Pokemon Companion
Konoha, 8 years after the Kyuubi Attack
On a rainy afternoon with a dark sky, the village was bathed in a downpour in rain. Anyone that did not plan to bathe or get wet had likely been disappointed by today's change in weather. It was also unfortunate for some who were not prepared or had to travel far. Those such as young orphans, like Naruto Uzumaki who lived alone and fairly far from the academy.
As if it wasn't bad enough that the poor boy was without parents. Meaning no one was actively looking for him or waiting for him at home with a warm meal and a hot bath. Not that his lonely old apartment could even grant him such luxuries. The boy was already seen as a pariah because of human ignorance. Choosing to cope by blaming a child and treating him like a human bomb about to go off.
Whether this was the kami punishing the village or nature mocking Naruto Uzumaki is unknown. As the boy already struggled to run home without slipping and hurting himself. The cold winds didn't help either and by the end of this, Naruto would likely spend the next day in bed. As anyone standing outside in this poor weather would likely catch a virus.
As Naruto made his way home, he heard a loud whimper. Naruto turned his head and saw an alleyway with an abandoned stand. It likely belonged to some small business owner before deciding to shut the place down. Naruto decided to approach it, mainly to catch a break from the rain as the cover shielded the interior from the downpour.
As Naruto got inside, he was immediately startled by the sight of an orange lizard-like creature growling at him. Naruto stepped back as he saw the creature glaring at him before huddling into a corner. Naruto's fear slowly dissipated as he saw the orange creature shivering and whimpering.
"Char… Charmander." the creature said before sneezing.
Naruto felt sad for the little creature before reaching out to it. Only to hear it snarl and try to bite him. Naruto recoiled in fear before watching as the creature calling itself Charmander started to sneeze more before coiling itself.
Naruto whimpered as he sat on his side of the stand and hoped to wait out the rain. That's when he heard his stomach grumble as well as the Charmander's stomach grumble.
"Char… Char…" it muttered as it tried to sleep while protecting the flame on its tail.
Naruto sighed as he took off his jacket and tried to let it dry. After what felt like an hour, the downpour started to calm down but Naruto didn't feel any less wet. However, he decided to wait a few more minutes before deciding to try and head home again. He looked back at the Charmander fearfully before noticing how frail and sad it was in its sleep.
'He was just scared and alone.' Naruto thought.
As the rain started to stop, the sky began to darken to announce that night had come. Giving the villagers the pleasure of having a quiet night at least. That is unless it decided to rain again and become much worse. As for Naruto, he was about to leave and forget all of this when his mind kept wandering back to the sleeping Charmander that continued to shield its tail as the fire on it began to weaken.
Taking a risk, Naruto grabbed his jacket (which was still wet) and picked up the Charmander. The Charmander woke up and growled at Naruto before preparing to bite him. Only to realize that Naruto was running back home with him.
"Char? Chamander! Charmander!" Charmander yelled as he threatened to bite Naruto.
"Please don't get mad! I'm taking you somewhere warm!" Naruto said.
Charmander gave him a glare that said he had no trust for the boy. Especially in a state where it could die as the flame on its tail was growing weaker.
"Don't worry, I don't have a lot of food and my home isn't too warm but it's better than being out here." Naruto explained, confusing the exotic animal.
Charmander lowered its head but kept an eye on naruto. Waiting to pounce if the boy did anything.
When they arrived at the apartment, Naruto opened the door and put Charmander on an old sofa. He then went to prepare some food when Charmander crawled out of the jacket and shook his body to get rid of the water on its body. Charmander then looked around and noticed how warmer it was compared to the outside but it didn't seem cozy.
"Char?" Charmander asked as he looked around.
Charmander was curious and stumbled around. Like the young confused little animal it was. Charmander sniffed everything and wondered if there was anything interesting to find. Most preferably, something edible to eat as its stomach grumbled.
"Charmander!" Charmander exclaimed as he looked around for food.
After a couple of minutes, Charmander noticed that Naruto was cooking something. Charmander kept its distance before noticing that Naruto had heated something up. Charmander narrowed its eyes before Naruto finished and opened up a can of meat.
Naruto then approached Charmander who hissed but Naruto managed to overcome his fear and came closer. Charmander took a step back and bared his fangs only to calm down as he saw Naruto put down a can of food. Charmander stared at it suspiciously before its own stomach betrayed him.
"Char." Charmander muttered as it rubbed its stomach.
Naruto gestured to the can, "It's food, it's nothing special but it's all I have." He said.
Charmander sniffed the food and felt a bit uncomfortable but it was too hungry to care. Charmander may not be very smart in its current age, but it appeared to understand that food appeared scarce. So it accepted what Naruto had given him and ate from the can.
As for Naruto, he made himself some instant ramen to make for himself. By the time Naruto was eating, Charmander seemed seemingly satisfied. It still played cautious towards Naruto who ate his ramen.
"Do you want more?" Naruto asked.
Charmander looked away for a moment as if it were embarrassed. Instead of asking for more food, Charmander extended its tongue and pointed at it. Naruto initially thought Charmander was asking for food only to shake its head and point at the sink.
"You want water?" Naruto asked.
"Charmander." Charmander replied.
"All you can say is your name?" Naruto asked, earning an annoyed look. "That's fine, I was just curious." He said.
Later that night
After a bath, Naruto finally got to bed and left a spare clean sheet and a pillar for Charmander. He really hoped Charmander wouldn't get aggressive at night or accidentally set the apartment on fire with its tail. Naruto started adjusting himself into bed while Charmander inspected his new bed.
"If you want, you can leave tomorrow but I think its going to rain again tonight." Naruto told Charmander.
Charmander looked at Naruto for a second and then on the makeshift bed before rubbing its head and body everywhere. Moving in a way to keep the flame on its tail from setting something on fire. It looked cute to see before Charmander finally settled in and slept on top of the pillow.
"Good night Charmander." Naruto said as he turned off the light.
"…Char." Charmander said before falling asleep.
For once, Charmander left itself to feel vulnerable and rest.
The next morning
Charmander growled and almost destroyed the apartment when it heard the alarm clock. Naruto panicked and lowered his head before turning off the alarm.
"Calm down Charmander! It's just the clock!" Naruto yelled.
"Charmander! Char!" Charmander shouted, sounding angry.
"Sorry, but I gotta go to the academy early." Naruto said.
Charmander growled before curling up and going to sleep again. Leaving Naruto to sigh at his roommate's behavior.
"I'm gonna make you another can and leave it out for you. I gotta make breakfast and get to school." Naruto said.
Charmander groaned and ignored Naruto and slept for another half hour or so. When he woke up, he saw Naruto getting ready to go out. When he saw another can of food waiting for him.
"Char?" Charmander asked.
"I'm going to leave the door slightly open. You can eat the food in the can and leave when you're ready." Naruto said.
Charmander waddled up to the can of food and sniffed it before grabbing it. Charmander then watched as Naruto got dressed and opened the door.
"Bye Charmander." Naruto said before leaving.
Charmander quietly ate on the floor and enjoyed the peace before lying around in the apartment. for a while. After a little while, the lizard-like creature left the apartment before exploring the village. Only to stop and look back at the apartment and back at its stomach.
"Charmander." Charmander said.
After school
Naruto was surprised to see Charmander waiting outside the door for him.
"What? Did you want more food?" Naruto asked.
Naruto wasn't sure what to think of Charmander. He wanted to help the creature but it was difficult to work with. He also wasn't sure if he could take care of it or handle buying extra cans to feed it.
"Charmander." Charmander said before grabbing Naruto's hand.
Naruto then watched as Charmander rubbed its head. Feeling the soft skin rather than hard leather like a normal lizard.
"Charmander, Char. Charmander." Charmander said, trying to communicate.
