Chapter Eight – Equipment And Deployment
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"Welcome to Higarashi's Weapons… Naruto!"
"Hi, Tenten!" Naruto called. "Anko-sensei, this is Tenten, she's one of Gai-sensei's students. Ten-chan, this is Mitarashi Anko, my jonin-sensei."
Anko nodded, then looked round. "This will take a while."
"What will?"
"Anko wants me to have a close-range weapon." Naruto said. "I want a naginata!"
"No." Tenten said firmly. "A naginata woudn't work for you, you'd probably snap it in the middle of battle."
Anko laughed as Naruto sulked. "You've probably got a better chance of finding something for Gaki here, so I'll leave you two to it. I hear dango calling me. Gaki, find me after you've got a weapon that works for you."
Tenten and Naruto watched her leave, then swapped glances. "Let me get my dad in, then we go to the storehouse and see what might work."
Naruto gazed round at the vast collection with a sense of mounting awe. Looking round he moved towards a rack of swords, only for Tenten to grab him by the shoulder.
"No."
"But I want a sword! Swords are cool!"
"No." Tenten said firmly. "A sword wouldn't work for you, you're too strong for a sword, you'd break them. Any sword strong enough to withstand being used by you would have to be custom-made… and very heavy… and… I need to talk to Anko. Let's go!"
Naruto couldn't understand how, despite his awesome strength, Tenten was able to tow him out of the shop without any apparent effort.
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"Welcome back! Come in! It's ready! Sorry it took so long to make."
Naruto almost bounced through the door, Anko following at a slower pace as she finished her dango.
"This way! Dad made it specially, he used thunderbolt iron to make it for extra strength and chakra metal so that you could use your elemental wind chakra. It's perfect for you!"
"Did the payment cover it all?" Anko asked and Tenten nodded.
"Yep, just. Anyway, it's through here, we made a sheath for it with a reinforced strap but you'll have to practice drawing it. What do you think?"
Anko stared in shock at the weapon in front of her. It was metal, it had a handle, but it was… it was…
"What is that?"
Tenten grinned at Anko's shocked question. "This is the strongest sword in the world! The handle is reinforced with ninja-wire along it for grip and to stop it breaking in combat. The blade is thicker than a normal sword with a modified-wedge cross-section and a reinforced tip, allowing you to hit harder with it and if you place it against something and hit the back, it'll allow you to break through almost anything. The blade isn't very sharp under normal circumstances, but if you channel wind chakra through, the result is an edge that can cut anything except another chakra blade."
Anko reached down and grabbed the handle. Channeling chakra to her muscles, she tried to lift it.
"Damn, it's heavy! I can barely move it!"
Tenten nodded and waved for Naruto to try. He grabbed it and lifted it one-handed, causing Anko's eyes to widen in shock.
"This is really cool. Can I try it out?"
"There's a practice yard out the back."
Naruto bounced out into the yard, the weight of the sword not slowing him down in the slightest and Anko scrambled after him, hearing Tenten laughing behind her. She got through the door just in time to see Naruto raise the sword almost lazily above a giant boulder, then bring it down almost gently.
The boulder shattered.
"…wow." Anko whispered as Naruto examined the blade.
"Not a single chip… I like it!"
Anko stood motionless as Naruto bounced back inside. After a few minutes, her mind restarted and she found herself staring at a worried Tenten.
"Are you alright?"
"That is not a sword." Anko stated in a shocked voice. "That is a metal Tetsubo with an edge."
Tenten laughed. "Yep, pretty much. But it works."
Anko stared at the younger girl. "Do you have any idea how much damage he could do with that thing? He could take down a freaking castle wall with… a… single… oh Kami, this'll be great!"
"Hey, Naruto!" Tenten shouted. "What are you going to call that?"
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"…the Kitsune's Claw?"
"Yep." Naruto said between mouthfuls of ramen. "My dagger's called the Kitsune's Fang, and my sword is bigger, so Kitsune's Claw."
