*~Timeskip~*
1 month after graduation
Naruto was sitting in the middle of a training field in a meditative position with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.
'I wish they'd hurry up and get a little better.' He thought with some annoyance as him and his teammates had been doing a D-rank mission everyday for the past month. The Hokage said they weren't qualified for anything better yet.
Naruto knew he was stronger than most genin but his teammates were normal for the most part, well Sasuke was. He thought Sakura should not be a ninja seeing as she had a hard time running for a small amount of time and wasn't accurate with her thrown weapons at all. The only thing she had was book smarts which were useless if you're in a fight. She was gonna get somebody killed and it was either herself or her teammates.
Being shaken from his thoughts he heard rustling in the bushes near to where he was sitting, he opened his eyes and looked in their direction but couldn't see what it was. Sniffing the air he could tell it was a person but they had an odd and familiar scent, weapon cleaning oil. Smiling to himself he stood up from his seated position and walked towards the bushes and heard a small 'kyaa' after he secretly sent a clone around the bushes to surprise her.
"Come on Ten-chan, I know it's you." He said with a small smile seeing her walk out from behind the bushes with a small blush and her cheeks puffed out with a pout on her face.
"How did you know it was me?" She asked grumpily as she was hoping to surprise him.
"I could smell your weapon oil and you're the only person who knows I come here." He said pointing to his nose and then gesturing around them.
They were standing in what could be considered a hole in the ground. They were at least one or two stories deep into the ground bet there was no roof or ceiling it was just an open hole at the top. There was earth all around them and a small pool of water near the edge because the wall had some water coming out of it. Apparently he had found a small underground stream that now flowed into a man made pool.
"Now that I think about it why does no one know this is here?" She asked as she had come here a few times now and had never seen anyone but Naruto.
"I made it." He said with a grin that he didn't show anyone but her and his Jiji.
"WHAT?!" She screamed at him as she looked around and back at him. "How did you 'make' this?" She asked shocked and confused.
"I used an earth jutsu to make this spot lower down into the ground so I could use this to train."
"You did all this with a jutsu?"
"Yup. It took awhile because I haven't mastered it yet so I had to do it a couple times."
"Why not just use a training field or something? Why did you have to do this?"
"I don't want people I don't trust to see me train or know how strong I am."
"But I see you train and I know how strong you are." She said confused as to why he'd let her see.
"Like I said, I don't want people I don't trust seeing it. I trust you I thought you'd know that by now." He said with a soft smile and an amused look in his eyes when she blushed again.
"O-Oh ok, thank you." She said with a small smile looking at anything but him or she'd blush more.
"You're welcome, but you don't have to thank me. You're a trustworthy person and I know you wouldn't hurt me." He said with the same soft smile but there wasn't any amusement in his eyes, it was replaced by another soft look that she couldn't identify but it made her blush harder and her insides to melt when she couldn't look away.
"Anyway what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your team?" Asked Naruto as it was pretty early in the morning so he'd thought she'd be training with her team or doing a mission.
"We have a couple days off because Gai-sensei is on a solo mission." She said with some relief because she needed a break from both her sensei and her teammates.
"You're lucky your sensei is actually trying to teach you something." Said Naruto referring to Kakashi and how little he's actually done for his team.
"I guess…" she said not really feeling all that lucky as she was the only 'normal' person on her team.
"So you're free today then?" Asked Naruto with a slightly hopeful tone.
"Yep. I'm pretty sure he won't be back until tomorrow." She said with a bright smile and her mood changing for the better.
"Good. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Asked Naruto with a small smile again hoping she'd say yes.
"Y-Yes. I'd love to." She said surprised by the offer and slightly embarrassed at being asked on a date. Wait… was it a date?
"Great. I'll come by the store to pick you up around 7, ok?" He asked with a happy grin, extatic that she agreed.
"Ok Naruto-kun. I'll see you then." She said with a blush on her face and a small smile directed at Naruto.
*~Timeskip~*
Standing outside of Higurashi's, Naruto was honestly pretty nervous. He'd never been on a date before… if this was a date. He didn't know what to expect or how to be romantic.
He wasn't wearing his normal shinobi clothes, instead he was dressed in what he'd call 'fancy'. He was wearing a very form fitting long sleeve black button up dress shirt that had dark green buttons, while it didn't show as much as his normal clothing. You could still see the muscle in his arms and his chest pushing against the shirt. He was also wearing black dress pants and black dress shoes.
He walked into the store and saw Tenten's dad at the counter. When he noticed Naruto walking in he saw his outfit and smiled at him.
"Don't go too far Alright?" He asked in an amused tone of voice. Hinting towards what he knew both Tenten and him were thinking about.
"I won't. We're too young for that and I don't think we're ready." Said Naruto showing his maturity even when he had a small blush as the earlier statement caused certain images to flash through his mind.
"Alright… I'll go get her." Said Tenten's father as he made his way upstairs to the house part of the building.
A few minutes later he heard someone coming down the stairs and turned toward them. When Tenten reaches the bottom of the stairs, his mind went blank and he couldn't stop looking at her.
She was wearing a traditional Chinese dress with an opening on her right side starting just below her hip down to the bottom of the dress that reached her knees. It was a somewhat tight fitting black dress with a thin golden dragon wrapping around the dress, it also had gold trimming. She was also wearing black shoes now instead of the brown. Her hair was down instead of in her usual buns reaching just past her shoulder blades. All in all she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
"You're gorgeous." He said as his brain began functioning again.
"T-Thank you. You look h-handsome as well." She said with a blush and a small smile.
"Are you ready?" He asked extending his hand for her to take.
"Yes. Let's go." She said grabbing his hand as he intertwined his fingers in hers. She blushed again when he squeezed her hand gently.
"Finally we can have our first date." He said not really to her but just saying his thoughts, to which she immediately nodded her head in agreement and gently squeezed him back.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked again because he had yet to answer always saying 'Somewhere special'.
