A/N: Sorry for the late upload! My next upload will also be late because of summer quarter and I poured all my time to clearing up assignments, quizzes, and tests for the majority of the months because I'll also be in Mexico for the majority of late July and August to celebrate my cousin's wedding!
In addition to this, I've been working on other fics as well! In fact, I've posted a Naruto X Fairy Tail crossover! Please do check it out!
Poll for the Harem is on the bottom!
To the reviewers:
Biginferno: Oh definitely! Gotta love the NarxIno pairing!
WhatzzzzzzzzzzzUP: I feel you and I honestly appreciate that. Truth be told, it sort of was an Omake because I was trying to build up relationship but I'm not too good at that! I'll work on it for sure! Things get a bit more deeper from here. At least, that's what I hope! Please do review again! I appreciate your constructive criticism!
Sanguis sylvus: Yeah, big harem dilutes the story, I completely agree. I will be keeping it to 4-5.
IsolatedCookie: LOL I sort of had that song playing when I got the idea!
Landmoverman: Thank you for your review! It gave me some ideas!
Jackalope33: Oh sure! I found it on the web so it's up for grabs I suppose! Isn't mine to give away but make sure you do give credit!
Aramus13: I always appreciate your reviews!
Even if I didn't respond to your review! I thank you!
"Speech"
'thought'
"Jutsu: in use"
'Kyuubi/Summon thought'
"Kyuubi/Summon speech"
Disclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfic! All rights go to their respective owners!
Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself
Chapter 5: Changes.
X
"Kami, this is not good Jiraiya." Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured as he interlocked his fingers with his elbows resting on the aged desk that had been present since the reign of the first hokage.
The toad sage nodded in agreement, "I know… Not only that, but we have a week at best. In the worst case scenario, we have a few days. Itachi was only able to contact and warn me a few days ago..."
The Sandaime frowned, "They are moving faster than I would have thought for an organization that just recently appeared on the radar."
"Agreed, but that that doesn't mean they weren't preparing beforehand for their 'coming out' party onto said 'radar'." Jiraiya pointed out.
"True."
"So…?" Jiraiya gazed at his sensei intently, "What's our plan? I've been thinking about it constantly while I was on my way here and I couldn't think of a way for this to blow over smoothly without exposing Itachi as our spy and keeping the gaki safe."
Sarutobi inhaled a long drag from his pipe before exhaling.
"On a side note, you should stop smoking; it's incredibly bad for your lungs you know." Jiraiya noted with a slightly amused expression.
The Sandaime barely responded with a grunt before speaking, "This is indeed a dangerous situation we're playing in…"
An idea suddenly popping into Jiraiya's head, the toad sage spoke with hope, "Perhaps we bring a Nara into this conversation? Shikaku can be trusted, right?"
Sarutobi shook his head, "The less people that know, the better. Only you and I will be aware of this situation… perhaps with the addition of one more."
"Who?"
"Kakashi Hatake."
Jiraiya frowned, "I understand that he's trustworthy but what's different from bringing him into the conversation? I believe that Shikaku would offer more to the table. Shikaku is a Nara and he could come up with a more safer and reliable-"
"Ah, that is because you're under the impression that Kakashi would be contributing ideas to the plan- no my dear wayward student, that is not the case." Sarutobi grinned.
Jiraiya's frown deepened as his brows furrowed in confusion, "Then what is the purpose of Kakashi being brought in?"
"He is the plan. Now tell me, what do you think of this plan…"
Jiraiya leaned his large frame forward and paid rapt attention to his sensei's words. His eyes widened at every passing word that exited the sandaime's mouth.
"That… that could just work! Knocking out two birds with one stone I suppose." Jiraiya muttered to himself before gazing back at his aged teacher, "But… that idea, it isn't without its risks. It could affect the gaki more than you know. Especially because of the fact we don't know if Itachi can go through with it. Even if he does go through with it, we don't know how he would proceed about this-"
"Naruto has an amazing power of will and the will of fire burns brightly within him, He will be fine." Hiruzen interrupted his student.
"I don't doubt that but he isn't an adult! He's just a child; he doesn't have the experience of a hardened shinobi! Hell, even a hardened shinobi would have a difficult time with this!" Jiraiya argued back.
"That may be, but he's been through more than ninety-nine percent of Konoha, he will be able to handle this. Of this, I am positive." Sarutobi replied with no waver or hesitance.
"Mark my words sensei, this will affect him. For better or for worse we'll see in time… just ask yourself this: will it be worth it?"
Sarutobi sighed and looked up in contemplation. This was a pretty big gamble. He looked at his longtime friend and student, "Go, inform Itachi immediately. I'll tell Kakashi what's to happen."
Jiraiya grumbled about senile old men losing their minds before reluctantly exiting the office for his assigned task.
Like many times before, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up to the skies and pondered.
'Ancestors of the Great Leaf, am I doing the right thing?'
x
Naruto frowned as he sat cross-legged with Saki-chan in his lap while his hand absentmindedly petted her head. In front of him was his Taijutsu teacher of nearly half a year now. However, there was no training to be done today. In fact, there seemed to be a change of plans, permanently.
Next to his Taijutsu instructor was a man with who had spiky silver hair oriented to his left-side, dark grey eyes. The man seemed to be in a pleasantly relaxed state; if his weird smiling eye and heavy-lidded expression was anything to go by. Along with the gravity defying hair was a face mask that covered the majority of his face, the man had only one eye visible seeing as to how his hitai-ate was slanted to cover the other viewing orbital.
