It has been 3 days since they took Kakashi's test and became the new Team 7 of Konohagakure no Sato. Naruto was happy to say the least but not everything was going according to plan. For starters, the brief teamwork they had during the test was now a memory. Sakura was starting to look up to him though most of her attention is still with her infatuation with Sasuke, but what depressed Naruto is that everything he ever did to bring Sasuke out of his funk went straight into the trash bin.
Ever since he taught both Sasuke the chakra trick, the teen has been so obsessed in learning everything that Naruto knows. The alibi of "Clan Techniques" didn't even phase the young Uchiha. In fact, he keeps pestering him that he was an elite Uchiha so he should be happy to share ALL of his techniques with him. That was the time that Naruto's restraint over his temper loosened and Sasuke found out the hard way not to push when things aren't supposed to be pushed. He hoped that being blown away by a high-powered Wind technique and crashing body first into the river should teach him a lesson. Hope being the keyword.
What amazed him, however, was Sakura not giving him an earful when doing that to her precious Sasuke-kun. That was a big improvement on her part. It was a small step but a step nonetheless towards improvement.
After the test, Kakashi gave them a brief lecture about teamwork. He brought them over to the memorial stone and explained its significance. It seems that their sensei's motto was centered around teamwork – those who abandon their mission are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worst than trash.
In truth, Naruto found that he liked the belief and swore to himself to follow it till his dying days.
Kakashi also gave them a brief lecture about their strengths and weakness. He first started with Sakura's fangirl tendency and how it would be detrimental to her health if she continued to do so. It affected her somewhat, as Naruto could tell, especially when she remembered what Sasuke did to her back in Training Ground 7 but it seems that her adoration for the dark-haired avenger was too strong. He guessed that it would take a life changing experience to get that thought out of her head.
Sasuke's evaluation went smoothly at first. Kakashi told him about his major strength being Ninjutsu and Taijutsu due to his training in Clan Techniques. He also mentioned that his temper and short-sightedness is not befitting of a ninja and it would get him in trouble. He advised him to learn about strategy in order to improve. However, it went straight down to hell when Kakashi mentioned Itachi again during the evaluation. Word of caution, never ever mention Itachi within Sasuke's hearing range if you want him to cooperate. It took a right hook and a blast of killer intent from their sensei before Sasuke went back to his usual brooding self.
When it came to him, however, Kakashi's evaluation was mostly basic. He observed that Naruto wouldn't need any jutsu since his Kamigan and Elemental Orbs were versatile in terms of attack and defense. The only advice he gave, that Naruto was thankful for, is to increase his overall speed and strength since there are other shinobis out there that could easily bring him down in that category alone. Naruto was thinking if he should tell Kakashi that he was wearing weight when they fought. He also promised Naruto to let him meet some of his friends who are well-known Kenjutsu masters. This made the blonde Genin giddy at the thought.
At the end of the evaluation, Kakashi proudly announced them as the new Team 7 and they should meet again in 3 days for both mission and training. When Sakura asked why the hiatus, Kakashi explained that he is going to use the break to come up with a training guide for each of them. Naruto was suspicious about the reason and thought that Kakashi just want to spend some time alone with his 'book'.
(TIME SKIP – 3 DAYS AFTER PASSING GENIN TEST)
Naruto woke up early for his meeting with the rest of the team in Training Ground 7. There's still 3 hours before the scheduled meeting but he want to go there early so he can get in some of his training routine done. He didn't want to slack off, especially now that he needs to improve since missions are around the corner. He ate a hearty breakfast that his clone prepared before taking a leisurely jog towards the training ground to warm him up.
He saw that he was alone when he got there so he ran some laps around the training ground, as well as did some push-ups and sit-ups. While he was doing said routine, he struck up a conversation with his tenant.
"Hey Kyuubi, you awake?" he mentally shouted. A loud sleepy growl echoed in the corridors of his mind.
"Shut up! Why do you have to be so loud so early in the morning? Someone's trying to sleep here you know." Kyuubi grouched. He noticed that the fox wasn't a morning person, or fox, but Naruto still did the same thing everyday just to aggravate him.
