CHAPTER FIVE 2/2

"..She'll show you what she's made of,
Yeah she's comin' for ya.."

Forest of Death, Anko's Treehouse...

By now, Anko was pacing around the treehouse nervously, while Naruto nestled into the beanbag even more.

She leaned against the birchwood walls, grabbing at her purple hair. "I cannot fucking believe this. I mean I can, I don't think you're a liar, Naruto! But holy shit!" She practically shouted, her eyes wide and shocked.

"I know, I know! But think about it, he has to be my father. I look just like him, and why would he pick some random orphan to contain the Kyuubi! C'mon Anko-sensei, you know he was considered a genius, why would a genius grab some random kid?!" She said, waving her arms.

"OOOOhhh my Kami. The fucking Yondaime's kid! Is my student!" She declared.

Naruto smiled uneasily, brushing through her hair with her fingers.

"Oh Kami. That's so fucked up! Naruto, I cannot believe this shit! The village- they just tossed aside the Yondaime's fucking kid! And the Hokage- He wasn't even going to tell you.." She spat suddenly, which made the smile drop from her face.

Naruto knew it was true, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"They- The only reason you ended up as my student, is because they didn't want to make room for you on another team.. Or even as a third member…" Anko muttered, rubbing her temples soothingly.

"They'd have cast me aside." Naruto said, a grimace across her face.

Two vibrant blue eyes met with two honey-brown ones, and they suddenly felt more bonded than before.

"Man, you really saved my ass when you stepped up to be my sensei." Naruto said, breaking their eye contact. She stared up at the ceiling, which was nothing more than beige wooden boards.
Sunlight somehow managed to shine through a small hole in the ceiling, a ray of moonlight poking through the room, which was illuminated by lanterns that Anko had lit. They'd been here for hours at this point, she'd swore she saw Anko go through a hundred moods when Naruto told her.

"Kid.. we've got a big secret in our hands now. And my question is, what the hell do we do with it?" Anko asked, sliding down the wall and onto the floor.

"What can we do?!" Naruto asked, her hand resting on her forehead. Her voice always had a slight rasp to it, a genuine hoarseness in it's melodic tone. But in that moment, her voice genuinely sounded like it would break.

"Well.. You could tell the Hokage you know-"

"Not happening. I don't even want to look at him right now." She spat, venom dripping from her words. Her sensei frowned, looking up at the ceiling as well.

"If you did.. You could at least demand answers. Demand your inheritance-"

Naruto interrupted, her eyes darting over to the jounin sitting against the wall.

"Inheritance?" Naruto questioned.

"Of course. The Yondaime had cash, plenty of it. There was even a big-ass mansion built for him when he became Hokage. I'm sure it's full of books, scrolls, and jutsu notes... Maybe there's even something there which could tell you about your mother." Anko explained, her face lacking any traces of mirth.

Her lips were in a slight down-turn, but not quite a frown.

Naruto gulped, blinking twice. If Anko was right, she could be rich. Loaded, even. She'd never have to do a stupid D-rank again. She could buy a fancy apartment, or even move into her father's home. She'd never have to feel ashamed of that decrepit old building again. No more listening to the mice scurry inside her walls.

But, that would only be if she could get the Old Man- The Hokage- to admit that Minato Namikaze was her father. And frankly, he seemed rather adamant when she first raised the issue..

Would he ever even tell her the truth? Had he planned to?

So many unanswered questions that she just couldn't answer. But that didn't mean that none of them could be answered.

What about her dad's friends? His sensei, his students? Maybe he had family?

She'd need to head back to the library, and search for anything related to Yondaime.

But what if the shinobi library had no answers for her?! She swallowed yet again. There was one place where everything related to him would likely be...

His house.

But how would she get in?

…

…..

'Oh sweet Kami I'm not genuinely considering breaking into his place, am I?!' She asked herself, despite knowing the answer.

But, it was one thing to break into a place to lay traps.

It is a completely different thing to break into your dead father's mansion, -to possibly steal some of his things- and to learn about him.

Considering she deserved all of those things as his daughter, surely it wouldn't be criminal? Certainly it wouldn't be morally reprehensible either, right?

Right. Totally. For sure.

Who was she kidding, there was no way in hell that she could get away with something like that. Breaking into his home would be a no-go.