Naruto gazed at the silver-haired man impassively as the cycloptic shinobi returned his gaze with a happy 'U' shaped eye smile. It was weird, but it was the only way the blonde could describe it. The blue-eyed boy shifted his attention to Gai when the Taijutsu specialist cleared his throat.
"So… my dear youthful student, how is your day today?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes with suspicion when he noted that Gai-sensei spoke with a nervous tint in his tone.
"It's going fine sensei."
"Aha! Most splendid my youthful student-"
"Sensei, who is this guy next to you? Why is he here?" Naruto interrupted blatantly. No sense of beating around the bush, he had several theories as to why the silver haired cycloptic jounin was here.
Kakashi decided to opt in the conversation to answer instead of his exuberant comrade, "Yo! My Name is Kakashi Hatake and I'll be taking over as your sensei starting from today."
Naruto's response came without hesitation.
"No."
Gai sighed, he knew that Naruto wouldn't ease into this situation smoothly. Once he grew attached to something or someone, he was hard-pressed into letting any change into his life that involved his precious 'attachments', so to speak. To be honest, Gai didn't want to hand have over his gritty and determined student but the hokage ordered otherwise.
Gai frowned, it was strange though; initially, the plan was to have Kakashi become the main instructor while he himself became more of a side teacher. In addition to that, this plan wasn't to be effective until the summer, which was several months away.
So that begged the question: Why did the hokage abruptly push the plans forward?
Gai shook his head, he would trust in his village leader's decision. Getting back to reality, the man clad in green saw Naruto scowling at him and Kakashi. His silver-haired comrade in the meantime looked bored and happy at the same time.
Weird.
Hoping that he could diffuse the tension slightly, Gai walked over to the blonde and squatted down to eye-level. "Ah my dear youthful student-"
"Hmph!" Naruto scowled, "Like you can call me that anymore! If I heard correctly, and I know I did, you just got rid of me like trash!" Naruto shouted. Saki barked in agreement; she didn't really know what was going on but if her blonde owned was upset at people… then she too would be upset at people.
Gai suddenly started crying out waterfalls as Naruto folded his arms across his chest defiantly, his little over dramatic act will take no effect on him.
Nope, not today.
"My student! I have failed you! Just know this, I never wanted this! Blame the silver haired man!" Gai wailed as he pointed a furious finger at Kakashi.
"Then why would you let him take me-" he briefly looked at the silver haired man now identified as Kakashi, "-I'm still not training with you-" before turning back to Gai, "If you really didn't want to, you could prevent it! Actually you know what?! I'll talk to jiji right freaking now!"
Kakashi decided now was the time to interject.
"Do you even wish to be a shinobi?" drawled out Kakashi in a bored fashion.
Naruto turned a glare to the silver haired man, "Why does it matter to yo-"
"I repeat, do you wish to be a shinobi?" Kakashi asked again, only this time his tone of voice that of a stern one.
The whiskered boy maintained the same glare as he answered, "Of course I want to be a shinobi, why else would I stay in the academy?" the blond child scoffed before continuing in a rather scathing tone, "You think I go to a shinobi academy because I like being bullied and ignored by the teachers-"
Kakashi internally winced, but he had to straighten Naruto out now, "Then listen boy; you will be training underneath my tutelage. This is on direct orders from the hokage himself. If you truly and seriously aspire to be a shinobi, you don't question the leader of your village, understand?"
Naruto gritted his teeth; he knew the man was right but that didn't mean he had to like it. The blue-eyed jinchuuriki stood up, "Whatever." But as he went to stand, he had briefly caught a glimpse of his Taijutsu instructor's face to see that it was eerily impassive with a hint of disappointment… at him.
'Why the hell does he disappointed in ME?!' Naruto seethed internally as he walked away with Saki-chan trailing loyally behind him. His gaze softened as he looked back at his puppy looking at him with eagerness.
He picked her up and nuzzled against her affectionately, "Well Saki-chan, look likes it's you and me for now." As he neared the exit of the training ground he been asked to meet his sensei in, he henge'dinto a familiar woman who was dressed in all black for what seemed to be a funeral or mourning service.
He needed to vent to someone and he didn't feel like talking to anyone who could reprimand him. He walked the path that he's seen Sakura-chan and Ino-chan take many time before.
X
Ino blew out a bored breath as she manned the register while her parents were on lunch. She swung her legs aimlessly as she spun slowly upon the rotating seat of the stool. She was humming a light tune when she heard the doorbell ring; signifying a person had just opened the door.
"Hi! Welcome to Yamanaka Flower shop! The stop you can get everything flower related to-" Ino suddenly gasped; In the midst of her routine greeting, she had finally identified the person and realized it was someone who was familiar with her late sensei, "Yui-sensei?!"
Yui looked startled, as if she wasn't expecting anyone to recognize her. Yui quickly schooled her features and returned a small sad smile, "Hello Ino-chan, how've you been?"
The ten-year old Yamanaka heiress suddenly let loose every detail of her life for the past two weeks and how lame the academy's new teachers were. Ino didn't even register the slight wince of the elder female occupant of her family store at the mention of the academy teachers; after all, she hasn't seen Yui-sensei since… well, her other sensei's death and Yui-sensei was a well-loved teacher at the academy. It was only natural for a natural gossip girl like Ino to blabber incessantly about random things carelessly... after all, she was a just a ten year old girl.
