A/N: I've seen a great deal of discussion, both in reviews and in pm's, concerning this modified clone concept I'm using for the opening arcs of my fanfic, which I find particularly surprising since they were intended to be a very minor part of the overall piece. One thought that concerns me is the "broken clone" comment as the clones themselves aren't necessarily broken; it's Naruto that's broken – mentally. Having seen his fair share of trauma, his mind has been forced to cope with it the best way it knows how and that was by fracturing in an attempt to protect the "core" essence, that innocent being portion of his psyche.
As you can probably expect, this can cause problems in "normal" people but, when used in our Kage-to-be with full use of mini-me clones, this could prove to be an interesting vehicle for all sorts of mayhem. Oddly enough, I chose not to focus on that but who is to say someone else couldn't run wild with this concept?
Needless to say, the underlying clones providing the chakra bodies for the "special" identities to use still function as intended. It is the core personality implanted on the clones that has been supplanted by the personality fragments forming Chishiki and The Gang. For this fic, I just took the split personalities and gave them the ability to "temporarily relocate" to the clone attached to the original via the chakra tethers affixed to his chakra network. For those clones where Naruto "ties off" the tether to form an unattached clone, he must intentionally and forcefully implant the conscious fragment (now that he's aware of them) then tie of the chakra tether. There are a number of side-effects to this, including less fidelity in information being shared, less control, and complete loss of real-time communication unless he generates another clone to pass on a message. There are pros and cons to each method.
Fuyuriku: Thank you for the point on ellipsis and highlighting some of my more egregious errors. I will admit that I over use them to represent omissions and unspecified passages of time (a pause in speech) and should be more careful. I am going back to edit earlier chapters and will get to those as I clean up the language. As I admitted during my first fanfic, I'm a terrible writer and (mostly) do this to help improve my limited skill with the media [I are en-gu-neer, I are ed-you-mikated] so any help is appreciated. (You sound like you know your way around a fragmented sentence or five much like Zabzab).
I'm still trying to figure out while uploading my stories for editing auto-corrects some things and not others. I'm trying to be more diligent about catching those errors post-production.
Ashborn2271: While Ku-chan is one of the clones, she is a representation of the Familial Love Naruto desperately desires in his own life and her appearance reflects an image from one of the lessons in the academy on Famous Konoha Clans and their Contributions Throughout History. Her red hair and pretty features stuck with him and manifested in the clone but, beyond that, she's not part of this fanfic. Minato's fragmented soul is tied to the seal itself (as part of his deal with the Shinigami who only allowed one leech) and, unfortunately, he'll be around for the time being. We'll have to see if he can redeem himself in the eyes of his son or remain a bit character.
To the Unidentified Guest: I agree Ebisu is an ass but he's also one of my favorite villains. People underestimate him because he's not some blatantly over-powered baddie but that's what makes him so versatile. At low levels, he makes the perfect early-stage nemesis because he's not going to brazenly identify himself and charge in. You have to be smart in order to catch him.
That also makes him the perfect "I-hate-you-with-a-passion" bad guy.
As to Kemuri surviving, sorry. Not gonna happen even if he was my personal favorite. He was developed because of and inspired by the lead baddie in the Pixar movie "Small Soldiers" voiced by Tommy Lee Jones, liberally infused with manic amounts of Robin Williams' "enthusiasm." By the way, I neither own or have controlling interest in either of those marvelous acting estates – they just inspire my insanity. They were referenced solely for the creative process used to create Kemuri.
Unfortunately, there will be no stays of execution for the condemned.
To be honest, no one has asked me about the four crazies trying to imprison and subjugate Naruto through demonic rituals. While intended purely for comedic relief (yet to come), I find it partially disturbing that they are regarded as "normal" and taken completely in stride. (O.o)
Still not focusing on Taming of the Savage Beast yet…
This chapter was particularly frustrating to write. It's my hope that I can finish it this week and have it posted by Friday.
Back to the story...
~Siva'a-tasi
~III~
Chapter 7: Moving Forward
~ Previously on No More ~
Naruto's face tracked the older man as he stood away from the table. "You know Naruto, you can't join ANBU with a class one mental handicap like this," he opened his palm and sprinkled the plucked sunflower petals onto the table top, "...since Itachi Uchiha left, you understand that… right?" The boy's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. He never thought he'd lose a chance at his second dream as well. It made sense though.
"So, you basically have two choices. You can keep fighting my help and end up like the sunflower on the floor, or…" he pushed the healthy flower forward and directly in front of the fresh Genin, "or, you can let me help you put the pieces back together again." The clan head walked to the door but paused before stepping out.
"If you want my help, your appointment for next Wednesday is still on my calendar. Why don't you bring one of them with you? You can choose the next one you want me to reintegrate into your psyche and we can go from there." Naruto stared at the closed door for several minutes after Inoichi left before settling his gaze onto the bright flower.
'Can't join ANBU…Most likely won't get a team…Back at square one…' Those questions rattled around in his head until they eventually let him go an hour later into the Thursday morning Konoha sun under the condition that he now had to have ANBU minders until he agreed to resume the medical appointments.
He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Life sucked sometimes.
~III~
~ Wednesday Afternoon, Week 2: Naruto's Apartment ~
Leaving Higurashi's kept up Naruto's joyous mood. The business deal concerning his Stingers design was going to be a good source of supplemental income. Old man Higurashi even set it up so that his cut went straight to his bank account meaning he wouldn't have to keep swinging by for a share of the loot. Throw in the shiny new gauntlet hugging his left forearm and fist, the pretty dashing extra-long punch knives held snug to his body, and the scroll storing his order of throwing knives, and he'd had a fairly productive afternoon.
Only the pretty dimples of that chocolate-eyed beauty smiling up at him from across the counter made it better.
Shaking away the warm feeling rising flush up from his chest to his neck, another smiling face flashed before his eyes utterly destroying his chipper mood in a heart-shattering moment.
Akimi.
The memory of her auburn locks pressed against his cheek riddled his heart with guilt.
He needed to set things right with her before he disappeared fully into the shinobi life. It was only right after all. No more forgotten faces. No more burnt bridges. He'd wait until after school let out for the day. Might as well get it all over with at one time and rip the band-aid off, so to speak.
As far as he could remember, he'd never even congratulated her on the engagement to that puke – a guy that never really sat quite right in Naruto's mind; he was too slimy for his tastes and often smelled like rat for some odd reason.
Having filled his thigh holster and one of the additional storage seals Kenshin added to the gauntlet earlier, Naruto rose from the couch and waved goodbye to his diminishing extended family. Soft smiles met his bravado as he prepared to depart for what could be his final day on the planet.
He tried very hard to ignore the childish snickering and even the yelled out, "Told ya not to keep putting this off!" as he stepped outside into the cooling evening of early summer. Stubbornness was always one of his sticking points, but he'd made this bed.
Guess it was time to jump all in.
As he walked the ten minutes to Ichiraku's, his eyes flickered down to the metal backing of his new shiny.
Kenshin added more than just two storage seals to the metal plates and, while he could identify some of them, Naruto was looking forward to advancing his sealing repertoire so that he could decipher the rest. So far all he saw were two storage seals, something with the kanji for [Earth] centered in a protection seal, and an odd storage seal with the five elements inscribed in the center of it.
There was a [Expulsion] seal in the palm but he had no idea why.
He was fascinated by the five elements seal. He wanted to know what the last two seal arrays did but crazy Shin was forcing him to learn the hard way. Learning the hard way sucked, in his opinion, so he gave up and looked outward to his destination.