'I like it.' Kyuubi said, 'And if you want, I can push some Youkai into it to make it even stronger. Maybe even give it a special ability or two. At the very least, an internal summoning seal so you can call it into your hand without having to worry about unsheathing it.'
'Really? Thanks!' Naruto replied silently.
"Not a bad name, Gaki." Anko said after a moments thought. "And to anyone from Konoha, at least, it's a very scary name."
"Can't wait to use it on a mission." Naruto smirked. "A proper mission, not another D-rank."
"Hey, don't diss the D-ranks." Anko smirked. "I thought you loved them. Snatching Tora before the other teams could grab her, ambushing them on their grocery shopping, switching out the paint and seeing how long it takes for them to notice the fence is the wrong colour… all good practice for when we hit the field!"
"At least you got permission from the other jonin-sensei's first." Naruto laughed. "I still remember Neji's face when he realised that he was pulling a stuffed toy along instead of the dog he'd started out with."
"So much for the all-seeing Byakugan." Anko chuckled. "How you pulled off the trick the second time, I still don't know. His scream when he saw one of your tigers with the leash going into its mouth… who knew he could sound so girly?"
"Kaze found it very amusing." Naruto snickered. "So did I. And Gai-sensei."
"It is fated that you shall not succeed in doing that again. Eeeek!" Anko quoted with a laugh. From behind them, Kaze gave a rumbling purr and Anko reached back and quickly scratched him between his ears.
"Still amazes me how you understand them so well." Anko admitted with a smirk. "It's like watching an Inuzuka pair, only they're bigger."
"I can't help thinking I'd look even more awesome in samurai armour when riding one of them." Naruto admitted. "Probably just my imagination, I mean, plate armour wouldn't last long on me, but damn, it would look cool!"
Anko nodded as she shared his mental image, then she turned to look at her student.
"Gaki, you've been doing great so far. Your taijitsu is excellent, your ninjitsu way more advanced than it should be… heck, you're pretty much at special jonin level as is, and we haven't even had an out-of-village mission yet!"
"My eternal friend and rival! I have returned from my most youthful mission and am overjoyed to see you!"
Naruto spun round, his face lighting up as he searched for the source of the familiar voice.
"Lee-senpai! Your flames of youth bring light to Konoha now you've returned!"
Anko froze in shock. This was a side to Naruto that she had never seen before, yet something told her that it was as genuine as the side she had seen up until now.
"I heard about the most unyouthful decision of the council, denying Kakashi-sensei the right to take you as an apprentice, but I see you have a Hitai-ate, so you can still show your youthful passions in becoming a ninja! May I ask who your sensei is? And where are your team-mates?"
"I am the sole Genin assigned as apprentice to the most youthful yet very scary Jonin Mitarashi Anko, who is seated just here!" Naruto said. Anko gave a slight wave, her gaze transfixed on Lee's eyebrows. Lee grinned at her, his teeth sparkling.
"I am heading out to train, my flames of youth are reaching previously unimagined heights!" Lee proclaimed. "I am very glad that you have become a true ninja, as I always believed you would be!"
"Thanks, Lee-senpai."
"Naruto-nii-chan!"
"Lee-senpai!"
"NARUTO-NII-CHAN!"
"LEE-SENPAI!"
To Anko's horror, her student and Gai's embraced…
…to the background of crashing waves as the sun set behind their display of youthfulness!
For almost a minute, Anko remained frozen in shock, then she twitched a few times before exhaling sharply.
"…ensai? Anko-sensei, are you alright?"
Anko took several deep breaths. "How did you two do that? That was the Unbreakable Sunset Genjitsu! Only Gai can do that!"
Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Ummm, Lee and Gai perform it so often that Lee knows what it feels like, but can't do it on his own because of his chakra problem. So when we do it, I kind of push my chakra through his chakra coils and he shapes it into the Sunset Genjitsu. The first time we used it on Gai, he was weeping with joy for an hour over how we had proven we were capable of mastering our youthful flames, or something like that."
Anko stared at her student in shock. What he and Lee had done was impossible. By any rational type of logic, it just could not be done that way.
But it had.
"I think that I need to talk to Gai." Anko muttered.
