Chapter 5: A Hero's Growth Part A
A few days later, Naruto had been practicing his kenjutsu with his bokken, when the signal for visitor went off. Knowing that neither he, nor Ryu were expecting any guests, supported by the fact that the alarm that went off was not of the main entrance, Naruto quickly got his clones to henge into stones and grass leaves, while he himself would 'welcome' the visitor. Keeping up the excercises as if nothing happened, Naruto was quite surprised when he easily discovered the hidden intruder. It was a familiar scantily clad woman, though from the way she moved Naruto easily figured out she was a shinobi and a pretty darn good at that. Not to mention her chakra was quite high, most probably higher than Iruka's. Cursing his aniki for going out at a time like this, Naruto readied his bokken in a defencive stance, hoping to at least delay the intruder until Ryu got there.
"You know you're intruding right?"
Naruto's voice startled the woman, who reflexively threw a pair of kunai. Said weapons were easily deflected by the two bokken in the gaki's arms. Getting over her surprise, she smirked and licked her lips. Ryu had been pretty stubborn the child was good, even though everyone in Konoha knew he was dead last. Well time to see who's right thought the woman. Drawing a pair of kunai, from Kami knows where according to Naruto, she licked her lips and charged.
The woman's KI was rather intence, but after Ryu's show of power a few days ago, Naruto wasn't even disturbed. He had felt worse anyway. Like when he 'accidentally' burned a cyclopian ninja's orange books... Or when he painted the Uchiha clan's clothes neon orange. Good times, good times. grasping his bokken firmly, Naruto took a defencive posture, both blades in front of him, making a cross. Legs spread out for maximum mobility and stability, Naruto tensed his muscles in anticipation, cursing the fact that Ryu didn't trust him with normal swords while practicing.
The woman, Anko now remembered her name to be, charged in a weird, random, zig-zag pattern, her speed making it very difficult to predict and counter. Or it wouldbe, if Naruto wasn't unpredictable himself. Using a quick, sealless Kawarimi with one of his henge'd clones behind her, he lashed out with the right sword, keeping the left as defence.
It was a good choice, as the crazed woman dodged and lashed out with a kunai strike to the midsection. Parrying the blow, Naruto pivoted, sending her towards his previous position, while he placed himself in perfect striking position, blades raised. A foot lashed out hitting Naruto, only for him to burst into smoke, as one of the clones had sacrificed himself to protect him. From behind the smoke, Naruto leapt at Anko, blades wheezing through the air.
Hearing the sound, Anko whirled, blocking both strikes with her kunai. Knowing that Anko would use all her strength in the block, Naruto used it a bar, holding himself in the air in order to come from under with a kick. Anko saw it and disengaged, leaning backwards, almost horizontaly in order to dodge. Anko's foot lashed out and kicked Naruto in the stomach.
The blonde rolled to a stop, his stance crouched and ready for a pounce. It was obvious that numbers wouldn't work on this enemy. However, Anko seemed to not take him seriously either. If he could use that underestimation... Naruto let his body remain crouched with the bokken pointing up and to the side.
"Kuma no Kamae. (Stance of the Bear.)"
The words came forth as Naruto's chakra flared and wrapped itself around the blades. It was a defencive stance, made to block and 'take' a blow when in fact you're just diverting all the energy to the ground... or another attack. It would be hard for Naruto to redirect the energy to an attack, like Ryu could, but that didn't mean it didn't have its use. Especially since his chakra would reinforce his attacks, hopefully dealing some damage. However, there was another reason he used this. Not only would it protect him until he figured something out, but it would also drive the enemy to miscalculate his speed until the moment Naruto would break out of the stance and unleash another attack.
Anko smirked seeing that stance. Ryu used it a few times as well but the kid obviously hadn't mastered it. It was pretty darn good though for a week's worth of training. Deciding to try it out, Anko charged.
The blades came dizzyingly fast, but still visible to Naruto. Seeing as they came in a double thrust, Naruto made a cross with his bokken and threw them to the side, using the resulting momentum to spin and hit Anko's back with his bokken. Anko stumbled forward. This was no Kuma no Kamae! Kuma preferred strength and stamina, this was speed and flexibility. The brat had tricked her!
