A/N: Well, I'm at it again. And for those that vehemently stated in the reviews that a harem should not happen, I can't promise anything as of yet. For those that support it, I can say the same thing to you as well. So, on that note, I'm still hanging dry on a fence post for now. The elements for romance will happen. It's just that it is going to be a bit complex.
With regards to Sakura's kekkei genkai, there is still more to it than meets the eye. You will see in a bit…
Regarding some of the characters from the Naruto movies, I'm sorry, but you're tough out of luck. They aren't considered canon, so I am not including Fujikaze Yukie, or rather, Kazahana Koyuki, into the harem. That is, if there may be one. But I have plans for the trek to Snow Country, and it will be different from its movie-counterpart (albeit more peaceful with a potential threat here and there). Naruto will journey to the outskirts of the country in Part II.
As for those that have read harem fics, most of them are portrayed as unbelievable comical mischief and mayhem. I, however, would write them in serious detail, since love is something not to be trifled with, and it is a raw emotion to boot. That is the reason why, should it progress that way, the harem is so limited.
I can also see the angle from the vehement Naru/Hina fans' points-of-view. Most of the characters that Naruto will meet may pose as sisterly figures that share a common bond with him and nothing more, but some of them will be attracted to his personality. But alas, it is a bit early and only time will tell…
To jbalman and Aaron45123: You have given me a possible idea for as to how I'm going to satiate and/or appease those that love harems and vehement Naru/Hina fans (for a potential midway). Piggybacking from your thoughts on the matter, Hinata will be in Naruto's life, and Haku may potentially harbor those feelings as well. As for the ladies that he'll meet, they may act as one big happy family, all sisterly. Even though he may be involved with one or two of them, the guys of Konoha will still be envious of the blond wonder for being in the company of so many girls. I don't know, but I'll think on it some more. This is all hypothetical conjecture for the moment.
Update: Pairings have been decided, and no more suggestions will be taken at this time.
I would like to say that, whenever a technique is listed with the word 'created' by them means that I, DarkHeroOrion, have come up with those techniques, and if you wish to include them in your fic, PM me to get my permission…and be sure to give me due credit.
Before you continue to read, know this: I absolutely despise character bashing of any sort. I would like for them to stay tried and true within their sphere of influence in the Naruto world. In addition, it would be doing a disservice to Kishimoto-san if I were to do that.
For instance, I will not be calling Sasuke "emo" or "gay"; he had experienced a life-changing event during his impressionable childhood which keeps him closed off from the world and allows no one to enter into it (in a way, kind of like Kakashi), possibly due to the fear of losing someone else very close to him. His character goes further in-depth than one can see at face value; frankly, his childhood was just as messed up as Naruto's, but Sasuke copes with the pain of losing everything. As for Naruto, he knows the pain of absolute loneliness, depraved of everything from the very beginning; no parents and no love shown to him. However, Sasuke will fluctuate between repenting and regressing to revenge throughout the fic; in other words, he will be struggling to see what is righteous and what is false.
Well, with that said (which was a handful, by the way), let us march onward to the grand event…
If you don't like profanity, I'm sorry, but Inner Sakura is going to have her time here for a bit…
Chapter Seven: Arrival: Force of Nature
(Ship, Top Deck)
Staring up at the sky, Squad Seven's pink-haired wiz-kid reflected on the events that had taken place during her journey outside of the village to Wave Country. She was racked with the feeling of uncertainty from Tazuna's words when he had bid them farewell…
'Focus first on strengthening yourself before focusing on others.'
How could she strengthen herself? She had no natural ability, save for rote memorization and acing just about every exam at the Ninja Academy. She was the first out of her clan to join with the Ninja Academy to begin with, and her parents said nothing along the lines of whether or not their clan had any secret techniques. She thought that her other teammates had it a lot easier than she did.
Sasuke-kun possessed the Sharingan, and along with that, he was a natural-born leader and genius of the former Uchiha clan. Ninjutsu would come easily for her dark-haired heartthrob, since he could easily copy it with his doujutsu. He already mastered a Chuunin-level Katon ninjutsu when he was around six years-old. In fact, to her general knowledge, elemental manipulation training never came easy to a shinobi until gaining the rank of Chuunin or higher, seeing that it required massive chakra reserves.
Speaking of which, she excelled at chakra control, which had been indicative signs of a genjutsu-type ninja, but her chakra-tank was like a drop in the bucket when compared to Naruto's ungodly amount. Not only were his reserves ridiculously high, but the blue-eyed wonder had possessed stamina that would make even the Green Beasts of Konoha crave for it, while jumping for joy, screaming at the top of their lungs about the "passionate flames of youth."
Along with the chakra control, she felt as if there had been a second presence within her mind; someone that would not care about how she would outwardly express her mind in…colorful language. The essence of that being felt powerful beyond her measure, and she had a feeling that it would come in handy one day…
"Thinking again, Sakura?"
She turned from the sky and looked to see her whisker-marked teammate walk up, with a loyal Doshaburi by his side. "Oh, it was nothing, Naruto. It was just that…I feel like that I need to get stronger…for the sake of the team, and I don't want to hold back any of you. I want to be strong…like Haku-neesan." She lightly shook her head. "Ugh…Tazuna-san's message is still ringing in my head." She grasped at her pink-colored locks. All of a sudden, she felt the presence and heard its voice echoing loudly in the recesses of her mind.
'Well maybe you should take what he said and apply it, smart-ass! Shannaro!' A chalky outline of a fiery-tempered doppelganger materialized into her purple, hazy subconscious.
'Wait…who said that?' She knew that she should not be hearing voices inside her head. Should she?