Coming up on his favorite Ramen shop, he paused as two ANBU body flickered away, a very worried-looking Teuchi turning to walk back inside. For some reason this forced his feet to move a little faster, the blond brawler ducking under the familiar awnings and onto a barstool with accustomed ease.
Teuchi was ducking back behind the bar to console a bawling Ayame while Koaru sat off to one side looking like someone stole his overpriced sandals.
Kami how he hated how the boy bragged about his expensive habits. How could he afford that crap on carpenter apprentice pay anyway?
Glancing around, he seemed puzzled, but the newly attentive portion of his brain started to put two and two together.
First, Akimi wasn't there but it was long past time for her to report for work.
Furthermore, it was Wednesday night, Iruka's normal night to swing by and see if Naruto had popped in for a visit but, as far as his keen eyes could tell, there was no Iruka-sensei either.
Lastly, and most definitely least, slimeball was moping over the counter's corner edge without Akimi to pander to his Royal Dirtiness.
It was starting to add up to a very unpleasant conclusion, so he decided to pull an intervention.
"Oi, Old Man Teuchi! What's got everyone so down in the mouth?"
All three heads snapped up in surprise. Dirtball sneered in disgust and turned away. Ayame burst into tears and buried her head into her father's chest and several customers, folks that normally cut him a little slack, all turned away showing him their backs.
Naruto was floored and only Teuchi's sympathetic gaze kept him from bolting.
"W-What happened?" he asked, confusion and shock plastered all over his face. Teuchi, for his part, looked lost for words.
"I can't right now, Naruto. Your best bet is to talk to Iruka. Give us some time, yeah?"
Shock thundered through the young man's heart as his world began to implode.
"Yeah, I guess so." His voice sounded small and childlike. "I'll catch him when he comes by, I guess."
At that, Ayame tore herself away from Teuchi and ran into the back leaving an utterly stunned Naruto in her wake.
"He's in the hospital, Naruto, room two-oh-seven. Visiting hours last for another," he paused to check the clock by the condiments counter, "two hours."
That actually staggered him.
He backed out of the ramen shop not paying particular attention to the people trying not to run him over. From inside, Teuchi saw the black open-toed sandals and muscular calves for just a moment before they disappeared in the passing crush of pedestrians. Through the wall behind him, he could hear his daughter's anguished cries clear as a bell.
Unfortunately, he missed the evil smirk on the face of young master Aono.
~III~
Naruto immediately took to the roofs to cross Konoha proper, the trip to Konoha's central hospital taking less than three minutes to make. It wouldn't have mattered what was happening in the streets below as the trip was a blur for the terrified Genin.
Muffled voices, flashes of color, slow-moving ghosts of the day, it all swept past in a wash of streaks.
Day turned into carefully modulated phosphorescent lights, the earthy outside air into charcoal-purified oxygen. The random sounds from the uncoordinated masses in the Market District became the hushed whispers and moans of the unwell.
Before he realized it, Naruto was standing outside of a second-story room while a boar-faced ANBU granted him access to his bed-ridden academy instructor.
It took him another five minutes of just breathing before he built up enough courage to slide open the door and step into the room. What he saw broke him down to his knees next to the bed.
Iruka's bed had been tilted up at an angle so that his face could rest in the gently setting daylight, an air mask strapped to his lower face pumped life-giving oxygen into his lungs. Monitor plugs taped to his chest, neck, and temple fed electronic impulses into the beeping machine on the far side of the bed, all indications as he watched the mask periodically fog up and clear with the steadying breathing of the pale figure lying oblivious to the world around him.
He looked fragile like a strong wind could crush him.
Sitting seiza on the floor next to his former instructor and off-again-on-again mentor, Naruto bowed his head and began to pray despite not knowing the first step of proper prayer.
"To whatever Kami will listen, please watch over my friend."
The rhythmic beeping continued to echo back to him.
"To whatever Kami will hear me, please watch over Akimi until someone, anyone can find her. She has to be somewhere, right?"
The numbers on the beeping monitor fluctuated briefly.
"Finally, to the Shinigami, please give me the chance, just one chance, to find the bastard that did this," he glanced up from the floor as his eyes narrowed with hatred, "so that I can kill him myself."
Then all hell broke loose.
The machines started a steady stream of noise as red lights started flashing. The door flew the rest of the way open and an army of medical staff surged into the room to surround the bed. Cloth began to shred and get flung away as nervous medical nins started yelling instructions.
Through it all, Naruto rose to his feet and took a step back trying to make sense of the pandemonium until a strong pair of hands pulled him forcefully away, spun him around from the hectic attempt to save the dying instructor, and pushed his face into an armor chest plate while he struggled to break free.
He wasn't strong enough and then the world spun out from under his feet, a gut-wrenching sensation he was all to familiar with.
Alone with his benefactor, Naruto shed the tears he couldn't inside the hospital, the ones he wouldn't allow anyone else to see. Hebi clung to his shoulders as he wept silently, his angry tears running down the curved mounds of her armor plating.
On the opposite end of the roof, Neko turned her eyes outward to give them their moment. Outwardly, she was silent as the marble statues in Konoha's art museum. Inwardly, her anger was a slow burn, a frigid layer of snow just beneath the surface of her skin. Someone needed to pay for this.
If Neko had her way, someone would pay for this.
Anko mentally cursed, then cursed again. She wasn't any good at this "comfort the victim" crap. Hell, the only reason she had the gaki pressed to her body was to distract him from the circus going on down below.
It wasn't the greatest plan now that she looked back on it, but the intent was to get his mind off of the fact that Iruka might actually die and that they had absolutely no friggin' idea who the perp was.
Young guys were always weird around boobs, right? So, it sounded like an easy distraction to start off with.
Now, here she was on the roof (yes, thank you to the body flicker which was the handy Jack-of-All-Trades multi-purpose tool) holding a teenager so angry he wouldn't open his eyes to see the magnificence that was her body-molded boob-protector. How was a girl supposed to get a proper rise out of a guy if he was too angry to pay attention?
Her body mesh would have worked better but she was working with what she had.
Instead, she slid one hand up to the back of his head and tried to gently run her fingers through the blond mash of hair. It worked when he was smaller and had nightmares about the bastards chasing him through the streets. She'd always marveled at the silky softness of his hair, almost like fur.
Anko was almost, almost tempted to rip off a glove so she could run her fingers through it just once more. Grabbing a fistful of his jacket with her other hand (so he couldn't dash off), she opened her mouth to whisper something sappy like, "Iruka is strong… he'll make it so have a little faith in him," when Naruto's head shot up off her Kevlar-plated chest, eyes wide open and suddenly very focused.
"I-I know where the girl is," he blurted out without preamble.
Neko's keen ears heard it from across the roof and her next two words summarized everything perfectly.
"Oh, poop!"
~III~
Clone Number Three for the night had just completed his third circuit of the Red-Light District returning to his original station on the far side of The Cherry Blossom when he smelled it again.
Sure, it was gradually fading as most smells did but to pick up the faint aroma of Ichiraku's this far into the slums was unusual. Clones had been noting the scent since Monday when the Original resumed their nightly patrols for the ladies and it was bothering this particular copy all night long.
Rather than settle in for another boring night of nothing (clones Seven and Eight got to beat down some drunken warehouse guys for getting too touchy without paying), he decided to do a little investigating.
Channeling a trickle of chakra to his nose, Three took off in a slowly-expanding circle until he could trace the origin. It led him to the adjacent rooftop and a partially-open warehouse skylight and the wafting voices of two partially-inebriated males.
