Hello again! As promised, the second chapter for the week and the last chapter for a while! As always, thanks for the favorites and follows! The reviews/comments are also awesome! From now on, I'll reply to reviews at the end of the chapters instead of sending private messages like before. It just seems easier this way. Anyways, thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...
The Fourth Meeting (Last Meeting Before Wave)
Just as most of the newest genin generation of Konoha was meeting today, the current generation of clan heads was also meeting today, coincidentally at the same place: The Nara Head House. This house had a special feature that made it the perfect place to meet at. It had hidden cameras surveilling the village and all the other rooms of the house. This was only known to those who held the position of special jounin and above. It was this very day that the clan heads were meeting for an important reason concerning their very precious heiresses and heirs. In fact, this day-
"Ow! Why'd you do that?" Inoichi Yamanaka groaned as he rubbed the rather large bump on his head Tsume Inuzuka gave him. Tsume grinned ferally at him and pointedly looked at his writing.
"You were rambling in the written record again," she deadpanned as Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi both watched their former genin teammate, amused.
"Now that we have that settled, can we get back to the reason this meeting was called?" Hiashi Hyuuga dryly asked as he gestured to the large mounted screen on the wall.
"Yes, I do believe that would be wise," Shibi Aburame agreed. "It is quite unfortunate that the Third will have to miss this meeting. I heard that he is…indisposed due to paperwork." The clan heads shuddered in revulsion, clearly remembering their most fearsome foe: paperwork.
"We are still waiting for the jounin-sensei to arrive," Shikaku reminded them. The handle to the window opened. "Ah, I believe that is them right now." The window opened up to show Asuma entering and holding out his hand for Kurenai to follow after him. Surprisingly, a head of gray gravity-defying hair also poked its way in. Shikaku skeptically narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. "It is a surprise to see you here so early, Kakashi. You must really like your team this time around."
"Maa maa," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Of course, I came to watch my cute little genin. I wouldn't miss it for Konoha." He tried to look convincing.
Kurenai snorted and mumbled, "Yeah, and I threatened to destroy his Icha Icha if he didn't come." The clan heads relaxed once more realizing that no, Kakashi was not an imposter, and that he was only on time due to blackmail. Kakashi pouted when he saw no one really believed he would actually ever be on time. I wouldn't have been too late this time. Only an hour or two… He thought sullenly.
"I see…" Shikaku continued and turned on the screen. "Let the traditional watching of the genin commence!" he declared as everyone watched the screen focus upon their children.
Rendezvous Point #7 in the Village (Nearby the Nara Compound)
"Let's go!" Naruto excitedly set off into a direction before he was harshly yanked by his cuff. "Arrrghh! Ino!"
Ino ignored him, "Naruto we have to wait for Team 8 to show up before we go!" She released him and he went flying into the tree before face-planting on the ground hard.
"How troublesome…" Shikamaru groaned as he remembered that there was a clan meeting held at his place today. Eh. He shrugged. It's only a few more people, and no one will be using the kitchen anyways. It should be fine… He looked at Naruto who was dazedly talking to a tree he thought was Shino. Probably…
Choji munched on some chips, excited for once about what was going to happen later today. We can make tarts and pancakes and eat strawberries and cherries or wait! I can make ice-cream and… With each new thought about food his eyes glazed over more and more as a tiny drool puddle started forming. Fried barbeque and spicy chicken with some mashed potatoes and mini sandwiches for a picnic. And, of course, drinks like lemonade and sparkling juice. He snapped out of his daze when he saw Ino smack Naruto again and winced. Maybe we shouldn't have anything too sugary…
Naruto shook off his dizziness and noticed Team 8 walking towards them and yelled out a greeting, "Yo! Guys! You ready?"
"Hey Naruto! Whose house are we going to?" Kiba greeted.
"Mine," Shikamaru stated. "There might be some of the clan heads there too for a meeting, but we'll be in the kitchen, so we won't really see them."
"Oh yeah, I remember mom saying something about a meeting there. It's too bad Akamaru couldn't have come. He would've loved to taste the food."
"Fleas? Ouch," Ino winced at the thought of black furry creatures climbing up her body.
"Nah, just a daily check-up. Shouldn't be too bad," Kiba shrugged.
"We can always pack him some leftovers," Hinata consoled Kiba while Shino patted his teammate's shoulders. Naruto couldn't help but feel a sting in his chest at their easy comradery.
"All right, guys. We should get going soon. My house is that way," Shikamaru gestured to the forest behind them.
"Yeah, it's going to rain soon," Naruto agreed.
"No way! There aren't any clouds anywhere and it's bright and sunny!" Ino protested.
Naruto sniffed and replied, "It is too! I can smell it. It's about 3, no 4 minutes away."
Shino added, "My Kikaichu also sense a disturbance in the atmosphere. Bad weather is on its way." He opened his jacket to let his Kikaichu settle, protected inside.
"See? Shino agrees!" Naruto smiled at Shino who nodded back.
"If that's the case, we better hurry," Choji interrupted the argument and hauled Ino towards the front. They were quickly followed by Team 8 while Naruto and Shikamaru took the back.
"So, how's studying your past been going?" Shikamaru asked interested, as they made their way along the trail to his house.
"Going good!" Naruto replied excitedly. "I've learned so much about them. You know, normally I don't like reading much. But when I read this, I feel closer to my family, or at least what would've been my family." Naruto grinned as he felt warmth fill his chest. "It's too bad that I don't have the clan's red hair," Naruto pouted fingering his blonde locks.
"It's ok, blonde suits you more. Reminds me of sunshine with your happy and energetic personality," Shikamaru unconsciously petted Naruto's hair as he blurted out his thoughts, feeling the need to comfort his friend. "Better than red anyways," he mumbled a little embarrassed as he didn't mean to say that.
