I don't own Naruto
Anyways, if you hate the changes let me know, I saved the old ones.
Chapter 8
The Preliminaries and a Month to Prepare
As Sasuke made his way to the center of the ring, he was actually nervous.
'Gah, every time I try and use my chakra. This stupid thing starts to act up. Yamato-sensei said I will be kicked out of the exams if I use it.'
Sasuke couldn't help but glance at the Sound Team with a smirk, the memory of the power it gave igniting a fire in his veins.
Meanwhile, Choji is shaking.
'Oh, man. He was ruthless against those sound nin. What am I going to do?'
Seeing his student's fear, Asuma decided to try and pump him up.
"Hey Choji, if you win, I'll buy all you can eat BBQ for a week."
Choji's eyes lit up with determination and glee.
"Begin"
Sasuke jumped back to get some distance. He knew that while Choji may be slow, he was very strong.
Meanwhile, Choji wasn't playing, BBQ was on the line.
"Secret Art: Human Bullet Tank"
Choji quickly turned into a large ball and began charging Sasuke far faster than Sasuke was expecting. All the while, repeating the same thing, over and over again…
"Roll roll roll roll roll…"
When Sasuke jumped over Choji, he attempted to get him by throwing several shuriken. They just bounced off the rapidly spinning boy. Choji slammed into the wall before rebounding and heading back towards the raven haired boy.
After nearly a dozen more attempts and misses, Sasuke finally comes up with an idea.
Grabbing the rest of his shuriken and kunai, Sasuke ties some ninja wire to all of them.
Sasuke jumps over Choji one more time, before throwing the kunai and shuriken all over the room, creating a literal web of wire. Choji was quickly and efficiently tangled.
Having no choice, Choji drops his expansion and slipped out from the wire, landing on the ground with a huff. Just as he is about to give-up, Sasuke closes the distance between them.
"Lion's Barrage!"
Sasuke kicks Choji under the chin, causing him to fly through the air. Sasuke was able to land dozens of blows as they were nearing the ground. For good measure, Sasuke performed a heel drop to the large Genin's face, effectively knocking Choji unconscious.
"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha."
Before Sasuke can even make it to the stairs, Yamato appears next to him and Shunshins him from the room.
The Jonin can't help but be impressed by the match.
"Ok, the next match is Kutsuchi of Iwa and Zaku of Oto."
It doesn't take long for the two to arrive at the center of the ring.
Hayate looks at each of them before nodding.
"Begin"
Zaku looks at the Iwa nin with a cocky smirk before pulling both his arms out of the slings.
"You don't stand a chance."
The brown haired Iwa nin just raised an eyebrow before flashing through several hand seals that only the Hokage recognized.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu"
Before Zaku knew what was happening, he was trapped in a cube, with a strange light in the center.
"What the hell is this!? Ha! Let's see how it handles… Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!"
Zaku's hands pointed forward, revealing small holes in his hands, he was about to use his most powerful Jutsu to escape. However, his opponent's voice cut him off.
"Sorry."
That was the last thing he heard as the light in the center exploded and there was nothing left, as he was turned to dust.
Nobody noticed but the Sound Jonin was leaning against the rail, nearly salivating.
Kutsuchi just gave a pointed look at Naruto before heading up the stairs to the balcony.
All of the Genin were shocked at the Iwa nin's power. The Jonin weren't much better.
Hayate was the first to recover from his shock.
"W-winner is… Kutsuchi of Iwa."
In an attempt to break everyone from the last battle, Hayate indicated for the board to go through the names again. He nodded when he saw the names.
"Our next match will be Rock Lee of Konoha vs. Gaara Subaku of Suna."
CANNON
Gai watched his student be carried from the arena with a sad smile on his face.
'You did it Lee, but I'm afraid this may be the end for you. At least if that medic knew what she was talking about.'
Gai turned from the now, empty doorway to Naruto. The only Genin, to defend Lee from Gaara.
Hayate broke Gai from his musings.
"Gai we still have quite a few matches. Could you please vacate the arena?"
Gai just smiled sheepishly.
"Uhh, right."
"Our next match is Hinata of Konoha vs. Neji of Konoha."
When Neji was walking down, Naruto grabbed his arm and gave him a pointed look.
Neji nodded.
"I got my anger under control a long time ago."
Naruto nodded and let Neji go.
As Neji walked down, Naruto heard Neji's whisper and can't help but chuckle slightly.
"That doesn't mean I can't embarrass the main branch a bit."
CANNON: Kiba yelled instead of Naruto and Neji didn't try and kill her.
When Neji arrived at the top of the stares. He noticed Hiashi, his uncle and Hinata's father give a nod of respect to him.