"You'll see when we get there and I know you'll like it." He said with a smile in her direction and began leading her away from the village market place where most of the restaurants in the village were.
Instead, he was leading her towards the Hokage tower but when they reached it he began leading her towards the training fields where she saw an odd ravine. Stopping just at the edge of the ravine she looked down and saw nothing but darkness.
"Are you ready?" He asked her again with a grin confusing her.
"There's nothing here." She said looking around for what he might be referring to.
Walking around behind her he hugged her from behind resting his chin on her shoulder. She squeaked quietly feeling his arms wrap around her waist.
"I'll show you but you have to keep it a secret." He said as she nodded slowly. He grinned again and shunshined to the bottom of the ravine leaving behind what looked to be something similar to a snowflake bit they didn't melt. Walking towards the end where there was a stone wall still with his arms around Tenten.
"Why are we down here? It's too dark to see anything." She said kinda scared that she couldn't see anything at all. She couldn't even see Naruto who was currently hugging her.
"Don't worry, you'll like it when you see it." He said while releasing Tenten begrudgingly because he really liked the position they were in. She was way softer then he thought possible.
Walking up to the blank stone wall he did a few quick hand signs and said 'Kakusareta-ka: kai'! He said as the wall started to glow slightly and Naruto grabbed her hand as the wall started to sink into the ground so they could enter.
Once inside Tenten looked around and could see that it was still dark but she could tell that the walls looked shiny for some reason.
"Give me a second and you'll really love this place." He said with a smile though she couldn't see it as he led her to a chair and sat her down while he pushed her chair in for her at what seemed to be a covered table.
He walked to the far end of the room and put his hand and an orb of some sort and pushed his chakra into it. The orb lit up into a faint blue color and slowly so did the walls. They looked like they were made of jewels with the way the light was shining through. It was a beautiful pale blue color that illuminated the room allowing Tenten to look around.
She saw that she was indeed sitting at a small table that had a white table cloth with a couple small candles and 2 plates and 2 sets of a fork and a knife. Looking around she saw there were also bookshelves and a couple of wardrobes. She also saw a tunnel leading further into the cave but couldn't see down it.
"Are you ready for dinner?" He asked with a smile and a blush at how the light seemed to make her more beautiful.
"Sure." She said somewhat dazedly.
Naruto smiles and unseals a large platter with covers over the food. He sets it down in the middle of the table and starts uncovering the food. To her surprise it was Kaiseki, which is an arrangement of small dishes that make up a multi course meal. Everything was in small bowls which looked to be made from the crystal on the walls, but then she remembered that nobody in Konoha sold Kaiseki. Not even the more 'noble' restaurants.
"Did you make all of this?" She asked in slight wonder because of how complex and beautiful this dish was.
"Yeah. I cook almost all of my food. I like to cook so I just decided to keep going and to get good at it." He said with a small smile and a hint of embarrassment at telling someone something he thought was 'unmanly'.
"That's amazing! I wish I could cook like this." She said in awe at his cooking skills. She didn't think he'd have focused much time on anything other than training.
"Well if you try hard enough you will eventually. Alright let's eat." He said as he also sat down at the table with a big smile excited to finally eat, he had spent the entire time after she left him at the training field preparing and cooking this meal.
For a few minutes they sat and ate in silence just enjoying their food. Tenten thought she'd never eaten something so good and was unaware she was stuffing her face with food. Naruto sat and looked at her with a smile trying to hold in his chuckling.
"Be careful Ten-chan, you could choke." He said with amusement rolling off of him and a smile splitting his face.
She looked up in embarrassment after realizing how unladylike she was being, though Naruto didn't really mind.
"I-I'm sorry, it's just really good." She said looking at her hands in her lap with a heavy red blush on her face.
"It's fine, I was just going to ask if you are enjoying it but I guess I don't have to. Thank you by the way, I tried really hard to make this as good as possible." He said with a softer smile looking her in the eyes.
"It's the best thing I've ever eaten. Could you help me learn to cook sometimes, when you're free?" She asked still with a small blush on her cheeks.
"Of course Ten-chan. Id love to."
"Thank you."
"So seeing as we're all alone you can finally ask your questions." He said with a grin.
"H-How do you know I want to ask you anything?" She asked with a blush, cursing herself for stuttering.
"I know you better then I know anyone else in this place. You can't hide anything from me." He said with a soft smile but he had mischief in his eyes.
"Fine." She said with a pout, pushing her cheeks out making her look too cute to be possible in Naruto's opinion.
"Where did this crystal come from?" She asked gesturing to a bowl on the table and the walls around her.
"I made it." He said with a smile while her eyebrow twitched at the familiar scenario.
"How?" She asked with slight annoyance at the teasing look on his face.
"Another jutsu. But this one is mine." He said with a smile at how annoyed she was and the familiar situation.
"How do you make crystal with an earth jutsu?" She said in wonder, forgetting her anger for now.
"It wasn't an earth jutsu. I can use Shōton. It's how I made the walls and the bowls. I can't use any big jutsu yet." He said pushing chakra to his hand and grabbing a glass. To Tenten's amazement it was slowly covered in icy blue crystal.
"This is how I made the bowls. I just used a normal jutsu to make the walls." He said as he put the now encased glass back onto the table.
"How do you do that? I've never heard of a crystal jutsu." She said in awe at the discovery and the glass that was now completely encased.
"It's a bloodline I guess. I've just always been able to do it but I can't control big jutsu very well." He said with a shrug.
"How do people not know about that? I know you train in secret but someone has to have seen it or felt it." She said surprised that it was still a secret.
"I put seals on the hole in the ground that surpresses my chakra so people outside of the hole can't feel it and they haven't seen it because I train in a hole in the ground. I sometimes train outside of the village but people don't know that." He said with a teasing grin.
