Let this be clear. Naruto is just strong and besides that, normal. I'm not sure how to make him smart aleky, just that he keeps getting stronger and stronger.
And I have good reasons for being late on updating. 1.) I was busy with... stuff... (ahem) 2.) My internet went down when I was about to update. 3.) I just got a PS3, and it's kickass! I'm sorry, but please don't blame me too much.
Anyway, I don't own Naruto, nobody here does! Unless Kishimoto-sama is here in fanfiction, then it's HIS.
(One Of Konoha's Training Grounds)
Shino Aburame was throwing kunais at a pole to have better aim. He was about to throw another when he heard a voice say, "You got a minute?"
"Yes." was his stoic reply. He turned around and found Naruto with his arms crossed.
He sighed and said, "Listen Shino. Although I barely know you, I ask a favor from you. I don't trust your Inuzuka teammate for a second, so I would feel much more comfortable if you could keep Hinata-chan safe from him. Earlier today he tried to force himself onto her, but I interfered and took care of him. If you do this for me, I will be in your debt."
Shino looked at the boy straight in the face, though it was hard to tell because of his shades.
"Do not worry, Naruto-san. I shall see to it Kiba doesn't harm Hinata-san, mentally or physical." Naruto nodded and smiled.
"Thanks Shino, I owe you." and Naruto disappeared via shunshin.
(Somewhere In The Forest Of Death: Two o'clock In The Morning)
A shadow jumped down from a tree landing on a flat surfaced area. Another much smaller shadow landed next to the first, before taking on the form of a young teenage girl. The shadows slowly started to gain color, until it showed a girl with platinum-blond with a pair of dark-blue jeans, a black leather jacket over a red shirt, and blue sandals. The clothing she had hugged her body alot, showing her luscious curves. Next to her was her teammate, Naruto, his eyes glowing for a second before returning to normal.
They always trained in the Forest Of Death for two reasons: 1.) Nobody ever came in except during the chunin exams, and 2.) because if they ever made any damage, others will simply think it was caused by a normal chunin exam that happened. Back on the ground, Akyo looked at Naruto and said, "Okay, I was looking around the library back at my home world last night and found this..." she reached inside her jacket pocket and took out a red and black scroll. "It's an old fighting style called 'Black Fist'. It's mainly to bend around your opponent's attacks and counter with gravity, speed and strength, though it relies more on gravity. The stance is pretty easy as well, so we wont have any problem there. Let's get started Naruto-sama!"
With that said, Naruto nodded and took the scroll while opening it. For the next few hours, they kept working on their new stance.
Akyo, also studying, brought out her own scroll to practice on jutsu her mother wanted her to learn and started reading it. Akyo was also trying to increase her youki to stay a solid inanimate object for a greater period of time. She could still stay as a sword or belt, but only for a limited time, at most for half an hour. She barely had her first tail after the first fifty years of her life, and she was close to reaching her second. Even so, in her solid inanimate state, she could still be killed if hurt in the right place, and if her youki supplies were too little.
In her katana and ninja-to state, her weakness would be the amber-fang butt of the blade; or if in her belt form, it would be the buckle. Her weakness would mainly be anything with her amber-colored eyes on it. Sometimes the amber would become another shape or object, but it would always lead to her death if destroyed. Her youki would deplete the more time she stayed solid. If she were hit during a fight, it wouldn't matter so long as they don't hit her weakness. Soon enough, once she gained her fourth tail, she would stay immortal and wouldn't be able to die, even if they hit the amber for years to come. (To put it simply, if there is anything of her inanimate form that is amber colored, she would be wounded severely if it's hit. She might die, maybe she wont, but it all depends on how much youki she has left and the amount of shadows there are around her to recreate. If enough youki is left coursing within her, she could regenerate very slowly from the shadows around her.)
Naruto made a cross hand sign and fifteen Shadow-Clones appeared. He gave two of them instructions to work on using Merciless. He was okay with it, but he wished to be as strong as possible. Another four would work on his shuriken and kunai aim, and the rest would learn the new stance and moves of 'Black Fist'. He looked at Akyo and asked, "Do you think we should take a look at Kyuubi?"
Akyo didn't even hesitate. "Heck yeah! Let's go!" Naruto sighed and sat down on the grass before beginning to meditate, Akyo behind him with her back pressed up against his. In about two minutes, they heard a drip... drip... drip... Naruto snapped his eyes open and saw that he was in a sort of sewer. Naruto looked behind him to see Akyo with her eyes still closed.
He leaned next to her and said, "Common Akyo, I think we're here."
Akyo's eyes were open and she was on her feet in a second. "Cool! Where's Kyuubi-sama, I wanna see-"
"Okay, okay." Naruto interrupted her. "Let's go look around."