Naruto smirked inwardly. 'Ichibi' he thought. Tensing his muscles quickly, he charged the surprised Anko, blades ready for a thrust. Anko rose her kunai to parry, when Naruto suddenly leapt at her for an overhead strike with his right bokken. Anko's kunai also rose in anticipation of the blow. As the bokken hit the kunai, Anko was surprised to notice that Naruto's hold of the bokken had shifted slightly. Her eyes widened as Naruto twisted his wrist, which in turn caused the 'edge' of the bokken to reverse and point upwards. However due to the curve of the blade, that meant that the bokken's point was aimed directly at the gap between her collarbone and her back, right next to her neck. The bokken was thrust down with surprising force, as Naruto's left bokken came for a swipe to her stomach. Anko stumbled back.
Naruto's grin widened. 'Nibi'. By now Anko was getting pissed. The blows didn't hurt anything but her pride. Deciding to up the ante Anko reversed her blades, only to see Naruto mimic her action with his bokken.
"Washi no Kamae. (Stance of the Eagle.)"
Anko blinked, she knew that stance as well. It depended on quick dashes with quick lacerations coming from the reversed blades as you ran past an enemy. Alternatively, the user blocked with the blades, using the forearm to support the blade, before knocking the attack to the side and executing the enemy with a quick spin or dash. Only one problem, this style was meant for larger men than the brat, as well as actual bladed weapons. A bokken wouldn't be much good. Naruto and Anko charged, their motions near identical. Anko's blades came from both directions, forcing Naruto to block and disengage as the style commented. Deciding to test it out, Anko kept up the attack as Naruto dodged, weaved and parried attack after attack, waiting for the right moment. As Anko made an impaling attack with her kunai, Naruto unleashed his own attack.
Using both bokken to block the double impale, Naruto sent it to the side and entered Anko's guard. From there, he pressed his body onto Anko's arms, preventing her from countering or attacking him. Before she had time to blink, Naruto spun in reverse, using his bokken to impale Anko between the ribs. Of course that didn't do anything but annoy the jounin, but he wasn't over. Reversing his motion yet again, Naruto's right blade lashed out at Anko's temple, dizzying her momentarily. By the time the jounin had shaken the fuzzyness away, Naruto was several steps back, a blade on his shoulder and the other pointing the ground in a relaxed fashion, his smirk teasing her.
'Heh Sanbi. Let's see if I can also pull off Yonbi.'
With that annoying stance, Naruto knew he would provoke Anko. And that's exactly what he wanted. Her right blade held forward and the left for defence, Anko recklessly charged the overly cocky brat. Her stab however never quite made it, as the blade on Naruto's shoulder descended very fast and diverted it to the side harmlessly. Anko's left kunai reversed again, in a normal grip now, and sped for Naruto's belly as well. The blade that was pointing at the ground now rose and diverted the blade harmlessly again. Before she had time to send her knee in Naruto's unprotected groin, he had expertly reversed his hold on the bokken. With a curved motion that betrayed the hours of practice behind it, Naruto's reverse-held blades turned parallel to the ground, all the while keeping Anko's blade in safe distance, before lashing out with a dual reverse slash on Anko's chest, just under her neck. Immidiately, they reversed direction and uncoiled themselves from Naruto's body. In an instant, Anko's chest was struck again in a cross-shape by the reverse held blades.
Anko grunted. The brat had humiliated her. She expected to find a brat playing at swords and instead she met a cunning, if underequipped and underage warrior.
"Ouch that actually hurt you brat!"
"Well that's what it's supposed to do!"
A laugh behind the two diffused the situation before Anko could kill the brat. Ryu walked in on the two with a big smile on his face. Unnoticed by the two, Anko's face flushed a bit, but she managed to pass it off as being tired. The reason? He was half naked, wearing just his trousers, showing off numerous scars and well toned muscles.
"So how did you like my otouto here? I told you he's good, but did you believe me? Nooooo, you just had to have your ass handed to you."
Anko bit her tongue and swallowed her first comments about her and Ryu's ass that came to mind. Instead she just huffed and pouted.
"You never said he was quite that good though. Besides, he didn't play by the rules!"
