It was a warm spring day that felt like it was already summer, though the mood was brought down a bit by the dark clouds that seemed to be forming overhead. Naruto was taking a break from his most recent lesson with Tsunade. To his dismay he was ordered to relax and "smell the trees." He wasn't even allowed to use his kage bunshin to continue his studies as he walked through the village.
He had to admit though, it was nice to feel the breeze of summer right now. Though he could do without the humidity. As he was walking closer to the outskirts of the village marketplace he began to look up at the clouds. It wasn't bad but Naruto preferred a clear sky. Then he would have the warmth of the sun to relax to as well as remember the time he and Tsunade rested in the field where he first summoned Katsuyu. He had gone back there several times since his return to Konoha, often times with Tsunade when they need to relax for a time. He did have to admit, his new vest made a great pillow when he wanted to lay down. Though he often lent it to Tsunade where she would then tease him about be a chivalrous little maelstrom, getting him to blush.
He had been promoted a few days after their return. Sadly, he was the only one to be promoted but Sasuke and Shino were close. It was barely a few days after he returned from his near two weeklong mission when the teams that had members that made it to the final round of the Chunin Selection Exams were called into Tsunade's office to announce any promotions. Every one of the Genin stood in front of their Jonin sensei as they all stood before Tsunade. Lee was once again back in his green spandex with orange leg warmers. Neji had both of his hands wrapped like Lee while Tenten seemed to add another utility pouch to her belt. Everyone was surprised to see the mask Naruto had on the side of his head. 'Why a kitsune?' thought Sakura. The Jonin, who were not on the mission, were surprised that the boy had chosen such a creature considering not only his relation to it but how Konoha felt about such creatures. Kakashi in turn also felt pride and was tempted to wipe away an imaginary tear from his eye. One of his students was going to wear a mask like his sensei, even if the mask was nowhere near like his own.
As they stood, Tsunade sat at her desk, her fingers steepled before her mouth as Shizune stood behind her with a clipboard in hand while Tonton seemed to be guarding the door. Tsunade began addressing everyone before her. "Thank you all for coming. First of all, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for making it as far as you did for your first Chunin Exams." At those words many puffed up their chests in pride, even those that got knocked out in the preliminaries while another was silently promising to himself to go all the way next time. "Second of all, I would like to announce those that earned a promotion to Chunin." At those words, all the Genin stiffened as they hoped it would be them that got promoted. Tsunade ran her gaze across all those that were standing before her until her gaze settled on Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki. Step forward." Holding back his growing smile, Naruto did as order. "For your skills and tactics demonstrated throughout the exams. It has been decided that you are here by promoted to the rank of Chunin" she said as she smiled at her second apprentice. Naruto let out a cheer of happiness, as some in the crowd applauded his success. Shizune walked forward and presented her clipboard to Naruto. Held by the clasp was a form that awaited his signature that stated he is promoted and that his signature acknowledges the promotion. There was also a seal at the bottom of the page, that once he signed the paper, summoned a Chunin vest which Naruto eagerly put on as he smiled brightly.
The mood was broken when Kiba shouted out only to be chastised by his sensei afterwards, "WHAT?! How come he get promoted?!" Naruto took his place back in line as Tsunade turned her attention towards him. "He showed tactical thinking, the development of a new skill beyond the basic three from the academy, and the ability to both end fights quickly and efficiently as well as restraint so he could capture targets if required during the tournament. I understand that during the preliminaries his combat performance was unsatisfactory however the preliminaries were used as a supplement to narrow down the participants and not a true phase of the exam. It still allows all judges to see a Genin's skill however it can only be used as another note and not a make or break for promotion due to their rarity" explained Tsunade.
Shikamaru spoke up as he had a question. "If part of the criteria is being able to capture targets, my squad and I can already do that so shouldn't we also get promoted?"
"While it is true that you three can do this, you three need to work together and lack the skills to do so on your own" she explained. This gave, at least, Shikamaru and Asuma something to think about. "Also, the Second Phase of the Exam is being overlooked for all participants as we only know who made it to the tower and not what you did to gather your second scroll. This is a major oversight by the Proctor of the Second Exam. Because of this we are unable to evaluate your skills in that section of the exam. And even though his academic score for the first exam was not great, for the first part almost everyone in this room was docked as all of your methods were rather obvious to the examiners. The main reason you all were not kicked from the exam was because it was one time you were caught and not your third. To that end your sensei's will be teaching you other methods to utilize to gather information or will teach you methods to conceal your attempts" she said with a glare.
