What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish
Chapter 10
-Konoha Council's Reply-
Two days after Naruto delivered the Raikage's reply, the reply from the Tsuchikage also came in. The Konoha Council had been deliberating for a day already before Naruto was called into the council room, the day before he took his genin exams.
Naruto walked into the council room with dressed in a black battle kimono emblazoned with the Uzumaki and Namikaze crests. For most of the civilian council, this was the first time they had seen him since the night of the Kyuubi's attack. The civilian council still did not know the complete details of that night, nor the night of the Uchiha massacre. Most of them were neutral to slightly favorable. Naruto new that he had the Higarashi's support along with the support of Teuchi. When Teuchi built his restaurant, which was frequented by the clan heads, children and Hokage, the civilian council offered him a seat to replace a retired councilor. Naruto could only sense negativity from three people in the council room: Koharu, Mibuki and some fat guy he had never met.
"I have come in response to your summons, Hokage-Sama." Said Naruto bowing to his Hokage and then nodding to the shinobi council.
Mibuki cut in with a sneer, "You are not yet a ninja, boy. You will show your civilian council the respect it deserves."
Naruto ignored her completely and kept his eyes fixed on the Hokage. This incensed Mibuki to the point that Hiruzen forcefully shut her up with a burst of KI. Naruto never understood how someone could claim to be important and powerful, then fold completely under a little KI. This thought brought a smirk to Kurama who was ready to make his grand entrance.
"Ahh, Naruto-Kun. You have made things quite interesting over the last week, my boy. Once again, well done on your solo missions to Kumo and Iwa. The responses we received spoke very highly of your professionalism and conduct."
"You honor me, Hokage-Sama."
This pleasant back and forth was once again interrupted by the fat civilian councilor.
"Hokage-Sama, what possessed you to send this boy, not yet a ninja, to our two greatest enemies?"
"Akui, that is none of your concern. Just accept that there are things you will not know. I say this to the whole civilian council, you are an advisory body. Please wait until I solicit your advice. I grow tired of these interruptions." Said the god of shinobi. He turned and looked at Naruto, "Ai and Ohnoki have both consented to you exchanging letters with their chosen kunoichi. Both mentioned you motivating them to see past grudges and it seems you earned some faith. I will remind you to not to disclose any confidential information in your correspondence. There is a formal meeting set for after the third phase of the chunin exams where the treatise will be finalized."
Naruto acknowledged his Hokage's order with a nod, "Hai, Hokage-Sama. I will do as you say."
Hiruzen then opened the first order of business with his council. "The first step to peace has been made. In order to move forward, we will need to deal with Naruto-Kuns application to the CRA. He applied a dual entry as the last of the Uzumaki and the last of the Namikaze clans. Both clans are historical allies of the Leaf and have contributed greatly to our place atop the hierarchy of hidden villages. We will now take a vote on his enrollment. A second vote will be taken to an amendment he made to the conditions of application. Naruto-Kun, please elaborate for the council."
"Honorable members of the council and elders," he looked at each clan head, elder and a couple of the civilians, "I wish to restore my clans, but I refuse any demand regarding my future wives made by the council, or anyone else for that matter. I will marry, love and cherish each wife that I choose. The ninja clan heads know how I make this possible. If the second amendment is not approved, then I will withdraw my application to the CRA. I await your vote, honorable council."
There were a couple cries of frustration and outrage from the civilian side, but Naruto paid them no mind. He spent his time making meaningful eye contact with the clan heads. Hiruzen spent 10-minutes shutting the civilian council up before taking the vote. Both measures passed 17-3.
Hiruzen brought order back to the room. "We will now vote on whether to accept or reject the engagements of Kumo and Iwa, which are Samui, the adopted niece of the Raikage and the rookie of the year for her class in Kumo, and Kurotsuchi Kamizura, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter and holder of the 'yotun' bloodline. Both girls have accepted by their own volition and written the responses to Naruto's letter. I now open the floor to question Naruto about his visit."
Hiashi Hyuuga stood first, "Naruto-Kun, it has been too long. I trust your judgement and it seems the visits went well. Do you believe we can trust Kumo in this agreement? I admit that I still harbor a grudge from 9 years ago."
"Hiashi-Dono, it has indeed been too long. I was able to speak with the Fourth Raikage at length. You know about my ability, and I believe him to be genuine. So long as the Leaf and I keep our word, he will honor his end of the deal. My father wrote about him in his journal and said that he is a man of high moral character, and I found that to be accurate."
After Hiashi nodded in appreciation for Naruto's answer, Shukaku spoke up, "What can you tell us about Ohnoki? Do you believe his intentions pure or not?"
"Before I answer your question, Shukaku-Sama, I ask the Hokage if I may bring out my partner for this mission. He is a much stronger sensor than I."
The Hokage took a deep drag on his pipe and mentally prepared himself for this. He nodded to Naruto and told everyone to stand down, Naruto is going to perform a sanctioned jutsu.
