A/N Well I'm back, ready for another round? Let's see how you contend with this!
Btw I do not own Naruto or any other story I may add something into the mix from. So no sue-ing me!
If someone had asked Shikamaru a week ago, if he thought being a ninja would be troublesome, he would have answered that it would be less troublesome than being at home. Oh how naïve he had been, for in one week Shikamaru's world went from alright to hell on earth. Not only did he have to contend with the boring monotony That were D rank missions, but the third Hokage felt like doing more than was required in the field. Thus they picked up three times the amount of missions some of his friends did. On top of that, his mother, after learning that he was apprenticed to the Hokage, bless her heart had become infinitely more troublesome than she used to be. Now she was nagging at him almost twenty four seven as opposed to the occasional thing it used to be.
This leads us to his current and maybe most troublesome thing he had to deal with all week. Shikamaru was glaring daggers at his blonde team-mate. Naruto had, surprisingly, toned down his naturally hyper attitude instead he translated it into working hard. However, the blonde had been complaining non-stop about their current assignment, pulling weeds. Until finally he had gotten fed up and done this.
"Damn it all! I'm through with this bull!" Naruto cursed, jumping to his feet. Putting his hands together in his favorite hand-seals he cried with a booming voice. "TAJUU KAGE-BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" Literally hundreds of Naruto's popped into existence. "All right guys', our task is to clean this place full of weeds so let's haul ass! I want ramen!"
With cries of exuberance the solid clones attacked the farm fields with fervor.
"So Naruto, how long have you been able to do this jutsu?" Shikamaru asked carefully.
"Since I graduated." Naruto spoke tentatively.
"And not once, did you think to tell us of or use this jutsu for any of our other D ranked missions? Many of which they would have been a big help, say for instance the one two days ago where we had unload three truck loads of frozen meat, or the one after that which was hauling over three hundred bundles of wood? It never occurred to use this chore ending gift on ANY of those missions!" Shikamaru almost yelled in a rare moment of emotion.
"No." Naruto replied in a small, small voice.
With narrowed eyes the Nara brought doom upon Naruto. "So help me if you ever withhold something like this again, something that could hasten me so quick back to cloud watching, I will put you under my shadow jutsu and take a baseball bat to your head over and over until you finally get the point. Am I clear?" Naruto nodded meekly. "Good." Shikamaru finished his face and voice back to one of boredom.
"Don't you think you took that a little too far?" Tenten asked, walking up to the duo wiping off her dirt-stained hands on the apron she was currently wearing.
Shikamaru's eyes flicked to hers. "No, cloud-watching time is my precious time. Anything that can be used to speed up the process to get to cloud-watching time is to be used to its fullest capabilities. Given the nature of these clones, that being their solid, would make them the perfect tool for jobs such as these. My dad knows this jutsu and when I asked about it he said I didn't have near enough chakra levels to sustain even one." It wasn't until he said those words that he realized Naruto had created hundreds. His eyes once again shot to Naruto and once again Shikamaru began to wonder just what Naruto was hiding. No one should be able to create that many; according to his dad even the Hokage in his prime could only pull off fifty or so.
"I was wondering when Naruto was going to finally lose his patience and use that jutsu." A chuckling Hiruzen cut in as he dropped from the perch where he kept an eye on the three. For the past week he had them working the basics, and training them in the use of said basics when they sparred at the end of the day. "Today however, I think it is time you learned your first jutsu from me. You three have done well and deserve a reward." The aged leader praised with a warm smile. That brought a shine to all three of their eyes. "Follow me then, lest we waste Shikamaru's precious cloud watching time." The old monkey teased, getting a laugh from two of his students and lazy glower, which in itself was pretty humorous, from his third.
He took them to his family training grounds, he did this for two reasons. The first being it would build trust between the team, and the second because he knew who else would be using the grounds at this time. As they arrived, the sounds of training echoed throughout the area. The complex that the Sarutobi clan possessed was a massive octagonal structure three stories high with a wooden chimney coming smoothly out the top.
The grounds around the house were impressive as well, densely forested with a mixture of trees, from sakura trees, to tall oaks, and even more of the jungle variety. He led them around the back which contained probably the only strip of land around the area that was bare of trees. A space half a mile across with nothing but grass, in the center was a large pond about eight feet in diameter, with a bonsai tree on an island in the center.
Currently Sakura and Ino were engaged in a brutal spar. It seemed a little personal, still Asuma saw no harm in it as often times this would drive the ninja to do better. He was right too, the two would often think up new counters on the fly while in the midst of their fighting.