Naruto looked down at the Charmander who seemed to warm up to him. He wasn't sure what to do other than let Charmander stay with him.
"If you promise to be nice, I'll let you live here, okay? So that means no biting or getting angry." Naruto said.
Charmander nodded and followed Naruto back inside of the apartment. Charmander smiled as he decided to trust Naruto and see where he would go from here.
A few days later
Charmander was standing outside of the academy feeling impatient. He sat on the swingset and swung his stubby feet around. He grew closer to Naruto to the point he could call him a friend but the downside is how close he felt to his new friend.
Enough so that he didn't want to be too far from him.
"Charmander." Charmander murmured as he stopped swinging his feet.
Charmander's attention was then taken by a high pitched bark. Charmander looked around before noticing a puppy, specifically a Great Pyrenees. Charmander quickly jumped down onto all fours and growled at the dog as it sniffed him.
"Charmander!" Charmander yelled as he threatened to breathe fire.
The dog quickly barked a few times before rolling onto its back and panting. Charmander growled before realizing the dog showed its belly. Essentially telling him that the dog meant no harm by exposing its weakness.
"Char? Charmander." Charmander said.
The dog marked a couple of times before sitting up and leaning against the tree holding the swingset. Where it initiated its own form of conversation.
"You're a weird looking dog. Are you a summon?" The dog asked through barks.
"Summon? What's that mean?" Charmander asked.
"It's when humans summon strong animals. Big ones that use their powers. I saw it only once before." The dog explained.
Charmander shook his head, "I'm just a Charmander. My buddy found me alone in the rain. I didn't like him at first but he gave me food and a bed." He said.
"That's nice, I guess you're just a stray then. Well not a stray because you have a partner now." The dog said.
"Partner?" Charmander asked.
"Yeah, basically someone who fights with you. You have their back and they have yours." The dog answered.
"Is my buddy going to be under attack? I'll burn anyone who hurts him!" Charmander threatened as he shot fire in the air.
"Calm down big guy. He's just training is all. That's what all the humans do in that place. My partner and all his family go through it." The dog explained.
"I see." Charmander said with a nod of understanding.
"I'm Akamaru by the way." Akamaru said, wagging his tail.
"I'm Charmander." Charmander said.
"I should have guessed that. By the way, who's your partner?" Akamaru asked.
"His name is Naruto. He has gold hair and blue eyes. He's got whisker marks so I think he's part cat." Charmander said.
"Naruto Uzumaki? People like to pick on him. They say he's the omega but it's not like those dumb older humans help." Akamaru said.
Charmander narrowed his eyes as he demanded Akamaru to tell him more about his buddy. For when it came time to practice Kunai and shuriken outside. Charmander followed after Akamaru where they approached the class.
"There you are Akamaru, where have you been?" Asked Kiba Inuzuma.
Akamaru barked and pointed his paw towards Charmander who came up to everyone. His appearance startled everyone who was confused by the sight of a 3 foot tall orange dinosaur like creature.
"What the heck is that!?" Kiba asked.
"Charmander, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, confusing the class.
Everyone watched as Naruto interacted with Charmander, unable to understand the conversation. With Naruto summarizing what's been said as Iruka approached.
"Naruto, what is that?" Iruka asked, thinking his student was pulling a prank.
"This is Charmander. He's my buddy and roommate." Naruto answered with Charmander muttering his own name.
"Naruto, I'm going to have to ask you to…"
Iruka was cut off by Akamaru's barking. No one but Kiba understood the small dog's outburst. Even Iruka looked a bit nervous around the dog barking randomly. He knows well that the Inuzuka had their ninkin (ninja dogs) but wasn't sure what to expect.
"What the heck? Akamaru, what are you talking about?" Kiba asked.
Akamaru barked a few more times before waving his paw at Charmander who nodded.
"Kiba, what is your dog barking about?" Ino asked, looking annoyed.
"Akamaru went on a rant that all animal companions are ninja companions like him." Kiba said.
Akamaru barked once more, saying there's no room for argument. Leaving Iruka to sigh and look at Naruto and Charmander.
"Naruto, just promise that your friend here can stay out of trouble." Iruka said, earning a growl from Charmander.
Naruto gently rubbed Charmander's head, calming him down.
"Charmander will behave, as long as everyone doesn't annoy him." Naruto said.
Iruka sighed and just continued with the class. Charmander stood to the side and just watched as everyone took their turns. Charmander didn't understand the test other than the fact that the kids just had to hit the targets.
By the time Naruto's turn came, only half of the kunai hit the targets. The ones that did hit were hitting the center and head. Naruto groaned as he didn't even earn a passing score. As Iruka wrote the score, he noticed Charmander picking up a kunai with his stubby hands. Iruka was about to panic, thinking Charmander was about to hurt himself or someone else.
Only to see that nothing happened with the kunai. Even Charmander looked confused as he saw the kunai couldn't stick to the dummy.
"Charmander?" Charmander asked.
Before Iruka gave the next set of kunai to the next student. He decided to test the target by stabbing it with the kunai set. Where he realized several of the kunai were looking old and dull.
"Everyone, please line up. We have to start over again." Iruka said with a tired sigh.
"Hold on now, Iruka, we can't be wasting time and giving repeat tests. You know there's no second chance in the field." Said his assistant, Mizuki.
"Mizuki, I know that but this is just the class. They have to practice until they graduate and then worry about the consequences." Iruka said.
The shinobi world was dangerous and Iruka was a bit sensitive about it. Shinobi were bound to die if they were not careful and a whole second is equivalent to a whole lifetime in battle. So there's no way the enemy is going to stop and give their foe time to recover. Mizuki had a point, but Iruka wanted to create a safe controlled environment as there was no consequence in failing just yet.
However, Mizuki had other thoughts and it wasn't because he was this tough shinobi that wanted to give everyone tough love. Something about the white haired man made Charmander slightly angry.
"I know, the students need to learn so why not remind them that no second chances exist. If your tools are broken or unreliable, that's on you. There won't be time to restock while out on a mission." Mizuki explained.
"Yes, but it's our duty to make sure our provided supplies work." Iruka countered.
"Then they should have put more effort into it." Mizuki said.
Now he was going to use the "try harder" excuse. Which annoyed some of the more intellectual students. Before Iruka could continue, Charmander displayed his power.
"Look Iruka, you need to stop being so soft and…"
"CHAR!" Charmander screamed as he breathed fire onto Mizuki's head.
The man didn't die but he was covered in ash and the hair that was exposed under his bandana was reduced to ash. Iruka and the class stared at Mizuki in shock as he coughed up smoke before collapsing.
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled.
Naruto shrugged, "Hey, Mizuki sensei is all about 'no second chances' and then he got burned." He asid.
Some of the class laughed and nodded in agreement. Mizuki failed to lead the class by displaying focus on his surroundings. Although Iruka didn't see anything funny about it and just saw Naruto failing to control Charmander who didn't see anything wrong with his actions.
"Self defense!" Naruto added.
"Self defense? What are you talking about?" Iruka asked, sounding irate.
Then Mizuki started to slowly stand up.
"That's detention for a whole week and…"
Mizuki was interrupted by a massive blast of water hitting him. Sending him crashing into the wall and getting completely soaked. Then losing consciousness as a result of the attack.
Everyone turned and saw a laughing crocodile with blue skin. The little creature hopped around and laughed.
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled.
"Hey, I don't even know that one." Naruto said truthfully.
"Char?" Charmander asked as he saw the crocodile laughing.
That's when several other chunin instructors came out and tried to chase the crocodile. Only to watch it run away and jump into a river stream and quickly swim away.
"Don't let it get away!" One chunin yelled.
"What is going on?" Iruka asked.
"It's that stupid animal! It keeps attacking instructors during classes!" The same instructor exclaimed.
