Konoha
The gang is set to arrive back at Konoha in a few minutes, a few days after the fight on the bridge, where Naruto slaughtered everyone mercilessly. Everyone respected the blond's wishes, and didn't speak about what happened on the mission. Sakura didn't speak because she was too afraid that Naruto might snap at her again. Sasuke was just his usual brooding self, thinking about getting revenge on his brother and becoming stronger than Naruto, as fast as he could. The only thing Kakashi said about the entire ordeal is that he would have to tell the third Hokage. The boy just nodded and continued his way to the village. He never even turned around.
Kakashi ran ahead of his students and waited for them at the gate. Once they arrived as well, he spoke. "Alright, everybody! Go home and get some rest. Training starts at training ground seven, at 8 o'clock. And bring all the weapons you can carry. Dismissed." After they all went their separate ways, Kakashi headed to the Hokage Tower. He went up and knocked on the door to Hokage's office. Waiting until he hears a "Come in." The Jonin walks into the office, and bows to his leader.
The Village leader had a smile on his face. "Ah, Kakashi, I wasn't expecting you for another week. Was the mission a success?"
"Yes, Tazuna was escorted safely to wave country, and finished his bridge without any danger to his health," There was a dark undertone to his voice.
The Third Hokage was immediately on high alert when he noticed it. "What happened?" He was fearful of the answer.
"It turns out, it wasn't a simple c-rank mission. Our client was being targeted by Gato, From Gato Enterprises. Gato had him hunted by rogue Ninja, dangerous ones. On our way to wave, we encountered The Demon Brothers, from the hidden Mist. Them being simple, Chunin, Sasuke and Naruto easily took them out,"
"Well that's good, but if that's what happened, why are you so distraught right now?"
"There's more." Kakashi sighs in exasperation, before continuing his story. " Due to the fact that our enemies were Chunin, the mission had become a b-rank. I told the team that we were going back, but Naruto insisted on staying, even if it was just him." Kakashi gives the old man a small proud smile. "His desire to help people is truly remarkable."
"yes it is," Another proud smile overtakes The Hokage's face. A couple moments pass by before Sarutobi tells Kakashi to "continue."
"After we all decided to stay, that's when Tazuna told us the truth. Gato had come to wave and took it over. This is why they didn't pay for a b-rank. They couldn't afford it. So after we got off a boat near Tazuna's house, we were attacked by another rogue Ninja. Like I thought, it was a Jonin. Not just any Jonin, it was Zabuza Momochi!" Kakashi waits for The Hokage's reaction.
"The Demon Of The Hidden Mist!" The Old Man realizes with terror in his eyes, at the prospect of Genin having to face him. "Is everyone alright? Does your team need medical attention?" He was frantic.
"No, everyone is ok. The problem is what happened a week later, right before we left," Kakashi answers. "Anyway, so I told Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to stay back, while I took care of him. I knew I would have to fight with full strength, in order to protect them. So I used My Sharingan. He eventually got the upper hand and trapped me in a water prison. I told the kids to run, but they didn't listen. Naruto and Sasuke came up with a plan to get me out, and it worked. Before I could do anything though, Naruto used a wind Jutsu on Zabuza, and knocked him out cold, by blasting him into a tree."
"That's not entirely surprising. Naruto is incredibly strong for a kid his age," The Hokage laments. "Anyway, you were saying?"
"After Zabuza was knocked out, Senbon needles flew out from behind a tree branch and struck him in the neck. A Hunter-Nin showed up, and claimed she had been hunting Zabuza for months. And thanks to us, she finally got a chance to take him out. She then disappeared with the body. It was a little odd, but I didn't have the time to think about it, since I passed out from chakra exhaustion, due to the overuse of My Sharingan. I woke up on a travel cot at Tazuna's. The team and I talked about the previous events, and I found that Naruto had the same suspicions about the Hunter-Nin that I did. We figured out that Zabuza was most likely still alive, and the Hunter-Nin was his accomplice."
"That's very interesting, indeed." The old man began to contemplate the implications of info that Kakashi had shared with him.
"Because of this, I decided to train them a little. We figured it would take at least a week for Zabuza to fully heal. Naruto took over for me, while I recuperated." Kakashi chuckled at the memory. "He became somewhat of a slave driver, pushing Sakura to the brink of exhaustion."
"Why did he do that?"
"He was trying to enhance Sakura's Chakra reserves, since they were abysmally small," Kakashi explains, with a little disappointment showing on his face. The girl probably only ever trained during school.
" What happened next?" The Hokage was thinking the same thing about Sakura.
"Naruto continued to train them for the following week. It was actually pretty amusing. He wanted them to work on their teamwork. So he had them fight him, using only one kunai knife in each hand. He was trying to antagonize them into fighting. He was baiting Sakura more than Sasuke because she didn't think Naruto could handle fighting both of them at the same time. To make it even better, he infuriated them by wrapping his head-band around his eyes, so he couldn't see. Still, he easily defeated them. After a week, I had Naruto stay at Tazuna's to recuperate from his training. I think he was doing some training by himself. It's the only thing that makes any sense. Why else would he be so tired?"
"Most likely. I've had some anbu watch him while he trains. Of course, he easily sensed them, but it didn't bother him. So he let them stay. They always come back telling me that the training he does is intense, and that it is no surprise that he is as strong as he is because of it," Sarutobi informs.
"What does he do exactly? If you don't mind my asking."
"I don't know. He never tells me anything, and I've respected that he asked the anbu to not tell me anything either. I once tried looking in the crystal ball to find out, but somehow, Naruto has blocked it. I can't see anything he does," the Hokage answers.
"Well that's a surprise. Anyway back to the story. So we left Tazuna's house to oversee construction of the bridge. When we got there, it was like a scene from a nightmare. There were dead bodies everywhere and blood stains all over the place," Kakashi pauses in order to gauge Hiruzen's reaction.