Sniff! Sniiiiiiiiiffffffff!
Yeah, it was coming up from the opening in the glass panes.
Laying sideways next to the skylight, Three raised his face up just enough to allow his left eye to crest over the sill allowing a peek into the open space below. What he saw were four males, two of which were drinking and joking in the middle of the largely empty building, and one dingy and slightly bruised auburn-haired female manacled to the wall in one of the back corners.
Standing not two meters from her with a sick gleam in his eyes was one Koaru Aono.
Standing a little way off observing their interaction was another shinobi, probably a Genin from the looks of it, with a really shitty grin on his face as he leered at the helpless girl. You didn't have to be a fully-sentient chakra construct to figure out what was rolling through that pea-sized brain.
The clone slowly dropped back below the window sill, rolled flat onto his back making the necessary hand sign, then released in a puff of smoke.
~III~
"Who do we have patrolling the Entertainment Sector?"
Hebi chuckled at Neko's delicate way of dancing around the prostitution quarter of town. They both knew what kind of "entertainment" she was referring to.
"Nezumi and Moru have the watch tonight," Anko shot back.
Hebi's eyes were locked onto the back of her rapidly-moving otōto as Neko began pulsing her chakra in a looping pattern. He had been incredibly difficult to hold onto after snapping out of his funk and now they were trying to catch him again before he rushed off to do something idiotic.
Damnit, he was unreasonably quick.
"Call it in, Hebi. You know we have to."
Neko could hear her tongue clucking in response even as her left hand reached up to the radio transmit button on her earpiece.
~III~
This had to be some terrible nightmare.
Akimi shook her matted locks trying to clear her vision since she couldn't pull her arms down from above her head with the chains keeping them painfully elevated. Yes, this had to be some horrible, horrible nightmare and she was going to wake up any minute now.
Any minute now…
Nope, when she opened her eyes he was still there. The man she loved, the man that swore to protect her for the rest of his days, was standing there close enough to spit on her. She knew that for a fact as his spit was still drying on her face since the damnable chains wouldn't let her wipe it off.
But it got worse.
Right before he'd spit in her face, he'd bragged about how his plan was working perfectly.
His plans!
Oh, it was a shame that Iruka had to die but it was necessary to make Konoha safe from her former demon lover. That confused her until he started raging about how she betrayed the human race by falling in with that hellion, Naruto.
Then he proceeded to tell her about Naruto being the Kyuubi reborn.
The confused look on her face only made him madder and he started yelling at the top of his lungs. This time it was about how the Yondaime had defeated the Kyuubi fourteen years ago using his powerful magic to change the terrible demon into a weaker form that the citizens of Konoha could kill granting them their final revenge.
There was also a ten-minute rant about traitors like the filthy Sandaime who shat upon that legacy by protecting the filthy demon and how she was equally filthy by befriending the monster, albeit unknowingly. She was a traitor to humans everywhere, not just Konoha, and The Yondaime's Legacy, his true legacy, were going to slay the filthy monster before her very eyes.
It was only a matter of time now.
Even while her mind was trying to deny what she was hearing, how it was trying to convince her that this was just some tragic mistake, he was laughing maniacally and promising her that she'd get what she deserved once the demon fell for the final time. Koaru and his "boys" were going to make sure of that before they slit her demon-whore throat.
She was in hell.
Up above all this, Clone Seven looked to Clone Eight before nodding once and releasing. The moment he did, the remaining eight clones still active took to the roofs and started making their way to the same rooftop.
Boss would want the help.
~III~
Naruto fought down the rage when the second clone released. He needed to be calm. More importantly, he wanted to be in control when he killed that bastard, Koaru.
By the time he arrived, six of his remaining patrol squad was gathered on the roof a short distance from the skylight. A seventh clone was leaned up next to the glass keeping an eye on what was happening below.
Naruto padded up silently next to the huddled group and demanded an update.
Clone Two: "One is watching those idiots below. Apparently, the two drunk fools were the ones that started the attack on Iruka. The third one is a Chunin from the Nara clan that grabbed Kimi-chan and distracted him long enough for someone else, a fourth 'sensei' as they refer to him, to stab him."
Naruto's eyes narrowed briefly before asking, "Did you catch a name?"
The clone shook his head in disappointment.
Clone Nine: "Shithead left about two minutes ago. You just missed him. Six took off to keep an eye on him."
Naruto nodded in understanding while his two ANBU shadows had arrived and were listening to the debrief with interest.
Clone Four: "The girl is chained to the wall in the southwest corner. The Nara is sitting on a bucket drooling at her while Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber are getting smashed near the northeast entrance. Aside from this skylight and a padlocked door on the western street face, that's the only way in."
Naruto closed his eyes and thought for about two minutes. As he opened his mouth to speak, Neko jumped into the conversation.
"Naruto, you will stand down. Reinforcements are on the way and a rescue squad will be here in the next three minutes. Let us handle this."
He stared up into the smooth porcelain mask and his eyes softened for a single breath before steeling into a death mask. Naruto flexed his chakra and two more clones appeared before promptly jumping down to the western street and taking up position next to the door.
A third clone appeared, then stabbed itself in the chest. Clones that identified themselves as Two, Four, and Five leapt down to the northeast door. Clone Eight henged into the disheveled appearance of Akimi before sliding over to the skylight and waiting.
Hebi drew a kunai and muttered, "Damnit!" under her breath before preparing to restrain the blond Genin, forcibly if required. Before she could jump him, Naruto said "GO!" very clearly and stabbed poor Clone Seven in the neck with a Kunai setting a chain reaction of events in motion.
The three street-level clones kicked in the door and charged into the warehouse screaming at the top of their lungs, one throwing a kunai at one of the drunks. Stunned and too uncoordinated to respond, the inebriated Genin fell over narrowly avoiding the gift skewering via air delivery.
Another clone drop kicked the other Genin sending him into a stack of empty pallets which rendered him blessedly unconscious.
The third clone charged the Nara who had turned to observe the distraction, but things didn't go well for the last construct as a rapidly-thrown shuriken caught him in the thigh dispelling him halfway across the open floor.
The other two watched helplessly as the now angry Chunin turned and let fly with his drawn kunai, the deadly weapon striking true right between the budding breasts of poor Akimi. Her eyes flew open as a pained and betrayed look shot across her face, her killer panting deliriously at her suffering.
"Shit!" muttered Hebi.
Right before the dying girl smiled then vanished in a puff of smoke.
The Akimi look alike on the roof stumbled backwards from the skylight landing on her rear end, Naruto arriving immediately thereafter to help her back to her feet. The screaming began once her eyes locked onto his and she bolted to the nearest non-Naruto, meaning Neko.
"Huh?"
Neko ignored Hebi's confused outburst and turned to the once overly pleased but now horribly confused Genin.
"Your clone substituted with her."
It was more a statement than a question, one which Naruto acknowledged faintly, his eyes never leaving the horrified face of the girl that used to be his best friend.
"Yeah, it's something we train with during my morning combat sessions." His voice sounded hollow like he'd been gut-punched.
Hebi's mask shot up to lock onto the surprising gaki before whipping around to notice the wide eyes of the terrified kidnapping victim.
Naruto turned to the cat-faced ANBU as their hand signs started flying.
[She knows. Going to deal with Nara/ perps below.]
Neko nodded. "They're all yours."
Neko took hold of the girl's shoulders keeping her both on her feet and from fleeing at the same time.
Hebi jumped down to the street and charged in to deal with the troublesome Nara.
