Naruto looked at the old man in front of him as a hundred blonds went through various exercises. "What next?" was his emotionless query. Danzo looked at him, judging him.
"We shall work on your secondary element before we talk about summons. You have advanced faster on your primary element faster than anyone I have ever seen, and though you haven't completed the third exercise yet, you are close to completing it. Now, you will be either a fire or a wind element, by the elemental chart. Here." The man handed Naruto a piece of chakra paper.
He looked at it, separating his earth chakra from the rest of his chakra as he channeled it into the paper. It lit up like the conflagration from earlier, burning an angry crimson and hot enough to burn his hand, almost causing him to drop it.
"Stop channeling chakra!" Danzo ordered tersely, sounding more strained than Naruto had thought possible. Naruto did so, but not quickly enough to avoid charring his own skin. Danzo looked incredulously at Naruto as he thought over the powerful flames.
'This must be the Kyuubi's influence. It was well known for mastery over fire, and then there's that unique crimson color, the color of its chakra. Perhaps he will show great skill with fire along with earth.'
"Alright Naruto, you have an incredibly powerful fire affinity. As powerful as your earth affinity is, actually, so I expect to see results. Now we only have a week and a half, so the two hundred clones you will make in a moment will be working on those while I teach you how to use fire." Danzo paused for a moment, giving the boy time to make the clones and send the off to perform the exercises.
"Now, Fire." Danzo's eyes took on a passionate light, something Naruto had only seen when he was talking about Root, Konoha, or his element of Wind.
"The element of fire is the most common element used for jutsu in the Elemental Nations, and is most common in our land of Hi no Kuni, the land of fire. As I am reasonably sure you know, fire is used to burn. Nearly every jutsu that uses fire is used to burn the enemy to ashes.
Fire is the most passionate element, and like lighting, cannot be controlled. It can be predicted, countered, stopped, but it cannot be tamed." Danzo's voice was soft, as if talking about a lover. Naruto was surprised that the apparently controlled man was a pyromaniac. 'Everyone has their quirks.' The man continued to wax elegantly about fire, but managed to impress that even training with it could kill you. His final words were ever so helpful, in his own training style.
"Once you have mastered the first two exercises, you shall fight your clones using only fire manipulation and techniques. Only then will you see just how fire should be used."
Despite his mental sarcasm towards the elder man, he raised a valid point. Only through learning to use the element would he be able to figure out the various ways to manipulate it. Despite his limited experience in the matter, he was well aware that elemental manipulation was different for every person that used it.
He had met fellow earth users in Root, and he had been surprised that, despite the fact that they had mastered the first two exercises, they were unable to do the things he could do with earth chakra. Of course, they could do other things, like manipulate the battlefield to a certain extent, or create earth walls at a moment's notice without having to use a jutsu for either thing, but he believed that he got the better deal. Danzo caught his attention again.
"Now, while your clones are working on the various things you need to have, time for another history lesson. You need to know these things, as the Academy fails to enlighten the students properly."
Naruto took a moment to observe the older man, noting that despite his emotionless exterior, the man had a passion in his voice, and that exterior never lasted when he was teaching.
"Today we shall start with the council." Naruto was unable to help the flash of irritation that crossed his eyes, and Danzo nodded in understanding.
"Yes, now they are near useless, but they were not always so.
When the Shodaime first formed this village, the council was made up of an even number of retired shinobi and influential civilians, designed to form a check on the Hokage's power. While the Kage had ultimate power in times of war, and most of the power in times of peace, the council could check the peace time activities with a three/fourths majority.
The council also served to help the Kage in the day-to-day management of the village. In order to ensure that the Kage could focus on the important things, each and every member of the council had a sector of the shinobi or civilian parts of the village to manage. Eventually, these became the clan territories and wealthy mercantile areas.
This status quo remained effective and efficient until the second reign of the Saindame." The older man's tone took a sadder aspect, the voice of a man who watched something he loved and had devoted his life to fall to ashes, despite every effort to the contrary.
"To this day I remain unsure as to how it happened. It started simply enough, with both the civilians and the shinobi requesting more power to deal with the after affects of the Kyuubi attack. Seeing as it was necessary, the Third granted it.
However, the damage proved to be a bit more extensive than anyone had initially thought, and even more power was delegated to the council to compensate." Danzo sighed, this memory seeming a bit more painful for him than the others.
