CHAPTER FIVE 1/2:
"...You know she'll drive you crazy,
Yeah she's coming for ya.
No, she don't mess around,
No, she don't mess around.."
A week of Naruto's life passed by, full of training, fun, and hard work. She'd practiced her Katas, worked on her weaponry skills, and witnessed her first interrogation.
All in all, it had been a rather fruitful week. The young blonde had continued to procrastinate apologizing to her sensei, hesitant to raise the subject.
Anko had pretended the entire thing never happened, which made it all the more difficult for Naruto to talk about it.
The blonde looked down at her feet, leisurely walking towards the training ground she'd agreed to meet Tenten at. It was Saturday once again, she'd met with Tenten for spars twice before now. The brunette was truly fun to be around, and today they would finally be hanging out at Naruto's apartment after sparring.
The dirt-pathways of her village weren't something of interest, so she opted to gaze up at the peach, periwinkle and tangerine colored skyline. Fluffy, painted clouds scattered across the beautiful view, making Naruto's love for Konoha solidify even further.
Her lips took a slight curl at the beauty of the sky alone. She sighed softly, activating her sensory ability.
Two blue eyes closed softly, enabling Naruto to see the chakra forms of those around her. It was nearly dizzying, even though she'd been using the ability fairly regularly. It seemed it would be a long time before she'd get used to her bloodline ability.
Her mind's eye drifted away from unfamiliar signatures, before she sensed something unmistakably warm.
Tenten, she could sense Tenten. And unfortunately, it seemed she had others with her. It was hard to get a good read on them from this distance, but she could have a slight idea of them.
One of them was unlike the others, it felt frigid and lonesome.
Like a December night, whereas Tenten was a summer morning or spring evening.. And the other two? They were fairly spring-like themselves, though they felt more like the early dawn.
One of these figures was clearly an adult, while the others were teens like her and Tenten.
'It must be her genin team.' Naruto deduced, feeling an unfamiliar sensation of anxiety bubble up within her. Shaking her head, she tried to send the feelings flying away. She opened her eyes, patted her cheeks, and prepared herself to meet Tenten's team.
"Just be polite, Naruto." She mumbled to herself as a reminder. Something old Naruto would've never had to tell herself, she mused. The girl approached the opening to the training ground, which was essentially just a clearing outside of some lush forests.
Lush, harmless forests, matter of fact. Much different from the training ground she and her sensei used.
"You came!" The bright voice of Tenten chirped, causing Naruto to smile. "Of course I did, 'ttebayo!"
The brown-haired kunoichi rushed over to her, wrapping her in a hug. Internally, the shorter girl came to the realization that Tenten must've got her physically-affectionate personality from her grandmother. "You're late, you know!" The older girl informed, giving her a fake glare.
"Sorry." Naruto replied, her hand resting on the nape of her neck.
"Ah, so you must be the young Naruto my dear student mentions! A pleasure to meet you! You may call me Gai!" A tall, ridiculous looking man said, giving her a thumbs-up.
Naruto grimaced, noticing this was one of the bright silhouette's she had sensed earlier. His black bowl-cut shined with gel, which was holding his hair down in a perfect dome.
The man's eyebrows were as thick as the academy textbooks, which was saying something. The most disturbing facet of his appearance was the atrocious, form-fitting green unitard.
Naruto could get behind the orange leg and wrist warmers. But with a forest green unitard? No way in hell. Her naturally rosy skin noticeably paled, when another, younger version of Gai appeared at her feet.
The younger male took her hand, still on his knees. This younger version of Gai had the roundest eyes she'd ever seen, the irises an onyx color.
"So you are the beautiful, most-youthful kunoichi that Tenten-chan talks about! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am the one and only Rock Lee!"
He took her hand, and Naruto turned an unhealthy shade of white. Matter of fact, she seemed to have broken into a cold-sweat.
The horror of it all had taken its toll on her, and if this boy dared to do anything more than touch her hand, she might go into fight or flight mode.
And Naruto had always been a fighter.
"Lee, must you always act a fool in front of strangers?" Asked a much more normal looking male, whom had just joined them. This boy had milky skin, and the pale eyes belonging to the Hyuuga clan. His long, cedar-brown hair was held back in a very low ponytail.
He had features befitting royalty, which stood out amongst his team. (Though, her amazing friend Tenten was a beauty in her own right, in Naruto's opinion.) It was easy for both of them to stand out when next to those two hideous dopplegangers.
"I agree with Neji-kun, I think Naru's gonna start foaming at the mouth if you don't back away." Tenten said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
If she was deathly embarrassed by her teammates behavior, she wasn't showing it.
Mostly because she didn't want to embarrass herself further by whining about Lee creeping out her only female friend. Lee shot back onto his feet, stepping away from the blonde, pig-tailed girl.
She seemed to re-enter reality at that moment, taking extra steps to put more distance between herself and the Green Beasts of Konoha.
"...Right, so.. I'm Naruto. Nice to meet you, I guess." She said, one of her eyes twitching slightly.
The Hyuuga boy's face remained impassive, giving a slight nod of his head. "I am Hyuuga Neji." He replied stiffly, his hands clasped in front of him.
Naruto assumed that it was befitting for a Hyuuga to introduce themselves so formally. Or maybe, the other two had such outlandish, lively, and repulsive introductions that she'd forgotten what a normal one was like.
Gai let out a good-natured, loud chuckle, "Perhaps we should go for more traditional methods of getting to know each other! Sit, everyone, we shall exchange introductions, to better know each other on a fundamental level!" Gai said, his teeth sparkling as he smiled. "Is this truly a necessity?" The previously impassive boy, Neji, had a disgruntled look on his face now.
"Neji, you should not question the word of Gai-sensei! He would never lead us astray!" The bushy-browed boy declared, pulling a notepad and pen out of thin air.
The boy dropped to the grass immediately, sitting cross-legged in front of the odd jounin.
Begrudgingly, the remaining three students followed suit. Tenten was seated right beside Lee, while Naruto was between her and Neji.
Naruto could've sworn Neji was stealing sidelong glances at her, but she truly couldn't tell. After all, the boy had no definitive pupil. His ethereal eyes were all the same shade of vaguely purple-tinted white, asides from the darkened ring defining his sclera from his iris.
She turned her gaze to Tenten, who was seated to her left. The girl's hair had mauve ribbons tied around the caramel-colored buns of hair on each side of her head.
Her friend's lips were in a slant, an expression of neutrality, which carefully hid the girl's feelings of embarrassment and irritation, as well as slight joy.
Naruto looked towards the jounin, who had begun to speak. "I will start! My name is Maito Gai, and I am a taijutsu specialist and summoner of the turtles! I enjoy training and friendly rivalry, along with teaching the youth of Konoha! My favorite food is spicy curry, as it truly flames the fire of my youth." The man finished, closing his eyes in satisfaction.
Lee raised his hand high, "I will go next, my name is Rock Lee! I am also a taijutsu specialist, and a genius of hard-work! I love training, fighting, and pushing my limits, and I enjoy spending time with my team! My favorite food would have to be medium-spicy curry pilaf!" He finished, grinning brightly.
His teeth were shiny enough to blind someone, quite frankly.
Tenten sighed, and went next. "I'm Tenten, as you all know. I'm a weapon's mistress, who loves weapons, training, paranormal stuff, and.. Did I say weapons yet? I love sesame dumplings and chinese buns, but I despise pickled plums." She finished and pursed her lips, clearly reflecting on her hatred of those sour fruits.
Knowing she was next in line, Naruto spoke up. "My turn, then. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a sensor nin, who also has a love for weapons. I love my friends, my sensei, sparring, Ichiraku ramen, and my plants back at home. Oh, and I used to love prankin' people, but I'm too busy for any of that nowadays…" She finished lamely, smiling to herself.
"Woah, you're a sensor?" Tenten asked, her lips parted in disbelief. "Er, yeah. I have some Uzumaki bloodline ability." The blonde explained vaguely.
She had everyone's full attention at this point, for one reason or another, all relating to her status as a sensor.
"I have heard of the Uzumaki clan's legendary sensors, I did not know that there was one with this bloodline in Konoha." Gai remarked, tapping his chin.
Naruto was practically beaming, she'd thought that no one in Konoha knew of her supposedly lost clan. She smiled at him, giving a passionate nod.