The Jonin, especially Kakashi, were either adjusting their collars from her heated stare or attempting to distract themselves from the woman's ire. Their Genin were also looking at them with looks of betrayal or anger that they only survived the exam on a whim. Naruto on the other hand became excited. "Does that mean you'll be giving me some super cool methods Tsu-chan?!" Tsunade nodded with a smile on her face. "Yes I will." Before Naruto could cheer, Tsunade interrupted him. "However, you better tell me what Kakashi has already went over with you every time we meet so we do not waste time retreading the same thing unless it is for review, understand?" Naruto nodded quickly with a look of terror on his face at her overly sweet smile. The Jonin and his team knew of his apprenticeship to the Hokage but the other Genin in the room did not. Needless to say, they were surprised.
"Wait! Hold up!" shouted Tenten, getting everyone's attention. "Naruto how do you know Tsunade-dono?" Naruto beamed with a bright smile on his face as he recalled the memory of how they met. "She's the one who trained me for the finals" he said dropping the bomb.
"What?!" many of the rookies shouted in unison. "Yeah. After Kakashi-sensei said he couldn't train me he passed me off to this closet pervert Ebisu who took me to the hot springs to learn water walking." The Jonin tried to be give Kakashi harsh glares but they had no leg to stand on as only one of their students had made it to the Third Round and they either didn't over see their training or had lost handily despite their training. "Well I struggled with it because the Hebi-teme put a seal on me that threw my chakra control out of whack during the second exam."
Kiba interrupted Naruto at that statement. "Hold on! Are you telling me you beat me when you couldn't even control your chakra?!" shouted the Inuzuka. Naruto wanted to brag about how much of a badass he is but a look from Tsunade shut him down quick, so he just nodded enthusiastically making Kiba hang his head in shame. "Well anyways" continued Naruto. "This white haired man was peeping in the hot spring, giggling like an idiot, so the closet perv tried to stop him but the white haired man summoned a toad and knocked out the closet perv." The Jonin figured out immediately who Naruto was refereeing to while only few of the Genin had figured it out, namely Tenten, Sakura, and Shikamaru. All they needed was the clue of the white hair and that they summoned a toad. As the one who was Tsunade's biggest fan, she knew everything public about the woman while Shikamaru and Sakura just recalled the information they were either forced to study by their mother or read about during the academy to show off.
Shino, and Sasuke had theorized who he may be referring to but were not entirely sure, at least until Tenten shouted out the answer. "You mean Jiraiya-sama?!" shouted Tenten. Naruto nodded dejectedly at her question. "Yeah the Pervy Sage" Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well after he introduced himself with some dumb dance and as the guy who writes Kakashi-sensei's books…," here the man in question got a disgusted look from Sasuke and a murderous one from Sakura making him squirm uncomfortably in his spot, "I got into a shouting match about him being a pervert. Well our shouting attracted Tsu-chan who came out of the hot spring and punched him into the horizon."
Here Naruto gained a starry-eyed look. "I mean she literally punched him so hard that he flew so far I couldn't even see him he flew so far!" Tsunade looked a little embarrassed at her little outburst from when she first Naruto. She had only punched him out because he was being his usual perverted self, she hadn't expected to pick-up another apprentice that day. Despite her embarrassment she wouldn't change what she did for the world. Tenten looked downright jealous. She had been Tsunade's biggest fan for a long time and the fact she missed out on the chance to meet the woman made her envious of the now Chunin. Heck, he even got to witness her superstrength punch in action, something she would gladly trade her left arm for.
Naruto then smiled brightly, "After I saw her do that, I asked her to train me and well you know the rest" he explained, his smile remaining. Tsunade, deciding to have a bit of fun, spoke up. "Oh, you're not going to tell them that the shockwave of my punch caused you to fall on your but?" she asked with a giggle behind her hand. Naruto looked at the older blonde as he cried, "Tsu-chan!"
The rookies were left speechless from what they just heard. "So the one who trained you to be a medic was the Godaime" stated a bored Shikamaru, his words confirmed by Tsunade and Shizune's nods along with Naruto's enthusiastic nod. The reactions to that statement from the Genin out of the know were highly mixed, more so because they couldn't believe that Naruto was being trained by a Sannin and as a medic no less. Ino's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted, falling back. Before she hit the ground however she was caught by her larger than average teammate. "Ino! Ino!" cried Choji dramatically only to be met with several deadpan stares from everyone, while Shikamaru held his face in his hand at the actions of his best friend.
Neji was left speechless, further realizing how much danger he was in from the punch Naruto was about to hit him with. The one he was not concerned with. Given his trainer, the punch Naruto was going to strike him with could have killed him, leading to the older Hyuga to silently gulp at the thought and curse his arrogance for his near death. Tenten was jealous, to the point that she was grinding her teeth together as rage against the spiky haired blonde could be seen clearly in her eyes. She had aspired to be like Tsunade Senju since she was in the academy. She had tried to follow in the woman's path as a medic, only to be met with failure. Now, here was someone who had poor academic abilities getting the opportunity she sought after. Tenten needed to take several deep breaths to calm down. 'Well at least there is still The Redheaded Angel who can train me … if I can find her' thought the bun haired girl. Lee for his part was excited about the orange clad blonde's promotion. "Guy-sensei" spoke the bowl cut youth. "I'm going to train harder so I can show I am worthy of promotion as well." Guy knelt down to be eye level with his student. Giving a thumbs-up Guy responded, "Never lose that enthusiasm Lee and your youth will always shine bright!" Lee gave a thumbs-up of his own in response as well as a teeth sparkling smile.
