Chapter 6: Progression! Yay!
"Actually, I have a few questions," Naruto suddenly said.
"Go ahead," allowed Hiruzen.
"Did my parents leave a will or something concerning a house or money?" asked Naruto in a business-like tone.
"They did," came a little surprised Hiruzen's answer. "You will receive everything they owned when you turn fifteen or became a Jonin."
"And I don't imagine there is an Uzumaki compound somewhere." Naruto said not hoping for anything.
"I'm sorry Naruto–kun, we don't. Uzumaki had their own village and, as far as I know, they hardly ever left it apart from missions. Besides, as far as we know Uzumaki clan apart from you is extinct." Hiruzen said in a sad voice.
"Yeah, right. Extinct. Do you know how many times they've been 'extinct'?" Naruto asked in an amused tone. He read a lot of history books while in the orphanage. "Why do you think nobody saw or heard of them in the warring clans era? They were 'extinct' then as well. But suddenly Mito comes out, marries the shodai and turns out Uzushio is alive and well somewhere on an island. Uzumaki are simply too powerful to go extinct. Come on, think a little. It took three hidden villages working together and almost a month to take down a single clan."
'Actually, now that I think about it, it might be four villages… I'll need to look into this…'
"Trust me there are still Uzumaki out there. Also your office is bugged." He said walking towards the window and squashing little kikaichu sitting on its frame. "Pun intended."
'Don't want Danzo listening in on this.'
"How did you…" Sarutobi was amazed.
"There is more to an Uzumaki than just red hair," our hero grinned™.
"You're a sensor." Hokage said still amazed. But how such a young boy could posses knowledge on the use of chakra, not to mention sensory abilities.
'Also, I'll have to talk to Shibi about this,' Hokage thought, but it quickly disappeared as it came. Hiruzen simply felt like he forgot something. Like a word dancing on the tip of his tongue; but that feeling seemed to fade as well.
Naruto's grin widened. "Right now I can sense anything living in over a 100m radius, and if I concentrate than my range goes over a kilometer."
"When did you learn how to use your abilities?" Hiruzen looked at equally amazed Yugao who just shook her head.
"You probably should clear the room before I say anything else." Naruto said and Hiruzen complied. He then looked at Yugao.
"She can stay. If we're going to live together I don't want to keep secrets from her." Naruto said and received a grateful look from the purple haired anbu. Hiruzen did a couple hand signs and a seal appeared on the window behind him. From what Machiko had already taught him, Naruto understood that it was a quite complex seal. Seeing how interested Naruto was Hiruzen asked,
"Do you understand what it does?" Hell, if he possessed sensory abilities, than why wouldn't he know fuinjutsu as well? Uzumaki did always claim that the art of sealing was in their blood.
"It completely seals the room. Not even air can escape it. It also prevents anyone from outside to see through the windows." Naruto walked closer, passing Hokage's desk took a brush and an ink pot and started infusing it with chakra. "No one inside can use their chakra but the caster… and an Uzumaki," he added with a grin™. "Seems like Mito was pretty cautious."
'Also, someone connected to the seal and is now listening.'
As our hero finished that thought, he erased three symbols with a chakra pulse and added four other in their place. Once he finished the seal glowed red and then blue. "I upgraded it a little; now if they somehow manage to connect to it again, they will hear only static."
"What do you mean 'connect to it again'?" asked Yugao.
"Oh, nothing big. Just someone connected to the seal and was listening on your private conversations," Naruto said with a dismissive wave. And just like that thoughts about the investigation disappeared from both Yugao's and Hiruzen's minds.
"I knew Uzumaki were good with seals, but at your age-" before Hiruzen could finish Naruto cut him off.
"Actually I'm not as young as I seem." One of the things our hero hated the most is to be treated like a child. So he decided that he will let at least the two of them know. For now.
"What do you mean Naruto–kun?"
"Mindscape is such a wonderful thing, you know, one day there is just an hour here." Naruto said in a cheerful voice, pointing at his head. "Besides, having a millennia year old being to talk too is a great bonus."
"YOU TALKED TO KYUUBI?!" both Hiruzen and Yugao exclaimed at the same time.
"Yeah, she's a great person to talk to and a great teacher." Naruto answered with a grin™.
"She?" came their combined voices again. To which Naruto just nodded.
"Naruto–kun… how long did you spend in your mindscape?" slowly asked Yugao, remembering how much he 'slept'. Her anxiety further increased by his recent display.
"A little over forty years." Naruto informed them, grinning at their gaping faces. "She is actually a lvl 5 seal master. I'm lvl 3 at the moment, if you're wondering. I should reach lvl 5 in a month or so."
"Lvl 5? Minato was lvl 4." Hiruzen said slowly. "Wait a moment, If Kyuubi is a lvl 5 seal master, then…" Hokage trailed off.
"And that is precisely the reason why Kyuubi is always sealed in an Uzumaki," Naruto said with a grin, "Our chains can bind her chakra. Besides, she wouldn't leave even if she wanted to."
"What exactly do you mean by that, Naruto-kun?" asked Hiruzen, slightly unnerved by that 'even if she wanted to'.
