I don't own Naruto, if I did there would be more strong female characters. =D Anyway, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kinomoto.
Beta: Romantic Princess
Thank you, dear!
I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and commented! I would also like to ask those of you who didn't review to do so. I like criticism, and suggestions, more often than not they spur me on with different ideas and thoughts.
Chapter 2
Iruka had been cleaning up the training ground at the back of the Academy, he'd had to after Naruto had joined his class. She might not be able to hit the targets dead center, but if she threw one of those high powered kunai and managed to hit someone it would probably simply go through the body, or take a limb completely off. He'd limited the girl to one target, and there were several holes in the front and back of the thing… she'd eventually split the thing in half. Then quarters. Several of his male students had winced every time the kunai struck the target… it was almost like she was letting them know if they were perverted she would beat the crap out of them.
When one of the older students rushed around the corner stating that Ozuru one of their problematic students, was picking on Naruto and Yakumo. Iruka had gone in a flash, when the boy had let lose the Grand Fireball technique that all Uchiha were known for, he'd felt his heart plummet and something catch in his throat. The sudden chakra spike, worried him it was completely human but it was incredibly large. Even someone with large amounts of Chakra like Naruto would have a hard time pulling it off, and he was most certain that it was her chakra running along the ground and bursting forth into the air.
Just as quickly as the chakra dispelled, it collided together once more yanking water and crushing it together with the earth, before large tree trunks twisted together in front of Naruto like a vine. The large fire ball slammed into the wooden shield, it seemed to catch then sizzle out. Ozuru's snarl could be heard all across the entrance of the Academy, other teachers and aides were appearing. Some were dumb founded, while others were ushering other students to safety, one immediately used body flicker to leave no doubt to grab the attention of ANBU and to inform the Hokage.
"Earth Release: Binding Chains." Iruka rushed through the sequence of hand seals, Ozuru was getting ready to use his jutsu again. Iruka thought the tree trunks could hold up, but it was better not to take the chance. Thick linked chains rushed from the ground, yanking Ozuru to the ground in surprise the jutsu was halted while smoke could be seen rushing from the angry boy's mouth.
Secure in the knowledge that the hot headed boy was down for the count, he rushed toward the two girls. Yakumo was already getting up and moving away behind the tree barrier, Iruka nearly swore as he looked at the little blond. She was obviously in shock, and coming down from the high explosion of chakra as her eyes dipped, he knew she had chakra shock. He caught the falling girl before she hit the ground.
Chakra shock occurred when young children and teenagers (whose chakra systems were already unstable) used far more chakra than their bodies were suppose to which disrupted the chakra circulatory system. Not only did it mean that they were running low on chakra but in some cases it could lead to death, if there was no chakra running to the brain or internal organs.
"Yakumo, I want you to stay here. I need you to speak with ANBU, when they arrive." Iruka was extremely serious. Chakra shock was just as bad as regular shock, the fact that Naruto's darkly tanned skin was becoming pale at an abnormal rate, her breathing was becoming shallow.
Yakumo felt tears well up in her eyes, before nodding.
"Have you seen Hinata or Neji?" Iruka asked.
Tenten who'd been heading toward her friends quickly answered, "Neji left just before that Uchiha went nuts."
"Thank you, I'll talk to the two of you later." Iruka was gone in a rush, chakra enhancing his legs causing him to move at a speed a normal chunin would never be able to reach.
Tenten glanced at Yakumo, she looked like she was going to fall to pieces. "We were just talking about what we were going to do after school, and he totally freaks out." Yakumo stated, before rubbing away the urge to cry, she felt Tenten pull her closer to wrap a lose arm over Yakumo's shoulders.
"We'll just have to tell'em in big bold letters, what that idiot did." Tenten muttered.
It seemed as if hours passed in the few seconds that they were forced to wait as ANBU seemed to swarm the Academy.
