Lots of people flaming, so lets get one thing straight. This is my story, I am writing it for fun. I do not get paid, and I am not pandering to others. If you don't like it, don't fucking read it geniuses. If you have a criticism of grammar or plot holes that's fine. But you don't get to tell me how I get to write my characters. Now for the chapter.
Naruto had an issue. His false hand, made of angry manifested chains and a patchwork of his yellow chakra, was unstable. Yes, that might have been obvious, given that his first attempt at using it caused a detonation that he was lucky enough to have emerged unscathed from, but it went deeper than that. It was sharp, unable to handle things gently. It was hot, and singed objects with impunity. It was volatile, and there was no telling what would happen when he attempted to wield chakra with it.
Overall, a huge field risk.
That didn't stop him from searching for a solution though, and he had spent the tail end of each training day attempting to create something better. So far, he had managed to stab, burn, and explode things. Which didn't bode well, considering it had been a week. He still had three more before the final, so he wasn't too worried. Neji was fodder compared to his might, even if he could learn to open another Celestial Gate, Naruto was certain it wouldn't be enough to close the gap. He was much more concerned about his teammate, who as far as he could tell, had managed to evolve his eyes into a new form of the Sharingan. One Sasuke had dubbed the Mangekyo.
Sasuke was already faster than him, and his eyes granted him a crazy perception boost. Gaining any kind of upgrade was a concern to him. Naruto needed a way to gain strength, and quickly. He didn't have eyeballs that gave him random boosts, so he had to find another way. The Silver One was out and about, training Sasuke in the use of that new eye of his, so his Sensei wouldn't be of any use to him. The Silver One had tried to pawn him off into the care of some Special Jonin, but the man was incredibly pitiful, so Naruto ditched him.
That led him here, the hot springs. It had been a long day of physical conditioning, and he felt the need to take a bit to recuperate.
His peaceful musings were interrupted by giggling. It was deep in pitch, so likely a male, but Naruto wasn't sure. He spread his chakra out, just a bit, to access his sensing ability. The sensing pulse blanketed the area, and he immediately felt someone suppressing their chakra levels to an incredibly miniscule amount. He was certain that if anyone without sensing capabilities attempted to find this person, they would fail. That indicated at least Jonin skill in whoever this was.
Naruto pulled himself out of the water, the droplets cascading down his muscled form as he did so. It tickled slightly. He shook himself, and circulated his chakra, removing the rest of the water with a hiss of steam.
The blond grabbed a towel, using his only hand to awkwardly wrap it around his waist. He hopped over the fence, following his senses. The sight he arrived at was odd, to say the least. A huge, broad and tall man was hunched over, his mane of spiky white locks were held in a ponytail, that cascaded messily down his back, ending at about mid thigh. He wore wooden geta sandals, and had his face pressed against the fence. He let out another chuckle, before glancing down, seemingly jotting into a book.
"Ahem."
The man jumped five feet into the air before landing smoothly in front of the blond, this time facing him. He was able to get a better look at the man. He was tall, taller than himself, and fairly old. Naruto guessed early fifties. The man's headband, although unlike any other Naruto had seen, very clearly denoted himself as a Konoha Shinobi. Red marks trailed down from the center of his eyes, stopping at his chin.
"What're you interrupting my research for, brat?" The man was the farthest thing from upset looking. He mostly just looked amused.
"I heard some laughing while I was in the springs. Came to investigate, that's all." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Although, now that I look at you.. I feel like I should know you."
The white hair man looked affronted. "Of course you should! I am The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku! One of the three Sannin, Jiraiya!"
Naruto raised his eyebrow. That meant this man… Was incredibly strong. He decided to try and appease this man's apparent ego and flair for theatrics."Of course! Apologies for not recognizing you at first. Big fan of yours Mr. Jiraiya!"
The man's eyes widened, but a smile quickly adorned his features. "All is forgiven!"
The man looked ready to get back to whatever he was doing prior to their conversation, but Naruto spoke up again.
