Shinobi no Kami
Chapter 4
A/N: I'd like to thank Torrhen Stark, shapeshifter340, anarion87, Iviidiis, rockskidd, hennessyswagg83, bankai777, the death bringer779, Phantomsoul2015, animeficfan, Lazymanjones96, JSua, ThatCrazyBrit94, HenryPeverell864, Ataxius, Chaos537, Spark681, xirons20, Kickinstorm, diegokpo30, Guest, Mayonaka no taiyo, shapeshifter340, BlackDragonShinigami, , CrazyRuSH, lostxinxthexdarkness, jordanelow and DanielHimura for your reviews.
hennessyswagg83: I will be touching more on the Uzumaki clan, in fact I plan to do an entire arc based on the Uzumaki clan. Though that will be some time after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.
Now for the pairing with Naruto.
1) Harem: 37 votes.
2) Samui: 36 votes.
3) Kurenai: 34 votes.
4) Yugito: 30 votes.
5) Anko: 28 votes.
6) Mei: 27 votes.
7) Hinata: 26 votes.
8) Ino: 16 votes.
9) Karui: 12 votes.
10) Sakura: 2 votes.
So it's a harem for Naruto. I've already placed another poll up that will give you the choice on who is in the harem. However, Samui and Kurenai are already in due to them having the next highest votes. I'm sure that isn't what some of you wanted, but you can be guaranteed that there will only be five people in the harem.
"Normal speech."
'Normal thought.'
"Demon speech/translations."
'Demon thought.'
"Jutsu."
-X- Line Break -X-
It was quite warm in Hi no Kuni (The Land of Fire). In fact only Kaze no Kuni (The Land of Wind) beat it in terms of heat. It was something Naruto had always found confusing until it had been explained to him.
Hi no Kuni, Kaze no Kuni, Kaminari no Kuni (The Land of Lightning), Mizu no Kuni (The Land of Water) and Tsuchi no Kuni (The Land of Earth) had been named such after the most common elemental affinities. For example, in Hi no Kuni the most common elemental affinity is fire, but in Kaze no Kuni it is wind.
It made things much more understandable.
"Gaki, looking forwards to seeing Konoha again?" Jiraiya asked as they walked side by side through the forest. Neither were in any particular rush to get to Konoha, the memories of what that place had done to Naruto were still fresh in their minds. However, it was still their home and the home of their parents, therefore it was their home as well.
At the age of thirteen, Naruto had changed quite a bit despite it been only two years. He now stood at a height of 5''6 with a lean yet, tone figure. His blonde hair had grown slightly, now reaching down to his shoulder blades with it styled to the left so that it came down past his eye.
For his outfit, it was similar to his old one though he had changed the top half of it slightly. Gone was his hoodie, instead it was replaced with a simple black V-neck shirt and a slightly tattered cloak over the top.
Over the past two years the training he had undergone had once again been upped. Physical training and Ninjutsu training had been out hold to instead focus on Chakra Control and learning to utilise the Kyūbi's chakra. That didn't mean he had completely given up on the two as he would still keep his weights and his resistance seal on and would occasionally have to increase them, though nowhere near at the same rate as he previously had done.
Due to the seal his father had created to hold the Kyūbi back, also syphoned off some of its chakra and would continue to do so until he reached the age of twenty. This meant that every day he would have to spend hours and hours continually gaining control of his chakra because his chakra levels never stopped growing. Even without the Kyūbi's chakra mixing with his own he would still have incredibly large chakra reserves. Mix the Kyūbi's with it and Naruto had gained incredibly large, dense and potent chakra.
While his chakra control was quite difficult to train due to his ever increasing in reserves. Learning to use the Kyūbi's chakra was much easier. With Kurama assisting him and not trying to possess him he was already able to use two tails worth of chakra.
"Meh, some people I can't wait to see again. The rest; not so much." Jiraiya chuckled at the response given by his apprentice. Before the two could continue, they found themselves looking at the gates of Konoha.
Both shared a glance, Jiraiya's filled with concern for his godson. While he knew Naruto hadn't been in the village for a while, he just hoped that the villagers had forgotten about what he held or learned the difference between the two. If not, well he just hoped that Naruto could beat them all or hold them off until help came.
"Halt – ah, Jiraiya-sama! You have returned!" One of the gate guards exclaimed in shock at meeting one of Konoha's strongest shinobi. The Chūnin had brown hair and black eyes with his right eye covered by his hair. He wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit, but his forehead protector was worn like a bandana.
"Yea, me and my apprentice are gonna go see Sarutobi-sensei." The two men nodded their heads as they observed the master and apprentice duo walking past them. They barely even recognised the passes been shown to them by the two before they had entered the village.
"Hey, Izumo." The man in question turned to face his partner. He had long spiky black hair and black eyes. Over his face ran a single strip of bandage with a coloured marking on his chin that was the same colour as his hair. He too wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit.
"Yea Kotetsu?"
"Wasn't that Uzumaki?" Izumo studied the figure belonging to Jiraiya's apprentice and slowly nodded his head.
"I think it is, yea?"
Kotetsu grinned and leaned onto the station. "Kakashi-san is gonna be happy he's returned."
"Yea, but once the villagers realise who he is they won't be very happy." Izumo added, but Kotetsu shrugged his shoulders not really caring for the opinion of the villagers. None of the Shinobi did, except for those who had no Shinobi parents.
-X- Line Break -X-
The journey to the Hokage's office. Thankfully none of the villagers had recognised him at all. This made the journey a little easier however, Naruto still felt his anger brimming just underneath the surface of his clam façade. It was only the occasional glance from his godfather and the words of how they weren't, 'worth it' from Kurama that kept him calm.
Yet, as he watched how the civilians continued to live their happy lives. Smiling and laughing as if what they did to him never mattered.
'I don't get it Kurama. How can they act like they never nearly killed me?' Kurama sighed as he heard Naruto repeat the same question for umpteenth time. It was really starting to get on his nerves.
