Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"Windows to the Soul"
by Chronos Astral

Chapter 6:

'Dead Aim'


Naruto sighed for the nth time that day, as he waited for his 'Nii-san' from outside a modest weapons shop. Having grown tired of having to 'borrow' and 'return' the weapons they use for training, his surrogate older brother had finally decided to just buy the damned things with the savings they've earned from different odd jobs. Though the unnamed man was taking his precious time examining the different tools and blades. In fear of being denied of service or unreasonably charged higher prices, Naruto opted to wait outside. It was, however, taking a little longer than he thought it would.

Looking around from where he stood, he noticed that fewer and fewer people would glare at him now and not one would spit in his general direction. Within the company of his 'Nii-san' Naruto had never felt safer, and he had good reason to believe so considering that no one dared to beat him now with the exception of a few drunks, but his 'Nii-san' would lead them away without any conflict.

Glancing at his right, he noticed a girl his age staring intently at the different blades on display, one of her more defining features being her hair which was tied into two small buns. She was quite immersed in taking in every detail of each weapon. She put a hand on the glass pane looking as if she imagined herself holding the weapons. So distracted by her own musings, she failed to sense the presence of the blond Hokage-aspirant approaching.

"Hey..." Naruto called out to her, startling her a bit before she turned to him.

"Um... I was just... er..." The girl seemed to be a bit nervous of something.

He eyed the girl questioningly. "You were...?"

She clasped her hands together and looked at him pleadingly. "Please don't tell anyone. They'll think I'm weird."

"'Weird'?" Naruto asked while tilting his head to the side. "Why would anyone think that?"

The girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well... Others would think it would be weird for a girl to like weapons."

Naruto tilted his head again, this time to the opposite side. "Why? I don't think it's weird."

She looked surprised at that. "Don't you find it weird for a girl to like things like this?"

"Why would it be weird for a girl to like weapons? I like them too, though I kinda like fighting with my hands better." He said with a bit of a confused expression. He honestly did not know what her dilemma was.

She found herself shocked before narrowing her eyes in suspicion, drawing her face closer to his. Naruto felt a little uncomfortable in her scrutiny. "... What?"

"Nothing." She told him, settling back to a small smile. "I was just checking to see if you were lying."

"I don't know why you find it hard to believe me." Naruto grumbled, as if he felt a little hurt at her doubt.

She sighed and shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's just that the other girls think it's weird for a girl to like 'guy things'. They like to pick on me for it too." She said dejectedly.

"Why should you care about what they think? I think its neat that your interested in weapons." He said with an honest smile.

This surprised the bun-haired girl and made her flush ever so slightly. It wasn't everyday she was complimented for what the other children of her gender thought of as a strange liking. "Thanks..."

Naruto stepped to the spot next to her, eyeing the many tools with the same intrigue. "My name's Naruto by the way. Uzumaki Naruto. And if you it's okay with you, I'd like to know why you like weapons so much."

She thought it over for a moment before relenting, trusting the boy enough. "Well firstly, my name's TenTen. I don't have a last name because I'm an orphan. As to why I like weapons, well... When I was young, I heard the people from the orphanage say that my mom and dad died because they tried protecting me. It hurt knowing that, but at least I know that my parents were good people."

"I thought to myself, that if I could protect people like that too, maybe they wouldn't be alone like me. And if I knew how to use a weapon to protect others, I might succeed at this. So I studied about them, how they were made, what kinds there are, and all that. After a while, I found it really interesting and I've been secretly hooked to it ever since." She finished with a longing smile.

Naruto gave this some thought and asked. "Does that mean you want to be a ninja?"

TenTen, the fellow orphan, nodded. "Yup. I plan on entering next year, but I want to keep that a secret from the others at the orphanage."

"Don't be ashamed of wanting to be a ninja. There are many girl ninja's too." Naruto assured her.

"Yeah... But I don't think I'll be that strong since I don't have anyone to train me personally." She said a bit dejectedly. "As much as I like weapons, I have really bad aim with just about anything."

