A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
I am glad people were pleased with the way things played out last chapter.
Now, according to the reviews, most of you prefer the flash back technique for the three years gap that was initiated in the last issue. So that's what you will get, the story will restart in this chapter after the three years skip and flashbacks will provide what needs to be explained when the situation arises.
Finally, the pairing remains unchanged. I've been asked several times already and the answer stays the same, in this story Naruto will only be with Natsuki, no harem and no one else.
Sorry for releasing a little later than usual but I had to do some shopping as I imagine most of you did in preparation for the festivities that come next week end, and as an apology chapter is slightly longer than usual :)
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 19: Return of the Wind
Konoha – Hokage Office
Tsunade was sitting behind her desk inside her office, it was late in the morning and she was finishing some paperwork from the pile of papers that Shizune, her assistant, just brought in yesterday.
Taking a break from her current activities, she saw a picture on her desk. It was a picture taken from before she took the job of Hokage, when Naruto and Jiraya were escorting her back to Konoha. Seeing the picture made her remember that it had already been three years since Naruto left with Jiraya to improve his skills.
The pervert had regularly sent her reports on the blond's progress during the first year but it mysteriously stopped after that. It had then been two long years after that before she got news again about them. She received last month a short letter saying that they would come back the next month.
According to their letter, Jiraya and Naruto were scheduled to come back to Konoha during this week. She knew nothing of Naruto's current level of skill though, Jiraya only told her in his letters from the first year that he was training Naruto in ninjutsu, fuinjutsu and basic genjutsu. Tsunade thought that she would need to organize a test to know Naruto's true level as soon as he comes back.
She suddenly felt tired, the two empty bottles of sake behind her most likely being the reason. She slowly closed her eyes and then fell asleep with a smile on her face, thinking about the last living blood relative she had left in this world.
Konoha Main Gates
As the sun was high in the sky, two chunin were seated at the main gate's checkpoint. Today was a slow day, no one except the regular merchants and occasional ANBU patrols had come through the gate since this morning.
Suddenly, from far away on the horizon, could be seen two figures slowly making their way towards the village. As they approached, Kotetsu and Izumo could finally identify one the two shadows as Jiraya the toad sage, the other one though was wearing a white mask with a fox design and his outfit was unusual. Seeing as the mysterious man was escorted by the great Jiraya, no one seemed too anxious at letting him in.
The two men quickly went through the gate and took the direction of the Hokage tower using the rooftops, most likely not wanting to deal with anyone's curiosity just yet. All the civilians could see was two white and gray blurs traveling at top speed on top of the buildings, even shinobi had trouble seeing them moving.
They did not stop once on their way and soon arrived at the feet of the Hokage tower.
Hokage Tower
The two men arrived in front of Tsunade's office, Shizune was at her desk in front of the door and took some time to notice their presence. Once she was finally aware of the arrival of the two men, she immediately recognized Jiraya but the other man though, didn't ring any bell.
She granted them access to her master's office, saying that she was currently doing some non important paperwork and then followed after them as they went inside.
Hokage Office
As the group went inside, they could see that Tsunade was indeed not doing anything important. The woman was actually asleep, drooling all over the paperwork she was supposed to fill and two empty bottles of sake could be seen behind her.
Shizune was about to go wake her master up when Jiraya put a hand on her shoulder, signaling her to wait. The second man then went ahead and tried to shake the blonde woman's shoulder in order to wake her up. His action made Tsunade throw one of her chakra powered punch at him, Shizune was already fearing the worse for the stranger but what she saw made her jaw drop to the ground.
When Tsunade's punch was about to reach his face, he just used his free hand to catch it, not feeling any recoil as his hand did not even tremble. A finally awake Tsunade frowned at the man in front of her, not recognizing him and she did not see her assistant or Jiraya behind him either.
"Who the hell are you, I've never seen you before ? You've got some guts to come in here and touch the leader of this village in such a rude way !" Roared the blonde woman visibly not enjoying that wake up call.
A chuckle could be heard behind the man's mask but before Tsunade could say more he finally decided to speak.
"I'm hurt, I've been gone for only three years and you already forgot all about me Ba-chan ?" He said in a mocking tone before taking out his mask.
Tsunade finally saw Jiraya behind, then the man in front of her who again was very rude to her could only be one person, after three long years he was finally back.
"Naruto !" The shout could be heard from each side of the blond as he was tackled into a giant hug from both sides by Tsunade and Shizune.
