So like I stated before in my other story Blood-line I want to get out at least two chapters so that everyone realizes that I am serious about these stories. Anyways please read and enjoy and review, I want to know what you all think.

Xxx

My disability. My curse. My stigma. It is mine to bear. It is mine, and I will use it to my advantage. You will think I am weak. You will try to bring me down. But I am strong. Stronger than you could Imagine...

Xxx

Imagine a Surprise

Naruto walked down the road leading to the academy. In his hand was the Konoha headband that the ninjas of the village wore proudly to show their loyalty. But for the blonde all it signified were his mixed emotions. Naruto blinked from his thoughts as he heard the tell-tale sounds of his fellow students talking loudly. It seemed like the boy's feet led him to his classroom almost automatically. Looking back down to his headband Naruto gave it a determined look before tying it tightly around his forehead. The night he received his headband played in his head as he stepped over the threshold into the class.

One Week Earlier

"What do you mean you can't use handseals?" A confused Sandaime asked. Handseals were taught at the first year of the academy. They weren't that hard to memorize. Naruto shrugged in response and held up his right hand. Outwardly, it looked perfectly normal. However, as shown earlier it was anything but.

"I can do them just fine. It's just that nothing happens whenever I do them." Naruto proceeded to gather chakra and did the seals for a basic Kawarimi. Finishing the sequence the boy's audience waited for the blonde to be replaced with something. The wait was for nothing as the blue eyed boy sighed and lowered his arms.

"I don't understand what I'm seeing," Koana stated as she gazed at the blonde with her Byakugan. Sarutobi motioned for the Hyuuga to continue. "Naruto, if you could, do the handseals for the Henge for me please?" Naruto nodded and went through the proper seals as he gathered his chakra. Just as before and any other time once his built up chakra was about to be molded by the handseals he felt it leave him. Vanish completely. With a sigh Naruto dropped his hands rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was getting late. Sarutobi noticed this as well and chuckled at the poor boy yawning in his office.

"Anything you could see Koana?" The woman in question deactivated her Byakugan and nodded to the Hokage.

"He is gathering chakra as normally as any other ninja. But when the chakra reaches his hands to be molded it dissipates. Seeing as how handseals mold the chakra it seems like he can't use them to do any jutsu," Koana stroked her chin in thought. "But why were you able to use the Henge? And without seals too."

Naruto shrugged and thought for a moment. "I wasn't able to use handseals even before I entered the Academy. But I always faked that I was trying to do the jutsu with them." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the blonde's trickery. He wasn't mad. Just surprised that no one had figured out what Naruto was doing. "I went to some instructors after our classes to ask how the chakra was supposed to feel when doing handseals. Some of the teachers blew me off but there were a few that actually did help me. I'm glad Nomura-sensei helped me out," Naruto said.

"Nomura-sensei teaches you what exactly?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh I'm not sure. I never really listened in his class. It had something to do with chakra and applying it or whatever," Naruto replied with a blush of embarrassment. The Sandaime nodded. If it was Applying Chakra and Mechanics there was no doubt the man knew his material. "Anyways after he told me how my chakra was supposed to move with handseals I sort of just forced my chakra to do it without them. It hurts a bit but you get used to it."

Naruto looked at the older company whom merely contemplated his words. Not seeing the need to explain anymore Naruto coughed lightly making the Hokage look up from his thinking.

"Oh, yes Naruto-kun? What can I do for you?"

"Can I go home now old man? I'm really tired," Naruto moaned. Hiruzen chuckled lightly and nodded. The blonde beamed at his surrogate grandfather before turning to the two women. "Koana-chan, Neko-chan it's been fun but I'm going to sleep." Koana gave a dignified huff at the added suffix while the Anbu merely nodded before disappearing.

"Wait Naruto-kun. Can you at least tell me how this happened to you?" The Sandaime asked the retreating blonde. Naruto stopped before turning and staring at the old leader. After a moment of unnerving silence Naruto chuckled before turning and leaving the Hokage with an enigmatic response.

