Kakashi had to admit, he was impressed with Maito Guy's entrance. The green-clad shinobi entered the ramen stand at a reasonable percentage of his normal speed with a full extension flying kick, bowl cut hair blowing in the wind of his passing, teeth sparkling in the sun shafts coming through the privacy curtains.
Unfortunately, Guy was not well know for planning ahead, and the backstop to his kick was not a structurally sound wall of concrete, but a lightly built counter and the heavy but unsecured stove behind it. Guy had politely pulled himself out of the wreckage, and had politely paid twice what the counter and stove was worth, and had politely paid some more when Kakashi pointed out they would be out of work for a few days while they got the new equipment installed.
When they finally exited the stand almost a half hour later, Naruto was still glaring at Guy. "Ahhh!" shouted Guy, striking his Manly Pose #3 With Thumb Extended. "A terrible way to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto, but still, what youthful challenges we shall face together!"
Naruto's anger did not fade, and his glare only became sharper.
"Come now," Guy shouted, sweeping Naruto off his feet and holding the boy up at arm's length, "don't you want to learn new and powerful techniques from your own sensei's incredible rival?"
Naruto continued to glare, his arms now crossed before him while his legs dangled limply. "You killed my favorite ramen stand," he grumbled, his voice deep. For a moment, Guy thought he felt the slightest touch of killing intent from the little genin in his arms.
Kakashi coughed politely from the side, and Guy sighed and set Naruto on the ground. He then reached into his flak jacket and pulled out a one ryo coin, looked at it ruefully, then flipped it to Kakashi. "Guy," Kakashi said, after catching the coin without even glancing at it, "Do you mind if I tell Naruto about the coin? It might help a lot." Guy nodded, his teeth gleaming with the power of his youthful smile.
Kakashi walked over to Naruto and held out the coin. It was a small, old coin, and the etching on it was barely visible, having been worn down by being passed from hand to hand countless times. Even the edges were beveled, making the coin look more like a tiny metal disc then a piece of currency.
"Maito Guy and I have known each other a long time. In that time, we have made many bets with each other, always for bragging rights and this single coin, which is all Guy could spare when we started this tradition. This coin was newly minted when we got it, and as you can see, it has passed between us many, many times. This coin is the key to Guy's power, and I think it'll also be the key to yours, the key to a trait you both share in spades. I made a bet with Guy the other day, for this coin." Kakashi looked at Guy. "What was the bet?"
"You bet that I could not make Naruto smile after meeting him without resorting to tickling or jokes."
Kakashi nodded cheerfully. "And do you see the trap I laid for you?"
Guy nodded in return, his face a picture of careful consideration. "You knew I would try to impress, and would probably enter with one of my youthful Dynamic Entries. You picked the location we would meet, knowing it would be structurally weak. And you then sensed where I was on my approach and opened the curtain, giving me an obvious entrance point, which happened to be directly in front of the counter and stove, to ensure I damaged enough of the place to shut it down. You set it up so that I could never make Naruto smile, regardless of my efforts, because I had already been so cruel to him."
Kakashi nodded, and turned to Naruto, who was flabbergasted at the green-clad madman who wrecked his favorite eating place on a bet. "You have now met the fourth most intelligent man in Konohagakure, Maito Guy, The Sublime Green Beast of Konoha. When we met, Guy did nothing but challenge me to physical contests. Weight lifting, running laps, sparring matches. And when I won, what do you think I challenged him to do?"
Naruto looked at Guy, standing like a statue of muscle, flesh made to stone through work. He could only think of one kind of person who could look like that, a person like Kiba, someone who was all force and little thought. Yet Maito Guy did not seem to be a meathead at all. The answer became obvious.
"You made him read a book, didn't you?"
Guy laughed and gave Naruto a thumbs up. "Books, shogi matches, logic puzzles. Whenever Kakashi reached my level in body, he forced me to reach his level in mind, and together we rose higher, powered by our youthful competition!"
Kakashi just shook his head, then raised his hand. "It's my turn to bet, I believe."
Guy nodded, eagerly.
Kakashi held out the coin, then closed his fist around it. "I bet you cannot scare me with anything you teach Naruto over the next month." He placed the coin calmly in his pocket, then raised his fingers to plug both of his ears, causing Naruto to frown in confusion.
"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" shouted Guy, taking his Manly Pose #1 with Arms Up and Ready to Go, his shout echoing off the surrounding buildings and causing Naruto to slap his hands over his ears. "At the end of this month, you shall face a foe you shall fear, and it shall be Naruto! Come, Uzumaki, let us begin!" Guy grabbed Naruto's arm before the boy could object and started to run. "We start by going shopping!"