Naruto tried to get closer to Akimi, his hands raised to indicate he was harmless, and the girl nearly clawed her way out of Neko's grasp. The Genin immediately backed off, his face dropping to the metal sheets covering the roof.
"Hey!"
Naruto turned to look at Neko and caught the flinch from Akimi when their eyes locked. Was that fear? He didn't get to focus on it long as the elite ANBU continued.
"Since when could you do seal-less jutsu?" Neko knew that she needed to keep him focused otherwise a decent rescue was going to turn to crap.
Naruto turned away so that he wouldn't have to keep watching Akimi flinch every time he spoke. "It's something I've been working on."
His clones were focused on the Chunin waging war below and while the only thing he could focus on was the slowly breaking muscle in his chest.
~III~
Anko stepped in the now shattered entrance sliding her tanto from its sheath in a deliberate display of aggression. Off to her right, she could see the clones tying the two drunks to a support column, one pausing cheekily to flash her a "thumbs up" before returning to cinching up the ropes extra snugly.
She tried extra hard not to giggle at the painful grunts and groans from those two bastards with each brutal yank on the ropes.
Instead, her eyes turned to the Nara furiously staring at the now empty spot where his captive was. She was familiar with the family's reputation for big brains and she was hoping this was one of the average variety. All she needed now to make her day perfect was a super genius psychopath with a knack for strategy.
"He…he said that this plan was perfect! He said all we had to do was keep her quiet. W-W-Why would he lie?"
She let slip a hissing sigh.
'Jackpot! I got one still stuck on building blocks!' "Surrender quietly and I can go after your ringleader, Koaru."
She wasn't expecting the statement to be funny but the cackling laughter coming from the last villain standing gave her the impression that being stuck with Bonko Mc. Bobo here wasn't necessarily a better option. It made her pause enough to wait until the fit of hysteria passed, something she'd later regret.
"Oh my! You think the do-gooder carpenter is our boss?!"
The dark-haired boy tittered briefly struggling to regain enough control to focus. "That patsy doesn't even realize that his life ends once the demon brat dies!"
He snickered again, his eyes closed in apparent delirium, as his hands shot up and directly behind him, the room exploding in excruciatingly bright light much to the agonized shouts of the six clones still staring in his direction.
[Kage Atsuryoku Yashi Gijutsu!]
Still dazed by the strobe flash, Anko couldn't see which direction to jump in to avoid the massive hand of shadow that clamped her arms to her sides before it began crushing the air from her lungs.
Up on the roof, Clone One screamed out in agony as the strobe overloaded his eyes and disrupted his chakra network enough to dispel him.
'Hard to breathe! H-Hard to concentrate!'
She swore something cracked but, before she could blackout, a sudden rush of vertigo lead to a welcome rush of sore ribs and fresh air. Even with the world spinning, the sound of a clone bursting into smoke reached her ears and she looked up into the unhappy face of the original Naruto still up on the roof.
"We tried it your way," he began. "Now it's my turn!"
He leaped over the roof ledge pushing chakra to his feet to cushion the landing before dashing into the spacious warehouse where the deranged Nara was killing the last of the blinded clones sent in to back Hebi-chan. The fanatic's eyes were looking over the two clones standing by the unconscious Genin when the blond entered. Mr. Cray Cray sighted down the jinchuuriki, his face becoming almost rapturous.
"This… this is my moment of glory! This is the day of Hideki's rise to power!"
With the spiky-haired nutjob flashing through hand signs, Naruto opted to bring the fight to him bursting another dozen shadow clones into existence as he charged. It turned out to be a mistake.
[Kagemane no Jutsu!] The shadow at the boy's feet shot out to meet him. Naruto rolled to the side just in time to dodge but the clone directly behind him got snagged stopping dead in its tracks, his posture matching the vest-wearing shinobi down to the hand seal and crazed smile.
Another clone tried to break the doppelganger loose by shoulder blocking him but only succeeded in being captured himself as the captured clone dispersed.
Naruto noticed that both the first subdued clone and the jutsu originator took the hit and he filed that away for later. Reaching down to his thigh holster, Naruto let fly with a pair of Stingers forcing the shadow wielder to release the second clone as the first two began taking shots with kunai swipes.
Naruto noticed something else at that point that made him snarl; the shadow wielder, unless it was a helpless girl, was horrible at taijutsu barely dodging the hectic pace of knife swings taking clean swatches of cloth out of his apparel.
He was strictly a ranged support fighter and that suited Naruto just fine.
The panicked Chunin reached into his vest, presumably to pull out more flash bombs, but the entire mob of Naruto's was on to that particular trick and closed their eyes. As expected, the bright burst of bluish-white light made the entire warehouse blink like a photo flash, but the entire blond army was already moving, most rolling sideways to avoid the predictable hand of crushing death.
When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw another clone vanishing in a puff of smoke through the fingers of another giant fist of slowly evaporating shadow.
The remaining ten copies roared in anger and surged forward, the now terrified Chunin searching for an exit and finding only a barred door to his front (after he turned and ran) and a mob at his back. When his frantic pushing on the door did nothing but rattle the lock, he spun just in time to throw up his arms to protect his face.
Then the fists descended as the first one knocked the wind from his lungs. When his arms dropped to hug his stomach, the next right hook knocked the spit from his mouth as a foot swept his legs out from under him.
"U!" Another foot kicked him up into the air then the clone dropped to all fours.
"Zu!" Another clone leaped off the back of the one that kicked him into the air adding to the momentum with a kick of his own.
"Ma!" A third clone pushed chakra into his legs to leap up high enough to plant another kick into the Nara's back while the original sprung off the joined hands of a pair just off to the side going airborne with their added boost.
"Ki!" A fourth clone dog-piled on the spontaneous game of "kick the bad guy" holding him airborne long enough for the original to get into place right above him.
"Combo Barrage!"
High enough to see the dazed face of his opponent, Naruto dropped a chakra-laced heel kick onto the shinobi's stomach sending him rocketing to the ground which cratered the concrete nicely. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the heavily battered kidnapper passed quickly into unconsciousness.
Clones immediately began tying him up while the cavalry came surging in through the door, Inoshishi looking none too pleased at the grinning Genin swiping a finger across the bottom of his nose.
"What's up, Boar! You're just in time to clean up the trash."
Naruto tried not to laugh too loudly at their groans.
~III~
Koaru never actually left the area.
When he exited the building, he doubled back by cutting over an entire block, through a ramshackle tenement building, then back through a common bathhouse. Hidden by the edge of the shoddy servicing station, he watched just long enough to see the second wave of Shinobi blazing their way into the warehouse and hear Hideki Nara scream incoherently in pain.
When the ANBU started to pour in, he figured it was time to make good his escape.
He didn't wander but instead leisurely, and with deliberate calm, entered the family home of the Konoha Aono family. Reaching into the lowest drawer of his bureau, the crafty socialite pocketed a carefully-packed storage scroll before climbing out the window of his room and down to the store below. Carefully sneaking in the rear entrance, he timed his approach so as to gain entry into the office without old man Aito noticing him only to exit a moment later with half the safe's contents in his scroll.
Slipping back out into the street, he scooted quickly for the southern gate bound directly for the southern shores of Hi no Kuni hoping to never be seen again in Konoha.
'Live to thrive another day, Koaru!'
~III~
Unfortunately, the Hokage was not as easily amused as the three found out while standing in front of his desk later that afternoon. With Neko on one side and Hebi on the other, the Sandaime was reading them all the riot act.
"I tasked you two with keeping him out of trouble! Yet here you are letting him get involved in kidnapping escapades and conspiracy plots!"