"When I figure it out I'll let ya know old man. When my dreams actually make sense."

Xxx

'Sorry old man,' Naruto thought. 'I can't tell you what happened yet. Not till I figure it out for myself.' The boy felt guilty for keeping the truth from his grandfather figure. However, he didn't have all the answers himself. Until he could be sure he had them all then he would be willing to unveil what had happened.

As Naruto walked down the stairs he was seen by one of his old ditching buddies from the Academy. A young boy with black hair done up in a ponytail resembling a pineapple watched as Naruto stepped down and raised an eyebrow in wonder. He wasn't the only one as a feral looking boy with a white puppy snoozing on his head also took notice. "Oi Naruto." Said blonde looked towards the owner of the voice. "What are you doing here? Don't you know that this is for only graduates?" Naruto huffed in response and flicked the headband tied to his forehead.

"As you can see here I'm a graduate ya lazy bum," Naruto grinned at the widening eyes of Shikamaru before they resumed to their lazy, apathetic stare.

"Huh well good on ya, I guess." Shikamaru stated before yawning and resuming his sleep on the desk.

"So who'd ya have to bribe to get that," Kiba called out from his seat. Naruto stuck his tongue out and gave the Inuzuka a one finger salute before walking to an empty seat not bothering to look who he was next to. In the corner of the classroom sat a quiet girl with short blue hair and milky white eyes. She blushed and smiled behind shifting hands as she gazed at the blonde boy.

'I'm so glad Naruto-kun actually graduated,' Hinata thought with a blush. The boy in question sighed lightly as he leaned back into his chair. Beside him sat a dark haired boy with the back of his black hair spiked upwards almost resembling a fan. He sat quietly with barely a glance at his seat mate. The antics of the dead last did nothing to pique the curiosity of Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto looked up to the ceiling and held his hand in front of him. 'Am I really cut out to be a ninja?' There was the fact that Naruto could still technically do jutsu, albeit elementary ones, but without handseals learning advanced techniques were really out of his reach. The sounds of shouting filled the class as the doors burst open and two girls careened through. One girl had long hair colored a pale blonde tied in a ponytail. The other let her equally long bubble gum colored hair hang freely behind her.

"Ha! I beat you Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled, her emerald eyes shining in glee.

"Pfft dream on forehead!" Ino yelled back her own pale blue eyes mimicking the pink haired girl's glee. Naruto looked up in surprise before grinning happily and staring at Sakura. Ah Sakura, his pink haired goddess. Naruto watched the two girls rush down the stairs and he stood up.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said in delight. Sakura rushed forward and roughly pushed Naruto off his chair before claiming it for herself.

"Move idiot! Sasuke-kun how are you?" the pink haired girl gushed. Ino fumed from the side while Naruto pushed himself from the floor.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun forehead!" Ino pushed against Sakura and the two girls fought for the chair. This action started a brawl amongst the girls of the class to see who would sit next to the brooding Uchiha. None of them realized or paid attention as Naruto walked around the frenzy and sat on the chair on Sasuke's other side.

'What does he have that I don't?' Naruto thought miserably. As chaos reigned in the class Iruka walked through the teacher's entrance happily and stood at his podium.

"Good morning class," Iruka said brightly. Not receiving a response and hearing the increasing screech of girls, a migraine slowly started to form for Iruka. 'Damn kids..'

"Give Sasuke-kun back!"

"He's mine!"

"Let go you stupid harpy!"

"You look like chewed bubblegum!" the young sensei sighed at the young girls' attitude before gathering his chakra.

"SIT THE HELL DOWN!" Iruka bellowed using chakra to amplify his voice and cast a small genjutsu on his head. All was silent as his students quickly filed to their seat. Sakura claimed her "throne" at Sasuke's side and beamed at her victory. Iruka merely sighed and opened his scroll.