"You know seals too? You should be chuunin by now." She said in surprise and suspicion as to why he wasn't a chuunin.
"The council doesn't want me to be ahead of the Uchiha so I'm still a genin. I could probably go up to Jiji and ask for a solo mission to make chuunin or ask to go on a team mission with some Jonin and earn a field promotion but then the council would have a conniption." He said with a sigh at how stupid the council was for worshiping someone who was most likely going to die very soon into his ninja career.
"Then get a field promotion. Who cares what the council says. They're civilians, they have no say in ninja buiseness." She said with anger laced in her words surprising Naruto a little. He hadn't really seen her angry, annoyed sure but never really angry.
Thinking about her words Naruto slapped himself on the forehead for being as stupid as the rest of the ninja that listened to the council. Tenten was right, they can't do anything to the ninja of this village. It's about time Jiji realized as well.
"Ok. I'll talk to Jiji tomorrow about a few things." He said with a smile at her that made a small blush come to her face.
"Good. You're probably stronger then some chuunin anyway." She said with an excited smile on her face making Naruto's cheeks a little darker.
After that they went back to eating and making some small talk about their recent missions and their teammates. He discovered that she very much dislikes her teammate who was named Neji who he'd heard her mention a couple times but they were never good things.
He talked about how weak Sakura was and how arrogant Sasuke was. When he told her about Sakura always trying to lift Sasuke above Naruto in Sasuke's mind and trying to put him down, she quietly cursed the pinkette and grumbled about showing her what a kunoichi was supposed to be.
*~Timeskip~*
After they finished eating and making small talk for a while Naruto noticed it was getting late so he decided it would be best to take her home. They were currently walking with Naruto's arm around her hip keeping her close as to not get separated, but they both knew it was just an excuse to be close to eachother.
As they were walking towards Tenten's house they decided to slowly stroll through the still bustling but less crowded streets. Along the way they made a game of guessing some of the ninjas elemental affinities. They would spot one and each would have one guess then they would walk up to them and ask. Whoever got it right would get a point.
Naruto was losing. They were close in score but he was still a little behind. So he made a plan, as she was going to answer he quickly moved his hand to her lower back and started tickling her. As she was laughing and struggling to get him to stop, she didn't get the chance to answer. As they made their way towards the ninja they were currently focusing on he stopped and quickly asked what his affinity was, he was right that it was fire and now they were tied.
As they continued walking Tenten was telling him not to cheat while he just laughed. Eventually getting to her home they were stood outside trying to think of how to end the night. Naruto was the one to speak first.
"Thank you for allowing me to take someone as amazing as you all for myself tonight. I enjoyed it, and I hope we can do this again." He said with a soft smile and squeezing her hand softly.
"I did too. It was an amazing dinner and I got to learn more about you so I hope we'll do this again soon." She said with her own soft smile and squeezing his hand softly.
"Great. I'm glad Ten-chan. I'd be happy to take you out as many times as you want." He said with a softer smile but a look of determination entered his almost glowing green eyes.
He moved forward suddenly and captured her lips surprising her but slowly she relaxed into the kiss closing her eyes and kissing him back. It was slow at first both just reveling in the feeling of the others lips. It became faster and more passionate as she slowly opened her mouth for him to explore which he gladly did. Their tongues fought for dominance but Tenten at the moment was melting and couldn't fight back so Naruto quickly won and took his time exploring her mouth. Occasionally caressing her tongue earning small moans from the girl.
Eventually they broke apart panting but both looked like they wanted more. Naruto just grinned and quickly placed a few soft pecks on her lips loving how soft they were. He backed up and stood in his original position smiling at her while she slowly came out of her daze.
"I'll see you soon ok Ten-chan?" He asked and all he got was a slow nod. Chuckling to himself he leaned back in and placed a slightly longer peck on her lips that she was ready to return. Ending the kiss he gently squeezed her hand before letting go and beginning to walk home.
Looking back he saw her stumble into her house. Quietly chuckling to himself he turned around and walked back to the door of her house. Unsealing a small box he placed it on the doorstep and walked back towards where they had just come from.
*~Timeskip~*
Walking back into the cave where he had brought Tenten before bringing the rock wall back up to close it. Walking deeper into the cave with a wistful sigh he went into the tunnel connected to the now unlit crystal room. Coming out on the other side of the tunnel he saw more bookshelves, a bed, a desk with a lamp and some scrolls laid on top, another pair of gauntlets that he was currently working on, and another tunnel that goes further into the cave.
"Man, I don't think I've smiled that much in a day for years. I can't remember being as…happy as I was today, ever." He said to himself with a soft smile thinking about Tenten and the kiss he'd just sprung on her.
Sitting on his bed he started getting undressed, taking off his shirt he looked down at all of his scars that covered his entire upper body. He absently wondered what Tenten's reaction would be when she saw them. He chuckled to himself at the thought of her flabbergasted face while still blushing.
Moving into the other tunnel to go deeper into the cave now only in his boxers. Coming to a fork in the tunnel, there were 2 tunnels leading in different directions. Walking into the tunnel on his left he came out to a room with a sink, toilet, shower, and a small pool of water that was steaming.
Throwing his clothes into a hamper in the corner of the room he began washing himself, getting ready for bed.
*~Timeskip~*
Hokage's office
"Jiji, I need to talk to you." Said Naruto walking into the Hokage's office without knocking. Seeing the Hokage desperately try to hide his little orange book war pretty funny every time he saw it.
"Ah Naruto-kun, what can I do for you?" Asked Sarutobi Hiruzen, the 'Kami of Shinobi' with his normal friendly grandfatherly smile.
"Jiji, I need to talk to you about my rank. Not to be arrogant but I'm way stronger and just all around better then a genin, and probably some chuunin." He said, his voice completely serious, letting Sarutobi know this wasn't going to be a social visit.