'I beat his daughter, I beat the Heiress. Why would he do that?'
Neji ended his musings just in time to hear the next match up.
"-Dydara of Iwa vs. Haku of Kiri"
Nearly everyone noticed Naruto tense up when they called the names. They also noticed Dydara give Naruto a cruel smirk.
When the two were in position, Hayate wasted no time.
"Begin"
Both Haku and Dydara jumped back to get some distance.
Haku waved her hand through the air, and to the other nin's surprise, water appeared before freezing and forming a dozen senbon.
The genin in the stands were shocked. It was Ino that spoke.
"I thought only the Nindaime Hokage could draw water from the air like that!"
Seeing as it was his student, Asuma explained.
"Nah, that girl there is Haku Yuki, I believe she is last living member of Kiri's Yuki clan. They were rather famous for their incredibly powerful water affinity combined with their weaker wind affinity. It didn't take long for the clan to begin making ice."
Back on the floor
Haku let the senbon fly, each aimed for a kill point.
However, he easily dodged them all.
"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"
"Of course not, did you?"
With a single hand seal, a giant spear of ice rose from the ground and impaled nothing. Haku turned around and watched as blood ran down the spear.
Slowly, the Dydara she was talking to, melted into mud. Soon, another appeared. However, this one was impaled on the ice spear.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy killing you, bitch."
With a grunt, the Iwa nin jumped back, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Haku merely analyzed the situation.
'With his rapid blood-loss, he should be unconscious within 10 minutes.'
Dydara sticks his hands into the pouches on his sides.
"Secret Art: Explosive Clay C1"
The mouths on Dydara's hands begin to spit out different clay animals, each about the size of his fist.
As each gets close to her, they explode, much to the Konoha Genin's shock.
Haku was almost instantly put on the defensive, unable to get close to him.
After only a few minutes of dodging the explosives and trying to retaliate. A large snake wraps around her arm.
As soon as Naruto sees this, he fears for her life.
BOOM
"HAKU!"
Naruto breathes a sigh of relief when he sees the now; one armed Haku is made of Ice.
"I didn't think I would have to use this in the preliminaries, let alone at all, but you being a long ranged fighter makes Kenjutsu difficult, combined with the number of explosions makes my speed less helpful. Ice Release: Divine Intervention Jutsu"
Just like that, the Genjutsu covering the patches of water on the ground was lifted. In their places are a dozen ice mirrors.
"Your village may be famous for a lot of things. However, it is most known for being decimated by the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash."
Dydara's anger nearly reached its peak.
"Let me show you a Jutsu I created and based off of that."
Without another word, Haku stepped onto a mirror and instantly sunk into it. The second she was gone, she quickly emerged out of the mirror right in front of the Iwa nin. This scored her a brutal upper cut to his chin.
Following him up, she reached back and grabbed the hilt of Nuibari.
Dydara's eyes widened when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, looking down, he saw a thin wire sitting in his stomach.
"What the?"
Before he could react, he saw Haku hit the ground, sinking into another mirror, his explosive animals on her heels.
Haku wasted no time, emerging from the opposite end of the room, and launched a dozen ice senbon into his unprotected back.
Dydara could only scream as his right arm lost all motion.
"D-damn this bitch!"
Up in the stands Chojuro was confused and Naruto was slightly angry.
"Naruto, why doesn't she finish it? She could have won already."
Naruto's scowl got worse.
It was Zabuza that answered for him.
"She wants to send a message to Iwa, that should anyone go after Naruto, they will relive the Yellow Flash through her…This is her way of protecting Naruto."
Pride and concern were both present in Zabuza's voice.
Even her own team was shocked when the girl got her fourth stab and yanked on the wire, the wire began to dig into his side and stomach, drawing a small amount of blood. However, Dydara getting fed up with her attacking.
"Secret Art: Explosive Clay C2"
The mouths began to produce more, larger animals and Haku was having difficulty maintaining her mirrors.
'Damn, they are exploding with such force it is breaking my mirrors. I should have ended it on that last attack. It is taking a lot of chakra to continue to repair them.'
"Hahahahahahahaha. I finally figured it out."
Haku appeared curious but cautious.
Dydara sent several small animals towards Haku, but she merely sunk into the mirror she was on. That was when the Iwa nin put his plan into action.
Instantly, a rather large animal was on each mirror. They didn't delay before exploding.
Dydara started laughing when a bruised and bloody Haku fell out of a mirror hidden on the roof.
"I should have known you were too smart for that. No worries I'll finish you now."
"No, you won't"
Dydara's eyes widen.