Although she was only ten, even she wasn't insensitive to a person's feeling. She realized that several minutes into her nonstop chatter, she had mentioned Iruka-sensei proxy the topic of the academy. She quickly ceased her words and began sputtering out an apology in a panicked fashion. It was widely known that Yui-sensei and Iruka-sensei had been close… intimately.
"O-oh my kami! I'm so sorry sensei! I-I-I di-didn't mean t-to! G-gomenasai Yui-sensei!" Ino frantically rushed out.
"Ino-chan, it's okay! Actually, I was on my way to see Iruka-sensei now-"
SLAAAAM!
Ino screamed as someone shoved Yui violently into the ground. The figure then headed towards her and hovered around her form protectively. Ino's terrified scream shifted into a relieved sigh before she angrily pushed the person who shoveled her academy teacher.
"Daddy! Why did you push Yui-sensei!" Ino interrogated as she headed over to her teacher.
"Ino! Stop, be quiet and get back here!" Inoichi spoke with in a tone that resonated authority as he narrowed his eyes at the form of 'Yui' picking 'herself' up.
"Daddy… what's wrong!?" The clan heiress froze in place as she heard the tone of voice of her father.
Instead of answering her, the Yamanaka clan head pierced the woman in front of him with a glare, "Who are you!?" Inoichi interrogated.
'Yui' dusted 'herself' off and spoke in a calm voice, "What are you talking about? Your daughter knows who I am, isn't that right Ino-chan?"
Before his daughter could nod in affirmation, Inoichi spoke in a hard voice, "Do not play games with me! Yui Hadoka left the village weeks ago after the death of one Umino Ir-" Wouldn't be good to reveal the death of a Konoha shinobi, "-certain circumstances!"
Shock displaying on both 'Yui's' and Ino's face, Inoichi decided to take their stunned moment to activate his clan jutsu. Placing his hand in his signature clan hand sign, he held it up and aimed at a slightly bewildered
"Shintenshin No Jutsu (Mind Transfer Jutsu)!"
Inoichi smirked, 'jutsu success.' He briefly thought as his conscious was pulled towards the pseudo-Yui.
Ino groaned as she rushed forward to try and somewhat successfully support her father's falling form.
"YOU BETTER HURRY UP DADDY!"
X
Inoichi groaned, usually the process of entering someone's mind was a fluid and smooth transition but going into this now known obvious imposter was all but that. The reason the Yamanka clan head knew this was an imposter was because Inoichi had interviewed quite a number of shinobis via his family jutsu and Yui Hadoka was one of the shinobi that had fallen under his routine checks.
The Yamanaka clan leader managed to gather enough of his bearings to finally note his environment.
Drip.
Inoichi frowned as he felt a drop of liquid splat against his cheek. The long-haired pale blonde man cautiously moved forward at a sedate pace; after all, a mind could be the single most dangerous tool a person could possess… and from the looks of it, this mind felt ominous and oppressive.
This was most definitely not a normal mind.
Drip.
As a Konoha shinobi and an ex-T&I (Torture and interrogation) head, he had a duty to find out if this imposter could or would pose a danger to Konoha as a whole. So with great caution, Inoichi pressed forward.
Drip.
Nearly half an hour of walking around, Inoichi began theorizing a suspicion about his whereabouts. He had heard that jinchuurikis had a crazy mindscape and that normal applications of mind and body invasive jutsus would not work and wasn't advised to be used against demon containers.
Feeling a bit worried now, Inoichi was thinking about cutting his losses and exiting. After a few moments, the clan leader believed this to be mindscape of their own jinchuuriki, one Naru-
"Welcome ningen."
Inoichi paled.
He turned around from where he came from with great trepidation; he was sure that's where the seemingly ancient voice came from but how could that be? He had just came from that direction-
The deep and menacing voice chuckled, "Silly ningen, if I do not wish to be found, I will not be found."
The clan leader of the Yamanakas found himself sweating as his gaze fell upon a giant barred cell. Behind the colossal metal barring glowed two giant murderous red eyes.
The elder blonde stepped back fearfully as the KI (Killer intent) rolled off the being inside the bar in droves.
"Please, I do not wish for any trouble-"
"Quiet ningen!" the ancient entity snarled, "You had acquired trouble the moment you used your blasphemous technique!"
Inoichi found himself unable to talk as the KI intensified exponentially.
Stepping out of the shadows, the owner of the powerful and feral voice revealed itself to be what Inoichi feared to be.
The infamous Kyuubi No Kitsune.
"I grow bored of you ningen. Leave or I shall do what I did to your ancestors when they foolishly interacted with my presence." The Kyuubi spoke in a lazy fashion.
Inoichi ignored the jab at his ancestors and nodded immediately. The clan leader went to leave before he paused… he realized he had no idea on how to get out. If he knew how to get out, he would have gotten out sooner when he had an inkling as to what he had gotten himself into.
He turned to ask the malevolent chakra entity only to flinch violently as the Kyuubi roared with loudness that rivaled a crowd of a trillion. The furious roar propelled him out of the mindscape abruptly.
The Kyuubi smirked viciously.
"Soon… the nations will be reminded of the prowess and presence of the greatest of tailed beasts."
X
Inoichi sat upright abruptly and gasped as he woke up in his own body. He immediately patted himself in a reassuring manner hoping that nothing was out of place or anything of that sort. He looked around for his daughter and saw that she was now tending to a young blonde boy and he narrowed his eyes.
Uzumaki Naruto.