"Uzumaki clan?" Neji repeated, eyebrows knitted downwards in a clear show of displeasure.
"Yes. A nearly extinct clan, aside from Young Naruto apparently. May I ask what your bloodline ability entails?" The man asked.
Tenten was smiling softly, but still completely surprised.
"Er, yeah. It's called Mind's Eye of Kagura, but I've got some special enhanced version of it. I can sense emotions at all times if I don't suppress it, but, if I close my eyes and focus.. Well, It's like I can see the chakra within the human body, using my Mind's Eye. They all look similar, just shaped differently with different feelings attached to them. I can sense every major thing in about a 10 mile radius, but it gets sorta painful if I do. And I can only get a good read on them if they're less than 2 miles away..." Naruto tried to explain, internally lamenting her poor description of the bloodline.
Truthfully, she still needed to do a lot of exploring with her bloodline. She had no idea of all of it's true capabilities yet, unfortunately.
She'd tried the Shinobi library but.. There weren't any books about it, or even the Uzumaki clan itself. Soon, she'd have to ask the Old Man more about it.
"That sounds very similar to Neji's byakugan!" Lee interjected, tilting his head slightly to the side.
Neji scowled, "I have never heard of a dojutsu comparable to the byakugan." The blonde frowned slightly.
"Cuz it's not a dojutsu." Naruto replied dryly, scrunching her nose in mild agitation. Things weren't off to a great tart with this fella, that was certain.
Gai, sensing the possible conflict about to occur, decided to change the subject.
"Moving along! Young Neji, it's your turn!" Gai said, retaking his goofier persona.
It was a stark contrast in comparison to how his expression changed when Naruto mentioned her bloodline trait.
The teen's face seemed to get even more irritated, which resulted in an expression only comparable to the trademarked Uchiha Scowl.
"I am Neji Hyuuga. I specialize in the Hyuuga clan techniques, which means I utilize my byakugan in taijutsu centric close combat. I enjoy herring soba and meditation." He said curtly, as if the entire situation had been a debacle, or just a total waste of his time.
Frankly, Naruto wasn't sure if she'd like this boy. Arrogance was something she despised. It just made her glad she hadn't been teamed with someone like him. Kami forbid if Naruto had been teamed with Sasuke..
The blonde bristled at the thought alone.
She was very happy with just having a sensei, thank you very much.
"Naruto-chan, would you care to engage me in a spar? It is my dream to prove that hard work trumps natural-born skill, like the ability you were born with."
"Lee means no offense, Naru." Tenten interrupted, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. She expected Naruto to be angry at her teammate, but the girl just smiled.
"Ha! Natural skill? Not me, dude. I've worked my ass off to get where I am, and my bloodline doesn't give me any combat skills." Naruto informed, her hands clasped behind her head.
Nearby, Neji felt a slight sense of comfort that this new girl couldn't compete with his byakugan, even if he didn't understand her ability. The smugness was carefully hidden behind his stoic mask, however.
Lee brightened at the blonde's explanation,"So you are a fellow genius of hard work, and you are beautiful? How youthful! Would you be interested in sparring regardless?" He asked, complimenting her not-so-subtly.
Naruto blinked twice, owlishly. Sure wasn't sure whether to recoil in shock at the double-compliment, or to be overjoyed at the prospect of another sparring partner.
What would Anko say…?
…. Probably something sadistic, over-confident, and full of curse words. Hmm..
Naruto shook her head like a dog, returning to reality.
"Sure, but don't think that you can go easy on me just cuz I'm pretty!" She spat, assuming the basic stance for the Hebi style.
Lee simply smiled, and Tenten stared with partial dismay. Gai and Neji were also watching from the sidelines, one which with the best look of disinterest he could fake..
"If I do not defeat you, I will do 500 laps around the village the moment I wake tomorrow morning!" He bet, taking his own stance.
"Oh yeah? Well if I lose, I'll do 700." She said, not even considering the consequences of her actions. "It is on!"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto replied, raising her fist.
Lee stared for a moment, before returning the fist bump, with a smile that nearly tore his face in half. "What a tremendous show of youth!" Gai cheered, tears of joy streaming from his eyes comically.
Launching himself forward, Lee prepared to punch the blonde.
Throwing herself to the side, Naruto ducked and evaded each of his coming blows. For every fist Naruto threw, Lee blocked.
In some bizarre twist of fate, the match ended in a draw.. Sunday morning, the two genin would be running a total of 1,200 laps around the entirety of Konoha...
Naruto led Tenten through the streets of Konoha, towards her apartment complex. "This is gonna be so fun!" The brunette said cheerfully.
Naruto turned around to face her friend, walking backwards.
"Definitely, 'ttbayo!" The blonde jinchuriki had cleaned her apartment as best she could this morning, in anticipation of Tenten's visit. She'd even hung up two more posters to cover the areas where her aged wallpaper was peeling. Naruto even bought snacks other than ramen!
She was fully prepared!
Naruto's Apartment Complex...
As they reached the apartment complex, Naruto threw open the main-floor door, Tenten shutting it behind them. The building was slightly rickety looking, with the outside painted in odd colors with round roofing.
"I've never had a sleepover before!" Tenten said, her doe-like eyes twinkling with excitement. She had a sealing scroll on her back, containing a bookbag full of the things she'd need for a night at her friend's.
"Me neither, Bunny!" Naruto said, walking up the steps to her particular apartment. The steps led up to the second floor, which was nearly vacant, aside from Naruto.
People didn't exactly want to be neighbors with a jinchuriki, even if the apartments were cheap. The scuffed, cedarwood flooring creaked slightly as the girls stepped onto the second floor-level.
Tenten studied the surroundings, noticing the lack of people. "Say, Naru-chan. Do you think your complex has any ~ghosts~ in it?" She asked, partially teasing, and partially curious.
The brunette wasn't kidding when she mentioned her interest in the paranormal earlier, Tenten had always believed in ghosts, fortune-telling, and the like.
Naruto returned to a shade of pale belonging only to the undead, a comical grimace on her face. "G-ghosts?!" The blonde repeated, blue eyes widened into saucers.
The taller girl snickered, covering her mouth with her hand.
"I was just messing with you." Tenten explained, ignoring Naruto's harrumphing.
Naruto huffed like a child, "That was just mean, Bunny-chan."
As the pair stepped into the apartment, Tenten immediately took off her sandals, as did Naruto. The blonde grabbed a sharpie from the pouch on her hip, looking up at a ramen-themed calendar on her wall. She'd marked off nearly two weeks already, counting down the chuunin exams.
She had four months and one week, and one day until the Chuunin exams arrival in Konoha, which meant four months and one week to get stronger.
"Naru, can I make some tea?" Tenten asked, walking into her kitchenette. "'Course!" Naruto replied.
When the girls had their tea, they gossiped and chatted for hours.
The evening went on with lots of laughter, play-fighting, and secret telling. Before long, they got on one particular topic. "Say, Naru, what do you normally do for fun?" Tenten asked.
"Um, lots of stuff, I guess." she replied, twirling a kunai around her finger. The brunette didn't bother questioning where it had come from. "Today you mentioned pranks. I've never actually pulled a prank on someone." Tenten admitted, like it was some sort of great sin.
Which, in the religion of Naruto Uzumaki, it was.
Naruto, sensing where this was going, broke into a cheshire grin. "Ara, Bunny-chan. Are you telling me you want to pull a prank on someone?!" The blonde asked with wide eyes.
Tenten snorted, "It's like, 9 pm. We couldn't if we wanted to."
Blue eyes stared at her incredulously.
"There's no such thing as bedtime at my place, Bunny. C'mon, admit it, you wanna prank someone." Naruto egged her on, and Tenten fought off a smile.
"Of course not, it would be immature for a shinobi to prank someone!" The girl reasoned, wagging her finger chidingly.
Untying the hitai-ate on her neck, Naruto tossed it aside.
"Hm, but I don't see any village headband on me." Naruto said, tapping her chin.
"Because you- Oh.." The brown eyed girl halted mid sentence. "You know you want tooo.~" Said the blonde in a sing-song voice, waggling her yellow eyebrows.
Naruto cheered when her friend took off her hitai-ate, but still looked rather conflicted.
"Okay, but who?" Asked the brunette.