'It's me, dumb-ass, your Inner Self…your Inner Will!' Inner Sakura clenched her cracking fists in fury and unbridled rage.
'Are you…a part of me?'
'Hell yeah I'm a fucking part of you…Shannaro!' She roared, holding up a fist.
"Ne, Sakura," said the blond wonder. "Are you alright?" He waved his hand in front of her blank face.
Her eyes fluttered and focused back to the real world. "Huh?"
"I said, 'Are you alright?' You spaced out there for a minute. I was…kind of worried."
"Ano…Naruto…" The green-eyed bookworm wondered if maybe her teammate could fill her in. At least he would not call her crazy if she told him about the voice in her head. "Have you ever heard a voice in your head before?"
Naruto paused for a minute with a scrutinizing look at his pink-haired teammate. 'Hmm…maybe the scrolls that I'm carrying are making that Inner Will of hers act a bit unruly…just like someone I know…'
'Do you want a wet dream with both Hinata-chan and Haku-chan in it, boy?' The demon-lord did not want to be labeled as a mere conscience. He was a nigh-omnipotent being, not some part of the human psyche. Naruto blanched and lost all tan in his skin.
'No…no…Gomen, Kyuubi-sama…I take back that comparison! Just please, don't subject me to that again!'
'Ha-ha…' Kyuubi…two. Kit…goose-egg. His complexion returned as he could have sworn that the beast behind bars displayed a full-toothed foxy grin. His retribution would soon be due, but he did not know how it would be done.
Naruto still wondered why is it that the demon fox was tugging at the idea of Hinata. Sure she was the immaculate princess and heiress to Konoha's most prestigious clan, so why would she, the dark, timid girl, want to involve herself with the village outcast, who was loud, brash and obnoxious? Well, he was certainly loud and brash, but he humbled a little bit from his near-death experience.
Putting aside that thought, he finally answered his green-eyed teammate. "Yeah, all the time, but sometimes it could get annoying." That earned a snort from Kyuubi. "So, I take it that you hear your inner voice as well?"
"Yeah, and apparently the voice felt a bit stronger ever since you showed up…"
"I think that your kekkei genkai is manifesting itself when in the presence of these scrolls." He held out two of the scrolls in front of her shocked expression. From her view, she had seen the Hidden Mist and Hidden Grass emblems on them, but when she picked them up and turned it over, she was sort of startled.
The Kiri scroll had a red teardrop inside a white circle. The Kusa scroll had a red tuft of grass surrounded by a white circle. Now she looked dumbfounded.
"…What are these, Naruto?" She was puzzled. Those stamps looked frighteningly familiar…they looked a lot like her clan emblem that is marked on the back of her red dress. 'Wait a minute…this can't be…'
"Just open them and find out. There's nothing harmful about them. Kakashi-sensei and I were looking over the scrolls that we found on Gatou's boat and—"
"Oh Kami-sama," Sakura said with excitement in her voice, completely tuning out the elf-eared genin. "I didn't know that I had relatives abroad who were ninja."
"Yeah, and you should read up on those scrolls, especially the one about your bloodline limit." Naruto stretched his muscles and cracked his back. "Well, if you need me, I'll be in my room…doing something." He muttered the last bit before walking off. He paused and turned to the green-eyed bookworm. "Make us proud, and remember…Tazuna-san expects great things from all of us." Turning on a heel with his foxy companion behind him, the odd pair walked off to leave Sakura to her thinking. She unwrapped the Haruno scroll from Kiri and looked at the various hijutsu documented onto it. She was amused…and a bit frightened at the same time.
'So you are my kekkei genkai, huh?' She asked the figure in her mindscape.
'Damn right, pinky…Shannaro!' Inner Sakura placed her hands on her hips with a prideful posture. 'That means…you and I have a lot of work to do to get your pathetic ass stronger…'
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(Ship, Level One, bedroom cabin)
The raven-haired avenger was lying on top of his bed-covers and stared aimlessly at the very low ceiling. His arms were behind his head as he pondered the last few days of their mission.
He felt as if he was going nowhere in his training, feeling as if he had reached a barrier that he could not surpass. Creeping into his thoughts were the words that Tazuna had mentioned to him before they left…
'Never lose sight of your goal, and cherish the ones that you have in the here and now, for they may not be here later on. I know about what happened to you kid, and I'm sorry to hear that, but you need to learn how to look past that and rely on your team, instead of trying to be the big, bad lone wolf to fight on your own. Only then will you become stronger, and true strength will shine when you have people to protect…'
Was Tazuna right? Was that the reason why he was not achieving the desired results? Was it due to his lack of partnership and camaraderie with the rest of his team? He then remembered the bell test, when Kakashi said that he would sacrifice teamwork just for personal self-gain. In an indirect way, Kakashi called him "scum," and he did not want to be labeled that.
Sasuke then thought back to yesterday, when he told off Haku while he was training…
(Flashback)
Sasuke felt the strain in his muscles, but he did not care at all. He wanted to push himself beyond what he could normally do. It was then that Haku had walked up to make her presence known.
"I think that you should pause and regroup, Sasuke-kun…" She had said with a hint of worry in her intonation.
"I'm fine," he deadpanned. He did not want her out of all people to be criticizing him.
"I…brought water for you, if you'd like," she said in a kind demeanor.
"No thanks. Now just leave me be."
"But—"
"I don't want to hear comments from the peanut gallery, all right?" he growled as he continued to pummel the tree…
(End Flashback)
'Damn…I was being an asshole, wasn't I?' He thought to himself, with his pride shot out of the sky like Naruto's date offer to Sakura a while ago. He kind of wished that she had not been there to be the outlet of his frustration. After all, she was concerned for the dark-haired warrior, and he snapped at her.
