Okay, so I hope you all liked the previous chapter. Well I don't want to hold anyone up so I'll just move right onto the next one!
Review please! I don't own Naruto, (psh I wish)
XXX Chapter 2 XXX
The trip back to Konoha from their mission was rather tame compared to what the team had already experienced over the last month. Without a civilian to escort somewhere they were able to move a lot faster, however Sakura was having problems keeping up with the quick pace that Kakashi had set. They ended up having to slow down frequently for her, which slowly was getting on everyone's nerves. Sasuke had spent most of the trip just glaring at Naruto, as if he was trying to burn a whole in the back of his head, while Sakura fawned over him. Sakura and Sasuke were even more upset at Naruto after they found out he was thinking of wearing part of Haku's mask during the missions.
Kakashi for the most part had to keep his own team from fighting each other, which Sasuke had attempted on numerous occasions only to be scolded by Kakashi for attempting it. As a result Naruto spent most of his time away from the two other genin and ran alongside Koko for the most part, training at night with her and Kubikiribocho during the evenings; and since he wasn't sleeping all that well as his nights were slowly being plagued by nightmares.
At the moment Naruto was taking a break from training with his blade when Koko asked to speak with him away from the others.
"Naruto-kun, it isn't my place, but something has me worried about you." Koko told Naruto, concern lacing into her voice.
"What is it Koko-can? You know you can tell me anything." Naruto told her, wondering what could have the Kitsune worried.
"I know you aren't sleeping, it's clearly evident on your face with the bags under your eyes. I can tell you left something out when you talked with Kakashi-san that bothered you." Koko said, getting a surprised reaction from Naruto.
"I… It's just, I don't want to worry anyone. I thought I could deal with it myself, you know cope with it on my own, but it seems I can't. Every time I sleep I just see… What I did." Naruto said is a soft whisper, ashamed and hoping that she wouldn't leave him after she found out what he had done.
"Just tell me what happened, Naruto-kun." Koko said, sitting down in front of her companion making sure he knew he had her undivided attention.
"On… on the bridge the Kyubi influenced my emotions. There were so many thugs there. I… kami, I killed so many of them. I slaughtered almost everyone, and worst yet I… I enjoyed it." Naruto explained, sitting down and hugging his legs to his chest waiting for Koko to hate him.
"Oh Naruto-kun, you poor thing," Koko said quickly pushing herself in between his knees and chest, "It isn't your fault. All foxes know of the blood lust of Kyubi and how it can affect anyone. Do you want me to sleep by you when you sleep? It might help keep the nightmares away." Koko offered to the fragile boy.
Naruto looked at the Kitsune with a tear forming in his right eye, "… Thank you Koko-chan." A smile ghosting over his face as he pulled her into his arms.
Koko could tell that her companion was very vulnerable right now, it being his first time he'd taken a life and all, unfortunately she didn't know how to help except be there for him.
As the genin squad continued toward home, whenever they stopped to rest Koko could be seen with Naruto. Her very presence seemed to calm him down a bit and the haunted look didn't seem to be there, or at least not as obvious. During the rest of the trip Naruto and Koko pretty much stayed to themselves, waiting for everyone to leave and do their own thing before he would pull out one of the scrolls and begin memorizing, or would grab a leaf and being elemental manipulation training with water. He had read it in the first scroll he had finished and he wanted to try it out.
It was odd for Naruto, he never really liked reading, but now it gave his mind something else to do. His nightmares seemed to kept at bay with the words, and he vowed to start reading more.
When they were within half a day of Konoha, Kakashi finally told them all to pick up the pace so they could get back and make their report. Within a few hours of traveling at top speed, they made it back.
"Halt!" One of the guards at the gate said.
Kakashi stepped in front of the squad, "Team Seven, consisting of Hatake Kakashi as jōnin sensei and genin Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto returning from C Rank mission." He said.
The guard grabbed a clipboard and after scanning it for a few seconds gave a nod, "Alright your clear to go on in and make your report to the Hokage right away, as soon as we see all of your identification." The guard said.
Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke had no problem producing the information that was asked. Naruto however did not look like his id, and the guard didn't like the idea of letting a fox into Konoha either.
