Well now, sorry for the delay, college and all that; But here it is, the next instalment of Naruto's journey!
Chapter six.
"Before we begin, let me make one thing clear." Genkai muttered, as she levelled a stern glare at the blonde before her, "I'm only doing this as a favour to the Sandaime."
The woman snorted, shaking her head, "I normally don't take students on a whim, so if you screw up, you're on your own."
Naruto nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. His little trip through the wall had hurt, but he wasn't about to admit that to the crone's face until he got a proper measure of her.
"Tou-san says you're a demon slayer," the blonde asked, running a sceptical eye over the diminutive reiki master, "Is that true, or am I talking about someone else?"
Genkai cocked an eyebrow, intrigued at the boy's words, "That was my profession at one point," she admitted with a nod, "but I was under the impression that you were an orphan…unless…"
The reiki master looked at the boy with a frown on her face, causing Naruto to feel a slight probing presence in his head; this went on for a few seconds before it vanished as the woman snorted.
"Youko," she muttered, amusement in her aged tones, "they always did have a soft spot for children...I suppose you could do worse for a role model."
Genkai cleared her throat and nodded at him, hands held behind her back as she frowned again, "I'm not going to go into the leaf's ritualistic period of 'getting to know you'," she muttered, wry humour causing the side of her mouth to quirk upwards, "'cause quite frankly I couldn't give a damn."
She gave the blonde a meaningful look; "The old man guilt tripped me into this for teaching that blonde baboon of a Hokage the shiki fuujin technique to protect the village."
The aged sensei spat on the ground in disgust, "I never thought he'd use a child as a sacrifice."
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Naruto twitched at this interesting little tidbit, eyeing the reiki master with interest.
'This old woman taught the shiki fuujin to the Yondaime?' he muttered, impressed despite himself, 'Then perhaps she can tell me how to...'
"I can tell what you're thinking quite easily and the answer is no." Genkai said, causing the teen to look up, startled out of his thoughts.
"Though I COULD release the seal on you," the woman explained, looking deadly serious, "the process would kill both you and the Kyuubi, whilst the resulting backlash of power could very well wipe out everything within a five thousand mile radius."
Naruto shivered as the woman shook her head resignedly, "Even I can't cheat the Shinigami, and I don't intend to try."
The blonde let his body sag at the woman's words, 'Yet another dead end.' he muttered, eyes dropping, 'And here I was thinking we'd finally cracked it.
Genkai let the facts sink into her charge's head for a minute, before clearing her throat to make him look up at her.
"As your 'father' has no doubt told you, I specialize in reiki, or aura attacks."
She waited until she was sure he was listening before continuing, " I suspect you already know this, but Chakra is a combination of ones physical and mental energies." she smirked, "But what most people, even shinobi, don't know is that this mental energy is in fact their spirit, or aura."
Naruto blinked at this, ignoring a smug little grunt from his vulpine adoptive parent as the woman continued with her lecture.
"The use of chakra is how shinobi are capable of bending the elements to their will, but unlike simply focusing on ki or their aura, there are limits to how much chakra you can produce in a human body before the coils become overstressed." The reiki master held up a finger and grinned, "However, by increasing your ki, you are basically increasing your physical strength as well as your stamina, whereas by developing you're aura, you're effectively strengthening your life force, and thus, lengthening your lifespan."
Genkai watched as the boy did the math, smirking as his eyes widened in realisation, "That is why your 'father' and the other bijuu are so strong, they've trained both body and spirit beyond normal limits." She pointed at the blonde, or more accurately his navel, "that is the secret behind Kyuubi's limitless chakra supply, his body and soul have far surpassed the limits set in place by nature."
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Naruto stared at his hands in awe as the woman trailed off, wondering at the possibilities of attaining that level of power himself, before eyeing his 'sensei' critically.
"So what, you're here to teach me how to do the same?"
Genkai laughed at this, "Baka, human bodies aren't as durable as those of a demon, even with my help, you're aura couldn't grow to the level that your chakra would be infinite."