"Now I'd like to congratulate you all on your hard work. Today marks the start your careers as true ninja," Iruka started. As the Chunin continued his speech Naruto laid his head in his arms and tuned Iruka out. It's not that he didn't care about his teacher it was just that Iruka tended to ramble on and on.

'I wonder whose team I'll be on,' the blue eyed boy thought. 'Hopefully I will have a sensei that can teach me something, even with my handicap.' Naruto frowned at that last thought before he shook his head slightly and steeled himself. 'Come on Naruto get it together. If the old man has confidence in you then no doubt you're a great ninja. And who knows, maybe I will be in a team with Sakura-chan.' A small blush bloomed on his face as Naruto grinned at that prospect. Naruto was shaken from his inner monologue as he heard his crush's name.

"Team 7 will be under Jounin Hatake Kakashi and they include Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyakuren Rikku." Naruto slumped in defeat as he heard two shouts of happiness from two different girls. One was Sakura no doubt but Naruto had never really paid much attention to the other girl.

'Hyakuren Rikku?' Naruto wondered as he took in the sight of the girl. She was about as tall as Sakura with emerald green hair and striking teal eyes. Her hair was done in a loose pony tail with her bangs framing her face. Rikku sported a battle skirt and a short sleeved top over a mesh under garment. Her outfit reminded Naruto of Ino's but with stockings instead of bandages and colored black instead of purple. She was fairly pretty, with a healthy glow to her skin and a cute face. But seeing as how she was another Sasuke obsessed girl, Naruto didn't really notice her.

'Too bad Sakura-chan is like that too,' Naruto sighed sadly. She was so nice when they first met as children. What had happened? 'Oh yeah, he happened,' the blonde looked to his side while thinking. Naruto almost felt sorry for the guy. Sasuke and he didn't have the best relationship. The guy thought himself as better than everybody and did almost anything to prove it. Naruto wanted so badly during their sparring matches to forego his weighted coat and run circles around the Uchiha. 'My taijutsu has to be better than his! I mean...it's all I got,' Naruto thought sullenly. But there were consequences to laying out the rookie of the year. Attention would be gained and questions would be asked on how the dead last managed to curb stomp the Uchiha. Questions the young boy didn't know how to answer immediately.

Sighing sadly Naruto decided to actually pay attention to the rest of the team assignments. They should be done soon anyways. "Team 9 is still in circulation so I will skip to Team 10. Team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma will consist of Akamichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. And those are the team assignments," finished Iruka smiling at his students. Naruto sat up slowly, shock clearly apparent on his face. Did he not hear his name? Was he just not paying attention or was he really not assigned a team?

"Uh Iruka-sensei I think I missed my name," Naruto called out as he raised his hand. Iruka lost his smile and looked at his roster once more. After double checking and triple checking the man turned slightly pale. Naruto wasn't on a team.

"Uh-um..." Stammered Iruka. How could this happen! Naruto had saved his life and even took down Mizuki. He had thought that would constitute Naruto graduating. For heaven's sake the boy sported a headband. But Naruto wasn't on a team.

"Ha! I knew you were faking it!" Kiba called out to the blonde from a higher row. Shikamaru shook his head and gazed at the shell shocked Naruto. He didn't look like his usual self after a prank. In fact the guy looked positively sick. Naruto slowly stood up ignoring the whispering of his classmates and walked to the door. Sasuke gave him an odd look at Naruto's irregular mood. There was no cheer in the boy. He just looked despondent.

The knocking on wood silenced the room as the door Naruto was walking to slid open. From the entrance walked a tall man with short brown hair covered by the Konoha headband turned into a bandana. He was garbed in the standard shinobi outfit and a thick flak jacket over it. Strapped to his back was a straight blade katana with a rectangular guard. He seemed slightly pale with bags under his grey eyes.