"You are not Uzumaki Naruto, and I don't know what you're trying to play at by bringing that into Konoha. Have you no respect?" demanded the first guard. He had hated the demon brat for what it had done to Konoha as well as his family. He thought the brat found another fox demon to help destroy Konoha.
Naruto having expected something like this, wasn't angry at the insult thrown at him. He had been far too used to the blind hatred of the village. But he was seething mad that they would take their hatred for him out on an innocent, like Koko.
Naruto having enough did something Kakashi was surprised at. He stood up for himself. "I am indeed Uzumaki Naruto. During the mission I activated a loodline that changed me physically. Also I would appreciate it if you were not hostile towards my companion." Naruto said, his tone calm and even, though underlined with defiance. Koko, during the trip, had been working on him keeping himself level headed like she had seen Haku do many times.
"Why you brat…" The Chūnin growled out as he made a threatening step forward. Kakashi seeing this moved in and gave his own glare that everyone knew would mean trouble. When he spoke he began to try to defuse the situation, but didn't let go of his stance.
"My student is correct. We will be heading to the Hokage to give an immediate report on our mission as well as update Naruto's identification. I will also be reporting this incident to the Hokage as well." Kakashi finished. He somehow managed to say the statement with a lazy tone that was also filled with venom at the same time. He refused to allow one of his students to be harassed in such a way on his watch.
The guards, having no choice now, were forced to let them in. The last thing they wanted was the Hokage coming down on their heads for this incident if it went any worse.
Team Seven traveled by the rooftops of the buildings to avoid any civilians for Naruto and Koko's sake, who was currently riding on the icy blue haired teen's shoulder. In a few minutes they were in the Hokage Tower. The Hokage was obviously expecting them as they were seen right in without even asking.
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If the Hokage was surprised at Naruto's new looks, then he hid it very well.
"Welcome back Team Seven. I assume your mission proved to be… interesting?" The Sandaime asked.
Kakashi stepped forward to give his mission report. He a few details though, such as Naruto's use of the Kyūbi's chakra and his slaughtering of the thugs. The Hokage dismissed Sakura and Sasuke, telling them to come pick up their payment the next day, keeping Kakashi, Naruto, and Koko who was now sitting at attention by the teens feet.
After the door closed behind the two departing teens, the aged Kage turned his ever wise gaze on the jōnin, "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what happened on that bridge?" The Hokage asked, after he quickly activated his own privacy barrier. He was expecting a lot more than what Kakashi had first given him.
Naruto stepped up this time and explained his meeting with the Kyūbi, his new bloodline, obtaining Zabuza's sword and ending with the meeting of Koko. The Hokage was worried about the fox gaining control over Naruto so he asked to see the seal so he could inspect it.
After a quick inspection, and finding the seal to be perfectly intact, Hiruzen took his seat once more. "Well, that is quiet the tale. Obviously these details will be an S-class secret that shall never be spoken to anyone other than the Hokage themselves, understand?" Hiruzen said, his tone brokering no arguments and gaining swift head nods even from the fox. "As for your friend here, I will go ahead and register her as an animal companion similar to the dogs of the Inuzuka. I have a spare hitai-ate for her to wear if she'd life. Hopefully seeing that she is a registered companion will stop any hostilities towards her, but still do be careful. Naruto I need you to come back tomorrow so we can update your registration. Also you will need to stop by the animal hospital near the Inuzuka compound today, Koko here will need to have a full medical exam before she can be officially registered. Dismissed." The Hokage ordered, although he was still concerned for Naruto. He always had thought of Naruto as his grandson, blood be damned.
Naruto and Kakashi bowed in respect and turned and left the office. Once outside, he kneeled down and tied the black banded hitai-ate around Koko's neck and both quickly went off to complete the many tasks they had before tomorrow.
The first of these tasks was to find new clothes. He was still wearing the shredded remnants of his old clothes since he couldn't find any others that fit at all, and his skills at repairing clothes went about as far as just minor tears.