The aforementioned child groaned as he regained consciousness, "Ughhh, where the hell am I and who the hell are yo- Ino-chan?!" Naruto nearly yelped as he realized his head was in Ino's lap. "Oh jeez! I'm sorry Ino! I didn't even know what happened! One moment I'm buying flowers and the next thing I know is that I'm waking up with my head in your lap!" Naruto blabbered speedily in fear of getting hit.
"Naruto! It's fine!" Ino giggled, "Besides, you look cute when you sleep!"
Naruto's face burned as he sputtered his response, "O-O-Oh! U-uhm, thank you! I uh, also think, y-y'know, t-that you're um, u-uh, also-"
Inoichi decided to intervene now. Demon container or not, no one was gonna be going to be putting the moves on his daughter if he could help it.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto's attention shifted straightaway from the heiress of the Yamanaka clan to the leader of said clan. His eyes widened as he realized he wasn't in his Henge of Yui-chan. A barely visible tremble only noticed by Inoichi indicated that he was in a slight state of fear. Naruto's azure eyes fearfully darted around as he tried to pinpoint a way to avoid this situation.
Inoichi's gaze softened at the sight of an obviously scared boy that was thrown into a situation that wasn't his fault. He sighed, "Naruto-san, may I ask you why you were Henge'd into another person? Impersonation is a crime that can be punished harshly by authority."
Ino looked fear stricken as she let out a startled cry, "Daddy! You can't get Naruto in trouble-"
Inoichi gave his daughter a stern look and spoke in a voice that left no room for argument, "Ino-chan, to your room, now."
The clan heiress gave Naruto a sympathetic and apologetic look, "I'm sorry Naruto… I'll make this up to you later!" With a slight glare directed at her father, Ino flipped her hair and let out a slightly haughty "Hmph!" before obeying his order and heading out the back door of the shop.
Naruto didn't even register her words as his slight tremble became more obvious. Was Ino's dad going to hurt him now that Ino was gone? So caught up in his fear, he didn't even think to use any jutsus to escape his predicament.
He just… froze.
Naruto felt the frustration of being helpless build up as his chest shuddered more heavily.
"It's okay Naruto-san, I do not wish to hurt you. I would just like to know why you impersonated a fellow Konoha resident." Inoichi spoke with a soft gaze and voice to try and get his honest intent across: to show that the boy was not in danger.
Inoichi's attempt at reassurance seemed to have worked since the boy's tense and frightened state subdued into a relaxed state. Inoichi offered a small smile, "Would you like some food Naruto?" He purposefully addressed him by his first name only. This served to establish a familiarity that would hopefully lull the boy into a more trustful state.
"N-N-No T-thank you I-Inoichi-sama!" Naruto managed to squeak out.
Inoichi couldn't help but chuckle at the politeness the blonde child showed under the duress of what the scared child considered to be a 'predicament.' "No need to address me so formally here Naruto-san. In the home of our compound shop it will always be safe."
Naruto chose to respond with a small nod before a small frown made its way onto his face. An internal conflict began as curiosity and his natural instinct to survive clashed. Should he run for it? Should he stay? His inner struggle must have showed on his face seeing that Inoichi gestured for him to sit on the stool.
"I promise on the namesake of my clan that I will not hurt or harm you… I also know that curiosity is an annoying thing so you may ask your question… if you choose to, that is."
Naruto slowly walked over to the gestured stool facing Inoichi the whole time. Once fully situated on the stool, Naruto played with his hands idly as he averted his gaze.
He spoke in a small and quiet voice, "Y-you have… a-a compound behind your shop?"
Inoichi face faulted.
Out of all the things he should've and could've asked, he asks that question? Inoichi snorted with amusement and made an even louder snort at the affronted look the boy took at his first snort.
"What?! It's a good question! A compound behind this tiny shop, how is that even possible?!" Naruto defended.
Inoichi let out a good-natured laugh before answering the little whiskered boy's question, "I never said that our compound was behind this shop." Seeing that the boy was about argue, he held a hand up and asked, "Do you recall what I said?"
"You said this is the compound shop so that means the Yamanaka compound is behind it! And that makes sense since Ino-chan went out the back!"
Inoichi held an amused smile, "While I indeed said that this is the compound shop, this by no means mean that the compound is behind it. In fact, many compounds have shops like the Akimichis and their restaurants, The Naras and their pharmaceutical shops, the Aburames and their…" Inoichi blinked. "Actually… I don't recall what they actually sell." Inoichi gave a sheepish grin.
Naruto found himself easing down as he was steadily drawn into the conversation. So much, in fact, when Inoichi asked him why he impersonated Yui-san, Naruto answered in full with all details. Including the events that had led up to his henge of Yui-sensei, whom Naruto knew was close to Iruka-sensei.
After all, the man was like a father to him.
Inoichi nodded throughout the boy's tale and felt sympathy towards his plight. No human being should ever be shunned and forced to undergo a Henge just buy minor things.
"Naruto, is it really so bad to have a new sensei?" Inoichi asked dryly.
"Change is bad!" Naruto immediately barked.
Inoichi sweat dropped, "Listen, I know of Kakashi Hatake and met with him a couple times, and though I don't know him all that well, I know that he is a good and honest man."
"How do you know if he's a good man if you don't know him all that well?"
"Ah… you don't seem too knowledgeable about the clans and their specialty, do you?"
Naruto frowned, "I'm only ten years old!"
"Regardless, you should learn about things like this in class."
