Yo, it's Ken
This chapter is actually the shortest one I've written in a while, funny considering it's still around 12k words haha. Anyway, I won't take too long here and get to reviews!
biginferno: I've seen a few comparisons with Tayuya and Kushina especially during my research phase so it might be fun seeing some kind of mini-interaction between them at some point but for now I'll say stay tuned. Also, Naruto and Tayuya's dynamic is really fun to write, and you might be able to see that at this point haha, I'm glad you're enjoying so far! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
Dragonkeeper10: Glad to see ya! Yeah, the Bandit King has arrived and has made his mark with a defeat for our boy, there's still plenty in the chamber but I won't get ahead of myself here. I'm planning on pushing my limits for the upcoming chapters I'll say that so look forward to it. Thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next one!
InsaneMakioshin: So, I'll go ahead and place some mini bios here for you since I wanted to find a way to include it in this chapter. It's not the full story for them I have written up, but I hope it helps! Also, Naruto and Tayaya are fun to write, and I'll say it a thousand times haha. Lastly, the Bandit King was taunting Naruto by snapping his fingers to fulfil his promise of allowing the villagers to move after they were already massacred. thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
Flame Kitsune 15: I'm flattered, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll be honest I didn't really have that fight in mind (as epic as it was) when I storyboarded it but looking back on it, I can definitely see it. Naruto's world isn't a stagnant one with multiple different figures existing int he world with Shippuden coming up it was time to introduce you guys to the standard moving forward. Lastly, don't worry I didn't forget about the rest of the stances, but I'll let the story explain so look forward to it. Thank for reading and I'll see you in the next one!
Samuel Santillan: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, the Bandit king after all the talk about him gets to show off his stripes here's hoping it doesn't bite him in the ass. Moving forward as the trend has been Naruto will only continue to grow more with every encounter and this one isn't any different. I've heard about Kegan Ashura but I've really dived into it, I might give it a peek to see. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
Alexander4443: Thanks bro! Thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next one!
Achutanand: I'm glad you're feeling tension, the Bandit king was never supposed to be another run of the mill villains he may have encountered before as Shippuden (I won't be calling that part Shippuden though) is now almost here I just wanted to go head and set the expectation moving forward so look forward to how Naruto maneuvers through those events. Regarding Kinjutsu and Ninjutsu I'll be taking a deep dive for those here and there so look forward to it. Thank you for reading I hope to see you in the next one!
sacredflamme: Thank you for the high praise, I'll take the compliment and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far enough to re-read it. I still have a long way to go writing wise, but I really appreciate the kind words and will continue to do my best moving forward. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
Krieger Techpriest: Krieger! Hey there. Jelly Tayuya is funny Tayuya, remind me to not have too much fun with that haha. The family life sections of this group are by far my favorite parts to write in these chapters considering all the action I put on these pages, I genuinely enjoy these quiet moments. i see your cat and dog agenda is strong, I admire your tenacity as always. I noticed I tend to put a bit of effort into some secondhand characters, but I never thought anyone paid much attention. I'm glad you thought he was cool, I did too! The Bandit King's triumph and massacre has left Naruto at a point we haven't see him at in a while, how will he progress from here now that this has happened, I wonder? I'm not throwing out any spoilers, but I would say just wait and see there my friend you could be surprised. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
sakurahatake9: Hey there! It's all good, reviews are always optional so don't feel pressured to leave anything only do so when you really want to, I'm glad I was able to answer your questions. Regarding the massacre, it's like you were saying there are things in life that hit you hard even when you put in a lot of effort regardless of your good days or bad days life is going to life, things nice but this is still the world of Naruto it's all about seeing how our blonde will bounce back also angst because angst can be good too haha.
So super quick, I don't have a ton of experience with lemon but when I do have moments that come up in the series I wanna approach it with the story in mind, that being said there will be future occurrences, and I'll still post warnings as usual. I'm glad it brought you ease haha.
Lastly, I don't really do social media except for Discord even then I'm spotty but if you have questions and wanna reach out there is always Discord. I'm also working on the social media part especially with my current plans with more stories moving forward and maybe even writing story requests from others too so stay tuned!
Anyway, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope to see you in the next one!
Instead of my usual schpeal I'm inside going to quickly address a few items regarding power scaling. I am not a power scaler, nor do I power scale often, but I'll give a brief strength run down for the series currently.
Naruto's current level of strength is the equivalent to an A Ranked ninja breaching into S Rank meaning he hasn't quite reached it yet though he will soon. To elaborate further, Naruto vs Deidara for an example. Naruto was strong enough to stand against Deidara but he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to beat him on his own, if Kurotsuchi wasn't there the blonde would have lost to the point Kurama (per their contract) would have taken over to keep them alive it took their combined effort to drive him away let alone beat him and that was a younger Deidara I'll add.
General Arashi is around the same strength as Kakashi in the original series by its end, if Kakashi was in Naruto's place fighting Arashi then Kakashi would also be able to defeat him.
Breaking the speed of sound is an impressive feat however in comparison to later on in the series this feat is on the smaller side of the spectrum, not to put down Naruto's progress however as he's grown leaps and bounds however for his enemies being the Akatsuki and others on a similar level he still has to properly reach those heights.
The Bandit King isn't on the same level at the Akatsuki, he's more like the step below their level in terms of strength, I'll leave it at that for now because you know my rule. No spoilers.
I hope that helps and if it doesn't, I can try again haha.
This story does take liberties and will continue to actively do so moving forward.
Anyway, I'll let you get to it, and I'll be seeing you real soon for the next chapter and oh boy... I'm looking forward to this.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
-Ken
Next Time! "Chapter 40: Round 2"
Quick p.s for Insane and anyone else who needs it see below
Tsubasa: 8 years ago, he lived in a small shrine village on the outskirts of the Land of Lightning that worshipped the goddess Amaterasu before it was eventually destroyed upon the arrival of the Bandit King. After surviving the destruction of his village and discovering he wasn't affected by the same flames that destroyed his home, Tsubasa has dedicated this life to vengeance against the Bandir king and his entire raid party from that day.
Boro: Boro, the sole child between his mother and father who were living in poor conditions. His mother had a chronic illness that ate away at her day by day while his father did his best to make ends meet for them never really providing him with much in his life. His mother despite being sick did everything in her power to keep hope in Boro despite their circumstances until one day that all changed. Boro returned to his childhood home one day only to find his father with his dead mother in his arms after he had killed her. In a blind rage Boro killed his father before planning to sit out in the rain hoping to pass himself, there was a found by Rubi and the Bandit king who took him in for bounty hunting. he dreams of having some kind of semblance of a normal life while also thinking he doesn't deserve it.
Haruka: Hailing from a small village known for its women being shamans, Haruka was considered the fairest of them all known to them all as the princess of the village. Haruka had been in the village her entire life without stepping out to see anywhere else in the world due to her villages fears that her ignorance would cause her harm, the girl still dreamed of exploring the world regardless. In an unfortunate way she received her wish when the Bandit king had arrived culling eh rest of her village keeping her alive for himself. Haruka now pregnant with the Bandit King's child lives constantly carrying around her regrets of her own wish only seeing herself as a harbinger of misfortune to those around her.
{...}
The sounds of buildings being torn into as the moving pieces cut through the air slicing and smashing all in their path echoed loudly. The sounds of screaming from the villages could still be heard in the back of his mind even faintly even now.
Then he could still see the sight of them laying there… all those people were torn apart.
They haunted him.
The paper screen door slid open roughly, almost taking it off the wall as Boro and Tsubasa rushed the heavily wounded Naruto they had in their arms into the compound, "Get him on the table!" Yugito raised her voice while Fu quickly cleared the table.
Naruto coughed while he was laid on the table, his blood ran freely from his body while Fu placed her hands over her mouth. "Stay with us, you bastard!" Boro yelled while Yugito hovered over him, removing his shirt and scarf.
"...Naruto?"