I forgot to say no green track suit, Kakashi thought with a sigh.
"Kakashi did not tell you what we would be doing, did he, Naruto?"
Naruto shook his head and picked at his cloths. Guy had insisted that they buy Naruto a green jumpsuit, identical to his own, before they retired to a distant and quiet training ground. A series of wooden posts were scattered about the grounds, apparently at random, and the whole location was surrounded by trees.
"Kakashi has given me a report on your skills, but I would like to see for myself." He reached into his vest and pulled out a kunai, tossing it lightly to Naruto. "Please create ten clones, and throw that blade, and only that blade, at a single target."
Naruto shrugged at the command. He chose a target, one of the posts far from his new teacher, then created ten clones. He counted to three, out loud, and they all threw at once. Eleven blades thudded into the post at various heights.
Guy walked over to the post, chin in hand, and looked closely at it. He then took one of the kunai out of the post and studied it. "I predict this is the original. Dispel the clones, please." He looked closely at the blade in his hands, and when it vanished with the clone who had created it, he looked delighted.
"All of your tools work this way, Naruto? They all continue to work, just as the original, until you dispel?"
Naruto nodded again.
"Excellent!" Guy reached into his vest again and pulled out a small scroll. "Kakashi mentioned you had shown more than a little interest in learning how to use a sword in the past. Is that correct, Naruto?"
Naruto's eyes fairly sparkled as he nodded, his face breaking into a huge grin.
Guy smiled back, his teeth as sparkly as Naruto's eyes. "Then I have a gift for you," he said, unrolling the scroll to reveal a storage seal. He laid in out the ground, as Naruto began to hop in place, leaning over to see what awesome weapon he would get. Guy pressed his hand to the seal and released it, to reveal…
… a stick.
Naruto froze, then slowly toppled forward to land face down in the dirt. "I should have known," he mumbled before pulling himself back up.
Guy picked up the stick, nearly a meter long, smooth and straight as a staff. One end was wrapped in cord, a basic handle sized for two hands, and on the other was etched a single word, "Grit." He held the stick out by the uncorded end towards Naruto. "Tomorrow, you shall begin training, with the aid of my own protege, Rock Lee. Today, you shall instead train with me. You have one goal! Strike me with your stick, using no clones! Begin when ready!"
Naruto grabbed the handle of the stick, and Guy let go. The stick immediately fell to the ground with a thud, burying itself almost an eighth of an inch into the dirt.
"Shit," said Naruto, grabbing the handle with both hands. He managed to get the stick up with both hands and set it on his shoulder, staggering slightly under the weight. "How do I fight with this? And what is this, it weighs way too much to be wooden!"
Guy laughed. "That is a training sword. I made it long ago, when I started learning to use swords myself. By putting chakra into the wood through the mark on the end, you can increase its weight. I would not have increased it so far for you, but Kakashi tells me you have unusual stamina, so we need to push you hard to test your limits!" Guy crouched slightly. "Now, hit me! When you can hit me, just once, we will move on to your next step in training!"
Guy looked at Naruto, who was sitting on the grass, relaxing and cooling down. His face was cheerful, but not nearly as cheerful as he wanted it to be. No amount of smiles could possibly indicate how he felt.
Guy was not a fool, doubly so when it came to training. He had expected Naruto to spend about ten minutes at most trying to swing the training sword at him before he would start reducing the chakra in it. He planned on giving an explanation on why he used such weights, gaining speed and muscle in exchange for pain. He'd even had some of his Shinobi Strength Tiger Balm ready for the inevitable pain.
But Guy witnessed the impossible, the inconceivable.
Naruto just kept going.
Naruto would charge and swing his stick haphazardly as fast as he could. After a few minutes, his arms would start to droop. When that happened, he would stop and think about what to try next for no more than a minute, and in that time, his strength would mostly have returned. Guy could see that he was diminished ever so slightly at each pause, but at his current rate, Naruto might well have to stop for food before he had to stop for lack of strength.
Guy rejoiced on the inside, even as he told Naruto to take a half hour rest, even as he ran all the way down to the corner store across town that carried his favorite protein enhanced, vitamin loaded Extra Spicy Curry Carries, and when he ran back with extra container in hand for his new student, he wept small, manly tears to find Naruto swinging his practice sword, again and again, just for the sake of something to do while he waited. He had finally found Lee a sparring partner!
