Chapter 4
Tazuna's backyard
Kushina's training for Team Seven was very simple, a game of ninja tag. All they had to do was tag her, the catch being that they had to avoid her chains. In order to keep the difficulty going she started with one chain for each of them. As it got easier for any single one of them, she added a chain for that genin. Once she got to five chains, she decided to place gravity seals on each of them starting at thirty pounds. Not only was it phenomenal physical conditioning but they were all smiling the whole time! It also gave her the opportunity to practice fighting multiple enemies at once as well as steadily decrease the chakra drainage of the technique.
By day two they were each at five chains and the siblings were at sixty pounds while Naruto was at ninety pounds. They ended both days completely worn out. Even Naruto's stamina couldn't keep up. But they managed to finally tag her by the end of it. She was very proud of them.
Kakashi woke up by the third morning and only needed a crutch to steady himself. He couldn't do any intense activities, but he could at least instruct them with their training. He was surprised to see them dodging chains, smiles on all their faces but it quickly brought a smile to his face, though you couldn't see it under his mask. He'd noticed the only one using the trees to their advantage was Naruto, more specifically the only one running along the trees. "Sasuke, Satsumei, do either of you know how to tree walk?" came the exhausted voice of Kakashi, startling Satsumei and just slightly surprising Sasuke. 'Still a bit skiddish I see,' Kakashi thought with a sweat drop.
"No, we haven't been taught yet," Kakashi didn't like that answer from Sasuke, that meant that the ACTUAL curriculum wasn't being followed. No doubt someone had swapped it on Iruka. That and water walking were both essential in a shinobi's career and Axel had made sure to make that part of the program. The only reason he wouldn't know about it is that they aren't testing for it. He'd have to let Axel know about this.
"Well, I've already taught Naruto it as a kid so I'm going to show you and explain really quick and then figure out something Naruto can do," Kakashi stated.
Kakashi then proceeded to walk up a nearby tree and then walk back down. "The concept is simple. You focus chakra into your feet and stick to the surface of the tree. If you don't put enough chakra you'll fall, if you put too much then you'll be blown off, understand?" he got nods and of course Sasuke with his oversized ego attempted it first getting blown off instantly. "Would you mind watching over them while I go back and rest Kushina?" he requested. "Of course, but you forgot to give Naruto a task."
"Oh yeah, he's going with Tazuna to the bridge today."
With that Kakashi had gone inside and Naruto took Tazuna to start working on the bridge.
Dinner that night was cooked with Kushina's help, and it went by smoothly until Tsunami's son Inari decided to start speaking. "Why?"
"Excuse me?" Naruto asked. "Why do you try? You're just going to fail," seems this child had lost all hope in life. A healthy dose of reality might do him some good. Kushina was off to the side crossing her fingers hoping this wouldn't cause any of the genin to explode.
"We try because it's the right thing to do. We see a country that, if it would be rid of one man it would begin to flourish. We see a country that needs help, a people living in strife. We're not going to let that stand so my question is, how long will you wallow in pity because you lost someone precious?" Naruto finished as he looked directly into Inari's eyes piercing his soul. "Do you know what it's like to lose people? To suffer? What do you know?" the kid ranted and Sasuke barely kept his spoon from snapping. These were the wrong genin to be talking to about loss, they had ALL lost a clan together.
"I can't personally say I've lost much. The family I did lose was taken from me at birth or at a point where I was even too young to get attached or remember them. However, Sasuke and Satsumei here have both lost their entire clan in a single hour, Kakashi-sensei has experienced plenty of loss in his shinobi career, and my mother here has also lost her clan as well as my father. I don't personally know much loss however I can more than empathize with the concept," with that Naruto stood up, bowed to Tsunami and left. Kakashi looked directly at Satsumei and motioned with his head to go after the boy. Inari ran upstairs crying and Sasuke was confused. He thought that Naruto was this cheerful dolt and thought that Naruto was merely blessed with too much talent for his own good. But now he was starting to see some deeper layers.
Clearing- five minutes later
Satsumei found Naruto firing off jutsu after jutsu between lightning, wind, fire, and water. The clearing itself was damn near destroyed. He was definitely angry; she just couldn't figure out why. He could be angry because of what the kid said or because someone so young had to lose all hope. He could literally just be angry at the cruelness of the world. She couldn't tell so she watched him as he continued to blow off steam. Eventually he summoned an army of shadow clones and started pummeling them with taijutsu. It was funny watching him fight himself. More so than she would be willing to admit. When he pulled out his swords, THAT was when she knew he was truly upset. He only ever uses his odachis when he sees a reason to or when he's blinded by anger.
He finally seemed to run out of steam thirty minutes later and noticed her. "Hey."
"Hey yourself. You shouldn't just leave after a speech like that. Aunt Kushina's probably worried sick about you right now."
"I know, I just had to clear my head. Imagine growing up like that kid. Losing all hope. If I'm correct he lost someone dear to him, I believe a father figure at that. All the photos had a man that is no longer with the family."
"I understand your feelings however you still can't up and leave like that. Again, your mother is no doubt worried sick about you and you even seemed to have Kakashi worried about you too."
"So, you weren't worried?" his question caught her off guard. Did he want her to be worried about him?
"Of course I'm worried about you. The kid definitely seemed to have affected you, though to what extent I'm not certain."
"Can you just stay here with me?" it was a rather innocent request. He didn't mean anything by it, but she couldn't get any possible implications out of her head. She nodded and sat in front of one of the trees and watched as he went through stances and katas, hand signs and weapon slashes, it didn't matter to her, all that did matter was that she was here for her best friend and possibly more. She knew all he needed was her presence in the vicinity and she would damn well give it to him, after all he was there every step of the way after that fateful night to help her recover.
He wore himself out to the point of exhaustion and eventually sat down next to her. "Sorry, because of my crazy emotions you have to be here keeping an eye on me."
"I don't mind, besides, it's more entertaining to watch you blow steam off than it is to sit around reading a book or whatever I would have done to pass the time."
"Can I tell you a secret that you can't tell anyone? It's my greatest secret and I'm only allowed to tell it to someone I trust my life with."
"You know I won't tell a soul if you say it's a secret."
"My grandfather is Madara Uchiha," he heard a light thump next to him and looked over to find Satsumei unconscious. It was amusing, if he recalled correctly, it was the same reaction that Hiruzen gave his uncle and father when they told him, if his uncle's story was to be believed.
Twenty minutes later Satsumei found herself looking up at Naruto's worried face and realized her head was on his lap. "Hey sleeping beauty. Remember what we were just talking about?"
"I think you told me your grandfather is Madara Uchiha. That's impossible because he's been dead for a long time, killed by Hashirama," she said rubbing her forehead.
"He wasn't actually killed. He used one of our clan's lesser known jutsu called Izanagi to program his eyes to change fate and basically resurrect himself after the battle. Following his defeat, he decided to stay away from the village and found a woman with the last name of Namikaze and settled down with her. They had a son by the name of Axel and two years later decided they liked children and had another named Minato. That's my father," Naruto explained although you could see the worry on his face.
"So, you actually are the grandson of Madara?"
