Hello once again everyone! I won't blab on too much before I start the next chapter, but I just wanted to address issues that people have been expressing their concern about. One such concern is how Naruto is treated by the villagers.
Now, more so than anyone, I do not want my story to be cliché. If there's one thing I tend to grow dissatisfied with over the years of reading Naruto fanfiction is that many people don't try anything new. Or they stick to old standbys, also known as beating a dead horse. Hard.
I want to ensure everyone who may share concerns of my story using these old cliched story elements that everything I put into my story I have a plan for. (Most of the time anyways) This includes something like some villagers asking for a sword in the ass. Believe me when I say it will all serve a purpose that will eventually unfold. So I humbly ask for your trust and patience with me. I'm not always the sharpest kunai in the holster, but I have some tricks up my sleeve just yet.
Enjoy. (Oh and that reminds me the asterisk you'll start seeing will indicate a scene change. I thought I had put enough spaces between each scene to be an indicator but then saw apparently FanFiction isn't down with that noise and called the internet police on me. So when you see * * * * you'll know what's up.) (Okay ignore everything you just read as I'm writing this atm I'm trying to upload this chapter. ain't playing around. They ain't down the the asteriks and have decided I can just use XXXX.)
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Naruto had it all planned out. He packed enough supplies to last him over a month in a new large backpack he'd purchased along with all the survival tools he could carry. After getting permission to head out of the village for a month's training, something he had trouble convincing Sarutobi would be okay, he made sure to visit his teammates before he left.
He found, to his pleasure, that both also had plans to be training hard; not content in allowing him to show them up in the finals. Even Kurenai was planning on putting in extra training for the month, stating that seeing her students so fired up and wanting to get stronger she couldn't help but join in.
He had a bittersweet parting with Hinata, feeling upset he wasn't going to see her for a while, but he told himself that even if he wasn't planning on going out for the month he wouldn't see her much at any rate, due to how strict her training schedule was going to be.
Naruto took his time leaving the village, watching people go about their daily lives and soaking in the last bit of human interaction he would see for a while. As he walked, he couldn't help but think back to his conversation with the Hokage just earlier.
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"A month? What do you need to leave the village for so long for?" Sarutobi asked, his eyebrow arched.
Naruto bowed, keeping his tone polite – it couldn't hurt, he thought. "I need it to go do some special training outside the village."
Sarutobi frowned, starting to already make connections in his head as to what the boy meant by 'special' training. "Naruto. You wouldn't by chance be thinking of attempting to gain control of the Kyuubi would you?"
Naruto bit back a 'Geh!'and tried his best to not look like the old man had gotten one up on him. "Not to that extreme Hokage-sama, but I plan to do intense training and I don't want anyone alarmed if I accidentally use too much of my own chakra and the Kyuubi's starts leaking out." Naruto replied. It wasn't a complete lie, he was truly worried about causing too much of a panic if he did what he was intending to do at a normal training ground. He was still glad that the arena for the preliminaries was in such a secluded spot.
Sarutobi studied the boy, not buying it for a second. He leaned back into his chair, tipping his hat down over his eyes, giving himself a moment to think.
Naruto was sweating bullets as he felt more nervous than he had in a while. He needed to do this. He needed to start mastering the evil within him or risk losing control of it. And the only way he was going to do that was by using it and learning to resist the Kyuubi's influence. There had to be a way, he would make one.
Letting out a long breath, Sarutobi leaned forward , propping his elbows onto the table and interlacing his fingers. "Do you remember what I told you the day of the preliminaries, Naruto?"
Naruto nodded, "You said that you trusted me to control the Kyuubi and understand what it means to be in the position I am."
"And do you think that what you're going to attempt will fall in line with that?" Sarutobi asked, boring his gaze into Naruto. His gaze made it clear, if he detected even a hint of a lie or uncommitted response he wouldn't go.
Naruto nodded, keeping his eye contact with the Hokage. "Yes, I am."
Sarutobi sighed, seeing that Naruto meant what he said and had more than enough conviction. Breaking his eye contact from the boy and allowed a moments glance at the wall that held portraits of previous Hokages, Sarutobi couldn't help but draw certain similarities between Naruto and the Fourth.
"Very well. You have the month's leave."
"Yes! Alright! You're the best Old Man!" Naruto cheered with a large smile.
Sarutobi couldn't help but chuckle at the his old nickname that used to cause him so much grief, but that he had found himself missing after not hearing it in so long. "Just be careful Naruto."
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"Yo, Naruto!"
Naruto snapped out of his memory catching someone call his name out. Looking behind him he was surprised to see Kiba ahead of him, waving at him.
