865People.
I am editing and reloading the chapters. Some changes and tweaks but the same plot.
Also, This is literally the same exact story: "Zanpakuto of the Kyuubi" Just renamed and edited. I'm still changing plots and lines and themes so please be patient with me.
Waking up. Naruto instantly deducted two things.
It was the first day at the REAL academy
He had not seen any of his old classmates in three months.
Simply imagining how amazing and how scary his first day would be, Naruto got up and headed to the bathroom to prepare for his first day at the brand new curriculum in Konoha.
Half an hour later, a fully washed and fresh Naruto exited his bathroom wearing simple civilian gear, tan cargo shorts, navy blue t shirt, Uzumaki spiral in the front, and blue standard ninja shoes, with a messenger bag full of the necessary books and items he would need. Naruto figured, none of the other students knew about sealing scrolls yet, and he was trying to fit in, so a regular bag would not grab attention. Heading to the kitchen for some food to wait for his mother, Naruto heard the sounds of the fridge being opened and a nice sounding voice humming an unknown song. Remembering that he had guest, Naruto composed himself before making his way to the kitchen counter.
"Good Morning," Naruto said as he entered the kitchen.
Yugito turned around slowly, her hair moving in slow motion to Naruto, and those dark eyes that captivated him shined under the light again before a small, nervous smile appeared.
"Morning," Replied Yugito.
Naruto put out his hand in a fist suddenly, gaining Yugito's attention at the odd move.
Observing the simple gesture, Yugito looked at him with a questionable look on her face.
"Kurama wants to connect with you," Naruto said simply, caushing Yugito to look at him in surprise. "He is already connected to his Bijuu? Even knows his name!"
After a few minutes of silence. Yugito spoke, not even acknowledging the outstretched fist.
"You're not going to hit on me again are you? You do know I am five years your senior?" She asked with a wary shift in her body. Naruto chuckled, a blush on his face before getting sighing. His mother had seriously broke it to him swift and early as to why his actions, while amusing initially, could come back to bite him and his village in the end. Lowering his hand he immediately bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I am indeed too young for you. Being as how you are here as an ambassador, I will kill my attraction towards you and mold it into seeing you as an older sister. I promise to protect you on behalf of the Uzumaki Clan," Naruto said, looking into her eyes to show how serious he was as he got back up and resumed outstretching his hand.
"Truce?"
Yugito smiled after a moment. While embarrassed initially at the gesture, she respected the obvious shift, he was not yet a Genin and she took her current mission and position serious. Being pestered by him would compromise her role as guest under the clan house. What if they were to later on in the years become an item and it fell apart? For the sake of her village, Yugito would never go for the boy in front of her. Thankful for the clearing of the air and bumping his fist, a rush of Chakra ran through the two of them, as the connection between Kurama and Matatsabi, syncing the two into a new brother/sister bond that only other jincuuriki could understand.
Years down the line, the two would look back on this day and understand how monumental the connection was.
A half-awake Kushina came down to find two laughing kids eating breakfast together, dishes washed and a steaming hotplate waiting for her on the side.
"So then, I get up out of my seat, and it pushes Kiba into Sasuke, and they kiss!"
Yugito chuckled in laughter as Naruto told her stories upon stories of his training, and his encounters as a kid before he went on vacation.
"I see you two are getting to know each other better?" Kushina said as she grabbed her chopsticks to eat her breakfast.
"Naruto has some rather crazy adventures. Is it true that he used to wear an orange jumpsuit when he was five for a whole year and wouldn't change from it?" Asked Yugito, making Naruto and Kushina both shudder.
"Yeah, let's not talk about that… I was still young and obsessed with Orange. Now, I accept my addiction to… ramen," At this, Naruto's mouth began salivating and his eyes went wide and his pupils became ramen bowl sized.
Snapping her fingers in front of his eyes to get him to focus, to no avail, Kushina shook her head.
"Ok, so this is the agenda you two. I'm going to take Yugito to the tower, and then I will take you to the first day of school. Ironically, it is my first day back as a ninja, so we all will have a first day it seems.
Naruto nodded his head in agreement.
"Sounds like a plan,"
Yugito simply nodded her head in agreement. Then watched in fascination as the Uzumaki duo jumped out of their seat and pumped there left fist out, grabbed the wrist with the right.
"Alright! Let's go! Dattebane!"
"Yes! Finally, my first day of real school. I'm going to fit in perfectly Dattebayo!"
Yugito sweat dropped.
'They are definitely mother and son,'
(Konoha Academy-One hour later)
Naruto and Kushina arrived at the gates looking at the movement of activity surrouding the first day of school.
"Alright gaki. Be good. I have a meeting to get to, I'll see you later," said Kushina before kissing him on the cheek and disappearing in a swirl of water, smile on her face.
"OH COME ON! …" Naruto screamed while everyone looked at him and sweat dropped. Seeing that he was causing a scene, the blonde made his way inside, pulling out his paper with the schedule for his first classroom he entered and found a seat, sitting next to his friend Sasuke, who bumped fist as he sat down.
"Yo," Naruto said.
"Yo," Sasuke replied.