"Yeah, it's my greatest secret. You'll keep it, right?"
"Of course, I will. This is detrimental. If people knew you were related to him and by extension your uncle too it could destroy public opinion of him. But what made you want to tell me? It's odd timing."
"For my family it's the ultimate form of trust to give that secret. Frankly, it's hilarious that no one has figured it out yet considering the way uncle wears his hair but… I digress. It just felt right in this moment."
And so, the two shinobi sat and talked for a while longer before Naruto stood up brushing himself off. He offered his hand to pull her up and she took it with a smile. He worried about what she would say when she found out that he was a direct descendant to the greatest traitor in Konoha's history, but it seems his concern was unwarranted.
The walk back to the house was spent in relative silence both of them stealing glances now and again but when they got to the house they saw Sasuke outside, it looked like he was getting ready to come get them. "Oh, you two lovebirds back? Your mother convinced me to go find you. She's terrifying by the way."
"First, we aren't lovebirds and second, yes, she's absolutely terrifying when she wants to be. I think she's one of two people I've seen actually scare my uncle," Naruto responded though there was a tinge of pink on Satsumei's face.
"Really, and who is the other one?" Sasuke asked.
"Your mother," it was the actual answer to the question but it sounded like such a slight that Sasuke had to remind himself that Naruto was just answering a question.
"Interesting, I'll have to remember that. Come on in, your mother is worried sick about you."
The bridge- Next day
Naruto could be found the next day watching over Tazuna and the other workers while they hammered away at the bridge. He didn't need to learn or master the tree walking so him training with the siblings was useless. For now. They had to focus on that technique. Frankly, coming from such a prominent clan he was shocked they didn't already know it.
He was bored, he truly didn't have any reason to believe that Gato would hire any more shinobi and he knew Zabuza would take another two days to recover. He couldn't deal with the boredom, so he strolled on up to Tazuna. "You need more hands?"
"We could always use more hands, but I don't see how only one of you is going to help any."
"Well, maybe not one of me but how about twenty or even a hundred?" Naruto said with a grin and used the shadow clone to pop twenty of him into existence. "There, one for each worker to have a personal assistant!" he stated with glee and walked back to his post watching as his clones started carrying materials around significantly increasing the speed of the bridge building.
He was hoping they could have the bridge built before Zabuza recovered but he knew that was just a mere hope, something this big would take a bit longer than that. He estimated another week at this rate. When they were dealing with Zabuza maybe he would just produce an army of clones to help with this thing. He wanted to go home by this point, frankly this mission had too many hiccups by this point. First going from protection against bandits to shinobi, then a swordsman of the hidden mist appears, and Kakashi gets put out of commission. He wasn't going to ask that infamous question; it COULD be much worse. They're just lucky they got Zabuza and not someone like Kisame. The man was infinitely more dangerous than Zabuza. Said to have so much chakra he's called the tailless jinchuuriki. A commotion caught his attention.
"I'm sorry Tazuna but we can't risk our lives for this anymore," it was one of the workers, but he seemed to have a few that agreed with the sentiment. They all walked off the site with sorrowful looks on their faces. Pity, they were so scared they'd give up the chance of freedom just because of the chance they could die. Who was he to judge, in their position he could have ended up the same way.
Tazuna's house- evening
Dinner was uneventful that night, everyone sat in relative silence. Inari didn't seem to be in the mood to be talked down to again so there wouldn't be any more outbursts. He honestly wished he could give the kid some hope but for now it just wasn't in the cards.
When he was finished Naruto said his thanks, left his dishes in the sink and left the house to go out for training. He found a much larger clearing farther away from the house than what they'd been using. Good, the technique he'd be working on would need quite a bit more room.
He summoned Ryujin and took a stance then ran through some katas and finally just started swiping. He practiced pumping chakra through the blade and discharging the lightning it created all over the place. He then pointed his blade up to the sky and released an enormous amount of chakra. A giant lightning bolt struck the blade coating it in an unfathomable amount of electricity and energy. His hair began to stand on end.
Naruto looked toward the largest tree in the clearing and dashed at it. "Lightning Style: Lightning King's Dragon Strike!" when he was a foot's distance from the tree, he discharged the entirety of the lightning coating on the blade. Two things happened simultaneously. He was launched across the clearing and the tree exploded into shards of bark and wood. He barely remained conscious from the force he hit with. He had a few splinters even, lovely.
The move while incredibly powerful, was still not perfected. Even worse he had an opposing technique with Fujin as well. He was eventually supposed to be able to use both abilities at once. He needed to get stronger for that, a lot stronger. He forced himself to stay awake long enough to pull the splinters out of his arms and promptly fell asleep.
Back at the house everyone was immediately on alert. It sounded like a giant bolt of lightning crashed down and a dragon roared at the same time. Kakashi and Kushina looked at each other and Kakashi gave her a nod. She headed out immediately. She searched for her son's chakra signature, and it didn't take too long for her to finally find him asleep in the clearing he basically just ruined.
She looked around at the damage, scorch marks everywhere, some of the trees looked like they got hit by stray bolts of lightning. She then noticed where there used to be a tree and noticed it was just a scorch mark with shattered pieces of wood all over.
She surmised it was the technique he and Axel had been working on for awhile now. It had so much raw power behind it, it easily dwarfed the Rasengan or Chidori, but it was SO much more dangerous to the user and everyone around them. The concept was simple, a pulse of chakra and the sword takes the place of a lightning rod.
Much like how Tobirama Senju could pull moisture from the air around him the Dragon Strike would pull any and all electrical charges in a certain vicinity up all the way into the electrosphere and focus them on the sword. The one slash would discharge all of that. There was no way around it, if you got hit you'd be lucky to live let alone still be able to fight. The only person she could think of off the top of her head who wouldn't be crippled by a direct hit would be any of the jinchuuriki just because of their generally heightened durability and maybe the Raikage because of his lightning armor.
'He's grown so much yet has so much more to go,' she thought as she walked over to him. His sleeping face was just so cute! He looked just like a sleeping baby, not a care in the world. He always did tell her that falling asleep after training was therapeutic to him. She picked him up bridal style and walked back to the house laying a kiss on his forehead and she caught his smile at that.
His chakra seemed to latch onto hers for a moment and she could tell for just that moment that he was still lonely to some extent. He'd had everything she could give him but the village was split when it came to him, and no matter which side of the isle you looked at it didn't really look good. A child like him doesn't want hero worship nor does he want to be ostracized. He wants recognition and the only ones that recognize him are the people that live with him and his sensei.
She'd finally gotten back to the house and surprisingly the whole team was outside waiting for their return. "What did the dobe do?" Sasuke was surprisingly the one to voice any form of concern first. "He's been practicing a technique that requires much more focus and strength than even he is capable of. He just wore himself out," she seemed surprisingly cheery for someone who's son knocked himself out.
"I see, will he be in any condition to fight in two days?" was Kakashi's question, he was genuinely worried, and she could hear it in his voice, but he could SHOW it. They were brothers in all but blood for crying out loud! Well, she supposed it was the best she would get from an emotionally stunted man. "He should be fine in two days," she sighed, they looked relieved if not a bit worried.