'I guess I ought to…apologize to her…she didn't deserve that…' He thought to himself as he bit the bullet. He was going to track down the former oinin and…apologize, which was something that he could never bring himself to do. He was in the wrong and he was going to rectify the matter. So the raven-haired Uchiha slipped on his ninja sandals and began to search the ship for the girl in the forest-toned battle kimono. Luckily, he did not have to go far, for she was already at his cabin door and was about to knock.
"Gomen, Sasuke-kun," the dark-haired ice-user said. "I thought you were out, so I thought I'd knock…"
"I'm sorry." The dark-eyed genius whispered under his breath with his head tilted downward. He really did not like apologizing and he was reluctant to do so at all. But he had to go through with it to get the unwanted tension off his chest.
"Excuse me Sasuke-kun, but come again?" asked the ice-manipulating kunoichi, with eyebrows raised.
His volume approached audible levels as he looked her in the eyes. "I said…that I'm…sorry for…snapping at you while I had been training." He mentally sighed. 'If the dobe were here, he would never live this down…'
"Oh…well, I accept your apology, Sasuke-kun, and I forgive you." Haku gave him a lighthearted smile and then walked away to go topside for a little bit of fresh air. For some odd reason, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat for a moment and a phantom blush came and went from his face when she smiled.
'What the hell is this feeling?' Sasuke was at a loss for words for describing how he felt and shut the door.
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(Ship's Stern)
Naruto looked out at the vast sea after he summoned a few shadow clones to read on Fuuton ninjutsu theory. To put it simply, Naruto would have to utilize the force of the wind via means of its slicing power. In order for the exercise to take effect, he concluded that he needed something that was flimsy but easy to cut. It was a shame that there were not any plants or shrubbery around the ship in order for him to do the exercises. He was about to turn around to lean back to the wall of the captain's quarters when he smelled a familiar aroma of peaches.
Still looking out at sea, he asked, "Is there anything you need Haku-chan?" He then turned around to see her with Dosha-chan cradled in her arms.
"No, Naruto-kun," she responded as she shook her head. "I just came here to return your fox-hound. It turns out that he was pigging out at the buffet while you weren't looking."
"M-My t-tummy hurts a b-bit," Doshaburi cut in. His belly had unrealistically doubled in size.
"Luckily, he didn't open his mouth, aside from stuffing his face." She girlishly giggled. "I should suggest that you find an appropriate diet for him when you arrive at Konoha."
'She's kind of cute when she giggles like that…wait, what am I saying?' He shook his head from that thought.
'Aww…Is my little kit growing up?' retorted his wayward tenant.
'Can it kitsune!' He mentally roared into the recesses of his mind.
'You know you want to ravish her, kit…Don't deny it.' He sure loved to poke fun at the kit. It was too good to pass up.
'You know, I wish that you had an off-switch…It's you that's influencing me, isn't it?'
'Who…me? Now why would I do something like that, kit? I'm hurt.' The bijuu lord gave a fake pout, along with a fake vulpine whine.
'…Let's just get back to training with harnessing that kitsune energy…' The blond whisker-marks looked at Haku and said, "Listen Haku-chan, do you mind keeping an eye out for me while I meditate for a bit? I don't want anybody interrupting me."
"Sure thing, Naruto-kun," answered the dark-haired ice-mistress while rubbing the area behind Doshaburi's ears.
"Th-That feels…l-lovely…" He shut his gray eyes and enjoyed the petting while off on Cloud Nine.
As for Naruto, he walked over to the wall and sat up against it. He was breathing calmly and relaxed his muscles. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate, feeling for the power of will within. After an elapsed ten minutes, he felt a small flicker in his hand. He looked to see that a small pea-sized magenta flame was hovering above the palm of his right hand. It felt as if it was pulsing like a human's heartbeat.
'Is this it?' he asked his naughty, perverted tenant.
'That is…remarkable, kit. I didn't know that you would take to it that easily. I would expect you to at least get it to that size in about an hour or so…but you are, by far, the most unpredictable kid that I've ever met, so I guess that the rules never apply to you.' For once, the demon was impressed by his host.
"Hey Haku-chan, look what I can do," the whisker-marks said happily with a grin on his face, holding out the wondrous, other-worldly fire to Haku.
Looking at the pea-shaped flame, she asked, "What is that, Naruto-kun? I haven't seen any fire of this caliber before."
"It's a gift from the fox," he replied, which earned him a wide-eyed look from the young lady. "He said that this is something that only I can learn and no one else, since I'm his jailor. He also said that this fire attacks the essence of soul more so than that of the body…and it can potentially counter a Mangekyou Sharingan Amaterasu. It only works in theory, and I'm not sure if it can work in practice." He then registered a foxy grin. "Not only that, but if I can learn ninjutsu without elemental affinities, then I can readily mix in this Youkai no Enkou."
"Interesting," Haku stated as she narrowed her eyes to analyze the flame. "It looks like that it can possess potential healing abilities as well." She carefully placed the napping Doshaburi on the floor and whipped out a scroll from her pocket. "I want you to put that flame onto the scroll, Naruto-kun."
The elf-eared whisker-marks turned over his palm and placed the tiny ember onto the scroll. With a flash of hand seals, Haku sealed away the fire for safekeeping. "I'll check out the properties, and maybe I could use it to create effective medicines and salves."
'It looks like you're a walking gold mine, Kyuubi-sama,' Naruto complimented. He guessed that being a host to a demon was not all too bad. It had its perks.