Anko spoke up, in the softest, kindest voice she could muster. "I never knew your dad- Orochimaru hated him, so I did too. At least at the time.. But, he was a fuinjutsu master. Better than Jiraiya of the Sannin. People say he learned from another master, an Uzumaki. When I get you those textbooks, it'll be like you're following in your father's footsteps."

"Yeah, you're right.. Honestly, sensei, I just wanna know more about him- About my mom-" Her voice cracked, interrupting her tangent.

"She had to be an Uzumaki, right? Heh, maybe she was the one who taught my father everything he knew." Naruto mused quietly, unable to meet Anko's gaze.

"That's.. Not impossible- Actually, you might be right. As far as I remember, there weren't many Uzumaki around here… Or anywhere else, after the massacre in Uzu..." Anko informed.
Naruto already knew about what happened in Uzu, or Whirlpool. She'd already come to terms with it, so it didn't hurt as badly to know she probably didn't have any other family out there.
The blonde took in a long, steadying breath.

"I've gotta go to the library. Learn whatever I can. Maybe there are books about him, or the past Hokages. Minato Namikaze, there has to be a book on him." Naruto suddenly sat up straight, readying herself to stand.

Anko paused, sitting in silence for a few minutes.

When Naruto stood up, Anko grabbed her wrist, catching the blonde's attention.
The younger girl pulled Anko to her feet, and she dusted herself off..

"I'll.. I'll go to the Konoha Archives tomorrow. Most of the minor legal proceedings are recorded and kept there, like, all the civilian stuff. Marriage and divorce licenses are almost always in the public archives. If they're sealed, I can use my position as an official Shinobi of the Intelligence division to get into the area where they keep the more private stuff." The purplette explained rather poorly, unsurprised when her student interrupted.

"Konoha Archives?"

"Yes. The files, the documents that the Hokage and Fire Daimyo sign, regarding Konoha, are kept. At least the ones which don't have important matters, which mostly pertain to the Shinobi world. Like, I'll find death certificates, and files on minor criminal cases. Like convictions of shoplifters, those records are public.. But not on stuff like the Uchiha Massacre, or the Kyuubi attack. Or even declared missing nin, or traitors. The records for those cases are kept within the Hokage's Towers, for extra safe-keeping." She explained, her eyebrow twitching when Naruto's eyes widened just a bit. She knew that meant the little blonde had even more questions.

"Okay, but.. Why are you doing that for me? Wouldn't it take ages to sort through all those files to find marriage records?" Naruto asked, her head tilting ever-so-slightly.

Anko smiled at her kindly. That wasn't at all the kind of question she'd expected. She'd thought her reasoning was rather obvious.

"Well, marriage and divorce licenses have their own section.. And they're alphabetically ordered, so it shouldn't take more than a day. If I'm lucky, I'll find it quick. But, think of it as a favor. From one orphan to another." She explained.

Naruto's big blue eyes grew visibly teary, and Anko didn't even have the time to try and console her. The small blonde practically leapt into her arms, engulfing her in a loving hug.
Anko froze, forgetting to even blink for a moment. Naruto's voice was nearly trembling, but full of unabashed joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now we'll be able to find out who my mother is, dattebayo!" She said, squeezing her sensei tightly.

The taller woman nearly melted, returning the embrace by wrapping her own arms around Naruto. She tousled the girl's hair with one hand, the other resting on Naruto's upper back.

"No worries, kiddo. Like I said, from one orphan to another."

"You're the absolute greatest, Anko-nee! Seriously, 'ttebayo!" Naruto declared, sniffling as she wiped at her teary eyes.
Anko pretended not to notice the wet-spots on the back of her jacket, caused by the tears which had already fallen. When they separated, Anko's heart suddenly felt warmer, happier, just downright lighter than it had in ages.

She did notice the honorific that Naruto tagged onto her name, and she would not ignore that. She couldn't, not when it made her feel all warm and fuzzy. She'd never been a big sister before, not to anyone.

"Damn right I am, imouto!" She agreed, snorting at Naruto's slightly flustered cheeks. The girl's smile was so big, it practically threatened to rip her face in half

.

"It'll be midnight before long, Naruto. We oughta get out of here." Anko said, disrupting the joy which settled in the room. "Ah, right! Good thing the shinobi library is open 24 hours, otherwise, I'd have to do all my research tomorrow morning." Naruto remembered suddenly.

