txy04_Naruto_Gaiden
2007-12-13 - initial file created, notes transferred from DWMB saves
2007-12-25 - hoverboard snippet
2008-04-23 - objectives organized
2008-05-02 - Hinata's scene and the Academy as the new intro
2008-05-08 - team meeting and swing scenes
2008-05-09 - Mizuki talk to end
2011-11-13 - FFn edit, several significant improvements in phrasing
Hyuuga Hinata walked slowly toward the Konoha Ninja Academy like a quiet little ball of misery, or a lone cloud scudding across the sky unnoticed and far from the sun. It had been months since she'd seen Naruto, or even heard about one of his big pranks that once had set the whole village talking... Not that she'd ever want to see him in trouble, but somehow it seemed like he'd just disappeared from Konoha. Even Sakura, that he'd used to have such a cute crush on, or Kiba and Shikamaru that he'd skip classes with sometimes said they hadn't seen him when she finally got up the courage to ask.
Sakura had guessed that he must have dropped out since his grades were poor, and the rumors said he'd already failed the year-end exam and repeated once. She didn't want to believe that though; he'd never been in the same class but he was the same age as them, so it should have been his final year as well.
Sometimes, she felt like she was disappearing herself, like she was sinking forever into the shadows without the light of the person she admired to guide her out of their clutches. Her father hadn't even spoken to her to tell her he was disappointed in weeks. It wasn't that she had become any better, he just hadn't acknowledged her presence, even that much. She was pretty sure Iruka-sensei hadn't missed her at roll call yet, but he never seemed to call on her for answers any more, either.
Even Kurenai-sempai, the chuunin who'd collected her when she started at the Academy and who'd seemed to make a point of talking to her every few days and trying to get her to eat bigger lunches, hadn't been around lately, not since she'd told Hinata she was going to attempt the Jounin Exam. She hoped that was just because a jounin had no time for useless people, and not something worse... the red-eyed woman had been kind to her. She shrank further into her over sized jacket at the thought.
Clutching the bag with her texts and homework scrolls closer to her chest, Hinata tried to convince herself that he was fine. She just knew Naruto would never have quit, no matter what Sakura said! If she could just see him again, she'd, she'd definitely... "Naruto-kun..." she sighed, sadly wishing she could believe she'd be bold enough to talk to the boy if she saw him.
"Eh? What is it?" The voice was unexpectedly loud and close behind her, making Hinata squeak and jump in shock. Spinning around she found herself face to puzzled, foxy face with the object of her musing. The Hyuuga heiress felt her throat close up with shock, and her face burning in a deep blush. He was there! He was wearing a hitae-ate! He was looking at her! He was...! He...!
Hinata made a few inarticulate vowel sounds, then her eyes rolled back and she started to fold up, brain overloaded by racing thoughts and the rush of blood to her head.
Legend of Explosive Youth Part Four
Team Explosive Youth: A New Skill! The Explosive Power of Youth Cannot be Denied!
Naruto caught the collapsing girl by the shoulders with a flustered squawk, clutching her to his chest as she slipped toward the ground. "AH, AAH!" he panicked, "WHAT WAS THAT! WHAT?" He traded worried and confused looks with Rikou, not clinging to his arm as they walked along for once, and gibbered, "I didn't do anything! I was just walking and heard my name and turned around and she got all red and passed out! You saw, right, right!"
"I didn't hear anything," the tall girl replied, "but as for the rest... Maybe she's not feeling well? No hitae-ate but she has a kunai pouch, so she's probably an Academy student. Let's take her there, since it's close, and the sensei will know what to do. Here, I'll help you get her on your back to carry her, and get her bag and your chakra board."
*Moving? Warm...* Someone was carrying her piggy-back? Hinata opened her eyes and looked to see who it was, only to swoon again when she realised it was Naruto she was riding.
And again.
And the third time.
It wasn't until she roused to see Iruka-sensei's worried face as he gently slapped her cheeks that she managed to hold onto consciousness, shaking her head that she was fine and hurrying to her seat as she realized that it hadn't been a dream, that Naruto was in fact still in the classroom with another, unfamiliar girl, looking at her with concern.
Seeing the shy girl scurry to her usual seat in the back, Iruka suppressed a sigh - he knew he should make a bigger effort to reach out to her, but it was hard enough keeping the loud, lazy, and trouble-making students in line; though the young Hyuuga might not be a prodigy she was solidly in the top half of the class rankings and somehow just wasn't that noticeable. Considering that he was trying to train ninja, traits like that weren't exactly undesireable - on a mission, her and her team mates' lives might depend on the ability to blend into the background. Still, he felt guilty sometimes.
Thinking of trouble makers, the chuunin shot a glance at the orange-jacketed demon host still loitering near his desk and the carefully neutral-faced Mizuki. He'd never had the boy in his own classes, but the stories he'd heard in the staff room! He tried to stifle the automatic dislike, it wasn't as if he'd ever personally suffered from one of the brat's pranks, and he knew Sandaime had said he wasn't really the demon made human, just an innocent who'd had the bad luck to be born in time to be used in the sealing, but still...
