Kakashi was secretly surprised to see his entire team standing among the ten victors of the preliminaries, he was proud though. He also saw Naruto starting to look lethargic, likely coming down from his combat drugs.
"To those of you who won your bouts and have qualified for the third phase of the chunin exams, I congratulate you." Hayate said formally, as Hiruzen considered the victors. Six from Konohagakure, three of whom were part of the same cell, three from Sunagakure who were all in the same cell, and one kunoichi from Kusagakure who had lost her teammate to Naruto. The only fatality of the preliminaries.
Hiruzen found the presence of another Uzumaki concerning, and considering her skills he wondered why Kusa had sent her. He worried that this was some ploy from Kusagakure, but if so he couldn't figure out the angle. It seemed whatever her purpose, if the red haired girl was meant to manipulate Naruto she wasn't aware of it, the way she kept glancing nervously with curious eyes at the horned blonde was evidence of that.
"So, uh, they're all yours Hokage-sama." Hayate said, stepping aside as his words broke the wizened Sarutobi from his musings.
"Yes," Hiruzen acknowledged as he stepped forward, "well then, starting now I shall explain the finals." he began as he adjusted his hat, "As I mentioned earlier your final battles will be conducted in front of everyone. Each of you represents the respective battle strengths of your lands," he said and a few of the genin glanced nervously at Gaara or one of the genin of team seven, "so we want you to exhibit and fully showcase your talents. Thus the finals will commence one month from now." he explained.
Naruto pouted but didn't complain, he could feel his combat drugs wearing off and the crash already felt much harsher than he was used to, "Why wait?" Sasuke asked, annoyed that he hadn't actually gotten to fight yet.
"We call this the requisite preparation period." Hiruzen responded to the young Uchiha, "It's a period of time that allows us to relay who is competing in the final phase to the various Daimyo and other nobles or dignitaries who wish to witness it, including leaders of other hidden villages, and it also serves as a period for you applicants to prepare after the preliminaries today." he explained.
Kankuro was growing annoyed with the old man constantly beating around the bush, "I still don't get it, what do you mean?" he asked with an aggravated expression.
"You must prepare to understand the enemy and yourself." Hiruzen answered calmly, "During this period you can analyze the intelligence you have gathered on your opponents during these preliminaries, and use it to increase your chances of victory. Normally the tournament phase of the Chunin Selection Examinations is conducted as fights against a potentially unknown opponent, but during these preliminaries some of you may have revealed all your cards against your rivals. Some of you may have even been injured against comparatively strong opponents," he continued with a look to Kiba, who was holding Akamaru, the ninken of the Inuzuka was alive but still seemed exhausted, "while others may have pushed themselves too hard." he added with a meaningful glance at Naruto, seeing the bags forming under the eyes of the usually hyperactive blonde, "In order to make the finals fair, we give you this month to rest and prepare, but also to take time to practice and perhaps even develop some new tricks." he explained, "So with that covered I'd like to let you all go, but we have one last thing to do before the finals. There are slips of paper in the box Anko-san is holding, each of you take one."
Anko stepped up to the genin with a box, "Line up kids, one per person." she said, and soon each of the ten genin had a slip of paper with a number on it.
"Now that everybody has one, please read out the numbers you have one at a time, starting from the left." Hiruzen instructed, curious as to how this would play out.
Karin frowned, "I got ten." she spoke up.
"I got eight." Sakura spoke next.
"I'm number one," Naruto said, "also my paper has a one on it." he added with a smirk.
"Four for me." Sasuke said, wondering why Aoki was grumbling about numerology of all things.
"Seven." Temari spoke curtly.
"Five." Kankuro added, wondering what the purpose of what they were doing was.
"Three." Gaara spoke next, growing impatient.
"Nine." Kiba announced, still holding Akamaru gingerly.
"Six." Shino said simply.
"Two." Neji spoke last, starting to guess what the purpose was.
Hiruzen nodded, "Then we shall tell you the brackets for the final tournament now," he announced, confirming Neji's theory, "Ibiki-san, if you would?" he requested and the man turned around his clipboard.
The first match would be Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuga, the blonde grinning madly, too pleased with the outcome to be annoyed by his full name being listed. The second would be Gaara versus Sasuke Uchiha, the two glanced at each other. Following that would be Kankuro versus Shino Aburame, then Temari versus Sakura Haruno, and finally Kiba Inuzuka versus Karin Uzumaki.
"With this, you all free to rest up and prepare for your matches." Hiruzen announced, "We're all done unless anyone has any questions." he said.
"I have one." Sakura spoke up, "If this is a tournament, does that mean only one person becomes chunin?" she asked curiously.
Hiruzen chuckled, "No, there will be many judges. Not just myself, but the Kazekage, the head of Kusagakure, as well as advisors and other village heads." he explained, "During this tournament we will be determining who has displayed that they deserve to be considered chunin depending on how these matches go. Even those who lose in the first round could become chunin."
"So, all ten of us could become chunin?" Temari asked curiously.
"Yes." Hiruzen answered simply, "However, it is also possible that none of you become chunin!" he added sternly, "The advantage of winning each bout is more chances to show what you're made of against a variety of enemies." he explained.
Naruto grinned, "Promotion or not, I'm going to win the whole damn thing." he said smugly.
"Not if I beat you in the second round." Sasuke retorted, feeling competitive himself. Gaara narrowed his eyes at the implication that the young Uchiha was certain of victory against him.
The other genin were simply glad they weren't up against any of the four in the first two matches, Karin glanced nervously at Kiba and Temari gave Sakura a condescending smirk that made the blood of the pink haired girl boil.
