Chapter 7
Lover's Quarrel: A Love Triangle That Can't End Well
I own nothing
"You're in love with that man stealing tramp aren't you!" Yelled Kurami, jumping and raving in her tranquil meadow which was now covered in dark clouds and lightning.
"Love? What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned, genuinely confused about where Kurami got love from his stomach issues.
"Don't give me that crap! I get it, you getting bored with me aren't you! You're going to trade me up for a younger more looser model!" Kurami exaserbates dramatically, literally on the brink of tears as she thought of her beloved Naruto trading her up.
"W-w-what? Trade you up? You're not making any sense here Kurami-chan" Naruto said, now completely confused with his girlfriend. Naruto has never been good at reading women emotionally, he can read anyone like a book physically and psychologically but when it comes to emotions of love and of the heart he might as well be brain dead.
"Fine! Play dumb, but mark my words you and that whore will pay!" And with that Kurami fades from Naruto's mind and begins to cry while contemplate on how to destroy Anko for taking her Naruto-kun's heart from her. I know what most of you are thinking, "Wow, over reacting much" but in truth she wasn't. Naruto was everything to her, when she wakes up to the moment she falls asleep she can't get him out of her head (maybe because she is literally living inside him, but I digress). He was the first human in over a thousand years to ever try and get to know her on a personal level and now…...someone was trying to take him away from her, even if it was just a weird feeling she knew what was going to happen.
"I won't let her take you away from me Naruto-kun, not without a fight" She thought as she whipped her eyes and jumped up from her curled up position, ready to start fighting back.
Once Kurami-chan became silent, Naruto decided to think, seeing as Kurami couldn't read his mind thanks to the complex seal that has been placed on him. Even though the can talk and see each other inside his mindscape, the seal Orochimaru put on him was far more complex than the 5 finger suppression seal. It cut off any link to the Kyuubi, mentally, physically, and even spiritually. Thanks to Jiraiya's vast knowledge on seals he has been able to disable most of it, key word is most. A portion of the seal was still visible on his own seal, stopping Kurami from seeing or hearing his thoughts and the outside world through Naruto's ears.
Having enough time to think he decided it would be a good idea to start training, it will help him clear his head and he can perfect his elemental manipulation, giving him a better handle on his elemental techniques.
He crossed his fingers and summoned out 100 clones and whistled to get the groups attention.
"Okay listen up!" he yelled, seeing his clones stand at attention like a perfect squad, "I want you to split into groups of 4, 25 of you maggots will be working on either earth, wind, or water manipulation techniques. Another group will work on any and all chakra control, I want it to be flawless! Next group will take these Kenjutsu scrolls and start working. And finally, the last 25 will be with me, I need to spar and I want you all to come full force, use any means to beat me. Am I understood!" and like a well oiled machine they were off.
The first 25 divided up the area, one part was for earth manipulation which consisted of using pure earth chakra to split a rock perfectly in two and to be able to collect sediment into a rock. Another works on water by going into the forest, picking some leaves or flowers and drain the liquid from the vegetation, while the final group began to split a leaf with nothing more than wind chakra.
The ones who began to work on their Kenjutsu were given several scrolls on the arts the original wanted to get down. The basics of the Senju's battle stance, seeing as before he left the base of that snake bastard, he stole several scrolls that spanned from the fundamentals of seals to the research Orochimaru did on many of the famous clans.
He then unsealed a few practice swords from a seal he had placed on his arm. He was riddled with seals on his body, several holding important things such as weapons, information, extra pair of clothing, his viper mask, and his sword. Over the years he has become more precocious, ready to face any problem that calls for an alternative solution. He is trying to be proficient in almost every field, his sharingan can help with his genjutsu, his wood and earth style are perfect for his defense. His bone blood release and Kenjutsu practice will help him become more agile and swiftness, his Dust, Fire, and wind release helps with his crowd control and all around power. His electricity and Water release helps devastate in close range. He wanted to be perfect, simply perfect, a unwanted trait he had picked up from his captor.
