DiSClaiMer: Eye dew knot own Naruto- That's all Kishimoto's thang
Chuunin of the Leaf
'There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.'- Oscar Levant
"Nar-U-to!" said the voice, not yelling, just sounding annoyed and frustrated, though Shikamaru Nara almost always sounded that way.
Kakashi Hatake looked at the two, a small bead of sweat streaming down the side of his face, most of which was covered with a mask and his forehead protector, "Surly you packed more than those… sayings, in the scroll bag. I told you to pack plenty of scrolls, but I thought you had more common sense than that."
Feeling embarrassed by his teachers words Naruto grabbed the scroll Shikamaru had pulled out and squatted down on the ground pulling out and throwing the scrolls with sayings- to both Kakashi and Shikamaru seeming quite reminiscent to the boys earlier years when he was still in the academy or after becoming a Genin. "Saying, Quote, saying, western folklore, Ero-sennin's rough draft…" Finally all he had in his hands were two scrolls that he had added after grabbing the bag, mixing this one up with his actual scroll bag. Putting his hands behind his head Naruto put a grin on his face and gave a little laugh, "Hehe, I guess I just grabbed the wrong ba-"
"Naruto," interrupted Kakashi, a stern look in his.. eye, "when the mission is done your pay will be docked by half." This caused the boy to open his eyes and look quite surprised, "You are a Chuunin now: mistakes like being unprepared are fatal. Now pick up this mess and start clearing these scrolls as best you can while we walk, we will have to wait to practice your seal's for tonight and tomorrow." The man signaled the small group to start moving, slow enough that Naruto would be able to catch up, "When they are clear start working on your hand seals, both speed and chakra application."
'Damn training!' was all Naruto could think as he rushed to shove the scrolls back into the bag. It was the second day the group of four had been out, but already he had doe as much training as most shinobi did in a year, and would have done more if it had not been for the fact they needed to limit his clone count.
The first day, the day they had received the mission, Naruto had been ecstatic to be apart of a big mission like this, he had immediately ran back to his house to get supplies, specifically scrolls, at the command by Kakashi. While they had a mission to do Kakashi wasn't going to waste the long walk to the Village Hidden in the Mind, all the way in the Rock country.
Running back to the north gate out of Konoha they started their long march, spending much of the first day planning. And much to Naruto's despair there was plenty of light in the day for 'much of the day' to be from the time they left till an hour before they made camp… Which Kakashi made him find the proper place for and set up, dispensing water and wood gathering to Naruto while Neji became familiar with the area via Byakugan, Shikamaru worked on more planning from the info Neji got, and Kakashi cooked- a very unfortunate thing for Naruto as Kakashi liked his meat extra burnt and Neji and Shikamaru started planning for the next week of travel that they had to cook for themselves.
The mission did not start that well, yet this would seem like a godsend after another week of travel.
The next day when Kakashi had planned on Naruto working on hand written seals his little surprise had occurred. From there they started heading northwest towards the Grass country. The Hidden Mind was apparently located on a small peninsula just north of the Hidden Waterfall, yet the terrain in the surround country was so covered in rivers, giant hills, and, of course, waterfalls, that is would be far easier and faster for the foursome to enter the Rock country through the Grass Country and skirt along the border of the country, following an old road used by armies years prior, before any of the current villages were in existence.
As they walked Naruto tried to clear the little quotes he had bought off their scrolls, which was not easy and more often than not lead to the scroll getting ripped. When the job was done they had a little more than half the day in travel left, all of which Naruto was to spend on his hand seals.
Naruto's first thought was too make shadow clones, a near perfect duplicate that he had used for every kind of training possible. Seeing Naruto making the hand seals Kakashi stopped him from doing such, still moving at a quick pace through a forest of the Fire Country "No Naruto, no clones. You seem to rely on those clones a little too much and we need speed right now. We'll be slowed down enough by the fact that your going to be doing training on the way." A few minutes passed as they jumped from tree to tree, indeed slowed by Naruto who, with a grimace on his face, only had the use of his legs and chakra for travel. Kakashi broke the silence once again, "Also, from now on I don't want you to waste your energy or time making clones for pointless training."