"Ah, my innocent little friend, we can get whoever the hell we want! I'm a prank-master, dattebayo! I say we strike the Jounin Committee building." Naruto said deviously.
Both girls knew of the building Naruto was referring to.
It was the one place where only Tokubetsu Jounin and Jounin were allowed, a meeting place.(More like a lounge, actually.) None of the lower level nin ever went in, due to the level of the ninja in the place. No one chuunin or genin would just encroach upon jounin territory.
However, a young Naruto had ventured into the building many times.
Seriously, did people really think that those groups of shinobi covered in paint were chasing her for fun? Nope, she'd pranked the jounin committee several times.
But it had been so long, they'd never expect it this time!
"Naruto, the jounin?! There's no way. We'd get caught! Do you actually think they'd fall for some silly traps anyway?!" Tenten questioned.
"Don't be such a goody-two shoes! I swear I've got 'em dozens of times. They never expect to get caught by some 'silly traps', so they do!" Naruto declared, waving her arms to emphasise her point.
The girls stared at each other for a moment, but eventually, one girl gave in.
Tenten sucked in a deep breath, and relented.
"Fine, but you've gotta use your sensory ability to keep look out, AND! I'm wearing a henge the whole time." Tenten said, a dangerous smile on her face.
"Oh yeah! We are so evil! C'mon, we gotta gather our materials!"
Naruto ran to her closet, and Tenten followed behind. Pulling out a cardboard box, the two girls gave each other a glance of pure seriousness.
The box, labelled Pranking Supplies, was full of everything two devilish young girls would need.
Dyes, super glue, ninja-wire, plastic wrap, a comically large wrench, thumb-tacks, powder dyes, blunt kunai, whoopee cushions..
Lady luck would not be on the jounin's side this particular night.
The girls, with Tenten's bag full of pranking material, snuck out of Naruto's apartment with purpose.
Both of them had gauze covering the lower halves of their face. This was unnecessary for Tenten, who was currently transformed into one of the chuunin guards.
What was the man's name again? Kotatzu? Katitsu? Tenten was unsure.
Naruto, with her eyes closed, examined the Jounin Committee building they were standing outside of. "It's empty." She whispered.
"You're sure?" The disguised Tenten asked, looking down at her partner in crime.
"Yup, let's go." She walked forward, but was stopped by the other girl. "Hold it, transform or somethin!" Tenten urged, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.
Having seen the chuunin guard pair several times, Naruto used a henge to turn into Tenten's counterpart.
Izuma? Izumo? What was his name again?
With Tenten thoroughly pleased with Naruto's transformation, the girl's approached the door into the building. Tenten, poking a hand into her illusion, pulled a bobby pin from what looked like her skull.
In reality, it was from one of her hidden buns, but no one needed to know that.
Naruto began imagining a dramatic, action movie soundtrack playing as she accepted the bobby pin.
She began picking the lock, which came undone rather quickly, with a loud click.
Above the basic lock, there was a deadbolt, which nearly made her snicker.
She jammed the bobby pin in, moving her wrist furiously, until it clicked. Then she had to unlock another deadbolt..
Then another.. And another..
There were six total deadbolt locks. Pushing the door open, a small chain prevented it from swinging open. With a padlock danging in the middle of it.
How did they even manage to lock that from outside?! And what the hell kinda purpose did a padlock serve right there?! She reached her hand under the chain, undoing the lock. Finally, the door came upon. A sensor seal caused the light to flicker on, making Tenten nearly leap out of her skin.
Which didn't even look like her skin at the moment. Naruto's eyes closed yet again.
"We're still good. C'mon Tenten, we need to get in and out." Tenten gave a serious nod, and they began enacting their plan with the seriousness of two burglars performing the world's greatest robbery.
The girls, disguised as Kotetsu and Izumo, didn't even notice that there was a surveillance camera in the main room when they began. They started with subtle changes. Putting plastic wrap around door frames, on toilets..
Speaking of toilets, they'd used the handy-dandy wrench to ensure that absolutely none of them were functional. Along with every single sink in the building, which would blast you with water if you even tried to turn them on. Also in the bathrooms, Naruto had scribbled on every mirror with a permanent marker, which would add silly features to whoever looked in them.
Mustaches, glasses, crowns, the like.
But it didn't end there. They rigged the front and back entrance to the building with ninja wire, which would fire blunted kunai from every direction. Before finally, a pile of powder dye would drop from the sky.
They had also rigged a trap to the refrigerator in the building's kitchenette, which would blast the opener with colored powder. As Naruto snuck thumbtacks into every chair, bench, or couch in the entire building, Tenten unscrewed every salt 'n pepper shaker just slightly, and switched entire drawers with one another.
Why? Because if someone attempted to use the salt or pepper, it would dump all over their lunch. And as for the drawers? Well, that was just for added confusion. She even rigged one to launch a very-not-blunted kunai when opened.
Placing a variety of innocuous whoopie cushions, which were glued to the seat which they sat in, Naruto finished her part of the plan.
Her fellow prankster, or even her co-conspirator entered the mainroom, and they shared a determined nod.
Naruto and Tenten combined their efforts, with the ultimate part of their prank. The piece of resistance, so to speak.
In every individual office, one belonging to the Jounin Commander, one to the head of the Science Division, one belonging to the head of the Intelligence Division, and one belonging to the head of the hospital the furniture was superglued to the ceiling.
Sharing a victorious high-five, the girls left the building, relocking the doors behind them.
The building, which was more comparable to a lounge space for the Jounin, would now be a hellscape, full of juvenile traps.
When the girl's returned to the apartment, they released their henges, and made an unspoken vow to never speak of their heinous crime ever, ever again.
Because if they did, many, many jounin would be after their pretty little heads.
That next morning, the girls awoked refreshed, practically having forgotten their treasonous act. Instead, Naruto was griping about the horrendous bet she'd made with Lee.
And Konoha's jounin? Well, they were having one hell of a morning.
IN FRONT OF KONOHA'S MAIN GATE.
Tenten and Naruto arrived at the designated meeting place rather early, but were generally unsurprised when Lee and Gai were already there.
"Let us begin our warm-up, Naruto-chan!" Lee declared to which Naruto groaned in agreement.
Tenten hadn't let her sleep in long enough, and despite the fact that Tenten had cooked breakfast, she still hadn't forgiven the brunette. The blonde girl and black-haired boy began with stretches, then push-ups, then jumping jacks, then repeated the cycle.
It was a good thing that Naruto was a complete stamina freak, because otherwise, she probably wouldn't have even been able to keep up with his warm-up.
Soon, Neji arrived, and everyone was utterly shocked. "I am simply curious." He spat, glaring off at the horizon. No one had the time to question him, when a horde of angry jounin appeared out of thin air, running in their direction.
Naruto and Tenten gulped simultaneously. Neji was the only one who noticed as the girls subtly hid behind whoever was closest. Naruto hid behind Lee and Neji, while Tenten stood behind Guy.
"IZUMMOOOOO!" An angry voice shouted, belonging to one man with a cigarette between his lips. Everyone recognized him as Asuma Sarutobi, even Naruto. He had a large nick across his face, which Naruto knew belonged to a certain kunai trap set by Tenten..
"KOTETSUUUUU!" Another angry voice screamed, belonging to Yamanaka Inoichi.
Naruto hadn't seen the man look so terrifying. Behind him, she saw Shikaku Nara, Jounin commander, along with Chouza Akimichi, who was covered in blue paint, and many others. Chouza looked like the only one mildly amused by the entire situation, while the newly purple-haired Inoichi looked outraged. Shikaku, who was soaked, looked mildly agitated. One man, who looked to be a Hyuuga, had a choppy haircut.
Presumably, from the blunted kunai traps.
Naruto was downright confused by the screaming jounin, until she saw who they yanked from the guard booths.
Oh, right. They'd used a henge to transform into those poor guys.
Welp, Kami rest their souls, because there was no way Naruto or Tenten would fess up now. They'd be sure to pay their respects at the funerals.
The pleading voices of the two chuunin would probably haunt the two forever as the framed chuunin were surrounded by jounin.
Without further hesitation, Naruto took her chance to inconspicuously run for it. Literally.
"C'mon Lee, let's go!" She shouted, taking off in a sprint. Tenten had also begun sprinting like a maniac on drugs, except in the opposite direction, towards her house.
