Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Piece of the Puzzle
Chapter 5: Momo's Gifts
It was the next morning after Naruto and Momo's first "not a date." They were meeting in the same training field as yesterday. Momo was the first to arrive as it was almost literally in her backyard. As she waited for Naruto to arrive, Momo thought about how she felt for him.
'I was hoping he'd get here early today. He could have joined me for breakfast. And my family too, I suppose. Then again, maybe that's a good thing. I don't know if he's met my siblings yet, and I don't want Suika getting any ideas about my man. At least Hikari is too young to be interested in boys.'
Suika was eight years old, and Sasuke and Sakura's third child. Hikari was four years old, and their second youngest child.
Momo did not have to wait much longer as a gust of wind came billowing into the training field, and Naruto with it.
"Sorry I'm late." He said to Momo. "I had an early morning meeting with Kakashi-sensei."
"It's alright." Momo replied, in awe of how he mysteriously arrived. "Umm, how did you just appear like that?" She asked Naruto.
"Oh, you mean just now?" Naruto asked Momo, who nodded.
"I just felt a strong breeze, and suddenly there you were." She clarified.
"Ah, that was one of special moves. It's called the wind flicker, or to be more specific, it's the wind release: body flicker technique. I combined my wind element with the body flicker technique to create a high speed movement technique. The breeze you felt is just the air displacement caused when I move so fast."
Naruto's explanation of his technique amazed Momo. She knew he was fast; after all he was the son of the Yellow Flash, and the only person alive who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
'To think he had taken a d-rank technique and improved it just by adding his element was amazing. Than again, he did it once before with the wind release: rasenshuriken.' She thought to herself.
'I created the technique so I could have my own unique speed move. It's a good thing Sasuke let me study Uchiha Shisui's old journals so I could learn his style and use it in battle like he could with the basic version. I probably shouldn't tell Momo that though, I don't know if she knows how he really died.' Naruto thought to himself.
"I'll tell you what. If you can show me that you've completely mastered the basic three techniques, I'll show you how to use the body flicker technique. If you're good enough at it, I'll even show you how to use it in battle."
That got Momo's attention. Just like her father and Naruto, all it takes to encourage her was to offer to teach her a new technique.
"I'll do it!" Momo exclaimed.
'When I do I'll show you how good I am, and then I'll master the body flicker too!'
"That's great Momo, now let's get started."
With that Momo began working through the basic three techniques as Naruto guided her on how to perform them flawlessly. It took her all day, leaving Momo dead tired and almost out of chakra, but she mastered the basic three. She could now do them in an instant, with no hand-seals or a trace of smoke.
Because of how tired she was, they would not do any strenuous work the next day. Momo needed to rest and recover. Instead they were going to review Momo's skills and determine what her strengths and weakness were. Their goal was to develop a unique fighting style for her.
Naruto's was well known. He would use his many clone techniques to overwhelm an enemy with numbers, then use his speed and close combat abilities to decimate them. He could take down any number of opponents thanks to his considerable chakra reserves.
Not only that, but he was also skilled in water and earth manipulation, and knew many powerful techniques in those elements. Oddly, he had wind as a primary affinity but never used wind manipulation beyond augmenting his speed, taijutsu and kenjutsu.
So it came to be that when Momo was just about to faint Naruto caught her, picked her up and carried her back home in his arms. If Momo had been conscious she would have called the experience the best moment in her life so far.
As Naruto carried Momo back to her home he gathered his thoughts about his current student.
'Momo really put everything she had into training today. She's as motivated as I was when it came to learning a new technique. She only stopped for lunch. It's a good thing I got take-out from Ichiraku. I've never seen a girl eat so much before.'
Naruto had purchased several bowls of ramen and tsukemen for lunch that day. Money was no object for him, as he inherited a large amount of money from his parents and Jiraiya, so he could afford to buy take-out for them every day of their training.
'She's just as skilled as Sasuke was at her age, and has Sakura's determination. Once she sets her mind to something she won't stop until she's achieved her goal.'
At that point Naruto felt a strange chill run down his spine, but only for an instant before it was replaced by a warm, comforting feeling.