"Mr. Jiraiya, I am one of the Chunin exam finalists, and I was wondering if I could get some training or advice from you about some things."
The man looked conflicted, but replied regardless. "I'll need to know your name first, young man."
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Jiraiya's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as he truly looked at the boy in front of him. There can be no doubt. This is their progeny…
He schooled his features. "Uzumaki Naruto, eh? Well sure. I guess I could give you a few pointers. Meet me at training ground thirty-seven tomorrow at Five in the morning."
A smirk adorned Naruto's face. "Sure thing, Old Man."
He laughed at Jiraiya's incensed expression.
Sure enough, Jiraiya of the Sannin was there when he arrived at Five O'clock sharp. His face, unlike yesterday, was all business. The man stared at him, and Naruto was filled with an intense feeling of unease. This Ninja before him was one of the Legendary Three Ninja, the Sannin.
"In order to teach you properly, we are going to have to spar. Just a little fight so I can get a handle on your strengths and weaknesses, so that I know where to go from there. Got it?"
Naruto nodded solemnly. This would be the second Sannin he fought, and he vowed to perform better this time.
He leapt into action, starting with a straight punch, aimed at the elderly man's gut. The man didn't even move, and the punch connected solidly.
Nothing happened.
Naruto hastily disengaged, backflipping away in a desperate attempt to vacate his prior location.
It was all for naught, as what felt like a sack of bricks hit his back glancingly.
He was flung away instantly, soaring towards the treeline. Before he could even think about recovering, his silver haired opponent had him by the leg and was swinging him wildly. On the third spin, he hurled Naruto towards a ravine.
Naruto saw certain doom approaching him rapidly as he sped through the air, so he searched deep within himself. It was hard to do this mid-combat, but he had to. His life depended on it. His chakra surged outwards, exploding in a yellow haze around him. He tightened his control over it, straining even as he neared ever closer to the pit of doom. He tugged desperately on his innate technique, his scarlet chains bursting forth angrily. There were four of them, emerging from his upper back. They spidered out, stabbing their stake-like ends into the ground. His momentum slowed to the point where he could stabilize himself, so he took the time to breathe. His chains burned in the dark morning air, keeping him aloft ominously above the pit.
He inhaled, then poured chakra into each part of his body, starting at the top and working his way down. His chakra, always so eager to destroy, rose from its barely contained state. It reinforced him, increasing his speed, strength, durability. It called to him, and he finally answered. Every day, he held this back. It billowed out of him, screaming at him to inflict pain, raze.
To kill.
Naruto had always been scared of his chakra, ever since it surged to his defense all those years ago in the playground. He had been scared of hurting those around him and being shunned even more. Now though, there was an opponent he could use everything on, and still have no hope of beating.
His chains made great pseudo appendages as he stalked his way towards Jiraiya, arms crossed over his chest and face set into a bloodthirsty grin.
The man was waiting in the clearing, hands on his hips.
"I'm glad you stopped holding back. I wouldn't want to train a little bitch that's too afraid of his own power to use it."
Naruto snarled, but stayed quiet. Another chain sprouted from his back, and was sent into the ground with a dull thud. The blond began to weave hand signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique."
A flurry of fire balls were launched from his mouth, stirring up the air with their heat.
A couple hand signs from the Toad Sage had his front entirely protected by a wall of water.
The balls impacted the wall, but were far too spread to cause much damage. However, that wasn't their purpose. Steam erupted from each impact, obscuring the battlefield.
A disturbance of dirt and leaves beneath the Toad Sage alerted him to the incoming danger. Jiraiya twisted to the left just as a lone scarlet chain sped past him. A belch of laughter came from the throat of the seasoned shinobi.
"Brilliant strategy! A fire technique to make me use the elemental advantage, but you were counting on that to create steam as a diversion!" Jiraiya shook his head in mirth. "You're pretty crafty, brat."
The white haired man shuffled his stance, then exerted the pressure of his chakra onto the world. The earth buckled and cracked and the air became filled with a foreboding feeling.
"Let's run that taijutsu fight once again, shall we?"