Yet again, Neji had been the only one to notice. Using his prodigious brain, the young Hyuuga came to a conclusion. One that, for some reason, he would never share.
He wouldn't rat out the real culprits of the crime against the Jounin, for reasons unknown.
It certainly wasn't because he found the entire situation very amusing. No, it certainly wasn't. Hyuuga did not find things funny, especially not pranks. No, it was very unfunny, in his very valuable opinion.
Everyone who hadn't fallen victim to the prank-tastrophe that occurred on that day, would recall it fondly. It became a local legend of sorts, how some mysterious shinobi had disguised themselves as two chuunin and wreaked havoc on the local Jounin. Some claimed it was the only two jounin who weren't affected, Maito Gai and Mitarashi Anko. Others genuinely thought it was Kotetsu and Izumo, who were cursed with eternal guard duty for their alleged crimes. Oh, and they had to repair the entire mess which the Jounin Committee building had become. Which included paying for said repairs.
Some of Konoha's populace thought it was all some thought experiment and it had never occurred in the first place.
There was one, widely accepted conclusion, though. The events of that day would be remembered for years to come. And only two young genin knew what truly happened that night. While one had a very, very good idea.
Naruto and Lee would finish their laps in three hours, some of which they'd ran on their hands, others one their two feet. After about five hundred, Naruto was only continuing because of Lee's encouragement and chakra.
By the time they'd finished, Naruto dropped to the ground in a sweaty heap, and Lee dropped after her.
"Lee… My dude.. I don't know what exercise regime you do.. But you… Gotta… Put me on that.. Shit.." She said, between deep breaths.
"Naruto-kun.. I would be overjoyed.. To train.. With you.. Under my very extensive exercise.. Regime, as prescribed by.. Guy sensei…" Lee replied, also sucking in deep breaths.
Naruto noticed the change in honorific, and assumed that it meant Lee had a different view of her now, rather than some pretty girl to proclaim his love for. She felt bad for whatever girl would be subjected to his over-the-top proclamations.
"Awesome.." She replied, raising her fist for another bump. Weakly, their fists met, and then promptly dropped back to their side.
Each of them had felt the consequences of that run, certainly.
OUTSIDE OF TRAINING GROUND 44:
When Monday finally arrives, Naruto had steeled her resolve. She would apologize today. It had been long enough, and letting things fester would never lead to healthy healing. Or at least, that was what she'd heard.
Smashing the spiked ball of her weapon, in it's flail form, into a tree, she watched as shrapnel from the impact flew in every direction. Splinters of bark fell, some nearly colliding into her small form.
She was torn away from her mindless destruction, or, "weapon's practice," as she had called it. Anko had told her they would skip on D-ranks for today, because she had to pick up extra hours at T&I. Which left her training alone outside of The Forest of Death, until eventually her jounin instructor arrived.
Which she soon did.
Perceiving that familiar sensation of Anko's chakra, although it seemed suppressed. It was like a flicker, as opposed to her usual flame. Naruto's cerulean eyes glanced upward for a moment, before flicking back to her target.
Diving from above, Anko landed on a tree branch standing on her two feet confidently.
"Sheesh, gaki. I tried to sneak up on you. You must be getting really good with that sensory technique of yours." The purplette said, a close-lipped smile on her face.
Ah, yes. Her bloodline. Naruto wondered if Anko had any curiosity regarding it, like the others did. Apparently, she did. The blonde didn't need to have an emotion sensing ability to see that her sensei was proud of her, though.
Naruto didn't bother telling her that her skills with her bloodline hadn't improved at all since it's discovery, besides her becoming more knowledgeable about it.
And in regard to her bloodline, Naruto had some apologizing to do.
In her stereotypical show of nervousness, Naruto's hand subconsciously took up residency on the back of her neck.
Honey-eyes looked at the damaged trees which Naruto had been focusing her pent up energy on. And maybe her frustrations, too.
Taking in a deep breath, Naruto began her apology. The blonde needed to do this now, no more holding back.
"Anko-sensei, I'mReallySorryForUsingMySensoryAbilityOnYouAndBetrayingYourTrust. ' ." The words stumbled out of her mouth seriously, yet completely lacking in any kind of grace or tact.
Somehow, the older woman managed to actually understand what the girl was saying. Her features darkened distinctly, and Naruto felt unease creeping up on her.
Anko grimaced, her eyes dimming. "Kid… Don't apologize, but I probably have some explaining to do.." Said the purplette, sitting down on the tree branch she was standing on.
Naruto sat down at the base of the tree she was in front of, looking up at Anko, who was feet across from her. "I chose you as my student for a reason. Because we're alike, me and you." The jounin began, taking in a calming breath.
"We're alike?" Naruto repeated. She knew they were similar, but Anko was alluding to something else. Perhaps that was why Naruto felt such a strong kinship with her?
"Yes. Naruto, I was an orphan too. A no name orphan, at that. I literally gave myself the last name Mitarashi because I love Mitarashi dango." She smiled at that, a wistful brand of happiness residing in her expression.
Naruto smiled too, not daring to interject. The very air around them seemed to thicken with intense emotions, urging Naruto to keep her mouth shut.
"So.. I know what it's like to be alone. But I wasn't always alone.. When I was about ten, I graduated from the shinobi academy. And when I was twelve, a jounin took an interest in me. Actually, he was better than just some jounin. He's one of the three legendary sannin.. He helped me achieve chuunin." She continued, furrowing her purple brows together.
The blonde had heard of the three legendary sannin before, but she didn't know much at all about them.
"Orochimaru, specifically. It was too good to be true in hindsight, but at the time, I didn't see that. I was so eager to become powerful, to have a mentor, that.. It just never dawned on me that I was nothing more than a toy to him."
Naruto's eyebrows knitted together in worry, blue eyes staring up at her sensei.
"He mostly treated me like every other jounin treated their students. He could be harsh, and strict, and even cruel sometimes. But I never knew what he was doing to others. Orochimaru.. That sick bastard, he kidnapped orphans to experiment on like it was nothing. He.. He cost so many innocents their lives. And he never gave it a second thought." Anko's eyes seemed impossibly dark, narrowed and focused on nothing in particular.
"W...Were you one of his experiments?" Naruto asked softly, cursing herself internally for even asking such a thing.
The purplette didn't even seem perturbed by the question. She didn't even react to it, as if she hadn't even heard Naruto utter the words.
"In a way, yes. But also, not quite. He had labs for his experiments. I was just an orphan to test his newest creation on. And.. He did just that. There were several of us.. But, my memory gets so foggy when I try to think about that night.. I have a feeling he did something to my head.." Her voice grew agitated, and even confused. Like that of a cornered animal, Naruto concluded.
As she regaled her memories, it was like she was experiencing them all over again. Phantom pains ghosted through her body, reminding her of the suffering she endured.
She hadn't told anyone except for the Hokage what had happened that night. It was too hard to tell, and too personal to share.
"I.. I remember, being in a warehouse.. He had dragged me along somewhere, and he gave me this.." She stopped, closing her eyes as her trembling fingers traced a spot on her shoulder.
Naruto knew that was where the evil mass of chakra was. "It's called the Cursed Seal of Heaven. A juinjutsu, or cursed sealing, technique. It contains a chunk of his decrepit chakra inside of it.. I've never used it, but the night he put this damned cursed hickey on me, he told me it would grant me power.. I was too busy writhing in pain to even care, though.." Anko uttered, her voice grave.
Taking in a deep breath, the woman ran a hand through her soft purple locks. Unintentionally, Naruto's sensory ability picked up on her emotions with her sensory ability, although unneeded. She could see the emotions swirling in her honey-brown eyes easily enough.
Confusion, anger, betrayal, uncertainty…
It took nearly five minutes for Anko to finish the story of her deepest trauma.
"After a few days, a team of Konoha nin found me unconscious. Orochimaru had been exposed for all his experiments, and had fled Konoha. They'd tracked down that warehouse expecting to find more of his test subjects.. I guess, in a way, they did. I was sent to the hospital immediately, with a severe fever and pain throughout my entire body. I couldn't give a statement for days because I had fried my vocal cords from screaming so much.." The woman pulled her coat to the side, allowing Naruto to finally see the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Through Anko's mesh armor top, Naruto could see three black tomoe. They were organized into a circular shape, and looked like a strange tattoo.
