Chapter 38: Bait

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring up at the ceiling. Judging by the lack of light that filtered in through the curtains, it was fairly early. Sadly that didn't mean that I would be able to get any more sleep in.

It wouldn't be much longer before I would leave for Kumo and I still had a lot to do. I needed to check up on Sasuke and make sure he didn't exhaust his Chakra again, my clones were still working on placing a Hiraishin marker with a single touch and Fu was being released from the hospital today.

I had a full day ahead of me. The only reason why I was still in bed was due to the slumbering mass of blonde hair on my chest.

Not that she would sleep for much longer. She was an incredibly light sleeper and the slightest change in a room would wake her. Glancing down, I caught sight of a small smile on her face.

"Trying to not wake me up?"Tsunade hummed into my chest.

"I was," I said softly. "What was it that woke you up this time?"

"Nothing in particular," Tsunade replied, stretching lightly. "I decided to wake up early and it just so happened to be around the time that you woke up, that's all."

Pulling herself up, she leaned over me, bringing her face closer towards mine, before dropping down to my ear. "Unfortunately, both of us are going to have to get up soon."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you really have to tease me first thing in the morning?"

"I like the look that you get in your eyes," Tsunade smirked as she trailed a finger down my face. Bringing her face down once more, our lips met for a brief moment before she pulled back. "And I also like that stupid grin that you get when I do that."

I wanted to argue, I really did, but it was a bit difficult to think of something to say when Tsunade leaning over me. "Do you think…"

"Today is going to be busy, Naruto," Tsunade replied, smiling. "I think that tomorrow will be a day when we can finally relax."

"Tomorrow, huh?" I hummed.

"Having said that, I'm expecting some visitors today, they should be arriving early in the afternoon. If you meet them, be sure to send them my way."

Blinking, I gave a brief nod. "Alright."

I let out a yawn as I slowly made my way to training ground 7. The sun had only just begun to rise and the birds were beginning to wake up. It would likely be another hour or two before Sakura arrived, Sasuke on the other hand had probably spent the night in the training ground again.

The scent of scorched grass and Ozone became apparent as I entered the clearing and caught sight of Sasuke, laid out on the ground, unconscious.

"You know, I really don't know what I was expecting," I sighed and got to work refilling his Chakra.

This wasn't exactly the first time that I'd found him like this. Ever since I started helping them with their training, Sasuke began to push himself harder and harder. It became a regular occurrence for Sasuke to push himself well into a Chakra exhausted state.

Before, Sasuke was cautious with how he trained his Ninjutsu as to prevent himself from suffering Chakra exhaustion. Depending on how severe the Chakra exhausted state, a Shinobi might end up spending multiple days recovering, but now that I was here that was no longer a factor for Sasuke.

Without having to worry about Chakra usage, Sasuke had quickly been able to master the Chidori to the point of no longer needing to use hand seals in order to use it. He'd moved on and began to modify it in an attempt to create his own unique variants.

Judging by the damage done to the clearing and the scorch marks on his clothes, he was attempting to lengthen the Chidori.

Shaking my head, I left Sasuke to his rest and moved over to a less damaged area, creating a group of clones. A full ten clones popped into existence and immediately went to sit down in a circle.

Digging through my pouch, I retrieved a storage scroll and handed it to one of them. Unsealing the scroll, dozens upon dozens of regular Kunai that were ready to be marked appeared and were quickly divided among the clones.

A single clone closed its eyes and began to mold its Chakra.

When my clones had first begun to place a Hiraishin mark, they'd needed to either use a full thirty hand seals in order to be able to place the marker. Without hand seals, it took a clone a full hour in order to perfectly mold their Chakra in order to place a marker.

I needed to be able to do that instantly, so I came up with a training method that ensured I wouldn't be overwhelmed with my clones memories. I had a group of clones wait while one clone would place a marker.

Once the clone had succeeded, it would dispel, transferring its experience to the rest of the clones. A new clone would be made to take its place and then another clone would begin the process a new.

It maximized the amount of experienced gained from placing markers all the while minimizing the amount of materials used when training to place a marker.

"Naruto," Sasuke groaned as he sat up, having finally woken up. "How long was I out?"

"No idea," I shrugged. "I just got here five minutes ago… so at least five minutes. When did you start training?"

"I got here… earlier," Sasuke replied.

Seeing as it was still fairly early when I arrived, earlier probably meant that he had spent the night in the training ground and ended up passing out. He was pushing himself too hard.

"Don't you think that's a little hypocritical coming from you?"Kurama asked. "I seem to remember you setting up camp in your training ground. What Sasuke is currently doing doesn't even compare to the training you did during the Chunin exams."