Oh, how he cried out in joy for this youthful treasure! This wondrous young man with the flames of youth and his heart and a desire to work! And once Naruto stopped finding his comments disturbing, he really started to take a shine to Guy's Philosophy of Youth!
"Remember, Naruto, only through hard work can we become strong!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
(In his room, Neji's eye twitched, and he looked out the window, as if looking for storm clouds on the horizon...)
"Remember, Naruto, only through the Fires of Youth can you find the strength to make one last repetition!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
(At Training Ground Three, Tenten paused in the middle of trying a jutsu and looked around warily, as if she was being hunted…)
"And always remember, Naruto, that green jumpsuits make the best sort of clothing, both simple to care for and fashionable!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
(Relaxing by a tree, watching Sasuke and Tenten, Kakashi reached out to take a sip from his canteen, then suddenly found himself making a fist, crushing the heavy metal container in his hand, and wondered why.)
Guy and Naruto sat in the grass. Guy tossed Naruto one of the Curry Carries, and opened his own. "Remember, Naruto, carefully balanced, nutritionally complete food is all you need to fuel your strength, but spice is life!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Naruto opened his own container and took a huge bite.
In his room, Neji relaxed. In the forest, Tenten shrugged and returned to her practice. Kakashi unclenched his hand. And Naruto immediately refused to ever emulate Guy again while he emptied his stomach into the bushes, over the sound of Guy cheering him on for such a youthful expulsion.
The next day, Naruto arrived at the training ground, practice sword on his back, to find two Guys waiting for him. One was the right age, as he had expected, but the other was much younger, only a couple years his senior. Same jumpsuits, same leg warmers, even the same haircut and eye color. Naruto jumped to a logical yet incorrect conclusion.
"I didn't know Lee was your son!"
Guy and Lee laughed, although Lee a little less so. "Lee is not my son, Naruto. After Kakashi forced me to take the DNA test, we are certain." Guy's face became serious, and he turned towards Lee, his teeth sparkling. "But even if he is not, I could not choose a better student to pass down my knowledge then Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
Naruto stared at the two of them, shouting and holding each other. He was young, but not so young to not understand certain facts of life. The shouting? Not so bad. The identical appearance? A little iffy. The inexplicable view of the sun setting on the horizon in the background as they do it? It's official. They must be a couple. Naruto inched just slightly away as the display continued.
Guy coughed slightly as the two of them wrapped it up. "Sorry, Naruto. I know how the young think, and to make things clear, no, we are not a couple, yes, it's okay you find it slightly disturbing, and no, we won't stop doing it."
Lee nodded. "It looks weird because all true companions look weird when truly comfortable with themselves! When we hug, there is no discomfort of two men who are not attracted to one another worrying about the other's attraction! It is a manly hug of friendly understanding! Join us and discover how it feels!" Lee reached out at Naruto, his teeth already beginning to sparkle, when Guy smacked him on the head.
"No! Remember, Lee, manly and unashamed hugs are only for those who want them freely! To force our ways onto others would break the very companionship we seek!"
"Of course!" Lee pulled out a notebook and began to write as Guy approached Naruto. He checked the weight on the training sword, pouring some more chakra into it as he did so, then nodded to himself. "Like yesterday, your goal is simple, Naruto. Strike Lee with your sword, just once, without clones. Unlike yesterday, Lee will be allowed to defend with blocks and his own strikes. When you can hit Lee regularly, we will begin your proper training in the art of the sword." He turned to Lee, who was putting away his notebook. "Ready, Lee?"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
Guy stepped back, smiling as Naruto raised his weapon.
"Begin!"
It took Naruto three days to hit Lee the first time.
The entire first day, Lee had simply fled, and Naruto had chased him. Whenever Naruto would tire, Lee would dart in and strike at him. Naruto tried to swing the training weapon when Lee did so, and failed completely to hit his target, his arms straining to swing the now much heavier stick.
"Guy-sensei," shouted Lee after a full hour passed, "Should you not lower the weight a little?"
Guy shook his head and watched.
By the end of the first day, Naruto was filthy with sweat and tired. And just out of his reach, panting, hand on knees, Lee waited for Naruto to move. Every time Naruto took a shaky step forward, Lee took one back. "I do not understand how we can progress, if he cannot possibly recover, Guy-sensei."
Guy shook his head, and called the training done for the day,
By the end of day two, Lee was staggering away, while Naruto was only slightly shaken by his exhaustion. At the end of day three, Naruto dragged himself off the ground after a ten minute breather, walked over, and tapped Lee on the shoulder with the sword. Lee slipped backward to lay, trembling, on the grass, and Naruto joined him.