However, Naruto knew better than to think such a thing could be a harmless tattoo.
The woman sighed, looking up at the tree branches above her. By now, the woman was recovering from retelling her story, her hands as still as usual. She no longer looked as troubled.
"So that's why you understand me, isn't it? Because people fear the seal on your shoulder?" Naruto's soft voice asked, letting her hand rest upon her own seal.
Beneath the cloth of her shirt, one of the most powerful beasts was held back by her seal. Naruto couldn't deny that the thought of how powerful seals could be was enticing.
"Yeah, partially. Fuinjutsu, or seals, aren't something most people understand. They hear that Orochimaru created it, they're terrified of it. Understandable, I guess… But when he branded me with it, they became afraid of me, too.. People, co-workers even, have questioned whether I'm truly loyal to Konoha, because I'm connected to that bastard snake." Anko said agitatedly, before continuing.
"I'm no jinchuriki, there's no bijuu in me. But people fear me the same way, just for different reasons."
The blonde solemnly looked down at her stomach.
"We're both physically connected to monsters who terrorized Konoha." Naruto summarized plainly.
"Yeah." Her teacher agreed weakly.
Naruto knew just one difference between their situations, though.
She would be a jinchuriki 'til the day she died. But Anko? Well there was still hope for her. Possibly, maybe.. Maybe Naruto could be the one to take that accursed seal off of her sensei?
Fuinjutsu seemed interesting. She could work learning fuinjutsu into her tight schedule. Especially if it meant helping her teacher.
"Er, Anko-sensei?" The girl asked, the awkward aura long gone.
"Yeah, kid?"
"How could I learn fuinjutsu?" The blonde asked, not bothering to explain her interest.
Anko swallowed, knowing she'd been part of the reason Naruto wanted to learn.
But, if Naruto wanted to learn the sealing arts, why would her sensei deny her?
Especially considering that, if her student became a seal's mistress, she could remove that accursed seal from her shoulder. "Unless you plan to dedicate yourself to fuinjutsu, you'll never learn it, Naruto.. It's one of the most complic-"
"I'll do it! I'm an Uzumaki, it's in my blood!" Naruto said, beautiful blue eyes sparkling with determination.
Anko could only chuckle in slight exasperation. "And, I don't want you to have to live with that evil hickey forever, 'ttbayo." Naruto muttered, folding her arms.
Anko Mitarashi suddenly found herself in the middle of an internal dilemma. Her student, a 12 year old girl, wants to become a fuinjutsu master?
Well, considering that Anko already believed the girl could become hokage, it wasn't too hard to accept.
What was hard to understand, was that her young student wanted to help her.
Why? She couldn't fathom why it was hard to believe.
But, despite herself, despite her disbelief, despite her naive, little student, Anko Mitarashi trusted her.
She would place her faith in Naruto.
To master one of the most dangerous, complicated type of jutsu out there.
To clear her of her curse.
To become the best Hokage of all time.
And somehow, least of all, to become a chuunin less than a year after becoming a genin. Maybe her expectations were too much from the start. Could Naruto even accomplish one of those things?
Maybe, maybe not.
But the tokubetsu jounin chose to believe in her student, regardless of it all.
"Okay, Naruto-chan. I'll get you some textbooks, and you better study 'em like religious texts. And we'll be sure not to inform old man Hokage about your new interest. You'll tell me about your progress weekly. You won't enact any seals unless I'm around, okay? I may not know shit about those things, but I could at least prevent you blowing yourself up or something." Anko said strictly, jabbing her index finger at the girl.
Naruto nodded fervently, fists balled up at her sides.
"Why do we gotta keep it a secret?" She asked, merely curious.
The purplette sighed. She didn't like the idea of hiding things from her Hokage, but she knew the gravity of learning fuinjutsu. Only a few people in the entirety of Konoha knew anything about sealing besides storage scrolls, and there was a reason for that. Seals were complicated and dangerous, but also extremely powerful.
Or, more accurately, they have the capacity to be extremely powerful…
Because of this, seals masters were feared, for good reason. They held the power to destroy villages with those seals of theirs.
There was no way the elders would allow Naruto to learn the sealing arts, even if the Hokage approved. They'd make a huge ruckus, and the ever-so-passive Hiruzen Sarutobi would relent, barring her student from pursuing the arts.
But Naruto would never harm Konoha. And Anko would supervise, so there would be no dangers. Especially considering that it would take ages for the girl to get into the real powerful stuff, which was a whole 'nother can of worms the Mitarashi didn't even want to think about…
"It would cause some issues. There's only one fuinjutsu master belonging to Konoha, and that's Jiraiya of the Sannin. He's a legend for many reasons, and seals are one of them. And even though it sounds like a good thing to have another powerhouse like Jiraiya around, the village would never allow a jinchuriki to have that extra, kinda power. The hokage might, but the elders.. No way. To them, you're just a weapon. And a hazardous one, at that. Giving you the ability to learn fuinjutsu.." Anko trailed off, and Naruto got the idea.
She'd be too powerful, in their eyes. Naruto knew those two old geezers she saw with the hokage, when she was a small child, despised her. They looked at her with fearful, disgusted eyes. The Old Man had called them the elders, a council who offered him advice. What about, Naruto hadn't known. But apparently the village's bijuu jailer would be a topic which they gave their "advice," on.
But that raised another question entirely, regarding her jinchuriki status.
She knew hardly anything about bijuu, jinchuriki, or anything of the sort.
"Anko-sensei, do you know anything about.. I don't know, the people like me? The other jinchuriki, their beasts?" Asked the blonde
Anko hadn't expected her student to just accept that she'd need to keep a secret from the damn hokage and move on. Maybe she should learn to expect the unexpected with her student.
"Honestly, I don't. Jinchuuriki are secret weapons to their villages, there isn't much out there about them.. But I do know a bit about the bijuu. There are nine, each one with one more tail than the last. The Ichibi, the one-tail, is the weakest of the lot. I think that one is in Suna.. Then there's the Kyuubi, which is the strongest. Which is also the Yondaime sealed in your gut." Mitarashi said, wringing her hands.
Naruto thought about her answer. The Yondaime, that bastard, had sealed this beast within her. She knew that already, but it didn't make her any less bitter about it. She'd idolized him so much before she knew, it kind of shattered her view of him.
She'd always thought it was so cool that she looked so much like the man, but he had ended up being the one to make her life the miserable thing it was.
Why her? She'd always wondered that. Surely there were plenty of other orphans available. Because she was an Uzumaki? Possible, but why would he know that? It's not like he would've had the time to check her records to ensure her lineage in the middle of the Kyuubi attack. Her last name might've been Uzumaki, but she looked nothing like one. No, Naruto looked like the Yondaime, or a Yamanaka, not an Uzumaki.
So why..? Why would the Yondaime pick some random orphan who resembled him to bear such a burden?
Maybe her coloring was common for Namikaze, and she was chosen because she looked like him?
But, that would imply she was perhaps related to the Namikaze and the Uzumaki? Maybe he'd picked her because she was a relative?
She was on the verge ripping her hair from her scalp at this point, which was common when her thoughts went down this path. It was all too confusing for her, but she could never just drop it when it came up.
Uzumaki were famous for red hair and pale skin. She had neither, but she had their bloodline ability, so surely she was one. Was she more Namikaze than Uzumaki, maybe that's why her coloring is off..?
She couldn't reach an answer herself, no matter how hard she tried. It was a question for the Old Man hokage to answer, and she'd have to ask. Her curiosity simply had to be quenched.
"Welp, that's enough talking, brat! On your feet, let's get some training done! What should we do today, physical training, or should we spice it up?" Her teacher asked, tapping her chin.
Naruto, whom was pulled from her thoughts rather abruptly, just remembered why they had actually come to the training field.
"Oooo, how about more evasion training?" Her teacher asked, pulling a senbon from her coat.
Naruto grimaced, "I think you might genuinely enjoy stabbing me with those things."
"Me? Enjoy hurting my lovely little student? Never." She batted her eyelashes innocently, and oddly enough, Naruto's sensory ability decided to kick in.
Amusement, enjoyment, deceit..
Naruto did an internal double-take at the last thing she picked up on. Deceit?! Since when could she feel when someone was lying?!
"You know, my bloodline just definitively told me that you're a dirty liar." Naruto informed dryly, narrowing her eyes.