Hiruzen's eyes were flashing with emotion at the moment and Naruto's hand started to work its way up to the back of his neck before Hebi swatted it away.
"I'd like to know who the adult supervision is with you three."
Both Hebi and Naruto pointed to Neko, who gawked indignantly.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Hiruzen let out an exasperated sigh before looking over the incident report one last time.
"I suppose there isn't much I can do other than," his stern face looked up from the scroll to the increasingly nervous teen noting how the boy was fidgeting trying to stand at attention, "other than give you credit for the B-rank mission you just completed."
The Genin's jaw fell open and Neko reached over quietly to push it closed.
"Congratulations Naruto, you're the only Genin of your class to have completed both an A-rank and a B-rank before actually being assigned a team."
The youth's face began to break out into a huge smile and Hiruzen felt the need to knock him down a peg.
"Keep getting into trouble and I'll start charging you for property damage, like every other shinobi under my charge, now that you're a working adult."
That wiped the smile right off Naruto's face and, pleased now that his ego was firmly under control, the Hokage turned his attention to the two ANBU standing on either side of him.
"That just leaves you two now that he's making those weekly sessions with Inoichi. You two are free to return to your regular duties. I've sent the paperwork down to Disbursing to cut your pay for the extended B-rank."
Hebi's mini-celebration brought a smile to Naruto's face. She deserved something for looking after him.
"Take Naruto with you so he can receive his pay for the kidnappers," the Hokage grumbled out as he passed a green-tinged scroll to the youngest of the three.
The two ANBU chirped out an enthusiastic, "Yes Sir!" then dragged their charge outside before he could cause more problems for the both of them. Ten minutes later with pay in hand, the three were on the street about to part ways when the snake ANBU glanced down to the quickly deflating enthusiasm of her adopted brother.
"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure she'll come around after the trauma of this whole thing has worn off. Don't take it so hard."
She saw his head nod in agreement, the non-committed shrug of the shoulders, and even heard the grunt of acknowledgment, but none of it told her that he agreed with a thing she said. The sad eyes and slumped posture told Anko that this was another case of someone dear to him breaking away.
The girl had been near hysterics when he tried to check on her after the ANBU squad took away what was left of the idiot threesome. She'd been beyond terrified, screaming, crying, pleading for them to get her away from the monster all while Naruto stood there looking like he'd been kicked in the gut by a mule.
Only Naruto felt like he could save the day and the girl and still lose at life.
~III~
The remainder of Naruto's Wednesday night was fairly tame by comparison.
Akimi, once released, had returned to Ichiraku's to let them know that she was quitting effective immediately. Naruto would find out long after she'd left crying hysterically saying that she needed time away to sort it all out.
The Ichirakus couldn't get much more out of her but it all made sense once Naruto filled them in on the rescue and how Koaru was apparently behind it all. The fact that he'd spilled Naruto's secret, one which Teuchi knew but Ayame did not, considering she was five when it happened, was all that the old ramen maker needed to hear in order to understand why the orphan girl was so scared; the Kyuubi was the reason why the girl was an orphan, to begin with.
It hurt them both to leave Ayame out in the cold, but the Third's Law made it mandatory unless Naruto was willing to take another risk which he clearly was not.
Teuchi's heart bled for his once best customer and he added an extra-large Naruto Special on the house and the two agreed not to speak of it until Naruto was ready to address it all. Ayame kissed him on the cheek for saving Akimi and left him to his meal, which reminded him of the next stop he needed to make before going home.
Back inside Iruka's room, he ran into a still-bruised and bandaged Anko in her normal mesh bodysuit and trench combo. Since they'd both been given the night and the next day off to recover, Anko had come by to see how the instructor was doing before finding her own evening repast.
The two sat side-by-side retelling the adventure for Iruka's benefit even if he couldn't hear a word of it, Anko departing shortly after the finale so that Naruto could spend a few moments alone with his former sensei.
"You can't leave me, Iruka-sensei. You and old man Ichiraku are all I have left."
Water began to pool in his deep blue eyes but refused to fall, the boy's nervous hands trying to occupy themselves as he fought for words to accompany the steady beeping of the heart monitor.
"I know I act like I don't need anyone, but I do." Those same blue eyes prayed that the darker ones lying in bed would open just this once.
"I don't know if I can do this alone anymore."
For many hours, he sat there listening to the steady beep of the machine for his only companion.
~ Thursday Late Morning, Week 2 ~
Thursday morning was rougher than normal for the Genin hopeful. Believing life was going to suck no matter what happened, he rolled out of bed when his alarm went off, created clones for the oddball clone family, the ran off to continue his morning workout regimen. While he was sweating out three-hundred repetitions of each exercise, his clone support system was rapidly trying to pull together his revised training folder.
The next victim was running out of time.
Everything that followed was Naruto going through the motions, even the obligatory shower with Naruko trying to cheer him up by pressing her chest into his back brought no reaction.
He read according to his study plan but couldn't remember what Chishiki had left for him to digest. Miserable at his own inability to stay centered, he vowed to reread it at night during his free time and instead headed out to get some fresh air.
He felt like he needed distance from, well, everything.
Not paying particular attention to where his feet took him, Naruto ended up once again next to Iruka's hospital bed staring down at the peacefully resting instructor. One of the nurses was kind enough to pass on that the danger was over.
Their lab had successfully neutralized the substance trying to choke him from the inside and now he just needed rest. The doctor was hoping to discharge him to light duty by Sunday morning, which truly was good news.
Naruto ended up taking a chair and rambling on quietly for twenty minutes before Akimi's face flashed before his eyes. That prompted an immediate end to the visit and soon his feet were carrying him off again to Kami knows where.
On second thought, maybe Kami was trying to punish him relentlessly. He looked up again only to see Ichiraku's not more than four paces away.
"Damn."
It was between the morning and afternoon rush, so his voice carried enough to startle the three folks talking behind the counter, all of whom jumped when they heard him. Teuchi and Ayame looked as if they'd been caught sneaking into the cookie jar.
Akimi, a small envelope presumably with her final pay, was rooted on the spot terrified with fear.
That fear was the final straw of the day. Naruto's face scrunched up in anger, one loud tsk left his mouth, then he turned away and strode off into the crowd with his hands jammed into the pockets of his Navy cargo shorts before anyone could say anything.
It didn't stop Ayame from calling his name, so he pretended to not hear and kept walking. He never saw the ashamed look on Akimi's face nor the sad looks of sympathy on the ramen stand duo.
He understood that Teuchi and Ayame were just caught up in the middle of what was going on with Akimi. He was just too hurt by her turning on him to care.
Before long he was atop the Hokage Monument, the spiky hair of the Yondaime forming his throne of contemplation. He stayed there until the busy ant-like crowds dwindled and faded during the sun's plummet to the horizon. He brooded while the sky burst into dying hues of oranges, reds, and purples and, as night fully settled across the sleepy village, came to a conclusion.
It was probably all for the best. Assassins couldn't afford to love anyway.
He was aiming to join the ANBU and, if they weren't part of the elite corps, then it was best not to get too attached. He would need to sever all ties eventually. Speaking of which…
He glanced over the note left on his door notifying him of the time and location for team selections the following Monday.
This would be tricky but could be managed. He could get through this next phase of his career and make a name for himself during his first Chunin Exam. If he kept his time amongst the teams short, his record clean, and did well during the exams, they'd notice. They'd have to notice. He'd need the mission completion record anyway and, so long as none of his teammates died and he put on a great show, he might draw Dragon's attention.
The Hokage told him that invitations came from Dragon and none other.
