Thank you for all of the reviews, it means a lot to me!
As for the ship, I won't be doing Anko, unless I make her younger, which I don't have any plans for.
To the person who said I basically set Hinata and Naruto up: I didn't. Even if I did make them like each other, you don't have to end up with the first person you like, that's not really how it works in the real world, though I see that a lot in fan fictions. And B, they're still 12. Ship is still open. They will continue to get closer as teammates though, and some of their actions will hint at a romantic relationship, and some will hint at a platonic brother-sister relationship, that's just the nature of putting them together at the age they're at.
A person asked about Naruto learning a water technique before wind. There will be an explanation in-story later on, but I'm just gonna say for now that it just takes more chakra and is more difficult to use one that isn't your affinity as long as it's a lower level technique (C and below, they won't be able to learn a higher level techique properly without mastering the element). Sasuke knew fire jutsu, so Naruto wanted water. Then Sasuke learned lightning, so Naruto learned wind. Naruto is talented with chakra, so something like a water jutsu shouldn't be too difficult for him to learn given his large chakra pool. (But yes, it would have been smarter for him to master a bunch of wind jutsu first, as it would have come easier to him.)
Anyways, off to the forest.
Naruto hated training ground 44. Hated this forest. Hated the animals, the plants, and the bugs. It was fun at first. Maybe even cool. They saw a few huge tigers, which was awesome. It was even cooler when they saw vines snare a tiger and basically eat it. Could plants eat a giant tiger? He was starting to think anything was possible in this dark section of hell.
Things had turned from awesome to awful in the span of 20 minutes. They were starting to get hungry on the second day, and decided to hunt something larger than fish to feed all three of them. Sasuke was able to take down a deer with a kunai. Simple. Until everything went downhill.
They were preparing the deer for cooking, but hadn't even gotten the fire started when it attacked. Naruto sensed something was wrong at the last second, but it was too late to warn the others. He leapt in front of Sasuke, who was down on a knee skinning the deer. Fast enough to save his friend, but not fast enough to defend himself. One swipe had taken him down, and the animal was back in the shadows before they could even see it. Four large slashes across Naruto's chest, from left shoulder to right hip. Hinata panicked. There was so much blood. She'd never seen that much blood before. Sasuke called upon his sharingan, putting distance between himself and the dead deer. Then it came out of the bushes.
Slowly creeping, deadly silent. Coiled and ready to strike. The jaguar in front of them felt deadly, deadlier than any person or animal they had faced before. It could kill them if it wanted too, at least right now. They weren't prepared to face something like this. Not with Naruto out of commission. The bears, and even the tigers had been fairly easy to avoid. They were very large, and no doubt powerful, but they traded power for speed, and they were heavy. Too heavy to climb to the height in the trees that the three genin could travel at. This beast though, was different. Sasuke's sharingan could see the muscles tense and relax as it crept towards them. He had no doubt it was faster than him, no doubt it was stronger than him. There was no way He and Hinata would be able to stop it, not while also defending an unconscious Naruto.
For the first time since the night his brother had murdered the clan, Sasuke felt fear. For himself, and for his teammates. They weren't family yet, but they were close. Naruto might as well have been his brother, and Hinata was the closest thing he ever had to a sister. He wouldn't call them family, they weren't close enough for that yet, and he wasn't ready to let somebody be that close to him. But at the same time he couldn't watch them die. Not the way he'd been made to watch his family die.
"Hinata, find a clear path for us away from here. Take Naruto, and get out. I'll be right behind you." Sasuke couldn't afford to take his eyes off of the predator in front of them, so he just had to trust that Hinata would follow his directions. He knew she was too scared to respond, and too worried about Naruto. He knew, because he was too, but he had forced himself to speak, or lose the person who understood him the best.
That thought made him eerily calm. It had only been about a year with Naruto in the village, but they had spent nearly every day together. It hadn't been planned, one of them just showed up, and the other would come along without argument or question. They had a bond that Sasuke was starting to feel like ran deeper than blood. They shared in their loneliness and misery of missing their families, yet kept one another distracted from those thoughts. He knew it was in there, but seeing Naruto lying there unconscious, blood seeping from his chest, and it made him come to terms with his own feelings. They were brothers. His eyes felt a pressure build in them, but he wouldn't cry. He couldn't afford to.
His brother wouldn't die from the wounds, Naruto had explained that the Kyuubi could heal just about anything short of death. The wounds were deep, but not immediately fatal. He wouldn't be able to heal if this Jaguar got him though, and he had a sneaking suspicion that this animal would be able to give chase in the trees.
Sasuke pulled out his five kunai and eight shuriken, as well as his two rolls of ninja wire. Naruto had wordlessly handed him all but one kunai and two shuriken when they entered the forest. He wanted to argue, but he knew the blond would just claim that he wasn't as good with them as Sasuke was, and that he probably wouldn't use them anyway. Dumb idiot.
