Naruto:A New Path

A New Kind Of Training

Naruto stirred from his sleep, opening his eyes slowly before letting out a yawn. He gazed around the room he was currently in with a small frown on his face, by the looks of things he was in a hospital. The room was a standard hospital room but with sandy brown walls. There was the usual window next to his bed but this time it had a clear view of the vast desert. From what he could see, the sun was high in the sky which meant that it was around noon.
He took a look at his body and shook his head with a scowl. His right arm was heavily bandaged as was his stomach. The blond let out an irritated sigh before sitting up, gritting his teeth at the sore feeling on his ribs. A part of him had almost forgotten that he had probably broken some on his fight with Sasuke, he was probably right if the bandages around his stomach were any indication.
"You're awake," came a feminine voice from the door. Naruto turned his head to see a nurse walk into the room with a clipboard on hand, "Ninja really are tough, a normal person with your kind of injuries wouldn't be able to heal at the same time you did."
"Right…" Naruto muttered a little awkwardly.
The nurse nodded as she ran over things on her clipboard before setting it down with a smile on her face. "Well, according to what we were told you are well enough to return to your village," she began. The blond instantly sighed in relief, it wasn't as if he hated the place but he was already sweating due to the heat, "Just try to take it easy on your way back, some of your wounds were internal and it is advised that you go check-up at Konoha's hospital just in case some of the wounds open."
Naruto nodded as he moved to the edge of the bed, letting his feet touch the floor. "I got it," he assured as he stood up and motioned for the white robe he now wore, "Where are my other clothes?"
"They should be in the bathroom," the nurse said, pointing at a wooden door. "Once you are ready you have to go talk to the receptionist so that she can check you out," she nodded one more time before leaving the room.
Naruto frowned as soon as the nurse left. When he had fainted on his way back to the village he had gained the memories of the clones he had left with Sasuke. The clones had carried the Uchiha to the hospital. The staff saw his condition and instantly took him to the emergency room and that was when they were dispelled.
"I better check on Sasuke as soon as I'm out of here," Naruto muttered as he entered the bathroom. It was a small room with the standard utilities and even a shower, he idly wondered if the hospital had been an inn before but dismissed those thoughts and looked for his clothes. He found his clothes folded neatly on a small table and walked over to them. Taking them in hand he prepared to put them on before he took note of the shirt, "Damn I forgot about it."
The shirt was ripped cleanly in half with stains of blood on the right side with the right sleeve completely burnt off. With a frown he took hold of his Chunin vest and reached into one of the pockets, taking out a scroll, "This will be a long day."
Ino panted as she stood in front of Tsunade with a trail of sweat running down her face. It had been around four hours of non-stop physical training. The older kunoichi had stated that stamina was a determining factor when it came to being a shinobi and medic. If one didn't have enough reserves then they were no good in the field.
"Come at me again Ino," Tsunade ordered with a smirk on her face. The Genin nodded before rushing in. Since ninjutsu and weapons were restricted, she had to depend on her taijutsu alone.
Once in range, Ino punched at Tsunade with her right fist. The medic easily parried the attack by knocking the arm away with a jab, leaving the younger kunoichi exposed. Without warning, the medic delivered a punch to the Genin's stomach.
Ino's eyes widened in pain before she clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain. "Don't lose sight of the enemy," Tsunade scolded. The kunoichi raised her head to see a closed fist in front of her face. "That will get you killed out there," with that she flicked her index finger forward, making contact with her student's forehead.
The Genin was instantly thrown away by the force of the flick. She fell hard against the ground and let out a gasp of pain. Tsunade had been serious when she said that their training would be tough. A groan escaped Ino's lips as she tried to sit up but stopped when seeing an extended hand.
"That will be it for sparring today," Tsunade stated as she pulled Ino to her feet. She looked over her student's condition with her trained eyes and found not much wrong with her, "We will be starting a new exercise today."
Ino raised a brow in interest. "What kind of exercise..?" her voice held a bit of fear, which didn't go unnoticed by her master, seeing as how she smirked.
Tsunade took a scroll out of her pants pocket. "This will be your first practice on medical jutsu," she began as she set the scroll on the ground. The medic sat on the ground, motioning her apprentice to do the same, "I want you to focus your chakra like the book read. This exercise's only purpose is to give you a look into what you'll be doing as a medic. It won't be until a few days that you'll be able to complete it."
Ino nodded with an exited smile. "I'm ready," she declared, watching the scroll intently. Her master nodded and opened the scroll, revealing a single seal before pouring chakra into it. With a small cloud of smoke a dead fish appeared before both kunoichi, "What is this?"