"Unfortunately, it was proven once again that when humans gain a taste of power, they would rather do anything than give it up. Through rather talented manipulation, the civilian council set it up to their current level of power, where it takes the Hokage, the elders, and the shinobi council all working together, which is near impossible mind you, to overrule them."
Naruto absorbed this, understanding how it had happened. He could see it after all. A few individuals liking the increased power, and they convinced others. Seeing as it was unexpected, they were able to set it up so that by the time anyone realized the problem, it was already too late.
Naruto grew somewhat confused when Danzo let out an honest, mirthful chuckle, even if there was a tone of bitterness to it.
"That was a full generation of council members ago though. This one seems to prefer laziness, using harrying tactics and screeching fits rather than the power their predecessors worked so hard to gain. It's somewhat ironic, that those people worked their asses off for power; got it just in time to leave office, and then the new council members were too complacent to actually put effort into expanding their power even further, or even attempting to understand the level of their power.
Currently, the entire village is stagnating, the academy standards have fallen, and we are weakening. I will not say that this is any particular groups fault, but the fact remains that this only began to happen when the newest council took power."
Danzo sighed in sadness again, before lightly shaking his head and returning to the standard emotionless appearance. Noticing the return to the present, Naruto focused again on the elder man.
"Now for your summons." A slight smirk played across his face. "With your fire affinity, they shall be incredibly helpful in collaboration jutsu, provided you sign the contract of course." Naruto shook his head now, wondering if every shinobi he met was going to have a quirk that was completely opposite of their personality.
"The hawks have never really been fighters, as they form more of a supporting force for those that use them. Now that I think about it, the Hawks have never really had a skilled summoner either, so no one really knows what the hawks are capable of." Naruto rubbed his shoulder where the beak of the hawk had hit him. 'They do make good support. I was unable to sense the creature, despite it being right there.' Naruto knew how many potential stealth attacks could happen with the hawks.
"Unfortunately, the only to be sure if the Hawks are right for you is to summon them and see what they can offer you. Fortunately, a ninja can sign more than one contract, and can even destroy the tie with one summoning clan if both sides are willing. You should do that soon, as learning how to fight with the various members will take a while." Naruto nodded his agreement, and decided to summon them once Danzo left and he could be sure that there were no Root members watching them. It would not do to have one person knowing all of his skills.
Danzo remained for several hours; giving tips and helping Naruto develop new ways to use both of his elements, both sides having decided to forgo the new weapon for the moment.
~Break~
'He's finally gone. Now I can summon a hawk.' Naruto unrolled the scroll, noticing nothing but black names. Even the most recent summoner's name was black, and according the ever-so-helpful key at the very top, black meant that either the summoner was dead, or had broken the contract with the clan. Naruto took a moment to wonder just why that was there, but shrugged and continued on, nicking his thumb deeply with a kunai so as to provide enough blood to sign the scroll with only one injury, rather than nicking his thumb on a canine and having to repeat the process several times.
Uzumaki Naruto
He looked at his signature for a moment before channeling normal chakra and going through the hand seals, channeling as much as he could.
Naruto lightly pressed his hand to the ground, a large poof of smoke appearing before dispersing to reveal the hawk. The creature was standard for its species, if about seven times larger, with light brown plumage and golden eyes. Those eyes reminded him of his own version of the 'eagle eyes' and he wondered if the feeling he was getting was how they felt.
"Who are you?" it asked voice raspy and old. Naruto inclined his head in an introductory nod before speaking.
"I am the newest person to sign the contract, Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?" The hawk observed him for several moments before answering.
"I am the hawk sage, the strongest hawk summon out of us all. Name's Takakaze, but call me Kaze. Nice to meet the first decent summoner in centuries." Naruto cocked his head, curious as to how he came to that judgment. The old hawk seemed to smirk at him.
"You managed to summon me boy. Usually that's not possibly until you accessed at least part of hawk sage mode, and that's not possibly until you've trained in it." The raspy voice was now clearing up, but remained slow and strong. "Of course you'll be a good summoner. Now, I need to know just how you managed to summon me boy. And do not say 'I channeled a bunch of chakra' either, or I'll peck your eyes out. Something about you calls out to the sky, and you will tell me what it is." The old hawk's eyes were sharp and piercing, demanding honesty and obedience.