Sasuke's eyes never left the creeping jungle cat. It had turned, and was beginning to pace back and forth. He didn't know why it didn't just rush them, maybe it was trying to scare them, or maybe it was waiting for him to slip up and look away. Whatever it was, he was grateful for it, and wouldn't let the opportunity go to waste. Even as his eyes watched the predator's muscles ripple, his hands worked. With practiced ease he tied the ninja wire onto the tools that he'd gathered, faster than most ninja could write their own name. In seconds he was done, and he hoped this worked. It would've been much better with explosive tags, but they weren't allowed. Bastard sensei.
The raven haired boy didn't wait for the Jaguar to pounce. As soon as he was ready, he let Hinata know.
"On my go." He said. Time felt like it was slowing down, and he could almost feel the air pressure shift as Hinata exhaled and nodded her head. He hoped that feeling wasn't misplaced. "Three, two, one, Go!" He hissed. He let loose his ninja tools. Two of the shuriken headed straight for their hunter. There were clanks of metal as the rest ricocheted off each other and stuck into trees in various places. The kunai landed in the dead deer up to the hilt, anchoring them in.
The jaguar dodged the shuriken easily enough, not that Sasuke had really been trying to hit it. As with most shuriken throws, his goal was to move his opponent in a favorable direction. He held both ninja wire lines in his hands, the classic Uchiha smirk once again showing itself as he heard Hinata move away from him at his 5 o'clock. The Jaguar had moved as his sharingan predicted, leaving it right where he wanted it. He let go of the line in his right hand, and the wires attached to the shuriken snapped into place. This effect was two-fold. The jaguar's front right paw was now tangled in the line, though it wouldn't hold long. It also put pressure on the other line in his hand, the one connected to the kunai. Before the jaguar could break the wire, he let go of the second one, and fled. The kunai anchored in the deer were yanked, dragging the deer away from him, past where the jaguar had been. The Jaguar would now have to spend a precious second freeing itself, and then choose between a free meal, or giving chase to three ninja with a head start. Sasuke didn't wait around to find out its decision. He ran as fast as he could, pushing himself to catch up to Hinata. It took him half a minute to, and when he did, he took Naruto into his own arms, and they moved even faster. It was three full minutes of all out running before they stopped.
Both dojutsu users had their precious eyes activated, scanning for trouble. Five minutes went by, then ten, then twenty, before they relaxed even a little bit. During that time, Hinata had checked up on Naruto. The bleeding had slowed greatly, and eventually came to a stop, much to her surprise. Still, there were deep gashes running across her chest, and she was upset that she hadn't been allowed to bring her pre-made ointments. She felt helpless.
Hinata had been mesmerized by the predator that attacked them, unable to do anything but watch and listen to Sasuke. She was supposed to be the best sensor on the team with her all-seeing eyes, but she hadn't even had them activated when it attacked. She felt extreme guilt at not doing her job. She knew the other two were the heavy hitters on the team, and that she was just supposed to be the support, but she hadn't even done that right. Naruto had been the one that sensed something wrong and sprung into action.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a hacking cough, and wheezing coming from her teammate.
"Holy hell! That cat packed a punch." He wheezed out, trying to sit up. "Is everybody okay?" He asked a little bit frantically. He trusted his team, but he had also left everything up to them, and didn't want them to get hurt.
"Yes, you moron. You could be dead right now though." Sasuke spat out. He was pissed.
"Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you're okay!" Hinata said, uncharacteristically loud. She threw her arms around the blond, hugging him. When she realized what she was doing, she let go, face red.
"You shouldn't be sitting up though. Your wounds are deep." Even as she said it though, the wounds had closed up even more. She frowned.
"I guess I owe you an explanation on the whole super healing huh?" Naruto asked, mostly rhetorically. "Well, Sasuke already knows this…" He paused and took a deep breath. Not many of his friends knew his secret. Jiraiya and the Sandaime knew of course, and he suspected Kakashi did too. He himself had told Sasuke, and he doubted that Yamato-sensei didn't know, especially considering he was a wood release user. It wouldn't feel right keeping the secret from a teammate though, so he began channeling some of the Kyuubi's chakra. His eyes became slitted and red, and whiskers grew darker and more pronounced. He grinned sheepishly and Hinata saw that his teeth had grown a little bit more fang-like, and his fingernails now started to look like claws. "I'm kind of the container of the Nine-tailed fox." He said, his voice had gotten a little deeper and a little rougher. "The fourth couldn't really kill him because tailed beasts are just chakra, and kind of immortal. So instead he sealed him inside me when I was a baby." He chuckled nervously, not knowing what his teammate would think. "The Kyuubi's chakra gives me enhanced stamina and healing even when I'm not consciously channeling it. It increases even more if I do though." He gestured to his chest, where the last of the wounds were closing completely. The cuts had been deep though, and it looked like he would have some nasty scars.