"I don't know kit, but you better stop asking before I drag you in here and slap you repeatedly." Naruto gave a small smile at the odd way in which Kurama expressed that he cared. "I've seen you ningen do many atrocious things in my time. What they did to you is one of them and I've never been any good at helping people. Just take the advice that the old man gave you before you left with the pervert. Don't hate them, pity them."
'Fine, but if they attack me I'll kill them.' Naruto informed his tenant.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Before the two could continue their talk, they had finally reached the entrance to the Hokage's office. Looking towards Jiraiya, he saw that his godfather wasn't there.
"Come in." Opening the door, he stepped inside to see four people stood before the Hokage. One he easily recognised as a Jonin, while the other three he assumed to be Genin.
The four figures turned around and stared at him, while he did the same. The first one he took note of was the final Uchiha and younger brother of Itachi. He had black eyes and dark hair with a blue tint to it. He wore a navy blue, short-sleeved top with the Uchiha symbol emblazoned on the back with a high collar, white shorts and white arm warmers.
Next to him was a young girl with long pink hair and emerald eyes. She wore a red qipao dress with sits along the side and a white circular pattern on the front. On the other side of the Uchiha was pale skinned with dark hair and eyes. He wore a short, dark grey jacket and black ANBU pants. Strapped to his back was a Tantō.
Next to the pale skinned Shinobi was their Jonin sensei, someone he recognised instantly. Kakashi Hatake, S-class Shinobi and known throughout the world as Kopī Ninja no Kakashi (Copy Ninja Kakashi). He still hadn't changed since he last saw him. He still wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit.
"Hello Naruto-kun." Hiruzen greeted with a grandfatherly smile on his face. Naruto bowed lowly before turning to face Kakashi with a smile on his face.
"It's good to see you again Kakashi-nii." Kakashi gave an eye smile.
"And you too Otouto. You've grown." Meanwhile, the three Genin watched the interaction between the three people with close scrutiny. Kakashi had always been kind to them, but Sasuke had seen the way he kept distance away from them. To see Kakashi refer to this unknown boy the same age as him as 'little brother' was shocking.
'So this is the Kyūbi Jinchūriki.' Sai thought as his eyes trailed over the form of the Jinchūriki. He would admit that he was intimidated and wary of the boy that was the same age as himself. His very being exuded power that shouldn't belong to someone of that age. 'Danzo-sama will want to be informed of his arrival.'
"Naruto-kun, where is Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked as he saw his student wasn't present.
"Right here Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya proclaimed from his position on the window. Naruto smiled at the casual greeting of his sensei, while Kakashi nodded his head in the man's direction, something which was returned in kind. Sasuke and Sakura meanwhile, went wide eyed at the sight of a legendary Shinobi, something which Sai tried to recreate but failed miserably at.
"Kit, that kid doesn't have any emotions. I can't sense any." Naruto turned to face Sai and saw that he despite the emotion he was displaying it was a lie. He could fool every Genin and maybe a few Chūnin, but he couldn't fool a Bijū that had the ability to sense the emotions of everyone within the range of his senses. A range that spanned the size of the village twice over.
'I'll keep an eye on him.' Naruto shut the connection down between him and Kurama before focusing entirely on the people in the room.
"Team 7, you are dismissed." The Hokage informed the Genin and team and they left. Naruto turned to face the door for a few moments before turning to face the Hokage once more. "You can leave if you wish Naruto-kun." Smiling Naruto nodded his head and waved to the two men before opening the door to leave. "And Naruto-kun, it's good to see you again."
"You too, Jiji." Smiling at the nickname he had sorely missed, the Sandaime then turned to face Jiraiya.
"So, how has he been?" Hiruzen asked curiously. The welfare of his surrogate grandson had always been in his mind ever since the incident eight years ago.
"Kids been well. He's still angry with the villagers, but he's willing to keep it professional though if they attack him he will deal with them in a way he feels fit. Best warn the villain council about that part." Hiruzen smiled and while he was a bit upset about the killing part, he couldn't fault Naruto. In fact, he probably would have done the same.
"I will be calling a meeting in a few days, I will warn them if they plan to mistreat him in anyway will result in their business been put under new management." Hiruzen informed with a smile growing on his face.
Jiraiya snorted in amusement before walking towards the couch. It was subtle and most Shinobi would have missed the movement of his wrist. The ANBU didn't and disappeared from the room at the sign of a dismissal. Each confident that the combined might of Jiraiya and the Sandaime would easily hold off any assassin. Hiruzen meanwhile pressed his hand against a seal on the desk and channelled some chakra into it. All over the room, a complex sealing array formed and with it the two began talking more in depth on Naruto's development.
-X- Line Break -X-
Naruto and Kakashi had arrived at Training Ground 7 within a matter of minutes after leaving the Hokage's office, Kakashi's students having left to do their own thing. Now the two were stood in the training ground talking about what they had done in the last few years.
It had been a shock to learn that his last two surrogate big brother, Itachi and Kakashi had become S-class Shinobi. Even more so when he had learned that Kakashi was a Hokage candidate and had even be asked to take over the position numerous times but had declined each and every single time. As a form of revenge, the Sandaime had forced him to take on a team.
"I'm gonna say, you never struck me as a teacher Kakashi-nii." Naruto jokingly said and Kakashi gave an eye smile.
"Ma, ma. I can teach it's just I none of the academy students were the one I wanted to take on as a student." Naruto smiled at hearing that Kakashi wanted to take him on as a student. "But it seems Jiraiya-sama beat me and took you on as his apprentice."
"You can still teach me, Kakashi-nii!" Naruto protested. "Ero-sennin is one of the strongest Shinobi alive and you are near in terms of strength to him."
"That's where you are wrong Otouto." Kakashi corrected and took a seat on the ground. Naruto copied him. "While I'm ranked as an equal to Jiraiya-same, that is farther from the truth. I could probably defeat him in Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, but when Jiraiya-sama uses his Jutsu and everything he has in his repertoire, coupled with his experience he would completely destroy me. It'd be like a fight between a Genin and a Jonin. He would play with me for a bit before crushing me."
