Chapter 10: Four Months of Missions and Extreme Training
After the 'Wave Mission', we'd managed to come back in time for the next Joint Training Session between teams. This time, much to my joy and Kakashi's dismay. Team 9 or as we know it, Team Guy, decided to drop in.
"Kakashi, my eternal rival! How youthful of you and the others to organize such wonderful events. I only wish I had been around for the first one Hahaha" Guy bellows in his over-the-top manner. "Hm? I'm sorry Guy, did you say something?" Kakashi responds coolly. "Gah! Damn you Kakashi and your hip attitude!" They continue with their antics.
"Hey guys, how's the team life?" I asked his team. Surprisingly, Lee didn't turn into a mini me of Guy when he joined the team. He still goes on about 'Youth' every so often, but it's much more controlled and he also doesn't wear the green spandex suit by itself. He has a ponytail instead of a bowl cut, has a much more serious demeanor - although still a cheery bastard like we all remember when on his free time -, and an armored leather vest that covers his chest and shoulders without obstructing his arm movement (think Vegeta's armor when he takes a nap in Freeza's ship but it's all white and leather). He also has a large hunting/ combat knife strapped to his lower back that he uses for when he needs to fight at range. He also keeps a bō-staff in a storage seal on his gloves which turn into full spiked armguards when he directs his chakra to them - I helped make these with Tenten, since Lee can direct chakra, evidenced by the fact he can water, and tree walk, but he can't mold it and channel it externally.
"We are well Naruto-San. I heard your team just came back from a most youthful month-long C rank mission." He replies in a conversational tone. "Ah, yes. It was pretty cool, ya' know? We improved a bunch, and I even made a few friends. I also got this really cool sword from this guy that I turned to minced meat." I told him and Tenten who walked over leaving Neji to glare at me and Hinata. "I swear I'll beat that ass and get him to lose that stick" I grumble to myself, which causes Kurama to laugh and howl. I then took out the sword from the storage seal on my left armguard.
Tenten nearly took my virtue on the spot. "Is that the Executioner's Blade?!" She squealed and tried to take it. Tried. "Yup. I had to save Kakashi Sensei and the guy left himself wide open for attack thinking I'd just stand around twiddling my fingers." I told her and she looked at me curious. "Wait... you killed Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. By chance?" She looked incredulous, as did the rest of the people in the Training Ground. "Yeah. He thought I was just some snot nosed Genin and decided to grandstand. Learned not to when my 'Vacuum Blade' cut him in half and my Shuriken turned him into paste." At this the rookies all nodded, knowing my modus operandi. The Sensei - sans Kakashi - on the other hand looked scandalized.
"Kakashi, you let your students – my son! – fight such a dangerous opponent and taught them such techniques?" Mommy Kurenai was about to have an aneurism right then and there. "Uh, no, Kurenai-san. He knew this technique beforehand. I was actually trapped in a 'Water Prison' and couldn't do much of anything, so he really did save me too. I had started to yell for him to leave with the client when I noticed that Zabuza had already been cut down and his team had already taken the client out to safety. Along with capturing Zabuza's apprentice."
This made everyone listening pause, even Guy lost his exuberance. They looked at me amazed. "Kakashi" Guy begins in all seriousness, "At what level was your student at when you got him?" Guy spoke, to which the other sensei seemed interested as well. "Hm... that depends. Skill wise? Mid to High Jonin, easy. Experience wise, I'd say about solid Chunin." He says after thinking on it for a bit.
"Actually" Asuma interjects. "Now that I think about it, this year's batch of Genin is abnormally strong straight from the Academy. And I know my Old Man isn't expecting kids this well trained to be coming out."