"Oh my! That's terrible." Sarutobi is saddened by the new information.
"Then everything just got way worse. Zabuza showed up and created 10 water clones and surrounded us. Thanks to Naruto's training, Sasuke was able to take them out easily. Then the Hunter-Nin stood forward to fight him. Their fight had a shaky start. The ninja used the puddles created by the clones, as a medium for her water jutsu, Water style: flying water needles. Sasuke could only run from the enemy's attack. The kid eventually got the upper hand and was able to fight back. When we thought the fight was progressing in our favor, the Ninja did a Jutsu that I'd never seen before. It had caused Sasuke to be trapped in a dome of mirrors. Turns out, the kid had a Kekkei genkai, just like Sasuke. I couldn't get Sasuke out, because if I tried, Zabuza would have killed Tazuna. At that moment, Naruto showed up, obliterated the jutsu saving Sasuke, and defeated the Ninja, who we now knew as Haku. This is when everything went from worse to terrible." The Jonin started glaring at the ground. It was like the wood had personally wronged him. "Feeling that she no longer had a purpose if she couldn't protect Zabuza, Haku asked Naruto to kill her. He tried to convince her otherwise, but it didn't work. Naruto jabbed a kunai into her heart, killing her instantly. We found out that Haku was fighting a clone the entire time. Before anyone could even blink, Naruto appeared in front of Zabuza, chained him up and slit his throat." Kakashi let out a grimace at the painful memory. "I asked Naruto if he was ok after doing that, and he told me, he didn't want to talk about it. At that moment, Gato decided to show up with about 200 men, intent on taking us out. Gato kicked Haku's corpse. Furious with the disrespect of the girl's dead body, Naruto went into this rage." He paused for a moment, and looked up at the old man's face. It was clear that the Hokage was already greatly disturbed by the story. He wasn't sure how Hiruzen was going to react to the next thing that he told him. The Jonin could only hope that it was not too bad. "He ended up killing all 200 of Gato's men, and somewhere in the fury, Naruto's eyes changed to a dark crimson red with black slits. Gato begged for his life, but it was ultimately pointless. Naruto shoved his hand through his chest, crushing his heart outside of his body. Once again, I asked if he was ok, and he told me he didn't want to talk about it. Then he created more clones, cleaned up the bridge, and completed it in flash. Finally, he left without a word to anyone back to Konoha." Kakashi finally took a breath to calm his thoughts, while he waited for His Hokage's response.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in, I need to think for a minute." Naruto killed every dangerous person on the mission, so that's good. Good in a way that those people can't hurt anybody else. But, Naruto killed people. Even though he is an exceptionally strong Genin, he shouldn't have any blood on his hands. At least not this early in his life. Kakashi also said something about Naruto's eyes changing. I know Naruto has control over the fox, or rather, the fox does not try to control him. So why did his eyes change? Maybe his anger is a trigger in using The Kyuubi's Chakra. He'll need to talk to Naruto to be sure it won't be a danger to anyone, for him to use this power at times of anger. "Thank you for informing me on this Kakashi. You may go, but first, I want you to tell Naruto to meet me here, tomorrow, after training."
"Yes Hokage-Sama." Kakashi vanished from his view, leaving Sarutobi to his thoughts.
With Naruto and Kurama
"Are you really okay, Naruto?"
"Yes! I'm fine. Why is everyone asking me that! I killed people, so what? I'm a ninja. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I mean it's not like I went on a killing spree, and murdered innocent people. It was evil terrible people that I killed. So what's the big deal!!?" Naruto fumed.
"I'm just worried about you."
"I know you are Kurama, and I know Kakashi is too. I'm fine, really. It's not like I'm gonna suddenly turn on them and kill everybody. I was just removing the danger from Wave, like I was supposed to do. I mean, that was the whole point of the mission wasn't it?"
"I guess." Not knowing what else to say, the beast stays silent.
"Goodnight, Kurama." Naruto crawls under his covers. The Uumaki lays his head on the pillow, and falls asleep instantly.
Training Ground 7, The next morning
"Where is Kakashi Sensei!? It's already 8:30, and I thought I already taught him a lesson in being late." Naruto's annoyance is evident in his tone.
Kakashi shows up in a swirl of leaves. "Wait! Before you prank me for being Late, Naruto. I have a valid reason this time?"
"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Naruto couldn't wait to hear this.
Kakashi proceeds to pull out 3 sheets of paper from behind his back. "These..." he begins to explain, handing one of the sheets to each of the 3 students, "are applications for the Chunin Exams, that are coming up in a week.
"What are the Chunin Exams?" Sakura asks.
"The Chunin Exams are a series of trials and tests that are used to determine if we are eligible to become Chunin. If we pass, we will be able to take on harder missions, like c-rank or even b-rank. It will also allow us to be mission leaders, sometimes," Naruto explained.
"These Exams have more than one purpose. It will also demonstrate a village's strength to onlookers," Kakashi continues
"So will there be strong ninjas in these Exams?" Sasuke asks.
"Yes, there will be many strong ninja from all the other Genin teams in Konoha and the other Villages as well. So don't be surprised if you meet any of them," Kakashi answers for him. "You have a week to train and fill out those applications. If you want to participate in these Exams, you must bring those completed forms to room 305 at the Ninja Academy, or you will not be able to participate."
"So what kind of training are we gonna do today, Kakashi?" Sasuke questions.
"I'm glad you asked Sasuke. We," Kakashi begins, gesturing in a circle to include all of them, "are going to be working on your teamwork and individual skill." The Jonin turns to the only girl on the team. "Sakura, for the last week you've been working on strengthening your chakra reserves. And I hope you've also been keeping your chakra in control. As you know, it does get harder, the more chakra you have." He gives her a pointed look, "Have you been practicing?"