"Excellent," said Guy, smiling. He stood over the two boys, arms crossed, teeth gleaming. "Now, Naruto, I have one question to ask you, before we begin proper training." He sat down next to the two boys, who managed to drag themselves to a sitting position. Naruto looked tired, but enthused.
Kakashi was right, thought Guy, watching as Naruto's breathing slowed quickly, his ability to recuperate quickly from injury makes his very effective when it comes to physical training. Muscles damaged themselves in use, and most people had to rest for some time to allow them to heal after reaching the point of exhaustion. Naruto healed in minutes from such small injuries, allowing him to train constantly so long as he avoided major injury.
Guy reached into his vest, and pulled out a coin similar to the one he and Kakashi had traded for so many years. He held it out, gripped carefully on the edge between thumb and index finger, and looked at it as it shined in the sun. "Why is the coin important, Naruto? Lee already knows this lesson," he said with a smile at his miniature genin clone, who was staring at the coin intently. "Why do we bother with this coin? One ryo is hardly worth any challenge, I should think."
Naruto looked at the coin while he thought. It's not the money, he said to himself. He imagined the real coin, well worn and well used in its purpose for years. He thought about how often they must have exchanged it, over and over, each one competing hard to send it back to the other. Naruto could not fathom how a one ryo coin was worth being motivated about.
It hit him then, and he smiled. "The coin is not worth it," he said, forgetting his exhaustion long enough to jump to his feet, pointing at the green-clad jonin. "The coin is pointless! It's just like betting your next breath of air, or a sock, or a stick!"
Guy laughed and nodded. "Exactly, Naruto! The coin is just a convenient token to represent our bet. So why do we bother making a bet at all?" Naruto looked confused, and sat back down. He was quiet for some time, his face drooping slowly as he struggled with the question.
Eventually, after he had fully recovered his breath, Lee raised his hand. "Guy-sensei, I think I should help Naruto-san in this, because he will never get it himself. This is not because he is unintelligent, but because he already knows instinctively. It would be like seeing the forest for the trees." Guy nodded in agreement, and Lee turned to Naruto, who looked unhappy at his comment.
"The bet gives Guy-sensei and Kakashi-san motivation, Naruto-san. They do not care about the coin, except as a token of exchange for motivating each other. They challenge each other so that they can rise above the challenge. You, who are already motivated, would never guess that others might need motivation for themselves."
Naruto nodded, understanding. Guy was not nearly as calm. He lunged off of the ground, arms raised, thumbs out, teeth sparkling. "Exactly, my glorious student! Because with the proper motivation, the fires of our youth are boundless!"
Naruto sighed, and waited for it.
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
Learning proper sword technique takes years, even with the aid of shadow clone training.
But the terms for the bet with Kakashi said nothing about form or style.
It took only a few additional days for Guy to test Naruto's capabilities, procure a set of practice blades, and train enough of the very basics to prepare Naruto for future training. During that time, he worked with Naruto personally to minimize risk of injury to Lee, who watched with mild interest between his own exercises.
At all times, day and night, Naruto had his clones reading books on sword care, books on stances and techniques, books on legendary swordsmen and women, books on how to defeat sword users. Each day, Guy had him try a new stance, a new style, until he ended that effort with a grin and explained that he had found the right style for Naruto
"You are no expert," said Guy, on the last day of full, day long training they would have. Guy was already dedicated to continuing to train Naruto in weapons technique, but he had his own team to teach, so they would be reduced to one day per week. "You never will be either, Naruto. True swordsmen must dedicate their lives to the sword, and that tends to lead to shinobi with a very narrow focus. Remember the fight you had with Zabuza?"
Naruto nodded.
"When his arm was damaged, he continued to use his sword. When his remaining arm grew tired, he stopped fighting rather than drawing a kunai or dominating Kakashi with his bare hands. Can you imagine how lucky Zabuza was, that he managed to trick Kakashi before losing that arm? Can you imagine Kakashi making the same mistake?"
Naruto found himself agreeing after he considered it. Kakashi had been gravely wounded at the time, so much so that Naruto had expected him to die. A shinobi of Zabuza's strength could have simply overpowered his crippled foe, but only if he thought about it first. Naruto resolved himself, then and there, to never grow so attached to his weapon that he could not pick up another. He looked up into Guy's face, and saw him nod, gently, as if he could see that very resolution written on his face.
