Chapter Eleven
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Before I start this next chapter, I would like to say that I will be getting to the more interesting parts of the story very soon. I've also decided to say somethings about what will happen in the story.
I will put a hold on adding couples into this story or I might not add any at all. If I do, there will be no yaoi, yuri, and none of those weird couples like Naruto and someone who is too old for him. (Kurenai, Anko, Tsunade, Shizune, etc.) Sorry.
There are no gender changes (Haku remains a boy…a very feminine boy.)
Naruto will not have a blood line trait and the kyuubi will not train him.
Once the story gets to the genin exams, it will follow the original story line but will be altered slightly.
I will not say anything about Naruto's sensei except that an appearance will be made in one or two more chapters.
There are certain things that I did not answer because it will be mentioned in the story later on.
Please leave any comments or questions that can help improve my story. Thank you
Enjoy!
The hues of puple, red, and blue twisted in the sky, forming a beautiful masterpiece as the sun said it's final goodbyes for the evening. The air blew calm and gentle and the bright moon made it's appearance over the horizon. Only one man watched the serene view with disgust in his eyes. He knew that this peaceful time was only an illusion of the mind. There could be no peace in the world of the shinobi, only wars. He knew from past experience that war was inevitable…he had the scars to prove it. He believed that the old fool who dared to call himself the Sandaime hokage was only living in a fantasy world that was so friendly…so trusting…so absurd. How that damned man ever beat him out of the title of hokage was beyond him. His ideas were realistic and logical while the so called "Professor" had a head filled with foolishness. Even his idea to help that Uzumaki child to grow strong just made him sick. Wanting to give that boy a sensei to train him…and from what he had been told, the old man had lost his mind completely. Sarutobi actually believed some old, bedtime story, legend would come to help that brat. Maybe it was finally time for him to take the title of hokage if Sarutobi was this delusional. They should of made that boy into a weapon like he had proposed. From what he had heard, Suna had created a living weapon of their own and whose to say that they would not use that weapon to obliterate Konoha. Sarutobi had called his idea preposterous and said that the boy needed to be raised like a regular child. He also says that Suna would never threaten their alliance by attacking Konoha….ignorant fool. He should know better that you cannot trust anyone in this world, because everyone was competing for one thing…power.
Sarutobi had forced him underground and his title as the great, war hawk was diminished. That is why he had created his own force of elite shinobi without Sarutobi's knowledge. Greater than those worthless piece of trash known as the hokage's Anbu Black Ops. Those men are not suited to carry the title of Konoha's elite ninja. No…that title rightfully belongs to his men…the ones that were trained under his watchful eye and guidance.
The Anbu Root Division.
This Division is the future strength of Konoha and the greatest military force the world will ever see. His men are trained as skilled assassins that will complete their mission…no matter what it takes. Unlike the Anbu under the hokage's control, these men have eliminated their feelings completely to make sure something so pointless as emotions do not jeopardize a mission. One of his most skilled students is a black haired boy of only eight years old. This boy is already able to kill without a second thought. To think that the demon brat could have this type of skill if Sarutobi was not so hard headed. That boy's skills are close to nonexistent and are not ever going to get better especially with that weak academy teacher currently training him and the young Uchiha. The only reason that he preferred the boy alive for now was what one of his men had told him. The council elders, Homura and Koharu, had asked him to have a member from his division to keep a close eye on the boy for the next week. At first he thought that it was a complete waste of time, he didn't expect to find some very interesting results in less than twenty-four hours. Apparently, the boy had tapped into the demon's chakra for a brief moment. The chakra of a demon is known to be lethal to a human, but this boy is able to withstand it and receive an incredible boost of strength and speed. Now if only he could harness that kind of power. It would have done that boy good if he had been trained into a weapon and the Uchiha kid would have been a nice addition into Root, but he knew he would never be able to attain those two boys with Sarutobi around. One day he will get his chance to rise again and show the world his true strength and genius and when that day comes, everyone will learn to fear and respect his name.
Danzo.