They engaged a second after that, Naruto being surprisingly mobile on his chakra chains. Naruto, since he was suspended in the air, favored kicks, while Jiraiya utilized every part of his body. It was like fighting water, the way the man flowed from stance to stance, form to form, attack to block. Naruto took a particularly bad hit to his gut, but his chains held him in place. He fought through the pain and counter attacked, his fist scything out. Jiraiya diverted the blow, then grabbed the offending arm, dragging Naruto closer. The boy knew he was tough, but decided that attempting to tank a chakra enhanced blow from this man wasn't the best idea. One of his chain legs made a stabbing attempt at the man, and he released Naruto to dodge.
He retracted his chains and twisted into a reverse aerial to create distance.
I need to get creative here, something isn't working.
His chains came into the world once more, but this time he stayed grounded. They writhed behind him, like angry snakes. He leapt at Jiraiya, this time wielding his scarlet death chains like extra limbs. Naruto became a whirlwind of danger, constantly on the attack, constantly rotating through moves. His white haired opponent was supremely outnumbered. Naruto grinned ferally as he started to edge out a close combat victory. Four more chains joined the fray, and this time Jiraiya's lips twitched upwards slightly. He thrust out his hand, which was blocked, then Naruto dropped to the floor, two chains holding him up as he thrust a kick towards the man. It was dodged with ease, then the Toad Sage counter attacked. The incoming blow was much faster than his previous attacks, and it threw Naruto for a loop. His instinct screamed at him and he held up his arms in a cross guard to attempt to weather the blow. At the same time, his scarlet constructs came up protectively.
Jiraiya's face was stone as Naruto glanced at him, and then he was suddenly impacted from the left. The man's foot hit Naruto so hard that his concentration on the chains was broken, and the chains exploded in a chain reaction of chakra. Brilliant red detonations surrounded the two shinobi before Jiraiya used the replacement technique to escape the danger.
Naruto gasped, heaving. His entire body was tender, and there were patchwork burns covering him. His back had it the worst, being an angry red, with most of the skin seared off. He struggled to his feet, glaring hatefully at his opponent.
"Easy kid. This fight's over." Jiraiya looked slightly apologetic. "Wasn't sure if that technique would work on you, but I am sorry that it did."
Naruto closed his eyes, calling upon the Nine-Tails' chakra to begin the healing process. He winced as the familiar burning sensation flooded his body, bringing with it hate and rage not his own.
"Hey hey hey, the Old Man didn't say you were a sore loser! You're not going Nine-Tails right now, are you?"
Naruto sighed tiredly. Getting exploded hurt a lot, not to mention the numerous blows his behemoth of an opponent had landed. "No. I'm just healing. Don't get your panties in a twist, Stupid Old Man."
"Nine lets you use his chakra for that?"
The blond blinked. "I didn't know he had to let me. I've been taking it forcefully ever since I discovered that it was trickling in anyways."
The clack of geta sandals was his only warning before the man was in his personal space. The man knelt in front of him, one of his worn hands pulled up his shirt, while the other channeled chakra to the seal on his stomach.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Naruto tried to wriggle away, but Jiraiya was much too strong.
"I'm checking on the seal." Jiraiya's voice was distracted as he continued to fiddle with his work.
"Something wrong with it?"
"Not sure. Doesn't seem to be." Jiraiya stepped back, releasing his hold on the boy's shirt and standing up. "Minato was a genius, his sealing ability far outstripped mine. He must have designed the seal to work like that. Most likely to slowly adapt your body to the Nine-Tails' corrosive chakra."
"Minato? Namikaze?" Naruto's face was scrunched into a picture of confusion.
"Yeah, it was your pop's final act. To seal the Nine-Tailed Beast inside of you."
"My… Dad?" Naruto felt the world slow down.
"Mhm. Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
Everything came to a screeching halt. His… Parents? Naruto had lived his entire life in solitude. He had no parents, no family, no friends. Sure, the Wrinkly Old Man had come by to give him his stipend and sometimes they had gone out for ramen, but even then they had never been close. He had never felt the affection of anyone until Hinata, and he had never known love. To know the names of his parents, the ones that did this to him…
Naruto's face was an ugly scowl. His eyes burned red, and his chains began to slink out of him, burning a more sinister red than usual.