"Sorry about that Kyuubi. Just want to ask you something?" apologized Naruto though not sounding apologetic at all.
"You were going to ask me if you can up your weights right?" growled Kyuubi. Naruto got a mental image of the fox cleaning himself up using his tongue. Naruto shuddered at the image.
"How did you know?"
"Duh, I'm in your head dummy. You've been thinking about that for 3 days now so of course I know about it. And the answer to your question is no. I want you to maintain that weight for 2 more months so you won't be short for life." Naruto took offense at that.
"HEY! I'M NOT SHORT!" shouted Naruto, insulted at the thought of being told that he was short.
"STOP SHOUTING YOU IMBECILE!" growled Kyuubi in a menacing voice,
"Sorry." mumbled Naruto. "Still, I'm not short..."
Kyuubi just rolled his eyes at his container's sensitivity regarding his height. "Fine. But my order still stands. No increasing your weight for the next 2 months. Remind me again after then we will talk about it." With that, Kyuubi cut off the mental link with his container. Naruto grumbled about stingy foxes as he continued with his morning exercise.
After the last set, Naruto stood up and shook his body a bit to loosen up his muscles before he brought out Kazehime. He has been neglecting his prized sword in favor of practicing his 2-sword style with his Chakra Blades. Channeling a bit of chakra to his Tiger tattoo, the sword appeared in his hands with a small puff of smoke. He gripped the sword with his two hands and went into his Clan's Kenjutsu kata, flowing from one form to the other like water. Kazehime hummed in approval.
He decided to stop his Kenjutsu training after an hour and returned Kazehime back to his tattoo but he channeled a bit more chakra to it calling out his favorite training partners. A poof of smoke later, 3 medium-size tigers, similar to Kazetora's height, appeared in front of him.
The three tigers were Naruto's favorite training regimen. These three were known in their clan for their teamwork and Naruto used them to practice his dodging speed and reaction time. After all, who wouldn't want to dodge the sharp claws that these tigers have. Big paws equal big claws and the description alone is enough to give Naruto the incentive to dodge for his life.
Naruto greeted the 3 majestic summon in front of him. "Hi guys. Ready for some training?"
"Ready as always Naruto-sama." All three greeted back in perfect unison. Naruto mused that their speech also is part of their legendary teamwork.
Naruto rolled his eyes. Ever since he met these three, he's been trying hard to tell them to remove the 'sama' from their greeting but they wouldn't budge. He wouldn't give up though. "How many times have I told you guys not to do that?" said Naruto irritably.
One of the tigers, the lone female in the group, just cocked her head to the right and gave him an overly innocent look which looked really suspicious to Naruto. "Not to do what, Naruto-sama?" The other two tigers just gave him a fang-filled grin.
Naruto just gave up. He threw his hands in the air and gave the innocent-looking tigers a mock glare. "You know what, nevermind. Can we start training now?" After a nod from the three summons, they jumped into position surrounding Naruto and attacked.
Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden attack but immediately got his bearings then started to dodge. He swerved, ducked, jumped, and rolled to avoid the claws and fangs of each tiger but some of them he barely avoided which shredded parts of his robe. He was sure that they won't kill him but it was part of their deal to give at least a little bit of hurt as an added incentive.
Naruto and the 3 summons that he dubbed as the "Training Tigers" were enjoying their 'romp' when a loud scream made them tense and alert for a possible attack. They looked at the direction of the scream and saw Sakura looking at them pale as a sheet.
"NARUTO-BAKA! GET AWAY FROM THEM! THEY ARE GOING TO EAT YOU!" shouted Sakura who was slowly pulling out a kunai to protect herself just in case if they attack her.
The female tiger that just gave her an incredulous look and snorted. "Please, I have better taste you know."
"HEY!" shouted an indignant Naruto. He didn't fancy getting eaten of course but the idea that he tastes bad didn't sit well with the blonde Genin. The two male tigers were snickering but chose to shut up and gave him an innocent look when Naruto shot them a withering glare though you could still see the mirth dancing in their eyes despite the obvious fake façade.