He then turned his attention to the last group of his clones who stood at the ready, some with kunais drawn, others having bone spurs jutting from their different limbs, and one in particular had pulled his spine completely from his back and was now going to use it like a whip.
"Okay, lets begin. I want to see aggression and commitment people. Come with the intent to kill!" Naruto order, and his clones responded with a loud "Hai" and charged their master.
"Time for some on the job learning" Naruto thought, closing his eyes and then revealed his Sharingan eyes. Seeing as Orochimaru found and killed a rogue Uchiha who seemed to have escaped the clan massacre of his people, the Uchiha had already evolved his eyes to the level of the three tomoe, allowing him to have the full extent of the main three abilities of his eyes. Seeing a person's chakra flow perfectly, predictive capabilities, and to copy any jutsu he sees. It helped with many things especially to cretic his own fighting style, as he watched his clones attack one by one or as a group he can watch them use the styles he has learned and notice the problems they have.
The first to attack was one who was equipped with three bone spurs protruding through his forearm, two on both sides and one right in the middle. He went for several wild swings for his chest and then followed it up with a roundhouse kick. Using his superior sight to his advantage he dodged the swings and blocked the kick with his forearm, he then gripped his leg and flipped him. He spun in mid air and was sent flying by a kick from Naruto, firing off towards a small group of clones, knocking them over like bowling pins.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" a clone yelled from behind Naruto, narrowly missing him by an inch since the real Naruto saw him run behind i'm not five seconds before.
He dodged quickly, tucking and rolling to the left and threw a kunai towards his clone, catching it between the eyes and dispelling it quickly.
The next one who went for an attack was the wipe clone. He extended the spinal cord and went for an overhead swing, bring it swiftly down on top of the original who was to focused on another incoming clone to notice it. Being taken by surprise the whip cracked down on his unprotected back, making a hard, crisp snap on his skin and causing him to scream in pain, he did tell them to bring it.
He turned to defend himself from another hard smack only to be taken from behind by another doppelganger who tackled him from the side and sent him into a congregation of his own clones who stood their irally.
He then noticed he was surrounded, every clone he created for this spar had created an oval around him, effectively trapping him. He saw 5 of his clones run through a few hand signs in perfect sync, then another row of handsigns, then another, all 25 of his clones have ran through a group of handsigns.
"Fire style: Great Dragon fire" a group of five clones yelled, firing off a enormous plume of flames from their collective mouths, then fusing into one gigantic hellball.
"Lightning Release: Depth Charge" another row of five yelled, collective enough electrical chakra between the five to create one massive streak of Lightning that shot in a erratic beam towards it's intended target.
"Wind Release: Vacuum sphere" They next group yelled, taking a deep breath of air and then exhales several small blast of wind chakra, almost looking as it was a machine gun fire of translucent wind bullets.
"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullet" one set of Naruto clones chimed out, raising their hands in his direction and fired from the tips of their fingers ten, oddly shaped, spinning bullet-like projectiles that were moving at a extremely fast pace.
"Particle release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu" the chorus of 5 yelled, gather particle chakra into the palms of their hands to create a three dimensional cube with a light dot in the middle. The extended the attack in their hands and fired them at once. All and all it was a massive dome of destruction, on either side naruto looked he was surrounded by A to S ranked jutsu that would put down a Kage if need be. he had to think quick, he flashed through a rather short burst of handsigns and slapped his hands to the ground, calling upon all of the roots and seeds he can find, "Wood Release: Hobi technique!"
Roots began to shoot from the ground, wrapping into a structure of some kind around him. As the attacks etched closer towards Naruto the roof of this shield formed the face of a dragon like mask, signifying it was finished forming. The attacked collided as one in the middle, illuminating the training ground in a hellfire of different colors and elements, alerting one off duty interrogator of someone's presence in her playground.