The two remained silent. Taking in the incoming students and various clans that came in, seeing old and new faces. But when that midnight hair came in, many people stopped talking.
Hinata Hyuga entered the room, feeling eyes and a tension build in the air. No doubt, many kids heard of her unfortunate situation, making her stoic face even more emotionless and her hands ball up into fist at the notion. She didn't want pity. She just wanted to be treated like a Kunoichi in training.
"Hinata-chan!" A voice yelled out, dispelling all of her thoughts and the whispered. Looking up quickly, she found the waving hand of a boisterous Naruto and an embarrassed Uchiha, drawing attention away from her and onto him and his loud persona.
Schooling her features but hearing her heart pump faster, she made her way to the available seat to the right of him before taking her place there and allowing a small smile to appear for once.
"Naruto-kun." She said simply.
She realized that while being in his presence the whispers no longer affected her.
The 2nd period teacher, Maito Gai, entered to begin with Taijutsu training.
It seemed that the entire school was redone, as the closet door actually led to an underground training field with a waterfall, a Dojo floor and mats for the students to sit on. However, the group of freshmen were not the only ones there as the upperclassmen were also seated and ready to go.
"YOSH! My youthful students! Today we will be watching the matches of the upperclassmen, as well as having a sparring tournament of our own. To make things fair. two winners of this class, a boy and girl representatives, will spar with the winner of the upperclassmen. If we win, we will train harder, and if you lose, we will train until you can beat the upperclassmen by the end of the year, and if you can't do it at the end of the year, I will climb the Hokage monument on my hands, and if I cannot do that, I will…
"I think, they get the picture Gai-san," said Shizune, who was the medic on scene for the spars.
"So, let us set up a bracket, and get this thing going, so for now, you guys sit back, relax and enjoy the show,"
( One Hour Later)
Naruto cringed as another upperclassmen got send crashing into the ground from the palm strike sent by the newest Main branch clan prodigy, Neji. The boy was just as cocky as he heard from Jiraiya, as he had not moved from the position he started in.
That was four fighters ago.
Needless to say, the boy most likely would win the entire thing.
"Alright, let's get some more youthful first year spars going on! Last one, Uchiha Sasuke vs. Uzumaki Naruto.
Sasuke sighed and smirked. Finally a challenge to get his blood flowing. Kiba was decent, but he had a harder time fighting a training dummy strapped with electric explosives that would shock you paralyzed if you did not hit the vital parts, thanks to Itachi, he was in a coma for a week after that. But he learned his lesson.
After doing a seal of solidarity, a special one between Senju and Uchiha, a hand shake and a fist bump before a high five, Sasuke got into a basic stance, his left hand stretched out and palms facing down, with his right hand in front of him with his fist out, Sasuke was ready for anything. Naruto simply resorted to his hands covering both sides of his face, knuckles up and under his nose like a peek-a-boo.
Naruto sent a round house kick with his right leg, catching Sasuke in the ribs on his left, making him bend forward in pain, only to catch a knee to the face and an elbow to the nose before getting choked and picked up, slammed into the ground and kicked in the ribs three times, before Sasuke grabbed the leg the fourth time, twisted it swiftly, bringing Naruto onto the floor in pain. Sasuke flailed his fist into Naruto's face five times with harsh swiftness and then choked him with both hands, even as Naruto began pushing his face with his palms to get Sasuke off of him.
The both of them were holding back and settling for western style fighting, otherwise known as wrestling. Gai knew this to be fact, they could tell by the hesitance to move naturally to the other's aggression. It was seen in the tightening of the muscles with each movement. They were definitely straining not to let go of their true styles, but the control was astounding. Especially at such a young age.
Naruto finally got out of it by quickly pushing Sasuke's arms back, bending his arms, allowing him time to slap both palms out and head but him in the face. As Sasuke backed off from seeing stars, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's right arm and catapulted the Uchiha onto his back before straddling over him and unleashing a barrage of hits while Sasuke put his arms over his head to protect himself from the weight of the hits and numerous swings, avoiding losing consciousness. Sasuke suddenly snapped up and delivered a powerful straight fist into Naruto's face, making him fly into the air and crash to the other side of the dojo.
By now everyone stopped talking and sparring to watch the epic fight. Naruto and Sasuke staggered to their feet before grinning viciously.
"Done warming up Naruto? " Said Sasuke, as he got into a different stance, shifting his left leg forward and bending his knees, he then put his hands up, fist tight and adjacent to each other, closed in, his elbows touching his sides, bouncing lightly on his feet, Sasuke jabbed and hooked with his fist to show his Muay Thai style.
Naruto simply smirked and got back in the same peek-a- boo stance.
"Yep,"
(Hokage Tower)
Kushina and Itachi, who were about to head out on a mission, stared at the ball the Hokage had in his hand as he got up and placed it into the window, which melted and spread out, showing a full screen view of the academy fights, which showed the Naruto and Sasuke spar.
"You might want to watch this, as it will give you all an idea of who you would want to work on in a few years." Said the Hokage. Somehow, news must have spread, as the Hokage turned back to see Kakashi, Asuma, Anko, Kurenai, The Sannin and the many Jounin in the room set to watch the battle. chuckling, he turned to watch the fight.
