Naruto began sucking in air. Ryuu had to lean against the tree as Naruto sank down to his knees, both having a hand pressed against their chest, gasping for breath.
"And that….is why….one does not….play with…. a bear's cub." Ryuu panted out. He reached into his backpack and pulled out two water bottles, tossing one to the still panting Naruto.
Catching the bottle, Naruto took a big gulp of water before replying.
"Advice noted; never play with bear cubs. But you have to admit, that was a great way to start a morning; running from two pissed off bears for thirty sum minutes and all that." He fell onto his back, eyes close. "Damn, I still say that they were not normal bears." His breathing was still hard, though it was getting better as time went by. He had a smile on his face and gave a light laugh.
Ryuu laughed lightly as well, but nodded none the less. Sitting down, he took off his backpack and set it besides him as he leaned against the tree, closing his eyes as well.
The two stayed like that for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts, though both of their thoughts were on each other and how their traveling together for three years has changed them.
Ryuu was wearing his usual outfit. Black long sleeved shirt, baggy pants, open toed shoes, and even the backpack resting on his back was black. His shoulder length brown hair was being held up by a, surprise, surprise, black hair tie. On his right thigh was one of his many weapons pouches, having another one just below the first. Around his waist was a belt that had a Kanata's sheath attached to. On both of his wrists resided a senbon launcher which he controlled by his chakra, both of them being hidden from view by his shirts sleeves. On his back rested his Windmill Shuriken. On top of that was of course his backpack which carried all of his scrolls, extra weapons, money, a little bit of food, and a couple bottles of water and the usual miscellaneous that he refuses to leave without. In his pants many pockets were some of the scrolls that he might need in an instant or during the heat of a battle.
Naruto's outfit, being much like Ryuu's, included a long sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy black pants. The only difference between the two outfits was the fact that Naruto's pockets were lined with dull silver studs and his shirt had a smirking fox head on his back with 'The Smirking Fox' written out in kanji besides the design, written in a maroon color. When Ryuu asked the then younger Naruto why he wanted the silver studs, his answer was a shoulder shrug and a simple 'because I like them'. Ryuu simply looked at the child with a raised eyebrow, shook his head, and bought the cloths for the child. The fox design and kanji on the other hand were an entire different matter with a real reason that only the two knew of. To everyone else, it a sign. An omen in better words. An omen telling that you that if seen, you're being targeted by none other than the Deadly Fox and Vicious Dragon.
Also like Ryuu, Naruto also had two weapon pouches, having one above the other. He also had a pair of senbon launchers as well hidden by his long sleeves, though unlike Ryuu, his senbon were dipped in a somewhat lethal poison that if not treated right away, would end up killing the person. On his back were two short blades that had one crossed over the other, making a X. Resting against his hip was one of his favorite weapons, a ten foot long chain that on one end had a ten pound weight in the shape of a circle, and on the other end, what looked to be a sickle. It was his kusarigama.
Naruto's body appearance had also changed over the years as one's would with growing older. His hair was still a bright blonde, skin tone a nice tan color, and with his height reaching a proud six feet. On the teen's left eyebrow was a small pricing, as well as one on the side of his nose, making his look more intimating when he turned serious during a fight. Or, at least, that's what he told Ryuu when he saw them for the first time.
His body itself greatly improved from the first time that Ryuu found him.
Instead of being greatly underweight to the point where most of his ribs, shoulder blades, and spine could be seen, he now weighted around one hundred and sixty-five pounds. A rather healthy weight if what Ryuu told him was anything to go by.
Ryuu, on the other hand, had barely changed except for the few wrinkles that he was starting to get on the sides of his eyes. Besides that, nothing else changed about the man.
Besides their appearance changes, their personalities had also changed, whether it be for the better or then worse.
For Naruto, he went from the unemotional child to a child that now shows his emotions, though only to the people that he completely trusts (which were few next to none). To anyone else that met him or knew him, he looked and acted like one would with no feelings and impassive about any and all.