Anko, taking a mandatory vacation from her job on orders from Ibiki because, apparently she hasn't taken any of her accumulated vacation days and vacations are mandatory in any working establishment. So, not being a social person unless it has to deal with her few friends and Naruto, she decided to spend her first day off in a dark, humid, bug infested forest that was supposed to be secluded. But apparently her little oasis of peace and quiet has been found out by some gaki who has overstepped his boundaries, "Guess I better pay this little gaki a visit, maybe I can scare the shit out of him while I'm at it" she thought wickedly, smirking up a storm as she began to jump through the trees to get to the ruckus.
Anko made it to a clearing just in time to see the light show of the massive combined attack die down, revealing a holey and beaten down wooden dome that was barely standing. She looked to the men standing around the dome and was confused, why did the all look the same? and why did they all have striking reslimplince to Naruto-kun?
She soon come to the conclusion that they WERE Naruto-kun, after that wooden type dome collapsed to reveal Naruto in his true, snake-like form, showing his slightly longer silver hair and the more apparent white snake scales. His clothing was ripped and ragged only leaving him his pants to keep his dignity intact since his basic black shirt was torn and demolished.
As the center naruto dusted himself off he snapped his fingers, dispelling the 25 clones that surrounded him and walked to the center of the training ground, ready to get some meditation in before his other clones were done with their tasks.
He sits down in a lotus position and places his hands on his thigh, relaxs his body, and begins to breath slowly in and out through his nose. He took a sharp intake of air and couldn't help but get the whiff of a distinct odor, a sweet smell of dongo and a specific shampoo that he knows only one person uses.
"Hello Anko" he said, feeling her presence standing next to him. He opened his eyes and looked to his right, seeing his cladly dressed sensei who had her hands on her hips and was looking at him with a cocked eyebrow.
"Can I help you?" he asked, standing from his sit and walked towards her as he releases a seal that was tattooed on his arm, bring out his back up clothing.
He slide on a grey long sleeved shirt and a black sleeveless over shirt with a neon red trim. He looked to Anko and found she was looking him up and down, sizing him up in his new threads and it seemed she liked what she saw.
"No, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I might visit my favorite, scaly friend." she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes playfully and leaning over ever so slightly to show a little bit more of her assets. Naruto just looked to Anko and smirked, he loved how she tried and tease him with her body. Believe me when I say he has no problem in looking at the female form, to him it was like a beautiful piece of art but, having to deal with Kurami's not so subtle temptations on a daily basis, Anko's attempts fell short.
"That's fine" he said, sidestepping her and going towards one of his clones who was waving him over, "but I can't really talk right now, I am extremely busy" he said, taking a scroll his clone had handed him and then it puffed out of existence, along with 24 others.
"Okay, then don't talk. Just listen" she said as she started to shift uncomfortably on the balls of her feet.
Naruto looked up from his scroll and noticed how uncomfortable she looked, "This can't be good" he thought, knowing Anko doesn't show how uncomfortable a situation makes her without their being a damn good reason for it.
"I...I wanted to say….I'm sooo- I'm sorrrrrrr-...I'm sorry. I really didn't want to send you to that damn meeting or tell those old bastards for what happened between you and that stuck up Uchiha but-" Anko explained but was silenced by Naruto's raised hand
"No need Anko" he said, continuing to scan the scroll in his hands, "you were only doing your job…..besides, I know you're not sorry. Anko doesn't feel sorry" he said playfully.
"I know" she said with a smile, "I just didn't want my Naruto-kun mad at me"
"Mad? I don't get mad" he said with a smile, continuing to read his scroll on the Kenjutsu his clones where working on. He knew the memories of his clones would come to him but it is better to read it himself than to just leave it up to memories.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence Anko decided she was going to pass the time with a list of questions.
"So, Naruto-kun. What is your favorite type of food?" she questioned.
"Well, I like many forms of steak and barbecue. But, one of my guilty pleasures has to be ramen" he said, not pulling his eyes from the scroll.
"Oh really?" she said with a smirk.