Currently Ino had sakura pinned to the ground and a kunai at her throat, a small smirk planted on the blondes face. "I win" she declared, standing and offering a hand to Sakura.
Sakura took it with a grin, "Next time you won't get so lucky."
"Well Asuma, I must say you know what you're doing as a teacher. As I suspected you would be." The third Hokage's voice rang across the field.
"Thanks dad, but what brings you to this training ground this time a day?" He asked keeping his eyes on his father. The two had somewhat of a delicate relationship.
"Well my team just got done with their daily D ranks so I brought them here for some training. Which I already see your doing with your team, I was actually about to teach my team a new jutsu. I think it might also benefit your team as well if you wouldn't mind a joint training session." The Hokage responded, using a friendly voice.
"I don't see how it could hurt, but it's up to them if they want to or not." Asuma shrugged.
Seeing that they had the attention of the Hokage they had the good grace to show respect. "We would gladly accept training from you Hokage-sama" Ino, Sakura, and Choji chimed in unison.
The Third chuckled, "My my, it's nothing really. All the jounin know this move, it has many names, but it doesn't require any hand seals and helps with chakra control too. This jutsu is used to sense the area around them using a thin sphere of chakra pulses. Whatever they pass through you'll be able to feel via chakra, thus you'll be able to 'see' without having to use your eyes."
"You want to teach them that? It's a great technique sure, but it seems a little unorthodox." Asuma countered, he knew the jutsu, and it was used primarily for sensing the chakra of those around them. It came in handy but it was difficult technique to get down.
"It might seem that way at first glance sure." It was Shikamaru who responded, "But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Sarutobi-sensei said it was also good for chakra control right? Well any application of chakra will also increase chakra reserves as well. It kills two birds with one stone, also he said it required no hand seals. Normally this is considered an advanced technique because of its difficulty to master. Yet hand seals didn't exist up until the first shinobi war, they were created as an easier way to mold chakra within the body. But by learning this technique we learn to mold it without the use of Hand seals, thus as our sensei said, we will be learning the basics before we learn the advanced stuff." The genius of the kage's team finished, leaving the entire crowd a little awed but the mental acuity that the heir of the Nara clan possessed.
Hiruzen had an almost predatory grin on his face at the level of genius the Nara was capable of. "A brilliant deduction my young student, and a correct one at that. Asuma and I will be here to help if any of you have any questions as we both know the jutsu that is if you don't mind helping out Asuma."
"Of course I'll be here to help, I'm one of the sensei's here." Asuma contested hotly, bristling at the implication he otherwise wouldn't help his team out.
"Then we best get started." The Hokage chimed happily, he then proceeded to have them sit in a circle around the pond situated in the center of the grasslands. "Now the first step is close your eyes and focus on your chakra. From there suffuse yourselves in it and then try and cast your chakra into the earth and then outwards, like the roots of a giant tree." He explained as best he could how to perform the jutsu now it was up to his students to figure it out.
Naruto closed his eyes and tried to do as the old man instructed. 'First step, gather your senses inwards, find your chakra' he thought to himself as he tried to harness the chakra within him. After probing for awhile he found what could only be described as a nucleus of energy, yet try as he might Naruto could not seem to grasp the energy, every time he tried to access it he would be repelled. Finally Naruto grew angry and battered at it with all of his will power, the shell shattered, and he saw white. Energy flared to life within him, a seeming limitless supply of it. 'This feeling! It's incredible!' All of his senses seemed to be heightened, he could smell much more than he could not a moment earlier.
He could hear the faint breathing of the others around him, he could feel the hairs of the grass brushing against the tips of his toes, he could taste the moisture in the air and he could feel the stagnant air currents around them. It was then he remembered the second phase of the jutsu, casting your perception beyond the self. Suffusing himself within the energy once more he willed it into the ground, with a rush his consciousness was thrown out of his body and he became one with the forest.
"Na-ru-to." The call thundered in his head, the voice of millions of plant life was shouting his name all in sync with one another. However, Naruto at the moment was no longer Naruto, his consciousness had melded with forest, he was the vines that grew around the trees, he was in the trees and he was the heart of the forest, the mother tree, so ancient and proud. A bastion of power and stability, still alive after not one, but two wars.