The oppressive feeling of the chakra that Hinata didn't even realize was there, dissipated as Naruto's eyes turned blue again. The breath she didn't know she was holding was let out.
"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata stuttered out.
"I get it if you don't want to be teammates anymore. Most of the people in the village don't really like me because of what the fox did. The Hokage can make other arrangements." Naruto said, avoiding eye contact.
Hinata hated it. Hated seeing Naruto so shy and small. The boy who she had seen as a knight and shining armor ever since the day he had saved her from those bullies five years ago, even when he left the village. The warmest person she had ever met, felt so cold. He didn't have any of his normal brightness or warmth at the moment. She wouldn't stand for it.
"Naruto-kun, I don't care what you have sealed inside you, or that the villagers don't like you." Determination leaked into her voice. She could be brave for him. She felt brave, because of him. "You're just Naruto, you wouldn't hurt a fly if it wasn't bothering anybody, and you definitely wouldn't ever attack the village. You're the strongest person I know, and I think even higher of you now that I know what you've had to deal with." He looked up at her in surprise. After a moment, she asked the question she already knew the answer to. "Is that why you left the village all those years ago?"
He nodded. He was slightly shaky on the details himself, most of it felt like a nightmare. He did remember waking up in the hospital when he was seven though, and he remembered bits and pieces of the night that put him there.
It was Hinata's turn to be pissed. She could have been spending time with him for the last five years. She could have been friends with him for all that time if it weren't for the villagers. "They're dumb." She said finally.
Naruto's head flipped nearly sideways in question, his hair flopping from one side to the other comically. "The villagers who don't like you. They're dumb. I can see that even without my Byakugan." She held her chin up, a little bit of playful arrogance leaking into her voice.
Neither of the boys had seen this side of Hinata. They were shocked. She was always the shy girl that stuttered through most conversations and didn't step on anybody's toes. She certainly hadn't ever called anybody dumb before. Neither knew what to say, so she spoke again.
"You both are covered in blood. We should get you cleaned up before more animals come hunting us because of the smell." And just like that she turned away and leapt off the branch they were on. What they didn't know was that she was embarrassed by her sudden confident display, and didn't want them to see her face turn red.
Sasuke was the first to recover from his shock, closing his mouth, before opening it to speak again. "Come on, Naruto. Let's go. We don't want to get left behind."
Naruto's mouth was still wide open, but he nodded and stood up to follow.
—
Day 7 - Forest of Death
Yamato was happy with his student's progress. After the scare with the Jaguar, they had made progress bordering on the extreme. It pained him for them to have to go through that, and if either of the other students had taken the blow, he would've pulled them right out. He knew the Kyuubi would prevent Naruto from dying though. He would've liked to intervene and keep the Jaguar from ever striking Naruto, but he had to stay at least 50 meters away to stay out of Hinata's Byakugan range. Besides, if they survived that, they would get an immense amount of experience from it. It wasn't the same as being attacked by another ninja, but it was as close as they could 'safely' get. They did survive, and now, after a week in the forest, they were showing improvement.
Everything they did was sharper, crisper, and more cautious. They worked together more seamlessly. Hinata was beginning to join the boys in their wordless communication. They were adapting the basic academy hand signs to fit their needs, and very little needed to be spoken when they came across a dangerous situation. They were eating just fine, Hinata was using her Byakugan to help locate prey for the boys to go after, and using her knowledge of herbs and plants to help round out their diet. Naruto was using his clones more liberally, having them take watch, erect barriers, and guard them. It seemed as if his sensory abilities had gone up another notch, as all of the sudden Naruto's head would shoot up, and the three would up and leave, only to have a large animal come grazing through the area a minute later.
Sasuke had improved the most though. Yamato could just see the red glint of his sharingan as he kept it activated for a large portion of the day, only deactivating it when he had to rest them. He was getting faster, probably as fast as Naruto now, if not faster, and his movements became cleaner and more efficient. They had retrieved the shuriken from their first real battle (though the kunai were nowhere to be found) and his skill with them had increased too.
They had come all this way, and they still had another week to go.
—-
Day 12 - Forest of Death
Sasuke had no idea that it had happened, but the first time he activated his sharingan after the incident with the jaguar, Naruto flipped out. He had unlocked the third tomoe. In both eyes. From what he knew, this was fairly uncommon, usually it was one at a time per eye.
He knew that the increased perception would cause strain on his body to keep up with it, so he kept them active as long as he could. His body quickly caught up, until it felt mostly the same as it had with two tomoe. The only difference now was that he could keep up with Naruto, and Naruto looked like he was moving in slow motion. He loved his eyes.
Naruto had taken on the role of protector for the team. His clones were invaluable. They were an early warning scouting system, a barrier team, a defense team, an attack team, evacuation team, manual labor team, and everything in between. Better yet, they returned their memories to him, so he was getting experience several fold in each of those areas. His sensory abilities had gone up another notch, and a ring of clones could give them at least a minute of warning before most dangerous animals could reach them. He had added the usage of a fourth chakra chain pretty comfortably, which greatly increased his barrier usage and chakra suppression.