The second was to find someone who could actually teach him Kenjutsu. He might have scrolls on the style, but without someone to help correct his forms, or offer advise it would be difficult to learn. That and he didn't know anything about Kenjutsu. He also hoped to find any book on seals that he could get his hands on. He still had the Kubikiribōchō in a storage scroll that Kakashi had let him borrow, but he knew he would have to learn how to do his own seals.
Then the final thing was a veterinarian trip for Koko and then food for the both of them. Yep lots to do.
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Having taken the roof with Koko, the two companions made their way to the shopping district of Konoha. Here Naruto's ears seemed to hurt a little from all the noise, but he just tuned it all out and focusing on his task.
Having gotten to the store he wanted, he motioned for Koko to stay on the roof and out of sight for a bit. The jinchūriki felt bad about leaving her there, but he just didn't have the time to be kicked out of the shop. Taking advantage of his new appearance, and hoping word hadn't gotten around about it, he walked right into the shop after coming up his whisker marks. He was immediately greeted by the owner in a cheerful fashion, which was a major change of pace. Had he been recognized he would have either been assaulted or just thrown out.
"Hey there," Naruto spoke to the shop keeper, "I just returned from a mission and my clothes were pretty much destroyed. Could you help me find clothes in my size?" Naruto asked.
"Absolutely sir! Please, right this way," The portly man said, glad to have a new customer in his shop.
The blue-haired boy browsed through the various clothing racks. He figured since he now had a new look, he should also have a new wardrobe to go with it.
The first thing he picked out were several sleeveless fishnet undershirts. To go with those he found a dark blue sleeveless vest, with a white fur collar around the neck. The pockets of the vest would be useful to carry the scrolls he planned on learning to make. For the pants he found some black cargo pants, made of a durable fabric. With all of that and black shinobi sandals, he was set. He already had some training clothes, so he picked up some white tape for wrappings, and two white weapon pouches to replace his old ones.
Walking up to the counter he quickly paid for everything and sealed it away within the scroll that held his sword. Now all he needed was weapons to fill them.
Leaving the store to a happy shop keeper, Naruto made his way next door to a weapon shop he was familiar with. Normally this show would only sell him blunt kunai and shuriken at ridiculously high prices. Putting his new look to work, he grabbed a couple of sets of high quality kunai, shuriken. The thing he grabbed the most of though were senbon. He was hoping he could learn to wield them with the aim that Haku had, and if he studied anatomy like Haku had as well he hoped he'd be able to disable an opponent with ease. All he would need was practice.
After paying normal prices, which brightened up Naruto's mood considerably, he quickly left the shop and hopped back up to the roofs to Koko. Quickly getting his companion the two moved quickly to his apartment to drop all of his stuff off.
Luck was on Naruto's side. He was worried that the villagers might have destroyed his place, but nothing was amiss. There was only a little extra graffiti and a broken window, which he had become accustomed to.
Koko was beyond disgusted with what was in front of her. This was how Naruto lived and was treated in the village? So far he had shown himself to be one of the nicest and most compassionate people she had ever met. He was her companion, he showed her and treated her with respect she had not seen, and she knew she could trust him to protect her life just as she would his.
Naruto opened the door, and Koko was decently surprised to see it was an almost spotless apartment. Everything seemed to be tidy, and while the furniture looked rather worn it was also very well taken care of. Koko jumped up on the bed and started to take a nap as Naruto put everything away and went to take a shower.
The boy enjoyed his moments of relaxation in the shower. The warm water had a way of making all of the horrible things of the village just wash away. Naruto stood in the shower, contemplating how his life would change from then on until he came to the realization that it was a waste of time. He would make his life to be whatever he wanted. It was how he had lived and he wouldn't change that.
Hopping out of the shower, he dried himself off and changed his clothes before getting Koko and heading to out the door.
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Naruto was running along the rooftops, his image completely renewed. He looked like a true shinobi now. He had wrapped tape around his ankles to keep the flapping of his cargo pants to a minimum, as well as around his stomach to hide the seal in case it ever showed itself again. Over the tape he wore the fishnet undershirt and his blue vest. Attacked to each thigh was one of his knew weapon pouches, the left filled with senbon and the right his kunai and shuriken. In one of the pockets on his vest was the scroll containing just his sword now, as he had left everything back at his apartment. His hitai-ate was tied loosely around his neck, much like Koko's was. On his face was what remained of Haku's mask, his icy blue spiked bangs falling slightly forward under their own weight.