"What? How long has this been going on?" Iruka asked as this sounded new to him.
"About six months. It keeps getting away each time." The instructor said before all the chunin retreated.
Iruka sighed, "This is all too much. I think we have to postpone this to tomorrw." He said.
The students groaned in response as they lined up and prepared to leave. Only for Iruka to stop Naruto and Charmander.
"Not you, you are not off the hook." Iruka said.
"Aw man, that's unfair." Naruto said.
"Charmander Charmander, Char!" Charmander argued.
Later, at the Hokage's office
Charmander sat on the couch while eating a chocolate bar Naruto gave him. Where he silently watched Naruto talk to the Hokage who looked confused and concerned.
'It's not my fault.' Charmander thought as he continued to eat.
Naruto had to explain the events regarding Mizuki being set on fire. Hiruzen could not accept this despite the revelation of damaged academy equipment. Maybe he was growing soft but did agree that despite shinobi having to accept that second chances are rare in the field. The academy students needed to be prepared and trained slowly to understand their situation and get used to it before making things more difficult.
However, Hiruzen moved on and questioned Naruto about Charmander. To which Naruto recounted the tale of how he found the fiery elemental animal. Which surprised Hiruzen despite the old Hokage thinking Naruto wasn't ready to handle taking care of pets despite Charmander being an unnaturally rare type of creature. He decided to be optimistic for now and see if Naruto could handle raising Charmander.
"Well Naruto, I won't punish you exactly but you and Charmander here will have to apologize for setting your assistant teacher on fire. Right after I have someone check on the equipment." Hiruzen said as he sighed. "That is a major issue in your academics. Poor equipment may affect everyone's learning as a whole." he said.
"Okay." Naruto said with a sigh.
"Char, Charmander." Charmander said as he looked at the floor with a glare.
Then Hiruzen's eyes turned to his crystal ball. Which he picked up despite having Naruto in the room. Naruto watched in awe as Hiruzen used the crystal ball and presented an image of the woods.
"Forgive me Naruto, I had to look at something." Hiruzen said before showing disappointment on his face.
Naruto peaked at the globe with Charmander and they saw that same blue crocodile harassing people. Only this was showing the crocodile escaping various chunin and even a couple of jounin who were being mocked by the exotic creature. Naruto chuckled while Charmander looked very curious as to what the crocodile was doing and how it kept escaping.
Hiruzen felt disappointed in his own shinobi failing to catch the creature. Not even Tora the cat was this difficult. He considered asking Might Guy to do it as his father was a master at catching the previous cats of the daimyo's wife. Except the man was on an extended mission and Hiruzen didn't want to waste any more jounin or even the ANBU from trying to subdue the creature.
Even Anko Mitarashi, a former ANBU and a tracker, had difficulty capturing the little creature.
"These animals sure keep popping up." Naruto commented.
"That they are." Hiruzen said.
Then he looked at Charmander who finished his candy and tried licking the bag. Which gave the Hokage an idea that's pretty much not going to hurt him by this point.
"Naruto, here's a deal. I will reduce your punishment for letting your companion hurt Mizuki. If… you can catch the little creature here." Hiruzen said.
Naruto's face scrunched up, "I don't know jiji, it looks pretty slippery and not even the teachers can catch it." he said.
"Naruto, I'm sure you can do it. You escaped other chunin and even jounin from your pranks. I dare say you are an expert when it comes to the minds of mischievous people." Hiruzen said, hoping to use modesty on the boy.
Naruto thought it over and looked at Charmander. Thinking if it was safe to bring him since the salamander-like creature clearly had a thing against water. Still, it would be better than detention for a week or something.
"Jiji, if I do this, I want access to supplies. I need things like a net and fishing wires." Naruto said.
"Very well, but I warn you. It appears to be smart and powerful with water elemental abilities similar to ninjutsu." Hiruzen warned before writing on a paper.
Naruto then looked at Charmander who decided to tag song for the ride.
A day later
Naruto was given a free day and spent it with Charmander exploring the woods while wearing camouflage and carrying a bag of supplies. Naruto decided to survey the area and develop some hunting skills. At least enough to see how smart the creature was. Hoping it didn't spot him or Charmander first. Where they also set up some traps around the area in hopes the creature would run into them or be herded towards them.
Along with praying that it wasn't smart and relied on instinct.
"Stay close, Charmander. We don't want him ambushing us." Naruto said.
"Charmander." Charmander whispered.
Charmander looked everywhere before grabbing Naruto's pants and making him get down. Charmander then pointed at the river and they saw the blue crocodile trying to catch fish with some difficulty.
"Dile! Dile! Totodile!" the creature said.
"I guess its name is Totodile." Naruto said before pulling out his binoculars.
The pair watched Totodile struggling to catch fish before eventually grabbing a pair. Totodile then climbed back to dry land and started to munch on its lunch. Only to stop and sniff the air before looking everywhere at a slow pace.
"Dile?" Totodile asked.
Naruto held his breath and Charmander covered his mouth then lowered his tail. The two stayed silent before watching Totodile shrug off his surroundings and continue with lunch. Charmander began to grow frustrated before Naruto signaled for him to grab a net and head towards the opposite direction.
Charmander nodded and tiptoed to the otherside of the river. Where Naruto would try to play it cool and pretend not to notice Totodile. Once in range, Naruto began pulling out his fishing line and tried to make a makeshift fishing rod. Which already put Totodile on high alert.
Naruto ignored Totodile and pretended to go fisting for a couple of minutes. He noticed Totodile moved around as if to act like he was running or trying to run. Only to watch Totodile keep its distance and watch Naruto for a little longer. That's when Naruto grabbed a fish and raised it up for Totodile to see.
"Totodile?" Totodile asked as he kept his distance.
Naruto then caught two more fish as quickly as he could. Prompting Totodile to slowly move closer. Naruto then began to look like he was packing up and turned his back away from Totodile. The crocodile-like creature quickly ran up to him and saw Naruto roll away before shooting water towards him.
"Totodile! Totodile!" Totodile yelled as he grabbed the fish and began to run.
Only to get stuck and notice the extra wires on the fish. In desperation, Totodile tried to run with the fish and refused to give them up. Even going as far as to bite down on the lines and snapping one. Prompting Charmander to throw a net over Totodile who was more confused than ever.
"Totodile!" Totodile yelled as he started rolling around.
"Don't let him get away!" Naruto yelled towards his companion.
"Charmander!" Charmander yelled as he followed Totodile.
Totodile snapped the fishing line and barely dragged most of his body out of the net. Where he then tried to run with great difficulty. Naruto threw another net but missed and Charmander tried breathing fire towards it but Totodile began to slip away. That is until it got stuck in a small trap that tripped it.
Totodile cried out in pain before realizing its leg was stuck on another fishing line.
"Totodile!" Totodile cursed as it tried to bite off the wire.
Eventually, Totodile got free and rushed towards the river only to avoid a stream of fire from Charmander. Totodile panicked and ran away before going deep into the woods.
"Don't let him get away!" Naruto shouted.
"Char!" Charmander yelled.
The following chase would end up taking everyone around the entirety of the forest and destroying a few trees along the way. Along with various turns and hijinks getting involved during the whole chase.
An hour later
Totodile slowly surfaced from the river and looked around very slowly.
"Toto?" Totodile asked.
Totodile came crawling out of the water before looking around. He then began to laugh and dance as he thought he got away. Where he then started looking around before finding an abandoned camping spot and started rummaging around for food to steal.
"Totodile." Totodile said as he entered the tent.
Totodile found some snacks and started munching on them. When he heard a loud amount of footsteps outside. Totodile prepared to run only for the tent to be taken down and wrapped up.
"Totodile!" he yelled as he struggled.