Furthermore, they always vetted their selections during the Konoha advancement exams after long evaluation periods. On very special occasions, it could happen in another village, but it took remarkable prospects to move that kind of heaven and earth. If the peerless leader of the ANBU Corps hadn't started watching him by now, he'd make sure that they were by then.
'Believe it!'
It was as his revelation was dying with the final traces of color on the sky's canvas that the scent of lavender caught his nose, but he didn't turn around. The soft shuffling of sandals on stone alerted him to her approach but even then, he did not turn to acknowledge her until she plopped down to his right.
"It's good to see you again," his voice a fragile whisper.
The soft-spoken Hyuuga bowed her head, her face a blazing shade of red. It wasn't a great start, but it was better than the last dozen or so times when she fell over dead-to-the-world just by being this close to him.
He would miss both her and her fainting spells terribly. Naruto remembered once she nearly fell off the mountain, so he began moving further back to prevent her from falling to her death on the rocky earth below. Their memories together over the last year would serve to keep him warm on the many cold nights ahead on the village's behalf.
Their routine had become fairly predictable.
He'd wander once a week. She'd eventually find him in one of a half dozen locations. She'd join him (an on-going open invitation after their first clandestine meeting) and he'd talk, always in the same gentle voice (he learned that him getting excited usually lead to Naruto grabbing her hands and Hinata promptly passing out) but always about something he'd read or learned or seen. He never talked about what happened to him personally because he figured she had enough of her own problems to deal with.
He'd observed the other Hyuugas and they weren't much to brag about, especially that dirtbag Neji.
This time, however, he began talking about the kidnapping, about how he found out, and how he eventually found her location.
Once he started the words flowed without end as if some great dam had finally burst. He talked about the rescue, the fight, and – worst of all – the discovery of her fear. Never mentioning Akimi by name, he talked of how his only real lifelong friend couldn't stand to be near him (without going into the Kyuubi) and how that made him feel, the whole time cursing his afternoon sessions with Inoichi Yamanaka.
He felt indescribable pain.
He felt unending betrayal.
He felt unfathomable loneliness.
Then he felt a pair of warm arms wrapped around his neck as her body closed in to hug him from the side, his shoulder and arm nestled between the soft orbs of her chest.
Somewhere in the back of his mind her very soft body registered tickling some primal urge to hug her back, but he was too stunned, so he sat perfectly still afraid to even breathe. Tears were falling from her eyes to land on his jacket and she sniffled on his behalf, the surreal nature of the embrace making him feel better and worse at the same time.
As was their ritual, they spent a half-hour together before she had to leave but, at the end of their bonding, she hugged him once more and squeaked out in a bare whisper, "I'll always be here for you."
Then she kissed his cheek, squeaked yet again while brandishing a brilliant shade of red to her creamy complexion, before leaping off in the direction of the clan estates.
Naruto actually stayed upright with the fingers of his hand lightly touching that same cheek, for fear of erasing the tingling caused by the gentle brush of her lips on his flesh, for a whole thirty seconds before falling flat out on his back unconscious.
~III~
Friday and Saturday were better if for no other reason than Naruto buckled down and got back into his training rhythm. He would have to revise it based on whatever training schedule his team used but, for these last two days, he wanted normal. That meant bumping up his resistance seals to two fully charged elements and more chakra control.
He'd finally learned how to spin leaves on every finger in addition to his palms, but it was still a touch wobbly. It was, however, good enough for Keihatsu to walk him through his next hurdle [Kinobori no Waza], or the Act of Tree Climbing.
The concept was simple enough but neither he nor the clone had attempted it yet (Keihatsu hadn't because he wanted to surprise Naruto). The clone had studied the concept laying out enough information for Naruto to begin working on it Monday morning (using more clones) as part of his modified morning training session.
Naruto was looking forward to Monday but, in the meantime, he found his way to the hospital with takeout from Ichiraku's. He figured Iruka would be tired of hospital food and wanted to surprise him with a decent visit and something palatable.
While the transaction with Teuchi was awkward in the extreme, it was at least civil and Iruka was ecstatic to have something other than pudding or icicle pops. All he had to do for an hour was avoid Iruka's repeated attempts to hear more about how things were with Akimi.
Easy, right?
Finally leaving the hospital far behind, Naruto was more than happy to make it home and barricade himself inside for the night.
He woke up the next morning hoping to have been assigned as a deep-cover agent with a traveling circus. Anyone could learn to swallow swords and fire to land the gig. It would have been child's play compared to facing his academy peers on Monday but face them he would.
~III~
He'd been up for an hour by the time his alarm went off.
One of the clones helping to check his gear pack out for the fifth time tromped into the back and smashed it for him returning the crowded apartment back to its gentle sounds, the click-clack of weapons being cleaned, oiled, and re-stowed for later use.
It was like a well-oiled machine.
One clone would lay them out.
Another clone would check for nicked ends and hone them to a razor's edge.
Another would clean away any residue with a lightly oiled rag, Naruto would inspect them, sending back any that needed a final touch-up, or pass them to Fuu-chan to confirm all weapons were indeed ready.
When she gave the nod, and only when she gave it, did they go into the appropriate holster or storage seal.
Naruto grinned at the elemental seals added to his fighting kunai by Kenshin. Eventually, he would learn that little trick and add it to all of his weapons but, for now maintaining his personal armory would have to get him by.
They did this for all five hundred miscellaneous short blades and throwing weapons in his current inventory. It wasn't all that bad considering work started at zero-four and he didn't have to be at the academy until zero-eight.
A thorough shower to remove any non-natural scents (like excessive oil) and it was time for breakfast at zero-seven. At zero-seven-forty, all packed and decked out in khaki shorts, a navy-blue tee, and his black and orange jacket, Naruto got one final kiss on the noggin from Ku-chan, waived to the gang, then strolled through Konoha to find out who was going to ruin his life today.
It wasn't that he wasn't nervous. He was just a touch paranoid and that tamped down his initial jitters. He was determined not to let it show because today was his day.
He'd made it, by hook or by crook. He made it to the game, and no one was taking that away.
An easy stroll and ten minutes later found Naruto gliding through the entryway into the schoolhouse. Some familiar faces were already there out front.
He caught his favorite Hyuuga with a leggy brunette that looked familiar enough to make him pause. Winking at the Clan heiress, he brushed it off and moved without a backward glance past the mob waiting for the Uchiha to make his valiant return.
The strange faces returning from failed Genin teams he paid no mind. They'd either make the cut this time or they wouldn't.
It was the shinobi way.
Familiar classroom smells bombarded his nose before he even opened the sliding door to Iruka's class. Chalkdust hung in the air, the motes dancing on air currents stirred up by the lazily rotating fans hanging from the ceiling.
His eyes swept row after row of empty seats as ghost-like images of children joking and laughing waged war with more painful memories. He had good times here, few and far between that they were.
Tracing two fingers along the desktop edges, he slowly picked his way to a chair up near the top row in the center of the room. If he remembered correctly, that should put him next to…
The door slid open again and a red-faced Hinata entered, red-faced but smiling. Closing the door behind her, the timid girl made her way directly to where he was standing, hugged him briefly then slipped into her seat of four years.
Naruto leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, which made her swoon, before taking the chair next to her. She was getting better, slowly but surely; she didn't pass out this time even if her knuckles were turning bleach white from her grip on the desk's edge.
It was only for one day. Someone would just have to adjust due to his relocation as he just couldn't resist messing with her.
Their quiet didn't last long before more laughing voices and excited hopefuls began filing in. Some of them paused or stutter-stepped when they caught sight of Naruto seated near the back despite the unspoken question on nearly every face.