Jiraiya stared ahead while placing a fifty yen in Orochimaru's hand.
"Fifty on Naruto," Orochimaru smirked as more yen was also placed on his hand. Shushi nodded his head. "Hundred on Sasuke."
Two hundred was followed as Tsunade smirked.
"Draw."
( Academy Dojo)
Foot to foot, Naruto and Sasuke began swinging, jabbing, upper cutting, hooking, crossing, and straight punching with their fist, simply moving their hips to dodge or enhance the power behind the hits, the two bare knuckled up for five minutes, even at one point taking blows back to back before staggering a bit, disheveled and bleeding all over before the two made a circle with their foot, surrounding each other and began fighting within the confines of that circle.
Naruto dodged a straight before countering with a huge uppercut with his right fist, dodged by Sasuke who felt the wind blow his hair back, the opportunity showed itself as Sasuke caught Naruto in the ribs, and capitalized with a jab to the face twice then a follow up haymaker to the jaw, making Naruto spin.
But not before leaving Sasuke flying with a powerful left cross to the jaw as well.
Making them fly out of the circle and crash to the ground at the same time.
"DRAW!" Yelled Gai as he put both hands in the air.
Naruto popped his jaw back in place before shaking the cobwebs out of his head and getting up, stretching and retrieving his shirt, his scars and bruises were clearing up as he made his way to the wall to sit down, Sasuke next to him doing the same after Shizune healed him up a bit.
"You know you could have countered that punch right?" Naruto whispered as he made his way back over to his friend. "Yeah, but my mother told me not to give too much ability out at the moment. Just enough," Sasuke whispered back. "Hmm… my mom said the same thing… I don't think we listened," Said Naruto. "You have a point. Such is life," Sasuke replied as the two sat down and sighed. After a while, a huge shadow came over the two. Looking up, Sasuke paled as all of the girls from the class were over them, looking at him and Naruto with hearts in their eyes.
"So strong…" one girl murmured. Naruto however, was distracted by the sight of someone very familiar to him running away from a group of laughing peers and hiding.
"Well, Sasuke. I wish you luck in your future endeavors, usually I would take the heat for this one, but I have another agenda to take care of. Godspeed my brother," said had somehow replaced himself with another girl who was looking at him and drooling. Sasuke sweat dropped.
"…Uhm… Hi?" The girls squealed and jumped at him, attempting to hug him to death.
Naruto merely whistled as Sasuke shouted harmful threats to him while the teacher tried to pry the girls off of the Uchiha clan member. Stopping in front of a girl who was crying to herself by a tree, Naruto bend down and simply stared at her. "Go away…" the girl said. Naruto shook his head, though the girl probably couldn't see it with her arms covering her face.
"Now is that anyway to greet an old friend?" Naruto asked. The girl looked up at him and glared at him with her brown eyes before looking at him shocked. "N-Naruto?" Said boy smiled before grabbing her hand.
"Let's get out of here,"
(Outside playground)
Naruto pushed the girl on a swing set back and forth, smiling at the giggling girl.
"How have you been?" He said as he pushed her higher and higher at a steady rate, knowing this would cheer her up.
"I lost my fight horribly. I couldn't use any of the weapons I had, they said it was just taijutsu, and I have not been as good as I should be when it comes to taijutsu," said the girl, who wore green pants with blue ninja shoes and a pink Chinese designed gi, her hair was wrapped in two buns, making her look like a panda bear.
"Well Tenten, you've been using those weapons since the day I met you, I would expect you to be able to use your hands, which are considered weapons, just as you could with your kunai, what really happened?" Asked newly named Tenten was silent for a while, the only sounds being the creaking of the swings before she sighed.
" I was fighting Neji."
Naruto nodded in understanding, the boy was good, he would give him that, except he had a few flaws that could be exploited.
"It was not the loss that hurt. It was what he said after that made me so mad," Said Tenten as she gripped the chains harder, until her hands turned red, to which Naruto saw and wondered what he said.
"Which was…"
"A weakling could never hope to beat the powerful, and an orphan could never beat a clan member. Tenten jerked as Naruto grabbed the swing itself and kissed his teeth.
"You tell the jerk this. Our Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was the greatest warrior that ever lived. He was an orphan. Jiraiya, as far as I know, the Toad Sannin does not have a last name, nor any family. Same applies to Orochimaru. Anko Mitarashi, apprentice to Orochimaru. Orphan. So don't let him get to you." Naruto said calmly.
Tenten stared wide eyed at Naruto. Her best friend. He was totally right. The greatest Shinobi and Kunoichi had little to no family sometimes. Hearing that really lifted her spirits. She smiled and nodded before back flipping off the swing Naruto resumed pushing. Landing on her toes, Tenten looked directly into his eyes and Naruto was happy to see the fire ignite once again.
"I understand. Thank you Naru-kun," To which said blond sighed in embarrassment.
"And never use that nickname in public," Said Naruto with a smile.
"And what if I do… little wittle Naru-kun?" Teased Tenten?
