225Naruto ducked under a slash; he could feel the wind come off the kunai that nearly cut off his head. Jumping back, he reached into his rapidly emptying shinobi pouch and palmed his last kunai, taking a breath, he and his assailant charged at one another. Naruto lunged his weapon forward but was parried then was rewarded by a cut to his chest, frowning he threw his kunai with as much strength as he could muster. His opponent leaned out of the way of the kunai making Naruto smirk.
The Kawarimi no Jutsu was special in that it required very minimal chakra usage, the jutsu uses a person's chakra to latch onto a target then switched position in a blink of an eye. Trained shinobi can keep up with it, but for someone at Naruto's level, it might as well be instantaneous. As the Kunai flew past his opponent Naruto molded his chakra outward to latch onto the kunai and replace himself with it, as he appeared behind his opponent, he leveled an axe-kick to the back of his neck causing it to destabilize and burst into water.
Naruto let out a breath at the fifth clone defeated, his training for today was long-term Taijutsu engagements. Like fighting opponents one after another five times, one wasn't hard but mix in exhaustion and it became quite the challenge.
Looking at the puddle of water Naruto smiled to himself, the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu was his newest jutsu and has been beneficial for his training, especially since he now has something to hit and it would hit back. The main drawback was that it only had ten percent of his chakra meaning that it wouldn't last very long in real combat and would be better as a distraction or replacement.
Normally Naruto would continue training for today, but tomorrow was a big day for him, as it would be his first day as a Genin. Today he managed to pass the graduation exam as the rookie of the year- three years early. It wasn't unheard of for someone to finish the academy early but in the recent peace times it was quite achievement, although nobody really cared. Naruto was one of the quieter students in class, preferring to do his work then continue training after class. He didn't try to make friends, nor did anyone try with him, he had his goal and the sooner he accomplished it the better.
Naruto's time in the academy wasn't special, he climbed through the academy with precision and patience. Constantly training and studying proved to be just as good as being a natural born genius. Naruto hated the word genius, to him it was an insult since it was like saying that he didn't have to work hard since he learned so easily. Naruto constantly trained and studied to get as far as he did and wouldn't let anyone take that away from him.
Naruto walked back over to his backpack and picked up his jacket, it was a gift from his sensei at the academy, it was dark grey with several layers of protection and weather resistant material. Apparently, all the Rookie of the Year's get something equivalent and Naruto was extremely grateful for it. As an orphan money wasn't something he had an abundance of and a jacket like this would cost a fortune.
Most would ask why a recent academy grad would want to train on the day of his graduation but it was for the simple reason that he didn't consider graduating a major accomplishment. That and he had no one to celebrate with, his favorite ramen stand was recently vandalized by the village's resident prankster, Sarutobi Kento, the son of the Third Hokage's oldest child. With Ichiraku out of commission Naruto just decided to go train before heading back to his apartment.
Naruto has been spending the past few months during his down time to read into the art of Illusions, Genjutsu was a complex art that had countless applications in the shinobi world and Naruto wanted to master it. So far thanks to his research he has managed to create a low-level Genjutsu that altered a person's perception making them think that they were seeing double. Without a training partner he could only go so far in the field of Genjutsu, so he was left with the task of research and developing his own techniques.
Tomorrow would be the first step toward his dream of attaining the coveted Elite Jōnin status in the village. Very few were ever referred to as Elite Jōnin, it was only achieved by the very best of Jōnin, which was an already difficult rank to reach. If Naruto were to attain the level of Elite Jōnin he would be given the highest clearance in the village second only to the Hokage and with that he would learn who his parents were. The only thing he knew about them was that they died when he was a year old during the Kyūbi attack, he was in the same boat as most of the kids in the orphanage so the only way he would find out the identity of his mother and father was to go looking for himself and for that he needed clearance.
For now, though he was going to make his normal dinner consisting of vegetables and beef and read his textbook on Genjutsu.