Naruto glanced at the man questioningly, only to have Shikamaru answer for him, "He's talking about physical training like the weight lifting you do with Choji or those ridiculously hard runs you try with Guy and Lee." Getting a quick nod from Kakashi he went on, "While shadow clones are good for chakra control and other mental disciplines it will not help your body at all. It pushes the limits of what the Shadow clone can do when you practice hand seals and aiming, as those are at least partially mental. Reaction time, accuracy, and dexterity. We don't know how well these translate across a shadow clones bond with you when it is dispelled. The spars you do with people are probably a good thing to keep up though, it will give you a better knowledge over their capabilities and limits- something any squad leader needs." Naruto took it all in amazingly, he had gotten better at that in a way, as he could now keep his attention on a conversation for almost its entirety.
They kept going, jumping from tree to tree, unknowingly the only group you had kept a decent pace while at the same time not leaving the path they had set. That night, since they were still in the relative comfort of the Fire Country, they made a small fire, Kakashi once again cooking, though this time for the whole camp. Once again Naruto was set on gathering stuff, though this time it was relatively closer to camp than last time. As they were ready to turn in Kakashi and Neji looked at Naruto, "Chuunin keep the watch tonight, Jounin tomorrow." And with than Naruto set himself beside the fire.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto as he sat there and decided to go and sit with him, even though he was officially not a Chuunin anymore, he had been promoted to special jounin because of his strategic genius. He would have been a full Jounin but he had one glaring mark on his record from the last Chuunin exam he had proctored, where more than half the contestants had major injuries or were dead. He had also been forbidden from proctoring an exam again.
No, he was not a Chuunin, though Naruto was not allowed to know this. In fact only those who were deemed trustworthy were told, Kakashi and Neji included. Though what made him go and sit by the boy, both staying in silence, were not the orders to act as if he were a Chuunin when around those who were uninformed, it was the reason for those orders. The fact was that Naruto Uzumaki would never become a Jounin while he was part of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Shikamaru, Shino, and Sakura were all called into the Hokage's office after their group's huge dinner. The lazy Nara already half asleep on his feet. Like this he would probably be as aware as Kiba or Naruto, yet it would suffice for anything important he was told. Tsunade did not look up at them for a while, finishing up the last of the three forms she had written up. The busty women looked from one to the next, never smiling because of the circumstances of the forms necessity, "I would first like to congratulate you," she said standing up, handing each of them a form with their names on it, "You are all receiving promotions, having received the ok from the village elders and counsel."
"You," she said as she walked around her desk, her eyes on Sakura, "are being promoted to Jounin for your superior chakra control, vast knowledge of medical jutsu as well as many other subjects which the Hokage's library has served you well for…" she moved her head in close next to Sakura's were only she and Shino's bugs could hear, "Even after hours and looks at the Scroll of Forbidden Jutsu, I'm so proud!" This made Sakura blush because of the fact that she had been found out and the compliment.
Tsunade walked to the girls left now, looking at the mostly hidden Shino, "You have been promoted to Jounin for your exceptional skills which you have displayed on many occasions even before your first Chuunin exam from what I am told. As well it has become know to me that you wish to join the ANBU Black Ops, which I will fully support if you so choose."
And lastly was Shikamaru Nara, who's mind was as aware as an eleven year old Naruto now. Tsunade just shook her head and placed a hand on Shikamaru's head, jiving him a quick jolt that would keep him up for a few more hours and give him a decent headache in the morning, "YOU, Shikamaru, are being promoted to special Jounin for your amazing tactical abilities and battle leadership qualities. You would be a full jounin, but you still have a month on your probation from the Chuunin exams and the elders are reluctant to grant you the rank." Now she leaned in closer as she did for Sakura, only heard by bugs and Shikamaru, "I have been working on something to help you with your goal, as 'troublesome' as it may seem to you now. I will not let any Shinobi of my village go unavenged."
Once more Tsunade stood straight, walking behind her desk as she spoke, "There is an additional condition to the promotion to the I am giving you, something I feel you three must know and do." She fixed their eyes to hers once more, "There was going to be four promotions tonight, four names that I brought before the Elders and the village Counsel. The forth person being Naruto Uzumaki." The three shinobi before her kept their faces still, though it was a strain for Sakura, "The Elders immediately cast down the idea but it did not stop there, they used the opening I gave them to try and place more restrictions on him and I. While I was able to keep his freedom whole, the Elders and counsel came to one consensus: It would be to dangerous for Naruto Uzumaki to go on missions beyond that of a Chuunin and thus will be forbidden from the rank of Jounin or special Jounin indefinitely."