A stinging pain on his cheek shook him out of his thoughts.
"Look, I know what you're thinking, and you aren't wrong for thinking that way. I won't pretend to understand how you feel, but know this. Your parents did what they could with the cards they got dealt, and loved you more than anything in the world. You can think about this later, but for now, let's keep training. Help get your mind off of things."
The blond glared, but acquiesced. The old man was right. He had to get stronger.
He still needed to become the strongest.
Naruto figured that he had a few loose ends that needed to be sorted before he could continue training before the finals. He sought out his male teammate first. He found the boy relaxing in the hotsprings on the other side of the village, on the upper side.
"How's it with you?" Sasuke was the one to start the conversation after Naruto sunk into the water across from him.
Naruto grunted. "Training. I'm getting stronger but the progress is so slow going."
Sasuke grimaced, lips pulling into a gentle scowl. "Yeah, I can relate. Ever since I got the amp from the Mangekyo Sharingan, I've barely made progress."
Naruto snorted. "You'd still whoop my ass as I am now. Take solace in that, I suppose."
A bob of raven hair shook slowly. "Fuck no." Sasuke's tone was adamant. "You know that doesn't satisfy me. And I don't want you to give up. Who'll be a challenge for me then?"
Blue eyes crinkled into Naruto's savage smile. "Who said anything about giving up, Uchiha?"
"Good. You better not. I want to reach our limits in the finals. Try not to get knocked out before then, Uzumaki."
They lapsed into comfortable silence.
Sasuke was quiet for a while, watching the bubbles rise. He spoke up. "Listen, I know Sakura isn't here, and she should probably hear this too, but.. I don't think this was the Mangekyo ability that I was born with. I think this was an evolution like no other before. I've poked around in the Uchiha records and…"
He trailed off. "Anyways, if not for you and the rest of Team Seven… This hatred of mine.."
His sharingan swirled menacingly, the Black Flames of Amaterasu smoldering within. He sighed, then deactivated his eyes. "It could've festered. You pulled me from the darkness, even if you didn't mean to. I thank you. The Hachiman will allow me to protect the village and my loved ones, and Amaterasu will allow me to cut down my enemies."
Naruto was quiet, and the sound of the bubbling springs filled the silence the boys left. "That means a lot, Sasuke."
The blond rolled his shoulders, sighing as he did so. "I don't think I ever told you about the circumstances of my birth. About why I'm ignored all the time. I certainly haven't told you about my most recent revelation."
Sasuke leaned forwards slightly. As close as he and Naruto were, the bot rarely talked about himself, so he was incredibly interested. "Oh? Do tell."
"I was born on October tenth, fifteen years ago on the day of the Nine-Tails attack. My father sealed the Beast inside of me, just as my mother held the beast prior to my birth." Naruto took a deep breath as Sasuke's eyes widened. "My mother was Uzumaki Kushina, and my father was Namikaze Minato, the fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."
A beat.
"Wow."
Naruto smiled wryly. "Yeah, it's why I've been shunned by the villagers for my entire life due to being the Beast's container." Naruto's voice shook slightly. "My parents perished protecting the village, and doomed their son in the process."
Sasuke sat still, processing everything told to him.
Naruto gazed worriedly at the bubbling water. As much as it pained the blond to admit, he enjoyed Sasuke's company. He was familiar with the stifling loneliness, in his case brought unto him by Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke was a whetstone, someone to struggle against life with. Naruto had craved a friend his whole life. The risk of losing Sasuke hurt more than he'd like to confess. His gaze shifted to the boy in question.
"I can't decide how to feel about your parents."
Perplexion filled Naruto's countenance. "Eh? My parents?"
Sasuke nodded his affirmation. "I don't know whether to be impressed at the amount of faith they had in you, or to be upset that they shoved this burden onto you."
