-6-
The Slippery Climb
Enjoy!
"You're getting quite adept at this game, Naruto."
A crowning frown was plastered on the blonde's face, and he shrugged. "I don't feel like I'm getting any better."
The Third Hokage, wizened as his face was, let out a hearty chuckle and moved another piece on the board. His hands rested calmly on his knees, inspecting the mere Genin in front of him.
Naruto peered down at the board, the pieces dancing in front of his vision, attempting to calculate a move that wouldn't result in instant defeat, but the chances were slim to none. With a shrug, he finally decided to move his piece.
"He's shrugging a lot." Hiruzen mentally tallied.
"Not a terrible choice, however, you had two possible moves that would have given you a much higher chance of victory."
Yawning to himself more than anyone, the Third Hokage struck, moving his next board piece and eyeing Naruto critically. Returning to his resting position, he raised his eyebrow.
Once again, the blonde Genin began an attempt to figure out how to survive his next play. It was looking less likely the more and more he moved his pieces. Internally monologuing any attack or defense patterns, it seemed hopeless.
"I forfeit."
Maybe it was for the best that he gives up now, and plan for his next match.
"Hmm? Reason?"
Naruto thought about it for a moment. Whenever they played, the Third always hammered into his head that these, while mere board games at the current moment, always related back to the field and how it could mean the difference between everyone surviving an encounter… only a few surviving… only one surviving… and the unfortunate reality many shinobi faced in combat.
Naruto idly cleared the board to set up for a rematch, which would be the third of the session. He horribly lost the first, and somewhat adapted to the second.
"Well, you had me dead to rights, and if this was a real fighting situation, my team and I could die and the mission a failure. As shinobi, we can always regroup, ask for assistance, or even fail the mission, at least in most circumstances. But you can't trade away lives. At least, that's my thinking right now. I could have pushed it and maybe won this game, but in most situations, I wouldn't know the intel or data any enemies have. In essence, it was better for me to forfeit and fall back."
The Third, contemplating this information, took a long drag from his bronze pipe. The silence was almost too much for Naruto to bear, he had to admit, but in the end, his leader broke it.
"I'm very impressed with your reasoning, Naruto. It's very mature for someone of your age and experience. What made you think of that reasoning?"
Naruto tapped his chin in thought, and finally, he answered.
"It's the right thing to do. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura, they are all important to me, and I want them all to survive."
It was awkward phrasing, but it showed he had attachments.
He missed the knowing twinkle in the Third's eye, and he have a hearty, full belly laugh. "Yes, my boy, I do believe you are right. Now, up for another game?"
Naruto shrugged. "Prepare yourself."
"Alright, my cute little Genin, I think it's about time we try and nab ourselves a C-Rank mission, yes?
Sasuke peered curiously. "You said a few days ago we already had an escort to Takigakure secured, yes?"
Kakashi, if he was surprised at his words being thrown back at him, didn't show it, merely opting to shrug. "Ah, yes, I do believe I said that." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"So, with that in mind, children, pack a small bag of essentials, we head out tomorrow at 8 AM. The mission shouldn't take long, about a week's time, and we should head back, no issue. Any questions?"
Sakura is the first to respond. "Sensei, should be expect live combat?"
At this, both Naruto and Sasuke glanced up, curious as well. They hadn't been able to experience live combat yet, and were hoping that in any case, they could flex their training to their sensei.
Sakura, however, was asking because if she was being honest, the prospect of live combat scared the shit out of her. The idea of the afterlife mortally terrified her, and hopefully, if push came to shove, no lives would be lost.
"Hmm, are my Genin scared, perhaps? I wouldn't be worried, in all honesty. This should be a simple mission, no combat, or at the most, a minimal encounter. But fear not, we shall train until we drop to compensate!"
Two of the Genin groaned, and the third merely scowled and attempted to burn a hole into the ground. Kakashi gave a sly grin under his mask, and motioned for his team to come over. "Now, before our mission tomorrow, I want to start on a new practice. Since all three of you have mastered tree walking and have begun practicing water movement, we are going to begin the next step in chakra lessons."