It was quiet, all that could be heard were the bugs that lived within Shino, getting a little louder with each passing moment, so it did not come as a shock to Shikamaru at least when Shino was the first to speak, "That is outrageous!" said the bug wielder with a contained anger that any normal person or someone who hadn't known him would hear as a perfectly flat voice, "Naruto has done more for this village and its people than all the commoners put together have. He has, since returning, told us all about the nine-tailed fox, yet that is nothing compared to fighting off the Shukaku, trying to bring back Sasuke Uchiha, and bringing you, lady Hokage, back to the village."
"Well that last one hasn't worked in his favor all the time, yet it was because of these things and more that he was able to get away so lightly. I know you will not like it, but until further notice your rank will be kept from all but those seen fit by the elders or myself. You will sign the release in your hands now so it will become a permanent mission until further notice."
He still hadn't gotten over it. Though it had only been two days. That people from his own village could be that cruel was slightly beyond him, for he had yet to learn the full extent of the corruption as Kakashi or Naruto had, he only had a suspicion. Though he would soon be in as deep as Naruto or Sakura, they all would.
Dawn broke, with Naruto asleep. They had eventually came to the general idea that they would switch off between sleep and watch between the two and were not as tired as they might have been. Kakashi once again told Naruto to pull out a scroll so he could practice his seals, "While we are on the run I want you to make an explosive tag, a very large one. While you do know how to make the normal ones, the one I want you to make is different. Now tell me about seals, what you know and how to make them and I will add in and correct where I think you need it."
And so, before he had started to do any work with his hands Naruto was running through the forest or jumping from tree to tree while talking about seals. Oh the fun that are seals!
"Well they are symbols and writing that are placed on paper in order to get a desired effect." He felt proud at that answer, it had a Sakura bookishness to it.
And with a sigh Kakashi started, "No, Naruto, it is not that simple. I expect more than a simple answer than that. Seals are a mix of chakra and a physical medium, whether it be paper, metal, stone, or a person. If you were to just put a familiar seal on a piece of paper then it would do nothing even with chakra. You have to specify, with multiple symbols, what you want a seal to do. The more symbols the more specific and powerful a seal can be. The normal explosive tag is quite easy to make and mesmerize but the one I want…"
Shikamaru listened in on the conversation, more than once adding to what Kakashi had to say, or something that even Kakashi didn't know. Neji also became interested, as he knew plenty of seals, many of which were not known outside his family and even more that he did not know of that existed in some of the far stretched branches of the main family.
And so after a dozen attempts, Naruto finally finished what Kakashi wanted. It was, he was told, proportionally stronger than the normal explosive tags. That kind of scared Naruto, because the scroll he had was easily the same as twenty explosive tags then. Kakashi then decided it was time to move on to something new, something much more brutal.
Pulling out two pieces of paper Kakashi made the boy place them on the inside of his flask jacket. And immediately Naruto was glaring at the cycloptic jounin who had shut him off from most of his and all of the nine-tail's chakra, "What the HELL Kakashi! Why are you acting like such a huge-"
"Naruto," the one eyed man said, "you are not to question the orders of a higher ranking officer. Now move, this will help you work on your raw physical strength and speed. So unless we get into a fight I want you to keep them on until we get to the village." And with that Kakashi leapt ahead, ending any sort of conversation.
-----
That night the small group reached a small village, a single inn was available and actually nearly empty. As soon as they were settled Kakashi was off to do something, likely reading the rough draft of Jiraiya's that Naruto had managed to find yesterday, the man was just weird like that.
Down in the common room Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto all sat, ordering a small meal each. It was during this that Shikamaru brought up the subject of Naruto's pay dock, "Hehe, so it finally happened to you huh?"
Naruto looked up at the lazy-nin confused and a little annoyed, as Kakashi had not let him remove the seals, "What happened basterd?"
Raising an eyebrow at the language the boy had used, 'Not at all in a good mood.' He thought, but said, "Your pay, idiot. Its happened to all of us, but this is the first time for you right?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, though I didn't expect it. I mean Kakashi has never done something like that to me."