This admission from his brother was shocking to Naruto. Was the gap between Jiraiya and Kakashi that big? He had always known that his godfather was strong, but hearing it from someone else was shocking and to hear how much stronger was even more so. In a fight between himself and Kakashi he would lose as soon as Kakashi took him seriously in fact, most B-ranked Shinobi would beat him as soon as they got seriously. The only reason he had beaten B and even A-ranked Shinobi before was because they never took him seriously from the beginning.
It was said that the difference between a B and A-ranked Shinobi was only experience. The difference between an A-ranked Shinobi and an S-ranked Shinobi was the same as a difference between a Genin and Jonin. A big difference.
In terms of skill, Naruto could safely say he was definitely C-ranked. To finally realise how big of a gap there was between himself and Kakashi, and in turn Jiraiya was daunting. How could he possibly stack up against monsters such as them? Kakashi saw this and smiled internally. His little brother was finally realising that rank meant nothing, only skill counted.
Naruto clenched his fist tightly, but before he could think on it anymore he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Looking up he saw Kakashi giving him his trademark eye smile. Then with his spare arm he passed over a piece of black cloth.
Taking it, he looked at it and then turned to Kakashi in confusion. "What's this?"
"That Otouto, is a facemask of the Hatake clan." Shock coursed through him in waves. "In fact, that was my fathers. I want you to have it. Wear it with pride and know, that even if you're not my little brother by blood, that you will always be a member of the Hatake clan."
Once again he ducked his head to hide the tears that threatened to spill. Smiling Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair and stood up. He turned around and made to leave so that he wouldn't be late for his meeting the other Jonin-sensei's, but Naruto stopped him.
"Wait, Kakashi-nii!" Naruto exclaimed and was relieved when Kakashi turned around. "Can we spar, I want to get stronger and I need to learn my limits. Plus, I'm getting bored of having my ass handed to me by Ero-sennin every day." Smiling Kakashi nodded and felt his chest swell with pride as he looked at the facemask covering the bottom half of his little brothers face.
"Ready yourself, Otouto." Kakashi warned and lowered himself into Hatake clan's signature Taijutsu style, the Yasei no Sutoraiku (Feral Strike). Naruto nodded his head and dropped into his own style. "Lesson one: Taijutsu." Then the two shot forwards, Kakashi notably faster, but holding back as to not end the fight prematurely.
-X- Line Break -X-
Kurenai was angry, Asuma was annoyed and Gai was being…well Gai. The three had been waiting for Kakashi for about an hour (A/N: The fight between Kakashi and Naruto only began ten minutes ago, and hasn't being going on for an hour). Now the three were walking towards where Kurenai had sensed Kakashi's chakra signature.
While she wasn't a sensor, Kurenai had learned to pick up on chakra signatures. This was different to an actual sensor as they would be able to tell the emotions of a person and what they were doing, some even had been able to predict what they were doing and read their mind based entirely on their chakra signature.
So the three had set out for training Ground 7 so that they would drag to the Akimichi Barbeque so they could discuss their Genin and see who was currently in the lead for the bet.
The bet in question was one to see who had the best Genin team by the end of the year. Gai however, was not part of this due to his team having an additional year of pure training and missions, but he still joined their conversations and acted as the neutral party in the dealings.
Currently, Kurenai was in the lead due to the fact she was the only one who taught her team anything. Kakashi and Asuma left their teams to do their training on their own. Something that incredibly annoyed her. On top of that, Kakashi had the nerve to make her wait for an hour with a man who was dead set on getting in her pants despite her lack of interest and a man child obsessed with youth. Oh yes, she would have her revenge whether he be an S-ranked Shinobi or not. It mattered little to her.
Now imagining the surprise of the three of them when they saw Kakashi currently engaged against a young blonde boy no older than thirteen.
They both moved with such speed which was shocking.
'What speed?!' Kurenai thought in shock as they watched the two blurs that were Kakashi and Naruto. Occasionally they would be nothing but black blurs, then they would appear and appear once more in a fierce bout of Taijutsu.
'The strength of this kid is insane.' Asuma had to remove his cigar from his mouth lest it drop to the ground, his mouth to wide to keep it there.
'So this is your Otouto, his flames of Youth shine brightly!' Gai exclaimed internally, not wishing to distract the two Shinobi from their current fight. He watched as Kakashi lashed out with a roundhouse kick to Naruto's head, something the Kyūbi Jinchūriki just managed to block. Even so the force lifted him off his feet, but before he got too far away he threw a kick of his own that Kakashi easily knocked away.
Spinning through the air, Naruto landed on his feet before disappearing and appearing in front of Kakashi with one fist drawn back. The Jonin ignored the feint and grabbed his little brothers left leg. Naruto went with the momentum and spun round with his last remaining leg. Only for Kakashi to catch that two.
'Now what do you plan to do, Otouto?' Before he could think any further he saw the smirk on Naruto's face followed by the build-up of chakra. Followed by Naruto exploding.
It was only due to Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) the allowed him to escape unharmed. Couldn't beat the basics.
Walking forwards, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves back where they started. This time however, their breath was bit deeper. Not much though. Kakashi had barely put any effort into the fight, sure he had put more in that when he fought his Genin team, but enough to still making him slightly out of breath. Naruto on the other hand had put every bit of effort he could into that singular bout and it was only due to his nearly limitless stamina that kept him from passing out straight away. Not only that, but his weight and resistance seals were already released as too match his brother speed.
"Well done, Otouto. Very good, Jiraiya-sama taught you well." Kakashi praised. Meanwhile, Asuma and Kurenai felt like they had a bucket of cold water poured over them. The kid before them was the student of Jiraiya. They had heard rumours that he had taken on another student, a student that fought the Nibi Jinchūriki and came out victor, but they hadn't thought it would be the kid before them.
"Thanks, Kakashi-nii. You're not so bad yourself." Naruto channelled Chakra into the seals on both palms and in a cloud of smoke, Shuriken appeared in between his fingers. There was but a split second wait before Naruto launched them all towards Kakashi. But more and more appeared from the seals in his palms until over a hundred of the deadly projectiles where flying towards the S-ranked Shinobi. However, he didn't seem scared in the slightest and instead he calmly summoned his father's blade into his hand. The Hakkō Chakura Tō (White Light Chakra Sabre).