"Well then, you're all dismissed!" Hiruzen declared, letting the jonin take their genin and clear out of the tower in the middle of the forest of death.
Despite being dismissed, the genin of team seven soon found themselves in the Hokage's office that same day. Kakashi had declined to answer why they needed to meet with the Sandaime Hokage privately, dodging the questions as he lead them in.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he looked over the three, Naruto especially looked like he was done. The blonde was perspiring and respiring harder than normal for the amount of effort he expended, likely from the drugs in his system wearing off. Sasuke looked impatient, while Sakura seemed nervous as if she was worried she'd been caught doing something wrong.
"Do you all know why I wished to speak with your team privately?" Hiruzen began with a question, wondering how to go about this.
"It was Naruto's idea!" Sakura snapped with a guilty conscious, startling the two adults in the room.
"It was Naruto-kun who thought to use a Daemon to subvert the Juinjutsu on Sasuke-kun's neck?" Hiruzen asked, raising an eyebrow as he hadn't been expecting that.
Sakura blushed in embarrassment, "Oh, no, uh, never mind what I said." she said hastily. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, wondering what had the girl so tilted she let slip information by accident like that.
"Young lady you have piqued my curiosity," Hiruzen began with a raised eyebrow of his own, "what was Naruto-kun's idea? Why did you think we were here?" he asked sternly, from her attitude he was worried the team had done something particularly bad.
Maemi frowned, she knew what had the young kunoichi on edge. The Muse knew that most humans had a taboo against cannibalism and this land was no different, she just hoped they weren't in too much trouble.
Naruto just looked confused, "Yeah, what was my idea?" he asked, not putting the clues together.
Sasuke sighed, guessing what had Sakura so flustered, "I'm pretty sure she's still freaking out that we ate Zaku Abumi in the forest." he pointed out.
"You what!?" Hiruzen snapped with a shocked expression, wondering why something like that would have been Naruto's idea.
Naruto just frowned, "What? But it was a no-holds barred survival test, he was dead and the animals would have eaten him anyway, and we were all way too tired to hunt any of the animals in the forest." he reasoned, "Besides, we didn't eat anything dangerous like the brain or organs." he pointed out.
Kakashi stared at his students in horror, wondering if the taboo of cannibalism had never been explained in depth to the blonde, "How did you know not to eat those?" he wondered with alarm.
Sasuke shrugged, "Aoki pointed it out, Sakura confirmed it." he explained and the girl looked contrite.
Hiruzen did his best to compose himself, "Aoki? This new Daemon living within your Juin?" he asked, growing more suspicious of these Daemons, "Iruka-san told me about them, I would speak with this Aoki." he demanded.
Sasuke shrugged and tilted his head to the left to allow the flesh of his neck to bulge up as it flushed bright pink, the skin twisting into inhuman features with a single golden eye that had what seemed to be the pupil of an octopus, "An honor to meet your acquaintance, Hokage-chama!" the pink growth said politely in it's high pitched tone, "Apologies, as it was in fact my own idea, but as a Chishiki no Imp I am aware only of the risks involved and know little of the customs of your land." he explained, his words not matching his childish choice of honorifics, "As blondie-chan stated though, these three were far too exhausted after killing their opponent and driving off his team to manage something like hunting so I suggested the safest alternative due to the threats I sensed from the local wildlife."
Hiruzen frowned, grateful that Naruto at least hadn't actually been the one to suggest it, "I see, what exactly are you? You call yourself an Imp? We know little of your kind, none of our intelligence, history, or mythology speaks of creatures such as you Daemons." he questioned, deciding to move to the true purpose of this meeting.
Aoki grinned, "That is understandable, Hokage-chama, we Daemons are a secretive lot. Normally we lack physical forms and none of our 'clans' have ever made a contract like the one blondie-chan made with the Kajo no Kami." he explained, "There are four main clans, with some lesser powers among us as well, the Muse there and I are from two such main clans." he informed.
"So the Daemons are not one clan, but a species separated into clans?" Hiruzen asked for clarification.
"In simplified terms yes, the gods of each of the clans are collectively called the Konton no Kami." Aoki answered smoothly, Maemi frowned at how much the Fearling was willing to say as the two older shinobi frowned at the implication behind that title, "As of now this room contains champions of three out of the four major players in the grand game." he explained.
"Grand game?" Hiruzen asked with a raised eyebrow, "Three champions?" he added, frowning at that.
"The Konton no Kami are not a unified pantheon." Aoki responded, "I myself am a Henka no Daemon, bound to serve the will of the Hoho no Chenja, Henka no Kami, Maho no Kami, Nozomu no Kami, Unmei-sama, Tzeentch-sama!" he explained and the wizened Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at the fact the Daemon could use the correct honorifics but made the choice to use the childish versions, "The grey tart next to blondie-chan meanwhile serves the youngest of the sibling gods." he added dismissively, both Naruto and the Muse glared at the pink growth for that, "The final genin of this team lacks a Familiar that her teammates had," he continued and the two elder shinobi's eyes widened, "but she has been marked with the favor of the Ryuketsu no Kami. You may have noticed the design of the scar on her forehead is quite strange." the Imp within Sasuke's Juin finished.
Sakura turned pale at that, as this was the first she heard she was chosen or marked. The title of the Konton no Kami who favored her was also cause for concern.
Hiruzen frowned, "That is a far less flattering title than those I have heard for the other two so far." he pointed out, "Are you letting the rivalry you mentioned color your choice of words?" he asked.