He dug out three slim, rather shrewd pieces of seemingly blank white paper and gave one to the each of them. All three looked down and glanced at each other.
"These little slips are used to determine your natural chakra affinity. Now, as a clarification, you can still learn other chakra natures, but every shinobi is born with one of the five natures ingrained into their brains, essentially."
Kakashi was cut off by the pink-haired cough. "Sensei, we learned that in the academy, we just didn't know how to find out our natures."
Nodding to himself more than anyone, he gave them his signature eye smile and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, with that out of the way, if everyone could funnel some chakra into the paper, we can begin."
Stepping up, Sakura began the process, frowning in concentration. She began slowly, and the paper started to slightly wilt under the pressure of her chakra. Eventually, the slip of paper begins to crumble and turn into dust. She glanced curiously down.
"An Earth release. Great defensive capabilities. Naruto?"
He twirled the piece of paper and began the process as well, with the paper eventually splitting straight down the middle, leaving two separate pieces in his hands.
"Air, although I think I already knew this from the Genin test. Sasuke?"
Internally, however, Sasuke was seething at the implications of what his sensei just said. The implication being that Naruto knew- and utilized- at minimum a nature jutsu in live combat against their sensei.
No matter how much he wanted to get the upper hand on his blonded-rival, it just wasn't working no matter what. It was honestly quite, in lack of better terms, bullshit.
Sasuke huffed and channeled his potent chakra into the paper.
"A Fire release, as expected from one of the prodigious Uchiha."
Kakashi closed his reading material and rolled his shoulders, releasing some of his muscle tension. "For the record, I'm a Lightning release myself."
Naruto scratched his nose in relief of an itch and looked over to their sensei. "What if someone has two natural affinities, is that possible?" He said after a moment of critical thinking.
Their sensei shrugged after a moment. "It would simply mean, in all likelihood, they have a Kekkei Genkai. I believe there have been less than four recorded instances in the history of not just Konoha, but the five Great Nations, that an individual has been born with two or more natural affinities and not been blessed with a nature Kekkei Genkai."
The three Genin took a few minutes to contemplate the information given to them, then thoughts of their current leader, and past leaders, began to circulate their minds. Sakura was the first to question.
"But sensei, if that's true, then how are some of our past shinobi so adept at multiple releases at once? Lord Third, along with the First and the Second, are considered a master at all five, and Lord Fourth was a master of Air first, followed by Lightning and Fire. Were they born with all of those?"
Not giving a physical answer, at least on his face, Kakashi chuckled. "I thought they taught you this at the Academy?"
Sakura had the decency to blush. With that piece being said, Sasuke raised his hand, drawing all their attention to him.
"Whatever chakra nature you are born with simply means that's what you naturally learn the best, correct? My father, for example, was a Fire master but also was quite proficient in the Lightning release. Am I wrong, Kakashi?"
"No, not at all, in fact that's the simplest way one can explain chakra natures. To add onto that, any shinobi can learn all five nature releases, but it would take immense dedication and decades of perfected concentration and will power. There is a difference, you all will soon learn, that there are a few differences between being able to perform nature manipulation, and actually learning what it is, how to use it, how it affects your mind and body."
Kakashi coughed shortly to clear his throat. "According to tests conducted by Lord Third and Lord Fourth, before he passed, I am only considered a master in the Lightning release, and I've been practicing lightning manipulation since I was eight years old."
"But sensei-" Naruto cut in suddenly, "I've read the reports of you being able to use all five nature releases. I understand what you said about being able to learn different nature releases over time, but being able to passively manipulate nature releases and actually using those same jutsu in the heat of combat, in the moment of life or death, that isn't just an inherent ability, is it?"
Their sensei held a twinkle that neither three of them could recognize immediately, but they knew it was a positive twinkle. It was a twinkle of knowledge. A twinkle of understanding. A twinkle of…
Pride?
"A very astute observation, Naruto. You are right, in a way. While I have mastery over lightning, I can extend my arsenal to include the other four nature releases, although that's mainly because I grew up during the Third War. It was a tumultuous time period indeed."