Naruto sat on top of one of the three tree stumps in the training field. Training Ground three was home to an unspectacular open grass field and a small pond, Naruto did like the peaceful feel of the area but was getting tired of waiting for his sensei.
Kakashi Hatake, and A-Rank Elite Jōnin and prodigy in his own right.
The man met them yesterday after team placements and told them that they would meet here the next day, Naruto didn't know why they had to wait yet another day, but he decided to use his free day to train in preparation for today.
Naruto wasn't happy with his team, however.
Hideo was the dead-last of his graduating class, he was lazy, and was abysmal in Taijutsu. The only reason he managed to pass was that he was somewhat decent in Ninjutsu. He wasn't anything spectacular, an orphan much like himself although he remembers his mother, unlike Naruto.
Misao was less of an annoyance for now, she was passable in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and had a good head on her shoulders, but Naruto still considered her weak. Hopefully they will catch up quick so that they don't slow him down on their first mission outside the village.
Naruto looked up from his seated position when he heard someone land right in front of him. Kakashi Hatake managed to arrive a spectacular two hours late with an apologetic smile on his face Naruto reserved his judgement.
"Sorry everyone I was held up at my apartment building, I went upstairs instead of down and was rightly confused." He said while rubbing the back of his head making Naruto sweat drop at the obvious lie, something must have been going on that he couldn't tell them.
Kakashi fished out a timer from his shinobi pouch and set it on the stump next to Naruto. "Your goal is to take a bell from me. The one without a bell at the end fails and gets sent back to the academy."
Naruto readied himself and waited for Kakashi to start the test. The Jōnin signaled for them to start and the three Genin shot off into the tree line to prepare themselves for the test and to try and find a way to take the bells off Kakashi's belt.
On one of the branches Naruto weaved through three seals and sent out a stream of chakra towards Kakashi, once he felt the effects of his Genjutsu take place Naruto fed as much chakra into his legs as he safely could and shot off towards Kakashi like a cannonball.
Kakashi heard someone to his right and turned to see two Naruto's flying at him with respectable speed. He angled himself so that as soon as the Naruto's got within range he could catch both of them and slam them onto the ground.
Reaching out Kakashi grabbed both of the blond's wrists, he was momentarily thrown off balance when one of the Naruto's turned out to be an illusion but wasn't a Jōnin for nothing and managed to pin Naruto on the ground.
Naruto grunted to himself, it was stupid to think that his low-level Genjutsu would have been enough for a Shinobi of Kakashi's caliber.
"That was a good try. But you will have to do much more if you want a bell." Lectured Kakashi before disappearing in a burst of speed. Naruto pushed himself up from the ground and looked around for Kakashi only to see that he wasn't in the clearing any longer.
Naruto knew that facing off against an Elite Jōnin would be downright impossible by himself, but he doubted that having his teammates help would be worth it. Hideo was too lazy to help and would likely get in his way and Misao was just as bad since she didn't have anything special to offer, mediocre Taijutsu was just as useless as terrible Taijutsu against an opponent that was leagues above you.
Naruto decided to use his head, stuffing his hand into his shinobi pouch he felt around and did a mental inventory of his weapons on hand- several kunai and shuriken, a few explosive notes and some ninja wire. An idea formed in his head before he went to work in the little area around himself.
Off in the distance Naruto could hear the fight going on between Kakashi and one of his teammates, the blond wondered if Kakashi was going easy on them or if he was waiting for something specific to happen before he ended the test. For as much faith as the blond had in his plan, he doubted than Elite Jōnin would be defeated by it.
The fighting in the distance seemed to have ended when the sounds died down and Naruto jumped up to a tree branch and molded his chakra into a steady flow and created a Mizu Bunshin next to him on the tree and casted his Yaezaki no Jutsu to make Kakashi see double once more.
As expected Kakashi appeared in the clearing but this time he was reading some book and wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. His first mistake when dealing with Naruto.