He'd heard that the boy's team had just returned from a mission, and his teacher's instincts provided a way to try salving his conscience on that score and get the class into a receptive frame of mind for the review lesson he had planned to prepare for the final exam tomorrow. Making up his mind, he called, "Quiet, everyone. Class, this is Maito Rikou and Uzumaki Naruto, who graduated last term, and just got back from a long trip outside the village." Turning to the two genin, now wondering why they were being introduced, he asked, "If it's not troublesome, perhaps you could tell the class how things you learned here helped you on your mission?"
Naruto bounced excitedly and beamed, obviously thrilled to be asked to talk. Rikou nodded energetically as well, replying, "Of course! To fan the fires of their youthful spirit... it's practically our duty as ninja of Konoha!"
"Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "Gai-sensei would be ashamed if we didn't give it one hundred percent for their springtime of youth! No, two hundred percent! A thousand!"
Meanwhile his assistant sidled over and hissed in Iruka's ear. "What are you doing! Don't you want that.. THING out of here as soon as possible? What if it attacks the students!" Iruka gave Mizuki a searching look, then quietly ordered, "Go and get the targets set up for shuriken practise outside. I'll bring the class out when we're done in here."
Seeing how buzzed her team mate was, Rikou let him lead the discussion, watching fondly as he sucked up the attention like a sponge.
"Yeah! Yeah! The basics are super important, like Gai-sensei always says, because a weak foot can't support a strong ninja! Like, when that missing-nin bastard from Hidden Snow suddenly appeared and slashed Gai-sensei with his chopper-thingy, and Gai-sensei escaped with a simple kawarimi! Or when they had Lee all tied up in their grapples and Rikou-chan cut him loose with thrown kunai! And then when we were fighting all those goons while Gai-sensei and Ero-sennin handled the Snow bastards, and I kept them all confused with bunshin so they didn't know who was real!"
Getting the feeling he may have left himself open, Iruka cut in, "That all sounds very... exciting... but a little more dangerous than a mission a rookie genin team would be given."
"Well, it was only supposed to be a message delivery for Jiraya the Frog Hermit," Rikou explained, "but things got a little difficult. There was a gang smuggling ninja tools from Snow Country, and they had a couple of nuke-nin to help them... it was supposed to only be a C-rank mission, but with youth and spirit we overcame all limits, and triumphed with the explosive power of youth!"
"Yeah, yeah! It was so cool, Gai-sensei summoned this BIIIG turtle to shield everyone from that crazy combo-ninjutsu that the Snow-yaros totally ripped off from our 'Murasu' and then he was all like bang! Pow! Zoom!" the blond enthused.
Seeing the bewildered looks on the students' faces and Iruka's waning patience, Rikou decided to step in again. "The question was about Academy basics, though," she reminded her companion. She pursed her lips for a minute, then said thoughtfully but loud enough for the class to hear, "It's not so much that the Academy techniques get used so often directly, but when you do need them you need to be able to do them fast and well, like in the examples Naruto-kun mentioned before. More importantly, they're the foundation for all the more advanced skills you'll learn as a ninja. There was this time we were training with Tousan, even before graduating and getting him as our jounin sensei..."
"Maaa, Gai-senseeeeei," Naruto had complained, "Why do we only train in taijutsu! That's Lee's specialty! I want to learn a cool ninjutsu, yeah! You're a jounin, right, you gotta know lots of cool ones. YEAH, YEAH! NINJUTSU!"
"I remember that!" Naruto exclaimed. "I thought Gai-sensei was really mad for a minute, but he had a good lesson, dattebayo. He gave me a good knock to get my attention, then he was all like 'NARUTO! Heed my burning message!'" the blond explained, using his best impersonation of his mentor's voice. He'd obviously taken the words to heart, as he repeated them verbatim despite his usually notoriously bad memory for abstract concepts. "'Regardless of your specialty as a ninja, you must have a solid knowledge of the basic skills, and taijutsu is the MOST fundamental skill of a ninja! Strength and speed of the body, cunning tactics, excellent chakra control, skill with standard tools, and a thorough grounding in ninjutsu theory to quickly recognise and counter an enemy's techniques! These are the basics of shinobi!'"
Even if she was privately sure that she was lacking in all those basics, even if Naruto was only there for a few minutes, even if that other girl was a little -too- familiar with him... it was still the best day Hyuuga Hinata could ever remember at the Academy. The smile and well wishes Naruto gave her when they finally left bouyed her through the review on Bunshin, shuriken practise, and even through dinner that evening, where somehow the entire serving dish of rice and vegetables in front of her place vanished without her noticing. The next day, the day of the exam, she was more her usual self, but so brimming with energy that she just couldn't help but face the tests with a tiny bit of enthusiasm - she even smiled when Iruka-sensei congratulated her as she collected her hitae-ate, a full smile with teeth and everything!
Naruto-kun HADN'T given up, he'd become an amazing ninja just like she'd always been sure he would. He'd even spoken to her - told her he knew she'd get better soon and wished her good luck! After a long cold winter, the springtime had returned to her world. How could she -not- smile, just a little bit?
From the blazing wildfire an ember was blown free, and a tiny new flame was kindled.
"YAHOOOOOO!"
Not so long ago, a certain ninja tool was captured and taken as a prize by a young Hidden Leaf genin.
"YAHOOOOOO!"
Through the use of this tool and a bit of chakra manipulation similar to the tree-climbing and water-walking control exercises, it is possible to move along nearly any solid or liquid surface at a high rate of speed.
"THIS ROOOOOOCKS!"
