WAZ UP! I got a review sayin' I'm usin' a lot of cliches, but the person didn't even tell me which ones. I know that I'm usin' the cliche of Naruto bein' abused physically, but other than that? I'm lost. Anyway, I've been movin' a little too fast in the story so I slowed down last chapter. Now it's back to the story and not solely character development. And I'm sorry that some letters are missing in the chapters, my laptop from school has major problems with certain keys. I'm gonna skip the majority of the preliminaries, I don't need to tell y'all what happened. I'm changin' a few, but that's it. Naruto's is the one I'll skip to then keep goin'. I don't like repeatin' myself, but I have to so the author's note is legit. I don't own jack for the Narutoverse, and I feel sad 'bout that, but I'll manage. I'm gonna flirt with the line between reality and fanfiction, fourth-wall bitch! Makin' a cameo for myself.
"Spoken words"
'Thoughts and quoting'
"Demon speech"
reference, pun, or emphasis
jutsu
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Dosu wasn't leaving openings as far as taijutsu was concerned, and his gauntlet was giving Naruto a major head and Kyuubi jinchuuriki had thrown every idea he had in the thick of it out at the Oto-nin, yet the bandaged man had survived every one of them. His cleverness was being tested and it was pissing him off! "SCREW IT! I'm just going to play with my kitsune's potential!" No sooner had he said that, than two of his kitsune-imitators came out of his make-shift flak jacket's sleeves. One of the foxes transformed in a puff of smoke and stepped out as a humanoid figure in a tattered-looking black robe with white underneath. The other one did the same, but came out as a black katana with a hand guard in the shape of a swastika.
Th figure still wore the mask but before much more inspection could begin, Naruto threw kunai with ninja wire into the robe at the arms and legs. "Let's see...How good my puppetry is is, shall we?!" Just after saying that, his creation ran at Dosu with speed that seemed inhuman. The Oto-nin didn't have time to react, the 'swordsman' struck him every which way and Naruto's fingers and hands were blazing. His skills were amateurish and shoddy, but they were surprisingly effective. Konkuro looked more interested than earlier, "Hey! He's copying me! What the Hell?!"
Sasuke looked to the man in black as he said, "That's Naruto for you," Temari and Kankuro's attention was on Sasuke now as he continued, "He's truly a sly old fox. Mind the pun, but the jutsus he's made are based off of and modified forms of the jutsu others use. Technically, that's what we all do, after all, we learn from some else right?" The question was rhetorical, and while they thought on that Sasuke kept talking. "Naruto's made his jutsu from a few clan techniques before now, and they're all very effective in combat. The name he made for himself fits his personality and combat style, perfectly! The Kitsunin, a true kitsune in behavior and personality..."
The preliminaries had irritated plenty of the genin present, there were a few who were thrilled at the prospect to test their mettle against stronger and varied opponents. Fuu, Gaara, Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were among those who were ecstatic about this. Temari and Kankuro were on the fence about it, but now they were glad they had these preliminary fights. They could now watch the competition and learn how to counter whoever they were assigned to fight against. A clash of metal on echoing metal brought them out of their musings.
The 'puppet' was giving Dosu a hard time now, besides moving fast and erratically, its attacks were full of strength and were hit like a train. The gauntlet was bung up and dented to the point of looking like regular armor. The puppeteer's arms were all over the place, his hands were twisting and his arms had been in every direction by now. The figure stopped moving as Naruto opened a scroll, after a puff of smoke cleared, everyone could see on his arms were the gauntlets of the Demon Brothers.
Tenten had woken up from unconsciousness that Temari had oh so gracefully knocked her into. Seeing her old friend from the orphanage and from Iruka's second year as their teacher, fighting with two Nuke-nin's weapons after waking up wasn't something she expected. The shuriken-chain of the gauntlets was suddenly ripped apart suddenly, making chains individually for each gauntlet. He flung the chains at the puppet, to which they latched on and he returned to the fight.
Sakura spoke up, hand on her chin and a critical look in her eyes. "Didn't see that one coming! Didn't expect him to use those...Or even have kept them for that matter! Huh," Everyone, except Sasuke, was looking for her to continue. "He took down the Demon Brothers on his own, after that he sealed them in a scroll and held onto the gauntlets for the trip. I thought he'd of sold those along with the 'Brothers after the mission to Nami..." The eyes of the jonin widened, if he kept those as a trophy...What else did he keep?!
Dosu was fed up with this kid, "This fight's over!" He ran at Naruto with the intent to end this with a single blow, he was 'clearly' a puppeteer so he was weak in close quarters. Right after getting within arms reach of the blond, Naruto henge'd into his twin-tailed fox and headbutt the surprised genin. His 'figurine' then took the helmet-like mask off, revealing orange hair before returning to a kage bunshin that gripped the sword and went at Dosu with the intent to prolong the 'inevitable'.
"What the fuck?! You're a puppeteer! How are you so strong and skilled in close quarters?!" Naruto, the bunshin, laughed maniacally at his confusion and frustration. "You don't know a thing about kitsune do you? HAHAHAHAHA! We are masters of deception, espionage, and sabotage. Changing shape to fool the mortal men and women, faking a skill or power to get in close to someone, and then killing them with...EXTREME PREJUDICE!" His voice was now demonic and terrifying to all who'd never heard it, even Gaara, Neji, and Fuu were put off by the intimidating voice of Uzumaki Naruto.