Sasuke was intrigued by the path that Naruto had chosen. While being a medic was not something that he had expected from his blonde haired teammate it gave him something to think about. When it came to his own choices. If Naruto was going to be the team support as well as one as the frontline fighters of the team. I had something to think about. Sadly his thoughts were plagued with nearly unnoticed whispers from the seal on his neck. "That promotion should have been yours. You are weak. Only my power can propel you forward my dear Sasuke." Fortunately, Sasuke only noticed the thoughts as some sort of annoyance that distracted him, though what it was he didn't know as the secondary seal suppressed the Curse Seal's temptations. Sakura was curious now about Naruto. From what was just discussed, Naruto can be very studious. If that's true then maybe there was someone else on the team she could talk books with. The mere idea made the girl giggle like a pervert confusing everyone in the room while a white haired man near the hot springs giggled uncontrollably, getting the attention of the female patrons who looked down right murderous.
Once he had set his female teammate down on the couch in the office Choji didn't think much about what he was told and instead began eating a bag of chips. He had been putting off eating anything since the meeting had started and he couldn't stop, the consequences be dammed. Shikamaru for his part thought Naruto was even more troublesome now. Ever since the academy Naruto was always a troublemaker of some kind. His rambunctious energy is part of what led Shikamaru to breaking off their friendship. Now the blonde he had written off as a nuisance and someone he disliked the more he was around him was becoming stronger as he was calming down. On top of that he probably had the strength of the Hokage in his punches. 'Better not get on his bad side' thought the Nara heir.
Shino for his part said nothing on the news he had just heard. Personally, he was neutral to the blonde Uzumaki and had seen the work he put in as a medic and had many of his Clan members survive due to doctors and nurses being available to aid in more serious cases. Kiba was still sulking about the fact he lost to a weakened Naruto. Despite how much he tried, Akamaru was unable to pull Kiba from his funk. Hinata was indecisive about how to feel. On one hand, she was happy that her crush was being trained by someone of such renown but on the other she was a little jealous about the affectionate nickname that Naruto had given the Godaime. Sadly, despite her hidden feelings she was still reluctant to speak to Naruto. Even now, she couldn't voice her congratulations unlike his team. Well Sakura was congratulating him, Sasuke gave a smirk of approval while his sensei seemed to be smiling.
Tsunade felt she had given enough time for everyone to get over their shock and congratulations. Coughing into her hand, she brought the rooms attention back to her. "As I was saying. Sasuke, Shino" she said causing the two in question to straighten their posture a bit. "According on your After-Action Reports that you submitted and told to the squad that met up with you, you two performed admirably in defeating the other two Suna siblings" she praised. Sasuke straitened his posture even more as this is the one of the few times he was praised by someone with honest sincerity and not just because he is an Uchiha. "I commend you both on your defeat of your opponent when you aided in the pursuit and capture of Gaara. While you are strong, you are either lacking the ability to end a fight quickly or are lacking a secondary skill respectively. If you fill in these holes in your skills, I'm sure you will reach the rank of Chunin in no time. As for the rest of you do not lose heart. With time comes skill and experience. Grow your skills, expand your knowledge and continue to train hard and you will also be promoted." The others nodded gratefully at the Hokage's words while Sasuke had some reading and practicing to do if he wanted to find his secondary field of study to grow his skills.
While some would think Sasuke would complain and demand to be taught by the legendary medic, medicine was not a field he found appealing. He would rather study something he found interesting or could help him in a more combative environment.
With that Tsunade allowed everyone to leave if they so chose. Team 7 decided to stay as Naruto started proclaiming that they need to celebrate. "Hey guys! Since I got promoted why don't we go out and celebrate?!" Naruto asked enthusiastically. Kakashi, remembering some happy times from his past, said "That's a great idea Naruto. It's not every day that a squad mate gets promoted, so count me in" he said with an eye smile. Sakura liked the idea too. Despite being a team for a few months, they rarely did anything as a team and she did say she was going to try and be more friendly to Naruto the day they were announced as a team. Sasuke said nothing but he also didn't leave, which in his language meant he was on board. With that confirmation Naruto gave a face splitting grin as he ran for the door, only to be stopped by Tsunade.