Of course, it can also be used in various ways as a potent weapon, as can practically any other piece of ninja gear, but all Naruto cared about at that moment was how incredibly fun it was zipping through and around the streets of Konoha slalom-fashion, like an orange and green whirlwind of chaos. Not that he realized quite how much chaos was involved, either, but between the shock factor and the wind from his slipstream, the disruption was considerable.
"YOOOOOOSH! WE FLY WITH THE WINGS OF YOUTHFUL SPIRIT, NARUTO!"
And that was without even taking into acount the fact that Rock Lee was balancing behind him, the extra weight counteracted by pumping more power into the hoverboard. The boy had been feeling a bit left out when his team mates finally got around to trying out the device that morning, lacking the ability to channel enough chakra to activate it. Fortunately, he has a good friend whose chakra runneth over, and who is all too happy to have something fun to share and even more so about a friend to share it with.
"YEAH! YEAH! EXPLOSIVE POWER, YATTAAAA!"
Or... perhaps... unfortunately?
That afternoon, Gai greeted his students with an unusually stern face. It wasn't entirely unexpected, once the boys' wild ride had finished it hadn't taken them long to realize the amount of havoc they'd caused, and the bulk of the day's Self Rules after that had involved doing their training excercises while helping to repair what damage they could... Where the villagers didn't just curse them and run them off, at least.
Having recently learned the real story of the kyuubi's attack twelve years before, they were hyper-aware of the way most of the adult inhabitants of Konohagakure still blamed Naruto for the terrible losses it had inflicted. To tell the truth, both of his friends were slightly awed by how well he took it; it seemed that finally understanding the reason for the cold looks and harsh words, even if they were undeserved, had opened a damper on the hearth of his spirit, and being the object of such treatment could no longer force it shut.
If not for having taken responsibility on their own Gai would have assigned several days of heavy punishments (in the form of intensive special training, of course, and in highly public view) but as matters stood he decided a verbal scolding would be enough, combined with a return to D-rank missions for a while. Even he found those dull and uninteresting, despite the opportunity to add Self Rules until they at least offered a physical challenge.
"Ah, my students," he greeted them upon arriving at the team's usual training area. "I heard there was a large disturbance in Konoha today... It is good to enjoy the springtime of youth, but it is also important not to become too troublesome." Suddenly he grinned, in a way that made it all too clear that he shared more than the ideals of hard work and loyalty with Naruto. "Except to my eternal rival Kakashi," he amended, "whose hip attitude requires truly EXCEPTIONALLY youthful behavior to overcome!"
Naruto giggled at the memory of the ridiculous challenges - and forfeits - his mentor had a habit of presenting to the lackadaisical jounin. *The idea of Gai-sensei as a trouble-making joker like my prank-obsessed days is just too funny!* he thought.
He set that thought aside however in favor of asking, "Ne, Sensei, it was fun to have a day off to catch up on physical conditioning, but what was your meeting about? Was it super-secret? Was it about that 'Chakra Armor?' Do we get to go look for Ero-sennin again and bring him back to Konoha? Or, or, was it a super high-class mission request, and now we're escorting a lost princess who's targeted by criminals and an evil pretender to the throne!" As his imagination began to run away with the possibilities the foxy blond bounced more and more wildly in excitement.
Overcome with pride in his student, Gai swept the boy into a manly embrace. "OOOOH NARUTO! YOUR YOUTH IS SHINING BRILLIANTLY!" he cried.
"Ooh! GAI-SENSEI!" the blond called right back.
"NARUTO!"
"GAI-SENSEI!" all three genin replied, Lee and Rikou latching on from either side.
"OOOH! MY CUTE STUDENTS!"
A few minutes later, after they'd all settled down and Naruto had repeated the main point of his question, the tall jounin shook his head. "Though your willingness to serve is commendable, Naruto, such missions will not occur for a while. Though all of you have fanned the fire of your youth to impressive heights already, you are still just cute rookies. The meeting was not secret, it was merely called for all jounin sensei so that those who wished to nominate genin in their care to participate in the upcoming Chuunin Selection Exam in Iwagakure could do so."
"Chuunin exam!" Naruto's excitement returned threefold, quickly spreading to the others as well, and a babble of eager questions filled the clearing. "When is it?" "Is it hard to get to Hidden Stone?" "Will it take us a long time to get there?" "Should we bring special equipment?" "Will there be lots of strong guys there to fight?" "Yeah! Yeah! Chuunin exam! Dattebayo!" "With the power of youth..."
They tumbled to the ground as Gai delivered three all but simultaneous smacks to their foreheads to make room for his words. Lee and Rikou rubbed at the light stings left behind while Naruto's hitae-ate served its primary purpose well. "Like I said," the jounin repeated, "you are still just cute rookies. Though your youthful spirits have soared to great heights there is still a wide open sky above! That Chuunin Selection Exam, it's a test that risks death, against the best of all the Hidden Villages. Build your fire of youth higher still with the solid wood of experience, then I will enter you in it!"
It was a good attempt, but the bowl-cut man could see that his words were still a let down after his genin had worked up such youthful passion. Unable to bear the disappointment in their eyes, he quickly confirmed that they would be returning to a normal mission schedule the following day and dismissed them.
