Then he smelled Kakashi unique smell with his heightened senses.
"Did you need something Kakashi-sensei?" he asked, not bothering to turn around.
Kakashi moved out of the shadow and looked over at the blond, "you know I've noticed something before, even before you merged with the fox, that you're not the knuckle-head you always pretended to be. Just now you sensed me without even batting an eye. You've always been able to and not even Iruka can do that so easily. Also when we're on missions, you grasp the situation easily and come up with a solution quickly. So what I want to know is , why do you pretend to be stupid when you're not?" he asked calmly.
Naruto turned from the window and looked at him, "why you ask. Isn't that what you all want?"he asked with a glare, " if people had realized that I'm not as dumb or clumsy as I used to pretend, they would've tortured me even more or cause a major panic." he said calmly and even Kakashi could see that he had a point there.
Then he noticed something else, " used to? So you're not going to keep up the charade any longer?" he asked quietly.
Naruto broke eye contact and returned to staring out the window, "I don't have a reason to anymore, I've already lost everything. There is nothing that these villagers can do to me that hasn't been done before. I'm going to train, become a jonin and keep my promise to Sakura. Then one day I'll become a Hokage." he said, then he looked over at the Kakashi, " but that is not why you're here is it?" he asked calmly.
Kakashi looked down at the sad blond, "it was Sasuke that did this, wasn't it?" the man asked.
Naruto bit his inner lip to keep from crying out. He forced himself to calm down, then he spoke, "yes it was. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill myself or anything, I'm not that weak or pathetic. You can tell Tsunade-sama and Iruka-sensei I' ll be perfectly fine." he said softly.
He gave Kakashi a sad smile, "you should go home. Iruka is probably worried, please take care of him for me." he said politely.
Kakashi nodded, "then I'll leave you alone for the night. We have been given time off, will you be alright?" Kakashi asked.
This time managed to give Kakashi a weak smile, while he looked at him, " I've managed to survive this village and the curse that comes with being me, I think I can survive this." he reassured softly.
Kakashi turned to leave but Naruto called out to him, " Kakashi-sensei, I sense feel your guilt. You have no reason to feel guilty. What happened was not you're fault."
Kakashi turned around and gave him a nod, " thank you." he said and Naruto nodded back.
Then he left and Naruto returned to staring out the window.
Saturday...
Naruto's hospital room...
Tsunade- sama walked into Naruto's room to find him still sitting at the window staring out into the dawn. He turned and smiled at her as soon as she entered.
"Good morning baachan," he said politely.
She looked at him sadly , before pasting on a fake smile as well, "morning brat, how are you feeling today?" she asked.
"I feel much better this morning, thank you." he said.
She walked over to him, "well I'm just gonna give you another check-up and if everything is alright, you be discharged immediately." she said and began to examine in.
When she was through, she stood up and said, " well you're perfectly fine brat, ready to get out of here?" she asked.
He nodded, "yes, I am. Baachan, Kakashi told me that you gave us time off, but I don't really need it. All I need is a week off, then I'll be ready for my next mission." he said.
She looked down at him, "I thought it would be a good idea," she said, then, "but what are you planning to do during that week?" she asked curiously.
Smiling up at her, "I'm going to train. Since I have new abilities I want to practice with them a bit, but that's all. And you don't have to give us more than a week off, I'm perfectly healthy and ready for my next mission. This village need all the ninjas at work, that way our enemies wont think we're weak and try to attack us so soon after our last war." he said seriously. "The village must always come first."
Tsunade looked down at the sad boy in front of her, "yes you're right, but Naruto are you sure about this?" she asked.
He nodded, "yes baachan I am. I'm gonna get stronger in order to protect this village, then I'll keep my promise to Sakura and bring Sasuke back." he said quietly.
She ruffled his fluffy blond hair a bit, "and what about you? What will you do when he finally comes back?" she asked.