"Where do you think you are going?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Umm sorry Tsu-chan. Would you and Shizune-sensei like to come?" He was met with an indignant oink. "Umm you can come too Tonton." Tsunade gave a confident smile "Of course we are coming too. Afterall were celebrating our student's promotion as well" Tsunade said as she kept her confident smile as she stood from her desk.
Remembering how the Sandaime had often complained about the paperwork he would gain when he returned to the office, Kakashi felt the need to bring it up. "Pardon me Hokage-dono but what about your work?" Tsunade raises an eyebrow before pointing at the two additional desks in her office. Kakashi looked to them then back to the Godaime missing the point. When he looked back to Tsunade, he saw two kage bunshin who looked dejected as they made their way to the desks Tsunade had pointed at. They took stacks of paperwork with them causing Kakashi to chuckle nervously as he never thought about using them for such a purpose. Naruto cheered that they could get going. As they left the office, he all but shouted, "We should go to Ichiraku so we can celebrate with Teuchi and Ayame!"
Knowing how close he was with the ramen shop duo, Tsunade did not disagree with his choice. Instead she put a hand on his back, encouraging him forward. Sakura protested his choice, though it was not to be mean she just didn't understand Naruto's connection to the place. "Umm Naruto are you sure you want ramen for a celebration like this? I mean you go there quite a lot so wouldn't you want to go somewhere else for such an occasion?" Naruto looked hurt as he comedically stiffened and fell back into Tsunade who put a stop to his act by bopping him on the head causing him to cry out in pain as he rubbed the spot she struck. "Ow! Tsu-chan?!" Tsunade smirked as she spoke, "Oh don't give me that. You can faint here if you want but that would mean we won't be getting ramen." At that Naruto immediately cut his act, his desire for the noodily goodness outweighing Sakura's sacrilege.
As the two blondes were having their moment Kakashi talked to Sakura. "Sakura, it's Naruto's celebration. If he wants to eat there that is his choice." Sakura felt a little bad. "I know sensei. I just wanted Naruto to know there are other places he can choose." Kakashi smiled at his student's thoughtfulness. He patted her head as he spoke. "It's kind of you to do so Sakura, but for Naruto good company means more than good food." Sakura nodded in understanding as the group continued. As they were each in their own conversation, Sasuke was contemplating his choice of secondary specialization, leaning heavily to the same specialization as Kakashi.
Naruto came back to the world around him as he neared the top of a large hill that overlooked the village market that surrounded the Hokage Tower. Looking at the sky, he noticed that some rather dark clouds had come in, blanketing the sky and blocking out the sun, giving the appearance it was going to rain soon. At the top of the hill, there was a brown haired girl in a pink kimono sitting in a stool with a canvas on an easel. As he got closer, he saw that it was a painting of the Hokage Tower with the dark clouds above like the ones in the sky right now.
"Hey! That's a cool painting" said the blonde as he got closer. The girl stiffened at his words, being taken by surprise as she was not expecting anyone. Without turning to face the blonde she replied, "Thank you." she immediately went back to her painting. She soon added bits of light to the underside of the clouds. This was soon accompanied thunder catching the attention of the blonde. The girl set down her current brush and grabbed a larger one. She then grabbed a tube of blue tinted white paint. She put some of the paint in her palette before rolling her brush in the paint. Soon she put her brush on the canvas before painting what seemed like a lightning bolt on the canvas that struck the Hokage Tower startling Naruto. He couldn't ask about her choice of addition because as soon as she finished a huge bolt of lightning came from the sky and nearly struck the building only to be split in half startling the two.
As soon as the lighting was cut in half the girl seemed to panic and began grabbing her things only to be stopped by Naruto. He didn't understand her panic but he could tell that there was a correlation between the girl painting a lightning bolt that struck the tower and lightning nearly striking the tower. Naruto, at first, tackled the girl only for the collision to trigger a Kawarimi no Jutsu. Acting quickly Naruto set his mask and focused on his sensory ability, detecting someone that appeared to be a girl running away from him and the tower. Figuring that was his target, Naruto summoned a few kage bunshin, one of which went towards the tower to check on Tsunade and report his findings, he and the rest set off after the fleeing chakra.
At the Tower Tsunade was having a meeting with Kakashi to best utilize Naruto in team formations. Afterall despite having a medic on his team when he was younger his colleague, Rin did not have the same medical and combat training as Tsunade and her apprentices. Originally the two decided to have their meeting outside as the weather was too perfect to be indoors. Unlike what he was known for, Kakashi was on time keeping to his vow of improving himself and his team.
"You wanted to see me Kakashi?" asked Tsunade. Kakashi gave a curt nod. "Yes Hokage-dono. I wanted to ask what the best way to design formations with Naruto's skill set was. I had a medic on my team way back and even in Anbu however they didn't have the same amount of skill as a fighter I'm sure Naruto will reach under your tutelage" spoke Kakashi.