'I didn't even sense him move.'
Dydara looked down and saw Kubikiribocho, prepared to remove his head.
When he glanced over, he saw Haku was no longer there but in Chojuro's arms on her way to the medics.
Dydara just scoffed and headed over towards the balcony, ignoring the medic telling him he needs to be treated. However, his tough act didn't last long when he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Naruto was about to make his way to the medic area. But Zabuza grabbed his shoulder and led him to the balcony.
"She will be fine and you know it…She would kill you, then me, if I let you miss your match to be with her when she was asleep."
That helped Naruto calm down, she really would kill him.
Meanwhile, the Jonin and other Genin were all thinking the same thing.
'He is good, really good.'
It took twenty minutes for several earth users to come and repair the arena from the explosions, normally, they would just fight on the broken ground, but this was too much.
When they were done, Hayate just made is way to the center once again.
Meanwhile, the Jonin, and Hokage are all thinking the same thing.
'This year's batch of Genin is incredible.'
"Our next match is Suzumebachi of Iwa and Shino of Konoha."
(A.N. I had a lot of trouble writing a match between Shino and Suzumebachi. I hated this match but I just couldn't get it right. My advice would be come up with it in your head…)
All of the Jonin were interested in this match. They knew of the history between the clans.
When the Genin asked the question, Asuma took it upon himself to answer it.
"At one point in time, the Kamizuru clan was probably the largest and most powerful clan in Iwa. However, at the beginning of the Third Shinobi War, on orders from the Sandaime Tsuchikage, they were ordered to attempt to invade Konoha. They were supposed to clear the way for the rest of Iwa's shinobi to have an easy win. It probably would have worked if not for the Aburame Clan. Because of them, the Kamizuru clan never even made it to Konoha."
Everyone was in shock.
"Wow. The Aburame Clan is that strong?"
Asuma nodded.
"They can be."
He simply gestured down to the ring where the Bee user was glaring at the Aburame who stared impassively.
As though they materialized out of thin air. Dozens of large wasp-like bees were in the room.
"I didn't come here for you, Aburame, but I will take pleasure in this. Secret Art: Thousand Bee Stings Jutsu"
Each bee began firing senbon like stingers at Shino. Even though Kiba, his teammate was shouting for him to move, he never bothered.
In front of everyone's eyes. Shino became a human pincushion.
Everyone's eyes went wide.
That was until 'Shino' dissolved into several hundred kikaichu.
The kikaichu beetles began attacking the bees. The size of the chakra sucking bugs made them a difficult target for the larger bugs.
As Suzumebachi watches her bees get overtaken by the much smaller insects. She spreads out her senses, looking for the Konoha, bug wielder.
Suddenly, a voice speaks, as if it was in her head.
"Maybe I never left."
The ground around her feet shifts suddenly.
Before incasing her in a sphere of kikaichu.
'He hid them with Genjutsu!'
(A.N. I always thought Shino should have learnt a few Genjutsu from Kurenai…)
She is able to feel her chakra leaving her, before she passed out.
Everyone was rather disappointed with the fight.
Kutsuchi's voice could be heard in the background.
"And, that is why their clan has fallen so far."
After the medics took the Iwa nin away, Hayate called out for the next match.
"Temari of Suna vs. Tenten of Konoha"
CANNON
Temari was having a difficult time shaking off the glare and killing intent that was radiating from the blond haired Kiri nin, the look in his eyes promised retribution, she couldn't help but shudder.
"Winner, is Temari of Suna. Next match is Sakura of Konoha vs. Ino of Konoha"
CANNON
It was easy to see the disappointment on Asuma's and the newly returned Yamato's faces. Everyone can sympathize with them with one simple word.
"Fangirls."
"Our next match will be Chojuro of Kiri vs. Sai of Konoha"
Naruto gave Chojuro a pat on the back as he headed down the stairs.
Sai stood across from Chojuro with a creepy, fake smile on his face.
"Good luck Dickless."
Two seconds later, two sources of bellowing laughter could be heard from the balcony. They just so happened to be Chojuro's sensei and teammate.
Chojuro glared at them before returning his attention to the fight.
'Assholes.'
It was Chojuro's turn to taunt.
"Well, I won't even bother with this…"
Chojuro pulled the large sword from his back and stabbed it into the ground; it caused nearly the entire room to shake.
"Haku was able to beat you and your whole team. Not to mention that in direct combat, she is the weakest one on my team."
As if to accent his point, Chojuro disappeared from everyone's except the Jonin's and a few of the more speed, oriented Genin's eyes.
Immediately afterwards, Sai was sent sailing into the wall, denting it in the process.