Two days later- Tazuna's house
Kakashi finally recovered so it was time for the team to head to the bridge, Naruto still wasn't awake, but Kushina assured them he'd be up soon. Speaking of Kushina, she took off for her mission, assassinating Gato and retrieving his fortune. It would be entirely too easy, everyone who knew anything about Gato knew he seemed to have a hatred of shinobi.
The only reason he hired Zabuza was because it was the easiest way to make sure Tazuna died, and the bridge wouldn't be finished. He didn't factor that Tazuna would try and hire shinobi himself. Foolish pig of a man! She hated people like Gato with a passion, flaunting money and thinking he was ACTUALLY powerful. She'll show him what true power is. She was more than happy to take this mission. She would hopefully finish her mission in time to get back and aid them in the completion of their task.
Kakashi walked along the bridge, the siblings behind him and on either side of Tazuna. He stopped them when he smelt blood. He noticed the bodies of the workers that did remain to finish the bridge. They didn't seem alive at first glance, but he did notice them just barely breathing. It was an intimidation tactic to get at his genin. He walked further along and stopped when he noticed two barely distinguishable figures at the end of the bridge. "Ah, Kakashi, back for round two, are we? I was hoping I'd get to fight you again. I'd like to settle the score with you. In the meantime, my partner here can play with your little genin," came the sickening voice of Zabuza.
"I don't think it's going to end quite the same as before Zabuza! My genin here are a lot stronger than you'll remember them to be," was Kakashi's quick response. Zabuza appeared before them in an instant and Sasuke was there cutting him up. He splashed into a puddle of water. "Easy," Sasuke stated, his ego getting the better of him.
"Sasuke, don't let pride take you, many a shinobi have fallen to hubris," Kakashi chided playfully elicitng a smirk from the genin. "He's right kid. Just because you can fight one of my water clones doesn't mean shit in this world. You'll find that out while you're fighting my partner here. Haku, now," with that the masked man charged towards Sasuke. Sasuke caught the kunai with his own and they separated quickly, clearly this Haku hadn't expected Sasuke's speed.
"Haku, it looks like you have a rival," Zabuza said before eyeing Kakashi. He charged the copy ninja who pulled his forehead protector up revealing his Sharingan right off the bat. "Using your Sharingan right away? I'm honored, too bad it won't be enough. I'm prepared this time," Zabuza stated as a heavy mist took over the area around their fight.
Satsumei couldn't help but be worried and was debating on which fight she should be focusing on. "Satsumei, I want you to keep an eye on Sasuke's battle and if he needs aid lend it. I've got this and I won't let any of you die," Kakashi stated reassuringly, he had seemingly read her mind.
"Got it!"
"She's obedient," Zabuza commented. "Yeah, well, she knew what the chain of command was from the start. On top of that she's seen the way Naruto respects me, so she doesn't mind listening to her orders," Kakashi responded. "Ah, the blonde I'm assuming, where is he? He seemed like a capable swordsman. I was hoping to cut him up after I finish with you," Zabuza stated before being pushed back suddenly. "You won't get the chance to lay a hand on him," the venom in Kakashi's voice was palpable. "Ooh, touched a nerve have I?" Zabuza didn't seem to take the hint as he tried from another angle and was yet again deflected even in his heavy mist. He didn't know how but Kakashi seemed to become even more dangerous even with his chakra infused mist and that didn't bode well.
Naruto- Tazuna's house
Naruto awoke with a yawn and realized that the team wasn't around. He decided to head downstairs hoping they hadn't taken off without him but he had bad luck so he wasn't betting on anything. When he got downstairs, he only saw Tsunami and Inari at the kitchen table seemingly waiting for breakfast. "Where did my team go?" he figured what the answer might be but he still had a sliver of hope.
"They went to the bridge with my father. They said something about letting you sleep," Tsunami responded as she continued cooking. "Oh, well I'm going to take off then. Gotta go help ya know?"
"Are you sure? You sure you don't want some breakfast real quick?"
"I guess I could, but just a little bite," Naruto answered before his stomach growled. She gave him a plate of eggs while laughing away. He scarfed them down, gave a thanks and took off. He stopped halfway to the bridge as he felt two chakra signatures heading to the house and doubled back. He wouldn't make it in time! How did he not notice them! He pumped Kurama's chakra into his legs for a massive speed boost.
When Naruto got to the house, he saw two thugs stalking towards Tsunami and Inari trying to put up a front and trying to protect his mother. Maybe the kid hadn't lost all hope.
He quickly covered his hand in wind chakra and swiped, he took both of their heads off and ran before he could even contemplate his actions. He would deal with it later. He left behind a few shadow clones in his wake just to be safe.
The bridge- Twenty minutes later
It took him a bit to get there because he wanted to conserve chakra. What he found at his destination made his blood freeze for just a moment before Kurama's chakra exploded out of him, covering him including the now unsealed odachis of his. Fujin and Ryujin were brimming in their respective elements.
He walked straight into the now formed dome of ice mirrors, stabbed both odachis into the ground in front of Satsumei forming a giant wall of wind and lightning, and picked her up. He walked out of the dome unabated; it didn't matter if the hunter nin even attempted to stop him, he was currently too fast and had a defense. He laid her down where he thought she may be unaffected by the rest of the battle. He brushed some hair out of her eyes and noticed she had a smile on her face. She was more than happy to sacrifice herself for her brother. He gave a kiss to her forehead before turning to walk back.
As he walked back into the dome of ice mirrors he stared at Sasuke, currently covered in senbon, piercing him with his now crimson eyes with slit pupils. He briefly took notice of Sasuke's Sharingan but then dismissed it, he didn't care. "What happened?" he asked in a much more gravelly voice than normal.
"I was doing fine until this guy suddenly bumped his speed up and then she jumped in front of a blow for me. I couldn't react in time even with my new eyes," Sasuke explained staring at the ground. "Is this the first time you've dealt with loss?" Haku asked.
"No, my whole clan was massacred, and my father died when I was born. None of that compares to this though. For all the pain you have just caused me, let me repay that," Haku didn't get time to respond, one moment he was staring at the two shinobi the next he saw Sasuke get punted outside of his ice mirrors faster than he could react and the ice mirror he was in was shattered as well. He had to repeatedly keep dodging between mirrors before he leapt out of the last one and watched as it was shattered as well. The explosive punches of this boy were blasting through ice constructs that even Sasuke's Fireball jutsu hadn't gotten through, so what was this power?
He could hardly get his arms up in time to block a punch from the blonde but knew if he survived this, he would have bruises and possibly even fractures on his arms. The boy kept hammering away not caring about the pain he inflicted, actually he seemed to relish in it. He was specifically not using his swords just so he could make Haku hurt. He started amping up the strength he was using and Haku could no longer guard against it, he was sent flying across the bridge and Naruto gave chase.
Kakashi and Zabuza had stopped their fight temporarily when they felt the malevolent chakra from Naruto wash over the bridge. Kakashi took stock that Naruto was currently only using one tail but that wasn't very reassuring in his state of rage. He had to finish the fight and get to Naruto!