Sasuke never thought he'd seen the arrogance of his clan, never thought someone from his family would openly try to kill someone. And for once in his life, he found himself questioning his father's teachings, questioning what it meant to be an Uchiha. If this was what it meant, then he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of it.
When the ANBU member Saru took the time to speak with him, he had two choices. He could tell the truth… or he could lie…
"Uchiha-san?" The taller male asked.
"Hai?" Sasuke answered.
"Can you explain to me what happened?" The Monkey masked ANBU member asked.
Sasuke nodded, "Ozuru was reading over one of the fire scrolls from the Uchiha coffers and he wasn't paying attention. He ran into Naruto Uzumaki, and proceeded to scream and yell about his "ruined" scroll."
Saru nodded for the boy to continue, slightly surprised "When Naruto replied that it was an easy fix, he demanded she pay for it. Naruto refused and turned to leave, Ozuru proceeded to go through with attacking her from behind with my clan's Grand Fireball jutsu." Sasuke kept his face blank, he really wanted to speak with his Nii-chan.
Saru nodded again, "Thank you, Uchiha-san."
Sasuke sighed, before turning sharply to leave. He would have to think about this for a while, and he knew that tonight's confrontation with his father was going to be far worse than what he wanted. He'd strived to achieve his father's pride, just like his Nii-chan but depending on how his father reacted toward this action was going to create a wave through the Uchiha clan he was sure.
Several students watched the second Uchiha heir, surprised at his blunt honesty. It also encouraged several other students, to tell the truth as well leaving ANBU with an extremely detailed picture about what had happened.
O
Iruka felt his heart leap when he saw Neji close by, "Neji Hyuuga."
Neji frowned, before turning back "Yes?"
"I need you to come with me." Iruka stated, shifting the girl in his arms, "She's in chakra shock, we need to get her to the hospital."
Neji's brows raised before his eyes widened, within a second veins bulged "There is little to no chakra going to her heart." Neji followed, rushing as fast as he could.
Iruka swore, before channeling a small amount of chakra to keep the heart pumping. "Tell me if anything else changes."
"Hai." Neji felt a rush run through his veins, it was obvious from the thickness of her coils that she had a large amount of chakra. The question was exactly how much had she dispelled? But what was discerning was the secondary chakra pool, it was red and angry and strangely nearly empty. He would keep his thoughts to himself until he could find out more about the strange secondary pool.
Several times, chakra stopped pumping to different organs and each time Iruka kept her system stable until they finally arrived at the hospital where she was swept away behind closed doors.
"Sensei?"
"What is it Neji?" Iruka asked, looking down on the small boy.
"What occurred to put her in that condition?" He asked.
Iruka went still, he wasn't even sure how to explain it. "She was attacked by Ozuru."
Neji's eyes widened in surprise, he knew the older boy almost everyone in the academy did. He'd failed twice and at fourteen this was his last year whether, he passed or failed the exam. Either way attacking someone like that was a sure way to get yourself into more trouble than you could get out of. "I see, I would like to leave then."
Iruka nodded, "Thank you Neji… you probably saved her life. But I must ask you to keep everything you saw quiet, and if you wish to speak with someone then come to me. Alright?"
The young boy nodded blushing violently, he hadn't really thought about such a thing. He didn't think he would ever forget seeing a girl just a bit younger than himself lying lifeless in her teacher's arms. It would certainly change the flow of his life, and that of his clan forever,
Iruka sighed, before settling into one of the waiting chairs there was so much that needed to be explained… but he was more than positive that the Kyuubi now was either destroyed completely or locked away forever behind that seal of hers. The fox marks, the small whiskers that everyone had identified Naruto by were gone, was it because she'd successfully used Mokuton?
Iruka rubbed the scar that ran across the bridge of his nose, he felt a guilty… while he knew that there was very little he could have done he felt that he should have pushed for having Ozuru removed from the academy. The boy was either an idiot or thought that there would be no repercussions for attacking the "Demon" child.