"If you could see how I look in my mindscape, you'll understand," Naruto replied rocking the same grin™.
"This just…" Yugao said shaking her head, refusing to believe the thought that just popped up in her head.
'There cannot possibly be any romance involved in this. Kyuubi is a giant fox demon for fucks sake!'
"She has quite an attractive female form as well, complete with fox ears and tails," our favorite protagonist replied as if reading her thoughts. Which he was, in a sense. It's not that hard to combine emotion with a particular train of thought, especially if you know a person well enough.
"I take it your accelerated growth rate and sudden change in hair color is Kyuubi's doing as well, then?" asked Hokage, deciding not to dwell on it too much for the sake of his mental health.
"Yes, my growth rate is doubled. I also have a tail," Naruto said and materialized his single black red tipped tail and a pair of ears with the same color pattern.
"K-kawaii," Yugao slowly said with a weird look on her face.
That look reminded our hero suspiciously a lot about the day he met a hungry Akame (From 'Akame ga kill'), while carrying a bag full of snacks.
"It's better if you don't show them around much," Sarutobi brought Yugao out of her daze.
Naruto hid his ears and tail, almost making Yugao pout.
"If that's the case, then you could enter shinobi academy in two years," Hiruzen then suggested.
"I'd rather not, I still have stuff to do before entering the academy." Actually Naruto wanted to enter the academy knowing what will happen. And I swear I'm not just being lazy.
"As you wish."
'That way I won't have to deal with the council,' Hiruzen thought in relief.
"Now for my second question," Naruto waited for Hokage's nod and continued. "Can I have one of my father's kunai?"
"Kyuubi told you even this, huh," Hiruzen sighted.
"Let me take over for a moment," asked Machiko.
'Go ahead,' allowed Naruto. His slited amethyst eyes turned silver, his signature grin disappeared and a more feminine voice said, "You may think I'm a monster," she began. And both shinobi present widened their eyes, understanding what the change of voice and the words meant.
'This is Kyuubi talking,' they both thought in unison.
"You may think that I'm a demon or a natural disaster," she continued.
"But even I, like any other living being, have emotions. Now listen to this, to the final words that a mother said to her son, and when I'm finished answer my question.
'Naruto, don't be a picky eater. Eat lots and grow strong. Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm. Also don't stay up late. You need lots of sleep. And make friends. Just a few. Ones you can really, really trust. I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your ninjutsu hard. Remember that everybody has strengths and weaknesses. So don't get too depressed if you can't do something well. Respect your teachers and upperclassmen at the Academy. Oh, and this is important. It's about three prohibitions of the shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Put your mission wages into jour savings account. No alcohol until you're twenty. Too much can ruin your health, so drink in moderation. Another prohibition is women. So it's only natural to take interest in girls. But just don't get hooked on bad women. Find someone just like me. Speaking of the Three Prohibitions, be wary Jiraiya – sensei, you know. Naruto… you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true. There's… there's so much more that I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you… I love you. Thank you for letting me be your mother, and for letting Minato be your father. Thank you for being our son. Thank you… Thank you!'."
Everyone was crying, even Machiko had tears in his eyes.
"How could I keep quiet? How could I not tell him this?" Machiko asked quietly and surrendered control to Naruto.
"Damn, no matter how much I hear this…" he said quietly, back to his normal voice, wiping his tears off.
"That was beautiful," said Yugao wiping her tears and not caring that Naruto turned out to be yondaime's son.
"You'll make a good actress," Naruto said to his tenant, without a hint of a joke.
"Thanks, my tears are real, though," she answered, a small smile could be heard in her voice.
"I know, mine are too."
"If you were a normal kid, I probably would have told you this as well…"
Hiruzen just opened a secret compartment in his desk and took out a three pronged kunai and handed it to Naruto.
"Do you think you can…" Hiruzen trailed off.
"His son and a seal master… Who else if not me?" Naruto said with a smile (yes, not a grin™).
"So you really are yondaime–sama's son…" Yugao said quietly.
"He is. Uzumaki Naruto – son of Uzumaki Kushina, second Kyuubi's jinchuuriki and former anbu captain and Namikadze Minato, yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. You understand why I didn't tell anybody anything?" he asked Naruto.
"Assassins," our hero said and Hiruzen nodded. "Better civilians on streets and orphanages than anbu from Iwa." Seeing his Hokage cringe a little, he added, "Don't worry it doesn't bother me. If your anbu can't take care of it I will," Naruto said and a chain snaked out from his back. "I am already stronger than any civilian, only shinobi will give me trouble. Which brings me to my next question. Is there any place where I can train using Kyuubi's chakra?"
"Only place that comes to mind is training area 44," Hokage said slowly.
"Huh, do you know is there's any giant wooden rooms somewhere in the mountains or deep underground?" jinchuuriki asked.
"Hmm, there is a room fitting your description in the Hokage Mountain. We use it as a civilian shelter during emergencies," Hokage said after giving it some thought.
"Can I take a look at it?" asked interested Naruto.
"If you are finished with your questions…"
Naruto nodded and they went to the shelters.