Aoki chuckled, "Perhaps a little, but I speak his title truthfully. I suppose in a more flattering sense the Ryuketsu no Kami can also be said to hold domain over Chikara, Meiyo, and Budo, but he is the angriest of the four, the Ikari no Kami." he explained and they all remembered how Sakura had flown off the handle, "He relishes his champions taking the skulls of their worthy enemies, and while he cares not from whence the blood flows he looks down upon slaughtering the weak. The politics among the Daemon clans is a complex matter, but to simplify things the Ryuketsu no Kami hates his sibling gods, with a particular dislike for the Kajo no Kami."
"Naruto is really aggravating." Sakura agreed bluntly, although she still wasn't sure how to feel about the situation.
"Conversely, the Kajo no Kami can't be said to truly hate his older siblings." Aoki continued, his choice of pronoun for the god reminding Hiruzen of when Naruto first told him of the deity he'd contracted with, "But the rivalry with the Ryuketsu no Kami is paramount, although there is some disgust towards the fourth I have yet to mention, my own master is at odds with that one." he continued with a sneer, "With that in mind there is also rivalry between the Maho no Kami and the Chikara no Kami, as the Meiyo no Kami despises trickery and magic above all else." he explained.
"So, the Maho no Kami and Kajo no Kami are in alliance against the other two?" Kakashi asked, worried about the dynamics of his team now.
Aoki considered the question for a moment, "In a manner of speaking, they could be said to be allies, but truthfully they just hate each other the least and more often work together against the other two, and the same can be said in reverse." he answered carefully, "As I said, the game is a complicated one, and champions are expected to carry out this game as they see fit. Sometimes all four of the major powers work together for a common goal, although such undivided unification is rare among the Daemons." he explained.
"I could never hate Sasuke-kun!" Sakura insisted hotly, offended at the very idea of such a thing happening. Hiruzen and Kakashi noticed she said nothing regarding Naruto, who seemed thoughtful.
"What is this game you speak of?" Hiruzen questioned next, glad to finally be getting some insight into the Daemons who were now technically a part of his villages military might.
"Exactly what it sounds like, a rivalry between sibling gods." Aoki answered with a grin, "Vying for power much as your hidden villages once did, although not nearly as openly in this world as in our own." he clarified vaguely, "You could consider the choosing of mortal champions to be similar to the Chunin Exams you explained earlier today, a proxy war. Although with three champions in one team, the balance of power shifts heavily against the fourth, and the Kajo no Kami certainly has a head start despite being the youngest as the first to establish a foothold in your world." the Imp explained at length.
"I see..." Hiruzen said, finding the entire explanation rather concerning, "I have heard that Maemi is considered the least of her kind, is the same true for you then?" he questioned, curious and worried that something considered weak could subvert the Juinjutsu of someone like Orochimaru, an S class shinobi.
Aoki scoffed, "Unfortunately, we are the same class of Daemon, even mindless Furies are more physically threatening than us Imps, but combat is not traditionally our purpose. Only the Ryuketsu no Imps can be said to have an aptitude for violence. We Imps form bonds with ningen or deal in espionage, depending on our specialties, truthfully more than one Imp was drawn to this Juin, I was just fastest at making my offer to Sasuke-chama." he explained in answer.
Hiruzen continued to frown, "Drawn to the Juin?" he questioned.
"It's designed to pull in natural energies, those of us who had yet to be capable of making it into your world were thus able to hijack said energies." Aoki answered, "It likely wouldn't have happened if we hadn't noticed your world from the attention the Kajo no Kami started paying it recently." he added and the Hokage glanced at Naruto in understanding.
"I see, and what are your goals?" Hiruzen asked dangerously, giving the growth on Sasuke's neck a stern look.
"Simply to help Sasuke-chama become a champion worthy of the mark my lord has placed upon him when I altered the Juin." Aoki answered with a grin, "Although converting more mortals to worshiping the Hoho no Chenja would be nice as well, mortal worship can be considered fuel for the Konton no Kami, much like food is to you ningen." he added.
Kakashi narrowed his visible eye, "Could you expand on the purpose of forming bonds with us ningen then?" he asked, concerned about his genin even if they had made it to the final phase of the Chunin Exams.
Aoki frowned, "There are many purposes," he began vaguely, "in our tongue those least Daemons bonded to a ningen are referred to as the Familiar of their bonded ningen," he explained, "our purpose is to teach them, guide them, and assist them. Ryuketsu no Imps serve as something of an ally in combat, while those such as the Muse could be called a Jumon Familiar." he continued, "Jumon Familiar teach hijutsu usually unique to us Daemons in exchange for a much less temporary form. My own bond is a little different, due to the Juin I am confined to Sasuke-chama's own flesh, but I cannot unduly influence his body as some more powerful Daemons could were they to possess a ningen." he explained.
Hiruzen frowned, the talk of possession was concerning, "But you are similar in that you serve as a Jumon form of this bond rather than a combatant?" he queried.
"Correct, even were I to be granted my own temporary form it wouldn't be very physically imposing." Aoki confirmed, "Although it would be dangerous for me to leave, without my influence keeping it in check this Juin would run rampant and likely drain Sasuke-chama completely of his chakra just to grant him a minor power boost. It was quite the inefficient design." he explained, apparently finding the handiwork of an S class shinobi to be subpar.
Kakashi and Hiruzen exchanged a glance, concerned for the same reasons. If even the weakest among these Daemons regarded the work of S class shinobi as mere child's play, then how powerful were those these beings referred to as Kami? The Hokage was starting to lose doubts as to the claims of divinity regarding the entity Naruto lovingly referred to as a mother.