She tapped him on the forehead protector with her finger, causing the blonde to growl and bat her hand away irritably, "I'm here to teach you how to channel your aura as a weapon," she commented before snorting "I doubt it'll be truly difficult, since you've already mastered the ability of hiding it…to an extent."
Naruto raised an eyebrow; "You're saying I'm doing something wrong?"
"Not really," the woman muttered, turning on her heel and walking off slightly, "to shinobi, who track their opponents using chakra, you're practically invisible," she smirked and looked over her shoulder, "but to people like myself and all of demon kind, you're life force is only partially hidden."
Naruto snorted, shaking his head as he stood up, running a hand through his hair, "I'm hardly going to doubt someone even Tou-san has respect for," he muttered, before nodding towards the woman, "so shall when do we start training?"
Genkai humphed, shaking her head "Not here," She muttered sullenly, "I don't trust the people of this village like that Baka-saru Sandaime of yours, so I've gotten permission to train you at my temple back home."
Naruto blinked at the old woman's words, particularly at the word temple, before shaking himself back to attention as she began to walk away, hands behind her back.
"It's a long walk," Genkai muttered, "so don't expect to be back anytime soon."
She turned around eyeing him critically, "I'll be waiting for you at the village gates in an hour, if you have any goodbyes to say, do them in that time, 'cause we leave as soon as you get there."
Naruto nodded and used shunshin no jutsu to vanish in a swirl of leaves, causing Genkai to raise an eyebrow in amusement.
'Show-off.'
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Sasuke eyed the cycloptic jounin before him with trepidation; he didn't trust this guy any further than he suspected he could throw him, for starters, he had shown up a whole three hours later than all the sensei, his face was hidden behind a mask, and he had all the enthusiasm of a sloth, judging from his posture alone.
"I'd advise you against eating anything," Kakashi muttered, eyeing the genin before him with his sole visible eye, "You'd just throw it up later".
"Ne, Sasuke," an amused voice muttered form behind the jounin; "you got stuck with the weirdoes, didn't ya?"
Kakashi spun round to see what appeared to be a blonde, miniature version of himself, Icha-Icha book and all, sitting on the rail beside him, minus the Hitai-ate over his eye.
"And you are?" he asked, ready to attack should he prove to be a threat.
"Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde muttered, jumping off the rail, "Sasuke's friend, just dropping by to tell him I'm gonna be out of town for a while."
Ignoring the look of interest in the Jounin's eye, the blonde walked up to Sasuke, pulling out a familiar orange book and handed it to the Uchiha.
"I finished reading it," he muttered, smirking at the outraged squawks coming from Sakura, "here, hope you enjoy it."
Sasuke smirked and took the book, ignoring the girl's cries for him to burn it, "What about you?" he asked, knowing that Naruto would normally chew off his own leg than surrender his precious porn.
The Uchiha raised an eyebrow as the blonde held up another book, the cover slightly different than the one he now held in his hands. The title read: 'Icha-Icha Violence', and showed the woman from the first cover sending her pursuer soaring with an upper-cut.
"I got the second copy already." Naruto muttered dismissively, seeming to smirk behind his mask, "Maybe I'll lend it to you when I get back."
The two knocked fists, and then to the shock of all present, particularly Kakashi, embraced like brothers.
"See you around, pal." Naruto said, grinning at the Uchiha's team-mates in a very vulpine manner, "Don't let Pinky there hold you back."
Before Sakura could squeal out a reply, the blonde had used shunshin to disappear in a swirl of leaves.
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Kakashi raised an eyebrow, thoroughly intrigued by this interesting turn of events.
'I'd assumed that Sasuke was a typical avenger...all he hinted towards during the meeting was a burning desire to kill Itachi...' he frowned slightly in thought, 'maybe I should look at that file again to be sure...'
With that said, then Jounin reached for his book pouch to read his copy of Icha-Icha violence, firmly believing that all the world's problem were only a few giggles away.
Sasuke and co. would have to carry him to hospital, the reason being he had fainted and fallen from the roof after reading two paragraphs of 'Yami Choco: Authors cut.'
