A Different Choice
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Naruto x ?
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Story Start
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Four Years Ago.
Shortly after being accepted into Konoha ranks Kazuma had taken to training Naruto in his clan arts. He wanted to see what the academy was teaching and quite honestly was appalled by the standards. "Hokage-Sama what has happened to the academy's standards? Quite simply promising genin are being crippled by how…minimal the standards are."
Sarutobi puffed at his pipe, "Hmm could you be more specific?"
Kazuma let out a sigh and folded his arms behind his back thumping his finger against his back. When he was agitated or annoyed he had the bad habit of thumping his finger.
"Where to begin? Let's start with the incredibly poor taijutsu style they're being taught. It has far too many holes in it. A basic rush with little consideration for leg techniques, defensive posture or any speed techs. That is just asking to be killed.
Then there is the kunoichi conditioning. Even at the younger ages they're more focused on boys then their ninjutsu. Now I know that was a common problem back them, but I figured by the time they were graduation age that would be trained out of them, or at least the academy teachers would have admonish them on their lack of professionalism.
"Not all of the children are from clan families. Now more than ever we have had an increase of student from civilian families and they simply may not know how to conduct themselves under proper protocol."
"Which I thought the Academy would have trained out of them. They are supposed to be warriors. Blades of the village."
Sarutobi couldn't help but frown at this. Kazuma was hinting points to close to the complaints Danzo would make.
"I'm not saying make them into mindless drones, but they should at least be acting like they will represent our village. It seems incredibly detrimental to rely on our specialists for our village's sole standing and power. While I admit our specialist count and notoriety currently outmatches what is currently known in Iwa or Suna, we have no idea of Kumo's current military power and we only skirt by Mist thanks to their own internal civil wars and bloodline purge. Quite honestly if they wanted to be children they should not be in the academy. Becoming complacent leads to one becoming dead!" Kazuma took a moment to compose himself realizing by the last point he had been yelling. "Apologies Hokage-sama I lost my cool."
Sarutobi understand where Kazuma's anger was coming from. He did not want what happened to Uzugakure to happen to Konohagakure.
"While I appreciate your sense of concern Kazuma-san there are reason the standards have softened. The civilian council wanted more of their children to pass the exam. They wanted their children to be shinobi too but with the standards as they were only the clan children were passing."
"That can easily be explained as the clan's more militaristic mindset gave their children the proper tools and knowledge before they joined the academy. The first few years curriculum is stuff they should know prior to attending the academy. I mean for heaven's sake even the basic tree-walking exercise has been cut. How do our genin stand against others with such low level of training?"
'Quite simply we tend to protect and nurture our genin. In other villages genin without vast promise are disposable, seen as dime a dozen and because of that our ranks have swelled in terms of numbers compared to the other villages. Our number of chunin and Jounin have swelled to twenty-two percent and eight respectively overall compared to the other villages. This has allowed us to have a greater number of patrol shifts to secure our border and allow us to take on a greater number of missions. Our yearly quarter of mission completion has increased thirty-two percent for mission ranks D to B, with a seven percent increase for ranks A and S."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was not known as the professor for nothing. It appears that there were other factors that such lax standards may have influenced positively, but Kazuma felt that they could have done all that, but still improve the overall level of Genin.
"What about I.S.A.P Hokage-sama?" They had to have at least that. The Institution of Shinobi Analysis and Performance while expensive was a highly useful program. Sure they could only afford a hand full of shinobi yearly, but that program helped with the conditioning of such shinobi as Maito Gai and brought out the latent of Sharingan no Kakashi and a few other village greats. The I.S.A.P. was one of the Nidaime Hokage's greatest creations.
"It unfortunately had to be cut. The losses we suffered from the loss of the Uchiha clan made it where continuing the program was more than we could afford. The money had to go into programs improving our village's security."
Kazuma realized this was a losing battle. He wanted to suggest that the program could help bring about more prodigy's, but the professor probably had an answer for that to. He excused himself shortly after the Sandaime finished speaking. If he could not improve the standards he would have to go about this another way.
And over the years Naruto potential shined through. He had to wait a fair bit of time for Naruto's body to develop enough to start teaching him higher level techniques, but being a both jinchuuriki and Uzumaki allowed Naruto a major headstart on his peers.