"Tch, your fancy ability might be impressive, but that won't save you now." Anko said, her head tilted back in a show of confidence, her lips curled up into a smirk. A devilish sort of expression, if Naruto had to categorize it.
Throwing a barrage of wicked, silver senbon at her student's feet, the taunting began.
"Dance, gaki, dance!" The overly sadistic woman cheered, as Naruto barely avoided being nailed to the ground.
Growling, the girl had to avoid even more needles aimed at her. She was certainly dancing now.
Konoha's Shinobi Library..
Naruto's Tuesday went by without anything of interest, having spent the day exercising and practicing katas with her sensei.
When Wednesday had arrived, Naruto had done her usual early morning mission, then parted ways with her sensei.
Wednesdays were Naruto's free training days, which she spent exercising with a specially made derivative of Lee's exercise routine. She thanked her lucky stars that the boy was kind enough to share his regiment. Then, she'd either relax, or head out to read something of interest.
Which was what she'd be doing today. She'd already tried to find a book on jinchuriki, but there was nothing of the sort.
A well-kept secret, Naruto imagined.
Instead, she'd found a book on the Legendary Sannin. She'd read the section on Senju Tsunade with mild interest, proud that a fellow woman had made herself so notable in the shinobi world.
A legendary medic with the strength to crush mountains. Certainly worth admiration.
The next section, on Orochimaru, made her scowl. She didn't even know the serpent, and she hated his guts. She skimmed the pages, and hated admitting to herself that the man sounded fearsome. That didn't mean he was worthy of respect, though.
No, quite the opposite. He was vile, and everyone should know it.
Pulling her trusty permanent marker from her kunai pouch, Naruto looked around the room. Affirming that there was no one around to catch her in the act, Naruto blacked out the entire section on the snake summoner, down the last page.
In the empty header of one page, she wrote in large blocky letters.
"OROCHIMARU IS A CREEPY SNAKE WHO LEAVES HICKEYS ON LITTLE GIRLS, (And probably boys too.) TO HELL WITH THE PEDO-HEBI."
Proud of her work, and the crude drawing of a dead snake she added as an afterthought, Naruto tucked away her marker and continued reading.
The next section was on Jiraiya, the legendary Fuinjutsu master that her sensei had mentioned. She read with full interest, mulling over the details a few times. He sounded very cool, a frontline fighter with powerful seals.
He'd even been the sensei of the Yondaime!
She went from excited to grim very quickly, remembering that she had a lot of questions to ask the Hokage relating to that man. Slamming the book shut, she decided to finally go and ask them. Inaction would get her no answers, after all. The genin returned the book to it's place on the shelf, not even noticing a pinkette reading at a desk as she sauntered out.
HOKAGE'S TOWER…
The girl toyed with her hair as she awaited to be let into the Hokage's office, growing more and more anxious as the minutes passed. She watched as several shinobi waltzed through the hallways nonchalantly, nowhere near as tense as her.
The aura from their chakra did nothing to soothe her, either. They all felt lukewarm, or even cold. None of them even felt noteworthy, like something to close her eyes and explore.
She supposed that not everyone could have chakra like Tenten or Lee. Hell, even Anko or Gai. Both of them had comforting chakra signatures as well.
"Uzumaki, you may see the Hokage now." A frigid-toned receptionist informed her, cruelly tearing her from her thoughts.
It wasn't like Naruto to be anxious, not at all. But something about this, it told her that she wouldn't like the result. Call it a gut-feeling, or something.
She gave the woman behind the desk a polite nod, and headed down the hallway towards the familiar doors of the Hokage's office. Before entering, she pushed chakra to her Mind's Eye, enhancing her sensory abilities. Even if she couldn't close her eyes and watch his chakra, she'd surely be able to sense if he lied.
Certainly he wouldn't lie to her, though... The short girl sucked in a breath, and pushed the door wide open.
That familiar elderly man sat in his usual hat and robes, behind his desk, filing paperwork.
His warm eyes met hers, and he read her tense body language immediately. They didn't call him The Professor for no reason at all.
"Naruto-kun, what is the matter?" He asked, concerned.
Worry, Fear, Suspicion...
Naruto decided to cut right to the chase. "Hokage-sama, am I related to the Yondaime? I did some reading, because I thought maybe I was part Namikaze or something.. But I couldn't find any information. Are they even a clan?"
Alarm, fear, suspicion, confusion, agitation.
A knot grew in her stomach at the emotions coming from the old man. She'd almost wished she hadn't asked. "Why would you think that?" He asked, keeping his expression neutral. He was a fool to think that would throw off Naruto's abilities. Then again, he didn't know the extent of her bloodline.
"Because, I look just like him, 'ttbayo! And why would he just pick some random orphan? It can't just be a coincidence that he chose the one orphan that resembled him to hold a powerful demon!" She declared, feeling offended by his demeanor. He was staring at her in a way she didn't like, almost a calculating gaze.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even get the chance to think of a reply.
Naruto's mind was running wild. What if they were cousins? No, siblings? That would explain the exact same coloring, right? Or maybe, maybe.. What if he was her father?
Her stomach lurched and knotted at the same time, making her feel a bit queasy.
"Is he my dad? O-or, my brother?!"
"No." He spat, not even thinking. Sarutobi began to panic, unsure of what to do. It wasn't often that The Professor was left stumped like this, or that he blurted out words.
Deceit. Confusion. DECEIT. Confusion. DECEIT.
Her sensory ability was practically screaming that he was a liar. And Naruto grew clammy, out of sheer disbelief.
She had to word her next question carefully, and use her ability to deem out an answer.
"So he's not my sibling?" She asked, and Sarutobi replied, "No, I'm afraid not."
No sign of any falsehood, so Naruto continued.
"And definitely not my father?" Naruto inquired, looking him directly in the eye.
In that moment, Naruto resembled Minato greatly, the thunderous blue eyes reminding him of the young man.
And despite that, Hiruzen Sarutobi told a bold-faced lie.
"He is not your father. We do not know who your father is, though it is a possibility that you may be distantly related to the Namikaze." Hiruzen replied, a half truth of sorts.
Deceit, Concern, Deceit, Worry, DECEIT.
Naruto couldn't hold back the scowl that marred her features, ill-fitting on a girl like her. "If you say so." She replied, storming out of his office.
She was simply too angry for words. Her sensory ability detected his entire last statement as a lie, but which part? All of it? If so, that meant.. That meant that the Yondaime was her father..?
Naruto just couldn't believe that. Couldn't accept it.
She pushed the feelings aside, and let her feet carry her home.
There was too much to do, so much to accomplish. Why had she even cared? The Yondaime is a dead man, it's not like it would change her life at all. Dead and gone.
It didn't matter, not at all.
So why.. Why did Naruto cry herself to sleep that evening?
Perhaps it had been the newly severed bond between her and the Old Man. He'd practically been a grandfather to her. But now? She couldn't trust him, not at all. He'd looked her in the eye, and lied. And if it weren't for her bloodline, she'd never have known it.
Had he lied before? How many times? Had his care just been out of obligation? Or worse, was it all some machiavellian attempt to manipulate her?
All in all, Naruto was heartbroken. It felt as though she'd lost the Old Man she'd held dear. The price of idolizing someone you don't really know, Naruto concluded.
Naruto had realized she didn't know Hiruzen Sarutobi at all. And after today? She didn't think she really wanted to. She went to sleep early that day, needing the extra sleep to heal her wounded heart. Tomorrow, she'd have to wake up and work hard, but tonight, she'd let herself be sad.
Naruto awoke in the morning zapped of any energy at all. It was unusual for her, needless to say. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, stretching lazily within her bed.
Thursday, meaning more training.
Nearly every day was training, Naruto realized.
She didn't waste time to mope, or soak in her despair. There was work to do, which meant no time for any of that.
Even if she desperately wanted to.
It felt as though a part of her was gone, snuffed out. That part, she realized, was the part of her heart where the childlike idolization for the Hokage sat. Sluggishly, she readied herself for the day, brushing her teeth, getting dressed, and leaving behind her apartment.
She stepped out into the morning air of Konoha, and for some reason, the day felt unusually dreary. Perhaps a reflection on her mood, she mused.
The sky was a pale blue, full of grayscale clouds being carried along by soft winds.
