Hey, I'm back! I hope that wasn't too long a wait. This chapter…not really crucial stuff but still important. Oh yeah, it's short too. You'll sorta see why it's so short in the second author's note...
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Naruto rubbed his butt with a pained expression on his face, and Miyuki, sitting across the room, laughed at his obvious discomfort. "Was it really that bad?" She laughed, covering her mouth to silence any other giggles that might escape.
"You have no idea," Naruto complained. "I've never even seen that before. He called it a Taijutsu Secret Art, but I have absolutely NO idea how that could be considered a secret art. More like a perverted art…" Miyuki giggled slightly, and Naruto glared at her, pissed.
"Well, I'm going to go get some groceries for dinner today," Miyuki excused herself from Naruto's room, and she left through the door quickly, and as soon as she did, Naruto heard her burst into laughter, and the blonde ran to the door quickly, still holding his butt.
"I'll get you for that later!" Naruto shouted angrily, but he heard the front door slam as Miyuki had left the house. "Hmm…what should I do to pass the time?" He mumbled to himself as he stepped into the corridor.
Naruto and Miyuki's apartment wasn't big, but it was homey, and that was what counted, Miyuki always said. It consisted of a small kitchen to the left of the front door, and to the right of that was the living room, which consisted of a big sofa in the middle and a smaller couch to its right. To the right of that was a floor to ceiling window, and in front of the couches was a short glass table. In the between the two rooms was a long wooden corridor (where Naruto was currently standing), with three doors, one of which led to Naruto's room, one led to Miyuki's room, and the third door led to a spacious restroom. The blonde walked over to the living room and took a seat, contemplating what there was to do when a knock on the door interrupted him from his thoughts.
"Who is it?" Naruto shouted, getting up to the door. "Miyuki, you better not be coming back-" he opened the door to find a spiky brown-haired man in a Konoha flak jacket and a forehead protector that framed his face.
"…Can I help you?" Naruto asked politely.
The man looked at him. "I'm Yamato, and I'm here to train you," He said bluntly.
Naruto looked shocked. "Uh…what?"
"I'm Yamato, and I'm here to train you," He repeated. "Can I come in?"
The blonde ninja nodded, dumbstruck, and he let Yamato in before closing the door. "So…you said you were going to train me? In what?" He asked in confusion.
"Ah…well…you can do this, can't you?" Yamato said slowly, as if he thought Naruto was mentally disabled. He raised a palm, and a small wooden doll emerged from his palm. "Create wood, I mean," Yamato added hastily.
Naruto nodded, seeing what he meant. "You mean like this, right?" He placed a hand on the wall, and he made a small wooden pencil-like object come out of the wall. "So you're going to train me in…creating wood?"
Yamato stared at him before chuckling creepily. "Oh, no. I would rather call it…controlling wood. And, as you will see, it has many purposes."
"How did you know I could create-I mean control- wood?" Naruto asked curiously.
Yamato grinned, looking at him with a scary face that made Naruto inch away. "It's a secret. Anyway, it's settled. Tomorrow morning, training ground 1, at 8:00 AM."
"But I have a mission with Kakashi-sensei tomorrow!" Naruto protested.
"Hmm…Then skip it, I'll tell Kakashi that you're occupied, and by the way, this is our little secret…" Yamato said.
"Wait, but how do I know you're not a spy or something or a bandit sent to kill me?" The blonde ninja shouted suddenly, at which Yamato sweat-dropped and made a face.
"If I was really going to kill someone, I doubt it would be you…" He said slowly, "But if you really think that, then go ask Hokage-sama." He looked at his watch. "Oh, crap, I gotta go," Yamato said hurriedly and saying that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto blinked. Uh, what the hell was that? Agh, my head hurts now…Guess I should go ask the old man. He opened the door, and he ran down the stairs hurriedly.
It was noon by now, and the streets were bustling as people were coming out for lunch. Naruto's stomach growled, and he decided he would eat first before heading to the Hokage compound, so he walked over to Ichiraku Ramen, where Teuchi and Ayame greeted him warmly. "What'll it be today, Naruto?"
"Just the Supreme Thursday Special, please," he replied, sitting down. He dug in immediately, but it wasn't long before a loud shout from outside jolted him to attention. The blonde paid for his meal quickly and got out of the stand to find a spiky haired brunette wearing a blue scarf shouting at an older man.
"-I apologize deeply for this incident, Honorable Grandson," The man said, bowing.