Like a painful shock Naruto was brought gasping back to his body, everything was fuzzy for the blonde, he could hear a buzzing noise and he could make out fuzzy blurs in front of his vision. His brain felt heavy, and foggy. Then as though someone had wiped the moisture of a lens everything came into focus. The fuzzy blurs, became Asuma and Sarutobi-sensei standing over him looks of worry on their faces.
"Naruto-kun can you hear me?" The third repeated, worried. Naruto had been quietly meditating, quite a shocker for the old man, when dark green chakra blazed out of every pore in the blondes body, seeming to cast him in a ball of green flame before rapidly passing out.
"Yeah I can now old man, what happened?" Naruto groaned as he sat up, realizing he had somehow been knocked into
"You burst into this green ball of flame then totally passed out like a wimp." Came the cheeky response from the other blonde of the group. However, no one caught the slightly tinted cheeks that currently colored her face.
"Hey I'm not a wimp!" Naruto shot back hotly. "Still I remember finding my chakra, than sending it into the ground as you instructed sensei, from their things become hazy. It was strange, it was as though I became part of the forest, I remember vaguely being aware of our presence here but it was quickly pushed away as I was pulled to the old tree in the center of Hi no kuni (land of fire) the grand oak." He muttered quietly.
"Well you all did splendidly today. All of you, I expect you all to master the jutsu I gave you. It is an invaluable technique. Asuma, Naruto would you please come with me into the house. The rest of you are free to do as you please." It was rare to see the Hokage with such an air of command about it, it was awe inspiring to the youngsters.
As the two he had called for quickly fell in behind him as he strode from the private training ground and into his house. "I wonder what that was all about." Ino wondered aloud.
"Who knows Ino, Naruto-baka was always strange, obnoxious, moronic and above all annoying." Was Sakura's retort.
"Don't you think you're being a little harsh Sakura?" Choji asked, munching on his chips as usual.
"Hey! Naruto isn't stupid you pink haired banshee!" Tenten growled, in the week she had worked with Shikamaru and Naruto, she had come to respect different things about them. Naruto was hard working, honest to a fault, and equally loyal, however he surpassed even Lee in hyper activity. Shikamaru was lazy, but a genius, and he would often find the quickest easiest and best solution to any problem they might encounter. She had learned from Gai-Sensei that all leaf ninja were comrades and to be treated with respect, Naruto was good guy and she would defend him if people bad mouthed him in her presence.
"You obviously don't know him like we do then, because then you would realize he is obnoxious, loud, and plays silly little pranks." She scoffed, unconvinced of Tenten's declaration.
Shikamaru sighed, this was going to turn nasty real quick if Sakura didn't quit talking. Tenten had a real hot temper, Troublesome women, "Actually Sakura, Tenten is right. Naruto is a pretty cool guy if you give him a chance. He may have a troublesome, loud, and sometimes obnoxious voice, but he is by no means stupid. He figured out that jutsu before any of us did if you didn't catch on to that. You heard his account of what he remembered. This sensing jutsu is mainly used to sense other people's chakra but Naruto could sense everything in the entire forest. So you tell me, is Naruto stupid?" He challenged. It was clear that he wouldn't allow someone to bad mouth the blonde either.
Ino's eyes dashed between Sakura and Shikamaru, she knew well that both were genius in their own right and she also knew that they both hated losing. The only way this could be any better was if she had popcorn! Her eyes than landed on Choji's bag of chips. "Hey Choji-"
"No." Choji mumbled between a mouthful of chips, swallowing then stuffing another handful in his mouth, giving an exaggerated "MMMM" for her annoyance. "I love watching Shikamaru when he gets into these verbal fights. It's better than any movie, and I always make sure to have my favorite chips on hand for when I get to see it in action. The perfect movie chip and you can't have any." He stuck his tongue out for emphasis.
She glared daggers at the Akamichi but stayed her hand, she knew how defensive they got over food. She then shook her head and refocused on the main event.
"If what you say is true, than he should have been able sense our chakra, instead he said he became vaguely aware of our presence. Not something that seemed to be part of a jutsu." Sakura declared, a small smirk of victory adorned her face.
"True enough I suppose." Shikamaru started, his eyes boring directly into hers. "Yet he was still aware of our presence, and he said he became the forest itself. Becoming one with the tree's themselves seems to me to be the pinnacle of the jutsu we're learning." His rebuttal had the pink haired girl gaping. Shikamaru sighed and simply lay down looking towards the sky. Inside he was grinning, it was his first victory over any female, and he had his blonde friend to thank.
Tenten grinned at the verbal smack down Shikamaru had given the girl. "So what do you think they're talking about in there?"