It took Ryuu a while to get use to the thought of a child being so dead of emotions, but after a few months of it, his thoughts about it changed, though slowly. In the end, he helped Naruto learn about how advanced ninja are able to distinguish one's emotions, be it by the person's body language, their voice pitch, facial expression, and even the look in their eyes or their eye's movement. Naruto took it all in and taught himself to both learn how to see other people's emotions and hide his own, up to the point where even Ryuu could not tell what the small boy was feeling or really thinking when the two were out in public, and that was saying something.
For Ryuu, he let his parental instincts come out in full force and was finally able to find joy, real joy, while looking after the teen which he now considered a son. It still amazed him whenever Naruto was able to learn something that would take most children his age or older weeks or months to learn, where as he would have it down, or at least the idea of it, in a few days, and for the harder things, maybe somewhere between a week and two. He just absorbs everything like a sponge does with water.
Ryuu lightly shook his head; though one could see the pride he felt towards the teen in his eyes if they really looked.
While Ryuu's was thinking of what Naruto learned those past ten years and what he had left to teach him, Naruto's mind had drifted over to the small weights that were on his wrists and ankles. While it was a pain getting use to both the weights and the senbon launchers on his wrists, he thought the brief annoyance worth it. He was currently recalling the day that he and Ryuu went in and bought the 'small' little wonders.
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback) ~_~_~_~_~
Ryuu lead the five year old Naruto into a small shop. The letters on the sign were fading, so he was not able to make out what the store was used for.
As the door opened, a bell's chime singled the store owner that they entered. An elderly man walked out from behind a door that Naruto didn't even notice till now.
The hair that the man had left was a light gray color, his eyes a dull brown, though still showed the wisdom that they held. He had small scars here and there on his face and hands, telling tales of past battles .Naruto spotted the cane clutched in his hand as well and how he leaned some of his weight on it.
The elderly man smiled at the two, nodding his head at Ryuu.
"Ryuu, it's been quite some time. To what do I owe the pleasure to? Are those swords holding up well enough for you?" His voice was soft and kind though held a tinge of curiosity to it.
Ryuu returned the smile and nod. "Yes, the swords are as excellent as the day I bought them, thank you. As for the reason that I'm here, I would like you to meet Naruto. Naruto," Ryuu looked down at the small child, still smiling, "this is my old friend, Yasuo. He used to live in Suna when he was younger, but moved away many years ago. He's about the finest weapons maker, if not the finest, that I know. When I first ran into him, he though me to be the crazy murder that the Kazekage tried to portray me as, but he heard me out and believed me when I told him what really happened. Since that day, he is the only person that I will come to whenever I need weapons or anything else that he sells that I might find useful."
Naruto bowed, showing his respect for the man that meant something to Ryuu.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yasuo."
Yasuo chuckled lightly, eyeing the young child with a curious look.
"That's one polite boy you got there Ryuu, though since he looks nothing like you, so I take it he's not yours?"
"Yes, your right. He's not mine." Ryuu placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, pulling him close to his side, "But I'm begging to think of him like he is."
Naruto jerked his head up and looked up at the man that took him in and helped him escape from his old sad excuse for a life. His face showed the shock he felt because of Ryuu statement.
'Is he really starting to think of me like that…?'
The child's shocked face slowly turned to one of pure joy and happiness. Neither Ryuu nor Yasuo missed the child's change of facial expression, though Ryuu didn't show that he saw, so neither did Yasuo.
"Now the reason that I'm here is because I'm going to be training Naruto here to become a shinobi, so he needs some weights for his wrists and ankles to help build up his speed. Do you have anything that might do the job?"
Yasuo's smile turned into a great grin.