"What do you mean by that Naruto-kun? I know you're strong but I'm not sure you're quite chuunin." Said Sarutobi with an equally serious voice and a curious stare wondering what Naruto's reasons for saying what he did.
"You know what I did in the academy, but not what I'm fully capable of. I'm sure from my fight with Mizuki that you know I'm stronger then I showed everyone in the academy."
"Ok then. What do you want me to do?" Asked Sarutobi confused where this was going.
"I want to fight someone so that you can gauge my skill or to be sent on a high ranked mission so that when, not if, when I do well I can get a field promotion." He said stressing the 'when' in that statement because he knew there was little to no chance of him not doing well.
Sarutobi was surprised by his request and the statement itself. He of course knew Naruto was stronger then people thought but was he that strong? To think he was guaranteed a field promotion? He wasn't sure.
"Well, who would you like to fight to prove you're strong enough to be a chuunin?" Asked Sarutobi curious of what he would say.
"My graduating class of genin." He said surprising Sarutobi and the Anbu in the room.
"Are you sure? They're mostly clan heirs and have received clan training since they were young, this would be a very difficult fight for you." Said Sarutobi with slight worry in his voice.
"I want them so they know who exactly they were making fun of and trying to put down." He said with an angry scowl on his face.
"Ok. If you're sure about this, when would you like this to happen?"
"Today in the arena in front of the whole village, if possible. If not then I front of all of the Jonin sensei and the shinobi council." He said, again surprising Sarutobi and his Anbu.
"They can come too if they'd like." He said pointing at the ceiling above Sarutobi, the bookshelf near the door, and the couch. Shocked that he'd sensed his Anbu he waved his hand for them all to come out.
One was a tall man who was slightly bulky and had spiky brown hair wearing a bear mask. Another one was a shorter man who was a little thinner then the first who also had spiky brown hair and he was wearing what seemed to be a dog mask with gray and red markings going up both sides of the mask. The last was a woman who had bright purple hair reaching her waist. She wore what seemed to be a cat mask that had a thin red wavy line from the top to the middle of her forehead, as well as lines that framed where he cheekbones would be, and her 'cat' nose was red.
"How did you know they were there?" Asked Sarutobi wondering if he was a sensor.
"I could feel the vibrations of them moving." He said surprising them further as they had never heard of someone sensing people with vibrations.
"We were being completely still. Nobody had moved from their position at all." Said the cat masked woman somewhat skeptical.
"You were breathing, therefore your lungs were filling and deflating. Your chest rises and falls when you breath you know?" He said with a small grin directed at the Anbu while they were shocked that he had 'felt' the vibrations of that minuscule movement.
"That's very impressive Naruto-kun. How do you do that if I may ask?" Asked Sarutobi wondering if this was a jutsu and if it could be taught.
"I don't do anything, it just happens. I've had this happen since before I could use chakra." He said, stopping Sarutobi's train of thought about teaching it.
"Well then that's a very unique sensory ability you have. Good for you Naruto-kun." Said Sarutobi smiling again.
"Thanks Jiji but can you make the fight happen?" He said getting back on topic.
"I can. Are you sure you want to do this?" Asked Sarutobi worrying for Naruto.
"I'll be fine. At most I'll be hit 5 times." He said with a small scowl.
"Aren't you a little too confident?" Asked the bear masked Anbu.
"No, Konoha is too confident. If we went up against another hidden village I think we'd probably win but there would be innumerable casualties. The only people who take their job as ninja seriously in Konoha are the Anbu and the TI division, as well as the cryptanalysis team. Most chuunin think they're hot shit for being promoted after they've been genin for 5 years so they go into battle thinking they're super strong and end up getting killed very quickly. I can name the people in my class who graduated and actually take being a ninja seriously on one hand. Konoha is too lax and complacent." He said shocking the old Hokage even more while the Anbu were slightly happy for being recognized for taking their job seriously.
"Other then a few people, my entire graduating class would probably die on their first higher ranking mission if they don't wake the fuck up." He said angrily thinking about his class mates thinking they were strong enough to be ninja who did anything other then talk.
"What do you mean by lax?" Asked Sarutobi somewhat annoyed at thinking Naruto meant him as well, and he did.
"'What do I mean?' Exactly what I said. First we've had the same defense since before the Kyuubi attacked and look how that turned out. We have chuunin who don't actually go on missions anymore and just sit in bars getting drunk. The Uchiha were planning a coup and now they're all dead except the one that deserves it and Itachi got away. Also the council has way more power then they should because this is supposed to be a NINJA village but the CIVILIAN council has power over the ninja because you let them. They're not even supposed to be able to make decisions since this is supposed to be a dictatorship. They should be ADVISORS without the power to make any decisions without your say. Konoha was a great ninja village but now it's more like a village with ninja in it." He said with a scowl never leaving his face.
Sarutobi sat there staring at Naruto shocked. He didn't think Naruto knew about some of those things and probably shouldn't, but he was also right. The civilian council has been getting out of hand lately, trying to fix the system so the 'almighty' Uchiha would get as much power as possible.
"Anyway Jiji, that's all I wanted to say. Oh no it's not, give my team a better mission when they're well enough to take one. Please set up the fight and take my words to heart because you need to hear them. Just get rid of the civilian council, I'll do it if you'd like." He said with a cold smirk on his face that made the old Hokage and the Anbu nervous.
"Alright, see you later Jiji." He said with a wave over his shoulder as he walked out of the office, the door closing behind him.
Sarutobi and the Anbu didn't move for a few minutes, all thinking on what the blond had said.
"He's right you know." Said the cat masked Anbu surprising the other 3 people in the room.
After a few more seconds her fellow Anbu nodded their heads and the Hokage sighed as he nodded as well.
"Please go notify the shinobi council and Jonin sensei, including Gai to meet in the arena at 3 this afternoon." He said quietly while the Anbu silently complied and vanished to carry out their duties.