Hinata's range with her Byakugan had increased due to her heavy usage of it. She could see about 75 meters with it now, up from the 50 she could see when she entered the forest. She could also spot their sensei watching, just on the edge of her range, and was silently furious that he hadn't intervened to help Naruto.
The three Genin of team 7 had developed a comfortable system that now allowed them some 'free' time. The forest required the ninja to be on edge at all times, but a week into their time in it, and they were learning how to relax while keeping their senses razor sharp. Because of this, they felt relatively safe training and exploring. So long as somebody, usually Naruto's clones, kept watch. Most of this time was spent having Hinata practice her Gentle Fist against Sasuke, who was still in the final stages of adjusting to his sharingan. This left Naruto to his own devices. He had ten clones spread out in a circle around their camp at all times, sitting in a meditative pose to sense any possible threats. Another 10 were paired up with the sensors, so that if a sensor dispelled to warn Naruto, the paired clone could run interference to give them more time. The paired ten would all work on something, from chakra control to his chakra chains, so long as what they were doing didn't draw unwanted attention.
It seemed chakra usage would keep the smaller animals away, but draw the attention of the larger, more deadly animals. Naruto wasn't sure if they could sense it, or if they were just hearing or smelling the effects of the chakra usage. Either way, it had to stay limited, even if they were better prepared for attacks.
Naruto, the real one, was working on his physical attributes. Sasuke had caught up to his speed, and with the Sharingan, he'd never be able to outdo him in hand to hand. There were three solutions to that. Get faster, get stronger, get more efficient. While the last option could be done by clones training, the first two could only done by the original. So here he was, working feverishly at getting both stronger and faster. He was currently bouncing between trees at full speed while carrying rocks in a makeshift backpack. He really wished he had his sealing kit, then at least he could put the weight in a modified storage seal that didn't account for weight. The whole point of a storage seal was to counteract the weight of items stored. His idea would make him feel like he was carrying rocks, just without the awkward swaying and position of them.
He had done a lot of thinking since he had awoken from the Jaguars attack. The jungle cat had put a lot of his skills into perspective for him. He needed to get better at sensing. His clones were improving with the skill, but he was unable to do it well without thinking about it, and that was the reason the jaguar struck without any real notice. The whole team had learned the lesson that they needed to be on guard more often, and had quickly rectified that individually, without even discussing it. They would not be ambushed like that again. He also was thinking about his Fuinjutsu. It didn't do him a lot of good if he didn't have his kit with him. Sure he kept the stuff sealed on him at all times, but storage scrolls could be broken, no matter how strong they were made. He knew in theory that sealing could be done without a brush or ink well, his father had been able to leave his hiraishin mark without it. He hadn't figured out how yet. Thus, he had clones pondering it as he trained, but the thought hadn't left his head either. He had a theory that if he could convert his chakra into ink, that he could control where it went, and theoretically make seals with sheer chakra control and manipulation. This was easier said than done. His trial run with water chakra had gone poorly to say the least. He could hardly separate a blob of water on the ground into two or three separate blobs without breaking into a full sweat. Arranging the chakra into the fine intricacies of even a basic storage seal would require much more precise chakra control.
He still hadn't even tried to convert his chakra into usable ink, but he was sure that would be the easier of the two parts. As he wound down his sprint training by dumping the load of rocks off his back, he began to contemplate. Necessity and survival had demanded that he up his shadow clone count. Jiraiya had severely limited his clone training as there really wasn't any precedent for the sheer numbers Naruto would be able to put up. The most Jiraiya had ever used it for training-wise, was studying up on Fuinjutsu, and he always limited the number of clones, and the time they were in existence. He claimed he would still come away with a headache. The forest had demanded that Naruto use more than the clones Jiraiya had allotted him, and for longer too. He kept increasing the number and time, expecting some sort of backlash, but it never came. Sure, he'd get a minor headache at the moment they dispelled, but he was running thirty clones for several hours in a row at this point, and hardly noticing any downside. He'd have to report this to Jiraiya through toad summoning at some point. First though, he wanted to push his limits a little bit.
Naruto sat down just inside the encirclement of his clones that defined Team 7's current camp. He had 30 clones in existence right now, and he decided he could definitely handle thirty more. With a cross hand seal and a little bit of chakra, far less than it used to take for him, they popped into existence. The clones had their orders already, so Naruto didn't need to tell them what to do. 20 clones found their own clear patch of dirt or rock to work on, and began attempting to make a basic storage seal design out of chakra-laced water. They couldn't come close yet, but he was hoping to change that quickly. The other 10 just found an open space, and began trying to convert some of their chakra into an ink substance that could be used for seals. None of them could do their task yet either, but he stayed confident. He made one more clone, and popped it right away, so that it could send orders to the others. Any clone not on sensing duty, about 20 of them, were to work on chakra control. He was determined to get this down before he left the forest. He'd be damned if he didn't leave here much stronger than he came in.