Sakura was looking wide-eyed at the talking tiger. From the looks of it, she was about to either faint or bolt.
"Uhhhh Sakura, are you ok?" asked a concerned Naruto.
Sakura just shot him an incredulous look. "YOU'RE ASKING ME IF I'M OK? I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU IF YOU'RE OK! YOU'RE BEING ATTACKED BY 3 HUGE TIGERS!"
"Uhhhh Sakura, I'm not being attacked." defended Naruto. His defense was a bit off since his robe looks as if it came out of a warzone. The 'Training Tigers' were just listening to the conversation with an amused look. Sakura was about to burst when Naruto clamped his hand over her mouth to shut her up. "Calm down ok. Let me explain. Use your head for once, if they were dangerous then do you think that they should have attacked us by now?" he jerked his hand over to the tigers behind him to prove his point.
"If they are NOT attacking you then what were THEY doing making you look like that?" asked a skeptic Sakura as she pointed the state of his clothes. It's not everyday that you see your teammates almost getting mauled by three huge tigers. If he is not being attacked, she couldn't think of any other reason why they were doing what they just did in the first place.
"Training Sakura, Training. Those three are my friends. I called them my Training Tigers. Of course, they are Tiger summons." Naruto informed her.
"Wait, I thought you already have those bird thingies as summons." said Sakura. The tiger snickered at hearing the Legendary Phoenix clan being called bird-thingies.
"Hikari isn't a bird-thingy. She is a Phoenix from the Phoenix clan." said Naruto indignantly. "Well, they are birds but it is not polite to call them bird-thingies. And to answer your question, yes, they are also my summons. Actually I have three" He turned his back to an incredulous Sakura and faced the three snickering summons.
He gave them a glare. "Ok that is enough for today guys. I'll summon you next time for another round of dodge training. Thanks." The tigers bowed, releasing another round of snickers, before returning back to their realm. He looked back at Sakura and saw that she calmed down a bit when the tigers left. "So, why are you here? It's still an hour early before we are supposed to meet our sensei."
Sakura looked embarrassed and looked down. "Ummmm I was kinda hoping to come early to ask you something."
Naruto gave her a curious look. Sakura came here early to ask him something? Now this he got to hear. He took off his torn robe and sealed it on the storage seal on his left arm for repairs later when he gets home. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?" said Naruto as he flopped down on the grass.
"I-I was wondering if you can help me to get strong?" mumbled Sakura as she flopped down in front of Naruto who just gave her a long, calculating look.
"Hmmmm I can help you..." Naruto trailed off, Sakura perked up a bit "...but you have to tell me WHY you want to be strong."
"Ummmm I want to be strong so that Sasuke-kun would notice me." whispered Sakura. Naruto shook his head at her answer.
"No Sakura. I won't help you if that is your goal." sighed Naruto.
"Why? You're strong and the advice you gave us during the test helped us out. Why won't you help your teammates?" said Sakura who was near to tears. Naruto just gave her a calm look.
"Because Sakura, your motivation to become strong is not what a Kunoichi should be thinking. In fact, your motivation will only pull you down in the end. I can guarantee it. I WILL help you ONLY if you can tell me a good reason for me to do so. I will also tell Sasuke the same thing IF he asked me for help." He rose from the ground and dusted his pants. "Think about it Sakura. I'll leave you for now, I'll be back in time for our meeting." Without another words, he disappeared in a burst of flame leaving a teary eyed Sakura in his wake.
Naruto arrived exactly on time for the meeting but noticed that everyone was there except for Kakashi. He greeted a brooding Sasuke and a fawning Sakura. He shook his head. It seems that his advice to her fell on deaf ears.
Kakashi arrived an hour later where Sakura again screeched at his lateness which he ignored easily. He beckoned the team to come closer and tossed each of them a scroll. He told them that each of those scroll contain their training regimen everyday before they go to missions. Naruto opened up his scroll and what he saw didn't impress him.