"Okay…" Naruto spoke slowly. "Well what about the fox?"
"What about the fox?"
"It doesn't scare you? That there's a giant hateful mass of evil in my stomach?"
Sasuke snorted. "Other than making you heal fast -which just means you get to suffer more during training- I don't see anything wrong with it."
The whiskered boy frowned. "I see…"
Sasuke lifted his head further out of the water, looking straight at his teammate. He placed a reassuring hand on the blond's shoulder. "Nothing has to change, Naruto." Sasuke's gaze was piercing, almost angry. He spoke again. "You're not some beast or anything like that. You were dealt a shitty hand at birth, and have had to face the consequences your whole life. That isn't your fault and that shouldn't affect your relationships. It certainly won't affect our friendship."
Sasuke's tone wobbled a bit when saying the word friend. It was hard to speak into existence something that had previously just been a mutual understanding. An unspoken truth. But Naruto was his friend. He'd stayed away from those after Itachi, anyone near him was liable to get hurt by Itachi. After all, his entire clan had been. Nonetheless, he and Naruto had managed to cultivate something special.
Naruto's eyes moistened, and a rare, genuine smile graced his lips. It was a small thing, and that made it all the more genuine. Logically, he did what any sane person might. He splashed water directly into Sasuke's ugly mug.
"What the fuck bastard!" Sasuke's cries were music to his ears as the dark headed boy launched his counter attack.
It felt like he had been carrying an unnoticeable weight for a while now, and having it lifted lightened him like nothing ever had.
He took a large wave to the face, sputtering as he downed some of the hot water. He lunged at his teammate with a gargle. "Why you!"
Their unalloyed laughs echoed into the night.
He met Hinata Hyug in the hospital. She lay in bed, thin white cloth blankets covered her deathly still form. He was certain she wasn't dead, he could feel her chakra, and see the very faint rise and fall of her chest. Still, she looked very rough. He pulled a chair up next to her bed, and began a more thorough inspection.
She was worryingly pale, although many parts of her skin were a light pink. The chakra diverted back at her from the final clash during the exam was no small amount, and had afflicted her with many burns.
Her face had it especially bad, and would be forever marred by a triangular shaped scar seared into her face. Starting small just passed the left side bridge of her nose, growing larger as it stretched horizontally across her face and disappeared into the tresses of her indigo hair. The triangle had a little wave to it, making it fun to trace with his fingers.
Of course, that was exactly when the girl decided to wake up.
"Uh, hello?" Naruto started off strong.
Hinata giggled tiredly. "Hello, Naruto."
"Hey. How're you feeling?" He was very glad she didn't comment on his wandering fingers.
"The burning pain is mostly gone now that I've slept for the past week. All that remains is the aching sort."
Naruto smiled awkwardly. "That's good news." He paused for a moment, thoughtful. "You know, I wasn't sure what to expect when I came here, and to be honest…"
Naruto grimaced, as if afraid to say what bubbled deep within.
Slender fingers entwined with his own, and she squeezed his hand thrice. "Take your time, okay?"
Naruto shook his head. "It's fine, I can say it. I was.. I was scared.. That you'd be crippled, or get amnesia, or… or… that you weren't going to make it."
He looked down into his lap.
"That's completely understandable, baby."
Naruto pulled his hand away and stood up violently.
"Stop that! Stop!"
The confusion and sadness on Hinata's face was palpable. The tension, thick.
"Naruto, wha-"
"You don't get to take care of me and comfort me all the time! I'm sick of it! All you do is for the betterment of others, you never put yourself first and I don't understand it! Even when you're bedridden you're trying to comfort me! Stop!"
Hinata shrank back, looking as frail and injured as she truly was. "But.."
"Let me help you for once!" Naruto's chest heaved with emotion, huffing angrily.
"I-" Hinata paused, but then eventually smiled slightly. "Okay. Okay Naruto."
She smiled, something soft and fragile. "Please take good care of me."
Naruto took her hand hesitantly, but the words he spoke were solemn as stone."I will. I swear it."
