Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
Translations are by Google Translate.
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Chapter Eight
Training
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Yagura slammed into a tree and bounced off, managing to drop into a defensive stance even as Naruto dropped out of the handstand that he had used to deliver the double-footed kick and rolled to his feet. As they squared off, a shrill ringing noise sounded and both of them looked at the alarm clock and the clone of Naruto who was reaching out to turn it off.
Yagura sighed and rubbed at his shoulder even as a third Naruto appeared and handed him a beaker of chilled water.
"Why didn't you use your clones to help you fight?" Yagura asked once he had taken a sip.
"They're too vulnerable." Naruto shrugged as he lowered his own beaker, then he scooped up a pebble and hurled it at the drink-bringing clone, causing it to dissipate. "One hit and they're down. Elemental clones are tougher, but they have their own problems such as not being able to use chakra or having a very limited range."
Yagura blinked. "Really?"
"I can't even do a normal bunshin, I have way too much chakra." Naruto sighed as he watched his other clone carry away the alarm clock.
"You could always use your clones to supply cover." Yagura said thoughtfully. "You know, distance techniques, throwing kunai, that sort of thing."
Naruto opened his mouth, then paused as he thought it through. "Ah. I… hadn't considered that."
Yagura snorted, then scooped up a pebble of his own and threw it into the bushes.
"Ow!"
Naruto dropped his beaker and summoned a dozen clones who instantly piled into the bushes. A moment later, they returned with a rope-bound figure with dark hair.
"I think you may have gone overboard with the rope." Yagura grinned as he tried to prise apart the rope cocoon to see who was inside.
"Mmmmph! MmMmmph! Mrrmmmrmph!"
"Dispel." Naruto said from Yagura's side and the ropes vanished in a burst of chakra, letting the trapped figure drop to the ground. Yagura fixed the blond with a quizzical look.
"Henged Kage Bunshin."
Yagura tried to say something, then just settled for shaking his head.
"Hey, you… you're… Idioty?"
"Idate!" The boy growled as he picked himself up and glared at Naruto. "Morino Idate."
"Well, if you were spying on us, you must be an idiot." Yagura snarked. "So… why?"
Idate seemed to sag. "My brother's currently too busy to help me and you two keep getting better at taijutsu… I decided to see if you were doing anything that I could use."
"Morino… Morino…" Yagura mused. "I remember hearing something about your family… ah yes. Your clan has three separate taijutsu styles, right?"
"Um, yeah." Idate agreed as he brushed himself off. "Sokudoken, Tsuyoken and Gimankoken. Um, that is…"
"The speeding fist, the strong fist and the deceiving fist." Yagura nodded. "Which one do you use?"
"Sokudoken." Idate said as he glowered at Naruto, who simply gazed back with an innocent expression. "Obviously, I'm not fast enough."
"I can find a few exercises that will help you get faster." Naruto offered and Idate gave him a surprised look.
"Really? Why?"
"Why not?" Naruto shrugged. "I mean, Neji's archery puts him ahead of me, 'specially since the teachers don't like me and will mark me down if they can, so when I graduate, if I already have two people I can work with, Jiji'll probably see to it that I'm put on the same team as them."
Yagura and Idate exchanged a long look before Idate spoke.
"You sound as if you know why they hate you…"
Naruto nodded with a wry smile. "Classified. Sorry, but if we do get assigned together, I promise I'll tell you."
Idate nodded while Yagura scowled.
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"Report." The left figure demanded and the headmaster of the Academy swallowed.
"The Jinchuuriki is currently the second-highest ranked student of his class and his scores are improving, especially since he now has two regular sparring partners."
"Who would team up with that thing?" The female shape asked, disgust suffusing her voice.
"Morino Idate and Yagura."
"Idate is the younger brother of Morino Ibiki, the new head of T&I…" The male figure mused. "I do not remember this Yagura…"
"He is an orphan who wishes to become a taijutsu practioner. Had Maito Gai not chosen Rock Lee as his apprentice-to-be, Yagura would have been his next choice." The Headmaster supplied.
"So, not a true loss if he gets assigned to it's team, but not someone we can apply leverage through." The male stated. "We will consider this. You may go."
