A Different Choice
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Naruto x ?
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Story Start
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Noble Disposition aside Naruto's experiences did not mean he did not have darkness in his heart. That much was sure when he asked about the capacity to manipulate your opponents' emotions in battle.
"Manipulating your opponent's emotions is not always a surefire strategy. If you accidentally misjudge how a person is going to react, then that can mean your death. I have seen people taunt their opponent, only to be dead when their opponent goes off in rage. Instead you should spend your time observing your opponent. Information is very vital to a ninja because any bit of information can save you from death. For instance what kind of fighter is that shinobi over there?
Young Naruto observed the person Kazuma pointed out a shinobi with scars on his arms.
"A weapon users."
Kazuma chuckled. "Actually a Taijutsu expert that is a rookie in weapons. His clothing is a bit baggy hiding his form and the way he carries himself indicates so."
Naruto was surprised. "Really?"
"Would it surprise you to learn that shinobi is an Iijutsu user actually and you believed me without actually considering I could be deceiving you?"
Naruto was surprised that he was tricked so easily.
"Information gathering is vital, not only for survival, but alliances. If you wish to become Hokage you need more than strength. You need ties. The more you can bring to the village in forms of alliances, knowledge, or even blood lines the more support you can get. This skill will also prove vital when seeking out viable romantic interests.
So play down your strength when necessary, but play up your intelligence. The truly worthwhile ties will more likely react to your mental prowess than if you were a brainless powerhouse."
Yet another lesson Naruto had taken to heart and implemented in his life.
Naruto knew there were two methods to restore his clan. Find a bunch of either willing women to become his 'consorts' or find survivors of the purge. The first one was to be more likely, especially since he would need at least eight members to be considered a clan.
All and all it was time to update his wardrobe. As much as he enjoyed black and orange, adding a bit more red, white, blue, and purple wouldn't hurt. Even some green and brown for camouflage and he knew just the place. That and he wanted an excuse to visit the place.
Naruto arrived to a normal looking two floor building made of birch wood and metal infrastructure. Above the window and the door there was a big sign that stylishly read 'The Rising Dragon'. The store's bell jingle indicating to its inhabitants a customer.
Naruto quickly regarded the store with an appraising eye. It had a vast selection of weapons.
There was of course your common kunai and shuriken. What most didn't realize that there were different variations. Those sharpened to different consistencies for their purpose either puncturing the skin and flesh or to glide easier through the air because their purpose was to carry an explosive tag stuck to them.
There was also the exploding variety of shinobi tools. The most common was the Exploding note used as a projectile or to cause a distraction while the more advance were the pouch and smoke grenades used by more skilled shinobi.
Then there was of course the style of clothing and the material used in them. Some resistant to blades while others added protection against fire or lightning. How effective they were depended on the user and their style. Heavy armors meant nothing if the user was too physically weak to move in them.
Though, if Naruto had to be honest his favorite reason to come here was standing behind the counter, beaming at him with a happy smile." Hey there Naruto how's it going?"
"Hey there Ten-Ten-chan, how are you?"
Tenten was a year older than him, having graduated with her team two years previously. She had chocolate brown hair pulled into Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector with steel grey eyes.
She was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse with high collar, a red fastener, and edges paired with similarly colored, puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages. She also wore brown finger-less gloves, with black, open-toed sandals with low heels, and the shoes extend to the lower ankles. To the side on the wall was her giant summoning scroll.
He and Tenten had been fairly good friends for a few years. She was a prodigy when it came to weapons, a genius of tools a few shinobi had praised her. Tenten had already mastered all the basic shinobi tools to the utmost abilities her current level allowed. It was only because she lacked an experienced jounin's strength and speed as to why she was only considered above average in regards to her weapon's ability. She was also fairly proficient in close combat weapons, but excelled in long range.
Between her tomboyish demeanor and baggy clothing it would be easy to consider Tenten one of the guys, that and her focus on her career meant she didn't have many prospects for dating, but that did not make her any less beautiful.
During one training session where Naruto accidentally shredded her pants he got a glimpse of thick creamy thighs and fairly thick cheeks. Naruto wondered if Tenten wore such baggy clothing as she was embarrassed by the thickness when she was more concerned about becoming a strong kunoichi then being some boy's arm candy.
Naruto reached the counter to which Tenten wrapped him into a tight side hug. He wrapped an arm around her and returned the affectionate gesture. He marveled just how his arm could rest on top of the hidden bump. If Ten-Ten noticed she either didn't care of mind.