Kakashi wasn't holding his book this fight, he was too depressed to read. His 'creation' had been a monster, all because he couldn't see what was 'underneath the underneath' and because of his narrow-mindedness. He looked so depressed that when Gai came over, he didn't even try to act cool. And this made all the jonin of Konoha worried, one thought going through their minds, 'What happened to that little kid, what did Kakashi do?' Then, out of nowhere, Naruto began to say the lyrics to one of his favorite songs.
"Steel to my trembling lips, how did the night ever get like this? One shot, and the whisky goes down, down, down. Bottom of the bottle hits, waking up my mind as I throw a fit. The breaking is taking me down, down, down." His voice wasn't melodious, but it wasn't terrible either. It had some of the girls looking like they would faint, no one heard her but Fuu muttered a simple word, "Floozies."
"My heart's beating faster, I know what I'm after. I've been standing here my whole life, everything I've seen twice. Now it's time I realize, it's spinning back around now. On this road I'm crawling, save me 'cause I'm falling." He sang the song while fighting, getting everyone to wonder, 'What's he planning?' The answer came quickly, as the real Naruto in his fox 'skin' charged a ball of chakra. Dosu wasn't being assaulted anymore, so he asked a stupid question. "W-What's that?!"
The kitsune that was the bushin's sword dropped the henge it wore and removed its mask to answer, "Oh, you'll find out, HAHAHAHAHA!" Just after saying that, the clones dispelled, leaving a scared Dosu and a bloodthirsty fox with a very small bijuudama. The ball compressed, shrinking in size until it was about the of a golf ball, which is when he ate it. Everyone who hadn't seen this had wide eyes, this guy was nuts! He just at chakra, on its own it's heavy, compressed?! It's a gigantic hindrance, but that theory was disproved by Naruto.
His furred cheeks puffed out as he opened his mouth and shot the chakra he'd 'swallowed'. It hit Dosu dead to rights, and he walked out of a small crater, banged up but in one piece. Naruto 'traded' the fur coat for his normal form and began to charge a purple orb in his hands. The jonin, proctors, and Hokage were stunned, 'HE KNOWS THAT JUTSU?!' The prankster from Hell of Konoha spoke in a commanding voice that everyone listened to, "Behold! The third original jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage! I'm still not that good at it, but here goes! Rasenringu!" He charged at the shinobi from Oto, the purple orb with rings in hand.
Dosu was again stock-still, 'He never tires out, I can't win!' Naruto was upon him now, 'Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, I might as well go out with a bang. Big or small.' The Kitsunin shoved the purple, ringed ball into his opponent's gut. The result was immediate, the soft ball-sized orb of chakra blew up now that its source of stability was gone. It took Dosu with it, in a small explosion that made the crater a little bit deeper. The chronically sick Hayate was speechless, it took Naruto's cough from the dust to wake him from his stupor, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"
As Naruto walked up the steps, everyone was silent. He had just won a match that he drew out for pleasure, and had no guilt in his steps. As he reached his team, he looked to Kakashi, who flinched for fear of being his next victim, and gave him a foxy-grin. The gesture, although friendly, was an obvious sign that his conscience was unaffected by his display of bloodlust. Tenten walked over to her old classmate and orphanage friend without a hint of fear, 'It's still Naruto, he won't attack unless provoked.' "Naruto," His attention on her, she continued, "Why do you have the gauntlets of the Demon Brothers? Shouldn't you have sold them with the two Nuke-nin, you'd have gotten more money?"
Naruto gave her both, a sad smile and a proud one to answer the inquiry. "No," That one word sent all the genin who didn't know into fits of confusion, "No, because, I'm the 'demon brat' of Konohagakure. Isn't that right, Kakashi?!" His voice was drooling with venom and said cyclops saw what was going on, 'He's never going to let me live that down, and he's making a point to the other adults who didn't help him.' He sighed in defeat, a look of haggard depression on his masked visage.
"Yes, I know that by now worse than anyone who's still alive..." He looked away from everyone else, a look of solemn defeat hung in his eyes. The Hokage was now looking to the floor, this was in a way, his fault. He never could keep the adults from being cruel and he could've watched Naruto with his crystal ball in his spare time. Sarutobi Hiruzen, in that moment, looked over a hundred years-old.
Neji walked up to him, a glare directed at him. "I can't tell what Fate d-?!" Naruto started to chuckle at the Hyuga prodigy, getting confused looks from all that were paying attention. "Hehehehehe! Fate, huh? Oh that's rich, hhhhuuuuhhhh...Fate's a coward's excuse and a hollow alibi for what one does. It's kinda pathetic, dattboyo." His old catchphrase made his friends smile slightly, 'We haven't lost you yet, don't you dare leave us Naruto!' Their musings were ruptured by the killer intent that Neji gave off. Naruto looked bored, when it looked like he would pass out from boredom, his eyes turned rd and his killer intent was thick in the air.
'This should teach him, thanks for the help Kyuubi!' In his mind, the kitsune daiyoukai shifted in his cage. He grumbled something about "Annoying shinobi" and "Can't get any sleep around you" Naruto's attention was once again directed to the white-eyed young man before him. Neji gritted his teeth, trying desperately to stand straight in front of everyone to prove that Fate was on his side. "H-How...Dare you question Fate!"
The intent was gone in an instant, setting everyone off-balance from trying to stay standing. Naruto's hand was at Neji throat as he held him against the wall and growled out, "How dare I? I don't seem to recall 'Fate' ever needing someone to speak in its defense. Now, think Hyuga, you're a prodigy right?" He received a nod, "Then you're smarter than me, big deal!" Neji tried to say something, but Naruto slammed him back into the wall. "I wasn't finished! Rock Lee, the dobe of our class besides me, he's physically stronger than you...And yet, you have the gall to put him down because you had a lost something in your life!"