She gulps. "Yes sir, I've been working on it."
"Good," Kakashi responds, with his signature one eye smile. "So now, we might be able to teach you some elemental jutsu." He walks over and hands her a small piece of paper. "This," he says pointing to the paper in her hand, "Is affinity paper. We can use it to determine your elemental affinity. All you need to do is, flow chakra into it. If it burns, your affinity is fire. If it gets wet, your affinity is water. If it crumbles, your affinity is earth. If it wrinkles, your Affinity is lightning. If it tears, your affinity is wind." The Cyclops waits for her to do as he instructed.
Sakura began passing chakra through the slip of paper. And the next thing she knew, the paper crumbled in her hand.
"Your affinity is earth, interesting." Kakashi grabs his chin, and starts to stoke it. "So we have a fire, wind, and earth user on our team. Very nice." Kakashi gives another eye smile. "This will make for some effective team attacks on enemy Ninja."
"How so, Sensei?"
"Well, fire is strengthened by wind. So Naruto's wind Jutsu can be used to amplify Sasuke's fire jutsu. Then you can control where the fire goes, with your earth jutsu, you would be able to contain it," Kakashi explains.
Naruto looks up. "So, should we get started?"
"Yes, We will start with individual skills. That way, Sakura can learn and practice a simple earth Jutsu. Which will help us create a team-coordinated attack." Kakashi takes out a scroll out from one of the many pockets on his vest. "Here, Sakura, I want you to practice this Jutsu alright." The Sensei hands her the scroll.
"Chikyū no sutairu: Maddodōmu (Earth Style: Mud Dome)," she reads the scroll aloud. She then began to form the proper hand seals, announcing Jutsu's name. At first nothing happens, then a mid size dome of mud surrounds five feet of circumference in front of her. "Sasuke, did you see that?" A huge smile shows up on her face, thinking this would finally impress him. The girl receives the usual "Hn," in response.
"That was a pretty good job for your first try, Sakura. This is no doubt because of your enhanced chakra levels. Keep expanding and controlling your chakra, and you'll be able to use that Jutsu to its full capacity," Naruto says, appraising the newfound show of skill.
"Thanks." She gives the blond a small smile. She wanted Sasuke to be impressed.
"All right, Sakur., I want you to spar with Naruto until you run out of chakra. Then rest and fight him once again. Do this for the rest of the day. This way, we can further enhance your chakra levels," Kakashi instructs his weakest student. He then turned to the blonde Genin. "Naruto, sometime today, the Third Hokage wants to speak to you, regarding the events of our mission to Wave."
As Kakashi says this, they all began to grimace at the memory, each of them for different reasons. Sakura, because it scared the crap out of her at how cold and murderous Naruto could be. Kakashi just didn't like to think that Naruto might be that vicious. Sasuke, because it showed how much weaker he was, compared to Naruto.
"Understood, Sensei," Naruto replies, with an annoyed tone to his voice. He glanced towards the pinkette, a few feet from him. "Sakura, are you ready for a spar?"
"You bet," Sakura responds,Joyfully. Now she can show Sasuke how strong she actually is. And then he'll be so impressed, he'll proclaim his undying love for her.
Sakura's Fantasy
Sasuke walks up and kneels down in front of Sakura, taking her hand in his, before looking deeply into her eyes. "Sakura, I underestimated how powerful you were. I love you Sakura, and I'll always protect you. Will you marry me?" The Uchiha gins, pulling out a ring from behind his back.
A Platinum blonde can be seen crying in the background.
With a blush on her face, Sakura replies. "Oh Sasuke, I don't know what to say."
"Sakura, Sakuraaa..., Sakura!"
Fantasy shatters
"What? Naruto?!!" She glares at the sun kissed blonde boy.
"You were spaced out for 2 minutes. What were you even thinking about?" Naruto wonders.
Sakura's face instantly turned a deep shade of red. "Oh uh, Nothing," she lies, turning around to hide her face.
"Uh huh, sure," Naruto did not believe her for a second. "Well, whatever, let's get started, shall we. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He forms the necessary hand seals. 401 clones pop into existence. "Alright, 100 of you, go and practice our taijutsu. 100 of you, go to the library, and read books from the ninja section. Another 100 of you go and practice Chakra control. The final 100 of you, go and practice our senses training." They all vanish, leaving only one clone left. "And as for you." Naruto pointed to the clone. "Go see Hokage-Sama." After the final clone vanishes from sight, Naruto turns back toward Sakura, waiting until she attacks.
Sakura just stares at Naruto for a minute or so, before he gets annoyed. "What?!"
"How is using your clones gonna make you stronger?"
"Figure it out yourself. I'm not divulging all my secrets to you," He answers with no emotion on his face or in his tone. "Are you gonna fight me now?"
Sakura charges at Naruto, with what she thought was a strong punch. Naruto brought his hand up to block it, effortlessly. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, if you want a chance at defeating me," He says matter-of-factly. She proceeds to throw a kick to his head, to which he ducked. She then threw a punch with her other fist. He blocks her second fist as well. The blond was quickly tiring of the fight. "Sakura, take off the weights."
"Why?" What was he getting at?
"Just do it." She really should just shut the hell up and stop questioning him all the time. It was getting very annoying. Isn't she supposed to be smart? She should be able to figure out most of this stuff on her own. Alas,here they were.
"Fine, Geez!" She took the weights off her arms and legs. "Now what?"
"Now come at me again, obviously." This girl was going to get herself killed one day. So she is book smart. Who cares? That is not going to get her anywhere.
Once again she rushes him, with a punch aimed to his face. He was still able to block, but he smiles at the feeling of impact. "See, now you're much stronger and faster than you were before the weights."