"'Sup Kiba?" Naruto greeted with a wave of his own, walking towards the Inazuka with his usual companion looking rather relaxed atop Kiba's head. Naruto felt a bit apprehensive about approaching the boy, remembering their last encounter hadn't been that pleasant, but the other boy didn't seem to be thinking of that.
"Hey, have you seen Sasuke around?" Kiba asked, his tone a bit wary, though as if he knew something.
"No, why?" Naruto replied, catching the odd tone of voice Kiba had used when asking.
Kiba looked like he was struggling with something but after clicking his teeth, Kiba held his hand out. "Before I get into that, I just wanted to apologize. I acted like a jerk a while back."
Naruto felt a bit surprised, but was glad to see Kiba wanted to bury the hatchet. With a grin, Naruto grabbed Kiba's hand and gave it a vigorous shake. "It's no problem, we're cool."
Kiba gave Naruto a smile, showing off his canines, then spoke after they had let each other go. "I was asking about Sasuke 'cause he's been acting really weird since the Forest of Death and preliminaries."
"Weird?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.
Kiba nodded, putting his hands into his jacket pockets. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to describe but he got this really weird mark from this total creep of a ninja in the Forest, and he had already been acting strange then but after he watched you take out that crazy-ass Suna-nin he's gone off the deep end with his training. Me an' Sakura tried to ask him about it but all we could really get out of him was 'he needed to get stronger than that loser,' or something like that. He's been even more withdrawn than usual too. It's got all of us worried."
Naruto couldn't help but feel a little ticked when he heard the 'loser' bit, but then reminded himself how satisfying it had been to plant Sasuke in the ground. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for him, maybe beat some sense into him next time I do." Naruto joked with a grin. Then, after a moment he added, "I appreciate the heads up and all, but why are you telling me this?"
Kiba looked a bit sheepish, looking away. "It's just that, Sasuke's our teammate and my friend, you know? I just don't want to see him get into any trouble."
Naruto studied the boy for a moment, feeling a new sense of respect for him for how much he cared about his teammate. Though he felt there was more to the situation than what Kiba let on, it wasn't any of his business. "I see."
"Alright, well just keep your eyes out yeah? Peace Naruto." Kiba added with a grin, holding his hand up.
Naruto said his farewell, giving Kiba a hearty high five and went on his own way towards the gate. Though now he was starting to worry he might of gotten a stalker of an Uchiha. It was kind of creepy to Naruto the way that Sasuke was always chasing after someone's shadow.
(HAHA. Jab at current Naruto completed.)
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After studying an area map the night before, Naruto had chosen a mountain range roughly a days travel from Konoha. Far enough away that he'd have very minimal chance of running into anyone yet close enough to return for any emergency medical treatment if he needed it.
Which is where he currently found himself, two hundred feet above the ground, free climbing up the side of the mountain as his first hard exercise of his trip. It was much more difficult than he'd anticipated, already feeling his entire body hurting like hell. It certainly didn't help any that he had a backpack full of supplies and the weights Gai had given him. Not to mention his sword which had begun to feel like a natural part of him, now felt more like a nuisance as he continued his ascent.
Finally finding a large enough cliff outcropping to be able to take a rest at, Naruto pulled himself up with a grunt and flopped onto his stomach eloquently stating "Fuck me."
Trying to get his breathing under control, he pulled himself further up and reached for his canteen to take a long drink. He hadn't taken into account how damn hot it was going to be, his gi already damp with sweat. Taking a moment to collect himself and rest, Naruto shrugged off his gear and reached down to massage his feet. He opted to go without getting new sandals quite just yet, having become enamored with the idea of toughening up his feet. He didn't enjoy the aching pain his feet were going though but did find it quite easier to grab onto the branches as he dashed through the trees, and it was much easier to climb when he could use his toes to help grasp onto ledges.
After failing to get much rest due to the lack of shade from the tyrannical sun, Naruto slung his gear back on and continued his climb upwards. He had to be very careful, always making sure he had a firm grip on a strong ledge. He had never tried to actively catch himself by sticking his feet to a surface when falling, as he'd seen some Jonin do in the past, so if he fell from this height it would be do or die horribly. Something he wasn't keen on trying.
"Damn it," Naruto wheezed out, after about thirty minutes of climbing. "Why do I have to try something like this when I could just run up the surface. But no, I have to make it difficult." He complained, knowing no one heard him.
It took another agonizingly long, hot hour, but Naruto finally made it to near the top, where he was surprised to find a rather large area of somewhat even land that contained a lake, likely a natural aquifer. Grinning, Naruto couldn't believe his luck at finding such a prime area. He was worried that he might have to make trips up and down the mountain to get water, but this solved that problem easy.