"Come on boys, it's getting late. We'll continue where we left off tomorrow." Iruka watched as the boys suddenly collapsed to the ground and laid there panting and unmoving. They had just finished another set of pushups and their arms could no longer bare the weight. They had spent the whole day completing various warm up exercises to help build strength and increase stamina. Now they were dead tired and could barely stand. They slowly eased themselves onto their feet and put their arms around each other's neck for support. Slowly, they walked to Iruka, wincing slightly from the pain in their legs. "I know that you're sore now, but trust me when I say that it will be worth it in the long run."
"We have to run again?! Awww man!" Naruto groaned.
"Baka! It's an expression." Sasuke said in annoyance while Iruka chuckled lightly.
"Actually, you're both right. What I just said was an expression, but we will still be doing laps everyday after academy classes." Naruto groaned and fell back onto the ground, dragging Sasuke down with him. Iruka only sighed and began to walk away leaving the boys to help themselves up once again.
"Dobe, look what you did!"
"Oops, Sorry"
"Whatever, just get up. You're sitting on my foot."
"Oh, Sorry…again." Naruto eased himself onto his feet and turned to face Sasuke who was still struggling to get up. Sasuke was on his knees, trying to ignore the pain, when an outstretched hand appeared in front of his face. He stared blankly at Naruto's hand, wondering if he should accept his offer. Naruto was beginning to get impatient.
"I know you like to do things on your own, but it's okay to ask for help once in awhile. Hurry up, Teme…you're making my arm go numb." Sasuke hesitantly took his hand, and Naruto pulled him to his feet. As Sasuke dusted himself off, Naruto looked up to see Iruka's retreating back shrinking in the distance.
"HEY IRUKA-SENSEI! WAIT FOR US!" Naruto ran off to meet his sensei, leaving a very shocked Sasuke in the dust. How the hell is he still able to run after all those exercises. He sighed and took a deep breath.
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" Sasuke began his long and painful walk to catch up with his sensei and the annoying blonde wonder.
The sweet smell of ramen noodles invaded Naruto's nostrils as they walked into the Ichiraku ramen stand. In Naruto's opinion, this was one of the best places in all of Konoha. Naruto took a seat on the closest stool with Iruka on his right and Sasuke on his left. Sasuke groaned inwardly and rolled his eyes when he realized that Naruto was lost in a ramen induced trance and was now drooling on the table.
"Why are we here again?" Sasuke asked with an irritated tone.
"I decided that I should treat you guys to some dinner for all your hard work today." Iruka responded with a smile on his face.
"I know that, its just…why did you pick a ramen stand?" Sasuke said while snapping his fingers in front of Naruto's face to break his trance which only proved to be unsuccessful.
"Why? Don't you like ramen?" Iruka said while placing some napkins in front of Naruto to stop the flow of drool.
"Actually, no I don't. I'm used to eating more…healthier things." Suddenly Naruto broke out of his daze and slammed his hands down on the counter.
"NANI?! How can you not like ramen, I mean come on, there's over a dozen different flavors and each one tastes so amazing. And for your information, I eat ramen all the time and I'm healthy as an ox." Naruto said while puffing out his chest.
"Yeah…sure you are" Sasuke said while deflating Naruto's chest with a poke of his finger.
"Welcome!" greeted a young women and an old man who appeared from the back room. A smile found its way onto both their faces when they saw who it was exactly that was eating at their small restaurant for the evening.
"Look who we have here, its Naruto!" The old man said.
" Hi old man! Hi Ayame-neechan!" A wide grin appeared on Naruto's face.
"Hello Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan" Iruka said.
"Hello, Iruka-san. It's been a few days since I've seen you or Naruto-kun here. I was beginning to worry that my best two customer weren't coming back."
"We were just a little…busy, that's all" Iruka glanced over to Naruto then back to Teuchi.
"Who is your friend, Naruto-kun?" Ayame said while pointing to Sasuke.
"This is Uchiha, Sasuke. We're in the same academy class."
"Is that so, well it's nice to meet you Sasuke-kun. I'm Ayame and this is my father, Teuchi." Sasuke only nodded. " So what can I get you three gentlemen?"
"One Miso Pork Ramen, Please!"
"Same for me, please." Iruka stated. Sasuke stayed silent for a moment.
"What about you Sasuke-kun? What would you like?" Sasuke was hesitant to answer but looked over to Naruto who nodded for him to order.