Totodile felt like he was being kidnapped and that the tent was a burlap sack. It tried to dig itself out only to find itself going inside of a net. Which was being tide by Naruto who made a strong knot.
"Totodile!" Totodile yelled before shooting water towards Naruto who dodged it.
Naruto quickly picked up the net and used all of his strength to hoist the net over his shoulder. Totodile struggled during the whole trip back.
"We got him Charmander. Let's go show the old man." Naruto said.
"Totodile!" Totodile yelled angrily.
Charmander lit a small fire under Totodile's butt. Making the crocodile-like rub its butt in pain before giving up.
A few minutes later
Kakashi sighed as he stood outside the Hokage Tower with one of his ninja dogs.
"Are you going after that little troublemaker again, Kakashi?" Pakkun asked, referring to Totodile.
"Someone has to." Kakashi said.
"Trust me Kakashi, I'm a cute little dog and my friends are all capable but maybe we should let the Inuzuka clan or other professionals deal with it." Pakun said.
Kakashi sighed again, "Pakkun, by this point. The ANBU are getting involved as that little…"
Kakashi stopped as he saw his sensei's son walking by. Kakashi never interacted with Naruto and felt pretty pathetic about it. This was his sensei's son and Minato acted like a second dad to him and his teammates. However, Kakashi had to put aside his grief as he saw Naruto carrying the Totodile in the net over his bag.
"What the…"
"Totodile! Dile! Dile!" Totodile shouted.
"Save it for the court." Naruto said.
Totodile complained as Naruto entered the tower. Leaving behind a shocked Kakashi and a confused looking Pakkun.
"Maybe you and the other shinobi are too lax. That kid caught the thing and doesn't even look hurt or dirty." Pakkun said, damaging Kakashi's pride.
That evening
Totodile was put in a medium sized kennel with seals to keep him from breaking out as the Hokage studied the creature.
"I can only imagine how many more of these are hiding in the forest." Hiruzen said.
Totodile sat down and looked sad before looking at Naruto and Charmander. Hiruzen noticed this and could see the wild Totodile was just a prankster with the mind of a child. Given how he's made a lot of mistakes in the past, one more risk wouldn't hurt, would it?
"Naruto, I think you fulfilled your punishment enough. So I will give you another task." Hiruzen said.
"What?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen started working on making a tracking seal that works as the equivalent of a modern day ankle bracelet.
"Seeing as how you can take care of Charmander. I will ask you to watch over… Totodile was it?" Hiruzen asked.
"Really?" Naruto asked.
The boy felt excited but didn't know if he could handle another roommate. Let alone feed him and take care of him. Naruto looked at the Totodile who didn't look happy being restrained.
"I'll be sure to compensate you for today, but I will also give you restrictions to keep Totodile out of trouble." Hiruzen said, not wanting Totodile to run loose.
Naruto looked at Totodile who gripped the bars.
"What do you think? Do you want to live with me and Charmander?" Naruto asked.
Totodile looked unsure before looking at Charmander who nodded at him. Totodile smiled and sat up before nodding.
"Then it's settled, Totodile promises to behave himself." Naruto said.
After that, Hiruzen prepared a tracking seal and gave one to Charmander which he said was for safety reasons. Then he gave one to Totodile before he could run loose. Totodile quickly ran out and started jumping on Hiruzen's desk and dancing around.
Only for Hiruzen to trigger the seal and paralyze Totodile.
"The seal also works in case one of your friends acts up." Hiruzen said before giving it to Naruto.
Naruto nodded before freeing Totodile who fell off of the desk and grumbled about Hiruzen being no fun and unfair.
"Let's go Totodile, I gotta buy an extra sheet and pillow for you." Naruto said.
"Totodile!" Totodile said happily.
Just as the trio began to walk towards the door. Hiruen stopped Naruto once more.
"Hold on now, technically this was a mission meant for my shinobi. Since you are not a ninja just yet, I still need to compensate you to an extent." Hiruzen explained as he wrote a check.
"Compensate? What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"It means I have to pay you for goods and services. I think the academy may teach you the basics on that." Hiruzen said before handing him the check.
Naruto nodded before Hiruzen told him where to go to cash it in. Luckily it was somewhere that wouldn't discriminate against him or try to steal his earnings.
The next morning
Naruto woke up feeling groggy and sat up to find Charmander curled up on his side of the room while Totodile was snoring while lying on his back. Naruto snickered at how Totodile slept as he got out of his bed and walked to the bathroom.
A minute later, Charmander let out a loud yawn and slowly stood up. He looked around before noticing Naruto exiting the bathroom. Charmander prepared to follow him only to stumble as he almost tripped on Totodile's leg. Making Charmander grumble about having another roommate who he didn't like.
Perhaps it was because Totodile was attuned with water while Charmander was attuned to fire. Either that or Charmander was very annoyed with yesterday's long chase and found Totodile annoying.
"Charmander!" Charmander said as he slapped Totodile with his tail.
"Dile!" Totodile yelled angrily as he got up.
"Char, Charmander." Charmander said.
"Totodile, dile." Totodile said as he rubbed his head.
The two little creatures walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. Where Naruto left them two cans of meat to enjoy. Like Charmander, Totodile didn't initially like the meat but found it edible before asking for another can which Naruto gave him.
"Char?" Charmander asked.
"Dile." Totodile said while rubbing his stomach.
Charmander just sighed before finishing up his can and throwing it away.
Later that day
Naruto returned to school with Charmander and Totodile following. The latter were curious as to why they were going to the academy. With Charmander just telling him what he knew and telling him to try to avoid attention. Charmander didn't want to get in trouble again and Totodile already gained infamy for attacking and harassing various chunin during their classes.
"It's not my fault. They were easy pickings." Totodile communicated.
"I know, but the dumb adult humans get all angry." Charmander said.
Totodile just waved Charmander off as they arrived at the academy.
"I'll be back in a couple of hours. Sooner if we do training outside again." Naruto told them. "You guys behave, okay?" he asked.
"Char."
"Dile!"
Naruto nodded and went inside to attend class while Charmander and Totodile wandered off to see what they could do for fun. When they suddenly saw Akamaru running towards them.
"Hey Charmander, who's the new guy?" Akamaru asked.
"This is Totodile, he's the one shooting water at all the humans." Charmander answered.
Akamaru yipped as a sign of laughter.
"Are there more of you in the woods? You all are some weird looking strays." Akamaru said.
"Hey that reminds me, have either of you guys seen any other Totodiles?" Totodile asked.
"There's more of you?" Charmander asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah, aren't there more Charmanders?" Totodile asked.
"No, I… just remember waking up one day. That's it." Charmander said, revealing he has no idea where he came from.
"Neither of you has a litter? I'm sorry to hear that." Akamaru said, wondering where his new friends came from.
The two creatures and dog shook off the questions before deciding on how to pass the time.
A couple of hours later
The trio sat outside while playing with some cards. Which they seemed to have developed a good understanding of using.
"How does A, equal 1 and 11?" Totodile asked as he scratched his head.
"It depends." Akamaru answered.
"On what?" Totodile asked.
"When it's convenient. Somehow it adds up +11 with whatever your second card is." Akamaru said.
"What if I have two A's?" Totodile asked.
"First, it's called an Ace and second, that's a 2." Akamaru explained.
"This is confusing!" Totodile yelled angrily.
"Blame the humans, I listened to whatever Kiba's mom said when she played." Akamaru said.
"Ichi (One)! That means I win!" Charmander said as he threw down his last card.
"We're not playing that kind of game!" Akamaru asid.
Charmander just scratched his head in confusion while Totodile groaned and fell onto his back. Akamaru just sighed at his new friends before watching as some rocks were thrown. Totodile cried out in pain as one hit him on the head. Akamaru began to bark as he saw some delinquents throwing rocks at them.
"What the heck!? Who are those jerks!?" Charmander asked with a raised voice.