"Very well," Hiruzen decided, "I ask only that the rivalry of your Konton no Kami not interfere with the duties of my shinobi. Although I would like to have an expert of Fuinjutsu take a look at the Juin you have altered." he said firmly, "With that out of the way, Naruto-kun?" he said and the dazed boy jolted in surprise, "I understand you were quite concerned by what your opponent said in the preliminaries, and while I regret holding my tongue I must make sure you understand the name Uzumaki was not given to you on a whim, it is a name you hold genuine claim to." he said carefully.
Naruto's tired eyes widened and his pupils dilated before he narrowed his eyes as the pupils contracted back to slits, "You know..." he accused, "No, you knew my parents!" he accused, temper flaring. Aoki sensed his part in the discussion was over and retreated back into the Juin, Sasuke cracked his neck from the stiffness caused by the Imp manifesting for such an extended period.
Hiruzen nodded sadly, "It was decided to keep your parentage secret for your own safety, but I can assure you that your mother was indeed a descendant of the Uzumaki clan." he said with sorrow. Sasuke and Sakura both frowned, wondering what kind of parentage warranted such caution.
Naruto shivered with repressed anger before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "Set aside my wrath..." he reminded himself quietly before his eyes snapped open to fix the Hokage with a stare, "Slaanesh-kaasama is both Otousama and Okaasama to me now, but I would hear of the ones who birthed me." he insisted.
Hiruzen frowned in concern, "I am sorry, but I do not wish to burden you with such knowledge, Kakashi-san and I shall explain further after the exams are done with. You should take time to rest and train for now." he said with genuine regret, Maemi mentally informed her blonde master that he was telling the truth.
Naruto frowned but nodded, "Fine." he agreed, he did want to hurry up and start training for his fight with Neji.
Kakashi was surprised that only Sakura asked him for help training once they all left the Hokage's office, "Ah, sorry, Sakura-chan, I'll actually be a bit preoccupied. I'll call in a favor from someone with far more aptitude for teaching than myself." he excused, feeling guilty about palming the girl off.
Naruto didn't even ask, the blonde trudging home with tired eyes. Maemi followed close behind the horned blonde, Kakashi was worried about the boy. Sasuke too began to return home, already going through training plans for how to prepare against Gaara with Aoki in his mind.
Sakura frowned, "What? But Kakashi-sensei I need real help, I don't have some Imp teaching me Daemon Hijutsu like the other two, and my opponent wiped the floor with Tenten-san." she said, her tone sad but the jonin detected an undercurrent of anger.
Kakashi decided to come clean, "You saw what Gaara is capable of." he reminded her, "Sasuke-kun will need all the help he can get just to survive," he pointed out, confirming who he intended on teaching, "and the tutor I have in mind is an expert. He even trains Anbu operatives." he assured the pink haired kunoichi.
Sakura frowned, "So Sasuke-kun gets two tutors, I get passed along, and Naruto is left with his Daemon?" she asked hotly, her temper starting to flare again.
"Sakura-chan." Kakashi said sternly, "I am confident that with some help you have the strength to beat Temari." he assured her, surprising the girl out of her growing rage, "Even if Sasuke-kun wins, he and Naruto-kun are likely to be exhausted by the time they have to fight you, from what we saw in the preliminaries you'll likely have to fight Kiba Inuzuka in the second round, then you'll have time to rest as whoever wins in the first bracket of the second round is up against either Shino Aburame or that Kankuro boy. Your understandings of the fundamentals are superb, and your chakra control is the best among all the genin who made it to the final round." he praised and the kunoichi blushed as she hadn't expected such glowing words, "I promise, I got you the best tutor in Konohagakure no Sato, he'll help you work on your physical training." he assured once more.
Sakura pouted anyway, "Is physical strength going to be enough against that fan?" she wondered.
Kakashi shrugged, "If you can withstand her winds and get close enough, probably. Temari seemed like a zoning type of fighter, Tenten had a bad match up against her with her reliance on throwing weapons." he pointed out. Sakura considered that, wondering if some kind of heavier weapon would be useful.
The pink haired kunoichi decided she'd take the money she saved up and do some shopping, and not the kind she usually did. Sakura figured that if throwing weapons wouldn't cut it, then maybe something heavier would.
The next day Naruto woke up late, still feeling groggy and out of it from the massive dosage of combat drugs in his system. Maemi had told him he was lucky there hadn't been many left in the container, but was apparently working on a fresh batch. She also insisted that he should eat something more substantial than cup ramen to assist in his recovery and save training until the next day, he didn't like it but his body felt like his bones were filled with lead so he didn't argue.
Unsure of what else to eat the boy had gone to Ichiraku Ramen for a late breakfast dressed in his orange pants and a black shirt, forgoing his usual orange jacket for the haori with the kanji for Kajo on it, roughly around the time most people were having lunch, and ordered some tonkatsu ramen. The pork meat was filling and the noodles were delicious, Maemi didn't object since she knew freshly made ramen with bone broth from the stall was at least better than the dried noodles waiting for boiling water in a foam cup at least.
By his sixth bowl Naruto felt much better, having gotten some variety with a bowl of miso and four bowls of ninja udon at Maemi's insistence that he not fill up completely on pork. The blonde didn't argue, although he wondered why pork seemed a bit more bland lately. The ramen was still good, the pork was filling, but he wondered if it was one of the herbs Sakura had gathered in the forest that added extra flavor.
