an:/ Thank you guys for sticking around! Well, enough is enough, and I've decided, I've been way too immature for my own good. You are all right, my maturity as an author is close to zero. I've been extremely rude to my readers and replied to flame when it wasn't necessary. Many of you have reviewed and said so. And, I can't help but agree. I need to suck it up and ignore all the flame. This isn't some place to vent out my feelings and I apologize. I thank you all for staying with me regardless of my stupidity and impoliteness. I guess you could call it a phase and like all phases, they have ends. Today marks a new beginning! Well, I decided I'm going to go ahead and respond to everyone's review (I mean everyone's) Because I feel like I'm only responding to bad ones and I haven't given creds to those who really matter. Just some brief responses per.
Blair27: thank you for the info! I swear, my computer says one thing but the next day says the other...Sadly, Lee's outcome is the same so...timeskip it is I guess?
The Keeper of Worlds: You've reviewed a lot since, practically, the beginning! Thank you~!
Greenguy67: Sadly, Lee's arm and leg gets crushed. But do not despair! It's all part of the plan! ;)
Eryn Michaels: Frankly speaking, the fights got a bit boring for me to write, so I kinda sped it up. Besides, I felt you readers probably wanted something more interesting. Hopefully the upcoming fights will appear better. I looked back at my first chapter, and I have to say, the difference is definitely noticeable. Thanks for reading!
SakuraFairy1990: Ahh, unfortunately, lots of people want me to just skip on with the show...but I hope you continue to read the story regardless of the lack of Gaara vs. Lee.
Roselie0601: Skip it is, thanks for reviewing!
Anon(Guest): Get an account of Fanfiction! Hahaha, thanks for reading!
Zatheko: I most certainly agree. This story needs to progress and frankly the fights take forever...Skip it is! You have also stuck around with this story for a long time, so I thank you!
Killijimaru: Ryoukai! (Roger) lol
THE 7TH DEMON OF RAZGRIZ: I'm glad someone agrees with me! Haha, thanks for favoriting and following my story!
Battle Neurosis: Skip it is! So many people want a time skip!
rocker101 (Guest): Lol, thanks for reading (my rants too, haha)!
Showtime09: You got it! One time skip comin' up
Darth Renada: I'm glad you stuck through! I have to admit, I looked back at my first couple of chapters and I have to say, blehhhh. I would try to rewrite it but I'm afraid I might screw something up. I'll dedicate my upcoming jutsu to you! Thanks again!
Guest: Ah yes, me and my responses to flamed reviews. I'm not particularly the sharpest tool in the shed, am I? Falling for the same tricks. I think my sister gave me the same tip (which I stupidly ignored) but I guess I'll try following it now, hehehe. Thanks for reading my story (and get a fanfiction account!)!
demonic hellfire: Hmm alright!
Guest: Thank you!
Fan Fan 92555: You're right. My grammar sucks. I'll try to improve it just for you. As for the spoilers, I'm sorry. As for ppsh...eh...no sympathy. By the way, I recommend spell check or something, because a few of your words are misspelled, dictionaries can be accessed for free online at . Also your sentences are a bit off, nothing a book on grammar can't fix! Thanks for the review!
anon(guest)- Lol, no I haven't stopped updating! I'm just a bit slow. I have SATs to study for, ACTs, and I have to maintain my school grades while I'm at it so I'm just a tad bit busy...oh the horrors of high school XD
FallOuT BeaR- You are absolutely correct. I haven't been really mature as a writer and I'm most certainly wrong. I have been responding to flames when I shouldn't have and that just makes me plain stupid A. Either way, thanks for reading my story! And hopefully in my future chapters, I will display the maturity needed for this kind of story.
I- Odd name, btw, I almost missed it haha, alright. I have to admit, Naruto has a pretty sped up life (I even included this realization in this chapter! haha you read my mind) But I have a feeling that this story is going to drag out for too long, already at 25 chapters. I feel like the daunting number will scare some readers that don't have much time. But you are right, I need to slow down. So I'm flooring the breaks...to a certain degree.
shadowmaster0304- Well, that caps off the poll, alright, time skip here we go!