"I guess I'll have the same too." Naruto just smiled happily. They sat in silence for a few minutes until the bowls of ramen arrived. Then Naruto quickly grabbed a pair of chopstick and yelled "Itadakimasu" before slurping down the bowl. Iruka and Sasuke slowly did the same. The stand was silent except for Naruto's slurping noises until he decided to speak.
"You know what Sasuke, you need to loosen up and stop acting so stuck up." Sasuke scowled in response. Iruka looked up from his bowl of noodles as well.
"Naruto is right, Sasuke. You are very anti-social and you should at least try to make friends with some of your classmates." Iruka stated.
"Like who? Those annoying girls that like to chase me around." Sasuke snorted.
"Believe me Sasuke, no guy deserves that type of torture, not even you." Naruto said while laughing.
"Well, I'm glad that at least you two are friends." Iruka smiled to the boys. Naruto stared at him blankly for a brief moment before laughing again.
"Like I want to be friends with this stuck up teme!" In one moment, he was laughing hysterically and in the next he was cradling his aching head while Sasuke stood over him with a clenched fist.
"And who says I want to be friends with you, dobe?!" Immediately, Naruto stood back up and grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt with his right hand.
"What did you call me, Teme?!" Sasuke grabbed onto Naruto shirt as well.
"You heard me, Baka!" The two boys were now glaring daggers at each other while Iruka continued to eat his ramen. He decided not to interfere because he knew what was going to happen next. The now very irritated Ayame with a long, metal spoon in hand appeared in front of the boys, who were oblivious to her now dark presence. In one quick swing, she bopped both boys over the head to end their bickering.
"No fighting in the stand! We are trying to run a business here and you're scaring away the customers. Now sit down and finish your ramen!" Ayame yelled in a dangerous tone.
"Hai!" They said in unison and quickly began to slurp the rest of their noodles.
"Good! Now behave like good, little eight-year olds, I will be back to check on you shortly." Ayame said in a sweet tone before disappearing again in the back room. Naruto and Sasuke stopped eating for a moment and looked at each other.
"Ayame-neechan is very scary when she's angry." Naruto whispered to Sasuke who only nodded in agreement. On the other side, Iruka was laughing inwardly, but couldn't help but agree with Naruto and Sasuke. Women can get pretty scary when they're mad. Except that special jounin, Mitarashi Anko, now there was a women who was scary all the time. Just thinking of her gave him the chills.
Iruka looked over to Naruto and Sasuke, who were now eating their ramen in complete silence. Even though they deny it, he knew that deep down in their hearts…they considered each other as friends. Only time will tell how that friendship will grow.
"Naruto, wake up!" Iruka said as he shaked the snoring boy by the shoulder. The boy groaned and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. He noticed that Iruka was already dressed and ready to go.
"Can I just stay home for today? I'm too tired." Naruto said, half mumbling and half whining. Iruka was about to refuse, but got a better idea instead.
"Sure." Iruka said with a sweet smile. Naruto was completely confused.
"Really?"
"Yea…just sleep in all day. I don't think Sasuke would mind if I trained him by himself." In that moment, Naruto was out of the bed and rushing around the room in search for his clothes.
"I changed my mind. I think it would be a better idea if I went to class." Iruka crossed his arms, never dropping the smile on his face.
"Much better…now hurry up, we're leaving in five minutes." Iruka turned around and walked to the door.
"Okay, Iruka-sensei" Naruto said, pulling on his red t-shirt which was stuck on his head. "Eh…Iruka-sensei? A little help please?" Naruto was a little too late because Iruka had already left the room before the blonde could notice.
Sasuke was leanining on the wall outside when Iruka slid the door open.
"Ready to go?" Iruka asked.
"Yea, but where's Naruto?"
"I'm right here!" Naruto said running out of the door while still trying to slip his arm through the sleeve of his black jacket.
"Good, lets go." Iruka said as they began their walk to the academy building.
Naruto and Sasuke were sitting in the same seats from the previous day and waited patiently for the students to fill into the classroom. Naruto was slowly dozing off when a voice awakened him once again.