Jumping a few feet back, Kakashi took out a few scrolls. "I perused my library and found some good beginning jutsu for all three of you to begin understanding the mechanics of. Sakura, I have a C-Rank Earth scroll here for you. It's pretty simple, it raises a wall of Earth in front of you."
Kakashi did a few hand signs and slamming his hands into the dirt directly in front of him, a relatively small sized wall of ground and dirt shot out. It was a little taller than him, roughly six feet tall and a few inches, and it was about a foot and a half wide.
Walking around from the side of it, he didn't waste any time in slapping the wall. "It should protect you from a moderately powerful attack, once you have it understood proficiently enough, and I doubt we'll fight many people capable of attacking all of us at once and being able to destroy the wall in time to attack you."
Dipping her head in a deep bow, Sakura took the scroll gingerly and wandered off in the training grounds to begin studying.
Kakashi merely sighed. "I didn't even tell her to begin training. No matter, I presume. Onto you two."
He handed the both of them their scrolls. "Don't tell Sakura this, as I don't want her getting the wrong idea, but these two scrolls contain B-Rank elemental ninjutsu. I figured, since I know Sasuke knows the fireball and Naruto knows the air missiles, that taking it to the next step will help progress the both of you. You will find these two jutsu work in tandem with each other."
Naruto opened his and looked it over. It was, in essence, a single, extremely large burst of air instead of smaller, individual streamlined bullets of air. It was meant to be a crowd controller, something to cause great damage but not necessarily kill with.
Sasuke, in a similar sense, was glancing over his. It was an upgraded version of his firewall technique, and something that only a few elite Uchiha knew how to perform at a high level. A technique only Madara Uchiha was able to master and use to elevate himself to the very top.
Sparing a look to the other and nodding, they turned their attention back to Kakashi. "These are basically the same sort of technique, just for their respective nature release. In combination, and trust me on this one, it can be devastating."
Naruto frowned a little bit. "Sensei, if I'm being honest- not that I'm complaining, hehe", he quickly corrected himself, "but I don't know when or why we would need to combine these two together. What situation would require this?"
While he was grateful to begin learning another powerful technique, Sasuke was inclined to agree in that regard. It was meant for a war-like setting, and he wasn't sure when the next war would be. Hopefully not in his lifetime, but he knew he was asking too much with that line of thinking.
"I'm sure you two warriors will find a way to make it useful. Now, call Sakura over so we can go over more details for the mission."
"You are confident this will work in our favor?"
Suppressing a snarl that was building up in his gut and threatened to claw its way out of his throat, the man simply nodded.
His jaw was tight, although the mask hid it will. Finally, he grinded his answer out.
"It has to work or all of this will be for nothing."
Itachi Uchiha, a man of few words, only speaking when he was required to open his mouth, merely nodded at the reply and went back to reading over Obito's diagram. He knew the mechanics of what they were doing, but Naruto was not of pure-Uchiha blood, plain and simple.
It wasn't unheard of, at least in pre-Modern times, for the Uchiha clan to pull this off, but it also wasn't the easiest task in the world, and it wasn't even guaranteed to be successful for pure bloods, so asking to do this on someone who has injected DNA was a borderline death sentence for them.
Well, they had no other options, so maybe it was for the best that they at least try this. It was either that or the Akatsuki win their battle and effectively destroy history itself, all for selfish desires.
Still, Itachi was downright wary of any of this, much less coming from a supposed dead Uchiha, Obito. At the time of the massacre, Itachi knew that the Masked Slaughterer was Obito, and he knew that he was helping Itachi prevent a Civil war in return for Itachi helping Obito with a specific plan in the future, but it wasn't disclosed or apparent what that plan was.
At least until now.
"Kakashi has the other eye."
Obito scoffed, giving himself a period of respite. He walked over to his bookshelf and took out a seal. It had a dark blue outline, and it was practically radiating with the essence of power.
"I wandered through the ruins of Uzushiogakure and managed to find the blueprints for a paralysis seal. I used this in combination with a memory loss seal and made this. It paralyzes the target and makes them forget the past twenty-four hours."
"You can't just make an individual forget time."