The people listening were now wide-eyed as Naruto continued, "You lost something important in life, and for that, you have my condolences. BUT!" Naruto slammed him against the wall for extra measure to get his point across. "That doesn't make it right to act like Kami herself babysits you! Rock Lee, is physically stronger than the both of us, and you put him down...Where, in the nine rings of Hell, does that make sense?! Fate?!" His words were lined with hysteria as he spoke, "Is a cowardly delusion. A cowardly, delusional mindset that cost us, our village, one of its best jonin!"
The Hokage made to stop Naruto, but a kag bunshin stopped him dead in his tracks. "Don't! Don't interfere, not this time, Hokage-jiji!" The real Naruto continued his hysterical rant, "I remember a group of files, letters really, assigned to you!" Everyone who was listening was wide-eyed, "They were from that jonin, your father right?" Neji looked stunned, answering Naruto's question wordlessly. "In those files I, 'sorted through', it was saying that Hizashi wanted to defy and escape fate! He did through sacrifice, he gave his life...To prove his son, wrong! I can't remember it word for word, but the jist was that he wanted you to help fix your corrupted clan, the letter had been stopped from reaching you by your own family. But, I don't see anything of your father's hopes spoken of in his letter being fulfilled by you. I see, the complete and utter opposite! You can believe in Fate, you can think you're superior to everyone, but don't you ever, EVER!" He slammed the stunned prodigy again, "Put another down, or we'll have...HAHAHAHAHA! ANOTHER ONE OF ME, A BLOODTHIRSTY, DANGEROUS, BINGO BOOK-NIN! And believe me...That's the last thing you want, Hyuga Neji!"
He shoved the boy in front of him and henge'd into his one-tailed fox form, then fell asleep. No one moved; no one could, no one would, and no one wanted to. The 'fox in shinobi clothes' had just butchered their beliefs of the esteemed Hyuga clan, Hinata looked sad but not surprised. She had suffered badly from her clan's pride and thirst for control of power. Tenten, shook off her shock, and walked over to the fox to pet his fur, "Thank you, Naruto." Everyone heard her, but no one said anything else. What was their to say?
The kage bunshin from earlier came up to depart a few words, "We fight," The genin looked up at him, "We survive," The jonin gave him curious looks, "We...Exist!" Gaara and Fuu smirked in victory, Naruto had given them an unintentional advantage against the other contestants and something to tell anyone from their respective village if they were attacked. The clone dispelled in smoke, leaving everyone to think. The proctor and Hokage decided to have a break from the preliminaries, too many secrets were being told and they didn't need any confidential secrets 'leaking' to the public.
The genin looked to Team 7, wondering...'What else do they know? The blond is a kitsune, so he holds many secrets. But what about the other two?' The other two jinchuuriki weren't worried, this wasn't their village and they were only there to fight Naruto, and to prove their worth to their respective village/'family'. Sakura and Sasuke were a little surprised that Naruto broke into the Hokage Tower to learn secrets, but then again, 'He's a kitsune at heart and they are nosy, if lore is to be trusted.' They had their own secrets, but they weren't as drastic as what Naruto must have known at the time. Still, their secrets were tied at second in that race.
Anko jumped up to where everyone else was to check on her Gaki, he was asleep again. "Huuuhhh...Gaki, stop wearing yourself out, it's not good for your health." Naruto's only response was to shift in his sleep and fox-purr contentedly.
With the Hokage and proctors(minus Anko)
"How did he get in? When did he get into my office?! Is there anything on our surveillance footage to prove he was telling the truth he broke in, or was he bluffing?" Ibiki and Hayate were looking at the videos from their cameras in the Hokage Tower, they had looked through the recordings five times and had nothing to show for it. For all they knew, Naruto had played off of their reactions and worded it to be vague about the time or purpose.
"Gomen Hokage-sama, we failed you." The ANBU, even with their masks on, were clearly feeling guilty for failing to keep a certain genin out of the Hokage's office. The Sandaime looked sadly at them as he said, "For almost all accounts, Naruto-kun really is a kitsune. The only thing making that theory false is that he is human, and even that's questionable with how he acts in and out of mission. His combat style is very fluid, in that he balances and hits with the balls of his feet along with his palms. His taijutsu style is very curious, I've never seen or heard of a style like that, he uses only his joints. Then he might switch to that strange martial arts form, where he was staying in one spot but was always moving his upper body."
He took a puff from his pipe to calm his raging nerves as he continued, "In that martial arts form, he seemed to never truly stay in one place or another...It's all very curious as to where he found those styles and what he does as a spare time, it brings into question how much this village has ruined him. He seems to be building an arsenal of jutsu as if he's trying to...Oh no, he's creating and gathering jutsu to keep the villagers off of him, and he has lost any concern for them if they've hurt him."
Ibiki and Hayate looked guilty, they could've done something for him but they hadn't. Ibiki then shouted in triumph, "AHA, YOU THINK YOU'RE SMART, HUH?! YOU SLIPPERY LITTLE BASTARD! He was wearing a henge at every patch of shadows and every time there was a camera in his sight. He was wearing that make-shift flak jacket and those camouflage pants of his. Using a simple D-rank jutsu, and fooling everyone is just...Insulting!"
The preliminaries arena
Naruto woke up all of a sudden, barking like mad. Everyone who'd never heard his noises before thought something along the lines of, 'The fox says scream?' Anko picked up the frantic fox, as she said, "Woah woah woah woah, woah, woah! And just where do you think you're going Fox-san? You need your rest or you're going to mess yourself up." Naruto's struggles got even more frantic, 'Did, did someone...FIGURE OUT HOW I ESCAPED EVERYONE?!'