Kushina
She could sense something was wrong, not on her mission, but Naruto's. He was in pain, and she couldn't even help him right now with how far away she was! She sealed up Gato's head in a scroll and her clones finished sealing up anything of value. Before she took off she set Gato's mansion ablaze. If she got there in time she would be able to stop Zabuza and the hunter with less bloodshed now that their contractor was dead. The problem was stopping Naruto, she could sense Kurama's chakra damn near across the land of fire, what-ever happened pushed him to beyond livid.
She rushed through trees careful not to slip, it seemed to have rained recently, she noted. These time-based situations were when Kushina wished she still had Kurama inside her. If she'd only gone through the sage mode training with the thunderbirds she could get to the bridge way faster! No time for regrets, just keep running.
Naruto
All he could see was red right now. He was TRYING to control himself but the most he could do was keep himself from pulling on more tails of chakra. It didn't help that he had the furball trying to take advantage of his emotions.
"Why are you holding back? Call on more of my power and you can wipe the vermin from existence," came that deep, gravelly, malevolent voice. Naruto knew he was trying to take control, but it was SUCH an enticing offer. After all this, this, vermin had taken Satsumei away and acted like it was perfectly natural! Of course, Naruto knew it was part of the profession, but he wasn't ready to lose either one of his teammates, his family this soon. He got himself caught up in the idea that Kakashi could protect them from anything they would come across this early in life. So, he did the one thing that made sense to him, he pulled on two more tails of chakra completely losing control.
Kakashi
Kakashi watched in horror as two more tails sprouted from Naruto's chakra cloak, and he started hammering away at Haku even harder. It was relentless, he'd toss Haku one way and then appear in that same direction. At one point he even started smashing the nin's body into the bridge repeatedly like a ragdoll the exact same way Axel would to his foes. Kakashi resolved himself upon seeing this.
Right when he was about to reignite his battle with Zabuza a red blur dashed between them right through to Naruto. It was Kushina thank Hagoromo! She stopped briefly at Satsumei to check up on her. Good, still alive. She looked right at Naruto, and he halted briefly seemingly debating on whether he let the monster deep down show and then went right back to it.
She charged right at him and hoisted him into the air with as many chakra chains as she could manifest but he kept struggling and she felt him pulling on more of Kurama's chakra. If she had to take a guess, he was probably sitting at about five tails right now. The yang half was definitely using this situation to his advantage.
Naruto's mindscape
Naruto didn't KNOW where he was, but he was SURE it's probably what his mindscape looked like. It was a sewer that led to what looked like a colossal section with titanic iron bars. This must be the seal keeping Kurama back. He walked forward to meet his tenant. He wasn't scared, his uncle told him show no fear to the fox, it delights in it, even his half does a little.
He saw them, the crimson eyes with slit pupils that his own matched right now. Nine appendages swishing behind the fox. As it came forward he got a good look, it was a burnt orange in color and absolutely monstrous in height.
"So, we finally meet."
"Seems like it, the question is, which one of us pulled the other here? I'd like to blame you but I know exactly what my mental and emotional state is so… it's probably me."
"Indeed, you want more of my power. What will you do with it?" Kurama asked eyeing the boy in front of him intently as he went through a slew of emotions.
"I want Zabuza and the hunter to suffer. If I have to suffer then they get to as well," even Kurama felt bad taking advantage of the kid like this, but he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.
"If you want more of my power, and enough at that to get out of the adamantine chains you'll have to rip this seal off," he answered pointing down to a seal that had the same pattern as the one on Naruto's stomach.
"Promise me, my mom and teammates won't get hurt."
"Yeah, yeah kid, whatever. You have my word."
He supposed it was the best he was going to get from the hate filled titan. He walked up to the bars and placed one hand on the seal and began to rip it off before a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to the newcomer; he hadn't sensed anyone in here so who was it? His eyes widened and even a tear shed upon coming face to face with an almost identical face just older and no whisker marks.
"Hello Naruto, we have a lot to talk about," came the voice of Minato Uchiha, the Yellow Flash.
Outside Naruto's mindscape
Kushina was struggling, she had to push beyond her limits with her chains. Naruto rapidly got stronger and then she was surprised when he stopped. 'That wasn't me that stopped him, what the hell?'
"Kakashi! Hurry up! I don't know if he's about to explode again!" she hollered across the bridge before feeling a pull and her consciousness seemed to have transported elsewhere.
Kakashi sped through hand signs and bit his thumb and swiped the drawn blood across a scroll summoning a pack of his ninja dogs. Zabuza had taken his momentary distraction as an opportunity to create another heavy mist, well, two can play dirty. "Find him and subdue him!" he commanded, and the dogs began sniffing before all rushing in one direction and Kakashi heard struggling.
Zabuza currently being turned into a chew toy couldn't keep the mist up so Kakashi caught the sight of his pack holding Zabuza back from any actions. Kakashi went through a few more hand signs and held his right wrist with his left hand and lightning began forming in his palm. He then rushed at Zabuza and struck him straight through the heart ending the man's life. His pack of dogs released the man's body and popped out of existence, and he rushed to his genin to check on them.
Minato and Naruto
"Dad?" he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He could sense it was just a chakra projection, but it was still his father.
"Yes, that's right son. I'm here," he said receiving a punch to the gut. "Yup, deserved that."
Naruto immediately tackled him in a bone crushing hug. Well, he tried to crush him but he's only twelve and the man was nearly twice his height. The fox seeing his plans getting ruined began roaring and throwing out obscenities at Minato. Minato gave a glare morphing his eyes into his Mangekyou Sharingan and Kurama's eyes took on the shape of Minato's lightning bolt patterned Sharingan and he instantly quieted down.
"What did you do?"
"Something I didn't want to. Your uncle can give you more details. We don't have much time in here. But first," he said looking toward the hallway of the mindscape and Naruto followed his gaze seeing his mother. "You can come over now."
"M-Minato?" she asked with tears welling up. "Yup, in the… chakra, I guess. It seems that you two linked up your chakra when I was released. So, you somehow joined in this little reunion. How have you been Kushina?" he was answered by an actually bone-crushing hug.
"I've missed you so, so much!" she cried to him, and he just held her rubbing circles on her back and kissing her head. "I know, I know. I was hoping you wouldn't still be hurting if we ever met again but, it seems I was wrong. I'm sorry, I've caused you so much pain," even he let a few tears go.
"We don't have much time though. Naruto why were you going to release the nine-tails?" he asked, and Naruto stared down at his feet in shame. "The masked nin that Sasuke was fighting killed Satsumei. I've never felt burning hot anger like that. I couldn't tell you to what degree I was being influenced by Kurama. All I could think about was making him suffer, all I saw was red."
"I see, you gave into our family's curse of hatred and Kurama as you called him capitalized on it," Naruto could only nod in shame. "Come here Naruto."
Naruto hesitated; he didn't want his father to be disappointed in him. "Come here. I'm not going to hurt you or be disappointed. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm so proud that you've found people whom you're willing to go so far for," Naruto wasn't expecting that and wasn't expecting the warm smile he got that showed the unconditional love and pride only a father can give. He didn't hesitate anymore and rushed both of his parents joining them in a group hug. "That being said, please stop listening to giant demonic chakra constructs who clearly only have hate in their heart," Minato couldn't help but joke a little.