"You're just in luck." Yasuo walked, well limped, back through the door he appeared from and after a few minutes, he came back out with four identical looking black bands that each had what looked a small battery pack on them. "I got finished making these babies' just the other night." He set the four of them onto the counter that stood in between Yasuo, Ryuu, and Naruto. He motioned for Naruto to step closer, and with a quick look from Ryuu for approval, Naruto stood in front of the counter, the top just reaching the top of his head, so he took to standing on his toes to get a better look.
The older man reached over and lightly took hold of one of the child's wrists, rolling up the child's sleeve and grabbed one of the bands "Now, the theory behind these are that once placed onto the wrist or ankle of a person, they mix with the person's chakra. Now don't give me that look. They should be safe." Naruto was about to pull his wrist away from the old man, but before he was able to, Yasuo placed the band around the child's wrist, snapping it on.
"Now what these are made to do is change their weight automatically once the user gets use to the old weight. The increase is not a large one, so the person wearing them shouldn't even be able to tell that they got heavier.
"What's so nice about them is that the person wearing them is able to take them on and off whenever they please; so say that if you need an extra speed boost, just take them off, and you will gain the speed that the weights were holding back. And also add the fact that they add muscle to your arms and legs, so not only do you get faster, but also stronger."
Both Naruto's and Ryuu's mouths were slightly opened by the end of his speech. Naruto looked down at the black band in amazement. He lifted his wrist up and down, testing out the weight. He was able to feel it lightly, as in able to tell that it was there, but besides that, nothing. He would not have even known it weighed anything more than a common bracelet if Yasuo didn't explain it to them.
Naruto looked over at Ryuu, seeing him also looking at the band around his wrist. Slowly, a grin formed on Ryuu's face. He turned his attention back to Yasuo.
"We'll take them."
Naruto couldn't hide the grin that formed on his face.
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback End) ~_~_~_~_~
Lightly pulling up his left sleeve, he looked at the band that was wrapped around his wrist though covered by his senbon launchers. It has been a long ten years since he got them, and he still could only barely notice the increase that happened to the weights. Though, whenever he practices on his taijutsu, he could by far tell that they were not only helping him with his speed, but also in fact also helping him gain muscle just like Yasuo had said they would.
What's more, in those ten years of having them, he had only taken them off when Ryuu deemed it necessary. He worked it out with Ryuu that he would take them off every few months so that he could get use to the feel of a 'lighter' body and new muscles. After a full week of going without them, Naruto would put back on the braces and continue on with his life only to repeat the process a few months later.
While Naruto began planning ahead to the next time he would have to remove the weights, Ryuu's thoughts shifted and were now revolving around Naruto's training. At first, he started it off slow and easy, and then began building up from there.
The first thing that Ryuu did was increase the child's vocabulary, explaining the meaning of the words and how to read and write. After a while, the young child could easily hold a conversation that most adult men would not be able to fallow.
When he started the child's training, it was 20 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, and a light, short jog every morning, before Ryuu finished the day with teaching Naruto what chakra was and how to access his own. After a few days of that, and Naruto had a basic knowledge and was able to get a feel of it, he started to do 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, and a little longer jog in the morning, then was shown and began to memorize all of the different hand signs; both one handed and two handed. Ryuu stressed that he should learn and be able to perform both in case one of his hands becomes unusable for the moment for one reason or another.
Once again seeing Ryuu's logic, Naruto spent a full month and a half learning them all to the point where his speed could match a high genin or low chunin when he was unfocused, but when he was focused; he could manage from high chunin to low jounin. And that was at the age of five.
From there, Ryuu continued by teaching Naruto some of the more basic Nin jutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu that he could remember being taught from his time at Suna's academe.
He started off with showing him how to properly hold a use a kunai and a shuriken and how to aim then throw them. When he got the basics down, Ryuu taught him how to do the replacement jutsu, transformation jutsu, and made him attempt the clone jutsu, though no matter how many times that he tried it, it was as if the jutsu just refused to work for him.
So after a long and frustrating month and gaining no improvements with the jutsu in even the slightest, Ryuu finally decided to move on, promising to find a way to either make it work, or something to replace it with. He already had a different jutsu in mind, but wanted to wait until the child was older before showing him how to perform it.