A soft voice belonging to Tayuya asked while Tsubasa looked back toward the girl for a moment before he looked away, "What happened? What the fuck happened?!" the reddish haired girl yelled while the gray-haired teen opened his mouth to speak but couldn't as Tayuya tried rolling her chair over to him.
"Tayuya…"
"Shut it, Bounty Fucker! He's torn to shreds, what happened out there?!"
"Tayuya, he's really hurt…"
"Somebody fucking tell me, right now!"
"I…"
"I don't want to hear a damn word out of you, Edgelord."
"That's enough!"
Yugito raised her voice before she turned back toward the rest of the Renegades, "I can't work like this… I'm not a medical ninjutsu specialist, luckily the tailed beast chakra is repairing him as we speak. I need to remove as many of the pieces from his body as possible to make sure nothing gets stuck. I can't do that if you're all going to be crowding around… just… sit down." the woman's voice dropped a bit instantly killing the commotion as they watched Naruto breath painfully.
The rest of the Renegades took a step back while Yugito looked at them with her dark purple eyes filled with a somber expression, "...Thank you." the woman spoke before she turned back to Naruto. She gently ran a hand through his hair as she stared at his bloodied face. She hushed him as one of her nails slowly extended.
"Forgive me, this isn't going to be easy for you."
The woman spoke while she stroked his hair again before cutting into him with her nail, Naruto flinched on the table gritting his teeth against the pain as Yugito began to work at getting the pieces out while several more were beginning to move out of his skin on their own.
The Renegades watched in silence as Yugito extracted pieces that were deeper in his body and the other pieces exited on their own as Naruto did his best to get through it, from the kitchen Haruka had fallen to her knees staring at the injured blonde with horror in her eyes before she placed her face into her knees.
Tayuya looked at the suffering blonde with a heartbroken expression on her face as she continued to watch as his face contorted in pain, the worst part about that was…
She was pretty sure it wasn't just from his wounds.
A short while passed, Yugito had been successful taking the pieces from Naruto before taking him to another room to recover, Haruka had joined him while the rest of the Renegades sat around the table silently without saying a word to one another.
"I did what I could… his body is going to have to do the rest. He'll be fine."
Yugito said walking back into the room, her hands still covered in Naruto's blood. The table looked a little more relieved before Tayuya looked back up toward the rest of the group. "Now, tell me what happened out there. That bastard you mentioned said that he wanted Haruka? That Naruto fought him alone?" the girl asked while Boro stared at the table.
"He came out of nowhere; Naruto didn't even catch his chakra signature until he was already on top of him… He made Naruto fight him. He was holding the village hostage… all those people…"
Fu spoke up while Tayuya narrowed her eyes, "You were supposed to have his back. You were supposed to have his back exactly because something like this could happen. That damn idiot would do whatever it takes even almost getting himself killed just to protect us and anyone else." the girl said while Tsubasa looked toward her.
"We tried to move to help him-"
"And where the hell were you, Vengeance? Pratting on some big speech about how the guy murdered your family and burned down your home while your friend was getting torn apart for you?"
Tayuya growled while Boro looked toward her, "That's not fair, Tayuya." the brown-haired teen spoke while the girl grimly chuckled.
"Not fair? Not fucking fair? I've been with him the longest, I've seen him get hurt a lot… I've never seen him get torn up like this and the one time he does it's when he's surrounded by allies. All I ever did was make that guy fight all by himself because I was shattered to fucking pieces and the one time, I trust him to others and all of you to watch each other that's when he fucking almost dies and I can't do shit! …That's not fair."
Tayuya raised her voice while Boro looked toward the table, "Tayuya…" Fu was about to speak before Tayuya felt a damp hand touch her back gently in a reassuring fashion before she spotted Yugito whose hands were now cleaned looking down at her.
"Tayuya… I understand you're upset. However, you don't get to pretend the rest of us don't care. I haven't known him as long as you have, granted. That doesn't lessen the impact he's had on me and how much I care. How much any of us care."
Yugito said while Tayuya stared back at her before the blonde woman found her spot at the table sitting down, "I won't make excuses, they won't change the fact that Naruto was hurt fighting for our sakes. Instead, we need to focus on the topic at hand, this Bandit King. He's far stronger than originally anticipated, he's easily above most elite Jonin. It almost doesn't make sense for a ninja to be that strong without something going on. We need a plan." the blonde woman explained while Tayuya looked around the table.
"You said he was after Haruka? That bastard did this for her?"
Tayuya asked while Fu and Boro nodded their heads, "He said we have a week and a half to deliver her to him." the green haired girl said while Tayuya huffed.
"This bastard even has the nerve to fuck with us on top of it, a week and a half is bullshit. He's trying to get us to fight about it, I bet."
Tayuya said while Fu blinked at her, "We aren't seriously going to think about that, are we? That's not fair either." the girl spoke while Boro looked around.
"I don't know."
The brown-haired young man said while the table gave him a look, "Listen, I get that what's happening is messed up, but they guy tore Naruto of all people apart… He's not just some bad guy… he murdered all of those people without blinking and walked away like it was nothing…" Boro said while he gripped his fist.
"He could kill all of you… I don't want that. What the hell else could we do?"
Boro spoke in an almost defeated tone while Tsubasa stood up, "This is my fault, if anyone should be taking responsibility for anything it's me. I dragged you all into this, into my revenge. Now I'm making you all pay the consequences for my actions… I should bear that burden, alone." the smoky haired teen said while Fu looked toward him.
"The point of this conversation is to find the best way to move forward. This shouldn't be a blame game. I get that we feel guilty but being unreasonable isn't how we solve this."
Yugito said while Tayuya gave her a look, "Unreasonable… Naruto put his entire life on pause just to stop here and meddle in affairs he didn't have to… Frankly, I'm getting tired of watching him almost die to pay for it. We were supposed to head to Uzushiogakure and call it a day… you can't seriously ask me to watch someone so important to me die because that's the reasonable thing to do." the reddish haired girl said while Yugito was about to retort but they were interrupted.
"I'll go."
Haruka said while the Renegades looked at her from the table, the brown-haired girl gripped her fist at her side while she stood in front of the room. "I'll never forget Naruto's kindness and the acceptance from the rest of you for as long as I live… but this is my fault. I tried to run, I tried to get away, I tried to pretend that I could have a life not stuck in his clutches. I won't let anyone die for me." Haruka said while the Renegades looked at her with shock.
"It's ok… even if it was for just a moment. Naruto… he taught me what it was like to be strong. To want something more for myself, but I know the truth… I'll face the Bandit King, and I'll do it alone because you guys have all shown me a nice time and Naruto helped me become strong enough to bear it myself. I'm death… and that curse ends with me…."
Haruka explained while she gripped her fist harder as tears began to roll down her eyes as a sad smile appeared on her face, "No one… Should die for someone like me." The brown-haired girl spoke while the Renegades were left shocked as the girl put on the bravest face she could muster.
Covered in tears.
The room fell silent before Tayuya was about to say something but a hand hitting the wall heavily caught all of their attention before their eyes widened at the sight.
Naruto panted while his bandages on him were reddening with his blood as he had a hand against the wall holding himself up, "Naruto…" Tayuya said while the blonde gripped the wall with his fingers before he huffed out a breath.
"The hell… are you talking about?"
Naruto said while Fu stood up, "Naruto, you need to lay back down." the girl said while the blonde's fierce blue eyes looked up toward the rest of the people in the room.
"The hell are any of you talking about!?"
Naruto raised his voice causing everyone in the room to freeze at his words as he gripped the hand he had on the wall into a fist, before he bumped it with his, he staggered a little bit to his feet as his bandaged frame faced the rest of the room.
"Why the hell does it sound like you're all giving up? Why does it sound like nobody has got any fight left in them? Why are all of you trying to run away?"
Naruto asked while the room stayed silent looking at the blonde teen, "I'm not your excuse. All of you… as much as I care about all of you… You have a responsibility to yourselves just as much as you do to the person beside you in this room. We don't get to use each other as an excuse to stop ourselves from doing anything." the blonde said while the room continued to look toward him.