Neji gave a slight condescending smile, "Well of course not, Genin don't have their pay docked for mistakes like that. They either fail the mission or add another success to their records. Chuunin are supposed to have a lot more responsibility."
Naruto got a slightly sullen look, which quickly brightened into a smile, "So when did it happen to you guys?"
Shikamaru just shook his head, a slight smile on his face, glad that Naruto wouldn't stay down over everything that's been happening, "Well that would be my whole first week. I was late the first day, got into a fight with Ino the next two days, I dot in trouble a few times the next couple of days then for either not complying with a superior officer or because I went against orders because I thought I had a better idea. Asuma sensei didn't know if I was going to be kicked out of my house or not because I didn't bring home any money that week."
Without thinking about it the young man reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. He hadn't been able to smoke on the run like they had been doing and was still wondering how Asuma had managed it all those times, "So, how about you Neji?" he said as he blew pout a couple of smoke rings.
The young jounin had a slight blush on his face and the other two couldn't believe their eyes. Giving a slight cough the boy said quickly, "Me and Tenten skipped out on a mission last week. That was the first time Guy ever had to dock us."
Naruto was laughing with his face on the table and even Shikamaru had a big grin on his face, "I don't know what's worse," said the Nara, "That you and Tenten skipped out together or that the first time you were ever docked was after you became a Jounin."
Neji frowned at this but Naruto picked it up, "Yeah, is Guy that weird or are you just a wuss. Even Sakura-chan had her pay docked from what I heard."
Neji, had he been anyone other than Neji, would have done something very stupid at this point or started taunting Naruto for being weak. Yet he was controlled enough to not do something stupid and knew that Naruto was above such insults. Though what is something stupid to some people is a matter of honor to others, so what Neji did next was indeed very stupid. "Uzumaki, you dare insult me like that? I take offense and I still believe that I could best you in a fight just as much as the day of our first Chuunin exam. So I challenge you to a fig-"
Neji didn't get any farther as Shikamaru, despite how troublesome it would be, had seen the nod from Naruto and they both made a dog pile on the Hyuga before he could do anything. Naruto was currently holding Neji's head in one arm at a weird angle and giving Neji a noogie with the other, while Shikamaru held his legs up and together, causing the weird angle, "Say UNCLE! SAY IT!"
Neji was a Hyuga. One of the most hard trained shinobi families ever. Yet when dog piled by a couple of his friends like that all of his training went down the drain. He flailed his arms around and tried to kick his legs out, and lastly he yelled out, "UNCLE! UNCLE! GODDAMMIT YOUR SUPPOSED TO LET ME GO! I SAID UNCLE!" He would never forgive himself for that moment and Naruto surly wouldn't. Nobody ever heard about it from Shikamaru though, not even Choji.
When all was said and done the group had to pay for a chair, which came from Naruto's pocket, and they were now outside the small village with Naruto facing Neji, who's solid white eyes bulged with veins. Naruto simply fell back into a stance wondering how good Neji had gotten since the last fight. Neither of the fighters felt very safe knowing that Shikamaru was the only one watching over them, but they each had points to prove.
Moving forward Naruto punched out, only to have Neji knock him away like a rag doll. Jumping up Naruto managed a flip and tried to elbow back into Neji, simply meeting Neji's knee. "Hey, take this for real, you could have his my back up there with your Gentle Fist!"
Neji just raised an eyebrow and had his eye's widen a little, "Naruto, you have yet to remove the seals Kakashi put on you. Besides I'm not going to seal your chakra points, not with the nine-tails being so unstable."
"AHHH! That's just bull!" though he did note he had forgotten to take them off. So once more they faced each other, this time when Naruto attacked it was much faster than Neji had anticipated so he was only just able to kick the arm away with his left and strike at Naruto's shoulder with his right, which Naruto avoided by leaning back, then letting himself fall back and kick up at Neji's midsection. Neji saw the attack almost before it was there, being able to see and recognize how Naruto's muscles were moving and where he pushed his chakra. Jumping back Neji grabbed a kunai from his waist pouch and threw it straight at the blond boy who was still rising.
But the weapon never hit as Naruto met metal with wind and immediately sent a condensed burst of air straight for the genius Hyuga, knocking him back, from which he immediately flipped and brought up his arm in order to knock away Naruto's fist and with the other hand grabbed Naruto's left and brought his own left up for a hit at Naruto's face. It was intercepted though and the two started to grapple with each other. Surprisingly they were near evenly matched in strength. Yet Neji had the advantage.