He was supposed to wear weights, which he already did. The assigned weights were measly 20-pounds on both hands and ankles while doing laps around the training field. He didn't know what the other's got for their training regimen but he didn't care. He told Kakashi that he will take care of the weights tomorrow and proceeded with the exercises stated on the scroll which consisted of running laps, push-ups, sit-ups, and the usual.
Kakashi called the training to a halt and directed them all to go to the Hokage tower for missions.
(TIME SKIP – 2 MONTH LATER)
Naruto was getting tired of his team real fast. True, Team 7 have great potential but if the current team camaraderie doesn't improve soon then he would have to take drastic measures. Sasuke was still as anti-social as ever and refused to participate in team exercises despite Kakashi's urging. Sakura, was, well, Sakura. It was obvious that she already forgot what they talked about a month back and continued to fawn over the Uchiha. What infuriated him the most was Hatake Kakashi, their Jounin sensei.
His preaching of equality and treating the team with importance seems to be just that...preaching. It was obvious during the training session with the team that he was focusing all his attention on the 'elite' Uchiha. He and Sakura were left alone during their training exercise while Kakashi and Sasuke moved to the woods for their training session. Naruto summoned one of the smallest phoenix at his disposal to keep an eye on them and the report he got was not amusing.
It seems that Kakashi was training Sasuke in various Ninjutsu and Taijutsu styles unlike his own or Sakura's. It was irksome that Kakashi was showing blatant favoritism within their team. He wasn't really concerned about his own training regimen since he have always been on his own with the resources he have back at home but it wasn't fair that he was leaving Sakura on her own devices without any advice or guidance. His respect for their sensei dropped a few pegs after that.
Also, the missions weren't spectacular for his taste. In fact, he wouldn't call them missions even if his life depended on it. They were more along the line of chores than anything else. Sure, he have known since the Academy days that D-Rank missions were chores around the village but knowing it and doing it are two different things. His hated mission was catching the Daimyo's cat, Tora. They are assigned to catch the damn cat three times a week. It was fine for the first week but a month of doing the same thing over and over again was making his patience run thin. He almost gave in to Kyuubi's idea of roasting the damn cat during said missions. Oh how he should have barbecued that demonic feline to get this over and done with.
Speaking of training, he discarded Kakashi's training exercise every morning through an ingenious use of Shadow Clones. He would go and meet his team and wait for Kakashi to leave them to their own devices. He would go into the woods, create a Shadow Clone, hand him the scroll that Kakashi gave him, then teleport back to his house for 'real' training. He accomplished a lot on his own.
For starters, he was able to improve his Fuuinjutsu studies by advancing to trap seals. He made two types of trap seals that stores projectiles and fires them when chakra is pumped into it. He made two kinds – one that fires in one direction that is definitely useful when facing an opponent and the other follows the theory of real traps when triggered, kunais or shurikens would be shot at different directions until it runs out.
He also trained with 3 summons. He was able to come up with various attacks and strategies that involved his Tiger, Dragons, and Phoenix summons. He would be using his Tiger summons for direct attacks and ambushes. Dragons are for overkill scenarios that requires mass damage. His Phoenix summon is used for aerial attacks and defense, and of course, they are quite useful to get from one place to the other.
His Kenjutsu training was also coming along well. He waited for Kakashi to introduce him to the 'masters' he was talking about but after 2 weeks of waiting, he went to the Hokage to ask for possible Kenjutsu sparring partners. He was introduced immediately to Gekko Hayate who agreed to teach and spar with Naruto an hour before dinner for 2 hours. Due to his sickness, he was given leeway regarding his duties in the village so he can spend some time with Naruto.
In one and a half months of sparring and lessons, Naruto's single and double sword style are now at intermediate level with a lot of room for improvement. During his time with Hayate, he also met his girlfriend, Uzuki Yuugao, who was drooling over Kazehime when he showed it to her. With her addition to the group, Naruto gained experience in fighting two sword-wielding opponents at the same time. His session with them always left him with a lot of cuts and bruises but the experience he gained from them was worth every blood he spilled during spars. He learned one important lesson though during his spar with the Kenjutsu Mistress. Never tell her that she is fat or else. The beating he got afterwards sent shivers down his spine. Even Kyuubi quailed a bit at the memory.