"I'll do what I've always done, protect this village. I was meant to be alone, I know that now. I think its finally over between us. He made his choice when he left me, I think its time I accepted that. Obviously I wasn't enough for him, because he chose vengeance and power over me and this village." he said sadly.
She nodded in sympathy and finally allowed him to leave. " Sasuke had a lot to answer for," she thought sadly.
As soon as Naruto signed out of the hospital he saw Iruka and Kakashi standing by the door.
Pasting on a smile, he walked over to them, " hey Iruka-sensei, Hey Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" he asked cheerfully.
Iruka smiled , " where here to take you out for ramen brat. You all done?" he asked.
Naruto smiled and nodded and they left for the Ichiraku ramen shop.
at the Ichiraku ramen shop...
The three men sat at the ramen shop eating ramen. The owner of the shop was so happy to see his favorite customer that they were allowed to eat for free.
Naruto on his seventh bowl looked over at Kakashi, " Kakashi-sensei, I need a favor." he said.
Kakashi looked over at him in surprise, "sure what is it Naruto?" he asked.
"well when were done eating, can you spar all out with me?" he asked. Both men looked
at him in surprise.
"Sure Naruto , but why did you ask me?" asked Kakashi out of curiosity.
"Two reasons actually. The first is that with you, because you have the sharingan, you will already see my moves before I execute them, that way it will be more of a challenge for me. The second is that you're a jonin, the highest a ninja can go , other than the hokage, so I want to see if I have what it takes." he said.
Kakashi nodded, " sure as soon as we're done here."
Iruka looked between them worriedly, " are you sure about this you two?" he asked in concern.
Naruto smiled at him, "yes Iruka- sensei I am, but if you're still worried you can watch. Since you're on vacation as well, will you write notes on my weak points for me , so I will know what to work on?" he asked.
Iruka smiled at being included, " sure I can do that," he said happily.
They continued eating and as soon as they were all done , they thanked the shop's owner and went to the training grounds, Iruka stopping on the way to pick up his notepad and a pen.
Training with Kakashi...
(Chiyuki speaking)
Naruto speaking mentally
Naruto and the other two ninjas walked to the training grounds and got into position.
"What do you want to start with Naruto?" asked Kakashi.
"Lets freestyle," he said with a grin.
" Chiyuki, are you ready?" Naruto asked.
Yeah lets cream him. I wanna break out and burn.
Just remember he's not an actual enemy we can't kill him
I know kit, now stop worrying and get ready. He's about to attack us.
Naruto looked over at Kakashi and saw him do the flower Phoenix signs at lightening speed. Fortunately for him he could see each one and he mirrored it instantly. They called it out at the same time and let loose.
Kakashi jumped out of the way of the fire jutsu coming at him in surprise. Naruto's fire jutsu was so powerful, it completely engulfed his and sent it back at him.
When he looked back over at where the fire ball had landed, it had annihilated more than a mile worth of trees, rocks and terrain. In its place stood a completely cleared, sizzling dirtlot, not even a blade of grass was there!
He looked over at Naruto in surprise, but prepared for the next jutsu.
Naruto calmly created six multi- shadow clones and began to surround him, forming a perfect circle.
Kakashi decided to use chidori and Naruto just smiled. Then he and all six of his clones began creating balls of rasengan on there own, without helping each other like he used to do.
"Chidori!" yelled Kakashi.
"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto and all of his clones, simultaneously.
Kakashi, seeing he was about to be demolished, teleported out instead of deploying the chidori and landed in a tree.
"Very good Sensei," said the real Naruto behind him. Kakashi started in surprise, he hadn't realized that all the Naruto's were actually clones!
Naruto grabbed him and Kakashi instantly performed Genjutsu.
"Not gonna work sensei," said naruto calmly, "I can see through it," he said instantly breaking it.
Kakashi was about to summon his dogs when Naruto stopped him with a lion barrage.
The last thing Kakashi heard before he passed out was Iruka screaming.
Back at the hospital...
When Kakashi came to he was lying in the hospital, with Tsunade-sama, Sakura and a crying Iruka standing over him.