"I'm glad you did not forget about me but could you let go, it's kinda hard to breath like this." Naruto said with a grin on his face.
The two women immediately let go of him, with both a blush on their faces. Now that they could take the time to look at him, they realized how much he changed in the last three years while Jiraya was exactly the same.
Naruto was extremely tall now, as tall as Jiraya in fact. His hair grew longer and his bangs were falling on each sides of his face. He wore a white jacket with a high collar, a white Hakama with a black sash and white Zori with black Tabi socks. He didn't seem to carry any weapon except for what looked like a small katana or wakizashi hanging on his sash.
All in all Naruto became what could only be resumed as a blond Adonis in the span of those three years, the two women in the room wondering if assuming the role of mother and sister figure for the young man in front of them was really such a good idea anymore.
When the shock of the meeting finally passed, Tsunade spoke first.
"Naruto, Jiraya why did you only contacted me once in the last two years ?" She demanded.
"Well let's just say that training was crazy and some other things too prevented us from contacting you more." Said Naruto before Jiraya could open his mouth.
Master and disciple exchanged strange looks with each other then Jiraya just shrugged and let his student continue. This did not went unnoticed by Tsunade but she chose to let it slide for now.
"Anyway, I've been gone for a long time now and I can't wait to start taking on missions again Ba-chan." Said Naruto with a grin while Tsunade was getting angrier by the second at the repetitive use of that nickname.
"Well before that I need to know more about your current level of skill Naruto. I was actually thinking about scheduling you a test in order to observe your level as soon as you get back to Konoha." Replied the Hokage.
"That's fine what do you have in mind ?" Asked Naruto.
"What's his general level of skill right now according to you Jiraya ?" She asked her ex teammate.
"Hmm, I would say definitely higher than jonin but other than that you will have to test him in each field to know for sure." Answered the toad sage cryptically. Tsunade once again felt that something was going on with Jiraya's vague answer and took notice to ask more later.
"Alright then, it seems you're still lucky as ever Naruto. I know the perfect people to test you and most of them are available this week. I will let you rest for the rest of the day then tomorrow morning you will come to the stadium in order to get tested by them." Announced Tsunade.
"Very well, if that's all I'd like to go rest for my test tomorrow then." Replied Naruto, getting a nod from Tsunade he then left her office with a Shunshin.
"I'll be going too Tsunade, I'll see you tomorrow at the stadium." Said Jiraya as he also left in the same manner.
"There's definitely something going on that those two didn't tell me. We'll know more after the test tomorrow." Thought Tsunade as she returned to her paperwork and prepared the summons for the people who would test Naruto.
Naruto's Apartment
This night as Naruto went to sleep he immediately accessed his mindscape. Once there, he was immediately tackled to the ground by a red blur.
"So how does it feel to finally be back home Naru-kun ?" asked Natsuki.
"I guess it feels okay, I thought I would miss the village more but that wasn't the case." He replied.
"Do you really plan to not tell anyone about your project ?" She continued.
"Yes, they would try to stop me if I told them and I cannot let that happen." Naruto said with conviction.
"Please just be careful, I don't want you to get into troubles over this ..." She replied, obviously worried for him.
"Everything will be fine don't worry Na-chan, let's go back inside." He reassured her as they made their way into her mansion.
Konoha Stadium
It was nine in the morning as Naruto made his way to the stadium. This brought back memories from the first time he went there for the chunin exam finals. This made him wonder how everybody else was doing these days. He directly went home yesterday to rest and did not have the opportunity to catch up with anyone.
As he went inside the arena, his eyes widened as he took a look at the spectators area. It seems like word of his return and subsequent testing had spread around. In the stands could be seen lots of familiar faces.
All the rookies were there except for him and Sasuke, surprisingly Temari of the Sand was also there. He also saw Anko and Asuma. His Jiji was also there, with a kid that must have been his grandson. He recognized the last group of people as the Council of Konoha. Finally Tsunade arrived with Jiraya and Shizune behind her.
He decided to wear his mask until the fight and slowly made his way to the center of the arena.
Kage Box
Tsunade was surprised to see so many people in the spectator seats but chose to ignore it, though the presence of the council made her wonder how they knew of the event so fast.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you have been summoned here today to be tested on every field of the ninja arts before I can safely put you back on the active list of Konoha shinobi." Announced Tsunade getting a nod from the still masked Naruto.
"Your opponents for today's test will be Maito Gai for taijutsu, Yuhi Kurenai for genjutsu, Uzuki Yugao for kenjutsu and finally Hatake Kakashi for ninjutsu. Any objection ?" She said to him as he remained silent.