Tsunade understood his plight. It wasn't common for a medic to also be a skilled frontline fighter as they were focused on healing and the first target to be taken out by enemy combatants. However with her training and Naruto already knowing the Byakugo no In and the Sozo Saisei he was definitely safer than any other medic that wasn't Shizune or herself.
Tsunade nodded and began to lecture Kakashi on Naruto's role and placement in such formations. Over the course of their discussion, clouds began to roll in darkening the sky. As the discussion went on, Kakashi could say he really wished he brought a notebook. Embarrassingly, Kakashi had to stop his Hokage. "Umm pardon me Hokage-dono but … do you think I could retrieve a notebook so I can study this after our meeting" he said as he rubbed his head, his brain thoroughly fired with just how much information there was to comprehend. Tsunade let out a sigh Tsunade touched a seal on the inside of her haori. With a poof of smoke Tsunade held a large, three ring binder with the cover reading Combat Medic Formations and Applications By Tsunade Senju.
The binder was a copy of her original document the blonde had drafted when she first proposed adding a medic to each squad back in the Second Shinobi War while the original was in the Senju Compound. She figured this conversation would come up sooner or later so she sealed one into one of the storage seals on the inside of her haori so she could give it to Kakashi when he wanted to talk.
Kakashi still looked sheepish but was grateful for the material he could study, though by the look in Tsunade's irritated eyes he knew she was going to continue to go over the basics of each of her formations with him. That was until they heard a rumbling. Looking up everyone was surprised to see the dark clouds that overtook the open sky. Soon they saw flashes appear amongst the clouds. Due to the sudden shift in the weather the shinobi became suspicious even through there were no records of a jutsu that could manipulate the weather.
Suddenly a large bolt of lightning shot towards the tower. The shinobi acted quickly, Kakashi sent an enormous amount of chakra to his right hand as he straightened out the limb to a knife hand. Kakashi leapt to meet the incoming bolt. The Anbu acted as well. In an impressive display of shurikenjutsu, the Anbu wove a faraday cage around themselves and the Hokage before throwing up an earth dome around the cage to protect the Hokage from any potential devastation.
Luckily there was no devastation as, with the aid of his second original jutsu, Kakashi cut the bolt of lightning in half. The two halves struck around the tower, shaking the structure and causing the shinobi to lock down the village as the Jonin began directing Chunin and Genin while the Anbu rushed to their Hokage's location to check on the condition of their Kage, receive orders and begin their investigation.
In the training fields, Guy was working with his team until they were stopped by their sensei due to the incoming lightning. "Alright team that's enough. We shall stop here for now so you can make it home. Afterall, we got to be in top shape so we can enjoy the springtime of our …" Guy was suddenly cut off when Neji shouted out in a panicked tone. "Guy-sensei! The tower was nearly struck by lightning but the bolt was cut!" That last part got the energetic sensei's attention. There was no way that natural lightning would have struck the tower when it so close to the Hokage Mountain. That meant that the lightning was the cover for an attack on the Hokage!
Shifting into his more serious side, Guy began to hand out orders. "Listen up! The village is now in lock down" he barked making his Genin go wide eyed. "We have just experienced an attack so we will be keeping anyone and everyone from leaving. Tenten chose this moment to protest. "But Guy-sensei! What about Tsunade-dono?" Guy shifted his attention to his female student. "That is not our duty. Our duty is to prevent anyone from leaving the village." With that Guy shifted his attention to Neji. "Neji activate your Byakugan and tell me if you see anyone making their way out this way. Neji nodded and did as ordered. To his surprise, Neji saw copies of Naruto chasing a single individual with all moving away from the center of the village but Naruto seemed to be pursuing someone. At that he relayed what he had seen to his sensei.
Guy began to contemplate his team's next action. After a short bit of time, he let his team know of his decision. "Alright we will aid Naruto and apprehend his target and interrogate them to learn their intentions." Neji and Lee nodded dutifully while Tenten was hesitant as she wanted to check on her idol. Eventually she nodded allowing Guy to order Neji to lead them towards the running individuals.
Naruto was in hot pursuit of girl he was chasing with his bunshins closing in to encircle her. That was until she dropped a picture. As soon as the paper hit the floor Kakashi appeared standing before the stunned Naruto. He stood lazily with his hands in his pockets. "Kakashi-sensei?" questioned a confused Naruto. Kakashi gave the boy an eye smile before he disappeared. Naruto felt cold steel on his throat. Suddenly the feeling was gone and it was hard for him to breath.