Last, but not the least, he improved his Chakra Manipulation to the point of increasing the speed in creating weapons out of his chakra. He can now produce any weapons he desired in less than a second, a great surprise attack if used properly.
Also, he improved his ultimate attack, the Elemental Drill. He was able to decrease the chakra consumption of the technique by making each elemental stream a little thinner through compression increasing their overall power and intensity – making the attack fast and more powerful by allowing it be focused at a single point instead of scattering the damage. The success was marked when his attack was able to easily pierce a 20-feet thick earth wall, along with the trees behind it.
Team 7 entered the Hokage office for another batch of D-rank mission. When the team entered, they saw Team 8 with Jounin sensei Yuuhi Kurenai, a red-faced Umino Iruka, and an amused Hokage. The scene was quite amusing to say the least.
A livid Kiba was in front of an amused Hokage demanding better missions while Akamaru, Kiba's partner, was supporting his master with barks and yips. Kurenai was giving Kiba a look that promised a lot of pain later on, Hinata was looking down twirling her fingers in embarrassment, and Shino...well...Shino was still his usual stoic self. No surprise there.
Sarutobi saw Team 7 come in to the room and raised his hand that effectively shut Kiba up. "Ahhh Team 7, what brings you here? Another mission I presume?"
"Yes Hokage-sama. Team 7 would like to request a possible C-Rank mission since we already reached the quota of D-Ranks for it." requested Kakashi in a formal voice. This shocked the rest of Team 7. They were expecting another boring D-Rank but their sensei was going for a C-Rank.
"I guess kakashi isn't as useless as I thought." grumbled Naruto in his mind.
"At least he is good for something kit." purred Kyuubi, excited that his container can get out of the village, even possibly slaughtering something along the way.
"What got you so excited?" asked a suspicious Naruto.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all." said Kyuubi innocently. Naruto saw a brief image of Kyuubi sitting down on his haunches sporting an innocent look on his face while his nine tails happily wagging behind him.
"Really?" prodded Naruto.
"Yep Really.." Kyuubi quickly replied before ending the communication between them. Naruto focused his attention to the outside world.
Sarutobi coughed to shut everyone up, especially a ranting Kiba. "Since both Team 7 and Team 8 are both requesting a C-Rank, I will be assigning both teams a joint C-Rank mission. Your mission would be to escort your client, the Bridge Builder Tazuna, back to Wave and protect him while he is finishing the construction of his bridge. This will be a long-term mission. Kakashi will be taking leadership of both teams seconded by Kurenai since he has seniority over her. The rest of you will follow their orders as befitting your station." He handed the mission scroll to Kakashi who accepted it lazily. "Any questions? None? Good. Iruka, bring the client in please."
Iruka opened the door and an old man wearing a dark green sleeveless shirt, loose brown pants, and a straw hat. His face looks ordinary enough with the grey beard and glasses - just your typical old man under a straw hat.
Tazuna entered the Hokage office and looked at the shinobis assigned to him. Naruto noticed that the old man was slightly drunk and smell lightly of booze. He crinkled his nose at the scent.
"What? These are my protection detail? Why bring the kids along, in fact, I don't even think that they are ninja's. Look at that kid, bringing his dog along or that shy girl. Is that pink-haired brat a ninja? What ninja has pink hair?" He looked at the amused Naruto. "Well, the blonde kid looks decent, I suppose though the emo-kid thre looks suicidal." Tazuna added last part when he spotted Sasuke brooding in the corner.
The insulted parties were looking at the client with clear rage in their eyes. Kiba was about to pounce on him but was held back by Kurenai who looked apologetically at Tazuna. "I apologize for my student Tazuna-san but I assure you, these 'kids' are proud Genins of Konoha and have skills that will surely protect you during our journey to your home."