"Hi guys, what's up?" he said weakly, attempting to joke it all off.
Iruka immediately glomped him, causing him to groan in pain, " Kashi , you were out so long, I thought I was gonna loose you." sobbed Iruka after releasing him.
"Huh?" asked Kakashi, then he looked outside and noticed that it was now completely dark outside.
"How long was I out?" he asked curiously.
"More than eight hours Kakashi," said Tsunade. "You had five cracked ribs and a severe concussion. I'm gonna need to give you another check-up and run some tests." she said.
After doing all this and confirming that he was fine but would have to stay in the hospital overnight, she asked the others to leave for a moment, so that she could speak to him alone.
As soon as the others exited the room, Tsunade turned to him, "Kakashi, what the hell happened today?" she demanded.
Kakashi sighed, "well its quite simple Tsunade-sama, Naruto and I were sparring and he beat me in less than five minutes." he said and Tsunade gasped in surprise.
"I noticed a long time ago that he wasn't really the knuckle-head he often pretended to be. On the missions, he was always decisive and he could always sense me before anyone else, even when he pretended not to. We talked about this last night and he told me he wasn't going to pretend anymore. I asked him why he felt the need to pretend he was dumb in the first place and he told me that if the villages had realized this they would pick on him even more. Ever since he merged with the fox , he has gotten even smarter and stronger, with amazing senses. He's even faster than me, in fact I would say he is inhumanly fast. I am actually looking forward to how much more powerful he is going to become. With enough training , he will definitely surpass all the previous Hokages combined," he said honestly.
Tsunade smiled, pride shining in her eyes as she remembered the boys words, "I'm gonna get stronger in order to protect this village, then I'll keep my promise to Sakura and bring Sasuke back."
"Yes, I think he will." she said thoughtfully. " well get some rest, you'll be able to go home tomorrow." she said as she began to leave.
"Tsunade- sama," Kakashi called out to her, "one more thing." he said.
She stopped and returned, " yes, what is it?" she asked.
He smiled at her, " I noticed during our fight, Naruto was completely calm and controlled, it was quite amazing, not even I have achieved that sort of level-headedness in battle. I think he could give Shikamaru a run for his money. You should ask Iruka for the notes he was taking on the fight, it could be good. Also I think you should let him train with anyone he wants to, I think its safe to say that he is definitely our top ninja at the moment. He is without a doubt our best defense against our enemies. I was using my sharingan and even I couldn't see all his moves. You should also consider having him take the jonin exam as well. After seeing him in action, I can not only say he will pass the test with flying colors, I think he will also make an amazing Anbu agent." he said and her eyes widened in surprise.
"I will definitely look into it Kakashi, thanks for the info." she said and walked out the room with a smile.
She walked out of the room and immediately called over Iruka to talk to him. For the next few minutes they were deep in conversation , until she nodded and smiling, walked away.
Meanwhile with Kakashi...
"Kakashi sensei," said Naruto as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere startling the copy ninja.
"Sorry about earlier. I didnt mean to hurt you." said Naruto sadly. " I just wanted to test myself a bit," he said.
Kakashi smiled at the obviously upset boy, "don't worry about it. At least this time you didnt beat me with "make-out paradise" ," he said and the boy snickered.
"Yeah, but I'm still sorry though," said Naruto. "I'm gonna go now so you can get some rest," he said and began walking towards the door.
"Naruto did you hold back against me?" asked Kakashi.
The boy looked over his shoulder directly at him, "yes I did." he said and then he left the room.
Kakashi watched the boy go in surprise, he had gone all out. He smiled, he had been right to tell Tsunade to test the boy soon. He relaxed and went to sleep , knowing that when he woke up Iruka would be next to him. He reminded himself to fill him in later.
Tbc
Authors note: thank you for reading. please read and review. Next chapter , more intense
training. Who do you think he will fight against next? Who do you want to see him fight against? Send info to me if you have a request. Also, what's going on with Sasuke? Check out the next chapter to find out.