By then, the two had left the small treehouse, and Anko had pulled the door shut.

As they began to leap through the trees, heading back towards Konoha, Anko spoke.

"Oh, by the way kid, Ibiki wants you to do your own interrogation this week. He said you handled watching those last ones pretty well, so you'll be doing it yourself this time. Be there by three tomorrow. I might not be there, so just do as Ibiki says." Anko informed her, just as they left the Forest of Death.

Noticing how her student seemed to suddenly pale, the purplette chuckled. "Relax, kid. Interrogations and torture are two different things. Interrogations on their own aren't gorey or anything. Torture is what happens to those who refuse to talk during an interrogation. And you aren't ready for people like that yet anyway. You'll probably just have to quiz some drug dealer." Despite how brash Anko put it, her words actually soothed Naruto.

She was glad to not be doing any torturing yet. When she was doing chores in the basement, she'd heard those screams in torture chambers. She'd seen blood-soaked T members when she went down there to run errands. She hadn't had the misfortune of actually witnessing a torture session yet, but Naruto knew she would probably get some mental scars from it.

She also knew that, it was inevitable, at least as Anko's student.

"See ya, Naruto. Stay safe, I-" Anko trailed off, incapable of finishing her sentence.

Naruto, who'd just snapped back to reality, grinned. It was a uniquely devious sort of grin, a smile that made her eyes look fox-like.

"Awhh, were you gonna say you loooved me?" Naruto questioned teasingly, in a sing-song voice.

"No! Gah, little brat!" Anko practically squeaked the last bit, unusually flustered. Apparently, telling her surrogate little sister she loved her, would just be too much. In fact, it seemed that even the suggestion that she would have sent her brain haywire.

"But I'm your favorite little brat!" Naruto chirped, getting a loud huff from her teacher.

Anko not-so-subtly stomped one of her feet, folding her arms as she did.

"Yeah, yeah." Anko had tried to shoot her a glare, but couldn't even make a half-hearted one. Naruto guffawed, before taking two big steps back. For her own safety, really.

Anko might be her big-sister figure, but she was still crazy and sadistic. And violent when provoked.

And when Naruto said, "Awh, I love you too Nee-chan!" It was definitely intended to provoke.

But it was also completely true, even if Naruto ran away giggling. Three senbon threw overhead, but Naruto paid them no mind.

She did have a place to be, after all.

Konoha's Shinobi Library

Seeing the hitai-ate on Naruto's neck, the shinobi guard behind the desk gave Naruto a nod.

That meant she was confirmed to continue, so she walked past the drowsy librarian beside him and began her search. She headed straight to section on the village history, perusing the books. There was no way she wouldn't be here all night.

And so she began pulling books from the shelves, stacking them in her arms.

She had three, dusty books by the time she sat down.

"The Life A Kage: By Hashirama Senju."

"The Legend of Konoha's Yellow Flash."

"The Third Great Shinobi War: A Comprehensive Retelling from a Konohagakure Nin."

She'd taken the first book out of mere curiosity, the second and third because they had to have some information on her father. The third could possibly supply her with additional information as well, which would be useful.

Naruto started with the second book, focusing to the best of her ability. The next few hours would be grueling for her poor brain, but it didn't matter.

She'd flipped through the pages, soaking up the information with fervor. She halted suddenly, her eyes going over the page she read several times.

It described how Minato Namikaze had three students, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and Kakashi Hatake. Apparently, the older two of his genin team died during the war.
The other, Kakashi Hatake, was considered a prodigy. He became a jounin immediately before the mission that killed his teammate.
Naruto hadn't considered it before, but her and her generation of nin had it easy in Konoha now. Being a shinobi was never easy, that she knew.. But to grow up in a war-time, would be infinitely worse.

Suddenly, it felt like the gravity of world-peace had dawned on her.

She tried to shake off her feelings, and continued reading.

What she read next left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Minato Namikaze was known to have an incredibly close relationship with his genin, along with many others, an uncommon occurrence in shinobi. His care for those around him was a secret to no one, despite his numerous enemies. Many of the Yondaime's friends noted that Kakashi Hatake was like a son to him, one of his most precious people."