"Yeah, how about you?" he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with how playful her voice was getting.
"hmmm…..Dango, Dango, and…...Dango!" she said, counting out her list on her fingers playfully.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" she asked with a tint of red reaching her features, showing that even the great and sexy Anko can feel a hint of embarrassment every now and then.
Once the question hit Naruto's ears he looked up from his scroll and looked at the growing blush on Anko's face. "Why in god's name would she ask that?" he thought hysterically, confused and unprepared for that particular question.
An uncomfortable silence came over the two for about 2 minutes before Naruto thought it would be probably easier if he told the truth, maybe he was reading too much into her question? "Nothing much, I normally train until 5 so….I'm pretty much clear." he then brought his attention back to his scroll so Anko didn't notice the light blush on his rather pale skin.
"Well thats good!" she said cheerfully, hopefully hiding her nervousness, "because you're taking me on a date tonight, no exceptions"
Naruto dropped the scroll with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, how is Kurami going to deal with this? She had a literal break down five minutes ago over him being on the same TEAM with Anko, how would she react if she found out about HER Naruto-kun going on a date with Anko, the women she despises more than anyone.
"I can't" Naruto thought, feeling a small bead of sweat drop from his brow as he continued to stare off into space.
"Yes you can" a more deeper and slightly more crazy voice chimed in.
"Shut it! I don't want to talk to you anymore, people already think I am crazy enough without having an alter ego arguing with me!" Naruto yelled in his mind, trying to push his more Psychotic side down.
"You can't get rid of me that easily Naruto, I am you and you have to listen to me!" the more psychotic side of Naruto spoke, pushing himself from the darkness Naruto had tried to bury him in for all these years.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't need you anymore, just go away. I want to be normal!" Naruto yelled back into the depths of the darkest parts of his mind
"Normal!? You can never be normal! You are a freak, an experimental disaster, but that bitch Kurami keeps filling your head with non-sense! That's why you should go with Anko, it will crush that stupid fox faced whore's little heart, leaving me and you to be one once again!" he laughed out minical, pushing ever so slightly through the darkness, getting a foothold once again in the light.
Over the 3 and a half years Naruto has been living in Konoha he has been trying harder and harder to be normal and was making slow progress. One of his major steps in becoming normal was to push back his insane counterpart so only the normal, more rational side remained. What he didn't know was he could never get ride of his psychotic half, it was part of him, this psychotic counterpart held many of Naruto's abilities such as his affinities for water, earth, and fire while also having his Particle release and Juugo's Sage Absorption. In truth, he needed his insanity just like his insanity needed him.
"N-No, I couldn't do that to Kurami-chan. I couldn't!" he hissed back, trying to silence his doppelgangers influence.
As Naruto continued to fight with his dark side he stood there like a statue , leaving a very nervous Anko to deal with her own paranoid thoughts
"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did you ask him that? Of course he doesn't want to go on a date with a freak like me!" (Ironic) she thought as she looked down to her hands, trying not to let Naruto see her apparent blush. Even though Anko walks around in barely anything and continuously yells out how sexy she is, she is very insecure about herself and hates almost everything about her. Her hair, her eyes, her complexion, everything! Her friends Kurenai, Hana, and Yugao have tried their damndest to make her stop being so hard on herself but she wouldn't have it, she just doesn't see someone beautiful when she looks in the mirror every morning.
"Look, Anko." Naruto said, finally snapping out of his trance with his insane counterpart, "I don't think-"
"Don't worry about it" she said, cutting him off before he said the words that would break her heart, "It was a joke, I was just messin' with ya! Besides, why would I want to date a kid, huh? I am the great and sexy Anko Mitarashi, I can't be seen going out with a teenager, it would hurt my rep" she said with a smirk, trying to hide her heartbreak.
Taken back by what she said Naruto just gave her a small but hurt smile and said, "understood" and started to walk off, dispelling his last 25 clones with a snap of his finger, leaving behind a very sad and depressed Anko.