Naruto had already had enough of that, something inside him snapping free and rising to the challenge.
Killing intent flooded the room as Naruto's eyes flashed gold and crimson, before settling on gold with a crimson pupil. The old hawks eyes widened in shock and happiness, before talking, his voice laced with excitement.
"You have the will to fly boy, and fly free while you're at it. Oh, I look forward to seeing someone trying to control you!" The elderly creature actually did a little shuffle in glee, Naruto's confusion causing the killing intent and the crimson part of his eyes to disappear, the gold remaining.
"You are destined to be the sage of the sky, but we shall have to fix that emotionless outlook, yes. Now, to business." The hawk immediately grew serious, making Naruto quite sure that the "will to fly" was not just flying literally.
"You are exhibiting something that has not happened since the onset of the summons, the 'look of eagles', more commonly known as the 'hawk eye'. I still don't know why they called something after the hawks when it was originally eagles, but there you go. It would be what you all call a dojutsu, and the only other way to manifest it is to achieve sage mode." Naruto was now getting slightly irritated at how every time he got an explanation, it brought up more questions. Seeing this, the hawk continued, somewhat hastily.
"First, sage mode is where a human uses the energy of the earth, you call it chakra, to gain immense speed and strength, or perhaps other benefits, and it also allows jutsu to become a great deal more powerful. Normally, the sage mode depends on the summons you have, such as in the case of toads you gain the eyes of a toad, not much benefit there. Our sage mode however is quite different.
First, the human cannot have a wind chakra nature. Any other chakra nature is fine, but having wind in your blood will conflict with the energies we use. Fortunately, you have…" The hawk paused, seeming to stare right through him. "Earth, Fire, and a touch of water in you. Odd that you have three elements of the cycle, but whatever works. This will allow you to begin working on sage mode, once you have mastered the other things.
Second, the human has to have the will of a warrior, which we call the will to fly. This manifests in one of two ways, the first and less common being the "look of eagles", which you have, and typically manifests the first time your life is in danger. In you I sense it manifested…approximately five minutes after birth, then again an hour later. What were you doing then, boy? The other is a great deal more painful to gain, as they must have had an incredibly hard life, to the point that lesser men or women would shatter if they attempted to deal with it. Only then can someone truly understand what it means to fight against the odds."
'Well, that's ironic isn't it?' Came a slightly bitter thought from Naruto before Kamikaze continued.
"Our sage mode is called, ever so originally, 'Sky Sage Mode.' I, personally, prefer the term 'Wind Sage mode,' because of just what happens when you become a sage. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you these effects, because one has to learn for themselves in order to become a sage, but rest assured that it is power beyond your wildest dreams, unlike that damn incomplete toad sage mode."
Kaze seemed to want to rant for a few minutes on the problems of the toad sage mode while boosting his own sage mode, but a slight glare from Naruto brought him back on topic.
"Sorry, I don't like the toads. It's nothing against them really, but the fact that they have a nasty habit of allowing the worst perverts, slackers, and oath breakers to summon them, despite our warnings.
Back to the point, what I can tell you about wind sage mode is finished, but I can tell you more about the process you take to get there, as well as about hawks in general."
Naruto, despite his efforts to the contrary, was beginning to like the old hawk. His way of speaking seemed designed to throw you off, but there was a look in his eye that made sure that Naruto stayed on guard. It seemed as though there were more to the hawks then meets the eyes.
"Alright, the hawks are not frontline fighters. We are the support, allowing you to fly on our backs and use incredibly powerful collaboration techniques. Despite this, we can hold our own against other summons, and given the chance to surprise an opponent we can end the fight for you in a heartbeat. Our sensitive hearing and, if you don't mind me bragging a little, incredible sight puts us a cut above most other trackers, as even in a forest we can find all but the most elusive prey.
We can work in any element, and any terrain as well provided there is room to fly, allowing us more versatility than most summons. We can send messages faster than other summons, scan battlefields, and we make great spies. There is no area of the elemental nations that does not have some kind of hawk, and you humans never seem to look for animals when you look for intruders.
Finally, one or two of the larger hawks typically have mastery over 'army killing' jutsu, and if you set fire to the hurricanes they can cause, well, let's just say that your opponent is screwed.