When Naruto was done complaining about it, Ryuu had Naruto move on and began teaching him how to walk on trees and over water, hoping to improve his charka control. After three exhausting, painful, and soaked weeks, Naruto was finally able to proudly say that he could effortlessly walk on both water and climb up walls, trees, or any other surface.
Pleased that Naruto was able to master the two at such a young age and so quickly, Ryuu decided to let Naruto have a ….'vacation'.
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback) ~_~_~_~_~
An almost six-year-old Naruto stood beside a grinning Ryuu.
"So what do you think Naruto? Nice right?"
Naruto blinked once. Twice. Three times. Frowning lightly, the child glances at the man besides him.
"Ryuu…"
"Hmm?" Ryuu looked down at the young boy, trying to hid a snicker at the look on the child's face.
"You do realize that we're standing in front of a desert, right?" Naruto spoke as if he was the adult and Ryuu was the child.
Ryuu forged a surprised look on his face as he looked over their surroundings.
"Well what do ya know? It is a desert." He placed a hand on his chin, now going into a thinking pose.
Not having anything to bang his head against, Naruto improvised by hitting the palm of his hand against his forehead, making a somewhat loud SMACK-ing sound.
Ryuu chuckled at the child's rare show of emotion.
"Aw, come on Naruto. I'm just playing with you. Nothing to hit yourself over."
Said child glared, which was returned with a large grin.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Naruto spoke through gritted teeth.
"What, may I ask, are we doing here? I thought that you did not want to return to or be anywhere close to your old village."
"One: We're here so that you can learn something that a lot of shinobi overlook or simply never think of doing when in the desert. And Two: We're not going to be going to my old village. This spot right here gives us all we need."
Naruto's eye twitched slightly, almost barely noticeable though Ryuu caught it. His grin widen, if at all possible.
"And what is it that you're going to be teaching me?"
"Why sand walking of course!"
The child's twitch grew, becoming more noticeable. Ryuu hid another snicker.
"Sand walking…? You can't be serious."
"Of course I'm serious! Don't tell me you don't see the advantage of it. And here I was beginning to think that you were smart."
The twitch spread to his left hand.
"No. I don't see the advantage. Care to enlighten me?"
Ryuu gave a heavy sighed in mock disappointment before he began explaining to his ward.
"Okay, think about it this way. Imagine that you are being chased by enemy shinobi, and end up being forced towards the desert for whatever reason." He stopped to shake a finger at Naruto as the young child opened his mouth to speak. "Ah-ah-ah; no interrupting the teacher when said teacher is in lecture mode!" The child snapped his mouth shut and nodded tightly, so Ryuu continued with a pleased smile. "Okay, so you're now in the desert being fallowed. Your trying to shake them from your trail, but can't. Now think, why can't you shake them off?"
Naruto rolled his eyes, but answered none the less.
"Because you're in a desert. There's no place to hide."
"Try again; there are ways around that fact if you really think about it and are determined to."
The child frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he began to think. Looking down and watching the sand underneath his feet, he raised an eyebrow as something hit him.
Letting his arms fall to his side, he took a step back, keeping his eyes on the sand.
Nodding to himself, he answered Ryuu again.
"Because the sand leaves foot prints, tracks, leading the fallowing shinobi directly to you."
Ryuu nodded, smile growing.
"Correct. So now tell me this: if one is able to walk on sand without leaving behind foot prints, would people be able to track them?"
"…No." Naruto smiled lightly as well, beginning to see where Ryuu thoughts were heading. His smile left soon after though and his face scrunched up in thought. "But, even if one were to 'walk on sand', wouldn't it be similar to water walking and in turn leave ripples behind? It's not like you could actually levitate over the sand and not leave any trace behind."Naruto argued, turning his head to face Ryuu.
Nodding again, Ryuu ruffled Naruto's hair like any proud parent would do.