"It's ok, if you're scared. That doesn't change the fact that it still happened and we're all still here… All those people… the ones he killed. They're all gone and that's on me. They died and that's on me because I wasn't strong enough…"
Naruto said while he clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white, "There won't be any sacrifices, I'm not going to let anyone else try to take the burden on to their own shoulders. As long as the Bandit King is around then even if we sacrificed everything else, no one would be free." the blonde continued as he looked up toward the rest of the group with his bandaged face.
"You're all free… That's how I want you to feel... to live. I want to be free too because I know what it's like when you get locked up in yourself. I want these people to be able to live freely because no one should ever have to suffer under anyone else's whims. So, I'll fight, I'll fight so that no one has to bear that burden of being trapped by anyone."
Naruto said passionately while Haruka's eyes watered looking at him, "It's not fair, but I'm going to let you all make your own choices as I'll make mine too. I'm fighting, I'm going to get stronger so no one else has to die in vain, if you wanna fight too then I accept that… If you don't want to fight…" the blonde trailed off as he looked down for a moment before he looked back up at them with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
"I'll still give my all to care about you."
Naruto spoke while his words hung in the air, Tayuya suddenly stood up from her wheelchair feeling a slight jolt as she did but faced the blonde nonetheless, "Shithead… I already told you you're stuck with me. I don't plan on going anywhere. Once I get my damn legs together, I'm right there by your side. You owe me a trip." the reddish haired girl said, causing Naruto to smile.
"You know… Its guys like you that make people want to fight to the death. Always so inconsiderate of those who maybe want to live a bit longer huh? Welp, guess that we'll have to keep each other alive so we can laugh about it when it's done eh?"
Boro spoke up while Yugito stared at her palm, "Free… I've never known such a thing. However, in this brief time you have shown me much, Naruto. I'll be a bit selfish and say that I wanna know what it's like. To be free. I'm with you, the Bandit king needs to be slain. I'll get my payback for what he did to you." the woman spoke while Fu jumped to her feet.
"You guys are more valuable to me than any kind of treasure in the world, you're my friends and I can't stand just watching while you get hurt. I'll get stronger too and we'll beat this guy! I'm not running away from anything, not as long as I have all of you."
Fu spoke while Tsubasa watched everyone in front of him, "...This was my revenge. He could kill you all trying to fight him… You don't have to do this. None of you are obligated to do this. This is my burden; I didn't want to drag people down with me…" the gray-haired teen spoke while Naruto extended a hand out toward him.
"Then pull them up. This may have been your burden but now you have people who decide whether you like it or not that they're here no matter what it takes. It's up to you Tsubasa. To finish what you started."
The blonde teen said while Tsubasa looked at his hand for a moment before he looked at the rest of the room, "I don't deserve all of you… but If it's with you. Then let's end this tale of vengeance." the teen spoke as he grabbed Naruto's hand.
Tsubasa was pulled to his feet while Fu jumped up and cheered hugging onto the taller teen while the rest of the Renegades began to talk with one another, Haruka watched them as they talked as she felt her eyes water.
"What if I get you all killed?"
Haruka asked while Naruto walked over to her, "I… can't stand that… It's not fair. I'm still so weak… I can't even do anything to help…" the honey eyed girl cried as the blonde reached toward his back pocket. The brown-haired girl flinched as she felt something touch her forehead as Naruto gently tied it around her head.
"There. You'll get stronger… in the meantime. I'm still standing right here. You'll have that when you need it. It's alright now, Haruka. You're one of us now,"
Naruto spoke with a soft smile as Haruka was wearing Naruto's headband that Inari made for him as she closed her eyes and began to cry even harder as the rest of the Renegades approached her.
They would get stronger.
They would break past their current limits.
They won't let him win.
{...}
"The training is going to be broken down like this."
Yugito explained while she stood in the middle of a field near the compound, a short distance away from her Naruto and the rest of the Renegades sans Tayuya and Haruka stood ready for her plan.
"Tsubasa, overall, your speed and versatility with your flames are impressive. However you lack technique, it's obvious from the way you fight that you are self-taught this creates gaps, not to mention your temperament tends to get the best of you creating further openings your opponents can take advantage of."
Yugito tore into Tsubasa who nodded his head while Boro snickered, "Boro." The woman spoke, causing the young man to sit up straight.
"I'll be frank, you haven't been traditionally trained in combat either. It shows. Your technique also needs refinement, your street fighting style isn't going to take you far when in combat with legitimate shinobi. You'll require the most work when it comes to Taijutsu and your Ninjutsu, otherwise you'll fall much further behind than you already are."
The woman spoke while Boro broke a sweat in response to Yugito who paced before she pointed toward the two boys.
"You'll both be training with each other in Ninjutsu. Tsubasa, our enemy utilizes Earth Style, the nature Boro is most proficient in. Train with him not only to help him better utilize his nature but to gain an understanding of Earth Style and any potential counters. Boro, you are to work with Tsubasa on his temperament ensuring he keeps his cool during combat. The sooner we can do that the better."
Yugito ordered while Tsubasa nodded, "Right." The gray-haired teen said while Boro pointed at himself, "His temperament? How am I supposed to- wait a minute are you calling me annoying?" The brown-haired teen said while Yugito just stared at him causing him to grip at his chest in mock pain.
"Lastly, you both will be drilling with me in both Bukijutsu and Taijutsu. Prepare yourselves. I'm not a light teacher. Death is very much possible… do your best."
Yugito said while Boro shook his fist in the air, "You can't just add that last part after threatening us with death!" The brown-haired teen yelled while the woman ignored him.
"Fu, you aren't traditionally trained either. However, your natural instincts and reflexes allow you to curb that disadvantage. That being said, you rely far too much on utilizing Chomei's techniques. You'll be doing nature training with Naruto; he'll help you bring out and utilize more jutsu types to allow you to be more effective on the battlefield."
Yugito explained while Fu gave her a salute, "Aye Aye!" The green haired girl said while the woman turned her gaze to Naruto.
"I'll be honest with you, Naruto. Your latent talent and abilities are incredible for your age, specialty Kenjutsu, impressive Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu innovation not seen in many others. While there are other things you can work on. I'm afraid there's not much I can teach you, that doesn't mean you're off the hook. You'll be assisting me with training everyone else and you'll have your own special assignment."
Yugito spoke while Naruto blinked at her before he nodded his head, "Now then, we'll train this way until it's time to work on specific strategies. Any questions?" the woman asked while Boro raised his hand.
"...Yes, Boro."
"...Since you said some nice stuff about Naruto and Fu… what about me and Tsubasa? You know, for motivation or something?"
"...Dismissed."
"Dang it."
Tsubasa and Boro left to begin their training as Naruto and Fu were about to leave Yugito motioned for them to follow her. Naruto and Fu looked at each other before they followed the woman.
"Naruto, Fu. As I'm sure you're both aware your training contains an extra element that will make it harsher for the both of you."
Yugito spoke while Fu nodded her head excitedly, "Wait, does that mean we're getting Jinchuriki training!?" The girl yelled out while Yugito nodded her head.
"Well, kind of. I'll explain… currently as Jinchuriki you are both still very inexperienced on how to utilize your abilities. I'll be specifically training Fu to help her better utilize her abilities once you are both done with nature training."
Yugito said while Fu pumped her fist in the air while Naruto tilted his head before he pointed toward himself.
"Uh. What about me?"
Naruto said while Yugito paused as they made it to the stream, "That's where your special assignment comes into play, there's not much I can teach you. Not because there's nothing for you to learn, but because I'm not the one who will be training you." The woman spoke while the blonde teen stared at her.
"Wait, then who's teaching me that stuff then?"
Naruto asked while Yugito pointed at his abdomen causing the blonde teen's eyes to widen, "My relationship with Matatabi is amicable, while Fu's relationship with Chomei is very good. You and the Nine Tails however are still at odds, I'm able to train her because Chomei will at least be cooperative. So, your training will be establishing and working on specifically working with the Nine Tails to improve your working relationship." Yugito said while Naruto shook his head.
