Naruto:A New Path

Another Jinchuuriki?

Naruto looked at the giant face of the fox in fear. It was the same face that had been on his dream. The same smile that had laughed as it killed all those precious to him. The blond felt memories of the dream come back to him and gritted his teeth. Emotions from the dream came back but the most dominant one was rage.
The fox gave an evil smirk and growled. "Come closer!" The Kyuubi roared with rage, " I'm going to rip you to shreds for keeping me here."
Naruto trembled slightly at the demonic voice but stood his ground. "Shut up you damned fox." The blond growled, "I need some of your chakra or I'm going to die."
"I'll kill you for your insolence brat!" The fox growled in a powerful voice.
"If I die then you die with me. I'm sure you don't want that," Naruto said with a frown.
The Kyuubi growled before breaking into an evil smirk. "I will give you some of my chakra now but I will kill you as soon as I get the chance. You and your puny village will tremble before my power!"
Red chakra leaked out of the cage and made its way to Naruto. The blond grimaced when the chakra enveloped him. The chakra was foul and had nothing but raw power. Naruto's skin was boiling due to the intensity and his insides felt as if they were on fire. The blond felt darkness fill his vision and the last thing he saw was the smirking face of the Kyuubi.
Naruto regained consciousness and saw that he was still falling down the chasm. He felt the fox's chakra give him strength and he bit his right thumb, drawing blood. The only thing that would save him would be summoning a large toad. The blond ran through hand signs and focused most of his chakra on the summoning. Naruto's eyes widened when he formed a giant cloud of smoke and landed on something squishy. The blond looked down and saw a giant red head with many warts. The large red toad stopped its fall by taking hold of both of the rocky walls with its arms and feet.
"Who summoned me?" Naruto heard the giant toad exclaim, "Where are you Jiraiya? For summoning me in a place like this, I'll make you pay."
Naruto smiled in excitement. He had summoned a giant toad, that meant that he had mastered summoning. "I summoned you!" The blond yelled from the top of the toad's head before jumping to the toad's nose, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the one who summoned you."
The toad frowned. " Quit joking. No kid should be able to summon me, the Chief Toad Gamabunta." The chief toad jumped out of the chasm and landed on a large clearing, " Jiraiya! Where are you?"
The blond frowned. "I told you that I
summoned you!" He proceeded to glare at the toad, "Why won't you believe me?"
The chief scowled. " If you're so persistent then I'll give you a test." The toad started, " If you are able to stay on my head until sundown then I'll let you become my henchman."
Naruto grinned. "Fine by me chief toad!" He ran to Gamabunta's head and prepared himself, "I'll pass this test for sure." Gamabunta frowned at the last comment and, without warning, leapt from his place on the ground at a high speed.
Naruto screamed as the toad jumped. It was difficult to stay in place because of how fast the toad was jumping. The blond was trying to stabilize himself on the toad's head by using chakra on his feet. This proved hard because of all the wind against him and because the sheer speed of the toad prevented him from concentrating.
Jiraiya watched the blond with a smirk. It hadn't been wise to anger Gamabunta and he was paying for it. The sannin knew that the chief would be angry at him but knew that he wouldn't mind when he told him who Naruto was. The toad had made a promise to the Fourth and would honor it on toad's honor. Jiraiya chuckled when he saw that Naruto was about to fall, only to use his clones to save himself, the blond proved to be a gun person to have around.
The sun was setting and everything was peaceful around the Leaf Village, well except for the giant toad trying to shake a kid off its head. The toad soared through the skies as it jumped, before landing with a great tremor. Only Jiraiya was near the area since he was watching his student.
Naruto was drenched in sweat and had a small trail of blood under his mouth from the time where he slammed into the toad's head. The fox's chakra had disappeared hours ago and Naruto had been forced to use the little chakra he had left. The blond was so focused on staying on the toad's head that he had lost the sense of time long ago. He was only running on the will to beat the toad and nothing else.
Gamabunta was growing impatient and mad. The blond kid had been able to stay atop his head and the sun was already going down. He had to give it to the kid, he had a respectful determination. The toad was already considering letting the boy summon toads but he wouldn't let him pass his test. If the blond passed then that would mean that the toad had been beaten on a sort of bet, and he wouldn't have that.
With one last powerful heap the toad tried to shake the blond off. Naruto hung on to a large wart with all his strength. He felt himself lose his grip until he was finally blown off the toad. The blond gritted his teeth and gather whatever chakra he had left.
The toad smirked when he saw the blond fall off his head. He had been victorious but he would still let the kid summon toads since they were always impressed by determination. Naruto was much like Jiraiya on his will to never give up.
"Wind Style: Wind Wave!" Naruto yelled. He launched the attack on the opposite direction of the toad in order to try to get back to the toad's head.