"This will be what you'll be doing," Tsunade informed with a firm nod, "The purpose of this exercise is to revive the fish but today you'll only be getting a feel of what you'll be doing."
"I'm supposed to touch that?" Ino shrieked in disgust, inching away from the dead fish.
Tsunade's right eye twitched. "Of course you are!" she replied, "A medic isn't supposed to be disgusted by patients!"
"This isn't a patient! It's a fish! A dead stinky fish!" the Genin yelled back with a glare.
"This is supposed to give you a grasp of what medical jutsu is, so… heal the damned fish!" Tsunade glared at her student with her teeth grit in anger.
Ino muttered something under her breath before inching closer to the fish. "Fine," she set both hands over the fish and focused her chakra. A light green glow emitted from her hands and spread around the fish's body.
Tsunade watched the chakra intently, it would waver and turn back to its regular blue color constantly but it was expected. It had only been a day of training so it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to heal the fish in the slightest. The sole purpose of this exercise was to see where her student stood when it came to chakra control and she wasn't disappointed.
She noticed the disgusted yet determined expression on her student's face. The medic couldn't help but laugh lightly at that, her determination was pulling her through this. By the looks of things her student still needed some time until she could start her medical training. As things stood she could probably handle the training in a week but there was no reason in rushing her training, she wasn't very busy in the hospital and had a lot of free time which wouldn't be good news for her student.
Naruto walked to the receptionist's desk with a scowl on his face. He had been forced to wear his regular long-sleeved black shirt and dark blue pants since his other clothes had been ruined. It had been quite a task since he only had use of once hand but in the end he managed, though not in the best of moods. And to top it all off the heat was killing him, the Chunin vest didn't make things any better when it came to cooling his body, which is why he decided to leave it open instead of zipped up.
"Excuse me but do you know where I can find Sasuke Uchiha?" he asked the receptionist.
"It'll be just a moment," the receptionist answered as she looked through a piece of paper on her desk. She slid her index finger around the paper until finally stopping with a polite smile on her face, "The patient is on the hall to the right on the third door to the right."
"Thanks," Naruto muttered as he looked around the building. The room he was currently in had a large hallway opposite of the receptionist desk and two halls on either side of the desk, there were a few seats here and there and a few tables around them.
"Excuse me sir," the receptionist called with a nervous smile on her face. Naruto raised a brow and turned to the lady behind the desk, "Could you get your other ninja friend? He's taking up a bed and we don't want to disturb him."
The Chunin sighed. "Where is he?" the receptionist pointed at a door with a polite smile. He nodded and walked to the room with a small grin on his face, he had an idea of who it was.
He entered the room and let out a chuckle. Shikamaru was sprawled over the hospital bed, snoring loudly with a bit of drool in the corner of his mouth.
"Hey Shikamaru," Naruto called with a grin. The lazy Chunin grunted in response, stirring from his sleep, "You're taking up space here. They have other people that need the room, get up already."
Shikamaru sighed loudly before sitting up with a frown on his face. "Damn, why can't I just have a few hours of rest?" the Chunin got off the bed and let out a yawn, "Looks like you're all better." Naruto raised his right arm, showing the cast taking up most of his arm. The shadow-user shrugged, "At least you're walking."
The blond sighed before running his left hand though his hair. "Anyway, I think we might be able to go back to Konoha today," he began with a thoughtful expression, "That Jonin went after Red Death and said that we were done. We have to report to the council but, even if they ask, we're not taking that mission again. She's too strong us, if we go, then we'll only add to the body count."
Shikamaru shook his head with a grim look on his face. "I'm not sure meeting the council would be a good idea," he scratched his head and closed his eyes, "The reason why Temari and I couldn't join the fight was because the council hired a mercenary to kill us." He watched as Naruto's eyes widened before raising a hand to stop him from interrupting, "We killed him without much trouble, he didn't have any ninja training by the look of things and it was easy to catch him in a genjutsu."
"What do you think we should do?" the blond asked with a frown.
"Get out of here as soon as possible," Shikamaru responded, "Staying here will only make us sitting ducks for the council. Who knows? They might even use actual shinobi this time and we aren't in a condition where we can fight."
"Right," he agreed with a solemn look.
The lazy Chunin scowled and put on a thoughtful expression. "Where's Sasuke anyway?" Naruto tensed under the question, "The last time I saw him he was with you and if I remember correctly he wasn't with you and Gaara when you were coming back here."
Naruto gritted his teeth. "He's here," Shikamaru raised a brow before the blond continued, "He attacked me yesterday and I was forced to fight him. I managed to beat him but left him in a bad state."
"The Hokage needs to hear this," the lazy Chunin deadpanned in an irritated tone. Seeing the blond's shocked expression, he continued, "If we don't tell him then they'll blame you for whatever injuries you gave him. Besides, if he attacked you then who's to say he won't attack someone else. I know it's a pain in the ass but we still have to tell the Hokage."