Finding a new spurt of energy, Naruto charged forward for the lake, throwing off his pack and clothes in a flash, fully intent on taking a nice long swim to cool off.
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It was late evening before Naruto had been able to fully set up camp and get everything situated. He was now sitting near the edge of the cliff finishing off a ration he had brought, staring at the amazing view he hadn't really took time to notice until now. The sky was tinted the most lavish color of orange, the few clouds that drifted lazily through the sky a deep purple. The forest below the sky was a myriad of colors ranging from the same orange as the sky to it's natural green and deep shadow that hid behind the trees. Animals could be heard, their voices drifting on the light wind that blew up the mountainside, the sounds of the forest coming alive as the animal kingdom began preparing for their own night to come. Konoha wasn't in sight of the mountain, giving Naruto the odd calming feeling of being the only person around for miles. As he settled back against a conveniently placed rock, he couldn't help but wonder if Hinata was looking at the same sky as him? As the sun continued to dip below the sky, Naruto felt this was a perfectly fine place to sleep for the night as exhaustion took it's toll on him.
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For the next few days, Naruto went into his training in earnest. His first goal was simple, it involved using shadow clones to completely exhaust himself against multiple attackers until he had to start tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra to keep fighting. He also instructed the clones to fight him with no restrictions and not use the leather sheath on the sword. He needed to fight for his life, in order to fully replicate the same conditions when the Kyuubi's chakra would hit him in real fights with actual danger.
This method was more than effective, as not only did Naruto expend a large portion of chakra just making continuous clones to fight, but every nick or wound he received was an added boost of the demon's chakra to his system as it raced to patch him up.
Taking the Hokage's words seriously, Naruto took it easy with how much he allowed to bleed into his system, stopping as soon as he felt too overwhelmed by the evil chakra or if he started to get too tired to fight off the clones and thus the Kyuubi's influence.
After completely exhausting himself, which took anywhere from six to eight hours, he would spend the rest of the day foraging for extra food or just exploring around the mountain. He also found that his increased training made him so ravenous that he was burning through his current stock faster than he thought. But the mountain was plentiful with game and berries and such, so it didn't look like he would have to call his training off earlier than expected.
And, in order to get used to his new eye, he would use take off his eyepatch after training to learn how to keep focused when having to see through two different 'lenses', as it were. He found that the thermal sight the Demon Eye granted him was rather useful for hunting. Which made him start to think of ways he could take advantage of it in a fight.
A week passed, and Naruto found he was able to not only further control himself when flooded with the demon chakra, but he started to feel it even if he was fully rested. It wasn't the same as when he exhausted his personal supply of chakra, but rather he could just sense it being there within him. After thinking it over for the night, sitting in front of his campfire, he began to wonder if he could possibly learn to draw upon the Kyuubi's chakra at will without having to exhaust his own first?
Naruto's head began to spin with theories and ideas over possible applications as he studied over various scrolls he'd brought with him on chakra control and how to improve it.
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Back in Konoha, things hadn't been going quite as nice for Hinata.
Falling to the floor of the dojo reserved for the Head of the Hyuuga clan's family, Hinata could barely move from how hard she had exerted herself, not to mention the damage she had taken from her spar with her cousin Neji.
Managing to glance up at him, she saw he wasn't in much better shape, as he had taken a knee and looked as beat up as she did. She couldn't help but smile to herself at how much progress she had made since before the start of the Chunin exams. It showed just how much her hard work had paid off, which made her drift off thinking about her blond crush.
"Hinata. Get up - now." Hiashi commanded from where he sat in a perfect seiza, staring at his daughter with cold eyes and a stern face that could have been etched from marble.
Hinata frowned as she heard the tone her father always used with her. No matter how hard she tried to please him, no matter how hard she trained it was never enough. Why? What did she have to do? The past two weeks she did nothing but train day in and day out throwing herself into it as hard as she could. As hard as she knew Naruto was at this exact moment.
Struggling, she managed to get herself onto her hands and knees, even though that was a feat in itself from how her arms shook and threatened to give out.
"Stand up Hinata. Don't you ever dare to allow yourself to be in such an undignified manner before an inferior." Hiashi spoke, his gaze never waving from his daughter.
Hinata bit her lip as she felt strange anger start to well inside her. Ever since her first real fights where she had come within an inch of dying, she started to notice that she had something she didn't have before. Confidence in herself.
Daring a disobedient glare at her father, she forced herself to one knee, imitating Neji's current stance.