Just then, the Hokage and the other two proctors came into the arena. Ibiki looked smug at the writhing fox in Anko's arms. "Hehehehe, we figured you out Uzumaki...What are you going to do about it?" He soon regretted asking, for just after he said those words Naruto went into his two-tails henge and tackled Ibiki. He looked kind of worried, before he realized that this was a threat of not death but of being pranked. That's when he got concerned, Naruto's pranks were worse than death depending on the offense.
"O-Okay Uzumaki, just calm down. No need for that kind of behavior, it was just a joke, hehehehe..." Naruto quickly got off of him and began to rub against him, fox-purring in a falsely-innocent fashion. Anko came over to the over-sized critter and started to scratch behind his ears affectionately, proudly smiling all the while. "That's a good Gaki! Keep the bad man in line!"
After the affections were all well sprinkled over everyone, the preliminaries started back up again. The fight this time was Kiba vs Choji. The fight was very one-sided, Choji inflated himself while Kiba and Akamaru used Gatsuga. The result was simple, Choji's bloated form was beaten around like a pair of cats with a bell. "Winner, Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate then began to cough uncontrollably, eliciting Naruto in his twin-tails henge to carry Sakura down to him.
"W-What...What do you want me to do Naruto-kun? I'm lost as to what I'm supposed to do?" Naruto bumped her with his rear end, when she looked to him in irritation, he gestured with his head to the coughing jonin. The pinkette looked to him confused for a few moments before realization hit her like a train to the everything! She walked up to the man, her hands were charged with chakra, she placed them on him and began to focus her chakra to heal. His coughing stopped, slowly but surely.
"It won't last, I can't heal you and I doubt anyone can...I'm sorry." Hayate looked to her in surprise that she knew even a little bit of healing jutsu, before he began to cough insistently again. She made to try again, but he waved her concerns off of his shoulder. "If you can't, don't try. It's clearly a fruitless effort with how bad my condition is and the amount of chakra and experience that this village lacks. There's nothing we can do, that's all there is to it. Good try though..."
He finished with a smile, that was quickly put to rest by a series of coughs. Naruto growled to no one in particular but everyone could tell he was struggling with being helpless, so he did the only thing he knew that might help. 'Kyuubi, can I use some chakra again?' The demonic chakra-entity in the form of a fox growled at the interruption of his rest, "What for now?! I prefer sleep to your incessant questioning and ranting!" Naruto's mental response, 'I need to try and heal this guy just a little, to be sure that he is truly a lost cause.' Kyuubi was silent in thought, this was an interesting request. His jinchuuriki only ever asked for chakra in situations such as fights or someone he considered precious was in peril.
"Very well, but next time...Use your own chakra, you've enough to heal your own wounds and those of others!" The fox's griping was over after that, deciding that wasting his breath on the vessel he called a prison. Naruto was silently glad, twice he'd asked with reasonable responses. The boxer-sized cat/dog hybrid appearing animal placed both his tails on Hayate's shoulders and channeled his tenant's chakra into him. The chronically sick jonin wasn't coughing, his sickness seemed cured! But then, that theory was disproved, his coughing fits were back with a vengeance.
"I*coughcough* guess that not even his chakra can properly heal me, thank you for*coughcough* trying..." He placed a comforting hand on the big fox's head as he scratched the overly sized critter behind the ears, eliciting his left hind leg to start kicking lightly but uncontrollably. Sakura was watching with both hands over her mouth to stop giggling from being heard. After Naruto's tongue lolled out of his maw, she burst out in laughter at the endearing behavior between the two strangers.
Hayate stopped petting him, much to the furball's chagrin, and had everyone draw a number from a hat. Kiba started them off, "Three." Sasuke called next, "Eight." (Just so y'all know, I'm callin' out random numbers, 'cept the jinchuuriki) Fuu was next, "Seven! Ungh..."
The genin who didn't know what she was were confused as to why she was groaning, was Sasuke such a bad opponent?(Yes) Naruto showed them all with a chibi henge. He was a fox kit with nine tails, basically screaming 'Nine'. Shikamaru called out, "Four, troublesome." Kabuto pulled out a number and spoke, "Two?" Gaara went up to the hat, pulling out, "One." He had a maniacal smile on his face as he turned to Kabuto, who now looked like Shinigami himself was staring at him in the face. Shino made his number known, "Four." Kiba and Shino looked each other in the eye, no matter what happened or who won, they'd still be friends.
Temari was next in line for the hat, "Five..." She gritted this out and glared at the shadow wielding, strategist. Kankuro called out last, "T-Ten..." He gulped as he caught Naruto's bloodthirsty glance. Sasuke looked to Fuu after the last number had been called, when he did, he wished he didn't. She had the look of the devil in her eyes, like she was thinking of all the ways he could die and how she could make him suffer worse.
Disclosed location
"The Hell Kabuto?! Are you trying to trash the whole operation?!" Orochimaru's normally smug tone was gone, his right hand man had basically gone behind his back and against everything he'd been taught since his apprenticeship. Kabuto pushed his glasses back into place, a smile in place as he said, "If I didn't, Orochimaru-sama, the Hokage would've suspected me and the invasion would've been discovered sooner than if I take part in the exams." His reasoning reached the Hebi Sannin, but it didn't ease his irritation at his apprentice.