Obito clicked his tongue and put the seal back in its container.
"It seals the memories behind a blockage, similar to how the Yamanaka clan uses their mind jutsu for therapeutic reasons."
'Hmm'ing to himself, Itachi glanced down at the notes again. "And you 'randomly' found these notes in the ruins of a former village, that I presume has been looted far too many times in the past?"
Both Obito and Itachi knew he was lying out of his ass, but neither would call it out. If he was going to be truthful, it was simply that Obito looted Minato's book of seals before leaving Konoha after the Nine-Tails Massacre, and was experimenting with different seals for when his plans would-be set-in motion.
True to Itachi's words, Obito did look through Uzushiogakure in efforts to find any seals or items that would help, but came up empty, and thus, this is what he was working with.
Settling back into his seat, it was a brief moment of silence.
"The point is, Uchiha, I have access to obtaining the other eye, all we need is the 'how'. I'm still working on that myself, and with our knowledge of the inner workings of the village, we can find a way to Kakashi."
Obito opened up another set of notes, with a bunch of scribbles and notch marks on it. "I've been looking into different freelance or well-respected surgeons around the world, and I've found a few, besides the main obvious one. I have enough spare funds to hire two of them at the same time for one surgery, all I need is for you to actually get my eye out."
Setting the current file down, his eyebrow raised. "So, my main objective is to take your eye out and help subdue Kakashi long enough to obtain the second eye, then we hire the surgeon?" Itachi said after a moment of consideration.
"Unless," Obito began. "you have knowledge of our clan's eye surgery at a level where we can rely on you, then yes."
"Pray tell, Obito, how did you give Kakashi the eye in the first place?"
The older man scowled in apparent anger, his mind flashing back to the events years prior. It was a particularly sore spot.
"I merely gave him the eye; however, he implanted the eye after that was on him, and he was successful. Apologies if that isn't good enough for you."
Itachi, for what it was worth to him, didn't care enough to refute the story; they had more pressing issues on hand. Despite the obvious details being left out, it was better to just focus on the plan at hand.
From the absolute bottom of his heart, Itachi hoped that Obito wasn't getting his intentions confused. He was doing this for Sasuke's wellbeing, nothing more, nothing less. While he loved the Leaf near and dear to his kin-slaying heart, Sasuke was his pride and joy, and nothing could even hope to compare, compete, or fight for the honor to be regarded so high and mighty in his heart.
It would be foolish to think otherwise.
Even with the love for his village front and present in his mind, it would be an absolute farce to even suggest that Naruto was even a medium-level priority. He was the container for the strongest demon in the world, which means that itself grants the Uzumaki near unlimited and unrivaled potential, not to mention that he's a kid of the Fourth Hokage.
Hopefully the raw intelligence and battle prowess was passed down at birth to the orphan, Shinigami knows it would be needed if Madara was ever revived and they had to fight the revenant Uchiha.
"We move sometime in the next year, preferably before the Chunin Exams take place in Konoha. If my intel is correct, only the host nation and Suna should be participating this time around. Kiri is still in their Civil War, with Kumo and Iwa most likely opting to sit out."
Moving to light another candle after the current one was reaching the bottom of the glass, he continued.
"According to my intel, once more, it seems the rebellious forces are pushing Karatachi and his forces further back into Kiri."
Itachi didn't move before he spoke. His thoughts flashed back to his shark companion. "Who are they lead by?"
"A combination of a woman named Terumi Mei and Momochi Zabuza lead the entirety of the rebellion alliance. Terumi possesses two kekkei genkai, Lava and Boil, while Momochi is obvious enough. They also have Hōzuki Mangetsu and Kuriarare Kushimaru adding to their forces."
That piece of information got Itachi to pause in his ministrations. "Kuriarare is dead. His corpse was brought to Konoha years ago and Might Guy collected the bounty."
Itachi blinked owlishly when a manilla folder was slid his way and he began to read it hesitantly.