A gleam appeared in Naruto's eyes. Uzumaki's had a knack for being highly mischievous and it didn't help that Naruto was third of his clan to be the carrier of the Kyuubi. As such, games and teasing was an art he was adept at getting the last laugh with.
"Panda-chan… "He said in a sing-song voice.
Tenten paled, remembering the six year old meeting and the embarrassment that came from Naruto calling her that in front of her idol of all things. From then on, Tsunade nicknamed Tenten that same name, to her eternal shame and Naruto's eternal enjoyment.
"I'll be good, I'll be good. I"m sorry," Tenten said quickly, hiding her eyes in embarrassment. Naruto smirked brightly.
"Glad we can have this talk. Now let's get back to class, before the teachers think we left and …" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Tenten hit his arm playfully with a blush on her face.
"You pervert."
(After School)
Whistling a tune while heading to the gates, Naruto stopped walking suddenly as he laid his eyes on a grinning Kushina with her arms crossed standing next to a Yugito with a remorseful look on her face as she looked at him.
"Revenge is sweat dobe," Whispered Sasuke as he walked past him, Itachi smirking in amusement at the friendly rivalry. Naruto wanted to tell him something rather vulgar, but a look from his smiling mother made him think otherwise. Gulping inwardly and steeling himself for what was to come, Naruto made his way up to the two woman in his life.
"H-hey everybody. My beautiful mother a-and Yugito-Onee-san," Said Naruto shakily with a weak smile.
"Hi," whispered Yugito. She was highly impressed with the exhibition bout she witness in the Hokage's office. While she was waiting for a mission, she also met Sasuke's older brother Itachi and his best friend Shisui, who was kind of cute in her book. Not that she would mention that to anyone.
Kushina merely stared at her son as her grin turned almost shark-like. If anyone had seen the smirk they would think she was proud and happy at the achievement her son had made on his first day back from school. Naruto felt the grip of the Shinigami gripping his soul, slowly coming to devour him as he took every step closer to his mother.
"Well, sonny, we will have to be having a nice little training session on self-control once we get home. But that can wait, let us Show Yugi-chan here this great big village shall we," Said Kushina as she turned around and walked off, planning the many methods to teach Naruto self-control. Naruto sweat dropped massively before closing his eyes and accepting his fate. Walking next to his newly adopted older sister, He whispered lowly.
"If I die Yugito, don't forget about me in the afterlife," Said the boy, a dark cloud over his head, raindrops messing his hair up.
"Suuuuuuure," Yugito said slowly before walking faster to catch up with Kushina, leaving the poor Uzumaki to wallow in pity.
(Next Week Saturday- Senju/Uzumaki Clan house backyard)
Naruto lay dirtied and exhausted on the field as Kushina and Yugito sat in a hot tub watching the spar with Tsunade. If you could call it that as Tsunade who was relatively fresh as a daisy washed Naruto all over the field as he could not get within an inch of the same area as her before getting pelted with stones, dirtballs or her finger.
"Now, besides hundreds of weights holding you down and not using your brain, why do you think you have not touched me yet?" Tsunade said from her position on the field. Naruto tried to think of reasons why. She was extremely experienced in field layout, so she would know in what ways he could get to her. Despite her age, she was rather fast with her movement, even if it did not explain the reason why as she was in the same spot when they…began…
"Genjutsu?" asked Naruto suddenly, surprise in his tone. Tsunade nodded in approval.
"A rather subtle Genjutsu that effects your perception the moment you come within inches of me. You were so focused on trying to hit me, that when you came close, you never noticed the distorted vision you were getting until it was too late. Genjutsu is the greatest downfall any Shinobi or Kunoichi can get caught in. As such, today's training will be on Chakra control, again. This time, you will be solely focused on acknowledging Genjutsu, dispelling it, and then you will learn to create Genjutsu, as every Shinobi should have some in their repertoire." Tsunade finished her lecture mode and looked at Naruto to see if he understood. Naruto nodded. He had focused on Genjutsu in Suna as this was one of his worst skills as a Shinobi- in-training. So it in turn would be the one he would focus on the most.
"So, you are going to use your chakra to walk on mud with fifty pounds of rock on your back. This will strengthen you while teaching you control," said Tsunade as she channeled Chakra to her hands.
As Naruto was about to ask about the non-existant pit, Tsunade smashed her fist into the ground once more, lifting up the ground. Continuing until she was not seen, dirt and grass was upturned as her shovel-hands kept digging. Finally reaching the bottom she jumped out.
"Water release: Hydro Cannon", filling the whole to a decent size, She discontinued the jutsu and began another.
"Earth release: Swamp of the Underworld"
The pit instantly began to get filled with mud as Kushina's and Tsunade's technique filled the hole up. Lifting a stone and grabbing a rope from…. Naruto had no idea where, Tsunade made her way over to the sweating Naruto.
"You'll be fine. This is nothing compared to the training we got when we were your age," Tsunade said. Naruto stared blankly at Tsunade.
"Have you been trying to focus on Chakra control while on a tightrope above a pit of snakes with random Kunai being tossed at you, two hundred pounds of weights on your body and ten seconds on a clock to get to the other side and if you failed fifty pounds would be added and you had to do it again?" Naruto stated in a monotone voice.