It was only noon, so the original went to watch Sasuke and Hinata spar, figuring he could still work on strength while doing so. Three hours of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and other body weight exercises, and Naruto was drenched in sweat. He had long since pulled off his clawed up mesh armor. His wooden geta were off too, they had gotten annoying to put up with in a survival situation. As he watched Sasuke and Hinata resume their sparring, Naruto contemplated his 'uniform'. He loved dressing like Jiraiya, he liked the way it looked, and it was unique from anyone else he had seen, especially amongst shinobi. However, the outfit, while technically built for shinobi combat, wasn't really optimal for situations like this, as he had found out. He would have to consider a change for when his team was sent out on missions, it wouldn't do to perform suboptimally just because of clothes. He was sure Jiraiya would understand.
Naruto's thoughts shifted to his two teammates. They appeared to be making strides just as great as he was, though not if his clones would have anything to say about it. Sasuke was making easy work of Hinata, but still pushing her to improve. He was a good sparring partner for her in that he had eventually coaxed her to go harder and not pull her chakra enhanced blows. Naruto didn't blame her, he would want to hit the grumpy bastard full force too if he had the chance.
Thinking of Hinata holding back made him frown internally. She had a kind heart, maybe the kindest Naruto had ever seen. He didn't want this to be a pitfall for her, so he decided that he should do something about it.
"Oi, Sasuke!" The raven haired genin's head snapped to him, expecting a sensory alert. "Mind if I jump in a little bit? Fighting my own clones has gotten boring, I always win ya know." He said with a grin. Hinata stifled a giggle while Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Sure, Naruto. Just try not to lose too badly." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha, knowing he wouldn't be able to say anything to rile him up. It hadn't been lost on him that he had hardly called him Loser since the attack.
Naruto made his way in front of Hinata, and nodded at her when he adopted his special Uzumaki taijutsu stance. He waited for her to make the first move, determined to bring out a little bit of her aggression. 10 seconds went by before she finally lunged at him. He didn't move. There was no need too.
Hinata's eyes widened when she saw he wasn't dodging or blocking. She pulled up on her palm strike as much as she could, and held back her chakra. Her open palm struck Naruto's very firm, and very bare chest right above his heart and stayed there.
The blond didn't even sway an inch. He looked at Hinata, down at her hand laying on his chest, then back up at Hinata. She blushed.
"Hinata, why aren't I dead?" He asked bluntly. There was a small goofy smile on his face, as if this were the most casual thing in the world. "The gentle fist is supposed to attack the organs inside the body, is it not? You just struck my heart yet I felt nothing."
"I didn't want to hurt you, so I pulled back, Naruto-kun." She replied, blush growing from pink to a more solid red. She could feel his strong heartbeat.
"If you were going to hurt me, I would have dodged, but you were holding back right from the start." He said, a little more serious, but not enough to really put her down. "How will Sasuke, the great Uchiha, or I, the strongest Genin," Sasuke grunted from the sidelines, "ever get any stronger if our sparring partner is holding back, ya know?" He asked, as if he was hurt that she wouldn't help them. She heard the sarcasm in his voice, but her blush still grew.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I'm just scared of hurting a comrade. I don't like to see the people that I care about in pain." She answered shyly.
"Hinata, you've seen Sasuke and I spar. We go hard against each other, and we come away with injuries, but that's how we learn. Sasuke almost cut my ear off last week with a sword strike, and I learned to move my head out of the way of fast moving sharp blades." She giggled at him. She couldn't help it, he could make her feel so at ease while discussing serious topics. "That's the way sparring works. Pain is one of the greatest teachers. If you feel it, that means you're still alive. If you never experience the pain of the mistakes, there won't be proper motivation to improve. Plus if you hit me right, I might just shut up for more than five minutes." He smiled big, and this time she laughed.
"You are right, Naruto-kun. I promise not to hold back anymore." She replied, much more confident in herself after the blond's mini-speech.
Naruto nodded, but stayed there for a second. He looked at Hinata, "Uh, Hinata-chan? You can take your hand off my chest now." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, cheeks slightly pink.
Hinata's whole face and neck had gone completely red, and she jerked away from her teammate. "I'm sorry, N-Naruto-kun." She squeaked out.
Naruto chuckled at her shy antics, he thought it was kind of cute. "It's okay, Hinata. Let's get back to the spar, I'm itching for some competition ya know." He grinned.
When the flush left her face, she turned around. Sliding into the gentle fist stance her clan was famous for, she let a small smile grace her face. She would become strong enough to keep up with the boys and stand beside them.