Where our skills truly lie, however, is in teaching our summoner to use techniques, especially in kenjutsu. We are the only summons that can teach you to embrace your emotions and control them that way, rather than suppress them as you have done. In your case, you still feel them, and it can easily destroy your concentration. In our case, any and every emotion will flow through you, enhancing your skill and not causing any deficit to your fighting, regardless as to what emotion it is.
Next, we can teach you to embrace the spirits of the animals." Naruto looked incredulously at Kaze, who hopped nervously.
"It's true! We learned that from the wolves, thank you very much. Using kenjutsu, we cam teach you to channel certain skills of animals for techniques, allowing a great deal strength and skill to be added to your kenjutsu techniques. We also teach you several new styles, but I don't think those will work for you unless you master our sage mode.
Beyond that, we can teach you to hide your presence perfectly. As you can probably tell, you cannot sense me. This is a universal skill for hawks, and we can easily teach you it.
Next, we have a multitude of speed techniques, allowing you to gain all the speed of a striking hawk, and beyond. We can easily make you invisible to all but the fastest, though it will take a lot of effort to attain.
Hmmm…next we can teach you to fly, in a manner of speaking." Now Naruto was getting more then a little skeptical. If the hawks had so much to teach, how come they were considered one of the weaker summons?
"Using the moon walk technique, you will be able to run across the air as you do the ground. Actually, I suggest you learn this first, because despite the amount of chakra it takes, it makes a great control exercise. A word of warning though, most of the things you will learn will not be available to you for some time.
Unless I'm forgetting something, that's about it, other than sage mode. Now, first and foremost, while you can learn everything we have to teach you in a short time, except sage mode, it will take you years of effort to master. Actually, I think that that's why no one ever masters what we have; only using us in battle. They are too lazy to put the effort into it."
'Years to master? Well, that's why I have shadow clones isn't it? If I am to survive this…Akatsuki Danzo told me about, I need all the power I can get, and soon.' Naruto thought.
The bird sighed, happy that its long monologue was finally over. Naruto, however, was now on a technique trip in his mind, already having ideas as to how to use hawks in battle, including new versions of the summoning techniques.
"Oh, yes, I did forget something." Naruto looked curiously at him.
"We also teach you katas for using an old assassination weapon, the hidden blade. (Assassins creed) Despite its size, the thing is dipped in a poison we make that insures even the smallest cut is fatal. Naturally, we shall make you immune to this." Naruto waited for a moment, just in case he had forgotten anything else. It was a good thing too.
"Of course, you will have to come to the mountain to learn all of this, but I'm sure you will find the time." This gave Naruto an idea, and he voiced it.
"How many can you take to the mountain?" The hawk looked at him; eyes alit with a mischievous twinkle. "Your talking about those marvelous shadow clones right? As many as you can summon." A feral grin stretched across Naruto's face as he made new clones.
"Oh my, that's quite a few!"
~Break~
Four and a half months of torture had passed, and Naruto had surpassed all of Danzo's expectations. Hatake would prove to be unable to beat Naruto now. Danzo himself would have trouble with taking on the boy, but despite all his skill, anyone with many years' worth of experience would be able to take him down.
Or so Danzo thought.
The chunin exams were coming up, and Danzo knew that Naruto would prove to be the best shinobi there, and bring many clients to the village.
Danzo watched with no small amount of pride as Naruto finished off his four elites, forcing each to surrender before sheathing his ninjato. The blond approached him, new scars standing out on his face, showing just how intense the training was.
"Show them what you can do, my son." A malicious smile, reminiscent of a predator facing a particularly succulent morsel of prey, lit across the blonds face, vulpine features giving way to the flash of golden eyes.
"Of course, Danzo-Tousan."
AN: Now, just a word of warning, Naruto will be incredibly strong, thanks both to Danzo's tutoring and the Hawks. However, he still would be unable to beat an Akatsuki member in a fight, despite giving them a run for their money in one. Danzo has also been a great deal of influence on Naruto, and it will be shown just how much the two have grown to trust each other in flashbacks.
Now, grad projects done, school is easier, and I will be able to write more. Please give me any advice or criticism you happen to have. Oh, can someone translate the "look of eagles, hawk eye, wind sage mode, and sky sage mode" into Japanese for me?