Naruto didn't notice and thanked Shikamaru, "Really? Thanks! I thought I might be related to Ino because of the blonde, you know? But no one in her clan has my shade of yellow. Theirs is paler." Naruto frowned again wondering about his mysterious parents.
"Well, you'll find out eventually because the Hokage obviously knows. You just need to get strong enough to defeat their enemies," Shikamaru consoled.
Naruto beamed at Shikamaru, "You always know just what to say Shika!"
Shikamaru cheeks tinted a slight pink as replied, "Yeah, well…"
"Oh look, we're here! Awesome!" Naruto pointed at the clan compound as they approached the earth walls surrounding it. Shikamaru nodded at the guards and the seven made their way to his house.
"Woah! There're so many people here! And they're all your family?" Naruto asked in awe.
"Most are distant relatives while others are under our clan's protection. Most of my relatives live in the clan head house with us," Shikamaru explained gesturing to the large house in the center. The group walked towards the house and noticed most of their parents were there for the meeting.
"It must be an important meeting. There are so many people!" Naruto counted at least six people before he was interrupted by Kiba pulling him into the kitchen.
"Nah, it's just our parents," Kiba responded while he bounded into the kitchen and dropped into a chair with Naruto near him. Choji began getting out the utensils while Hinata and Ino cleared the table.
"So, what were you thinking of making, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked taking Naruto's bag of ingredients from him.
"I thought we could make some Umeboshi. I know you usually use dried sea salt plums, but I thought we could substitute it with these tomatoes I had Iruka-sensei pick up. They're really like plums so I thought it should work," Naruto explained as he held up a tomato for the rest to see.
"Right, and this wouldn't have anything to do with how Sasuke's and Sakura's favorite foods are tomatoes and Umeboshi?" Shikamaru smirked as he raised an eyebrow at Naruto.
"Well, maybe a little of that too," Naruto conceded as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "If I make something they both like, they'll have to eat with me!" Naruto exclaimed with a fire in his eyes. He was determined to have lunch with his teammates this weekend.
"Sounds good to me!" Kiba barked out as he licked his lips, imagining tasting all the food they'd make. "I call dibs on being a taster!"
"I also would like to be a taster. I am looking forward to the Umeboshi. They suit the warm weather we have been having," Shino agreed with Kiba and sat at the table. Shikamaru also joined Kiba and Shino at the table, silently designating himself as a taste tester too.
"So, it's me, Choji, Ino, and Hinata who're all cooking? Great! Let's get started!" Naruto chirped excitedly standing next to Choji.
"Hang on, Naruto," Choji patiently stopped Naruto and turned to Ino. "Ino, you're not allowed to use the fire or add any ingredients. You may decorate if the time comes." Choji sternly instructed Ino, not forgetting the last three times Ino started a fire trying to…cook cereal. Ino just huffed and sat at the table as Choji began mixing flour in with the other ingredients and directing Naruto to help every now and then.
"How have your trainings been going?" Naruto asked them when he had a free moment in between measuring.
"They've been boring so far. Asuma-sensei hasn't taught us anything new and keeps making us go through his tactics trainings for combinations. I think he's just too lazy to teach us anything else. He really likes playing Shogi with Shika," Ino answered picking her head up from the table to send a glare at Shikamaru.
"I've already told you troublesome woman, that we're going through team combat simulations. We aren't just playing," Shikamaru emphasized while holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"Yeah, we're working on combinations right now, so we didn't learn any new jutsu yet," Choji supplemented as he took the tray from Hinata and greased it.
"You guys are lucky, all we've been doing is building up our strength. Kurenai-sensei tried teaching us some genjutsu, but none of us really have the affinity. We're more tracker or taijutsu fighters," Kiba groaned remembering the genjutsu Kurenai trapped him in. A world with only cats; he shivered at the horrifying thought.
"We also have not learnt any new jutsus," Shino added.
"Kurenai-sensei taught us more about tracking, though. We can find the trails of people that go through water now and those who can hide their scents," Hinata defended Kurenai.
"That is true," Shino conceded. "Our cohesiveness has also increased with our skills being raised."
"But I wanted to learn some new jutsus!" Kiba whined. "You'd think after learning how to do them without seals, that they'd teach us more. But no, it's always: You need to have more control, Kiba. You're not ready for this jutsu yet, Kiba" he complained.
"At least you guys are training together," Naruto started. "We just do the mission with Kakashi-sensei and then he leaves. Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan don't even want to stay after that to work on any combos." Naruto pouted remembering how his teammates had ignored him.
"That's why you're making lunch today," Shikamaru reminded Naruto. "When they join you to eat their favorites, why don't you bring up training together in the conversation" he suggested.
"I dunno," Naruto was unconvinced. "I don't think they're going to stick around for lunch today." He looked down, but before anyone could comfort him, he looked up with a burning gaze and declared, "But I won't give up! Because that's my ninja way!" The others only smiled at Naruto.
"Yeah, because if you gave up, we'd have to check for an imposter," Kiba joked. Naruto only grinned at him and then shuddered.
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, noticing his troubled look.
"It's nothing," he answered. "Just felt like we were being watched."
"You might be sensing the hidden cameras in the room," Shikamaru wondered. "Maybe our parents are watching us. They are in the security room." He lazily pointed out.
"Why would they be watching us," Kiba asked. "Don't they have anything better to do with their days?"
"It's some lame tradition," Ino spoke up, rolling her eyes. "The clans meet up and stalk every genin generation's fourth meeting.
"How do you know?" Naruto asked.
"Please, "Ino scoffed. "It's not like they're secretive about it. My dad keeps winking at me and Shika's dad practically forced him to invite us over today, saying he wanted to see his new teammates. Like he hasn't seen us all since our births." She snorted and waved a dismissive hand. "Shika knew about the cameras since before the academy. It's not that hard to figure out."
"Especially because of the red blinking dot that shows that the camera is on," Shikamaru dryly pointed out.