Tsunade nervously chuckled.' Kushina is crazy,' Tsunade decided in her mind.
"Maybe not."
(Second Week – Monday- Academy)
Naruto had finally concocted a plan to build bonds and strengthen each of his classmates by the end of the semester. Whether or not they would graduate, his mother had taught him that bonds were important as Konoha Shinobi. Making his way up to Sasuke, Naruto sat down and put his feet up.
"Fight me,"
Sasuke looked at him with an expression that said 'I thought you would never ask,'
"Hn." Which Translated to 'when?'
"After school at your clan house,"
Sasuke smirked.
"Hn?" Sasuke replied. Another translation for 'Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu?'
Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, I need to get my Genjutsu skills up anyway," Said Naruto.
Sasuke said nothing.
"Hn," He replied. Which meant 'deal.'
Naruto nodded and got up, just as a fan girl sat down and Sasuke changed into the unemotional robot he had resolved to become in the academy to ward off anymore advances. Besides, somebody had to be the emo of the class, and Shikamaru was too lazy to do it. Naruto simply passed by Hinata and sat next to Ino. Hinata said nothing, merely staring at the front of the class before wondering when he put a flower in her hair without her seeing it. Her Byakugan was on the minute he entered the room!
Naruto sat next to the Yamanaka clan head, who was staring at Sasuke in bliss. Clearing his throat to begin his theatrics, Naruto got her attention with physical touch, resulting in confused eyes shifting from angry, to surprise and finally intrigued as Naruto grabbing her hands.
"Ino, let me keep things real and serious. I know you have some infatuation with my friend. But my friend desires a strong female in his life. Someone that could destroy him in a fight. You, are the perfect candidate by far for this task. As such, I am willing to strike a deal with you," Said Naruto. Ino was all ears from there.
"Let's train once a week. "
And that was how Naruto's after schools were for the next 4 years.
(Monday- Hyuga Compound)
Hinata walked down the hallway, Byakugan on full blast. She could now see everyone in a thirty-five meter radius thanks to avoiding Naruto and his flowers. She could be considered paranoid. But she could not comprehend how he was able to get the drop on…
Turning around, Hinata blasted her Jyuken palm into the intruder.
Only to reel back in mild surprise at the training dummy with a sign on it's front.
'Good job detecting me, but bad job not getting the rose out of your hair'
Sincerely,
The training dummy.
Hinata sighed. Taking the rose out, Hinata made her way home to get it pressed. This was getting to be annoying. She owned over tons of flowers because of Naruto, and as stoic as she was, she definitely used them for medicine or flower pressing.
Though she would brutally abuse the person who found out she did such things. She still had an image to uphold.
Naruto sat in a tree observing her and sighed in confusion. In three months, Hinata went from a sigh meek and sweet girl to an almost emotionless and obviously traumatized personality. She had seemed to develop a Princess complex that made being friends with her both amusing and difficult, but most of all he just wished to have his friend back. It didn't help that his mother knew what was the issue, but was unwilling to tell him, asking him to ask the source instead as she was aware of what the problem was. It seemed like training was the only way to get her to open up. As such, he spent time widening her range while invading her blind spot. This was a ploy to get her to open up her other senses in case she relied too much on her eyes.
(Tuesday)
Shino and Naruto sat in the park staring at the ants crossing their path.
"See, these ants might be strong, but they sure do pack a punch. One bite can leave a man itching for days, I think creating an alliance with fire ants might do you some good Shino-san."
Picking one up, Shino observed and communicated with them before nodding at Naruto.
"I asked it to bite me to show me its usage. I am in pain already, my finger is itching massively and I feel a sudden urge to scream in utter frustration at the pain emanating from my finger," Said Shino plainly.
Naruto nodded.
"I concur, My finger too is on fire, you did not have to suggest them to bite me as well," Naruto replied.
The two said nothing before slowly standing up.
"I'm going to go home and tell my father while trying not to produce tears from my ocular ducts," Said Shino before using a bug shunshin to head home. Naruto nodded and enjoyed the peacefulness nature brought before howling in pain and scratching his finger.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch,"
(Wednesday)
"Your idea of Shogi is… rather troublesome, but I can see the benefits... as much as I want to lay down.
"I knew you would…see things… my way," Naruto replied.
Did I mention that the two dodging the random items being thrown periodically by Yoshino Nara? The two were dodging pots, pans, kettles, forks, knives, kunai, Deer (making the two wonder how strong was this woman?) and more while in the midst of playing Shogi. Shikamaru was intrigued at first, then mad at the fact that he would have to concentrate on the fly while playing Shogi and moving, something he just did not want to do. But then he noticed his mother would be exhausted after a couple of hours of doing this, leaving the house quiet as a storm when morning came. He knew he was a lazy genius, but Naruto was a breed of his own. If he did this twice a week, it would allow him and his father to relax on those off days.
"You lose," said Naruto. Shikamaru examined the board while deflecting kunai with a Shogi piece and smirked.
"Took you one hundred-ninety seven times to do so,"
Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Best out of three hundred, I figured the first one hundred times I beat you was a fluke," Said Naruto.