One of his bunshin that witnessed the act dispelled itself to let the original know what had happened. Naruto staggered forward as his hands were around his throat. Blood was flooding into his lungs as he fell to his knees. With the memories of the bunshin he learned that his sensei had slit his throat. Before he could get caught up in questioning why a voice rang out in his distracted mind, "Don't focus on the why! Release your Byakugo no In and heal your throat!" Recognizing the voice, he quickly put his hands in the tiger seal and released the seal on his forehead and activated the Sozo Saisei, sealing the wound in his throat. Once the wound was healed and the marks of release receded Naruto began to cough up the blood that rushed down his throat.
Kakashi believing the boy was taking his final moments waited patiently for the blonde to expire. Instead he was met with six chains coming from the boys back attempting to skewer him. Kakashi acted quickly and rushed back to give himself more room to dodge only for several more sets of chains to appear. Suddenly Naruto received the memories of two of his bunshins that continued the pursuit. They were dispelled by Might Guy who was now rushing to his location. Naruto wasted no time and created several more bunshin. When the smoke cleared Naruto created several hundred, hoping that numbers would help him last before he summoned one of the Slugs to aid him.
The bunshin dispersed to either reinforce the ones attacking Kakashi or prepare for the incoming Jonin. The group that was fighting Kakashi started falling quickly to the various Katon jutsu the silver haired Jonin was using to corral the bunshins, forcing those that were waiting for the incoming Might Guy to aid in the attack against Kakashi. What was startling the masked blonde was the fact his sensei was doing his best to spam his jutsu instead of being conservative and patient like he had been against Team 7. The masked Jonin was just throwing ninjutsu out left right and center, scorching the landscape with controlled fires. It was working as bunshin were dying when they were unable to defend themselves with their chains or be defended by another. Despite the sheer volume of chains being flung about, the fire and smoke obscured the visual abilities of the Naruto's, forcing them to rely on their sensory abilities. Sadly that was a challenge on its own as they saw a highly cluttered sea of blue. It was difficult to distinguish Kakashi when the man was not jumping around as he was concealed by his bunhsins. This just highlighted something else he needed to work on.
Sadly most of the bunshin had been killed off after a short time. A side effect of creating so many bunshin was that wide area jutsu had an easy time catching many in a single use.
By now Naruto was just down to himself. His clothes were scorched while he was panting from having to dodge all of the fire jutsu that had been casted. Sadly as soon as the last bunshin had been popped, Naruto was kicked in the face by a blur with the only thing saving his skull was his mask that was reinforced by Tsunade. The blonde tumbled across the burnt field only coming to a stop thanks to friction. Raising his head he saw that Guy had arrived and was now standing beside Kakashi, with both Jonin staring down the fatigued blonde.
However his vision was soon obscured by a large blast of fire that appeared to land on the Jonin only for the one who fired it to land harshly on the ground behind Naruto. Soon enough Naruto felt a foot on his back, the strike forcing him to bend backwards and cry out in pain. Thankfully he wasn't in pain long as the weight on his back disappeared as if it was never there. Soon though Kakashi appeared in front of him seeming to land from having leapt into the air.
He soon heard people calling his name before someone began to get him to his knees. Soon Might Guy stood in front of him in a combat ready stance staring down Kakashi. The Kakashi before him merely settled back into a lazy posture with his hands in his pocket. Guy noticed that the Kakashi before him was missing the Chakra Saber at the small of his back as well as the second utility pouch. Naruto couldn't see it but Guy narrowed his eyes at the Kakashi before him. 'Just as I thought. This Kakashi is also an imposter like the one of myself' thought the bowl cut Jonin.
Behind him, his squad was aiding Naruto and Sasuke who had been heading back to the center of the city after some training away from Uchiha Compound to keep his mind clear. The raven haired youth had heard explosions going off nearby. Since he was no longer near the training grounds, he was curious as to what was going on. When he arrived, he saw Naruto get struck in the face by the Jonin of Lee's team. From the looks of things, that was not part of training. He was more sure of this when Naruto struggled to look at the Jonin. Neither Jonin made a motion to halt what was going on, instead leaving his teammate in the dirt and struggle to raise his head.
Seeing two Jonin attacking his teammate, Sasuke attempted to intervene by using the Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu to at least obscure the Jonin's sight if not hurt them. Sadly, for the Last Uchiha, the Jonin moved just before the ball of fire struck. Kakashi had appeared behind the Last Uchiha poised to kill him by shoving a kunai towards his heart. Sasuke jumped from his hiding spot to get away only to be met with a kunai driven into his back. Sasuke cried out in pain and grasped just above where the kunai was only to be driven to the ground by a fist to the top of his head.
Kakashi was poised to strike the killing blow by creating his second original jutsu until a flurry of kunai came from his right forcing him to drop to a knee but he was thrown further off course when a palm strike collided with his arm that was armed with his attack, which shocked the striker as it turned to mist, while a rising kick nearly took his head off. To avoid this, Kakashi leapt up and over the newcomers to land before the spot where Sasuke's fireball had landed, his arm already reformed.