"What the hell was that all about?" Naruto thought, jumping into the trees overhead and headed towards his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku ramen.
"Women are a crazy bunch, huh?" INaruto (Insane Naruto) mused, beginning to laugh at the irony of it.
"Why are you still talking! I thought you should be buried deep inside my subconscious!" Naruto yelled, annoyed at his doppelganger who seemed to just keep popping up out of freaking nowhere, like a damn tumor.
"You can't get rid of me buddy boy, so get used to it." INaruto said with a smirk, "but I know you don't want to talk about me, you want to talk about what the hell happened back there don't ya? and you can't really talk to Kurami seeing as she is so jealous of Anko. So, why don't you talk to your old pal, huh?" he said with a wicked smirk evident on his lips, hoping he can drive a wedge between his neutral counterpart and the thorn in his side, Kurami.
"What, talk to you about my problems? Are you crazy?" he asked, only to get a loud and rather obnoxious laugh from his darker half.
"Crazy? yes. But that's not the point. You shouldn't keep all of that stuff bottled up my friend, let it out. Tell old Naruto what's botherin' ya" he said with as much sincerity as his black heart could muster.
"...Fine, but you will sit there while I snack on some ramen and say nothing while I am speaking! I don't want feed back, I don't want laughing, just sit there, shut up, and listen to my problems" Naruto ordered with authority as he jumped over the gate that surrounded the forest of death and began to walk towards his favorite ramen stand.
"Of course Naruto, anything for you" he said with a crazy smile growing on his face as the darkness that subdued him began to lift just a little. "Just a little more" he whispered to himself as he felt the hold of the darkness weaken, as long as Naruto continued to talk the more his hold on his darker half started to slip.
Back with Anko:
After watching her one true love just dash away she sadly plopped on the ground and began to cry, slow at first, almost like she was trying to force them back but then her will broke and she let the water works fall. She covered her shame with her hands over her eyes, wanting to keep some pride even though no one was around it still hurt her ego to cry over some boy! She was part of the Ice Queen Kunoichis, a group of 4 ladies who technically demolish any man who hurt them, other women, or where unsavable perverts like Jiraiya & Kakashi. How could she let a man get the best of her like this? Wasn't she stronger than this? Wasn't she better than this? How could she allow a man to snake his way into her heart so badly that she weeps at the hint of his rejection? It was pathetic!
"Anko!" she heard someone yell from a distance. She quickly began to clean herself up, she wiped away the tears and straightened up her trench coat, she then stood up pretended to be productive, she started to stretch out her muscles and other parts of her body to seem like she was getting ready to do something.
The one who yelled came into view and it seemed she was being followed by 2 others. The first to land in the field from the tree tops was the red eyed fire-cracker known as Kurenai, she wore her traditional red mesh armour blouse with the right sleeve visible. Over this is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns.
Following close behind her was the second member of the Ice Queen Kunoichi's, Hana Inuzuka, a brash but loving woman who had two canine companions on either side of her. She wore a Jounin vest with the traditional brown underclothing of most jounins of her stature.
And finally, the last to land was the ANBU captain everyone respects and fears, Yugao uzuki, the purple haired beauty who is every man's desire. Yugao wears a porcelain mask the resembles a cat with three red stripes. She also wears the standard ANBU uniform that consisted of black and grey armour, metal arm guards and a katana strapped to her back.
The all flock towards Anko who still pretended to stretch. The first to speak was the dog lover Hana who reached Anko first with a worried expression, "Anko, are you okay?" she questioned, getting Anko's attention.
"Me? Of course I am, why wouldn't I?" She said with one of the biggest but fakest smiles she could muster up, her sadness still evident in her eyes.
"We saw an explosion that lit up this place" Hana said with a look of confusion on her face, "how could you have not seen it?"
"Oh, that" she said, continuing the fake smile as she gestures towards the creator Naruto left from his training, "some kid decided to train here, I scared him off though. No one uses my playground without my permission." she said with phony provoto.