"So how's my little Kouhai?" she asked him with a grin.
"Oi," he shot her a playfully annoyed look. "We're the same rank, I'm not your kouhai anymore."
"Nah, I'm still a year older than you."
She was holding over his head the seven month different as she teased him. "So what can I help you with today?" She pulled away before jabbing him in the side.
"Ah." He rubbed where Tenten playfully jabbed his ribs. "What was that for?"
"Sneaking a peak at my ass the other day of course. Since when were you so bold anyway?" She asked as she crossed her arms. Despite the gesture Tenten wasn't annoyed, in fact she was a bit flattered, but didn't mean Naruto could freely perve on her.
"S-Sorry." He apologized. Ever since that day with Anko, he had found his confidence increasing. When one was a virgin sexual interaction could be highly intimidating and having Anko as a teacher broke him out of this shyness. Having a godfather like Jiraiya also was bound to have the man's perversity rub off him a bit. Then there was Kakashi who read his smut and all honesty Kazuma was probably the most normal one. Teaching Naruto the ins and outs of being respectful and what was considered normal courtship and flirting so the blond wouldn't be running around like a perverted idiot with a perpetual and public hard-on. Subtly went a long way in many things after all.
"I need your help with choosing out some more clothes. I'm expanding my wardrobe. Also I was hoping we could spar later on today."
"I'll have to check with my kaa-san, but that would be okay." Sparring with Naruto was always fun. Well, not when he used his affinity, but at least it gave Tenten insight into a weakness she never considered. Tenten couldn't help but think about how the blond had entered her life all that time ago.
With an exhausted series of pants Tenten collapsed to her knes as she tried to raise her hand above her head. She was signaling the gesture of giving up. This was the agreed gesture between their team to stop the spar. Tenten had only been a member of team nine for a few weeks and she could tell her team was not normal. Hyuuga Neji, cadet member of the Hyuuga clan was a Genius and rookie of the year of their year.
He was fast and scary proficient. He made a good sparring partner and shinobi, but he was so cold at times and looked down on those he considered weak. While Tenten didn't like Neji's elitist sort of view or his deference to fate she couldn't help but find him a bit cool and cute. As much as she tried to ignore these feelings she hated the fact she could not, but have a crush on her teammate.
But for some reason Neji didn't seem to recognize the sign. He was charging forward his palm raised and Tenten froze in fright. She couldn't move and if he landed a strike on her exposed torso he could cause her serious damage or even cripple her for life.
It was like her lungs were frozen as she couldn't utter the words stop. She couldn't hear anything but her own heartbeat in her eyes.
She shut her eyes tight and expected to feel pain.
But there wasn't any.
Tenten waited one second, two, three... then she opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.
Neji was standing about 2 meters from her, his palm was pressing against orange and black fabric. To her surprise between them was Uzumaki Naruto from the academy.
He was from a different class and year from them. Tenten had met him maybe once or twice, they were acquaintances at best, not what you would call friends, but were civil to each other.
'W-where did he come from? W-why is he here?'
Tenten's pondering them registered what was happening. Out of nowhere Naruto had arrived and he blocked Neji's attack. Neji's Attack. But how? Naruto didn't show to be anything special yet he managed to stand his ground when most would be limping from jyuuken strike.
Naruto growled at Neji. "What's wrong with you? Couldn't you see your teammate was in no means to defend herself. So much for the all-seeing eye when you can't perceive something as simple as that."
Tenten´s eyes widened. Did Naruto just defend her?
Neji went from surprised, to annoyed.
"We are training do not interfere. Something as plain as yourself should not interfere in matters you don't understand."
"You know nothing of me so don't proceed to judge. You're supposed to be a genin, yet you couldn't tell your sparring partner couldn't defend herself? Did you not read her body movements? Her stance? Her expression?" Naruto had to hold his tongue to avoid going into the laments he was told about the current academy structure. If he kept on he would end up provoking the boy into a fight and Naruto could not win this fight without revealing more than he was willing to. "What would they say if someone from Konoha's most respected clan was known to beat down on their helpless teammate? Imagine how your clan would react if you did something to insult their image? I take it the head of your clan wouldn't be happy?" Naruto had expected a frown or snarl, but the sheer hatred that flashed in the Hyuuga's eyes put him off guard. He had no way of knowing this person's life and history, but it seemed like he pushed a button.
"Ten-Ten when you decide to get serious and improve yourself instead of hanging out when mediocre losers you know where to find me."