"Eh…Naruto?" Naruto looked up to see Inuzuka Kiba with his dog on his head standing nervously in front of his desk. He picked up his head and looked at him right in the eyes. Kiba twitched slightly and looked down at his feet to avoid eye contact. "Naruto…I-I want to…say sorry for what I did yesterday, so…I'm sorry." Naruto looked a little confused at him.
"I wasn't expecting you to come and apologize to me in person." Kiba chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, that's because my mom told me to." Kiba began to walk away but was stopped when a hand grabbed his arm which caused him to flinch slightly.
"Kiba…I'm sorry too." Kiba looked back at Naruto with a confusion written on his face. Before he could respond, Naruto continued to speak. "I was angry, but I shouldn't of hit you, especially not that hard. So I'm sorry and I hope you're okay now." Naruto said with a small smile which Kiba then returned.
"Thanks and it takes a lot more than a punch in the stomach to bring this Inuzuka down!" Kiba said while pumping his fists in the air and Akamaru barked happily on his head. Suddenly, Kiba was viciously shoved to the side by a bunch of love struck girls and was left in a corner to groan in pain. The girls surrounded the table where the heart throb Uchiha was currently sitting at. Naruto covered his ears to avoid listening to the girls fond over the boy sitting next to him, but noticed something was missing. Looking around, he realized that Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were not among the group of screaming girls. Instead, they were sitting a few tables away, cautiously watching the scene from afar. Were they afraid to go near him after what had happened yesterday? He was pulled out of his thoughts when Iruka appeared from no where and forced the reluctant girls to take their seats so he could begin his lesson.
Naruto and Sasuke had just finished their laps for today and walked over to Iruka, who was sitting under a tree. Iruka looked up from where he was sitting to see Naruto running towards him with Sasuke following close behind.
"Alright Iruka-sensei, What are we doing next?" Naruto was now jumping for joy in excitement and Sasuke was rolling his eyes.
"Okay, from what I observed at the academy, I pretty much now your strengths and weaknesses. Sasuke, you are the best in your class when it comes to taijutsu because of your natural flexibility and your chakra is above average for an academy student. I'm even aware that you can perform a katon jutsu. You were taught the Goukakyu no Jutsu, right?" Sasuke nodded. "You also have the second highest scores on the written exams."
"Then who scored higher?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"Haruno, Sakura" Sasuke nodded. Sasuke knew the girl had no talent in ninjutsu or taijutsu, but he had to admit the girl was a complete bookworm. Iruka pointed over to Naruto. "Naruto, your scores are the lowest in the class, even below Shikamaru's and he sleep through most of the tests." Naruto hung his head in shame and embarrassment. "But…your stamina is incredibly high for someone your age and your probably the fastest runner in the class." Naruto beamed with all the praise and Sasuke looked confused.
"How is Naruto the fastest runner?" Sasuke asked.
"It is because of all his stamina. Believe it or not, when Naruto painted the hokage's faces, he was able to out run several chuunin before he was caught by an anbu." Sasuke looked at Naruto in shock who was grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.
"Yea…so I guess all my pranks were good for my body." Naruto was smiling on the outside but in the inside…he was feeling hurt because he knew the real reason for his speed and so did Iruka. Growing up, Naruto had to learn how to run and hide from angry villagers to avoid beatings and every time he was too slow, he would just have to run faster the next time. He had to run to survive and that's how he spent his life up until now. In one quick moment, Iruka saw the pain in Naruto's eyes and decided to change the subject.
"Continuing what I was saying, Naruto you are practically a powerhouse. Hokage-sama told me you were born with large chakra reserves and right now your chakra level is at high chuunin-low jounin, maybe even higher." Sasuke continued to stare wide-eyed at Naruto. He never knew this about Naruto before. In fact, a few days ago, he barely even knew the kid. Iruka continued to speak. "When it comes to genjutsu, neither of you have any real talent for it now. So we are going to focus on taijutsu and ninjutsu. The hokage wants you guys to learn the basics first, so I'm going to teach you several academy ninjutsus and a taijutsu style."
"But aren't we already going to learn that in the academy?" Sasuke interrupted.