Kurenai went towards the creator and noticed the protruding wood and the vast damage that a mere "kid" could never do no his own. She looked back and noticed the slight staining and smear on Anko's modest amount of makeup, "she was crying?" Kurenai deducted, walking back to her friend.
"Kid huh?" she asked, finding a small patch of black cloth that was feet from the hole, she picked it up and found out it was the scruff of a shirt that still had the tag in it, it was a size adult medium, far to big for a "kid" to wear.
"Yeah, he was really obnoxious. Seriously, I wanted to knock his block off!" she said with fake irritation.
"Kids don't wear size adult medium, do they?" she said, handing the group the tattered fabric. Hana and Yugao looked it over and then looked to Anko, who was now sporting a light blush and seemed very nervous.
"Y-Y-Yeah, when I say kid I mean someone younger than me. You know that" she said, flashing her friends a grin while rubbing the back of her head nervously.
"Anko, your makeup is running" Kurenai said, using her more neutral voice so as to not convey her feelings. In all honesty Kurenai is a sweet, loving, and caring individual who would die to protect those closest to her, but when it came to people lying to her, friend or not, she seemed to switch to a cold and rather creepy approach when dealing with it.
"Oh, this?" she said, running her finger under her eye to see her finger covered in mascara, "the twerp must have used a water jutsu, most have made my makeup run." she chuckled nervously.
"ANKO!" Kurenai yelled, breaking her cold persona and showed her more caring but aggressive side, "you know I hate when people lie to me! So, who did this and why were you crying?" she questioned, her glare dying to to show the worried gaze of a concerned friend.
All eyes were on Anko now as the other two who seemed to be discussing something stopped their own conversation and turned to Anko, who now was nervously swaying and began to play with the trim of her fishnet shirt.
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't been crying, Anko doesn't cry!" She said harshly, glaring at her friends hoping that would stop them from asking any more questions.
"Anko, it's okay" Hana spoke, walking to her friends side and placed her hand on her shoulder, trying to get closer to comfort her.
"Yeah, we all cry once and a while" Yugao said with a smile.
"Will you guys just get off my back!" she yelled, pushing Hana's hand off her shoulder and stumbled backwards, having her own confused feelings blind her to her friends help.
"Anko! What has gotten into you?" Kurenai yelled, outraged at her friends puzzling emotional changes.
"Nothing has gotten into me, I am just fine! Peachy even!" she yelled back, a few tears spilling down her cheek. "I mean why wouldn't I be" she said, running her hands through her hair quickly, messing up her perfect pineapple shape hair and knocking loose the hair band that kept it all in place, "I just ruined my only shot at…..at happiness, because I was afraid. I was afraid of rejection, I was afraid that…..that the only man I have ever loved would hate me just like I hate myself" she weeped, finally breaking down, releasing all of her pent up aggression as she drops to her knees.
Her friends quickly went to her side, consoling her with anyway the knew how. From simple pats on the backs to cooing in her ear of things she needed to hear to boost her dwindling self esteem. Kurenai was the first to speak out, "It's fine, just let it out" She said kindly as she patted her friend on the back.
"I-I-I'm fine now, thank you." Anko said after a few minutes of sobs, she stood and wiped her eyes on her trench coat sleeve.
"Anko, you are nowhere near fine." Yugao said, standing with her friends as they began to circle Anko, hoping to get the answers they wanted.
"Now, can you please tell us what the hell is happening with you?" Kurenai mentioned, getting a light blush from Anko and a nervous shudder.
"O-O-Okay….heres what happened"
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it and please review.
Also, the poll I had created for a topic or character to focus on has finally come to a end and the lucky person that was chosen was...SHINO! Bug boy will be treated to the full AU Treatment, giving him the spot light he has never gotten.
Basic facts:
Shino will be with Hinata, Will not change that...at all
Same team placements
Many things will not be cannon (AU means Alternate Universe) so I will change the history books to make Shino more prominent and technically the main man in this Universe!