Ryu laughed at Anko's antics. "And the rules are?"
Anko grinned in responce. "I win." She then struck a victory pose, causing the other two males to sweat-drop.
Naruto decided to pipe up. "So aniki, who's the neechan over here? Friend of yours?" Seeing a chance to make fun of his brother, Naruto raised his pinky and mocked. "Or is she your girlfriend? You're both just as crazy..."
Ryu and Anko both looked at each other, realizing that their state of half-dressing did indeed point out to such a relationship and both turned around, vigorously denying it. Even forgetting the fact that Naruto called them crazy. Then again, it wasn't that far from the truth...
After the teasing moment passed Ryu turned serious to Naruto. "Well I saw the fight and I have one question. What the hell where you doing? You completely messed up both Kuma no Kamae and Washi no Kamae. I thought I taught you better than that. It might have worked on Anko as she seriously underestimated you, but a more serious opponent..."
Naruto smirked. "I know, that's why I didn't use Kuma or Washi no kamae." Thoroughly enjoying the confused looks Naruto continued. "Well I noticed that none of the stances in our fighting style quite fits me. They aren't unpredictable enough. So I set out to make my own. It's still in the works, but the main gist is this; I use stances that are either well known or without any real threat to lure my opponent to a certain place. When there, I lash out with completely unexpected attacks. For example, in Kuma no Kamae, you don't expect someone to dodge. The entire stance is geared to standing firm on the ground and taking the blow before retaliating. I took that pre-conception and broke it. The difference from Kuma no Kamae and my stance, is very small and easily hidden under proper clothing, but it enables me to perform the attack I did on you Anko. Same thing with Washi no Kamae's alteration. Only another swordmaster would be able to notice the difference and even then, unless they knew I can do this, they would simply believe I have the stance wrong."
Anko and Ryu blinked a couple of times. Naruto continued. "It's simple really, but it needs a lot of practice. I've spent several days and it still isn't good enough. I was supposed to hit more vulnerable points, like the larynx and underbelly or spine, but I need a lot of work. Really the only way they worked is because you underestimated AND tried to predict me. If you didn't know about the stances, I would have had much less of an advantage."
Ryu looked in pride at his apprentice. "So what do you call this style?"
"Well it depends on flexibility and speed a lot, as well as quick wit and unpredictability. So, ironically enough, the only animal I can relate it with is... the kitsune. Therefore, this is the Kitsune no Kamae. Kami does have a weird sense of humour after all."
Both jounin laughed at Naruto's declaration. Naruto continued. "Even though I hate Kyubi, I also respect his power. So in honor of this power, no matter how misused it was, I have named these attacks after tails. I practiced the first four tails, Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi and Yonbi in that order. An attack gets its name from the times it strikes the opponent. Of course, the more tails, the harder it is to perform. Yonbi and above are lethal but it's real hard not telegraphing your attack to the enemy. Right now, I only know one attack from each tail, but I'm working on it."
"So its a style hiding in other styles, misguiding the enemy and striking from unexpected angles. I see now, it's very good, but it would only work against someone that has learned his art in a dojo or from a teacher. Those that know their skills due to improvising and experience in unwelcome environments would have an advantage against many of the attacks. At least they are quite fluid and can change mid-strike. It's why you added wit right? Anyway Anko, come in and have some sake. I hope you have lots of news to share, considering how long I haven't been in this village."
Ryu, Anko and Naruto went in to retire for the day. Naruto would later learn that Anko and Ryu had known each other for a long time, though they never shared the exact length of time.
"So why exactly are you here Anko?" Asked Naruto.
"Well the village got kind of annoying, so I thought I could bunk here until the jerks calm down."
Ryu nodded in understanding. After all he knew why the village sometimes treated her like the plague. Naruto on the other hand could understand anyone that had the same problems.
Of course the calm repriesal wouldn't last long, as Ryu remembered that they were still burning daylight, which meant more training for Naruto.
In the past week, Naruto had not only learned the basics of various taijutsu and kenjutsu styles, he had also taken up several projects on himself. He was quite interested in forging, seeing as he'd be using swords in the future, so who better to forge your sword than yourself? Besides, it was a relaxing excercise for Naruto, the clang of metal against metal giving him a slow, yet steady, tempo he used for his meditation. So far, he hadn't started forging himself, but he quite often watched Ryu do it.