Naruto activated a tailless shroud and performed the 'Kyuubi kage bunshin no jutsu'. Kurama appeared next to Naruto and flashed a pointy, sly smile at the council. Of the 20 council members, only four knew about Kyu. Kyu told Tsume about himself after they had made love for the first time. She said as long as the sex was that good, she didn't really care. Six civilian council members passed out and Mibuki Haruno was screaming at the ANBU to kill the demon. Hiruzen gave a couple second of full powered KI burst and shut the room up.
"Everyone, I know this is a shock to you. Kyu has been allowed this form by Naruto for the past two years. He has agreed to obey myself and Naruto-Kun while in the village. His track record has been perfect, and I will hear no more from the civilian side of the council on this. Kyu, you were brought out to speak to the trustworthiness of the Tsuchikage, please proceed."
"Okay, Hiruzen. A clone of mine accompanied Naruto to see the old fence sitter. Initially, it was all shock and a bit of rage. However, my kit won the old man over. I believe his intentions to be earnest. I believe he wants to see a fraction of the peace Naruto spoke of before he croaks. I would like to add that there will be resistance to this. I could sense negative energy from the human guards. I will be able to feel more when they arrive, but I believe we will have to deal with those unable to move past old grudges before the path clears up. If that is all, Hokage-Sama."
Danzo cut in. He had kept a proud eye on Naruto's track record, but he didn't know the Kyuubi could be summoned out of the seal like this.
"If I may, did Naruto summon you? How can you be out of the seal? Is this your full form?" asked an overly eager Danzo.
Naruto knew they needed at least this much information, so he gave Kyu a nod. Kurama addressed the council once more, "I care not for your human games, Danzo. I have seen the change in you since you started training Naruto. I commend you on that, it saved you from a brutal death by my claws. To answer your questions, Naruto does possess the Kitsune summoning contract and I am the boss summons of the Kitsune clan. This was not a summoning, but a variant of the shadow clone. Naruto retains the right to dispel me at any time. My power corresponds to the number of tails that Naruto pours into the formation of this body. With one tail of power, I equal most jonin in this room. That is all the questions I will answer at this time."
With a final smirk at the civilian council, the Kyuubi returned to his seal laughing at the stupefied faces of the stupid civilians. It took almost an hour of questions, shouting and blasts of killing intent to put that little display to rest. If Naruto couldn't tone it out and perform a comedic play by play with Kurama, he would have walked out of the council room.
Finally, an exhausted Hiruzen closed the meeting. Naruto picked up the letters from Samui and Kurotsuchi and spent half an hour catching up with the clan heads. He would be taking a seat, or should he say a shadow clone will be taking a seat, when he gets promoted to chunin.
Naruto went to his favorite spot, Hokage mountain, and sat down on his father's head to read Kurotsuchi's letter.
'Dear Naruto-Kun
I find myself at a loss for words. I never expected to be offered up in a political marriage, especially not to the son of the Yellow Flash. The old fart put in a good word for you, which is mighty rare I might add. I do not know how or if this will work, but I do intend to give it a try.
My name is Kurotsuchi Kamizura, I am the oldest daughter of the Kamizura clan. I am 14 years old and will be taking my chunin exam test with you. I like gardening and training with my lava jutsu. Yes, I have a kekai genkai. It is a recessive trait in my family. I look forward to sparring with you and exchanging notes on our jutsu. I heard you have a very high fire affinity.
Gramps told me about the fox. I guess I won't know until I meet him, but I have known Uncle Han and Roshi my whole life. Jinchuriki don't scare me if they can control the biju, and it seems like you have pretty good control. So don't worry about that.
I guess I should address the elephant in the room. I do not know how I feel about you planning to have multiple wives. I am a rather all-in kind of girl. I will promise the same as the last, I will try for the sake of our relationship and our villages. That is really all I can say about it.
Your letter was really sweet, and I look forward to more of the same.
With affection – Kurotsuchi Kamizura
"Well Kit, that's about as good as your going to get by meeting a girl through a letter." Naruto nodded his agreement. He was happy. It felt like he was starting to see the fruits of his labor. He went to bed exhausted from the stupid council.
- Ah, to be genin. Again? -
Naruto passed his genin exams with ease. He couldn't believe that was all it took to make genin. He agreed to meet everyone out for a celebration at Ichiraku's and was walking there before he was distracted by a flood of memories. He cursed as he sent a shadow clone to Ichiraku's in his place.
During his exams, Mizuki reeked of hate and desperation. So, Naruto got curious to see why he was so desperate and dispatched a clone captain to spy on him. Said clone captain just dispelled as Mizuki was leaving the Hokage tower with the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. Naruto took off after Mizuki, following the directions his clone had given him.
Naruto tracked him to a forest just outside of Konoha by an abandoned shack. He walked up on Mizuki, with his new hitiate shining proudly on his right bicep. Naruto had adapted a head wrap like Kyu, because he thought it looked so much cooler than a shiny piece of steel.
"Hiya, Mizuki-Teme, what bring you out here on this fine summer evening?" Chirped an excited Naruto.
Mizuki was sweating due to his escape, but it seems his night was going to get better. He would get to pay this brat back for his humiliation.
"What the fuck are you doing out here, brat? Go home play ninja." Snarled back a pissed off ex-teacher.