"Wait, so you want me to work with the fox and have him train me?"
Naruto asked while Yugito nodded, "On top of that, at the end of every training session with the Fox. You'll be fighting me, be sure to utilize everything that the Nine Tails teaches you. I'll be fighting you as if it was a real fight. Judging from your fight with the Bandit King, he seems to be around the same ranking as myself going all out. You'll need to surpass me if you want to stand a chance." The woman said while Naruto looked at her with surprise.
"So, this is the real deal huh?"
Naruto asked while Yugito nodded her head, "The Bandit King and I aren't your regular run of the mill Jonin. I should have known you would have struggled considering the large gap between yourself and B. Not to mention both yourself and Fu struggled against me even before I used a tail." The woman spoke while the blonde teen looked toward the ground.
"I understand… then I'll meet the fox. I'll get more than strong enough."
Naruto clenched his fist while Fu and Yugito gave the blonde a look, "We'll leave you to it then. Naruto… I will warn you though you may already know. Whatever training you receive from him won't be free, just be wary before you just accept any contract from the Nine Tails." The blonde woman said while the teen nodded.
"I got it."
Naruto said while Fu grabbed his hands, "I'm looking forward to training with you… you got this!" The girl offered, causing the blonde teen to smile at the girl.
Naruto then watched the pair leave as he then looked at the ground, the fox could be tricky at the best of times let alone the worst, but he didn't have a choice.
While they weren't exactly enemies, they weren't each other's biggest fans either.
Just another obstacle to overcome so he could get stronger.
Suddenly Naruto's surroundings changed, he was now standing in very shallow water while the sound of low chuckling came from the cage.
"Took you long enough, Brat. You finally came crawling to me after your big defeat, how did it feel? Are you finally humbled?"
The Nine Tailed Fox taunted Naruto who sighed, "I don't have time for this, you know why I'm here." The blonde spoke while the large fox exhaled.
"I'm well aware, you lost to that insect. Quite badly I might add, for a moment there I believed you were stronger than that. Guess I was wrong… which leads to why you're here."
Kurama rumbled while Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, "I want you to train me, let's not make this difficult. You should do it anyway since it's a part of your rent, but I doubt you haven't already thought of something you wanted." The blonde said while the large fox growled.
"Straight to the point, I almost respect that. Your weakness is glaring even worse. It affects me, but you're right it won't be for free."
The fox said while Naruto looked into his red eyes, "I'm letting you know right now, if you ask for something unreasonable you know what's happen." The blonde said while Kurama huffed.
"I am a wellspring of knowledge far beyond what any of those who would dare call themselves your teachers could ever offer. If I'm going to provide that I'll ask only for the equivalent in exchange… I want to form another contract."
Kurama rumbled while Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Wait, another one? We made one a while ago, the one you refused to utilize the entire time." The blonde pointed at the fox who rolled his eyes.
"I've decided to nullify that contract, fortunately during that time you were competent enough to save yourself before I took over. Since that contract doesn't have much value anymore, I propose a new one."
"What is it?"
Naruto asked while Kurama leaned closer to the bars of his cage as his maw opened slightly revealing his large white teeth.
"In 2 years, you're going to rip this seal off the cage. Unleash me then you'll face me, should you lose I'll return to the world. Those are my terms."
Kurama offered, causing Naruto's eyes to widen, "What the hell are you talking about? How is what you'll show me anywhere near equivalent to that?!" The blonde asked while Kurama closed his maw over his teeth.
"The things I'll teach you, if you fail to even stand a chance against me after the fact then that's strictly because you're just weak. This isn't your average knowledge for training, this will completely change your level of strength. That's what you wanted isn't it?"
Kurama asked while Naruto went quiet, "You're still thinking about them, those corpses. Shredded to pieces and all you could do was writhe in front of them, you still feel responsible. Whether you want to say it or not I know that you need this. You need me." The Nine Tailed Fox spoke while the blonde closed his eyes.
"Decide, boy. The longer you wait, the shorter the time to face him will be."
Kurama said while Naruto finally opened his eyes looking toward the fox, "I'm adding an additional term to the contract." The teen said while the fox raised an eyebrow.
"Like what? A handicap? You should know better than to know I'll accept that."
Kurama spoke while Naruto shook his head, "Nope. I'm not telling you until that day comes when we face each other." The blonde said causing the fox to narrow his eyes.
"Then that's hardly a term, isn't it? It has to be agreed by both parties, Brat."
Kurama growled as Naruto gave him a confident look, "What's wrong? You scared you might actually lose? For someone who wants to get out so badly you sure are skittish about a term. All you have to do is agree and it's done." The blonde said while the fox narrowed his eyes at the teen in front of his bars.
"...Damn Brat. I'll accept your conditions then."
The fox growled while Naruto stared back at him before he nodded his head, "Then… I accept your contract." The blonde said, causing the fox to adopt a surprised expression.
"Good… don't you regret it."
Kurama growled while lifting a clawed finger as Naruto looked back toward him confidently as the claw reached past the bars.
"Same to you."
That was the last thing Naruto said before the claw lunged forward stabbing into him.
Naruto's eyes opened; his surroundings were still the same damp cell of the fox with the only difference being.
He was behind the bars.
The blonde looked around rapidly while a heavy sigh came out from behind him, "The hell are you doing?" Kurama asked as Naruto turned toward the fox standing behind him.
"Oi, why am I behind the bars now?"
Naruto asked while Kurama rolled his eyes, "You aren't going to be learning anything from out there. These things have to be done up close and personal. We'll start with your basics, I'm not confident in your current knowledge." The fox taunted while Naruto shot him a look.
"We'll start with ground rules. You are NOT invincible."
Kurama said while Naruto raised an eyebrow as the fox circled him, "I never thought I was." The blonde said while the fox huffed.
"Says the brat who died 3 separate times in that fight, I'm not even going to get into the other situations. As a Jinchuriki, your chakra and mine are layered. You know this. Our bodies however couldn't be anymore separate."
Kurama said as he leaned his face toward Naruto's with a glare, "Your body does not heal passively just because you hold my chakra. Your Uzumaki blood makes you tough but it's my chakra that heals your wounds." The fox explained while the blonde looked into his eyes.
"At any point you receive fatal wounds, and I don't react fast enough to send chakra to heal you or if you are already using my chakra then you'll die. Killing us both."
The fox spoke while Naruto nodded his head, "I figured but why are you so concerned? Don't you reform or something after you die? Why save me anyway if my death technically frees you?" Naruto asked while Kurama huffed.
"My entire existence is made out of chakra, however it's not the same as you humans. Tailed Beasts are made up of three energies in a ratio rather than two halves like you, Physical, Mental, and Nature. Those energies have to converge into the ratio that makes me, this process could take any number of years up to a thousand. Worse yet, that version of myself may no longer even be me. I'll be damned before a subservient version of myself is spawned."
Kurama said while Naruto scratched his head, "I guess that makes sense, oh but I do know about Nature. So, the Tailed Beasts are made up of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, or Lightning huh? Which one are you?" The blonde asked while Kurama shook his head.
"Senjutsu is far beyond those 'Styles' you humans dub Ninjutsu with. Nature energy is constantly around everything as it is produced by the nature of the world itself. Harnessing it could provide one with immense power… however that may be too much for you to handle now. Not to mention you're currently contractless."
Kurama rumbled while Naruto watched the fox sit up, "Wait so Nature energy isn't the same as Nature types?" The blonde inquired while the fox blinked.
"Yes and no. Next point and pay close attention. This one is about you."
Kurama said while Naruto shot him a look for not elaborating further on his question, "I'll keep it short. You're wasting your potential, constantly holding back from utilizing your true talents is getting old. I get that humans are creatures of habit, but you are seriously the worst." The fox said while Naruto huffed.
"What's that supposed to mean? I've been doing plenty of improvement, not to mention I'm starting to get the hang of your chakra. I went all out in that fight."