Several days later, Naruto had learned that Anko was a poison specialist, though he didn't know the details as to how and when. So he asked her for help in identifying and neutralizing poisons as well as how to make a few of the simplest, yet effective, ones. For her part, Anko liked having someone to teach as most of the village despised her for being a former student of Orochimaru. In Naruto, she found her own childhood hero, someone that had gone through worse than herself, but still came on top. So, in her unique style, Anko started teaching Naruto the basics of poisons. How to identify them by sight or scent, how to find them in the wild, how to make anti-venoms.
As the weeks passed, Naruto came to an end with the chakra control he gained from regular excercises. Sure, he had only mastered tree and water walking, but he knew that he would never be able to match a medic's control no matter what. When confronted with that, Ryu asked Naruto to come with him to the training grounds.
"Alright Naruto, here we start your second level of chakra control. As I've told you before, all Uzumaki had insane chakra reserves, cutting into their control. Even with a large amount of it stored in their blades, something I'll be teaching you when you actually get your blades, they still had inordinate amounts. So, to correct this, they changed their way of thinking. Instead of limiting and restraining their output, they learned to completely control it even in maximum power. In other words, they were able to shift their ninjutsu even after the technique had been unleashed or increase the potency of an attack instead of simply its size. The most adept members, like your mother, could even create 'holes' in a wide-area attack, protecting allies while decimating their enemies. Of course you shouldn't expect to do it from the begining, but its a good goal in the future."
Naruto's jaw was hanging, as was Anko's, as they heard the Uzumaki clan's ability. Normally, if someone was to increase the chakra flow inside a jutsu, say Katon: Gokakyou no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique), they would result in an wider area of effect, albeit with the same heat. The Uzumaki clan however, were able to change that by limiting and condensing their chakra to an insane degree, as well as be able to manipulate its size and shape even outside their bodies, a dream for most shinobi. Naruto's eyes gleamed with the possibilities and Ryu smiled.
"From now on, you will perform the basic morning training, but you will not use any chakra. In other words, no Kage Bunshin or chakra to help climb or run. You will need your entire reserves. Now, we'll start today with the basics. Anko, you can stay as long as you swear to never share it with anyone else." Anko took the oath, seeing as she was too curious for this to let go. In responce, Ryu had Naruto sit down in the basic meditations stance. "Alright, now we can start. This excercice has several steps, each harder than all the previous ones at the same time, so be prepared for it to take some time. First of all, I want you to mould all your chakra, except the Kyubi's."
Naruto complied and created a raging inferno of a light-blue fire, surprising Anko who had never seen such a spectacle. Ryu's voice came again with more instructions. "Now I want you to shape this chakra. Not just any shape, but a whirl with you in the center. Anko let's go, he'll tell us when he's got it down."
It took several days for Naruto to complete it. It became much easier when Ryu gave him a hint, telling him to imagine it as if it were a domino, with his chakra acting as the pieces, starting from the center and making the rotation piece by piece. The second level of the excercice was to compress it. During it, Naruto was forced to compress it to the point where his chakra would directly interact with the physical world. The hint of this excercice was to make it as tight as possible using as few 'domino pieces' as possible.
When, almost two weeks later, Naruto finished that part, Ryu told him of the next step, rotation. Naruto was forced to make his chakra-formed spiral rotate without loosing shape or consistency, with him at the center as always. Surprisingly, it took little time for Naruto to manage this, as he was slowly getting the hang of the training course. Of course, every day he went to sleep exhausted as he was reduced to almost nil chakra reserves. When he thought all was over, Ryu presented him with yet another level of the excercice. In this level, Naruto was forced to make not one, but two equal sized spirals and rotate them. One clockwise, the other counter-clockwise. Naruto was so tired that, this month's assassination attempts were mostly made out of poisoned food rather than outright attacks. The third and fourth levels of that excercise were on the same idea; three, later four, extremely condenced chakra spirals, two clockwise, two counter clockwise, spinning at the same time in clockwise and counter clockwise rotation. According to Ryu, there was a fifth level that consisted of instantly changing the rotation of any, or all, spirals in an instant. However that would take too much time even for Naruto. (For those that didn't understand what I was trying to say; there's a clockwise whirl spinning clockwise, a clockwise whirl spinning counter-clockwise, a counter-clockwise whirl spinning clockwise and a counter-clockwise whirl spinning counter-clockwise. If your head hurt just by reading that, welcome to the club :D )
After Naruto completed the excercices, he was more than pleased with his progress in his chakra control. He may never actually get the control for the low-ranked jutsu, but he'd have more than enough for the big guns.