"Oh, Mizuki-Teme. You have been playing at being a ninja your whole pathetic adult life. Do you need another ass-whooping before I take the scroll of seals back to GiGi?"
That was it, now this brat must die. Mizuki pulled out a fuma-shuriken and launched it at Naruto. He sped behind the shuriken to take advantage of the opening it would give him. However, when the shuriken kept going through Naruto and all Mizuki hit was a cloud of smoke, he was confused. A shadow clone? No way a fresh genin knows that.
Naruto took advantage of this confusion to zip on over to Neeko and her new squad since they had just arrived.
"Neeko-Taichou, conrats on the promotion. Hey, I need your help. Can you please pick a number between one and three?"
"Uh, hi, Naruto. We are after the traitor Mizuki. And, uh, three I guess." Replied a very confused Neeko.
"Wait your turn, Neeko-Taichou! You can have him when I am done. Damn I was really hoping you said one. Anywho, be back in a jiffy." Naruto said before disappearing in a wind-shunshin. Kuma, of all people, couldn't hold back a snort. It's not Kuma's fault, he had missed Kitsune terribly, so when Kuma got to see Kitsune, the genuine article, it brightened his day up.
A Naruto reappeared behind Mizuki with his hands pointed and held together like a gun. The Naruto clone loaded wind chakra into his fingers and whispered, 'futon – one thousand years of death' as it plunged it chakra enhanced fingers into Mizuki's ass. The startled Mizuki went flying, which is rather problematic in a forest. He crashed and crushed his way through several trees before falling nearly dead in a heap. The real Naruto strolled over to the Scroll of Seals and shuddered as the clone's memories wormed their way into his mind. He had tried to block that clone's memory recall, but sadly it didn't work. Now Naruto hand the overwhelming urge to go and wash his hands. Before heading back to the Hokage tower he called out to the captain of the new team Ro.
"All yours, Neeko-Senpai! It was awesome seeing you again. Don't be a stranger, ja-na." With a wave and a swirl of wind Naruto left a smirking Neeko, a smiling Kuma and two newbies that didn't know what the fuck was going on. The squad secured Mizuki and took him over to Anko, who had just received her Tandi jacket and was more than happy to take a broken Mizuki into her playroom.
Naruto didn't make a big fuss when he dropped the Scroll of Seals on the Hokage's clean desk. He walked in and could smell what his grandfather figure was smoking. He idly noticed that most of the paperwork was done and there were two shadow clones finishing it up. Hiruzen sat with his feet reclined on the desk, puffing his pipe and reading an orange book. Shadow clones really made a happier Hokage.
"GiGi, Neeko took Mizuki to Tandi after I hit him with Kakashi's '1000 years of death – futon version', anyway I gotta run. Just throw that on my mission tab. B-rank should cover it. A clone will bring my full report by. Ja-Na."
A bemused Hiruzen filled out a mission form for Naruto. "The only genin to start his career with two solo A-ranked missions and a solo B-rank. I fear for his genin team if he keeps this up."
-Genin Team 7-
When Naruto heard that he got Sasuke and Hinata on his team, team 7, he was happy and concerned. His team practically screamed 'come kidnap and ransom me'. Oh well, he would just have to make sure Sasuke and Hinata were up to snuff. He couldn't tell them about ANBU, but at least they already knew some of his skills. As soon as he heard his jonin sensei wasn't here yet, he tasked a clone captain with finding Kakashi. He got a ominous feeling that he was going to have to do everything for his bum of a brother figure/sensei.
A clone appeared in a swirl of wind with a Kakashi reading his orange book. The clone dispelled as soon as it dropped off its package.
"My first impression of you all is … I hate you." Kakashi drawled out in a lazy tone looking right at Naruto. Kakashi continued, "Roof, 5-minutes, go."
Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata all used shunshin to get there. Naruto had taught them the technique because he was so tired of having to walk everywhere with them during his time at the academy. At least they both appreciated learning a new jutsu from him.
When the three appeared in front of Kakashi a couple of seconds after he arrived, Kakashi hated his life. First, his little brother forces him through a joint-shunshin, multiple times he may add, to get to the academy. Now the damn brats won't even give him five minutes to read his precious book.
"Intros, go." Mumbled a depressed Kakashi.
Naruto kicked off, "Well you all know a bit about me. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, here. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you guys that yet. The Yondaime was my dad. I will tell you this too, he sealed the Kyuubi into me at birth. Y'all can meet him later, he is sleeping right now. I like my family, friend and training. I dislike traitors and a certain masked Uchiha bastard." Sasuke's head snapped up at this.
"How does he know about the masked Uchiha that killed my dad? And why does he hate him?" thought Sasuke as a dark aura began to surround him.
Naruto picked up on Sasuke's negative emotions, so he continued. "My dream is to become Hokage and bring peace to the elemental nations. Yup, that's pretty much it. Hinata-Chan, why don't you take it from there?"