"That's creepy," Naruto shuddered, once again feeling someone watching him. "How many cameras are in this room anyways?"
"Only one in that corner over there," Shikamaru pointed directly at the camera by the stove.
"He disabled the other ones before coming in here," Choji put in his own words and Shikamaru looked a little sheepish.
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to be too close to the screen," he defended while crossing his hands.
"That's weird," Naruto frowned. "I saw the camera over there, but I feel that someone else is watching us." He walked towards the table the "tasters" were sitting at." It's coming from there," he pointed at the salt shaker on the table.
"Strange," Shikamaru muttered looking at the salt shaker as Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"I can see a camera underneath the lid," Hinata spoke sounding shocked, while Shikamaru unscrewed the lid. By now, even Choji was frowning and walked over to the table after he had placed the Umeboshi in the oven. Shikamaru popped the lid off and sure enough, there was a small red blinking light on the underside of the lid.
"Who put this here?" he mumbled as he inspected the small camera after disabling it.
"There seems to be a symbol on the bottom of the camera," Shino spoke up. Shikamaru turned over the little device to reveal three solid lines followed by two broken ones.
"I've seen that symbol before," Naruto surprised the others. "It was in that book of seals you gave me!"
"You actually finished that book? There must have been more than a thousand pages in it and you could never finish a book at the academy!" Shikamaru exclaimed incredulously.
"Yeah, well, it was really interesting," Naruto explained sheepishly before becoming serious again. "There's a seal that transmits and hides in the symbol which has been known to be used by some disbanded organization Konoha once had, known as Root," he unconsciously repeated what he read from the book. "But why's it here?" he wondered looking at Shikamaru who only shrugged.
"I don't know. I'll show it to my parents later. Maybe they forgot to disable some of the equipment once Root disbanded?" he tried to think of a logical reason.
"Yeah maybe," Naruto agreed but looked unconvinced like the rest of the table.
"So, anyways, how far have you gotten with your seal training, Naruto?" Shikamaru tried changing the subject.
Naruto beamed at him as he answered, "Not too far. I've only reached 7-1 of the intermediate section."
"How many chapter are there?" Ino asked trying to understand if this was a good amount or not.
"There were ten chapters for the beginner section and there are another ten for the intermediated section. I'm going to have to ask Kakashi-sensei or Jiji if they have a copy of the next section soon."
"Wow, that's far!" Choji whistled.
"Yeah, but when you have shadow clones practice for you, it makes everything easier," Naruto explained dismissively.
"So, what've you learned so far?" Kiba asked.
"Right now, I'm learning how to identify seals on humans. Want me to check you guys out?" Naruto asked giddily.
"Sure," Shikamaru answered bemused.
"Okay!" Naruto excitedly clapped his hands together and looked at the genin. "Who wants to go first?"
"Ooooh! Do me! Me first!" Kiba excitedly jumped around before Ino hit him with a fist.
"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first, dog breath?" She sneered at Kiba and stood in front of Naruto.
"Okay, fine but I get to go next," Kiba pouted and sat down waiting for his turn. Naruto nodded and held his hands in front of Ino concentrating hard.
"You have a…tracking seal on you? I think it was put on you when you were a baby by your parents. It's starting to fade away now and is almost gone," he said while pointing at a small dot that looked like a mole on Ino's shoulder.
"Yeah, I remember my mom telling me about this. She said that's how she found me whenever I wandered when I was a baby," Ino smiled at the memory.
"My turn!" Kiba bellowed and pushed Ino out of the way. Naruto sweat-dropped before scanning Kiba too.
"You have a small seal by yours ears that, I think, makes sounds smaller?" Naruto asked.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that. It helps me hear. My mom put it there because I complained about Sakura and In- I mean Sakura's, no one else's, only Sakura's loud screeches," Kiba backpedaled as he saw the murderous glint in Ino's eyes.
"Have you ever tried releasing it?" Shino asked, interested in his teammate's senses.
"Sometimes," Kiba shrugged. "When there aren't any loud peop- I mean noises, not people," Kiba quickly corrected his mistake averting his eyes from Ino.
"Cool!" Naruto chirped and scanned Shino. "Woah, Shino! Your clothes are amazing!" he looked at Shino in awe. "You've got like six seals on them instead of you. The waterproof, fireproof, and scent-proof ones are awesome! Did they stitch the other three storage seals into your clothes?" He drooled imagining all the alterations he could add to his own jumpsuit.
Shino looked pleased as he answered, "Yes, they were stitched into my clothes. My clan has similar seals stitched into their outfits to provide a safe habitat for our Kikaichu to travel in."
"That's so cool! I'm going to add protection and storage seals to my pockets too. Think of all the ramen I can carry on me…" Naruto trailed of as he imagined the possibilities. The rest of the genin, except Choji who was also drooling at the amount of food he could carry with him, sweat-dropped.
"Can I have those seals too?" Choji pleaded with sparkling eyes. Naruto quickly scanned Choji and noticed there were no seals on him.
"Sure! Your clothes don't have any seals so I can just add them to your pockets!" he said excitedly. "I just have to learn how to stitch seals first. It shouldn't take too long, I'll have some shadow clones work on it!" He made a ram seal and contacted his training clones and commanded a few of them to work on learning how to stitch seals. "When I have it down, I'll add some to your clothes!" he posed with his thumbs up at Choji who returned the pose. The rest of the genin just shook their heads at their antics. Naruto turned around and saw that Shikamaru was closer to him than Hinata. He held up his hands to scan Shikamaru. "You have a communication seal on your earrings. I think they connect to earrings someone closely related to you has, but not your parents… Do you know who it is?" Shikamaru looked startled as he fingered the tips of his ears.
"No, there shouldn't be anyone like that." He frowned and brought his hands together into his usual thinking position. "My parents don't have any siblings and my grandparents are dead, so it can't be them."