(Training Ground Seven: Six o'Clock)
A sleepy Sakura arrived just as Sasuke appeared as well. They looked at each other for half a second before Sasuke turned away from the pink-haired girl, who immediately started asking him for a date. They expected Kakashi to show up and get angry with Naruto that he wasn't here, but...
(Training Ground Seven: Ten o'clock)
The two hungry and tired genin looked up to see Naruto walking up to them with Akyo on his head, still sleeping from staying up all night. He had a hand on his stomach and he made a small burp before saying, "Excuse me." The other two just glared at him and just continued with whatever they were doing. Naruto walked over to a tree before sitting down at the base and opened a scroll, the same scroll that had the few jutsu Akyo managed to copy down from the forbidden scroll.
While he read, Sasuke came over with his usual pricky strides. "Fight me." he demanded.
"No." Naruto said, not looking up from the scroll.
"What, are you scared?" taunted the Uchiha.
"No."
"Then fight me!"
"No."
"You're nothing but a coward, dobe."
"No, I'm not, now leave me alone." Naruto now had a tick mark on his head, and he was ready to punch the Uchiha. Sasuke finally stopped bugging him and went to a tree to start brooding... again. Naruto just sighed in relief and continued reading.
He kept reading the scroll for about an hour, listening to the growls of his teammate's stomachs, until Kakashi finally arrived with a simple, "Yo."
And what happened next was obviously inevitable... a "YOU'RE LATE!" from Sakura. Sasuke, being a prick as always glared at the man, and Naruto just stretched and said, "Good morning Kakashi-sensei." while Akyo woke up and yipped a hello to the white-haired scarecrow. Kakashi nodded at the blond genin before saying, "Okay then, now that I'm here, let's begin your test." He took out two bells from his pocket and said, "It's quite simple. Just take these bells from me, and you pass."
Sakura, being the one to say the obvious, said, "Kakashi-sensei, there's three of us. Why do you only have two bells?" Unbeknownst to everyone else, Sasuke was thinking the exact same question. Yep, even the famous Uchiha was nothing but a stupid idiot who was pampered by the council elders.
Naruto sighed and Akyo growled, 'What a bunch of stupid idiots!'
Kakashi restrained himself from slapping his head on Sakura stating the obvious. "Well, there's one for two of you, meaning one of you wont pass. While the other two pass, whoever doesn't will be sent back to the academy. If none of you get a bell, you all get sent back." Sakura had a look of disbelief while Sasuke's face just stayed the same.
Naruto's eyes narrowed for a second. 'I thought genin were assigned teams to work together. This will only make us compete against each other just to get a bell.' he thought. Kakashi brought out a clock from Kami-knows-where while placing it on a tree stump and setting it to twelve o'clock. He also took out two boxes from, again, Kami-knows-where and left them on a stone. He then faced them all and said, "You have until noon to get these bells. The only way to get them is through the intent to kill. Ready... set... GO!"
With that, all three genin disappeared and hid where Kakashi couldn't find them. Well, Naruto was successful in doing so. Sasuke was barely visible, but did a fine job nonetheless. And Sakura wasn't having a good time with her bright hair when in a tree. Kakashi then reached into his kunai holster, the genin tensing in seeing him do this, and brought out a... book?
Kakashi started reading the little orange book and would sometimes giggle pervertedly, making Naruto have a good idea of what the book contained. He gritted his teeth knowing he had a perverted sensei for Kami-knows-how-long. 'Well, at least I have a form of what his weakness is.' he thought, though he decided Kakashi was simply way too weird to try to use that as a weakness.
He then made a hand sign and three Naruto Clones appeared behind him. He nodded, and all three of them disappeared in blurs. All three clones surrounded Kakashi, who was impressed slightly.
'Already knows Shadow-Clones. Not bad for sensei's son. I just wish I could teach him something and not get stuck with Sasuke. Why did Obito and Itachi have to leave me with this kid?' Kakashi thought. He just barely blocked the kunai that would've cut off the strings on his bells.(LOL, whichever came first) It was pure instinct that he got a kunai out of his pouch, as his kunai knocked the other out. He realized he was being attacked, and took up a defensive stance. He looked around and only saw three clones.
"Only three? I feel disrespected." Kakashi said with an eye-smile. It quickly turned to one of alarmed as he was attacked at the same time by all three clones. They mad a horizontal slash, making a triangle between them. If Kakashi hadn't jumped upwards, he would've been cut in half. However, the clones were expecting this, so they all jumped upwards, bringing their swords back. Again, in synchronization, they attacked at once, more metal clanging as the blades hit a chunk of wood that appeared in a puff of smoke where Kakashi once stood.