Shikamaru shook his head while dodging a pot.
"Your movements were erratic and I could not think as fast as I can now on account of the pots being thrown my way. But now I am getting the hang of thinking while dodging," Replied Shikamaru.
Naruto nodded.
"I want a rematch,"
"You're on," said Shikamaru. The throwing of items their way suddenly ceased and the two turned, only to sweat drop when Yoshino created a clone who went into the field behind them while she sat down and waited.
"What? Somebody has to pick up the pots when I am done with them," said Yoshino simply.
(Thursday)
"Again," said Naruto
He was in the gym lifting weights with Chouji, nothing too crazy, as that might stunt his growth, but the two came here every other day to get muscled up, Naruto telling him it was the best way to get fit and it would raise his metabolism up as well, giving him justification to eat even more. As long as it was a good balance of healthy food.
As such, Chouji could be seen destroying tons of fruits and vegetables, and on Fridays and Saturdays chips, Sundays were binge days. This coupled with exercising on Tuesday and Thursday, weight lifting Monday and Wednesday, made Chouji a rather good looking young man at his age.
"One more rep, push, push, GOOD!" Yelled Naruto as Chouji finished his set. Slamming the two hundred pounds he was squatting with to the floor.
"That is good enough, let's hit the shower and go eat some steak or something," Said Naruto, laughing as Chouji shook his head.
"That would just defeat the purpose. You know that, we got to eat healthy today to retain the muscle," Said Chouji blankly. Naruto smiled and pushed his friend.
"Spoilsport,"
(Friday)
Kiba sniffed the air, his eyes covered in war paint with Akamaru right next to him, the size of a German shepherd as it grew up rather fast thanks to the new food Naruto had gotten from Iwa.
"Ok. Akamaru, I can smell him with my sister. I am going for the take out, keep watch and alert me of anything alright?" Said Kiba. Akamaru nodded, knowing not to bark as he would alert the two of what was going on. Silently moving through the forest, Kiba prepared to jump and attack the perpetrator. Only to freeze once he caught what just happened.
"AKAMARU! NO!"
Naruto and Hana stopped their sparring to watch Kiba run out and scream at Akamaru, who was currently doing some things hormonal dogs do when they are in the presence of female dogs. While building a camaraderie with Kiba, he had came across his sister, who was also a rather beautiful Kunoichi, but someone he looked up to. He found himself drawn to her caring personality and wondered why she was single, plotting and scheming a possible date with Itachi. Kiba, young and not too trusting of his friend, would take this time to follow them any and everywhere, unknowingly, Naruto would always mask his scent, and sometimes Hana's, to deter him.
"Well… now we know why the other two are pregnant," Said Hana as she had left her dogs at home and brought a pack of female dogs to get some training done with the monstrous animals in the field. Naruto nodded.
"True, your brother is getting better, scoping us from your clan house to the outside of the Forest of Death, impressive."
Hana nodded, looking at Naruto in mild surprise at the information, almost as if he was…
Hana laughed as she figured out what he was doing.
"Good move Naruto, good move." Naruto however, remained staring at the scene in front of them, tilted his head to the side in mild amusement,watching Kiba try and fail to get his dog away from the pack.
"I think you should say that to Akamaru…"
Kiba screamed again.
(Saturday)
Sakura swung with a harsh haymaker, making Naruto dodge before he poked her forehead again, taking a uppercut to his chin, sending him back flipping in the air before landing on the ground.
"Your speed is increasing, but you have not stopped me from attacking you," Said Naruto as he picked himself up off the ground.
When Naruto proposed the plan to teach Sakura taijutsu and other skills, Sakura was a bit apprehensive to accept. After all, this was the same person who was always around her best friend and her future husband. So it was normal to hate him.
So when he offered to help her, in her confusion, she simply nodded her head.
But this tactic seemed like he was just strengthening her for an inevitable girl fight with Ino. When she brought it up, Ino laughed and asked if she really wanted to not get better if she herself trained with Naruto 2 times a week?
She shut up and took the training soon enough.
"Now remember, you cannot let your temper get in the way of your fist, you have the making to be either a great Genjutsu mistress or a powerful medic nin, close to Tsunade herself, but don't tell her I said that, she'd just steal you from me, I want you to impress her beyond words when I am done with you. So we will move on to the next step,"
Naruto handed her a scroll filled with Chakra theory and more.
"I won this off a bet with Tsunade. These are special medical techniques used to both heal and inflect pain. Learn one by the end of the week and we will work on the next one. Now let us begin again, we got about ten minutes before your mom will come looking for you," Said Naruto simply, knowing her to always take Sakura away for their family dinners. While initially her mother wasn't the most supportive, she couldn't deny the results and Sakura developed into a strong and faster Kunoichi in training.
(Sunday)
Naruto ran from the fire jutsu and earth clones chasing after him via Sasuke with an amused Itachi and Shusui, who was half watching as he was too busy sparring with Yugito.
"I knew I should not have taught him mud clones,"
These methods of training, helped Naruto and his friends not only become closer, but a lot stronger than any other training possibly could. This had a domino effect as it began to bleed into the families, making more of a bound as well.