As they were going through the village Naruto only now noticed that it was different from canon. Before he was too busy thinking what to tell the hokage. The layout of the village was relatively the same, but it was much… greener. There were a ton of trees and they were huge. Smallest ones were taller than most buildings and wider than a grown man. Biggest trees dwarfed even the Hokage tower. Not quite as big as the Hokage monument, though. There were many bridges running from one tree trunk to another.
"I thought Konoha was supposed to be a hidden village. It doesn't look very hidden to me." Said Naruto looking around. "Especially the Hokage Monument."
"This forest was created by the Senju Hashirama, shodai Hokage. Without a proper guide it is near impossible to find this village. Besides thanks to his wife, Uzumaki Mito, this forest is covered in illusion and barrier seals. No one can enter our forest undetected. And even if the village is somehow found, we have a wood style wall with anti – chakra seals surrounding it, so it can't be scaled or destroyed with ninjutsu." Hiruzen informed our hero.
"What's with the bridges on trees?" Naruto asked.
"Those trees were created by the Shodai as well. He made the biggest ones hollow on the inside, so people could live in them. Most buildings on the ground are just shops and places to eat, almost no one lives on the ground level."
"That certainly is convenient…" Naruto muttered.
As the elderly Hokage finished talking, they came before a thick wooden door on the cliffside. After a few minutes of walking through wooden corridors they came to an enormous room. It was almost the size of the mountain and inside was completely covered by wood.
"I thought so." Naruto said with a smile.
"Do you feel something Naruto–kun," Hiruzen asked.
"The wood has chakra in it. The same as the trees outside, but stronger. And that's not it," said Naruto and touched the wall. Suddenly a sealing matrix appeared. Seals covered the walls, floor and the ceiling.
"This seals prevent any chakra from leaking out of the room. It can also be set to start suppressing chakra when it's output reaches a certain amount. I think this place was originally created for training jinchuuriki." Naruto said slowly. "Can I have it?"
"I will allow you to train here but only under supervision," said Hiruzen.
"You have a wood style user?" Said Naruto in expertly faking disbelieve. And to Hiruzen's surprised face answered, "Wood style user will be the only one that will do you any good in this kind of situation."
"We do and he will supervise your training. His name is Tenzo and he can start supervising your training at any time." Hiruzen said after reminding himself, that this child in front of him isn't a child at all. In fact he started to suspect that Naruto threw some of his shogi matches.
"Don't you need to bring this matter up with the council first?" asked Naruto slightly confused.
"I doubt they will object to it. Besides I am the Hokage, not the council." Hiruzen proclaimed and Naruto smiled.
"Thanks, jiji."
After they parted ways at the Hokage tower Naruto and Yugao went to her house. They came to a tree, it was right outside the hokage district. Unfortunately our purple haired anbu lived near the top, so she had to carry Naruto on her back. The inside looked like a bamboo shoot, with a human sized hole running through all of them on the side. Each floor had a full wooden circle inside with multiple doors in them.
"Ok, first thing you're teaching me is the tree climbing," Naruto said with a slightly annoyed look. Yugao just chuckled.
"I can't imagine civilians living in such… environment," Naruto said, for once without his grin™.
"They don't. Almost all the trees near the Hokage district are populated by shinobi. The trees further down actually have stairs in them," Yugao said, with her finger pointing upwards.
Our favorite female anbu lived in a small but cozy one room apartment with a small kitchen.
"I don't need to sleep, so don't worry about the bed. I just need a corner for meditating. I can cook as well. When you can train me?" asked Naruto as soon as they came into the room.
"My mission right now is to take care of you, so I will set a full training schedule. What do you want training in?" She asked with a smile.
"Everything you know - taijutsu, bukijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, iryojutsu, if you know any, stealth but above all teach me how to make shadow clones."
"I'm ok with everything else, but shadow clones… it's a kinjutsu for a reason," Yugao wasn't sure.
"Relax nee–chan, I know the risks. Besides I already have nearly as much chakra as you do," Naruto calmed her down.
"Ok but you will use shadow clones only under my supervision. Deal?"
"Deal," they came to an agreement and shook hands.
New quest: Training with Yugao.
Main objectives:
-Learn anbu style taijutsu.
-Learn leaf style kenjutsu.
-Learn shurikenjutsu.
-Learn ninjutsu. At least one per element.
-Learn at least one genjutsu.
-Learn Mystical Palm jutsu.
Bonus objectives:
-Learn three ninjutsu per element (Fire 0/3, Wind 0/3, Lightning 0/3, Earth 0/3, Water 0/3).
-Learn three genjutsu (0/3).
-Awaken Sharingan.
-Create a jutsu of your own.
-Beat Yugao in kenjutsu.
Rewards:
-300 exp per main objective.
-500 exp per bonus objective.
New teacher received: While training with Yugao your physical stat training speed will be increased by 60%, you will learn tai- and kenjutsu 50% faster. You can train your physical stats up to +10 p.p.l. You will receive additional 5 points of SPD per lvl. Upon completing your kenjutsu training you will receive an anbu ninjato.