'Okay, I think that's enough for today. We can pick it up tomorrow, when we set anchor back in Fire Country.' Naruto walked back to his cabin after dispelling his clones and taking the parchments, while also absorbing more information regarding Fuuton theory.
Haku looked at where the blond wonder had been sitting and had noticed a small lump that had risen in the wooden floorboards. She wrapped up the scroll and scooped up the furry cloudburst and went to her cabin. That minute incident bothered her to no end. 'How did those floorboards rise up…?'
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(Konoha, 26 hours later)
"Freak!"
"He set the beast loose! Run for your lives!"
"Dem—" The villager who was about to yell out the word "demon" was immediately knocked out by the ANBU patrolling the village and then taken away. Another villager tried to come up to the group and stab the jinchuuriki with a pocket knife but was soundly knocked out by a karate chop from the one-eyed Elite Jonin, who kept his one eye on his reading material.
Apparently, due to Naruto's "awakening" during the trip to Wave, some of the non-shinobi villagers were either running away in terror or glaring venomously at him, with even more disdain and hatred.
Haku looked over at Naruto, who had his head and pointy ears lowered. She knew for a fact that the comments were geared toward him. The ice-user empathized with the boy and her heart was out for him. She mentally scowled at the villagers for berating their village savior. It was a good thing that Dosha-chan was stashed away safely in his backpack on their way to visit the Hokage. Who knew what some civilians would have done had they seen a fox running around the town? It was then that she would make sure that Naruto would be safeguarded, and if anyone were to even look at him the wrong way, then they would be carted off to the hospital as a human pincushion.
'Hmm…' she mused. 'I wonder if Hokage-sama has acupuncture lessons at the hospital…'
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Sakura noticed the death-glares at the blond. In an awkward kind of way, she felt sorry for him. It was then that she had seen herself as one of those villagers. She was just as guilty as the rest of them for belittling the blue-eyed wonder who sought for attention by pulling pranks.
'Damn…now I feel like a real heel…' All of a sudden, her Inner Will spoke up and berated the pink-haired kunoichi.
'Oh, so now you figured it out!? You know that he would risk his fucking neck for you and what do you do…fawn over your so-called precious Sasuke-kun, while leaving Naruto to fend for himself…Shannaro! In fact, I think that it was Naruto that managed to whip those kids' asses that poked fun at you and your big-ass forehead when you were a kid! I'd say that he was the big brother you never had! Shannaro!'
To think that Sakura was absolutely stunned by being chewed out by her inner-self was an understatement. 'Since when did you start becoming independent of my thoughts, Inner Me?'
'Simple…It happened when those scrolls were given to you…by him by the way.' Inner Sakura shook her head. 'Anyway, that Kiri scroll allows me to strengthen and become more independent, since I'm closer to the portal that leads to the Kage no Sekai…But we'll talk more about that later.' She gave her outward-self an evil grin. 'For now, focus on some of those supplementary genjutsu in the Kusa scroll, and if I find your pathetic ass worthy enough by my standards, then I'll train you in the youjutsu of Kirigakure.'
To Sakura, this was getting a bit awkward…very quickly…
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Sasuke, on the other hand was the target of very uncomfortable, idolizing stares from some of the local girls in the village…after they berated and sneered at the dobe. He almost felt sorry for the blue-eyed "dead-last."
'Something just isn't right though…Whenever I get a chance, I think I'll make a trip to the library.' Sasuke looked at the blond wonder, whose eyes found the ground particularly interesting for the moment. 'Naruto looks nothing like a cat at all. He looks more…canine, in a weird sort-of way. Now what is it that you're hiding, dobe?' His focus turned to the backside of the senbon-wielding expert…and then to the back of her head…and then back to her rear end. 'And what is this feeling that I get when I see her? I don't know what had come over me back at the ship. Oh well…I'll figure out one problem at a time, I suppose.'
XXXXXXXXXX
(Hokage's Office)
Sarutobi was idly fiddling through paperwork as his pipe hung lazily from his mouth. To him, paperwork was a major pain in the ass. He would have a shadow clone do the work for him; however, by the laws of the Hokage code of conduct, that would be forgery, strictly stipulating that a shadow clone is not an original, albeit a copy of an original.
'I wished that damn rule hadn't been put there in the first place…' the Professor mentally thought as he took another puff on his pipe.
The door opened and a Chuunin poked his head into the office. "Hokage-sama, Squad Seven is here for their debriefing…along with another individual."
"Send them in," he calmly stated as he signed another pointless document regarding types of toilet paper in the Academy.
One by one, the members of Squad Seven filtered in. Leading the pack was Kakashi; Sasuke appeared next; Sakura appeared afterward; and the biggest surprise of all, a pointy-eared Naruto and an unknown female filed in last.
Sarutobi blinked and stared at his whisker-marked surrogate grandson. "…Naruto…what happened to you…?"
"Well, you see Hokage-sama," said the one-eyed Copy-Ninja, with book put away and at full attention. "Naruto had…awakened his 'bloodline' ability, which would explain his growth spurt, increased muscle mass, pointy ears, slit pupils, enlarged canines…and claw-like hands."
Catching onto the hidden message, Sarutobi made a mental note to detain both Kakashi and Naruto after the debriefing. Taking another pipe-puff, he said, "Continue Kakashi."
"Very well then…Apparently, the mission was an actual A-ranked mission; however, the Wave Country was in absolute poverty by a crime syndicate operator by the name of Gatou, so they had scrounged enough appropriations for a C-ranked mission.