—-
Naruto was starting to regret making Hinata go all out. He was holding back, and still no doubt winning the spar, but he was hurting. The gentle fist was no joke. It had started as a blow to the shoulder, and it went numb. It was hard to move your arm if you couldn't feel your shoulder. Blows to the other arm and both legs soon made it hard for him to move at all. It was all healing, nearly faster than Hinata could hit him, thanks to the Kyuubi. He also could have switched to his fathers style, which was more based on speed and avoiding blows, whereas the Uzumaki style would intentionally take blows to land harder ones, but he wanted to build her confidence. Hinata was a key part of the team. Naruto and Sasuke would be the main combatants, but she was the one who had the power to put down larger and stronger opponents with a tough exterior.
He hobbled over to where Sasuke was sitting, putting on a bit of a show for Hinata's sake. Sasuke rolled his eyes at him, he stuck out his tongue in return.
"You got beat just bad enough, huh?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto locked eyes with Sasuke's sharingan, and an understanding passed between them. There was a deeper meaning in those words, one that conveyed approval at boosting Hinata's confidence.
"You'd get beat just as bad if she'd go all out." He grunted back. That one hadn't been exaggerated, she had caught him in the ribs pretty good, and he was pretty sure she lacerated one of his lungs. Oh well, it'd be healed in a little bit.
"Hn."
"I hate when you do that."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted with a grin.
It was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes. He continued walking to the part of the clearing that his clones had taken over. It'd been several hours since he left them to their own devices, and he was eager to see the results. Before he did though, bit his thumb, and rolled familiar seals to summon his favorite toad. A small poof of smoke revealed Gamikichi, who had grown to a size that he would hardly fit on Naruto's head any more.
"'Sup 'Kichi. Sorry I don't have any treats for you, we're still in the forest, but I'll give you double next time!" He promised.
"That's what you said last time you summoned me, Naruto."
"Oh, that's right. Well then I'll bring triple, or would it be quadruple?" He asked rhetorically. "Doesn't matter, I'll bring a lot. For now I got something new I've been working on that I want you to see." Gamakichi nodded. He and Naruto had struck up a bond, and Naruto often summoned him when he was working on a technique. Gamakichi was never all that much help, aside from the regular ooh's and aah's, but Naruto just seemed to enjoy the company.
The blond silently dispelled all but the sentry clones and their backups. The influx of memories made him flinch, but all in all the feedback wasn't so bad. He recalled the memories of the forty or so clones that had been training for the last four hours and smiled.
Sitting down on the ground, he leaned toward the bare section of ground in front of him. He channeled his chakra and focused, closing his eyes. As he focused, a blob of chakra began to condense into a black substance. It looked too watery to be proper sealing ink, but it was a start. Concentrating harder, he tried to form the chakra into a storage seal. The chakra moved under his command, but did so sluggishly. After 30 or so seconds of intense concentration, he had a whole lot of nothing. It was clear the chakra was moving into the right locations, but he couldn't refine it enough. The lines weren't small enough, and he couldn't execute the small curves and strokes necessary for a seal. Right now it looked like someone took a wet paintbrush and handed it to a monkey that started slapping it on the ground. This wouldn't pass as a seal, but he made huge progress in a short amount of time with his clones. He even mused that he could finish by nightfall if he increased the clones, and then he realized that he couldn't think of a reason not too.
"So, what do you think?" He asked his familiar summon.
"You trying to learn sealing with just chakra? That's pretty impressive stuff Naruto. Pops says that was one of the keys to the Yondaime's jutsu." Gamakichi replied. "Maybe you can use it to seal some snacks on ya, huh?"
Naruto just eye rolled at his summon, and got back to work.
First he made 30 clones. These would go replace the 20 that were on guard duty, and also expand the zone that they were covering. He would need more room. When the guard duty memories came back, he smiled. The 10 that weren't sensing had increased his chakra control greatly. 4 hours of straight chakra control times 10 clones and he had a full work week of just control all in one afternoon.
The 20 dispelled clones hadn't affected him much, so he decided to go relatively big, or go home. And he couldn't go home.
100 clones. Made in four groups of 25. He knew that he could make them all at once, but it felt weird mass producing himself like that. 25 felt more manageable, and he could give the orders to each group soundlessly.
First 25 - Chakra control - increase by any means necessary - start dispelling every ten minutes after the first hour - poof! They appeared and took off.
Second 25 - Chakra conversion - ink needs to be a better viscosity, and less clear. Dispel every 15 minutes until there's ten left - poof!
Third 25 - forming the storage seal on the ground, using water chakra, or water-laced chakra - dispel every 15 minutes until there's ten left - poof!
Final 25 - Forming the seal using the ink - dispel every 10 minutes until there's only 5 left - poof.
He was a little dizzy after making such large groups of himself so quickly, but he thought it was necessary. He found that his clones, much like himself, didn't really like being given orders. If he thought exactly what he wanted before he created them, they came into existence thinking it was their idea, and wouldn't argue or slack off. It wasn't the most honest way to lead, but he was leading himself, and he figured it was his idea, so he wouldn't mind.