Naruto was currently headed towards the training grounds where he knew he would find who he was looking for. Pushing chakra into his nose, he breathed in the air and searched for the scent of oil, steel and strawberries. Nobody else had a scent even similar to his friends.
She was his only friend and he knew she would be able to help with his training. He quickly picked up her scent and made his way to where her team was training. The teen was rather disturbed by the two shinobi wearing green spandex outfits, but he would not be deterred. The boy who wore white seemed to notice his arrival first and turned to face him and Koko as they landed in a tree.
"Who goes there? Show yourself!" The boy with white eyes called out. Naruto was able to observe that he was a Hyūga as he had the same eyes as Hinata did. He wondered if they were closely related before he forwent the train of thought.
Naruto and Koko jumped out of the tree they had been hiding in and walked over to the group, Haku's mask having found its way into an inner pocket in the vest.
"Sorry to interrupt your training. I was looking for Tenten, I needed to talk to her about something." Naruto said with a sheepish expression on his face and a hand on the back of his head.
The Genin team's sensei, who Naruto instantly dubbed Super Mega Fuzzy Eyebrows to match the nin version of Super Fuzzy Eyebrows next to him, walked up to speak with Naruto.
"YOSH! YOU MAY SPEAK TO MY MOST YOUTHFUL STUDENT TENTEN! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH MUST BURN BRIGHTLY WITHIN YOU IF YOU KNOW ONE OF MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!" The spandex wearing man shouted out. Naruto's ears once again hurt from the loud noise but it was easy to ignore, Koko however was cowering behind his leg. Naruto quickly translated all of that into 'Hello, feel free to speak with Tenten. A friend of hers is a friend of mine.', or well that's what the end result of a the translation was.
Nodding, Naruto with Koko walked over and greeted Tenten, "Hey Ten-chan, miss me?" Naruto asked. Naruto quickly found himself at the edge of a kunai as the girl had a serious expression on her face.
"Who the hell are you?! Only one person can call me that and you aren't him!" Tenten asked, venom seeping into her lovely voice. Not far away her team tensed at this and ready to intervene, though the two spandex clad shinobi were hoping it was all a miss understanding.
Naruto just smiled, though Koko growled a little, "You can put down the kunai Ten-chan. It's me, Naruto. I kind of activated a bloodline on my last mission and it made me look a bit different is all." Naruto explained, hoping to defuse the situation before anything too extreme happened. He still remembered when she used to go off back at the orphanage before he was kicked out.
"Really? Prove it then." The weapons mistress demanded.
Naruto smirked a fox like grin. Moving fast he bypassed the kunai and got closed to her ear where he whispered, "Back in the orphanage I was the one who caught you kissing a picture of Tsunade-sama and praising your love for her."
Tenten immediately started imitating a tomato, which her team was very surprised at as they had never known she was capable of such a feat. Whatever this Naruto guy had said must have been beyond embarrassing to get this reaction from her.
"O-okay, so it really is you. What do you want Naruto-kun?" Tenten inquired, hoping to not have to talk about that incident. It wasn't her fault that she really really loved her idol.
"Well… uh… I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword?" The boy asked, gaining his sheepish look again.
Tenten looked at the boy in wonder, "Since when did you ever have an interest in Kenjutsu? Anyway, let me see this sword of yours so I can decide if I want to teach you or not. By the way, what's with the fox?" The bun-haired girl asked Naruto. She would have taught him anyway, but she since he never had an interest before she figured a blade must have caught his eye.
Grinning his fox grin again, Naruto pulled out the scroll from his vest and unseal Kubikiribōchō. Tenten's face remained unfazed for a moment as her brain processed what it was seeing. Slowly realization came to her and her eyes grew wider and wider by the minute.
"I…Is… Is that w-what I t-think it is?" Tenten asked frantically stammering, "W-w-where did you g-get th-that?!"