Tazuna just grunted. "Well, I don't care as long as they do a good job. I want all of you to protect me with your life." He demanded to the shinobis in the room. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the declaration.
Kakashi nodded and faced the two Genin teams. "Ok everyone, we will be leaving in 3 hours. I want you all to go home and pack for a month-long mission just in case. Meet up at the Eastern Gate in 3 hours. Dismissed."
Everyone was about to leave through the door when Naruto spoke. "See you later jiji!" Naruto addressed the Hokage giving him a cheeky smile before disappearing in a burst of lightning which stunned everyone in the room. The Hokage just laughed at their reactions. Tazuna was impressed.
Naruto arrived in his house in burst of lightning. He was chuckling at that spectacular display of Elemental Shunshin in front of his sensei and peers. He knew that would leave a stunned group behind. He should ask the Hokage the description of their faces later when they got back from the mission. Shaking his head, he focused his thoughts in equipping himself properly for the mission.
After 10 minutes, Naruto entered the library/armory wearing his new battle gear. It was similar to his previous design but better. He is now sporting a black fishnet muscled shirt that definitely showed off his muscles, a dark grey robe with long sleeves that reached down to his wrist, and black cargo pants. He is no longer wearing his shuriken and kunai holsters. His Konoha headband still tied to his left bicep.
Instead of wearing his holsters, he wore two black fingerless gloves that are open on both the palms and at the back of his hands that revealed his storage seal on the left and the Tiger tattoo on the right. These two babies were more than just accessories; these two are the new addition to his armory.
The gloves were one of his pet projects on seals. He placed the single-direction trap seal on the knuckles on both gloves. The right glove contained his 500 custom-made mini kunais that is perfect as a high-speed projectile. The left were the standard shurikens. Both offer a comfortable grip for wielding a sword and the inner part of the glove was lined with chakra-conductive wires that will compliment his Chakra Manipulation skills.
Also, as an added feature, he had a seal on the inside of both gloves that will automatically create a sizable Chakra Shield of his own design using his bloodline. When both gloves are placed together, the separate seals will form a single powerful seal that will automatically create a dome of chakra 10-feet in diameter with him at the center. The shield is as powerful as his Chakra Control. At his current level, he can keep the shield up for 5 minutes before wavering. Separately, each glove can create a 2-foot circular shield on top of his glove that is great for instant defense. It was inferior to his Kamigan defense but its better safe than sorry, especially when he runs out of chakra.
He created this secondary defense scheme since an activated Kamigan can drain a lot of his chakra. At maximum, he can hold his Kamigan active and in full use for a full 2 hours.
He stored the usual mission rations, as well some reload kunais and shurikens on his storage seals and placed the paper version of both trap seals in the inner pocket on his robe. To put it simply, he was armed and dangerous.
Realizing that he still have 2 hours to kill before meeting the teams, he went down to the kitchen to fix himself a light lunch and lounged around. When it was time to go, he placed his hand on the mantle on top of the fireplace to activate the house's protection. He will be away for who knows how long so he wants to make sure that his Clan house is protected despite the outer defense that his dad left behind.
(TIME SKIP – 3 HOURS LATER)
Naruto arrived exactly on time at the Western Gate to meet his team. He appeared in front of his team with his new Lighting Shunshin that shocked the group, no pun intended. He saw that everyone was there, including the always-tardy Hatake Kakashi. The females in the group, however, were sporting a different form of shock upon his appearance.
Hinata saw Naruto arrive with a spectacular entrance but she blushed furiously when she saw Naruto's muscled chest and abs. She was fighting a loosing battle between fainting or release a large nosebleed. "Must not faint....must...not...faint...." she chanted mentally.
Sakura blushed when she saw Naruto's muscles. "Damn, I didn't know he was hiding those." thought Sakura but automatically saying that Sasuke was still more built than the blonde.
Kurenai saw Naruto appear and her eyes bulge at the sight. "Shit. He looks just like his father. Look at those muscles. This kid will be a heartbreaker with the ladies in the future."