When the dust cleared, Chojuro was back in his original spot while Sai was attempting to pick himself off the ground.
"I hope that isn't all you have. Your master must be a pathetic old fool."
That's right, Team Swordsman knew exactly who Sai was. The Hokage was sure to warn them. Sarutobi was worried because Danzo is still upset that he gave the Kyuubi to Kiri.
For the first time since he could remember, Sai felt an emotion. He wanted to make this ninja pay. He didn't just want to win because it was his orders. No, he wanted to defend his master.
Even though he was slightly confused by his new-found emotions, Sai quickly began drawing.
"Super Beast Imitation Jutsu"
Three large lions appeared and charged the Kiri nin.
Chojuro lazily shot a seal-less Water Bullet Jutsu at each lion, quickly turning them back to ink.
However, it turned out to be a diversion as Sai finished several hand seals.
"Ink Drizzle"
The ink from the lions formed small bullets and shot towards the unsuspecting Chojuro who was forced to grab his sword and use it as a shield.
Using the fact that he was unseen, Sai drew a single kunai in one hand and several shuriken in the other and charged.(Haku broke his tanto)
Jumping clear over the sword, he threw the shuriken down, towards Chojuro who was forced to flip back, away from his sword.
And that is what Sai wanted.
Jumping from his place on the wall, Sai attacked Chojuro with the kunai. Unable to reach his sword and still empty on kunai from the fight with the Snake Sennin, Chojuro was forced to dodge.
Chojuro ducked under a swipe that would have slit his throat and managed to land a dazing hit to Sai's head.
That gave him the few seconds he needed to form a few hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Shuriken Jutsu"
The little bit of water still on the ground from Haku's fight, quickly formed half a dozen shuriken, each in Chojuro's hand.
He let them fly…
Sai was not one of Danzo's strongest for nothing.
He blocked each shuriken with the kunai. They fell to the ground before returning to water.
Chojuro was forced to block a round kick. However, his many spars with Naruto had greatly increased his Taijutsu.
Without delay, Chojuro landed a devastating punch to the Konoha nin's ribs. However, he simply turned to ink.
"Super Beast Imitation Jutsu"
A single giant spider appeared, almost immediately, it began to shoot webbing at him.
"You will never win if you are truly this pathetic."
Sai forgot any tactics and charged Chojuro like a madman.
'He seems to be having trouble controlling his emotions…'
Without delay, Chojuro grabbed Hiramekarei and channeled chakra through it, surprising everyone who had never seen the legendary sword in battle.
Before Sai could blink, the hammer was upon him, sending him flying through his spider and into the wall and unconscious.
"Winner, Chojuro of Kiri."
Hayate seemed to be having some trouble with his cough, but he got it under control. The medics took Sai from the room and into the ward.
"Our next match is Kankorou of Suna vs. Dosu of Oto"
Just as Kankorou was about to make his way down the stairs, Temari stopped him.
"Abandon your plan, it won't work on him. He doesn't need to hit you to hurt you. When he hits Crow, you will be affected too. Make sure you're at least 10 yards away when he swings."
Kankorou nodded his thanks before getting to the center of the room.
"Begin."
Dosu charged at Kankorou but 'Kankorou' opened his mouth and shot a dozen, poisoned senbon at Dosu. That was when Dosu realized the pack on the back of the puppet was gone.
Flicking the side of his gauntlet, Dosu quickly found the Suna puppeteer, not that it did any good because Crow was right behind him. Before the Sound Genin could do anything, the puppet grabbed him in a bear hug before six small blades pierced his torso, killing him instantly.
"Winner Kankorou of Suna. Seems like the entire Suna team is going... Anyways, the next match is Shikamaru of Konoha vs. Kin of Oto."
CANNON
"This brings us to the last match. Naruto of Kiri vs. Kiba of Konoha."
Naruto made his way down to the arena. Kiba, was slowly making his way down. However, on his face, wasn't some misplaced, cocky smirk but a face of determination.
'Perhaps he has grown up. Let's see how much.'
"We both know, that all I need to do is create a mist, and you become nothing more than a lost puppy. Why don't you forfeit?"
Kiba's look of determination, changed to a glare.
"You may have been able to beat me when we were in the academy, but things have changed!"
Naruto just raised an eyebrow before shrugging.
Hayate had been forced to wait for them each to acknowledge that they were ready.
"Begin"
Similar to their match eighteen months earlier, Kiba flashed through several hand seals, this time with a few more.
"Secret Art: Four Legs Jutsu"
"Secret Art: Man-Beast Clone"
Akamaru jumped on Kiba's head before transforming into another version of the animalistic boy.