*~Timeskip~*
Naruto was sitting in the center of the arena in a meditative position waiting for the final few sensei and genin to show up. The shinobi council had been the first to arrive then followed the civilian council as well as many civilians hoping to watch him get his ass beat.
Finally after waiting another 10 minutes the last sensei's showed up with genin in tow. The last was of course Kakashi walking lazily towards the center of the stadium to stand with his fellow Jonin who were all standing behind their respective teams. All of the genin were in a line facing Naruto, some wondering why they were here or why Naruto wasn't with them.
"Finally." Said Naruto with a sigh as he stood up.
He wasn't wearing his usual gauntlets, these seemed to be made of a very shiny material. They were an odd black that seemed to swallow the light that hit them. They were no longer a smooth metal they now had a jagged form that looked like ice or a rock formation.
What they didn't know was that they were in fact his own creation. They were in fact crystal. The only one who knew these were in fact crystal was Tenten. He had spent all day today working on the durability seals on them, he had no need for any self repair seals as all he had to do was push chakra into them and they would be good as new.
But they now also covered his entire fists making him unable to throw kunai or shurikens but he didn't need to he could use the crystal on his arms to change into anything he wanted and shoot them at his enemies. He could also change them entirely into anything he wanted.
"Ok everyone. Today you will see Naruto Uzumaki vs his graduating class of genin for a chuunin promotion. Gai please take your genin with you when you leave the field." Said the Hokage getting some cheers from the audience hoping to see the Uchiha kick the 'demon's' ass.
"Are you afraid to fight me? Is that why you didn't include me in this challeng?" Asked who he assumed was Neji.
"No. I could beat you pretty easily. I don't want to fight her." He said staring into Tenten's eyes as she stared back a small smile and blush on her face, confusing some of the other genin.
He noticed she was wearing a bracelet that wasn't there yesterday. It was a beautiful black bracelet that looked to be made of the same material as his gauntlets and indeed it was. It was in the package he had left on her doorstep last night. He smiled at her gesturing to it using his eyes she looked down and saw it change color, from deep black to a mixture of pink and red that he thought suited her. She looked back up at him with a blush and he gave her a softer smile which she returned, happy she wouldn't have to fight him.
"Alright Jonin-sensei's please leave the field. This will be a one on one competition, if he beats one he moves onto the next. It will end with a knockout, a forfeit, or the referee deems the fight over." He said gesturing towards Mitarashi Anko who gave a sweet smile and waved.
"Can I kill them?" Asked Naruto looking at Anko who froze slightly, before looking up at the Hokage with the same smile on her face. She could see the Hokage and both councils members were shocked at what he asked as many knew of Naruto but had never met him but they didn't expect this.
"No. If you kill them you will immediately lose and will not be promoted." Said the Hokage in a stern voice.
"Fine." Said Naruto with a sigh.
"His opponents will be in this order: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Shino please stay put, everyone else please exit the field." Said Sarutobi while the genin complied and left the field except Shino and Naruto.
"Ok whenever you're ready Anko." Said Sarutobi giving her a nod.
"Are you both ready?" She asked as they both gave a nod and slid into their stances. Naruto in his personal stance and Shino in the Aburame clan stance. "Hajime!" She said as they shot at each other.
Well, Naruto did but Shino stayed still waiting for Naruto. As he got close he stopped instantly and crouched kicking left leg out at Shino's too quickly for him to react and kicked his leg out from under him setting him off balance. Naruto quickly stood up and started to pummel Shino with his crystal covered knuckles that hit him anywhere they could. With a final uppercut he put more strength into than before Shino was thrown off of his feet and knocked to the ground, unmoving.
Anko walked to the downed Shino to see if he could continue and when she found that he couldn't she stood and took Naruto's hand and declared him the winner. After the medics got Shino out of the way to treat any injuries, Kiba came onto the field feeling confident despite seeing his teammate get beaten easily, seeing as Naruto wasn't breathing hard at all and from his scent wasn't even sweating.
Sliding into their stances while Kiba had a confident grin on his face Naruto showed no emotion on his face just staring at him coldly.
"Hajime!" And they were off, Kiba trying to use his elongated nails to slash at Naruto but he was dodging everything easily. Getting angry at not being able to hit him, Kiba jumped back and went into his kunai pouch and pulled out a pill that he gave Akamaru who's normally white fur grew dark red and he seemed taller then before. Suddenly he went up in a puff of smoke, clearing away the smoke revealed another Kiba.
"Gatsuga!" Called out Kiba as both him and Akamaru spun through the air like drills coming at him. As they reached him Naruto just continued to dodge them until both Kiba and Akamaru were out of breath. Taking the opportunity he rushed Kiba and sent a spinning kick that connected with the back of his head causing his head to bounce off of the ground before he felt something sharp against his neck.
"Forfeit." Said Naruto still without emotion.
"F-Fine. I forfeit." Said Kiba with a sigh.
"Shōsha: Uzumaki Naruto!" Said Anko with a smile.
As Kiba walked back towards the other genin he pat Choji on the back telling him good luck.
"Hajime!"
Naruto again shot at Choji but the boy was already doing hand seals before suddenly he expanded so that his torso was completely round and was much larger then normal.
Naruto backed off to think before seeing the ball started to roll in his direction much faster then it should have been able to but to Naruto it wasn't really all that fast. He dodged around the rolling ball that was Choji while thinking of how to stop him but then he got an idea.
Dodging to his right Naruto ran as fast as he could which means he completely disappeared from the genin's sight until they noticed he was on the opposite side of the arena instantly. The genin and most chuunin were shocked that he could move so fast while the Jonin were also surprised because that was easily low Jonin speed.
Making his crystal gauntlets free his hands he went through a string of lightning fast hand seals.