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Since it was sure to be a while before he set foot in Konoha again, Naruto decided to pull out all the stops on his pranking.
And by all the stops, we meant Prank war Armageddon here people.
The Hyuuga compound was painted a shocking pink colour, which apparently caused widespread panic amongst the entire clan as it was done in broad daylight, without a single Hyuuga clan member noticing until a few seconds afterwards. A cat found it's way into the Inuzuka kennels, causing a furious riot that threatened to rip the dog master clan's home down around their ears, it didn't help that said cat belonged to the fire Daimyo's wife, preventing the miffed Inuzuka's from simply chopping it into kibble for their partners. The Akimichi clan had to be treated for shock when they discovered that all the food in their larders was either expired or gone, and the stores and restaurants of Konoha having closed for the day in order to deal with an infestation of rats.
The academy suffered the worst apparently, as the toilets mysteriously exploded, sending waves of water and…stuff, surging down the halls. The fire Daimyo had been visiting at the time as a guest speaker, and was thus quite vexed when the tidal wave washed over him, ruining his silken robes and toupee. Iruka sensei thanked his lucky stars to be off on leave that day, as the enraged Daimyo had taken his anxieties out on the nearest authority figure, which happened to be Raijuta.
Most people had assumed the Daimyo were like all their forefathers, little snots with weak wrists that only cared about money. The fire Daimyo was at least two metres tall and built like a brick shithouse, it took ten men to get him to let go of the poor chunin's neck.
But the real clincher was that the Sandaime's crystal ball seemed to only lock in on the women's onsen, causing the old man to suffer haemorrhage-induced nosebleeds that landed him in the hospital, preventing him from finding the identity of this master prankster.
Needles to say, the blonde had a rather satisfied air about him as he walked down to the gates to meet with his sensei, whistling the entire way as he read his infamous orange book without a care in the world.
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"I trust you're ready?" Genkai muttered, staring at the blonde before her, who seemed to be carrying nothing more than a familiar looking orange book. She blinked at the title, before shooting him an interested look.
"Haven't seen that one before, is that the newest release?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, caught mildly off guard at her familiarity with his choice of reading material, earning an amused snort from the old woman.
"My former apprentice had a copy of it that he stashed at the temple," she explained, grinning at the memory, "didn't want his girlfriend finding it."
"Bet he got some good ideas from it." Naruto snickered, raising both eyebrows in shock as the old woman snorted.
"You've no idea."
Genkai shook her head slightly and looked him over, eyeing the obviously light travelling bag slung over the boy's shoulder.
"I did tell you to travel light," she muttered, pointing at the container, "but is that all you're bringing?"
Naruto put a hand into his coat and pulled out a scroll, "Storage scroll, if I need anything, it's just a hand seal away."
Genkai nodded, impressed at the blonde's train of thought, and then turned around glaring at the trees behind them.
"You may as well come out," she muttered, slightly annoyed, "I know you've been there from the start."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, turned to look in the direction of the woods as a figure slowly came into view.
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Hyuuga Hinata stepped out from behind a tree, looking decidedly nervous under the older woman's scrutiny.
"A-ano…Naruto-kun…" she stuttered, cursing herself for sounding so immature.
Genkai snorted, "I'll be waiting by the gates," she muttered, walking off towards the entrance to Konoha, "finish up and meet me there." She glared at the blonde over her shoulder, "and don't keep me waiting."
Naruto shivered from the force of the glare and watched as his sensei plodded of towards the gates, before turning to regard the shy girl before him.
"Is there something you wanted, Hyuuga-san?" he asked, looking the girl over, blinking as she began to fidget, not meeting his eyes.
'Why is she twiddling her thumbs?" he wondered, 'I heard the Hyuuga were the most prestigious clan in Konoha, the epitome of calm and reserved...why's she so nervous then?'
"Ano…" Hinata muttered after a moment of twiddling her fingers in silence, "I heard…you w-were g-going away…" she swallowed, "So I...wanted to…"
"See me off?" Naruto cut in, guessing correctly and was rewarded as the girl flushed and lowered her head.