"In summary," Obito cut him off, "in the Seven Swordsman, at least, 'Kuriarare Kushimaru' is a title instead of an actual, physical person. The needle is passed down to whoever inherits the title of 'Kushimaru', and this new one is no exception. I'm still gathering data about the rest of the rebels, but I know Karatachi is on the now-losing end of the war. It's only a matter of 'when', not 'if', him and the Bloody Mist fall in combat."
A more pressing concern was on the kin-slayer's mind.
"Why are you gathering information about the Civil War? Our priorities lie in awakening the Rinnegan in Naruto, not helping a borderline bankrupt country fight their battles. The Akatsuki will begin to move out in four years at the latest, if I'm being quite open, what Kirigakure does with their resources is of no concern to me."
Obito silently groaned and shook his head. "Karatachi is a jinchuriki, and a damn powerful one at that, if intel serves the both of us right."
It's all too familiar to Itachi. The pervasive smoke filtering the air. Blood and desolation spreading across the battlefield. His former Akatsuki teammate's body slaughtered and dismembered into three different body parts, silently pouring out more blood than Itachi had ever seen before from a person.
He had barely escaped with his life from the jinchuriki.
Obito saw the recognition in the eyes of his younger clansmen, and pressed the issue at hand. "The Akatsuki need dead alive in order to have an easier time obtaining the demon from him, we both know that. If the rebels win the fight, they will almost assuredly execute him without a second thought, meaning the monster will eventually reform somewhere in the world. Simply, we-"
Suddenly, a plan formed in his brain. It was a fatal gambit, one that could easily bite them in the ass but it was their only option that had the best chance of working.
Itachi could tell Obito was going to suggest helping the Bloody Mist win the Civil War and keep Karatachi safe from the Akatsuki, but in the moment, he had a much riskier- but better- plan to attempt. It was a stretch, of course.
"No, before you even suggest what you will, I have a better plan. There is a way to help the rebels win and keep Karatachi alive, but you have to trust me like I trusted you with this plan."
The silence was roaring in each other's ears, and Obito was weighing the benefits and negatives. Sighing to himself, he motioned for Itachi to proceed.
"You used genjutsu to take control of Karatachi, correct?"
At this, Obito nodded after a moment.
"What if we use genjutsu to make him send a treaty, an open offering for unconditional surrender, with the clause being he is immune and protected from any form of execution?"
Team 7 was standing in front of the gates of the Leaf, waiting for their leader to arrive.
Naruto was conversing with their client, a young man going by the name of Shibuki, and the details. Shibuki had been in negotiations with Konoha for an economic alliance, and was rather pleased to report that they had sealed a deal ensuring a mutual benefit.
He was pleasant enough, Naruto surmised, but not someone he would enjoy being around for an extended period of time, mission-excluded of course. He was rather easy to startle, as he found out when he approached the man from behind and nearly shook him out of his sandals. Occasionally birds would scare him too. Menacing chirps, apparently.
It would be simple enough. The described "foliage of the Heavens" would let them know when they are close to their destination, and when they got there, Kakashi would seal the economic alliance with some paperwork and a meeting with the diplomatic council of Takigakure. Like he said, simple enough.
In theory, anyways.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were going over some genjutsu lessons for the latter. The Avenger was beginning the fundamentals and theoretical aspects of molding and projecting your chakra over an opponent or the area surrounding the battle. Sakura was picking up on the minor details well enough that he projected she would be able to utilize the ability by the time they reached Takigakure. Hopefully, anyways.
It was a rather basic technique. It would give the impression that the target was experiencing various kinds of pain. Headaches. Stomach pains. Dull or sharp aches and bruises around the body. At higher levels, such as what Sasuke was capable of performing, the target would experience intense pains or sensory experiences such as migraines, deafness, vertigo, or even the feeling of total organ failure.
Once someone identified the jutsu, it was extremely easy to break from. However, it was good when applied subtly. It would detract attention from the user, and could be used in ambushes for rather scary results.
Sakura was able to manifest the illusion chakra but was struggling with projecting it outwards. Sasuke, while his patience was growing thinner, was still attempting to listen to the blond idiot and help Sakura grow. He was finding she wasn't as annoying as he first believed, but maybe he was growing soft.