"I expect you to not only be strong, but powerful as well Naruto-kun. I have taught you Kagebunshin's benefit for a reason. I have already have you amassing knowledge on multiple subjects for a reason. You never know when rudimentary knowledge on a subject will save you, but now you need to learn about possible enemies." With that he led Naruto to his room and on the table was a vast collection of bingo books. "You will memorize the bingo book and know everything there is to know about the five major hidden villages."
Naruto understood where his uncle was coming from. The information gathered would make him into a venerable walking dictionary. Well considering Kazuma already had him reading dictionaries that wasn't even the most apt description.
"You will spend the rest of the day reading and memorizing this knowledge. Tomorrow is your rest day so remember to relax."
Once a week Naruto was given a day to relax and do whatever he wanted. Depending on the level of training and what he accomplished Kazuma would give him more days off. The man didn't believe endless training everyday was sensible after all. The body and mine needed time to rest. Naruto was roughly expected to train eight to ten hours a day leaving him six to eight hours a day to do what he wanted with the rest of the time resulted around a full night of sleep.
He didn't understand why some shinobi thought only about four to five hours of sleep was sensible. Then again most of them didn't understand a thing beyond basic first aid. It was only because he was chided much in his youth by one of the clan's medics about the importance of taking care of oneself did he have the knowledge he did on taking care of one's body properly. Unfortunately he was still sorely lacking on Iijutsu knowledge in general, but for now it was proficient.
'I know I am putting so many burdens on you young Naruto. Burdens most clan wouldn't put on their children beyond mastery of the clan techniques, but if you are to be Hokage and bring greatness back to our clan name you need to be ready.'
Four Months. Four months since Team Seven had formed and now it was time for their first real mission. A c-rank mission.
Team 7 reported to the Hokage tower.
The mission an escort mission.
From Nami no Kuni they would be escorting the client and protecting them from bandit activity that has been preventing his workers from completing a bridge.
It was time to meet their client.
The client stepped out drinking from a bottle. An older man. At least fifties with gray hair. He took a swig and said, "What? I paid for bodyguards and all I get are some teenagers?"
Said teenagers bristled at this comment. To dismiss a shinobi based on age was foolish. Something done by those who came from a village or settlement with little shinobi activity.
The Hokage merely chuckled. "Tazuna-san, you have one of the leaf's best shinobi, an elite jonin with you. You will be more than safe in his capable hands."
Later on they were all at the front gate. Tazuna looked impatient to be on his way. Kakashi eyed him; something didn't feel right about the mission. Kakashi decided to let things go it was doubtful that anything on this mission would pose a challenge to a shinobi of his caliber.
Kakashi took notice of Naruto carrying a fairly large scroll on his back. Sasuke had a backpack and Sakura was carrying nothing.
Noticing the look in Kakashi's eyes Naruto began to speak up. "I'm carrying Sakura-chan's things with me in my scroll. "
Kakashi was mildly surprised. It appeared Naruto and Sakura were a bit closer than he expected.
Sasuke looked at the blond with mild irritation before remembering Kakashi's words. Then again what use was sealing besides carrying things? The Sealing Arts was not something Sasuke was interested in so he dismissed them.
Naruto created two clones and sent them ahead. Kakashi was aware of this tactic from Naruto's prankster days. Scoping out the perimeter before going in yourself. He was curious to see if Naruto would reveal any of his hidden abilities. He knew in passing and observation Naruto had been training with many of the shinobi's specialists. Naruto's reserves and ability to use Kagebunshin was the only reason why many of his colleagues even humored the request. Normally no shinobi would ever train another's pupil as it was seen as disrespectful nor would they train a student without permission from a clan or them being a konoha shinobi because of the dangerous a young child without proper training and supervision could deal, but Naruto was a special case to which most of them chalked up to his being a Jinchuuriki.
A highly trained and responsible jinchuuriki with supervision from the expert of their fields was a better , far better alternative to an immature kid who didn't know anything. The risks could be catastrophic if the boy was triggered enough to the point the Kyuubi could take full possession.