"The next class, they are years ahead I think." Akamaru said as he growled at the upperclassmen.
"Hey, hit the stupid lizard. I think it's working with the fox kid." one student said.
"Hey careful, remember what our moms said. We can't mention the kyuubi out loud." another kid said.
The first student scoffed, "Calm down, its not like anyone can hear us. Besides, my mom said that the Hokage is too senile to know anything." he said.
"Yeah, who needs old people in the government! We're the next generation!" said an arrogant third student.
The kids continued to throw rocks and hit the trio before Charmander came charging at them. Before the students could try and run away. Charmander blew a large stream of fire at them, setting their pants on fire as a result. The students screamed as they tried to stop, drop and roll with one taking off his pants.
"Fire! Fire!" one yelled.
"Just take off your pants!" the second one shouted.
"I need water!" the third student shouted.
Totodile grinned before firing a massive stream of water at all three of them. Unfortunately, the attack was too big and it ended up sending the upperclassmen into a wall where bathrooms were. Which ended up destroying the wall and an old toilet that broke and caused a geyser of water to pop out.
Minutes later, Iruka had to come out with a couple of other instructors. All of whom stared at the three delinquents with disgust. Which only got worse as one of the students was stripped down to his underwear.
"Do we even need to ask what you three were doing?" Iruka asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It was those animals! The ones that work with the fox kid!" the student missing his pants said.
He pointed towards Akamaru and the other two only to see that they were missing. Leaving the teachers confused as none of them had actually witnessed Naruto's companions arrive and Iruka wasn't even aware as to whether or not Akamaru had actually left the class.
"Fox kid? What kind of excuse is that?" one instructor asked.
Some of them thought it was Naruto related but Iruka couldn't blame him as the boy was in class. Iruka started wondering if Charmander was involved but didn't see them at all. Still, he wasn't aware that Totodile joined Naruto and Iruka can't blame Charmander as he saw no fire. Just three wet kids, broken property and some pants on the floor.
"That's it, you deviants are getting a week of detention and a call from your parents!" Iruka said as he and the other instructors dragged the kids up.
"Wait, that's unfair!" one student argued.
"We're the victims here! I lost my pants for crying out loud!" the student missing his pants argued.
"Then remember to wear a belt!" Iruka yelled as his head grew even bigger.
One of the other instructors picked up the child's pants only to see that it had a hole in it. Likely from Charmander trying to set it on fire. However the water reduced any sign of fire damage that caused the hole.
"Someone give the kid a towel to wear." another instructor said.
"We didn't do anything!" the three students yelled.
"That's what they all say." Iruka said as the students were escorted away.
Charmander and Totodile laughed from their hiding spot while Akamaru just yipped. The puppy would likely tell Kiba the story. Which he would probably find funny but likely be careful as to not say it around teachers, given how he's not a snitch.
A few more days later
Naruto was practicing at one of the training grounds while Charmander and Totodile were nearby. The two were also practicing to better understand their abilities rather than just hitting someone with all the force they can muster.
"I think I'm improving with my accuracy. What about you guys?" Naruto asked.
Charmander hit a random target while using as little fire as possible, managing to set it on fire. As for Totodile, he still had a bit of trouble using less water to hit his target.
"Dile?" Totodile asked as he scratched his head.
"That's fine, I think you're still just learning." Naruto said.
"Totodile!" Totodile happily replied.
"Charmander." Charmander spoke up.
"I don't need to motivate you. You are already doing an awesome job." Naruto said, making Charmander feel proud.
The trio continued to practice their respective abilities. When Naruto heard some metal clinging and the sounds of someone yelping in the near distance.
"Shoot, someone must have gotten hit in the snare I made." Naruto said.
To save money, Naruto tried to use his tools to catch a small animal. Something Hiruzen gave him a book on. The Hokage didn't want Naruto wandering off into the woods again like he did a couple of years ago. However, Hiruzen for some reason thought it might be useful if Naruto learned the basics of the wilderness and how to survive in it.
Which included how to navigate around it, which helped with Naruto trying to track Totodile a few days ago. Along with how to catch food and what poisonous things to avoid eating. With this in mind, Naruto thought he could try and catch something to cook for himself. However, it looked like someone had accidentally got caught in his trap.
"What the hell is this!?" asked the victim.
Naruto dug through the shrubbery and saw a purple haired woman wearing a trenchcoat with a mesh shirt underneath. The oddly dressed woman was hanging upside down with a rope tied around her leg and another one tied around her arm. The woman struggled to escape the trap before looking at Naruto and glaring at him. Naruto slowly backed away as if to avoid her gaze.
"Hey, don't leave! Cut me down!" the woman demanded.
Naruto backed up and threw a pair of shuriken from behind the shrubbery. Which caught the ropes, roughly dropping the woman onto her back.
"That hurt! Who even put this stupid trap here!" the woman exclaimed.
"It's my trap! You broke it so you have to fix it!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Your trap caught me!" the woman argued.
"It's meant for an animal. You have a headband so that means you are a kunoichi; what kind of kunoichi can't avoid a trap?" Naruto asked, annoying the woman.
"Listen here you little brat, I'm a tokubetsu jounin. I worked my ass to earn my position. I can give you nightmares after that stunt you pulled." the woman said, trying to intimidate him.
"I'm gonna have nightmares that all the adults in this village suck as ninjas." Naruto replied, further aggravating the woman.
"That's it! I'm gonna…"
Naruto ducked as Totodile shot the woman in the face with enough pressure to make her hit a tree. The tokubetsu jounin shook her head and snarled before noticing Totodile laughing at her. She went wide eyed as she recognized Totodile as she was one of the few who tried and failed to catch him.
"What the hell!? Why is this thing with you!?" the woman angrily asked.
"I caught him." Naruto answered.
"Liar!" the woman yelled.
"Well, I did and you got caught in my trap meant for a boar. You should go back to the academy." Naruto mocked.
Moments later, another pair of jounin arrived as they heard the argument. Revealing themselves to be one of Hiruzen's sons and a red eyed kunoichi.
"Hey Kurenai, isn't that Anko?" Asuma asked.
Kurenai sighed as she saw the woman named Anko glaring down at Naruto who looked uncaring. Kurenai may have still been a chunin working towards her jounin promotion but she was still one of the more mature kunoichi in her generation. So she really didn't see Anko has having a good reason to get angry with a child.
"Anko, what did you do?" Kurenai asked.
Anko looked shocked, "Me!? This kid trapped me in his stupid snare!" she exclaimed.
"I was catching my food while training. It's not my fault she can't see." Naruto said as he crossed his arms.
"Charmander!" Charmander said in agreement while Totodile just laughed.
"You got caught in an animal trap? Aren't you a tokubetsu jounin?" Asuma asked, acting like Anko was the screw up.
"Blame the kid! He…"
"Is a child, Anko." Kurenai said, having a soft spot for children.
Kurenai turned and immediately recognized Naruto. She wasn't as ignorant or distrustful as the other adults. Maybe still a bit shaken up as she was a freshly minted genin when the kyuubi attacked, but she couldn't blame a child. Even if the boy looked uncaring right now, she assumed Naruto was keeping to himself which didn't help as he was always unsupervised.
Then she noticed his animal companions.
"Hey, isn't that the blue crocodile that everyone was chasing around?" Asuma asked.
Anko growled, "You little…! Augh! I can't even describe how much I hate you!" she yelled at Totodile.
Totodile just turned around and slapped his butt in front of Anko. Anko was about to attack Totodile only for Kurenai to hold her back and point at the seal on Totodile's wrist.
"What is that?" Kurenai asked.
"Jiji gave me a seal so I can keep Totodile on a leash." Naruto said.
"Who?" Kurenai asked, sounding confused.