Gamabunta gave a look of disbelief. The boy would just not quit. Naruto launched towards him at a great speed with the setting sun behind him. A shadow was cast on Naruto's face so that only his blond hair and blue eyes were visible. At that moment Gamabunta was reminded of his last summoner, other than Jiraiya, the Fourth Hokage.
"I won't fail!" Naruto yelled as he slammed, headfirst, to the toad's head. He stifled a cry at the pain on his head and watched as the sun disappeared on the horizon. The blond smiled, he had passed the test, and finally blacked out. With no more strength, Naruto fell lifelessly from the toad's head.
"You have guts kid." Gamabunta said as he stopped Naruto's falling by wrapping him on his tongue. The toad set him on the ground, "You can summon us toads whenever you need help." With that the chief toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Jiraiya walked over to his fallen student and smiled proudly at him. Naruto had done a great job with nothing but will. The blond was truly surprising and the sannin had no doubt that the blond would surpass him one day. For some reason Jiraiya couldn't wait to get Naruto's training started. The blond would go places and Jiraiya would be there to guide him. For now the blond needed some medical attention and rest. The sannin would have to leave town for a while but he would be back by the time the chuunin exam finals were over.
It had been two days since the test with Gamabunta and Naruto was still asleep. The hit he received on the head had fractured his skull but, thanks to the Kyuubi's healing, his skull had been healed quickly. A few of Naruto's friends had heard about his state and had visited him. Ino had visited Naruto constantly, due to their close friendship. Much to Shikamaru's annoyance, Ino had been asking everyone if they knew what happened to the blond and wouldn't stop asking whenever their team was training.
Naruto stirred from his sleep. He opened his eyes but immediately closed them because of the brightness of the room. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was his test with the chief toad.
' Did I pass the test?' He finally opened his eyes and saw white walls and curtains. He instantly knew that he was in the hospital and felt an itch on his head. Naruto tried to scratch his head but felt bandages around his head. It was then that he remembered everything. He had passed the test by slamming into the toad.
"Looks like you're finally awake." Naruto heard a voice say. He turned to the voice and found the lazy genius leaning on the wall with a basket filled with fruit on his hand.
"Shikamaru?" Naruto said in confusion. He never really thought that Shikamaru would visit him, in fact nobody, except for the Third and Iruka, had ever visited him on a hospital.
Shikamaru sighed. "Good thing you're finally awake. Ino's been worried about you and she wouldn't stop bothering us with questions about you."
Naruto looked confused. "Why would she be worried about me?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "You're really dumb sometimes." He gave Naruto a small grin, "You're our friend and Ino's grown really close to you. Everyone who knows you're here has visited you at least once."
' I matter to a lot of people now.' He thought with a smile, a real one this time.
"Enough of this sappy moment." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "I brought some food to Choji but he's not allowed to eat any of it. Do you want it?"
Naruto smiled. "Sure, I'm pretty hungry." He got an evil smirk and chuckled, "Why don't we eat this in front of Choji?"
"You're on," Shikamaru said with a smirk of his own.
The two left the room and walked over to Choji's but stopped when they felt killer intent. Naruto turned towards the source and saw that it was coming from one of the patient rooms. He gave a glance to Shikamaru, who nodded in assurance, and the two entered the room.
Inside, they saw Gaara in front of Lee's bed. His sand was leaking from under him and making its way to Lee. Shikamaru stopped Gaara with his Shadow Possession Jutsu while a Naruto clone moved Lee away from the sand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown.
Gaara glared at the two. "I must prove my existence." He said in a cold voice, "He hurt me and he must die."
Shikamaru was panting lightly and sweat trickled down his face. "He's too strong. I won't be able to hold him for long."
Naruto grinned and prepared his Spiraling Wind Ball Jutsu. "Don't worry I'll knock him down it he does escape."
Gaara got a psychotic look on his face. "I can't be beaten. I have a demon sealed within me." Naruto and Shikamaru gasped, "I was destined to kill ever since I was born. I prove my existence by killing anyone on my path."
Naruto froze. 'He's just like I was. He has a demon inside of him too.' Naruto's wind ball dispersed.
"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked with a frown.
Before Naruto could answer a new person entered the room. "That's enough everyone, this is a hospital." Gai said with a frown. He took Lee from the clone and laid him on the bed. "Lee needs rest so you shouldn't fight here."
"I will kill him later," Gaara said as he walked out the door.
Naruto and Shikamaru left the room soon after. They didn't want to leave Lee along but knew that Gai knew what was best for his student. Naruto was still shocked at the revelation of Gaara being like him. Unlike Naruto, Gaara didn't have anyone to acknowledge him. Naruto remembered how it felt to be completely alone and was scared to think about it. He couldn't believe how much pain he had taken and knew that if it weren't for the third and Iruka then he would've been the same as Gaara.