Anko and Ryu spent a long time training Naruto as well as sparing together. Ryu and Naruto still couldn't understand why Anko sometimes blushed, instead passing it off as just being tired. Anko didn't actually bother to correct them either.
It was a month later that Naruto was first allowed inside the forge as an assistant, after having memorized several, if not all, theorerical knowledge about forging techniques. From alloys to styles, to temperature control, to forging techniques, whatever was about forging inside Ryu's, rather large, library, Naruto studied it. He knew he still had a long way to go before actually forging his own swords, so why not get an early start?
Thankfully, Ryu's 'training regime of doom' (R) had helped Naruto immensely. Wearing several weight and restraint seals on him, as well as several straps of leather placed so that they limit his body, Naruto's physical abilities were increasing steadily. He may never become as physically strong as that insane green-clothed jounin, but he'd be strong in other areas as well, such as speed and ninjutsu. Naruto had long since accepted the fact that he would never be able to master all shinobi arts. He'd instead be an insanely powerful shinobi with certain strengths. Generalization wasn't for him. Heck, he could barely cast a couple of Genjutsu. On the other hand, he was a master at detecting and dispelling them.
When asked why he was pushed so much, even being forced to learn how several jutsu are performed without ever performing them, or having to fight several taijutsu styles, Ryu had cryptically answered; "It will help develop your Sharingan Effect" without actually going into depth about it. Naruto was pretty sure he wasn't an Uchiha, or had Uchiha blood inside of him, so what was the Sharingan Effect? It led to several attempts at discenring the truth but Naruto could never get a straight answer. All he got was a re-iteration of 'all good things come to those who wait'. In Ryu's rather... unique style. Which means it involved bowls of ramen, swords and a few noogies.
A/N: Yay! Finally updated! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I had never forgotten it, but I just never got the inspiration to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will do my best to get a new chapter out soon, but my Lady Inspiration is rather... fickle at times.
Kuma no Kamae, Washi no Kamae and Kitsune no Kamae are my creations.
Kuma no Kamae is inspired by my preferred way to fight unarmed. In here, it uses certain aspects of Tai Chi, namely the ability to redirect force. Attacking a master of Kuma no Kamae, as pictured here, would be suicide for quite a few reasons. First, it has very powerful defence, each arm can defend the entire body. Second, it is almost impossible to move the user so you can't 'punt' them to a more favourable location. Third, since they are able to redirect the force exerted on them, any attack that is blocked will force the offending limb to suffer double the stress it normally does. In layman's terms, if they block and your bones aren't hard enough, your arms or legs will break.
Washi no Kamae is inspired by a friend of mine. He has the habit of dashing around when we mock-fight. The blades held in reverse, supported by the forearm, mean that the user can actually block even heavy blows. Also, the unusual positioning of the blades means that he can create holes in your fighting style you didn't even know existed. It requires a lot of agility and presicion to be effective though. Random shallow lacerations just won't cut it (pun not intended). Even a shallow cut on the larynx or an arterie however... or a stab right through your lungs... well you get the point.
Kitsune no Kamae is all mine. I made it by noticing that small shifts in an otherwise relaxed stance can allow me to attack from various directions without giving it away or looking dangerous. Concealing your intentions behind a mocking gaze is a must, as is the ability to infuriate an opponent. If they are pissed off they will not notice or care about the fact that your right foot moved a few inches or that the sword's edge faced in a different direction.
Today, on this 9/6/2012, I, Soulblazer87, do hereby leave this site, possibly forever.
I shall not update this, or any other story.
I shall leave them on, however. Should you desire to follow my stories, do so in my new site of residence: www dot yourfanfiction dot com.