Hinata smiled at Naruto, blushed then began, "Um, I am Hinata Hyuuga. I love my clan and training with my mom. I dislike the 'caged bird seal' that divides my clan. My dream is to become a good clan head and eliminate the use of the 'caged bird seal'." Naruto smiled inside at this. He learned how to dispel seals like that in Fuinjutsu Mastery – Level 8. He could totally do it, but he needs to earn some political clout first. One thing is for damn sure, he won't let Hinata, nor Hanabi, get that damned seal. He would rather let Kyuubi eat every single clan elder than let that happen.
"Aww, thanks Kit. If you do decide to go that route, I would be more than happy to comply." Naruto ignored Kurama and listened in to Sasuke instead. Sasuke had withdrawn more after his father's death. He would have to reach out to Aunt Mikoto and offer his help.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha, I like tomatoes and training. I hate the same guy Naruto does. My dream is to restore the Uchiha clan's honor and make my Ka-Chan proud." That was a lot nicer than Naruto was expecting.
Naruto looked at Kakashi who had been reading his book, "Kakashi-Sensei, your turn." Naruto put extra emphasis on Sensei to try and drive the point home that he was supposed to be the sensei of the team.
"Oh, fine. Kakashi Hatake, ex-ANBU captain. I like the ANBU and reading. I hate brats and traitors. You don't need to know about my dreams. Okay, good intros. Will see you tomorrow at training ground 7 at 6am for your true genin exam. It is going to be a combat exam, so don't eat or you will puke. Ja-Na."
Before Kakashi could go, Naruto grabbed his hand and whispered into his ear. "Kakashi, consider this a standing promise. If you are ever more than 15minutes late, I burn one book for every 10 minutes you are late. You represent the ANBU, get your shit together."
He turned to his team, leaving a wide-eyed Kakashi staring at his back, "Ramen sound good? My treat, I just got paid." Both team members accepted the invite so they could talk about the genin test. They headed to Ichiraku and got settled in. After eating their food, Naruto started.
"Okay guys, I am going to be upfront with you. There is a lot that I cannot tell you. What I can tell you, I will over time. I will be blunt. Me being a genin is political move by the Hokage. I do not say this to downplay your skills or to say that I am better than you. I missed both of you guys over the last three years and I really want my friends back."
Hinata picked up on that, "We missed you too, Naruto-Kun. You said you had the Kyuubi sealed into you, is that the other chakra I see in that seal."
"Yup, I am surprised it took you this long to ask, Hinata-Chan. I wanted to tell you for a long time, but GiGi said that I couldn't until we were genin. "
Sasuke thought the Kyuubi thing was interesting, but he wanted to know how Naruto knew the man in the orange mask. "Hn. You said you hate the man that killed my father, why?"
Naruto knew this was coming, he had an answer ready. He just hoped it was enough for Sasuke. "Your dad was important to me, Sasuke. Not only was he one of my father's best friends, but he went out of his way to teach us. I owe him a lot, but that is not the only reason. That man attacked my father and mother the day I was born. Suffice it to say he has caused a lot more trouble than what happened to your father. I know because Itachi told me. "
Sasuke gave the "Hn" that said he understood, and he had to think on it.
"How about this, Sasuke. You train with me and when we get strong enough, we each get half of him?"
Ah, there it was. This thought brought a light back to Sasuke's eyes and a whisper of a smile crept up on his face. "You got a deal, Ruto. I am going to hold you to that."
Naruto threw on a gigawatt smile, "Sure thing, brother. You have my word. So, you better keep up, got that?" He held out his fist to Sasuke, who returned the bump with a smirk on his face.
"Just wait. I activated my Sharingan a while ago and have been waiting for a rematch."
"Looking forward to it, bro. By the way, eat breakfast tomorrow. What Kakashi said wasn't an order, more like an intimidation tactic. Alright, see you guys bright and early tomorrow."
The night came and went. At 5am Naruto woke up and ate. He created a two clone captains to handle his research on the Hiraishin, two captains to go to his training ground and practice the Rasengan and two groups to study Anko's cursed seal. He was so close to being able to safely remove the damned.
For those wondering, Flashback: a week after entering the academy.
Naruto was bored out of his mind in class. The only reason he even came to this cursed place was to hang out with his friends. He retreated from the boredom of Iruka's lecture into his mindscape.
"Sup, Kurama. You said that your Yin half left me a present, care to give me a clue?"
"Go to your hallway and look for a door that shouldn't be there."
Naruto did as he was instructed and enjoyed his stroll down memory lane. As he walked past the first formed doors, he noticed a door he hadn't seen before. A black door with yellow embossing and the Namikaze clan symbol on it labeled Minato Namikaze. Without hesitating, Naruto kicked the door open to check it out.
Inside Naruto found an organized collection of his father's memories. Like a highlight reel of his father's life. Naruto stayed in there until a smack on the head came from outside. It was Iruka and the classroom was pretty much empty.
"So that is the look you make when you aren't paying attention. I got you now, Naruto." Said a smug Iruka.
"Jeez, Iruka-Sensei. Go talk to the damned Hokage already. I can't be trifled to deal with this shit. I was in the middle of something really important." Replied Naruto in a more irritated tone than Iruka had ever heard.
"Naruto, is everything okay? It's not the Kyuubi, is it?"