"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU AGAIN!"
The Kiba that spoke, immediately charged in for an elbow to Naruto's chest.
Naruto was forced to acknowledge that Kiba had gotten faster.
Everyone was quite shocked that yet another Genin was traveling at near-Jonin speeds.
However, that wasn't the shocking part. When Kiba's elbow connected, the resulting shockwave actually cracked the floor.
However, nobody cared about that. There stood Naruto, Kiba's elbow in his hand.
"That stung, my hand is a little numb."
Kiba's as well as everyone else's mouths dropped. It was quite the comical sight.
While Kiba was still trying to understand what had happened, Naruto's foot connected with his head. This sent him flying towards the wall. He would have hit too, if not for the other Kiba catching him.
While Kiba tried to get his bearings back, Akamaru was using quick in and out claw strikes to try and wear Naruto down. Unfortunately for the dog, the large sword makes an effective shield as well.
The others in the room, certainly weren't enjoying to screeching.
Suddenly, a still slightly wobbling Kiba yells out his next attack.
"Tsuga!"
Kiba flies towards Naruto like a drill. The attack's speed surprises Naruto, preventing him from dodging.
His only choice, to block.
Nobody knew what would happen when Kiba's spinning form met the flat side of the giant sword.
SCREEEEEECH
A piercing screech could be heard throughout the Forest of Death as Naruto's sword took the brunt of the Inuzuka's attack.
After Kiba had lost momentum, Naruto was able to push him off.
Everyone looked at the sword to see the damage it had been dealt. To their surprise, there was only a few light scratches.
Zabuza just smirked proudly.
"That is Kiri's weapons for you."
Most of the Jonin just nodded. Kiri was in fact the home to the greatest weapon makers and users of all time.
Meanwhile, Kiba was shocked.
'He just blocked my Tsuga. The only other thing I can do is Gatsuga. Let's see what happens. There is no way he can block both of us.'
Locking eyes with Akamaru, they both knew the plan. They slowly began to circle him like predators stocking their prey.
Suddenly, a look flashed through the eyes of Kiba in front of him before both, Kibas began spinning like a drill.
Naruto barely dodged the first attack. However, he was unable to completely dodge the second and received a small gash on his arm.
Looking at the blood dripping from his arm, Naruto sighed.
'I guess it's time to get serious.'
Knowing he would be unable to block both, Naruto tried to cut one of the tornados in half, that didn't work out as the force of the spin ripped the sword from his hand and threw it into the wall, sinking it two feet through the concrete. This also had the effect of breaking his wrist, not that I wouldn't be healed in an hour.
Naruto dodged one of the mini-tornados before flashing through several one hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu"
After the last tornado passed, the other was on its way…However Naruto's Jutsu intercepted it. When the ball of lightning came into contact with the tornado, everything changed. The 'Kiba' had all of its muscles lock up, causing it to go out of control. Paralyzed from the shock, the Kiba slammed into the wall before slumping to the ground unconscious.
"What do you know? I got the real Kiba on the fir…'POOF' Damn."
When Naruto turned around, he saw what he thought he would. Akamaru, lying unconscious and Kiba glaring hatefully.
"Oh well, let's go mutt."
Kiba was actually growling at that.
Without waiting, Kiba charged Naruto at his full speed and landed a slash onto his stomach. However, instead of blood like he was expecting, water came out.
"Water Release: Gunshot Jutsu"
Kiba was far too confused by the clone to dodge in time. Therefore he took six, point blank range, chakra compacted water bullets to the back.
He may have been conscious, but he wasn't getting up anytime soon.
As the medics checked on Kiba. Naruto began to head up to the balcony, only to be stopped by Hayate.
"Ok. Those of you, who won your matches, please come down here to the arena floor."
Naruto just stopped and turned around. He was joined by the shinobi he would face in the finals.
"Ok, congratulations are in order, but don't celebrate just yet. Anko will come around and you will each draw a number, that number will decide the matches for the finals."
Everyone except for the absent Sasuke drew a number. Sasuke receiving the last number.
Everyone looked up at the screen that now displayed the matches they would fight.
1. Kutsuchi of Iwa vs. Naruto of Kiri
2. Neji of Konoha vs. Dydara of Iwa
3. Sasuke of Konoha vs. Kankorou of Suna
4. Shino of Konoha vs. Temari of Suna
5. Chojuro of Kiri vs. Shikamaru of Konoha
6. Gaara of Suna has a by.
Everyone appeared to be fine with the matches with the exception of Gaara who was glaring dangerously at the screen, contemplating on whether or not to smash it with his sand.