First of all, why the hell should openly caring about your friends be uncommon? Yeesh, this author must be one of those civilians who can hardly understand that shinobi are people. And second, why was she suddenly so jealous of this Kakashi fellow?

Third, why was there no mention of any sort of girlfriend or wife in here?

Naruto really, really, hoped her dad hadn't just found some Uzumaki to have a one-night stand with. That would imply she was not only unwanted, but also nothing more than a convenience to use when Kyuubi attacked.

Regardless, she'd have some sort of answer to that when Anko scoured for marriage records. If there were none, she'd probably have to live with a plethora of unanswered questions. It's not like she could ask her father's one living student about him, the guy probably didn't know she existed. Not only that, but he'd probably never believe she was Minato's kid.

Her face scrunched, a sour expression forming at that thought.

If there were marriage records.. That would imply, no, assure.. That her father's student knew of her. How could one simply hide a pregnant wife for nine months? This Hatake guy would surely know that Minato had a child.

He was probably just another one of those people who thought she was the Kyuubi reborn.

She scowled, knowing she was only making assumptions at this point. On the brighter side, if there was a marriage record, then it opened many doors for her. She could explore her mother's side, perhaps answer questions through learning of her mother.

The Hokage had told Naruto when she was just a little thing, that both of her parents were dead. But that didn't mean she couldn't learn more about both of them. Even if old man Hiruzen didn't want to tell her, she'd find a way to learn about them.

Of course, that would take time.

"And I've got better things to do than waste my time chasing ghosts…" Naruto mumbled, finishing her train of thoughts. Her blue eyes lacked their typical vibrancy, their usual twinkle had dimmed once more.

Even now that Naruto was learning to school her features, to not show her emotions to the world, her eyes would always show just how she was feeling.

And tonight, Naruto Uzumaki felt particularly solemn, in a very numb sort of way.

Her days felt quite tumultuous, bouncing from fun with Anko and Tenten to the resigned sense of gloom whenever she was alone like this.

Naruto knew why she'd spent all that time playing a fool, never using her head. Because when she takes the time to think about the world around her, what led her here, the past, the what-ifs..

All of it just left her down-in-the-dumps.

Her mind was hyperactive, it jumped from one thing to another, from an assumption to a conclusion. It made for quite the whirlpool, spiralling her into progressively more melancholy thoughts until she just felt.. Well, terrible.
It was part of the reason she trained so hard, she worked on a schedule and rarely took breaks. It left no time to question herself, it kept her Flames of Youth burning, as Guy would put it.

It left no time to spiral into a downtrodden mood, where she'd feel like doing nothing at all.

Closing the book she'd now finished, she began the next.

A long night ahead, indeed.

The rest of her night, and Friday after, went on without a hitch. She'd read her books, then finished her errands at T , and finished her first interrogation.

All of course, in a sluggish, zombie-like state due to lack of sleep.
Anko had still yet to bring back any findings regarding marriage licenses and whatnot, but Naruto had been too busy that Friday to notice.
Although her first interrogation had been easy, she'd underestimated how long those things take.

The guy was nothing more than a petty criminal, but he'd wasted a lot of her time with lies and attempts at manipulation. Despite that Ibiki had told her she could not use violent measures during a normal interrogation, Naruto had whipped out a kunai after his 5th dramatic retelling of his life story.

He'd gone through that very embellished tale, all leading up to how he'd been forced into the life of crime, and the hinted conclusion that he wasn't to blame and that she should just let him go.

With a not-so-subtly twitching eye, she'd drawn her kunai, and the man squealed like a pig. Literally. Then, after wetting his pants, he'd confessed everything, and Naruto was allowed to leave.

Although she hadn't found her first interrogation very enjoyable, the others at T thought that it was more entertaining than daytime television.

Afterwards, Ibiki had pulled her aside to teach her something new.

They were standing in the basement, and Ibiki opened a silver briefcase.

Within it, there were several vials, and three syringes, large needles attached.

"Do you know why I've shown you this?" He asked, taking a long drag from a cigar hanging loosely from his lips.

Naruto studied the contents of the briefcase, trying to recognize any of the liquids in the vials, or find some purpose in them.

She cleared her throat, and fished her mind for an answer. "Er, I'm guessing you're gonna teach me about poisons and stuff?"