Naruto said while Kurama shook his head, "You didn't even get close to all out in that fight. You allowed him to overwhelm you, the techniques you use might be powerful, but this world isn't just made up of the same people. If you think that bug is strong then you're out of your depth in this world. You barely scratched the surface my power and your own." Kurama said while Naruto watched the fox move backward.
The blonde suddenly saw images of himself in front of him, each version was doing a different technique that Naruto commonly utilized in battle.
"Your movement technique you've developed is perhaps the best of your techniques other than the damned 4th's technique. However, you don't utilize it properly because you fail to understand it."
Kurama said while Naruto watched the image jet around breaking the sound barrier with every movement.
"Your speed is your biggest advantage in a fight, you need to learn how to use it. Such as, why do you delay your attacks until after you break the sound barrier? It dramatically decreases the amount of power your attacks could have."
Kurama pointed out while Naruto watched as he spotted the slight delay in the images attack, the sonic boom happened then his attack landed.
"You mean… I could attack as soon as the sound barrier breaks?"
Naruto observed while the Nine Tails moved over to the next image, this one was utilizing his sword in his Wind Stance.
"Your Kenjustu you've developed while in the Land of Iron, while powerful, is limited. You still have access to the rest of your stances, don't you? Why waste the effort specializing?"
Kurama asked while Naruto looked at the image, "Wind Stance is derived from Moon Stance. Not to mention its stronger than my other Stances, it's the one based off of my chakra's nature." The blonde explained while Kurama growled.
"That doesn't mean they don't have their utility, not to mention those natures aren't a problem for you."
Kurama said while Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you mean? The chakra paper Temari gave me split in half. That means that Wind is my nature, wouldn't the other natures not be as effective?" the blonde said while Kurama bumped him with his claw.
"Think, Brat. Acting like you are the same as those other humans is unbecoming of you. A nature I commonly utilize is Fire, if you have access to my chakra then why make the excuse of effectiveness?"
Kurama asked while Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I could use your chakra as a buffer to take the effectiveness of other natures up a notch?" The blonde asked while the fox huffed.
"You're on the right track, the 8 Tails Jinchuriki gave you valuable information. Now you need to apply it properly, manifesting one of my tails is one thing, using my chakra is another."
Kurama explained as they moved to an image of Naruto creating Shadow Clones, "You are aware of the nature of your clones, correct?" Kurama asked while the blonde rubbed his chin.
"You mean literally or how I utilize them? If that the case, then I suppose they act like an additional attacker or supporter… they can also move of their own will. Not to mention they can gather their own information."
Naruto broke down while Kurama looked down at the blonde before poking him again, the blonde then felt a small gust as he turned around spotting more images of himself doing the same thing.
"A human's greatest enemy is themselves, however they are also their great teachers. Face yourself, shred yourself apart, break past your own limitations."
Kurama said while the images faded away as well as the ones facing the blonde's other side, "Your hardest natures to learn are Fire and Earth keep that in mind as you train. This is the end of our first session." Kurama said while Naruto blinked.
"Huh? That was short and I still have questions!"
Naruto exclaimed while the fox narrowed his eyes at him, "Before we can go further you must first take these fundamentals and apply them. Once these are set in stone for you then, we'll take the next step." Kurama said while the blonde looked at the fox before he sighed.
"Right."
The blonde said while Kurama gave him one last look, "I'll be observing every move you make during this training and if need be, I will push you harder if you slack even a little bit. Train well, there's more hell to come." Kurama said while the teen nodded.
Naruto then closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them, he was still in the cell. He raised a confused eyebrow before he looked toward Kurama who was staring at him.
"I thought we were done."
"...We are."
"So… why can't I leave?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"You're kidding right?"
"..."
"Ugh, Kurama Sensei."
"Was that hard?"
"You're having way too much fun with this."
"Perhaps."
Kurama rumbled before Naruto found himself standing back near the stream, the teen then made his famous hand sign.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto summoned a large group of clones that all looked toward him, "Yes, Boss!" The large crowd yelled back toward the blonde who clapped his hands together.
"Right! So, I need all of you to break up into groups. Group 1, I want all of you guys to work on our Wind Jutsu, each one of you using a different jutsu!"
Naruto ordered while the first group formed, giving the blonde a salute, "We're on it!" The group said before they moved to start.
"Group 2, practice your sword stances. Each row a different stance, each clone a different technique. Moon, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning. And finally, Wind!"
Naruto ordered the largest group who started immediately after getting into their particular formation using branches to emulate swords.
"Group 3, all of you are going to focus on drawing on Kurama's chakra. Do your best to form a tail instead of cloaking!"
The smallest group gave a salute before they all started to try drawing on Nine Tailed Fox's chakra attempting to form tails. "Group 4, you'll all be working on the other chakra natures. Water Jutsu, Lightning Jutsu, Earth Jutsu, and Fire Jutsu!" Naruto ordered while the entire group except for one confirmed the order instead opting to raise its hand.
"Yes?"
Naruto asked while the clone rubbed the back of its head, "Um, Boss. I'm not sure we know any jutsu for those natures." The clone said while the rest of the clones suddenly stared at that one before looking toward Naruto.
Naruto himself blinked at the valid point of the clone before he stroked his chin, "One sec." The teen said while the clones looked toward him expectedly.
That was more than a fair point, Kakashi barely went over natures, Jiraiya was more focused on the Rasengan and perving, and Temari as awesome as she was had only trained him in Wind.
The teen was drawing a blank as he looked toward the clones practicing their stances, this gave him an idea.
"What if instead of jutsu for those natures, what if you all tried to access the chakra natures through Stances but without swords. That way we could at least get a feel for the chakra?"
Naruto explained while the clones stared at him in silence for a moment, "Boss, you're a genius!" The clones yelled out as the blonde sweat dropped at the group.
They immediately went to work while 5 more clones remained, "What about us, Boss?" One of the clones asked before Naruto slowly turned toward them.
"For the rest of you. I want all 5 of you using the techniques Kurama showed us the images of me using to attack me… all at once."
Naruto said while the clones raised their eyebrows, "Boss, are you being serious?" One of the clones asked while the teen looked at his open palm.
"No matter what it takes, we have to take down the Bandit King… I can't do that as I am right now. If this is my limit, I'm putting on myself…"
Naruto trailed off as he thought of that village again and the Bandit King walking away from the carnage he left.
"Then I'll break through it."
Naruto said closing his hand into a fist while the clones looked toward him before they moved, one cloaked itself in red chakra as another one picked up a branch standing in Wind Stance. The other 3 got into a fighting stance as Naruto faced them.
"Come at me, all of you!"
{...}
Her knuckles went white from the grip she had tightening around the bars, slowly her foot gently hit the ground. Followed by another step, tingling went through her legs as if her brain was screaming at her to stop moving on them.
She ignored it though.
She didn't have time to waste.
Tayuya held herself up while trying to force herself to walk forward, she was able to do it alone for short distances but for some reason she was still lacking in her recovery.
She had to get rid of the foreign feeling of walking on her feet, her legs felt amazing but that year in her wheelchair really did a number on her.
Tayuya panted before she shook her head, it didn't matter how many laps she had completed before she had to do more. She couldn't allow this to continue, sitting on the sidelines not able to do anything as Naruto continued to risk his life for her.
As the rest of the Renegades kept fighting.
The reddish haired girl took another step only to stumble, falling to the floor roughly, she growled as she dragged her fingers across the tatami.
"Fuck!"
Tayuya harshly growled as she looked down toward her legs, "Come on, stupid body. I can't just be laying around like this!" Her frustration getting the better of her as she gritted her teeth.
"I have to keep going. Even if I shatter to fucking pieces. I have to keep going."
Tayuya said to herself as she tried to push herself up to grab the bars again only for the sight of a figure walking toward her causing her to stop.
"Tayuya… Stop."
Haruka said softly while Tayuya looked toward the pregnant girl with a slight glare, the brown-haired girl slowly walked toward her.
"There better be a damn good reason why you're stopping me."
Tayuya said while Haruka crouched beside her, she hesitated for a moment but eventually she touched the reddish haired girl's thigh gently.
"Your muscles are tense… Did you stretch before you started?"