Naruto yawned a bit as he walked down the main road of Konoha. The streets were bustling as usual, preparing for the upcoming finals in the chuunin exam. It was one month away but people were already busy cleaning up. They want to make sure that when the Kages and Daimyos show up, Konohagakure no Sato would look strong and healthy.
Minato has been recently out of the village for meetings with the other Kages, making Nara Shikaku the makeshift Hokage for a week or so. Kushina was out on missions more frequently as well. Believe it or not, the redhead was an ANBU operative and right now the ANBU were also bustling about. Of course, in the shadows, otherwise that would defeat the purpose of being ANBU. Naruto sighed and looked at a shop window, before suddenly jumping and flashing away, screaming, "I'M LATE!", successfully catching the attention of several villagers for a second before they went back to their normal lives, unaffected by the crazed jounin.
"You're late, again!" Sakura chided. Naruto looked sheepishly only to start a glaring contest with Konohamaru right after.
"Saru..."
"Naru-shit"
"I'll have Reno dead by next morning for sharing that information. Meanwhile..." Naruto whacked Konohamaru across the head.
Sasuke only looked away and sighed, mentally wondering how he got on a team with idiots. The genins looked back at their jounin instructor when Naruto cleared his throat.
"As you know, the finals for the exams are exactly one month away. Two of you have advanced and I congratulate you. Sakura, do not feel down, there's always a second time. And personally, I think these two dunces got a lucky shot."
A chorus of indignant "hey!"s were heard but ignored.
"Konohamaru and Sasuke, you will need to start training against your predetermined matches. Sasuke, the Hyuugas are not to be dealt with lightly. Clearly that Neji character has a year of experience on you and a whole attitude problem. Konohamaru, you have the pleasure...of fighting me."
"Don't remind me, asshole. Why do I get stuck with a jounin?"
"Look, Konohamaru. This is really important. And I know you're not very chipper on purposefully losing, but I'd like to remind you, this whole finals thing is all for show. You are there to impress, not to pass. If you show you have what it takes to be a chuunin, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. And hey, maybe as the son of the Hokage, I can get in a good rec for you...maybe."
"Really, Naruto-nii?"
"Maybe. Anyways, during this month, you will be under my direct tutelage, a one on one, if not two on one training experience. I can have a friend of mine help us."
"What about me..." Sasuke muttered.
"Sasuke. Well, you have two choices. Train with your clan. Get your dad to teach you some clan secrets and make this whole stupid fight about two top notch clans fighting each other with worn out traditions. Or, I get you some one on one with Hatake Kakashi, who will train you in a more versatile use of the sharingan including other jutsus. It's your choice, really."
"Hn."
"And Sakura..."
Sakura's head snapped up at the mention of her name. Naruto smiled at her.
"You'll be taking an internship at the hospital, learning from Rei, Rin, and perhaps maybe even Tsunade. We need a medic nin on our team and you make the perfect fit. With near perfect chakra control, you'll take it like fish to water. I'll come over once in awhile to check up on your progress but this will be solely up to you"
"H-hai."
"Alright, everyone dismissed. Tomorrow, I'll have your report your choice and you will start to train immediately. See you all tomorrow, then." Naruto gave a brief wave before flashing away.
Naruto was bored out of his mind. That quite all there was really. Minato was apparently cruel enough to set him up for head missions desk officer. Talk about being a top notch torturer. He let a sigh and signed off another mission to a genin team, returning his arm to its original position, propping his head up..
"D ranked: Help Ms. Sayuri with grocery shopping. Dismissed." He drawled, hand pressed to cheek.
"What! Can't we get some sorta C-rank?"
Naruto shot a glare at the genin and scoffed. He pulled out the C rank missions and took a glance before looking back up.
"Ask your jounin instructor. Though frankly, you're just a green genin, and some of these seem pretty tough."