"Yeah, I guess." Sakura didn't think it was that important.
"Now I want you to take these." The Blond hands her some 35 pound weights.
She replaced the 25 pound weights with the new ones before standing up as straight as she could.
"Now, there is another way you can increase the strength of your attacks, without conditioning your body with weights. Only use this trick, if your strength without the weights isn't enough to defeat your opponent." Naruto turns to see if she was paying attention, before he continued. "You can focus chakra to your legs and arms. This will make your attacks incredibly strong," Pointing to a tree, he spoke up once more. "Try focusing as much chakra as you can into your arm and fist. Then punch that tree."
"Okayyy." The pinkette walks over and punches the tree as hard as she could, focusing as much chakra as possible into her arm. A loud crack sounded throughout the training ground. They all turned to see the tree, and there was a medium sized fist shaped crater where her fist connected with it. "Wait, if I can do this with chakra alone. What's the point of conditioning my body with the weights?"
"Because it's possible to cause that kind of damage without chakra." Naruto walks over to another tree nearby. "Observe." He punches the tree, completely shattering the wood, causing the tree to tip over and plummet into the ground with a loud crash. Thankfully, no one got hurt. "Now, when I use chakra." he walks over to a large boulder on the ground. "I can do this." Before anyone could respond, Naruto punches the stone. The rock shatters where his fist connected, creating a mid sized hole in the rock. "See, if you can be that strong without using chakra," he says while pointing to the tree he knocked over. "You will be even stronger, when you use chakra." He gestures to the stone. "Understand?"
"Uh huh." The girl gapes at the damage that Naruto could cause so easily.
"Sasuke, I want you to do the same as Sakura. Exhaust your chakra, fighting Naruto, rest, and exhaust your chakra once again." Kakashi took one last look at them, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
"Well, should we get started?" Naruto looks to his two remaining team members.
With The Naruto Clone and The Hokage
"You wanted to see me, Hokage-Sama?" The clone asks, as he walks into the third's office.
"Ah Naruto, thank you for coming." The Hokage gives the boy a smile. The room was silent for a few moments, before The third spoke up once more. "I wanted to talk to you about your mission to Wave."
"What about it?" Naruto was a little annoyed with the direction, he knew this conversation was heading in.
The boy's tone did nothing to affect the old man. "From the tone of your voice, is it safe to assume, you know what I want to talk to you about?"
"Yes." The annoyance in the blond remained. "And before you ask, I'm fine. I'm not emotionally damaged, a danger to the population of Konoha, or bent on revenge. So you can chill. The only thing that's actually bothering me at the moment, is everybody constantly asking if I'm alright. So I killed some bad people. Isn't that what Ninja are supposed to do?" He was forgetting to be respectful at the moment.
"I understand what you're feeling, Naruto. But we're all just concerned about you."
"No disrespect, Jiji. But you don't know what I'm feeling. You don't know what it's like everyday, knowing everyone despises you, for something you have no control over. To know that everyday people are waiting until you slip up and accidentally rage out. So they have a reason to get rid of you. The only ones who could possibly understand what I'm going through are other Jinjurikies. And none of them live here. So that's out of the question." Naruto heaves a deep sigh. "Can I go now, Jiji?"
The Hokage was saddened by the blond. The boy was right. No one in this village could possibly understand what the boy had to go through. "Yes, of course."
Naruto poofs out of existence.
Of course he would send a clone. He should have known. He's probably still training with his team.
Back with The Real Naruto
The memories of the clone popped into Naruto's head, and he frowned at the encounter. He instantly brought his face back into a neutral position, before Sasuke or Sakura could notice. They were going all out on him, using as many jutsu as they could, to throw him off guard, and exhaust their chakra faster. Naruto was barely even trying. He created a clone, and switched places with it, so that he could do his workout routine.
An hour later, after he was done, and both Sasuke and Sakura were unconscious from the loss of Chakra, Naruto poofed the clone out of existence, and retained its memories.
Well that was really a boring fight. The clone didn't even have to try.
A while later, Sasuke woke up, and stood from his position on the ground. He walked over and sat near Naruto, who was leaning against a tree, with his eyes closed. "Are you awake?"
"Yes," Naruto replies with a bored tone.
"let me ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me."
"What do you want to ask me, Sasuke?" Naruto still had his eyes closed.
"Were you even trying in any of our fights we've had before?"
"Not really. Why do you ask?"
"It just felt like you were holding back whenever we faced off against each other is all,"
"Alright. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"What makes you think isolating yourself, and being a closed off person makes you strong?" Naruto was curious at what could possibly be the answer.
For a moment Sasuke was shocked that Naruto asked this, but then he came up with an answer that he thought was justifiable. "If I'm alone, there are no people that can hold me back from reaching my full strength." The boy's answer is somewhat arrogant. He then turned to Naruto. "The only people that don't hold me back are you and Kakashi."
"I can see how you could come up with that solution. But let's look at it this way. First, do you know of the Three Sannin?"
"Yeah?" Sasuke was not sure where this was going.
"Well, they were incredibly strong, and it wasn't because they isolated themselves. Yes I'll admit, they have amazingly strong skills individually. But as a team, they were practically unbeatable. It really is a shame they are no longer together. Do you get what I mean?" Naruto glances toward Sasuke, to see if he understood what he was trying to prove to him.
"Yeah I guess."
"And just think. Given your skills and mine, plus how strong you and I can actually become, when Sakura gets stronger, we could possibly be as strong as the Sannin were, if not stronger. You can still get revenge on your brother if you want. But I wouldn't."
"How do you know Sakura can become stronger?" Sasuke was doubtful of that prospect coming to light.
Naruto just looked at Sasuke and smirked, before answering. "Trust me, if she obsesses over you, as much as I think she does. She'll do anything to impress you. With that motivation, she'll become very strong."