'What the hell was that?' Naruto wondered to himself. 'I must be getting tired.'
By that point Naruto had made it to Momo's home. Sakura was waiting at the door, and took Momo into her arms from Naruto, noting that her little girl was sleeping peacefully, with a smile on her face, which looked very red, probably from exhaustion.
After a bit of small talk between the former team-mates, Sakura carried Momo to her room and put her to bed. That night, Momo dreamt of Naruto carrying her around in his strong arms.
It was the next day again, and Naruto and Momo were sitting in a clearing. Naruto had a notebook with him, and Momo was curious about it. She still found herself a bit shy in Naruto's presence, and had not asked him what his notebook was for yet.
Not only that, but Momo was still exhausted from yesterday's training, and would not be up for anything too strenuous. Any physical activity for the day would be limited to stretching and a light workout. The rest of their time would be spent analysing her strengths and weaknesses to determine an appropriate fighting style for her.
They had just finished their morning exercises, and Naruto was giving Momo a break to rest. Momo had just guzzled an entire bottle of water, and was now awaiting Naruto's next move.
'It looks like she's rested enough to be able to pay attention to what I have to say, although she still looks a bit red.' Naruto thought to himself.
"Okay, remember how I said we were going to examine your strengths and weaknesses, and then figure out what fighting style would work best for you?" Naruto asked Momo.
Momo could only nod in reply, too tired to speak.
"Well, that's what this is for." Naruto said, holding up the notebook.
"I'm gathered everything I could find out about your ninja skills here. It includes information from your parents, academy instructors, and your chunin sensei."
Momo was surprised by that. Being a twelve year old girl with a crush, her mind came to only one conclusion about Naruto's exhaustive research into her skills.
'He did all that work to learn more about me? Does that mean he's interested in me?'
Of course Naruto's interest in her was purely professional, as he wanted to do the best job teaching her that he could.
"Let's get started then, shall we?" Naruto said. "I'd like to begin by asking you what kind of ninja you think you are, and what you believe to be your strengths and weaknesses."
That put Momo on the spot.
'I was expecting him to share what he learned about me. I guess he wants to know what I think of my abilities.'
"Umm," Momo began nervously, not as tired as she was, but still a bit shy, "I'm primarily an illusionist type. I support my team-mates from a distance while using my illusions to cover them, or disorient our opponents. I can also use the fire release: great fireball as a mid to long range attack, but only if I'm safe, and the enemy is distracted."
Momo thought she summarized her abilities well, and moved on to her strengths and weaknesses.
"Based on that, I'd have to say I'm best at a long range support role, and weakest in close quarters combat. I do have the sharingan though, so it's not that bad."
Naruto's look remained impassive during Momo's explanation, but one she was done he smiled.
"That's very good. It's the same conclusion I came to as well." Naruto said.
It was Momo's turn to smile now, as she was happy that Naruto agreed with her.
"Okay then, since close quarters combat appears to be your weakest point, how do you think we should go about developing your skill in that area?" Naruto asked Momo.
At this point she caught on to what he was doing.
'Naruto-sensei wants me to figure out the answers on my own. That's why he isn't just telling me what he thinks I should do.'
"Well, my taijutsu style is as developed as it can be and I have the sharingan to help me. We only have a month to train, so physical development is out, and as a kunoichi I'll have a harder time as a taijutsu fighter anyway, unless I master my mother's super strength technique." Momo said.
She then took a moment to think about how to go about supplementing her close quarter combat skills.
'Wait, supplement, that's it!' She thought excitedly to herself.
"I should use my illusions and ninja techniques to support my close combat skills. I already use my illusions to hide myself and disorient my opponents, so I'm good there. I only know one fire technique though, and it's not any good in close range, except for point blank overkill."
Naruto chuckled at Momo's last statement, imagining Sasuke using the fire release: great fireball on Kakashi while right in front of him instead of from a distance during the bell test.
'That's for the thousand years of death, you perpetually late pervert.' Naruto thought a bit darkly.
The idea that a ninja of Kakashi's calibre would be able to easily avoid that never occurred to him.