"You should have said something in the forest!" Kabuto looked to the ground in shame for seeming unfaithful, "Gomen, Orochimaru-sama, but it was a split second decision and the first two names on the board were mine and the sickly-wounded Taki-nin on the team of the Shichibi jinchuuriki! There wasn't a chance to tell you, and when I tried, the other genin would get too curious or the fight was too important! Please forgive me." His tone of voice wasn't defensively-excited, it was shameful and sadness for failure.
The older nin just looked at his apprentice critically, this was too important to screw p and Kabuto had every right to defend himself after everything that stopped him. So, with an exasperated sigh, he let it slide this once. "You are forgiven Kabuto, but next time, tell me the reasons you disobeyed me once you get to me!" The Oto-nin smiled gratefully at his Kage, "Thank you Orochimaru-sama, I will!"
Training Grounds 7
"Sasuke, Naruto! Good job in reaching the finals! Sakura," He turned to the only girl of 'his' cute little genin team, "You did your best, and that's all that can be asked of you. But you did excellent for making a draw with a member of a clan! And that is reason enough for you to be considered a strong ninja." He turned to his two finalists, Naruto was a single-tailed fox and sleeping under the shade of a tree without a care in the world. Sasuke was sparring with a few of Naruto's kitsune-imitates. 'They never change, even as they reach the hardest part of their career as ninja so far, they still are training. Naruto is preparing for the combat data from the spar between Sasuke and his false-kitsune, Sasuke is trying out jutsu he found after awakening his Sharingan in Nami no Kuni when those bandits attacked.'
Sasuke was now using the few katon jutsu he knew or could pull off, Naruto's body twitched whenever one of his false-kitsune was destroyed or whenever Sasuke threw the dispelled fox's mask at the sleeping Naruto-fox, eliciting a yelp of surprise from him each time. Sakura was petting the frantically looking left and right fox that was Naruto to calm his already fragile nerves after the tenth start from Sasuke.
Kakashi made the unhappy decision he had to, "Sasuke, come on! I need to train you myself, the Council won't get off my ass about it and I want to finish your training so I can get to your teammates' training as well." He received a disinterested 'hn' from the last Uchiha, and a fox bark of what one would guess was amusement. The technically one-eyed jonin turned to the fox that had 'traded' in his fur skin for his two legs to pick up and pack up his kitsune masks that Sasuke had oh-so-graciously given to him.
"Something on your mind Naruto?" His answer was immediate, "Yeah I've got something to say! You're hiding; hiding behind the Council, hiding behind my dad's name, and hiding from your shame. You can't handle that you're losing your grip over the village's weapon, and that knowledge terrifies you! You're trying the exact same tactic as the villagers, 'ignore him, and he will just disappear'! I used to tolerate that, but now?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HELL NO! BAATSURGA!"
The remaining kitsune-imitates joined Naruto's spinning form in charging Kakashi without a second thought, or a true thought at all. The 'kitsune' as everyone addressed them, were really kage bunshin in a henge with a seal placed on the inside of the mask they wore. The seal would empty their mind and let them think in synchronization, they had individual thoughts, but they were more emotions than any coherent trains of thought.
The spinning forms of Naruto and co. all met Kakashi head-on, he hadn't expected his student to attack him outright, and as Naruto had said to Guren if what Sakura had said once in her sleep, 'don't mess with a jinchuuriki, it'll come right back to bite you in the ass'. The cutting, scratching, biting, punching and kicking drill-like forms of the fox's and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki were leaving Kakashi a mess against the tree the demon vessel had slept under. Kakashi was really taking his life-choices into perspective, 'Note to self: never underestimate Naruto, and never turn my back on him. End note, he is one Hell of a truck when he hits on his own. With the kitsune-mimics, he is a force that could decimate the village when he gets stronger! I can't let him do that, might as well try and limit the techniques I teach him!'
(I'm making Kakashi suffer, he didn't teach Naruto anythin' but tree-walkin' and elemental chakra, 'e's gettin' 'is ass handed to him for turnin' 'is back on 'is student) When Naruto stopped spinning, and his fox's came back into his sleeves, he opened his eyes and glared Hell's daggers at his 'sensei'. "You talk big, for someone who's lost so much." The jonin's eyes widened, he'd uncovered his Sharingan, in surprise that Naruto knew about that. "You carry that eye the Uchiha, Danzo, and you're holding in such high regard. It was what killed our village once! And yet, after the Uchiha Massacre, the whole village acts as if it never happened!"
Naruto wasn't finished, he was nowhere even close to finished yet, "The acted like Sasuke was Kami herself, and really?! Who's to say I'm not a Kami? But did they think about who I look exactly like, did they think about my feelings, did you think about what THEY'D DO TO ME?! This village and its loyalties are SICKENING! When I'm strong enough, I'm leveling this place to the ground! The village itself and only the village, the surrounding area won't be touched by my hatred; it hasn't earned my torture. But, those who've wronged me? WILL DIE IN THE WORST WAYS POSSIBLE WHEN I'M DONE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE SON OF SAKUMO! FRIEND KILLER, KAKASHI OF THE SHARINGAN, YOU'VE MADE KONOHA'S DAMNATION AND DSTRUCTION...All because, you were too narrow-minded and too arrogant to see an innocent, helpless little boy!"
Kakashi looked scared, he was the source of Naruto's greatest pain and he didn't know how he'd act on his rage. Naruto answered that without hesitation, "I won't attack your home Hatake, not yet! I'm not strong enough, but when I am...Oh ho ho ho ho ho, this village will wish Hashirama-sam and Ashina-sama were around today to stop me, because as soon as my strength is at its peak; I will destroy that which was ruined by the arrogant! I will heal that which was wounded, I will repair what was broken, I will save the abandoned, I. WILL. RECREATE. THE. DREAM. THAT WAS. KONOHAGAKURE! I should thank you Hatake," Kakashi looked at Naruto like he was insane, he was in several rights insane, but he kept talking.