"Hmph!" The boy grunted. "Agh, I need to get out of here! I need to train to beat my grandfather!" He stomped straight towards Naruto, and not paying attention to where he was going, rammed straight into the blonde, and he was knocked off his feet. "Ow…watch where you're going, idiot!" He shouted angrily.
"Eh…?" Naruto murmured, picking up Konohamaru by the scruff of the neck. "Who're you? You rammed into me, idiot!"
"How dare you!" Konohamaru shouted angrily. "I'm the Hokage's grandson! Let go of me instantly!" He expected Naruto to drop down and apologize immediately, but he was disappointed.
"So you're the old man's grandson, eh?" The blonde said. "But to be honest, I don't care-" The blonde was suddenly interrupted when a man with a bandanna and round sunglasses landed near him.
"Let go of Konohamaru-sama immediately!" The man shouted, obviously annoyed. "Otherwise I will have to report you!" Naruto glared at him, and dropped the struggling Konohamaru down on the ground unceremoniously.
"Who're you?" He growled.
"Ahem-" The man adjusted his glasses, "I am Ebisu, the trainer of Konohamaru-san, the grandson of the Hokage!" However, he discovered he was talking to nobody, as Naruto had already begun walking away, bored. "Disrespectful rabble…" Ebisu muttered.
"Hey!" Konohamaru shouted, running forward and stopping in front of Naruto. "I'm not done with you yet!"
"What…" Naruto said slowly.
"Konohamaru-san, do not lower yourself and talk to disrespectful commoners like him!" Ebisu interrupted in a loud voice, eliciting a glare from a certain blonde ninja.
"Shut up…" He growled, "I need to go do something, so out of my way!"
"Hey, you're not going anywhere!" Konohamaru shouted.
"Konohamaru-san, you must come with me!" Ebisu said impatiently.
"Hey…" Naruto was now getting really annoyed by this man, "If the kid doesn't want to go with you, you can't force him!"
"This..is not your problem," Ebisu stated coolly, further pissing Naruto off, and he shouted: "Sexy Technique!", and a large amount of smoke was suddenly emitted from that spot, and when the smoke had cleared, there was a beautiful (and obviously, sexy) blonde girl standing there-but most importantly, she was naked. The surrounding men looked on in shock for a few moments, before a large spurt of blood shot from their noses, and they all flew into the air-and Ebisu highest of all.
"Woah…" Konohamaru looked on in awe of how the blonde ninja had 'defeated' his trainer in one move, "No way!" He turned to look for the blonde, who had already begun to walk away, and the short brunette sprinted forward to stop him again. "Hey, show me how to do that technique!" Konohamaru shouted eagerly. "I need to learn it to defeat my grandfather!"
"If I teach you it, will you leave me alone?" Naruto groaned, to which Konohamaru nodded furiously. "Alright...I'll teach you it, but first, let's get to somewhere secluded."
The sun was setting now, and it was shading the sky beautiful colors of orange and red. Konohamaru panted, tired, before finally collapsing on the grass. "Dang…it took so long to master this jutsu!" The two ninja lay on the grass, chests heaving furiously while they regained their strength.
"Say…kid, what's your name?" Naruto panted tiredly, "I don't even know your name yet."
"It's…Konohamaru Sarutobi, future Hokage…" The short brunette said, turning his head to look at the blonde. "What's yours?"
Naruto snorted, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki-but don't you forget it, I'm going to be the Hokage!"
"Hey!" Konohamaru protested, "I'm going to be the Hokage! That's the only way people will recognize me as who I am, not the Third Hokage's grandson…but as the Hokage, strongest ninja in the village and the person who defeated the Third Hokage! People always call me Honorable Grandson," Konohamaru said bitterly, "Whenever I achieve something, they always say, 'Well, he is the Hokage's grandson, or It's only natural that he can do that," and they never recognize me as who I am! If I find a way to defeat my grandfather, they will recognize me, and I'll be Hokage!" He finished proudly.
Naruto got up on his arms, and he looked at his student intently. "Tell you what, Konohamaru, the reason I want to be Hokage is because I want to be recognized. Everyone…just seems to ignore me. They call me things like demon and fox brat…" He said, looking at the sunset. "But then, some people do accept me…like the old man," Naruto's voice was very soft now, and he continued. "He protects me when people try to beat on me, and I always admired him, because he always tried to protect others and how people recognize him…That's why I want to become Hokage, so everyone will recognize me!" He continued, "The path to Hokage isn't easy, that's obvious. I may be a lot of things but I'm not stupid, and look around you," Naruto gestured around him, and for the first time Konohamaru noticed that there were multiple shuriken and kunai embedded into the trees, and on one of the trunks he saw what looked like dried blood where a lot of the bark had been torn off. "The path to Hokage isn't by defeating the current one using a dirty trick; it's to get stronger, and protect everyone," Naruto finished proudly.