"Good luck with your training, you all have one month to prepare."
Zabuza, Naruto and Chojuro went straight to the medics to see Haku. She was doing better, but still tired. After visiting for over an hour she asked them to leave so she could get some sleep and they could train.
When they arrived at the hotel arranged for them, Naruto finally addressed Zabuza while Chojuro laid down on his bed.
"So, Zabuza-sensei. What will we be working on?"
Zabuza sighed.
"Naruto, I'm not training you."
It took Naruto a second to grasp what Zabuza said.
"WHAT?! WHY?"
"There is nothing left for me to teach you. Your Kenjutsu skill is at the same level as mine was when I became a Jonin, your Ninjutsu surpasses mine, even in my prime and you are just as skilled as me in Silent Killing Jutsu. The only thing you need to be better than me, is experience. I will be working with Chojuro for the month. I have already lined up a different sensei for you. He is much stronger then I was, even in my prime."
Now, Naruto was shocked. When Zabuza was in his prime, truly in his prime, he was easily an S-rank ninja, fighting on par with the Yondaime Mizukage even through the first two tails…
"Who?"
"Jiraiya of the Sennin, he requested it."
Naruto seemed unsure but nodded anyway.
"Meet him tomorrow at the river near training ground 17."
Naruto nodded before going to visit Haku and think on this recent development.
Meanwhile, Chojuro spoke with Zabuza.
"So, sensei, what will we be working on."
"Ninjutsu, your Kenjutsu is pretty good, only increased by your sword's abilities. Your Silent Killing Jutsu could use some work, but it won't be enough help for us to work on it. So, we will spend the month making sure you can do Ninjutsu closer to the same level as Naruto."
Chojuro nodded.
'Yes, we were close in Kenjutsu, but Ninjutsu is where he truly outclassed me.'
Chojuro never knew how brutal this month would be.
Next day, Naruto walks towards the river, only to see a pacing, white haired man he guessed to be Jiraiya, he seemed nervous.
He was so distracted, that the legendary ninja never even noticed his presence.
"Problems?"
Jiraiya jumped at the sudden voice.
"Uhh, umm, yes, I mean no… Ugh, I don't know."
Naruto just raised his eyebrow as he waited for the legend to gather his thoughts.
"I'm sorry ok!"
Now both his eyebrows were raised.
"For what?"
Now Jiraiya was allowing his emotions to get to him.
"I abandoned you. I was an orphan; I know the pain of not knowing if anyone loves you. I know what you went through. The worst part is that it was my fault, I should have been there for you."
Jiraiya was breathing heavily and had tears falling by the end. He couldn't even get himself to look at Naruto.
While this was new info, it didn't really surprise him; he knew his dad was taught by the man in front of him. It was logical that this man would be his godfather. A part of him was upset that he could have had a better childhood, flashes of his life in Kiri, and time spent with Haku, quickly solved any resentment.
"I forgive you."
"Huh?"
Naruto would have laughed at the face the legendary ninja was making if this wasn't a serious matter. At least, it was to Jiraiya and he knew that until the man got over it, he wouldn't be learning anything.
"I don't really care."
"But…"
"Yea, sure, if you were there then my childhood may have been a little happier. But it also probably would have prevented me from marrying Haku. I don't care how crappy my child hood was. I am now married to a woman I love, am willing to die for my country and to top it all off, I am on my way to being one of the strongest shinobi in Kiri. Not to mention I'm part of the re-formation of one of the greatest ninja teams in the history of the elemental nations. Now, I was hoping to receive some training."
Though he still seemed unsure…He got serious and nodded.
"Ok sensei, what's first?"
"From what I have been led to believe, you specialize in water Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu but wish to add lightning Ninjutsu."
"Yep, that's about it."
The Anbu was silent for a second before speaking.
"Fair enough, what do you know about elemental affinities?"
…
"Just that they make it easier to use a certain type of jutsu."
…
"Do you know how you get them?"
"Uhh…are you born with them?"
"No, affinities are developed in many ways. For your first, it is usually your emotions…Anger general creates fire, free-spirited is wind, ever changing is water, stubborn is earth and a temper will often result in lightning."
"Is that some sort of joke?"
"Nope, crazy right?"
…
"So, to get a lightning affinity I would need to have a temper? There is no way you're being serious."
Naruto got kind of freaked out when Jiraiya's face lost all emotion and just stared at him.
"If you had listened, I stated that is how you develop your first affinity. Usually as a child, later in life, you can train your chakra in a sense. The more of one type of chakra you use, the faster it will develop."
As fast as it came, it left and Jiraiya was back to normal. Naruto had to take a minute to try and grasp what was being said.
