A/N Hey there all sorry about not being around much lately but i bought a brand new 2012 car that has me working more than anything else at the moment so my stories took a hit in the update regard. Without further ado here is the next chapter!

"All day, all freaking day I've searched for a weapon! The very few stores that even let me in didn't have anything that spoke out to me the way Ji-ji said it should. Speaking of old the fossil he isn't anywhere to be found!" Naruto ranted to himself, sitting on a dock kicking his foot into the shimmering waters of the lake beneath him. He didn't really want to try that new jutsu because he was slightly afraid of being dragged away from his body again and not being able to return.

"Well the old monkey can be damn elusive when he wants to be. However, if you're looking to find a weapon you should let someone more experienced help you decide kid." A gruff voice announced amusedly behind Naruto, who promptly whirled around to see Asuma standing there, smirking around his ever present cigarette.

"Oh? Are you offering to aide me in my search?" The blonde retorted slowly.

A nod came from Asuma, "Indeed, There are two ways I can think of to find out what kind of weapon is best suited to you, one takes a period of many trial and error and could take weeks to months, the other is much faster and possibly the best, but is also more punishing. Which one you want?"

Naruto without a second's hesitation replied, "The shortest and best way. I don't care how punishing it is, I can take it." The determination in his eyes was brighter than a super nova.

Asuma chuckled, "I like your spirit kid. Very well, the solution is simple. You have to fight me, and I'm not talking about some friendly spar. I mean for real because I won't be playing around either and I don't want to accidently kill you. You sure you still wanna go through with this?" The bearded man asked his eyes holding an edge of steel.

Naruto wordlessly got into his ready position. "Damn straight." Before sprinting forward and attempting a flying kick. Which, with his currently athletic build, was quite speedy and would have caught many off guard with the speed he travelled, for Asuma however, it was child's play.

Sidestepping the attack his heel crashed into the back of Naruto's cranium via a high kick, sending the teen sputtering forward. "C'mon Naruto you have to do a lot better than that." He taunted.

Naruto back flipped with a spin kick, Asuma caught it and sent the blonde a one way ticket towards a face-plant with the docks, but Naruto thrust his palms out catching himself, before using his remaining free foot to kick in Asuma's jaw. That was the plan at least, Asuma grinned savagely as his head tilted to the side and he transferred one of his hands from Naruto's caught leg to other offending appendage. Jumping he spun backwards and drove his knee into Naruto's back as he collided with the dock. "I wasn't lying when I said fight all out. You're holding back, I can tell, the more you hold back the more brutal I'm going to fight, it's insulting." He spoke harshly as he elbowed the back of Naruto's head with such force it cracked the wood beneath Naruto.

Chakra rushed into Naruto's veins filling him with primal strength. The boy rolled with a spinning elbow and complimentary snarl. The elbow connected with the side of Asuma's face, immediately following that, Naruto back fisted the jounin with enough power the sending the man flying off of him, however Naruto was quick to catch his ankle and roll back wards curling inwards like a armadillo. Yanking on the man's ankle with an audible 'SNAP' he heard Asuma growl in pain. He wasn't finished though, Asuma now directly over head him Naruto started pummeling Asuma in the stomach with vicious kicks, while Naruto used his hands to stabilize and position his body to keep Asuma suspended and unable to do anything.

Asuma wasn't a jounin for nothing, with practiced ease his hands sped through the hand seals and he inhaled a deep amount of air before, using chakra to reinforce it, the compressed air exploded outwards with concussive force, the shockwave breaking the entire dock as well as sending Naruto to swim with the fishes. Asuma landed kneeling on the water before, with a painful jerk, he re-set his ankle. 'Damn brat' he thought. He didn't have much time to think about it though as suddenly Naruto after Naruto started bursting out of the water attempting all kinds of attacks.

Asuma ate through the clones with little effort before calling the blonde out. "Is that all you can do kid? Go ahead; keep attacking me from under water with clones! You'll have to do much better than that!" He shouted.