"The two rogue shinobi that we had come across were Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Bloody Mist, and his apprentice, Haku, who is here with us." The Professor widened his eyes. "Need not worry, Hokage-sama, for you see, she came to us on her own volition, thanks to the effort of Naruto here." Naruto gave a foxy grin and rubbed the back of his head.
"In the end, Zabuza was killed, Gatou was arrested and Tazuna completed the bridge, thanks to the money that I had…acquired from Gatou…"
"Are you telling me that you used that Sharingan of yours to extract the information regarding his bank accounts and wipe him dry, only to give it to the client?" Sarutobi questioned.
"Hai, Hokage-sama, because where else would that dirty money go? It was best suited for more important purposes, I think. I transferred some more money into my charges' account as well as your own.
"Regressing to the end of the mission, Naruto and I raided Gatou's boat to recover some important documents for our charges here. There were a couple of them that belonged to Sakura and Naruto by right. And speaking of the blond wonder…Naruto, care to say anything?"
The elf-eared genin walked up respectively and began. "Jiisan, I found a stray fox kit while we were on that ship." Sarutobi gave his honorary grandson a worried look as Naruto unzipped his backpack. Doshaburi hopped out of the bag and scratched behind his head.
"…Naruto, you know how most of the villagers will think of the kit, right?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow when the fuzz-ball hopped up on his desk and looked at him with his curious gray eyes. Doshaburi tilted his head and blinked.
'Uh-oh…' had been the collective thought of Squad Seven…plus Haku…with slightly widened eyes. 'Here it comes…'
"What's the name of the fox cub, Naruto?" asked the "God of Shinobi."
"D-Doshaburi, H-Hokage-sama…" answered…the little fox cub instead of Naruto.
Sarutobi, along with the ANBU present in the room that had dropped their cloaks, looked wide-eyed at the dusty-hued kit.
"Are you pulling a ventriloquism act on me, Naruto?" asked a disbelieved Sarutobi. 'This is just only an act…' He chanted to himself.
"No, Jiisan, that's…Dosha-chan's voice. Not mine," answered the fox-boy.
"Hokage-sama, do you h-have any s-snacks in the office?" asked the forever-hungry cloudburst.
He looked over at Kakashi. "And how did you take to the talking fox, Kakashi?"
The Cyclopean jonin smiled sheepishly behind the deep-blue mask and scratched behind his head. "I…fainted…Hokage-sama…It was a surprise, to say the least."
To Sarutobi, that in and of itself was unbelievable. Hatake Kakashi…Copy-Ninja Kakashi…The one who has copied a plethora of ninjutsu at his disposal with his implanted Sharingan…ex-ANBU captain and battle-hardened warrior…fainted because of a talking fox cub. Sure Inuzuka Tsume's ninja-hound, Kuromaru spoke but that was not until much later in his years. The Sandaime Hokage was impressed with the little fur-ball, and he could be of some use as well.
"I have decided that the kit can stay, Naruto," Sarutobi concluded. "And as for the girl…"
"Wait, Jiisan. Listen to Haku's story before you make your decision," Naruto interrupted.
"Very well. Haku, was it? Please explain yourself."
After hearing her tale, which lasted for about ten minutes, Sakura shed a few tears for the poor young lady, Kakashi had a slightly saddened eye, Naruto had a look of empathy etched onto his face and Sasuke maintained his stoic face. As for Doshaburi…he fell asleep…and drooled on some of the Hokage's papers. Luckily, the Professor could care less, since they dealt with lawn care and magazine subscriptions.
"Okay, I have come to my decision," started the Sandaime, while taking another puff from his pipe. "Naruto, since you vowed to not have her used as a breeder by the council (and quite frankly, I wouldn't either), she is in your care, meaning that she is your responsibility while I set up her status as a Leaf kunoichi. She stays with you for the time being."
Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Nani!? Don't you have any other place for her? My apartment is too small…"
"Isn't your apartment a two-bedroom, Naruto?" With a hesitant nod from the blond wonder, he continued with a small smile on his face. "Well that's that. It's settled. She will live with you."
'For the love of ramen…' Naruto mentally sighed in defeat as his ears slightly drooped. Things were going to get awkward at his place very quickly. He could feel it in the air as his tenant snickered to himself.
'You better not take advantage of her, Naruto…' 'Or else you'll be answering to us…Shannaro!' At least Sakura and her Inner Persona could agree with two things…They both despised perverts and they respected Haku-neesan.
'I wonder how it would be like if I had a girl alone at my place…' He paused and narrowed his eyes, smirking. 'Maybe I should grill him and kick him while he's down for the moment…' He was about to open his mouth when Sarutobi spoke up.
"Now that the debriefing is over, your mission is complete. Save for Kakashi, Naruto, Dosha-chan and Haku, you two may leave."
'Aww…I wanted to hear more,' had been the identical thought from both the green-eyed bookworm and the dark-haired avenger when they filed out the door. After they had left, Kakashi performed his Musei Shouheki no Jutsu and the SS-class discussion continued on, regarding the tweaking of the seal and the information from the guardian fox about the Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara, with passing references to Orochimaru. Unfortunately, they had to leave since more paperwork was piling up, and Naruto completely forgot about the genealogy scroll.
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"Well, Haku-chan, this is my pad. Before you enter, consider yourself warned. I haven't done much cleaning around this place."
He turned the key into the key-slot and opened the door. Haku looked into the small flat and noticed that it was mildly quaint, save for a broken window panel and some dilapidated wallpaper lining around the living room walls. She could tell that this was a boy's spot, taking note of some of the clothes haphazardly thrown about on pieces of slightly old furniture.