"You might just prove me wrong about not being smart." Naruto gave a 'no-duh' look. "Your correct of course, ya little brat. The great thing about deserts though is that if the ripples are small enough, as in you keep moving and avoid standing in place too long, than the desert wind will take care of those ripples for you. If there's not a wind, however, then you should just hope that the shinobi following you overlook those ripples."
Naruto gave a sharp nod, removing Ryuu's hand from his head in the process.
"So, still think I'm crazy?"
The child rolled his eyes though his smile was back, however light.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it now. You're not crazy. Much. So what are we doing just standing here?"
Ryuu chuckled lightly at the child's new excitement for learning something new.
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback End) ~_~_~_~_~
The two ending up staying within the desert for two weeks, first learning how to walk on the sand without leaving any foot prints and only ripples, then going over all of the ways on how to lose someone if being fallowed, proving to Naruto that it is possible despite what most think.
From there, the two began to travel the different countries, though stayed out of both the Fire and Wind countries unless absolutely necessary.
Before they knew it, two years passed and Naruto had just turned eight. Over the course of the year, Ryuu show more advance jutsu's, pressed him harder in his taijutsu training, and making him go through many different genjutsu's at random times to test his ability to sense them and then escape them, as well as showing him how to do them himself.
Towards the end of the second year, Ryuu introduced Naruto to the many different types of weapons that he had yet to show him. His hope was that Naruto might find something that he felt he could work with and use in the future. In the end, he chose his kusarigama; he soon after took up learning how to fight with short blades, which ended with him getting two of his own. Though all three of the weapons were only practice one, Ryuu stating that when they returned to the Fire Country, they would go and see Yasuo for some of his own hand crafted short blades and kusarigama.
And just as Ryuu had said, as soon that the two entered the Fire County borders, they went straight to Yasuo's shop.
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback) ~_~_~_~_~
Naruto fallowed Ryuu from behind, taking his time to look over the small village that he was not able to do last time he was here three years ago when he was just beginning to travel with Ryuu.
He observed the people and their smiling faced, the children playing while waiting for their parents to finish shopping, all of the different food stands and shops.
All too soon did it end as he and Ryuu reach their destination.
The shop was just like he remembered it; the sign faded even more over, now making it completely impossible to read. A bell still chimed when they entered the small shop, once again alerting Yasuo that he had customers.
This time, Naruto took the time to look around the shop, something that he did not do last time as well.
The shop, despite what one would think when looking at it from the outside, was rather large on the inside.
Lining the walls of the shop was a wide range of weapons, from simple Kanata to what looked to be staffs that had a three foot blade at the end of it. The five shelves reached up to Ryuu's neck and angled at a way that Yasuo could keep a look out for possible shop lifters.
From what Naruto was able to see from his position, the shelves held empty scrolls, kunai, shuriken, scrolls that explained some of the more simple jutsu's that are taught in schools, ink, brushed, and much more.
Movement caught his eye, and he turned from his inspection to see Yasuo enter from the same door as last time.
Upon seeing the two, a grin broke out on his face.
"My, my. What do we have here? The great Ryuu and Naruto decide to grace me with their presence after three years? What an honor."
Naruto rolled his eyes as Ryuu chuckled lightly.
"Hello to you to Yasuo. Been well I hope."
"Very. So what can I do for you two today?" He raised an eyebrow along with his question.
"Oh, not much. Just need to restock some things and get Naruto here some of your hand crafted weapons."
Yasuo looked at said child with a smile, eyeing the two short blades on his back and kusarigama at his side.
"I take it you want me to replace those three with some of my own?"
Naruto nodded, answering the question instead of Ryuu.
"Yes please."
The elderly man laughed lightly, walking with cane in hand around his counter and towards the wall opposite of them.
"Still polite as ever I see. Tell me Naruto, how are those weights working out for you?"
Said child grinned, rolling up one sleeve to show the maker of the weights said weights.
"They are wonderful. They really are amazing devices."