{'How does having two teachers at the same time work?' asked Naruto, after not seeing a pop up telling him to abandon his first teacher.
[Quite simple, really. You will receive bonuses from your teachers only when you are training with them.]
'Ah, I see. That certainly simplifies things.'}
"Ok, it's already late so let's make dinner and go to sleep. Well start our training tomorrow."
After dinner, when Yugao went to bed Naruto sat in the kitchen meditating and training his fuinjutsu with Machiko.
The next morning, after breakfast, Yugao started her training. First came shadow clones, after tree walking of course. He got it after ten minutes. Did anyone say 'perfect chakra controll'?
Ninjutsu learned: Shadow Clones (You are now able to create physical clones of yourself, which will have 10 HP. Clones will have the amount of chakra you put into them upon creation. Clones will automatically dispel after using up all available chakra, losing all HP or casters chakra being lower than 10 CP or HP reaching 0. Upon dispelling clones will transfer all gained experience and mental fatigue. Minimal amount of chakra per clone – 100 CP to create + 10 CP every minute.)
After seeing that bonus quest objective about creating his own jutsu and learning that to make shadow clones he didn't even need to make that plus shaped hand sign if you had enough concentration, he got an idea.
'Well, even if it doesn't work I'll learn a pretty useful jutsu.'
"Nee–chan, could you teach me weapon shadow clone jutsu as well? I have an idea and I want to test it out," asked our hero right after getting the idea.
"You just started learning and you already want to experiment. You are exactly like your mother." She said with a smile. She didn't really want to teach him another kinjutsu, but remembering who his parents were and the fact that he is essentially a forty something year old, decided to teach him 'weapon shadow clones'.
Ninjutsu learned: Weapon Shadow Clones (You are now able to create physical clones of your weapons. At lvl 1 – weapons will dispel after 1 min, 10 CP per weapon clone).
'Seems like I'll have to max it out before testing my theory. Well, I can test out a part of it.'
And so he made a 17cm (about 7') thin chakra rod (but thicker than a senbon) with a thicker backside. All in all, the whole thing looked like a giant nail. He took it like a dart and threw it. He made hand signs for 'weapon shadow clones' and the throwing pick multiplied by ten.
'At least it's possible to make clones of my Yin chakra rods.'
Now we find our hero at the training ground 25. One of the training grounds reserved for anbu. It had a ravine running through the middle of it, which started with a waterfall, the rest was covered by forest. In a small clearing near the ravine Naruto and four of his clones were going through special anbu taijutsu kata. Anbu were often sent on retrieval missions so they were taught all about pressure points and how to use them to subdue and knock out their opponents.
Anbu taijutsu (counter/offensive style. Main focus – throws, joint locks, knockouts. Consumes 100 SP/min.)
Naruto already knew about pressure points, so even while the style was different from what he was used to he still learned it pretty quickly. Having an untrained body and shadow clones helped too. He dispelled them and created new ones every hour and a half. After five hours they had a thirty minute break during which Naruto regained all his stamina. Then hour and a half of shurikenjutsu practice. And finally four hours of kenjutsu.
At first Yugao was a bit concerned about the intensity of the training.
"No offence, nee-chan, but I know my limits better than anyone. If I'm not wishing for sweet relieve of death by the end of my training, then it means we're doing something wrong," said Naruto wearing a serious expression for once.
"*sigh* fine, I'll trust you on this, just stop making that expression, it just doesn't go with that cute face of yours," unlike Naruto she was smiling.
Now was Naruto's turn to sigh, "And that is why I want to get rid of that baby fat as soon as possible," he said, rubbing his cheek.
And so their training continued on the same schedule.
Yugao raised her eyebrow, however, when Naruto started stripping for their kenjutsu practice.
"Why are you taking of your clothes?"
"I don't feel like wasting money on new clothes once this ones get cut up," Naruto simply said, still stripping.
"What makes you think we'll start sparring right away? And with actual swords to boot?" she asked placing a hand on her hip.
"Well, I already know some kenjutsu and I completely refuse to train with sticks," Naruto said 'sticks' in such a way, you would think he was talking about a sewer… full of snakes… riding giant spiders.
"Besides, I learn better by real action, rather than an imitation. It goes pretty well with taijutsu, but kenjutsu… yeah, doesn't really work for me."
"*sigh* Didn't Kyuubi teach you any sense of shame," Yugao said taking out her ninjato. Again she had no idea why she went with Naruto's wishes so easily, but she never dwelled on it too much.
"No, that got knocked out of me pretty quickly," Naruto said feeling a flashback of 'NouCome' rapidly approaching.
'Why do I suddenly see a flashback of you sniffing a porn mag?' asked Machiko.
'Just watch 'NouCome'. It should be in the TV. I don't want to remember that world again.' Naruto replied with a small shudder.
And so on one side of the clearing stood Yugao, clad in her standard anbu uniform. On the other side stood Naruto, clad in his birthday suit. Purple haired anbu wasn't really disturbed by this, anbu were taught to fight any kind of opponent, regardless of their age, gender or state of dress, after all.