"Ano, Naruto-kun…I think that redecorating is in order, because, in my opinion, it's a shame that you have to live this way. You just received a hardy stipend from the mission, as well as some funds from Gatou's account. I will ask Hokage-sama if he could be able to send somebody out to fix the window and wallpaper. I also think that the furniture needs to be thrown out."
"It's pointless. Jijii tried to get a couple of contractors out here, but they…you know…" Haku interrupted the blue-eyed wonder.
"I won't have you making up excuses for the villagers, Naruto-kun. They need to grow up and forget about the past. I will personally drag those contractors and force them to re-modify the broken things around here." Her voice had an edge to it.
'I wonder if this is like having a big sister…' Naruto thought. She certainly was trying to look out for his best interest. "Okay, you win. We'll do that after I get some new clothes. Deal?"
"Okay, Naruto-kun," said Haku with a smile on her face. Even though they were close in height, she ruffled with his hair (which led to a pouting face from the blond wonder) and walked into what she proclaimed to be "her bedroom," and dropped off her things. "Let's go and get you some clothes to wear." She grabbed him by the hand and walked off after he locked the door. Doshaburi decided to sleep on the couch while they were away.
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(Konoha, Village Square)
Haku and Naruto walked into one of the ninja supplies shop when a store clerk saw the pointy-eared demon runt.
"You're not allowed in, kid," the man grunted. Haku shot a venomous glare and ki in his direction, which caused him to cower behind the counter.
"He is just as welcomed as anyone else in this village, sir," retorted the fuming ice-kunoichi as she narrowed her eyes. "You will not disallow him service, and if you just so conveniently gouge the prices, I swear that you will experience frozen hell. Is that clear?" With a slight nod from his scared look, her sweet demeanor and smile returned. "Good. Now we would like to find some better ninja gear for little Naruto-kun."
'I didn't know that she could get riled up…I guess Sakura had an effect on her…just maybe…' Naruto thought to himself.
After a while, Naruto settled on two variations of attire.
The first attire looked like a variant of his former "kill-me-orange" jumpsuit, but this attire had the chances of blending in. It was a loose-fitting black jumpsuit with orange racing stripes lining the outward edges of the pants and arms. On the back of his jumpsuit was the red spiral symbol etched into the knitting. He then acquired a hitai-ate with an orange-clothed band. He still kept his forehead protector that he received from Iruka-sensei, since it was priceless to him and it was a symbol of recognition. Along with the ensemble, he picked up a black T-shirt with the Hidden Leaf symbol sewn in orange on it.
As for the second attire, he had a blood-red muscle shirt and midnight-blue pants, as well as black armor padding similar to those of ANBU. To give his suit a kick, he had acquired a long battle coat that was in identical hue with his pants and had crimson-hued flames dancing around the bottom of the flowing cape-like coat. He did not know how he was attracted to it, but it seemed to catch his eyes because it looked cool. He decided to have a crimson circle around the back region and have the kanji for "wild child" sewn into the circle. If he knew of who was his father, he would look like a mini-Minato running around Konoha, perchance should he wear it, which would probably be during the Chuunin finals.
For supplementary purposes, he had bought high-quality weights and fresh sets of kunai and shuriken. He managed to get his hands on spare shirts and pants, just to give him added variety and substitutions should anything rip on him. And he still had plenty of ryou to spare.
When they had walked out of the store, he remembered something. "I need to get Dosha-chan and run him by the Inuzuka complex and ask about a fox's diet and other things."
Rushing back to his apartment, he quickly hung up the clothes in his closet and woke up the ocher-hued canine.
"W-What is it, N-Naruto?" He asked as he rubbed his eye with his paw.
"We need to take you to the Inuzuka complex on the other side of town. I need to get you checked out and have you fitted for your Konoha-plated collar." He zipped open his backpack. "Alright Dosha-chan, time to get in."
"C-Can I walk around, Naruto…Please?" His sad gray eyes sealed the deal.
Naruto sighed and zipped up his backpack. "Fine, but we have to be careful though on our way there. Some of the villagers don't like foxes; others fear them."
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Luckily, no one had seen the dust-colored fox as the trio made their way to the dog-loving veterinarians that were the Inuzuka. With even more luck, they stumbled upon a shaggy-haired woman with a dark-hued nin-ken by her side, who just so happened to be the matriarch, one Inuzuka Tsume.
"What can I do for you kids?" she asked in her husky voice.
"I need to start up a regimen and a diet for the fox that I found in Wave Country," began the whisker-marks. "His name is Doshaburi, and I would like for him to train with me. I was wondering if you had any weights for canines as well."
A black-coated wolf-hound with an eye-patch over his right eye and left ear missing approached the small dust-mite and sized him up. He had potential. "You appear to be rather small for your age, pup. Do you think you have what it takes to be a nin-ken?"
"I-I believe I do," replied the baby fox cub, which earned a wide eye from Kuromaru and even wider eyes from the Inuzuka matriarch.
"Since when can that runt learn how to talk, pipsqueak?" Tsume asked with a hint of disbelief.
"His name is Doshaburi," Naruto corrected. "And what it boils down to is that I have established a link with him, and he can be able to speak human. I don't want to explain any more details, so do you have any books on foxes, Tsume-san, along with a flea collar?"
Eyeing the duo and the young lady with interest, she answered, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Anything regarding any family of Canidae can be found within the confines of this complex. Kuromaru, could you fetch the scrolls regarding fox diets, a leaf-plated flea collar and a set of weights for the little rascal?"