Satisfied with his meal, Naruto thanked Teuchi and Ayame, complimenting their cooking before he left towards the hospital. He may have agreed not to train just yet but he had some ideas, and he knew just who to ask.
"Hey, what room is Hinata-chan in?" Naruto asked the front desk, "Hinata Hyuga." he clarified in case there was more than one Hinata hospitalized. The boy was unconcerned by the looks he received for his new horns, after showering and checking himself out in the mirror he decided they looked awesome. The fact they were a blessing from Slaanesh only slightly coloring his opinion of them. He also noticed his pectoral muscles were growing, he was pretty sure that was probably a good thing and likely caused from swinging his sword around, as that required shoulder and chest muscles more than anything.
The hospital staff were suspicious of the purple eyed genin and the Muse following him, but directed him to the room since it was technically visiting hours. Well fed and rested, Naruto felt much better already. He was still tired but he walked with a spring in his step as he approached the room he'd been directed to and opened it without knocking.
"Hey! Hinata-chan! I came to visit you!" Naruto announced loudly with a grin, his smile drooping a little at the sight of Shino and Kiba, "Oh, you two are here." he said with far less enthusiasm, remembering they were potential opponents for the finals.
Kiba's eye twitched, "Of course we're here! Hinata-chan is our teammate, moron." he pointed out, wondering why Naruto was visiting Hinata. The Hyuga girl seemed surprised but happy that the boy was here so he decided not to chase the blonde off just yet.
Naruto frowned, "Oh right..." he muttered, wondering how he should go about this. It wouldn't do for potential opponents to learn what he was planning, "I don't suppose you two are planning on clearing out soon? I wanted to talk to Hinata-chan privately." he said and the Hyuga girl blushed bright red as Kiba glared.
"We just got here," Shino spoke up, "why do you wish to speak with our teammate privately? Are you hoping to needle her for information on us?" he questioned, suspicious of the motives of the horned genin.
Naruto scoffed, "As if, I don't need help dealing with you two." he said arrogantly and Kiba's glare intensified as the Inuzuka grit his teeth, "I guess it doesn't matter if you two are here though, I came to ask about that jerk Neji." he explained with a shrug.
Kiba and Hinata were both visibly surprised by that, and Maemi noticed with some amusement that the girl deflated, Shino simply nodded, "I see, an understandable ploy, your opponent in the first round is quite formidable." he agreed, "I do not envy you." he added, "Kiba-san seems to have gotten the most lucky with his first opponent." he finished.
Kiba sighed, "Don't remind me, I'm gonna feel like such a bully for winning my first match." he complained, already feeling bad for his opponent, "Akamaru will definitely be back in fighting shape by then, but I think I'll have him sit that round out." he pondered.
Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes widened, "Ah! That Uzumaki girl!" he remembered, "Yeah you're gonna look like a jerk no matter how you win." he laughed at the mix of fortune and misfortune, "I don't envy Kiba if anyone, I'm happy with my first opponent." he said with a grin.
Hinata was visibly surprised, "You're happy?" she asked, wondering why anyone would willingly want to fight Neji.
"Oh yeah, you weren't there for it." Kiba spoke up again, "Naruto lost it at Neji after you fell unconscious, pretty much threatened to stab him in the chest and expressed a desire to turn him into ramen, that was pretty messed up actually." he explained.
"I had some tonkatsu earlier!" Naruto cheerfully declared, remembering the threat and his meal with a fond smile.
Hinata frowned, "Um, Naruto-kun, please," she began, "don't hate Neji-niisan too badly. He's suffered a lot under the thumb of the main house, all of the Hyuga in the branch house did, but he especially-" she began to excuse.
"Too late!" Naruto interrupted with a grin, "If that guy didn't want to be hated he should have kept his worthless opinions to himself and not hurt you so badly." he said firmly and Hinata blushed that the blonde was upset with Neji on her behalf, "If you insist though, I guess I won't carve him up into bloody chunks." he added with a sigh, clearly not wanting to actually agree with that. Kiba and Shino exchanged a worried glance at how bloodthirsty the young blonde seemed.
Hinata sighed with relief, "Thank you, Naruto-kun." she said gratefully.
"I am still going to completely crush his beliefs, pride, and dignity y'know." Naruto decided with a firm nod, "Oh yeah, speaking of," he continued before putting his hands together in a pleading gesture, "uh, sorry to ask this while you're on the mend, but can you draw me up a map of his keirakukei?" he asked, surprising all three genin of team eight.
Hinata frowned in confusion, "I suppose I can try." she agreed hesitantly, wondering what the horned boy had planned, "I'll ask Kurenai-sensei to bring me a paper and some pencils." she decided.
"I'll bring them around tomorrow morning." Kiba spoke up again, "I don't know what Naruto has planned, but if it means taking Neji down a peg I'm all for it." he said resolutely.
Naruto grinned, "Awesome! Thanks Hinata-chan!" he said gratefully, "I've got some supplies I'll need for my training but I'll come visit before I start training tomorrow!" he promised with a wave as he turned to leave.
Hinata frowned, "I doubt I'll be done so soon." she said apologetically.
"That's fine! I'll visit anyway, seeing you recovering cheers me up a lot y'know!" Naruto said with a laugh as he left, not seeing the way Hinata blushed bright red at his words.
Maemi smirked and decided to start helping break the girl out of her shell, "You know, Naruto-sama only likes things he finds beautiful." she said slyly, keeping her voice quiet so only the three genin in the room would hear, "He also seems to like strong people, with how he acts towards you he must consider you to be both." she finished with a teasing grin, enjoying how flustered the shy Hyuga girl became before chuckling when the girl fainted.