"Man, that was way too troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "What now?"
Naruto smiled, despite himself, "We still have to eat the fruit, let's go!"
"Where is that perv?" Naruto muttered as he walked through the streets of Konoha. He had been looking for Jiraiya after being discharged from the hospital. The sannin was nowhere to be found and Naruto was starting to think that Jiraiya wasn't even in the village anymore. With no more Jiraiya then Naruto would need to train by himself or increase his training with Team Ten.
Naruto sighed. "I'm done looking for the perv." He crossed his arms and frowned, "From now on I'm training with Team Ten."
The blond changed his direction and made his way to the Yamanaka Flower shop. It was around two in the afternoon so Naruto knew that Ino was currently working. Spending time with the girl had given Naruto time to know when she was free. The girl would work from twelve o'clock until two thirty. She would rest for half an hour before going training with her team until seven o'clock. Naruto would usually walk her home and the two would take breaks from training on the weekends.
Naruto found himself in front of the shop and smiled. He was always glad to see Ino since she had become one of his most precious people. For some reason he always found himself looking forward to see her and whenever he wasn't with her, he found himself wishing that she was. The blond entered the shop and saw Ino reading a magazine behind the counter.
Naruto walked over to the counter and smiled. "Hey Ino." The girl nodded without taking her eyes of the magazine. Naruto sighed, Ino would break away from the world whenever she was reading something interesting, "Ino!"
Ino flinched at the loud voice and snapped her head towards the source. "Naruto?" She exclaimed with a surprised look. She smiled and gave the blond a hug. "How are you? Why were you in the hospital? Are you sure you're okay?"
Naruto found himself blushing at the close contact. "Y-yeah." He said with a nervous smile, "I feel a lot better."
Ino pulled away from Naruto and smiled. "I'm glad." She said with a sweet smile before breaking into a frown, "If you ever scare me like that again, there'll be consequences. You're whole head was wrapped in bandages."
Naruto smiled apologetically. "Don't worry I'll be fine." He broke into a foxy grin, "I still have to be Hokage right?"
Ino smiled and shook her head. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I came here to ask you something," He said with a smile.
"What is it?" Ino asked with a confused look.
Naruto grinned. "Apparently, Jiraiya-sensei left town so I was wondering if I could train more time with you guys?"
Ino couldn't help but smile. "Of course! It's always fun to have you around. Asuma-sensei won't have a problem with it."
"I have a problem with this," Asuma said with a serious expression.
Ino's face fell. "What do you mean?" She frowned and crossed her arms, "I don't see anything wrong with Naruto training with us."
Asuma sighed. "If he trains with us all the time then you two will get distracted." Asuma shook his head when he saw the two blond's give him an odd look. He guessed that they still hadn't noticed, "Fine he can train with us."
Naruto and Ino cheered. Asuma couldn't help but smile, though the two didn't know it, they had a deep bond. The two were alike in many ways and Asuma was glad that they made each other happy. He was especially glad that Naruto had made Ino take her training seriously.
"Naruto come here for a moment." Asuma said. Naruto walked over with a curious expression, "I have a new exercise for you."
Asuma took out a small knife and gave it to Naruto. "That's one of the knives I use for battle. They can be infused with wind chakra to have a longer reach and enhanced power." He explained, "I want you to infuse that knife with chakra and if you surprise me then I'll let you keep it."
Naruto smiled in excitement. "Don't worry Asuma-sensei, I'll have this down in no time!" The blond went over to the nearby river and took off his shirt.
"What are you doing?" Asuma asked in slight confusion.
Naruto grinned. "Jiraiya-sensei was teaching me how to dispel genjutsu and taught me how to incorporate chakra into things." The blond explained, "If I'm right, all I have to do is use the same method to incorporate chakra into the knife and then mold it like I did with the leaf and rock exercises."
Asuma broke into a small grin. The blond had gotten the concept down pretty easily. "That's all there is too it, good luck."
Ino smiled at her friend. Naruto had gotten down what to do pretty quickly. By spending time with the blond, Ino had deducted that Naruto hid his true capabilities. For what purpose, she did not know, but what she did know was that if Naruto was serious all the time then he would make most of them look like idiots. Ino had been encouraging Naruto on showing his true self and was glad to see that he was slowly doing so.
"Stop drooling over Naruto, Ino." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "We have to start training."
Ino blushed and glared at Shikamaru. "I wasn't staring at him!" She declared, "I was just lost in thought."
Shikamaru sighed. Blonds were really troublesome but most of all loud. He didn't understand why the two wouldn't just come out and say it but then again they might not even realize it. The genius pushed those thoughts away. Worrying over what Ino and Naruto felt was way too troublesome. He was already forced to train so why bother thinking about the blonds. The worst thing was that he had to fight a blonde on the chuunin exams; that would be such a pain.