Checking over Sasuke was the Hyuga of Team 9, Neji, while the marksman of Team 9, Tenten checked on Naruto. Her position allowed her to also back up her sensei should he need it. The girl helped bring Naruto to his knees before turning her attention to the enemy before them. Neji was not sure what he was looking at when he focused his Byakugan on the Kakashi before his team. The man appeared to be solid based on how the chakra was flowing signifying that they were real but there were also whisps of mist coming off the man, similar to what he would see if his surroundings were affected by a genjutsu. The one thing that confirmed before him that the Kakashi in front of him was not real was that there were no tenketsu or chakra pathways. There was no way to hide those from a strong enough Byakugan, at least that's what was always said about his family's eyes, so whatever he was seeing was not a henge at least. It also could not have been an elemental bunshin as they cannot cast ninjutsu that is not of the same element that creates them and they aren't kage bunshin as when he looked at them when Naruto used them to fight Kiba they had their own tenketsu along their chakra pathways leaving him puzzled.
It was not long after that, that Tsunade, her Anbu detail and several other squads along with Kakashi arrived on the scene. Tsunade was surprised to see another Kakashi but worried when she saw Naruto kneeling on the ground while appearing to be breathing heavily. The Anbu were just as surprised as Tsunade while Kakashi saw red that two of his students were injured. Needless to say, this was not what they were expecting to see when a bunshin of Naruto arrived at Hokage Tower saying that a girl with brown hair had painted the weather and a lightning bolt that struck Hokage tower before it actually happened. After he told them where this took place they had asked where this had taken place Kakashi and Tsunade panicked when they the bunshin reported Naruto was fighting Kakashi of all people. The group set out immediately with Naruto's bunshin guiding them.
Tsunade ordered, "Guy! Explain what's happened!" Without taking his eyes off 'Kakashi' Guy gave his report. "Yes ma'am. My team was training until the clouds rolled in. Believing the rain was coming I ended the training. When Neji spoke of a lightning bolt nearly striking the tower I had my team begin lock down procedures. When Neji checked the surrounding area with his Byakugan alerting me to Naruto's pursuit. Immediately we moved to aid in the pursuit of whoever Naruto was chasing. When we arrived Naruto-san was being stepped on by a copy of myself while Sasuke-san was almost slain by 'Kakashi'. We acted quickly to save Naruto-san and Sasuke-san. When I struck the copy of myself it disappeared into mist. My students managed to make the copy of Kakashi retreat to its current position."
Naruto cut in and provided his own two cents. "This … Kakashi-sensei … came from a photo. I think … it's a jutsu … of some kind" panted out the wounded Chunin. Tsunade went over the information she was given before giving her orders. From what Guy and Naruto said they couldn't take this person alive if they are the same. With this in mind she gave her orders. "Take down this copy and get Naruto and Sasuke to the hospital! Once this is over and their conditions attended to, I want a full report from all involved as to what happened as well as status updates on our walls!"
The surrounding force gave a cry of affirmation before moving out. Naruto was picked up by one of the Anbu before being taken to the hospital. For Sasuke, his shoulder was wrapped as the Anbu felt it was best to keep the kunai so it could be studied to determine what jutsu was used to make it. With anger as his motivator Kakashi stepped up besides his rival, revealing his Sharingan and drawing his Chakra Saber. What he saw with his Sharingan intrigued him, being sure to note every detail his eye perceived and include it in his report.
Moving quickly Kakashi rushed his doppelganger, Guy not that far behind. Despite the fact the foe before them was Kakashi the false Copy Nin never activated a Sharingan and with the duo facing him down was quickly slain by the two powerful Jonin after the first Katon jutsu was thrown at them. The fight, if it could be called that, was rather short. Guy pulled ahead of Kakashi and led with a straight punch that was blocked by the fake. Kakashi took immediate advantage of this by coming from behind his long-time friend and jammed his blade forward to skewer his foe. The fake attempted to push Guy away but the bowl cut Jonin was having none of that and grabbed onto both wrists of his foe as he stepped in to his guard for better leverage. Kakashi's blade struck true and pieced the fake through the flak jacket and into their heart.
What surprised everyone except Guy, as he had seen the affect before, was the false Kakashi vanished into mist around the blade shoved through his heart. Everyone was left stunned as the only time something vanished into mist like that was when a genjutsu was dispelled. Unknown to Tsunade and those around her, when the false Kakashi was dispelled the kunai it had jammed into Sasuke's shoulder also vanished into mist. Snapping back to attention, Tsunade handed out her next set of orders. "I want to know what jutsu that was! Any jutsu that can be used to create copies of our own personal is a huge security risk!" she ordered with steel in her voice.