"Maybe you're right about that. But I still don't think it's very likely."
A knowing smile graces the blond's face. "Just wait. By the end of the Chunin exams, she'll be stronger than you ever thought possible for her."
"I'll take your word for it. After all, you've never been wrong before." Sasuke thinks about all that Naruto has said since they graduated, and realized his statement about the veracity of the boy's words could not be questioned.
"Oh, before I forget. Take these." Naruto hands Sasuke 70 lb. weights. "If you're like me, then your muscles strengthen faster. So you should be able to handle a 20 lb. increase." Naruto just knows that Sasuke would appreciate the compliment.
Sasuke replaced the weights he was already wearing, with the new weighs that Naruto gave him. He stood up, a little wobbly at first, but eventually was able to move well enough. Sasuke muttered a small thanks under his breath.
Because Naruto's senses were stronger than most, he still heard it. "You're welcome." He then proceeded to replace his weights, with 160 lbs. for his legs, and 140 lbs, for his arms.
"I'm curious, Naruto. Where do you keep all the weights anyway?"
"I keep them in a sealing scroll," Naruto replies with a duh tone. He stands up, and it was at that moment that Sakura decided to wake up.
"What are you guys talking about?" She starts rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the base of her palms.
"Nothing much." Naruto responds, with a shrug of his shoulders. He walks away to go get some lunch.
"Well whatever." Sakura turns to the other boy with them. "Sasuke, do you want to go out with me, to celebrate our getting stronger?" There was hope in her eyes, but she was immediately disappointed with the Uchiha's reply.
"No, I have no time for weaklings such as you. If you ever want the chance of being anything to me, besides a teammate, then get stronger. Right now you're weaker than Naruto." With that said, Sasuke looks to Naruto who understood what Sasuke was trying to do. If he is more harsh to her about her skill, then maybe she'll become stronger even faster. He then proceeds to walk away from her.
She's weaker than Naruto. Those words struck a chord in Sakura. Even though it's been proven that Naruto is incredibly strong, she absolutely refused to acknowledge it, or believe that the Naruto she knew was all an act. She walked away, towards the town.
Naruto was headed over to Ichiraku Ramen, when he sensed something behind him. The Uzumaki turned around and was met with a rectangular box meant to look like a rock with 2 holes carved out on the front. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Seriously," he deadpanned. "1) rocks are not rectangular. 2) they don't have eye holes in the front. And 3) there was not a rock there when I passed. You guys can come out now."
After a mid sized puff of smoke, 3 kids were revealed. 2 boys and 1 girl. One of the boys had on a yellow shirt, gray shorts, an insanely long blue scarf. On his head were a pair of green goggles. He was known as Konohamaru. The second boy had snot running down his nose and glasses. He also had goggles on his head. His name was Udon. The girl was sporting twin ponytails, that suck up high above her head, twin blushes on her cheeks, and goggles as well. Her name was Moegi.
Flashback
Naruto had just finished his fight against Kakashi with his team, making them full fledged Ninja. The boy was handing in his ninja ID.
"So can I go now?" Naruto asks rather bored with the situation.
"Yes yo ma-" The third was cut off from the sound of a door bursting open.
"OLD MAN! Today is the Day I beat you and Become Hokage," a young boy with brown hair and an unusually long scarf, shouted as he ran into the room. Before anyone could say anything, he tripped over his scarf, and hit his head on the ground. "Ow, ow, ow." The boy starts rubbing his head from the pain, while he sits on his butt.
Well that was unexpected, Naruto thought as he watched the scene unfold.
The Third however was just annoyed. This was the third time today that the kid tried this.
Just then, another person ran into the room. He was wearing the standard Jonin outfit, without the vest, and he had dark glasses hanging off the bridge of his nose. He ran over to the kid, and kneeled down beside him. "Honorable Grandson! Are you okay?"
The boy stood up and looked around the room, before his eyes landed on Naruto, and he glared at the blonde. "It was you! You tripped me didn't you!" The kid pointed an accusing finger at Naruto.
"You're kidding me right? How could I do that if I'm way over here?" Granted, it would be possible with a small wind Jutsu, but still.
The boy stomped over to where Naruto was. "Nuh uh, stop lying! I know you tripped me!"
"Give me a break." Naruto lifted the boy up to his face, before grabbing his scarf. "THIS," he says shaking the scarf in front of the child's face, "is what tripped you. Not me." Naruto eyes the boy angrily. He hated being accused of things he didn't do. Even things as small as this.
"Nuh uh, it was you." The boy continued to protest.
"Why I oughta-" Naruto was interrupted by the glasses wearing Jonin.
"Stop! That is the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage. Put him down, you filthy creature." The Jonin pushes his glasses up his nose in a sort of snooty gesture.
Naruto looked at the man for a second. Filthy creature? He's just like the others. Then he glanced towards the Hokage to see if he was telling the truth. The Third just nodded in confirmation. Naruto then looked back at the Kid in his grasp, to see him smirking. He doesn't think The Blond will do it, does he?
That's right. Now that he knows who the kid was, he'll be just like the others, thought the little boy. "What's the matter huh? Scared to hit me now, because I'm the Grandson of the Ho-" His words were cut short, as a fist came down on his head, knocking him to the ground onto his butt.
"Let's get one thing straight. I don't care if he was your Grandmother. You're nothing but a spoiled little brat to me." Naruto walks out of the room after that.
Streets of Konoha
Naruto was walking down the street towards Ichiraku Ramen for some lunch, when he felt like someone was following him. He turned around to see someone quickly pull a sheet in front of themselves along a fence, in an effort to hide. The sheet was sideways, giving the person away. The blond decided to mess with the person who he knew was following him. He threw 4 kunai, and each knife pierced one corner of the sheet embedding, the fake fence and the person to the wall.