'I know I said they needed to get the bells through the intent to kill, but this is just ridiculous!' Kakashi thought, fearing for his life. He decided it would be a good idea to retaliate. He shunshined behind one of the Naruto clones and punched him on the back. It quickly puffed out of existence, the other two appearing from the smoke and letting out a barrage of stabs that almost got Kakashi.
He was scared for his safety now, and he sure didn't want to use his Sharingan on a genin. This kid really did hold back in the academy. One of them kicked him on the stomach while the other punched his face, hitting his jaw hard. Now imagine his surprise when the two simply wave goodbye and disappeared with smiles. Kakashi just looked confused for a moment, before looking down to make sure he wasn't injured. His eyes... um, eye... widened when he realized he only had one of the bells strapped to his belt.
'What the... When did he get one?' He looked around and tried to find Naruto's chakra signature. But he either ran too far away, or he was really good at hiding his chakra signature. Elsewhere, Naruto was jiggling the bell in front of his face, admiring his clones' work. They may not have been as strong as him, but they did the job with numbers and smarts, all adding up to Kakashi fighting the equivalent of just one Naruto alone. And that's with no Akyo. Naruto, under a pair of bushes, put the bell away in his pocket and started looking for the rest.
He appeared behind Sakura and whispered, "Hey." Naturally, she jumped and was about to scream, but Naruto acted faster and covered her mouth before she could make any noise and held her close to his chest so she wouldn't struggle. "Shhhh! Sakura, it's me!" he hissed out. Sakura finally realized it was Naruto and calmed down a little, before realizing who was behind her.
She grew angry and hissed, "What the hell are you doing here, Naruto-baka! You nearly scared me to death!" Naruto just sighed and started explaining on how one genin couldn't take on a jonin, but left out that he just did. His plan was simply to help Sasuke and Sakura to get a bell, then give his to one of them.
Sakura, being Sasuke's true as ever cheerleader, said, "Sasuke-kun is stronger than a jonin. He can do it!"
Naruto shook his head and sighed. Akyo rolled her eyes and tried to restrain herself from bitch-slapping Sakura for a dumb comment/lie. Naruto looked to the side when he heard the sounds of a battle taking place.
"Common Sakura, I think Sasuke could use a hand." he ushered to the pink-haired girl. Sakura simply nodded and followed Naruto into a clearing where they found Sasuke's head on the ground. Sasuke blinked twice and looked at them. Naruto knew it was one of Kakashi's techniques.
Unfortunately, Sakura didn't.
"KYYYAAAHHH! SASUKE-KUN'S HEAD! HE'S DEAD!" she screamed. She then proceeded to fall to the ground after fainting. Naruto shook his head and sighed. This was going to be tougher than he thought.
He and Akyo started helping Sasuke out of the ground while talking. "Listen Sasuke, one genin can't take down a jonin on their own. So what do you say I help you and Sakura get a bell so you can pass. Deal?"
"What do you get out of this? You obviously want something." demanded the Uchiha.
Naruto shrugged and said, "I'll think of something, but right now we need to get that bell." Sasuke nodded and Naruto walked over to Sakura. He picked her up by her shoulders, shook her gently and whispered, "Wake up Sakura. We need your help."
The bubblegum-haired girl opened her eyes slowly and saw Sasuke standing behind Naruto. "Am I dead?" she asked sleepily.
Naruto shook his head and said, "No, Sasuke's alive as well. He just got caught in one of Kakashi-sensei's traps." Sakura felt a little relieved knowing Sasuke was okay. She nodded and realized Naruto was holding her. She blushed and unconsciously snuggled a little closer. She couldn't stop herself, Naruto was simply so warm and safe. But she was shoved straight into the cruelty of reality when Naruto let her go and pulled her to her feet. That's when they heard the sound of an alarm going off. "Crap!" Naruto mumbled.
That's when Kakashi appeared, his arms crossed, and his bored expression on. "Well, it seems that you didn't pass. But I feel generous, mainly because the new Icha-icha volume came out this morning, so I'll give you a second chance. But Sakura doesn't get any food, because she didn't even try. Sasuke, Naruto, I trust you wont free her or feed her." he finished just as he was done tying up Sakura to a log. It seemed that Akyo thought of this as a good time to take a nap in the shade of a tree, a few feet from Naruto. Naruto just took the food and stayed there, looking up at the sky.
He now understood why Shikamaru spent hours looking up at the clouds, it truly was peaceful. Sakura however, was starving. She didn't have any breakfast, and would like something to eat at that time. Her stomach was growling, and she knew Naruto heard it because he kept glancing in her direction.
