Chapter 6 revised and edited. Review or PM me on what you think about this chapter now.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'Heavily demonic voice'

'Fox talking'

"Fox thinking"

*expression*

Jutsu

Flashback

Chapter 6 – Training, Dreams and Preciousness

Kakashi was still exhausted when he regained consciousness and found he was lying on a mattress, in what he correctly assumed was Tazuna's house. After using his Sharingan for an extended period of time he had used up too much chakra and was suffering from chakra exhaustion. Team Seven was gathered around Kakashi when Kakashi spoke. 'I think, Zabuza is alive.'

'What!' Screamed Sakura in fear.

'Sakura, how does a tracker ninja dispose of a body?' Asked Kakashi.

'Tracker ninja destroy the body as quickly and efficiently as possible.' Recited Sakura, before her eyes widened slightly.

'Exactly. Also, the weapons he used where senbon needles which stun and hardly ever kill, unless they strike a vital organ, none of which are in the neck. Therefore, based on this evidence I think it's safe to say he wasn't trying to kill Zabuza, but was trying to save him.' Concluded Kakashi.

'So what do we do now?' Asked Naruto in a level tone.

'Well I'm no condition to fight right now, so I think it's time I trained you three a bit more.' Said Kakashi, while giving his patented eye smile

-line break-

Team Seven had journeyed outside and walked into an area laden with trees. After travelling a certain distance into the woods, Kakashi stopped and turned to face his Genin.

'Ok, the exercise I am going to teach you now is the tree walking exercise. To do this, you build up chakra in the soles of your feet and simply walk up the tree.' Said Kakashi, who then proceeded to demonstrate walking up the tree using only his chakra.

While Sasuke and Sakura were surprised, Naruto had a look of indifference on his face. Kakashi saw this and wondered why Naruto wasn't surprised.

'Naruto, have you seen this exercise before?' He asked.

Naruto shook his head and replied, 'No I can do it though.' Naruto then walked up the tree as well to the amazement of his teammates, while Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow.

'I can also walk on water.' He stated in a bored tone.

'Hmm, ok then, here is the plan. Sasuke and Sakura, you two climb the trees and mark where you get up to with these kunai.' Said Kakashi while throwing down two kunai.

'Naruto, you come with me.' Naruto and Kakashi walked off until Kakashi stopped and asked Naruto an important question.

'Naruto, do you know anything about what happened in the village fifteen years ago, or how it may affect you?' Asked Kakashi cautiously.

'Well Kakashi-sensei I assume you are talking about Kyuubi.' Kakashi's eye widened, as he did not expect Naruto to know about that.

'H-How do you know about that?' He asked.

'Well on my fifteenth birthday he spoke to me and gave me a gift. He allowed me to use his chakra and sign the summoning contract for foxes. In exchange he gained access to my senses and thoughts and can now speak to me at will, but I can still block him out if I want to.' Finished Naruto.

Kakashi composed himself before speaking.

'So this means you have access to a large amount of chakra, right?' Asked Kakashi, to which Naruto nodded.

'Ok then, before I get on to what I want to, I have to ask for the safety of the village, can you control it?' Said Kakashi, with the most seriousness Naruto had ever seen.

'Yeah, even if I summon him, he told me that his will is partially under my control, so if I expressly forbid him from, say, destroying the village, he won't be able to, which I'm assuming is the reason you asked.' Said Naruto sensing Kakashi's distress.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and then spoke again.

'Ok Naruto, since you have such an ample amount of chakra, I'm going to teach you one of the many jutsu I have copied over the years. This move is called Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu.' Said Kakashi before showing Naruto the hand signs and then told him to practice.

"Hey Kyuubi, how can I use fire style if I have a wind affinity?" Asked Naruto.

'Just when I think you have a brain, you go out of your way to prove me wrong. I told you that your natural affinity is easier to do, I didn't say it's the only element you can use. In any case, I have a fire affinity and therefore so do you when you use my chakra, so if you want, use my chakra when you use fire style jutsu, so it is easier for you.' Said Kyuubi in a bored drawl.

Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's chakra and proceeded to attempt the jutsu. He aimed at a tree in front of him, made the hand signs and then said, 'Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu.'

As he said this, a massive ball of fire came out of his mouth turning the tree into a smouldering pile of ashes. Naruto kept doing this until he barely used any chakra to do it. After Naruto mastered this jutsu the fox spoke up.