"Okay, so we're in agreement now. The best way to improve your close combat skills is to use your illusions as always, but also add ninja techniques. I know the perfect one as well. Before I tell you it though, I want you to look at this."
With that Naruto handed his notebook to Momo, who accepted it eagerly. She was always happy to have something new to read, and was very curious about what was in it. Momo was not disappointed by what she found.
'He's got my academy records in here? He must have gotten those from Iruka-sensei. There are statements from my parents and chunin-sensei as well. Huh, what's this?'
Near the end of her dossier was a bio of her, with all her pertinent information. She read it thoroughly.
Personal
Name: Uchiha Momo
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Birthday: May 5
Height: 150 cm
Weight: 39 kg
Blood type: B
Classification: Illusionist
Bloodline Limit: Sharingan
Affiliation: Village Hidden in the Leaves
Clan: Uchiha
Rank
Ninja rank: genin
Ninja registration: 013607
Academy graduation age: 12
Family
Uchiha Sasuke (father)
Uchiha Sakura (mother)
Nature type
Earth (primary)
Fire (secondary)
Known techniques
Fire Release: Great Fireball
Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique
Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique
Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique
Chameleon Technique
Weapons
Ninja wire
Stats
Ninjutsu: 2.0
Taijutsu: 1.5
Genjutsu: 3.0
Intelligence: 3.0
Strength: 1.0
Speed: 2.0
Stamina: 2.0
Hand Seals: 4.0
Total: 18.5/40
Completed Missions
D-Rank: 16
C-Rank: 2
B-Rank: 0
A-Rank: 0
Momo was quite surprised by the amount of information, although not all of it was pleasing.
'Ack, he knows my weight! I hope he doesn't think I'm fat. I work out lots and eat everything mom gives me.'
Momo, unlike her mother at her age, ate a well balanced diet and worked out quite a bit. She was in much better shape then the civilian girls her age. Obviously Naruto did not care Momo's weight, but would be impressed by her attitude regarding dieting.
"So what do you think of all that?" Naruto asked Momo.
"Umm, I'm surprised you were able to find our so much about me." She replied.
"Yeah, it's a good thing I have so many connections. What I really want to know is, based on what we know about your abilities, what could you learn that would help you?"
"My genjutsu is good enough, so we need to expand my ninjutsu and taijutsu. Other than that, what else is there?"
Momo's last question was said more to herself, as she kept studying her bio to find it out for herself. Naruto stayed silent, but was pleased Momo was trying to learn the answer on her own rather then just ask him for it.
'There's nothing in here about my taijutsu skills, but they're not that good. I thought I knew more illusions then that. There's nothing in her about my medical training, but I'm not very far along in that.'
Momo kept reading her bio, and stopped when she noticed her affinities were listed.
"You said you knew a good ninja technique for me. Since fire techniques are mostly long range, are you going to teach me an earth technique?" She asked Naruto, who smiled and nodded at her.
"That's right. I think it will really help you, and it's one I'm good at as well. I'll be able to help you with the tactics for it too. I won't teach it to you just yet; you still need to rest up. I'll do it soon though. With your sharingan, learning it will be easy."
Momo was excited about getting to learn a new technique, and she had not learned any earth techniques yet. Not only that, since it was one Naruto was skilled with, by copying it from him she would be just as skilled with it, if not more so since earth was her primary affinity.
"There was one more thing I had planned for you. What else can you learn to use to help fight in close range?" Naruto asked.
Momo studied her profile once more, trying to see what she missed.
'Something about how he phrased that question bothers me. "What else can I learn to use?" It's almost like he's referring to a thing, like a…'
"…weapon." Momo spoke aloud, the word completing her train of though. "You think there's a particular weapon I could learn to use?" She asked Naruto.
"Yes there is. I've done some research, and I think I know the best one suited for you. Not only that, but we're also going to expand upon your skill with ninja wire. For now though, you've rested enough, so we're going to spend some time running stance drills with these."
At that point Naruto pulled out a scroll, opened it and applied his chakra to a symbol written in it. With a poof of smoke, a pair of tonfa appeared.