'You're right, but at the same time, I had numerous advantages working in my favor. My body naturally recovers faster than his does and you helped me as well. Sasuke doesn't exactly have that. Sure I'm refilling his Chakra when he exhausts it, but I'm not always around to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, like completely exhausting his Chakra.'

"I doubt he'd be dumb enough to do that… then again, from what I've seen from your memories, humans sometimes do the most idiotic things that can result in bodily harm,"Kurama mused. "Once you leave for Kumo, he'll likely forget that you're not here and push himself too far, but that'll likely only happen once."

I guess there was nothing I could really do about it then. Everyone makes mistakes and Sasuke was bound to do something stupid eventually, but he would learn from it.

"So how far did you get with… whatever it was you were working on last night?" I asked.

"Not far," Sasuke replied. "I've been trying to extend my Chidori, but I'm having trouble maintaining its shape beyond a certain point."

I hummed in thought as I considered the problem. Flashing through several hand seals, a Chidori flared to life in my hand. Focusing my lightning Style Chakra, it slowly began to extend, before the lightning suddenly began to arc off my hand.

"I see what you mean," I said, letting the Chidori fade. I knew that it extending it was something that was entirely possible, but I didn't know how. "Maybe you should try streaming it into a weapon… like a sword, that way you can get a feel for how it works when it's lengthened."

The Chidori is pretty much entirely nature transformation. In order to properly lengthen it, Sasuke might need to learn Shape manipulation.

Nodding, Sasuke slipped a Kunai into his hand and charged up a Chidori. Bright sparks of electricity shot off the metal as the Chidori began to intensify. He let out a hiss of pain as he dropped the Kunai which pierced the ground, rapidly sinking beneath it.

"What happened?"

"The Kunai was too hot to hold," Sasuke replied.

"Try starting off slower then," I suggested. "If you're still struggling, then you might need to get some Chakra conductive steel."

Although it was highly unlikely that it would be necessary in order for Sasuke to learn how to properly stream his Chakra. Killer Bee was capable of infusing lightning Chakra into a wooden pencil and I know that Kakashi is capable of doing the same thing with a Kunai.

"That would be too expensive," Sasuke grunted, frustration clear on his face as he slowly began to stream his Chidori through a new Kunai.

"Then what about a premade weapon. Don't you technically own the old Uchiha district? I'm sure there's at least one conductive blade left behind."

"I don't feel comfortable using weapons left behind by my dead clan," Sasuke muttered.

"Then I suppose you're just going to have to figure this one out on your own," I sighed. Besides refilling periodically refilling his Chakra, there wasn't much that I could do to help Sasuke with his training.

Instead, I turned my attention to what I could do right now. My clones were currently busy with extremely delicate work that couldn't afford an interruption. Physical training would likely be the best for me right now, but there was one thing that I wanted to try before that.

Much like how Sasuke was working on modifying the Chidori, I wanted to try and alter the Rasengan, except, this time I wouldn't be adding an element to it.

Holding my hand out, I began to follow the steps for creating a Rasengan with one key difference. Instead of spinning the Chakra in all directions, creating a grinding effect, I spun it all in one single direction.

A disk of rotating Chakra began to form in my hand, looking like a flattened Rasengan. As the rotation speed increased, it began to grow wider, extending dangerously close to my body. Moving it to the side, the disk shot out of my hand and raced across the clearing. It briefly bounced on the ground before colliding with a tree, dissipating instantly.

"Well that was something," I muttered, as I inspected the small cut on the tree from a distance.

"What was it?"

"My failed attempt at modifying the Rasengan," I hummed.

The Rasengan was already a great Jutsu, my plan was to take all that grinding power and instead use it to create one high powered cut, but it seemed there was a massive flaw. The disk was thin and brittle, when it impacted something solid, it would shatter.

Although, it hadn't all been for nothing, I learned something new. The high speed spinning Chakra allowed it to be thrown quite easily and the disk had moved extremely fast. If I could make the wind disk around my Rasenshuriken spin even half as fast, I'd be able to throw it without any issue.

"If it was a failure, then why do you look so happy?"

"Because I learned a lot from that failure," I replied. "In fact, I think I might have just figured out a way to help you extend your Chidori."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "You figured it out while failing to make a Jutsu?"

"Yep," I grinned. "You might want to keep your Sharingan active for this."

Clapping my hands together, a Chidori buzzed to life. I held both my hands to the side and began to focus on maintaining its form as I worked to extend it.

Ever so slowly, the Chidori began to extend. Passing the length of a Kunai, it grew until it was twice the length of my body, before I let it fade and brought my hands down.

"You were pushing and pulling the Chakra towards you with each hand."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's a bit difficult, but with practice, you'll get it eventually. The electricity produced by the Chidori doesn't like to be contained and wants to go somewhere. All you have to do is open up a new pathway for it to flow and extend the length of it. With time, you'll probably be able to do it instantly."