"You should look up Asuma-teme!" Naruto cried as Asuma turned around just enough to see the falling Naruto's fist crash right into the side of his face sending him splashing into the water. Naruto grinned as he was close behind. That is until he was shot with a retaliatory sphere of compressed air and it shot him clear to the beach head where he crashed into a sprawling heap.

When Asuma emerged from out of the water close to the shore Naruto was still sprawled out on the sand twitching. "Damn, maybe I over did it a little." He admitted sheepishly scratching the back of his head. When he arrived at the heap that was Naruto, he saw the boys wounds healing up rapidly, it was clear that the boy was passed out from his exertion in the fight. In truth the boy did splendidly landing quite the good number of sneak attacks.

After administering a medical jutsu he knew from his drinking buddies that was used for waking up passed out people. He waited for the blonde to wake, which was no more the five minutes. With a groan the boy sat up blinking. "If I am waking up that means I lost the fight didn't I?" The boy queried dejectedly.

"Of course you did, I'm an elite for a reason. You were never expected to win, I would have told you to quit after that last attack you threw at me but you weren't about to stop so I had to end the fight then and there. However I think I've figured you out and a good weapon for you." Asuma reassured the blonde.

His eyes brightened instantly. "Really!" The boy was full energy it seemed.

The young Sarutobi nodded. "Yeah, your fighting style is formless but creative. I can tell you haven't yet received any close combat training. You brawl well, but it is a brawl nonetheless." He instructed, sounding very similar to a certain Hokage. "The weapon I have in mind is weapon called falcons talons. It's a set of hand claws with three blades per claw as well as foot blades to increase the lethality of your kicks, which I noticed you leaned towards. I have a set I could give but under one condition."

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah yeah that sounds so bad ass! What's the condition, hell I'll do it regardless that sounds so awesome!"

Asuma could do not but smile and shake his head at the energy Naruto had pouring out of him it was almost exhausting to be around. "These weapons; if you're not careful can be deadly to you as well simply by wearing them. Either my father or I will have to teach you the forms. You MUST learn the forms before receiving this weapon. Understood?" The tone he carried brooked no argument, again sounding eerily similar to his old man.

"Hai, I understand, but don't you have your own students to teach?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head as a nervous habit. Not many people just offered to do things for him.

Asuma laughed at the blonde. "Kid I make sure to spend plenty of my time coaching my team. Still as I said earlier I like your spirit, so I'm not too stressed about whooping your ass into shape. Actually sounds like a lot of fun." Asuma smiled. Truth be told he used to use the unique weapon back in his days as a guardian, they were given to him as a present to an old friend of his by the name of Ryu who was now who knows where. The strange man had told him to pass it on to the next generation when he was done with it and he intended to keep that promise. Now was the time to fulfill it as Naruto seemed to be the perfect candidate.

"Ugh okay can I go home now though, my body still kinda smarts." Naruto asked exhaustedly, a chortling Asuma promptly dismissed the blonde telling him that He'll fetch Naruto for the next training session.

As Asuma himself headed home to check in on his father he decided to converse with the aged leader about his plans considering Naruto, now that it was known the boy would develop some rather unique abilities at some point.

~ Elsewhere at the Nara compound~

"So what is this about Shikamaru?" The boy's father asked, not looking up from the shogi board the two were currently playing on.

Shikimaru took his time in replying, waiting till he made his next move before doing so. "Sensei said I should think of picking up a weapon, and I know our family carries an heirloom weapon. Thus I thought it the easiest and best solution to see if I couldn't try my hand bonding with the weapon."

While his son could fool many, he couldn't fool Shikaku. The boy was nervous at the moment but deadly serious. The family's heirloom weapon wasn't a joke either; it had made previous wielders go insane before. "You sure you wanna do this?" Shikaku was now staring intently at his one and only son. If he wanted to try it he wouldn't stop Shikimaru despite the dangers it represented, if his son was absolutely sure about it that was.

A rare moment of seriousness suffused the air between them. A stark contrast to the normal lazy camaraderie the two normally shared. "I am" was the boy's reply.

With a sigh Shikaku stood his son following suit. "Then you best follow me." He instructed as he led Shikimaru past the house, the deer fields and past the outskirts of the forest surrounding the compound. Deep within the wooded area they came to a small hut about ten feet long and five feet wide built in between two massive tree trunks.