"Oh, I think he meets my dad." Asuma said, confusing Naruto as well.
It took a couple of minutes but Asuma explained he was Hiruzen's son. Along with Asuma telling the two kunoichi how Naruto refers to Hiruzen as 'jiji'. Something he knew as he overheard his father mention quite a few times.
Which led to Naruto revealing the seal he had on Charmander and Totodile. Revealing that he did catch Totodile. He, an academy student and one barely in the fifty-percentile of his class. Whereas Anko and several other high ranking shinobi struggled to go after Totodile who was just a nuisance.
"I guess you need to work on your tracking skills." Kurenai said, unable to hold back a snicker.
"You be quiet, Nai-chan!" Anko yelled.
Sure, Anko wasn't as good as any Inuzuka clan member or as good as Kakashi who had a variety of dogs. However, Anko should be superior to a small child still in school as she had her snakes and always visits training ground 44 which she dubbed as her playground. Only people of jounin rank are allowed in there as the place is full of dangerous wildlife like giant spiders who kill and devour on sight.
Ironically, the committee for the chunin exams are considering using the training ground as part of the exams when their turn comes.
"And you, at least have the decency to apologize!" Anko exclaimed.
Naruto picked up Charmander and raised him in between him and Anko.
"Any arguments have to go through my attorney." Naruto said.
"Is that a salamander?" Kurenai asked.
"It's a Charmander and he has this ability called Ember. Show them, Charmander." Naruto said.
"CHAR!" Charmander shouted as he breathed fire.
Asuma and Kurenai moved out of the way as Anko's face was covered in fire. Luckily for her, she wasn't burned but her face was covered in ash and her ponytail was covered in fire.
"Anko?" Kurenai asked.
Anko gasped, letting out some smoke from her mouth before collapsing. The two shinobi checked on the snake mistress before Naruto ran away with Totodile and Charmander in his arms.
"I'm gonna get that kid." Anko whispered.
"I think he got you first." Asuma said, earning a glare. "Still, how does a little kid get a nuisance that a bunch of jounin and chunin couldn't catch?" he asked.
A day later
Naruto had luckily not run into Anko again because he could tell she was a vengeful woman. So he tried to hope that the next day at the academy would pass by without incident. At least the boring day of lectures seemed to change up as Iruka had an announcement.
"Class, let's welcome a new classmate. So let's please welcome, Issei Hyoudou." Iruka announced.
"Sensei, read the rest of it." Issei whispered to Iruka.
Iruka stared at the extra writing Iruka added and sighed.
"Issei, this is the academy where I help mold the minds of my future comrades-in-arms. It's also a hall of learning. So please limit your choices of wording." Iruka said, making Issei groan.
As Issei was pointed towards an empty seat where he would await the lecture to start. Iruka looked one last time at the writing on the paper.
Name: Issei Hyoudou
Age: 9
Birthday: April 16
Nickname/Alias: Crimson Dragon Emperor/Boob Dragon Emperor/King of…
Iruka tossed out the paper before he would lose his mind. He swears, this boy is another Jiraiya and while Iruka respected the sannin despite their faults and strange quirks.
Minus the treacherous Orichimaru of course.
Iruka didn't want a perverted student running loose. At least one who was very flamboyant and likely got ready to talk about female anatomy.
"Anyways, let's begin where we left off." Iruka said before beginning his lecture.
Like Naruto, Issei already felt bored and ready to just sleep or do something else. Naruto didn't think much of Issei who appeared to either be some upstart or just some very flamboyant boy.
Later that day
Today, Iruka decided to have the students spar with each other. However, some looked like they wanted to fight the new student and somehow look dominant by beating up some kid who showed up. Naruto just sighed as he remembered being targeted by most of the class in his first year since he already became unpopular due to the villagers.
At the very least, Naruto hoped Issei is one of those students who got prior training before entering the school. From what he heard form the sandaime at one point, some students can start late if trained by another individual and with permission from the Hokage. Oftentimes, clan members train their children or other relatives and have them join later in the year either for early graduation or just to skip the early nonsense.
There's also the rare case of a student being sponsored by a tutor. It was rare but some could be trained by another shinobi outside the family who is either paid or volunteered to help.
Back to the fights, everyone witnessed the slowest fight which came in the form of Shikamaru vs Shino. As this was taijutsu, Shikamaru barely won due to Shino being a bit faster but more limited in taijutsu. Leaving Shikamaru to try and using all the force he could muster to try and hit him in points that would knock him down.
"Okay, next round will be between Kiba Inuzuka and Issei Hyoudou." Iruka announced.
"Ha! Tough luck for you, new kid!" Kiba said as he jumped into the ring.
Issei jumped in, also looking eager to fight Kiba.
"You may be a part of the pack, but the dragon is the… uh… shoot, I had something for this." Issei said, having tried looking cool only to fail.
"Loser, you just showed up and instantly became the omega." Kiba said.
"No more insults, you two are not savages. Now begin!" Iruka said.
At first, Issei cloaked like a really clumsy but lucky oaf. With him avoiding most of Kiba's attacks only to get a few scratches from his claws. Even almost falling off of the training mat until Issei delivered a good kick to Kiba's chest. Once Kiba stumbled, Issei threw a heavy punch but missed.
"Too sloppy, omega!" Kiba said before swiping at Issei.
Issei ducked down and delivered a backwards kick, making Kiba tumble onto his back. Kiba quickly got up and raised his arms to block the next few attacks. While Issei didn't have immense strength, Kiba felt like he was being bounced around with each attack before having his legs swept.
"The dragon roars!" Issei said before dropping an elbow onto Kiba's gut. "Call it!" he told Iruka.
Iruka nodded and raised an arm as Kiba let out a gasp. Issei quickly got off of the mat, feeling successful with his seemingly sloppy style of fighting. Although Iruka could tell that Issei was purposely slowing himself down, holding himself back like he didn't want to hurt himself… or Kiba. Iruka was used to some students who either didn't know their own strength or held themselves back because of their anxiety.
Hinata Hyuga was one given her poor self confidence. The teacher shook his head and went back to looking at his clipboard.
"The next fight will be Naruto Uzumaki and Gonpachiro Kamaboko." Iruka said.
Naruto's fight wasn't much more interesting. Other than forcing Naruto to wake up his body as Gonpachiro proved to have good reflexes as well as the fact that he had a lot of physical strength. WIth Naruto almost getting knocked out with a head butt.
"Okay, I am not fighting that piece of iron you call a forehead!" Naruto yelled before stepping from a punch.
Naruto then took the arm and slammed Gonpachiro onto the ground. Where he twisted the arm behind his back and held him in place. Doing so in a position that would require more agility than strength to escape. Naruto turned to Iruka who raised his arm and declared Naruto the winner.
"Naruto, nice improvement. Gonpachiru, try making your move set less obvious and branch out." Iruka said before finishing up.
Meanwhile, Mizuki was finishing with the girls and their own sparring sessions. Where Hinata managed to be the best fighter for today but nursed her hand.
"You might want to practice that, Hinata. Your clan is known for exceptional taijutsu after all." Mizuki said, but Hinata somehow felt bad hearing that.
Then Ino chimed in by sounding blunt and rude as usual.
"It's not her fault, Mizuki sensei. Even Hinata can't be prepared to fight someone with a thick head like Sakura." Ino said.
Sakura, who was lying on the ground, growled at Ino.
"If I wasn't hurt, I would kick your ass, pig!" Sakura yelled.
"Like you could, you lost to Hinata of all people." Ino said.
"Shut up! If I wanted to see a cat fight, I would have thrown some lipstick at the shopping center of town." Mizuki said.
While Mizuki isn't as honorable or zealous about his job like Iruka. He couldn't help but feel annoyed by how wimpy modern day kunoichi are. With the whole dieting and makeup, Mizuki feels like he's in a room with the future generation of D-List supermodels with anorexia.