The clone Naruto launched at Kakashi in a mirror image of Naruto's earlier assault. Kakashi let out an unimpressed sigh, he expected more from the rookie of the year. Deciding to do the same thing as last time he subtly shifted his body so that once Naruto was within range, he would grab him and his 'copy' and re-introduce him to the ground.
As Kakashi grabbed Naruto then slammed him onto the ground but to his utter surprise Naruto burst into water making his eye widen momentarily, he heard something snap and dozens of shuriken were launched at him from behind. Once the shuriken impacted Kakashi he burst into smoke leaving behind a tree log signifying a replacement, Naruto up in his vantage point smirked seeing that his plan worked perfectly.
Jumping down to the grass where Kakashi was just standing he bent down and picked up a lone bell with a satisfied smirk, everything was a distraction so that he could throw a kunai to cut the string holding one of the bells. Beating Kakashi in a straight up fight was impossible at his level so he needed to outsmart him and it worked out perfectly, either Kakashi didn't notice or he allowed it to happen letting Naruto pass, either way it worked for Naruto.
From atop one of the training stumps Naruto heard the buzzer from the timer that Kakashi set at the beginning of the test signaling that the test was over. Naruto walked over and stood next to it and waited for his team to come back.
From the treelike he saw a disheveled Hideo and Misao walk out slightly downtrodden telling Naruto that they failed to get the last bell. Once the entire team was by the tree stumps Kakashi let out a disappointed sigh.
"How do I put this…You Fail!" Said Kakashi shocking Naruto since he managed to get the bell.
Seeing that Naruto had a question in his eyes he turned to the blond. "You managed to get a bell sure, but the point of this test was teamwork. You three didn't work together nor did you try, so in turn you fail. Report to the Administrative Building tomorrow morning for your assignments." Said Kakashi before leaving in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto threw his bell across the clearing and left the area to go to his normal training ground train and let out his frustration.
The Sandaime Hokage stamped his approval on the next stack of papers and moved on to the next. He was interrupted from his monotony of a job to see that one of his top Jōnin walked in to report on his Genin team's test.
Kakashi stood in front of the desk, "They failed, I told them to be at the Administrative Building tomorrow morning." Kakashi was about to leave when he was stopped by the Hokage's raised hand.
"Please explain how they failed, I had high hopes for Naruto."
Kakashi thought of a way to word it without sounding dismissive, "He managed to get a bell but didn't work with his teammates, the test was teamwork and he failed same as the others. It doesn't matter to me who he is or how much talent he has, he failed my test." Kakashi said with iron in his voice making the Hokage sigh. Kakashi still hasn't moved on and was too hard on his potential subordinates, as much as it pained him The Sandaime couldn't do anything about it lest he show favoritism for Naruto and that wouldn't be appropriate.
"Very well, dismissed."
Despite failing his ex-sensei's test Naruto approached the Administrative Building with the same determination that he did with the academy. Sixty-six percent of passed Genin failed their Jōnin's test and the rest were sent here, depending on grades their future could vary.
For Shinobi like Naruto there were two options, go back to academy for another year since he did finish early or be put on the active list. The active list was for Genin who failed their Jōnin's test or those who teams either died or were disbanded. He would be put under the authority of a Chūnin squad leader or possibly a Jōnin for a mission or two before he was reassigned. It was obvious to Naruto, which was the better option, he refused to spend another year in a classroom when it was unnecessary.
Experience was very important for shinobi and even though he'll most likely only be given C-Rank missions, a little experience is better than none after all.
Naruto walked into the building and weaved through the people in the halls. The Administrative building was home to the Mission Assignment Desk, Logistics, the Hokage's Office and residence.
Naruto got to the secretary's desk and asked where he needed to go, he was informed that he was put on the active list and to report to the Mission Assignment desk for his first assignment. The blond wondered who had done that for him even though that was what he planned to do, someone made the choice for him and that was strange. Naruto disregarded the strangeness of his future being decided for him and went to the Mission Assignment desk undeterred.
