Strength From Within (A Naruto Neglect Book)

29

All in all, they were strong enough, not bratty, and they had a sensei who would be beneficial to him. Compared to two arrogant, selfish boys who hated him, there was no deciding who to choose. "If it's okay with you all, I would like to be on Gai's team. If I have to be moved later when Rock Lee returns that is fine, but for now I believe it would be best for me and for others if I was in a team with Hinata and Sasuke. I don't want to cause unnecessary fights and I think making some new friends would be good for the future since I know we're going to be working together at some point." Daidai looked for Gai, and the man was giving him a blinding smile while holding his thumb up.

"How youthful! Wanting to make friends with and get to know fellow ninja is very important, I would be pleased to have you join us. My training will not be easy, I'm sure you know this quite well, but I'll do my best to help you grow well as a ninja!" He said brightly, clearly genuine. That was one of the things that Daidai respected about Gai. Despite being eccentric, the man was genuinely happy in life and passionate about training the younger generation to be kind to their comrades. Daidai was sure the man wasn't always happy, none of them could be that way in their profession after all, but he definitely tried his best to stay positive and cheer people up.

The younger male smiled up at his now sensei, and gave him a thumbs up in return. "I will try my best, Gai-sensei. Thank you for accepting me as a student, in the past and again now, and I look forward to working with you and my other teammates." Daidai didn't think he'd smiled so much in one day in a long time. It was about time that things started looking up, and he knew deep down that if he could let more people in that life would start to get better. Every ninja would have their dark side, Daidai had his, but he decided from now on he would try to not let that take control of him. He would try to be more open to people, starting with Hinata and Sasuke. He just hoped that they would be open to him as well.

x-X-x

"Hello, I'm Uzumaki Daidai, I also go by Ichigo Daidai as I didn't previously know my heritage, so please don't feel confused if I go by either. It's nice to meet you both, and I hope that we can get along well," he said softly, giving the two people in front of him a small smile. He was dressed in his new outfit, one he'd gotten since he'd become a chūnin and would be leaving the village on missions outside of Anbu.

He didn't really like to stand out very much, nor did he like attention from girls. His outfit was simple: A loose dark green shirt with long sleeves, dark grey anbu-style pants (ones that he'd bought extra than his uniform, he was just used to the way they felt and they were practical as well), a light but sturdy dark brown vest that he kept a few sealing scrolls in and two dark brown pouches on his legs that he kept kunai and shuriken in. His hair was tied into a single braid going down his back, as he kept it a bit longer than shoulder length. It was kept out during Anbu missions so when he was on normal ninja work he would tie it up to try and prevent someone recognising him from his hair style. He also had resistance seals on, but nobody needed to know that (apart from Gai, who of course already knew).

Sasuke stepped forward and offered his hand to shake, which Daidai took, while Hinata just waved with a smile. "I'm sure you already know this because of Itachi and Gai sensei, but my name is Uchiha Sasuke. It's good to meet you too. I hope we can learn and grow stronger together as a team," Sasuke said, giving him a small smile and nodding. He had seen Daidai around with his brother and he heard from Itachi that he was a good person even if he might be quiet or not show much emotion. Sasuke figured either Daidai had changed, or was trying to change, since he seemed pretty polite and not emotionless as of yet.

"Yes, thank you for agreeing to join our team, Daidai-kun. My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I really want you to know that I appreciate your willingness to join us even just out of the academy. Sasuke-kun and I have really been missing Lee-kun and it will be good to have another person on our team," Hinata said quietly, giving him a shy smile as well. She and Sasuke were both wearing casual clothes, and Daidai couldn't help but feel a bit bad. His clothes looked casual enough, but he hadn't realised they weren't training that day. He supposed it would make sense if they would get to know each other on the first day, though.

"It's no problem, thank you for agreeing to have me." Daidai smiled a bit wider at her, causing Hinata to blush slightly and smile back. He thought she was very sweet and kind, and he immediately knew he would get along with her. Sasuke he would need a little more time for, but he didn't think that they would have issues. He seemed nice and like he would be willing to work together on a team, and that was already significantly better than working with Neji and Motoshi.

"Anyways, how about we get to know each other a little better?" Sasuke suggested, sitting down. Hinata followed suit and Daidai did as well seeming as they were. "I'll start, since I asked. My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have a big brother, who I enjoy training with, and I also enjoy training with the team as well. In my spare time I like doing some more training, and reading. My favourite food is tomatoes. My dream is to either be the head of the police force, or maybe even become the Hokage, and work with my brother to make our clan and this village a better place. I use my own taijutsu style, a variation of the Uchiha style, and I have lightning and fire chakra natures. I'm a more front line attacker, I'm learning how to use a sword at the moment, and I'm trying to develop a way to use electric chakra multiple ways in battle. My sharingan has three tomoes, but I've heard there is another stage to it that requires transplanting eyes." Daidai made a mental note of what he said at the end and nodded, glancing to Hinata since Sasuke seemed to be finished his introduction.

"As I said before, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I have a little sister, Hanabi-chan. I enjoy learning about animals and in my spare time I often do puzzles or sudoku. My favourite food is cinnamon rolls and I like sweets in general. I'm a tracker and like Sasuke-kun a close range fighter, though I use my own taijutsu style to work better with my water chakra nature. I also am quite good at using water jutsu and I have an extensive range of them both for offence and defence. I can use medical ninjutsu but not advanced things like for organs and extremely serious injuries. I can heal bruises, scratches and deep cuts, and at the moment I'm working on more advanced jutsu so I can heal broken bones as well. I'm also good with long ranged weapons like a bow, and I can throw shuriken and kunai with extreme precision. In the future I want to be a good clan head, and lead our clan to be kinder and less self centred."

Once again Daidai nodded and gave them a small smile. He found it very helpful hearing about those sorts of things since he could get a gauge on their values and what was important to them. From that he could tell that the two were kind but also serious about their ninja work unlike some other people . They definitely deserved the title of chūnin. "You already know my name, of course, Uzumaki Daidai. I have no direct relation to Uzumaki Kushina that I know of, but Katsuko is like a sister to me. I enjoy training, learning new things and spending time with Shikamaru and Katsuko. I like ramen and dango but I'll eat pretty much anything and I'm not fussy with food.

I don't really have a definite specialty, but I'm particularly good when it comes to tracking, traps and assassination. I'm currently working on learning fūninjitsu and continuing to learn about poisons as well as other types of plants and their uses. Any medical proficiency I have is in terms of physical treatment such as herbal medicine, antidotes to poison, stitching wounds and bandaging them, as I have too much chakra to perform any decent medical ninjutsu. I do have an Uzumaki trait where if someone bites me I can heal them using my chakra, as well as sensory skills  and as I mentioned large chakra reserves. In terms of chakra, I'm excellent at the basic jutsu and can do them all without hand seals and without any smoke. I know a range of fire and wind jutsu, most of which I can also do without hand seals or wasting too much chakra. I think that's all I need to tell you, but there might be other things that'll pop up later in the future," Daidai told them, humming softly.

Yes, he thought that he would like these two very much indeed.