"Hey let me outta here!" Exclaimed the person stuck between the sheet and the fence.
"All right, all right, I got you," Naruto says as he removes Kunai, revealing the kid from the Hokage's office. "So tell me something kid. Why are you following me?"
"I want you to train me. I need a new teacher!" The kid looked down with a solemn look on his face.
Naruto stares at the boy in confusion."What makes you think I would be a good teacher? And what's wrong with the teacher you have now?"
"Well you're Naruto Uzumaki, right?" Asked the boy, while staring at the taller male in front of him.
Naruto did not understand what the kid was trying to imply. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
The boy's face reveals an expression of awe and wonder. "You're the one who pulls all those pranks, and never gets caught. Not even with Jonin level ninja chasing you. Someone like that, has got to be skilled."
"Ok, I see your point. But back to my earlier question. What's wrong with the Sensei you have now?"
The boy grunts in irritation. "He's not a good teacher. He's snotty and stuck up, and he thinks he's superior to everyone else. He always calls himself 'An Elite Jonin.' The boy mocked the teacher, using air quotes around the title the man loved to refer to himself as.
Naruto takes the boy's words into consideration. "All right, I got time. I'll teach you"
"You will! Thank you boss!!" A giddy smile took over the boy's face.
"Boss?"
"Yeah. You're teaching me. So you're the boss."
The blond realized he still didn't know what to call his student. "By the way." Naruto looks down at the boy.
The child looked at him, giving his full attention.
"What's your name, kid?"
"My name?" Wow, no one ever asked him that. He looked up to see Naruto waiting for an answer. "Konohamaru. My name is Konohamaru Sarutobi."
Naruto considers the boy's answer for a moment. "Konohamaru huh? Sounds a lot like the name of the village."
Konohamaru's expression turns sad. "Yeah, my Grandpa named me after the Village. So you'd think it would be easy to remember. But no one calls me that. They always refer to me as The Honorable grandson of The Honorable Third Hokage. They don't see me. It's like I don't even exist."
Huh, he knows the feeling. To never be acknowledged in any way. Where no one knows the real you.
"I know the real you, Kit," The Kyuubi reminds Naruto from the inside of his mind.
"I know, but it's not exactly the same. I am grateful to have you though," Naruto replies to the fox mentally.
Konohamaru rose his head in determination, and began to speak up once more. "That's why I need to become Hokage as soon as possible. That way everyone will have to see me."
Naruto stared at the child for a moment before responding. "There's no fast or easy way to become Hokage. It's gonna take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to reach that goal."
"What!?" Konohamaru was a little shaken up from that statement.
"Don't worry. Now is just as good a time as any to get started."
"All right boss. Let's do this," Konohamaru says holding out his fist.
Naruto bumped Konohamaru fist with him and spoke up once more. "First, do you know what chakra is?"
"Chakra is the combination of our bodies Physical energy, created in all of our cells, and the spiritual energy, from training and experience. We use these combined energies along with special hand seals to perform Jutsu," Konohamaru finishes, reading from a scroll.
Naruto face faulted. "You know, you can't just read that off a scroll whenever anybody asks. You actually need to memorize it." He looked to see if the boy understood, He did. So Naruto continued his lesson. "So, are you able to do any of the basic Jutsu?"
The boy looked sheepish. "Not really." He began scratching the back of his head out of embarrassment,
"Ok, will start with the easiest one."
"What would that be?" Konohamaru wondered.
"In my opinion, it would be the transformation Jutsu," Naruto answers, after thinking about it for a second.
"So how do you do it?"
"Just concentrate chakra all throughout your body, and imagine who you want to look like." Naruto looked to see Konohamaru slightly perplexed. So he decided to demonstrate. "Look, watch me. I concentrate the chakra throughout my body, and then I think of who I wish to become." After a puff of smoke, Naruto was revealed to be an exact copy of Konohamaru, even able to look at the boy eye to eye. "See, I look just like you," Naruto gestures to himself.
To say Konohamaru was amazed, would be an understatement. He was absolutely astounded at how much Naruto looked like a clone of him. "That's so awesome." his eyes were shining with awe.
"Yeah, I guess. Now," Naruto pointed to the real Konohamaru, "you try."
"OK, who should I try to look like?"
Naruto turned back into himself, and looked around until his eyes landed on someone he thought would be easy for a first try. The person was a girl with straight brown hair that went down to her mid back. She was wearing a simple purple kimono, with a purple sash around the waist, and finally, she was carrying a small purple hand purse. Naruto points to the girl. "Try to turn into her."
"All right, I got this." The Young Boy puts his hands together in the necessary hand signs. Transform." One puff of smoke later, standing in Knohamaru's place, was a more chubbier version of the girl he was supposed to turn into. "Well, Do I look like her?" His voice was way too deep to be his own.
The Uzumaki was not sure how to respond. "Uhm, the clothes kind of look like her, I guess."
"What!? That looks like me!?" The aforementioned girl tried to slug Naruto in the back of the head.
He turned around and caught the fist, and glared at the girl in annoyance. "I said the clothes look like her. I wasn't calling you fat, or anything. Not that I would allow it either, but why did you try to hit me?" Naruto pointed to the kid. "He was the one doing the transformation."
The look unnerved her. In the end she decided to ignore him, and walked over and kneeled in front of the younger boy, who had now turned back into himself. "Now, Honorable grandson. Next time you turn into me, make me a little cuter ok," she gave the boy a cheery smile, before turning to glare at Naruto. After a few seconds, she walked away.
"Your problem is, you need to visualize or think of an image of the person in your head. Only then, will you succeed with this jutsu. Try to turn into your Grandfather. Think of an image of him in your head, then execute the jutsu."