When he entered the room, he was greeted by several Chūnin sitting behind the large desk, he walked up to the first one and waited for him to finish writing on his paper before speaking up.
"Naruto Uzumaki reporting for duty." He said trying to sound professional despite being so young.
The Chūnin regarded the blond for a moment before looking down at his clipboard. "You are to report to the front gate at noon to meet your team. You were assigned a delivery mission to Kawa no Kuni." Ordered the Chūnin before going back to his paperwork, Naruto nodded and checked the clock and seeing that he had an hour he went to get some food before his mission.
Naruto waited for his team to arrive with as much hope as he could that they would be accepting of him, he was younger than normal graduates and failed his Jōnin's test. Overall it was a mixture that would cause uncertainty in the minds of others about his capability as a shinobi and Naruto would do everything he could to prove that he wasn't going to be dead weight.
In a burst of speed that Naruto couldn't track he was joined by three other shinobi all wearing the traditional Chūnin garb with slight variations. The larger of the bunch was wearing a long sleeve blue shirt and looked to have over a hundred pounds on the second largest of the bunch. The second largest was of average build, he had no shirt under his vest and a bandana holding his dark brown hair out of his face. The last and smaller of the bunch was wearing a short-sleeve blue shirt and vest that looked to be ironed perfectly which told Naruto that he was a by the books type.
Surprisingly the smallest spoke up. "Welcome Uzumaki-san, I am Isao-taicho. This is -" Isao gestured to the larger one, "- Hiroki he's our resident Taijutsu and explosion specialist. The other is Masashi, he's a Genjutsu user with a background in tracking." Introduced Isao.
Seeing that they wanted him to introduce himself to the team he gathered his confidence at being the center of attention. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I'm an adept Taijutsu, Ninjutsu user and I'm interested in furthering my Genjutsu skills."
Naruto waited for them to say something, they all had blank faces and didn't seem to react poorly to the description, but they didn't exactly look impressed. Granted they were Chūnin and he was a Genin, but he liked to think that he was quite skilled for his age and that they would accept him.
Hiroki looked over Naruto before a slight chuckle left his throat. "You were failed by Kakashi? I heard that you even managed to get one of his bells…you'll be fine." The large man said with a kind smile and unnervingly deep voice giving Naruto some confidence.
"Yeah…I heard from Izumo that he fails every team he gets so don't take it too bad…messed up past that guy has." A calm voice added, and Naruto nodded to Masashi who gave him a nod in return.
Isao step forward with his hands behind his back, "This mission is a delivery operation to Kawa no Kuni, Hokage-sama gave us this scroll to deliver and once we have confirmation that the Daimyo has received the scroll we are to return."
Naruto watched as Isao went over the specifics of the mission down to the letter, it was commendable that such a routine mission was done with the upmost precision. He thought over his introduction with a sigh, his way of learning Ninjutsu was different than most, he would rather know the ins and outs of a jutsu to the point that he could do it with barely any thought. This method took longer than most since most people would rather move on to the next jutsu after they can adequately use it, but Naruto would rather completely master and make a jutsu his own before moving on, but that made it so he had a much smaller jutsu arsenal that most.
Most shinobi train until they learn what they are better at and specialize in that field or fields, Naruto wanted to master or be above average in all fields much like the legends of the Shinobi world who were experts in all fields of combat. Most would say that a user of all is a master of none, but Naruto would kindly point them in the direction of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who Naruto idolizes as the greatest Hokage in the history of the village. A man who has mastered all fields of the shinobi arts as well as all five basic elements.
"We'll be moving out now, Naruto keep to the rear." Ordered Isao before jumping off into the forest with the team following behind keeping the positions they were instructed by Isao.
The monotony of delivery missions was well known throughout the Shinobi forces and Naruto was learning exactly why rookies were given these missions. Naruto got to have a good look at the countryside of Hi no Kuni but was uninterested after the first hour, it was one endless forest that had the occasional river or lake peppered throughout.