After the team meeting Naruto wandered through Konoha, not exactly dejected, but hardly his usual energetic self. He eventually found himself on the swing hanging from the tree outside the main gate of the Konoha Ninja Academy, watching the just graduated class of new genin meeting their families and celebrating. Even the folded chakra-channelling board on his back seemed to droop on its strap.
In those lonely days before he'd met even Lee, he'd often ended up here when he was feeling sad, and even as he straddled the rope to perch sideways on the wooden seat he was cheered up slightly by the thought that those days were truly gone for good - that his friends knew the worst secret anyone could be hiding, one he hadn't even known about himself, and that they had not left him.
The whisker-scarred blond knew that Gai-sensei would never dream of holding them back unfairly, that practically the man's whole existence was focused on helping them run ever faster into a brilliant future as the strongest shinobi possible, but those few minutes when he'd thought they were going to be allowed to enter the Chuunin Exam had been so... So -shining!- To be let down like that...
"If only there was a way to prove to Gai-sensei that we were strong enough, that our youth and guts are enough to overcome even the Chuunin exam, 'tebayo," he said with a sigh.
"Hm, well, maybe I can give you a hand, Naruto-kun." The unexpected voice came from above, making the boy squawk and flail as he jerked in shock and lost his balance on the swing. "EHH! It's you!" Looking up at his surprise visitor, he recognized the white haired Academy sensei who'd been sent to do something outside while he and Rikou were visiting the day before. "Pirogi... no... Nikuman... no... Miso..."
The chuunin forcefully swallowed his irritation and said gently, "Mizuki."
"Yeah, yeah, Mizuki-sensei! Uh, sorry, I kinda forgot your name..." Naruto laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head.
Smiling, he replied, "It's okay, Naruto-kun, we've never met for long." The man leapt gracefully down from his perch and suggested, "Why don't we talk some more about your problem where it's a little more private."
The two of them quickly enough found a balcony to perch on, well above street level and without any living presences inside the apartment it opened from. "Gai-sensei is a person who takes his responsibilities seriously," the chuunin explained there. "Because he has seen many things as a ninja, he wants to protect those placed in his care... He wants to be sure you are strong enough to succeed at your dreams."
Mizuki smiled kindly at the genin beside him. "It's probable he sees some of himself in you," he confided. "A student gifted with no special talent in the ninja arts, who still graduated early through sheer guts and hard work to gain skills that exceeded the talented." The white haired Academy sensei became more solemn as he continued, "And yet, because of conflicts in the world and his rivalry with the genius Kakashi, he threw himself into certain situations that were almost too much for even him. Now, like a parent, he wants to prevent his students from doing unnecessary things."
"Like... A parent?" Naruto thought of how Gai treated Rikou, and realized that it really was about the same as Lee and himself. He didn't really know what to make of the idea, it seemed too strange and precious to face head on, as if thinking about it might somehow tarnish it.
The chuunin hummed thoughtfully and considered the boy through the screen of his windblown hair. *Actually, I have no idea what the loud idiot's childhood was like, and the notion of -Maito Gai- wanting to prevent people from doing unnecessary things...! But it sounds good, and it's steering the demon brat in the right direction. Another nudge or two and...* "It might be difficult," he said, "but try to understand Gai's feelings, even if it's an unusual circumstance for you."
Lost in thought, Naruto rubbed circles on the tops of his jumpsuit clad knees. At length, he replied, "Even then... I still wish he'd nominated us..."
*Gotcha!* Pulling his feet up onto the balcony so he could turn and face the boy, Mizuki beamed at him. "Well then, I'll tell you a special secret... A test only the best rookies are offered, to prove they're ready for more important things in the ninja world."
A few hours later, the duplicitous chuunin was feeling quite a bit less smug. He'd sent the brat into the Hokage's residence all of ten minutes ago, and he'd already been caught! He could hear the old geezer questioning him now, and when the demon inevitably sold -him- out... Mizuki cursed and got ready to flee. *If I don't have Konoha's treasured scroll to buy my way into another village's protection, it'll be much harder...*
Inside the large but modestly appointed home, Naruto was desperately trying to think of a plausible reason to have come to see the Gramps so late... And then, he remembered one. Doing his prankster's best to look like he hadn't just been sneaking around he looked seriously up into the old man's wizened face. "I thought it would be better to be alone, when I asked you a certain question," he explained. "After that mission, Gai-sensei told you I found out about the fox, right?"
His stern expression faded away, and Sarutobi Cheishamaru squeezed his eyes closed for a moment as the exhaustion of a long day caught up with him. He reflected sadly on the hardships this young boy had been forced to face, and how poorly the Fourth's last wishes had been carried out. "Yes," he replied, "and also that you told your team mates, and how they accepted it." He smiled fondly down at the lad, continuing, "While I am happy that you found such good friends, and it is your right to tell whomever you may choose, I hope you understand that unfortunately, not everyone is likely to be so accepting, Naruto."
Nodding sagely, the blond genin replied, "I know... It's unfortunate, but not everyone has the brilliant youthful spirit of Lee-kun, Rikou-chan, and Gai-sensei. But, because they are my precious friends, they deserved to be entrusted with it!" He threw a thumbs-up then, with a foxy grin that glinted in the light of the paper-shaded raiton lamp overhead.
Naruto held his Nice-Guy Pose for a few seconds before getting to the point. "But, that time in Kirika, Ero-sennin mentioned something else... I asked him if I had a family, and he said I should ask you because the details were classified by that same law to protect me from enemies my father had."