"No, sensei. Suffice to say I will learn far more than I ever would from the academy when I have that look in my eye. I finished the academy curriculum when I was five, for kami's sake."
A sheepish and confused Iruka resolved to see the Hokage. After his visit to the old man, Iruka chose not to bother the blonde enigma again. After Iruka had yanked him out of his father's door, Naruto spent his nights for the next few weeks watching his father's memories. They made him feel whole, like the other side of his family tree, that was full of question marks, was suddenly filled out. Naruto watched with rampant emotions as his father rescued his mother from Kumo, his fight against the Iwa army, him donning the Hokage hat and finally his mother telling Minato she was pregnant. When the memory went black and picked back up with Kushina hovering over an unconscious Minato; Naruto laughed himself silly. This was more than he could have ever wished for, "Thanks, Kyu."
"You're welcome, Kit."
He also got the theory of his father's most famous jutsu from the memories. Unfortunately for hordes of shadow clones, this meant developing a lightning affinity. After three months, Naruto was close. He had gotten the hang of the second lightning chakra nature exercise two weeks ago. The first exercise was crinkling a leaf with lightning chakra. He was considered proficient at this exercise when he could shrivel the leaf in under a second. The second lightning exercise was arcing lighting between his fingertips without electrocuting himself. The advanced stage of this exercise was channeling it from various body parts and one of his hands. It all revolved on how to create a chakra circuit in his body for the lightning to flow naturally through. All that was left was practice, then he would bug Kakashi to teach him the next lightning nature exercise and he should have the 'hiraishin' down.
The Rasengan was easy by comparison. Watching his father do it so many times and getting access to his notes on it made it simple enough. It took two days to get the first fully formed Rasengan. Then it was just a matter of reducing the time to conjure it, fluctuate its power level and try to learn the Odama-Rasengan variant. End of flashback.
Naruto walked into training ground 7 at 545am. He laid back on one of the three training posts and closed his eyes. Ten minutes later, he awoke with a yawn to Hinata's greeting.
"Good morning, Hinata-Chan, Sasuke." Replied a sleepy Naruto. "I am going to tell you now, I know Kakashi pretty well. Don't take anything he says at face value. I want one of you to take point on this. I don't want to stunt your growth by doing everything for you."
A growl escaped Sasuke's throat. It was obvious to him that Naruto was much stronger. He had to catch up. "Hn, Hinata you okay with me showing this dobe how it's done?"
"Um, okay, Sasuke-San. I will be counting on you."
"Oi, Teme. I will follow your orders today, but you call me dobe again and test be damned, we will hash this out now."
"Bring it on, dobe."
Naruto made one hand sign and a shadow clone appeared holding a kunai to Sasuke's neck. Naruto, still in his reclined position decided to nip this in the bud.
"Sasuke, as I said yesterday, you are my friend. However, that is the last time you will refer to me as 'dobe'. I will train you and make sure stronger, but do not make the mistake of thinking you will get there overnight. I have had a minimum of 200 shadow clones working constantly on my soft skills for the past 5 years. I do not wish to put you down, brother, but as the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune it demands that I maintain a certain level of respect."
Sasuke went from a scowl, to wide-eyed. He didn't know how to respond to this, so he settled with the "Hn" that means 'fine, I get it'.
Kakashi chose the moment to show up. "Ma, ma, let's calm down."
"We are perfectly calm, Sensei. You cut it close though. 10 minutes late. Five more minutes and 'Paradise' would have met a fiery end."
Kakashi's lone visible eye widened in panic. "Let's not be hasty, Ototo. Anyway, it is time for your test. You have one hour to get these bells from me. Everyone except Naruto come at me with the intent to kill. Naruto, I am restricting you to support only. This isn't how I would usually run this test, but I want to test your teamwork. If you two can't get the bells in one hour, then I am banning team 7 from eating at Ichiraku's for one month. Begin."
It was Naruto's turn for his eyes to widen. Nobody threatens his ramen. He decided to go get marching orders from Sasuke, who was hiding pretty poorly nearby. Hinata wasn't much better. Naruto left a clone to shoot the shit with Kakashi while the real Naruto approached Sasuke's hiding place.
"I don't need your help, Ruto. I want to do this on my own." Sasuke said irritably from his hiding spot as Naruto walked up on him.
"Bro, I am not risking my ramen for this shit. I will let you take equipment from my pack then I will just watch. How does that sound?" Naruto gave Sasuke his pack and one hint, "The papers in pouch three are paralysis tags, I recommend you at least include Hinata, this is a team exercise after all." With that, Naruto jumped into a tree to watch the show.
In typical Sasuke fashion, he tried his hand at the one-on-one. Found himself buried up to his neck and got saved by Hinata. Then, he reluctantly gave Hinata a paralysis seal and told her to get in the tree line and wait for the signal. He also told her to close her eyes and deactivate her doujutsu once she was in position.