"Very well then, let's begin !" Concluded the Godaime.
Spectators Area
The spectators were currently discussing about the upcoming fights.
"I can't believe that Naruto gets to fight with our most powerful shinobi in each of the shinobi arts." Started Choji.
"He looks nothing like the old Naruto with those new clothes." Said Ino.
"Troublesome." Added Shikamaru.
"I wonder how he will fair against Gai-sensei." Said Lee.
"That short katana of his intrigues me." Tenten said as she observed his weapon.
"It will be interesting to see what his training under a sannin gave him." Analyzed Neji.
"There is no way he can beat any of his opponents and especially Kakashi sensei with his Sharingan." Said Sakura.
Shino, Kiba, Temari and Hinata decided to remain silent, already knowing to never underestimate Naruto.
Arena
Naruto stood in the center of the arena waiting for his opponents to arrive. A Shunshin suddenly popped in front of him, revealing one Shiranui Genma.
"As you can guess, I'll proctor again for the duration of your test." Declared Genma.
Four more Shunshin appeared, this time in the contestant waiting zone. Naruto's opponents all stood there with their ninja gears, ready to fight.
Gai was the first to go out and made his way towards the center of the arena to join Naruto and Genma.
Maito Gai versus Uzumaki Naruto
As Gai arrived in front of Naruto and Genma, he gave his opponent the 'nice guy' pose then signaled to the referee that he was ready to start.
Naruto also gave a nod to Genma and the man finally started the match.
Naruto immediately launched his trademark Kitsune Yuurei against his opponent but Gai easily blocked him and knew perfectly which one of the illusion was fake or not.
Before Naruto could fall back, Gai hit him with a powerful spinning kick as he called it Konoha Senpu.
Gai was about to charge at him but Naruto hold up his hand, asking for a moment to which Gai nodded and stopped his course.
"As expected of Maito Gai, Konoha's taijutsu specialist. I'm sorry I underestimated you, it won't happen again. Just give me a second please." Said Naruto respectfully.
Naruto then took some steps towards the spectators area and first took off his mask. Some gasp could be heard from the spectators as several women saw how handsome he looked under his mask.
Naruto then started to slowly take out his vest, showing that he was wearing nothing under it. Every women in the stadium started to blush at his action, having a good look at his body they could see that he was quite muscular but no overly so, the perfect balance between power and speed.
This also showed the different marks he had on his upper body, most already knew about two of his tattoo but it seemed he had a new one placed just above his heart. The first mark on his left forearm was the tattoo of his dragon summoning contract, the second was the mark of the fox on his right biceps and finally the last one over his heart had the form of a small circle with three smaller marks inside that looked like coma and were placed in a triangular way.
Naruto finally took out the katana he had on his hips and placed it with his vest and mask on the ground in a safe place before making his way back towards the center of the arena.
When he got there he did a single hand sign then called his technique, "Futon : Muga no Kyouchi !". The air around them started to feel strange and heavy for Genma and Gai, as if someone had given them additional weights to wear over their clothes. People could also see that the strange tattoo over Naruto's heart changed, the circle disappeared leaving only the three remaining coma, and even the spectators could feel the air around them getting warmer.
Naruto then signaled to Gai that he was ready with a bow, thanking him for his patience.
The two fighters resumed their match, exchanging blows in a high level taijutsu match. Naruto changed his strategy, opting to only try to counter Gai's attempts and dancing all around his opponent. The fight went on like this for several minutes but to the more experienced shinobi in the audience, whatever Naruto did earlier worked since he was increasingly getting faster than Gai and managed to connect more and more counters against his opponent.
After another high speed exchange, the two finally separated. Gai was seen panting and trying to catch his breath while Naruto seemed perfectly fine.
"How did you do this Naruto ? You seem so much faster than in the beginning of our fight my youthful opponent." Asked a confused Gai.
"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it. I may be convinced to tell you after our fight if you defeat me Gai-san." Replied Naruto with a smirk. Gai replied with his eternal nice guy pose then took a strange stance, making those who knew of it in the stands widen their eyes.
"Hachimon Tonkou, Kai !" Yelled Gai as his body radiated with chakra. He then charged at Naruto with godlike speed, leaving a trail of dust in his path.
The taijutsu exchange resumed but this time Naruto was hard pressed and took a few very powerful hits without even once being able to counter his opponent. Knowing that he had to somehow change the flow of this match, Naruto decided to unleash more of his powers and fell back for a moment.