Haruka asked with a slight concern while Tayuya huffed, usually Naruto would do that for her before they started her therapy. She had forgotten it just trying to make any progress she could.
"Look, I'm not sure if it's guilt or something but I don't need you to be concerned about me. I can't stop, I'm fucking useless until I can walk. We only have a damn week and a half before we have to meet that fucker again. I can't waste a moment on anything."
The reddish haired girl said while Haruka gave her a look before she took a breath, "Tayuya… I'm going to give you a massage… is that ok?" The brown-haired girl asked as Tayuya looked into her eyes.
She could tell, it was taking everything in Haruka to even have this small conversation with her. She was shaken up but still persisted, Tayuya swallowed her retort relaxing enough to all Haruka to gently push into her skin.
"...It's unfair, you know… to Naruto. He really cares about you… about all of us."
Haruka spoke as Tayuya groaned lightly at the girl massaging her legs, "Unfair? I've been hearing that word far too damn much lately, unfair to Naruto? How about when that guy comes back half dead from trying to save the damn world again? I say at least me doing this much is fair." The reddish haired girl retorted as the honey eyed girl continued her massage.
"...There are so many things that are unfair about this world, but… what even is fair? Is it even fair to deserve to say something is unfair? If we live in an unfair world, then why do we even try to seek a fair in the first place?"
Haruka spoke as Tayuya gave her a look, "Getting all philosophical on me? Look, sure we live in a shitty world and stuff but that doesn't mean we have to just lay down and accept the fact that it's shitty. Stuff is allowed to be unfair, just like people are allowed to call it unfair. Wanting… something more than just unfair shit." The reddish haired girl said as Haruka kneaded again.
"I suppose you're right… we are allowed to want, aren't we? For some reason I still can't really grasp what that means… I don't know what it means to want. I don't even know if I deserve to want… but I do anyway. Isn't that selfish?"
Haruka spoke as Tayuya closed her eyes and took a sharp breath from another knead, "It is. That ain't a bad thing though, you can't help but be human. Desiring things is a part of that… I blame Shithead for showing me that. I was supposed to be dead y'know… whether it was under that tree or at the hands of the Uchiha fucker. But I wanted to live, and I did, Shithead never failed once at giving me another reason to want things. Living is a selfish thing and I'm selfish as hell." Tayuya explained while Haruka quietly looked toward her face.
"...Living is selfish. How did you do it? How did you become selfish enough to want to live?"
Haruka asked while brown eyes stared intently back at hers causing her to flinch slightly in surprise as Tayuya pointed a confident thumb to herself.
"Because I'm the honored one. I decided I'm going to follow Shithead, because he's special and fun. Moreover, I wanna know what the hell this life thing he talks about even is and why he enjoys it so much. Simple."
Tayuya stated matter of factly while Haruka could only look back at her with surprise before looking back toward her legs, "I see… you just decided that all on your own?" The brown-haired girl asked while the reddish haired girl nodded her head.
Haruka stayed silent before she stopped her massage, the girl stood to her feet while Tayuya felt that her legs were lighter now compared to before.
The pinkette was about to pull herself to her feet but a hand extended toward her, Tayuya looked up, spotting Haruka standing in front of her.
"Earlier… you said you didn't need my concern… that I was doing this because of guilt. I wanted to tell you… that's not true."
Haruka spoke softly as Tayuya looked back into her honey-colored eyes, "I wanted this to be my fault so badly… I wanted to fix it by disappearing because I thought it would make it easier for the rest of you… for everyone. Yet… I also found myself thinking that I didn't want to just fade away into nothing either." The girl said while her hand trembled.
"I was confused, I didn't even realize it but I… really want to be alive too. This child scares me… but I want to see it live too… I don't deserve it for everything I've done… but I still want to survive regardless."
Haruka said while tears welled up in her eyes, "I… want to be selfish… if living is a selfish thing, then I want to be that… I want to know what it's like… what it's like to be unfair. I came here to find you because I wanted to." The girl spoke as a tear ran down her face, but her expression became slightly bolder.
"Even if it's wrong… even if I can't do much. I want to believe in all of you, I want to do whatever I can to help all of you. I want to know what would happen if we lived to see the end of this."
Haruka said as she extended her hand closer to Tayuya, "I want to earn this life and learn to love it. Even if that's unfair." the brown-haired girl finished while the reddish haired girl huffed taking her hand.
"You already sound pretty damn selfish to me… Bright Eyes."
Tayuya spoke while Haruka reacted to the nickname, it was almost as if in Tayuya's own special way of accepting people. "I'll be making a meal for everyone… for their training… I… I would like to request that you stand by my side as I prepare that. Can you do it?" Haruka said softly challenging Tayuya who pulled herself to her feet smirking at the girl whose hands stopped trembling in hers.
"You're on."
{...}
"Dude… This woman is some kind of monster."
Boro complained as he stared up at the sky, Tsubasa was next to him also staring up at the sky with a small scowl on his face.
"Is that all? I expected a little more from both of you."
Yugito stared at the boys as Boro sat up pointing his finger toward her, "Oi! You said it yourself; our skills are lacking… besides it feels kinda weird trying to hurt you like that and stuff." The teen lamented while the blonde woman shook her head.
"You can't afford to hold back, not even against me. This training is to set you up for when you have to clash with the Bandit King. He'll kill you the moment he can."
Yugito scolded before Tsubasa also sat up, the two boys were both banged up, but his fiery orange eyes held their determination.
"I can't… I can't just lay here. That man… everything he's done, even if I fall to pieces. I won't stop trying to get stronger…. Let's go again."
Tsubasa said, causing Yugito to raise an eyebrow, "You crazy bastard. Welp, I can't afford to not look cool now. Count me in, you better not regret us not holding back." The brown-haired teen grinned as Yugito held a faint smile on her face.
"Trust me… I won't."
Yugito said while the two boys prepared for battle, Fu watched from the sidelines before she looked up at the sky. It was already almost late in the evening; the orange of the dying day bled the blues and purples of the incoming night they had been training all day at this point.
The situation was serious and all, but she couldn't help but find the concept of training with her friends exciting.
Yugito was a great teacher, so she was doing her best to pay attention to the Taijutsu training she was providing Tsubasa and Boro. However, her attention was pulled elsewhere as she wondered, no one had seen Naruto since they had gotten started.
She hadn't even gotten to her nature training yet, but that wasn't why she was concerned. Naruto had a big heart, and she was only hoping he wasn't carrying any guilt into his training.
She didn't want him to tear himself apart.
The two boys were about to attack Yugito whose ears perked as she lifted a hand stopping them, "We'll have to pause for now. It seems we have a guest." The blonde woman said while the three other teens raised an eyebrow.
They suddenly felt a slight change of pressure in the air as Yugito turned around laying her eyes on a heavily mangled Naruto.
The three other teens looked toward the blond in shock, he looked awful. He was covered in bruises and scratches, his clothes were basically shredded save for his scarf and one of his eyes was shut, being slightly bruised.
The biggest thing they noticed was that they didn't see him approach.
"Yo."
The blonde remarked casually as the rest of the group sans Yugito stared toward the young man in surprise. It had been hours within the same day yet while his appearance looked disheveled, Naruto's presence had felt completely different.
Almost as if he wasn't the same person that he was only hours ago.
"Fu, we'll get to your training in a moment… Yugito."
Naruto spoke not even passing a glance toward as his eye focused on the blonde woman who stared back at him as he lifted a finger.
"Fight me."
Naruto said while the young woman exhaled out of her nose, "I admire your dedication, you however are in no condition to fight. We'll spar after you rest." She spoke before she hardly felt a breeze.
"I feel fine though."
Naruto said as Yugito gave him a surprised look as he was now in front of her, covering the distance between them almost instantly. "You've gotten faster, I can tell you've made progress. I can also tell you're running on nothing but adrenaline… you still want to fight regardless?" Yugito's eyes adopted a gleam to them as Naruto faced her unfazed as he only wordlessly nodded at her getting his point across.