"Um, sensei." Ino interrupts. "It's because of Naruto that we all turned out like this." Asuma then looks at her and commands, "Explain". She does, as does everybody but Neji, who just says that they're lying and that he can easily beat me, a no name orphan. I look at him shocked. "Wait, don't you know of the Uzumaki Clan? I'm pretty sure they taught it at the Academy." "Hmph, probably some minor clan with nothing special to them that was destined for extinction." He says smirking thinking he's right. "Oh, Imma beat him up good" I tell myself. "Actually Naruto, I think only your class got the lesson on them." Tenten replies, glaring daggers at Neji.
"I see..." I begin and all of the Genin notice their cue to move to a safe distance as I turn straight towards Neji. "Troublesome blonde" Shikamaru mutters just loud enough for everyone to hear. Hinata sighs and gives me a pleading look. I nod and she walks over to Tenten and Lee's side. The Jonin seemed interested and followed suit. Kurenai gave me a disapproving look that hurt my soul, but didn't do anything to talk me out of what I was about to do.
"Let me give you a quick lesson on the Uzumaki Clan and our prowess." I say and he is immediately held in place by my 'Adamantine Sealing Chains'. "Gah!" He yells as my chains grab him and squeeze into him, the sharp jagged links serrating against his skin slightly - only enough to cause severe discomfort but not enough to draw blood. "The Uzumaki Clan is one of the world's most ancient clans, along with the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyūga. Mine just so happens to be the union between the first two clans mentioned. We possess incredibly vast and powerful chakra reserves. Long lifespans and powerful vitality, which grants us an enhanced healing factor. We were masters of the Shinobi arts, but more specifically, Sealing Jutsu. We developed most if not all of the sealing techniques used within the Leaf Village. And finally, we possess these." I say pointing to my chains. "These chains are not only powerful enough to hold down the Nine-Tailed Fox, and are useful for sealing techniques and barriers, but they also suppress the chakra of whoever or whatever is held within them. Not to mention that they are practically indestructible to begin with, and you can see why my clan is not just some 'minor' clan as you so arrogantly stated." I finish, looking right at him, mere inches away.
"So, I suggest that you take that superiority complex of yours and shove it Hyūga. You're nothing special, even by your own clan's standards, so start looking for something else to bitch about, because destiny is what you make it, and Hinata is a perfect example of that. Out of everyone here, bar the sensei, she is the only one that can fight me to a standstill using non-lethal means, and she was once the 'failure' of your clan. Something I remember you being distinctly adamant about reminding her of until she beat you into submission some time ago." I poke him in the chest twice as I say this. I then let him go from my chains and punch him with all the non-lethal strength I can muster and send him flying two hundred meters away through three thick tree trunks and leaving him planted on a large boulder. He looks at me terrified, but barely conscious.
The Sensei looked like they had just been made to eat mud, well, except for Guy, who looked stern at his student. I looked at the other Genin and they had faces full of awe and admiration. Hinata then walked over to me and gave me a small hug and 'thank you' before going over to her cousin to help him get out of that rock he was stuck to. Sakura and Shino decided to go help and heal whatever they could. Because apparently, Shino took to medical Jutsu just like Hinata and Sakura had. Ino seemed more taken with poisons and toxins.
I walked over to Guy Sensei and bowed, "I apologize for my actions towards your student Guy Sensei, but I felt the need to educate him on one of history's most notable clans." Guy looks at me and grins. "That's quite alright my youthful companion. It falls on me as a Sensei to educate my students and it seems that I had failed Neji in that regard. I thank you for teaching him a most youthful lesson." He replies in a more subdued but still serious and intense manner. I nod and start to walk over to Lee but am stopped by mom. "I know you feel strongly about things like this son, but don't let it get to you so much if you can help it. Alright?" She asks and I nod, a bit subdued at being reprimanded. She then caresses my cheek and gives me a kiss on the forehead. "Hm, good boy. Now go" She says giving me a light tap on the bum to get me walking.
"How many times have you beaten him?" I asked, ignoring the looks most of the Genin were giving me, seeing as not many knew of my relationship with Kurenai. "We're at 102 wins to 8 losses in my favor." He says coolly. "What?" I look at him incredulous. "And he's still got that stick up his ass?! Maybe I should have hit him harder." I look back at Neji who's having trouble getting to his feet. "On second thought... maybe that was enough to dislodge the whole thing, ya' know?" I say, a bit remorseful. Lee seems to find this amusing and starts to laugh his more exuberant laugh.