It hadn't taken a while for the pieces of his father's blade to be put back to together into the famous blade it once was after he broke it in the Second Shinobi World War. It had been done though and he had token up Kenjutsu once more and surpassed his old level of strength.
While he was nowhere near the level of a Kenjutsu master, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist or Kushina for that matter. He was strong enough to hold them off, if not beat them when combined with the rest of his skills.
He prepared himself and waited until the first wave got close before calmly parrying and blocking each and every single one of them. He would occasionally dodge a few that he could not, but the rest he easily managed to remove. Then came the second wave, this time he noticed the subtle lightning sparks over them.
'Raiton!' He felt like a kid in a candy store when he realised that Naruto had the same elemental affinity as himself. If only he knew.
This time he had to be more careful and put a tiny bit more effort into the fight as a result of the Shuriken been sharper and faster. The process repeated with Naruto incorporating wind and then using Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique) into the next two waves.
Then came the fifth and final wave, and with a shout of Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Technique) and multiple Shuriken were encased in a single fireball that had a diameter of Kakashi. There ten in total and Kakashi smiled proudly before jumping backwards, his hands blurring through a series of hand seals.
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Bullet Technique)!" From Kakashi's mouth mutliple bullets of water shot forwards and collided with the fireballs. Both techniques blanketing the area in hot steam.
Once again, Kakashi had to use Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) to remove himself from harm. He whistled in amazement as he heard the tell-tale sign of shuriken embedding into wood with a "thunk" noise. The accuracy of the Shuriken was quite frankly terrifying.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)/"Raiton Jibashi (Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder)!" Kakashi turned wide-eyed to stare up at the dragon rushing towards him, its watery form covered in electricity.
-X- Line Break -X-
As the fight had progressed, the three had found themselves more and more shocked by the power shown to them by the young boy. Gai had always known that Naruto would have been powerful, in fact he expected it. What with the boy been a Jinchūriki and an Uzumaki. That alone with him been trained by Jiraiya would have turned any average Shinobi into a top-class Shinobi. But to see just how powerful was shocking and he was excited to see just how powerful the boy would become as he grew older.
Kurenai and Asuma were in varying states of disrepair. To them, it shouldn't be possible for anyone to be this powerful at the age of thirteen. To be able to make ten extremely condensed and hot fireballs was incredibly difficult for any Shinobi with a Katon (Fire Release) was hard. Most only succeeded in making them bigger, but not hotter and to do that you had to condense the fireball.
Then for the boy to follow up with a large dragon that towered over the trees and coated in electricity was no easy task.
"How is this possible?" Kurenai asked breathlessly as she watched Kakashi backpedal from the dragon. She could tell he was thinking on how to combat against the dragon. It never ventured to far from Naruto as its tail had formed a shield around Naruto's body meaning its range was limited.
However, when Kakashi got too far away physical clones would appear. Some were Kage Bunshin's (Shadow clones), some exploded and the rest were a mix of the elemental clones.
"There's no way he should have this much Chakra, it's just unreal." Asuma's cigar had long since dropped from his hand and he was too busy watching the fight before him to do anything about it.
"The amount of Chakra the boy has is not the problem here Sarutobi-san, he's beating Hatake-san!" Kurenai all but exclaimed. Her voice never raised in tempo though her voice was laced with hysteria. Gai on the other hand turned to them, his face uncharacteristically serious.
"Kakashi isn't losing this fight." He informed them sternly. "Far from it in fact."
"How does that," he waved his hand towards Kakashi who's cloths were slightly singed from a Katon: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Fire Style: Shadow Clone Technique). He then spun round and dispelled mutliple shadow clones with a single kick. "Look like he isn't losing. The kids had him on the back foot ever since he started spamming Shuriken." Kurenai nodded her head in agreement and narrowed her eyes at Naruto in the cocoon of water and lightning. She could just make out the sight of him bent over and doing something to the ground.
"Because Kakashi isn't using his full power. In fact since this fight started, he has only used a quarter of his full strength." Gai would know, he was the only one in the village besides the Sandaime that could force Kakashi to use his full power. Even then, Gai had to use the Hachimon (Eight Gates) to do so.
Kurenai and Asuma turned back to the fight with a new sense of fear for their fellow sensei. They both knew Kakashi's reputation. The way he copied his enemy's techniques in battle and then used those same techniques to kill them. They had heard how he knew over a thousand jutsu and was one of Konoha's most prominent figureheads and a Hokage candidate.
They knew that there was monsters out there. Shinobi so powerful that they could take on entire battalions of Shinobi and come out unscathed. Kakashi was one of them and they realised that despite been nonchalant most of the time, underneath it was a monster just waiting to be unleashed on the world.
-X- Line Break -X-
"Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!" From Kakashi's mouth a large blast of wind struck the dragon and travelled all the way down its body. The water that once made it collapsing to the ground in puddles.
Naruto however, was unperturbed by this as he had just finished his sealing array. Now he needed to move onto another positon and do the same again. He already had three parts of the seal done. The area that he and Kakashi had been sat n had been the area he had put the first part of the seal. The area where he had gone toe to toe against Kakashi in Taijutsu had been where he had put the second and now where he stood was the third part.
Just two more to go and he would be done.
Kakashi had just finished dispatching the rest of his clones before the two were facing off against one another once more. This time they were both gripping the handle of their blades in one hand.
There was no signal. No sing of the Kenjutsu battle beginning. One moment they were separate and the next they were pushing against one another. Naruto with his blade held vertically and Kakashi's horizontally. However, Naruto felt himself sliding backwards and he dug his feet into the ground as to try and stop himself from losing any more ground.
"Lesson two: Ninjutsu. You pass." Kakashi spoke up gaining Naruto's attention. He grit his teeth as his footing nearly left him and he was pushed backwards further. Kakashi even going as far as to take a step forwards. "Lesson three: Genjutsu." Cursing Naruto closed his eyes and jumped backwards.
Channelling Chakra into them, his eyes snapped open ad easily dispelled the Genjutsu that had surrounded him.