Ibiki nodded in approval, "Close enough. You won't be learning poisons until you're an official member of T . But for now, I'm just going to show you the essentials. This morning, you saw me use this on a Yakuza. What do you think it is?" Ibiki asked, tapping the vial with a bronze, translucent fluid within it.
Naruto furrowed her brows, recollecting what Ibiki had shown her earlier that day.

Right before she'd performed her own interrogation, Ibiki had her sit in on one.

The yakuza he was interrogating hadn't budged, only making a peep to laugh at Ibiki.

She'd honestly thought that he'd be dragged to a torture chamber, but Ibiki had pulled out a metal tray instead.

He'd mentioned how the mysterious copper-colored liquid could get him to start talking. His words were, "This will loosen you up." She'd watched Ibiki take out one of those syringes, and poke the man in his upper arm.

After that, the man's word became slurred, and Ibiki had gotten some information. After it had been discerned that they'd need to use more.. Draconian methods.. They'd dragged him off.

She was certain that Hayate had called the drug by some nickname when he was talking to Inoichi...

"Uh, it's truth serum, right?" She blurted out, thankful she'd listened in on their conversation.

Ibiki's lips curved upwards, a slight smile that she'd rarely seen on him.

"Correct. Thiopental Sodium, also known as one of many truth serums. It's what we call a barbiturate, a drug which depresses the central nervous system. Thiopental Sodium is used for a lot of things, but Shinobi primarily use it to 'loosen up' criminals."

Naruto nodded, writing down what he said in a small notepad. After her first few weeks in T , she'd started carrying one around with her, much like her sensei. When useful information was given to her, she always took notes. She didn't trust her memory enough not to.

"Here at T , we use this drug the most. Though, we have a few Hunter-nin who use it as well, along with some ANBU."

Bashfully, Naruto scratched her cheek. "Er, Ibiki-sensei? What's a Hunter-nin?"

Ibiki sighed, before taking another hit from his cigar.

"Hunter-nin are ninja specially trained to track down missing nin, sometimes interrogate, and always kill. They're efficient killers, they take out the target and destroy the body almost immediately. Unless, they've got interrogating to do. We don't have many here, I think we only have four actual Hunter-nin in Konoha, which isn't even enough for a full squad. In Kirigakure, they have the largest Hunter-nin force in all the Five Great Hidden Villages." He explained, watching as Naruto eagerly scrawled down notes.

Tapping her chin with her pen, Naruto spoke yet again. "So, if they do interrogations, did they work here at some point?"

Although the blonde wasn't sure if she could be a Hunter-nin, she was at least curious.
Truthfully, Naruto was still looking for a specific career path as a shinobi.

She'd considered aiming for ANBU, but that would mean throwing away her Torture and Interrogation apprenticeship. Which she absolutely wasn't willing to do, despite that the job wasn't a pretty one.

"For Konoha Hunter-nin, yes. That's part of the reason we have so few of them. To be a Hunter-nin, you have to have some way to sense and track the enemy. Along with T experience, and a great knowledge of the human body."

Naruto made sure to write that down. Becoming a Hunter-nin, that could be a good path to take on her road to Hokage.

"Anyway, back to the lesson at hand. These other two are also important. This one," He paused, to tap on another vial.

"Suxamethonium chloride. Causes temporary paralysis, used when your subject gets too rowdy. It's a neuromuscular blocking agent. You'll use this one from time to time, but not too often."

Naruto nodded, despite not knowing what a few of those words even meant. She'd written down a reminder to read a book on human anatomy soon, because otherwise she'd probably be lost on all these technical terms.

And then, Ibiki continued. His gravelly voice seemed to darken, a stern tone overtaking his words.

"This.. is a very specific cocktail of drugs used for lethal injection." He paused, noticing the way that the blonde's shoulders hitched.

"It's rare that you'll ever use this. Still, as a member of Torture and Interrogation, it's unavoidable. You'll be given criminals who are sentenced to death. Sometimes, it's your job to be the executioner. It's no different than killing a ninja while out in the field. Say, for instance, Itachi Uchiha reappeared in this village.."

He paused yet again, allowing his words to sink in.

Naruto took in a deep breath through her nose, prepared to listen. She knew that killing was inevitable as a shinobi, but that didn't make the reality of it any less harsh.