"Yes, but the rest of the class won't be learning any ninjutsus until next year so you guys are getting a head start. And the taijutsu style I'm going to teach you is slightly more advanced than the one taught in the academy. I usually teach all of my students equally, but it was a request from the hokage to train you two personally. So you guys will have an advantage over the rest of the class, but that doesn't mean you should stop trying to improve yourself. Once you learn this taijutsu style, you are free to create a style to call your own. Maybe even create several ninjutsus as well. Today, you will learn the taijutsu stances and soon you'll be able to use it in real combat. Okay, let's get started." Iruka spent the rest of the day teaching Naruto and Sasuke the taijutstu style. Sasuke learned it pretty quickly and surprisingly, so did Naruto. They were progressing a lot faster the Iruka imagined. Just a little more practice and then they could begin on ninjutsus.
Iruka, Naruto, and Sasuke spent the next few days either at the academy or at the training grounds. Each day at the academy, the girls fought over Sasuke again, while Naruto was completely ignored…again. Ino and Sakura were returning to their normal selves, but they would avoid the little blonde boy as much as possible. During training, they continued to practice their taijutsu by sparring with each other, and because they were both determined not to lose to each other, the spars would end in a draw with both boys ready to pass out from exhaustion. They would usually only take a break for lunch, but today was different. It was late in the afternoon and Naruto and Sasuke were lying on the grass, looking up at the sky. Iruka was unexpectedly summoned to the hokage's office so he told the boys that they could take a break for the evening. It was quiet except for the sound of the relaxing chirping of a small grasshopper or the hoots of an owl in the distance. Naruto sat with his arms folded behind his head and a smile on his face. Star gazing always brought back happy memories and the thought of them caused a small chuckle to escape Naruto's lips.
"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked.
"Nothing…I was just thinking about how I used to do this with the old man when I was younger."
"Old man?" Sasuke flipped onto his stomach to look at Naruto.
"The hokage…I know I'm not supposed to call him that…Iruka-sensei has to remind me all the time, but I don't see him as the hokage." Naruto said, also flipping onto his stomach.
"Then what do you see him as?" Naruto laughed.
"An old man, of course."
"Doesn't he get mad." Naruto shook his head.
"No…he took care of me when I was a baby and he's like a grandfather to me…so he could never get mad at me." Naruto smiled before flipping onto his back again to look at the stars. "He used to do this with me all the time, but now he's too busy that he barely has time for me." Naruto lifted his head up to see Sasuke's upsidedown face frowning which caused Naruto to frown. "What?"
"Aren't you upset? I would be." Naruto closed his eyes and sighed before opening them up again to look at Sasuke.
"At first, I was, but he's still the hokage so I can't do anything about it. Besides, when he does have time to spend with me, I feel so happy." Naruto smiled again. "He taught me a lot of things…even about the stars." Naruto stretched out his arm and pointed at the sky. " Do you see that bright shiny one?" Sasuke looked up at where Naruto was pointing.
"What about it?"
"That's the north star. The old man once said that if you ever got lost, just look for that star and it will lead you home." He then moved his arm to point at another group of stars. "And that is the big dipper and the little dipper…they look like spoons." Sasuke flipped back onto the grass to look at the stars.
"What else did he teach you?" Sasuke asked.
"Stuff like reading and writing…even ninja stuff. He taught me how to gather my chakra and how to throw shuriken."
"But your not good at throwing shuriken." Naruto snorted.
"That's because he hasn't had time to help me practice!"
"Whatever" Naruto muttered some curses under his breath before returning his gaze to the stars above. It was silent once again for a few moments before Naruto spoke again.
"Sasuke?"
"What?"
"Have you ever done this before?" Sasuke hesitated before speaking.
"Once…with my mom. It was nice, but…my father said it was a waste of time. He said that I would never be a good ninja if I was staring at the stars instead of training…and when I did train…he was never proud of me." The last part was said in a soft voice but could still be heard by Naruto.
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"My brother was a prodigy and my father wanted me to be just like him. He was a great ninja but no matter what… I will never be like him. I trusted him, but he turned out to be a monster and one day…I am going to kill him." Naruto was surprised, Sasuke had never opened up to him before and now he knew why. He was angry and hurt. Not only because he had lost his family, but because he was betrayed by someone he had trusted. That is why he was so cold to everyone around. He was afraid of being hurt again and losing something important to him. He couldn't blame Sasuke for wanting to get revenge, but it wasn't worth doing something dangerous to achieve it. Naruto sighed.