"Hai, Tsume-sama." The black-coated Kuromaru walked off and returned with aforementioned gear a few minutes later, after a thorough check-up on the fox's bill of health. The book on fox care was pretty lengthy and the weights appeared to have been used many times before.
"These are for you, Naruto," she said as she handed off the gear to him. "And when you have any time, I would like for your hound to train at our canine obstacle course around back."
Naruto looked at his pet for the okay. The dust-colored fox nodded. "He'll try it out when we get time. Arigatou, Tsume-san." He politely bowed for the gratitude from the head of the clan as the trio walked off, with Doshaburi sporting his new collar, making him an official nin-ken.
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Some of the villagers finally toned down some of the looks (mostly thanks to Haku and her ki-filled glares), but they were still eyeing Dosha-chan with slight fear or disdain. Some were indifferent to the fox, seeing that the boy had a companion to play with, instead of raising hell with more pranks. The kid had responsibility for another life, some had thought.
As Naruto was walking, he could not help but feeling as if he was being followed. The scent of lavender wafted for about the past two hundred meters. From the scent, he could sense that it was female and had a kindred aura to it. He paused, along with Doshaburi. Haku wondered why they stopped so suddenly.
"I know you're there, so come on out," he said with closed eyes. Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw a shy girl with indigo hair and white eyes, sporting a baggy jacket and Capri pants. 'Hinata-chan…'
"Um…H-Hi, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said shyly, with her fingers poking together.
"Hey Hinata-chan…What's up?" He asked with a smile on his face, which caused the Hyuuga heiress to blush again.
"Ano…I heard some…rumors that you c-came back w-with a f-fox…" She looked at the ground, away from the blond.
'She sure is weird…but she does look kind of cute like that…Hey, what the hell am I saying again!? Damn you, Kyuubi!'
'Don't look at me, kit. This does not have my stench on it. Face it, kit. You're experiencing puberty, and you're finding girls attractive. There's no shame in that, kit. Care to wonder what's underneath that jacket of hers, ne?' Kyuubi gave a sly grin.
'Why must you be a pervert, kitsune?'
'I told you before, and I'm not repeating myself.' He shrugged as he poked at the cage with his claws.
"Yeah, I do have a fox that I found and he's here right…with…me…now where did he go?" He looked around and then noticed an ocher fuzz feeling up on Hinata's leg. She was startled and jumped back.
"WAH!" The furry fox was soft and cuddly, but it surprised her. Then she rebounded and squealed, "Kawaii!" She picked up the dirt-hued canine and padded its soft fur. "I-It seems to be w-well-bred, N-Naruto-kun."
"Dosha-chan, you know that it's dangerous to be wandering about."
"Gomen, N-Naruto…" Hinata's eyes widened considerably and looked at the cute little fox cub.
"It looks like the cat's out of the bag," he sighed. "He can speak, Hinata-chan."
"Oh…Th-that's g-great, Naruto-kun." She blushed a bit, and that did not go unnoticed by Haku.
'She has confidence issues,' she thought but then smirked a bit. 'But that will change soon enough…I think it would be time to set up a play date with those two.'
"But listen, Hinata-chan, I need to get to start training here in a bit. It was nice running into you though. C'mon Dosha-chan. Let's go." The dust-hued fox leapt out of the Hyuuga heiress' hands. "See ya later, Hinata-chan." He paused. "Oh, where are my manners. Hinata-chan, this is Haku-chan. Haku-chan, this is Hyuuga Hinata-chan, heiress of the prestigious Hyuuga clan. Well, other than Hinata-chan, I think that the rest of her clan members are a bunch of stiffs." The ice-user and the clan heiress giggled by Naruto's brusqueness. "Well, we need to go. Bye Hinata-chan."
"B-Bye, Naruto-kun." All of a sudden, a thought popped into her head and she blushed crimson. 'Did he just call me…Hinata-chan?' The Hyuuga heiress was going to be in sweet, heavenly dreams when night fell.
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(Secluded Training Area, 2 Days later…)
'It sure pays to have the Hokage in your favor…In that way, I won't be interrupted or spied on by my teammates as I throw myself into training for the next two months.' Naruto was stoked to learn some new jutsu as he pulled out the scrolls for Fuuton, Doton and Suiton ninjutsu. After summoning well over one thousand seven hundred clones, he assigned them each a task.
"All right gang, listen up. From this point forward, we're going to hit the ground running and learn these jutsu. It's obvious that our sensei only taught us to climb trees, but this time, we're going to be doing self-help. I want a portion of you to learn how to walk on water in the stream a few meters from this training area. I also want a cluster of three groups for learning wind, earth and water-based techniques.
"For the Fuuton group, pick off some leaves and focus on cutting the leaf with only wind-based chakra. For the Suiton group, you will each get a cloth that I had cut from an old blanket. Your job is to dampen the cloth with water from the atmosphere …that is, if we do have that kind of chakra. As for the Doton group, your job will be to learn how to move the earth with only chakra. Focus your hands into the dirt and pull it up.
"I want one of you to overlook Dosha-chan's training, and I want several of you to look at history books, strategy material and stealth and reconnaissance pamphlets. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah," said one of his clones. "What are you going to be doing?"
"I'll be working on harnessing the Youkai no Enkou, since the original can only perform the task. If you need me, I'll be over by that tree meditating. Be sure to dispel a few at a time, due to the mental fatigue. Now disperse!" Everyone complied without question and raced off to their tasks.
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The training was progressing pretty well for the past five days. The clones were focused on cutting the leaves with chakra only. In short, it was a tough task. The same had gone for those who were trying to dampen the cloths and those that were trying to raise the earth. But all in all, progress was being made. Some of the clones had a few water droplets while more had some bit of earth in their hands before it became unstable.