"Now, I have information for you two to give to my brother. There was another man in the attack that night and his chakra signature rivaled both mine and my brother's. I have reason to believe he may even be as strong as father in his prime. I don't know what his purpose was for being there, but he didn't seem hostile at the time. Make no mistake, if this man becomes hostile it will take Axel's full power to put him down or at the very least hold him off," he was deadly serious, Kushina had only seen that pointed stare a few times and it was never a good thing. They noticed he was flickering in and out.
"Dammit, I thought I put more chakra in to it but I guess most of it went into Axel's seal. Don't tell him I said that. I love you both and I'm sorry for not being there. Kushina give Naruto my notes on the Flying Raijin and teach him the rasengan. I want him fully prepared for the chunin exams when they come around. Tell Kakashi to quit slacking on his training. And for the love of Hagoromo Naruto, tell her how you feel!" with that Minato completely faded leaving Kushina hugging just Naruto.
They stood clasped in each other's arms for a moment before Naruto piped up. "Mom, we have to leave this place. The mission is still on and I don't know how much time has passed out there."
"Your right baby. Let's go. Also, Satsumei's still alive," they willed themselves out.
The bridge
When Kakashi noticed movement finally from mother and son, he saw the chains disperse and Naruto fall into her arms. She helped him stand back up and he took a moment to survey the damage he caused and then his head snapped at the sound of coughing. He saw Satsumei barely sitting up next to Kakashi. "Satsumei!" he couldn't help himself; he rushed to her and took her in an embrace. "Hey! I'm sore as hell here! Loosen your grip dammit!"
"What happened?" she asked after a moment of hugging him back. "Lover boy over here went ballistic when he arrived here and saw you in that condition," Sasuke was the one to speak up. He seemed to be heavily favoring his left leg. Apparently, he took some major damage after she went into unconsciousness. "He also kicked me halfway across the bridge and messed my leg up," he added with a devilish grin. He'd just let Naruto deal with the fallout of that.
"Is that true Naruto? Did you hurt my brother more than he already was?" she asked with a visage of the Shinigami right behind her. Naruto started sweating profusely and knew he was in deep shit.
"Well, you see, I didn't have time to get him out, so it was the quickest way to free him from the ice mirrors, hehe," even he didn't believe himself. It was a poor excuse; everyone knew he was more than capable of out speeding Haku possibly multiple times over with the chakra cloak going. "Really, last time I checked, your now almost as fast as Kakashi-sensei with that chakra cloak. It sounds to me more like you let your rage get to you," she was a legit demon! This was like whenever he pissed his mother off. "I'm sorry? Look it was in the heat of the moment and I was pissed that you got hurt!"
"If I was in any condition to beat the crap out of you I would. I'll let you off the hook this once but next time I won't be so nice," she said in a sickly-sweet tone with a smile to match that told him she was deadly serious. Mental note, don't take your anger out on Sasuke, and certainly don't piss Satsumei off.
"Hehehe, your whipped dobe," Sasuke mocked before he felt a chill run down his spine. Then he saw Satsumei turn that smile on him. He then noticed that Kushina's gaze was focused on him as well. "You have no room to talk. If it wasn't for Naruto, we could both very well be dead. We both have to get stronger in order to repay his kindness one day, don't we Sasuke?" that tone was horrifying! She was scarier than mom!
"Uh, right. We have to get stronger. Speaking of getting stronger, Kakashi-sensei I'd like to request that you up our training. Grind us into the ground if you have to," this Sasuke seemed to be a bit different from the Sasuke that left Konoha a week ago. He seemed to be less arrogant and had a need to protect his teammates? Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea having him on this team.
"I one hundred percent agree with that. We were lucky this mission. I now realize that I cannot guarantee your safety and that I won't always be able to call for backup. It seems I may need to train even harder myself," Kakashi stated openly admitting they he may have even been slacking recently. Possibly even getting rusty, could've fooled them during the genin test!
Tazuna's house later that evening
The whole town had come out to support their saviors, but it seemed like it wasn't needed. So, they instead threw a town-wide party. Kushina tried to save Haku's life since he wasn't evil, just following his superior's orders, the problem was that even with her surprisingly large knowledge of medical jutsu Haku was doomed, Naruto's rampage caused so much internal bleeding that he was impossible to save. His last request was to die next to Zabuza and so Kushina moved him to rest next to the older man's corpse. Afterward they would be buried together and even given headstones. The only thing no one knew was that Naruto had snuck away the swordsman's Executioner Blade and sealed it up. The way he saw it was the dead wouldn't need it and he also didn't want anyone evil coming along and taking such a powerful weapon.
Kushina returned everything that Gato stole from the land of Wave and then some. She took what was needed to pay for an A-Rank mission and anything shinobi related and then left ahead of Team Seven to report her mission success.
Team Seven stayed behind long enough to recover from their injuries and to make sure that Tazuna and his workers were safely able to build the bridge. Tazuna then went on to name the bridge 'The great Naruto bridge', Naruto had to wonder if people would think of the ramen topping or maelstrom whenever they heard the name. When the team was fully recovered, they left after a teary goodbye.
The journey back was spent talking about any potential training routines they could do. It ended up only being a day's trek and they were even welcomed back by the Hokage himself standing at the village gates. Congratulations weren't what was in order, more like him fretting over everyone's safety like a mother hen. After making sure no one needed any kind of medical attention he ushered them to his office. He was clearly showing blatant favoritism even out in the open, but he didn't really care, he was the boss so what he says goes. After noticing how worn out the three genin were he dismissed them and told them to be well rested in three days as he had another mission he was specifically requesting them for.
The genin decided to get ramen at Ichiraku's as celebration of their first A-Rank completion. They were about to head home when a female ANBU wearing a neko mask and long purple hair appeared telling them that Naruto's presence was required at the Hokage's office. He told them to head home without him and he'd be back soon. Even Sasuke had some degree of concern but nodded his head and dragged Satsumei along. "Well, let's go Neko-chan!" she nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder and they both appeared in Axel's office moments later.
"Thank you Neko, all ANBU dismissed!" Axel commanded and they did as told. He placed silencing seals on the door and then it was only Axel, Naruto, Kushina and Kakashi present. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" he asked receiving a snort from Axel.
"Not the punishment kind, no. I just need answers. Why did you think it would have been a good idea to release Kurama's full power?"
"I wasn't really thinking at that point. All I saw was red. I at first was doing my best to keep it to one tail but Kurama started whispering to me to exterminate Haku and I gave in to the power. I have no excuses for my actions and will take any punishment you see fit Lord Fifth," Naruto explained bowing down eliciting a raised eyebrow from the older man.
"Naruto, I already said I wasn't going to punish you. I can't justify punishing you when I let you all take a mission well above your paygrade. All ended well but it was my decision that let Kakashi, Sasuke, and Satsumei get injured. If it wasn't for your rampage, ironically enough I could be down two shinobi. I refuse to punish you for what COULD have happened. Now stand straight and take pride in the fact that you saved your comrades. I also command you to stop with this self-pity shit. It's unbecoming of a future Hokage."