"Guy!" Tsunade called. Said Jonin snapped to attention. "I want your team to meet me in the hospital. I will be getting you and your teams reports as well as Naruto and Sasuke's." The Godaime soon turned to Kakashi. "I want to know what you saw with your Sharingan. Meet me there as soon as you can." Kakashi nodded at his leader's orders. When they were dismissed Kakashi set out for the hospital immediately, hoping to meet up with Sakura along the way so she could check on her teammates. Guy turned to his team and gave his own orders. "Alright!" he shouted in his usual exuberance. "We are going to meet with our Hokage so be sure to recall all you saw and be sure to note when something is a fact!" he said in a good guy pose.
Neji and Tenten let out a sigh as Lee nodded animatedly. "Yeah yeah we know already" sighed out Tenten. "Alright! Then lets go!" shouted Guy as he and Lee took off for the hospital leaving Neji and Tenten behind.
The two were the last to arrive despite Lee still being considered as a "recovering" shinobi. The two were bantering about some insane challenge as they two walked up. Well Neji walked up, Tenten struggled to not bend over on exhaustion. "Huff … Can … you … huff … two … not … run … so fast?" asked a panting Tenten. "Now now Tenten! We are in the springtime of our youth!" proclaimed Guy. "We must push ourselves with all we have an fan the flames within to shine brightly!" shouted Guy as he pointed to the sky. He hoped that his speech would invigorate Tenten so she would push herself to train harder. Sadly, like many before, the speech did nothing to invigorate his female student. With a sigh, he led his team to the receptionist before soon walking towards Naruto and Sasuke's room.
As Team 9 approached the room Naruto and Sasuke were assigned, the heard muffled sounds as if someone was talking. The closer they got however the better they could hear. They heard what sounded like someone worry over someone else before they were suddenly stopped. When they reached the door, they heard someone giggling. Guy recognized the sound immediately as it was what his friend often did when he read his book. Soon enough though they could hear someone talking, it sounded like Naruto. "Hey I was just making sure she's okay Sakura-chan! Is that so wrong?"
"It is when you're being a pest about it!" replied the girl in question." They didn't hear a response so half the group just assumed Naruto was pouting. They then heard a sigh. "Yes gaki, like I told your bunshin as well as right now, I'm fine." The Godaime then sounded serious. "So can you tell me where Team 9 is so I can ask what happened?" There was silence before they heard Naruto speak. "Yeah they're outside." With a knock from the inside of the door, the hidden Anbu opened the door and let a stunned Team 9 in, none of them knowing of Naruto's sensory abilities.
"Alright" spoke Tsunade snapping Team 9 out of their shocked state. "You care to tell me what happened?" She then turned her eyes to the youngest blonde in the room, "Naruto you start." Naruto nodded the blonde Chunin began his tale.
Within Ta no Kuni, Orochimaru lay on a medical table with many devices either threaded into his body or used to monitor his condition. Standing above him was his left and right hands, Guren and Kabuto. Kabuto was wearing a doctor's gown as he held a clipboard with many medical notes on his master while Guren had several bandages wrapped around her arms due to the burns she gained from fighting Tsunade's Anbu guard.
Kabuto looked worried as he went over the notes on the clipboard while Guren scowled at her master's best medical officer. Guren was getting impatient as she waited for the news of her master's condition as she had her arms crossed over her chest. "Well" the blue haired woman asked harshly. Kabuto said nothing, to engrossed into his work to care for the woman's attitude. When he was done confirming what he wrote he then spoke.
"It seems that Orochimaru-sama had suffered severely from the punches that Tsunade had landed. His organs ruptured and his bones were nearly powderedized. If not for many of the body strengthening supplements he developed, he would most certainly be dead." Guren let out a guttural growl. "I'll get that bitch back for what she did to Orochimaru-sama" she said as Kabuto rolled his eyes knowing that was a task far beyond Guren.
Suddenly Guren's ire turned to him. "What about you? Why aren't you helping him?" she asked in anger as she pointed at him harshly. Kabuto merely pushed up his glasses. "There is nothing I can do. He suffered too much internal damage with major bruising where each strike connected. The only thing left for him to do is to switch bodies." Guren looked shocked. She had no idea how much damage her master had suffered from the last fight. She soon spoke up as she put a hand on her chest. "Then I am ready! Set it up so that Orochimaru-sama may survive as he uses me" spoke the loyal kunoichi. Before Kabuto could speak, Orochimaru's raspy voice came from his place on the bed.
"No. I still have need of you" spoke the wounded Hebi Sannin. "Bring me one of the marked prisoners" ordered Orochimaru. Guren looked as if she was just stabbed. She was set to be her master's next body. Now some random nobody was being chosen. She felt slighted and her pride wounded as she was not able to fulfill her life's ambition. Guren let out an unperceived growl in the back of her throat as Kabuto left the room to prepare his masters next vessel.