"With these eyes, Kakashi-nii. I can see everything you just did." Naruto proclaimed and gripped his blade tighter. Kakashi meanwhile raised an eyebrow at the odd looking Sharingan. Unlike his it seemed that Naruto could turn them on and off at will, but he also kept features from his previous eyes. The reptilian pupil was still present with the tomoes surrounding it. In his opinion it was much cooler than his own.
"Oh, looks like you got a bad case of pink eye." He gave an eye smile when he saw the twitch of Naruto's eye. "Ma, ma. No need to get so angry Otouto I'm sure it will go in time."
"Bwahahaha!" Kurama's laughter ringed in his head and Naruto winced at the unexpected noise. "Pink eye. Classic." There was more laughter from his tenant and Naruto had a mental image of him wiping tears of laughter from his eyes with a single clawed finger.
'Shut up Kurama no Baka!' Naruto shouted internally, but Kurama continued to laugh. 'I don't know if you looked in the mirror recently, but your eyes are the same colour as your own. So you have pink eye as well you lazy bastard.' That shut up the Kyūbi.
With that said and done, Naruto shot forwards and engaged Kakashi in a clash of steel. They were practically dancing all over the training ground as they blocked, parried slashed and hacked at one another. While Kakashi was sturdy, barely moving and utilising his superior physical capabilities and experience to not do very much in the way of work. Naruto on the other hand was testing out his new Kenjutsu style.
It was nowhere near completion and used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) in conjunction with the Uzumaki Kenjutsu style. The Uzumaki Kenjutsu style had no name, but it involved multiple aspects of other Kenjutsu styles and also a lot of acrobatics to surprise and put the enemy off-balance.
"Kit." Naruto flipped and slashed at Kakashi, landing on the ground in a crouch the dived forwards with his sword pointed directly and spun madly.
'What is it Kurama?' Rolling on the ground, Naruto back flipped and lashed out with a double footed stomp that Kakashi stepped back to avoid. Following this, Naruto spun around and went to cut his legs. To avoid this, Kakashi jumped into the air and kicked Naruto in the face.
"You better hit this pervert at least once for the pink eye comment." Shaking his head in amusement and to clear his head, Naruto spat out some blood before rushing to engage Kakashi once more.
'Oh don't you worry, I will get him at least once before this fight ends.' Kurama and Naruto gave a similar grin that no one could see due to the mask, but they felt it.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise when he felt the oppressive Chakra come forth a tiny bit. No one other than them could feel it due to it only been a small amount, but it was enough to make a difference. All of his physical capabilities had been augmented and it showed when Kakashi just barely managed to raise his blade and block a strike. Even when he did he was forced backwards.
Then things began to change. The tempo of the match swinging in favour from Kakashi to Naruto. Every time Kakashi blocked one strike he would have to quickly react and block another strike. The process repeating and putting him further off-balance.
A lucky kick from Kakashi forced Naruto backwards, but he felt a small sting of pain from his left arm and leg. Then more and more.
Looking down he saw small cuts and tears in his outfit, with some bleeding lightly. Not enough for him to worry, but enough that it made them sting and bleed. Looking up, he turned to stare at Naruto with a proud gaze.
"Very well done, Otouto." Kakashi congratulated. Naruto smirked and formed the ram seal and with it a barrier formed.
"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Tsu no Pointo Fūin (Uzumaki Sealing Techniques: Four Point Seal)." Naruto spoke calmly before he placed his hands on the ground. Inside the admittedly large blue barrier, five seals glowed brightly. "Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Gogyō Shūsoku Fūin (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Five Elements Convergence Seal)."
From each seal, the five elements sprung forth and converged on Kakashi just like they did with Yugito and the ground shook as a result of the explosion. When the smoke cleared, all that stood in the centre of the seal was a small smoking crater and in that was the splinters that once belonged to a log.
Naruto gasped as he felt cold steel placed against his neck. Freezing, he slowly rose and heard Kakashi say, "I win." Naruto smirked and from his back five Chakra chains shot out and pierced through Kakashi, only for a log to take his place once more.
He looked round to see Kakashi sprinting towards him and Naruto copied him, his chains shooting forwards and piercing through the clone. Lightning coursed down his chains and struck his body. With a groan of pain he dropped to the ground, his form steaming. The two hands burst from the ground and gripped his legs and pulled him into the ground till only his head remained free.
Naruto was about to free himself though he stopped when he once again felt a kunai pressed against him, this time against the top of his head. Meanwhile, his eyes stared along the length of Kakashi's sword.
Groaning he admitted his defeat and pulled himself free, the he asked the question that had been on his mind for the past couple of seconds. "When did you use the Kawarimi no Jutsu (body Replacement Technique)?" Kakashi eye smiled.
"Just as you formed the ram seal. I recognised the build-up of Chakra to realise you were going to use Fūinjutsu." He had spared against both Minato and Kushina, masters of Fūinjutsu to know when the subtle art was going to be used. Nodding his head, Naruto grinned when he took in Kakashi's state.
"Got you a few times though." He grinned though all any one would see would be an eye smile similar to Kakashi's.
Ruffling Naruto's hair, the two began walking towards the village. "That you did Otouto. Meet me here at around five every afternoon, I finish teaching my students then so I can then focus on teaching you a few things." Naruto nodded his head happily.
"What do you actually teach your team?"
"Well, the council are forcing me to teach the last Uchiha so they can have another powerful Shinobi, but all I do is give him a scroll from the library with a basic technique on for him to learn. I refuse to teach him anything more than that until he can overcome his hatred. What the council don't realise is that if I teach Sasuke as he is, he will grow too powerful and we could have a repeat of his brother." Naruto winced at the reminder of how one of his older brother figures had gone insane and killed his entire family. It was a reminder that been introduced to the world of the Shinobi too early, with no real attachment and too much responsibility is not good.
"What about the others?" Naruto looked towards Kakashi to see him reading a little orange book, the same book his godfather is the author. Seeing that Kakashi was reading while walking, Naruto decided to copy him just like any younger brother did when their older brother did something. His book however, was on Fūinjutsu and not porn.