Hiruzen frowned, as he walked toward the emergency pediatrics waiting room. When one of the academy teachers had rushed to his office in the tower, telling him that there had been an attack on two students. His heart had stopped Yakumo Kurama and Naruto Uzumaki had been attacked, Naruto was being rushed to the hospital by one Iruka Umino, he'd sent two ANBU squads to speak with witnesses, and another to inform Kakashi, while he headed straight to the hospital.
"Iruka, how are you my boy?" Hiruzen asked.
"Well enough Hokage-sama." Iruka smiled weakly.
"Thank you for getting her here." Hiruzen smiled, patting the young man on the shoulder.
"She would have died." Iruka stated, "If Neji Hyuuga hadn't been nearby, Naruto would have died."
"Explain Iruka." Hokage demanded.
"Ozuru… Ozuru used the Grand Fireball Jutsu, and attacked Yakumo and Naruto. Yakumo managed to get out of the way. Naruto… I don't know if she froze or if she was just that shocked, then I suppose a survival instinct kicked in. She pushed out so much chakra… she's only eight, but she pushed out more chakra than some Jounin's I know. And it completely drained her… I mean she had next to nothing left as far as her chakra reserves, she went into chakra shock. I found Neji just turning the corner at the end of the academy grounds wall, he pushed himself too hard to keep up with me to ensure that there was chakra flowing to her vital organs."
Hiruzen looked at the young man, he was so young but he looked so tried. Iruka had pushed for that particular Uchiha to be removed from the academy the year before after an angry temper tantrum of being denied a chance at graduation. Now there would be little choice, he'd attacked his sweet little granddaughter and an heir, whose clan was quickly bouncing back from several family tragedies. Six children had been born to the Kurama clan this year, while four more were already expected in the coming year, to attack nearly consigned the boy to death.
"You did well… I suppose I'm going to be speaking with Neji sooner or later?" Hiruzen asked.
Iruka nodded, "More than likely… I would like to suggest he'll be put in medical classes."
Hiruzen blinked, "Pardon?"
"He's a genius, Hokage-sama. His chakra reserves are large for his age, and his control is top of the line. Even for a Hyuuga, I would say his control is already on par with a chunin. With those eyes of his he's nearly unstoppable, I feel the Hyuuga clan will stifle his abilities by limiting him to their clan talents." Iruka stated slightly red in the face.
Hiruzen rubbed his jaw, trying to hide a grin… he'd never been so happy to have a teacher in the academy when he'd put Iruka in. The boy obviously knew what he was doing and seemed able to spot talent miles ahead of everyone, he'd even predicted Yakumo's improvement and Ozuru's anger issues.
"Iruka… you have very good instincts when it comes to children." Hiruzen smiled, "I would like you to take on more responsibility at the school."
Iruka blinked, there was a reason he'd asked to be placed as a chunin. After being in ANBU for several years, he'd simply burned out. He had taken a position as a teacher when the shinobi before him retired. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want to up the requirements for the genin exam, but that can wait for a later date." Hiruzen smiled, before looking up after hearing a whirling wind.
Kakashi stood there before the two of them with a very cold look on his face as if he was going on one of the many assassination missions he was known for in ANBU. "What exactly happened?"
Iruka almost flinched, he might not have been able to work with the Copy Ninja during his service in ANBU, but he understood that look very well. Finally Iruka spoke up, and continued to repeat everything that had happened so far. Taking a deep breath he continued, "There's only one thing I haven't spoken of. I suppose you are her guardian, Hatake?" Iruka asked, getting a nod; he continued, "Naruto… Naruto used Mokuton."
Both of the other men blinked, staring at Iruka as if he'd lost his mind. "That shouldn't be possible." Kakashi finally stuttered out, Kushina had never shown signs of using Mokuton and he knew for a fact that Minato's clan did not have a blood limit, both Kushina and Minato's families were proficient with seals but otherwise without a limit.