Slamming his hands on the ground when he saw Choji charging straight at him 'Doton: Yomi Numa!' He said as the ground in front of him instantly turned from hard dirt to a deep pit of mud. Choji rolled directly into the swamp and stopped immediately, unable to move.
Naruto jumped onto the spherical boys stomach and changed the end of his gauntlet into a long thin spike and pointed it at Choji's stomach.
"Forfeit." Said Naruto without emotion.
"Ok. I forfeit." Said Choji after struggling against the mud, trying to roll.
"Good." Naruto said as he jumped back to solid ground and did the same hand seals before putting his hands on the ground again before the mud seemed to become solid again.
After Naruto helped Choji out of the now solid earth before going back to the middle of the field.
Hokage Booth
"I can't believe he knows that jutsu that's an A-rank easily." Said the Hokage in wonder how he had managed to use or even learn that jutsu.
Back on the field
Before even coming onto the field Shikamaru yelled down to Anko.
"I forfeit." He said earning a smack in the head from Ino and a sigh from Asuma.
"Ok well Ino please come down here." Said Anko annoyed that she didn't get to see another ass kicking.
Ino walked down the steps quickly but had an arrogant smirk on her face, not as bad as Sasuke's but it was still there.
"This is gonna be easy." She said arrogantly, like he didn't just beat 3 people who could destroy her.
"Hajime!" Said Anko as Naruto just walked at Ino while she ran at him, very slowly. For her though she was going as fast as she could. Once she reached Naruto she quickly tried to hit him with a spinning kick which he ducked under. Recovering from her miss she took out a kunai and started to slash at him but never hitting him.
Getting annoyed with how poorly she was doing Naruto grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the kunai. Pulling her towards him he quickly spun on the spot letting go of her wrist as he smashed a crystal covered elbow into her face. Falling forward with blood dripping from her nose she hit the ground unconscious.
As the medics ran over to take her away and heal her Anko again announced Naruto the winner.
Hinata came down to the field slowly while not looking at Naruto but looking at her feet.
"Come on Hinata. You have to take this seriously and you have to fight me. I know this may be difficult but don't hold back. It will only hurt us both. You may not like hurting people but not many ninja actually enjoy it, but they have to. This is to make us both stronger so that we can protect our precious people." He said with a small smile directed at the girl hoping she'd actually fight him instead of forfeiting.
As he finished trying to help Hinata with his words Tenten felt the bracelet vibrate slightly. Smiling softly at the message Naruto was trying to send her. Curiously she sent chakra into the bracelet and felt it vibrate again but only barely. Seeing Naruto turn to look at her and smile softly she smiled back down at him.
Hinata slowly gave a small smile before entering her gentle fist stance and activating her byakugan with a slight look of determination. Naruto smiled as well as he got into his stance.
"Hajime!" As soon as the word left her mouth Naruto instantly got behind Hinata and chopped the back of her neck knocking her unconscious. Caching her before she hit the ground he lifted her princess style and brought her to the medics who quickly took her.
Contestants booth
"Man he's totally kicking our ass. You should just give up Sakura." Said Kiba with an ice pack on his head, Shikamaru and Choji both nodding in agreement.
"No way. He's an idiot, he can't beat me or Sasuke-kun." She said confidently while Sasuke smirked arrogantly thinking he would easily beat Naruto.
"You do realize he just beat 5 people who beat you in the academy and that he beat Sasuke too?" Said shikamaru looking at her in a bored manner.
"So? He still won't beat Sasuke-kun." She said annoyed at being reminded that Naruto had done better then her and her Sasuke-kun.
Arena floor
Sakura walked to the center of the field and smirked at him arrogantly thinking he had no chance.
Naruto just leveled an emotionless and bored stare at her while she pumped up her ego inside her head. 'Maybe that's why her forehead's so big.' He thought absently not really paying attention to her.
"Hajime!"
Naruto immediately charged her and kicked her in the ribs with a spinning kick, throwing her to his left. She struggled to get up but he was already there doing hand seals 'Doton: Kengan no jutsu'. He said as rock started to form around his fist before raising it and getting in position to slam it down onto Sakura.
"Forfeit." He said coldly, staring at her with a cold glare.
"No. You should forfeit. You have no chance of beating Sa-" She was interrupted by Naruto swinging his fist down onto her, flattening her against the ground.
"You're an idiot. You should've never graduated, you can't fight for yourself. Every time you're in trouble you think 'Sasuke-kun' will save you. You're in trouble. Is Sasuke here to save you? No. He won't ever be, so grow up and either take being a kunoichi seriously or quit being a ninja, you're going to get somebody killed and it will most likely be Sasuke or Kakashi because I'm not going to save you if you stay as you are. If you're alone against an enemy ninja, you will die or worse." He said coldly and walked back to the center of the field to wait for his final opponent.
Sasuke walked down the steps with his usual arrogant smirk. Naruto just looked at him bored, knowing this wouldn't last long.
"You should give up dobe. You can't beat me." Said Sasuke arrogantly not yet in a taijutsu stance.
"Actually you've never beaten me in anything, just sayin'." Said Naruto with a smirk infuriating Sasuke who scowled as he got into his clan's stance.
"Hajime!" Sasuke ran at Naruto at a moderate pace but it still wasn't at all impressive. Naruto stood waiting for Sasuke, when he was within range he shot towards Sasuke with a shoulder bash knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the ground.
Walking to the downed Sasuke Naruto quickly went through a long string of hand seals 'Shōton: Kesshō Gokakurō!' He said as he placed his hand on Sasukes' back and he was instantly encased in a pale blue crystal, unmoving.
"I win." Said Naruto as he looked at Anko, then to the Hokage.
"Shōsha: Uzumaki Naruto!" Said Anko as she raised his arm.
Hokage booth
"He can use crystal release?!" Said the Hokage as well as many of the clan heads.
"He's only the second person I've ever heard of using crystal release! How can he do it?" Asked the Hokage not to anybody but thinking out loud.