"You know…even though stars are so far apart from each other…they never seem to be lonely. The old man once told me that when someone you care about dies…they are never really gone. They are with you forever in your heart as long as you remember them."
"Hn"
"What?"
"Your hanging around the hokage too much…your actually starting to sound smart." Naruto smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Whatever" Sasuke closed his eyes as if he was going to sleep while Naruto looked at the twinkling sky happily. They sat quietly for another few minutes until Naruto got bored. He stood up and stretched his arms and let out a monstrous yawn with his eyes closed. When he reopened them, he was surprised to see a small pair of blue eyes staring back at him. In a tree not to far away, a hawk with a piercing gaze was perched on a high branch. It's feathers were all white that shined in the moonlight. The tail feathers were incredibly long for an average hawk which probably measured twice the size of the bird. For some reason, a small black scarf was tied around the bird's all white, neck as if to show it had an owner. Naruto had never seen a white hawk with blue eyes before…it was simply beautiful.
"Amazing." Naruto said to himself.
"What is?" Sasuke answered with his eyes still closed. Naruto had to pull away from staring at it's hypnotic blue eyes and walked over to Sasuke.
"Sasuke! Get up! You have to see this!" He pulled Sasuke onto his feet by force.
"What are you doing?!" What's going on?!" Sasuke was being pulled a few feet away from where he had been sitting.
"You have to see this bird! It's so cool and I've never seen-" Naruto stopped suddenly when he realized the bird was no longer there. "Hey! Where did it go?" Naruto said as he looked around the trees frantically trying to find it.
"You got all excited over a bird…dobe." Sasuke said as he walked back over to where he was sitting.
"But I'm telling you it was just there a second ago." Naruto said, never taking his eyes off the now vacant branch.
"It probably just flew away." Sasuke said.
"Yea…your probably right." Naruto said, giving up.
"Right about what?" Said a familiar voice that appeared from nowhere. Naruto turned around to find the source.
"Hey Iruka-sensei, what took you so long?"
"Sorry, the hokage asked for a report on your progress and I must say, he was quite surprised."
"Why?" Sasuke asked.
"For boys your age…you two have advanced faster than expected…especially Naruto."
"Why me?"
"Well, usually you have trouble learning so the hokage thought that it would take a lot longer to teach you." Naruto pouted.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"He means that you are a dobe when it comes to learning anything" Sasuke interrupted with a smirk on his face.
"Don't call me dobe, Teme! Besides, Iruka-sensei doesn't think I'm a dobe, right Iruka-sensei?" He could feel the sweat rolling down the back of his head as he watched Iruka rub the back of his head and chuckle nervously. Naruto turned away so no one could see him sulking.
"Continuing what I was saying…the hokage thinks you both are more than ready to start learning ninjutsus." Naruto stopped walking and turned around with a shocked expression across his face.
"Really?" Iruka nodded.
"We will start tomorrow after class." Naruto was silent for a moment before breaking into a large grin.
"Yatta!" Naruto began jumping up and down happily. Sasuke could only roll his eyes at Naruto's actions. After a while Naruto stopped jumping around and was now in front of Iruka with a strange glint in his eyes. "What kind of jutsu are you gonna teach us? I hope it's a cool one! Can it take out a bunch of bad guys at once? Can you teach me how to shoot fire out of my mouth like Sasuke? Will it be super amazing? This is so awesome…I'm gonna be hokage in no time! What kind of-" Iruka put his hand over Naruto's mouth to stop his rambling while his other hand pinched the bridge of his scarred nose. He sighed and released his hand from Naruto's mouth when he was sure that he had calmed down.
"Naruto, you will find out tomorrow…so be patient." Iruka looked up at the star lit sky. "It's late…let's get something to eat and head home."
"Yea! Ichiraku ramen….here we come!" Sasuke groaned as they headed back to the street. Ichiraku ramen was a ten minute walk from the training grounds but the night was peaceful and the walk was enjoyable. The street lights were already illuminated and the civilians were getting ready to return home for the night. Iruka could still see the hokage tower in the dim light. Looking at the tower brought back memories of his visit only a short while ago. His mind was still processing what had occurred.