"Sakura is a fangirl and has no desire to learn so I'm not going to force her. If she expresses any desire to learn, then I will gladly teach her. Until that point I'm not doing anything." Kakashi paused in his speech to give a perverted giggle that made Naruto sweatdrop. "As for Sai, he is more focused on drawing in his booklet and prefers to train alone." He decided to forgo the piece of information about Sai been a member of Ne (Root).
-X- Line Break -X-
"Are you pleased with how strong my student is now, Danzo?" Jiraiya questioned with a certain steel to his voice that demanded Danzo not question him any further. Speaking of Danzo, the man had come to join their conversation around halfway through and had been quite patronising to Jiraiya. Something that got on the nerves of the Gama Sennin (Toad Sage).
To pacify both men, Hiruzen had used his crystal ball to watch the fight between Kakashi and Naruto. It had been quite surprising as hearing and seeing about something are two very different things.
"Yes. Very much so." Neither Jiraiya nor Hiruzen liked the way in which Danzo spoke. While Danzo had been working together with Hiruzen for the past eight years to improve Konoha's infrastructure, economy and overall military might. He was still very much the shadow of the great tree that was Konoha. He thrived in shadows and no one could tell what Danzo had planned.
"You wouldn't happen to have anything nefarious planned, would you Danzo?" Hiruzen pressed and Danzo stared at the two who were stronger that he would ever be.
"No, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki is a powerful Shinobi who will walk in the light, not the shadow." Not many people would get the reference Danzo had made, but Hiruzen and Jiraiya were not most people. Both sagged in relief at the admission that Danzo would not be trying to get control of Naruto.
Hiruzen then turned to face his student. "Now tell me Jiraiya-kun, do you think Naruto-kun is ready for the Chūnin exams?" Jiraiya looked at him in amusement and chuckled slightly.
"You're asking me that, even though you just saw what he can do. The kid is a monster for his age, he has his father's ability to soak up all the knowledge and his mother's desire to perfect everything and anything she learned to its fullest. If the kids not ready then most Chūnin aren't deserving of their title." Hiruzen smiled thinly.
"You know what I mean, Jiraiya-kun. Been Chūnin is about more than just skill and power. It's about how you use."
"And that's why I repeat what I said. If the kids not ready then most Chūnin aren't deserving of the title." Nodding his head, Hiruzen leaned back and then interlocked his fingers together.
"He will enter the tournament on his own and will be registered as your apprentice. I want the basics of his skills logged into our Shinobi Registration, I want you personally overseeing this Danzo." There was a pregnant pause. "Not too much, but just enough that it shows he is a powerful Shinobi." Danzo bowed and left the room, while Jiraiya left to go find his godson.
'Orochimaru, let's see how you plan to get around this obstacle.' He had no doubt that they had a spy in their midst. No doubt the spy would sneak in and join the Genin in the Chūnin exams to observe Sasuke Uchiha. However, Orochimaru would never invade Konoha without a backup in place for every prominent Shinobi they had. With a Jinchūriki competing, the spy would definitely try and get every bit of information he could and then some.
He had made a mistake by allowing Orochimaru to escape and that mistake had haunted him ever since. It was time for him to rectify the mistake once and for all.
-X- Line Break -X-
The next few months had been interesting to say the least for Naruto. All of Konoha was getting prepared for the Chūnin exams. Merchants, civilians and nobles from all over the Elemental Nations had been pouring into Konoha in droves.
In that time Naruto had been training non-stop so that he could show the true power of Konoha and the Uzumaki clan to the world. The world had forgotten about his clan and Konoha had been severely weakened after the Third Shinobi World War, the Kyūbi attack and the loss of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
They had recovered however, Kakashi and Maito Gai had both joined the ANBU – again in Kakashi's case – and had become S-ranked Shinobi that were feared throughout the Elemental Nations. Even more so when they worked together. In fact when fighting alongside one another, they had been labelled a SS-ranked tag team. The second team in existence beside the current Raikage and his brother to gain such notoriety.
Speaking of his training, Naruto would spend the first few early morning hours training alongside Maito Gai himself and his young lookalike, Rock Lee. It had been difficult and Naruto had been shocked to find someone over than himself so motivated to grow stronger. In fact, Rock Lee was the only one who beside Yugito near his age that he could go all out against. The extra challenge had been welcomed greatly.
Afterwards he would use Training Ground 43 and 44, where he would train alongside the Tokubetsu Jonin Anko Mitarashi, also known as the Konoha no Hebi Aijin (Snake Mistress of Konoha). The two had met when Naruto had been fighting a group of Chakra mutated spiders. After defeating them he had come across a stash of Dango. He had been hungry so he ate them, when he was on his last one Anko arrived and attacked him without warning.
It had been a close fight, but Anko beat him and then every day after that she had been there to meet him and train with hi.
While his clones would improve his Chakra control, Fūinjutsu, Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu, Taijutsu and learning to use more of the Kyūbi's Chakra. The original would switch between sparring with Anko, playing tag with her summons to improve his stealth and fighting the multiple Chakra mutated creatures in the Forest of Death.
Then he would rest up for a bit before going to meet with Kakashi. They would start things off with a spar before Kakashi would teach him more Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. One thing Naruto realised was that he would always be an amateur Genjutsu user, never excelling at it.
It didn't bother him because with the Sharingan coupled with his massive Chakra reserves and Kurama he could break out with any Genjutsu, no matter how complex or powerful.
Jiraiya however, had been absent for the past month. His reasoning being that he had business outside of Konoha to deal with. Naruto didn't mind as it didn't affect his training much, plus he could tell his godfather was anxious about something.
Now he was walking towards the Academy building where the first part of the Chūnin exams would be held. His outfit hadn't changed at all, except for the fact he had decided to keep the facemask given to him by Kakashi, the Konoha headband wrapped around his neck and now had a second blade, a Tantō hidden underneath his cloak, while his katana was sealed away in his wrist like usual. Anko pointed out that people will prepare for him to unseal his weapons and that he should always have weapons hidden on his person and not just in seals.
His katana had been too big to hide, therefore he had gotten a Tantō as a second blade. He even began learning the Hatake clan's dual bladed Kenjutsu style and the Uzumaki Kenjutsu style. His dream was to combine the two to make a much better and more dangerous style.