Naruto looked unsure for a second before letting out a sigh, "You're right."
Chiyo entered the council's meeting room. Upon entering she took note of the odd looks she received from the members of the council. It was obvious that they had no idea as to why they had been called to a meeting at such short notice.
"Why have you summoned us Chiyo?" a councilmen asked. He had a wrinkled face with a head full of short gray hair.
Another member of the council, this time an old woman, rested her elbows on the table with a serious look on her wrinkled face. "I take it what you have to say is important," she began. She cast a look at the members of the council before settling her eyes back on Chiyo, "Is it about the team of Konoha shinobi?"
Chiyo nodded with a frown on her face. "I was opposed to the idea in the first place. Having a mercenary kill the team would only anger Konoha," she argued, "We are in times of crisis and a war is the last thing we need."
"If that's why you have come here, then you're just wasting your time," another councilman responded with venom in his voice, "The mercenary has already been sent."
"That's where you're wrong," Chiyo informed with a smirk on her face, "The Leaf shinobi arrived at the village a few hours ago. All of them safe and sound."
"What?" the councilwoman gasped.
Chiyo shook her head while emitting a sigh. "Did you really think that a mercenary could take on a ninja? That's preposterous," she reached into her robes and took out a single scroll, "This just proves that a ninja village should not be run by civilians that have no idea how things really work."
"What are you saying?" a councilman growled, clenching his fits in anger.
"Not what I'm saying…" Chiyo began as she opened the scroll and placed it on the table, showing the contents to the council members. Inside of the scroll were dozens of signatures from the most powerful people in the village, "It's what they're saying."
"This is mutiny!" a councilman snapped, bolting from his seat, "You have gone against the council!"
Chiyo frowned. "I have the support of the village and the trust of our shinobi," she responded before turning her back on them and making her way to the door. "Don't expect to remain as members of the council. I will replace you all with people who know how things work," she stated without turning around, "And consider your plan to kill the Leaf shinobi gone. I will not allow it."
With that Chiyo left the room, leaving a group of angry ex-council members behind.
"What did you do to him?" Shikamaru sighed out.
"I had no choice," Naruto responded with hardened eyes, "He put the entire mission in danger and he attacked me out of nowhere. Before I knew what happened, my blade was going through his eye."
Shikamaru let out another sigh. In front of him lay Sasuke with many bandages around his right eye, or where it was supposed to be. According to what the nurse said, he had lost his right eye since it had been damaged beyond repair. The Uchiha hadn't woken up yet, but the lazy Chunin was sure that things would get bad when he did.
' This is bad…' the shadow-user concluded. When the Konoha council caught wind of what happened to Sasuke's eye they would flip. The council treasured the sharingan and finding out that they were 'minus' one would bring nothing but trouble.
He sighed once more before throwing Naruto a glance. "We'll settle this later," he concluded, not feeling like going over such troublesome thoughts at the moment, "For now we have to leave. Staying here is too dangerous."
"Right," Naruto nodded before setting his eyes on Sasuke's unconscious form, "What are we going to do with him. When he finds out what happened, he'll go nuts."
Shikamaru nodded in agreement. Their teammate would surely attack them as soon as he woke up with one less eye. "Don't you have some kind of seal to help us?" he asked in a hopeful tone, he really didn't want to put up with more trouble than what was needed.
The blond let out a sigh before shaking his head. "I'm not that good with seals yet," he explained, "If I really want to get something to keep him from moving or waking up, I'll need a few hours in the least."
"Dammit," the lazy Chunin cursed. His eyes rested on Sasuke as he tried to think of a plan. They could try genjutsu but neither he nor Naruto knew any. Another choice would be to use his shadow possession but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for the whole trip back. This was way too much trouble for him.
"This might sound bad," Naruto suddenly muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. The lazy Chunin turned his attention to the blond, "But why don't we just tie him up and just carry him back to the village. Who knows? He might not even wake up until we get there."
"That would be too drastic…" Shikamaru muttered before his eyes snapped open, "I got it."
Naruto cocked his head to the side in a show of confusion. "Then what are we doing?" he asked, "Cause I don't have any more ideas."
"Just leave it to me." Shikamaru smirked.
Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke walked through the Sand village, making their way to the gate that would lead them out of there. The blond Chunin walked in front of the group with a nervous smile, behind him walked the lazy Chunin with a scowl on his face and the Uchiha walked behind them with his left eye closed and his mouth opened slightly.
' This is stupid,' the blond thought as they neared the village's gate. Not only was their idea stupid but it was just bad, he was sure that if Sakura found out what they were doing to Sasuke she would punch him through a house.