Naruto tried to give a rebuttal but couldn't come up with anything, so he clamped his mouth shut. "I think it's about time I amp up your training with Kurama's chakra. More importantly, you got to meet your father, huh?"
"Yeah, it was cool."
"Was he everything you imagined him to be?"
"More, he had such a commanding presence and so much charisma. He was so kind and gentle. He's the kind of man I want to grow up to be."
"Yup, that sounds like him. Shame I didn't get to see, or I would have given him a good wallop myself. I heard you punched him."
"Yeah, I did. As much as I respect him, he deserved a good punch, leaving me and mom like he did. I get it was what he thought the right thing to do was but still… it hurts not having him around. Especially now that I know him."
"I see. Well I want you to go home and rest up for the next three days. I want you at full strength and mental capacity for the mission I'm sending your team on. No training, I've already given strict orders to both Kakashi and Kushina as well not to train you. Take it easy kiddo, you've earned it," Axel stated and began looking through documents seemingly ending the conversation.
The walk to the estate didn't take long as he seemingly got there without even realizing it. Must have been lost in his thoughts. He couldn't seem to get his dad out of his head. He was just so damn cool! Now he finally understood the hero worship. The man was just awesome through and through.
He was welcomed home with the sight and smell of a home cooked meal by Mikoto. Satsumei and Sasuke were seemingly waiting for him to begin eating. He couldn't help but smile. He loved these people and would do anything for them. He would even rampage again if it meant protecting them.
Dinner went by rather well, he enjoyed it. They filled Mikoto in on the mission details except for what happened inside Naruto's head. He hadn't even told his teammates that after all. Mikoto was both worried and relieved by the end of it. She couldn't be happier that they made it back and successfully completed their first A-Rank. They continued talking into the night eventually Kushina and Axel coming home and joining.
Three days later- Hokage's office
"Lord Fifth, Team Seven reporting for duty," Kakashi stated as he and his genin stood at attention. They were fully rested and looking as sharp as Naruto's odachis, full confidence, eyes of fiery determination.
"Ah, my favorite aspiring shinobi. I've got an important mission and I am the client this time. I have a house of my own inheritance that is right near the border of the land of fire. I need you to go there and retrieve the body of my father. I need to check something. This mission will be classified as an S-Rank due to the classified secrets that it shall contain. Everything you learn on this mission is classified and declared SS-Rank. The only one allowed to share any information found out from this is Naruto because it relates to his heritage and I have no right to deny him this," he stared at all except Naruto to get the point across 'don't fuck this up'. They nodded hesitantly which was a good sign, it meant they were taking his words to heart.
"Any who, Kakashi knows the location so he will take lead. I want you to also use this as a training trip, so I don't want you back for a week. Got it?" he asked receiving more nods and went back to his paperwork. They got the cue by now.
Kakashi was at the gates five minutes later with his whole team. "Alright my cute little genin I want to make sure, you all are packed for a week, right?"
"Yes sensei!" was the unison answer in confidence. Good, they were constantly showing him why they were the best team for him. Even Sasuke was preferable to most of the other genin in the generation other than probably Hinata, but she was just too shy for his tastes. He also needs genin with more range versatility and didn't want to have to deal with the Hyuga clan's complaints plain and simple. It was horrible but dealing with shinobi that didn't have clan politics coming down on them was better for him.
"All right, we're going to take off now and we'll stop half-way so you can all give me a rundown on what you're working on for your side training. Then I'll make schedules based on that," he received nods, and they blasted off.
Four hours later
They'd reached the halfway point and stopped to take a break. "So, my cute little genin, I want to know what you're all working on," he said interest piqued. These were the most interesting genin he'd ever known, even compared to his generation.
"I'm still working on the Dragon Strike for my Ryujin. Mom plans on having you or Lord Fifth teach me the Rasengan after the mission," Naruto stated with a grin.
"I'm working on the Phoenix Flower jutsu as well as some kenjutsu," Sasuke said pointing to the tanto strapped to his back.
"I'm currently working on the Mystic Palm technique and infusing kunai with lightning as well as fire chakra. I have pretty high affinities for both," she said with a small smile.
"Interesting, I can work with all of those. I love the versatility you as a team seem to be showing. We have a combat medic, a close to mid-range fighter, and a heavy assault specialist," even Sasuke seemed to appreciate the compliment. "All right, by the time we arrive at our destination I should have a training regimen created for all of you," and they started their journey once again with Kakashi leading the pack.
Madara's house- four hours later
Kakashi touched down and then his genin behind him. Naruto could feel some kind of pull from the area, like a spiritual link to it. "Naruto, this is where your grandfather resided for his last decade alive as well as where his and your grandmother's bodies rest. We'll dig up the body that our Hokage has requested and then spend the rest of the week training," he knew they'd be uncomfortable with the task at hand, hell, he'd be uncomfortable. He didn't need Madara's ghost coming after him or haunting him in his sleep, but this was the task given to him by his Hokage and so it shall be done.
They found the headstones and Kakashi knew something was off. The dirt looked too fresh for three decades of settling. He unsealed a shovel and began digging meanwhile the genin just read the headstones.
Sasuke was shocked to see the first, Madara Uchiha. The dobe was the grandson of THE Madara!? Holy shit, it's no wonder he's such a natural born leader. Not to knock his effort, he works his ass into the ground, but still, MADARA's blood ran through his veins. He's basically royalty in the Uchiha family.
Satsumei already knew about Naruto's heritage so her gaze much like Naruto's was held on the other headstone.
'Here lies Kaeda Namikaze.
The only woman to ever tame the hatred in my heart
The most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on
May she forever rest in Heaven even if I should not make it there
For her happiness is all I care about'
"I didn't know my grandmother's name until just now, apparently, she was considered a sword master. It was said that she could swipe her sword once and the target would be assailed by a dozen blades of wind almost instantly. I'm not sure how true that is but… it sure gives me something to live up to doesn't it?" Naruto said with a grin. He was so proud of his family, living or dead, they each gave him something to strive for and eventually surpass.
"Naruto, I'm almost done here. Lead your teammates into the house and try and settle down. I'll join you momentarily," Kakashi more or less commanded and Naruto did as told.
Kakashi looked at the body, untouched by nature, Axel apparently even had a knack for the sealing arts even as a child. He made a seal to repel insects and other wildlife as well as preserve the body perfectly. Madara just looked like an old man version of the pictures that Kakashi had seen in the history books. He did in fact see that the eyelids caved in a bit. He wasn't sure if that's what Axel was checking but it wasn't his mission to go any farther than simply sealing the body in a scroll and then training his cute little genin.
He joined them in the house and was treated to the sight of them all meditating. He decided to join them, some good old group meditation with his team? Why not? It was a great group bonding exercise. And it was great to clear his thoughts and doubts.