Even then other such exceptions with Kurenai giving Sakura tips were just as rare if not more so; born from not wanting a promising kid to waste time in bringing out their potential.
Either way if Naruto was sending Kagebunshin ahead as a warning system this would be rather useful.
Tazuna did not know much about shinobi abilities but he knew from stories they could do amazing things. The fact that one of the teenagers made clones of himself boggled his mind. Despite the guilt he felt these shinobi were the only chance his country had.
As they continued there walk Naruto began to speak.
"Chunin level! Missing-nin from Kirigakure. Their elemental affinity is water. They used claw gauntlets connected by chains coated in poison. They masked themselves with a low level genjutsu disguised as a puddle." The blond suddenly relayed.
The only ones confused by this sudden omission were Tazuna and Sasuke. Though Tazuna's followed shortly after a nervous twinge. While Kakashi caught the twinge, Naruto could smell the sweat off the man, nearly missing it because of the strong stench of booze.
'What are you hiding old man?'
"It's a good thing you made two kagebunshin instead of just one then. Is the other one keeping an eye on them?" Sakura asked them as they continued their trek.
"They're ahead by 0.3 km. My Kagebunshin hasn't moved and is keeping a view on them from one of the trees." He answered.
'A dispelled bunshin giving back information? If his bunshin can relay information like that then it would be a useful jutsu. I need to figure out how he learned it so I can learn it as well.' Sasuke thought.
"We will continue the course, be ready for an attack." Kakashi ordered.
True to Naruto's predication a puddle was up ahead. Even without Naruto's warning a lone puddle after the fact it hadn't rain in over week would have already alerted the jounin's senses. He would leave it up to his students to take care of this. All the training in the world wouldn't matter without real combat experience.
Sure enough after a few moments as the group walked by the puddle two shinobi, two men garbed in dirty grey clothing and demon-like armor rise from the puddle. They had spiky black hair, wore raggedy grey cloaks, and had metallic masks over the lower half of their faces. Before anyone could react, a spiked chain that was attached to the clawed metal gauntlets was wrapped around Kakashi. In a gruesome display, the chain was pulled savagely by the two men, shredding Kakashi into pieces and causing a rain of blood and flesh to fall the ground with a resounding thud!
Unbeknownst to them what really happened was that Kakashi completed an undetectable replacement jutsu right as a chain that connected the two gauntlets and shinobi together was wrapped around him. Kakashi stayed hidden off to the side, as he watched what his team would do.
"One down…" was the only deeply garbled words spoken by the two before they blurred out of sight once again, only to reappear heading straight for Sakura and Tazuna. Drawing out two kunai she stood in front of Tazuna readied to fight back.
Sasuke was the first to go on the offensive as he threw a few shuriken at the pair of shinobi racing for them. The shuriken blade slid into the middle of the hole pinning the chain into the tree.
"So…it seems the old man has better protection than we were told of," said one of the two attacking shinobi as they struggled to free the chain.
Naruto dashed to the one on the left, the solid blow cracking his ribs. The force of the blow sent the demon brother flying to the side only to come to a sudden jolt followed by a crack as the force of the blow inadverntely yanked the pinned chain out of the tree.
Naruto gave chase as tightened up his fist. "Gozu!" The other one rushed to his brother's aid only to receive a vicious kick to the side of the face sending him face first into a tree. "Fool! You call yourself a shinobi! You let your guard down!" Sasuke said, after taking out some wire to secure the shinobi.
Gozu as he was called raised himself to his feet and lashed out with his claw only for Naruto to slide under, grab his wrist and slam his fist into the man's ribs further damaging them. Gozu slumped to the side covering his side and leaving his face wide open.
Big mistake as Naruto followed up with another strike to his throat causing the chunin to double over and collapse from the pain.
Sakura was relieved and happy that the battle was over. It had been their first shinobi battle and it was won without any injuries! Kakashi appeared from where he was observing and congratulated them and quickly secured both prisoners to the same log.
For chunin the two of them had been arrogant and sloppy. They must have barely made chunin based on their strength compared to other shinobi from their exam.