"If it weren't for your narrow-minded and arrogant pride that had destroyed the old Naruto, aaahhh, I'd be sappy and never be able to see what was wrong with this village. In all rights and respects, in every village. Do you want or know what that is? Hmm," When no one answered, Naruto answered like it was so obvious in this matter-of-fact tone that made them worry. "The hierarchy, the ones in charge are civilians. And only civilians; civilians who wouldn't turn a blind eye to a hungry child, civilians who blatantly go against the wishes of the strongest Kage they had, civilians who tell their children to avoid someone who was cursed with something that they couldn't control!"
With his peace spoken, he used the bijuu shunshin to leave the training ground. Out of the forest walked Team 8, Yuhi Kurenai looking sympathetically at where Naruto once stood. "What did you do, Kakashi?" There was no hostility, no malice, no...nothing, in her voice. It was as if she were defeated, "I don't like not knowing, what did you do?" She was asking in such a depressed tone that it seemed like she were the source of Naruto's hatred.
"Something...I regret, something I can't take back..." Kakashi said. This answer didn't seem to appease Kurenai, but she made no move to question him further. He left the training ground, Sasuke in tow, leaving Team 8 and Sakura to their own devices. The next thing they knew, there was pained-grunting noises coming from a group of bushes.
When they looked, there was Naruto holding his chest where his heart resided. It looked like he was having a heart-attack, when his features began to change. His golden locks became auburn, he grew from 4'8" to roughly 5'9", the whiskers on his cheeks disappeared and in their place were freckles, and his grunts became deeper. Kiba and Akamaru ran over to the downed and clearly cheating-death, Naruto with great concern. Naruto's new form spoke in a shout to them, "WAKE 'IM UP, DAMN IT!"(This is the closest y'all are gettin' to what I look like entirely)
Kiba did as he was demanded, he hit the back of his neck, ultimately silencing the jinchuuriki's grunts of agony. Naruto's form returned to normal; he shrank a foot and a few inches, his whiskers returned, and his hair was golden again. He growled in anger then sighed in relief that his friend was going to be okay. His sensei looked very worried and confused, "W-What just happened?! He was dying, then he changed shape...And now he's fine?! Wha-"
Akamaru spoke up, stopping the frantic(1) Kurenai in her verbal tracks. "He did die," That answer didn't have a positive reaction though, "WHAT?!" The yell of fear from everyone was enforced by everyone going to run to the downed blond, only to be stopped by the speaking puppy again. "Let me finish," He said this with a slight glare, then continued. "He died, yes. But, he's died before..."
His vague answer was met with a question from the ever-logical Aburame, "That is logically impossible Akamaru, how could he have died before and still yet live?" The ball of fur before them sighed as he spoke, without a single dog-like sound in his words. "He has suffered a great deal of pain in his life, and being a jinchuuriki means he can heal from basically almost any wound, even some fatal blows. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a 'free lunch' as the saying goes. He, like the other jinchuuriki, will experience the pain they survived in time, full force."
"That means, that any wound you inflict on him will heal now and reappear in an undefined time. So, if you cut his hand, it will heal and he will experience that cut then only as a weaker pain. It will later on, in a matter of days, reappear and he will feel the true pain of a cut hand. He clearly was stabbed in the heart-ish area, if the blood dripping from his mouth and gripping his heart are any indication..."
The others looked to him in surprise, they had no idea that the healing abilities of a jinchuuriki would have that kind of adverse effect. Akamaru's clear speech also surprised them, when did he get so fluent in human speech? Shino then asked another question bothering him, "Why did he change appearance then?" The puppy answered without hesitation, "He had to, subconsciously, trick his body into thinking it died. He changed appearance because he was using up his bodies healing to permanently fool his mind and subconscious to the belief that it has died. But, he will live, the effect of temporary death is always short, he'll awake in about an hour or less."
This knowledge was incredible, cheating death subconsciously? Mind blowing! This information was a revelation, then Naruto woke up with a cough of blood and a groan. "Ungh! Damn, I forgot about that...Never, never-Ungh-let someone sneak up on you with a knife, it sucks!" He was holding onto the space around his heart as the sound of flesh reforming and a hissing as steam escaped his mouth. His face of discomfort was gone with the steam, leaving a thankful and contented face in its place.
Akamaru's tail was wagging like nobody's business and Kiba patted Naruto on the back as he said, "Last time wasn't as bad, let's try to avoid you meeting Shinigami again, yeah?" Receiving a nod from the young man, he walked over to his team and let him tree-jump away, albeit slowly at first. Kurenai snapped out of it and looked to the Inuzuka duo with her, "'Last time'?! This isn't a one-time deal?! Th-" "Yes last time. No, this isn't a one-time deal. And if you're wondering, the last time was burning of his left forearm." The lack of fear or distraught-feelings in his voice showed he was familiar with this and had the fullest of confidence in Naruto's survival.
"...I see. He and the other 'jinchuuriki', as you call them, heal at an inhuman pace and will experience the brunt of their past pains in an undefined time. The length seems to depend on the fatality of the wound, how long ago was it that he got stabbed?" Shino's question made Kiba and Akamaru close their eyes in concentration and thought, "About a month or two. Yeah, we came to the same conclusion the first time. Mmmm, this village..." And without a second glance, he walked off.
Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke were shocked at the revelation of the day.