Hiruzen frowned, "I see… I'm not sure what to say to that Iruka. Neither of Naruto's parents had the ability, nor from what I understand did neither of their ancestors either."
"You know who Naruto's parents are?" Iruka frowned.
"Yes, yes I do. But for certain reasons that I cannot disclose, it would be a very bad idea to let their identity out." Hiruzen muttered, did this mean that Naruto was related to Tsunade? He had to admit, she did resemble his dear student though that was impossible wasn't it? Hashirama-sensei's descendents they had all lived in the village hadn't they?
Kakashi sighed, "What do you want to do about it Hokage-sama?"
"Well, we can't sit on it… I imagine a number of those children have already returned home and are speaking with their parents at this very moment. As such, it would be best to have a council meeting as soon as possible… it wouldn't do for them to try to force Naruto into their homes with or without correct information." Hiruzen stood calling one of the staff members over a man by the name of Shigure Mizuno, he ordered a genetic test to be run between one Naruto Uzumaki, and several members of the Senju, including Hashirama, Tobirama and Tsunade. Needless to say, Shigure was dumbfounded at the request. When he was ordered to confidentiality, he could only nod as the head of the hospital this could mean his removal or more funding.
"Hokage-sama?" A soft voice asked, it was an older woman roughly the same age as the Hokage. Her name was Minami, or simply known as Nami to many, "The girl the young man brought in… was she truly the Jinchuriki?"
"Yes, Nami, what has occurred?" Hiruzen asked, extremely worried.
"Well… it's almost as if the demon was destroyed." Nami continued, "the marks of possession… they simply don't exist anymore… and the chakra she's producing… it's so very potent."
"How will that affect her?" Kakashi asked, staring at the older woman in worry.
"She should be fine… and it shall slow the uncontrollable chakra growth." Iza smiled. "And it should allow her better control. Other than that I can't really tell you unless we have a Hyuuga look at her coils. She won't be waking up anytime soon. Her healing factor is the same, the Kyuubi can't speed the healing up anymore."
Hiruzen blinked in surprise, "Very well, Kakashi, Iruka… you two are to guard Naruto until further notice. I'll send someone to reprieve you in a few hours Iruka." The older man sighed as he rubbed at his cheeks, good grief, what the hell was going on in Konoha? He certainly hoped there were no more surprises coming in the near future, then again he wouldn't get any genetic test results until later in the day or early in the morning. Waving at the two, the older man continued he had a meeting to schedule with the clan heads, and a mountain of paper work with his name on it.
"Dolphin, emm?" Kakashi asked, looking at the younger man with an amused expression on his face.
"H... hai!" Iruka stood rim rod straight, his cheeks aflame before following Nami back towards Naruto's room.
Kakashi chuckled, highly amused so this was the infamous Dolphin, and he certainly was a cute little thing. When they arrived at the door, Kakashi immediately opened it and walked in he had to see his little maelstrom, he sighed slightly, seeing her like this hurt. Kakashi never would have imagined that in such a short time Naruto would become so ingrained in his everyday life. He could even find himself becoming flustered when the tiny blonde crawled into bed with him after a bad dream, or she klutzed out and broke something.
She was so pale… her little cheek marks were gone… usually they would be standing out against her skin. It was so strange to see such a parlor against those cheeks that were usually pink with excitement. Sighing, he ran a hand over feather soft hair "I'll be here when you wake up Naru."
Shaking his head softly, he left the room closing the door behind him. When he saw Iruka glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi tried not to tease the younger man. But sometimes you just can't help it, "See something you like, Dolphy-chan?"
Iruka's face seemed to light up like a cherry, it hadn't expected something like that! How did Kakashi know Naruto? Not, only that but why was the man flirting with him? Though he wouldn't be the first or last ANBU rookie who'd had a crush on the infamous Copy Nin.
Kakashi chuckled, before leaning back against the side of the door he could only imagine what the Hokage was doing right now.