The Muse hurried after Naruto, she hadn't expected the girl to faint. She supposed it would take more than some teasing to get the girl out of her shell, considering Naruto was a champion of Slaanesh though she hoped the shy Hyuga didn't mind sharing. Those marked by Slaanesh tended to develop rather extreme appetites.
With the hospital visit done Naruto went to do some shopping, but was surprised to find Sakura at a shinobi supply shop with Tenten. The older kunoichi was still bandaged, but seemed to have mostly recovered from her fight with Temari.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted with a cheerful grin and a wave, ever the ball of sunshine, "You buying stuff for training too?" he asked curiously.
"Mind your business!" Sakura snapped on reflex before flinching and clutching her head, realizing the mark on her head really was messing with her temper, "If you must know, I was discussing my opponent with Tenten-san." she decided to explain.
Tenten was surprised by the odd dynamic of the two teammates, "I usually work here part time in between missions to help afford extra weapons and supplies." she explained her own presence, "I'm helping Sakura-chan pick out a weapon that might help against Temari." she added, "If you wait a moment I'm sure I can help you find what you need." she finished in her best customer service voice.
Naruto blinked owlishly at Tenten, "You'd help me get what I need to train for my fight against Neji? Isn't he your teammate?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes, suspicious of her intentions.
Tenten shrugged, "Yeah, but I heard what happened. I didn't think he'd go so far. He's usually so professional, but he's not very nice to Lee-san either." she explained sadly, "I don't want him to die, but I'm not going to try sabotaging your choice of equipment if that's what you're worried about, I'm a true professional." she insisted.
Maemi nodded, "She's telling the truth." the Muse confirmed, surprising the bun haired girl, "Oh, you should get an axe." she added to Sakura.
"An ono? Why?" Sakura asked suspiciously, not trusting the Imp.
Maemi sensed the lack of trust but couldn't blame her, "Your new patron, his favored weapon is the axe just as Slaanesh-sama favors swords." she explained truthfully, startling the girl, "I understand your lack of trust considering what you heard last night, but you're Naruto-sama's teammate regardless of your opposing patrons, I'm not going to start helping you much but you can consider that information a freebie." she added, crossing her arms.
Tenten frowned, confused by the discussion and pretty sure she was missing some context, "Hm, we don't have much in the way of wono designed for combat, we have some smaller ones designed more as tools that might work. There is one masakari designed for real combat but the haft is six feet long, it's meant for an adult soldier." she explained, checking over the axes they had in stock, "Oh! Here we go, this one is a bit more decorated than a traditional ono," she continued as she lifted an axe with a haft that was roughly the length of a ninjato with a large convex blade and a peen shaped like fire acting as a counterbalance for the axe head on one end, "It's one of the leftovers from an order from the local Ninso at the Hi no Tera. The smith made this one as a practice one, there's nothing wrong with it, but you might want to get a whetstone and sharpen it a bit before use, I'd also recommend wrapping some bandages or leather around the handle for a proper grip." the girl explained, giving suggestions as she showed the weapon to her customer. The weapon also had two small holes, one on the bottom of the handle and one at the bottom of the axe blade, Sakura recalled seeing pictures of weapons with leather cords or ceremonial ropes tied to such holes that allowed Ninso to sling the weapon more easily to a holster or their arm.
Sakura held the weapon as she considered it, noticing that even with a marked down price she wouldn't have much money left if she bought it. The weapon did have weight to it though, which was what she was pretty sure she needed against Temari, "Anything in the way of protection? Like a tate?" she asked, wanting to consider her options.
Tenten frowned and scratched her cheek thoughtfully, "We don't really stock tate, most smiths, especially in hidden villages, don't bother making them except for special orders or as a display piece." she answered, "I have some mesh in your size I could give you a good deal on though, and I'm sure we have some arm and leg protection." she added, helping to point out the different pieces.
Sakura frowned as she considered the prices, "I think I'll take this and some mesh then." she decided, hefting the axe, "I'll need a whetstone too, the bandages I have at home will have to do for a makeshift grip." she added and Tenten gathered up the chosen items, helping Sakura pick out some mesh to wear under her clothes before ringing up the items and finishing the transaction.
Naruto had gotten distracted looking at all the different weapons, Maemi's words about swords had him looking over the different blades on display, "So, how can I help you?" Tenten asked as Sakura left with her purchases without saying goodbye to her teammate, "A weapon more your own size so you can do that battojutsu thing more effectively?" she questioned, curious as to what the boy wanted.
Naruto frowned, "Battojutsu?" he asked, "I don't remember doing that." he said, reaching up to scratch the flesh around his right horn.
Tenten raised an eyebrow, "I heard from Gai-sensei, you definitely struck that Shigeri guy with the same movement you used to draw your sword, it's called iaijutsu these days." she explained, "You not being trained in it explains your sloppiness with the jutsu, same as the weapon you used being too big for you to do it effectively." she added, although she was impressed that the younger genin had apparently done something like that on instinct while doped up on combat stimulants.
Naruto shrugged, "Well I wasn't planning on it, I want to keep practicing with the katana so my body can handle even bigger swords when I get older, like that one!" he said, becoming suddenly excited as he pointed out a nodachi, "Or even bigger!" he exclaimed eagerly.
Tenten stroked her chin thoughtfully, "Fair enough I suppose, it's good to see other genin taking bukijutsu so seriously. I swear the rest of my team is obsessed with taijutsu." she complained.