"It doesn't have to be a close relative. It can be someone who has some of your blood too," Naruto clarified.
"I have never given anyone my blood before," Shikamaru frowned harder and decided to ask his parents about it later today.
"Maybe someone stole it from the hospital," Kiba pointed out.
"But the hospital's records are guarded by really strong shinobi," Ino shot down the idea. "There's no way someone stole Shika's blood without anyone knowing!"
"Not really," Naruto spoke up. "I found a tunnel underground that goes there." He noticed everyone staring at him and tried to defend his actions, "I only used it once for a prank. I just wanted to check if they were allergic to peanuts before I covered their whole apartment in peanut butter." He grinned remembering how bewildered those villagers were."
"That was you? Why would you even feel the need to do that?" Ino yelled.
Naruto pouted and crossed his hands, "They so deserved it. They tried to steal the money I got from Jiji! So, I followed them around for three days and found out their habits and where they lived. Then I slowly started covering everything they owned in peanut butter. First it was little things like their keys or clothes or paperwork. Then I started escalating until I finally covered their whole apartment and workplace in peanut butter!" He cackled maniacally. "The hardest part was hiding the peanut butter whenever they told anyone about it," he reminisced on his so-called prank. The other genin just stared at Naruto like he was crazy. "They stole 1,000,000 ryo from me. It was justified!" The group could only sweat-drop at Naruto's prank.
"Did you always pull these types of pranks on people when you were missing from the academy," Kiba had to ask.
Naruto shook his head, "Nope, just those who deserved it." He walked closer to Hinata and changed the subject, "Okay, let me scan you for any seals. You're the last one." He put his hands up in front of Hinata and concentrated hard. "You have a seal on you, well not on you but connected to you. It feels horrible! It's slowly sucking up your chakra and connecting you to other seals. I think it used to be connected to someone else but then was transferred to you." He frowned as he stepped closer to Hinata.
"I-I think t-that you're sensing the Hyuuga branch members' seal. I-It's supposed to allow members of the main household seal branch member's eyes, d-destroy them, and control their actions by destroying their brain cells," Hinata blurted out. The rest of the genin except Naruto looked horrified to hear about the seal. Hinata looked down, not knowing why she told everyone about her clan's secret seal.
"Yeah, I read about the Caged Bird Seal in the book, but the connection you have is different than it. Whoever did this to you knows nothing about seals. The original seal was gifted to the Hyuuga household by their distant Uzumaki relatives to help them keep their secrets even after death. It was just supposed to help instill feelings of protection and loyalty to the clan to never give up its secrets," he explained remembering what the history book of his clan said. "A similar seal was given to the Uchiha clan for their Sharingan. However, the caged bird seal was only a prototype. Neither clan wanted the new and improved seal design. Someone from your clan must have tweaked the original seal and turned it into this."
"What's wrong with it?" Hinata asked anxiously.
"They changed it to control the others which forced it to become parasitic. It's bad for everyone now. It slowly warps the minds of those who use it, and even if you don't use, it still leeches on your chakra and affects your mind," he explained looking worriedly at Hinata. "It latches on to your beliefs and slowly destroys them. For example, I believe in never giving up, so if I had the seal and never used it, it would constantly tell me to give up and to never fight back because I might hurt someone or something like that."
Hinata was dumbfounded. She never fought with her younger sister because she didn't want her to get hurt or sealed. But now it seemed like the seal was influencing her thoughts all along! Could this be that small voice in my head telling me to always give up?
"…And later I can make you the new and improved seal. I'm not that advanced yet. So, do you want me to do it?" Naruto asked Hinata expectantly.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Hinata was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear the beginning of what Naruto said.
"I asked, if you wanted me to sever your connection to the seal?" Naruto repeated.
"YES!" Hinata nearly shouted. She had always hated the seal and its power to affect others. She didn't want it tainting her thoughts any longer.
"Okay, but this might hurt a bit," Naruto said before closing his eyes and concentrating harder. Hinata nodded silently and prepared for some pain. Sweat began to form on Naruto's brow as he made a few hand signs. Suddenly, a piercing pain ripped its way through Hinata's forehead. She clenched her fists and bit her lip hard enough to bleed before the pain stopped and she relaxed. Woah, it feels like a heavy burden I never knew was there has finally been removed. She looked at Naruto through the tears in her eyes.
"Thank you!" she hugged him and tried to convey all her feelings in those two words.
"No problem!" Naruto chirped back and patted her back gently, returning the hug after he got over the shock of someone hugging him. "You're my friend! Of course, I'd help you. How do you feel now?"
"Like a heavy weight has been removed," she let go and smiled bashfully at Naruto.
"The Umeboshi is done!" Choji announced from behind the counter. The genin crowded Choji, each waiting for a chance to taste what they had made.
"Mmmmmhmmmm! It's sooooooo good!" Naruto moaned. "Almost as good as Ramen!" The genin nodded their heads in agreement. The Umeboshi they had made was really good! "I can't wait to try to eat them together with my team!" Naruto beamed imagining finally getting along with his teammates.
"Here, let's pack this up and then we can hide while you try to eat it with your team," Ino suggested and scooped up the Umeboshi into a few containers and placed them into a bag.
"Sounds good!" Naruto chittered as he bounded along, helping Ino with the packing.
The Fourth Meeting: A Parent's Perspective
"What are they talking about?" Tsume squinted up at the screen trying to make out what the genin were saying.
Shikaku rubbed his chin, "It appears they are talking about the weather. Naruto and Shino predict it will rain, while Ino doesn't agree."
"It's sunny outside; there's no way it's going to rain!" Inoichi defended his daughter while gesturing at the sunny skies.
"On the contrary, it actually is going to rain. Young Naruto and my Shino are correct. It is marvelous to see how developed their senses are at this age." Shibi inputted, feeling proud of his son.