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Naruto was angry now. 'With who or what', many may ask? With himself. He was mad that he had let his teammates see him in such a state of agony, he had become the unofficial pillar of strength for his Team 7, and being seen in such a pitiful state hurt his pride. He had henged into his twin-tailed fox, making people well aware that it was him and that the 'demon brat' wasn't afraid to fight back. The people who abused him before however, didn't get the message.
"Hey, it's the demon! He's transformed, let's get 'im!" The group of drunkards didn't know what hit them. Naruto's twin tails were thrashing back and forth, making anyone seeing the 'spectacle' think of the Kyuubi attack when the tails were all over. He ran at them with speed they didn't have, going for the 'leader of the pack' as it were. The man in front of the others was headbutt into a fruit cart, the one right behind him was mule-kicked into the window of a store.
The large fox snarled menacingly at everyone around, daring them to attack him. And there were a few who took the dare with fervor, "He's only two-tailed, let's kill him before he gets the rest of them back!" There were cries of agreement that were then scratched to hell, those who were scratched noticed his kunai-sharp and jet-black claws with confusion before they fell unconscious. The rest of the drunkards who had the gall to attack him were targeted next, with a glare that made a few of them piss themselves. Being stunned into stillness made them nothing more than training dmmies, which were then torn apart with extreme prejudice.
The drunken men now knocked unconscious but still bleeding were no longer a threat, they were an example that everyone nearby took seriously. Naruto continued his stroll through the streets of Konoha with very little resistance, just the occasional group of idiots who thought they had something to prove or just wanted the glory of killing the 'demon brat'. He was almost feeling better, when he ran into a group of ANBU with blank masks.
"Naruto-san," The large fox's response was to look at the man, or what he assumed was a man since he couldn't pick up a scent from them even though they were upwind of him."The Hokage requests your presence in the Hokage Tower." With the mission complete, he and his three cohorts vanished in shunshins. 'Can I ever get a break from politics of any sort?'
His mental question was met with no answer, not surprisingly. He had half-removed the seal on his stomach, making his connection with Kyuubi fluctuate to no end. 'Ungh, might as well see what the old man wants.' With his mind made up, begrudgingly, he ran to the tower.
5 minutes later
The window to the Hokage's office shattered with a boxer-sized fox landing perfectly fine in the center of the room, filled with people calming their nerves from the dramatic entrance. The Hokage was trying to make sure he didn't have a heart attack from Naruto's antics, 'Anko really does raise him, he already picked up on her love for dramatics.'
"Ahem!" Naruto's vulpine head turned to the man he was sent to talk to, "Naruto, it has come to my attention that you assaulted civilians. Is this true?" He was then without a desk, as Naruto had used his head to toss it into the wall behind him, with a large fox growling in his face. He wasn't worried, he knew that the little boy he taught to read wouldn't attack unprovoked. The message was clear though, 'They lied, and you know it. Why would you put their word over mine?'
"Naruto, you must stay calm," And he was rewarded with a snort from the dog/cat hybrid-looking animal in front of him, "The villagers who watched you said you attacked innocents unprovoked, and the shinobi nearby said the same. Why did you attack at all?" The large vulpine just gave him a glance, then leaped through the window he broke. "Uhhh, this village has bitten more than it can chew. He won't be playing idiot or the defenseless little boy anymore, he'll fight back and he won't be showing them any leeway..." The village leader then took a puff from his pipe, 'This is going to be hard, I hadn't sent any ANBU to find him, how did he know to come here?'
With Naruto
'Believing them over me! Thinking I would attack innocents if not threatened! Who does he take me for?!' He was running through the village now, not even worrying about the bystanders or the carts. This day started out so good, and it kept getting better. For in front of him, were four blank masked ANBU again, without any scent still. "Naruto-san, Danzo-sama requests your immediate audience!"
The strange masked-man didn't get the response he wanted, all he got was a large fox's paw to the face as Naruto jumped over him and the other three. 'Kyuubi said that the fox forms I take aren't his power, that's a load of garbage. I've gotten better since we started this game of which of us is lying...' His musings were cut off when he saw the, most likely, same ANBU. Growling, he made to bite the one on the roof to his right...Only to be caught in a net.
He was being dragged away before he knew it, 'This...Net is draining my...chakra...' Not a second sooner, Anko landed nearby and sent snakes at the obvious ROOT members. "Leave Gaki alone..." Next second, the net was shredded by a kunai. "Get up, get Naruto-kun!" Making no move to move at all, she used drastic measures; she carried him fireman style, eliciting a weak yelp from Naruto.
"I'm not letting Danzo get his hand on you, and I definitely won't let him turn you into an emotionless machine!" Her snakes were just about gone and she couldn't carry Naruto and fight at the same time, that's when he showed up. A man with long white hair, a large scroll on his back, and he wore a red haori. When he turned, Anko could see that he had red lines coming down from his eyes and he had forehead protector with the kanji for 'oil' on it.
"Looks like I made it just in time..." He turned to the four ROOT members with a grimace, he called out a quick 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu' and was then sitting on a large toad. He said a short 'Katon: Gamayu Endan', inhaled deeply and the spewed out a plume of flames while the toad spit out oil that was lit by the flames. The oil and fire hit the members of ROOT, burning them to a crisp within five minutes.
Turning to the Tokubetsu Jonin and over-sized critter, he said, "That's one big fox! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Konoha was training foxes to be like ninken for the Inuzuka." He walked over to Anko and Naruto, he didn't know that though. "She's a beauty, are you a breeder or somethin-Wait," His gaze turned directly to Anko, recognition clear on his face. "Anko! You were my ex-teammate's apprentice, I didn't know you liked foxes?"