The jounin scolded the genin and said no so Naruto put the scroll away and motioned the jounin instructor to come over. Naruto handed the scroll over to the jounin Sensei and watched the next team file out. He let out another sigh and shrunk into his seat. All he gets to do is assign missions to genin teams with missions below C rank, all the boring missions. The rest, B through S ranked, were taken by Nara for chuunin, ANBU, an jounin. He looked at the list of missions under D rank and assigned another mundane mission to the genin team in front of him. The worst part is, some of these missions could be done in twenty minutes but a majority of the teams come back after several hours. The inefficiency was ridiculous. Shopping, babysitting (okay, maybe not that one), gardening, cleaning, messengers, all these boring missions could be done instantly if they knew what they were doing.
Another team came in and the jounin requested a C rank.
"C rank: escort Okina Kanami to the Land of Trees. You have three weeks." He slurred out and passed the scroll over to the jounin. He looked at his watch and decided his shift was over, finally. It was 2:30 and it was time to toss the job over to the next unfortunate jounin.
"Naruto. It's a surprise to see you here."
"Hmm?" Naruto turned his head to the side entrance and saw his academy teacher, Umino Iruka. He straightened up and grinned back.
"Yo, Iruka-sensei! What brings you here?"
"Haha, bright and energetic as usual (an:/ insert sarcasm), Naruto. I was hoping for a couple D ranks to take my students out for awhile, you know, get the feel of being a ninja. They are tired of getting E ranks. You got any?"
"Gee, you seem pretty enthusiastic for an ANBU taking D ranks."
"Whoa, since when-"
"Since always...anyways, I have a couple missions for ya, in fact. Hmm, does gardening sound good to you? I also have one from a Hiyashi, urg, him again (1). Anyways, a field needs to be cleared and cultivated. Are your students up for it?"
"Hmm, sure."
"Actually, I'm off shift, so I'll tag along...I guess."
"That's great, I could use an extra hand. Ever since that Mizuki incident-"
"I heard. It's a tragedy but it had to be done. Traitors will not be tolerated. But I kinda wish I was there, ya know, beat some sense into him?"
"Ha, good thing the other ANBU were there, I would hate to blow my cover. Anyways, let's go"
Naruto smirked and got out of the chair. He stretched a bit and walked over to Iruka, who was waiting at the door.
"Are we walking?"
"Yeah, I don't see how else-"
Naruto grabbed Iruka's sleeve and flashed away.
The classroom was noisy, filled with children talking among themselves. Just as Naruto appeared at the front of the room, Iruka stumbled a bit with the landing. He rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath.(2)
"N-naruto, never again..."
"hai, hai..." Naruto waved it off.
Iruka straightened himself out and tapped the podium with a stick.
"Class...please...quiet down."
The students continued to talk. Naruto smirked and pulled out several smoke bombs. Iruka caught sight of Naruto's movement and was about to stop the blonde from- too late. Naruto threw the specialized smoke bombs towards the class and stepped back just as they exploded, unleashing neon colored powder everywhere, causing students to scream. As the colorful cloud settled down they dusted their clothes off and looked toward the front where the smoke bombs came from. There stood Naruto, laughing hysterically and pointing at the audience.
"Aw man, you should- you should have seen your faces!"
Iruka resisted punching the boy.
"Now that I have everyone's attention. We are going on a mission together as a field trip. Please wait as I get everything organized"
A few murmurs were heard.
"Yo, the blonde..."
"It's Namikaze, ain't it?"
"The Namikaze?"
"Yeah! My dad called him a prodigy..."
"Yeah, the Inari something, pretty cool title. I heard he's famous!"
"Shinobi no Inari. He's only a year older than us and a jounin"
"Cool..."
Naruto glanced at Iruka who was checking his board. Naruto looked around the classroom, remembering his short presence in this very room. Naruto couldn't help but reminisce about his lack of school experience. He couldn't help but think about how sped up his life has gone. It felt like it was just yesterday he graduated academy and became genin. Now he was walking around as a jounin instructor for people his age. Somehow, he felt old. He slumped his shoulders a bit before looking back at the door where Iruka was calling the students out.
"Naruto, are you coming?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll be there Iruka-Sensei."
Iruka nodded and followed the last student out. Naruto gave a cursory glance at the now empty room and smiled a bit before leaving.