"I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto," the man said between coughs. Naruto raised his hand wearily and the man nodded. "My name is Gekko Hayate. I am your Jounin instructor. Follow me." Hayate said crisply as he gave Iruka a curt nod and left. Naruto blinked dumbly before shaking his head and looking at his classmates. They all shared his surprised look. Kiba especially looked ashamed as he looked away and scratched his cheek. Naruto grinned slightly before turning and running towards his sensei. With a quick good bye to Iruka Naruto rushed to Hayate and fell in line with the Jounin.

Hayate looked down at his young charge and hummed in thought before looking forward once more. When the Hokage had called him to the tower Hayate was deeply confused. After just completing an A-rank mission he had assumed he would have some time off. But the request the old Hokage had threw Hayate for a loop. Become a Jounin instructor for one Genin. Just one. He didn't ask the just newly promoted from tokubetsu Jounin shinobi to become a Jounin instructor to a team. No the Hokage asked him to teach one person.

At first Hayate had thought he was receiving an apprentice and he was elated. To think that a young fresh Genin was at the level in kenjutsu to warrant an apprenticeship. Hayate had asked the students name and when he received it the man's idea of a well gifted sword practitioner vanished. Uzumaki Naruto didn't seem like a kenjutsu person. In fact just looking at the Jinchuriki now Hayate could tell the kid probably never picked up a katana. But the man was assured that if he taught the boy then the blonde would learn. Naruto was full of surprises the Hokage stated. He had a great handicap compared to his peers but Sarutobi stated that it would not be a problem. When asked if the Hokage could elaborate he merely smiled and said it wasn't his place to say.

"Um Hayate-sensei?" Naruto asked breaking the silence. Hayate glanced down. "Are we meeting my other teammates?" Hayate shook his head before replying.

"You are the only one I will be teaching Naruto. I was asked to become your sensei due to your circumstances regarding your handicap," Hayate explained. Naruto blinked before looking at his stomach. The Jounin understood and shook his head while coughing. "Not the Kyuubi. Have no fear Naruto for I do not hate you for what you contain. I and many other higher ranking ninja know how much you sacrifice for us," Hayate stated while trying to hold in a few dry hacks. Naruto stopped walking causing the man to also stop and stare. Was there something wrong? They had not left the Academy yet. Did he forget something.

"Y-you don't care," Naruto whispered with his head down. Hayate tilted his head in confusion but nodded.

"Of course I do not care. I do not like the Kyuubi but my hate for it does not pertain to you personally," the brown haired man replied. Naruto lifted his head and smiled a teary smile.

"Thank you." Hayate blushed in embarrassment and befuddlement. Most people didn't openly express themselves around him. Only his girlfriend, Yuugao, and other select Jounin really bonded with him.

"Ahem," Hayate coughed. "You're quite welcome, but if we could proceed. I wish to arrive at our training ground soon." Naruto nodded before wiping his eyes and smiling.

"You got it Hayate-sensei! Let's go!" And with that said Naruto sprinted forth with a spring to his step.

Xxx

The two arrived at an open area. Hayate had taken the duo to a training ground mostly used for sparring. There weren't any training dummies and it was predominately surrounded by trees except for a river that flowed on one side.

"So as I stated before, I was told you have some sort of handicap. For this reason I was chosen as your instructor," Hayate said. Naruto nodded before looking around. "Something wrong Naruto?"

"Well I was just wondering why I don't have teammates. Or was that just for a while and then they come?" Hayate chuckled lightly to the blonde's question before shaking his head.

"There is no one else. Like I said before, you are the only one I am teaching," Naruto blinked at that and scratched his head. No team at all? Did that mean he was going to do missions solo? The blonde voiced his concern. "Many missions we will do will be solo, yes, but we will actually be partnered with other rookie teams so that you can gain experience with other ninja. Does that answer your question?" Hayate explained and Naruto nodded to the man's question.

"So did old man Hokage tell you what's wrong with me?" Naruto asked. Hayate coughed in shock at the boy's blatant disrespect of the village leader before remembering the close relationship the two shared. It was odd how close they were.