Naruto grinned, "Actually, taijutsu training equipment is why I'm here." he confessed with a laugh, startling the older genin.
"You want to take on Neji with taijutsu?" Tenten asked with a surprised tone and expression, "You'd be better keeping him at bay with your sword, although I'm glad you aren't going to cut up my teammate I suppose, but he's a taijutsu specialist with a really vicious style." she warned, concerned about the young blonde. Maemi was touched on Naruto's behalf at the concern.
Naruto's grin turned into a cocky smirk, "I want to cut him to shreds, don't get me wrong," he said with a dangerous glint in his eye, "but I already promised Hinata-chan I wouldn't kill him. She's way too forgiving but I don't want to hurt her feelings," he explained with a shrug, "but I do want to crush Neji's pride." he finished, "So with that in mind, you got training weights? Like the ones bushy brows wears, your better teammate?" he asked, clarifying what he meant.
Tenten's eyes widened, "You mean Lee-kun? You saw those huh? I heard he took them off against Gaara." she said sadly, having heard about the injuries her less abrasive teammate sustained, "You should probably start with something lighter though-" she tried to warn.
"No way!" Naruto interrupted, "If anything I want even heavier weights!" he insisted with a wild grin.
Tenten was alarmed by that decision, "Wha-? Okay wow, we don't actually have anything that heavy. I can get you the same weights Lee had though, you can take some of the weights out of the harness to adjust it, I really don't recommend starting with the whole thing." she warned, straining slightly to lift the leg weights up to hand them over.
Naruto accepted them and grunted in surprise at the weight on his arms, "Damn, that guy really is amazing! He was beating my kicks with weight like this, and he didn't even let the weight carry his blows too hard!" the blonde exclaimed with a wide grin, impressed yet again by Lee.
Maemi helped pick out some grey-purple leg warmers to conceal the weights and the blonde was soon trudging out of the store with both of them on after paying for them, eager to put them on and start getting used to the weight. Tenten was impressed he could walk with them on already, wondering just how strong the horned rookie actually was.
Finally, that same day, Naruto went to the one place he'd never thought he'd go. Despite his reservations about the place he remembered well what Iruka had told him, and with the chunin directive in the forefront of his mind he entered the public library with purpose. It didn't take long for him to become mentally exhausted as Maemi attempted to help tutor him, but it seemed the boy really was just hopeless when it came to kanji. Even some kana slipped him up, cementing the idea that his education was incomplete.
Maemi decided to focus on teaching the boy katakana as he studied, since he could at least handle hiragana. The issue was that most things written solely in hiragana were books for children, but the Muse persevered and the two made progress. Maemi helped with any subjects Naruto took an interest in, surprised that the boy was studying anything he could that had anything to do with being a shinobi.
However her own surprise paled in comparison to the surprise of Iruka when the chunin found them, Naruto having fallen asleep at the table he'd taken up. Maemi had decided to let him take a short nap to recharge his brain, the blonde needed it.
"Naruto-kun?" Iruka asked, startling the genin and ruining his nap, "What are you doing here?" he asked, he himself had been picking out scrolls to use as references when marking academy grades.
Naruto yawned loudly, "Oh, hey Iruka-sensei!" he greeted cheerfully as he rubbed his eyes, "I'm following that chunin directive thing you told me about." he answered with a proud grin, clearly pleased with himself.
Iruka was surprised Naruto was actually studying, "I wish you'd studied like this when you were my student." he grumbled but had a proud smile of his own, "So how did Kakashi-san convince you to do this instead of physical training for once?" he asked curiously.
Naruto stretched languidly, "Kakashi-sensei? I haven't seen him since last night. Maemi-chan said I should take an extra day from physical training because of how many of those pills I took during the preliminaries." he explained before yawning again, "I'm studying because I want to be perfect, and you're actually the one who gave me the idea with that chunin directive y'know!" he pointed out cheerfully.
Iruka was taken aback by that, deciding that the Daemon might not be such a bad influence after all. The table Naruto was at was covered with all kinds of subjects, scrolls and books and different facets of being a shinobi. Included were books on history, clans, local herbs, medical texts, and scrolls regarding different kinds of taijutsu, genjutsu, bukijutsu, and even a scroll about fuinjutsu. Iruka would be concerned by that last one if the scroll wasn't labeled 'Fuinjutsu for Dummies' in hiragana.
"Well, I'm glad you're talking your shinobi training so seriously." Iruka said proudly, "I heard you made it through the preliminaries," he began, frowning as he'd heard Naruto's match was the only one with a fatality, the blonde having apparently cut his opponent down before the proctors could stop the match, "are you alright?" he decided on asking after a moment.
Naruto yawned again but nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine sensei." he said with a frown of his own, "I think I'm done with this boring book stuff for the day though, I'll check some of these out so Maemi-chan can help me read them when I'm resting after training tomorrow." he decided, gathering up the book on herbs, some of the medical texts, and a couple of taijutsu scrolls.
Iruka smiled proudly, "You should probably take it easy at least a little bit, all work and no play-" he began to lecture.
"I'm not going to become the perfect shinobi without being excessive about improving myself y'know." Naruto interrupted as he left, his words startling the scarred chunin.
The next day Naruto felt much better, Maemi had added some extra house plants to his daily watering after insisting that the poppy would be useful in future. Some garlic, damiana, and cloves were also added with similar insistence. Naruto didn't really get it but the Muse usually knew what she was talking about so he went along with it.