This did not go unnoticed by either Hyuuga male in the room, with Hiashi's face burning red and veins starting to appear in his forehead, while Neji looked like he'd seen a ghost. Before Neji could protest or act against what Hinata was obviously suggesting with her body language, Hiashi exploded.
"How dare you!" He roared, standing a flash and marching over to Hinata. "You think to spit in the face of our family with such dishonorable behavior?!" He raised his hand as if to strike her, only to stop seeing Hinata push herself up from the floor in the Jyuken stance.
"Y-you. . . you dare to. . ." Hiashi started, lowering his hand, his emotion unreadable as he lowered his hand.
Taking the initiative at his state, Hinata spoke up, holding her ground and staring directly into his cold unforgiving eyes. "It is you spit on our family father! There is nothing inferior about the Branch family in comparison to ours! Nothing! We are all Hyuuga!"
Hiashi moved faster than Hinata could blink. In an instant, Hinata felt her world explode as Hiashi hit her with such force directly in her sternum that she went flying back over ten feet, hitting the dojo floor hard and slamming into the wall. She was knocked out before she had even hit the ground.
"Hinata-sama!" Neji had roared out as he watched the poor girl receive the entire brunt of her father's wrath. He felt as though his heart was crushed in a vice seeing the terrible blow. He had hated Hinata, wanting nothing more than to see this, to see her suffer as he had suffered for being born under the wrong fate. But that was before the Forest of Death. Before he heard her heart felt plea for nothing more than to be real family to each other. And now, now she stood up to her father; not in defense of herself but in defense of the Branch family – and paid the price.
Neji clenched his fists, so hard that his knuckles turned white under the bandages and he punctured his palm with his nails causing blood to slowly stain his bandages. He wanted to obliterate his uncle for what he just did.
Hiashi, sensing Neji's anger gave him a cool glance. "I believe you are no longer needed here."
Neji lowered his head, not because he was giving Hiashi the respect a clan head would normally receive, but to hide his rage and bleeding gums from how hard he clenched his teeth. He wanted to jump up, to do as Hinata did, but the Caged Bird Seal etched into his mind would allow Hiashi to kill him instantly if he tried. Standing, keeping his head down, he walked out of the dojo feeling as though he was betraying the girl who had shown him such kindness.
After seeing Neji out of sight, Hiashi called out to a servant he knew would be waiting just outside the door. A female branch member entered the dojo formally, bowing to Hiashi, waiting until he spoke before she raised her head.
"Take this worthless daughter of mine and lock her in her room. She will be going without dinner this evening." Hiashi commanded.
"Yes my lord." She replied raising her head, making sure not to make eye contact with Hiashi, and hurried over to Hinata whom she scooped up into her arms gently.
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Another week had passed. Another week of some of the most brutal training that Naruto had ever put himself through. But it had been more than worth it. The youth currently was on all fours at the rivers edge, breathing heavily with the largest smile on his face. He'd finally mastered water walking.
In the scrolls and various other texts he had brought with him, they all suggested water walking for the next step in learning proper chakra control. Though he had learned how to do it correctly within only two days, Naruto spent the next five perfecting it to the point where he could use either the demonic chakra or his own to walk on the water's surface. He'd also learned to just take his gi off as it was rather annoying having to constantly dry it off from the amount of times he fell in.
This was the exact building block he needed in order to attempt the next step in his plans that he had concocted the week before. After catching his breath and focusing on his inner being, he felt confident he could attempt to test his theory. Could he preform a jutsu with demonic chakra? And if so what effect would it have?
Holding perfectly still, searching deep within as he had when using his demon chakra to preform the water walking technique, he felt the familiar sensation of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was a dark, rage filled essence that scared him before. Now he knew that he could control it.
Opening his eyes, Naruto threw up his hands and preformed a rapid series of seals for the Fireball jutsu. Feeling the surge of chakra fill his lungs, he suppressed a smile as he felt which kind it was. He put his fingers to his lips and released the jutsu.
What emerged was not what he was expecting. Instead of the normal fire colored inferno that flew from his mouth, this one was almost pure black, with the very edges of the fire colored a dark red. Not only that, but the heat from the flames was far more intense than anything Naruto had ever felt before. He quickly ended the jutsu, and looked down at the lake seeing it was steaming.
Staring into the now cooling lake, Naruto couldn't help but feel pleased with himself. Making sure to check himself, he was relieved to find that using a jutsu with the demonic chakra had little more strain than normal, though he would have to work on it for a while to increase how much he could take at anyone one time.
"Kekeke. . ." Naurto giggled to himself as he almost skipped back to his tent. "Just wait 'till Hinata-chan gets a load off all the new jutsu I'm gonna come back with!"