Inoichi was about to respond, but Tsume interrupted him, "Who cares if it's going to rain? Quick, switch the camera to the indoors one. They already reached the checkpoint." Shikaku switched the screen to show the indoors.
"That's strange," he frowned. "Only one camera appears to be working."
"Shikamaru probably disabled the other ones," Asuma smirked at the others' disbelieving faces. "He does have an IQ of over 200. He probably didn't want to be watched, but knew he had to leave one active just in case." He looked at the screen to watch the other genin file in. Shikaku turned up the volume on the camera and they heard the genin talking about, of all things, making Umeboshi with tomatoes?
"I'm surprised. Choji's using an ancient clan cooking technique to help make the Umeboshi in the oven instead of waiting for it to dry out. He must really trust the other genin there," Choza thoughtfully remarked, watching his son flit around the kitchen. "Why are they making Umeboshi anyways?" he wondered aloud as Shikamaru spoke up.
The clan heads saw him smirk and say, "Right, and this wouldn't have anything to do with how Sasuke's and Sakura's favorite foods are tomatoes and Umeboshi?" Asuma let out a low whistle.
"Wow, Kakashi, your team must really get along well if Naruto, the dead-last of all people, is trying to surprise his teammates with their favorite foods! I'm surprised, I didn't think you had it in you to get a team working together," Asuma said.
"Hmmm, did you say something?" Kakashi nonchalantly asked Asuma who sweat-dropped at the usual Gai response. So, Naruto wants to get along with Sasuke and Sakura badly enough that he found out their favorite foods to bribe them? Kakashi speculated. He knew his genin team didn't really get along well, but he had thought they at least been doing some exercises together without him. Was it really to the extent Naruto described, or was he merely exaggerating. I think I'll follow them and see how this picnic goes. Kakashi made up his mind as a shriek startled him out of his thoughts.
"Kiba! Next time you complain about training, I'm going to trap you in an even scarier genjutsu!" Kurenai vowed, a tick mark throbbing on her forehead. "This time you'll be a male cat stuck in a world of only female cats all in heat." Tsume involuntarily let out a small whimper at the thought of that nightmare becoming reality. Hiashi just watched Kurenai from the corner of the room and wondered if it was really okay for Hinata to have her as a teacher. Well, at least she'll toughen up a bit. He saw Kurenai cackling and sweat-dropped. Hopefully not to the point of Anko… He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the genin remark that they had already known about the clan heads watching them.
Shikaku glared at Inoichi and threateningly asked, "Inoichi, why does your daughter know about the meeting?"
Inoichi panicked and tried to defend himself, "Hey! She's not the only one who knows! Your Shika knew about the cameras too. And it's not my fault that Ino was too cute when she asked about the meeting. How was I supposed to not answer her?" He pouted remembering how his daughter had coerced him into telling her about the secret meeting.
"Actually, it seems you are the one at fault here, Shikaku," Hiashi dryly pointed out and Shikaku blushed at being seen through by a group of genin.
"It seems I was mistaken. How troublesome," he admitted as Inoichi grinned at him smugly, his momentary panic forgotten. Shikaku sighed and glanced at the screen once more. He noticed with mounting alarm that the children had found another hidden camera, one that he did not own nor install. The other clan heads all looked at him, each wondering whose camera it was. Privately, he had a sneaking suspicion that the camera belonged to a certain councilman's supposedly disbanded organization.
Kakashi also looked at the screen shocked, though his reason was different from the others who were still focusing on the mysterious hidden camera. Since when has Naruto been learning about seals? And he's already that advanced! He exhaled sharply as he heard how far along Naruto was. There are 100 chapters for each section, not 10! How fast did he finish them at to already be on chapter 71 of the intermediate section? And to only have been studying for a week even with shadow clones, he's a genius! It must be in his blood. He thought as he recalled Minato's near instinctual use of seals on a level that only Kushina understood. He narrowed his eyes at the screen which was now focusing on the symbol. His thoughts echoed those of the clan heads around him: Danzo. It looks like Root hasn't really been disbanded.
Shikaku had similar thoughts running through his head. How could he miss one of Danzo's seals on his own clan grounds? To not even notice that Danzo was spying on him, this was mortifying. He scrunched his eyebrows together and wondered. Does Hiruzen know that Danzo's Root still exists? What a drag! Luckily Shikamaru disabled the camera before Naruto revealed who the symbol belonged to. Those earrings were also suspicious... Still, it was shocking to see that the 'dead-last' of the academy was the one who figured all this out. He had to admit that Naruto was one of the most surprising shinobi in Konoha. He marveled at the young blonde's proficiency in seals. He had his doubts before about the Jinchuuriki's parentage, but if this wasn't proof, he didn't know what was. Fool Hiruzen, trying to hide who Naruto is. With that hair and those eyes, not to mention his grasp of seals, there's no doubt that he is those two's child. At this revelation, he grew sorrowful at the harsh treatment from the village the youngster had to face. Poor child, he must have been sabotaged at the academy to only show his potential now. He sighed and watched Naruto scan Hinata.
Hiashi had many thoughts running through his head after the Root seal had been revealed. His first of many was disbelief. He couldn't believe that the child who had failed the academy exam, of all things, three times was the same one who was scanning the genin for seals. The fact that the young Jinchuuriki was learning seals was alarming, but he calmed himself with the fact that seals were part of the Uzumaki clan heritage and therefore understandable for him to learn. But still, is he even qualified to scan for seals? If he remembered correctly, scanning seals was near the end of the intermediate section. Was it even possible for the blond to sit still long enough to read through the first hundred chapters of the beginning section, not to even mention those of the intermediate section? By the time Naruto had finished scanning the other genin and had come to Hinata, Hiashi had to admit his defeat. Naruto knew what he was doing and was most likely a seal prodigy. He fretted as Naruto's expression darkened when he scanned Hinata. He most likely found out about the Caged Bird Seal.