Konohamaru focused as hard as he could on an image of the Third Hokage. But when he tried to turn into him, he was too short. Konohamaru yelled out in frustration,"Dang it, I just can't do it!"
Naruto started thinking of the reasons why Konohamaru couldn't perform the jutsu, when a thought hit him. "It might be your chakra control."
The boy didn't understand what the blond was trying to say. "Huh? My chakra control?"
'You may be using too much chakra for the simple jutsu, causing it to not work."
"So then, what are we going to do?"
Naruto was not worried in the slightest. "We'll have to practice your chakra control. No big deal."
Konohamaru was getting frustrated with all the bumps in the road on the path to become Hokage. "How do we do that?"
A devious smirk was present on the blond's face. "Simple, we climb trees."
The look on his teacher's face greatly disturbed the boy. "Uhm."
With Ebisu
Where has that demon child taken The Honorable Grandson? The Jonin must find him, before he has the time to corrupt that kids mind. When he finds that boy, he'll make him pay for attempting to manipulate one of his students.
Back with Naruto and Konohamaru
The two boys were standing in a clearing that was part of training ground 4. Tons of trees surrounded them, which provided them with quite a bit of shade. This will benefit them. With this kind of training, you never want to overheat.
"All right, to successfully complete this exercise, you must be able to walk all the way to the top of the tree," Naruto said while pointing at the tip of the tree. "To do this, you need to focus chakra to the soles of your feet. Then proceed to walk up the tree. Like this." Naruto walks to a nearby tree. He concentrated his chakra, and began walking up the side, leaving Konohamaru amazed with his skills once again.
The boy has a newfound excitement for the exercise. "That's so awesome!"
Naruto jumped off the tree in a flip, before landing on both his feet, flawlessly. He points to the boy. "Now it is your turn. I suggest you start off by running." A thought occurs to the blond. "Before I forget, use this to mark your progress." He pulled out a kunai, and tossed it to Konohamaru, who fumbled with it a little, before catching the weapon by the handle.
All right he can do this. Just focus his chakra, and run at the tree. Konohamaru took off towards the tree. He made it up 5 feet, before his foot blasted off, shattering the bark. "What the heck?"
"Oh yeah, I should probably warn you. Too much chakra and you'll be blasted off. Too little, and you'll slip and hit your head, Pretty hard," Naruto added, recalling some of his clones' memories of the first time he did this exercise. "Try to keep a steady amount of chakra in your feet at all times."
Konohamaru took his advice, before dashing at the tree once again. He got up about 20ft this time, before slipping. Naruto rushed to catch him before he hit the ground. Konohamaru couldn't even see him. after he moved. He was too fast.
"Konohamaru, stop. I have an idea," Naruto said, having just thought of something. "Kurama, would it be possible for Konohamaru to perform the shadow clone jutsu?"
The fox does not give it much thought. "Probably. He is the grandson of the Third Hokage after all."
"Good, this'll be much easier then." The blond cut off the mental connection.
Konohamaru noticed his teacher's long silence. "Boss..., are you okay?"
Naruto focused his attention back on the kid in front of him "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking of something. I want you to focus chakra around your body, and imagine you're splitting in half, resulting in two of yourself. While you're doing this, hold your hands up in the cross sign. Like this." Naruto forms the hand sign. "Make sure you say the words,Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"Uhm, ok" doing what he was told, the boy performed the jutsu with the image of two of him in his head. After the smoke cleared, there were now 3 Konohamarus.
"Wow, I expected only one clone. Good job kid. I'm impressed," Naruto praises, ruffling the real Knohamaru's hair.
"This is cool, but now what?"
"With these kinds of clones, you receive their memories when they dispel. So, you can use this jutsu to train with faster results. That's one of the reasons I'm as strong as I am."
"Oh, okay." Konohamaru did not know what else to say.
"Now that you know this, each one of you, pick a tree, and practice the exercise. Keep doing it until you can't anymore. Then rest, and do it again. This will help you expand your chakra reserves, as well as maintain control of your chakra."
4 hours later
Konohamaru has since exhausted his chakra, and is trying the exercise once again, along with two clones.
"Konohamaru, come down here now!"
"You got it boss!" The kid jumped off the branch he was on, and landed somewhat sloppily on his feet.
"Dispel your clones, and see how far you can reach," Naruto instructs, while pointing to the top branch of the tree.
Konohamaru dispelled the clones and took a mad dash at the tree. He almost reached the top before he was suddenly blasted off. He marked his spot, before he completely lost his footing. Jumping from the location, he landed on the ground, once again a little unbalanced. He looked up to see Naruto smiling down at him.
Naruto was proud of his young student's success. "See how much progress you've made in just a little time."
"Yeah, that really is a useful technique you got there boss."
"Yup, don't tell anyone ok. It'll ruin my plan." Naruto smirks inwardly about how he's gonna mess with his fellow teammates.
"I promise, I won't tell anyone." Konohamaru put up his fist, and Naruto bumped the boy's fist with his, before they heard a noise from the bush. They both glanced at it to see the snooty sensei coming towards them.
"Ah hah! I've found you. Now come with me Honorable Grandson," Ebisu demands, while tugging on the boy's arm.
The boy resisted. "No, I want Naruto to be my teacher."
"Honorable Grandson, you must not tangle yourself with kids like him. He'll just drag you down in the end," Ebisu warns, as he continued to pull on the boy's arm, in a vain attempt to get him away from Naruto.
"No! You're irritating. I've learned more from Naruto in the 4 hours I've known him, then I ever learned in the time you've been my teacher," argued Konohamaru, still refusing to be pulled away.
"That's preposterous. I'm an Elite Jonin. He's just a kid. I'll set this straight right now." The man pushes his glasses up his nose in his usual smug gesture.