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'Come on…almost there…I can feel the life of the fire…'
"That's it, kit. Keep it up…you've almost got it…Focus…Concentrate on the source of life."
While the original blond jinchuuriki was focusing his concentration on forming the Youkai no Enkou, several things started to occur simultaneously while his eyes remained closed…
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The occupied clones felt the rumbling and looked over at the original. Their mouths hung open by the sight that they were witnessing. Some of the elf-eared copies dropped their Fuuton scrolls, as well as books regarding stealth and reconnaissance and preparatory material for the written exam portion of the Chuunin trials.
A ten-foot-high plateau of earth erupted from the rumbling ground, underneath the blond demon container. Some atmospheric water vapor condensed and pooled into a moat that was around the high, flat terrain. The same little lake then developed a thin sheet of ice crystals on top of it. Alongside those occurrences, several brown roots shot up from the ground and entwined themselves around the blue-eyed wonder's earthen plateau in a spiral-like fashion. All the while, a small breeze picked up as the blond enigma focused his energy to igniting the spirit-flame. Sweat trickled down his face in extreme concentration as a grapefruit-sized magenta ember flickered into existence into the palm of his right hand.
Feeling as if he accomplished a big step into focusing his essence into fueling the fire, the jinchuuriki huffed out a sigh and leaned back on the tree under which he had been meditating…but was surprised that nothing was there to support him. He quickly straightened up his back and fell onto the "ground" in exhaustion.
The Lord of Bijuu poked into his exhausted host's consciousness and looked around, even though the kit had his eyes shut. His muzzle gaped as his jaw dropped to the bottom of his prison in a cartoon-like fashion. 'Kit, open your eyes…Now!'
Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he saw…the sky? His eyes shot open in disbelief. 'Where am I? Did I die, Kyuubi-sama?'
The spirit-fox put a paw to his face and rubbed his muzzle in frustration. 'No kit…Something even better happened…Just look around.'
He glanced down over the edge of the earth formation and his eyes bugged out of their sockets, seeing his duplicates staring at him, expressing the same "fish-face" expression. 'Eh…Kyuubi-sama…Just what the hell is going on…?'
'It would appear that your true power has finally awakened. Do you see the lake, kit?'
Giving a stunned nod, the youma kitsune continued. 'That would appear to be the ability of the Nidaime Hokage. You were able to draw out water from the atmosphere and pool it into that small moat, with no other source of water at all. Hmm…' Kyuubi looked through the blond's eyes with his hawk-eye vision. 'I also see that you crystallized some of the water as well…into ice…like Haku-chan.'
The jinchuuriki's eyes threatened to bulge out of his eye-sockets. How is it possible to use Hyouton like that? 'That's not all, kit. You are standing on an earth-plateau that you created by yourself. It would appear that you have a natural affinity for both water and earth. And from feeling the slight breeze while you were concentrating, it may be highly likely that you possess the wind affinity as well, just as I conjectured. That would give an explanation to the ice, which is a mixture of both water and wind.' When the blond-haired young lad looked around the upland, he was thoroughly stunned by the brown "roots" that encompassed the somewhat high earth formation. 'Well, I haven't seen this ability in over one hundred years.'
'Well, what is this ability, Kyuubi-sama…?'
'I never thought that I would see Mokuton again after the Shodai Hokage, kid. You would probably have to confront the old man regarding those genealogy scrolls (which you forgot to mention twice already) with the faded writing on them. Maybe he ought to give you insight as to how come you can be able to manipulate and utilize the wood element.' There was a pregnant pause. 'Did you by chance mention the Senju?'
'H-Hai!'
'Well, the founding fathers of this village just so happened to be the Senju clan of the Forest, so maybe it was a family member of the Senju that carried the DNA trait into your family line. I don't see how come they appeared over there in Shiogakure. Of that, kit, I don't know. Anyway, a trip to the old man is in order.'
'Right…' He looked at his accomplishments.
'Wow…this is amazing!'
Naruto, beaming from ear to ear, jumped off the highland and landed with graceful ease. He carefully dispelled the clones, picked up the reading materials and high-tailed it to the Hokage's office, with Dosha-chan hopping in his backpack.
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A strange, white-masked figure in the trees witnessed the entire escapade of the blond's "power manifestation." The figure thought, 'I ought to give this information to Danzou-sama; he must hear about this…the perfect tool for war…' and disappeared in a fading afterimage.
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Well, there's another chapter down. The same for reviews apply.
Please say something more than just "Great chapter," "Update soon," "Please update soon," "It's interesting," "Interesting," and "Keep up with the good work," just to name several variations. I want to get what you like and/or what you did not like, and how can I come up with a viable solution for it.
As you can tell, Haku-chan has a bit of sex appeal; her smile and kind demeanor makes the hearts of men thump erratically or skip a beat. It even made Sasuke, the guy who doesn't want to feel anything, react to her womanly charms.
Someone was spying on the jinchuuriki and his training methods. Who is this Danzou person? Apparently, several chain-reaction awakenings occurred for our demon container. What lies in store with this brand-new power?
Jikai… (Next time…) on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…
Caution to the Wind
Naruto: What do you mean that I can't use Mokuton yet?
DHO: Well, to put it simply, you would attract way too much attention. You already have people after you as it is…
Naruto: Like who?
DHO: I don't know, but you may find out soon enough.
Romaji guide:
Doujutsu: eye technique
Kage no Sekai: World of Shadows
Youjutsu: dark arts
Jijii: old man or grandfather
Ryou: monetary unit in the Naruto© world