Yoshino nodded as she looked out the window and found an early rising Shikamaru heading off to school.
"You were right; the training did do wonders," she said to an exhausted Shikaku who also had to partake in the training sometimes as he would often neglect chores and various things in the house.
"Troublesome. The kid is making me look bad." He mumbled to himself.
Shibi nodded at the new addition of insect into his clan forest.
"A formidable addition these moths, powerful and impressive in their execution, usage is highly successful, taking a bit of clothing and tracking that person down with it. Naruto is truly a big help to the clan,"
Shino nodded.
"I concur,"
Chouza chuckled as his son picked him up and began bench pressing him.
"That's my boy, strong and powerful, Naruto has been a good help to your skill, treat him to some food from your mother someday,"
"Yes Tou-san, fifteen… Sixteen…"
Hinata closed her eyes and listened.
She heard trees ruffling. Water from the lake around her, the wind blowing through the shirts hung up to dry.
She heard the walking of her fellow clan members, heard chatter about frivolous optics, and finally she heard what she had been looking for. Opening her eyes, she immediately tossed a senbon through the air and seconds later it hit the target, an apple, through the dart board that was set up outside the clan house, down the pathway of her compound, located half a mile away and on top of the clan house of the Uzumaki clan house, where a training dummy was currently sitting blindfolded in front of the board.
Hiashi actually widened his eyes and Neji smirked in happiness at the achievement.
"Impressive, it seems this Naruto character has been a thorn in your side for a reason,"
Hinata simply nodded, looking directly into Naruto's eyes and giving a small smile before schooling her features and heartbeat.
(Years later- Academy- day of graduation)
The day had come. The day to graduate had finally arrived. The test would not be as wild, or hard, as far as the other clan members and some civilians were concerned. All thanks to the contribution Naruto had made. So far, they had taken test that were more of a mental roller coaster than physical. From the moment they entered, their examiner was none other than Morino Ibiki, who unnerved most of them out like none other. They were told that if they cheated on his test, a test that were asking questions only a Kage would know, points would be taken off as a result. However, if they got caught, they would get kicked out. Instantly that sounded off,as many realized they wouldn't actually fail if they cheated. So many people did cheat in their own little sneaky ways.
Come to find out, one of the Genin who had been in their classroom for over four years, were not Genin at all. A kid named Sai was already a Jounin and could have been used to cheat off of. The second test was a tracking exam in which they all had to retrieve a scroll in the middle of the Forest of Death in six hours. Once that was done, a huge tournament was done to figure out who would be the best Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu user of the year.
Except they had to fight Chunnins and Jounins. As such, Gai, Shizune, who was on hand as a nurse, Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai and Itachi Uchiha respectively were on hand for the specific fields of that they specialized in. At the end of the day you had to face all but they got the opportunity to choose what field first. Though, that was not the only reason they were on hand.
Chouji, Hinata, and Kiba aimed for Taijutsu first, Sakura, Ino and surprisingly Shino and Shikamaru went for Genjutsu with Naruto and Sasuke headed for Ninjutsu.
After a long period of testing, resulting in all Genin hopefuls getting beat relentlessly by Kurenai and Itachi in Genjutsu, Kakashi in Ninjutsu and Gai and Asuma in Taijutsu, the rankings were achieved:
Top Taijutsu
1. Sasuke Uchiha
2. Hinata Hyuga
3. Naruto Uzumaki
4. Kiba Inuzuka
5. Chouji Akimichi
Top Ninjutsu
1. Naruto Uzumaki
2. Sasuke Uchiha
3. Kiba Inuzuka
4. Hinata Hyuga
5. Shikamaru Nara
Top Genjutsu
1. Sakura Haruno
2. Sasuke Uchiha
3. Shino Aburame
4. Shikamaru Nara
5. Ino Yamanaka
Naruto stared at the list with a blank face for a long time. A very long time before turning towards Hinata, who was speaking to Neji, and walking directly up to her.
"You held back."
It was a statement.
Hinata nodded.
"Just as you have, did you think you were the only one who was formidable in Taijutsu and ninjutsu? Or have you not noticed that I have never lost a bout in Taijutsu to any boy in the class, or girl for that matter,"
Interrupting the conversation, Neji made his way over. Too caught up in his thoughts, as he had already graduated and was there to pick up his cousin, he missed the twitch in Naruto's right hand that gradually got deeper and more frantic with each step he took. By the time he came within range, Hinata politely backed up. Neji, thinking it was to join the conversation, spoke.
"It is more over the fact that the Hyuga is simply…" Neji got cut off by the fist that appeared in his gut. He was then roughly grabbed by his collar and smashed into the wall by an irate Naruto.
"I heard you are on a team with Tenten and you have been degrading and putting her and Lee down with your words," Said Naruto simply. It was finally time to put Neji on the ground in a humbling fashion, forget holding back.
"What's it to you? It is Fate that they would be beneath me, not let go of me. I will not ask again," Neji said, Byakugan activated and a snarl in place.
Naruto let him go but did not leave his space.
"See me on the training grounds. Let me show you what I think about your fate," Naruto said simply.