The Headmaster left, leaving the two figures sat in the darkened room.
"With Danzo gone and us forced to retire, we do not have much leverage left." The man said and the other figure nodded.
"You are correct, Homura, but we still have some. With Danzo gone, we are the only ones left to counter Hiruzen's policies, policies which will wreak havoc with Konoha's strength."
"You are preaching to the converted, Kohara." Homara sighed. "Hiruzen is too soft-hearted. Look how he coddles the Jinchuuriki, he should be molding it into a weapon rather than letting it squander all that power!"
Kohara nodded. "Still, at least Konoha has the Great Armour of Uzushiogakure available to it. If we can… acquire it from Uzumaki Hiro, we can have one of the more loyal shinobi use it and no-one will be able to tell the difference."
Homaru nodded. "And if we can duplicate it, then no-one will be able to contest Konoha's primacy."
The two retired shinobi smiled at the thought of Konoha's eventual supremacy.
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Yagura bent over, breathing deeply as Idate almost collapsed against a tree.
"How… are… you…" He panted and Naruto wiped away the light sheen of sweat from his brow.
"I'm an Uzumaki." He said as if it explained everything. Idate glared at him and he continued. "We Uzumaki were renowned for having huge chakra reserves and tons of stamina. Also for fuuinjutsu, but that's something I'm still working on."
"Really?" Yagura asked, having managed to get his breathing back under control. "I don't remember hearing about them at the Academy."
"The Academy is run by civilians, it's part of the deal made during the last Shinobi War." Naruto grumped. "They didn't like how Konoha talking about Uzushiogakure irritated the other nations and so they pulled it from the Academy texts."
"What the… why would they do that?" Idate asked and Naruto gave him a flat look.
"Trade. Since the war ended, the Land of Fire's trade has increased. They don't want anything to cause the lands of Lightning, Earth and Water to cut down on it and reminding them that they all lost a huge part of their shinobi forces attacking Uzushiogakure in what led to the Third Shinobi War would do that. Kiri, Kumo and Iwa have removed all reference to Uzushiogakure from their own history books and blame the Yondaime Hokage for the majority of the losses they took."
"By the thousand Kamis!" Idate gasped. "What the hell happened to make them do that?"
"I'll give you copies of the records." Naruto sighed. "So, recovered yet?"
Both of the older boys glared at him.
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"It's him again." Sasuke noted as he and Hinata watched the blond square up to a student almost twice his size. "Interesting…"
"I agree." Shikamaru said from behind them, causing Hinata to jolt in surprise. "The blond is being constantly matched against the stronger or more violent students… it's almost as if the teachers are trying to get him maimed or force him to quit."
Hinata briefly activated her byakugan and frowned. "His shoulders…"
"What about them?" Sasuke asked curiously as the blond in the training arena below dodged a blow that would have concussed him had it hit.
"He has… something in his shoulders, just by his shoulder blades, something that is there… but isn't." Hinata said, frustration at her inability to describe what she was seeing evident in her voice, then she gasped. "I've seen that type of chakra before!"
"What chakra?" Sasuke and Shikamaru chorused before giving each other disconcerted glances.
"In his shoulders… the chakra is like that of Hiro." Hinata said slowly. "It's like he has bits of Hiro's armour in his shoulders, but at the same time, it's as if they're not there… I don't understand!"
"He's linked to Uzumaki Hiro?" Sasuke almost demanded as he leaned sharply forwards for a better look, only to bash his forehead against the window. "Ow!"
"Uzumaki?" Shikamaru repeated with a fierce frown of concentration. "Does anyone know who Naruto's parents are?"
"My parents won't discuss it." Sakura said as she leaned across Shikamaru's desk for a better look. "They warned me that he was bad news… and they deny any knowledge of his parents…"
"Interesting." Shikamaru mused. "The most obvious conclusion is that something happened that caused the adults to decide that Naruto's parents were not part of Konoha… traitors, perhaps? I don't recall seeing anything in the books about an Uzumaki clan…"
"That's because there isn't." Sakura stated as she watched Naruto deliver a scything kick to the back of his opponent's leg, sending the larger boy down onto one knee.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as Naruto somersaulted over his adversary and wound up for a powerful kick. Every male watching the fight winced as the foot made contact, sending the larger boy out of the ring in a tight knot of intensely personal pain.