His kimono still needed to either be replaced or repaired, so he was wearing the short sleeved orange jacket of similar design to his original unzipped over his mesh armor. The Uzushio spiral didn't bother him as much now that he knew he really was an Uzumaki by blood, although he colored the white spiral on his clothes a dark purple, but he was annoyed with the grandfatherly old Hokage who was still keeping knowledge of his parents from him. He also wasn't sure if he wanted the name or not, he'd renounced it under the assumption it wasn't truely his but after doing so in front of so many people it seemed wrong to take it back.
Some of his reading, or Maemi reading to him, had involved looking into the history of Uzushiogakure no Sato and the Uzumaki clan. He'd learned that the Uzumaki and Senju clan were distant blood relatives, so he had a very distant blood relation to the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage.
Naruto couldn't help but wonder if that was ever mentioned in history class, "Hey, good morning, Hinata-chan!" he greeted as he entered her hospital room, unsurprised this time to notice Kiba, "Hey, was Uzushiogakure no Sato ever mentioned in history class?" he asked, idly scratching the skin around his right horn.
Hinata and Kiba both frowned, "If it was I missed it, or I don't remember." the Inuzuka responded with a shrug, "Why?" he asked.
"Hokage-jiji said I actually am an Uzumaki, but he's keeping my parents a secret from me." Naruto answered with a frown, surprising the two genin who wondered why the Sandaime Hokage would do that, "He's lucky I'm such a nice guy y'know." he added with an annoyed huff, "Anyway, I decided to look into it." he continued, "It was apparently destroyed during the Dainiji Ninkai Taisen, but I couldn't find much information on who did it." he grumbled.
Hinata frowned, "Um, it was only mentioned briefly, and the name Uzumaki wasn't really brought up during class, but given the geography it would make sense to be either Kumogakure or Kirigakure." she spoke up, wanting to help in any way she could.
The mention of Kirigakure being potential culprits caught Naruto's attention, "I see..." he muttered, "Well no sense dwelling too much on it too much, did you guys know the wife of the Shodai Hokage was an Uzumaki too?" he asked excitedly, surprising the other two genin with his sudden mood flip, "Apparently Senju and Uzumaki are distant blood relatives too, cool right?" he asked cheerfully.
Kiba was surprised Naruto was researching anything at all, but given the subject he couldn't blame the blonde, "You trying to say you got some claim to the Hokage hat from blood now?" he asked with a teasing smirk.
Naruto laughed, "I don't need that!" he insisted. "I don't even need the name Uzumaki, it's just blood." he added a little more quietly, "It does explain why I'm so amazing though!" he responded with all the humility he didn't have, "Ah! Oh yeah, don't bully that Karin too much," he added, "I noticed she doesn't seem to be okay, and even if she wasn't blood I'd want to pull her out of whatever despair she's being thrown into by that Zosui guy." he finished with a frown.
Kiba frowned, but couldn't resist saying his next words, "Damn dude, save some ladies for the rest of us, you can't go rescuing every girl from their problems." he teased, making Hinata blush at the implication.
"Why not?" Naruto asked with a grin, "I've got the stamina for it." he added as his grin widened. Kiba snorted at that and couldn't help but laugh harder when he noticed his teammates mortified expression.
"Uh, well, um, N-Naruto-kun, I did what I could." Hinata stammered with a red face, showing a sketch she'd been working on, "I'm going from memory so it might not be perfect, but why did you want it?" she asked as the blonde took the sketch and stared intently at it.
"Like I said, I need to completely crush Neji, and I told him I'd be going for his heart." Naruto responded, "Don't worry, you didn't die so it'd be surprising if he died too y'know!" he added with a laugh. Hinata's eyes widened as she realized what Naruto intended to do, but she was too confused to voice it. The Hyuga girl wondered if she was misinterpreting, she wasn't even sure if what Naruto was implying would be possible, "Anyway, thanks a bunch Hinata-chan, I'll probably be busy training now, but I hope you're recovered in time to watch me wipe the floor with Neji's face!" Naruto said, turning to leave.
"Going already?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I gotta train, if you survive Sakura-chan I might even have to kick your ass in the final round, dog-breath." Naruto retorted with a grin, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle." he mocked with a smirk.
Kiba scoffed, "Right, you really do need to go train, you're in the bracket with all the monsters." he remembered, deciding not to mention that the blonde seemed to be one of them.
Hinata frowned, disappointed that Naruto was already leaving, "I-I'll be cheering for you, Naruto-kun." she promised, brightening up a little at the grateful smile he beamed her way.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out as he approached the man during a lunch break for the academy, "Are there other chakra control exercises? I can do the leaf exercise thing now, and my tree walking is fine, but my chakra control is still pretty bad according to Maemi-chan." he explained his question with a pout.
Iruka was proud of Naruto for taking his training so seriously, "Tell you what," he began as he made a decision, "I'll show you how to walk on water with chakra. Just let me finish teaching for the day and I'll show you what to do and explain it as best as I can." he offered with a smile, curious about training the blonde now that he was taking it more seriously.
Iruka did wonder why Kakashi hadn't set anyone to teach Naruto though.
Translations: Chikara - Strength
Meiyo - Honor
Budo - Martial Arts
Ikari - Rage
AN: Kishimoto never expanded on who destroyed Uzushiogakure or when, but given the timeframe and what Kushina said during a flashback, I'd place it during the second ninja world war since it likely happened when Kushina was a child. Don't take Hinata's guess as confirmation about who exactly did it in the canon of this story though, she's just taking a guess at the two most likely culprits based on geography and what she remembered from history classes.