"Your father..." the old man said, contemplatively. "He was... an amazing ninja. Because of his skill, he gained high rank and even political power... But those things also made enemies, from those in other countries who felt the fangs of that skill, and those in the Leaf who desired power for themselves." He shook his head gently and ruffled the earnest looking boy's hair, so painfully similar to his father's. "It's still too soon to reveal that, I think... But I'll give you another clue, he was a lot like you are."
Shrugging indignantly out from under the Hokage's hand, Naruto grimaced and pouted, "Stingy! I'll show you, Ojiji! My latest super ninjutsu!" With a single seal and a burst of smoke, he transformed into a nubile young woman, only a few lingering wisps of smoke giving the faint illusion of modesty as she blew a kiss at Sarutobi. As the tired old man collapsed with a massive nosebleed he giggled mischievously before saying, "I call it 'Oiroke no jutsu!'"
*This is even better than not getting caught,* the boy thought as he made his way to the Hokage's personal library, where the scroll that was his target was supposed to be stored. *I got to find out a little more, and even if Hokage-jiisan checks and finds the scroll missing he'll think it was just another prank for revenge!*
Just before Naruto yelled loud enough that the traitor would have known his plan was still moving, his nerve broke and Mizuki began roof-hopping, fleeing desperately in hopes of getting outside the wall of the village before the brat spilled everything and the Hokage called out the ANBU.
Something else moved in the darkness behind him, and he chanced a look back. *Is that... Damn! It was a mask! They're after me already!* A few buildings back, one of those feared manhunters was following, the moon's pale light flashing from a white mask as the other nin gained on him. Quickly judging their relative speed the new fugitive pulled out a stack of explosive tags and fanned them between his fingers, slapping them against a ridgepole and arming them with a few seconds' delay as he bounded onward.
Haruno Rin, newest Candidate Inductee of the elite ANBU, was on a dango run for her cousin and squad captain Ichimaru when the world suddenly erupted in fire. She silently thanked the designers of the uniform for including the mask as a shard of roofing tile that would have ripped a bloody gash in her cheek and could have ricocheted off the cheekbone to damage her eye whacked into the sturdy facial guard hard enough to set her tumbling as she sailed through the air and glanced off it harmlessly. Well, harmlessly to her, judging from the sound of the hit it probably left a big crack... but even if so, and the mask had to be replaced, she was definitely going to keep this one for her souvenir shelf.
Landing roughly before 'rising' into an easy crouch on the wall of another building as more tiles and wreckage fell around her, she quickly thought over the situation. There'd been some one else ahead of her on the same route - they were wearing a standard Konoha chuunin uniform but clothes meant little - and that had to have been at least a dozen explosive tags. She hadn't even touched the roof before it exploded, so the trap had to have been either timed or remotely triggered, and she hadn't detected a triggering chakra pulse either. That still meant whoever it was had intentionally left a potentially lethal trap in her path, and even as a mere 'Candy-ass' only provisionally accepted in the ANBU that was a capital offense - an ANBU was assumed to be acting on the Hokage's authority any time she wore the mask, and attacking her was treason.
There were three primary traits that had gotten her into the elite unit so young. The enhanced physical toughness the Snake-Bastard's experiments had left her with had already done its part, letting her resist the force of the explosion and landing without appreciable harm. Her tactical sense (it was the Ansatsu /Senjutsu/ Tokushu Butai, after all) had let her cut to the heart of the situation in a flash but with only one, fleeing opponent and only herself (for the moment, at least) to give chase the was no need for fancy maneuvers. Speed, though... That was her strongest specialty, superior even to some Jounin, and it was just what was called for now.
She was gone before the last tile hit the ground, and less than half an hour later a rather... irked... Morino Ibiki set about interrogating the fool who'd dared to put an explosive trap in the path of one of his subordinates... on the roof of the ANBU Division Commander's own house, no less.
Suffice it to say, Mizuki told all, with absolute honesty and (one might say) excruciating detail. He even admitted to how he tricked the Uzumaki kid into it, or at least he after feeling the penalty for lying.
Since he'd heard Sandaime personally catch the kid in the act and civil discipline for that boy had been ruled the exclusive purview of the Hokage after certain incidents when he was younger, the matter was considered closed, and no one thought any further about the Scroll of Forbidden Seals once the reports were complete and appropriately sealed copies made for the local records, Archives Division, and the Hokage's office.
It was nearly dawn by the time Naruto had 'Kage Bunshin' down well enough to feel confident in the skill, but he had to admit - it was even more awesome than summoning. He'd still never gotten a frog big enough to talk except that one time using the kyuubi's chakra, and he didn't dare bother Bunta-oyabun again unless it was a tight pinch. But with Kage Bunshin, he could become his own sparring partner! At least, once he got the hang of making less clones with a certain amount of chakra, so they had enough to recover a little instead of vanishing after a single hit. The next couple of jutsu looked really cool as well, it was too bad he'd have to leave soon for his morning training or Gai-sensei would get suspicious - he wanted to be really amazing with this special test, even if Mizuki-sensei had said he only needed to learn a single jutsu...
"Wait a minute!" he shouted, inspiration hitting like one of Gai-sensei's punches. "I can go train, and still study 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin' and 'Bunshin Daibakuha,' all I have to do is leave some kage bunshin to learn them and they can teach me later after they figure it out! And since they're me, it'll be easy to understand the explanation for once!"