"Now that won't do." The blond said as he felt around in his pocket and pulled out a worn kunai with an orange cloth wrapped around its hilt. "Follow me please."

The girl gave the weapon a once over and complied, falling in step with the boy.


"So..." Sarutobi mused as he smoked his pipe within the confines of the Hokage's office, already feeling a migraine coming. "He plans to awaken it I see... I can't say for sure if that's a good thing..."

His student, Jiraiya, looked incredulous. "The boy's too young. We can't know for sure the consequences of it all, but we have to stop him. The power alone might consume him. That, or the pain..."

The Sandaime sighed tiredly, massaging his temple. "His intentions for Naruto are unknown as of the moment. From what we've gathered, he acts as if he knew nothing of the incident. He trains Naruto as if he were his own ototo. We can't separate the two, lest Naruto be so devastated as to activate it prematurely." The elder man blew out a long drag of smoke. "We can't risk it."

"Well we can't just stand here." The Sannin lowered his head, giving a swift glance around the room for any eavesdroppers. He whispered softly. "What of the Iwa?"

The Sandaime locked his hands together and rested his head on them. "For all Iwagakure knows, he is dead, and there is no one else in possession of his blood."

Jiraiya, though convinced that the Iwa wouldn't come snooping about, still couldn't shake the feeling of dread. "For our sake and the gaki's, let's hope my student pulls through."


"Here we are." Naruto gestured with his hand, to view the training area he had commonly used for practice with weapons. In the middle of the lush clearing of grass was a lone stump which sported many gouges and slashes. Painted on its bark was a bulls-eye mark, presumably used for target practice.

TenTen looked over the landscape with a touch of curiosity. "What will we be doing here?"

Naruto took his place a meters away from the log and weighed the kunai in his hands. Giving it a tentative twirl, he positioned himself for a throw, concentrating on the painted circle on the log. With a bit of concentration, he hurled the kunai at the stump, imbedding the blade into one of the inner rings of the target. He earned a small applause from TenTen.

"Wow, that was pretty good!" She cheered.

"Now it's your turn." He said, handing her a practice kunai from his pocket. Though blunt and a little lighter than its genuine counterpart, with enough force, it can still embed itself into a wooden surface.

TenTen gave him a hesitant look. "I don't know... I'm very bad at this..."

"Don't be like that." The blond encouraged her with a pat on the back and heartfelt smile. "If you give up already, you'll never be good at it. You just need to try harder." He walked up to her and held her waist firmly.

"Wh-what are you-!?"

"Relax. I'm just teaching you the proper position." He positioned her waist in the correct manner, applying the same with her arms, legs, and wrist. Awkwardly, she let him move her limbs around and stood still in her stance. "Good. Now try throwing."

Clumsily, she guided her wrist into an arc and lobbed it in the direction of the stump. Disappointingly, it landed a few feet away from the target. TenTen sighed dejectedly. "See? I'm not good at this at all..."

"Nonsense! Now let's try again..." And they tried... And tried... And tried... Each ended in failure which drove TenTen deeper and deeper into her gloom.

"One more time!" Naruto said. That failed.

"One more time!" Another failure.

"One more!" Fail.

"Another!" Fail.

"Again!" The last one was a tad different from the rest, considering that it hit Naruto's foot, earning a yelp of pain from the poor boy.

TenTen supported herself weakly on all fours, a large black haze of gloom and depression weighing heavily on her. Naruto noticed and sweated. "Er... Let's... take a break then?"

"What's the use?" She slumped lower into the ground. "I just plain suck at this..."

"Hey..." The blond Hokage-aspirant crouched next to her and rubbed her back tenderly. "You can't just give up you know..."

"I appreciate it, Naruto, but..." She paused to wipe a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't think I'll ever get better."

"That's nonsense!!" Naruto snapped at her, causing her to flinch in surprise. There was a fire in his eyes, one that screamed a fierceness and determination. He took out his worn kunai again and handed it to her. "This was the first kunai I've ever used. I've practiced with it for as long as I can remember. It was also the first weapon I've ever landed a bull's-eye with." He supported her body up and guided her to the proper position once more, the blade in her hands glinting in the glare of the sun.