'Now that you have mastered this jutsu and experienced how to use fire style jutsu I'm going to teach you one of my strongest fire style jutsu. The only drawback is that you can't use this skill without my chakra, whereas you could have used either my or your own chakra for the Grand Fireball Jutsu, this is not the case with this one. This technique is called the Nine-Tailed Fox Fire Stream and its strength increases depending on how many tails you unleash, more tails, more power.' Explained Kyuubi.

Naruto tried to use this in his initial Kyuubi form, but it didn't work so he reluctantly allowed one tail to appear and then tried it. Naruto growled in pain as the one tailed cloak covered him. Naruto felt the prickle of needles along his skin while he found his usual cheerful inner voice become quiet.
Naruto crouched down into a fox-like position with his palms touching the ground. He gathered his chakra in his chest and let it travel up his throat before opening his mouth while thinking "Nine-Tailed Fox Fire Stream."

A wide stream of fire was immediately expelled from Naruto's mouth and after it ejected his mouth, it doubled in size and rushed at the tree. A loud bang was heard indicating the breaking of wood, so Naruto stopped his jutsu to observe the damage.

Not only did the stream burn the tree he was aiming at, but it also went right through it as well as another five behind it. Naruto was amazed, but then collapsed to the ground panting. As this was his first time unleashing the first tail, he was extremely exhausted, so he decided to stop training and see how Sasuke and Sakura were doing.

-line break-

Naruto walked back to where they had been and found them still there, running up the tree in Sasuke's case, or panting or the floor in Sakura's case. Both had managed to reach the top based on the kunai scratches, so Naruto walked over to them.

'Yo, you guys mastered this yet, huh, oh great Uchiha?' Asked Naruto with a sarcasm heavy voice.

Sasuke back flipped off the tree and gave a small scoff, before turning away from Naruto, much to his amusement. Before he could continue on, Kakashi appeared and loudly cleared his throat, drawing their attention.

'Ok my cute little Genin, I think we have done enough training for now, so starting tomorrow we protect the bridge builder as he builds the bridge.' Announced Kakashi.

-line break-

When they returned to Tazuna's house, they arrived just in time to sit down to eat dinner at the table. Inari, Tazuna's grandson had been watching them train today and finally started to speak to them.

'Why are you guys training so hard, it's not like you are going to be able to change anything? You guys are just kids, you won't stand a chance against someone like Gato.' Said Inari in a flat tone.

'You want to know why. It is because I'm going to become the Hokage, it's my dream.' Replied Naruto.

'Dreams are just that, dreams, and only stupid little kids believe them. Anyway, why are you sticking your nose in our business for? Gato has hundreds of men and all of them will tear you to shreds if you go against him and for what? You have no idea what it is like to suffer that's why you dream, you think everything works out well, but it doesn't!' Shouted Inari angrily, with tears coming to his eyes.

The entire room went silent. Kakashi stared concernedly at Naruto, knowing just what he had to endure. Naruto's bangs were covering his eyes as he spoke.

'You think I don't know what it is like to suffer? Kid, you have no idea what it's like to suffer! In fact, I think you're nothing but a coward!' Naruto shouted as he looked Inari straight in the eye, glaring at him heatedly with an oppressive aura falling over the table.

Inari begun to whimper but before he started crying, he went to his room.

'Naruto, you went too far, go and apologise to him.' Demanded Sakura.

'Shut up Sakura, you shouldn't talk about matters you have no idea about!' Thundered Naruto.

Sakura whimpered, but wisely shut her mouth, not having seen Naruto lose his cool before and certainly never towards her.

After a few seconds, the oppressive aura lifted.

'I'm sorry for what Inari said, Naruto, but you shouldn't be too hard on him.' Said Inari's mother Tsunami in a soft voice.

'I suppose I should tell you why Inari is the way he is.' Said Tazuna tiredly.

Tazuna told them about Kaiza and how he taught the Land of Waves and Inari what the true meaning of courage was, as well as his relationship with Inari and how close they were. He then finished by telling them how he died at the hands of Gato's oppression.

There was silence once the story was finished. The silence was broken when Naruto spoke up as he stood up.

'Inari is still a coward, but I will promise you all this: if I ever meet this Gato, I will kill him.' Declared Naruto.

With that he left the room and went into the woods to train, finding himself still keyed up from earlier today. Kakashi on the other hand went to speak with Inari.

-line break-

'Mind if I join you?' Asked Kakashi, having found Inari had left his room and gone outside. Inari didn't respond, so Kakashi sat down on the pier like construct next to Inari outside the house, looking out at the water.

'What Naruto said was cruel, but true. Let me tell you something about him and you might understand him a bit better. In our village, Naruto is an outcast, no friends, and no family. There are many in our village who despise him for something he had no control over.' Begun Kakashi.