'I hope I'm not bothering him. I don't want him unhappy in having a weak teammate like me.' She suddenly felt something brushing her lips. She looked down and realized there was a piece of rice hovering close to her lips being held by chopsticks. She followed the sticks to a gloved hand, up a bare arm, a dark-blue sleeveless shirt, and whisker marks. "N-Naruto?" she whispered, not being able to believe Naruto was actually doing this. He wasn't that hungry, so why have Sakura starving? She looked at him a bit confused. "W-what are you doing, Naruto?"
"Eat up. You wont be of much help if you have an empty stomach."
"What about what Kakashi-sensei said about not feeding me?" she asked, not really wanting to get in trouble. Naruto shook his head and smiled warmly at her.
She was pretty sure her heart just melted the instant she saw him smile. "My team comes first, rules be damned. I'm not letting you starve just because a one-eyed scarecrow says so."
Sakura giggled a little, but opened her mouth anyway. She felt very happy Naruto decided to not let her starve. She looked over at Sasuke, who just looked at her for a second before looking away and returning to eating. As she took her first bite, she thought, 'Maybe I shouldn't be such a bitch to Naruto. Maybe he's better this way.'
As soon as she swallowed, they heard Kakashi's voice boom out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Sakura was trembling, Sasuke got into a defensive position, and Naruto didn't even react. He just stood up and looked at Kakashi as he appeared in front of them, the sky turning cloudy and thunder booming. He took out a kunai and gave them a glare. "Any last words?"
"Yeah. Screw your rules, Kakashi." Naruto said, "I wont let Sakura starve when I can do something about it. I don't care what you say or what you do to me, my teammates come first!" Naruto unsheathed Merciless and Akyo crouched down next to him, both ready to attack. Akyo almost seemed to become more larger in the shadows. In a swift spin of his sword, Naruto cut off the ropes holding Sakura. The girl wearily got up and took a defensive stance next to the blond boy, a kunai in hand. Sasuke walked over to stand beside them and took out three kunai and three shuriken, all ready to be thrown.
"Then my final verdict is..." the clouds suddenly disappeared, the thunder stopped, and Kakashi was back to his usual happy self.
"You all pass!" he said, giving them an eye-smile. Sasuke and Sakura face planted, and Naruto cocked his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Kakashi walked over to the rock that he put the boxes of food on and looked at it. Naruto walked up to stand next to him and saw it had names of many shinobi. "I didn't finish what I said earlier. True, those who abandon orders are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash. That's something I want all three of you to remember." Kakashi then turned to them and said, "Okay now, come back here tomorrow for out first mission assignment." with that, he made a peace sign and disappeared in a shunshin.
"Shadow here, I'm in point A."
"Raven here, point B."
"Blossom here, I'm in point C. Nice code names, Naruto."
"Thank you!"
"Guys, don't get distracted." Kakashi.
"Hai."
Naruto looked from the shadow his was in. "We'll capture it in 3... 2... 1... Now!"
Naruto burst from the shadows, Sasuke from the tree he was perched on, and Sakura came from the bushes. The next three minutes were filled with the screams of three genin and a fox, scratching noises, and a cat shrieking.
"Is it Tora?" Kakashi asked, flipping a page in his little orange book.
"Yeah." came Sasuke's voice, though he seemed to be panting. "Red ribbon on left ear, brown and white fur. This is Tora alright."
"Good job team." Kakashi said, putting his book away for reading later on. It had been like this for days. Team seven would go to the tower and get a D-rank mission, almost half of them being to capture Tora. The little thing simply never stayed with the Daimyo's wife. Naruto didn't blame the poor thing. Tora was once again suffocated by the Daimyo's wife's bone crushing hug when they were back in the mission room.
Naruto had enough. For what felt like the 73rd times he and his team had captured that cat, and he didn't plan on doing it again. There they were, Tora being petted by Naruto and purring in his arms. The Daimyo's wife got up and crushed the cat with one of her hugs.
Sasuke smirked, thinking the cat got what it deserved. Sakura thought, 'Poor kitty...', Naruto cringed and Akyo was thanking Kami over and over again for being with Naruto. Naruto decided the little thing needed to be better treated.
"Um, Lady Daimyo?" he said to catch the woman's attention. "I believe I should tell you something..."
So he spent about half an hour telling her that she was actually suffocating the cat with her love and taught her how to hold it right. As soon as she adjusted her hold on Tora, the cat soon started purring on no longer having to fight for air. The Daimyo's wife thanked Naruto and paid the Hokage double of what she usually paid, before exiting the room with a happy Tora.
Once she left, Naruto turned to see that everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"
So how'd it go?
Review!
I should've mentioned I wont be able to update for... days... maybe weeks...
Anyway, the reason is because my, um, 'partner' will be out for a few days. Sorry, but without her, I can't really continue.
Just bare with me, please?
'^_^"