"Naruto..."

"Listen... You will never get better if you don't try hard enough. You can't expect to be good right away at something right away. It takes much more than that." He finished adjusting her wrist properly and stepped back. "Take aim for what you pursue. If you love what you do, then do it. Enjoy it. Set yourself to work for your dreams, like what I do when I want to be Hokage. My Nii-san tells me to always work hard for my goals so that I may reach them."

"Take hold of your dream, aim for it, and let fly, Ten-chan." He finished with a heart-warming grin.

TenTen jumped a little upon hearing him call her name in an affectionate manner. Her cheeks tingled red and she looked away embarrassedly. She looked to the worn blade in her hand. Take hold... She gripped it tighter. She wanted to get better. Stronger.

Aim for it... She set her eyes on her target. To use weapons as a means to protect what she found precious. To wield them expertly and proudly without fear and with total confidence.

Let fly! She flung the kunai at the stump, more grace and finesse in her throw than all her previous ones. The sun's light shone on its metal surface once more, the orange cloth flapping wildly in the wind. There was a resounding Thwak!, followed by a brief silence.

"Y-You did it Ten-chan!" Naruto whooped and laughed. "It's a bull's-eye!"

True enough, to her great astonishment, it had pierced the dead center of the tree, the cloth tied to its hilt fluttering as if symbolizing her victory. Before she could speak a word, she was lifted upwards with immense strength, courtesy of the cheering blond. He held her at her waist, hoisting her up with mirth. The burning in his eyes were replaced with a sparkle of joy and pride. "It took me weeks to get something like that, y'know!? You have great potential!"

Still quite shaken, she barely squeaked a reply. "I-I do?"

He put her back down on the ground gently, supporting her wobbly frame that was caused by the sudden imbalance. "Of course you do! With enough practice and hard work, you could be a weapons master!" He grinned.

Touched by his words, TenTen looked away a little, embarrassed and blushing. "Why did you stick with me all this time?" She asked, genuinely curious as to why he would go out of his way to do all this for someone he's only just met.

"I had confidence in you, Ten-chan. I knew you could do it if you tried hard enough." Naruto put a caring hand on her shoulder, startling her a bit. "You're my friend Ten-chan, and friend's help each other."


The man smiled at the bun-haired girl's extremely red face as she stuttered incoherently. He saw the blond boy put a hand on her face, asking if she had a fever, which only made her impossibly redder and even more flustered. In her discomposure, she failed to see the boy's the brief faint glow in the blond's normally cerulean eyes.

"So it's true then..." A certain Sannin spoke as he appeared beside the man. "You do plan to awaken his bloodline."

"A bloodline you say? I wasn't aware that he had one. Quite a surprising kid..." The man mused in wonder.

"Don't play dumb! You know more than anyone else of his bloodline! It's a dangerous one at that! You mustn't activate it!" Jiraiya snapped at his former student.

The man tilted his head in query. "Why not? I heard bloodlines were quite nice to have as a ninja, and considering that Naruto wants to be Hokage, it will help in achieving his dream won't it?"

"You dumbass!!! The effects of his bloodline are much too dangerous!" The Sannin grabbed his shoulders and peered hard into the man's facet. "You, of all people, know that!!"

"That boy..." The stranger glanced at his young ward once more, seeing him cheer on his new friend as she launched one kunai after another with great succession at the battered stump. He beamed lightly. "He's a special one..."


"But Naruto..." TenTen argued, trying to deny his gift, but Naruto insisted once more.

"Keep it. Think of it as your lucky kunai from now on." Naruto pushed the kunai back into her hands. "Let it be a reminder of what you've achieved today."

And she did want to keep it. The kunai was rough and worn though still effective, and the orange attached to it seemed to remind her of her new blond friend. To her, it was symbol of her own determination and will as it represented the experience and skill Naruto possessed, something she hoped to achieve as well. A present she would be all too happy to accept. "Th-thank you... Naruto..."

He grinned. "You're welcome Ten-chan."


And done!

I might edit this a little later.

Reviews are appreciated!