"So how do you know Naruto?" Iruka asked, they had been standing there for several minutes watching as a number of nurses walk by back and forth.
"I'm something like a guardian."
Iruka frowned, "Pardon?" It wasn't normal for an eight year old girl to stay with a young man.
"Naru is all alone… and she kept running away from the orphanage… so I volunteered to be her guardian… she's the closest thing I've got to my own kid." Kakashi shrugged.
Iruka tried to hide an amused smile, who would have thought that an orphan like Naruto would touch the heart of someone as indifferent as the copy ninja?
O
Choji never imagined that his day would turn out like today, never expected to see a confrontation like this, the danger of it until he was at least a genin. To see it at his school left him stunned, for the last hour and a half people had been getting interviewed by ANBU because someone attacked a student, a comrade in arms. It was one of those times he was very grateful that Shikamaru was his best friend.
Shikamaru was very rarely interested in anything but clouds and ways to get away from his very loud nagging mother. His lazy gaze studied the twisted vines that seemed to be covered in Naruto's chakra, it shouldn't be possible… and he was more than a little curious.
"I can't believe he did that!" A young female voice cried, from the sidelines.
"It makes you wonder about the Uchiha clan as a whole…"
"Don't talk about them like that!" A high pitched whine was pulled out.
"Sakura you can't tell me this doesn't change your opinion of the Uchiha clan… cuz it changes mine." Ino muttered, that had been more than terrifying she'd been positive the new girl was dead.
"I suppose." Sakura didn't want to admit it but it had frightened her more than she was willing to admit. "I do have to admit that I don't know if Naruto is going to be coming back to our class though…" Sakura began to gnaw on her bottom lip.
"What are you talking about Sakura?" Choji asked, a little concerned, he could see even Kiba had stuck around to listen.
"She obviously had chakra shock," Sakura stated.
"That could kill a kid her size." Kiba grumbled out, Akamaru whined in agreement.
"She is on the small size… and did you feel the amount chakra she pushed out?" Ino asked, she'd never felt so content and warm in her life.
"It was hard not to Ino," Shino finally answered, all of them turned too looked behind them. Not one of them had realized that the Aburame had stayed behind.
Ino grumbled, before speaking up again "I wonder how Yakumo is…"
"I dunno…." Choji murmured, he didn't know how he would feel if something like this happened to Shikamaru.
"I... think I..I'm go..goi..going t..to visit h..her." Hinata finally spoke, she was generally the quiet one of the group. She had a bad habit of stuttering, but she had a good heart and so the others didn't mind.
"I shall come with you, Hinata." Shino nodded, in agreement he was very curious about the younger girl and intended to speak with his father about the chakra Naruto had pushed out of her body. Several of his Kikai were snacking on the aftermath, and they were extremely happy the tree was full of warm delicious chakra and they wanted nothing more than to suck it dry.
Kiba thought it over, she was sorta cute and she smelled like a k-9 so she had to be at least a little cool, and he was more than a little curious. "Me too then."
"Gah! You're not leaving me out of this! It's perfect for info!" Ino had a pleased little smirk on her face, she was going to found out if this new girl had it for Sasuke! Or warn her off the Uchiha boy, she might not like the clan but the boy was still soooo cute!
"Grrrh, no way Ino-pig you'll scare her off!" Sakura scowled, before the two pounced on each other getting ready to get into yet another fight.
Shikamaru sighed, "I suppose I'm going to be dragged along," at Choji's nod the boy nearly groaned "Troublesome. I'll be there then."
Choji smiled in amusement his friend was always like that, "So everyone but Sasuke's going?"
Both Ino and Sakura twitched at the comment they didn't want the girl to be near their Sasuke!
Shikamaru tried not to snicker, while Kiba snorted before Akamaru began to make a coughing sound that was apparently amused laughter.
Several others who had been listening broke down into laughter before they dispersed many of them would go home to speak with their parents and others like Shikamaru would keep their thoughts to themselves.