As always, Naruto was oblivious to the female's reaction but Kyuubi noticed this and snickered.
"Hi guys. Hope I didn't make you wait." Naruto greeted everyone cheerfully.
"No, you're just in time. Kakashi and Tazuna-san just arrived." replied Kurenai, effectively holding down a blush but was fighting hard not to keep a close eye on those muscles.
Naruto joined the group but not before Sasuke noticed that he didn't bring any packs along like the rest of teams. "Hey dobe, don't tell me you forgot to bring your pack along." he mocked the blonde.
Naruto just gave him a look and raised his left hand showing his storage seal. "I got everything right here." indicating the seal with his right finger.
"You know seals?" asked Kakashi in a stunned voice.
"Of course. Dad left a lot of notes on seals back in our Clan Library. I've been studying them for almost 2 years now. I won't say I'm a master but I get by."
"Prove it dobe." said an arrogant Sasuke, not believing a word of the blonde's knowledge on seals.
He looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him, expectant of his demonstration.
He sighed and raised his right hand, palm out facing 3-feet in front of him and channeled chakra through his storage seal while willing all the items to come out. A large puff of smoke later, the entire content of the storage seal was laid out for everyone to see.
Mounds of shurikens and kunais all laid in their respective group, 2 outdoor tents, 4 sleeping bags, 3 medium-sized boxes of food rations, and of course, a bunch of other equipments, like inks, blank scrolls, and some spare clothes. He looked at the dumbfounded group. "Well, enough demonstration for you?"
"Naruto, what are all those?" stuttered Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei mentioned to pack for a month so I did. I packed extra just in case some of you run out of something so it's better to be safe than sorry. I have the liberty to bring as much as I can since I'm not encumbered by the weight. Also, I have enough chakra at my disposal to store unlimited items in a single seal without any repercussion." explained Naruto. Everyone accepted the explanation easily but Kurenai noted the slight change in tone when he mentioned Kakashi's name. She filed it at the back of his mind for later.
"But, how in the world did you have a storage seal on your arm, that's not supposed to be possible. Also, no seal in existence can store multiple items at once." half-shouted Kurenai in astonishment.
"Of course you wouldn't know about it. This is one of the prototype seals that my dad made. It is one of his pet projects – he was checking out how Summoning Scrolls work and made a few sketches on skin-based seals. I finished it and now it is safe to use."
"Do you think you can give us a copy of those seals? That would make it very convenient for the rest of the team." asked Kakashi seeing the huge advantage of having such seals on his person. He knew that Minato was a seal master and it seems that he passed his expertise to his son.
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei. Hokage-jiji told me to hold on to the design since this is part of Konoha's secrets. If the design gets out then our enemies might take advantage of it. If you want, you can ask jiji if I'm allowed to graft a seal on your skin but I can't make any promises." explained Naruto. He wasn't worried that the Hokage would give permission since they already decided on the alibi when those who know about it will ask for it. Those who ask will be automatically turned down, nicely of course.
Everyone in the team was looking at Naruto in a new light, except for Sasuke and Sakura of course. Sasuke was seething with jealousy at what Naruto was capable off and he was afraid of asking the blonde to give him his techniques. The fight they had at the training ground was still fresh in his mind so he just gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut.
Naruto, seeing that everyone was happy with the demonstration, channeled a large amount of chakra to his storage seal while pointing his left hand at his supplies. A large puff of smoke later, the supplies left the ground and tucked safely away inside his seal. "So, are we ready to go?"
Kakashi nodded. "Ok team, I'm going to ask everyone to take defensive points with Tazuna-san in the middle. Hinata and Kiba will take point since they can easily detect incoming dangers with their bloodline. Shino and Sakura will place themselves beside Tazuna-san in the middle for protection. Naruto take left and Sasuke gets right. Kurenai and me will lag behind the group to provide support if necessary. Ok everyone, let's go."
Team 7 and 8 took their designated positions and left Konoha towards Wave. He didn't know it but Naruto's adventure just started and his name will start to spread all over the Elemental Country – for good or for ill.