Yugao said that they will start learning ninjutsu and genjutsu on the second day. Third day will be physical practice again. At night Naruto spent around three – four hours in the big wooden room with Tenzo.
"I hope I'm not being an inconvenience," Naruto said to Tenzo.
"Not at all. I'm used to night missions." Came Tenzo's emotionless voice.
"But every night? You'll have to change your schedule."
"I'm fine with that. I'm more concerned about your schedule. You train all day long and at night come here. When do you sleep?" Tenzo was slightly interested.
"I don't. I have no need for sleep. I don't even have a bed." Naruto informed Tenzo in an amused tone. Tenzo just raised an eyebrow, but decided not to ask further.
Skill unlocked: Kyuubi Cloak 0 Tails (Upon activation chakra is fully replenished. +50% to all stats and ninjutsu dmg. -10% to WIS, -10 HP/sec. (bonuses – no debuff to WIS, no HO loss)).
Skill unlocked: Kyuubi cloak 1 Tail (Upon activation chakra is fully replenished. +100% to all stats and ninjutsu dmg. -20% to WIS, -20 HP/sec.(bonuses – no debuff to WIS, no HP loss)).
The first thing Naruto learned on the second day, after mastering water walking and kunai balancing in just an hour, was 'Henge'.
Ninjutsu learned: Henge (You are now able to change your appearance. 10 CP per hour. At lvl 1 – chance of detection 50% at 20 INS (for every additional 2 points of INS opponent has +1% to detection chance)).
Since that day a henged clone of Naruto every day went to the library and red there everything he could find on iryojutsu.
After a month's time, just as he predicted, Naruto became a lvl 5 fuinjutsu master. So far every lvl of fuinjutsu mastery came with an expected bonus. At second lvl he got an ability to write seals with his blood instead of ink. At the 3rd – an ability to burn seals into chakra paper with only his chakra. At 4th – he could burn seals into any surface and even materialize them into thin air. He had no idea what he will get at lvl 5 and Machiko refused to 'ruin the surprise'. And boy, what a surprise it was.
Fuinjutsu mastery lvl 5(max): (You are now able to bring up a holographic seal archive where every seal you ever came across is stored. Also you can bring up a holographic composition of any preexisting seal and alter it at will).
'Damn, this is amazing!' Naruto thought, playing around with the holograms. 'The best thing is that I can control it with only my thoughts.'
'Now you see why I didn't want to ruin the surprise? It even looks just like your usual GUI,' came Machiko's happy voi… thoughts.
'Thanks, you're awesome.'
'I know. You can thank me later,' kitsune purred promisingly.
'I can always play around with it later,' thought Naruto to himself and dove into his mindscape.
Quest completed: training with Machiko.
Bonus objective completed.
Rewards: 2500 exp.
Now his stats looked like this:
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Lvl: 5 (exp – 600/1500)
Age: 5 years (physical), 1049 years (mental), 2 years (spend in 'Naruto' world)
HP: 1750
CP: 5550
SP: 1575
LF: 2000
VIT: 175
STR: 140
DEX: 65
INT: 555
WIS: 555
INS: 1002
SPD: 79
Perks:
Gamers' contract: you remember all your incarnations, perfect memory, RPGescue GUI in all worlds, granted mental time freeze,
Great one: INS cannot be lower than 1000, WIS cannot be lower than INT, change In form successful 100% of the time, +100% to effectiveness in all sensory abilities, granted ability to consume/enslave souls of lower life forms, ability to reach perfect control of all natures, all physical drawbacks are canceled,
Ashura's chakra: +10 VIT every lvl, +50% to team's morale, +50% to team's exp gain,
Uzumaki – dominant: +100 LF every lvl, +5 VIT every lvl, +5 STR every lvl, +5 INT every lvl, ability to reach absolute mastery in fuinjustu (max lvl 5), chains, +50% to effectiveness in all sensory abilities, red hair,
Namikaze – recessive: +5 SPD every lvl, +1 STR every lvl, +1 DEX every lvl,
Uchiha – recessive: +2 SPD every lvl, +1 STR every lvl, +1 DEX every lvl, Sharingan,
Preteen: LF is stable,
Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko: +100 LF every lvl, +15 VIT every lvl, +15 STR every lvl, +100 INT every lvl, enhanced healing – in combat - 10 HP/s, out of combat – 100 HP/s, total immunity to all genjutsu below A – rank, ability to sense emotion,
Hanyou: got at lvl 3 - +5 VIT per lvl, +5 STR per lvl, +5 DEX per lvl, +5 SPD per lvl, enhanced healing – in combat - 40 HP/s, out of combat – 400 HP/s, 9 tails (they represent how much of Kyuubi's chakra is under your control), sense of smell x1000, night vision, enhanced sight – up to x10, enhanced hearing – up to x10, chance of successful transformation 10% (bonuses – chance of successful transformation 100%).
After a month.