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'She's cute when she does that.' He thought, taking in the girl's features and comparing them to his memories from the academy days. 'And she's not one of those stalker freaks Sasuke has to deal with.' He shivered slightly, as he watched her twiddle her fingers, 'and did I mention the cute part? If I had a tail, it'd be wagging right now.'
Shaking himself out of his thoughts the blonde smiled at the girl, nodding in thanks.
"I appreciate the sentiment Hyuuga-san," He said, before turning on his heel and waving, "even if you really could care less about whether I left or not."
Hinata trembled slightly and looked away, "A-ano…I d-do care…"
Naruto stopped, looking over his shoulder in interest as the girl's voice rose slightly.
"I…I've looked up t-to you since we were in t-the academy." the shy Hyuuga admitted, flushing, "You always s-seemed s-so calm, n-no matter what…"
Hinata blushed deeper and lowered her head, her courage beginning to wane in the face of the blonde's silence.
"I... respected you," she semi-whispered, "s-so when I heard y-you w-were leaving…I..."
The Hyuuga stopped, blinking as she heard the boy's footsteps approach. The startled girl managed to look up just in time for Naruto to gently cup her chin, tugging his mask down with his other hand.
"N-naruto-ku-!"
The girl's cry of surprise was cut off, her eyes widening as the blonde captured her lips with his own.
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Time stood still, and the ground seem to spin as the shy Hyuuga felt her legs grow weak around the knees. She kept telling herself it was all a dream, and that she'd wake up to find herself in her bed at the Hyuuga mansion. But the moment did not pass, and the blonde was still there, lips pressed gently yet firmly against her own.
To the casual observer the kiss only lasted only a few seconds; to the Hyuuga heiress those seconds felt like minutes, and those minutes like hours, and those hours…
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Suffice to say the girl would have been quite content if time stopped right there; but alas, such things must come to an end.
Slowly, almost tauntingly, Naruto broke away from the flushed girl's lips, and leaned in towards her ear.
"That's just the prelude" he whispered, voice lined with enough suggestive tones to satisfy even the most devout Icha-Icha fan, "when I get back…we'll continue...that's a promise."
Hinata felt herself flush scarlet at the thought, as the blonde continued, hardly daring to believe this was real.
"So until then, grow strong..." Naruto whispered, leaning in close to her ear for the last bit.
"I'll be waiting for you."
And with that, the blonde replaced his mask and turned on his heels, not noticing the poor kunoichi fall backwards in a dead faint.
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Genkai snorted as the boy showed up, a wry look on her face.
"Took you long enough," she muttered, raising an eyebrow, "What, you had to go all the way?"
Naruto gave her one of his fox-like grins, "Now where's the fun in that?" he taunted, "A little foreplay can set the mood far better than a quick romp through the grass."
Genkai frowned, though there was a hint humour in her eyes, "That's a fox's answer if I ever heard one."
Naruto snorted, "Did you expect anything less?"
And with that, the two set of on their journey, leaving a thoroughly disorganised Konoha in their wake.
Hyuuga Hiashi would later be quite surprised to discover that his eldest daughter was virtually throwing herself into her Jyuken training, almost as if she was possessed by the spirits of her long dead ancestors. It took considerable effort to get her to stop training long enough to eat, and whenever she wasn't training, she was walking around as if in a daze.
'If I didn't know any better,' Hiashi muttered, eyeing her as she sat staring out at the stars, 'I'd say she was...'
He shook himself and went back to his work, 'NAH! Couldn't be!'
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Oh but it CAN Hiashi...it most CERTAINLY can...
Next time on Naruto Gaiden;
(Preview music starts)
Genkai: Hn, you're even worse than the other Dimwit I had, can't last half a second.
Naruto: How can anyone do this you old HAG?!
Genkai: Hn, this old Hag'll outlive you by a good century.
Naruto: Next time on Cry of the Youko, Genkai's hellish training!
Genkai: We haven't even started the real training yet.
(preview music ends)
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Well? You like? R&R!