The next two days were filled with taijutsu spars as well as physical conditioning. He would take each genin on in one-on-one spars and then have them all fight him, followed by fighting each other. Satsumei's speed was quite impressive, Sasuke's ruthlessness as well as looking for weak points to exploit was deadly, and Naruto's strength, durability, and stamina were just straight ridiculous. As a whole Kakashi was still better than them all and even combined they still couldn't beat him, but they were getting there was the point. In a few years they could even be better separately than him depending on their training. They all had so much potential that it was both exciting and terrifying. Itachi was a prodigy but he had a theory that Sasuke and his sister were both late bloomers that would overtake Itachi later in their lives, where as he honestly thought Itachi would hit a peak.
He honestly believed one day Naruto would be named the strongest man in the nations. It was a matter of when in Kakashi's opinion, not if.
The fourth and fifth day of training was dedicated to chakra control exercises such as water walking and leaf and kunai balancing. Luckily there was a river nearby. He also had just enough seal experience that he could up each of their gravity seals. He didn't want either of the siblings dropping because of a lack of physical conditioning and he wanted to take full advantage of Naruto's rapid healing. He could stress his muscles to points no other genin could and he could be healed and rested by the next day. So Kakashi obviously put him specifically through the ringer even taking pages out of Guys book, making him run laps on his hands and other such ridiculous tasks. The future Hokage took it in stride and even asked for more!
The sixth and seventh day were used for elemental molding as well as whatever their separate projects were. Naruto was the first to complete his because he had been working on the Dragon Strike for roughly a year now. Sasuke's main task was successfully finished next, the Phoenix Flower jutsu wasn't particularly difficult but it had so much potential for tricking and trapping with kunai and ninja wire. And if you could come up with flame proof sealing tags you could go further with the ability itself. Satsumei was the last because of how difficult medical ninjutsu is. The amount of precise chakra control was crazy and Kakashi couldn't do any medical ninjutsu, so he wasn't particularly helpful. He could only encourage her and remind her that her task was the most important of the three. Having a member on the team that could perform healing on the field was a boon and it was a shame that Tsunade's request to have a medic nin on every team wasn't fulfilled. It would have skyrocketed survival rates for every team coming out of Konoha and they wouldn't have had so many die during the last war. So, he was fully supportive of Satsumei working on medical ninjutsu. He COULD however help her with applying chakra to kunai, shuriken, and other weapons.
It was the end of the last day, and they were getting ready to go home. "Are you all ready to return to the village?" he wasn't really asking the siblings, the question was directed toward Naruto, he noticed how at home his favorite student felt here at his family's house. "Yes Kakashi-sensei!" they all said in unison eliciting a smirk and an eye smile from Kakashi. What fine young shinobi they're turning out to be. "Just so you know we aren't taking any breaks on the way home, I plan on being in the village by morning," they weren't deterred, that fire of determination still in their eyes. And so, they took off much stronger than they were when they arrived at this place.
Hokage's office
"You have my father's body?" Axel asked as he gazed upon his star team of genin. "Yes, Lord Fifth. It's in this scroll here," Naruto said as he handed the scroll to his uncle. Kakashi had decided to have the boy hold the scroll since it was his grandfather in it.
"Very well, consider this already added to your mission repertoire. Your pay is at the mission desk and remember what I said about only Naruto being allowed to talk about the knowledge you've learnt," he said as he went back to paperwork.
The team left the office and went separate ways, Sasuke going for some more training at the Uchiha compound, Satsumei heading to the hot springs saying something about being sore from all the training, and Naruto heading to Ichiraku's for his all-time favorite snack. Kakashi stayed behind to give reports on their current level.
"So, the chunin exams are coming up. Would you like to enter them?" he asked Kakashi. He knew the answer, but he wanted the man to say it. "Absolutely, they're going to destroy the competition. I want you to teach Naruto your summoning contract though."
"I can't, he's been denied. Ifrit said there was nothing to gain from having Naruto. However, he did say he was interested in Satsumei as a summoner. So if it's something you as her sensei are willing to agree to then I am more than willing to make her the second summoner."
"It's more a safety precaution than anything but I would like you to if she agrees to it," Kakashi said with some concern in his voice. Good, Axel wasn't sure if he'd care about anyone on the team other than Naruto. But his current worries were evidence that he was mentally and emotionally recovering from all the crap he's had to deal with in life.
"You got it, I'll train her tonight when I finish my paperwork," Axel responded before going back to his paperwork and Kakashi left too surprisingly going through the front door.
Some street in Konoha
Naruto was on his way back to the estate when he noticed Satsumei waiting for him. "I realized you'd be coming this way to come home and it would intersect with my path so I figured I'd wait up for you," she said nervously looking anywhere but at him, she even had her arms crossed behind her back. She was cute as a bunny when she was nervous if he was being honest.
He then took a good look at her. She had a black sleeveless short black blouse leaving her mid-riff showing and black shorts that came just above her thighs. He couldn't help himself, he had to stare at that well-toned stomach of hers. It wasn't muscular in particular but it still looked damn good. He was just like his father and uncle in that regard, attracted to powerful, strong women. He loved the fact that she took care of herself, she didn't go on any shitty diets because she knew her profession would burn more than enough calories to keep her fit, so she focused on providing her body with the right nutrition, and it showed when ever she wore more revealing clothing like now. "You like what you see perv?" fuck, he was caught and could do nothing to deny that he was staring.
"Yeah, I do. Just consider me staring payment for you and your mother ogling my uncle and myself a while back when we were fighting shirtless. Come on, let's go home," she couldn't argue with that, or she'd be a hypocrite, so she settled for just walking alongside him enjoying his presence. He thought of what his father said to him and decided to take a chance. His hand reached out for hers while looking away. He was surprised when she grabbed his hand and interlocked her fingers with his own. She was reciprocating, that was a good sign, right? Dad had it easy dammit! He just had to save the damsel in distress, and she fell in love with him! Naruto was so unsure of himself he hadn't noticed the slight squeezing of his hand, luckily his body was used to being on autopilot, so it squeezed back. It was what he always did when he held hands with his mother as a child, so it just seemed right.
They arrived at the estate way too soon and let go of each other's hands too nervous to show any signs of affection around others. It was prudent when neither was sure of their feelings. They had hung out around the house just talking about anything and everything. For Naruto an all-natural topic to rant on about was the way he cared for his equipment, another one was fuinjutsu, the sealing arts which his Uzumaki heritage makes him a genius at. It came so naturally to him, and he enjoyed the creativity that it allowed for. He found the idea of potentially teaching her some to have merits and definitely be interesting and entertaining.
Her rambling was based around her medical knowledge and how she knew every pressure point, every spot that could cause a critical hit, every artery, and even every chakra point in the body. That last part was pretty impressive for a non-Hyuga but frankly it was all impressive.
They'd spent all day hanging out, luckily, they were given the day off, so they had plenty of time to just relax. It was almost like a date with the occasional interruption from Mikoto bringing snacks and refreshments. As much as they appreciated it they could tell she was lonely constantly being at the house alone. It was a shame, during the third war she became known as 'The crimson mistress'. She had become almost as good with a sword as Axel and if you saw her all you saw was a blur of raven hair and a splash of crimson and you'd be dead. She was said to have more kills than even Kushina at the time. The rumors said she had also learned Tsunade's super strength techniques and other than Tsunade herself she was considered the best medical nin.