"This is the Kubikiribōchō. In the mission that I had activated my bloodline, we had faught Momochi Zabuza, the previous owner of the blade and one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. He died in the final fight and his dying wish was for me to use his sword. After that I met Koko-chan here, and she liked me enough to come back to Konoha with me and be my nin-kitsune companion." Naruto explained.
Tenten needed another moment to process everything before she exploded in shouts, "Oh Kami! I can't believe I'm standing next to the zanbatō of THE Momochi Zabuza! I can't believe he even gave it to you!" Tenten said in her excitement before making a poor attempt to compose herself, as she was still bouncing with excitement, "That settles it! I am teaching. I can't let you embarrass swordsmen everywhere by not knowing how to handle this magnificent blade!"
'Yep only Ten-chan could get this excited over a sword.' Naruto thought to himself. "Thanks so much Ten-chan. I'll work as hard as I can, I know you can be a real slave driver then you want to be." Naruto said, shivering when he remember how she 'taught' *cough**forced**cough* to learn how to throw kunai. He had never been so happy that he was a fast healer.
Tenten playfully bopped him on the head, although she had to jump slightly from his new height. The weapon mistress wouldn't admit it, but she had missed his antics. He always seemed to brighten her day, and she had missed him when the matron had kicked him out. They hadn't been able to talk much, what with the matron continuously trying to scare him away and her joining the academy, but they had always been close.
"Alright then Naruto-kun, I'll work with you every morning from 7:00 to 9:00, so long as I don't have a mission. Normally that's when Gai-sensei and Lee do their crazy morning routine that Neji and me skip." Tenten told her old friend. She was now happy to both be able to see her old friend again, and have a legitimate excuse to miss what Gai and Lee called 'extra training'.
Naruto sealed his sword away after he was able to wrestle it away from Tenten, and gave her a quick hug and a promise to spend a time together to catch up. Naruto and Koko left Team Gai to head to the library.
After his departure Tenten was quickly grilled by her team on who the boy was and how she knew him. She refused to give anything away that wasn't necessary, telling them that they met when they were younger and were old childhood friends. Neji seemed to not like this, but Lee and Gai just excepted it and moved on to more training.
Naruto had no problems at the library since the librarian didn't recognize him and was actually intimidated by his appearance. Walking through the many sections, he quickly found what he was looking for; Scrolls on chakra control exercises, seals, senbon and human anatomy. Quickly checking out all of the scrolls, Naruto dropped them off at his apartment, as Koko and he had one last stop before their day was over.
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The Inuzuka compound wasn't elegant or gaudy like the Hyūga or the Uchiha compounds, instead it was a rather humble group of moderately sized homes intermingled with large open areas for the dogs that the family loved so much to run and play in.
The smell of dog quickly assaulted Naruto and Koko's senses before they even reached the compound. The animal hospital was right next door to the compound, for convenience as they were the hospital's number one group of patients in need of constant care.
The blue-haired genin entered the hospital to see a teenage girl sitting at the front desk. She was wearing what looked like a normal medic-nin robe with a high collar. Her long hazel hair pulled back into a ponytail, with a few bangs falling over her face. Her red fang tattoos below her eyes marked her as an Inuzuka. He was glad that she was one, as she would understand more about Koko and their relationship better than anyone else would.
Inuzuka Hana was rather bored working her shift at the hospital. She loved being a veterinarian, but at the moment it was slow and dull. Kami seemed to answer her prayers, as a tall blue-haired shinobi walked in the door with what looked like a… multi-tailed fox?
"Umm, Hello?" The mysterious shinobi said, pulling her from her self-musings.
"Wha… Oh! Hello, my name is Inuzuka Hana, what can I help you with?" she introduced herself, mad at herself for already being simi-rude.
The boy seemed not to notice, "According to Hokage-ojiji, Koko-chan here needs to have a full medical exam before she can be registered as my companion." The shinobi told her. This caught her attention immediately.
"Companion?" Hana question.