With a smirk Neji started to push chakra out of his body and started to spin his body, surprisingly with Naruto still holding on. That did not last long though and Naruto was soon ejected with enough force to kill a lesser man. Hitting a tree Naruto gave a groan and a few cuss words. Neji's spin stopped and he couldn't help but send a glance mixed with both worry and smugness. Naruto got up though, and was already running.
To Neji's surprise Naruto formed the Rasengan in both his hands while making an invisible shield of wind in front if himself. 'Ingenious, he has not only mastered an A-rank jutsu to the point where he can use two at once, but he is at the same time manipulating the wind and air around him to make up for the jutsu's faults and keep himself protected!'
Neji wasn't called a genius for nothing, yet the wind he was manipulating was not only to protect himself but to stop Neji from a preemptive strike. For as he neared Neji felt the cool wind surround his wrist and too nearly too late did he realize that Naruto was going to walk straight through his defenses. Just in time did he push the chakra out of his body, seemingly making wind off his boy itself. He span, using an advanced version of the Kaiten.
Right before they met a single thought went through the mind of Shikamaru, 'Hmm, I guess there was a reason I'm not allowed to oversee any fights.'
-----
Carrying a stack of papers that almost looked like research Kakashi walked up the room that he would be sharing with the others, more than a little surprised that the boys were not downstairs. More specifically that Naruto was not down there. 'Well I have been pretty hard on him… But he needs to be ready. As long as he doesn't do anything stupid it will be fine.' As he walked in the room he saw that they were not there. Soon after the sound of a large explosion and a creeping feeling in his gut, "We're doomed."
-----
Naruto sat up and looked at the handiwork that he and Neji had wrought, feeling oddly proud. Across from him, nearly fifty feet, Neji was also sitting up and, though it would never show on his face and he would never say it, he too felt proud. That scarred him. Shikamaru Nara Just stared, a new cigarette in his mouth as he looked at the sight. Almost all the earth was upturned and there was a giant crater, which Naruto and Neji both sat in, with three smaller ones inside that one. Though there were not many al the trees in the area were uprooted and one was set ablaze.
"You know, we might want to get out of here BEFORE Kakashi shows up."
Too late. Though he had seen worse done by a single person he still had to look at it in awe, "Wherever you go you just seem to bring a wave of destruction." Giving a sigh he walked with them back to the inn, dealing out punishment as they went. "Neji, Shikamaru, Naruto you will be reported to the Hokage upon return to Konoha, she will decide your punishment. I do believe you are still on probation Shikamaru so expect nothing less then possible suspension if this mission does not go off smoothly. You Naruto will receive no pay as well."
Rounding on the man whom he had come to see as family Naruto couldn't help but let loose, "What!? Why? There were there as well and I wasn't fighting myself!"
"Kakashi," said Neji, "he's right I am just as guilty here. If anything-"
"No Neji, this is between my student and me. Whatever Tsunade-sama thinks is necessary for you will be fine, but Naruto must learn that he cannot be the same person he was when he was a Genin. While teamwork is the foundation of a shinobi and maybe one of the most important aspects, but he must still be able to follow orders. You, Naruto," he said turning on the former Genin, "must be ready for the day that you are going to be in charge of a team of your own. So right now we hold a court martial. I charge you with instigating a fight with Neji Hyuga, we would only need to take into count your previous team members like Sai and Sasuke, abandoning your post back at the inn, for I did not give you permission to leave, not complying with a superior officer, for I told you not to remove the seals I gave you until we reached our destination and now they are useless, and unorderly conduct for fighting in the inn and destroying property."
Narrowing his one visible eye he went on, "And just like that you are guilty. You need to be strong enough for the day that someone actually tries to bring those charges against you. The day they try to take your livelihood." And then suddenly, "What would you do Naruto if you knew you could never become a Jounin?"
Naruto had slowly been getting a snarl, the man was being unreasonable. If he had been thinking straight then he would have know that this was nothing like Kakashi, he would have known that something was wrong if he would look past the mans words. The question caught him off guard none the less, "That wouldn't happen, the crone would never allow it too."
Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's ignorance, 'He has to learn. He needs to become strong enough for the truth.' And with that he walked away, hating himself for laughing at the boy, for being like he was. Knowing that he more than deserved the words Naruto yelled after him as he walked away.