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The Hyuuga Compound had been on edge for a while now, as there was obvious infighting within the Main House, specifically between the current Head and the Princess of the Hyuuga Clan. Not fighting in the literal sense, but it was easily felt whenever the two of them were in the same room. Since Hinata had stood up to her father in the dojo, she refused to back down, even at the threat of violence or worse.
Hiashi was beside himself with rage at the entire situation. No matter what he did, she would not stop looking at him with such convicted defiance. If he trained her to the point where she could no longer walk, she would refuse to let go of her defiant glare until she passed out. No matter how many times he reminded her of the proper tradition, she would only reiterate the ridiculous notion that the Hyuuga were somehow equal; regardless of birth.
What has happened to her? Hiashi found himself thinking constantly. How he had longed for her to become strong. And she has shown much improvement since graduating from the academy. This much he would admit. But, these ideas she grew within her head about the two houses being equal drove him insane.
There was a Main House and a Branch House for a reason. It was how things have been and how they shall stay.
Slamming his fist onto his desk in his study, Hiashi could find no answer about what to do about Hinata. Looking over, he glanced at one of the only pictures he had of his late wife. Picking up the frame, he ran his thumb gently along the wooden frame holding the picture.
Frowning, he placed the picture back down. He would not look to the dead for answers on what to do now. He was the clan head of the Hyuuga. And his word was law. If she would continue down this path of foolishness, he would do what would be necessary for the continued survival of the Hyuuga.
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Shino had been doing 'training' of his own since he'd last seen Naruto weeks before. Though, instead of actual training Shino had been doing more of remaining as calm and relaxed as he could. He had asked his father, Shibi Aburame, to allow him access to the next 'tier'. The Aburame Clan had a very structured clan life, much as they themselves did. In accordance with that, so did the way that the Aburame allowed access to new hives of insects.
It had taken some convincing, but Shino had managed to get his father to concede to his wishes and allow him to begin accepting a new species of insect into his body. Even for an Aburame, with their current symbiosis with the various insects was dangerous under the best circumstances. If the Aburame did not maintain perfect control over their selves, anything could set off the insects while they began their initiation into their new host.
And further still was the chance of the two species of insects taking offense to each other residing within the same host. While this was a slim chance, as the Aburame raised the various species of insects to co-exist, a possibility remained.
Thus, Shino spent his days within the Aburame Clan's garden, sitting within and keeping a close eye on how his new hive of insects were settling in lest they devour him from within.
"I've noticed you've been rather bold lately with many things son."
Shino looked over from the bench he had been claiming as his own for the past few weeks, reacting to the voice of his father whom had come to sit with him.
Shino nodded slowly, adding in "I assume you mean my walking around the village with my coat unzipped?"
"Among other things, yes." Shibi replied. "Not that I consider it a bad thing, just surprised is all."
"You can blame Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga for that." Shino said, cutting to the chase with a smile.
"Oh?"
Shino nodded. The Aburame were also adept at the art of conversing without words. As such simple phrases or body motions could speak more than words could in a converstation between clan members.
"They taught me I don't have to hide who I am because it could upset others. I am an Aburame. And I am proud for it."
Shibi looked over at his son, his eyebrows raised. He hadn't expected such a passionate response from his son. After thinking for a moment, Shibi responded, "You should invite them over sometime, I would like to meet your teammates, especially now that I know they're the cause behind you becoming so confident lately. It's good to see son."
Shino smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed about the praise his father gave him. Then, with a smirk he added. "I think that can be arranged, but if we do I have a small request to make."
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PHEW. Man. That was fun. I really do miss this.
As a closing tidbit I want to reiterate that I am being very careful about how I fuck with certain story elements to make them my own. If you have concerns about certain things, like say how the current mood in the Hyuuga household is akin to Jerry Springer, know that I have plans and they will (read: should) make sense in the end.
Or that Naruto is currently meddling with fire right now (hehe pun) and could VERY easily get burned.
I know I'm insane but you just gotta have faith I'm not 12 and listening to linkin park when I write this.
I've also been doing some research on the Aburame's too and damn Kishi. Don't even give any love to the bug brutha's. I see how it is.
And shit, there's not a damn lick of info on Hinata's mother beyond A) she's dead and B) Bears a strong resemblance to Hinata. If it ain't an Uchiha Kishi apparently didn't find it imperative to make lore for it. THANKS FOR THAT BRO.
Oh man though. These next few chapters are gonna be fun as hell. Chunin finals are coming up soon and I can REALLY get this baby moving. I have been waiting for this for sooo long.
Predictions are fun too btw. Can my readers guess who's gonna get to smash who's face in during the finals?
See ya next time dudes.
Shinobi no Ryu