"Itachi Uchiha is wanted on charges of treason, genocide, and the like. If he were caught here, he'd be captured and sentenced to death. Itachi would then be handed over to the Intelligence division, where several things could happen. But they all end with one of us executing him." Ibiki explained, putting his cigar out in a ceramic ashtray.

"We'd do that, with this. In this vial, we have Pancuronium bromide, Potassium Chloride, and midazolam. Together, these drugs paralyze, sedate, and stop the heart completely. It's relatively quick, and they're usually knocked out before they die. Remember, this is reserved to the worst of the worst. You likely won't use it during one of your usual interrogations."

Naruto released a sigh of relief, one she didn't know she was holding in.

"Each of these are injected intramuscularly, which makes them absorb into the body quickly. The second one can be used intravenously, but it's easier to administer them through the upper arm. Dosage is important too, considering that you don't want to accidentally murder some random goon.. " Ibiki scratched his head absently, his sharp eyes still on the young genin.

He was studying her reaction, looking for any signs that she couldn't handle the job. Thus far, he'd detected nothing that would warrant her being removed from the department.

Normally, genin like her would have fainted at the thought of torture and execution. Aside from general signs of nervousness, the girl seemed fine.

Ibiki allowed another slight grin to appear. This kid was a tough one to crack, apparently.

Maybe she would earn her place there after all.

"If you've got all that, we're done for to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the basement door flew open.

Naruto, who'd been so enraptured in her own thoughts, fell out of the chair she was sitting in.

"Naruto! Come here, I found what we were looking for." A familiar voice called, attracting her and Ibiki's attention.

The blonde clambered back to her feet, dusting herself off. "Later, Ibiki-sensei!"

The girl practically bolted towards the purplette standing in the doorway. She followed Anko back upstairs, where they spoke in hushed voices.

"Looks like your dad wasn't a player after all. I had to make a copy of the original, but it has your mom's name in it." Naruto practically snatched the envelope, opening it immediately.
Her eyes read the pages, spotting the name she was searching for. Kushina Uzumaki.

Kushina Uzumaki. Her mother.

She almost wanted to cry. She didn't even know why she wanted to cry, really.

The Sandaime had told her since she was a child that her parents were dead. But now, she had their names.

It felt like she at least knew them. Something of them, at least. Before, she hadn't the least idea of who they are.

But now she had their names, and that made it..

Real. It made it real.

She returned the paper to its envelope, hugging it to her chest with one arm. With her free arm, she embraced her teacher.

"Thank you, Anko-nee." She said, as her teacher patted her back.

She didn't know what she could do with this information yet, but she was thankful nonetheless. She'd been given the chance to discover her ancestry, and that was gold to her.

Tenten's House, the next day..

"Buunnny-chan!" Naruto called, throwing open the door to the store. Tenten's dad, who'd long ago grown used to the boisterous blonde, only chuckled.

"She's in the kitchen, kid." The brunet man with the gravelly voice informed her, getting a small smile and a nod as a reply.

Naruto practically ran towards where she knew Tenten's kitchen was, hastily kicking off her sandals before entering the section of the building which Tenten's family lived in.

"Naru?" A familiar high-pitched voice called, right as Naruto turned the corner.

The brunette was making tea when the shorter girl sauntered into the steam-filled kitchen.

"I knew I heard you coming!" She said cheerfully, taking two cups out of her cabinet.

She sat them down onto her granite countertops, moving to pour tea from the bronze kettle soon after.

"Yup! So I take it we'll be training after you've had your daily dose of chamomile tea?" Naruto said, as Tenten passed her a cup.

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Yanno, you've got weird taste, Bunny. Most people prefer ginseng, or sencha, or just any kind of ryokucha.. It's unique, 'ttbayo."
Naruto had meant the comment lightheartedly, watching the way the golden tea steamed from her cup.
She looked up just in time to see her friend shuffle uncomfortably, her posture notably tense.

"Chamomile, it's.. Special to me."

Naruto didn't need her sensory ability to tell her that, whatever made this kind of tea so special, her friend wasn't ready to talk about it.

Tenten took in a deep breath, steadying herself. "Anywho, what's your sensei been showing you this week? Guy-sensei has been focusing on how we can predict our opponents moves in close combat, but I'm a long-range offensive fighter, so I haven't been fully devoting myself." The girl shifted the subject amicably, although there was a slight undertone of discomfort.