-----
The next day passed in painful quiet and they passed into the Grass Country a few hours before dusk, having made much better time since Naruto had not trained. This day was the worst day far, for Naruto wanted to talk to Kakashi, to apologize, but he couldn't make himself do it, he knew he had done nothing to deserve the treatment the man had been giving him. Kakashi also wanted to apologize, yet he knew what he had to do and he could not change that.
The only words passed between the group were small bits of planning from Shikamaru and Kakashi telling Naruto that Chuunin kept watch tonight, the Jounin had had last night while they stayed at the inn.
In the morning they set off hoping to make it to the other side of the Grass Country before mid day. It was just as quiet as the day before, though Naruto felt his willpower ebbing away and he was ready to apologize for what was said and what he did. He slowly made his way next to Kakashi, who was leading right now. For a few minutes he just walked beside him, having become all arid plains with tall grass since before entering the Grass Country, without saying a word. Finally though he started, "Kakashi-sensei," he said getting the mans attention, "listen, about yester-"
Naruto's world was rocked as Kakashi lunged at the boy, taking him down to ground, hidden well behind the tall grass all around the area. "WHAT THE HE-"
"Be quiet Naruto," whispered the jounin, "we're under attack." Indeed, when Naruto had gotten the mans attention he saw the glint of the sun off the enemies kunai. Crawling off the boy he stayed low and turned his head from left to right. He could see Neji and Shikamaru from here, also well hidden in the tall grass, Neji telling Shikamaru were the enemy was and signaling to Kakashi: they were surrounded by at least eight individuals.
Naruto saw this too and quickly made the hand signs for his shadow clones, creating four, disguising three as his teammates and hiding them under the grass like they were, then having them use substitution jutsu's on the originals. They all stood up slowly, the Kakashi clone raised its hands and calling out, "We are from Konoha and come in peace. Please show yourself, we will comply with you." The Naruto clone was crouched down, peering from left to right like the original might have done three years ago. Neji's had dropped back into a defensive position Naruto had seen the man use before. Lastly was Shikamaru's, which had a ingle kunai in its grasp at its waist while looking around in a calculative way (that's what he was trying to pull off anyway).
Kakashi suddenly felt very bad for the hard time he had been putting Naruto through the past few days. The boy was truly gifted, he had had the presence of mind to not only create disguised clones, but by using the substitution jutsu's he had managed to gather their squad together for. They had surprise on their side now.
A man came forward, wearing elegant robes that didn't seem to match with his chosen profession, but he did have the forehead protector on his waist as a belt, though the village couldn't be seen yet. He made a hand gesture and three others came out, hiding the other team still, "Well then, what do we have here? Why do you come onto our lands? Your kind are not welcome here any longer."
Naruto's clone yelled out, "What's that supposed to mean? 'YOUR KIND?'"
The Kakashi clone gave an angry glance at the clone, "Be quiet Naruto, let me handle this." The clone looked back up and asked then, "I must ask as well though, what do you mean?"
"You people from the Leaf Village." He said, his face contorting in disgust, "You inbred fools are no longer welcome here."
"Oh, I was under the impression that these lands belonged to the Grass Country. Has that changed or has the Grass's Daimyo decided to pull out of the alliance?"
"Fool, the Hidden Grass Village runs this country, the Daimyo is dead. After you fools had the audacity too… I can't let you leave here alive, the Grass is through with the struggling to feel the sun while the Leaf looms above us, taking all the glory and all the power in this world." And with that they attacked.
Kakashi's clone ran forward, grabbing three shuriken in each hand. It jumped up above the lead nin… and kept going, throwing its shuriken at one of the nin that was hidden, killing the boy, most likely a Genin, who had assumed his was safe where he was. The leader following his movements.