"Hai, I met her on a mission recently, and she told me she wanted to be a nin-kitsune. She asked to be my companion and I didn't have anything against so I agreed, kind of like your family does with your nin-ken." The blue-haired boy said, hoping that it would be seen as a normal thing and not make a huge issue over it.
Kami wasn't willing to help him in it not being question, "She told you? You can understand her?" Hana asked, an inquisitive eyebrow rising.
"Yep, she can be pretty chatty when it's just me and her. She's also very opinionated and doesn't seem to get along with my teammates right now." The boy said, rubbing the back of his head and showing a smile that looked as if it belonged to the companion more than him.
Hana was beyond excited. She had never met anyone, outside of the Inuzuka's, who had a bond with an animal like that. She quickly raised herself out of her chair and made her way around the desk and down the hall motioning for them to follow her, "So she needs a checkup? Do you or her know when she last had her shots?" the Inuzuka heiress asked. She was probably being too energetic, but the surprises this guy was hitting her with, well she just couldn't help it.
A few yips later and the man answered for the fox, "It seems, as he last owner was always on the move in secluded areas, he never took her to get a checkup. Also she hates needles, something about being traumatized by when her last owner started learning to use senbon." The blue haired shinobi said with a smile. That got a small rise out of the fox, getting a yip and glare for the vixen.
Hana giggled a bit before responding, "Alright then, if you'd follow me, we'll get her all set up." The vet said, motioning for the two to continue to follow her. The two shinobi and vixen walked through a few more hallways before entering an examination room.
"I suppose we might as well start with the vaccinations." Hana said, looking the fox in the eyes, "I'm not going to lie, it will probably hurt a little."
The shinobi quickly put his hand in front of the vixen as he softly stroked her head, "If you need to Koko-chan, you can bit down on my hand. I know you hate needles, this will just be your way of getting back at me for making you get them." He said with a soft caring smile on his face.
Hana was stunned. She had never met anyone who was willing to treat their companion so well; And this guy was offering to let her bite his hand after only being together for such a short period of time?! The bond between them must have been extremely strong.
"That is very sweet of you… Oh! I just realized I never got your name! I'm so sorry. By the way, if you wouldn't mind, how long have you two known each other? You seem rather close…" Hana asked, not really sure why she kept messing up around the shinobi. She had been working in the hospital for over a year now. Things like this were normally routine.
"Oh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Koko-chan and I met two weeks ago. Since I'm not close with my teammates we bonded rather quickly." Naruto said, slowly staring off at the end. Hana, who was currently readying the injections, stopped to focus on what he said.
'Two weeks? TWO WEEKS?! THEY FORMED A BOND IN TWO DAMN WEEKS?!' Hana thought to herself in stunned silence.
Turning back to the boy, she remembered the name from somewhere but couldn't place it. The more she thought on it, the more it sounded familiar. It soon hit her. Naruto was the orphaned kid in her little brother Kiba's class at the academy. Her little brother had always talked about how the orphan prankster Naruto was the dead last of his class, despite Kiba's grades not exactly being something to brag about either. This Naruto and Kiba's Naruto seemed almost like polar opposites.
She then realized she was staring and whirled back around with a small blush on her face to finish to getting everything ready as she tried to cover for herself, "Sorry, I guess I was just surprised about how close you are when you haven't known each other long at all." Hana said, the blush slowly fading from her cheeks. Turing around with several syringes ready she moved over to the fox that was now lying down, "I'll get started right way to get it over with."
Several whimpers, and multiple bites later, the examination was finished.
"All done! Koko is in perfect health. I'll send the paperwork to the Hokage's office when I get off my shift." Hana said, quickly putting all the paperwork together and their copies into the hospital's records.
While she was focused on this Naruto and Koko were headed for the door, "Thanks so much for everything Hana-san! Come on Koko-chan, let's go catch you a rabbit before we head home."
Hana went to whirl around, in hopes of stopping him from leaving so quickly but he was already gone through the door.
"Damnit!" Hana muttered to herself as he turned back around to finish her paperwork, "I almost got to ask him…"
"Ask who what?"
Hana froze at the voice, as it was a voice she had hear since her birth. Turning around with a smile of getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar Hana spoke, "Kaa-san, Hey…."