He jumped up from the mossy root he'd been sitting on to rest for a few minutes, crowing, "Certainly, certainly, 'Kage Bunshin' is the best jutsu ever! Dattebayo!" He formed the crossed finger seal but paused before molding the neccessary chakra - it wouldn't do any good if the bunshin ran out of energy before he could come back and learn the skills from them, and he didn't think the Hokage would miss the scroll being gone for more than one day, if even that long. More importantly, it would probably be too late for Gai-sensei to say he'd changed his mind about letting the team enter the exams soon, so he'd have to learn as much as possible to show him by the end of the day.
The clones would have to use up chakra trying to learn the skills, too... he was going to need a whole lot to pull this off. He didn't really want to deal with such a thing again, but... "Ero-sennin said learning to control the fox's chakra was just a matter of hard work, and I promised Gai-sensei I'd never run from working hard to get stronger! I won't go back on my word, dattebayo!"
Closing his eyes he concentrated on the memory of how he'd felt when he was falling into the cliff-side gorge, and the huge cage with the demon lord locked inside. Thinking as 'loudly' as he could, he mentally shouted, *HEY, YOU NINE-TAILS ASSHOLE! LAST TIME YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT ME BEING STUPID AND WEAK, SO GIMME SOME CHAKRA! I'M GONNA LEARN AN AWESOME JUTSU AND GET STRONGER!* Then he started molding chakra, more and more, until it stopped being a relief, until it actually felt kind of draining, even more until he started to feel like a festival balloon all puffed up with air... and that was when the burning sensation started in his belly button, spreading rapidly across his abdomen and then to his whole body. His eyes screwed tighter shut at the half-remembered feeling, as if his bones had been replaced with a fire ninjutsu and were cooking him from the inside out, and thought hard about only forming a single shadow clone before finally releasing all that power through the seal pattern and into the world around him.
Naruto sagged at the release, breathing hard as he heard the characteristic musical squeal of molded chakra taking effect, then finally opened his eyes.
Half a dozen kage bunshin looked back at him, with the same slightly puffy left eye and grass stained jacket, and the same expression as they realized there were still a few kinks to work out in control over that jutsu. His body still hummed with energy, though, as Naruto realized as soon as his breathing normalized. That was good, it meant he wouldn't be too tired today despite missing a night of sleep.
"Breath, thought, action, victory, like Gai-sensei said," he told himselves. "Now we've got our breath back, so it's time for you guys to get thinking while I go into action with Lee, Rikou, and Gai-sensei! I'll come back as soon as our mission is over, so you can teach me these other cool moves and then it's victory and the chuunin exams! Dattebayo!"
"DATTEBAYO!" the bunshin squad shouted back. Seven identical Nice Guy Poses sent up a smile-glint glare that should have been dazzlingly bright, but was unusually manageable.
As he tree hopped away to join his team, Naruto idly wondered if the slightly purplish eyes were a flaw in his technique or standard for 'Kage Bunshin.' It was dark when he was practicing before, so he hadn't been able to see colors much despite the full moon.
Then he wondered if kunoichi kept their nails long to give a better grip on bark, because his were kind of getting to where he should trim them but if it worked as well as it seemed he might not bother as long as they didn't look too girly.
Then he thought about ramen. Three thoughts in a row before ramen came up was actually a pretty good record for Naruto.
Team Explosive Youth was just finishing up stacking the firewood they'd split for Kubome-ojisan when Naruto froze, blinked, and said, "Oh, so that's how it works!" Puzzled at this (odd even for them) behavior, his sensei and team mates stopped as well to look curiously as he seemed lost in thought, balanced on one leg with the other extended to take a step and carrying a load of fire wood easily twice his own weight. A few seconds later the rumble of a distant explosion rolled across Konoha, and he roused - only to toss the whole load into the air with a jerk as he shouted, "AAAAH! THE SCROLL!" and took off on his hoverboard with a thunderclap of displaced air and a small crater where he'd kicked off from the ground.
Having just set their own last loads down, Gai leapt after the abandoned logs and gathered them with style and youthful flair, simultaneously ordering, "Lee! Follow Naruto! Rikou and I shall catch up!"
Fortunately Kubome-ojisan's house was about as close as anything in Konoha got to his choice of training ground, so it wasn't a long trip and the fox boy was the first to arrive. It was a very relieved Naruto who found a single, swirly-eyed shadow clone still intact on the lee side of a boulder, the Scroll of Forbidden Seals lying open beside him where he'd been the last one left practising 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin' against the trunk of a nearby tree. Even that one popped when Naruto tried to shake some sense back into him, and all Naruto could figure was that the rest had gotten tired of waiting for this one and had already memorized the instructions for 'Bunshin Daibakuha' since it only used a single simple seal, and went to go practise that skill in a different clearing instead of waiting around any more.
Actually, he was pretty sure that was exactly what happened, which was wierd since there wan't any way to really tell thanks to the huge crater blasted into the forest and the only clone left vanishing before he could get it to say anything. What was really wierd was that he seemed to know how to do the two jutsu he'd left the clones to learn despite not having been able to have them teach him, reading the instructions as he cleaned the scroll brought each part back as if he'd worked on them for hours himself. Maybe that was what the scroll had meant about the mental imprint thingamabob from dispelling chakra?