Sasuke charged Kakashi again and launched a fairly large fireball at him. Kakashi casually side-stepped it but wasn't ready for the flash tags that appeared in the blind spot created by the fireball. With a loud bang, both parties were blinded. Hinata sprinted to Kakashi and slapped the paralysis seal on him. Kakashi was stuck rubbing his eyes as Hinata casually removed the two bells and gave one to Sasuke. The two smiled at Kakashi once Naruto decided to undo the paralysis seal.
"Damnit, Naruto. Flash tags and paralysis seals?" Kakashi said in an exasperated tone.
"You don't threaten a man's ramen, Sensei. Besides, I just gave Sasuke my pouch. He came up with the plan himself." Replied a cheeky blonde.
Hinata decided to pitch in her support, "It was a good plan, Sasuke-San. Thank you for telling me to cover my eyes beforehand. I still remember how much those flash tags hurt with the Byakugan active."
Naruto's hand immediately went to the back of his head, "Sorry about that, Hinata-Chan. At least you didn't get painted."
Sasuke put two and two together to make four. "You, you were the Demon Prankster!"
"Thank you Captain Obvious." Naruto said in a playful voice.
"My room smelt like chickens for months after that, you bastard." His voice was hysterical which made Naruto start laughing with Kurama in his mind.
"Hey, don't blame me for your clan's shitty security. It was a mission from Hokage-GiGi."
"It was a mission to infest the clan compound and houses with chickens?"
"Well, I took some artistic liberties. A man must take some liberties while channeling his creativity, Sasuke. The real mission was stealing your clan scroll. The chickens were simply part of the side mission and an effective distraction."
The battle of words continued between an irate Sasuke and a jovial blonde. The back and forth continued until Kakashi dismissed them for the day. That day set Sasuke's set his personal record for the most words said in a day, which Naruto shared with Mikoto, Itachi and Shisui over dinner that night. Kurama informed Naruto that all of Sasuke's ramblings combined added up to an hour of talking.
"Kami, babysitting is hard work." Thought the cycloptic jonin. Little did Kakashi know that Naruto was sharing that exact same thought.
- D-Ranks -
The next day, Kakashi managed to show up on time again and train team 7. Naruto chose to use the word 'train' very lightly in this instance. All he did was make them do the most basic of warmups and a couple of team-building drills. Naruto was glad he had his shadow clones or else he would never learn anything at this rate. Sasuke mirrored his frustrations and the ever-gentle Hinata was annoyed by Kakashi's lack of apparent interest.
After the team-building exercises, Kakashi gave them one hour to grab lunch and meet at the Hokage tower to collect their first mission assignment. Sasuke and Hinata were excited to complete their first mission, while Naruto groaned internally. Kurama answered the groan with a hearty, deep-throated chuckle.
"Haha, Kit. I decided to tag along today just to get a firsthand look at their faces when the old monkey gives them their first 'mission'. Cease your bitching, this is going to be priceless. Have a clone ready with that camera of yours."
"Fine, Kyu. I got you. You do realize that we will have to do the chores too, right?"
This didn't both Kurama, he planned on bailing as soon as the kid got his 'mission'. He had a feral dog-lover to go hunt down, after all. Plus, Kuromaru agreed to a spar after Kyu attends to his master, which got Kurama excited. Even though Kuromaru was strong, the leader of the Inuzuka ninken pack had yet to best Kurama with one tail of power. The last spar was close, but Kurama's fox form was able to get Kuromaru to submit. Submission was the only option one had left when sharp canines were pushing down on one's throat. It still got Kurama's chakra pumping though.
"Kit, I will blow this Kami forsaken seal up before I let you drag me along for these so-called missions. I am here for the photo opportunity. Then, you will release me so I may go a tend to my mate and her pup."
A devious smile flitted across Naruto's face, "Oh? And what do I get in return for sparing you from the monotony of D-ranks? And don't say something boring like I will get to stay alive, we both know that is an empty threat."
Kurama growled menacingly from his perch on the rock over-looking the lake. "Don't mess with me, brat. The great Kyuubi no Kitsune will have not play servant to lazy humans that are too fat to tie their own shoes. In return for letting me out for this and all future D-rank missions, I will teach you how to enhance your fire jutsu with foxfire. Your body is finally developed enough to start using it without spontaneously combusting."
A happy chirp was all Kurama received in response, "Deal." After lunch, team 7 walked into the mission room and saw Iruka sitting at his desk, behind a stack of mission scrolls. It was his duty to pass out the C and D-rank missions when he wasn't at the academy. A shadow clone of the Hokage sat next to Iruka, although Naruto and Kakashi were the only ones that could tell it was a clone.
"Ah, team 7. It is good to see you. Are you here for your first mission? We have a fine selection today." The voice of the Hokage carried across the hall and was filled with a playful mirth. Hiruzen noticed two shadow clones blur away from Naruto carrying cameras as he said this.
"Hai, Hokage-Sama. Team 7 is reporting to collect its first mission. Iruka-San, what are our options today?" Kakashi replied in a tone that carried a no-so-hidden mirth.
Iruka happily replied, since he was in on the joke. "Well, Kakashi, we have weeds that need to be pulled from a garden, parcel deliveries from the clinic to patients around the village, a field that needs to be plowed and the Daimyo's wife's cat is missing again. What will it be?"