He chuckled at the confused stares from a few that clearly didn't recognize him without his trademark orange jumpsuit. Sometimes a fresh start was a good thing.
Shikamaru, straggling in with Choji ten seconds before eight, made a beeline for the desk in front of the couple where he promptly laid his forehead on its flat surface. At exactly eight o'clock, he began snoring much to Naruto's amusement.
It was because he, Hinata, and Choji were laughing that they missed Iruka's limping entrance but the instructor's weak voice took care of the rest.
"Alright, settle down people."
For the first time, the entire class got stone still as happy faces took in the mostly-healthy Chunin instructor.
"I can't yell today so I need you to listen closely."
Moving slowly, he sat along the front edge of his desk and lifted a clipboard as he prepared to kick things off.
"On the doctor's orders, I can't speak too long but I do want to say thank you to everyone that came to visit me in the hospital. I also want to congratulate you all on graduating and wish you the best in your upcoming careers."
He coughed, the discomfort on his face apparent as one hand shot to his mouth, before standing straight and looking up to lock eyes with Naruto.
"Most of all, I want to thank you, Naruto, for doing what was right and going out of your way to save the life of someone dear to me and the Ichiraku family. Your actions bring honor to shinobi everywhere."
He bowed his head despite the flush of peaked paleness across his face before retaking his seat.
Naruto, on the other hand, nodded briefly but didn't rise, smile, or show any other emotion. He figured everyone else currently gaping in the class would make up for it, particularly the angry emo king trying to ignore his mob of fangirls.
"Now, let's take a look at what you all came here for. Team 1 will be…"
~III~
Asuma motioned for Team 10 to follow him and turned without another word. He wasn't happy, not happy at all.
Once outside, his hands took on a life of their own, one smacking the fresh pack of cigarettes against the meaty palm of another as his brow wrinkled up in concentration.
'I was supposed to get the Ino-Shika-Cho combo for this generation. What the fuck, dad?'
Flipping open the pack's lid, he jammed a cig between his lips before stuffing the remaining back into his vest pocket.
Looking over his right shoulder to make sure they were following along, Asuma (too impatient to fish out his lighter) flicked a flame at the end of his finger blazing life into his addictive source of calm. Hot on his heels was the ever stoic Shikamaru Nara, and extremely annoyed Ino Yamanaka, and the ice-like Naruto Uzumaki.
Choji had been traded to Kakashi's team and that announcement rankled his nerves to no end. Apparently, this Uzumaki was supposed to fit the bill of a heavy hitter with the added bonus of being his class's top dog in stealth and infiltration.
After arguing to the best of his ability, the Hokage refused to budge saying that this was the agreed-upon path forward and he had to suck it up like the professional he was.
Asuma wasn't blind.
He was aware of the boy's pranking history and the seventy-five "alleged" infiltrations against the ANBU touted highly the boy's skill, especially when most of those ended in chases having ANBU turning out empty-handed.
The fact that he broke into the Hokage's office, successfully stole the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, and would have got away scot-free if not for a freak discovery after hours by the Hokage himself, also spoke highly of his capability to plan and execute. Hell, he even took out the old man and his ANBU bodyguard and escaped capture without a scratch.
The kid was good, but powerful? He didn't get that vibe. You couldn't have it all.
It was an inviolate law of nature.
Taking two deep pulls, Asuma's head shot up towards the clouds as he forced the smoke-laden air from his lungs.
'Crap!'
"Um, sensei?" His eyes dropped to see that his students were looking up to him expectantly, but his eyes narrowed again once they landed on the Uzumaki. This time, the boy's eyes caught it and drew down to near slits.
He was angry? Offended?
Good!
He wasn't the only one and Asuma didn't care that he was being petulant towards a child, no, scratch that - a soldier. The boy was now, in the eyes of his village, old enough to die for it.
Asuma had a point to prove and he knew the old man would be watching.
Knowing he should be the grownup (and not caring that he wasn't), Asuma gave in to his more juvenile impulses and barked out, "Training Area Ten. Fifteen minutes. Don't be late."
Then he was gone in a swirl of cigarette smoke.
~III~
Ino's jaw dropped open. Their sensei was clearly ticked at them and they hadn't even exchanged names or anything. Her eyebrows knitted together, then she whirled on the scraggly blond behind her.
"This is all your fault, Uzumaki! You had better not-!"
She never got to finish her diatribe as the spiky-headed blond brushed right past her.
Naruto just walked by her mid-rant with a bored expression on his face, which stopped her faster than actively trying to shout her down.
Shikamaru took note, filed it away under "Tactics for Troublesome Blonds," then promptly did the same.
By the time the three of them made it to Area Ten, Ino had settled into an angry simmer having given up trying to berate her "teammate" into some semblance of a functional shinobi.
It didn't do much to help Asuma's mood either as they arrive with barely a handful of seconds to spare.
"Cutting it close, aren't you?"
Naruto was appropriately affronted.
"You said fifteen minutes," the short-haired blond retorted. "If that's not what you meant, then you should have given another time limit."
It was delivered without emotion or witty banter. He just didn't care, and it showed. Asuma had set the tone and he was happy to meet him halfway, or blatantly reciprocate in kind.
This only proceeded to enrage the former Guardian even more.
The Jounin pointed to the clan kids then pointed off to the side by a rather healthy-sized tree.
Ino smirked looking forward to the pending beat down but Shikamaru paused cutting a stern look at the older shinobi.
Asuma merely lifted an eyebrow in challenge, which prompted a brief staredown, before the testy genius joined the group's sole kunoichi. Once they were situated, Asuma motioned for the orphan to join him out in the field as he smashed his dead cig under a sandaled heel.
"I'm supposed to test all three of you, but I know what they can do." He toggled his head towards the two shinobi off to the side. "You're the unknown but we're going to sort you out right quick."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, his hands hanging loosely at his sides, the metal on his left appendage crinkling softly as it flexed open and closed.
'Well, it was fun while it lasted.'
Shaking out his shoulders, he dropped his jacket off to the side revealing the extra-long punch daggers crossed in his lower back. Reaching up to touch his chest, he channeled a burst of chakra in a short three-burst pattern and sighed happily as the extra weight on his body fell away, all of which was noticed by the sour-faced Jounin staring him down.
'Might as well go all out just this once.' He glanced up once the disgruntled teacher started yapping his gums again.
"Simple rules, Naruto. Impress me and stay. Taijutsu only, since I don't want to kill you," he paused just enough to make it sound like a sick joke, "…intentionally.
"Prove to me you have what it takes to be the muscle on this team over the guy that was supposed to be here otherwise I'm sending you, and only you, back to the academy to pick up another team next year."
His only answer was a growl before Naruto bent his knees, brought up his fists into a guard, then started closing the distance to the man that was supposed to be his Jounin instructor.
"Ding! Ding!" the Genin whispered softly.
Asuma smirked and brought up his own hands, palms loosely open to protect his face. Under other circumstances, he might have grown to like the kid.
~ Fifty Yards Off to the Side in a Nearby Tree Branch ~
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed dangerously. 'What is this jackass doing?'
His hand tightened on the branch he was holding to steady himself while looking through his spyglass and the bark splintered.
'I'll kill that asshole!'
~III~
Now, Naruto wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could take a Jounin single-handedly. He had very little in the way of experience (other than brawling in the streets against non-shinobi), useful skills, and had been actively trying to build upon his meager combat proficiency for just under two weeks.