Having the clones dispel at intervals should have two purposes. One would be to stave off a potential headache, and the second would be to pass on their knowledge to the remaining clones, so that they could improve upon it. It was his opinion that doing it this way allowed the clones to work more efficiently. While he wouldn't be logging as many total hours, every time a clone dispelled, the others would be working with increased skill. By the time the last five or ten clones were left, they would have the knowledge of 20 or so other experiences to work with. It wasn't always the best solution, but when he was trying to figure something out, this seemed to work best. Raw chakra control and studying were a little bit different, as were refining techniques that he'd already figured out, like his taijutsu or certain ninjutsu.
Either way, it was a beautiful thing watching 100 of himself get to work, determined to learn a new technique. He left them to their business to go hangout with Sasuke and Hinata. Team chemistry was just as important as skill after all.
The three genin sat around a campfire, courtesy of Sasuke, enjoying each other's company. Naruto was really enjoying being part of the team. Sasuke had been his only real friend his age for a long time, and when they were together it was all training all the time. Having Hinata added in balanced the group out well, and he was grateful to have two people his age to call close friends, if not family. After a few hours of lazing around, Naruto sat up suddenly. He instantly had the attention of both of his teammates.
"My clones think the jaguar is coming back." His statement was short and efficient. He was in what Sasuke had come to think of as his commander mode. He became a consummate shinobi, not a lot of wasted energy or emotions. Efficient. A true leader.
"Let's pack up then." Sasuke said. They had already decided they would avoid the stronger predators. Naruto nodded, there wasn't much to pack, but they had collected a few items while in the forest. A deer skin that had been turned into a backpack, another one that carried water, a cool stick Naruto had found that he liked to swing around and pretend it was one of his swords.
The boy's had just started to get up when Hinata spoke.
"No." She said quietly, but firmly. Uchiha and Uzumaki tilted their heads at her, silently questioning like two puppy dogs. She obliged. "I do not think we should run. It only got us last time because we were surprised and Naruto-kun was hurt. We will not have truly improved if we keep running from the stronger predators in the forest. We should fight it together."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow with crossed arms at her confidence, and Naruto put on a 1000 watt smile for her. They didn't even need to look at each other to come to a conclusion. They were in.
Sasuke was the one that replied, having been conscious the last time that the jaguar pounced. "Alright, here's the plan…"
—-
Day 14 - Forest of Death
Genin Team 7 were making their way to the exit of the forest of death. Yamato had let them in somewhere between midday and midnight, and so they were to head out at roughly the same time.
As they cleared the fence that denoted training ground 44, they smiled at each other, but didn't relax. Their sensei appeared in front of them by way of shunshin moments later, confirming to the boys that he had indeed been watching them, just as Hinata said. It irked Naruto a little bit that he couldn't sense his teacher, even if he was probably a former ANBU.
"You made it." Yamato said. It was said as a statement, but they could feel the question in it.
"No thanks to you." Hinata said coldly. She could be a true Hyuuga if she really wanted to.
Yamato quirked his head ever so slightly at this. She had grown more than he thought. Perhaps Naruto and Sasuke had too. The latter confirmed his response when looked at his eyes, and saw three tomoe in each. Grown immensely apparently. He could feel the change in their chakra, it was denser and sharper, on edge the whole time. He could see the change in the way they carried themselves, like they were not just ready for an attack, but expecting one.
He had kept watch over them, but 50 meters was far, and he couldn't see details such as the tomoe in eyes, or exactly what Naruto had his clones doing. He was curious as to the nature of the blond's training. It made sense logically in that shadow clones returned their experiences, but they didn't seem to be doing much besides chakra control and playing in the dirt.
"Relax guys, Yamato-sensei would have stepped in if things got too rough. It's just as I said, Hinata, your training has to have a certain amount of pain in order to be truly helpful." Naruto said. Hinata relaxed slightly. Sasuke's eyes deactivated.
"Anyways, Yamato-sensei, we got you this." Naruto held up what looked like the claw of a big cat. It looked a little small to be a tiger's, so Yamato guessed it came from the Jaguar they took down. He couldn't be sure as the trio had gone on a small tear through the forest in order to claim their spot as apex predator. They hadn't killed a lot of the animals, only those that fought back hard. The jaguar, a few tigers, and a large bear.
The claw had a hole through it on the top, with a small strip of leather weaved through it. A necklace. Upon closer look, all three genin appeared to be wearing one, though Naruto's was on a black leather strap that looked like it had been bought rather than made makeshift in a forest, and it sat next to the strange leaf pendant he had been wearing when he went in.
"Go on, take it." The blond pushed it forward some more. "We're still pissed at you for sending us into the hellhole, but we know you did it for our own good." He said with a smile. His eyes said there would be payback though, and Yamato felt a drop of sweat form on his forehead.