Guy reached into his jacket and pulled out a scroll. "Kakashi-san authorized me to make a purchase on your behalf, using some of the remaining funds from your mission to the wave."
Naruto sighed at that, but only a little. He had planned on getting a few things with that payoff, but Kakashi had insisted he spend only a tiny portion of the pay he received, and now he knew why. Maybe I can replace the broken television still, he thought as he reflexively caught the scroll Guy tossed at him.
His confusion only increased when he unsealed the scrolls, revealing two very plain looking swords, crossed over a small book. The swords were two and a half feet long, hilt to tip, the blades apparently straight and thick to judge by the shape of them. Each was sheathed in cheap wood, with a matching handle poorly wrapped in cheap leather, and without any sort of cross guard. Several small metal studs could be seen through the leather, poking out of it to form a slightly molded grip. He opened his mouth to complain, then looked at Guy, who was watching him carefully with a small smirk on his face.
Naruto became suspicious and pulled one of the swords partially out of its sheath… then stopped and stared. The blade was made of steel, and Naruto knew enough from his studies to know it looked like good steel, but the single edge was bright and silvery, shining in the sunlight. He raised the sword slightly and looked closely at the edge. The silvery metal was not steel, and had been carefully folded to cover only the edge. Naruto pulled the blade out in full and saw that the silvery material ran along the entire blade. A quick check of the other sword showed the same silvery edge, although he did not draw the second fully.
"The case and wrapping is terrible on purpose, to hide the quality and value of the sword," said Naruto. "That has to be Kakashi-sensei's idea. But what's with the weird edge?"
"The edge is made of a special metal, taken from the rarest of finds, a fallen meteorite. When treated properly, the metal can be infused with the user's chakra to great effect. Do not try to do this just now, we'll handle that training later."
Naruto nodded and continued to stare at the sword in his hand while Guy held his tongue on the rest of the information. The metal for the blade's edge had come from the Hokage himself, and only when both Kakashi and Guy had petitioned for permission to seek some out, for the star iron was a very precious and limited resource. "With his chakra reserves and shadow clones," Kakashi had said at the meeting, "Such a weapon could well make him one of the most dangerous front line fighters in the world when he becomes fully trained." Coming from a man as infamous as Hatake Kakashi, that was quite the compliment, and the Hokage spotted it.
The Hokage had agreed, and even donated the metal from his own family's vault, but insisted that Guy and Kakashi claimed it as a gift from themselves. Guy agreed completely with him. The village may not react favorably to find that the Hokage gave such a gift to the village pariah, even if it was from his own pocket.
"Only the edge is made of this material, for it is a rare thing indeed. The book details how to maintain the edge, using a chakra technique instead of the normal methods, because to lose any of this metal to a sharpening stone would be a terrible waste. Until you master that technique, you will not use these swords. Sealed further in the scroll is an identical pair, sharp, but without the lining."
Naruto's face fell. He lightly cut his thumb with the blade, having been taught that a sword should not be drawn without being used least it turns on the owner. It was a silly myth, and yet Guy taught that myth deliberately to encourage the idea that drawing a weapon means bloodshed, one way or another. Naruto wiped the tiny drop of blood off of the sword carefully, sheathed it, and laid it back on the scroll. "I cannot afford this, Guy-sensei, and I won't take money from you or Kakashi." He was looking down at the swords as he said this, and Guy could see the pain in his eyes at giving up such a gift. "You two already support and train me. I can't take anything else from you."
Guy stepped forward, and laid his hands on the blond's shoulders. "Naruto," he said, without his customary smile, "this is a gift, indirectly, from the village. Kakashi and I went to those we knew had the metal, and asked for the smallest bit of it. Those who gave, gave willingly, sometimes enthusiastically. With these weapons, your chance at survival, at success, becomes that much more likely, and those who gave know this. You paid only for the work needed to craft a normal blade and then add the metal, which was costly, but within your budget. There is no sensible reason to refuse this gift."
That's technically correct, thought Guy, as Naruto's eyes grew watery and his face began to beam in a huge smile. The best kind of correct. Then Lee grabbed Naruto with a loud whoop, tossing him in the air and shouting about the youthful challenges ahead, begging for spars, and otherwise being the bright star of fiery youth that they both knew, and Guy started to laugh.