He then turned to the bridge builder, "We need to talk about what is really going on." Tazuna looked around, "What do you mean?" Kakashi raised his killing intent and Tazuna backed up as the oppressive pressure bore down on him. "You lied about this mission. If it had been a higher rank shinobi or a squad sent you could have gotten us killed. You put the lives of my genin at risk and I want to know why?"
"They were trying to kill me to stop me from building the bridge!" Tazuna blurted out in gear. The Jounin's killer intent had the man squealing in no time.
"Why are there shinobi trying to stop you from building the bridge?" Kakashi asked the question in a more conversational tone and Tazuna relaxed. The architect sagged. "All right I'll tell you everything. It all started when a despicable man by the name of Gato came to our land."
Tazuna proceeded to tell the story of the suffering of Nami no Kuni. The four leaf-nin listened to his story.
"Tazuna-san there is no way we're going to let scum like Gato do what he wants."
Kakashi interrupted, "Naruto not so fast. This was supposed to have been a C ranked mission. Any mission that involves enemy shinobi is automatically at least a B ranked mission."
"Kakashi-sensei before you have us go back hear me out. We have a very good opportunity here." Naruto had pictured his first attempt at an alliance much smaller, but a country would be a rather big boon. "We could earn ourselves some favorable trade priority if we manage to help wave complete this bridge. This sparks new trade opportunities to our village and if Gato is as rich as the client says I highly doubt he would just ignore what happened to his investment. It wouldn't take much effort for him to get information out of Tazuna about who he went to for help and even if he didn't get a hold of Tazuna who's to say others in his village don't already know? Gato might take this as an insult and subtly set up situations that might result in ambushes of our shinobi forces if we ever come to this area for other missions, not to mention what it says about Konoha's image if we let some tycoon be enough to steer away our forces to complete a mission. We could lose face against other villages or clientele."
Sakura remained quiet, she wanted to help the people of Nami no Kuni but with the way Naruto painted it, it was more than that. His explanation was far more thought out than anything she herself could have considered.
"Uzumaki is right. I am no coward. We should complete the mission." Sasuke insisted. This would be the perfect opportunity to test his strength.
"We can do it. This is the opportunity needed to test the fruits of our labor. Please Kakashi-Sensei; please let us continue the mission!"
'That's my Sakura-chan.' Naruto thought with a grin.
Kakashi looked at his genin team and thought about the situation. It was almost certain the next enemy they faced would be a Jounin, but he was confident he could handle it if it came to that.
After all the abilities of his pupils were beyond that of average genin. He wasn't able to gauge how far they came against such pitiful chunin anyway, this would be their real test.
"If we are to continue this mission then I must test your conviction."
"What do you mean? We already said we wanted to continue." Naruto wondered just what Kakashi was up to.
"You have already been through this Naruto, but Sasuke and Sakura have not. Once I am done interrogating them they will have to kill our prisoners."
Everyone tensed at the announcement. Sakura froze, her eyes widening in horror. Sasuke went stiff, but steeled his resolve. This would be another test. This would be another step to see if he closer to matching…that man.
Sakura could feel her breathing becoming more rapid. Kill in cold blood? Maybe in the midst of battle when someone's life was in danger. But to consciously take someone's life? She had the resolve to fight, but the resolve to kill?
She turned to look at Naruto. The concern in his eyes. 'I…if I don't…' she then turned and looked to everyone. She would be letting her team down. The people of Nami no Kuni down. Swallowing a heavy gulp she took out a kunai. Her whole body was trembling. She felt like she was going to pass out.
"Let's just get this over with." The slight tremors in Sasuke's hand showed he was acting more aloof than what he really felt.
Being a shinobi. You were an assassin. You were often tasked with killing targets. Those with families. Those who were guilty. Those who were innocent. Those whose only crime was being born in a rival family.
You were a thief. Stealing knowledge. Stealing what could keep lives alive. Stealing village secrets to make destroying them easier.
You were a spy. You would infiltrate and also perform the expected duties of a thief. This one being more based on deception. An infiltrator more of the same deception and thieving but with the added bonus of lying to the face of those who believe you are a comrade and loved one, unaware that your purpose was to bring harm to them.
The worst part for them had been the waiting. The longer Kakashi took to interrogate them the prisoners the harder it had been to wait.
And when it came for the two of them kill they had made their choice.