That was a pretty good speech, Naruto thought, And I didn't even think of it beforehand. I didn't know I had a knack for those… Meanwhile, Konohamaru was looking at him with wide eyes as his words sunk in. It was silent for a while as the two brooded silently.
Finally, Konohamaru broke the silence; "You're right, Naruto-niijan!" He exclaimed suddenly, "To become Hokage, you have to become strong!"
"Niijan?" The blonde murmured, "I could get used to that…"
Konohamaru wasn't listening, and instead he was exclaiming, "I'm going to go train and get strong now!".
Far away, in an office, Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled as he observed the scene through the crystal ball.
"Crap!" Naruto called out suddenly, "I've got to go! Miyuki will kill me if I'm late for dinner!" Konohamaru didn't even seem to notice, so Naruto leaped into the trees with a rustle and began his journey home.
"Ah…so where shall we start?" Yamato murmured. "Oh, yes. Alright, Naruto, show me how you make wood."
Naruto nodded with an affirmative of "Sure, Yamato-sensei!" and he planted a hand into the ground, making a large wooden beam emerge from the ground. Yamato walked around, inspecting it, before something occurred to him.
"Naruto…can you do this?" Yamato made wood come out of his torso to make a large wooden stick. "And by 'this', I mean make wood come out of your body, not create wood."
Naruto made a face, and formed a hand-seal, channeling chakra with his eyes closed. He took a stance, and he stayed unmoving for several long moments before he broke the hand-seal, and he gasped.
"Doesn't look like you can…" Yamato mused, "That's interesting…" He appeared to be in thought, and his student groaned from his spot on the ground.
"Can we hurry up with the training?" Naruto said impatiently.
Yamato nodded. "Alright, we'll start with this; Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" He cried, blowing a large wave of water onto the air. "That's your first job; perfect your ability to use that technique."
Naruto nodded, and he formed the Dragon, Tiger, and Hare hand-seals slowly. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" He cried, and when he opened his mouth…
Nothing came out.
"Whaaaat?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise before forming the hand-seals again. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" He opened his mouth again, only to get the same result. "Dammit, what's wrong?" The blonde muttered before quickly trying again in vain. "Why can't I do it?" Naruto questioned rhetorically.
"Dang it…Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" He cried again, only for the same result. "Ah! I know! Yamato-sensei, can you show me it again?"
The ANBU member nodded, before forming the hand seals quickly, and when he blew, a spurt of water shot out and splashed onto the grass.
"I got it!" Naruto said loudly, forming the hand-seals quickly, but this time, instead of opening his mouth, he blew as hard as he could. Yamato face-palmed, sweat dropping while Naruto blew so hard his face became red. "Dang…I was sure I had gotten it this time!" The blonde growled in frustration.
"Look, Naruto," Yamato interrupted, "I'll give you some tips…it's getting boring watching you doing the same thing over and over again and fail at it…"
"So, anyway, let's start," Yamato clapped his hands together, "First of all, do you know about the Five Chakra Natures?"
"Of course I do-they talked about it in the Academy!" Naruto said. "Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, Earth. Fire beats Wind, Wind beats Lightning, Lightning beats Earth, Earth beats Water, and Water beats Fire…"
"Correct, but did you learn about the affinities and Kekkei Genkai?" Yamato questioned, his tone slightly reminiscent of a schoolteacher.
Naruto nodded. "I know about the affinities, but nothing about Kekkei Genkai…"
"Alright, well, as you know, every shinobi has an elemental affinity," Yamato lectured, "Most shinobi also have the ability to use other releases, but it won't be as powerful as their affinity. However, there are special ninja that can use something called 'Kekkei Genkai…"
"And…what's that?" The blonde asked.
"Kekkei Genkai are special abilities passed down through families, or in most cases, clans. They can range from Dojutsu, such as the Sharingan and Byakugan, to complicated nature releases such as Scorch Release." Yamato finished slowly.
"Whaaaat?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "What are these complicated nature releases?"
"Complicated nature releases…" Yamato exhaled. "They're combinations of two basic nature releases. For example, Ice Release, a nature release that can manipulate and create Ice, is a combination of the Wind and Water Releases."
"So…what's this got to do with me?" Naruto questioned, confused. "And, now to think of it, why do I have to do that water technique?"