Nearly every girl here was useless and pathetic with the remaining either being poorly guided or lacking in confidence.
That afternoon
Naruto yawned as he got out of the academy and went towards the woods with Charmander and Totodile following close behind him.
"So, did you two have a boring day too?" Naruto asked.
Charmander yawned while Totodile whined about a slow day before kicking a rock. Naruto can understand that waiting for him at the academy is not interesting. Neither is sitting around in the apartment where they can cause a mess. Naruto wished he knew how to entertain his new companions as they weren't like typical pets who would wait and feel like an eternity has passed.
'Maybe I should ask Kiba or someone for advice on how to entertain them.' Naruto wondered.
As the trio reached a training ground, Naruto heard some commotion. He heard what sounded like a lot of construction in the distance. He was confused as to why there were workers nearby and decided to look. After all, the training grounds may not appear significant but it was where the shinobi needed to train.
Besides, the village still had plenty of room for businesses and homes. So while Naruto didn't understand the world of real estate at his age. He felt like the nearby construction would be weirder than someone opening a lemonade stand in front of a restaurant's doors.
"Charmander?" Charmander asked.
"I don't know, maybe someone is trying to build a house." Naruto answered.
As they came closer, the trio heard the sounds of pain filled cries. Prompting them to move faster where they found some construction workers holding their arms. Naruto blinked in surprise before seeing the workers get up and point at the trees where several waves of grass came flying at them like weapons.
"Get that thing! We can't finish our work if it keeps attacking us!" a worker shouted.
"You better catch it, otherwise our client will not be paying us!" the supervisor said.
Naruto and the other two took cover and looked around. They saw the construction workers arming themselves before noticing the origin of the attack came from the trees. Where a small green creature was running between tree branches and shooting them with sharp grass as projectiles.
"How does that hurt?" Naruto asked.
Seconds later, Naruto saw several grass hit a tree, leaving some large dents. The boy looked wide eyed as he expected a real weapon like a kunai or a sword to leave that much damage. Not something as simple as grass which can't hurt anyones.
"You guys think it's someone unique like you?" Naruto asked his companions.
Totodile scratched his head while Charmander just looked around to spot the green creature. All of them realizing this isn't someone who just wanted to harass or prank anyone like Totodile. These attacks were made with the intent to harm these construction workers.
"Guys, let's sneak around and see if we can do something." Naruto whispered with Totodile and Charmander nodding in agreement.
The trio then moved around the forest to avoid getting in the way of the angry construction workers. At the same time, Naruto was still confused about why there were construction workers. Was there some strange person who wanted to live next to the training ground?
A few minutes later
After splitting up, Naruto and the pair looked around for the green creature. With the construction workers having seemingly lost it and gone the wrong direction.
'It must be at least as smart as Totodile with how it moves around so quickly.' Naruto thought.
After spending a little longer searching, Naruto heard Totodile call out for him. After rushing towards his location, Naruto found Totodile helping the creature on his back as it was injured. Naruto gently picked up the creature and saw it was wounded.
"Tree… Treecko…" the creature muttered.
"We better take him to a veterinarian." Naruto said with Totodile nodding in agreement.
Before they left, they heard Charmander shout nearby. Followed by the sounds of the construction workers screaming in pain. The next thing anyone knew, Charmander was running past Naruto and Totodile with the construction workers chasing after him next.
"Char Char, Charmander!" Charmander yelled.
"What do you mean they started chasing you next?" Naruto asked.
"Charmander!" Charmander replied as he kept running.
Naruto groaned as he and Totodile followed after Charmander. Where they spent the next ten minutes trying to escape with the creature, seemingly named Treecko. Which became tricky given their limited movement until Naruto had an idea. He asked his friends to circle around before finding a clearing that appeared to be mostly dirt rather than grass with a small hill.
"Totodile, once we go up that hill. Use Water Gun on the ground." Naruto commanded.
Totodile nodded and stopped once they reached the hill. Totodile shot a big stream of water from its mouth and into the dirt. The amount of water and pressure he used allowed a small mudslide to occur. Making the workers stumble and fall backwards, causing them to collide with each other.
"That slowed them down." Naruto said as they continued to run.
After a few minutes, Naruto and company hid in some nearby shrubbery as the construction workers got lost again. Giving everyone time to rest up after all that running. As well as letting Naruto take a better look at Treecko.
"Are you hurt, little guy?" Naruto asked.
Treecko glared at Naruto and tried to push him away. Naruto was caught off guard but could see Treecko wasn't trusting at the moment. Whatever its reason was for attacking the construction workers. It seemed to not trust humans at the moment given how he was hurt by them.
"This is going to be tricky. How am I going to get you to the village to get healed?" Naruto asked.
"Totodile." Totodile said.
"Charmander." Charmander.
"I know, but we're in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea where the path back to the village is from this point." Naruto said as he lost his sense of direction.
The group then spent a few minutes resting up with Totodile seemingly looking around to see if there was a path back to the village. Charmander tried climbing up a tree to look but struggled to reach the top.
"Char." he muttered in defeat.
However, that's when Naruto heard shifting from the trees. Despite his inexperience, he recognized when a shinobi was nearby. At least, Naruto assumed it was a shinobi as the presence wasn't trying too hard to move quickly or even conceal themselves. That's when he looked outside of the shrubbery and saw the construction workers in the distance.
"We have to find that dumb kid and his weird pet!" one of them said.
"Hey, before we get to that. Was that the kyuu-" another tried to say before being interrupted.
"Don't say it. The Hokage has ears everywhere and we don't need someone jumping out of nowhere to punish us." a third worker said.
"I'm just saying, do you think he caused that thing to attack us?" the second worker asked.
"He probably did." the first worker answered.
As the workers looked around and seemingly got closer. A pair of shinobi arrived to question them. With Naruto overhearing the same conversation about a client wanting a property built. However, it began to escalate slightly as the shinobi started arguing about the training grounds being private and no construction being allowed here. At least not without a million licenses or something, real estate and construction sounded complicated to Naruto.
Still, it sounded like the shinobi were asking for a cease and desist at the moment. Which only further annoyed the workers as they needed to get their job done and earn their pay. Along with them adding to the fact that their client and supervisor will get angry.
"Then we will speak to them and after that. You can all file for unpaid wages because this is all clearly an illegal act." one of the shinobi said.
"So please vacate the area. We promise not to have charges pressed if you obey." the second shinobi said.
"But what about the kid and his annoying pet?" one of the workers asked.
"What kid?" one of the shinobi asked.
"The blond kid, you know? Him!" the worker said, quickly earning the shinobi's understanding.
"Look, just leave the premises. We will locate the child and deal with him to the best of our ability." the shinobi replied, forcing the workers to grumble and leave the training grounds.
Naruto then turned back to his companions and signaled them to leave. When Kakashi slowly poked his head out from bushes like a creep.
"Oh, hello there little…"
"Ah! Creep!" Naruto shouted.
"CHAR!"
"DILE!"
Kakashi just narrowly avoided being hit by a combined fire and water attack. However, the resulting attacks collided given the angles where they came from. Which created a large amount of steam that obscured everyone's views. Kakashi reached out for Naruto but couldn't find him. He then tried to jump up to a tree branch only to get hit in the crotch with a large tree branch.
"Go away creep!" Naruto shouted as he kept hitting Kakashi who was already vulnerable.
Kakashi continued to struggle against a little kid hitting him with a stick until he finally took it away. Only to feel Charmander set his butt on fire followed by Totodile splashing water on his face. The jounin looked pathetic as he tried to fight back only to be saved by a purple haired ANBU with a cat mask.
"Kakashi-San, you can stop embarrassing yourself." Cat said.