"When?" Asked Neji, coughing blood up. His hit was absolutely powerful. Where this nobody got the gall to hit him, he had no idea. Naruto turned around and began walking towards the school grounds.
"Now."
Naruto heel dropped, missing Neji by inches as the main branch member picked himself up off the floor, getting into his clan stance. Naruto simply ran at him like a bull before sending a left jab, which was dodged, but still resulted in a confusing Neji as his left foot got stepped on, leaving him in place to receive a right hook to the face. Staggering back, he dodged the round house kick but not the follow up kick to the side of his head. Naruto kept the assault on Neji up, feinting and hitting him with unexpected hits, but Neji seemed to begin to understand the movements as Naruto feinted and struck out his left hand went for an attack. Neji dodged to the right as Naruto overextended, placing his shoulder directly in front of Naruto's chest before jabbing Naruto's outstretched hand with his left hand, paralyzing it for a moment and following that with a left Jyuken palm to the chest, made Naruto spit up blood and stumble back.
"Your erratic style is impressive but now utterly useless now that I have figured out your entire style," Neji stated with utter confidence as he wiped the blood off of his face. Naruto said nothing. Simply began moving began stretching before dancing in a weird motion that had his legs moving back and forth and his hands switching up and down.
Naruto said nothing as he began running at Neji like a monkey with his fist on the ground and jumped in the air. Neji attempting to place a palm strike at his chest, but was amazed as Naruto grabbed his arm, spun in the air and flung him to the ground, landing on his fit and the balls of his feet, Naruto followed up with a right clawed strike to his chest, ripping his Hyuga garments and then Naruto backed away from Neji before cartwheeling, kicking Neji in the face with both of his shoes as he was getting up. Naruto then put his hands on the floor and front fipped, sending his feet into the back of the slowly rising Neji's head, making him eat dirt.
At this point, many of the students exited the school, teachers and parents as well to witness this throw down of epic proportions. Yet nobody was willing to stop it, but were ready to intervene had it been something brewing for a while.
"Hm, it seems as if he challenged Neji to a fight, about time," Said Sasuke as he crossed his arms.
"Wait, so Neji and Naruto never liked each other?" Asked Kiba. Sasuke nodded as he watched Naruto dance out of Neji's strikes and attack.
"Naruto wanted to fight him since the first day of school. What better time than now, as Neji is already an established Genin?" asked Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Neji snarled and spun in the air, releasing a huge ball of chakra, known as the Kaiten, shocking some people at his was sent flying backwards, landing on his hands and feet as he slid on the ground. Neji got up and began moving his hands in a slow motion, steadily speeding up.
"You are in my range of divination,"
Naruto shocked everyone as he smirked and disappeared.
Imagine Neji's shock when from underground, a hand appeared and grabbed his foot, sending a shock of electricity running through him, making him collapse. Naruto fully emerged from the ground next to a still recovering Neji. Glaring at the downed Hyuga, Naruto spoke.
"I want to introduce you to utter defeat through two taijutsu styles, a shadow clone, and two ninjutsu. This is what it feels like to be humiliated. Know that even now, I was holding back. Test me. Say something demeaning to your teammates again and I will know of it. I will find you. I will beat you. Then I will humiliate you. Just as you have humiliated your fellow classmates all those years ago," said Naruto, as he turned around and came face to face with Hinata, who smirked.
"Enough," She said.
In slow motion, the crowd gasped as Hinata systematically shut down Naruto's entire chakra system in mere seconds.
Naruto crashed to the floor in shock at letting his guard down. Hinata turned around, smirk on her face, only for it to fall as she looked directly into the eyes of a smug looking Naruto as the new Genin she just attacked poofed away into smoke.
"Good. But not good enough," Naruto said as he backed away from her slowly, watching her face morph for surprise, to anger and finally happiness.
"I will defeat you." She said, as the crowd slowly dispersed, with teachers checking on a still surprised Neji, who was taken to the nurses office. The two stared one another down until everyone left, leaving the Hyuga and Uzumaki out on the field.
"What happened to you?" Naruto suddenly asked. While he trained with her as well for the past four years, there was an obvious distance between the two. She only spoke of training and while he tried to get deeper with his old friend, she remained stoic and never answered anything pertaining to her three months or her seal. Hinata shook her head slowly.
"I changed Naruto. A lot can happen in three months and..." she stopped speaking as memories wracked her brain from the past.
Images of water and blood on a wall. Screams.
A red sharingan eye looking at her with a smirk on their face. Long Black hair.
"Hinata!" A voice shouted out, bringing her back to reality. Naruto shook her back as he watched her. A minute ago her eyes glaze over and her chakra began to fluctuate dangerously. There were so many questions swirling in his head as his friend continued to act even more mysterious. Suddenly a blast of chakra sent Naruto crashing to the floor as Hinata screamed into the air, a Kaiten bigger than he thought possible rushed through the area, alerting those in the vicinity. Hinata cancelled her Jutsu as she struggled to breathe.
"Stay away from me..." And as she disappeared into thin air, Naruto would always remember the tears streaming down her face and the pleading tone in her whisper for years to come.
"Please."