"The truth is, the reason I'm making you practice this is because…your training in 'creating wood', is actually a Kekkei Genkai, or advanced nature release. It's known as Wood Release, and is composed of the two basic nature transformations, Water and Earth." Yamato answered, and his reply elicited a surprised look from his student. I thought he would've been more surprised…
"How does this help me?" Naruto asked skeptically.
"When you use Wood Release, you combine two nature releases-Water Release in your right hand, and Earth Release in your left hand. So as of such, if you want to master Wood Release, you have to be able to master the two basic releases first."
"That still doesn't tell me how to do it…"
"Since you are in possession of a Kekkei Genkai, you shouldn't need to go through the basic nature release training like other shinobi. Simply begin with how you mold Wood, and then focus on the water half of it, and mold your chakra into that shape."
Naruto nodded, and he got to work. He felt his chakra flowing through his body, and he began to mold it into wood. Alright…I guess this is how it would be if I would be using Wood Release…Separate it? How do I do that… I think that classifies as splitting…Water Release: Wild Water Wave! Naruto blew out a significant amount of water that rivaled Yamato's, and he cried out happily, feeling a little pride and sense of accomplishment.
"Took you long enough, Naruto," Yamato said while rubbing his head. "That was just the first technique."
"Whaaaaattt?!"
"If you're going to master Water Release, you'll need to know a lot more than that jutsu."
"Crap…so what's next?" Naruto asked impatiently. "I mean, we should get on with this."
"Next is this…Water Release: Gunshot!" Yamato formed some hand seals, opened his mouth, and several large balls of water shot out of his mouth and slammed into the ground, forming small holes. "It shouldn't be hard, considering you've already completed the first exercise," Yamato said.
The blonde merely responded with a nod of the head, before beginning to mold chakra again, Let's do this…Water Release: Gunshot! He thought while unleashing the water bullets, which slammed into the ground with simultaneous thuds. They hadn't done any noticeable damage to the ground, but that hadn't been the point. "Good job," Yamato appraised. "Next up is another water release technique, and then we'll move on to something new."
"Watch closely, Naruto-Water Release: Whirlwave!" Yamato knelt down, holding one palm out while keeping his other hand on the ground, and suddenly a significant amount of water swirled up his hand on the ground onto his arm. It moved to his held-out palm quickly, shooting out in a swirling jet of water that slammed into a tree and left a swirl mark in it when Yamato stopped the technique.
"This one's different. Instead of creating water, you are drawing water from the ground, undergrowth, and plants around you using your chakra as a magnet of sorts. Then you enhance its destructive power when shooting it out by charging your chakra into it."
Naruto grinned, liking the look of this new jutsu, and he quickly mimicked the position Yamato was in. "This one finally looks like a cool one…" He quickly began channeling his chakra again, feeling the water travel up his arms, and he let it burst, only for a small squirt of water to launch off his palm.
The older wood user chuckled quietly, struggling to keep a straight face as his student tried again. "Hey! What're you laughing at?" Naruto shouted, noticing his look.
"Nothing…I think a fly crawled into my throat…" Yamato quickly lied, faking some coughs. Naruto didn't look convinced, but he didn't exactly call him out on it either, and he returned to practicing the jutsu.
"Water Release: Whirlwave!" Naruto let the water loose, but got the same result as last time, and it barely made a splash as it hit the tree. "Kami!" He snapped angrily as he watched the water fall harmlessly.
Yamato clucked his tongue disapprovingly; "There's nothing I can do to help you about this one. I created this technique during my training, and it's pretty hard; to get this right, it's just trial and error."
"How long did it take you to complete it?"
"…I think around two days…" Yamato glanced at him and noticed his surprised expression. "I doubt it'll take the same amount of time for you; everyone has different learning rates."
The blonde replied with a short "Got it" before continuing with his training.
"I'll be back there if you need me," Yamato gestured at a spot under a tree, where he subsequently sat down.
"Water Release: Whirlwave!" Naruto shouted as he tried again and failed.
"Water Release: Whirlwave!"
"Water Release: Whirlwave!"
"Water Release: Whirlwave!"
"Water Release: Whirlwave!"
Naruto's voice could be heard throughout the entire day as he practiced the technique.
"Naruto…wake up!"
The blonde was startled awake from his light sleep on the grass to find a certain pink-haired kunoichi standing above him, an expression of distaste etched onto her face. "You slept here? Really?"
Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes drowsily before propping himself up. "Eh…who're you?"
"Idiot!" The pink-haired girl cursed loudly, forcing all the sleep from Naruto. "Who do you think I am…?"
"Uh…Sakura…Agh! What time is it?!" Naruto jumped up hurriedly.