"So…if I just use a lot of lightning jutsu, my chakra should convert some of it into lightning chakra and keep it that way for later use?"
…
"A very simplistic way to view it but yes."
Naruto shrugged, personally he liked simplistic.
"Ok, but I only know two lightning jutsu and even then I don't have them perfect. Lightning Ball and Lightning Strike."
Jiraiya gave a slight nod.
"You shouldn't need much more until you master those ones."
Naruto gave a tired nod. He had been trying to master them, they were just really hard.
"Tell me, is the only reason you chose lightning because you wish to channel it into your sword?"
"No, I want to learn lightning because Earth is weak against it and I know I will have to face Iwa's wrath eventually."
"I see, how far along are you in your Water Manipulation?"
Naruto smiled, his water manipulation was almost done.
"If I had to put a number to it, I'd say 98% I just can't get the leaf to whither completely."
"Understood. I want you to look at lightning Ninjutsu in a different way…Shoot a water bullet at that tree."
With a single hand seal, Naruto cheeks bulged and shot a high-powered water bullet at the nearest tree. It left a sizeable dent in it.
"Good, now again."
Once again, a single hand seal and the blonde's cheeks bulged. He never even noticed that Jiraiya flashed through his own hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike Jutsu"
Right after he shot the water bullet, the Toad Sage sent the thin stream of lightning into the back of it. When the lightning jutsu hit the water bullet, the water bullet simply absorbed the lightning. The water bullet now had sparks dancing around it, not to mention it was easily moving twice as fast.
This time, when the bullet impacted the tree it tore right through it, along with the one behind it before finally dispersing.
"Wow"
"Similar to how wind and fire are often used together, water and lightning make a perfect combination."
Naruto didn't know what to think.
"Is it even possible to do that by yourself?"
"Yes, I have personally seen Sarutobi-sensei do it."
"Why don't you do it?"
"I don't have an affinity for lightning, the chakra cost would be too high to be of use. Now, I am pretty much, only going to teach you one Jutsu…They teach it at the academy in Kumo. It is basically the basis of every lightning jutsu in existence and is perfect for combining with water. It is called. Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder Jutsu. It produces a very powerful wave of electricity around the hands. Once you have that down, we will begin working on maintaining it while you cast several water jutsu to combine together…"
Two Weeks Later
Naruto was making his way back to his hotel. After another tiring, yet successful day. If he had to guess, he would say it was a little after midnight. There wasn't a soul around.
He had to admit, when there weren't hundreds of civilians glaring at you, and wishing for your death, Konoha was a very beautiful and peaceful place. It was very different than Kiri.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal hitting…something.
Using his advanced hearing, he was just barely able to make out a condescending voice.
"That was Konoha Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon. Konoha really is full of talented ninja, being able to use it at such a young age. Unfortunately, it is only natural for material blades to be stopped. Nothing stops a blade of wind."
Meanwhile, having moved to the adjacent rooftop, Naruto's eyes were wide.
'Suna and Konoha are allies…why is that Suna Jonin going to kill the proctor? What should I do?…If I hurt either one of them, it could damage the alliance… Remember what Mei-sama said, 'When unsure of the answer, use political responses' I'm not politician but my guess would be…restrain them both and let Sarutobi-sensei deal with it.'
Baki was an A-rank Jonin ninja of Suna. He should have sensed the build up of chakra, he should have heard the young ninja's footsteps. He shouldn't have allowed himself to be unaware of his surroundings. However, he was just having too much fun lecturing the young Konoha nin.
Hayate was a B-rank Special Jonin from Konoha. However, he was about to be killed anyway, why does he care what's around…
Just as a blade of wind formed around Baki's hand, a shout was heard. But it was to late.
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder Jutsu!"
Both Baki and Hayate, turned just in time to see the young apprentice of Zabuza Momochi place his hand on Baki's face, the electricity surging through his body and into Hayate's, the effect left them both in a convulsing heap.
The second the electricity came into contact with their skin, they could do nothing as all of their muscles contracted. Despite their attempts to move, the attack left them stiff as a board.
It didn't take long for the effects to wear off, at most thirty seconds. However, that was more than enough time for Naruto to apply a chakra suppression seal, as well as bind them tight with ninja wire.
As soon as Hayate came to his senses. He was scared, really scared. Not for himself. He accepted that he was going to die. No, he was scared for Konoha, and scared for Yugao. If Kiri, Suna and Oto teamed up. Konoha wouldn't survive.
When he was hefted up by a water clone, he noticed they were making their way silently through the village.
As they made their way through the village, Hayate was trying to figure out a way to get a message to someone.