"If it's a bloodline, then we need to have it!" Said Koharu, one of Sarutobi's old genin teammates and one of his current advisors.
"I will speak to him but he won't be forced to do anything." Said Sarutobi finally calming down.
"No! We must have him put into the CRA!" Said Homura, also his former teammate and current advisor.
"I said I will talk to him. You do not make decisions regarding my shinobi." Sarutobi said glaring at his former teammates who shrunk away slightly.
"I think he's fit to be a chuunin." Said Shikaku Nara surprising the people around them. He usually would have gone to sleep by now.
"I agree." Said Choza Akimichi while Inoichi Yamanaka nodded his head in agreement.
"He's strong for a pup, and he's an alpha for sure." Said Tsume Inuzuka further surprising a few people because they knew the significance of someone being an alpha.
"It seems logical to promote him, why? Because he thinks of a strategy beforehand, he can also make one up in the midst of battle and can give confidence to the people he is leading. I say he is fit for a promotion." Said the ever-stoic Shibi Aburame.
"I agree. He's plenty strong enough to be a chuunin, I don't think he was actually trying at all." Said Hiashi Hyuuga causing people to look at him in shock of him praising Naruto.
"Ok then we all agree he should be promoted, yes?" All shinobi council members nod. "Then He will be promoted. Thank you all for your input." He said with his usual grandfatherly smile back on.
Arena floor
After the medics came and attempted to get Sasuke out of the crystal prison, Naruto asked them to step back and formed the ram hand seal while pressing his other palm on the crystal itself before it crumbled away freeing Sasuke.
"What happened?" Asked Sasuke as he looked around seeing both Naruto and Anko just having small talk. He was roused from his thoughts when 2 medics came up to him and asked if he was okay while they began checking him for any injuries. They found that 3 of his ribs were cracked but nothing else.
"You lost. Gaki here is about to be promoted." Said Anko as she rested her elbow on Naruto's shoulder for support while she was leaning on him.
"What?! I'm fine, we can keep going!" Said Sasuke but when he tried to get up he quickly clutched at his ribs after a brief cry of pain.
"Clearly you're not, and if I was allowed you'd be dead." Said Naruto looking at Sasuke with a cold stare.
"Everyone, may I have your attention please?" Called the Hokage getting everyone to focus on him.
"After all of the matches I the Hokage, and all of the Shinobi council have come to a decision. The power and skills, as well as strategy and intellect shown by Uzumaki Naruto. We have all decided that he is worthy of the chuunin promotion. Congratulations Uzumaki Naruto, you are now a chuunin." He said with his grandfatherly smile directed at Naruto.
Naruto returned the smile before quickly bowing slightly.
"Thank you Hokage-sama and the Shinobi council. I am grateful that you have deemed me ready to take on this responsibility." He said still bowing before straightening up and grinning at them.
"Come to my office later and I'll have your flak jacket." Said Sarutobi returning Naruto's grin.
"Thank you Hokage-sama." Said Naruto with a nod of acknoladgement.
*~Timeskip~*
Walking out of the arena he sees Tenten standing with her team and her sensei. He smiles softly and channels chakra into her bracelet making her look around until she spots him. She squeals quietly and runs over to him, hugging him around his neck while he wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her tightly.
"Good to see you Ten-chan." He said with a small chuckle at how excited she was. When she pulled back to speak he quickly inched forward capturing her lips again. This time he immediately stuck his tongue into her open mouth capturing hers, he began to massage her younger slowly and passionately with his own earning him soft moans from his adorable girlfriend. Was she his girlfriend? If she wasn't then she needed to be.
Pulling away slowly he bit her bottom lip sucking on it slightly before letting go of it fully separating.
"Congratulations Naruto-kun. Now maybe you can come on my team missions with me." She said giggling slightly with a heave blush on her face still looking somewhat dazed.
"I hope so. That way I can actually protect you." He said with a small smile which she returned before pecking him on the lips again.
"I can take care of myself you know. I'm a real kunoichi who does ninja stuff ok?" She said playfully while giving him a cheesy grin.
"I know you can, but I want to take care of you. How else am I supposed to stop worrying?" He said with a mock pout which she found incredibly cute because of his whisker marks.
"I don't know but I'll let you take care of me if I can take care of you." She said with a small smile and a blush because of what he said.
"Ok, deal. Thank you Ten-chan." He said before giving her another peck which slowly became multiple slow and sensual pecks before he pulled away making her pout. He chuckled slightly at how cute she was before gesturing towards her team who were watching all of that happen.
Tenten blushing heavily slowly let go of Naruto before standing next to him where he quickly grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. Both of them walking towards Tenten's team they saw that both Gai and his mini-me had small blushes while Neji was scowling at the blond.
"Nice to finally meet you Gai-sensei. I'm Naruto." He said with a small smile towards the eccentric Jonin.
"Yosh! Nice to meet you Naruto-kun! It seems you are the reason Tenten's flames of youth have been shining more brightly recently!" Gai said with a grin and a thumbs up before his grin seemed to sparkle.
"Nope. It's the opposite, I've never been as happy as I am with Ten-chan." He said with a soft smile directed at Tenten who blushed and looked away slightly because of the heartfelt statement.
"Yosh! You're flames of youth shine brightly young Naruto-kun! But now we must go and have team training! Come Lee, Tenten, Neji!" Said Gai as he and the now named Lee took off in the direction of the training fields.
"Well I'll see you later Ten-chan." He said before wrapping his arms around her waist again and hugging her gently. Inching forward again he restarted their passionate liplock from earlier. This time he was exploring her entire mouth with his tongue before she suddenly captured his tongue with her teeth and lips and begun sucking on it gently as well as massaging it with her tongue causing his chest to reverberate as he growled slightly from the sensation and the insinuation. Pulling back ever so slowly Tenten continued to suck on his tongue the entire time before letting him go.