"No unfortunately he did not. He told me that you would most likely be able to show it in action. For that I have decided a light spar will suffice. It will allow me to get a good idea on your abilities and show me what is wrong," Hayate said. Naruto nodded and at the Jounin's nod dropped into his fighting stance from when he fought Mizuki. Hayate immediately could see flaws.

"Naruto your stance is full of flaws," coughed Hayate. Naruto looked down at his body and frowned.

"This is how I was taught at the Academy. I was shown this by Mizu-," Naruto cut himself off before growling. Of course his stance was flawed. It was Mizuki who taught him, the man that had tried to kill the blonde.

Hayate noticed Naruto's discouraged look and patted the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry Naruto. But you should take solace in the fact that even with a flawed taijutsu stance you were able to best Mizuki," Hayate said as he tried to cheer up Naruto. Naruto grinned slightly and felt his self-esteem raise at that. Hayate smiled slightly before frowning in thought. Naruto was able to hold his own against a superior opponent. According to his transcript Naruto was said to be one of the top contenders in the taijutsu area. 'The question is how,' Hayate thought, 'with a flawed stance full of opening.'

"What should I do sensei?" Naruto's question snapped Hayate from his thoughts. He coughed a few times before backing up.

"Well I was thinking we should carry on with the spar. Just get into a stance that feels the most comfortable," Naruto nodded before righting his body. Biting his lip in thought Naruto shifted his feet so they were closer together before shaking his head and spreading them again. Naruto lifted his arms up and scrutinized them.

"I don't know what feels comfortable," Naruto relented with a sigh. Settling to just go back to the only stance he knew Naruto nodded to his sensei. "I'll stick with this for now sensei." Hayate tapped his chin before nodding his acceptance. He couldn't help his student without learning what the boy could do.

"Okay then. For now we will focus on taijutsu. As we progress through the spar I will be adding in the other branches of ninja arts. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well. Forewarning, I am predominately a kenjutsu practitioner. But because you do not have much experience I will not be using it. So do not pay attention to my sword," Hayate said as he motioned to his katana. "Now let's begin"

Hayate readied himself for Naruto's rush and wasn't disappointed as the Genin sprang forward. He leaned to the side to dodge a fast jab and had to duck as Naruto followed up with spinning back kick.

Naruto planted his foot on the ground forcefully and used that to propel his body into a front flip. He quickly shot his leg out as he completed his somersault hoping to land an axe kick on his sensei. Hayate blocked the kick and grabbed his student's ankle. Naruto felt a whooshing sensation as he was thrown over Hayate's shoulder and into the ground. Quickly righting his body, Naruto landed softly before holding his arms up to block any incoming attack. When nothing came Naruto looked above his arms to see Hayate merely waiting. Naruto growled and shot forth again.

Hayate weaved in and out of Naruto's blows and defended those that he did not dodge. He was pleased with Naruto's abilities. But something was bothering him. Naruto's fighting skills were no doubt able to defeat Mizuki, especially if the Chunin was underestimating the blonde, but Hayate was noticing something. 'It's almost unnoticeable but I can see it,' Hayate thought. As Naruto dropped low and threw a low hook that's when Hayate could see it clearly. 'There! I saw it! The boy is adjusting his attack before it hits, but not in a good way... That primary attack was aimed perfectly for my kidney why would he change its course?' Hayate blocked the punch and Naruto pushed on with a snap kick to his sensei's legs. Hayate narrowed his eyes and jumped over the attack.

'He's over thinking things. Again he adjusted his attack. With the way his kick was going at first he would have smashed it into the back of my knee. But then he aimed for my shin. Is it just his attacking?' Deciding to test out his theory and tired of being on the defensive Hayate pushed Naruto's leg away and went on the attack. Naruto let out a yelp as he stumbled backwards to dodge a swift punch from the brown haired man. Not relenting on his offense Hayate kicked Naruto on his side and sent the boy tumbling. Thankfully Naruto was able to throw his arms out in a hasty block before anything was broken.