Flashback
"-and they have already mastered the taijutsu style in only a few days."
"Very impressive…Those boys are fast learners." The hokage said, his pipe hovering in front of his face.
"I expected that much from Sasuke, but Naruto surprises me. I didn't expect him to grasp the concept of that style so quickly." Iruka said.
"For knowing Naruto all his life, you learn that the boy is always full of surprises." He took a long drag before releasing the smoke through his nostrils. "Start their ninjutsu training tomorrow."
"What?"
"Seeing on how quickly they've progressed, I think they are ready. I suggest you start with something simple."
"I wanted to wait a few more days…just to make sure they have mastered the taijutsu style and are capable of using it in combat."
"I'm more than sure that they are capable, Iruka. Besides…you might not have the few more days to wait." Iruka looked at him confused.
"What do you mean hokage-sama?" The hokage sat up from his desk and looked out the window to see the view of the peaceful village.
"Iruka, have you ever seen a white hawk with blue eyes before?"
"White hawk with blue eyes? No I haven't. I don't even think there is such a bird."
"That is where you're wrong, Iruka. There is only one hawk in existence that matches that discription and I had the pleasure of witnessing it this afternoon. Early this evening, a white hawk with blue eyes flew into this room. It wore a black scarf around it's neck and a note was tied to it's foot." The hokage opened the first drawer of his desk and pulled out a small scroll and handed it to Iruka.
The summoning call has been received and accepted. When several days have come to pass, I will arrive.
Iruka looked over to the hokage and handed him back the scroll. "What does this mean?"
"A few days ago, a summoning was performed and Naruto's blood was given. The man I have summoned has accepted Naruto as his apprentice. That is quite the surprise because this person has disconnected himself with the world for decades. From what this note says, he will arrive in a few day. That means Naruto will be leaving this village soon and won't be coming back for a long time. I don't know how many days exactly but I suggest you use the time left wisely." Iruka nodded his head. Iruka felt the need to ask the hokage a question, but was hesitant to do so.
"A-Are you sure about this, hokage-sama?" He heard the old man sigh.
"Honestly, I am not…but I am doing what I think is best for Naruto." Sarutobi looked over to the side wall where four pictures were hung. Each picture was a photo of one of the men that were proud to call themselves a hokage of Konoha. The picture to the far right caught Sarutobi's attention. It was a picture of a young blonde man with stunning blue eyes which were very rare in the village. There was only one other person that had eyes like those. 'Minato…if only you could see him now. I know one day he'll become the man you always wanted him to be.' Sarutobi turned to face Iruka. "Iruka, this conversation is confidential and no one should no about it…even Naruto." Iruka looked at him confused before nodding.
"Hai, hokage-sama."
"You are dismissed." Iruka bowed his head and walked over to the door. "And Iruka…" Iruka turned his head to look back at the hokage.
"Yes hokage-sama?"
"You're doing a great job." Iruka smiled softly.
"Thank you, hokage-sama" Sarutobi smiled as he watched Iruka exit his office. 'Your parents would have been proud of you too, Iruka.'
End of Flashback
Iruka was still confused about the whole matter but he knew the hokage was right. Naruto has spent so much time suffering in the village and he needs someone to help give him a fighting chance to survive. The only thing that worried Iruka was who this someone is and from the looks of it, the hokage had little information about this person himself. I hope this person is someone that we can trust…for Naruto's sake. Iruka was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to his right to see Naruto staring up at him.
"Iruka-sensei, are you okay?" Iruka smiled and patted him on the head.
"I'm fine." Naruto looked over to Sasuke who was walking to the left of Iruka.
"Hey Sasuke! I'll race you to Ichiraku ramen." He said with his trademark grin.
"No"
"What's the matter? Afraid I'll win, teme?" Sasuke smirked.
"Your on, dobe." Without warning, they both took off at the same time leaving a smiling Iruka in the dust. Their training was not the only thing progressing. They've become close over the past few days, there is already a friendly rivalry between them. Iruka smiled as he continued to watch their figures fade away in the distance. He chuckled lightly before starting his slow paced walk to Ichiraku ramen stand. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.
End of Chapter Eleven
Please leave any comments or questions. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be out soon.