As Sasuke and Hinata's mouths dropped open in disbelief, two flashes and clicks came from behind the Hokage. The two Naruto clones brought the polaroid pictures to Naruto, who put them into a seal on his shirt before Sasuke could snatch them away.
"Man, that was better than expected. Kakashi-Sensei, we will take all of the missions Iruka mentioned. Team 7 is going to get through the D-rank quota ASAP." Naruto said through fits of laughter while holding his sides.
"Ruto, what do you mean by quota? And they can't be serious. Those weren't missions, those are chores!" Sasuke said in an elevated tone of voice that approached a scream.
"Now, Sasuke-Kun. D-ranks are a right of passage for fresh genin. They help the ninja keep the favor of the villagers, support our budget and build teamwork. The quota is that all teams must complete 40 D-rank missions before qualifying for C-rank missions." Replied an amused Hokage clone as it puffed on a pipe.
"Hn, if you say so, Hokage-Sama."
"Ma, ma, Sasuke. Show respect to your Hokage. Iruka, would it be alright if we took those four missions?"
"Sure, Kakashi. Are you certain you will be able to get them done today?" Iruka was concerned. It was already noon, so it didn't leave much time to get the missions completed.
Naruto answered for Kakashi, "It will be fine, Iruka-Sensei. Team 7 will be the number one genin team in no time." Naruto knew it was important to motivate Sasuke if he didn't want to listen to him bitch and moan all day.
Kakashi took the scrolls from Iruka, and the team left the mission hall. Naruto dispatched a clone captain to handle the medical deliveries. Team 7 decided to plow the field first, since that would be the hardest mission. Naruto let the team struggle through working at a slow pace for a while. He was waiting for the queue he knew would be coming from Sasuke shortly. Kakashi was simply watching the genin from his perch in the tree, reading his smut. It didn't take long. Sasuke got frustrated 15 minutes in and blew up.
"Kami Damnit! I can't believe this is a mission. Plowing fields, what good will this do us? How will doing civilian chores do anything for our teamwork or prepare us to fight other shinobi. This is a fucking joke!"
The frustrated screams of Sasuke were exactly what Naruto had been waiting for, now it was time to nail the delivery. "I know what you mean bro. This is boring. Why don't we have some fun while doing it?"
At the confused look from Hinata and Sasuke, Naruto channeled a bit of wind chakra through the blades of the plow. Then he focused chakra throughout his legs and took off at a sprint down the length of the field. Dust, debris and chunks of grass flew out of the dust cloud created by Naruto. When the dust settled, a complete row was left neatly plowed in the blonde's wake.
"If we are forced into doing these civilian's chores, why not do them like a ninja?" asked Naruto as he huffed a bit from the exertion, before he started choking on all the dust hanging in the air.
Naruto got three intrigued looks from team 7 before Sasuke attempted to copy what Naruto just did. It took him about twice as long as Naruto, and his row wasn't as neatly plowed because he didn't have wind chakra, but he did get a row done.
"Nice work, bro. Next time try channeling some of your lightning chakra through the plow. It will work better than your fire chakra for this. Hinata-Chan, your water element should be fairly effective as well." Naruto cried out from across the field. Team 7 completed a normally full day job in just under 45 minutes. Naruto turned weed-picking into an agility exercise and team 7 cleared out the garden in 15 minutes. Now, the unholy cat was the only thing left.
Naruto had sent out a clone team to scout for Tora earlier. They could have captured the cat, but Naruto knew that this was the best team building exercise of all the D-rank missions. So, instead of capturing the cat, Naruto's clones tracked it and dispelled periodically to let Naruto know where the cat was. He informed his team of the cat's position and laid out his plan.
Tora was a sneaky Tabby cat. He reveled in his mission to keep tabs on Konoha for the Neeko clan. His side mission was to find a worthy summoner for the Neeko clan. He had been looking for the right summoner for well over a decade now and had no luck. He ran away so these genin would have to chase him, which allowed him to test the new ninja hopefuls. Plus, it allowed him to get away from that overbearing, perfume-laden woman. She was Tora's least favorite part of the mission to spy on Konoha. Alas, a decade worth of genin had not provided any potential summoners and Tora was starting to lose hope.
Currently, Tora was doing his usual path through the training grounds to inspect the genin teams. He really hoped this batch was the one. However, he couldn't escape the nagging feeling that someone was watching him. This feeling started 2 hours ago, but he couldn't sense anybody nearby. Whoever was following him was good. Now, two more chakra signatures came into his detection range and were taking up positions on his flanks. Tora got ready for the fun that was sure to come.
Hinata and Sasuke followed Naruto's directions to training ground 3. They spotted the cat in the tree line and moved to flank.
"This is Princess, I am in position." Hinata's shy voice came through the radio headset.
"This is Dark and broody, I fucking hate you Naruto. I am in position."
"Don't be like that, bro. You get to choose the names next time. Sunshine is in position. 3. 2. 1. Go!" Naruto chirped across the radio waves.