That day started like all others. Yugao woke up, took a shower, dressed in her purple tank top and black shorts and headed to the kitchen, expecting to see Naruto there. He usually cooked their breakfast. Instead she found a 'Hiraishin' kunai. But it had a different marking. While classic kunai had a line of symbols burned into the handle, this one had two silver lines circling it (like a doctor's symbol with snakes circling the staff). Suddenly a black thunderbolt struck out of a kunai and formed into Naruto. Yugao was wide eyed, jaw dropped through the floor and was lying around somewhere in the basement (if those trees had a basement, that is), while Naruto was standing in the middle of the kitchen spinning a three pronged kunai on his finger.
"Got it." He said with a grin™.
(Flashback – two hours ago.)
After finally mastering fuinjutsu Naruto decided it's time to check out Minato's 'Hiraishin' kunai. Good thing it was about five o'clock, he still got two hours until Yugao wakes up.
'Do you know what those are?' Naruto asked Machiko after bringing up the seal's composition. 'I've never seen seals like that before.'
'Yes, it's a beacon for summoning, but I've never seen one like this before.' Came Machikos confused thoughts.
'Summoning? I know Minato was a toad sage and summoner…'
'I can definitely tell you – that does not belong to toads or any other summoning animal clan I know. In fact the only thing in common they have is the space/time transporting aspect, triggered by blood. Also it's incomplete.' Machiko informed our hero.
'What do you mean?' Naruto was confused by how it could be incomplete. 'Did we get a defective kunai?'
'No, it's not like that. The formula itself is complete, but in order for it to work like'Hiraisin' did it needs something else. Minato must have had another seal placed on himself.'
'*Sigh* Can we even do anything with this,' he tossed kunai into the air and caught it again, 'Or do we need to go grave robbing?'
'Mmm, since you're his biological son you could use your blood to summon something this contract is bound to…Or summon yourself to…somewhere else?' Machiko didn't sound too sure.
'How could he even have two summoning contracts?' Naruto finally asked the question that was bugging him.
'That's the weirdest part. This is a contract someone made with him. Like the seal itself had a summoning contract with Minato, but I'm telling you it's incomplete.'
'This is just getting more and more confusing by the second.' Naruto thought with a sigh. 'Ah, fuck it.' He thought and drew blood from his thumb with his fang. He then swiped it over the seal and made necessary hand signs. He expected a lot of things – nothing happening, a puff of smoke, a dead body of yondaime Hokage appearing and much more, but he didn't expect appearing in a yellow flash inside an old giant shrine building.
"Welcome, son of Minato." Came a booming voice out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
'Machiko, disconnect, NOW,' Naruto said to his tenant, urgency evident in his voice. Kitsune complied immediately. Naruto very rarely called her by her full name and never in such a tone.
"Hello, my name is Naruto," no self-respecting thousand year old being would lose his composure this easily.
"You are faring better than your father did," the voice was amused. Naruto smirked.
"Come on, you must have realized who I am by this point," our hero said spreading his arms (basically a 'Well, what is it' gesture from 'Dark Souls'). "There is no reason to hide yourself from me."
"My, my, to meet another Great One…" his voice changed completely, as well as the language he was speaking. Naruto, however, could understand it on a subconscious level. His full figure slowly came into view as the room became less dark. Describing an appearance of a Great One would be the same as asking a blind and deaf man to describe what the color of birds singing tastes like. 3 dimensions can't even accurately display an appearance of an Eldritch being, for Kami's sake. The closest thing to human understanding would be an Asian style black dragon with a golden mane and eyes.
"To humans we are known as 'Thunder Gods'. And you are in our shrine. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Do you wish for one of us to make a contract with you?"
"Calling yourself a God? Aren't someone ambitious?" Naruto said with a small chuckle, making the Thunder God chuckle as well.
"Truth be told, a new God of Thunder isn't chosen yet, other Gods share his duties, and all other 'Gods' of thunder can't even hold a candle to me. *cough* Thor *cough*."
"Anyway… If one of you make a contract with me I will be able to use 'Hiraishin'?" Naruto half asked, half stated.
"Yes," said the dragon with a small laugh.
"I agree." Just as he finished a snaking bolt of black lightning appeared right before our hero. To a normal person it appeared as if it was constantly moving, but at different speeds. At the slowest he was barely moving, but at the fastest it moved faster than the eye could follow. However, Naruto could tell – the lightning bolt wasn't moving, rather it was manipulating space and time around itself.
"This is the missing part of the Hiraishin seal, extend your dominant arm." He said, and Naruto complied. Naruto was ambidextrous, so he chose his right hand and as soon as he extended it , the bolt of lightning lunged at it. It coiled around Narutos arm and a blinding pain came. Once Naruto's vision cleared he found himself on his arms and knees, panting heavily.
Space/Time Skill unlocked: Hiraishin (You can now teleport to any placed beacon. 1 CP to place beacon. At lvl 1 - 50 CP per kmper personto teleport to placed beacon).
"Minato passed out," came Thunder God's amused voice.
"Well, I'm not him, you can hardly even count this body human," Naruto said looking at his arm. It now had a black lightning bolt circling it from wrist to elbow.
"That is why I gave you nearly all my power. Unlike Minato you can handle it."
"Why would you do that?" Asked slightly confused Naruto, causing the other Great One to chuckle.