Thursday, she'd meet Anko at the dreaded Hokage's Tower.
And so she lumbered her way there, feeling emotionally exhausted. She carefully avoided looking up at the Hokage Monument the entire way, instead preferring to tune into the chakra of those around her. Most of those she passed happened to be citizens.
Their emotions were worn on their sleeves, so much easier to read than shinobi. It would've been harder to just ignore them, frankly.
Most of them seemed rather happy, or indifferent. Unlike when she was a public nuisance, none of them paid her any mind, as if she were invisible.
She let out a deep sigh. She'd almost forgotten how it felt to be invisible. Her old class-clown, attention-seeking, idiot persona had made it impossible to pretend she didn't exist.
But now, everyone could again. Naruto didn't miss how they greeted every passerby but her, giving warm smiles and kind "how-are-yous."
A simple courtesy Naruto never experienced with those civilian strangers.
"Naruto, you're late." A familiar voice called, causing her head to snap up to attention.
She rubbed the back of her neck, that all-too-familiar show of sheepishness. Anko eyed her dangerously, the girl was unusually solemn.
Mitarashi would almost say the look in the girl's eyes told of something bleak.
"C'mon, kiddo. We've gotta stop by the mission's room, then I can teach you something new. Something that'll get you ready to learn ninjutsu." She said, in her own attempt to be an encouraging sensei.
Naruto gave a crooked, close-lipped smile, so obviously fake that Anko couldn't help but grimace when the girl turned her head.
They walked into the building at a slow pace, entering the Mission's Room, where some chuunin manned the desk. Naruto recognized the tan-skinned chuunin sorting through missions, but was too far in her own world.
She didn't greet him until Anko brought her back to the present, with a bonk over the head.
"Naruto?" Iruka, the chuunin passing out missions asked. Her golden hair bounced up with her head, suddenly at attention. "Oh! Mornin' Iruka-sensei." She said, giving him a much more genuine smile. Hesitantly, Iruka looked up at her sensei, who shrugged.
"Good morning. Here for another D-rank, I take it?" He asked, sorting through the stacks of papers. Naruto scoffed.
"Course. Anko-sensei won't let me take any cool missions yet. We need three of those, by the way." The blonde told him, causing Iruka to tilt his head slightly. It was his first time manning the missions desk with Naruto as a genin, so he had no idea of their routine yet.
"Three D-ranks." She specified curtly.
His brown eyes sent a very pointed look to Anko, who was checking her nails lazily behind the blonde. She looked up when she felt two eyes burning into her, and quirked a brow.
"Mitarashi-san, you wouldn't be overworking Naruto here, right? She's only one, new genin. Giving her three-"
"It's fine, Iruka-sensei. These D-ranks aren't nothin compared to the training she puts me through." Naruto grimaced theatrically, remembering that hellish evasion training…
Anko's eyes narrowed, a smirk falling onto her features.
"Ah, but Naruto loves all our time together. Even my special training." Said the purplette, swinging an arm around the small girl.
Naruto and Iruka interpreted this statement drastically differently. Unsurprising, since they had drastically different impressions of the woman/
The blonde, who took it as a threat, visibly bristled.
Iruka, however, took it as an admission of the jounin molesting one of his favorite ex-students. He sputtered, before pulling Naruto away from the jounin, placing two hands firmly on her shoulder.
"Naruto-chan, if Anko is touching you inapp-" Before Naruto could hear the rest of what he was saying, he was interrupted by the wicked cackling of a purplette.
The wheezing sensei held three crumpling papers in her hand, clasped tightly as she howled. Turning on her heel, Naruto grabbed her sensei, and began her march towards the door.
"See ya, Iruka-sensei! Me and this dummy Anko have missions to complete, and training to do." She said, dragging the woman behind her.
Iruka exasperatedly sat back down at his desk, his head in his hands, ignoring the others in line.
After just one of the oh-so-grueling D-Ranks, Naruto was dragging her feet as if they were made of lead. Normally, the girl would rush through the chores, so they could start some training. But today, Naruto wasn't exactly acting like her usual unstoppable self.
"Stupid villagers needing their stupid groceries delivered to their stupid houses, 'ttbane.." The girl muttered, holding 6 plastic bags as she trudged along.
Anko, who had one paper-bag in hand, smiled at her student's dismay. She also D-ranks back when she was a fresh genin. Not that she'd done very many, though.
"If you hate it so much, just use those enormous reserves of yours to summon some clones to do it for you." The purplette suggested.
Naruto halted in her tracks, and palmed her face in agitation.
"Why didn't I think of that?! You're a friggin genius, dattebayo." Naruto said, raising her hands into a very familiar seal.
Summoning 12 clones from thin air, she began spitting commands like some sort of war general. She sent 6 of them to finish delivering the groceries for their second mission, and she sent the other 6 to start and finish the third.
Then, the trek towards Training Ground 44 began. "See, this is why you should think smart, not hard." Anko said, giving her student a light punch in the arm.
She hadn't mentioned it yet, but she had noticed how strangely her student was acting. Normally, Naruto would blaze through missions, then practically drag her to their training spot, and chatter the entire way.
It seemed Naruto preferred silence today, though.
"Smart is more for the Nara folks." Naruto remarked, a small tug at her lips forming a soft smile, just for a moment.
Outside of Training Ground 44…
Never let it be said that Anko Mitarashi was the most emotionally intelligent woman, because she would probably slap anyone who did. She knew how to exploit emotions in torture sessions, she knew how to read people, but comforting kids would never be her forte. No matter how close she was with said kid, it just wasn't in her nature.
But nonetheless, she tried.
"Naruto, what's up with you today, kid?" She asked suddenly, in a way that was admittedly brash. She watched the way her student's eyes widened with surprise, then narrowed as she stared at nothing in particular. Her shoulders tensed, and she straightened just slightly. One of her hands openly displayed nervousness, the girl was rubbing her thumb against the side of her index. Clearly a sign of subconscious self-soothing.
Anko didn't miss even one of those details, studying the girl next to her closely.
Naruto suddenly whirled around, "I'll let you know after we train today… It's just.." The blonde sighed, before sucking in a deep breath.
She trusted her teacher with everything. If it meant revealing that the Hokage had told an enormous, world-shattering lie to her, she would do it.
There was mutual respect, and strong trust between both of them. Naruto knew she could trust her teacher with this.
"It's something big, isn't it?" Anko finished, folding her arms over her chest.
"Yeah.. Yeah, it is." She said solemnly, just as they entered the training ground. Anko swallowed, giving a firm nod. Anko kept walking towards the gate to the forest, leaping up onto the fencing.
"Well, then let's get our training for today done quickly. I've got a chakra control exercise to teach you, so that way we can give you an elemental jutsu to use next week." Said the purplette, leaping over the side of the fence.
Naruto knew all about the horrendous, nightmarish creatures which lived in The Forest of Death. Centipedes and snakes hundreds of feet long, poisonous frogs, oversized wild boars, disease-filled insects crawling everywhere, carnivorous plants.. Not to forget those bird-eating spiders Anko-sensei had told her about.
The list went on, really. She had no idea as to why her sensei loved that Kami-forsaken place so much.
The young genin's skin turned pale, recoiling slightly. "Er.. Aren't only chuunin allowed in there?" She asked uneasily, pointing at the looming, ominous forest.
"Nope, there's a river in here, and we need water for this. Now c'mon, you aren't scared, are you?" She cooed mockingly, smirking down at her.
Naruto, who was very scared, quickly became indignant.
Clenching her fists, and running up the side of the fence, she leapt over.
"I'll show you! Naruto Uzumaki isn't scared of anything!" She declared, ignoring the way her skin crawled in the new environment. A sensation of dread washed over her, quashing any genuine confidence the girl had.
She put on her best poker-face, and followed behind her sensei as she led her towards the aforementioned river.
Thankfully, the purplette didn't notice how Naruto was looking over shoulder every second, otherwise she would've probably teased her about it for the rest of eternity.
The finally reached the wide river, with rushing slate-blue waters. An odd color for a Konoha river, but nearly all of the forest felt like another world. It all seemed darkened, or, even muted? The leaves on every tree had a dark green, a stark contrast from the vibrant leaves on the trees in the rest of Konoha. Even the soil beneath her feet seemed darker.