He paled at Naruto's next words, "It latches on to your beliefs and slowly destroys them. For example, I believe in never giving up, so if I had the seal and never used it, it would constantly tell me to give up and to never fight back because I might hurt someone or something like that."
He couldn't believe it. All along the seal was to blame for Hinata's attitude and the elders' behaviors! No that can't be, the seal was passed down in our clan for decades. There's no way it could have been corrupting us. His frown deepened as the other clan heads looked at him in concern. But it does make sense. He faltered. The Hyuuga Clan's main and branch family wasn't separated until after a Hyuuga seal master…altered the seal.
"Damn it!" he cursed, shocking the others in attendance. He's right. The seal is twisted. I'll have to talk to him about that new seal and maybe get Jiraiya's help inspecting the old seal. So, lost in his thoughts, he almost missed when Hinata agreed to getting her seal removed. WAIT! Can he even do it safely? He wanted to storm down there and stop it, but it was too late. He gasped as he felt a heavy malevolent force settle upon him. Is this how Hinata always felt? No wonder she always refused to use the seal. He could only hope that the damage the seal had done could be reversed. He no longer held any reservations. He was determined to remove all traces of the seals no matter what the elders said. He was clan head not them, and they would respect his decisions even if it meant dissolving the branch house system and years of tradition. This is for the best. I never liked that seal anyways. His expression lightened as a certain possibility hit him. And perhaps I can tell Neji the truth of that day. He almost smiled at the thought of reconnecting with his estranged nephew.
Tsume and Shibi both scrutinized Hiashi with concern. If what Naruto said was true, Hiashi must be feeling terrible. They both knew that though Hiashi might not look it, he cared deeply for his family. They never could forget how he had broken down the day his brother had died in his place. Or how he had waited two months to go to Shibi's house to mourn his wife after her funeral. They both remembered the time he had confessed how horrible he felt whenever he was forced to activate the curse seal, especially when he had to activate his brother's seal to protect Hinata. Just the fact he was showing so much emotion on his face alerted them to his inner turmoil. Tsume gently rubbed Hiashi's shoulders while Shibi attempted to make him feel better.
"Don't worry. Why? Because you can have the authority to remove the seal and replace it. Even the elders won't go against you. Why? Because you have proof that the new and improved version won't warp their minds. And that the old version is obsolete according to a seal master. How? Because young Naruto declared so and he got all his information from the book that the children compiled which took each clan's accounts about the Uzumaki clan from our libraries and therefore cannot be wrong," Shibi quickly calculated. Tsume realized Shibi had slipped into his verbal tic and recognized he was agitated too on his friend's behalf.
"See that, there's no way they can refuse to change the seal now. And if they do, we can always pressure them by bringing in the Third and having Seal Master Jiraiya analyze the seal and declare it corrupt," Tsume reassured Hiashi who just nodded at his old teammates, glad that this could be fixed even if it took some time. No one else would ever have to suffer under the seal by the time he was through with them. The others' attentions returned to the screen once they saw Hiashi regain his stoic, determined appearance and no longer seem bothered by the news.
"Looks like they're finishing up their meeting," Asuma stated as he noticed the genin packing up. "Should we finish up to? I'm sure all of us has some business to take care of with these new revelations…" Hiashi and Shikaku nodded thinking about the Caged Bird Seal and the seals on Shikamaru's earrings respectively. Shibi also agreed and told the rest that he'd inform the Third about Danzo and their suspicions. Inoichi and Choza decided to join him as they also had doubts about Root not being fully disbanded.
"See you guys later!" Tsume shouted over her shoulder and then jumped out the window.
Shikaku groaned and muttered about being glad he had installed a handle for ninjas entering through the windows while Asuma chuckled, reminded of his father's grumbles about window-breaking-and-entering-shinobi. Speaking of his father, he remembered that he had to give Kakashi a note from the Hokage. He turned towards where Kakashi had been only to find that side of the room empty. Why did he leave so fast anyways? It's not like he was planning on being early to anything…
While Asuma was wondering where Kakashi had gone, Kakashi had already made it to the other side of the training fields. He was waiting for Naruto to show up so he could spy on his most energetic genin's picnic. He heard a rustling noise and saw Naruto coming up the path with a basket in his hands. The others must be hiding in those bushes to watch.
Naruto walked under the tree Kakashi was hiding in and sat at its base waiting for his teammates to arrive. I wonder if they'll actually show up. He wondered. They should be here in about five minutes.
"Naruto nii-chan!" A blue blur shouted before tackling Naruto to the ground, narrowly missing the picnic basket.
"Ack, Konohamaru? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked in shock.
"Boss! You gotta help me, Kore!" Konohamaru pleaded.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked worriedly when he noticed Konohamaru was serious.
"I was practicing how to Henge like you showed me but then there was this big guy who started talking to me weirdly so I dropped my Henge but then he got mad so he's chasing me now. He's right behind me!" the words tumbled out. Konohamaru took in a deep breath and then started panicking again.
"Calm down,"" Naruto consoled. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll protect you no matter what!" He promised to protect Konohamaru. In the distance, a tall buff man wearing a jounin vest sprinted towards them.
"Oya, you thought you could trick me? You brat! I'm going to make you pay!" he announced and stomped in front of Naruto who hid Konohamaru behind him. With each step the man took, the ground rumbled and shook. The behemoth stood in front of Naruto and flexed his bulging muscles threateningly. He loomed over Naruto and crossed his meaty arms. His bald head glinted in the sunlight and his red face stood out against the greens of the training grounds. Luckily, he was only wearing his jounin vest and wasn't carrying any other extra weapons other than a few kunai and shuriken.
Naruto gulped and bravely shouted, "Hey! What's your problem? Konohamaru was just practicing his Henge for the academy. Why're you chasing him? Are you a stalker?" Kakashi watched the situation closely, getting ready to interfere if it got out of hand.