This gave Naruto ample time to think about his next course of action for his Shinobi career, without a Jōnin-sensei it was highly unlikely that he would be admitted into the Chūnin exams to be promoted, so that would mean that a field-promotion was his only option. A field-promotion was the way that most Genin were promoted, very few ever get promoted out of the Chūnin exams since it was a glorified talent show for each village to show the up in coming stars rather than for promotions that were just given out by coincidence.
Naruto's dream was to rise through the ranks to achieve Elite Jōnin status to find out who he was. The rank of Jōnin was given to high-level Chūnin who have a number of B-Rank missions as a team leader under their belt and the skills that were above Chūnin level in two or more fields. Other ways were to enter the ANBU black ops and become a senior officer or even a taicho and on retirement from the forces would be given the rank of Jōnin immediately no matter the rank the person entered the black ops. Possibly even Elite Jōnin in the case of Kakashi Hatake who was one of the best operatives in the black ops history.
With this Naruto decided that going into the ANBU black ops and attaining the rank of Taicho would be his best bet. With that level of clearance Naruto would be able to learn everything he ever wanted. But the path was arduous, he would have to first become a Chūnin and stand out enough to get looked at for recruitment into the black ops. He would need to increase his training, thankfully with his Genin level clearance he can enter the Shinobi Library and begin expanding his arsenal. This would most likely take years since he didn't have the political backing that Itachi Uchiha did to be allowed to enter at the tender age of ten.
Naruto barely noticed that the scenery changed as they left Hi no Kuni and entered Kawa no Kuni, the landscape had less trees and more planes and rivers. Naruto felt the temperature shift becoming a much breezier and cooler sixty degrees rather than the normal eighty degrees that Hi no Kuni consistently stayed at. It was a nice change to the blond, as much as he loved his home, traveling like this was one of his favorite things about the Shinobi lifestyle, granted traveling to different countries was usually for unpleasant things but times like these were nice.
Kawa no Kuni was normally peaceful, it wasn't home to any Shinobi villages and relied on the army of their Daimyo to keep the peace and defend their borders. This meant that Shinobi could come and go as they pleased since civilians, even samurai, couldn't keep up with Shinobi or even notice and track them. In response to that Kawa no Kuni would trade goods with other countries for security insurance incase a less than favorable country decided to invade for the land.
Naruto supposed that Konoha was looking to be the next ally to Kawa no Kuni, they were known for their herbs and teas so the elderly higher ups in the village obviously saw that as a highly beneficial import.
Team Isao was stopped by the castle guards and were told to wait for the Daimyo's approval for entrance into the castle for his audience.
Naruto waited while carefully taking in the surroundings. The castle was roughly twice as large as the Shinobi Administrative building with several towers surrounding the main building, it was a dark brown with silver accents throughout the towers. Naruto mused that it must have cost roughly twice Konoha's annual mission income to build. It was really hard to understand just how wealthy the Daimyo were even for the smaller countries, it made Naruto wonder sometimes how much money the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni had, being one of the wealthiest countries on the continent.
"You have been permitted to enter." Said the guard while opening the front gate letting them enter.
Isao being the Taicho lead the others into the courtyard, it was filled with flowers and stone pathways. Servants were walking through either bringing or taking things from one place to another in silence.
They entered the main building and were led to the top floor. Naruto couldn't keep count of the amount of priceless art pieces that were hanging on the wall leading to the top floor. Naruto managed to make a mental note of the building's layout in case he ever needed to come back at a different time - Shinobi are never allied with one another, only have their goals temporarily aligned. The voice of his Academy instructor echoed in his head, even if they are here for an alliance, two months later they could come back to kill someone, it was the nature of the Shinobi profession.
They entered the main chamber; the Daimyo was sitting on a large pillow like cushion while drinking tea. He acknowledged the Konoha shinobi with a nod and set down his tea.