"So that's the ultimate form of your Gokken taijutsu style, I'm deeply impressed but let me show you one of the ultimate forms of my style." Announced Naruto as he closed his eyes and called his next technique "Futon : Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami !", once again his new tattoo changed and this time it was one of the coma that disappeared. With his eyes still closed he told Gai that he was ready.
Knowing better than to underestimate his opponent Gai simply charge at Naruto again. To his great surprise though, before his punch even reached halfway of the distance to Naruto's face, the blond had already launched his counter and kicked him in the sternum. With both their speed greatly increased that counter did its job, Gai was down and had trouble to get up or even catch his breath.
Before Naruto could further press his advantage, Gai hold out his hand and signaled the end of the fight, stopping Naruto in his tracks.
"I've seen enough Naruto, with our current level of skill going any further would place this fight in a life or death situation which we don't need. Your taijutsu skill is most likely close to mine though we can't be sure. I know I didn't defeat you but could you explain to me what those two jutsu of yours did during our fight ? I'm most impressed by the second one, even Sharingan and Byakugan wielders can't predict my moves when I open my inner the gates. The first one was impressive too, that speed bonus it gave you was surprising." Said Gai.
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you Gai-san, no one should be able to copy or break them anyway. You are both right and wrong on my techniques, the first one didn't get me a speed boost as you said. It is actually the opposite, it is no my speed that increased but yours that dropped." Started Naruto but seeing Gai frown, not understanding or maybe not believing his claims he continued his explanation.
"What I mean by that is that while I sustained my speed, I used my jutsu to slow yours down. Muga no Kyouchi is the absolute control over the wind element. What you felt in the beginning was me applying pressure to the air all around us in the arena in order to replicate the environment of a high altitude place by releasing high quantity of my chakra in the air. As a consequence, the level of Oxygen in the air decreased and every effort you made only served to tire you out faster while I was aware of all this and more importantly I trained my body to work in this kind of environment." Explained Naruto to an astonished audience.
"Now as for the second move, I know that your style is great against doujutsu users but mine had nothing to do with it. Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami gives me the absolute understanding of the air flowing around me. I don't need to see, hear or even smell my opponent, in the field of my jutsu I am able to feel any movement made by my opponent and then adjust to it. The faster or stronger my opponent is and the more damage he will receive when countered. As soon as you charged at me and moved your arm by even an inch I knew how to counter you. Me closing my eyes is just a way to confuse or destabilize my opponents." Finished Naruto, leaving Gai and the audience gasp at the infinite possibilities that his style offered, though some already planned to discover how to reproduced it for their own gains even if he said that it was supposedly impossible to copy.
"That's amazing Naruto, to think that someone so young could perform those things. You said that Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami was one of your ultimate forms, then am I correct to assume that you have other forms of that level ?" Asked Gai.
"That's correct Gai-san, but I'll let you and the others discover them if I ever feel like I have to use them today." Replied Naruto with a grin.
Gai simply smiled and left the arena to join the spectators after giving him a final 'nice guy' pose.
"We will have a small pause then the next fight will begin." Announced Genma.
A/N: There we go, post timeskip Naruto and his new powers. I think I've pushed his mastery over the wind element further than what has ever been done for him.
Tell me what you think about those two jutsu or mode, not sure how to classify them yet.
For a better vision of his new outfit, just Google Ulquiorra's outfit from Bleach.
Naruto will of course at one point explain how he developed those new skills.
Next time will be the end of the test matches.
Until then, as usual please Read & Review.
New jutsu / moves:
Futon : Muga no Kyouchi , translates as the State of Self Actualization. Naruto always had it from the moment he finished his training with Natsuki after those six years but just used it subconsciously. In this state, his control over the wind element in an area of his choice increases greatly. You may compare it with the initial "opening" of Gai and Lee's Gates system, only applied to wind control.
Futon : Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami , translates as the Pinnacle of Great Wisdom. To use in combination with the Muga no Kyouchi, it allows Naruto to go deeper into his 'understanding' of the wind around him. In this state, Naruto can 'feel' the sightliest movement of air particles in his field of action around him, enabling for him to 'predict' his opponent's movements and then adjust his counters accordingly.
As you may, or may not, have noticed, both jutsu need hand signs and out loud name calling. This has of course an explanation. I will ask those who already know where those moves come from to refrain from spoiling the other readers about the two other potential jutsu I will reveal for Naruto, well at least for one chapter or two, I thank you in advance.