The others had gathered and face back to back to back in a triangular formation, defending from kunai as they came for them and preparing for the remaining three shinobi who were in the open to converge on them. All three took on one of the clones, who either blocked or dodged their first strikes and hit back, each possessing the same speed as the original Naruto, which was very good compared to most shinobi. The Naruto clone actually managed to kill his target on the first strike, crushing the cartilage of the throat with a quick chop of his hand, causing the man to suffocate and drown in his own blood. The other two didn't take too long either, as they all had enough pent up rage in them from Naruto to be as merciless as they wanted, the Naruto clone blocking any kunai or shuriken that were thrown their way. Then they were off to deal with the second team
The Kakashi clone, as soon as it had killed the boy, had turned to meet the leader he had ignored for the first killing blow, and was surprised to find he had not moved yet, only holding his hands in a seal, muttering under his breath. Suddenly he felt something brush across his leg, saw something move beneath the grass out of the corner of his eye, heard a growl. And then he felt them, biting down on his right shoulder and one of his legs, the last digging its claws into his back, though it did not dispel, it focused itself not to. "What's this, a genjutsu?" it said as it looked down and saw a tiger, one that seemed to be made of mist and light, yet it felt like it was real
"My, my, of course not." Her walked up to the clone, which was being held firmly in place and spit in its eye, "Unlike you brutes in the Leaf, we in the Grass do not see the point in pure military might. We are open to experiments and many different ways of jutsu and abilities. I, like others in my clan and caste, practice the mystic arts. We use chakra and life's energies to control things to a more complete level." With another gesture the claws dug deeper into his skin, "Where you may create a ball of fire, we may control that fire with a mastery beyond throwing it around. Where you create illusions that make you feel pain, the pain and wounds are whole. I am not afraid to use the ancient spirits and creatures, unlike you who would forbid the dead to live once more. Our power is limitless" He came to the clone, only to see it smiling.
"I see, your power is limitless. Then why have you not even struck me once?"
And with that the clone was gone, the spirit beasts that the man called falling to their feet. Turning as swiftly as he could he was only able to meet a kunai as it struck him in the heart, the true Kakashi looking him eye for eye, the Sharingan blazing on his left. And with that the last of their would be assailants died, the others having been hunted down by the clones and their lives taken.
Kakashi looked down at the man, scared, as scared as he had been when ROOT had attacked Naruto. 'The Grass has betrayed us… Why would that be? And that jutsu, what was it… I'll have to practice with it some other time.' Looking over at the group of young men who were rising from the tall grass. He yelled over to Naruto, "Perfectly executed. Did any of the clones pick up any information?"
Giving a small sneer, Naruto told him what the man had said about the Grass Daimyo, about the Grass Village thriving, and about the jutsu as well. None of the others had said anything before they were killed though.
"Excellently done."
"Psstt, as long as the jobs done. Not like you really care otherwise." He said, forgetting the apology he was going to give in the adrenaline.
"Naruto," he said as he covered his eye and deciding to tell Naruto what he could, "I do owe you an implantation, for these past few days, but there is a lot I can't tell you, just don't hate me for this. You need to learn."
"What do I need to learn?" he said suddenly, "WHY do I need to learn? For the past few days you have been unreasonable in everything you've done, whether it was my training so far, which has slowed us down, or the 'court martial' you gave me. And all you will say is that I have to learn. I want more than a few answers, I don't want to be left in the dark like that."
Kakashi had to give a sigh, 'I would Naruto, I would tell you everything. But all I can do now is prepare you for the things I can't tell you.' "Tonight Naruto, tonight. But right now we need to move. Neji, was there anyone else out there?"
"No, I think that they just stumbled upon us. So the Grass could find out about us in a week or a day or already know we're here."
"All the more reason to keep moving. After a move like this I am worried about what we will meet at the border, but we must cross and come as legitimate ambassadors. Lets move out."
Naruto didn't know what to say, what to think, what to do… 'Tonight'
-----
There was no fire this night, they all sat there until night fell, all together they sat and they talked through the night, now in the Rock country. They had encountered no resistance at the border, in fact they hadn't realized they had crossed the border until they noticed that the land was changing as they neared the great mountain chains that gave the country its name. The great rocky hills and gigantic mountains that looked more like blades than mountains were every were to be seen, with a few forest populating the valleys. As soon as they hit this environment they turned north and soon found the road they sought, which would lead them up to the northern coast of the continent,
It was a sight Kakashi had only seen once in his entire career, the last mission he had ever gone on with Rin and the forth before he had become Hokage and she had… it had been so long since he thought on it all, he did not want to remember right then.
So here they sat, talking, "What would you like to know Naruto?"