With a sheepish smile, Naruto decided not to prod.

"Oh yeah? If you learned to fight better close combat, you'd be way more versatile. That's a plus. Anko's been trying to get my chakra control up to par, so I can learn some ninjutsu." The girl tried to keep the excitement out of her voice at the prospect of some fancy ninjutsu to blow people away with.

Literally.

Tenten smiled softly, giving a sigh. "I wish Guy would teach us ninjutsu. But, Neji is too focused on his clan techniques, and Lee can't even use chakra like that."

"Hey! If you wanna learn, you should ask him!" Naruto suggested cheerfully. Her eyes wandered her friend's kitchen, observing the dark oak cabinets and drawers.

"Wouldn't that be insensitive, since Lee can't even use chakra? Maybe you're right, though. I'll pay more attention to his close-combat lessons." Tenten relented, looking wistfully to the side. It was another attempt to change the subject, but this time, Naruto persisted.

"Lee wouldn't care at all! I can tell you want to learn. If I knew any cool ones, I'd show you myself, but I only know one, really.." Naruto said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

Tenten's chocolate brown eyes looked up at her, her thick eyelashes batting as she blinked owlishly.

She was suddenly staring at Naruto, doing her best rendition of puppy-eyes. Gone was her attempt to appear nonchalant about wanting to learn ninjutsu. Instead, her eyes were practically begging.

"Can you show me it? Pretty please?" She all but pleaded.

Well, that was certainly a 180.

Naruto's face formed an odd, uneasy expression. "Well, it's not really cool or anything, and it strains most ninja. It's real chakra intensive, Bunny-chan.. I actually heard that it's in the forbidden scroll because of the toll it can take on your reserves."

"What is it?" Tenten asked curiously, taking a sip of her tea.

"The Shadow Clone technique. The solid one, actually. I had to learn it because I couldn't use the normal ones. They're pretty useful, but…" Naruto trailed off, sighing.

"That'd be so helpful! I could use clones to train with! And chores, and I could leave clones to run the shop, so we could hang out more! C'mon Naru, you gotta teach me!" She had her hands clasped together, her steaming tea forgotten in favor of begging.

Naruto scowled, crossing her arms. She met eyes with Tenten for a moment.

The blonde visibly deflated, finally relenting.

"Okay, okay! I'll show you, but you gotta be careful, or you could get chakra exhaustion! You'll probably only be able to summon two a day, at most!"

Her usually childish tone was suddenly comically stern, not suiting her at all.

Tenten smiled brightly, her joy quickly infecting Naruto.
The blonde fought off a smile, trying to retain her stern expression. Raising her hands in one hand sign, she focused her chakra began culminating it outside the body.
She felt the familiar phrase on her tongue, saying it as she brought her clones into existence.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!" She declared, calling forth two clones of her own.

Tenten watched as she did, closing her eyes tight with her hands held in the particular hand sign. Naruto also closed her eyes, activating her sensory ability with the Rat hand sign.
She watched the blue silhouette of Tenten condense, then split. About one third of her chakra separated from the body, before forming an exact copy of Tenten's chakra silhouette.

Though, it was significantly weaker.

Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, Naruto noticing that a bead of sweat had gathered on her friend's brow.

The girl was staring at her clone with chocolate brown eyes impossibly wide.

"Naruto clone, meet Tenten clone?" The actual Naruto said, as the three clones looked at eachother.

"Yo! How's it hangin, Bunny-clone?!" One of the Narutos asked, pointing two finger guns at the bun-headed clone.

"Er, pretty good!" The clone replied.

Tenten's jaw dropped, and Naruto just watched with a deadpan expression.

"Why are my clones always so.. weird." Naruto grumbled, while Tenten's slack jawed awe turned to pure wonder.

"This is so cool! I can do so much with this, Naru! You're the best! She said, wrapping her friend in a hug.

Naruto's face turned red as the brunette squeezed her tight. Not out of embarrassment, but because the older girl was cutting off her airway.

"Can't.. Breathe..." The blonde ground out, patting her friend's back nonetheless.

Tenten released her immediately, sitting back down again. She smiled softly, "Hehe, oops, sorry about that.."

Naruto inhaled loudly, greedily sucking in depths.