Hinata and Sasuke darted from their cover and raced to Tora's position. The sneaky cat dodged Sasuke's lunge and vaulted off of his butt, over Hinata's head, and into a tree. The cocky demon cat cast a taunting smirk at the two genin and was about to take off when it felt a hand place something on its back. Tora was pissed, it couldn't even move. His whole body was paralyzed, and this human brat was taunting him with that damned smile of his. Then, Tora was given to the girl and the soft scent of lavender met his nose. Her eyes were gentle, and her petting was heavenly.
Hinata carried Tora and pet him all the way to the Hokage tower. Tora liked this girl. Until she handed him to the Daimyo's wife. Then all the air was squeezed out of his lungs and the struggle to escape the smothering began anew.
A dirty, tired but happy team 7 reported all missions complete to Iruka at 330pm. Iruka was baffled. This genin squad just did 4 D-rank missions in just over three hours. Iruka looked up and saw Kakashi beaming with pride.
Kakashi noticed Iruka looking at him and just cast a smug look. "Have five more ready for us tomorrow. We will stop by to pick them up at the same time. Good night, Iruka."
Team 7 collected their pay and left the Hokage tower. Naruto stopped outside the tower.
"Hey guys, it's still pretty early. Want to come to my house? I have presents for you."
After receiving eager nods from Hinata and Sasuke, they headed to the Namikaze estate. Naruto's clone captains could be seen working with their squads as they entered the compound. It blew team 7's collective mind as they watched 10 Naruto clones holding us Rasengans of various sizes. Then there were 40 clones, paired up in twos, having full-speed sword fights.
"Just how much chakra to you have, Ototo?" Kakashi asked in amazement.
"Oh, last I checked I have about twice the chakra GiGi does. But I make these clones every day by borrowing some of Kyu's chakra. It makes them last longer. With Kyu's chakra, I have more chakra than all Konoha jonin combined, but I can only use about a fifth of it right now."
The casual manner of Naruto's response just deepened team 7's shock. They entered the house, greeted Tsubaki and headed into his father's study. Naruto took a couple of minutes to key them into the security system and then laid out his plan for them.
"Okay, my first gift to each of you are gravity and weight seals. These allow you to increase the efficiency of your training by making pretty much everything harder. They will increase your chakra reserves because your body will passively take chakra to compensate for the increased difficulty."
"Um, Ototo, are you sure that is safe?"
"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei. I have worn gravity and weight seals since I was eight. Tsunade-Bachan taught me enough medical jutsu that I will be able to monitor and adjust them safely."
Sasuke was excited, this is exactly what he had been waiting for. This was one training method that made Naruto stronger. He couldn't wait so he stepped forward.
"You can do me first, Ruto."
"Haha, I knew you would be excited, bro. Before I do this, you both need to agree that you will not show the seals to other people. This is Uzumaki fuinjutsu, therefore it falls under my clan's arts. I do not want it being copied by those I do not trust myself."
Both genin and jonin sensei nodded their consent.
"Okay, I will need access to forearms, calves, sternum and back. Hinata-Chan, I know that will be embarrassing for you, but I promise it is only to apply the seals. You can keep your wrappings on."
"It… it… it's alright, Naruto-Kun. I, I, I trust you." Stuttered out Hinata as she was removing her baggy beige jacket.
Naruto created two clones, one of them henged into Naruko, Naruto's female alias. Naruko applied the seals to Hinata; Naruto thought she would be more comfortable with a girl applying her seals. Once the gravity seals were on, Naruto activated them. Kakashi barely reacted, but the other two's shoulders hunched a bit.
"Okay, this is level one. You will not attempt to adjust these on your own until I give you the go-ahead. In case of emergency, make the boar hand sign and focus your chakra to the seals. To reactivate them, the monkey hand sign and focus on putting chakra into the seals. I have set the maximum to level one for now. Get used to it and we can re-evaluate after one month."
After getting nods from his team, he brought out the next present.
"We have been working together since we were children. I know your chakra natures and preferences. You are my teammates, so I wanted to share the Uzumaki elemental chakra control exercises with you. Sasuke, this scroll is fire and lightning. Hinata, this scroll is water. Kakashi, I have allowed you access to my father's study to start studying the Hiraishin. It is a lightning based jutsu."
Kakashi's lone eye bugged out when he heard this, "Thanks, Naruto. That is quite generous of you. Are you sure you want to let that technique outside the clan though?"
Naruto waved him off. "My dad's journal said he planned on teaching you. Plus, you will have to send a shadow clone here every day for the next couple of years to master it. You will have to follow the same steps I did in fuinjutsu, to create your own beacon seal. Then you will have to have high mastery over the lightning element, which you already have. Finally, you will have to practice. My clones can tell you how painful that can be. I have lost thousands of clones practicing over the last 3months."
Kakashi looked mortified. Thoughts like, "Did he care about the Hiraishin that much? Is it even worth it? And Troublesome", flashed through Kakashi's head. He was brought out of his musings when the blonde asked him to teach the advanced lightning control exercise. Evidently, not many Uzumaki had the lightning element, which meant Naruto couldn't find it in the clan scrolls. Kakashi that it was a fair trade. With many thanks to Naruto for his generosity, team 7 left his compound.