Glancing up from the shared notes that Sasuke was going over with Sakura, he saw a woman with... dark purple hair, apparently, approaching Naruto with a rather sly smirk on her lean face. He wasn't aware, as his back was turned to her, but soon enough she wrapped a slender arm around his neck and covered his eyes.
Spinning around suddenly, Naruto glanced up and beamed an incredible smile at the woman. It was Yugao, one of the few people who helped him break his social reclusiveness and took care of him as a kid when he was scared and alone.
"Heading out for a mission and didn't even bother to tell little ol' me? I'm wounded." Yugao said after breaking the hug, holding a hand to her head in mock dramatics, laughing as Naruto playfully shoved her.
"I tried, I really did, but you eluded me." Naruto shrugged after a moment. And it was true, he really did look for her, but it was useless.
Yugao could only mentally laugh at him attempting to fit in. It was so obvious it scared her sometimes.
She giggled and rubbed his head affectionately. "I was stuck on an extended mission and just got back today, silly goose. Anyways, I came to give you this." She handed him a neatly wrapped, small blue box.
"A set of chakra pills, custom ordered from the Akimichi. I specifically tried to get a ramen broth flavor put into the order. Let me know about this special mission once you get back!"
Naruto groaned and, for the first time for both Sasuke AND Sakura, they saw Naruto look... embarrassed? "I gotta go report to Lord Third, but stay safe Naruto! Keep that one-eyed jerk in check!"
Naruto, in fact, WAS embarrassed but secretly elated (or as happy as he could be) to see her, turned back to the client with a blush. Rubbing the back of his head, he continued the conversation like nothing happened.
Kakashi, meanwhile, chuckled from his building perch, overlooking the scene in front of him. "Leave it to Yugao." Shaking his head, he began to prepare for jumping down there to them. He had the details of his mission, and the potential mission it could turn into. C-Rank, bordering on A-Rank possibilities, as there were reports that a group of marauders were making their rounds on the outskirts of the village.
Nothing the esteemed Kakashi couldn't handle.
Now, when to bless his students with his presence?
Hello everyone, thank you for being patient with me.
I hope everyone is being safe, kind and courteous to others around them, and I hope everyone is practicing social distancing and/or following guidelines and regulations instated to protect them.
A few things I'd like to clarify, before anyone asks.
I (rather briefly) mentioned the friendship/dynamic between Naruto and Yugao in an earlier chapter, so I decided to elaborate on it a little bit. It will be shown more throughout the story, but that's a little peek into the relationship they have.
Team 8 (Kurenai) is going to be going on the Wave mission, if you haven't deduced that by this point, which obviously leads us to a few changes from canon already, aside from the obvious (Obito and Shisui).
I won't spoil anything about that yet, as it will be revealed over the next few chapters, but please just be aware of this in mind, as I don't want the changes to be a complete surprise or something that wasn't foreshadowed, because believe me, it will be.
Up to this point, the only major change from canon that has resulted from Obito's gambit at the beginning is Shisui surviving Danzo's attack, and this will also be explained in a future chapter, just trust me.
A fair warning, this story will have quite a few changes, a few butterfly effects that chain into each other, so if you aren't comfortable with the idea of canon being changed a good bit, then this story from here on out probably isn't good for you.
Also, I made a twitter if anyone wants to follow, I'll post updates about my story progressions, under the twitter handle/ of "SnowconesJones". Following isn't necessary, but I will post updates.
Finally, the main point of potential controversy: ships.
Naruto/Yugito is LOCKED IN for the *FINAL* pairing.
HOWEVER-
It won't be the ONLY pairing, and I don't mean a harem.
In life, most people go through multiple partners, and I'm no exception. Naruto will have different love interests throughout the story, but it WON'T be a harem. It will end with him and Yugito.
*One of* the love interests that will play a HUGE part in Naruto's character is Fū, the Seven-Tails jinchuriki from Takigakure. So, with that in mind…
The first love interest will be Fū, and the one he ends up with will be Yugito. I plan on having four love interests total in the story, so you guys can guess who the middle two will be. Enjoy.
Thank you once again, stay safe everyone! I hope to have the next chapter out before the end of July!