Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto or any of its original characters, Kishimoto does duh!.
Blah….normal narration/ character talking
Blah….normal narration/ character thinking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon talking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon thinking and Jutsus
Chapter 10
In a darkened room a man sat on a throne like seat half swallowed by the shadows. He had his face partly covered in bandages as well as his right arm. He held a cane in that arm and was currently had his eyes closed, the expression on his face vacant. This man was Danzo Shimura, once teammate of Sarutobi Hiruzen, a student of second hokage and the leader of the Root ANBU. Root was his own brainchild, a branch of elite ninjas he had cultivated with his own inhuman training. Trained to their limits both physical and emotional the Root shinobi were Danzo's perfect little weapons. Danzo had coveted the hokage title, he still did but with Hiruzen in the prime seat he had to be content with operating from the shadows. He opened his uncovered eye to observe a masked man who had just shunshined in.
"Report." Danzo commanded curtly.
"Uzumaki Naruto has been inducted into the Konoha shinobi corps as a chunnin. He defeated Minato Namikaze in a spar." The masked shinobi reported in a bland tone devoid of emotions.
"Give me more details about his skills." Danzo ordered.
"He seems to be ninjutsu oriented with fire and wind as his chakra natures. He is proficient in taijutsu and was able to match Minato in speed with his reflexes. As he used basic jutsus and techniques not much can be deduced but overall I would say he is already Tokubetsu jonnin level." Danzo's subordinate finished his monologue.
"Hmmm, this is good for now but later on he might prove to be a nuisance. His background is unknown, he claims to be an Uzumaki, most like he is an Uzumaki given his enormous chakra reserves and is already a Tokubetsu jonnin level shinobi. Have him shadowed for now and give me weekly report of his activities. Dismissed." Danzo finished with a curt nod as he pondered about the enigma one Uzumaki Naruto was proving to be.
'I wanted the Uzumaki bitch under my control so she could be my weapon but with Uzumaki Mito's influence I couldn't get her under my grasp. Maybe…maybe this will provide me an opportunity. I will have to tread carefully on this one.' Scratching his chin slightly in his musings Danzo rose up to overlook his newest batch of weapons.
#############################-the lost soul-##########################
Meanwhile at the Hokage's Office…
"You may remove your mask." Hiruzen Sarutobi said as he looked at the "ANBU" that had been watching over Naruto since he woke from his state of unconsciousness.
"Yes, Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru said as he removed the mask. "It will be good to get out of this retched uniform. I still do not know why you wished for me to watch over a mere chunin."
Hiruzen chuckled at that question. "He's strong, my student. He possesses even more chakra than Hashirama-sensei or Tobirama-sensei…possibly more than both combined. Trust me when I say that he could be a handful if he wished to be so. More importantly it's his chakra signature that intrigues me the most"
Orochimaru frowned "Care to elaborate about that a bit sensei?" He inquired outwardly while he was getting giddy inside. He did not show it but he found the newly christened chunnin to an enigma wrapped in a mystery.
Hiruzen quickly flashed through some hand signs to put up some privacy seals and explained "I have found that his chakra signature somewhat resembles the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama- sama."
"What? But how can this be?" Orochimaru received the shock of his life. He had been extensively experimenting in shadows to recreate Hashirama's Mokuton (Wood style) kekkei genkai but all his experiments had resulted in failure till now. Of course he conducted this work behind hokage's back. He had found a willing partner in Danzo Shimura who lusted after power for his own goals.
"Senju and Uzumaki have been said to be related. In fact some tales say that Uzumakis were once Senjus who left their clan to get away from constant battles. However in all my experiences I have never felt chakra like his. It is even possible that at some point of his life he may very well be able to awaken the Mokuton kekkei genkai, however improbable that might prove to be." Sarutobi mused.
"Heh awaken the Mokuton, now that I would definitely like to see. If he indeed proves to be capable of awakening it he will become an invaluable addition to Konoha," Orochimaru calmly replied while inwardly plotting to get his hands of the person in question for conducting his experiments.
"Enough of the future predictions and more importantly what are your observations?" Hiruzen asked, changing the subject.
"He's hiding something, but he's seems more loyal than even some of our shinobi." Orochimaru answered. "He's an enigma though. He's dumber than a bag of bricks when he is goofing off, while the next, he's even more intelligent than the young Namikaze that Jiraiya trained. His chakra nature is most peculiar too. I find it hard to believe that an Uzumaki would possess an affinity to it while lacking any knowledge of fuinjutsu. It's… an oddity, to be sure. He is very friendly in his endeavours with others and had seemingly built good friendship with Nara Shikaku. He seems receptive to friendly advances of others but seems to be in a tiff with the Uchiha heiress"
Hiruzen nodded in agreement. His student spoke correctly.
"If I may be so bold to ask sensei but why did you additionally appoint me to monitor him when you already had Shikaku monitoring him?" Orochimaru asked.
"Shikaku was to evaluate him as a ninja and a human. You however were to discover his secrets." Hiruzen calmly replied while taking a puff from his pipe.