"Welcome, I trust that you have brought the message."
Isao stepped forward and averted his eyes but didn't bow, shinobi never bow for foreign dignitaries no matter the level of their power. The Daimyo didn't acknowledge the lack of respect and took the scroll to read over it.
"Tell your Hokage that I will have his response delivered in due time, I and my advisors must go over it."
The Konoha shinobi turned to leave with their mission completed. Naruto once again acknowledged the monotony of delivery missions as they barely spent twenty minutes in the Daimyo's palace before they were dismissed. If it weren't for the cross-country traveling, a lone Genin could accomplish such a task.
Naruto sighed as he drank down another bowl of ramen broth from his favorite restaurant - Ichiraku Ramen. It was a recurring outing in his life, Naruto didn't know what first brought him to the restaurant but one day when he smelt the aroma of the ramen Naruto felt as if his body was telling him to try the food. Never in his life has he been happier that he made a decision about food since he spent every milestone celebration at the small ramen bar. Which made the blond resent the Sarutobi prankster for vandalizing the restaurant causing it to stay closed for two days while under maintenance.
"Mind if I take a seat?"
Naruto turned to the voice and saw that it was Isao-taicho and nodded to the short man. Naruto mentally prayed that he hit his growth spurt soon so that he didn't end up a five-foot four twenty year old like Isao.
"I was impressed that you managed to keep up during the mission. Newly graduated Genin usually don't have the endurance to travel long-distance for such a long time." Praised Isao before ordering his own bowl of ramen.
"Thank you Taicho."
Isao shook his head, "It was merely a truthful acknowledgement, I never give unnecessary complements. I came here with an offer; team Isao has an opening and I would like to extend the offer for you to join."
Naruto tried to keep his shock off his face but nodded quickly before swallowing his ramen. "Yes, Isao-taicho I would be honored to join your team."
Isao smiled at the young blond, he reminded him of himself. "Very good, we have team training every morning at seven at training ground seventeen." Said Isao before putting money on the bar and leaving. Naruto watched his new Taicho leave with satisfaction, he managed to gain a slot on a Chūnin squad, this was the first step towards his goal.
Naruto watched the sunset from on top of the Hokage monument, the blond was eating an ice-cream while sitting on the Sandaime's stone head. Whenever Naruto had the opportunity, he would watch the sunset from here, it was peaceful and illuminated the village in such a way that Naruto could literally see the Will of Fire that he was taught about from the first day at the academy.
"It truly is a beautiful sight is it not?"
Naruto jolted slightly and turned to come face to face with one of the greatest living-legends in the Shinobi world. The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato was next to him while watching the sunset same as him. It was truly an honor to the young blond that the Hokage was actually talking to him, speaking of he should probably respond.
"Yes Hokage-sama, I like to come here every so often. At this time of day, the village looks like it's illuminated by the -"
"- Will of Fire, yes I feel the same way." Interrupted the Sandaime with a grandfatherly smile, Naruto blushed at the attention unused to such things.
The Sandaime turned and started walking away from the Stone Faces, "I look forward to following your progress Uzumaki-kun." The Sandaime said from over his shoulder. 'Your son is shaping up to be a wonderful shinobi, Minato-kun.'
Naruto turned back to village and looked to the horizon while wondering what his future on team Isao would hold for him.
Author Notes:
So, this has been edited and cleaned up as of 08/01/2020
Original Jutsu
Yaezaki no Jutsu (Double Blossom Technique) C-Rank: An original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. The user sends out a stream of chakra to the intended target to influence the targets sight to see double. While still in its infancy as a jutsu, Naruto Uzumaki has utilized it alongside clones to throw off even the most experienced of opponents. With further mastery of this jutsu Naruto can manipulate the targets vision to see dozens if not hundreds of copies of the intended object making them mistake it for other jutsu more dangerous jutsu allowing user to finish their opponent.