When thinking about how to extend the Chidori, I'd been mistaken in considering it a blade when in fact it was more like a chainsaw of buzzing electricity. Both sides need to be linked or else the chain will fly right off the blade.

A Chidori formed in Sasuke's hand and quickly extended to the length of a sword before it arced off into the ground.

"You need to be able to pull the Chakra back just as fast as you push it out," I explained.

Nodding, another Chidori formed in Sasuke's hand and extended slower this time. Once it reached the same distance mine had, Sasuke swung his arm and cut clean through a tree.

"I've… got it?!" He commented as he stared at the crackling electricity in his hand. "How do you do it? How did you keep figuring things out so fast?"

"I learn from my failures," I said, scratching the back of my head. "Each time I make a mistake, I consider what happened, why it failed and what I can use from it. Sometimes, making a mistake will teach you more than succeeding in a thing and I've made plenty."

Sasuke lout out a short chuckle. "You know. You've really changed from the time you were in the academy."

"Yeah, I know," I hummed. A lot had changed since then. Glancing up at the sky, I frowned as the light hit my eyes.

It wasn't going to be enough.

Sasuke wasn't going to be ready for a direct confrontation with Danzo. He wouldn't be for at least a few more months and even then I wouldn't trust having him there for that fight.

Danzo is tricky and he would use any opportunity he could to his advantage. It would be easy for him to play on Sasuke's emotions. All it would take is one mistake and Sasuke would end up dead.

"Morning, Naruto, Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted tiredly as she arrived at the training ground.

"Morning, Sakura," I nodded my greeting while Sasuke grunted his.

Standing on the top of a building, I watched as people walked around the hospital, looking for the slightest hint of green hair.

I'd gotten a little too caught up helping Sasuke with his training that I was late to Fu's discharge from the hospital by about ten minutes. I could only hope that she'd chosen to wait in the hospital for me or…

"She's not in the hospital."

"Damnit," I cursed aloud. That made things a little more complicated. There shouldn't be any danger right now. There was only one person in the village that could cause her harm and she was entirely too high profile for Danzo to try anything right now. "Where is she?"

"Up."

Up?

There was a faint skittering sound that rapidly grew louder. Looking up, I briefly caught sight of a green blur before a pair of arms grabbed me and I was ripped into the sky.

"Naruto, I found you," Fu cheered as we continued to gain height. "Chomei said that you were probably just late and that I should wait in the hospital for you, but it was too cramped in there."

Konoha quickly began to grow smaller as we climbed higher into the sky. I'd been launched high into the sky on Gamabunta's back and when engulfed in Kurama's Chakra, but this… being carried in a controlled manner by Fu… this was new. I had time to appreciate just how high I was in the air.

"…Sorry, I got a little sidetracked helping one of my friends out," I replied, distracted by the view. "We're really high up."

"Yep," Fu chirped as she slowed our ascent. "I was never able to fly this high back in Taki, the tree was too low… Konoha sure is pretty from up here."

"That it is," I chuckled. I was just about able to make out the crowds of people walking through the streets along with the odd Shinobi jumping from the rooftops. From way up in the sky, Konoha looked like a single living organism. "It would probably look different at night."

"Then we can come see what it looks like tonight," Fu grinned. "But for now I want to get a closer look."

Before I could say anything, she flipped in the air, aiming straight down towards the ground. Our speed increased and Konoha rapidly grew larger as we accelerated towards the ground. Pulling up right before we hit the ground, Fu let out a cheer as we began to gain height again.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding. While I wouldn't be too badly hurt from hitting the ground at that speed, that had been a little too close for comfort.

"Fu, I don't think you should do that again," I began. "You might start scaring the villagers."

"Don't worry, I'll aim for an empty field next time," Fu said eagerly.

Next time?!

Height hadn't really bothered me much since I became a Shinobi. I could easily leap from a ten story building and land without any issue. Fu's flying had put that confidence to the test. She was able to fly incredibly fast and she used that speed to race towards the floor, dart through small gaps while having fun.

In short, Fu was a bit of a walking rollercoaster, one that lacked any sort of safety equipment and the only thing that was keeping me from flying off was her grip.

"Sorry about that," Fu apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I might have gotten a little carried away. I was really bored in the hospital and I've never really had the chance to fly so high or so fast before."

"It's alright," I waved her off.

"If you say so," Fu said, looking concerned.

"How about I show you one of my favorite places to eat in Konoha," I suggested.

"Okay, are we going to fly there too?" Fu asked eagerly.

Placing my palm on her shoulder, I offered her a small smile. "Nope."

One moment we were standing on an empty field on the outskirts of Konoha and the next we were on a rooftop across from Ichiraku's ramen.