"Probably talking about something troublesome regarding Naruto." Shikamaru quipped, despite how curious he was about the blonde enigma that kept dishing out new surprises by the pound.
"You say everything is troublesome. Still what Naruto described sounded very curious, I wonder what it would be like to become one with the forest." The bun haired girl wondered, a finger against her lips. That left all the females in dream land wondering about what it would be like to live life as a forest. For Shikamaru, the Nara was only interested in the clouds at the moment, and Choji was more concerned with the food in his hand.
Once inside Sarutobi guided Naruto to the lounging area in the center of the house. The blonde slumped down into a very comfortable couch, though at the moment he had more pressing matters to attend too. "Naruto I need you to describe what happened a little better."
Naruto's eyes landed on the old man's, his eyes then flicked to Asuma's before shooting back to the elder Sarutobi. "Alright, you want more detail? Try this on for size Ji-ji. I think the forest, as crazy as this sounds, tried to call out to me. When I extended my chakra into the ground the first thing I experience was a resounding call. A crushing force of hundreds maybe thousands of plants calling my name. From there my conscious was dragged into the mother tree where I could feel the entirety of Hi no kuni, every villager every animal that roosted within my trees." He shook his head, "No not mine, the forests trees. I'm not crazy, am I?" He pleaded, his eyes glinting with staggering fright.
"Kid, I've experienced some crazier shit than that as a ninja, this one time when I was a guardian for the daimyo, this enemy Kunoichi used a jutsu to exchange our souls, I wound up in her body and she wound up in mine. Try fighting yourself when you're in a wounded enemy female ninja's body. Yeah not fun, so do I seem insane to you kid?" Asuma asked a cigarette smoking from his lips.
Naruto's face bloomed into a foxy grin. "Nah you seem pretty cool, Asuma-sensei. Did you really have to fight yourself as a chick?"
Asuma nodded sitting down next to the blonde. "Sure did, scariest time of my life, I thought I was never going to be male again." He shivered at the memory, still haunting to this day.
Sarutobi smiled and sat down on the other side of Naruto. "I was on a mission once with a man named Danzo, the two of us went on a lot of missions together. This particular mission was to find any possible information we could garner about Iwagakure. I ended up getting drunk at a bar and waking up, naked laying spread eagle in the middle of the street, a shiner swelling my left eye." He shared. This had both of his companions laughing uncontrollably. Hiruzen huffed, "What's so funny?"
"Come on Ji-ji even you have to admit that's pretty hilarious." Naruto said, giving an infectious grin to the old monkey.
Falling prey Sarutobi grinned back, "Yeah, okay it is funny when taken into consideration." He replied ruffling the blondes' hair and receiving a heartwarming smile in return. "Still I think it is time we rejoin our friends outside shall we?"
As they exited the building both Tenten and Shikamaru immediately trained their eyes to Naruto's. When he looked directly at both of them and nodded with a smile he saw them visibly relax. He was touched more than they knew that they cared.
"Yo Naruto, Shikamaru and Tenten, feel free to come around more often. I think this joint session was a success, we'll have to do it again." Asuma invited.
"Yeah I like hanging with Naruto and Shikimaru. Tenten seems cool too." Choji offered.
"Today was pretty fun! I wouldn't mind seein' you three again." Ino happily announced
"Yeah, I learned a lot today and would enjoy another lesson like this." Was Sakura's goodbye.
Shikamaru shrugged but bumped knuckles with Choji, Tenten smiled and shook hands with the other team.
Naruto, however grinned and shouted "Yeah! this was a kick ass training session. We'll all be super awesome one day! Dattebayo!"
The two elites chuckled at the youthful energy of their kids antics with farewells said the third led his team from the house. "You three did well today." Hiruzen told them once more.
"Thank you sensei!" They replied as one. Tenten and Naruto with grins on their faces, Shikamaru maintaining his bored expression but happiness danced in his eyes.
"Yes I expect all three of you to continue practicing this technique on your own." He lectured as all three groaned. A smirk came to the monkey summoners lips. "You know I also have a suggestion for all three of you so listen up." He was serious this time and they were perceptive as they trained one eye on the Hokage and one eye on their surroundings, as he was teaching them. "All three of you should think about a weapon you wish to learn to wield. This will automatically increase your attack potential and help balance your skills. Tenten I know you are a master with throwing weapons, but you should pick one to specialize in close quarters with. Just remember, when choosing a tool you are going to rely on as an extension of you, it will become part of who you are. They say that true masters of their weapon will form a special bond that can never be severed. When wielder and weapon become one their true potential becomes unleashed. Choose wisely and when you have an idea of what one you want to learn to use, let me know."