Naruto suddenly felt himself becoming miserably smaller as he re-averted his gaze downwards. He whispered in a barely audible whisper, "I-I have no one but Gai-sensei to teach me anything… I-Iruka-sensei was the last one to teach me anything at the academy… but he-"
Inoichi held a hand up, "I understand Naruto, no need to explain anything." The Yamanaka clan leader took many deep calming breaths as he tried controlling the rage that was slowly festering from within. If that was his child, he doesn't know what he would've done to the people in the state of rage he surely would've been in.
He made a decision.
"Alright Naruto-kun, I've made a decision. If you so choose to, you may come here and I will teach you about various things that will be important to you if you want to become a serious shinobi. However, and unfortunately, I am a busy clan head so it most likely would not be a daily thing… but I'm sure we'll work something out."
Inoichi expected Naruto's eyes to be full of excitement and color but when the whiskered child looked up, all he saw was a dull vibe and a fragile sense helplessness in the once vibrant azure eyes.
"Why… why would you do that for me… no one ever does anything that kind of thing for me…"
Inoichi gave the boy a resounding, "Then allow me to be one of the rare few. However, I will not force this choice upon you so you may take as long as you want."
Naruto's vacant expression gazing back was the only answer Inoichi received. The clan head sighed as he went to retrieve some flowers, "Here boy, you may leave with these flowers, come back anytime you want to."
The jinchuuriki hesitated for a few moments before finally relenting.
"Arigato."
Naruto took the flowers and left with a lot on his mind.
Inoichi on the other hand, decided to have a chat with his daughter. He was going to drill into her the fact that their family jutsu was to ever be used on another Konoha's citizen unless directed by authorities.
Even then it was an iffy matter.
Regardless, she was to never use the family jutsu on a certain blonde jinchuuriki.
Ever.
X
So caught up in his thinking, Naruto didn't think to cover himself in his henge as he continued his trek towards his intended destination.
Various villagers looked at him with disgust in their eyes. Why would the demon brat be carrying flowers?
So caught up in their musings as to why the 'demon' had flowers, they failed to notice the small canine that was tucked into the jumpsuit of said 'demon'. The citizens of Konoha that were staring at him slowly grew angrier and angrier with each passing second.
The Kyuubi brat seemed indifferent to their obvious disgust of him. In fact, he looked like he was completely occupied with some other thought.
All of the spiteful villagers' minds ran along one similar thought process.
'How dare that brat ignore us… this won't be stood for.'
With an angered and knowing look, the villagers shared a glance and nodded. They would fix this issue on their own. If the shinobis of the village wouldn't finish what their precious Yondaime started, they the villagers, will.
Naruto, so consumed by his thoughts, failed to see an incoming pair of ladies.
"I'm serious Nai-chan! If I could eat dango for the rest of my life in exchange for-"
THUD!
Thinking he was under an henge like he should've been, the whiskered boy glared angrily at the person who he had bumped into.
"Hey! What's the big idea lady?! Watch where you're going!" Naruto yelled as he dusted himself off. He checked to see how Saki-chan was doing and saw that she still seemed to be sleeping. An unbelievable eye twitch briefly appeared on his face, 'This girl can sleep through all three shinobi wars…'
"Eh? Aren't you the Uzumaki brat?" Anko peered at him closely.
Naruto paled, "How did you know!?"
Anko pulled a mirror out of nowhere and held in front of the boy's face, "Blonde hair, blue eyes, and whiskered cheeks… looks like the only Uzumaki brat I've heard of."
Naruto swore under his breath as he turned to make a run for it but before he could take a single step, he found himself locked in place by two slender arms. Immediately, an odd scent of nature mixed with a feminine trait pleasantly assaulted his nose. He felt an indescribable heat rush up to his face as he felt two mounds of flesh press up against his small back.
Why was he feeling such a weird sensation?
"And where do you think you're going?" Anko whispered in a sensual tone.
Naruto shivered.
Kurenai face palmed before she scolded her best friend, "Anko, he's like eight years old, quit it!"
Naruto was quick to argue, "Hey other lady! I'm ten! And you grandmas must be a billion years old since you guys obviously can't tell I'm older than an eight year old!" He held up all his fingers and shoved it towards lady who wasn't holding him, "Ten! I'm ten years old you old bats!"
Anko had a stupefied expression on while Kurenai simply quirked an eyebrow. The Snake Mistress of Konoha snapped out of her stupor with an irritated expression, "WE'RE SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD YOU STUPID LITTLE PIECE OF-"
"Anko! Language! He's only ten years old!"
Naruto gave the red-eyed jounin a thumbs up, "Thank you nee-chan! I'm glad you're nice, unlike some people." He gave a not so subtle glare towards the purple haired kunoichi.
Kurenai managed to stifle her giggle lest she piss off easily ticked off best friend even more than she already was. She was quick to restrain Anko as her purple-haired best friend tried demolishing the blonde child.
Said blonde child took this time to observe the kunoichis in front of him. As he took in every detail of their body, he realized that the nee-chans were both really pretty.
Anko, calming down somewhat, noticed that the jinchuuriki was staring at them, she turned her smirking face towards Kurenai, "Look! He's staring at us! He's a little pervert!"
Naruto was brought out of his reverie when he heard those words. Feeling an embarrassed blush creeping up his face at being caught on blatantly staring at their body even if it was unintentional. Spluttering, the boy spoke in an extremely defensive tone, "N-N-No way! I would never- I don't like grandmas you stupids!"
Anko and Kurenai shared a look before one giggled behind her hand while the other laughed boisterously. Anko looked at the pouting boy's face, "Say gaki, what were you eve-"
"My name's Naruto Uzumaki dattebayo!" Naruto boldly interrupted. He felt rather comfortable with the two nee-chans in front of him seeing that he felt no killer intent from them. There was also something different about them… if his ten year old mind had to put words to it… it was as if they were outcasts in a way. Regardless, they seemed like nice enough people.