The man stepped closer and said, "You are…" He rubbed his bald head in thought before exclaiming, "I know you! You're the demon-brat!" Naruto flinched a little at hearing that name but straightened up and glared at the man. The jounin smirked and menacingly said, "Move out of the way unless you want me to teach you a lesson!"
"No way!" Naruto yelled. By then, the other genin had noticed something was wrong and were watching closely.
"Oh? Then I want some compensation. Why don't you Henge into that form again and let me touch you a bit. I'm sure no one would mind," he leered as he remembered Konohamaru's Henged form. Kakashi growled and released some Killer Intent at the other jounin. How dare he attempt to touch my cute little genin! He thought furiously, preparing to step in and kill… teach the other jounin a lesson. The genin in the bushes were also prepared to attack at a moment's notice. No way were they allowing this creep come near Naruto! What Naruto did next shocked both Kakashi and the genin. Naruto turned around and grinned at Konohamaru.
"Say, Konohamaru, you ready for your next ninja lesson? I'm going to teach you what to do when guys like this come near you." He smirked at the jounin in front of him.
"What are you going to do, brat?" the jounin snarled at Naruto.
He answered with a foxy grin, "What you wanted, of course." Before anyone could stop him, he made the Ram seal and transformed into a taller sexy blonde with pigtails and smoke covering her busty front. The girl stepped closer to the jounin and laid her hand on his vest and whispered, "What do you want me to do Ma-s-ter~?" Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Shikamaru all fell over, blood gushing from their noses. Hinata actually fainted seeing Naruto's almost naked form, even if he was a girl. Ino, on the other hand, blushed bright red and was stuck in daze, unable to move. Even Kakashi-sensei felt a trickle trail down his mask. The jounin instantly started bleeding from his nose and fainted on top of Naruto who then screamed, "PERVERT! HELP, THERE'S A PERVERTED PEDOPHILE!" He then quickly transformed into a smaller version of the blond pigtailed girl, this time with ripped clothing instead of a smoky covering. The genin, who had finally recovered, could only stare wide-eyed at what happened next. Instantaneously, a mob of kunoichi materialized and looked at the scene before them: a little girl crying with ripped clothing and a man bleeding from the nose on top of the girl. All of them flamed up murderously in unison and began beating up the jounin.
"No wait- It's not what it looks like!" the jounin who recently regained conscious tried to explain himself in vain.
"Oh, so you're not a child-molesting pedophile after little girls?" one of the women spitefully asked as she cuddled Naruto.
"Yeah!" He nodded his head agreeing with those words. "Tell them what really happened kid!" he yelled while glaring at Konohamaru.
Konohamaru noticed his Boss winking at him and looked to the other female ninja. "He said that he wanted to touch us for compensation." The man paled as the woman's hairs started to fly in rage.
"Stay over here, sweetie," the woman brought Konohamaru and Naruto to the side of the tree and returned to the man. "Com-pen-sa-tion, huh? I'll show you some compensation," she glared at the man and used chakra to pound him into a tree where the other women were waiting.
Naruto whispered to Konohamaru who was ogling the beat down in awe, "That's another ninja lesson. When you can't do something by yourself, always get help."
"Woah Boss! You're so cool!" Konohamaru admired with stars in his eyes.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "For some reason, the women in Konoha are always ready to half-kill any perverts around. They've helped me out of a lot of trouble in the past. Always remember about them. If you're not careful, that might be you one day," he said sternly to Konohamaru who nodded quickly. The other genin just gawked at what they'd witnessed. Women were really scary when they were angry. Shikamaru despaired. This just reinforces the fact that women are troublesome! Kakashi just shivered as he remembered what the bathhouse women did to the last pervert who peeped on them in the hot springs.
Once the jounin was covered in bruises and barely conscious, the women stopped thrashing him and kneeled down to Naruto and Konohamaru and said, "If this man ever bothers you again just scream, and we'll come. Okay?"
"Okay!" Naruto agreed easily and waved good-bye to the women who were leaving. "Thanks for all the help!"
"No problem," they replied in synch, saluted, and vanished. The other genin rubbed their eyes wondering if they were in a genjutsu. Kiba pinched himself. Ouch! Definitely not a genjutsu!
The jounin shakily stood up. "Y-Y-You got-t me t-this ti-time, brat! But I-I'll g-get my revenge i-if it's t-the last thing I do!" he vowed.
"Ha! What can you do?" Naruto taunted the man as he slowly walked away. "Try anything and I'll scream PERVERT again." The man just snarled and noticed the picnic basket. He smirked and sneakily shot a fireball at the picnic basket.
"Oops," he smugly said before disappearing into leaves. Naruto growled and was about to chase down the man when he noticed Sasuke and Sakura coming towards them.
"Boss, who are they?" Konohamaru tugged on Naruto's jumpsuit and pointed.
"They're my teammates. I made this for them in the morning so we could have a picnic. I hope the food isn't destroyed," he whispered to Konohamaru and quickly put out the fire with the water-making jutsu from the campfire three.
"Dobe! Why did you call me here?" Sasuke asked and crossed his hands impatiently.
"Yeah, why are you wasting Sasuke's time, Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled. The genin in the bushes couldn't believe that this was how Naruto's teammates treated him.
"H-Hey guys," Naruto stuttered a bit before regaining his happy-go-lucky tone. "I thought we could have lunch together. I made some Umeboshi and-"
He was cut off by Sakura before he could even finish, "Yeah, right! As if you could cook anything other than Ramen!" Shikamaru and Choji had to hold Ino back from pouncing on Sakura.
"Hnn," Sasuke grunted in agreement. Team 8 frowned deeply at how Team 7's members were treating Naruto.
"I had some help," Naruto started defensively before relenting. "So, anyways, want to eat with me?" he asked expectantly and held out the basket. Sakura snatched the basket from Naruto and opened it. "And after eating, maybe we could train together, like a team?" Naruto asked daring to hope that his teammates would finally agree.