Tenten then tries and fails to grab my sword and I seal it back into my armguard. "Oh, come on Naru-kun. I just want to play with it for a while, can't you please take it out again, for me?" She says, trying to employ her 'Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu' on me and failing miserably. "Not here Ten-chan. Maybe in private." I answer her getting her to pout and everyone else within hearing range to sweatdrop at the innuendo.
A little while later everyone is back in their spots and Neji seems fit enough to train, if lightly. Kurenai starts to go over what we will be doing and puts all of us in pairs to stretch and get limber for the training to come.
It was hellish. We were made to spar in pairs, everyone at the same time mind you, while taking care not to interrupt anyone else's fights. Then we were put into tag teams as soon as the time was up. After that it was teams of three until we had all fought either with or against each other in all configurations. Then we were made to do the same with the sensei at their level of combat to see what the difference was, and boy was it glaring. Then after a one-hour lunch break sometime in the late afternoon - we began at 5am - we were made to fight in a free-for-all where all the Sensei were also actively participating. That must have been the most intense training session I've had since I stopped training with the Old Man after graduation.
And so, our days continued in much the same vain as before. Three D ranks a day every other day, along with nonstop training in the mornings or evenings, depending on when the missions were taken. We also got C rank missions every other week to build up experience on the field and got closer as friends and comrades. We also messed around with the team compositions from time to time. Sometimes it was because a Sensei had a mission they had to do, others to help with training and giving us the chance to work with different skillsets and personalities.
Neji seemed to have done a one-eighty after that last beating and Hinata seemed elated that she now had her kind 'Neji-nii-san' back with her. Hiashi also seemed relieved that his family was getting along and finally gave Neji his father's letter. Why he decided to wait almost 10 years to do it is beyond me.
Sakura and Sasuke finally became official too, although Sakura also seemed to have gotten rather comfortable around me as well and started to show her affections towards me under any pretense she could come up with. I didn't mind but it was hard to not want to cop a feel; thankfully I had Hinata, and she got a lot more handsy when I told her about Haku and Tsunami. I also got a lot closer to Sasuke. I didn't think I would ever get the request, but I sometimes have to pet him and comb his hair as he lays on my lap. I also gave him hugs from time to time, although it was always in private when we had our guy's day off, and never in front of Sakura or anyone else for that matter. It was like I had a secret boyfriend, except Sakura and Hinata knew that Sasuke was a girl without the crotch to match, he was way too effeminate when not training or on missions.
Hinata also started to allude to Ino being a part of my clan sometime in the future too, along with Tenten. Both of whom were constantly trying to find an excuse to spend more time with me. I started to think that maybe Hinata was doing her own recruiting. She also decided to submit a C Rank mission to go with me and the other girls to Wave and meet Haku and Tsunami, Anko was somehow also roped in via Kurenai who helped Hinata submit the mission.
I was surprised the bridge was still called 'The Great Naruto Bridge' since I hadn't done things the same or even remotely similar to canon. Suffice it to say, they loved each other. Haku and Hinata hit it off like two peas in a pod, and Tsunami was glad that the other girls accepted her and that she wasn't the only older woman in the group. They started making all sorts of plans and even started to pick out names for the eventual kids we would have. I heard Tsunami say she'd do no more than five, to which Anko agreed. I was flabbergasted at the number. Haku and Hinata chose the more conservative three, with Haku admitting to maybe having a fourth if things head that way. I may need to start reconsidering how many women to add to my harem if those are the numbers they're coming up with.
In a little over three months, everyone had managed to get the hang of and complete training with their elemental affinities. Although, I did make mention of the fact that they should put just as much, if not more, focus on their clan techniques so that they could bring their own unique skills to the table and have the standard stuff as backup just in case. I also encouraged everyone, including the sensei, to develop their own new techniques that they could use as their signatures.