Hayate rushed towards the downed blonde and sent a bone crushing haymaker at Naruto. Naruto quickly jumped back and did his best to dodge the up coming flurry of punches from the Jounin. As Naruto tried to block Hayate's attacks the man observed the Genin's movements. What he saw confirmed his suspicions. A final back hand to the face sent Naruto flailing to the ground.

'He was going to block that. It almost looked like he was going to redirect it even. His body is naturally doing the right thing but his mind catches up and contradicts his movements. It's almost like he thinks he isn't doing the right thing and tries to fix it in the middle of his motion.' Hayate shook his head. Those sort of reflexes normally came from experience and possibly years if training. There was only one time when Hayate had seen a Genin fight to a point where it seemed even some Jounin had difficulty restraining the boy without causing him too much damage. And that child had been...drunk. Hayate blinked in thought and stroked his chin as Naruto pushed himself off the ground with a groan.

"Ouch, that last hit really hurt," Naruto complained. Hayate coughed lightly and motioned for the blonde to stand which he did.

"You're taijutsu is quite something Naruto. There is no doubt in my mind that you excelled with it in the Academy. I have a few ideas but we will work on that later since I need to talk to an associate of mine. For now let's work on ninjutsu," Hayate stated. Naruto looked a bit nervous but nodded none the less. "Show me what you can do."

"Henge!" Naruto yelled and was obscured in smoke. Hayate gawked at the boy who was now transformed into a copy of the Jounin.

"Naruto you did that without any handseals. How did you do that?" Hayate questioned. Naruto reverted back to his normal self in a puff of smoke and grinned slightly.

"I can only do two real jutsu. They are the Henge and the Kawarimi. And I can do them without handseals. It's pretty much thanks to one of my Academy teachers that I can do this. But I had to learn because of my handicap," Naruto explained. The swordsman hummed in thought. This mysterious stigma was getting stranger. It was time Hayate needed to be informed.

"Naruto I think we need to discuss your issue," Naruto nodded and held up his right hand. Hayate frowned and coughed. "What are you doing?"

"Showing you my handicap." The man leaned in close and studied the appendage. It didn't look broken or anything.

"What is wrong Naruto?"

"Here let me show you," Naruto started to gather chakra and Hayate backed away slightly from the sheer magnitude that the blonde was gathering.

"W-wait Naruto what are you doing," coughed the Jounin as he could feel the pressure in the air grow heavy. Naruto focused intently and channeled chakra into his hands as if he was doing a jutsu and placed his hands in a seal.

PING!

And suddenly, the pressure was gone. Hayate looked around wearily and saw only Naruto with his hands in a seal.

"What happened?" Hayate asked as he looked around for the chiming sound he heard.

"The chakra, it's gone. Destroyed. All that chakra I built up to do a jutsu is gone once I channel it to do seals with my hands," Naruto explained. The blonde held his right arm up and looked at it sadly. "I can't channel chakra or do any particularly powerful techniques because I can't do handseals. In fact I barely have enough control to will my arm to not disrupt my henge."

Hayate nodded slowly in understanding. It was not unheard of for ninjas to be able to do techniques without handseals or even one handed seals. However it is incredibly rare and to be done the jutsu needs to be understood completely or at the very least the handseals must done a great number of times. That was, in fact, how Hayate had gained the knowledge on how to create kage bunshin without needing seals.

Unfortunately for young Naruto, he just didn't have the option on being able to use handseals to learn the inner workings of jutsu. This instructor at the Academy must have an extensive knowledge on how the Henge no jutsu and the Kawarimi no jutsu work to be able to explain to Naruto. And Naruto must either be a genius or worked himself to death to be able to do those two. Whatever the case Hayate was impressed.