A week passed and things couldn't be better for Naruto. He had grown close to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Naruto would be often found eating with Choji after their training was over. Shikamaru and Naruto had developed a good friendship due to their shogi matches in which Shikamaru, much to his annoyance, actually had to try though he viewed Naruto as a worthy adversary. Naruto and Ino had grown even closer to a point where they would spend most of their free time together. The whiskered blond still chased after Sakura but his attempts had greatly lessened.
The blond had learned to infuse wind chakra unto Asuma's knife in three days, due to the help of his clones and knowledge with chakra manipulation. Asuma had been impressed and gave Naruto the knife and even taught him how to use it in battle. Naruto had also learned to use all of the jutsu Kakashi gave him though he still used too much chakra when performing them. The blond was glad of the progress he had made and knew that he had a good chance of beating Neji.
Only one day remained until the Chuunin Exam finals started. Naruto walked through town with his usual obliviousness to those around him. He had been told to rest since the finals were the following day. Naruto had nothing to do since most of his friends were busy at the moment. Ino would be working, Choji was home, Shikamaru was spending the day watching the clouds and Sakura was nowhere to be found. The blond sighed, days like this were boring to the blond.
With nothing else to do, Naruto figured that he would visit Ino and see if he could help with anything. He helped around the shop from time to time and Ino greatly appreciated it. Naruto had run into Ino's mom from time to time but he was getting better at talking to her. The woman was nice and treated him like a person not a thing.
Thinking about his old treatment, Naruto couldn't help but think of Gaara. They both had had the same life filled with nothing but loneliness and cold glares. Naruto had been lucky to have met people who acknowledged him while Gaara had nobody. Gaara had been left on that dark place while Naruto had been taken away from it. The blond knew that Gaara was stronger than him because he had been able to live his whole life like that.
Naruto dismissed those thoughts when he saw that he was approaching the Yamanaka Flower shop. He entered the shop with a grin. Something about the shop would always put him at ease. Maybe it was getting to spend time with his friend or the smell of flowers.
"Hi Naruto." Ino greeted with a smile, "What are you doing here?"
Naruto smiled back. "There's nothing to do so I thought of paying you a visit," The blond said, "Got anything for me to do?"
"Well there are some seed bags that need to be moved," Ino said, "But why would you waste your time here?"
Naruto grinned. "I'm not wasting time." He said as he walked over to the bags, "I'm glad to help you out."
Ino smiled in appreciation. "Thanks Naruto. I'll make it up to you someday." She looked at Naruto with a smile, "Nervous about tomorrow? You're going up against a genius."
Naruto huffed. "As if I'd get beaten by Neji." He picked up a bag and placed it on a small cart, "I've been working my butt off all month. I'm not going to let Neji beat me."
Ino giggled. "Don't worry Naruto I'm sure you'll win. Besides, you'll have me cheering for you." She said with a smile, "My cheers work wonders, just so you know."
Naruto chuckled. "It'll be nice to have someone rooting for me." He said as he placed another bag of seeds on the cart, "Everyone thinks that Neji will win but I'll show them what I'm made of."
"I'm sure you will Naruto," Ino said with a smile.
"Thanks Ino," Naruto said with the same look he had given her before. His eyes shone with appreciation and she found herself staring into his eyes. Her heartbeat rose and a blush spread through her face. She didn't know what she was feeling but it was a comfortable feeling that made her feel that she would be safe with Naruto. Ino didn't know what this feeling was but she would find out.
Neji, Shino, Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Gaara, and lastly Naruto stood in the fighting area of the large stadium that house the Chuunin Exam finals. Naruto was worried about Sasuke not making it in time. The proctor, Genma, had delayed the beginning of the finals a few minutes in order to give Sasuke more time but the Uchiha still hadn't shown up. Genma was currently talking to the Hokage up on a balcony that overlooked the entire fight area. The proctor went back to the fight area and cleared his throat.
"We will move on to the first fight." Genma said in a loud voice, "Everyone but Neji Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki leave at once."
The genin left the fight area leaving only a confident Naruto and a smug Neji. The Hyuuga looked at Naruto with a look of disgust. The blond had only one the first round due to a vulgar action. It was fated for Naruto to lose.
"Why don't you give up right now?" Neji asked with a frown, "People like you are fated to lose against me."
Naruto grinned. "I'm not going to lose to you. I have a dream to accomplish and I'm not going to let you slow me down." Naruto slipped into his toad taijutsu style and smirked, "I'm going to teach you that fate can be a bitch."
"The Chuunin Exams Finals begin now. Are you two ready?" Genma asked. Receiving a nod from the two genin Genma grinned, "Begin!"