"These are called tonfa. They're used primarily for defence, but can hit hard as well." Naruto explained as he showed Momo how to hold them, and then handed them to her. "Not only that, but they're able to conduct chakra. By focusing your earth element into them, they'll strengthen. That will make them harder to break, and cause more damage when you strike an enemy."
Momo was pleased by that.
'So when I learn how to wield these and develop my earth affinity I'll be able to defend myself better. I wonder if hitting someone with one of these would be anything like what mother's super strength would do.' She thought to herself.
While Momo was enjoying her new toys, Naruto withdrew another pair of tonfa from his scroll.
"Alright, now that you've got your new weapons it's time to learn how to use them. Turn on your sharingan and copy my movements. Then we'll see how good they work for you."
Momo nodded, and activated her bloodline limit. Her eyes changed from black to red, with two commas in each eye. She then looked at Naruto with her sharingan active for the first time. Momo drank in Naruto's image with glee, the improved clarity from the sharingan making him look, in her opinion, better then ever.
Naruto, oblivious as ever to Momo's thoughts of him, began to run through the basic stances for wielding the pair of tonfa. Momo watched carefully, and then repeated the steps.
They repeated that for the rest of the day, with and without Momo's sharingan active to make sure the movements were ingrained in her completely. They only stopped for lunch, which Momo ate with gusto.
Eventually night came and Naruto once more dropped Momo off at her home. They had been going easier that day so Momo was still awake. Naruto gave her the next day off to rest anyway, since their next training session would be rough.
As Momo took off her ninja sandals, Sakura came to greet her and was surprised to see her daughter with her a pair of tonfa.
"Momo dear, where did you get those?" She asked.
"Naruto-sensei gave them to me." Momo replied, holding them up to show her mother how well she could handle them. "He thought they would help me with my close range fighting, and is teaching me how to use them."
"Well that was very nice of him. Did you thank for him for giving you such a great gift?" Sakura asked Momo.
Momo paused, and then paled a bit.
"No, I was so excited about getting to learn how to use them that I forgot." Momo said with a pout.
Sakura had a look of disappointment on her face, which made Momo sad. She really did not like disappointing her parents. Seeing the saddened look on Momo's face, Sakura sighed and tried to cheer her up.
"Well, I guess since you were so excited it's understandable that you would forget a thing like that. I don't think your father would have thought of doing that and Naruto probably didn't care either."
That elevated Momo's mood a little. Sakura, seeing Momo perk up, went back to the kitchen to finish making dinner for her family.
'He did seem to be eager to show me how to use them, so he might have been as excited as I was about teaching as I was about learning. Still, I should do something for him. They really are the best gifts I've ever gotten from a boy.'
Momo, as popular as she was, had received plenty of gifts from admirers before, secret and not so secret. It was mostly girly things, chocolate, or flowers. Momo was not a girly girl like her mother; she could only eat a little bit of chocolate without getting sick, and preferred her bonsai to flowers.
'I should do something nice for him as a thank you. What would he like though? What does he like?'
Momo only had to think for a second to figure that out.
'He likes almost the same things I do. I know just what to do now!'
Having determined the best possible way to show her thanks for the gift, and maybe more, Momo went to her room to find her savings. She needed supplies, and they would cost money. She could have obtained the money from her parents, but Momo wanted to do this herself.
Momo had to thank Naruto for not only the pair of tonfa, but for all the training he was giving her as well. No doubt her parents had already compensated Naruto for his efforts, but Momo wanted her gift to show how she herself felt. With any luck, someday Naruto would realize that as well.
Author's Notes: This chapter only had one major change to go with the revisions, and it wasn't all that big. It involved Momo's taijutsu skill. Originally it came off as being much higher than it should have been. It's actually her worst skill but that was not adequately shown. While she does have some skill with ninja wire and her own variant of the Uchiha Clan's fighting style, that's due to necessity rather than choice. It's far from perfect, as she's the first one to use it and it will take time to develop it further. The way the chapter was originally written makes it seem more like taijutsu was her second strongest skill, with her ninjutsu being her weakest area.