Walking into the building he clearly saw a few Genin from multiple villages walking around in the academy. There was a lot of teams from Konoha, a few from Suna, Ame, Taki, Kusa and Oto despite it been a new village. The final village making his eyes narrow in anger as he recognised the music symbol from the strange six armed individual that attacked the village.
Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto walked through the crowd of people and walked up two flights of stairs and made his way across the corridor to the stairs on the other side. He never understood why the put the stairs in the opposite side to the floor below, but he didn't really care either. On his way he drew a few looks due to him been alone however, he barely spared them a glance.
"Ah, Naruto-kun!" Naruto smiled before schooling his features. He wiped out a book from thin air and continued walking. "Naruto-kun!" Then Lee appeared in front of him a large toothy grin plastered on his face. Behind him he could see Lee's two teammates, Neji Hyūga and Tenten Higurashi.
It took a lot of effort to restrain a smile as he copied his older brother perfectly. Right down to the dull and bored tone in which he spoke his rehearsed line. "I'm sorry, did you say something Lee?" He turned to Lee with a bored look in his eyes and mentally cheered alongside with Kurama as they watched Lee grip his hair tightly in frustration. Meanwhile, Kakashi sneezed and suddenly felt very proud of himself.
"Ah, curse you my eternal rival and your hip attitude!" Flames burned in Lee's eyes as he stood straight. "I shall prove today that my Flames of Youth burn brighter than your calm and cool attitude!" He proclaimed earning a few odd looks from the people watching the events unfold. Lee paid them no attention and looked towards his rival only to see him gone.
Tenten tried to smother her giggle with her hand but failed miserably. She had never seen anyone do that to Lee before, not even Neji had been able to do that. Speaking of the Hyūga prodigy, he stared at the back of Naruto with some akin to interest. He had seen the way in which Lee and Naruto acted, it was almost frighteningly familiar to the interaction between Kakashi and Gai.
Izumo and Kotetsu shared a glance and grinned. "Looks like another Kakashi and Gai rivalry." Kotetsu stated. The rivalry between the Jonin rivals served as a never ending source of hilarity for everyone within in hearing range. Which was quite loud when Gai was involved.
Back with Naruto, he had made it to the classroom where everyone was meeting up for the first part of the Chūnin exams to take place. There was only three teams present, one from Konoha, one from Suna and one from Kumo.
He instantly recognised the team from Kumo as the same group who attacked him just before his match against Yugito. It seemed that they had all been put into the same team after all.
"Kit, the redhead from Suna." Naruto looked towards the redhead who returned his gaze. "He's the Jinchūriki of Shukaku." Relaying his thanks to Kurama, Naruto took a seat at one of the desks in the corner of the room, farthest away from the door and therefore the rest of the Genin.
'Do you think he will be a problem?' Kurama hummed for a few moments.
"While he is the weakest of us Bijū, if you put him in area with lots of sand and even I wold have trouble defeating him in battle. Not only that, but all of his hosts have displayed great aptitude for Fūton (Wind Release) Ninjutsu and even Jiton (Magnet Release." Naruto nodded his head at the information and looked around the room to judge who would be a challenge.
The redhead was definitely one, the blonde female from Kumo was also one. She was calm, cool and collected, something that didn't sit well with him. Only those too arrogant or strong enough weren't anxious; and she wasn't arrogant. Far from it in fact. Then there was the guy from Konoha with silver hair and glasses. Something about him didn't sit well with Naruto, there was definitely more to him than meets the eye.
Over the course of an hour the room filled up with more and more Genin until came the last group of Genin. They were loud and far too naïve to the way these exams worked. Each of them lost in their little world to notice the Killing Intent been directed at them by most of the Genin. Pitiful it was, but it was Killing Intent all the same.
Then came the glasses wearing Konoha Shinobi, who introduced himself as Kabuto. His acute hearing picked up on what they were saying. At first it was just about how they should keep the noise down and then the tenseness of the situation. The most interesting part of the young man's speech was when he introduced his Ninja Info Cards. They had been introduced to the Shinobi world in the Second Shinobi World War, but afterwards they had all but been forgotten.
"Rock Lee of Konohagakure and Gaara Sunagakure." Kakashi was right when he said that the Uchiha's voice reeked of arrogance.
"The Uchiha are all the same." Naruto chuckled slightly, before listening on the information.
"You know their names and their village. That takes all the fun out of it." The glasses wearing Shinobi sighed in disappointment before pulling a random card from the pile before placing it on the ground. "Well then, Rock Lee, Genin of Konohagakure. He's a year older than you lot and is a member of Team 9 alongside, Tenten Higurashi and Neji Hyūga. He graduated dead last of his class and is currently under the tutelage of Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū (Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey)."
Silence reigned for a few moments as people recognised the name of one of Konoha's strongest Shinobi. A man feared alongside his partner, Kakashi Hatake. Many shared a wary glance with the clone of the legendary figure, believing him to be the man's student.
The young man continued. "It says he has no skill in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but his Taijutsu skills are off the charts. Much like his sensei." Another pause, this one much shorter than the previous.
'I think Uchiha-chan got his ass handed to him by Lee.' Naruto and Kurama laughed internally at the thought of the arrogant prince getting beaten by a person with no Chakra.
"Lee is strong for you ningen, no doubt about that, but the Uchiha's pride must be in tatters." Kurama roared with laughter once more and Naruto had to turn the volume down so that he could hear the rest of the conversation.
"He has completed fifty-seven D-ranks and twenty-five C-ranks. And that's all that's interesting about him." Everything he had said was public knowledge or could be found by spying, which while frowned upon when doing it to ones comrades, was not illegal. So far, he didn't see Kabuto as the spy he had been informed about by the Sandaime. But there was a possibility.
'What'd you think, Kurama? Think he could be a spy?'
"Possibly, one thing I know is that he smells like a snake." Kurama growled in anger and Naruto turned back to face Kabuto who began giving information about Gaara.