"It's not like I'm powerless now. Besides, you can put my power to better use, once you fully master it, that is. Tobirama only mastered two levels and Minato barely managed to get to the third. To you all five are open."
"Nice." Naruto grinned™ despite his pain. "Now, how do I get back?"
"You used Minato's kunai to teleport here, correct?"
"Yes."
"Focus your chakra on your arm; you should feel the beacon you used to teleport here."
Naruto did as the Dragon said and found himself floating in space. There was only a single star. He floated closer to it and it turned into an image of Yugao's kitchen. She just stepped out of her room and was looking around for him.
'Let's surprise her, shall we,' Naruto thought with a smirk, and floated into an image.
'This should prove to be most entertaining,' thought the Great One, looking through a space window he made to follow Naruto.
(Flashback end)
"You can use 'Hiraishin'?" Yugao said after fishing out her jaw out of some lava filled cave.
"Yep, just learned it." Said Naruto and rubbed his right arm.
"What's that?"
"This," he showed her the marking on a kunai, "is only a beacon. This," he pointed to his tattoo, "is the Hiraishin itself."
"Before you ask, no. Very few can use 'Hiraishin'. As far as I know no one in the world is able to learn it right now. Beside me, of course. Oh, and sorry, no breakfast today. We can go grab some ramen at Ichiraku's after we tell jiji about this." He grinned™.
"Ramen for breakfast? That is so like you." She said with a smile.
'What was that about?' asked Machiko as soon as Naruto reengaged their connection.
He and Yugao were walking towards the Hokage tower right now.
'We came in contact with another Great One. Didn't know how it would have affected you. Didn't want to take any chances,' Naruto said, serious for once.
'I 'come in contact' with you all the time, so…' Machiko trailed off.
'Do you really think I show to you my real appearance? The fact that I can hide it from you already tells that it is a bad idea to show everything.'
'I'll trust you on this. But shouldn't that Great One be also hiding his true appearance? How would he have made those contracts with Tobirama and Minato?'
'Like I said, I didn't want to take any chances. And how did you know that he made contracts with the Hokage?' Naruto already had an idea of how she knew, but decided to ask anyway.
'If that new seal on your arm is anything to go by, then this is the missing part of the summoning contract. Not so hard to guess, really.' Naruto could almost see Machiko dismissively waving her hand.
'Hm, nice deduction,' Naruto smiled.
'Sherlock got nothing on this!' both of them shared a mental laugh as they came to the Hokage's door.
"Yo, jiji," Naruto said grinning broadly.
"What are the important news, Naruto–kun?" asked Hiruzen already informed by his secretary.
"You probably should clear the room first," our hero suggested. When the seal flared into life and anbu signatures disappeared Naruto threw a three pronged kunai in a lazy arc. Before it could hit the table it was caught by Naruto's hand that suddenly emerged from the flash of black lightning.
"I learned it," he said and handed the kunai to his Hokage. "If you ever need me, just channel some chakra into it and I'll be here in a flash. Literally."
"Congratulations Naruto–kun," Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly at the display, he took the kunai and looked at the new seal. "Should I make an order for some special kunai for you?"
"No," Naruto made a throwing pick that had the same marking as the kunai snaking from top to bottom, and started spinning it between his fingers, "I'll always have as much as I'll need."
"What are they? It's not metal," asked Hiruzen.
"It's chakra. Just pure, solid Yin chakra," Naruto said and, before they could ask, added, "Do you really think I spent all those forty plus years in my mindscape simply listening to Kyuubis stories. Thanks to her teachings I've mastered Yin and Yang styles."
"Yin and Yang styles? I know there is Yin and Yang chakra, but styles…" Yugao trailed off.
"A few people with a Kekkei Genkai can use pure Yin and Yang chakra, but they usually combine it with another chakra nature. Actually I've never seen anyone use pure Yin or Yang chakra before," said Hiruzen, examining the pick Naruto gave him and Yugao.
"'Pure', right," Naruto snorted.
"All genjutsu, Yamanaka and Nara clan jutsu are based on Yin chakra. Akimichi clan jutsu are based on Yang chakra. Others use it to empower their elemental jutsu and give them new properties. However, neither of them have ever mastered the styles. They take chakra and separate it, forgetting that chakra originally came from unity of Yin and Yang." Naruto informed them, making a Sean Connery impression.
"If we could-" Yugao started in sudden realization, but Naruto cut her off.
"It took me forty years to master Yin and Yang styles and that was with a teacher, who used them for centuries." Naruto said in his normal voice.
'Not to mention that humans can't even go that deep into their minds. They simply lack INS.'
"How strong are they?" asked Hiruzen holding the throwing pick. It was light, but felt denser than steel.
"Stronger than diamond but less brittle. Like my chains." Naruto happily provided the answer. He maxed out both skills just a few days back.
Physical/Fuin Skill max: Chakra Chains (lvl 5 (max) – 1 link per 1 CP, points – cone, sphere, star, blade, elemental, strength – adamantine, 1000 – 1200 phys./elemental dmg.)
Physical Skill max: Yin chakra rod (lvl 5 (max) – max length – 2m, strength – adamantine, 500-550 phys. dmg.)