Then again, Mizuki hid his intent well enough… and these kunoichis felt stronger than the white haired teme if their chakra 'tank' was anything to go by. So… maybe he should keep his guard up just in case.
Offhandedly, he briefly wondered how he knew how much chakra they had before shoving that thought to the back of his mind.
The purple haired one brought out a kunai and licked it in a seductive manner.
Yep, he was definitely keeping his guard up.
Anko gave Naruto a lecherous grin, "I'm the sexy and single Mitarashi Anko… how do you do…" she gave her kunai another lick and her lecherous grin grew even wider when the boy shivered, "Na-ru-to-kun." She made sure to punctuate each syllable with a flirtatious tone.
Kurenai shook her head in amusement with a tiny exasperated sigh, "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. It is also a pleasure to meet you Naruto-kun." She couldn't help but add her own little seductive enunciation to the familiar suffix.
Needless to say, Naruto was one flustered jinchuuriki. He tried speaking back casually but found himself as a stuttering mess, "O-O-Oh! N-nice to meet y-you A-Anko-san and K-Kurenai-san!"
Kurenai found herself enjoying the situation. She was known as the 'Young Ice Queen of Konoha' because she never enjoyed any form of conversation with men. Yet here she was, talking with a boy and enjoying the tiny banter with her best friend.
After several minutes of teasing the flustering boy, Anko voiced a question when she finally noticed the flowers in his hands, "What's the flower for gaki?"
Kurenai was not known as the genjutsu mistress for nothing. Considered a prodigy in her own rights, she had to develop a keen eyesight. So, because of this trained ability, she did not fail to notice the subtle change of nervousness in the blue eyed blonde; one from embarrassment from not knowing how to react to this foreign situation to one of a guarded nervousness. His tone of voice and speech made it all the more obvious.
"O-Oh. Y-you know, j-just for a friend…" Naruto subconsciously brought the bouquet of flowers around his back so the front of his body was blocking it. Anko, being one of the accomplished head interrogators at the T&I and an accomplished kunoichi, noticed the subtle gesture and tilted her head.
Was the boy scared if them? She looked at her best friend and they briefly shared a knowing look unnoticed by the boy. Feigning pretense, Anko spoke loudly, "Ah well! Look at the time! I forgot I had something to do at this specific time and Kurenai-chan here was supposed to help me! Let's go Nai-chan!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion before letting it go. What they were gonna do was none of his business. He nodded and gave a polite bow, "See you around Kurenai-san, Anko-san." They gave a cheerful goodbye and then Shunshined out of view.
Deciding that he wasted enough time already, he began a full-blown sprint towards the Heroes Monument; a monolith constructed for all those who had died in battle for the village. He didn't mind talking to those kunoichis but he needed to vent and this was most confortable way for him.
Unbeknownst to the child jinchuuriki, a pair of kunoichis were watching him from out of sight.
Kurenai spoke first, "Seems as if he's heading towards the monuments."
Anko agreed. "Seems like it… let's follow him Nai-chan!"
The genjutsu mistress frowned, "Even though he is a child, privacy is a right everyone should be able to enjoy Anko-chan."
The tokubetsu jounin rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm going anyways. Come if you want to!" she blew a tongue at her best friend before trailing the blonde from a distance.
Kurenai sighed and went after both her best friend and the blonde jinchuuriki somewhat grudgingly with a tiny bit of curiosity motivating her to follow. Even she wasn't immune to curiosity.
X
It was sunset when he finally reached the site that was dedicated to the fallen shinobis. He kneeled down in front of the monument that held Iruka's name and prayed for him briefly before standing up and dusting himself off. He walked slowly towards the edge of the forest before walking through the thin tree lines. He walked carefully for ten minutes avoiding thorns and other irritable greenery before finally coming to a clearing.
In the middle of the clearing was a makeshift grave that Naruto had hand made with what he could find in the forestry in and around Konoha. It was as good as it was going to get for a ten year old.
There was a crudely crafted wooden cross-shaped stake stuck into the ground that was about a foot tall. In the middle of the cross dangled his deceased sensei's headband. The cloth was somewhat loosely tied on the horizontal inner-edge of the cross to keep it from falling.
Naruto set the flowers down next to him as he sat in a cross-legged position. The blonde pouted as he began talking to his sensei. He began with the infuriating event that involved Gai and Kakashi that made him come this way. He then recalled the experience the incident with Inoichi.
"So get this Iruka-sensei, after I get knocked out somehow, I wake up on Ino-chan's lap. Crazy right? But get this, that's even the craziest part! So I saw Inoichi and, be prepared, he wants to teach me!" Naruto frowned, "But I don't know sensei… should i?"
"Every time I trust someone, they always end up hurting me. I don't know if I can handle another betrayal…" Naruto lied down in defeat with a sigh.
Whooosh!
Naruto shot up at the weird sound that was similar to a loud brush of wind. He looked around and saw something that should've been impossible.
"H-H-How?" the boy whispered hoarsely.
There, in front of his shocked eyes, was one very much alive Umino Iruka.
An eye-crinkling smile appeared on the face of Iruka.
"Is that how anyone greets their favorite sensei Naruto!?"
Naruto's vision blurred with tears as he rushed to engulf the man in a hug. Wrapping his arms around his sensei as he apologized over and over again, "I'm so sorry sensei! I'm sorry! If only I wasn't such an idiot!"