"Ow." Sasuke whispered as one of the teachers stormed over and started screaming at the unrepentant boy. "I think I'll need to invest in a cup if I ever go up against him."
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Yagura hid his own wince as Tonmaru crashed to the ground, whimpering in pain. Naruto glared at the class bully, then gave a small bow to indicate that the spar was over even as the teacher stormed up.
"Uzumaki!"
"What?" Naruto asked. "I just did to him what he did to Hakaru during the last sparring session. He didn't get into trouble for that, so why should I get in trouble now?"
Several murmurs of agreement sounded and the teacher's face started to take on tinges of red and purple.
"He is right, sensei." Hakaru said from the sidelines as he stroked the sling that held his broken left arm. "Tonmaru did not get in trouble for doing that to me, or for breaking my arm. Why is that?"
The Teacher glared at the skinny youth, then turned and stormed over to Tonmaru, picking him up.
"Everyone stay put while I take him to the infirmary." He growled.
"I didn't get taken to the infirmary." Hakaru noted and the Teacher almost snarled at him before storming off, half-dragging the crying bully. Everyone watched him go, then Hakaru turned to face Naruto.
"We will never be friends, but thank you." He said and Naruto grinned at him.
"That bully should never have been allowed to join the Academy. Believe it!"
"Agreed." Hakaru said, giving Naruto a respectful nod before turning ad walking over to his own friends.
"Damn, how did you do that?" Yagura asked. "The stick in his ass is bigger than the one the Hyuugas use."
Naruto blinked, then started to laugh while unseen by them, Neji turned to glare at them.
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Naruto floated above the village as he contemplated his future.
He actually had two proper friends now, friends who had taken it upon themselves to help him with his remaining weaknesses and who respected him.
He'd even met Idate's older brother, Ibiki.
Damn, he had been scary.
A spot of heat on the edge of one of the training fields caught his attention and Naruto floated down, coming to a halt almost three meters above the ground. The tree in which the heat-signature was located rustled a bit and Naruto reached out, pushing the branches aside so that he could see who it…
Yagura?
The wooden platform on which Yagura was curled up on was suspended by a rope at each corner and a tarpaulin provided shelter from rain, but the evidence was unmistakable.
Yagura had been thrown out of the orphanage, much like he had years ago.
Naruto carefully released the branches and flew back towards his house.
He'd need help with this, and who better than himselves...
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Yagura stretched, then froze as he realised that he was lying on a futon rather than the salvaged roof panel that had been his encampment after the orphanage had thrown him out 'for consorting with the demon brat'. Sitting up, he looked round curiously at the room he was in and his eyes widened as he saw all of his clothes neatly folded on the shelves in the open wardrobe. A kimono was next to his futon and Yagura wasted no time in shucking the dirty clothes he had been sleeping in and donning the garment.
Walking to the door, Yagura slowly opened it and yelped as he came face to face with a familiar person.
"Naruto?"
"Yep, well, actually I'm clone of the boss." Naruto replied with a smirk. "Boss is outside training while we clones do the housework for him. If you want to wash up, breakfast is being made."
Yagura fought down the confusion that threatened to overwhelm him and followed the clone down the stairs. "Where am I?"
"Boss's house." The clone replied with a grin. "Boss found you last night and we put you in our spare bedroom. Why didn't you tell him you were thrown out of the orphanage?"
"I…" Yagura paused, unable to articulate his thoughts and the clone nodded.
"Pride, yeah. Pride is for Samurai, we're training to be ninja. If you need help, ask. Simple as that."
The clone led Yagura to a door located partially underneath the stairs and opened it, revealing a bathroom. "You wash up and then you can talk to boss about this."
"Thank you." Yagura said gratefully and the clone shrugged.
"If all goes to plan, we'll be team-mates and team-mates help each other."
Yagura nodded with a smile. "Yes, they do."