"Don't worry Naruto. If there is any way for you to do jutsu we will find it. If not then, well I'm sure you will like what I can teach you. But let us move on. Since you can't do the necessary seals to produce genjutsu let us try and see how you are at dispelling it. Did you learn how to class?"

Naruto gave his sensei a flat stare and placed his hands in a tiger seal before saying, "Kai," sullenly. Hayate looked confused at the boy's attitude before realization came to him.

"Ah, of course the handseal for the releasing technique. Hmmm well let's try this. I will place you under a simple genjutsu. You will notice your surroundings change and when that happens I want you to pulse your chakra," Hayate said as he went through handseals. Naruto nodded and readied himself. Hayate activated the genjutsu and pushed his chakra out into Naruto's brain. "Magen: Karasu."

Naruto looked around trying to figure out if anything changed. Nothing really changed for the boy. A few birds flew from a tree and started to circle above the blonde but nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Suddenly his right arm started to sting. Naruto looked down hissing in pain as it looked like his arm was almost pulsing.

"Ouch! What the hell is this?" Naruto cursed. The pain slowly made its way up the blonde's shoulder and to his temple. Cursing at the uncomfortable sensation Naruto grabbed his head with his hands to try to stem the migraine that was forming.

PING!

Naruto felt a ripple course through his body and noticed the birds above shimmer away and his sensei's form disappear. "What the heck?" Naruto whispered.

"Interesting way to escape the illusion," Naruto heard behind him. He turned around and noticed Hayate standing with his arms crossed. "I noticed you seemed to be in pain. Odd because the genjutsu I placed isn't meant to do that."

"Yeah it was my arm," said the blonde. "It started to sting and the pain went to my head." Hayate looked taken aback.

"That's quite something. Do you know how genjutsu works?" Naruto shook his head in a negative. "Essentially genjutsu uses the opponents mind against them. The user sends their chakra into the person's brain and attempts to attack them by manipulating their brain. It seems like you destroyed my chakra that was invading your mind."

"I don't really understand," Naruto said. Hayate stroked his chin and tried to think of a way to explain what was going on. Honestly, the more Hayate heard about this handicap the more he was thinking that it wasn't so much as a handicap than an ability. It was true, yes, that Naruto could not conventionally learn jutsu but Hayate was starting to want to learn more about this mysterious handicap of Naruto's.

"You can destroy chakra Naruto. We can see that. But to what degree is still uncertain," Hayate started, a cough enunciating his sentence. "As we just saw you are able to dispel genjutsu like any other ninja, though your methods are a bit unorthodox."

"Un what?"

"Strange, Naruto. As we progress I hope to learn more about this ability of yours," Hayate finished.

"Ability? Why would you call it an ability?" Naruto questioned. He always thought of it as nothing but a nuisance.

"Because young Naruto you may have a disadvantage but I believe you were given something amazing." Hayate kneeled down and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Can you not think of anytime when this so called handicap of yours has not been helpful?" Naruto blinked and then thought hard. It didn't take long as his fight with Mizuki appeared in his mind. If it wasn't for his right hand Mizuki would have burnt him to a crisp. If it wasn't for his hand then Iruka sensei and those Anbu would have been blown up because of Mizuki.

"I saved people thanks to my ability," Naruto said using Hayate's phrase. Hayate smiled and stood up. Naruto scratched his head. There was much more to his stigma than meets the eye. Was it all bad? Or was there a silver lining for him.

"So now that we know a little bit about your skills how about we get to know one another," Hayate coughed out. "My name is Gekko Hayate. I am a Jounin and was recently promoted from tokubetsu Jounin. My likes are my girlfriend, soba, and my sword whom I named Momo. I am a practitioner of kenjutsu and I am very skilled at it. My dislikes are how politics work at times, laziness, people who gain when they did not work for it. My dream is to someday retire and gain a family."