'Iruka' held the boy back at arm's length, and looked at him seriously, "Naruto, never ever do I want you to apologize for that. I did what I thought was right and I never want you to think that what happened was your fault, understood?!"
Naruto wiped at his tears and sniffled, "But Iruka-sensei! If I didn't listen to Mizuki-teme then you-"
"Listen to me Naruto," 'Iruka' spoke softly, "Instead of reflecting on the past, I need you to be a stronger one for your loved ones and Konoha."
Naruto stared sullenly at his sensei, "But…I had no one else but you sensei…"
'Iruka' shook his head, "You baka Naruto! You really have no one else left in the village that you care about?"
"The last person was Itachi and he was-"
"That's not what I asked Naruto. What about the Hokage?"
The boy's answer was hesitant, "Oh… I guess I forgot about jiji-"
"What about your classmates?"
Naruto's mind briefly flashed towards Ino-chan. The boy pouted, "Fine Iruka-sensei, I guess you're right…"
The scarred chuunin nodded in a smug knowingly manner, "Of course I am! Now, tell me what's the deal with Inoichi-san?!"
After Naruto explained in depth about what had happened between himself and the clan head of the Yamanakas, Iruka held a thoughtful pose, "So you say you blacked out after he held his hand like this?" the 'chuunin' mimicked the ex-T&I's clan jutsu's hand seal. At Naruto's fervent nod, Iruka frowned, 'He used the Shintenshin No Jutsu on him? that must've been dangerous… still, Inoichi was a pretty good guy from when I worked with him.'
"Naruto, I think you should go ahead and follow up on his lessons! It'll be good for you… actually, you know what! As your sensei, I order you to go to him!"
Naruto frowned, "Wait, how are you even here?! Shouldn't you be, you know," He awkwardly gestured at the burial site he made for him, "in there?" He waved his hands around, "Wait! Before you answer that! How come there aren't any funerals service or graves for all shinobis-"
Iruka returned a sad smile, "That, is something you can ask Inoichi-san Naruto… For everything you've done for me, for giving me a family and being gone in my absence. but you're right, I do not belong here, it's time for me to return… goodbye…"
And just like that, Iruka wisped away like dust particles to a strong wind. At the disappearance of his sensei, Naruto felt his eyelids get heavy as he slowly opted to take an involuntary nap.
As soon as his eyes were closed, the air around where Iruka stood standing previously shimmered and revealed a purple haired kunoichi in a trench coat. Next to her, appeared her crimson-eyed best friend.
"I deserve an award for my acting! Right Nai-chan?!"
Kurenai leveled her with a glare, "First of all, it was my genjutsu that allowed you to play the part of Iruka-san and second of all, we're gonna be paying our respects to him. It's not kind to impersonate the dead Anko…"
Anko sighed, "I know… I was just curious and there was an opportunity that presented itself and I took it… but I agree; we should go pay our respects at the monolith."
Kurenai nodded. After her and Anko followed Naruto to the Heroes Monument, they were immensely surprised to see that Naruto had gone off into the nearby trees to a makeshift grave.
Already knowing about the boy's status as a jinchuuriki and the village's reception towards him, they knew that there were few that treated the boy with kindness and Iruka was one of them.
After the purple-haired tokubetsu jounin heard that the blonde confessing to him having a run in with Inoichi, Anko's old boss at T&I, their curiosity skyrocketed to the point where Kurenai listened to Anko's plan of wrapping her in a genjutsu of Iruka so they could pry information out the whiskered child.
It worked too well.
Anko seemed to have realized this too seeing as to how easily she agreed to paying her respects to the deceased chuunin.
She glanced back at the sleeping boy as she walked away and thought about how much of a good-natured child he was even though he was hurt mentally and physically so many times by Konoha.
A determined expression came across her face. She was going to the Sandaime to perhaps teach the boy. He most definitely needed someone he could trust and she was willing to be that person. After all, it was the least she could do since she basically broke several laws to satisfy her own curiosity.
Noticing that her purple haired friend wasn't alongside her, Kurenai looked around only to see that Anko was gazing intensely at the boy.
"Anko, are you okay?"
The young Snake Mistress of Konoha pursed her lips and answered several moments after, "Yeah… it's just I see a lot of me in him… the way they treat him…" She shook her head, "Never mind! Let's get going!" With a wide smile, Anko skipped off towards the monolith with Kurenai looking on after her.
The red-eyed jounin had a sad and knowing look.
'Anko…'
X
He stood in front of the compound shop in his henge of another random civilian.
Naruto peered into the flower shop through the window nervously. It was a new day and after yesterday's talk with 'Iruka', whom Naruto knew (according to him self) wasn't real but rather a figment of his imagination due to his deep subconscious that was still emotional.
He figured it had to be something like that.
A dream or something.
Or maybe he was crazy?
Being nervous, antsy, and preoccupied with his thoughts, Naruto's henge slowly glitched out as the tall random-bodied illusion shrunk into the tiny blonde. He immediately made for another transformation but it came out as a blotched and pale version of himself. He looked around and saw that a few villagers were looking at him suspiciously while a couple of them snarled at him indicating they saw his real identity.
Cursing, he looked around briefly inside through the window and saw that no one was there. Deciding that maybe he should just try and come back another day, he made to run away especially since he couldn't get his henge to work properly. However, just as he was about to take a step away from the shop, the door swung open rather violently.
THUD!