Naruto stood ready, and at Guy's direction, went into the training kata he had learned the previous week, a series of practiced slashes designed to work as a whole, like a dance. Guy called out another, and he swapped into it, not without flaws, but each stroke was true and fairly accurate. Guy nodded, and called for a rest at the end of the latest set. "You improve slowly even with your clones, Naruto, but you improve. And more importantly, you seem to have a much better grasp on how a sword works. Now, I will teach you how to fight."
Naruto stomped his food down. "I thought you were doing that all this time," he shouted. Guy chuckled, and shook his head. "Grab your practice blades," he said. Once done, Guy nodded to Lee, who knew of this plan and had prepared. "Make four clones, and attack Lee using what you know so far. You may not have more than four clones at a time, but you may replace them when lost."
Naruto made his clones, and as one, they charged, as one group. One stopped in front of Lee and began his first move, only for Lee to leap directly over that clone and attack the clone furthest away from his initial starting point. That clone flinched, instinctively bringing one blade down at Lee, only for Lee to step to one side and kick the clone under the arm, dispelling it.
The remaining three clones turned, the nearest one launching into a different kata, both blades windmilling in a careful sequence of vertical cuts, but the whistling steel did nothing to stop Lee, who ducked in to one side and landed a single punch.
The next half hour was more of the same. Naruto would make clones, clones would launch attacks, and Lee would crush them. Eventually, one of the clones dashed in, arms raised in one of the many tried and failed katas… and when Lee started to move, that clone dropped all pretense of careful, choreographed attacks and simply made the best attack it could. The blunt blade tapped Lee lightly on a bicep, the barest of touch, and Guy called the spar.
"How did Lee keep away from you so long?"
Naruto frowned. "He acted like he knew what I was doing."
"I did," said Lee, his breathing evening out even as he spoke. "Katas are an important part of being a full swordsman, but they are intended to make those moves reflexive so they require no thought, allowing you time to think of how you will defeat the foe. This works excellently in organized sword fights, but against a real foe, it can be dangerous."
Guy nodded. "Naruto, unless you specialize, those katas will never be effective enough to justify their use for you, because you already have a way to get time to think. You make more clones." He grinned, and Naruto grinned back. "Your clones can think for themselves, allowing them to think on the fight at hand, and for you to think on the battle as a whole."
Naruto sat in the grass with a grumpy grunt. "Why did you have me learn all them, then?" he demanded.
Lee sat down next to Naruto and offered the boy a canteen. "It's like any other training, to teach you what you can do. You know how much the swords weigh, how easy or hard it is to move them from any point to any point, and how hard you can hit, all because of those katas."
"Besides," said Guy, "Kakashi mentioned that you were a natural brawler, good at improvisation. Trying to force you to be orderly would be foolish of us both. There is something far more effective you can be trained to do…"
EDIT: Pom Rania got this chapter edited too.
Author's Notes: Much like the source, I have no desire to explain what Naruto will know before it comes into play. I will leave it to be a surprise which will come up during the Exam arc.
Tremblers: As you guessed, it would make no sense for the Inuzuka to do the "Cat" thing... which is why they didn't. Never fit a round peg in a square hole. As for shipping, while I agree wholeheartedly with you (I've actually seen some genuinely good, non-explicit Kakashi x Iruka before…) I can only imagine the hate I'll get once any ship of any sort sails in my story. I giggled when NaruHina became canon. I imagined them sailing the seven seas, Canon Cannons armed, sinking every ship they come across. I imagined them approaching the HMS NaruTachi, looking across the waters at the red-eyed, brooding Uchiha, as he silently mouthed the words "I don't get it either." Almost wrote that as a fic, just to see the fireworks.
Kairan1979: Thank you, I was rather proud of the Shino/Sasuke friendship idea. It struck me that both seem to prefer peace and quiet, and for some reason, I've never seen it once in a fic, which turned it into a personal challenge. As for regretting Guy's training of Naruto, we'll see. Can't change Kakashi without changing those he interacts with…
spiritwolf35: Thanks for the vague homophobic post. Stay tuned, in Chapter 28, the NaruTachi sets sail. Nothing says lovin' like dude buns for the shovin' amiright? That said, thank you for trying to steer my fic with the ringing endorsement of "I guess I can check this story out," followed by immediately warning me of losing your patronage should I dare to pair Naruto with a male. Thanks to you, Naruto loves the D like Dumbledore. Believe it!
Seriously, though, normal readers, promise, pairings will be whatever makes sense to me as determined by canon, as altered by the base premise of this fanfiction, neither of which generally says much about sexual orientation. If I have a good reason for a pairing, regardless of gender, then it'll happen, because of good story, not because of hawt mansecks or whatever.