Thinking about that kind of thing made his head hurt, so he concentrated on winding the scroll up evenly and not leaving any dirt or grass caught inside. He was double checking it for damage as Lee arrived, and just rolling it back up as Gai and Rikou came along afterward.
The Jounin immediately recognised the coding on the wrapper that marked it as being an S-rank secret document and demanded, "Naruto! Where did you get that scroll? It should not be here, lying in the forest near the remains of a suspiciously recent, large explosion!" He kept most of his attention on the surroundings, searching for any enemies who might have had something to do with the blast and the scroll's presence.
"There's no need to be suspicious, Gai-sensei!" the blond proudly proclaimed. "After I found out about the special test, I went and got this scroll from Hokage-ojisan myself, and trained all night with the power of youth! Watch, watch!" He formed the crossed hand seal and molded just enough chakra for the technique to work (which was still quite a bit, and hence much easier to measure than the normal bunshin had been), then announced, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" As planned, a single clone appeared, with only a tiny amount of chakra smoke to indicated wasted energy. "Next, 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin!' Sorry, clone guy, you're the target."
"Aw, boss! No fair!" the clone complained, but dutifully started running away around the rim of the crater. The original Naruto drew a single kunai and threw it after the retreating clone, then quickly did the needed seals and announced the technique, turning the lone blade into a hundred that flew trough the air with an ominous whistle before popping the clone and then dissipating themselves as well into so much drifting smoke.
"Okay! One More!" the bouncing blond shouted, popping out another kage bunshin before the astounded eyes of his teacher. Without waiting for instructions this time, the clone announced, "YOSH! I'll prove that the power of youth really IS explosive, dattebayo!" He jumped onto his (also cloned) hover board, skimmed down into the bottom of the crater and back using the wall as a ramp to get some serious air, and yelled, "Bunshin Daibakuha!" before blasting apart in a bright blue flash of chakra, creating a shockwave like the stronger sort of explosive tag that knocked all three genin off their feet.
"See, see? Mizuki-sensei said I only had to learn one jutsu to pass the secret test, but I got three, because no one gets strong doing just the minimum! I passed the test, so now we get to go to the chuunin exams, right, right?"
As soon as he heard the traitor's name Gai's eyes stopped shining and narrowed. He'd heard about the excitement the night before, but since the Hokage hadn't mentioned anything when they went to collect the day's mission he'd thought the matter settled. "Naruto..." he began seriously, "Did Hokage-sama give you this scroll to learn from? It is a very secret treasure of Konoha, which should have been far beyond your level."
Naruto laughed a bit sheepishly, "Eh heheh... Mizuki-sensei just said I had to get away, even if I think he meant I couldn't get caught... but when that gramps caught me we talked for a little bit and then I knocked him out with my other new jutsu, 'Oiroke,' and took it from his library..."
A few seconds later, a resounding bellow of "YOU FOOL!" rolled across Konoha as the explosion had minutes earlier. The unmistakeable voice of Maito Gai reassured the wary shinobi still heading toward the site of the disturbance, and while the ones who'd already reached it had stayed back too far to make out what exactly genin and sensei were saying, the frankly rather impressive jutsu demonstration and the fond but stern beating which followed told the story well enough:
One of the crazy jounin's mini-clones had gone overboard with a training excercise involving explosive ninjutsu, with predictable results. Most of them were only surprised it hadn't happened before or taken part of the village with it instead of uninhabited forest. All of them left before the punishment could turn into tear-filled promises of improvement and forgiveness, inevitably followed by the hugging and shining smiles and posing. Some things were too much for even hardened killers to stomach.
When all of that had finally been settled, Gai collected the huge scroll from his already nearly recovered student and sorrowfully proclaimed, "The spirit of youth refuses to be repressed, so I will forgive you, my impetuous student! Alas, I still cannot allow you to enter this series of exams, BUT! My cute genin shall be entered in the very next exam, at which time the true flowers of the springtime of youth will surely have bloomed! You will certainly dominate then, with the explosive power of your impassioned youth!"
It was nearing sunset when Team Explosive Youth returned the Scroll of Forbidden Seals to the Hokage, with numerous heart felt apologies and vows of added training to engrave the lessons learnt on their hearts. Since the ANBU report had been marked 'case closed' it had steadily been shuffled to the bottom of Sarutobi's in-box as he slogged through the daily mountain of paperwork. It was still there, unread, as he forgave Naruto for the offense in return for a promise never to use 'that jutsu' against him again.
(Would you like to know more?)
... Only Hinata could see the boy she likes showing a huge crush on another girl, and think how sweet it is that he's willing to go to such lengths just to try to be noticed, and admire the courage he shows in doing so. Though, I suppose it might have been different even for her if Sakura had shown signs of reciprocating.
Kurenai hasn't been around not because she's forgotten about Hinata or been injured, but because she's been busting her ass fulfilling the remaining requirements to get a genin team after making it to Elite Jounin in the exams. Like Tenten, one of her central goals is to prove kunoichi can be just as good as male ninja, and she's actually tied with Gai in third for age of making Elite Jounin after Itachi and Kakashi, and that without the dubious benefit of quick wartime promotions. Hinata being part of that year's graduating class and the interest she's taken in the shy younger girl's career are the other reason why she pushed so hard to be immediately eligible for a genin team, and she requested Hinata's future cell as soon as those requirements were met. Seeing no reason not to and in light of Kurenai having already formed a bond with the excessively shy girl, Iruka seconded the request once she passed the Academy final and Sarutobi has agreed.