"Woah," Fu hummed as she stumbled slightly. "How'd we get here so fast."

"You have your methods of getting around and I have mine," I replied, hopping down into the street with Fu following shortly behind. "This is the same technique I used to instantly transport us from Taki to Konoha."

Pulling the curtain back, I led Fu into the small Ramen restaurant which I was certain would give her a warm welcome.

"Welcome, welcome. How may I help you… Naruto, it's good to see you again," Teuchi said warmly. "And you've brought a new customer as well."

"It's good to see you too," I smiled, before gesturing towards Fu. "This is…"

Fu briefly shrunk in on herself, before stepping forward. "HI, I'm Fu."

"Nice to meet you, Fu," Teuchi hummed. "Now why don't the two of you get comfortable and figure out what you want to order. Seeing as it's your first time here, the first bowl is free of charge."

"Really, thanks," Fu grinned.

Sitting down at the table, Fu eagerly bounced in the chair next to me, eagerly examining the menu while Teuchi briefly headed into the back of the shop.

"This is so different from Taki," Fu hummed.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Fu nodded. "There's just so much… more here in Konoha. Back in Taki there was only one place that served food and there weren't that many options, but there's so many here."

"Well just take your time," I said. "You can always try something else afterwards."

I sat silently, watching in silence as Fu struggled to make a choice.

"Maybe you could…"

"Naruto?" A feminine voice asked. "Is that… it is you."

Looking up, I was greeted to the sight of Ayame's head sticking out of the kitchen. "Um… yeah, it's me."

"It's been a while since I last saw you, you've really changed," Ayame said, stepping out of the kitchen. "If it hadn't been for your whisker marks, I wouldn't have recognized you."

That was fair. I think the last time I'd actually seen Ayame was… before the Chunin exams.

"So who's your friend there?"

"I'm Fu," Fu confidently introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Fu. I'm Ayame," Ayame greeted back.

"Man, that food was awesome," Fu hummed happily as we walked down the street. "Ayame and Teuchi were so nice as well. I really want to go back there again sometime soon."

"Glad to hear it," I smiled. Growing up in a village that was indifferent at best, Ichiraku's had been a sanctuary.

"Konoha isn't what I expected it to be at all," Fu said. "The village isn't hidden under some giant tree and there's no secret underwater entrance, everything is just so… open here. Is it like this all the time?"

"Sort of," I replied. "There are times when the village is stressed… like when it looked like Konoha and Kumo were going to war."

"But outside of war?" Fu asked.

"Outside of war, the village is mostly like this," I nodded. "Relaxed and almost idyllic."

Glancing up at the sky, I noticed that there was only a few short hours left in the day before it reached its end. I still needed to show Fu to her apartment. I did leave one of my marked Kunai near it, but it would probably be for the best if I showed Fu where it was instead of teleporting her directly there. That way she could familiarize herself with the area.

"You might want to reconsider that,"Kurama announced. "I'm feeling a spike of negativity at the main gate."

There's never a dull moment, is there?

'Is there anything more you can tell me about it?'

"It's aimed at Anko and Kakashi who seem to have just arrived in the village."

So they were finally back in the village.

"Hey Fu, it seems that something's just come up. Would you mind if I had a clone guide you to your apartment instead of walking you there myself?"

"I don't mind," Fu shook her head. "But I could come with as well if you want."

It would probably be for the best if Fu stayed as far away from the main gate as possible right now. "Why don't we hang out again tomorrow," I suggested, forming a single clone to guide her to her apartment.

Using the Hiraishin, I arrived near the main gate and slowly made my way towards where Anko and Kakashi were only to come across the odd sight of a tense Team Gai standing across from the pair of Shinobi that were disguised as Darui and Samui.

Things had just gotten a little more complicated with Team Gai's coincidental involvement, but the plan hadn't been ruined yet. Everything would be alright so long as Anko and Kakashi's identities weren't revealed before tonight.

"Please let us pass," The disguised Anko said in a monotonous tone of voice. "We have an urgent meeting with your Hokage."

Gai hummed, rubbing his chin while deep in thought. "This is a complicated situation," Taking in Anko and Kakashi's demeanors, he nodded to himself. "Very complicated indeed."

I let out a sigh and stepped out of the bushes. Gai was right, things had gotten complicated and now I needed to involve myself before the plan went straight to hell.

Just a few hours… I just needed to keep things together for a few hours, if I could do that, Danzo would be dead by this time tomorrow.

And that's chapter 38 completed.

Sasuke has taken to overtraining, Fu is enjoying the open skies of Konoha and the plan for Danzo's death has finally begun.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 45 on the spooky P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 20th of September.
See you all then dudes and dudettes.