Yasuo gave a smug grim as he reached up to take off two set of sheathed twin short blades.
"Of course they are. I did make them after all."
Naruto smiled in amusement while Ryuu gave a pointed look.
"Be careful there Yasuo, you are beginning to sound full of yourself again. You know what happened the last time that happened."
Yasuo's eyebrow twitched as he glared at Ryuu and handed the two blades to the child. "You promised to never speak of that event ever again, dear friend."The older man hissed, his cheeks reddening.
Naruto tuned the two men out, instead studying the blades he now held. Both of the blades sheaths were a plain midnight blue. Placing one of the blades up against the wall, Naruto withdrew the blade he held. The hilt of the blade, just like its sheath, was nothing special, just a simple black. The blade itself, though, had a light engraving on one side of the blade, the other side blank.
Taking a closer look at the side with the engraving, the eight year old was able to see what it was more clearly.
Running from the tip of the blade to the hilt was what appeared to be an elegant fox, its face looking out as if it was staring at the child with its lips in a smirk.
Naruto could not help but run a finger over the design on the short blade. Smiling lightly, he replaces it back within the sheath.
Looking over at blade leaning against the wall, the child saw that the hilt was also a black. Switching the two blades, Naruto raised an eyebrow when he withdrew the blade only to have Ryuu lean over and take the weapon from his hands. Frowning to show his annoyance, Naruto watched as Ryuu's own eyebrow raised. Naruto took it as a sign that the blade in Ryuu's hand also held an engraving.
Naruto made a noise in the back of his throat to catch Ryuu's attention. When he received if, he tilted his head to the side, silently asking Ryuu what he saw. Ryuu wasted no time in answering.
"On this side of the blade, there is an etching." Naruto rolled his eyes, giving the man in front of him a pointed look, 'Well?'
"Relax, I'm getting to it." Ryuu turned his gaze back to the blade, bring it closer to his face with his eyes narrowed.
After a few short seconds, he looked over to Yasuo with a questioning look.
"It says 'Smirking Foxes are always the Most Dangerous'."
Yasuo lat out a small chuckle, amusement clearly shown in his eyes and face.
"What can I say? I just happened to see a small fox that I swear was smirking at me the day I made those two blades." He shrugged his shoulder lightly.
Ryuu shook his head, a smile on his lips. Naruto raised his eyebrow in curiosity, an amused smile also on his face.
"Well, come on, we still have another weapon to find for you." Yasuo led the way to the far back wall this time. Naruto quickly grabbed the blade still leaning against the wall and handed Ryuu the sheath for the blade he held.
Reaching the wall, the child's took in all of the sharp looking weapons before his eyes finally landed on a well crafted kusarigama, it looking far better than the one he was using at the moment.
Naruto eyes glistened with excitement as he gazed at the weapon, taking in the pure silver chains which from the look of it was longer then his. He could see a small ball at one end of the chain and then on the side was what looked to be a sickle but with a chain.
The handle itself was a deep red, almost a maroon color. The blade, though, unlike his two short blades, looked to have nothing engraved on it.
Naruto smirked, causing the two adults on either side of him to smile as well.
"Well," spoke Yasuo, "It looks like you found your third weapon."
~_~_~_~_~ (Flashback End) ~_~_~_~_~
Naruto was brought out of his musing when he felt Ryuu shake his shoulder.
"Come on, we have to go and meet our newest client." The older of the two spoke, an almost laugh in his voice.
The teen narrowed his eyes at his father figure.
"Hey Ryuu," said man raised an eyebrow as a sign for him to continue, "you never did tell me who our new client is or what he wants us to do."
"Oh I know. It's going to be more fun this way." Ryuu answered Naruto's unasked question, fallowed with a wide grin. "But don't worry; I'm sure that you'll….enjoy it."
The teen eyed the man suspiciously.
"Well then, I guess we should get going."
Ryuu gave a 'dark' chuckle, his eyes glistening with mischief.