Inari raised his head a bit and looked out at the water, begrudgingly thinking that Naruto must have suffered a great deal, considering that Inari at least still had some family.

'As cruel as it was that which he said to you, he has probably told himself that a million times. My guess is he got tired of crying and doing nothing and finally decided to do something about it. That is why he wants to be Hokage, so everyone will have to acknowledge him.' Explained Kakashi.

With his piece being said, Kakashi left, leaving Inari to think.

-line break-

Naruto was enraged that there were people like Kaiza who suffered because of people like Gato. Naruto thought he had some idea of the depths to which humans could sink, but this story served to teach him that people could go even lower than he thought possible. Wanting a way to vent his frustration, he began some physical training, mostly push ups and log kicks, but he kept thinking about the injustice of it all. Naruto's anger continued to slowly climb causing him to unknowingly tap into the Kyuubi's chakra, which he didn't even notice until he saw his leg had a red chakra cloak around it, which accompanied the first tail. He became angrier and angrier and before he knew it, he had unleashed the second tail, causing his emotions to peak. Feeling something snap, Naruto's anger spiked and in a wild rage, he launched the Nine-Tailed Fox Fire Stream and decimated twenty trees in front of him. Not satisfied he then turned around in a circle and launched the stream in all directions, which led to him decimating the area and burning anything within a five hundred metre radius. Naruto's cloak then receded, and he promptly passed out due to chakra exhaustion.

-line break-

Naruto awoke to someone shaking him.

'You'll catch a cold if you sleep here.' Said the voice.

'Huh what?' Said Naruto groggily waking up.

As his eyes focused, he looked up to see the face of a girl.

'Oh, hi there.' Said Naruto.

'What are you doing out here?' The girlasked.

The girl had long black hair, pale skin, and large, dark-brown eyes. Her long hair was loose, and she wore a pink, sleeveless, low-cut kimono, with pale red edges, and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls, that went to her ankles.
Around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and she wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps. To add to this quite feminine appearance, she also wore a dark choker around her neck.

'I'm not too sure, I came out here to train, but now I'm not sure what I'm doing here, I just feel drained. What are you doing here?' Replied Naruto in confusion.

'I'm gathering medicinal herbs.' Replied the stranger.

"Wow she is really pretty." He thought.

'Kit, she is a boy.' Said Kyuubi, emphasising the feminine pronoun.

"What?" Shouted Naruto in his mind, slightly shivering.

'This person is the hunter ninja you met before.' Replied Kyuubi, with a bit of mirth in his voice.

"Well let's see." Thought Naruto.

'Hey, can I ask you a question.' Naruto asked the stranger, to which the stranger nodded.

'Are you the hunter ninja who saved Zabuza?' Asked Naruto seriously.

'Before I answer, will you react rashly if I tell you the truth?' The stranger asked, with Naruto quickly shaking his head.

'In that case, yes, I am the hunter ninja.' Was the honest reply from the stranger.

Naruto thought about it for a while and then only one question came to mind.

'Why?' He asked.

'Why what?' Replied the stranger.

'Why do you serve a person like Zabuza?' Asked Naruto.

'He is precious to me.' The boy stated. 'Do you understand what it means to have precious people?' Questioned the boy.

Naruto thought about those who were precious to him. His mind went straight to Iruka, then the Third Hokage, and quickly cycled through everyone else who acknowledged him as himself and not the Nine-Tailed-Fox.

'Yeah, I understand what you mean, and I guess like you I would be more than willing to help them as well.' Replied Naruto, to which the boy smiled.

'Very well then, you now have your answer. Rest now for later, as we will meet in battle and when that time comes, we will have to fight to do what we can for our precious people.' Said the boy, as he stood and started to walk away.

'Wait! Before you leave, I would like to ask you two things.' Said Naruto, causing the boy to pause, allowing Naruto to continue.

'What is your name, and do you have a dream?' Asked Naruto genuinely curious.

'My name is Haku, and my dream is for Zabuza's dreams to become a reality. What are yours?' Asked Haku.

'My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and my dream is to become the Hokage so everyone will acknowledge me.' Said Naruto.

'Well it was nice to meet you, Naruto.' Said Haku, with a small smile.

'Likewise Haku. Although we may be enemies at one point, I would like to ask you if you will be my friend?' Asked Naruto.

'I would like that.' Haku said with a smile.

'Friends?' Questioned Naruto, as he extended his hand.

Haku hesitated for a moment, before reaching his hand forward, taking Naruto's hand in his own and shook it.

'Friends.' Agreed Haku, getting a small smile from Naruto.