All Mikoto had to do was go through some retraining and apply for a position in the shinobi forces and Axel would find a spot for her. She was perfect for damn near any position. Medic, ANBU, jonin instructor, hell, let her teach the next generation at the academy. She had so many opportunities and she just let them pass right by her. Well, who were they to judge? She may have reasons yet unknown to anyone but herself.
Training ground seven- the next day
They were all waiting for Kakashi when Naruto noticed Satsumei had decided to wear her Tsunade-esque outfit. Disappointing but less distracting for him. Sasuke had a few additions in the form of metal guards on his forearms to his elbows and shins up to his knees. Naruto meanwhile had decided to completely honor his dad, he wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants, as well as a white short sleeve haori with white flames at the bottom. The haori reached to his ankles just like his father's. He also had seals crawling up his forearms. He was originally planning on eventually wearing the phoenix sage clothes, but he was denied by Ifrit from signing the contract, disappointing but understandable after his performance in Wave. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to sign any summon contracts now seeing as that was the one he was most interested in.
Kakashi finally showed up interrupting his thoughts and held out three slips of paper. "Good morning my cute little genin," they got used to that collective name for them finally last week during their training trip, even Sasuke didn't seem bothered by it anymore. Kakashi took one long look at Naruto reminiscing. Naruto couldn't blame him; he looked like a damn clone of the man if it wasn't for the whisker marks and height.
"Kakashi-sensei, what are these?" Naruto asked gaining his attention. "Oh yeah, these are the entry slips for the chunin exams coming up. I want to enter you three. If any of you don't want to go you don't have to enter but I have an idea I know what your answers will be," he gave a chuckle at the last part.
Naruto unsealed three pens from one of his scrolls on his hip pouch, and handed one each to his teammates who all filled them out and handed them to Kakashi. "We're going to destroy the competition," Satsumei said with fire in her eyes. He wasn't expecting her to be that determined but it was a good thing. "I don't want you getting arrogant but if you ask me," he leaned in close as if telling a secret. "I believe you," he whispered with an eye smile. They could feel the pride he radiated. He was truly happy and proud to have them as a team. It was funny, they felt the same for him. They felt like they couldn't have asked for a better jonin sensei.
"I figured we could do one last training session as a team before you went to ace these exams," he was instantly assaulted on all sides as they worked as a UNIT.
An hour later would see the three genin laying on the ground drenched in sweat and trying to catch their breaths. Kakashi could be seen looking over them, a slight bit of sweat dripping down his forehead. "Yes, you'll do just fine."
Chunin exams- next day
Naruto and co. were walking through the hallways of the building to be housing the written exam. They had noticed a commotion and saw two chunin that they recognized as the gate guards for the village holding back a crowd of chunin hopefuls from entering through the door to the exams. Or so it seemed, it was a genjutsu, normally this is where Sasuke would open his mouth to gloat about how no one else could tell that it was a genjutsu however, he had learned Naruto's strategical ways to cut down the enemies' strength and so he kept his mouth shut. If they couldn't tell it was a simple genjutsu, they weren't worth his time. They almost got to the stairway to where the test actually was but were stopped by a green blur that stopped in front of them to reveal a black haired genin with a bowl hair cut and eyebrows impossibly thick. He wore a green jumpsuit, bandage wrappings around his forearms, and orange warmers around his shins up to his knees. Naruto recognized them for what they were though, weights. This kid was physically in damn near peak condition to the point Satsumei may be the only one on the team able to out speed him naturally.
"Naruto Uchiha! My name is Rock Lee and I would like to challenge you! Everyone says you're the rookie of the year and the strongest genin of Konoha's current generation! I would like to test that and prove that hard work can be just as great if not greater than natural genius!" Naruto bristled at the unintended blow. The kid didn't mean it as an insult but to just imply that his power was largely just a gift. It pissed him off. Naruto was fully okay with accepting that he was partially a genius because of his father's genes and that he was naturally in physical peak condition because of his mother's, but to imply his skill was not of his own making? Preposterous.
"No thanks, I have no interest in combat right now. Besides you should save your energy until the actual physical part of the exam," he was then bypassed by Lee who took up both of Satsumei's hands in his own. "I would like to ask you on a date!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not really interested right now. I have prior engagements," she answered with a sweat drop. When Lee held her hands for just a moment too long Naruto pushed him away and got between them. "Alright, you've got yourself a fight," he stated with his eyes bleeding crimson with slit pupils. Satsumei just barely caught the veiled jealousy but it was there.
Lee just assumed this was some kind of bloodline limit he wasn't aware of so he let it go as they found an appropriate area for their spar.
It was a few minutes later when they found a large enough area for Naruto to actually go wild. Whether that was his ego talking or not no one knew.
Naruto launched forward and they clashed forearms against forearms and Lee clearly wasn't prepared for the strength of the blow as he was steadily pushed back. They both disappeared in blurs and reappeared in another spot of the floor and clashed again. Naruto wasn't taking chances, so he kept Kurama's chakra active. If his thoughts were correct then Sharingan would be no use in this fight, it was brute force or some semblance of strategy that was going to win. Brute force would be so much more fun. He focused an ever so slight amount of lightning chakra to his arms, not enough to be noticeable but enough to slowly shut down nerves.
The effect was almost immediate with how many times they clashed and how long. He could feel the strength behind Lee's blows lessen and he capitalized. He sent additional chakra from Kurama to his arms and delivered a nasty blow that sent Lee flying. "Give up, you can't win, and we have an exam to go complete. I'd rather not have to put you out of commission right before the damn thing."
Lee's bandages began unwrapping and he increased his speed immensely taking Naruto by surprise kicking him around through the air until finally his bandages wrapped around the blonde and he dived towards the ground bringing Naruto with him. He redirected his trajectory at the last second but Naruto was not so fortunate. As soon as Naruto hit the ground he exploded in a giant blast of lightning damn near frying Lee.
"Are you done?" Naruto said as he walked out from behind one of the pillars in the area. A random red turtle popped up out of nowhere and Team Seven watched as it spun towards Lee and started scolding him. Then an older gentleman that looked like a jonin version of Lee appeared and profusely apologized to 'Lord Naruto' for his student's behavior. At this point he didn't really give a shit if people gave him honorifics besides, he's met Guy and that was just part of his personality. "It's cool, I think he was just curious. I sensed you nearby, so I knew if things got out of hand you'd step in," Naruto assured and Guy bowed a few more times to the boy and then left dragging Lee along.
"You two ready to ace this exam?" Naruto asked getting a couple of nods and they went to the testing sight meeting Kakashi along the way. "I wanted to wish you all good luck, although I'm fairly certain you don't need it."
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. It means a lot that you have so much faith in us," Naruto answered for them. Clearly, he was the unofficial leader. "By the time we're done with this you'll be known as the greatest jonin instructor of all time."
"I don't care much for a title such as that however I want all three of you to reach your potential," Kakashi stated earnestly and received nods before his cute little DANGEROUS genin entered the exam room.