"What the hell happened to him? He just disappeared for a few hours and now all the sudden he's just going to duke it out with Yugi?"
Boro asked out loud as Tsubasa looked at the blond teen with awe, not a lot of time had passed in training for the day, and he still stood up to any challenge.
That made Tsubasa realize that he hadn't truly met a ninja before he ran into Naruto.
"Damn."
Fu said simply as Naruto and Yugito continued to stare each other down, "We'll skip formalities." The woman said as the younger blonde just blinked.
Suddenly they were separated, Tsubasa, Fu, and Boro watched as Yugito barely allowed her feet to touch the ground before she lancelot herself toward him.
'He'll likely use his speed to his advantage; I can't give him time to activate his jutsu.'
Yugito spun kicking toward Naruto who slowly swayed out of the way of the kick, completely avoiding it. The blonde woman immediately put up her guard for a counterattack, but she noticed something off about it.
Naruto's punch was moving slowly, he wasn't even utilizing his jutsu for it as he usually did. His eye remained focused on her with an emotionless expression.
Yugito watched his fist attempting to dodge it as a sudden shock went down her spine before the air exploded violently around them.
Tsubasa and Boro covered their eyes as Fu's hair whipped wildly from the impact, "What happened?! I didn't see any hand signs!" The girl yelled as Yugito blasted backward from the impact, already lining up another attack.
Naruto flew out of the smoke toward Yugito, the woman jabbed at him only for Naruto to block it with one leg following it up with another kick right after it.
Yugito blocked the kick watching Naruto spin in front of her, the blond seemed to allow himself to move through the air lazily. His blue eye remained on hers as Yugito narrowed her eyes that flashed a darker blue before suddenly they were both off again.
Tsubasa was having a hard time keeping up with the multiple impacts going off between them both in the air and on the ground as they rapidly attacked each other.
Boro's jaw dropped watching the display in front of him while Fu's eyes sparkled at the sight, her eyes had been long adjusted to high speed due to Chomei and her experience with flight.
Yet even her eyes were having trouble keeping up with the clashing ninja in front of her, making her blood boil with excitement.
Another clash shook the grass around them violently as Yugito quickly produced blue flames that were shaped like rats in her hands. She quickly pivoted off her heel before throwing them, the rats quickly split into multiple ones showering the flames toward Naruto.
Naruto simply moved his head around before making a knife hand, swiping several out of the air with Wind chakra before he leaned doing the last one before unleashing the blade of wind from his hand in a slash.
Yugito watched as the wind slash suddenly increased in size as she stuck her palm downward covering it with more blue flames. She slashed upward, splitting the wind blade in time to barely react to a kick from Naruto.
Yugito threw him off, snapping a kick into his frame that he blocked with his arms before she placed her hands on the ground, blue flames splashed up around her as she cut through them.
Naruto smoothly used one of his hands to deflect her jab as her nails extended, Yugito quickly thrusted her hand toward the teen in a rapid motion three times. Naruto dodged two of the three jabs before creating a small wind barrier between them, which made Yugito slide backward slightly as she struck toward him again.
The blond obliged, making a knife hand that quickly gathered wind around it, they clashed against each other again.
Naruto and Yugito slashed at each other with their respective chakra blades using their free hands to deflect and attempt to create openings in their opponent's guard. They both slashed at each other aggressively before their hands met fire met wind before the techniques twisted releasing a massive plume of smoke.
Yugito ran around it while forming hand signs, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" The blonde fired the flames toward Naruto whose body spun in the close spread of flames.
He merely opened his palm unleashing three wind blasts, the wind cut through the flames with ease as the first two exploded before the third landed directly on Yugito.
The wind bursted in a strong gust that revealed Yugito was no longer in there, Naruto blocked downward as Yugito kicked him upward with a hard kick.
Yugito then quickly set her foot back on the ground as she was immediately in the air in pursuit, she cut through the air in an 'X' shape against Naruto's guard before she firmly planted her feet on the teen backflipping as she launched him toward the ground.
The woman then spat out a blue flaming rat that she kicked as she spun toward Naruto below, the blond got to his feet winding up his own back kick as the attacks collided as her kick landed.
Another explosion shook the field as Yugito slid across the grass still standing straight, 'He's changed not only how he attacks but reacts to being attacked, it's almost unconscious. He's still so drained he can't properly mold his chakra into jutsu.' The woman stared at the younger blond down as she nodded.
"Very good, let's take some of the weight off now."
Yugito spoke as her eyes changed into a dark blue color, a tail made of blue flames suddenly sprouted from her back and whipped around wildly.
"These guys are nuts…"
Boro spoke as Tsubasa was rendered speechless as he watched the tattered boy roll his shoulder, his sole blue eye undeterred.
"Don't blink now boys, this is where they get serious."
Fu had an excited rumble in her voice keeping her eyes on the fight, the grass around Naruto shook as his whisker marks frayed only slightly.
His eyes flashed red then back to blue as it looked like the Nine Tails chakra was struggling to stick as the physical tail that formed did the same. Yugito exploded toward Naruto even faster than she was before, the blond hardly had time to react as she attacked him rapidly.
He watched the pupils in her eyes sharpen as Naruto struggled to keep up with her, his eyes still flashing between red and blue. Yugito then punched forward only for her fist to be caught, her blue eyes now looking into Naruto's red ones.
She was thrown backward before the blond dashed; following up his attack he kneed her his eyes turned blue again, Yugito lifted her guard up blocking another attack.
This attack nearly broke her guard, a smile cracked across her face as she spotted Naruto's eyes were red again.
They separated once more, Yugito slid on all fours allowing her chakra to flare around her violently as Naruto adopted his fighting stance, obliging her by flaring his own chakra.
His eyes continuing to blink red and blue even faster than before, whatever was going on with him he clearly didn't have much time left.
The pair had one more violent clash that shook the grass around them violently threatening to knock over the trio of onlookers. Shortly afterward Yugito stood over Naruto's unconscious form, he gently breathed in and out as the woman dusted herself off.
"I figured this would be the case."
Yugito spoke while Tsubasa, Boro, and Fu continued to give the pair surprised looks, "You overwhelmed yourself, that was some real dangerous territory you placed yourself in, Naruto." The woman continued to speak as the blond suddenly sat up.
"Huh?! Did I win?"
Naruto asked as Yugito gave him an entertained look, "No. You did impress me; however, it was a good effort. Honestly I really wish you would have waited to recover." The woman said stretching.
"Dang it, I at least had you on the ropes, right?"
Naruto asked while Yugito popped her neck slightly flinching at the sound, "You trained using your Shadow Clones, didn't you? I'm guessing you had them all train different things before making them vanish, your body maintained the information, but your mind went on autopilot. You were unconscious for most of our fight. In the future I want you to keep in mind your limits when it comes to gaining information from your clones." Yugito lectured as Naruto sighed.
"Yeah, it did feel a little crazy suddenly absorbing all that stuff at once."
Naruto scratched the back of his head while the blonde woman put her hands on her hips, "In terms of speed you far outmatched me, not to mention your difference in tactics. However, I still outmatched you in power and technique. Had you not been unconscious, you may have been able to better close the gap. So instead of running off of pure adrenaline, try to maintain your concentration and consciousness." The woman continued to lecture as the blonde looked toward the grass.
"Other than that, you did manage to make me try a bit. Good work."
Yugito said, causing Naruto to chuckle before he got to his feet, "I'll keep that in mind… I'll surpass you yet, Yugito!" the teen exclaimed as the woman allowed a small smile to form on her face.
"That… was… Awesome! Me next! Me next! I wanna train super hard and fight like that! You guys were both super cool! Yugito with her flames and Naruto with his cool looking dodges and stares!"
Fu went off on her excited tangent while swinging at the air as the rest of the group laughed at her antics until Tsubasa stepped forward.
"Yugito, if you still have it in you. Could you continue to train us… That display made me realize we have a long way to go, I… I can't let Naruto fight alone. I won't."