"Hai sensei" Once again all three replied in sync, it seemed they were meshing together better than the Hokage originally hoped for. These three students had a will strong enough to change the world in his humble opinion. He only hoped they didn't fall prey to the difficult road ahead. He saw the path before them and it was hard indeed. It was his job to prepare them for what was to come. Soon the real training would begin and he would see to it that they had the mettle to stand up to the challenge, and they would not crumble beneath the weight.
~ Later that night~
Hiruzen and Asuma Sarutobi arrived at the grand oak, the tree that connected all the trees together. A five mile trek from Konoha. "So remind me why we're here again old man." Asuma spoke, his voice laced with sarcasm.
The elder Sarutobi scoffed, "Do you need your ears checked Asuma, or have you been smoking more than just cigarettes in your off time."
The elite jounin leveled a flat look at his Hokage. "Kurenai doesn't even tolerate me smoking, do you really think she'd let me get away with anything else. No let's not go down that road, too scary." Indeed just thinking about it gave him chills.
"For the second time today we are here because I want to investigate the grand oak, I will be performing a diagnostic on the tree and try and see if there's anything special about it. You're here because if my suspicions are correct than there's no telling what might happen." The third lectured as if he were talking to a three year old. "Now be quite and keep a look out while I perform the jutsu." He transformed from old grandfather to the fire shadow in an instant, a powerful commanding air hung about the man as he stepped up to the tree.
Starting slowly and picking up pace, Sarutobi Hiruzen began a long series of hand seals, all the while chanting inaudibly, Asuma could feel the power of the jutsu thrumming in the air. Whatever the Hokage was about to do was a very old and very powerful technique. Slamming his hands open palmed on the tree a flash of light illuminated the area so intensely that it was impossible to see.
When Asuma could see again he saw that his father was passed out. "Great just what we need, my father freaking passing out, I hope to hell it's not a heart attack." He grumbled striding over to where his father lay intent on checking the man's vitals.
For the Sandaime, he woke up in a rainbow field of flowers. in front of him was a giant waterfall that crashed down and cut a moat around the field, beyond lay forest. What was strange to the aged man was that the sun beamed down gloriously lighting the area with a warm glow.
"Hello little-saru" a voice that seemed to contain thousands of voices spoke from behind him.
Turning around the Third found himself face to face with his first teacher, the first Hokage. "A-are you really here right now?"
The man shook his head, "No we have merely taking the form of our creator to help us converse with you in a way that you might find easier to cope with."
"So.." and the Hokage paused for a long time, seeming to choose his next words with utmost care, "You must be the grand oak, the heart of the forest, the collective conciousness of the whole forest."
The first Hokage smiled, "We knew you we're special from the moment you were born Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"So why have you brought me here?"
"The jutsu you activated forced both of us here, but I do indeed have something to discuss with you. We know you are aware of Naruto experienced today, I am simply here to tell you that he is our chosen inheritor of the will of fire." The being explained.
"Y-you mean that he has received the moukuton release?" Sarutobi asked incredulously.
Again the being that masqueraded as the first smiled, "You catch on quick, but yes in essence he will be granted that power among other things. It seems our time has come to a close. Farewell old monkey." and for one brief instant The Sandaime swore he saw life restored in the eyes of Hashirama Senju and he saw his former sensei looking proudly at him.
With a gasp the third woke grasping Asuma's arm with a vice like grip. He only spoke two words, "Naruto, Moukuton" his eyes rolled to the back of his head and once more he passed out, only this time from fatigue.
Asuma groaned and took a page from the infamous Nara clan. "Troublesome father, passing out on me all the time, I swear. Why do i have to be your care taker? It's SO not fair, that's what you have secretary's and things for. Or the Anbu for that matter!" He shouted to their Anbu security detail. The silence he recieved letting him know that the guards assigned to him this night were not going help lug the Hokage back for five miles, it was probably Kakashi and Anko the two of them getting their rocks off on this. Rolling his eyes and heaving his father onto his shoulder giving his father one last look. "So, Naruto's inherited the senju clan's ability eh? What more does that brat have in store?" He asked to no one as he took a long drag from his cigarette.
A/N So what did you guys think? Review and let me know! That would be much appreciated. Constructive critisiscm welcome.