"Like 7:00 AM, stupid. Say, what were you doing sleeping here?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Huh?" He scratched his head. "Oh, I was training, and then I just fell asleep here, I was so tired, I guess."
"Well, you're not late, so that's fine."
"Wait…its 7:00 AM, right? OK, so I still have time to get there…"
"Get where-say, you're not planning to ditch us again, are you?"
"Sorry…" Naruto apologized quickly, "But I'm training with Yamato-sensei today." He turned and noticed a certain Uchiha leaning against a tree. "Hey, Sasuke."
Sasuke didn't move.
"Alright," Naruto shrugged, "I'm off. See ya!" He ran off quickly, kicking up a large dust cloud.
Why the hell does he get special training and exemptions from team exercises? Sasuke thought angrily as he watched Naruto run off. I'm just as good as him, if not better!
He glared angrily at the disappearing blonde.
"Good job, Naruto," Yamato approved after seeing Naruto successfully execute the Whirlwave move on an unfortunate tree. "You've almost mastered the Water element. However, you're not done yet."
"What's up next?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. "Some amazing and super powerful water dragon technique that I can use to beat Kakashi-sensei? A water armor thing that can like reflect all attacks? Oh no, maybe it's-"
Yamato chuckled lightly. "Nothing like that. You're going to be creating your own water technique, though, so you could do that."
"Ah…how am I going to do that?" Naruto looked at him doubtfully.
"By drawing upon your water affinity, and channeling it in a different way," Yamato intoned. "However, note that the technique you create should be practical for battle. It shouldn't be that hard; you've been learning pretty darn fast so far."
Naruto nodded. "I know that."
"Oh yes…one more thing. We'll have to suspend your training for a week after today, because your team needs to train together. It won't do for you to keep training and not getting in with your team. After all, teamwork is important-"
"WHAAAT?!" Naruto almost shouted in surprise, "No! I don't need their training!"
"You do, Naruto. So tomorrow you're starting some D-Rank missions with your team."
"D-Rank?" Naruto sighed. "Far past my abilities, I'm sure," He said sarcastically while Yamato merely ignored him.
"Get started on your training," The Wood-Release user instructed to his student, who sighed and immediately took a pose, with his hands clasped in front of him in a praying like position. "Good. Now work on channeling your chakra into a water-like form…"
Somewhere, around a hundred miles away from Naruto was currently training, a silver-haired ninja was leaning against a large oak tree, his glasses glinting in the dark shadow of the forest while he observed his surroundings quietly. A crack came from the darkness, but if he was surprised, he didn't show it.
"So he sent you this time, huh, Jirobo?" The ninja said, unmoving, with a slight chuckle, shifting his body while still looking in the opposite direction. "Is he not taking this seriously?"
A man emerged from the shadows, his spiky orange hair casting off a slight glow while his chubby face showed an expression of irritation. "How could he take this seriously when you're involved?" Jirobo retorted sharply, making obscene gestures at the silver-haired ninja, who ignored them.
"We'll see if it's serious enough for him soon enough," The man replied confidently, not shifting from his position, "But the question is, are you trustworthy?"
"More trustworthy than you'll ever be," Jirobo growled loudly. "Milord has been suspecting of your actions, after all," His tone was menacing, but he failed to intimidate his colleague.
"I only wish the best for my colleagues and master," The man said without missing a beat, but Jirobo thought he caught a note of sarcasm in the reply. "Anyway, I trust you'll be sprinting back to the village when you receive my message." He paused. "I'm only going to say the message once, so listen carefully."
"A boy of the Uzumaki clan can use Wood Release."
"That's a crap load of bull," Jirobo cursed after a long pause, "The Senju Clan has all but died out, and no one can use that release!"
"Did they?" The silver-haired man raised his eyebrows. "Get going, now. Let him decide if it's, and I quote, 'a crap load of bull'." Jirobo merely growled hostilely, leaping up into the trees while his colleague chuckled, satisfied, before standing up and walking off into the clearing.
Wow. I'm finally done with this chapter. This chapter was...really hard to write. My original plan for this chapter was pushed back to after the Wave Arc, because I don't want the plot to progress that fast. Next chapter will definitely be better and more interesting because it'll at least include the start of the Wave Arc.
By the way, school has started so the updates will come out slower. Besides I've decided to have a 5-story simultaneous work limit, so I'll only be working on 5 stories at a time. The 4 stories right now include The Strength of the Senju, The Wrong World, a High School DxD fic I'm working on but haven't published yet, and two other stories...
Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Review, please! I need feedback…and I'll try to reply to it. Thanks.
FlamingBlaze