Opening the door, Shikimaru could see nothing besides the invading blackness stretching out and consuming everything it could. Inside the unmistakable territory of the shadow, no light or sound could hope to penetrate. "In there is the weapon you seek, keep in mind that if you don't have a strong enough will, you will be rejected." Shikaku warned from behind him. He didn't need to tell his son what would happen in that event he was rejected for the teenager already knew.

With a small gulp Shikimaru strode forward into the darkness. The door slammed shut immediately after before he was completely engulfed in darkness. Still, he could feel the thrumming power coming from the ancient artifact that lay on an ornamental stand at the center of the far wall. He didn't need to see it to know where it was. Deciding to get things over with Shikimaru strode forward. As he stood before the weapon he kneeled and intoned, "I, Shikimaru Nara, do swear on this oath of blood that I choose to bond with Bikou-Joutei and carry the responsibilities that come with it!"

A faint purple glow appeared in front of him, starting at the tip of the weapon and slowly tracing the outline of a spear bloomed to life illuminating the room only slightly. It had a very natural look to it, the handle being made out of lacquered black wood, with three white owl feathers fanning out from the base of the blade; the blade itself being about a foot long and sharp on both edges, the total length coming to about six feet.

'I hear you Shikimaru Nara, come forth and I shall test your mettle!' Shikimaru could only guess it was the spear that spoke within his mind. Accepting the challenge he sliced his palm, a thin line of blood appearing, before grasping the shaft of the spear. The purple energy then rapidly travelled the length of Shikimaru's body and the boy was no longer in the land of the conscious.

Shikimaru now sat before a woman who sat across from him with a pleasant smile and oddly, with her eyes closed, both sat on comfortable seating pads. She was dressed in a form fitting all black dress with accents of silver that cut off at the knee that showed a well defined figure. She had long dark hair that was vibrant and had a life all of its own, cascading down in lustrous locks. "Welcome young Nara, to my world." the woman's smile was predatory and unnerved the gennin. With a wave of her hand a board with a grid etched onto it appeared, alongside of it two wooden jars appeared containing inside them stones of two different colors. One contained black the other contained white.

"To test your mettle we shall play a simple game of Go. You do know how to play don't you?" She inquired raising a delicate eyebrow.

Shikimaru nodded once more, cursing to himself about his life seemed to be themed around constantly having to deal with troublesome women. Go was a simple enough game to understand the basics, it was about capturing territories and enemy stones. The main focus was to capture more territory, to capture an opponent's stone one had to place four stones to cut off any intersection point around the stone.

As simple as the games rules were it was deviously complex and entirely about strategy and reading an opponent's moves. Shikimaru preferred the more straightforward Shogi. However, he wasn't about to back out simply because this wasn't his normal game. "Any special rules I should know about?" Shikimaru inquired, he doubted this would be unlike any strategy game he had ever played before.

The woman smiled "Why yes, if you lose I get to eat your soul." Shikimaru hated being right. With another wave of her hand the penetrating darkness suddenly became a vast plain with a giant mountain range ringing the plain, angry wind howled as it bit into his skin and folded the surrounding grass like a giant roller. They sat suspended in the sky around fifty feet high, enough to get a good view of the plain while not sacrificing fine detail. Below them he could see giant black lines carved into the landscape. "We will also be playing using real people taken from your memory and the souls I have eaten." She continued her voice creepily chipper. "You are white dear and as the rules state you get an obligatory piece to set anywhere you want on the board."

With a deep breath Shikimaru grabbed his first piece and set his first stone, below him a shimmer appeared at the corresponding intersection and his eyes widened when the shimmer morphed into Naruto.