He held his breath along with the rest of the genin as Sakura opened her mouth and said, "Naruto, is this a joke?" She glared at Naruto and made a fist about to punch him.
"Hey, don't hit Boss, you ugly lady!" Konohamaru shouted and broke the trance Naruto was in.
"What do you mean a joke?" Naruto asked confused and a little hurt. He'd thought his own teammates would at least notice that he hadn't pulled any pranks since after the bell test. Sakura took out the once carefully wrapped Umeboshi that now was a soggy burnt mess.
"Do you expect us to eat this?" she asked in distaste and let the food drop to the ground. "I bet you're trying to get Sasuke sick so you can beat him tomorrow when we train with Kakashi-sensei!" she accused and glared daggers at Naruto.
Kakashi felt ashamed of how Sakura was treating Naruto. He made your favorite foods and you throw it back in his face! The other genin were outraged. Shikamaru even had to use his shadows to restrain Ino, Kiba, and surprisingly Choji from revealing themselves. Though he too wanted to go out there and yell at Naruto's teammates, he knew this wasn't the time. Even the nicest amongst them, Hinata was glaring at Sakura.
"Well, you can forget your plan," she scoffed. Sasuke sneered at Naruto as he walked away, inwardly cursing him for wasting his time for training. Sakura glowered once more at Naruto before running after Sasuke. Naruto watched his teammates walk away a little bummed out. Sure, he didn't expect them to eat with him right away but this really? Stepping on the food he worked hard to make with his friends and accusing him of trying to give them food poisoning to in a training match? He sighed and slowly shoveled the remaining edible food into the basket with Konohamaru silently staring at him.
"Boss… I don't like your teammates," Konohamaru said after a while.
Naruto laughed wistfully and said, "Yeah they might not seem like it now, but they really are good people. Sakura-chan might seem like she's just super overprotective of Sasuke, but she's actually really smart and strong and though Sasuke is also smart and good at using techniques, he's also super lonely."
Konohamaru scrunched up his nose at this and said, "I think you're just too nice, Boss." Naruto only chuckled at this, while Kakashi watched this interaction with a warm smile. Naruto, you've grown up well, you're parents would be proud of you.
It was at this point in time that Shikamaru could no longer use his shadows to restrain the other genin, who then burst into the clearing and toppled over onto Naruto. "Oof!" Naruto groaned as he felt everyone's weight piled on top of him. "Get off of me!" he gasped and pushed Choji off him.
"Sorry about that," Shikamaru said sheepishly as he came into the clearing.
"So, you guys saw it all, huh?" Naruto began and the other genin nodded hesitantly. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he apologized, "Sorry, you guys helped me and I wasn't able to have the picnic with them after all. Even the food was ruined." The others couldn't believe Naruto was blaming himself for the plan failing.
"T-That wasn't y-your fault!" Hinata stammered. "I-It was that man's fault!" she insisted.
"Yeah, you saved Konohamaru!" Kiba agreed and patted Naruto on the back.
"Indeed. You cannot blame yourself for neither the food's destruction nor the failed plan," Shino added, his Kikaichu buzzing in agreement.
"If anything, it was Forehead's fault!" Ino insisted.
"Yeah! Who throws perfectly good food on the ground anyways!" Choji angrily said and spread the remaining food from the basket onto a napkin. Shikamaru took one of the soggy burnt Umeboshi and ate it.
"Tastes good to me!" he said. "Sakura and Sasuke don't know what they're missing out on." The other genin followed Shikamaru's lead and each ate one of them. Even Konohamaru took one and ate it.
"You guys…" Naruto choked out, feeling stuffy all of a sudden.
"Not bad, Boss!" he cheerfully said, eating one of the Umeboshi, before grinning playfully and whispering to Naruto, "I like these friends of yours way better than your teammates!"
"Yeah, me too!" Naruto whispered and took one of the Umeboshi for himself and ate it. Kakashi watched this from the tree and felt something warm stirring inside him. Not bad at all. He thought as he munched on a familiar burnt soggy Umeboshi treat. And if later that night a certain jounin was checked into the Konoha psych ward muttering about a one-red-eyed masked demon, then that's just a coincidence. After all, it's not like Kakashi went after the man just because he dared to threaten one of his little genin.
Replies to Reviews:
Guest: That would've been funny except! Too bad I already wrote that chapter out. As for Ino switching to Naruto, I think I'll have her feelings slowly change from Sasuke. I don't know if I'll make it Naruto yet, or have it change to Sai like in cannon, but she still hasn't confronted her feelings about Sasuke yet. She saw hoe Naruto's teammates treat him and doesn't like it, but she's blaming Sakura right now for it. I hope to pry off her rose-tinted glasses soon though.
slythefoxx2: Thank you very much!
Wyrtha: Thank you! Yeah, Naruto noticed the shadow clone's effects early on here. It's just that I can't really see how he didn't notice in cannon. I would think that he would notice that he remembers a battle in so many viewpoints or how t feels to die whenever he pops a shadow clone. I think that in Naruto, the author must have added this effect to shadow clones later on to advance Naruto's training super fast and still have an excuse. So I think it's okay for him to find out early on. Yeah, I don't know what other jutsus he could learn other than maybe a few extra basic ones or maybe some genjutsu passed on from Team 8? I think Kurenai would teach her team some as it is her mastery. And I want Kakashi to be more involved so he might teach Team 7 more later on. Lol, I thought the same about Kakashi too, but when I think back on it, most of the genin used their clan techniques. I think the jounin-sensei mostly helped with teamwork and tactics training to work as a squad efficiently, and since Team 7 never really worked together, he couldn't teach them any really advanced squad moves. I think the genin were expected that as ninja of the village, and technically adults, that they would train on their own time to learn new techniques... Honestly, the jounin-sensei felt more like supervisors/bodyguards than teachers early on...
YamiSlade: Thank you!