Opening her eyes dazedly from the intense and sensual liplock she was surprised to see his green eyes had slit pupils in place of the normal circle and he was looking at her with a look she didn't recognize but she could tell that she loved it. It made her giddy but also made her melt inside.
"You're gonna get left behind Ten-chan." He said with a teasing grin before pulling away. She didn't move, still somewhat in a daze. He chuckled and tickled her lower back snapping her out of the daze.
"S-Sorry Naruto-kun. I'll see you later." She said with a small blush before running off towards the training fields with a small wave over her shoulder.
*~Timeskip~*
"Hey Jiji, I'm here for my flak jacket but I have a question. Can I customize it?" Asked Naruto curious about whether or not there were rules against that but also thinking of what he'd do to it.
"Yes you can, what are you gonna do to it?" Asked Sarutobi interested in what he'd do to it after seeing his gauntlets.
"I don't know yet. I was just thinking of adding another layer of armor but made of my crystals." He said earning a nod from Sarutobi seeing the merit behind doing that.
"Ok well congratulations Naruto-kun. But I have to talk to you about your crystal jutsu. How can you do it? Are you mixing chakra types or is it natural?" Asked the old Hokage wondering if they had a potential new bloodline or if he was just supremely talented.
"No I'm pretty sure it's a bloodline. I've never really practiced anything other than earth so I don't have the necessary chakra to combine it manually." Said Naruto explaining his thoughts on his crystals.
"Ok then please sometime soon go to the hospital and see if you do indeed have a bloodline." Said the old Hokage hoping it was indeed a new bloodline.
"Ok Jiji I will when I have time. By the way how bad are Sasuke and Sakura's injuries?"
"They'll be ok soon enough. Sasuke has some cracked ribs and Sakura has a concussion but that's about it."
"Oh I was curious about this earlier but am I still on their team now that I'm a chuunin?"
"Not if you don't want to be, but you can choose to stay if you'd like."
"Hell no! Get me off of that team." Said Naruto incredulously like his Jiji just went insane. There's no way he's staying on that team if he's not forced to.
"Alright then you're now on your own though you will still be sent with other genin teams that may need backup or just need the extra man. You'll also be put with other chuunin if needed." Said the old Hokage recieving a nod of understanding.
"Ok thanks Jiji. I'll see you later." Called Naruto over his shoulder as he walked out of the office new flak jacket in hand.
*~Timeskip~*
The next day
Naruto was walking back towards the Hokage tower as he had been summoned for a mission by his Jiji. He was hoping it was better then a D-rank for once.
On his way there he spotted both teams 9, and 10 who both seemed to be heading the same direction as him. It looked like Ino was upset while her teammates and Jonin-sensei were just ignoring her. Smart move. She was known by all of his class as the biggest gossiper in the village and a member of the Sasuke fan club.
"Hey guys. Are you going to get a mission as well?" Asked Naruto as he made his presence known. He really wasn't all that interested in team 10's answer but was curious if Tenten would be getting a mission.
"Yup. We're going to get another C-rank. This will be our 15th. It'll be fun." Said Tenten with an excited smile as she walked over and hugged Naruto.
"Are you guys together or something?" Asked Ino with a small smirk and a raised eyebrow, completely forgetting her earlier annoyance.
"Yeah. We went on our first date 2 days ago.
"Surprisingly, Naruto-kun makes the best food I've ever had." Said Tenten as she snuggled his arm to her chest while leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Really? You cook?" Asked Ino surprised to find that out about the usually distant boy.
"Yes, I like to cook. It's relaxing and everybody likes good food so I taught myself to be better." He said smiling slightly while resting his head on top of Tentens.
"Wow. I thought you'd be more into wood carving or something." Said Ino while in her head her opinion slightly changing about Naruto to find out he had a softer side.
"He's really good at it too. If he had a restaurant, he'd be a billionaire." Said Tenten smiling happily at the contact and remembering the food Naruto made her.
"I'd rather be a ninja but thank you anyway." He said chuckling slightly, also earning a couple chuckles from the rest of the group.
They continued making small talk for nearly 10 minutes when an Anbu appeared via shunshin.
"Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama would like to see you in his office." He said as Naruto gave him a nod of understanding before he disappeared to continue his duties.
"Well, I got to go. Wonder what Jiji wants now?" Said Naruto absentmindedly speaking his thoughts before looking over to Tenten.
"Sorry Ten-chan I got to go see Jiji. I'll see you later but if I don't, good luck on your mission. Please be careful." He said with his hands holding both of hers squeezing them gently.
"I will Naruto-kun. I'll be back soon enough. Don't worry too much ok? I know you'll drive yourself crazy worrying about me while you need to be focusing on something else. What happens if you're distracted while on a mission and you get attacked? I'll be fine Naruto-kun, but you have to be safe too." She said leaning forward kissing him slowly and sensually before slowly breaking apart.
"Ok. I'll be careful too but I'm still gonna worry." He said earning a giggle from her. Hugging her to him, arching her back and pressing her chest against his before leaning down and placing a few soft and slow pecks on her lips before backing away and smiling.
"I better go before Jiji gets too angry at me. Be careful Ten-chan." He said smiling sadly at her. He really wanted to spend some more alone time with her again after their date.
"Ok. You be careful too Naruto-kun." She said smiling back at him but it was noticeably smaller then before.
*~Timeskip~*
Walking into the Hokages office Naruto immediately noticed that the Hokage was upset. Something was off but he didn't know what yet.
"What's wrong Jiji?" He asked somewhat quietly.
"I have a mission for you Naruto-kun. I need you to regroup with a team already on a mission to Wave country. You will meet up with them, learn of the current situation, and provide backup for them." He said seriously, making Naruto think something bad had happened.
"Ok, when can I leave?" Asked Naruto, despite the seemingly bad situation he was still excited to do his first mission outside the village.
"Now."