Iruka's dislike for Naruto - Contrary to the standard fan view that Iruka formed a mentor/brotherly relationship with Naruto early in his Academy time, my own reading of the manga chapters and review of the first anime episode suggests that Iruka didn't really like him much before Sandaime's talk after the graduation test and the Mizuki incident, and if the trip to Ichiraku Ramen after cleaning the monument wasn't the first one it didn't happen more than a handful of times before that, and only because Iruka was fighting his own prejudices against the container of the demon vs. the kid's obvious lonliness echoing Iruka's own past, down to being the class clown. Since they haven't had even that much contact what with Naruto graduating before falling into Iruka's class's final year, there's not really any personal knowledge to base a genuine judgement on, just what Iruka has heard from various people and his own honest nature.
Haruno Rin was a character-bunny spawned by Darwithe, originally conceived in place of Sakura he aged her up a little and donated her for use in LoXY! I aged her up another year myself, making her 16 as of this appearance, and though it didn't actually affect this little segment adjusted her abilities upwards to better reflect my version of the Haruno clan's bloodline abilities. She was also the unfortunate subject of some of Orochimaru's experiments before being chased out of the Leaf, which, again, had very little showing beyond a mention of being unusually durable. She has a younger brother, Haruno Shima, who will get an even less glorious bit part later on, and her (deceased, Mizuki is her personal prime suspect for the rape and murder) mother was the only child of a successful bake. While her father was brother to Sakura's father he was more interested in civilian life, and they took over the shop together when the old man retired. He is rather unhappy that both of his children have entered the dangerous ninja lifestyle instead of continuing the bakery - he hopes that at least one of them will get it out of their systems in time to settle down, help out, and provide an heir before getting killed. Her name is properly spelled with the 'rin' meaning 'companion' but she prefers to use the one for 'cold.' She has no connection to Kakashi's genin team mate, who was jounin-sensei to Neshan, Kabuto, and Shino's (deceased) older sister.
Kubome - sunken/deep-set eyes (Interestingly, I found this word while searching for 'deep' for something else - the next listing was 'Kurenai' meaning 'deep red.' It makes me wonder if the red eyed character design came before or after the name)
Kage Bunshin - I'll be shocked if anyone doesn't already know this, but it means 'shadow clone.' The basic idea behind more power making them more durable is that with sufficiently trained chakra control they can reform from small disruptions - if they couldn't withstand any impact at all, they'd vanish as soon as they landed a punch, and we've seen them last longer than that. The cloned chopper works as a hoverboard because the bunshin are ultimately nothing but a packet of energy simulating real mass, and can move however Naruto believes they can move. With his fuuton affinity it would work as a weapon, too, but without the enhanced efficiency of the real thing. Of course, he doesn't actually know any fuuton techniques at this point, so the point is moot for now.
Shuriken Kage Bunshin - unsurprisingly, 'throwing star shadow clone' - a technique requiring far less chakra but greater control, Shuriken Kage Bunshin (name variable as required to match the weapon used) is a ninjutsu used on a thrown weapon to multiply it by whatever factor the user can spare chakra for, saving on carried equipment and overwhelming enemy defenses by turning each weapon thrown into a swarm. Naruto, of course, has the chakra for truly massive multiplication factors, and while he does study taijutsu of course, where he really goes whole hog is chakra control training. The problem is, those excercises are boring to write about, and every time I try to include them 'on camera' the scene is crap and gets deleted.
Bunshin Daibakuha - 'clone big explosion' - Supposedly, Itachi knows this jutsu; it's listed in one of the rescource books for him anyway. In my version, it's a suicide technique that only works on solid type bunshin - though it would kill a normal user, they wouildn't explode properly - by turning all the chakra in their body into a massive blast of force. Kage bunshin are actually the least efficient type for this as they have no integral matter to to be propelled by the pressure wave, but the large amount of chakra contained in one typically makes up for it. The amount of chakra in a part-kyuubi-powered kage bunshin, well, that's just nuts, as you can see, even when the amount of kyuubi chakra pulled out was relatively miniscule. This one just fit too well with the ongoing themes of the story to pass up.
To tell the truth, I'm not sure the direction the sun is shown rising and setting in Konoha is even consistent, let alone having the Hokage Monument looking due south, but that's how it is for LoXY! as the one thing I don't remember seeing is the monument casting a shadow over the city.
Omake: Tales from the Cutting Room Floor
"Your father..." the old man said, contemplatively. "Powerful Jedi was he. Strong in the Force."
O_o .oO(...)
YEARS LATER, HIDDEN RAIN VILLAGE:
"Yes, Naruto," the spiky-haired Pein intoned. "-I- am your father! Search your feelings... you -know- it to be true!"
(Actually... I may yet throw out everything post-Gaara-rescue, and definitely consider it less 'canon' and more 'second-hand gossip' in terms of reliability for my purposes. Minato's clan is already locked in as something besides 'Namikaze,' if Naruto is eventually revealed to have some sort of kekkai genkai it'll have to either not have shown up in the other member seen or come from his mother.)
EOF