Four claws. One for each member of Team 7. Yamato supposed that they all came from the paw that had sliced open Naruto. Symbolic then, of their first real test. He felt a little touched that they had thought of him. He slipped the necklace overheard, gratefully, and allowed a tight lipped smile to show. He would have to find a more refined leather strap in the merchant district for it.
Yamato realized the blond hadn't been holding the necklace when they cleared the fence though. He had summoned it from a seal.
"Naruto, I thought I told you know sealing kit? Only the tools I allowed."
Naruto smiled in return. "I didn't have a kit, I found a way around it." Naruto held out one hand, and with the other, seemed to place a storage scroll on his open palm.
Yamato didn't say anything about the impressive feat. He was under strict orders not to let him get a big head. "Hm. Anyway, thank you for the necklace." He replied.
"See guys? I told you he'd like it ya know!" Naruto said, excited to truly be together with his team.
"I do apologize for putting you through that. It wasn't something I wanted to do, and it wasn't something any newly minted genin team should have to do, but it was necessary." Yamato said to his team.
"Why's that?" Naruto asked dumbly.
Before Yamato could answer, Naruto suddenly sharpened up. His teammates followed suit, and they leapt back from a kunai with an attached explosive note. Hinata and Sasuke's dojutsu sprung to life, and Naruto threw up a hand seal but didn't stop there. Three clones popped into existence, using their chains to surround and barrier off the explosive tag. The original flung a kunai that appeared out of nowhere into the trees up and to his left. The hand seals that he had formed turned one kunai into 20, peppering the area that the explosive tagged kunai had come from. His teammates covered his flanks, keeping an eye out for the opponent.
All three seemed to follow the incoming shunshin. "That's why." Came the lazy drawl of the masked jonin. The explosive tag exploded, completely contained by Naruto's barrier. Sasuke joined the blond in groaning.
"That so wasn't cool, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said.
"Maa maa, not everything is about being cool, Naruto." Kakashi replied. He still slouched into a lazy stance, but it was noticeably sharper to all three genin. "Besides, I was just trying to show off your skills. Look at how well you reacted. Two weeks ago you would've moved slower and later, Sasuke would have fired off a flashy fire jutsu, leaving you unguarded in your return fire, and Hinata would have been too scared to move in time. Now you look like a well oiled machine, and you haven't even received training from your jonin-sensei." Kakashi said. It pissed Naruto and Sasuke off at how right he was. They wanted to argue, but there wasn't anything to be said. Hinata blushed ever so slightly at the praise from the man in charge of this years genin.
"See? Even you know it, Naruto, and you're the dumbest one." Kakashi said, with no real venom in his tone.
Naruto resented that. "Well we didn't get a cool jaguar claw necklace for you. It's only for members of team 7 so suck on that Kakashi!" The blond yelled childishly.
Kakashi just gave them his trademark eye-smile, and laced his finger around the cord on his neck and showed off his newest accessory. "Don't worry, I managed to get one so I could be apart of the team too." He taunted.
Kakashi didn't wait for a response, and left very leaf shunshin.
"I hate him."
"Me too." The Uchiha echoed.
"I think he's funny." Hinata said, still stifling her giggles.
"Traitor." The two boys said simultaneously, turning her giggles into laughs.
Yamato smiled again, this time at the camaraderie of the team. Two weeks together and you would never know that they hadn't been together for two years. He was excited to get to work.
"Okay, test number two has been passed. We begin real training tomorrow morning at 6 am. Be prepared, it will be difficult. We also have D-ranked missions to make up from your two weeks in the forest of death. I look forward to our time together." Yamato said, before he too left via shunshin.
"What the hell? Did he just say forest of death?" Naruto asked. Nobody had said the place was named after death. He probably wouldn't have been so eager to go in if he knew that.
"C'mon, Moron. Let's go get some food." It was a testament to her growth that Hinata tagged along without even being specifically asked. The two weeks in the forest of death had been the glue that solidified the chemistry of the team.
"Ramen?" Naruto asked. It wasn't a question though. He hadn't had ramen in two weeks. They were going to Ichiraku's no matter what. Sasuke sighed, and Hinata giggled.
8k words. I really enjoy writing the parts of the story where they grow for some reason, especially non-canon parts. Hope it doesn't upset anybody too much at how long it's taking to get to their first C-rank. It will definitely be the next chapter, as well as some interactions with the other's in their class.
Also, Naruto has the toad summoning contract, and will likely stick with just them, but Sasuke will need a contract of his own. I was wondering if the lovely readers wanted him to stick with snakes and/or hawks, or wanted a different contract, potentially one that's not shown at all in the canon story? There aren't big plans for his summoning contract so while it will affect his ability a little bit, it will mostly be for cool factor or to combat Naruto's summons if they fight. Hinata might get one, she might not. That depends on which way her character grows and is undecided. Please let me know in the comments!