While they were talking, Naruto began to wake up. He woke up to the warm, safe feeling of Anko close to him and the sound of a friendly, strangely-familiar voice. His tails were wagging as one, giving anyone who didn't know the thought that he was just an average over-sized fox. A loud yawn, and a lick to Anko's face later, he turned to the stranger. After trying, and failing miserably, to get off Anko, she put him down and let him inspect the man with white waist-length hair.
Jiraiya, the other two didn't recognize his description, made a slight clicking of his tongue to get the fox used to his voice while slowly extending his right hand towards the gorgeous creature. "Easy now, I'm not going to hurt you," Giving Anko a quick and questioning glance, she answered his unasked question, "Boy." Nodding in thanks he returned to coaxing the barrel of fur to come to him, "Boy. You don't know me, but my name's Jiraiya, I'm one of the Sannin. We're trained by the Hokage, three of the most powerful ninja in the world."
Naruto looked somewhat cautious of the now named Jiraiya, turning to Anko for guidance, she gestured for him to go on. He padded tentatively closer until the older man's hand was right above his head, to which he raised his head and let the sage pet him. The Gama Sannin's ministrations made him fox-purr appreciatively, Anko looked to her Gaki with tears at the edges of her eyes. The moment was broken by the voices of villagers, "Hey, I saw the Demon come this way with the Snake Whore! We'll kill them and be heroes!"
When the villagers got to the three of them, Naruto ran at the man in front of the group and full-body bashed him into a wall. The initial group was joined by others, making Naruto see that being a fox wasn't the best idea right now. He 'traded' his fox skin for his gear, stepping out of the smoke with a breeze blowing his shaggy hair softly, making everyone think of the Yondaime. Arms spread in front of him, he released his kitsune upon the would-be attackers.
After the kitsune-imitates made quick work of the villagers, they jumped into Naruto's sleeves and were resealed into their scrolls. When he turned to Jiraiya, the man looked speechless. The fox he'd been petting was really his godson? 'This kid has skills for his age, and he looks like his father!' He blinked, and his godson and Anko were nowhere in sight. "Damn, he's been raised by Anko and her skills have rubbed off on him with his own original skills added in...He really could be powerful if he tried to be!"
Looking around, scratching the back of his head in frustration, he returned to looking for Naruto. He began his search and found the young man as a fox again, but that's when Jiraiya realized that the fox he'd been petting actually had two tails. "Hey, Naruto!" The fox's attention directed to him, he said, "If you need any training I can help." Naruto-fox looked to the sky in thought before dropping the henge, and raising his shirt slightly to reveal the half-released Gogyo Fuin.
"I could only half-release this seal that your ex-teammate put on me." Jiraiya nodded before channeling chakra to his fingertips, creating five purple flames. He waited a moment to gather his focus and slammed his hand into Naruto's gut, making the young man grunt in pain. After removing his hand, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki slumped to his knees, holding his stomach as he collected his strength that was barred by Orochimaru's sealing.
Before anything else could be done, Ino came out of nowhere and tackled him, "FOXY-KUN!" "AAAAHHH!" On the ground now, Jiraiya laughed his ass off at Naruto's expense. Ino was trying to smother him, and that's what Asuma walked in on. A downed with laughter Jiraiya and a downed with Ino Naruto. "Naruto..."
"HELP ME!" Naruto begged/demanded, getting Asuma chuckling "Sorry kid, but I wanted to ask you something." "Will you help me if I answer you?!" Asuma looked to the clouds like his lazy student did when in thought, "Yes." "Deal!" Jiraiya stopped laughing after nearly spraining a lung to listen. "What's the-MMPH!" Ino's chest stopped him from talking.
"How much do you know, and what will you do with that knowledge?" Naruto stopped struggling, he had heard everything despite Ino's incessant ramblings of acclamation. He pushed Ino's breasts out of his face to speak, scowling while doing so in effort to keep the crazy girl out of his face for the moment at least. "I know enough...Ergh, I know enough to survive and keep my enemies closer than my friends!" This one sentence made the other three with him stop whatever they were doing abruptly.
They were silent, even when Naruto henged into his two-tailed fox and walked away, with Ino silently riding his back. Jiraiya spoke up after about three minutes of uncomfortable silence, "That's how bad the village's been huh? Huuuhhh, I should've checked in, I could've given him a better life or at least a little support...But I didn't, I-mmhhh." His words made Asuma look to him in confusion, "Why would you check up on him? I mean, I agree we all could've done something for him, but why you? As far as I know, you have absolutely no connection to him?"
He heard a chuckle from the now standing Jiraiya, "That's where you're wrong, I have a huge connection to him. I'm the reason he's named Naruto, my very first book's main character was named Naruto, and his parents came to me asking if they could use that name. I couldn't turn those two down, they were very important to me and I couldn't pass up the idea of being that kid's Godfather. Ungh, for the good I've done him..." The man walked away, leaving Asuma to think on all he'd learned in those few minutes.
Naruto and Ino
Naruto was tossing and turning sharply, attempting to get the Yamanaka off of his hide, with very discouraging results. She held on tightly, and he didn't want to crush her by rolling over, so he was stuck with her for the time being.
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Whatcha think? I made this one a little longer to get y'all more interested, I also haven't gotten any input on the idea of this bein' a NaruTema fanfic instead of a NaruIno. So I'm just gonna make it a multi-pairin'. Naruto's gonna be shared by Ino with Temari, after the shit hits the fan of course. Now, with that in mind, Ino and Temari are gonna be at each others' throats at first. That's all for now, SEE YA!