"Alright class, today is going to be our first mission! Thanks to Naruto-sempai, here, we get a D rank mission instead of an E rank. No more paperwork!"(3)
A chorus of cheers followed and quieted down when Iruka raised his hand for silence.
"Being our first out-on-the-field mission, I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. Our mission today is to clear out a field. Naruto, have any tips you'd like to give?"
"I personally have done the same exact mission a few years back. Try to do things efficiently so you don't waste time."
Another chorus of affirmation was heard so Iruka dismissed them then stood by Naruto.
"You had an easier way to do this didn't you, Naruto?"
"We flattened it out with a joint Jutsu between Kakashi and I. Then we planted everything by hand. I swear this man purposefully destroys his field for us after his crops are done."
"Heh, well that can be taken as luck or misfortune, right? Good training for the academy students."
"Sure" Naruto waved it off.
"..."
"Should we help them?"
"Probably" Iruka sweat dropped with Naruto as they watched the academy students run amok with hoes and shovels, destroying the ground rather than plowing it.
Naruto plopped on the couch, listening to the ticking sound of the clock. No one was home and he was exhausted. Naruto chewed his fingernail as he thought about the fight between the Suna nin and Lee.
The green spandex clad boy had shown signs of promise, definitely chuunin material if you saw past the "youth" and "springtime". It was a shame that his arm and leg were deemed useless afterward. Naruto could practically see the heartbreak in Maito Gai (Might Guy for all you dubbers). The medics said there was nothing they could do but a quick call to Tsunade (4) and Naruto was sure Lee will be fixed in no time.
The real problem was the red head. His dubbed "ultimate defense" was pretty ultimate but clearly Lee displayed the not-so-out-there-yet-blatant weakness. Speed. And speed, Naruto had. Naruto let out a sigh and slumped up. The match ups for the final exams were premade. Konohamaru against him, Sasuke against the Hyuuga, Nara Shikamaru versus Sabaku no Temari, and Sabaku no Gaara versus Sabaku no Kankuro. Naruto frowned at the brotherly match but shook it off as he trudged off to sleep.
Minato walked out of the conference room, followed by his two ANBU guards. He briskly walked through the empty halls till he reached the exit. He looked around the mountain ranges, taking in the sight of Kumogakure no Sato. His meeting with the Fourth Raikage was, in no other words to describe it, awkward. The treaty of the Third Shinobi war clearly did not seem as stable as it should be after 14 years. And after seeing the Raikage a second time, the first being on the battlefield, Minato could tell that the battlefront tension was still there. Luckily the discussion was on the chuunin exams and not some political peace treaty or anything. Minato let out a sigh and walked down the streets. He dismissed his ANBU with a quick wave and entered a small stand at the side of the road. He sat down next to a large man with long shaggy black hair.
"Sensei, changing hair colors doesn't really help, ya know"
"Yeah, well it was effective before my student just blurted it out. Thanks, gaki."
"Anytime. Well, I spotted your chakra flare, and so I dropped by. What's up."
"They're on the move." Jiraiya clipped.
Minato's gaze hardened. He briefly accepted a bowl of ramen that came his way before looking in front of him, expression never changing.
"How long do we have?"
"A year at most, without any protection. Three years if you let him come with me."
"I really don't have a choice, do I? Any other information?"
"His jounin status won't count for shit. These are all S-ranked Nukenin that come in pairs. It would be suicidal to go up against one of them, let alone two."
"Leader?"
"The Rinnegan"
Minato's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape.
"You mean-"
"The very. But I suspect he isn't the real leader."
"There's one behind the scenes?"
"It's him."
Minato clenched his fists besides his bowl that remained untouched. His eyes narrowed in front of him as he clenched his teeth.
"Where-"
"No one knows. Their base changes every so often, and they never come back. They are after them, and they're picking them off one by one. It doesn't even have to go in order. The fourth is already gone."
"...This is troublesome."
Jiraiya paused before chuckling a bit.
"I swear, at least one of your parents was a Nara."
Minato's expression softened as he let out a forced chuckle.