Nope, he fully expected to have his ass handed back to him as a thoroughly abused rag doll, but he'd be damned if he didn't get his licks in. Why not?
He was also expecting to be sent packing for another team by the end of the day anyway so might as well enjoy the chance and go "full brawler" mode.
His taijutsu was a training montage to every cheesy martial art flick he could find, from the campy Shaolin monk films to the more exotic fly-by-wire Gung Fu dioramas.
His all-time personal favorites were three western films depicting a western vampire hunter and his trusty-white-haired father figure/mentor. This anti-hero's fighting style was a combination commando-boxing-martial combative form just screaming street fighter, something that resonated with the self-proclaimed savior of Konoha in his earlier (and more naïve) days.
With the help of clones and whatever reference he could find from the library or Konoha's media stores, the fighting fanatic spent good chunks of time over the pre-team assignment window fine-tuning his fighting by focusing on execution, timing, and finesse.
Two weeks wasn't a lot of time, but he'd come a long way with the help of a few dozen of his closest friends every morning after his workouts. Now he was going to get his first real test run, and the excitement made him grin wide, his pronounced canines making the three shinobi in the training area with him blink in shock.
He looked truly psychotic and absolutely animalistic.
Ino's face flushed but she tried to hide it as the two combatants matched up.
Closing the gap, Naruto feinted a lunge and Asuma figured he would teach an early lesson in humility by rapping his knuckles across the boy's forehead to teach him a little patience.
When Naruto instead kept lunging and ducked down to one knee, his metal hand smashing atop Asuma's extended - and slightly bent - left knee, Asuma's body reacted instantly bending him forward at the waist as the leg locked out. The bend of his upper body dropped his chin just enough for the Genin to surge to his feet and shoot a chakra-fueled uppercut around the Jounin's still outstretched right straight hand and directly into the Asuma's chin, rocking the man back a few hopping-stuttering steps.
Naruto was so shocked that he connected early on that he failed to follow up on the surprised shinobi possibly costing himself the match.
Shrugging it off, the youth tucked his chin in near his chest, drew up his fists again, and bounced his way closer to the older man still shaking loose the cobwebs crossing his eyes.
'Damn, he hits hard!' Asuma kept moving until his vision stopped blurring, his body forcing chakra to counteract the rest of the shock to his equilibrium.
If he hadn't started reinforcing his body after that first punch, he might have been kissing dirt. 'That settles it. No more underestimating him.'
With grim determination, the younger Sarutobi reset his stance and stepped back in to continue the fight.
Responses of the people taking in the fight were varied.
Shikamaru's face hadn't changed but inside he was shocked. First off, he had no idea what Asuma was up to. His father had spoken highly of the potential lineup of instructors the night before, including the younger Sarutobi. This whole exhibition went completely against the pre-conceived image in his mind. Try to cloud the issue all you wanted under "Naruto needing to be stronger for being the group heavy hitter," but he could see there was more behind this than petty childishness. Their instructor was overreacting, and he wanted to know why. Shikamaru hated puzzles he couldn't solve.
Ino was stunned. She was having a hard enough time adjusting to the fact that "somber Naruto" was temptingly hot, something reinforced when he removed the jacket showing off his clingy tee. The fact that he was leaner than she remembered, roguishly handsome – especially with that snarling grin of his, and a surprisingly good fighter only proceeded to confuse her more. Where was all this in the academy? Well, okay she admitted he was one of the better taijutsu students even then but where was all this other… goodness?
Jiraiya's hand clamped down harder on the branch snapping the defenseless thing in half.
Back in his office, three faces huddled around the scrying orb while the Sandaime channeled his [Toomegane no Jutsu] showing them all the battle taking place. The two purple-headed women scowled angrily, one enjoying the pop Asuma took to the chin even though she knew Naruto had little chance of ending the fight victorious (she would make the young Sarutobi bastard pay for it later, somehow). The older Sarutobi clucked his tongue in disappointment before looking up to the mesh-wearing woman with an idea.
"Anko-chan," he cooed as the young Mitarashi glanced up in surprise, "how would you like to help me teach my son a lesson after this travesty?"
Her interest turned into sadistic pleasure, her vindictive gaze returning to the orb with a happy nod and a happily hissed "hell yeah!" through a tightly clenched jaw.
Back on the field, the two combatants squared off hoping to knock the other down a peg or three.
~III~
[Jutsu Used In This Chapter]
[Rank E] Ninpou: Kinobori no Waza (Act of Tree Climbing): Kinobori no Waza, the art of tree climbing serves a dual purpose. Taking part in Kinobori Shugyou (Tree Climbing Training) helps a ninja learn how to focus their chakra. It also teaches the ninja how to run up trees and walk on vertical walls. The training helps the ninja learn how to focus just the right amount of chakra to a particular part of their body. The amount needed to climb is small, but it must be precise. The feet are regarded as the hardest location to master chakra focusing. So, by gaining the art of this skill, the ninja will have any jutsu available (theoretically) because they will be able to focus their chakra as needed.
[Rank E] Ninpou: Kawarimi no Jutsu (Change of Body Stance Technique): Kawarimi no Jutsu is a basic Ninjutsu technique. When in danger the ninja will quickly substitute themself with another nearby object. This can be a block of wood or even another person. This allows the ninja to quickly flee and hide while the original object takes the brunt of their opponent's attack.
[C-Rank] Kagemane no Jutsu (The Art of Me-and-My-Shadow): Literally "Shadow Imitation Technique"; The user's shadow is extended to the opponent's shadow, combining them. This puts the attacker in control of the target's movements- the target is forced to make any movement the user makes. It is an extremely versatile technique. Given enough talent, the shadow can contract and change shape, and even get ahold of several targets at once. The shadow can also be connected with the shadows of other objects to extend its range. Shikamaru can only hold the jutsu for about 5 minutes.
Kagemane no Jutsu used to be called Kage Shibari no Jutsu. The name also suggests that in the past, the technique could only hold targets in place and not force them to copy the user's movements.
[B-Rank] Kage Atsuryoku Yashi Gijutsu (Shadow Crushing Palm Technique): I raised the ranking of this jutsu due to its direct combat application. The user extends and enlarges the shadow of his palm generating one large enough to grasp, detain, and crush their opponent. Its effects and range can both be increased when used in conjunction with flashbombs (cast directly behind the user) strengthening, or creating when none are available, the shadows of the caster. This is a medium ranges jutsu without the use of flashbombs but reaches no more than 20m (twice the range) with them.
[B-Rank] Ninpou: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique): Figured I should put this in here at least once despite the fact that Naruto spams it like air freshener;Kage Bunshin is a Jounin level Ninjutsu technique. When Naruto stole the scroll of seals, he borrowed this technique along with a few others. The normal Bunshin technique creates a copy of the ninja that lacks any substance. The Kage Bunshin distributes the ninja's chakra evenly among the clones and creates a real copy with form and substance. The clone itself can also utilize any jutsu the original ninja knows. When the clone finally disperses, any new knowledge it has gained is passed back to the original ninja and any additional clones. This makes Kage Bunshin an excellent training method if the ninja has the chakra capacity and stamina to maintain the Kage Bunshins for an extended period of time. This allows the ninja to essentially reduce the time it takes to train and learn with each clone added. This is especially true when used with Tajuu Kage Bunshin [A-Rank Kinjutsu due to heavy chakra requirements], an advanced version allowing creation of larger numbers of clones.
[A-Rank] Tōmegane no Jutsu (Telescope Technique): Tōmegane no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Third Hokage. Using a crystal ball, the Hokage is able to view events transpiring around Leaf Village.
~III~