"Well he is being observant and careful. He trained in secret so I wasn't able to follow him. Even when I discovered his training place, he kept a low profile mainly doing chakra control exercises that were pretty normal." Orochimaru's tone took a certain disappointed tune.
"And that's why you will continue to observe him in near future. He has taken up residence near market district in one of the older apartments. It is quite close to where Minato lives so be a bit careful while on the lookout. You may go now. Write up a detailed report and give it to me before the meeting tomorrow." Hiruzen said.
With that dismissal, Orochimaru left without saying a word.
'Naruto Uzumaki… I wish I knew for sure who you were. You are nearly impossible to read. I have my suspicions but nothing to back them. I hope you turn out to be who I am expecting you to be.' Hiruzen mused as he took another drag of tobacco.
#############################-the lost soul-##########################
In training ground 7
"I am telling you we will find both of them here." A feminine voice was hear uttering those words.
"And pray do tell why are you looking for those two Kushina? Minato I can understand but Uzumaki too!" the other voice retorted with a slight haughty tone.
"Come on Mikoto, he is my relative and he is not bad at all as you so intent on making him seen." Kushina replied to Mikoto. "As for why I am looking for those two, it is because I wanted to throw a sort of house warming party for Naruto. You know he rented an apartment that is quite near to Minato's place, I just wanted to make him feel welcomed. He is new in the village so he won't probably has many friends."
"He has what he has no need for you to get chummy with him too." Mikoto huffed.
"We already talked about this Mikoto. We don't need another debate on it and you still haven't given me any valid reason till now for not to be friends with him." Kushina calmly replied.
"I have already told you he seems shady, has no background information on him and he just appeared out of nowhere." Mikoto was now irritated.
"And I have explained that if he was a wanderer like I suspect a few remaining Uzumakis are if they remain it would be difficult to get info on him. Drop it Mikoto I can look after myself and I have a feeling he won't betray me." Kushina replied with a tone that told Mikoto her mind was made up and nothing would budge her from that.
"Well fine I am just looking after you." Mikoto mellowed down.
"I know Miko….besides I think you might have developed a small crush on him." Kushina gave her friend a mischievous smile.
"I certainly have not." Mikoto harrumphed though a light pink dusted her cheeks.
"Oh you certainly have." Kushina was now grinning like a cheshire cat. "Maybe I should inform Naruto, that would do you both some good."
"You will do no such thing Kushina Uzumaki." Mikoto growled.
"Do what?" They were both so engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice two similar blondes walking towards them.
"Hello Naruto-kun, Minato-kun." Kushina warmly greeted them both giving Minato a light peck on the cheek.
"Ohayo Kushina-san." Naruto greeted back and then added "I see you have graced us with your presence too Uchiha-san."
"Morning Kushina-chan, Mikoto-chan, we were just finished with sparring but what are you two doing here." Minato intervened before Mikoto could come up with a retort.
"Well we wanted to talk to you both especially Naruto." Kushina began but was interrupted by Mikoto
"Don't drag me into this, it is your idea." Mikoto told them.
"Fine fine. I wanted to talk about holding a housewarming party for you Naruto-kun." Kushina told her fellow Uzumaki.
"Party for me?" Naruto was pleasantly surprised
"Of course you got your own house now. This way you will get to make more friends." Kushina excitedly told her plans.
"I agree. This is a great idea and I won't have you turning it down Naruto." Minato said to Naruto.
"Well if you both insist, though I too concur that it is a great idea." Naruto gave in smiling slightly.
Before he could do anything else he was pulled into a tight hug that caught him completely by surprise, so much so that he went completely rigid. The hug being recently familiar, loving, comforting giving him the feeling he had not expected to receive once again.
"A small giggle caused him to look down slightly at a mane of red hair pressed against his chest. "You know, you're supposed to hug back when a girl hugs you. You didn't seem to have this problem last time."
"Errr... yeah," Naruto managed to stutter out in a small voice before slowly wrapping his arms around Kushina's back in an awkward manner.
This only caused Kushina to laugh again as she broke the impromptu hug, and stuck her tongue out at him. "We're going to have to work on that."
Naruto simply offered a sad smile, and nervously scratched at the back of his neck. "Yeah... I haven't exactly had much practice in showing or receiving stuff like that. I can probably count the number of times I've been hugged on both hands."
Kushina seemed strangely crestfallen at that, but then seemed to get a gleam of determination in her eyes.
To elevate the awkward moment Naruto smiled mischievously and said "I was just surprised but that shouldn't be a new thing after all you surprised me the last time too."
Surprisingly Mikoto got in the act too and said "Yup she definitely preferred that hug over this one."
This caused Kushina to turn red with embarrassment which was further elevated when Minato asked innocently "Umm what are you guys talking about?"
Kushina waved her hands and started to stammer a little but getting her prankster side in action she quickly replied "You know what Naruto-kun you should give Mikoto a hug like that, it will surely remove all her suspicions about you."
Naruto seemed to think for a moment as Mikoto sputtered in indignation. Shaking his head sagely Naruto said "You know what Kushina-san it is a really good idea, maybe I will do just that."
This caused several different reactions. Minato looked gobsmacked, Kushina dumbfounded while Mikoto turned red with her mouth gaping open.