"Daddy! Naruto is here!"
Naruto froze as his henge completely went away to reveal his true self, 'Eh?'
He turned around with a perplexed look on his face.
"Ino-chan?"
At his words, Saki-chan's head slowly roused itself from Naruto's jumpsuit in a drowsy manner.
Ino squealed at seeing Naruto make such an adorably confused whiskered face before pausing in her thoughts. She studied Naruto's face carefully and thought to herself, 'Since when was Naruto this… this…' she couldn't bring herself to admit the fact that Naruto was pretty cu-
"You alright there Ino-chan?"
"O-of course I am! It was just, you know- erm, uh you know- your dog! That's right! Just your dog is all!" Ino mentally patted herself for coming up with such a clever excuse though her face was flushed a shade of red.
"Uh… okay." Naruto shrugged, "anyways, I was just gonna go away-"
"Naruto! You made it!"
Inoichi had a pleasant smile on his face as he ushered both the children in to the store.
Looking around at the villagers that were not so subtly glaring at the whiskered boy previously around his store, he sent them a glare spiked with some KI (Killer intent) which achieved the result of them looking away uncomfortably. Inoichi nodded to himself in satisfaction and put on the 'CLOSED' door sign.
Naruto paid rapt attention to Ino as she babbled about the different kind of flowers and their meanings. The boy looked rather eager to be learning about the flowers and their values. Inoichi's soft smile disappeared when he saw his daughter about to step on a small sharp piece of pot that would surely pierce her thin sandals and into her flesh.
"Ino-chan! Watch out!"
As fast as he was, Naruto reacted a bit faster and was able to reach his daughter because of their already close distance.
Ino felt a rush and saw a blur of orange and she suddenly felt warmth engulf her. Ino recovered from her sense of vertigo and bewilderedly looked around only to make eye contact with deep sea-blue eyes. She looked down at the floor and noticed the stray piece of sharp ceramic jutting upwards. The slowly returned her gaze to the luring eyes of a certain boy.
Immediately putting together the pieces on what just transpired. Ino found herself burning up from being in such a close proximity with Naruto and being in his arms.
She spoke.
"Y-you jzt sngnned em?"
She tried to at least.
Naruto scrunched his eyes slightly in confusion, "What?" the jinchuuriki looked at Ino's father in referral towards his daughter's attempt at speech, "What?"
However, Inoichi had on a strange expression on his face that Naruto couldn't really identify.
The clan head of the Yamanakas blinked in rapid owlish fashion as he watched his daughter stammer uncontrollably and backing out of the boy's embrace slowly. After muttering out a few incoherent words and phrases, Ino darted out the back door of the shop.
Naruto, ever so curious, began to follow after Ino.
Inoichi realized that his daughter was beginning to be infatuated with the blonde jinchuuriki so he quickly gripped the boy in steely grip.
"Come Naruto, we'll begin your lessons now."
"But Ino-chan seemed a little-"
"Lessons. Now." Inoichi sternly said with a way too wide of a smile.
"Uh…" Naruto gulped. "Okay."
So they went into knowledge of what Inoichi thought a shinobi should know. This ranged from politics, ninja arts, elements of Ninjutsu, chakra, chakra techniques, psychology, and even manners.
For several weeks, they went into these topics in a considerable amount for a ten year old. Inoichi was actually quite proud with how well Naruto took in his words. After the first day, the boy had said he wanted to try a new way of learning better so he summoned nine other Kage Bunshins. This way, he heard the lessons ten times a day.
It was quite an efficient way to learn.
This went on steady until one day, Naruto came up to Inoichi with a question.
"Inoichi-sensei, you know, I had a question regarding what happened to shinobis after they… y'know, kick the bucket." Naruto finished awkwardly.
The clan leader frowned, "Well… I mean, uh… let's see-"
"No no, not that," Naruto hastily interrupted, "I meant how come some shinobis don't get funeral services and things like that? I remember one time when I was little one of the daimyos that passed away had a big ol' funeral thingy… I guess what I'm asking is…" Naruto hesitated a bit before continuing.
"How come… Iruka-sensei didn't have one?"
X
Naruto laid the flowers down horizontally at the base of the buried stake before anger started welling up inside of him. As he learned it was very uncommon for anyone in Konoha to have a proper burial unless they were someone of importance. Much like the Hokage or an important clan head or political figure.
Naruto clenched his fists.
But not some clanless shinobi like Iruka Umino.
Someone like himself.
They were unimportant.
He took a deep calming breath and relaxed his clenched fists, 'This is why I'm gonna become stronger! For Iruka-sensei.'
"I will get stronger sensei." Naruto vowed as he dipped his head, "I will change the world for the better dattebayo."
Sounds of twigs being crushed crackled upon the evening sky.
"That is a very bold claim… Naruto-kun."
Emotions ran wild as the jinchuuriki instantly recognized the voice.
Sadness...
Rage…
Betrayal…
Naruto whispered response was low with barely suppressed anger as his sapphire-blue eyes met an impassive charcoal gaze.
"Itachi."
X
A/N: Two things to inform you:
One (again): I have a Naruto x Fairy Tail crossover! Do check it out!
Two: This chapter will be the last chapter to input a vote for the harem! And yes, you can throw in a second vote with another review!
Current poll votes via reviews:
Anko: 11
Kurenai: 10
Ino: 8
Tayuya: 5
Hana: 3
Temari: 3
Yugito: 2
Mei: 2
Yugao:1
Hinata: 1
Karin: 1
Sakura: 1
Fu: 1