"How goes your training with Kyuubi's chakra going?" asked Hiruzen after handing Naruto his throwing pick back.
"I got up to two tails,
Skill Unlocked: Kyuubi Cloak 2 Tails (Upon activation chakra is fully replenished. +150% to all stats and ninjutsu dmg. -30% to WIS, -30 HP/sec. (bonuses – no debuff to WIS, no HP loss).
but it takes some time to activate it. The seal holds back a lot of chakra. To loosen it I'll need the key. I could just break the seal, but the influx of chakra will completely burn out my chakra network killing me. I could also make the key myself in eight to nine weeks but I'm not sure how effective it will be. Do you happen to have it by any chance?" Naruto hopefully asked.
In truth, Naruto's key would release Machiko without any complication, but Naruto wanted more than that. He wanted to release only her soul and keep the majority of her chakra for himself. That could be done only with an original key.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't even know the key existed," Hokage apologized.
"Jiraiya it is then. Is he coming back anytime soon?" came another hopeful question from Naruto.
"He has a free schedule. He will come back when he decides to unless I call him back. Why do you think Jiraiya has the key?" Hiruzen was interested.
"He might not, but toads definitely do. The key to this seal is pretty fucking big and important. If you didn't notice it, then Minato gave it to toads," concluded Naruto. "Oh, and no need call for him, I have other things to occupy me."
Besides, Machiko wanted to wait until his body aged some more. For reasons.
"When Jiraiya shows up I'll inform you," said Hiruzen. "Do you need anything else?"
"Only one, can you give me a pass to the shinobi library vault with the jutsu scrolls?" Naruto requested.
"You can just ask Yugao and she will take you there. She is an anbu after all," came Hiruzen's answer.
"She won't get in trouble for it, will she?" our hero asked with concern.
"If anyone questions her actions, I will take care of everything." Hiruzen eased his concerns.
"Thank you for your concern Naruto," Yugao thanked him.
After breakfast Naruto and Yugao went to the shinobi library. Naruto was of course henged. The vault was guarded by anbu. Yugao nodded at them as they let her and Naruto in. Inside Naruto released his henge and looked around. The room wasn't very big, but full of shelves and bookcases filled with scrolls. Each row of shelves had an element on it and housed over a hundred scrolls.
"All those are ninjutsu scrolls, further back are tai- and kenjutsu styles, and some genjutsu," Yugao said as soon as the door closed.
'Don't bother with the last three, I know someone who can teach you better,' Machiko said suddenly.
'Really?' Naruto was surprised by her sudden wo… thoughts.
'Just trust me, you'll like it.'
'Sure.' He chuckled.
"I'm here just for ninjutsu. Is there any clan jutsu?" Naruto asked.
"No, all clan jutsu are stored with clan heads. Tell me if you need to take anything, I'll take it to make a copy."
"No need, I have perfect memory," Naruto said and proceeded to read every scroll that caught his eye. The best thing is that when he read a scroll, Naruto immediately learned the ninjutsu. There was a catch, though. He had to master the elemental training before he could cast any elemental jutsu.
They spent half a day in the vault. On their way back Naruto noticed a stand with party utensils. Naruto decided to by a few balloons and rubber balls.
"For training," Naruto informed Yugao, to which she raised an eyebrow."You'll see," he just said mysteriously, with an ever present grin™.
Omake: About Naruto (part 1)
The day after the first training session with Yugao. Naruto's body was in a bath, while his mind was with Machiko.
"Why do you train so hard? You can take it slower, can't you go a little easier on yourself?" Machiko asked stroking Naruto's hair, while his head lay on her lap.
"Like I said, in my book it's not worth it if you're not feeling like you rather die than train the next day," he said smiling, with his eyes closed. Taking a more serious tone, he continued.
"While it may seem like I'm lazy and relaxed all the time, which I actually am," he said with another smile, which quickly died down,"I still take all of this very seriously. I've worked really hard for this, and while the chance of me fucking up is practically none existent, I'm not letting it raise any higher than it already is. Preferably I want to get rid of it altogether," he said extending his hand upwards and closed it into a fist, as if crushing something.
"As dumb as it may seem, every world gave me something really important, one of them being the value of time and planning."
"Even 'NouCome'?" she asked stiffening a giggle, having watched it after Naruto's earlier mentioning.
"Hm, believe it or not, yes," Naruto said, smiling again.
"it was surprisingly productive, actually," Naruto said raising his finger.
"How so?" that spiked kitsune's curiosity.
"Well… as you could have guessed, it got rid of any and all sense of shame and shyness. I also learned the value of strategizing and quickly coming up with possible outcomes of my choices."
"Huh, that is surprisingly valuable. Who would have thunk…"
"Ouu, you can't use 'thunk' in formal writing or speech," Naruto said with a small pout.
"Oh, yes. Because this fanfic is so formal," Machikos words were practically dripping with sarcasm.
"Touché."
P.S If you people haven't watched 'NouCome', you are missing on a lot of fun :D
P.P.S Internet cookie to anybody, who got where the reference to Sean Connery-sensei comes from.
Next time: Even more training!