"Come now Uchiha-sama we haven't got all day." Naruto called out teasingly as he took slow and deliberate steps towards Mikoto with his arms spread slightly.
"Y..yo..you stay away from me you…." Mikoto sputtered as she retreated.
This only resulted in Naruto quickly advancing further saying "Okay Uchiha-sama I will even remove my shirt for you."
This proved to be too much for Mikoto who turned and ran away shouting about blonde, idiotic ruffians. Naruto turned towards Minato and Kushina and gave them his wide foxy grin with a victory sign. This caused Kushina to fall down on the ground holding her stomach in laughter while Minato chuckled with mirth.
"I guess there is a good story behind this incident?" Minato asked.
"Yup" replied Naruto with enthusiasm but it is not mine to tell as he gave Kushina a meaningful look who blushed.
"I will tell you later Minato. By the way how was your spar?" she asked them both.
At this Minato slumped while Naruto cheekily grinned.
"He beat me again." Minato almost whined.
"Really?" Kushina was now genuinely impressed. "Did you use any new techniques Naruto?"
"Just one." Naruto answered as Minato grew bashful.
"So what is the technique?" Kushina asked.
"Nope you are not telling her that you defeated me using that technique." Minato clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth as he was about to answer.
"Now I am really interested in knowing the technique." Kushina was intrigued.
"Well Kushina-chan it is really nothing big just a small technique." Minato tried to slide over.
"It is called 'Sennen Goroshi'." Naruto began when Minato interrupted him again.
"No you are not telling any further." Minato was almost begging now. "Please, I will even show you my new technique if you promise to never tell anyone about this."
"Okay deal. Sorry Kushina but the offer is quite tempting. Maybe someday you will know about this when I use this technique on someone else and knowing Ero-sennin he will most probably be the target so don't worry." Kushina was placated with that. "So what is that technique Minato?"
"Yes, you said you have been developing it for 2 years." Kushina spoke.
"Well it's called the Rasengan. Okay here we go." With that Minato formed a familiar spinning chakra sphere in his right hand as Naruto and Kushina watched impressed.
'Wow to think that he actually developed it all by himself. He really is a genius.' Naruto mused as Kushina looked on.
"It's beautiful." She commented.
"And deadly." Naruto put in his two cents.
"Okay watch now." Minato told his audience as he smashed the chakra sphere into the trunk of a nearby tree. The Rasengan smashed through the trunk felling the tree.
"Cool" Naruto said out loud as he was already familiar with the jutsu's power while Kushina clapped happily at the display.
Minato smiled happily at his accomplishment. "So your thoughts about it." He asked Naruto.
"IT seems you have managed to somehow compact and stabilised chakra that is rotating violently in different directions. It requires a significant amount of chakra but the jutsu is self-sustaining and doesn't need to be fed chakra constantly." Naruto explained from his own experience.
"Wow." Minato was genuinely surprised. Naruto had identified his jutsu perfectly after seeing it just once. "That evaluation is impressive. I have never seen anyone decipher a jutsu so quickly." Kushina agreed with that.
"Well I did some chakra control exercises which involved rotating a kunai with your chakra. When I simply tried the exercise without the kunai it gave me something like this." Naruto explained as he put his hand forward.
He then showed them the second step of the Rasengan which seemed like a distorted cyclone. He knew he was at a disadvantage without his main jutsu and he will have to coax it out of his father so that he could use Rasengan and Fuuton: Rasenshuriken if possible.
To say Minato was impressed would be an understatement. 'He is at the completion of the second step of learning the Rasengan a little more and he would actually figure it out.'
Suddenly deciding on something Minato spoke "You know what Naruto, I will teach you this jutsu."
"What?" Naruto was flabbergasted. "But Minato it is your jutsu, you should keep it a secret. For all you know it could be your signature jutsu."
"To be honest you yourself are quite close to completing this jutsu on your own. I teaching you will only increase the pace. Since you are Kushina's family, I am certain that I can trust you with this. I might not have known you for long but my gut says I can trust you implicitly." Minato scratched the back of his head a gesture Naruto often found copying himself, now he knew his father too had the same habit.
Naruto took a deep breath and spoke in a soft tone "Thank you. It really means a lot to me. I promise on y ninja way that I will never break your trust. Furthermore I owe you a jutsu. Any jutsu in my arsenal that you like will be yours to learn, that I promise to you."
"You two are just….." Kushina wiped away a tear as she sniffed slightly before giving them both fierce hugs. "Now come on we have got a party to plan." With that she began dragging the two blondes who after a quick look at one another followed her smiling all the way.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well here we are people, how was the chapter guys?. I tried to introduce a darker shade while taking the relationships forward to the next level. So any suggestions or questions for me just send a pm or put in the review.
I would also like to extend my regards to all the dedicated readers who show their support. Thank you so much guys it really means a lot.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please don't forget to send your reviews and suggestions.
Justsu List
Sennen Goroshi : 1000 years of death
Rasengan : Spiralling sphere
Fuuton : Rasenshuriken : Wind Style :Spiralling shuriken