With a lick of her lips, "Oh how I'll enjoy capturing that cute boy," Her eyes opening for the first time revealing blood red pupae and a vicious grin replacing her previous pleasant one. "And then dining on his energetic life-force"

Shikimaru paled, this woman was seriously scary, and he couldn't afford to lose here. Not with so much at stake, but he was starting to re-think his decision on wanting to wield this sentient weapon. The game now started, it was all on Shikimaru now; no one would be here to bail him out if things got tough and he couldn't huff it. If he lost he would lose his soul. With grim determination Shikimaru stared off against his opponent. 'You want a fight well I've got over a thousand ways to bring one to your doorstep!' He thought to himself. "Tch I don't care how troublesome it is, I am not about to let you dine on any of my friends. Especially Shorty" Shikimaru declared. For better or worse the deadly game had begun and it was time for Shikimaru to step up.

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'KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!' Naruto shot up listening raptly for any noise, when none was forthcoming he promptly when back to sleep. Snoring before his head hit the pillow. 'KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!' with the banging level increased Naruto was definitely woken up this time.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" Naruto shouted so whoever was at the door would stop banging. Groggily getting up from his comfortable bed, still in his night gown and frog night cap, he ambled his way to the door to find Tenten with her hands on her hips with a look of clear annoyance on her face. "What's up buns?" He asked.

"What's up? I've been banging on your door now for fifteen minutes and all I get is what's up!" She raved at the blonde, the vein in her forehead pulsing angrily.

The claws were out tonight it seems. Opening the door all the way Naruto allowed her come inside. "Sorry 'bout that when I'm exhausted I tend to pass out."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Boys" She remarked. After taking a brief glance around the kitchen, she whistled, "Don't you ever clean your apartment Naruto?" Trash was strewn everywhere, ramen cups were spilling out of the trash can and strewn all over the tables and counter tops. "You also need to eat a lot more than just ramen!" She cried incredulously.

Naruto shrugged, "What, I like ramen, it's quick, easy and delicious!" He fired back.

"Even so, you need a balanced diet." Deciding to end the argument before it escalated, Tenten smoothly switched topics. "Anyway the reason I came was because I was wondering if you'd heard anything from Sensei."

Naruto shook his head. "Not a peep since the joint training session the other day, though I did run into Asuma-sensei and he seemed to think the old man was just fine and if he's not worried than I'm not either."

Tenten sighed, "Darn I was hoping to talk Sensei."

"'Bout what?" Naruto queried while turning on his stove to heat the water in a tea kettle. Going to his cupboard he grabbed two cups and pulled out a box of tea bags. "Tea?" he added once a nod was received Naruto continued his self appointed task while he listened to Tenten.

"Well I know that Sensei was one of the greatest Bo-Staff users of all time so I was going to see if he could teach me how to better use my own." She admitted sitting down on the couch, careful to look for any stained spots, she was relieved when she found none.

"Well I still remember the beating you gave me during our initiation and I say your skill with them doesn't need to get any better." He interjected with a chuckle.

Tenten joined in as well. "Yeah, but I could stand to be way better. You were still fresh out of the academy and thinking you could take on the world, but I sure knocked you into your place didn't I Shorty?" She teased. Which she got a heated glare as her just reward, "so you decide on a weapon to specialize in yet?" she posed to the blonde.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, Asuma helped me find a weapon that was suited to my tastes." Her arched eyebrow indicated for him to continue. As he set the steaming hot tea in front of her he smiled, "Sorry but that's a secret, you'll find out soon enough. It's kick ass though I'll tell ya that much." His foxy grin was plastered across his face in full.

"Someone's a little full of himself" Tenten's words dripped with sarcasm, even while a small smile appeared on her face.

Naruto laughed in response. "Hey someone's gotta have believe in how awesome I am, and If I don't have faith in me who else will?" He shot back still grinning.

"Suppose you're right on that one." And together the two conversed long into the night. They shared jokes and laughed most of the evening; in truth both orphans loved the company of each other. It was relaxing and helped the two teen's bond more closely. They would have invited Shikimaru but as previous evidence suggested he would be far too lazy to join them, which was fine with them, as they shared jokes about the lazy pineapple haired boy. Besides he wasn't an orphan like they were. He had parents to go home to, they didn't.

A/N I'd like to thank you all for your continued reviews and faithful reading. while i do this for my own personal enjoyment the fact you guys enjoy it is the entire reason i post it in the first place. If you have any questions or comments feel free to pm me.