"Everything!" said the boy quite vehemently, "There is something I don't know, I know that much, something your not telling me. I want to know why your acting like you are? Why all the sudden training when we started the mission, training that slowed us down and possibly led us straight into that attack? Why such the big deal over my punishment and that 'court martial' lesson you gave back there? WHY-"
"Enough Naruto!" cut Naruto, surprisingly coming from Shikamaru, a smoke in his mouth, "There has been a lot happening recently, things that are above you or me."
Giving the smoking shinobi a quick glance Kakashi took his place, "He's right. But I will answer what I can. As I have been saying, you need to be ready. For the corruption in the Leaf and the rest of the world. You need to be ready for any let downs you may face, both in and outside of our village. And you need to be ready for this mission."
Naruto just looked off into nothing, "Why am I on this mission?"
"Because, there are not many shinobi with your talent, your ingenuity, or your over all power. Naruto, let me tell you right now, you deserve to be a Jounin more than anyone else I know, and today just further proved that to me."
Looking at the man through the dark he asked, "So that whole pay dock thing and all that was to help prepare me for the world?"
"That and because you're a Chuunin now, you should be smarter than that. I can't even start to tell you the number of times I wanted to do that, both to you and my own former teammates."
Sulking a little Naruto asked again, "And this secret you have, why can't you tell me?"
"Those are orders I have received from the Hokage herself. I can not repeat them."
As they talked Kakashi couldn't help but remember his little 'chat' with the Hokage. Her telling him the attempt to have Naruto raised to Jounin and the end result. His out break on how Naruto had done so much for the village and how talented he was and how unjust it was to do such a thing. He had been outraged, he still was, but he could do nothing. There was so much he wanted to say, yet a shinobi needed to have a firm handle on their emotions.
-----
It took them two days to skirt up the road and reach the coast, but it was well worth it. Not only did they encounter no one, the sight was perfect. For miles and miles you could see nothing but clear blue sky and water. The smell of the sea filled their nostrils and they could hear the sound of gulls from above them.
Naruto seemed to be in a much better mood, but still a little disgruntled. They had not kept on with his training, as Kakashi admitted they would need the time they gained and the impracticality of it all. Kakashi just hoped that Naruto would be enough as he was.
They stayed only briefly before heading due east. In a few hours they were there. The first sight was breath taking, as giant stone walls appeared before them, higher than the walls that protected Konoha and much more elegant than the ones around their home village.
There was no one outside the gate, no one apon the walls, no one in sight at all. Kakashi was stumped until he felt the hands around his ankle's. Immediately he let himself fall forward and bracing himself pulled the enemy up with his legs, fliping them over his body as he rose to his feet. The man rose slowly, though not out of pain, only his own arrogance, "Very well, you may enter." And with that he turned and signaled to… there was still no one there that Kakashi could see without the sharinagan, but the gate swung open none th less.
He looked back though and saw three more pits where the others had managed to uproot their opponents, Naruto's having replaced him when he was pulled under, Shikamaru's sporting a circular burn on his forehead and Neji's having been pulled up before he was ever toutched.
"Before you may enter, Kakshi Hatake," said the man, who sported a bown flak jaket, a full head of grey hair, and a nose slightly too big for his face, "we must identify your fellow Jounin and Genin here." Said the man whom he had pulled up. The man smirked when he saw Naruto's scowl but said nothing else.
"This is Neji Hyuga, Jounin of the Leaf, Shikamaru Nara, a Chuunin of the Leaf, and Naruto Uzumaki, Chuunin of the Leaf. You already seem to know me though."
"Well of course I do, I was a shinobi of the Rock during the last was, we have fought against each other before." A big grin came to the mans face, "Tell me, do you still have that scar on your back that I gave you? I still have the one you gave me."
At this Kakashi rolled his shoulders uncomftorably, he did indeed remember this man now. 'He could make things difficult for me.' "Well we are not enemies today, I come with my team to offer a peace treaty with the Village Hidden in the Mind. All we ask is to speak with your leader."
"Yes, yes, yes. Though itmay take a littlewhile, we are very busy and he more than any of us. Perhapes we may have a chance to talk while you're here, remember old times long past. I do wish to see that amazing eye of yours again, and that wonderful chakra blade…"
Naruto had a lot on his mind now, none of it that bad really, 'All those jutsu, strong opponants, and pleanty of different foods! THIS IS HEAVEN!' He had no idea of the hell it would be.