I was also able to finally create my variation of the 'Chidori' for that competition I had with sensei and Sasuke. I called it the 'Lightning Style: Thousand Chidori', it basically creates a whole bunch of small swallows made of lightning that home in and track opponents. It can either crash into opponents for blunt force damage and electrocution, entangle them with wires made of electricity that I can tighten or loosen from a distance and use as a harness or leash, or stab and cut through opponents to finish them off. A rather terrifying multi-use Jutsu that the Hokage classified as S Rank because of the chakra requirements, the control needed to not have the technique backfire, and the sheer versatility of the technique. Sasuke came up with his three original variants 'Chidori Sharp Spear', 'Chidori Senbon', and 'Chidori Stream', soon after, and Kakashi came up with his 'Lightning Cable' and 'Lightning Beast Tracking Fang' right after him. My technique, being the harder and more powerful of the six was declared the winner, but we all learned the other techniques for variety and to help train our mastery over the lightning element even further.
Sakura had also managed to create a Taijutsu style that took advantage of her claws and use of the 'Earth Style: Earth Spears' to harden her skin to fight stronger more dangerous opponents. She also made incredible headway in the medical arts learning the 'Chakra Scalpels' and being able to create the long blade form in a fraction of the time it took me to do the same. Thankfully, by this point she, along with Hinata and the Hokage had helped me achieve the necessary chakra control to be able to perform medical techniques should I want to. I decided to only learn certain techniques for battle use, but I was glad to have finally broken through to the S Rank on my chakra control, although having mastered the 'Wind Style: Rasengan' had been what actually got me there, seeing as the control needed to add my wind element to an already incredibly control heavy technique was ridiculous to begin with. Maintaining it was a little easier now that I had the proper exercises and techniques.
Finally, I had gotten my collapsible, chakra conducting bō-staff that was actually a sansetsukon that was twice the girth of normal weapons of the type, and the promised armor from the Old Man. The armor was a lot like Lee's but was instead a dark burnt orange that had black lines as accents and the Uzumaki swirl on the center of the back. It also included a pair of arm and shin guards that continued the same color motif that I wore over a dark Navy Blue long-sleeved shirt and black shinobi pats with my standard black shinobi sandals. I also had a black haori with Navy Blue accents that also had some protective padding woven into it.
I then worked to incorporate the staff into my fighting style fully. Along with quick switching between using the massive Executioner's Blade, the bō-staff I had decided to name the Power Pole in homage to a certain Saiyan, and my aggressive, acrobatic, and counter-prone Taijutsu style as fluidly as I could in that short span of time. Everyone hated fighting against it, even Tenten and Lee. Guy and the other sensei had mixed reactions to my lethality, some thinking it was too much – mommy Kurenai – and some thinking I was too dangerous to be a Genin much longer. The Hokage requested I use it exclusively in our random spars after he had a taste of the difficulty of fighting under such strain – mind you I fight with two to three clones applying pressure. He may not train me anymore, but that doesn't mean we don't spar every now and again.
I had also gotten a lot closer to Anko and Ayame, believe it or not. I had asked Teuchi if he'd be agreeable to Ayame becoming a part of my clan once I was old enough to marry her and he accepted on the condition that I did my best to keep her safe and away from the fighting. I promised and we shook on it. Ayame seemed elated and kissed me right there and said she'd love to be a part of my family for real. This had happened because she had asked if I ever thought of her as more than just a sister… while she blushed and was giving me a rather nice view of her assets while she ran her hands through my hair and peppered me with kisses while she placed my hands on her soft, round bum when she had visited me at home after I became a Genin. She had always visited me after I told her I loved her when I was a kid. I admittedly forgot about that confession since I felt comfortable with her as my sister figure. It turns out she had been waiting for me to ask her out for some time.