Shikamaru kept his eyes open for any sort of trouble. The streets were crowded and lively, merchants declaring what they sold in an attempt to sell their products while people engaged in conversations. By some sort of miracle, nobody paid them much attention. However, their true test would come when they passed by the gate. If the ninja there found out what he was doing then they would think that they were up to something.
"What are you doing?" a monotone voice suddenly asked. The three Leaf shinobi stopped dead on their tracks with Sasuke letting out a snore. Behind them stood Gaara with his arms crossed and an almost curious expression on his face, "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah," Naruto answered with a nervous grin.
Gaara nodded before setting his eyes on Sasuke. "Why do you have him under a jutsu?" he asked, making the two ninja flinch slightly, "You have him under your shadow jutsu, correct?"
Shikamaru looked down to the shadow connecting him and Sasuke before looking back at the Sand ninja. "We have to leave now but he hadn't woken up yet," he explained, "This is the only way to take him back to the Leaf. The council apparently wants us dead so we're keeping a low profile."
"I understand," the Sand jinchuuriki responded, "Allow me to help you."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "You'll help us?" he muttered in disbelief, earning a nod from Gaara, "Why would you do that?"
"Why shouldn't I help you?" Gaara responded before walking towards the two, "You have done nothing wrong and yet the council wants you dead. As of now my alliance isn't with the Sand but with the people I consider friends. That's why I don't need a reason to help."
"That isn't necessary," came another voice, this time a feminine one. The shinobi turned to see Chiyo walking towards them with a serious look on her face.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "You were with the council during the mission briefing," he stated, moving a hand to his kunai pouch, "What are you doing here?"
The old lady chuckled and raised a hand to ease the ninja. "Don't worry, I assure you that I'm not here to attack you. Did you think an old lady like me could do that?" she responded in a light tone, "If you don't trust me then that means that you encountered the mercenary they sent after you."
"What if we did?" Naruto uttered with narrowed eyes.
"Then that would mean that you know that the council planned to kill you," Chiyo kept her tone light, trying to ease the three ninja in front of her, "Don't worry about that anymore. I personally stopped any further plans they might have had."
"Why did they even target us in the first place?" Shikamaru asked in an irritated tone, "They were the ones that sent for us."
Chiyo nodded with a serious look on her face. "The council was being run by civilians, which means that they knew little of how the shinobi world is," she let out a sigh before continuing, "Although they asked for you, they thought it'd be dangerous if you set foot in the village which is why they planned to kill you. It wasn't until today that I gathered the necessary support to override their decision. Now we're in a process to take them out of the council for good."
"I understand," Shikamaru nodded, "But that doesn't mean that we won't tell the Hokage. We'll tell him that you're changing up the council "
"Very well," Chiyo said before leaving the group. She had served her purpose. After leaving the council she went looking for the ninja and found them easily since blond hair was easy to spot.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair, finding the situation completely exhausting. "Let's get going Shikamaru," he said as the two ninja prepared to leave. The blond turned to Gaara and broke into a grin, "We'll see you later Gaara. Drop by Konoha any time so we can go to Ichiraku's."
Gaara simply nodded as Shikamaru released his jutsu and set Sasuke on his back. The two Leaf ninja gave a small wave before walking to the gate.
Ino gave out a loud sigh as she walked back to her home. The sun was setting and the level of people around the street was moderate which was a good thing because she had no energy to dodge through the large crowds that would usually flood the streets. Her training had intensified as the day dragged on. What started as sparring and trying to heal a fish turned into dodging Tsunade's attacks and doing a number of chakra control exercises just in case her current control wasn't enough.
Her body was sore and her legs felt numb. She knew that she would be feeling it in the morning. The only good thing about the day was that Tsunade had given her the next day off, meaning that she could rest and meet her Team, which right now consisted only of Asuma and Choji until Shikamaru got back from his mission. It didn't hit her until now but her team seemed too small without the shadow-user and Naruto, who had become a constant visitor.
Thinking about the blond made her smile. She couldn't wait for him to get back and tell him all of the things that have been going on. From starting her training with Tsunade to Sakura learning of their relationship. Another thing she would need to tell him is that she had asked her parents to have dinner with him again, though her mom had been the only one to agree.
A smile graced her face as she thought of Naruto's reaction to the dinner invitation. He was intimidated by her dad and tried to avoid doing anything stupid in front of him which mostly consisted of him babbling like an idiot from time to time. She knew that he acted hesitant and a little afraid when it came to this invitations but in reality he was happy to have dinner with a family, she could see it in his eyes.
' Come back soon Naruto,' her cheeks reddened as she continued to walk.