"Er, maybe there's something I could teach you in return? I could show you how to use knives, or something.." The brunette tapped her chin with her index finger, mulling over options.

Suddenly, Naruto turned her full attention to her. "Oh! A while ago you made that storage scroll to put your weapons in, could you show me that?" Naruto asked, suddenly very excited.

"Of course! I'll go get my spare scrolls and ink, then I can show you it. Keep in mind, even though it's basic, fuinjutsu is hard for most people to learn." The brunette said, finishing her tea.

The taller girl walked off, leaving Naruto alone in the kitchen.

The younger girl grinned, excited to learn something fuinjutsu used.

Her sensei was still working on getting fuinjutsu textbooks. The blonde already looked all over the library for it, yet there was nothing even related to the sealing arts.

Naruto finished off her own tea, before standing up to wash the cups. Cleaning the dishes was the least Naruto could do for Tenten's constant hospitality. She returned the now clean cups to the cabinet, just as Tenten came back.

"Okay, let's get started!" Said the brunette, nodding her heads towards the doorway.

Knowingly, Naruto followed as Tenten led her outside to the porch.

On the parchment, the brunette began. She arranged five arrows in a circular formation, leaving the circle blank.
As Tenten explained, the circle was where objects would be stored. Apparently, this was the most basic form of storage scroll. Tenten then wrote several kanji on each side, labeling it as a "stasis storage seal."

Between the arrows, Tenten connected them with identical, squiggle-like lines.

"The arrows serve to direct the chakra I'll push into it, while those squiggles confine the chakra. If I used straight lines to connect them, the chakra would be able to flow in and out. Which would make it useless, because storage seals have to be stable. These lines allow my chakra to enter, but not leave."

Oddly enough, Naruto understood everything Tenten explained before and after that with ease. It was almost shocking to her, she'd had to push herself to learn most things, and it was usually excruciating.

Either Tenten was an excellent teacher, or Naruto was somehow a prodigy at seals.

Later, she would discover that truly it was the Uzumaki in her.

"Now keep in mind, fuinjutsu gets way more complicated than this as it goes on.. But, basically all seals are composed of some circle, squiggly lines, and kanji. It's the fundamentals!" Tenten said light-heartedly, chuckling as her friend mimicked her seal on a scroll of her own.

And two weeks later, Naruto would also discover that her friend's summary of fuinjutsu was completely deceitful. Those were definitely not the fundamentals, although it was certainly more complicated.

It should be criminal to summarize a complex art into such basic terms!

Or at least, that's what Naruto would think. Even so, she wouldn't be deterred.

AUTHORS NOTE:

This chapter has been edited, but i'm leaving the old A/N.*

Hellooo! So here's part two to chapter five. I have no idea why it took me as long as it did lol. There might be some very slight spoilers in this note, but nothing too noteworthy.

I've been plotting out the future of this story, stuff after the chuunin exams and such.

Btw, in case you folks haven't noticed yet, I change and add a lot to canon in this story. Including the stuff about hunter-nin, and seals. Canon information regarding both of those things is noticeably abysmal. In canon, there isn't a hunter nin squad in Konoha. Or if there is, it isn't mentioned. However, I decided to make it a thing with my magic author powers. I also make up stuff for T and I, and other stuff. If that bothers you, you really shouldn't read this lolol

(Oh yeah, and that mention of hunter-nins isn't just a one-time thing, ;) )

Also, I HEAR YOU GUYS, YOU WANT SHIKANARU. That's enough votes please, if y'all send anymore of those I might implode. Genuine romance comes in much later, as this is not a romance-focused story. (ShikaNaru will happen, eventually) HOOOOWEVER, I'll probably have her engage in a one-time romance at some point before then. It would be short and would be over in a matter of chapters.

This isn't a harem fic at all, (I hate those,) but I like it when a character has multiple love interests, before ending up with one. And it's also kinda funny to write dudes flirting w Naru in my personal opinion. I have a certain interaction planned which makes me cackle just thinking about it.

However, I do absolutely love reviews, so don't be shy. Seriously, let me know what you think!

I'd specifically like to think KageKitsune, Les, Amaterasu53 for your reviews! They're especially lovely!

Also, to Yoru, I love you too! Mwah!

OKAY BYE I'VE GOT CHAPTER SIX TO WRITE WOoOoOo