While Tenten flinched at the coldness Naruto was no stranger to coldness or fury. As Neji left Naruto turned to face her.
"Hey... Are you alright?"
Tenten finally snapped out of her trance and saw Naruto standing before her with his hand extended. She looked at the offered hand as if she didn´t understand what he meant. She looked at his face, and was met with a smile. His smile was so warm and it caused her heart to flutter.
She felt her cheeks become red and her breathing quickened slightly. She swallowed and took his hand. Naruto helped her to her feet but didn´t let
go of her hand immediately, and neither did she.
"Y-You're Tenten-san right, you were an upperclassmen in the academy a few months ago. "
Tenten studied the blonde boy before her, and found that she kind of liked what she saw. For a young teen he was surprisingly built. 'He must be specializing in Taijutsu like Lee.' Naruto's build compared to Lee's was much slimmer but it was obvious he trained.
"T-Thank you Uzumaki-san, it appears my teammate didn't see my gesture." Tenten managed to get out. That was the first time Tenten had ever referred to Neji as such instead of by his name. She knew he didn't mean to dismiss her as such, he was…no…she wouldn't make excuses for him. That was what fangirls did with their crushes. Tenten knew of Neji's history and while it attributed to his cold behavior and from a psychological stand point she could understand if he could be stand offish there was no reason to take your anger out on innocent people.
"Aaah, it was nothing! I just saw someone who needed my help. And call me Naruto. All my friends do."
"Friends? I…well I guess since you saved me and the all the least I could do is call you a friend."
And that was how a friendship was formed. From that point on Naruto had developed a friendship with Tenten who he helped with Fuinjutsu who helped him with weapons in exchange.
A little while later Naruto would be introduced to the rest of Tenten's teams. As he got closer he saw two males wearing green spandex walking on their hands. "Look Lee, someone has joined us in running on this youthful morning." The older man beamed to his disciple.
"Yosh, Gai-sensei this person is worthy in becoming my rival." The younger version proclaimed to his sensei.
Lee jumped from his position and landed in front of Naruto, stopping Naruto from moving forward. "Hello my name is Rock Lee; may I have your name?" Lee asked while he held out his hand.
"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you Lee-san."
This time Gai stopped Naruto with a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Ah, you must be young Naruto who our Tenten talks about. It seems that you are a hard worker just like she told us."
Before Naruto could say another word, Tenten came running to the group. "Gai-sensei you are late for the team meeting, what are you doing?" Tenten asked when she spotted Naruto. "Naruto-kun what are you doing here?"
"I'm out for my morning training. I overslept a bit so I was a bit late in starting.
Naruto answered with his own question. "These are the two Taijutsu users you told me about right?" He pointed to Guy and Lee before continuing. "You never told me they were this dedicated. Man if I knew they were this dedicated I would have come to them for Taijutsu advice some time ago. Now I know what you meant by cool if not a little crazy training methods."
Gai and Lee smiled brightly, causing Naruto's eyes to flinch in pain. "Did you hear that Lee? Our youthful Tenten told her friend that we were cool. I am one step closer to beating my rival Kakashi in coolness now." Gai shouted out.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. Was this the man who Kakashi was rivals with? He had only heard about him in passing…he knew of Konoha's Taijutsu expert, but never formerly met him.
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
This image of two men with green spandex hugging each other with tears falling from their eyes shocked Naruto out of his thoughts.
What the hell did he just miss? And then out of nowhere a sunset Genjutsu activated. He turned to Tenten who merely cringed slightly.
"Naruto-san I hope you understand why I always made excused to avoid introducing them to you."
Naruto nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tenten-san, words cannot expressed how strong you are mentally."
"Even though he is weird, Gai-sensei is the best Taijutsu master in Konoha." Tenten told him.
"My Taijutsu is efficient, but efficient is not good enough. I want it to be the best. So if I have to put up with a bit of weirdness I can do that."
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From that point on Naruto's circle of friends grow as well as his ability at Taijutsu. Speed, Strength, and Endurance while not everything in a fight was major factors that helped control the pace of the battle. While Kazuma's words about intelligence never left Naruto it would be hard to dismiss that a lot of people also valued strength and ability. All the intelligence in the world means nothing for a kage if you were not strong enough to protect the village or earn the confidence for the shinobi populous to respect and follow your orders.
Arriving back to his partner with his scroll filled with new clothes Naruto couldn't help but noticed a note left for him on the table.
Kazuma wanted him to head to the Hokage Residence? He wondered what this was about?