"Subaku no Gaara, Genin of Sunagakure and youngest son of the Yondaime Kazekage. His teammates are his brother and sister, Subaku no Kankurō and Subaku no Temari. His Jonin-sensei is Baki and has completed forty-seven D-ranks, twelve C-ranks and…wow, one B-rank. But get this; he's never been touched in a fight, ever." Another pregnant pause as they looked towards the teams from Suna.
They followed the line of direction that the Suna teams were looking at and found themselves looking at an anxious guy and girl, but the middle one simply regarded the coldly.
"Look at the gourd on his back." Naruto did saw and instantly he sensed Bijū Chakra fermenting whatever was inside it. "The kid doesn't have any form of control over Shukaku and therefore is just using the racoons power and not his own."
'Lucky I have a Bijū Chakura Haisui Fūin (Bijū Chakra Draining Seal) for when it comes to dealing with him.'
"I want information on Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure." Hearing his name, Naruto's head snapped up and looked to see Neji staring coldly at Kabuto. Nodding his head, Kabuto took out one of his cards and Naruto had to restrain himself from stopping the information been read out. If he did he would stop potential enemies knowing some of what he could do however, if he didn't he could once and for all know whether Kabuto was a spy or not.
"Ok then." Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Konohagakure and apprentice of Jiraiya of the Sannin." A ripple of shock ran throughout the room as they heard that snippet of information. "He recently returned to the village after eight years of training with his sensei way from the village. He is skilled in Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu, Fūinjutsu, but lacks proper skills in Genjutsu. Whoa, his Chakra pools are said to be Kage-level and has very good control over it."
With every piece of information read out, Naruto felt more and more secure in his decision that Kabuto wasn't a spy. Everything that had been said was easily found in the Konoha registration office and had Genin clearance levels. Which Kabuto had.
"It says he has done zero D-ranked missions, but has done thirty-three C-ranked, forty-four B-ranked, five A-ranked and a single S-ranked mission. He has even fought against the Nibi Jinchūriki of Kumogakure and came out as victor." That final piece of information proved exactly the opposite of what he had been thinking.
The news of his victory over Yugito hadn't been common knowledge. Only civilians and Shinobi of Kumogakure had witnesses that fight and each and every single one had been sworn to secrecy. Threat of death been the penalty. The reason for this been that Kumo couldn't allow the news of one of its Jinchūriki been defeated without looking weak.
That however, wasn't enough to fully prove that Kabuto was a spy. For all Naruto knew he had come across that information by chance. Still, he had to report anyone he believed to be a possible spy.
Kabuto was definitely that.
Things after that calmed down until kabuto said something to insult a team of Otogakure Shinobi. They attacked and Kabuto was easily taken down. Before things could progress, Ibiki Morino arrived and put a stop to everything.
Each of them where then sat into a seat and given a sheet of paper that was turned over. Naruto looked to the girl on his right hand side and saw that she was a Hyūga by the eyes though she was unlike any Hyūga he had seen. Unlike the rest of her clan, she lacked the stick up her ass, but she did have the cold glance that they always wore. However, he could tell this was a mask she put up to protect herself.
He would know, he wore a mask for the first couple of years of his life.
So lost in thought, he had missed the rules and all the warning he got was Ibiki shouting, "Begin!" Following this was the ruffling of sheets and people began to answer the questions. Some more confident than the others.
Naruto looked at the questions on the sheet and looked around. These questions were far too difficult for most Genin to answer and Naruto was many things, but book smart or tactical genius was not one of them. He could think up of plans on the fly sure, but actually thinking a plan through, step by step was something he could and would never be able to do. It was just the way he was.
'Kurama. Can you sense the Chakra levels of those answering the questions easily?" Kurama grunted as a sing of agreement before informing Naruto on his findings.
"They each have Chūnin level Chakra reserves, except the pink haired girl." Nodding his head, Naruto studied them for a few more moments before it finally clicked.
'They're Chūnin in disguise. Each positioned in a way that allows people to copy off them.'
As time went by and Naruto studied the room, his answer sheet forgotten he saw that multiple Genin had been sent from the room. When one tried to argue, Naruto finally realised that he had three chances before he was out. Good job he only needed one.
"Are you gonna do what I think you are?" Kurama questioned.
'Yep.' He made sure to make a "popping" noise with the 'p.' He could feel the feral grin on Kurama's face, a grin that Naruto copied.
Ibiki meanwhile, knew something was wrong the moment he saw the Uzumaki kid grin the way he did. A grin so reminiscent to Anko that it was scary. He shivered at the thought of two of them running around.
The next clue something was wrong was when Naruto stood up and walked towards one of the Chūnin that were hidden. When Naruto locked eyes with him, Ibiki gave his most fierce glare with Killing Intent to make it more terrifying. The kid just shrugged it off and continued on his way.
'What did I expect, he's been training with Jiraiya-sama to learn to use the Kyūbi's Chakra. Of course my Killing Intent wouldn't be a match for the beasts.' Deciding to watch the kid, he gave a tick on his clipboard for a penalty already knowing that the kid had passed. It was incredibly amusing to watch however, when Naruto gripped the Chūnin's head and slammed in against the desk, knocking the poor man unconscious.
If the entire room hadn't been paying attention to Naruto before, they sure were now. Each watched as he picked up the sheet and walked back to his seat.
Shaking his head with a light chuckle, he ticked the kid off. The kid had balls and easily picked out the meaning of the first half of the first part of the Chūnin exams. Now it was just a matter of if he would pass the second half. From the ballsy move the kid just pulled, he would.
-X- Line Break -X-
In the room next door, the Jonin-sensei's all sweat dropped as a result of Naruto's actions. Some eve began laughing, Asuma was one of them. Kurenai looked aghast, but curious at the odd manoeuvre. Kakashi simply smiled and continued to read his book.
'As subtle as always, Otouto.'
A/N: I know it's been awhile, but here it is. Chapter 4. Hope you enjoyed and if you did please leave a review. Once again, there is now a poll up which allows you to choose the final three women you want in Naruto's harem.
So far, it is Samui, Kurenai Mei, Anko and Yugito.
Next chapter will involve the Second Part of the Chūnin exam and the Preliminaries. I'm thinking of doing the Preliminaries over the course of two chapters, though it depends on the word count.