"Kinda makes sense. For my intellect, and what not."
"Intellect? What intellect?" Jiraiya scoffed.
Minato sent a mock glare but smiled a moment later. He slowly got up and patted his robes down.
"Well, I best be going. I don't think Kumo is happy with one of their arch nemesis in their borders. Though they aren't as hostile as Iwa..."
"You and Iwa are like...oil and water...oil on fire and water..." Jiraiya chuckled.
"Haha. Well, see you later, Jiraiya-sensei"
"Later, gaki."
Minato left the tent and the ANBU guards were next to him in an instant. Minato walked away, followed by a long shaggy red haired man a few moments later.
Naruto looked over to the three students in front of him. Konohamaru lazily kicked the dirty in front of him while Sasuke stood in attention, hands in his pockets. Sakura fidgeted a bit, rocking back and forth on her heels as the silence permeated around the training grounds. Naruto scratched his neck nonchalantly before looking at his students.
"So, you're decision?"
"I, Sarutobi Konohamaru, accept your apprenticeship! The next Hokage takes every opportunity-"
"I meant Sasuke, Saru. I would have dragged you with me even if you declined. Sasuke, what's your decision?"
"I would like to train with Hatake Kakashi."
Naruto smirked and nodded. Konohamaru huffed.
"Good, good. I thought I would have to fight your father over you. Well now that's that. Saru, the guy that will help me train you will be back in a week. For now, put these on."
Naruto chucked over a sack, that, unfortunately, Konohamaru caught. Konohamaru underestimated the weight and fell to the floor with the sack's weight.
"What the hell are in these!"
"Training weights."
Realization dawned on the Sarutobi's face. Naruto turned to Sakura.
"You're training starts tomorrow at 8am. Meet Rei at the hospital entrance. She's not as lenient on time as I am, but I don't think I have to worry about you on that. Today, she said to buy these at the supply shop-"
Naruto handed a small scroll to Sakura, who took it tentatively.
"-As your sensei, I need to supply you with the materials, but I have to train Konohamaru myself. I'll send a clone with you to go shopping."
A second Naruto poofed into existence, taking it's place next to Sakura.
"I'll check up on you two days from now. Sasuke, Kakashi is on a mission right now, so stay seated for a little longer. I need to check out that little hickey of yours, as well."(5)
Sasuke flushed at the name of his seal and quickly covered it with his hand.
"It's not a hickey!" He hissed indignantly.
"Whatever." Naruto shrugged. Then he walked over to Sasuke.
"The two of you, dismissed. Sakura, follow my clone. Konohamaru, I expect those weights on you by tomorrow."
The two genin nodded and walked away. Naruto turned to Sasuke.
"Now, let's take this over to the room of sealing in the Hokage's tower."
Sasuke nodded and followed Naruto to the village.
-
(1) if you remember him from my previous chapters...kudos to you, have my cyber cookie :)
(2) I presume that if you're not used to the adverse affects of using a time space Jutsu, you'll feel queasy or something. Just outta my imagination.
(3) do they have E ranks? Well they do now. It's basically just paperwork from different departments. Most of it's just forms that don't have confidential information.
(4) you're probably thinking, "isn't Tsunade in the village?" Well, yes and no. She's off gambling for the most part but she likes to stop by once in awhile to see the Namikazes (considering she's a family friend)
(5) It wasn't taken care of during the chuunin exams, just neutralized.
Sorry it's a bit short and late. I had a very busy weekend, it's ridiculous. This chapter was just on the transition between who's gonna train who.
I don't know about you guys, but Samidare is one of my favorite OST's ever. It's got this sort of ambiance to it that just seems so peaceful and it kinda reminds me of ancient japan. I don't know but it's just awesome. Anyways, I just played it on repeat the whole time I wrote this, along with the ost Storm, Rainy day, I'm Home, No home, my home, just all of the Road to Ninja ost (because it's freaking awesome) I can't wait for the movie in april!
POLL!
Should Sasuke learn the chidori?
Yes or No answers are okay but if you want to specify when or how, do tell.
Alright, See ya!