"Okay, brat. You've worked on the tree-walking, now it's time for water-walking! This is the final step before I teach you some jutsu. This is essentially the same as tree-walking. Focus your chakra to your feet, then walk. You know how it is."
The blonde scowled.
She knew, yes. But that wasn't exactly helpful advice. She stared as her sensei got comfortable in one of the high up tree branches, apparently ready to take a cat-nap while she worked her ass off.
"Who the hell can relax in a freaky place like this?" The blonde muttered to herself, turning and facing the river.
"What was that?!" Anko questioned, leaking out just a little bit of KI.
Naruto snapped her head back around to give a frightened glance at her sensei, ensuring there were no senbon aimed at her.
"Nothing! Jeez!" She retorted, looking back at the river.
It was going to be a long day, that was certain. Inhaling, the girl closed her eyes, letting her ability activate.
She could see her chakra beginning to swirl, as she pushed as much chakra to the soles of her feet as possible. Uneasily, the girl took a step out onto the water.
When she noticed her right foot was stable, she placed her left onto the water. And was promptly swept underwater.
Yes, it would be a long day indeed.
Plunged into the frigid water in an instant, water filled her lungs when she gasped in surprise. She thrashed in the water, pulling her head back up to the surface.
Naruto violently coughed out the water, heaving in deep breaths as she pulled herself onto the riverbed.
Agitatedly, she groaned loudly, flopping onto her back. She stared up at the gray clouds, hiding away the blue sky and casting shadows on the entire forest.
Dragging herself back onto her feet, she began to ready herself once more. She had training to do. One cannot simply lay on their ass and expect to get the rank of chuunin.
Besides, Naruto was quite eager to learn a cool jutsu.
It went on like that for a long while. Naruto gaining a moment of stability on the surface, then floundering, and falling into the river. It took two hours for her to finally realize she had to actively alter her chakra depending on the strength of the river rapids.
Soon after, she was able to walk across the water's surface, although only when she focused all her attention on it.
Anko, who'd begun watching, gave a proud smile. Teaching a kid the water-walking exercise on a river wasn't the greatest idea, considering how much extra focus it would take.
However, if Naruto could walk on rushing waters, she could walk on any other water as well. Needless to say, Anko was impressed. But now that they were finished, they had another matter to attend to.
She leapt from her tree, stepping out onto the water. She maintained her easygoing stance on the water, causing the struggling Naruto to grumble. Snatching the girl's collar, she dragged Naruto back to solid ground.
"Now then, what was up with you this morning?" Asked her sensei, still dragging the blonde along.
The girl was picking algae out of her damp hair with a disgusted expression when she replied, "We need to go somewhere private." She frowned, trying to squeeze the remaining river water out of her long pigtails.
"Although I don't think that's a problem here, I have just the place.." She said, causing Naruto to stare at her incredulously, still being dragged along by her teacher. She waved her arms frantically as her sensei leapt into the trees, maintaining a tight grasp on the collar of Naruto's top.
When they finally stopped, or rather, Anko stopped running with Naruto flying behind her like a ragdoll in the wind. "Gaahhh! Did you have to drag me?" Naruto questioned, huffing. The girl looked ahead, and her scowl turned into a deadpan expression.
She stared at a tree-house, made of light, unpolished wood, nestled within tree branches.
It was safely tucked away, hidden from the rest of the forest.
"Did.. You… Actually build.. A fucking tree-house in thE FOREST OF DEATH?!" Her voice started out even, but grew into a loud shout of disbelief.
Her expression was conflicting. Her jaw was agape, yet there was the faintest pull of a smile. Her brows were furrowed, but her eyes wide and sparkling.
Anko broke into a bright, toothy smile. "Yup! Now c'mon, or I'll leave you out here to get eaten."
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Naruto followed her teacher inside. The place was rather roomy, lacking in furniture. On the wall, a perfect Konoha symbol was made from senbon needles, looking like genuine art.
A picture was framed on the wall. Anko, with a sparkling new hitai-ate. Naruto smiled at the image, briefly wondering who took it.
Her sensei, noticing how the girl stared at the framed photo, and spoke. "Say, kid, we should probably get a photo like that. Hold on, I know I've got that old ass camera lying around here." She said, walking to the other end of the room.
Two sides of the room were separated by a half wall. One half vaguely resembled a kitchenette without appliances, while the other resembled a living room.
Well, if a few bean bags, some throw pillows, and a few empty dango boxes were what made a living room.
Naruto plopped down onto one of the bags, paying no mind to the thin layer of dust in the treehouse.
"Man, I haven't been in here since my chuunin days.." The purplette muttered, digging through a small crate.
Naruto's eyes wandered around the building, noticing how many of the items lying around were aged, and in relatively poor condition. The blonde, being a fellow poor orphan, could guess why. Most of the items had probably been found in the garbage, bought used, or on sale.
No shame in that, of course. The treehouse was still relatively comfortable, a spacious area where you could easily relax.
Well, if one didn't think about the horrendous creatures outside. Then, they could easily relax. Naruto noticed how the windows had random, thick fabrics nailed over them in an attempt to make curtains. There were stickers in some spots on the wooden walls, faded and yellowing.
"Aha! Found it!" Anko announced, pulling a cream-colored analog camera out of the crate. Naruto smiled at her, as she walked over with the camera in hand.
She dusted off the surface, and blew any dust off of the glass lens.
"Should have plenty of film left on it.." She sat down beside Naruto, turning the camera towards them. "Say cheese!" Anko directed.
The blonde and purplette both gave their best, million-dollar smiles. Anko had one hand atop the blonde's head, while Naruto had her hands up in two peace-signs.
Instantly, the camera printed out a rectangular photo. "One more!" Anko said, removing the photo.
This time, Naruto tilted her head to the side, and stuck her tongue out just slightly. Anko gave the girl devil horns with her hand behind her head, and instead opted for a smirk and a wink for this photo.
When the photo was printed, Naruto immediately snatched it away. "I wanna keep this one!" Anko chuckled lightheartedly, staring at the camera in her hands. She'd remembered how happy she was when Orochimaru gave it to her all those years ago. A gift, right after they'd taken a photo together upon her promotion to genin.
She'd long since burned the picture, but the camera remained. And what better time to pass it on to her own student.
"Here, Naruto. You can keep this. You better use it well." She said, sitting cross-legged in her bean-bag chair.
Naruto's eyes filled with stars, and she looked at the camera with a longing. "I can't take it, though. It's from your childhood, it should be like a keepsake." She said, her lips screwing to the side.
Anko blinked twice, owlishly. She nearly even recoiled. Naruto had always taken her gifts happily thus far, never questioning her motive or whether she should accept it.
It was quite unlike her.
"Nah, kid. I won't get much use out of it anymore. You should, though. You and your little friend will want pictures to look back on when you're all old and wrinkly." She said humorously, shoving the camera into Naruto's arms.
"Her name is Tenten, 'ttebayo. Fine, I'll take it. But only if you let me pay you back with dango next week." Naruto said with a soft smile.
Anko dramatically fell into her chain, clasping her hands and making an exaggerated love-struck expression.
"You really know how to speak my language, gaki!"
The blonde snorted loudly, covering her hand with her mouth.
They sat in silence for nearly five minutes, before Anko finally brought them back to what they were supposed to be talking about.
"So, are we going to talk about what's got you acting all weird?" She asked softly, not quite comfortable with the fact that she might have to be all soft and comforting. She'd probably make it awkward if she tried to use that method of comfort.
Naruto sighed.. "I really don't know what to say or how to say it, so i'm just gonna say what i'm thinkin', dattebayo."
Anko gave a slight nod, the cogs in her mind beginning to turn. Did someone break her student's heart? She'd skin someone if they dared to betray Naruto's trust.
Or maybe someone died? She had some sort of funky rash which she was too embarrassed to go to the doctor about? Or maybe-
"I think my dad might have been the Yondaime."
Welp, that was certainly not what she was expecting.
"What the hell do you mean?!" She all-but-screamed, her jaw practically falling to the floor.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welp, here's the edited version of this chapter.
Just to clear things up, if anyone was upset that Lee and Naruto had a draw, he still had on weights, and it was merely a friendly spar. Results would've been drastically different otherwise, but that's not too important.
What do you think about the content of this chapter? Let me know!
Thank you for reading, smooches, much love, all of it!~