Naruto and the rest turned to Cat who raised her hands to avoid conflict.
"I surrender, I do not wish for conflict." Cat said.
"Are you with the perverted cyclops?" Naruto asked.
Cat looked over to Kakashi who struggled to stand up.
"I am associated with him, but I do not refer to him with such a title." Cat said.
Naruto kept his arms around the injured Treecko before Cat explained the situation. Luckily she was able to save Kakashi and they both explained things in basic terms to gain his trust. Which showed that Naruto was right to think of how suspicious the construction work in the training grounds was.
From what he understood, there were complaints from other teams about construction movement nearby. Along with multiple discrepancies in the office the Hokage tower where domestic issues regarding property management were handled. So to try and investigate, several shinobi came out with a few ANBU as backup in case things went south.
Luckily for them, it just turned out to be some rich idiots feeling entitled to cheap land through illegal methods.
"So… a man wanted to build a house to sell it for money? How does that work?" Naruto asked, still unaware of how real estate works.
"That's a long story, but we don't have time to explain." Kakashi said before noticing Treecko. "Do you want me to take the little guy a doctor?" He asked.
Naruto turned his back to Kakashi to shield Treecko while Charmanader and Totodile came to their friend's defense.
"I don't think they should be separated." Cat said.
"Okay then, Naruto lets take you and your friends to the vet. You can be there to see the little guy get treated." Kakashi said.
Naruto looked at him suspiciously before nodding. He then followed Kakashi close behind as they went to get Treecko proper medical care. Leaving Cat behind to see the mess going on with the construction workers.
'I'll have to add endangerment and harm towards the wildlife to the report.' Cat thought.
Property disputes were already messy when someone argued about the placement of a fence. Now it looked like some entitled jerk was trying to get land for dirt cheap through falsified documents. Cat hated bureaucracy but thought it might be funny to see some angry man child get arrested.
That evening, at the Veterinarian's office
Luckily with all the skills and experience of handling animal sidekicks like ninkin. The veterinarians were able to treat Treecko properly despite his objections towards human help. Leaving Naruto looking happy as Treecko was put to rest on a bed.
"Totodile." Totodile whispered to Charmander who nodded.
A few minutes later, the veterinarian that was in charge along with a younger girl beside her. Naruto instantly recognized that both of them had red markings on their cheeks similar to Kiba's. Signifying that they were members of the Inuzuka clan.
"Hello Naruto, you don't have to worry about your Pokemon. He will recover within a day or so." The head veterinarian said.
"My what?" Naruto asked, sounding confused.
"Your Pokemon, the little animal you saved." the veterinarian said, but noticed Naruto was still confused. "The special creatures capable of using elements. They are called Pokemon, did you not know that?" they asked.
Naruto looked at Totodile and Charmander who shrugged. They only knew themselves by the names they could pronounce.
"Anyways, Pokemon are rare creatures that have been suddenly popping up. They use abilities like ninjas but in a different way. Although there's not a lot I can tell you." The veterinarian said, having limited knowledge on Pokemon.
Naruto nodded as he realized he still had a whole lot to learn about his new friends. Still, it just meant he had a lot more potential companions in the near future.
"So Treecko will be okay?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, like I said. It should take about a day to heal. Little Hana here helped quite a bit. You can see her whenever you want to visit Treecko." The Veterinarian said.
Naruto looked at Hana and smiled before nodding. Hana smiled back and nodded in return.
"I will be going now." The veterinarian said, excusing themselves.
Naruto stayed for a while longer to look at Treecko. Which earned the curiosity of Hana who noticed how close Naruto is with the Pokemon.
"You really care for them." Hana commented.
"Yeah, Charmander and Totodile are my friends and Treecko deserved help. I hope he can be my next friend too." Naruto responded.
Hana smiled as her clan were always close with their ninkin. With Hana having been assigned three dogs of her own. She looked at the Haimaru brothers as they walked up to the two pokemon and sniffed them.
"Hey, you smell like Akamaru." The middle dog said.
"You know Akamaru?" Charmander asked.
"Yeah, he's Hana's brother. He's the runt of his litter." The older dog said.
Charmander and Totodile laughed in response.
Naruto smiled at how quick his Pokemon were at getting close to other animals.
"You should bring them here once in a while. Even Pokemon need to get checkups." Hana said.
Despite limited knowledge and treatment plans,she was sure that the clinic could treat the Pokemon as they would other animals. Seeing as many were partners of shinobi who fought alongside them. But then Totodile screamed and covered his butt while Charmander growled.
"What's wrong with them?" Hana asked with wide eyes.
"They think you want them to give them a needle." Naruto said.
Hana just snickered at the childish behavior that the pokemon had. Not that Naruto was a big fan of doctors and needles either. Regardless, Naruto would take care of all his companions like they were family.
Elsewhere, with Issei
The new (perverted) academy student made his way directly towards an old but well maintained mansion in a more secluded area in a certain neighborhood. One mostly felt with retired and elderly folks of all backgrounds. Issei then made his way passed the gate and towards the doors where he was met by a pair of brutish looking guards.
The guards inspected Issei before letting him in. Where another guard grabbed the boy by the shoulder before he could go too far.
"Wait in the seating area, kid." The guard said.
"You guys are lame. This place is a learning experience for me." Issei complained.
"Stay out until your dad comes out." The guard said before going back to his position.
Issei sighed and took a seat while waiting for his father who seemingly worked in the building. Moments later, he saw Jiraiya speaking to the owner of the building who was a elderly woman dressed in Victorian style attire.
"And thank you for the good show, Belle." Jiraiya said, sounding happy.
"And I welcome you for your patronage, Jiraiya-dono." Belle said.
The two spoke for another moment before Belle discretely gave Jiraiya a folded piece of paper. Which Jiraiya pocketed in the blink of an eye. Jiraiya nodded at the owner before noticing Issei.
"Let's go kid." Jiraiya said as Issei followed him.
"How come I can't watch the girls dance?" Issei asked.
"One, you are "under age". Two, your mother is going to whoop my ass. Three, she's going to whoop your ass next. Four, Belle doesn't allow it and is going to whoop some ass." Jiraiya said.
"All I understood is that I'm gonna get beat up." Issei grumbled.
"You can enjoy it when you're older. Don't you remember what I taught you about the three prohibitions of being a Shinobi?" Jiraiya asked.
"I did, then you broke all in front of me after five minutes. Also, you know how mom feels about you looking at other girls." Issei said.
Jiraiya groaned, "Look, as much as I like seeing those lovely ladies dance in the burlesque club back there. Belle is a Kunoichi from the sandaime's time until she got crippled." He explained.
"And?" Issei asked.
"After she retired, she used the business to get intel from within the village. Belle just uses her girls and staff to get information out of potential troublemakers and foreign visitors." Jiraiya explained.
Issei understood the basics of spying and how those networks pretty much help with potential conflict. He wasn't an expert but started seeing how complicated it can be and who counts as targets. His mother always said to keep his voice down because "the walls have ears".
"I wonder how mom feels about this place." Issei said.
"She's not a fan but can put her annoyance aside. She knows the type of woman Belle is." Jiraiya replied.
"What kind of name is Belle anyways?" Issei asked.
"It's just her persona. She needed something elegant sounding to look less suspicious and threatening. Anyways, let's go home already." Jiraiya said as they went out the gate.
Issei nodded and followed Jiraiya back home until he remembered something.
"Hey dad, when is mom coming?" Issei asked.
"Either in a couple weeks or when she runs out of money and begs me to pay her debts. She is the Legendary Sucker after all." Jiraiya said with a chuckle.
"…you really need to give her a better name." Issei said.
"And you need to showboat less. Trust me, I love showing off but the village doesn't need to know you're a Senju just yet." Jiraiya said with a sigh.
TO BE CONTINUED…