Whereas Anko had decided that the kid gloves were off and started giving me kisses whenever the mood stuck her - which was often. She also taught me all sorts of seduction techniques, mainly through lap dances and exotic dances, to use on missions or with her when I get a little older and can actually pull it off without her thinking I look cute. I had to resist a pout at that last remark. She also seemed to have liked my new look, because she asked if she could get a picture and had it developed that same day. I later saw it at her place when I went to visit her and she asked me to cuddle with her… she had lingerie on… and nothing else. Still couldn't do more than look though, although the cuddling did give me the chance to feel her up a bit, which I'm sure was her loophole to that rule she made.
I also got Hinata to start training her variation of the 'Rasengan', which was funnily enough the 'Lightning Style: Vanishing Rasengan'. Although hers was about the same size as my regular 'Rasengan'. Which is big. Like Basketball size big. It's a formidable Jutsu and I'll just leave it at that. I had also mastered my 'Wind Style: Rasengan - Flash'. Which is essentially a Ki blast I can use to propel myself up or use it to blast someone. The effect of the technique depends on how much chakra and how focused I make the blast. The original Naruto created this in the 'Naruto The Movie: The Last' by infusing Kurama's chakra. I'm only using mine with lots of wind chakra added to it.
I had also, finally, mastered the 'Flying Thunder God Technique' to a degree where I could fight with it. I was surprised that the only thing related to Sealing Jutsu with the technique was the formula, and not the technique itself. Although, I do remember reading that the technique is actually Ninjutsu, not sealing jutsu, as many fanfics would like to establish. It is Ninjutsu aided by a jutsu formula that requires knowledge of Sealing Jutsu to be made and be effective. Kind of convoluted, but it's a technique that is a combination of different aspects of the shinobi arts. Anyway, the Old Man and Kakashi were floored when I showed them I could use it in battle. Through a sparring session with them, of course.
Then, on the fourth month just before the Chunin Selection Exams my team and I were able to finally perfect our three-pronged elemental combination attack. Sasuke would use a 'Chidori Stream' on Sakura's 'Water Style: Hydro Bomb' - which was essentially a water bullet that was five times as dense and as big as a standard 'Water Bullet' and exploded violently on impact with enough force to punch through a solid wall of 10-inch-thick steel - while I use my 'Wind Style: Hundred' to super heat Sakura's - My own carefully crafted for her use - Jutsu so that the electric current from Sasuke's Jutsu is more easily conducted through the boiling mass of water, and cause a more devastating effect when it explodes.
Sakura had also finished her very own variation of the technique I had created for her. It instead of being the size of a basketball, was about the size of a pebble, but was ten times as devastating because it absorbed the moisture of whatever it touched, and then blew up. It also used much less chakra in comparison but was still just as densely packed. She called it the 'Water Style: Desert Oasis'. It also fired off like a standard 'Water Gun' technique so you wouldn't notice the difference until it's too late. Kakashi went with his animal themed creations and created the 'Water Style: Beast Fang Bomb'. It was essentially the same as my technique but with an animal motif and used about half as much chakra. With the added effect that it bit down before it exploded and could be remotely controlled.
All of these techniques were classified as A rank and above according to the potential uses, lethality, and learning difficulty. The other teams were jealous that we had gotten so much done. But they weren't idle either. They had gotten just as good as us in terms of teamwork, our spars became much more even, and everyone was now relatively equal - save for standouts like Lee and myself. Even Neji had caught up in a relatively short amount of time.
At the end of this month - total for our six total as a team - my team had a total of 256 D Rank Missions, 30 C Rank Missions, 1 B Rank, 1 A Rank, 1 S Rank. What were those last three? The B rank was the Bandit Extermination in Wave, the A rank was the Gato Assassination, and the S was the information gathered regarding Gato's finances and businesses. Yes, that's how much importance that info had. We were surprised too, we thought that would have been A rank at most, if anything. And it was with this record of missions and list of technical and training achievements that my team was nominated for the Chunin Selection Exams.