Naruto smiled and started his introduction, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are ramen and training. I especially like training that can make me faster," Hayate filed that piece of information for later. "I dislike the three minutes it takes for ramen to be ready and how the villagers see me. My dream is to be Hokage and show the village that I'm not the Kyuubi. I also want figure out the real truth behind this hand of mine," Naruto finished. Hayate nodded at the blonde.

"That was very good introduction. I believe that those are very fine dreams indeed. This was a good start for our first meeting. I'm going to get some things for our training together. Before I go is there anything that you wish focus on specifically?" Naruto tapped his forehead before shrugging.

"I'm not sure sensei. Most of the time I just work on my body. Ya know like speed or strength. I stretch and run and do what I can, but I don't have a lot of formal training," Naruto said.

"I see. Well we have much to work on Naruto. Be prepared. I will see you tomorrow at 0900," and with that said Hayate disappeared via Shunshin. Naruto waved away the ninja smoke left by his teacher and coughed.

"Man I wish I could learn that."

Xxx

After his first meeting with Hayate was over Naruto decided to do some personal training. The sun started to set as Naruto finished his final push-up and plopped to the ground.

"My body hurts," the blonde groaned. He slowly pushed himself up and stretched his limbs before walking out of the training ground. As Naruto walked he couldn't help but be excited for his training with Hayate.

As Naruto continued on his way home he failed to notice a presence following him. It wasn't until he reached his apartment complex that his senses finally picked up on the stalker. Naruto slowly climbed the stairs making sure to keep his body calm. No need to alert his pursuer that he was onto them. Just as he reached the last step Naruto pulled a kunai from his holster and held it out.

"Who's there!? I know you're following me!" Naruto called into the night. Silence met his words and Naruto gulped as he gripped his weapon tighter. He backed up slowly and tried to control his breathing. "It's okay Naruto. There's no one out there. You're just imagining it..."

"Your perception skills are much to be desired Naruto-san." Naruto let out a very unmanly shriek and turned around to find Koana standing near his door with her arms crossed. A small smirk adorned her face after Naruto's involuntary noise. Naruto tapped his chest rapidly to try to slow his heart rate and glared at the woman.

"What-is-the-big idea?!" Naruto half whispered half screamed between breaths hoping he didn't wake his neighbors. Naruto patted his chest softly and sighed. Koana, Naruto remembered her now. 'What is she doing here?'

"It seems you have had quite the week Naruto-san," Koana said. Naruto nodded slowly as he took in the young woman. She sported a pale blue kimono and her white banded headband was tied tightly to her forehead.

"Yeah I guess you could say that. What's the deal with the surprising me?" Naruto asked.

"I did not mean to surprise you. However, the lack you have in awareness for your surroundings is troubling," Naruto grumbled and shook his head.

"Well, then what do you want?" Koana merely looked from the boy to his apartment door and then back to him. Naruto sighed. "Would you like to come in?"

"Why thank you Naruto-san," Koana bowed slightly and walked through the opened door Naruto held. Koana sat down on Naruto's slightly lumpy couch while Naruto went to boil some water. An uncomfortable silence settled in the apartment and Naruto gulped. He had never had a girl in his apartment before. Even if said girl was probably over seven years his senior Naruto still didn't know what to do.

"So Koana-chan..."

"Yes Naruto-san?"

"Uh, just call me Naruto. Um anyways what can I do for ya?" Koana didn't answer immediately and settled on staring at the blonde uncomfortably for a moment.

"Do you remember what had happened in Hokage-sama's office about a week ago?" Naruto nodded wearily. What was she getting at? "It was confirmed by his Anbu that you were able to destroy a very high level seal."

"Yeah that weird seal on that bastard Mizuki's head. What about it?" Naruto asked. It was here that Naruto started to notice her unease. She seemed uncomfortable. "Are you okay?" Koana rose to her feet and bowed lowly making Naruto gape in shock.

"Naruto-san!"

"Just Naruto."

"I beg of you. Please help me. Please free the Hyuuga!" All was silent and Naruto merely blinked in a stupor as the water in his pot started to whistle shrilly.