She could feel a headache coming on.
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The Sunset Genjitsu faded away and Gai's expression was a complex mix of pride, astonishment and total confusion.
"You are right, Anko-san. Now that you mention it, that should not be possible."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, perplexed. "Lee can't use his chakra, so he uses mine instead. How is that so strange?"
"Because Lee-kun's coils prevent him from using chakra at all! They are deformed, so chakra cannot pass through them. For him to be able to guide and shape your chakra like that, his coils would… have… to… Neji! Use your eyes on Lee, now!"
Neji backed away from his sparring with Tenten and jogged over. Standing by Gai, he activated his Byakugan, and gasped in shock.
"What do you see?"
"Lee's coils! They… they're not as twisted as they were! He's got chakra flowing…"
"How much chakra?" Anko demanded and Neji shook his head in disbelief.
"At the moment, about as much as an Academy student." He said slowly. "But his coils… they look as if they are… becoming less tangled? I don't understand. How is this possible?"
Anko and Gai looked at each other and then, in perfect unison, turned to look at Naruto who grinned nervously.
"Ah, give me moment to think." He said. 'Kyuubi-san, are you there?'
'And where else would I be, Kit?' Kyuubi responded sarcastically. 'Before you ask, I have a theory. Your chakra is tinged with my Youkai, even after filtering through the seal. Youkai normally has a bad effect on chakra coils, weakening them, so since Lee was born with overly-rigid tenketsu, thus preventing the flow of chakra through them…'
'Then weakening the coils makes them more flexible and allows chakra to flow properly!' Naruto mentally exclaimed. 'Kyuubi-sama, you are a genius!'
'One tries.'
Naruto re-opened his eyes and looked round. "I think it's to do with my… special chakra. If I remember correctly, Lee's tenketsu were too rigid, my chakra probably loosened them a bit. I guess this means Lee and I need to stop doing that genjitsu, we don't want to risk ruining his newfound chakra abilities…ooof!"
Lee hugged Naruto as hard as he could, then released him and held him at arms length.
"Naruto-kun, your flames of youthfulness have given me the chance to raise my youthfulness to a new level! Thank you! Thank you!"
Before Naruto could respond, he found himself in an even tighter hug, this one courtesy of Gai.
"Naruto-kun, you have re-ignited my student's potential, bringing his flames of youth to a veritable conflaguration! Lee-kun, I can now teach you the Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin and how to tree- and water-walk, increasing the youthfulness of your skills! And at last, I can let you sign the Turtle contract! Naruto-kun, I can never repay you for what you have done! If you wish, I shall even instruct you in the Goken!"
"Gai! Lee! Air!"
Both Gai and Lee released Naruto and he dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. After a few minutes, he stood up and shook his head. "Gai-sensei, the Goken is your style, yours and Lee's. I would not take that away from you. But Lee, I think that this is worth at least… two victories in our competitions, don't you?"
"Yosh, I can learn at least six new techniques all because of you, so I concede six victories, meaning that you are at 794 wins to my 790! Rest assured, I shall catch up!"
Naruto grinned widely. "I look forwards to your next challenge, Lee-senpai."
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"Yo, Gaki!" Anko shouted. "Get your shit together and get ready, we have a mission!"
A cry of "really?!" echoed and Naruto leaped out of the lower stairwell, a wide grin on his face. "A mission, really?"
"Yep." Anko said, opening the cupboard that she had placed by the main door and pulling out her pre-packed mission-pack. "Kakashi wants your help, seems the C-rank he and his team took is actually an A-rank. Bring your sword."
Naruto held out both hands and Anko's eyes widened as his dagger appeared in his left hand and his sword appeared in his right. Naruto placed the dagger along his left thigh and his sword to his back, both of the blades adhering without any visible sign of support.
"That's… a good trick, Gaki." Anko said slowly. "Okay, we're heading for Wave. Any last-minute thoughts before we go?"
Naruto grinned, then unleashed a high-pitched whistle.
Anko grinned widely.
"Oh, Gaki." She said almost reverently. "If only we'd met sooner."