The smoky haired teen spoke as Naruto looked toward him, "Man… I can't look like an asshole so I'm with him. Please continue to kick our asses." Boro said with a bow as the woman gave them an entertained look.
"Glad to see the spark is still in your eyes, we'll continue then."
Yugito said while Fu bounded over to Naruto, "Naruto! Come on, rest up a bit and then you help me train!" The girl still had excitement in her voice as the blond nodded.
"I'm good. Let's go, Fu."
The teen said, causing the girl to cheer before she followed the blond, Yugito stared at Naruto's back as he walked with the girl. Naruto was a monster of progress, even in their world a ninja like him was an abnormality.
Yugito found herself grateful that his heart was kind.
{...}
Haruka held her swollen belly as she watched the beaten group of ninjas returning to their home from the door.
It had gotten late; she admired their dedication being enough to push them to such lengths. However, it was now time for then to rest before they would do it again over this next week and a half.
Here she would always wait for them.
"Welcome back."
Haruka greeted them gently while a beaten Boro gave her a small bow, "I'm… back." The tired teen spoke as he nearly collapsed at the door.
Fu wasted no time dragging him in even in her own disheveled state, "Dinner smells good!" The girl tried to muster her normal energy but even she was exhausted from their training.
"Thank you, Haruka."
Tsubasa spoke while the brown-haired girl nodded her head, "Naruto…" her honey-colored eyes landed on the beaten looking blond who was speaking to Yugito on the way in.
"How am I supposed to make more progress if I don't push myself?"
Naruto complained as the older blonde sighed, "Pushing yourself until you break isn't training, trust me… Don't try your Shadow Clone training with over 70 clones ever again." Yugito scolded him.
To Haruka she almost seemed like an older sister doting on her little brother, despite the harshness in her voice she could clearly see that the woman cared.
"Haruka."
Yugito spoke giving her a small bow as she walked into the compound, Haruka quickly bowed back before her eyes landed on Naruto who smiled at her.
"Thanks for covering for me, while I was out."
Naruto said as Haruka shook her head, "Naruto… you don't have to do everything by yourself. I owe you all, this is the least I could do." The girl said while the blond looked her in the eye.
"You don't owe us a thing, Haruka. I'm sure things are already kinda tough with your condition, asking you to do anything really seems like too much."
Naruto scratched the back of his head as Haruka's lips curled slightly, "I'm doing this because I want to. Even you have no say in that except for thank you." Haruka surprised Naruto with her newfound boldness.
"Thank you."
The teen spoke as the girl smiled before her smiled dropped, the blond noticed this and gave her a curious look.
"Haruka?"
Naruto spoke as the girl looked back into his eyes, "It's still a little hard, honestly… Looking everyone in the eyes. You just got back after being torn apart and it was because of me… I know I shouldn't blame myself, but I can't imagine that some of them do." Haruka explained to Naruto who nodded.
"Haruka, I don't blame you. I'm sure they don't either, you're one of us now. Getting hurt in the line of battle comes with the job. I'm not dead and neither are you, that's what matters."
Naruto said as Haruka closed her eyes as she nodded, "I know." The brown-haired girl then felt his hand touch her shoulder gently.
"Let's go eat."
Naruto said while Haruka followed him inside, a thought occurred to him as they were walking into the compound.
Where was Tayuya?
He hadn't seen her anywhere yet, he kind of expected her to be at the front with Haruka ready to greet them from their training. Naruto was sat down by Haruka who went back to the kitchen as the blond noticed Tsubasa, Boro, Fu, and Yugito already had their bowls.
The meal for tonight was a hardy Katsudon, but that wasn't the question going through his mind at the moment.
If Haruka was just with him… how did everyone get their food so fast?
"Wipe that look off of your face, Shithead. You look like an idiot."
Tayuya's familiar voice filled his ears, causing him to look over toward her as a bowl was set down right in front of him.
She was standing beside him, his blue eyes slowly widened as the smile on his face did the same as she confidently smiled back at him. "Something on my face?" The girl joked as Naruto jumped out of his seat, Tayuya was standing at her full height on her own without support.
"Seriously?"
Naruto asked with an excited tremble in his voice as Tayuya took a few steps side to side before she smirked, "Yup." Her reply was simple.
His response wasn't.
"HELL YEAH!"
Naruto cheered, lifting the girl by her waist before he spun with her in his arms causing the rest of the group to start cheering. Haruka watched the scene unfold with a big smile on her face, Naruto's face was filled with joy as he spun with the girl in his arms.
"Oi! Put me down, you crazy bastard!"
Tayuya tried to insult him with an embarrassed look on her face, Naruto couldn't stop himself from chuckling before he set her down as gently as he could.
"Tayuya… You-"
He was cut off by the reddish haired girl grinning at him, "Yeah, I'm just good like that. I know. That being said, I'll be back in action in no time so watch out." The girl said as her eyes shot toward Boro for a moment.
The brown-haired teen immediately covered his backside in a reflex.
"Now sit the hell down. Your food is going to get cold."
Tayuya ordered causing Naruto's eyes to linger on her as he slowly took his hands off of her smaller frame.
The girl then turned taking a few steps toward the kitchen, her steps had a slight tremble to them one could tell she was putting in a lot of effort just to walk the short distance.
Tayuya stumbled slightly only for Haruka to reach out her hand, the reddish haired girl took it before she finished walking into the kitchen. A touched expression landed on Naruto's face before Fu made a loud noise, "This is so good!" Her squeal prompted Yugito to give her a look.
"Fu, it's rude to make so much noise at the table."
Yugito spoke trying to hide her own smile behind her hand as she ate, Tsubasa smiled at the girl as he began to eat as well.
"Damn, Haruka really put her all into this huh?"
Boro asked as he ate his food with gusto, "Yeah, this might be some of the best food I've ever had!" Fu responded as Haruka flushed, waving her hand at the green haired girl in embarrassment.
Tayuya sat next to Naruto with her own food as Haruka soon joined them, the blond teen watched as everyone conversed in front of him.
He couldn't help but feel any kind of stress he might had melted away, all of these people around him.
They were all precious to him.
When he balled up his fists, he was looking at the exact reason why he did it right now, it was like the family he never really had was sitting with him at the table.
For them… he would go further than he's ever gone before.
"So, you're saying my cooking isn't good?"
Naruto asked, causing Fu's eyes to shoot open as she almost dropped her chopsticks, "N-no! I never said that!" Fu exclaimed while Boro swallowed.
"I don't know, man. With cooking like this from Haruka, it looks like we'll be revoking your house husband status."
Boro joked as Naruto laughed, "What even is that?" The teen asked as Tayuya rolled her eyes before pointing her chopsticks at the brown-haired teen.
"I'm adding that to the list."
Tayuya threatened while Boro went pale, "Huh? There's a list?!" the young man yelled as the rest of the table ate together.
That night they enjoyed dinner together, ready for what the day tomorrow would bring.
{...}
"You've made it through day one, with somewhat decent progress. Still, we barely scratched the surface of your training, brat."
The voice of the Nine Tailed Fox rumbled as Naruto sat in the cage with him once more staring up toward him.
"Same as usual?"
Naruto asked already ready to jump into his training as the fox revealed his teeth in a grin before showing him more images. This time it was of his fight with Yugito when he was unconscious, Naruto studied the material in front of him as the fox looked down at him.
"She's the current standard, you need to adapt and progress past that standard. Then that insect won't stand a chance."
Kurama said while the blonde gave him a look, "The pressure I'm placing on you will only continue to build until you start to utilize your potential. Build or break, Brat." Kurama's voice faded away as Naruto was no longer in the cage instead, he was by the stream he trained at.
His clones though there were fewer of them were continuing their drills, Jutsu, Stances, Chakra Channeling, and finally…
Combat.
"Ready, Boss?"
One of his clones asked as Naruto stared toward them, he took his scarf off as he popped his knuckles. His clones took that as their que as they approached him, Naruto watched his clones approaching as the one in the middle had its face flash for a moment.
Into the Bandit King's grinning face.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, approaching the clones with a determined look on his face.
"I'm more than ready."