He was forced to watch as they passed his fiancé's Anbu squad, completely undetected.
Looking around, he recognized where they were heading.
'This is the clan district…why would he take us here? Is one of the clans revolting?'
The dread continued to build.
He was even more shocked when they stopped outside of the Sarutobi clan compound.
Baki was passed nervous. He was shaking.
'All that planning for nothing. The Konoha ninja knows Suna is involved. Even if I don't spill anything. We already lost our element of surprise.'
Naruto and the clone, each carrying a prisoner, made their way up the side of the compound until he entered an empty room.
The room was large. It was nicely decorated with tons of pictures and had several bookshelves as full as they could be.
'I guess I'll just have to wait for sensei to finish and go to bed.'
The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi was making his way towards his bedroom. Of course with the exams going on and talks of an invasion, he hasn't been able to spend much time in there at all.
When he was about four doors down, he sensed something that shouldn't be there.
'INTRUDER! Hmm, he is skilled. I can just barely sense him.'
Sarutobi discreetly drew a kunai and slowly opened his bedroom door.
A voice startled him, causing him to throw the kunai on instinct, Sarutobi was shocked and horrified when he saw it impaled Naruto's head. However, he was relieved when Naruto turned to water.
"Damn I'm glad that clone was there, or I'd be dead."
Calming his racing heart. Sarutobi smiled slightly.
"Well, Naruto-kun. I certainly wasn't expecting a visit."
Naruto shrugged and gestured to the two bound ninja in the closet.
"During my walk to my hotel, I wasn't expecting to see two Jonin from allied villages attempting to kill each other. Unsure of the situation, I bound both."
Sarutobi's eyes went wide when he saw who it was.
'Hayate?'
Removing the Konoha nin's gag, Sarutobi spoke.
"What happened?"
Hayate gestured to speak in private, something that the Hokage readily agreed to.
"Hokage-sama, I was going for my nightly walk when I saw an Oto and Suna Jonin conversing. I was slightly suspicious at that. But what I overheard shocked me. Suna and Oto are going to invade during the finals."
The Hokage's eyes went wide.
"Why would Suna do that? They are our allies."
Naruto, who had been eavesdropping, spoke up.
"It is simple really. Suna is in the middle of a depression because the Wind Daimyo has been sending a lot of his missions here, on top of cutting their military funding. Because of that, Suna is poor. But, if Konoha were to be destroyed it would solve their problems."
Hayate spoke up next.
"But Suna is the weakest of the five great villages. Do you really think that Suna and Oto could destroy Konoha?"
Both Naruto and Sarutobi were in thought. Naruto spoke up first.
"Orochimaru alone could keep the Old Man busy. But if the Kazekage assists, then he would probably be beaten. No offense, but you're not in your prime any more. The other way they could do it, would be. Orochimaru takes on the Old Man and the Kazekage takes on Jiraiya, who I'm sure they weren't originally counting on…"
Sarutobi took up the speech next.
"Not to mention, Gaara is the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi. If he were to let the beast free, then it would take several Anbu to take him down. Even then, he would cause untold amounts of damage to the village."
Hayate, getting where they were going had something to add.
"Plus, if Orochimaru can unleash some of his larger summons on the village. They could cause a lot of damage as well."
Sarutobi spoke next.
"Suna doesn't need to destroy us. They just need to weaken us. Orochimaru wants Konoha to burn, but I'm sure he would be happy if I was just out of the way."
Hayate said something they all agreed on.
"This is bad, really bad."
After several moments of silence, Naruto spoke.
"Well, I am no longer a Konoha nin, so good luck. I will defend my former village as per our alliance but I don't feel like listening to the political bullshit… That's Mei-sama's job. By the way, that chakra suppression seal will wear off in about an hour. He was skilled with the wind blade technique. That will cut through that wire like a knife through butter."
Naruto jumped out the window and went to get some sleep. He would tell the others about what happened in the morning.
Two minutes later, Sarutobi flared his chakra and four Anbu appeared.
"Take this Suna Jonin to Ibiki. Make sure he knows that he has free reign, as long as he gets the info within twelve hours and nothing visible. After dropping him off, get Inoichi Yamanaka, we will need him to be returned to his team, with no knowledge of his capture…"
The Anbu each flinched at the thought of Ibiki with no restrictions. They steeled themselves before chorusing.
"Hai Hokage-sama."
The four disappeared, Baki in hand…
As the Hokage, peered out the window, he spoke to himself. That didn't stop the retreating form of Hayate from hearing him.
"Konoha will have some dark days ahead of her…"
Well, that's it my re-write is moving right along.