"You wanna fight me? Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, I wouldn't want to embarrass an "Elite Jonin" such as yourself," Naruto said, clearly mocking him.
"I'll teach you to respect your elders, demon."
Naruto secretly makes two clones, and switches with one of them. "If you're so sure about that, why don't you come at me?"
The man charges at Naruto. "Why you little." Ebisu began by trying to deliver an open palm strike to Naruto's face, to which the blond blocked effortlessly. Ebisu followed up with a kick to Naruto's left leg. The Uzumaki lifted his leg, avoiding the kick. Naruto swings the same leg, kicking the Jonin in the side. The man went flying into the ground about ten feet away.
"What's the matter? I thought you were going to teach me a lesson?" Naruto baits with a smirk, further aggravating his opponent.
Ebisu responded by charging Naruto again, this time with a kunai aimed to his side. Naruto summoned a kunai from the seal on his gloves and easily blocked the attack.
The real Naruto and the second clone were watching the fight with mild interest. The guy was not nearly as strong as he claimed to be.
The clone was getting bored. "If this is all you got, I might as well end the fight now."
"It's not," Ebisu smirked. Right behind the clone there was another Ebisu with a kunai aimed at Naruto's back.
Before the Naruto clone could react, the kunai was stabbed into his back. Ebisu smiled thinking he had won, only to be shocked when the clone vanished in a puff of smoke.
"What? A shadow clone? I didn't even see him perform the jutsu."
Before Ebisu could blink, his clone was defeated by the real Naruto.
"When did you find the time to make a clone? And when did you switch places with it?" Ebisu demanded answers.
Naruto further embarrasses Jonin. "You've been fighting a clone the entire time, dude." Naruto gives the man a wide smirk. "I think I'll end the fight now."
"Brave words. I hope you can back them up," Ebisu challenged.
"Oh, I can."
Before Ebisu could ask how, he was suddenly chained up around his arms,and legs, restraining him from any movement. He looked behind to see another Naruto who was connected to the chains. The real Naruto took the opportunity and walked up to the shocked sensei with a kunai in hand. He held the knife up to the Jonin's throat.
There was no emotion in the blond. "You lose."
The clone released the chains, allowing Ebisu to move once again. Then it was dispelled.
"So what lesson were you going to teach me exactly?" Naruto asked the Snobby Jonin, with a smug look on his face, as he began to walk away.
"That was so awesome, boss!" Konohamaru follows after the blond genin.
With the Third Hokage
Sarutobi was watching the entire scene unfold through his crystal ball.
Naruto is a lot stronger than he thought, and he's a pretty good teacher as well. Ebisu shouldn't have intervened. Maybe now he's learned his lesson.
Flashback End
Naruto looked at all of them before asking, "what's with the goggles?"
"We're copying your old look, because you're so awesome and strong, which is why you're my rival," Responded the blue scarf wearing boy, known as Konohamaru.
"My old look, huh. So what are you three supposed to be anyway?"
"Were... The KONOHAMARU CORP." They all struck various poses.
He stared down at the three children. "I see, so what do you want?" I'm about to go get some lunch."
The boy's face formed into a pout. "You said you would play Ninja with us today."
"Oh yeah, I did say that didn't I?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful expression.
Sakura, having followed the blonde and listening in on the conversation, was appalled. She's weaker than him? "Why would a ninja be playing Ninja? And Sasuke says I'm weaker than you!" Sakura deadpanned, glaring at the blond.
"Why hello, nice to see you too, Sakura. And I may be a ninja, but they're not," Naruto reasoned with the pinkett's statement.
"Hey boss! Who is that? Is she your girlfriend?" There was a nasty implication in Konohamaru's tone.
A look of disgust crossed the boy's countenance. "No way, She's just my teammate."
"Good, she's not pretty enough for you anyway." All of a sudden, Konohamaru felt a dark aura, and turned to see Sakura seething.
"Yooou might wanna run," Naruto warned the boy.
Konohamaru didn't need to be told twice, as he took off in a mad dash in the opposite direction, with Sakura hot on his trail. He turned the corner, running into someone, and ended up falling on his butt. "Oh oww!" He began rubbing his head.
"Hey! Watch where you're going you little brat!!" The new voice of the person he ran into spoke up.
Konohamaru stared up at a tall teen boy in what looked to be cat pajamas, and purple face paint. "I'm sorry."
The teen picked up the little boy by the collar of his shirt, until they were eye to eye. "I should teach you a lesson in manners."
"I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to ask you to put him down," Naruto said, getting the teens attention.
"Make me, kid!!" The teen challenged.
"Ok." Naruto vanished, and in an instant, the teen was backing away due to the pain on his hand, and the blond was setting Konohamaru down behind him.
"You little punk!!" The teen reached back to the wrappings on his back.
"No Kankuro, he might be watching," warns a girl with 4 ponytails, and a giant fan on her back.
"This he that you're talking about. Could he be the boy hanging from the tree branch right there?" Naruto points above his head.
They all looked up to see a somewhat shocked redhead with a huge gourd on his back, and a kanji for love on his forehead.
Naruto glanced at a branch slightly lower than the one the red head was hanging off of. "You can come out too, Sasuke."
Sasuke jumped down. The redhead vanished in a swirl of sand and reappeared between the girl and the teen boy who was now known as Kankuro.
"Kankuro, stop. You're an embarrassment to our village," The redhead says with a look that promised pain, if he didn't do what he said.
"Sorry, Gaara, the kid ran into me,"
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and The Konohamaru Corp began to walk away, when Gaara spoke. "Hey you, what's your name?"
"I'm Sasuke Uchi-"
Gaara cut the boy off. "Not you, the blond one,"
Naruto smiled at the look on Sasuke's face. The Uchiha was ignored completely. The blond was sure that was a new experience for the boy. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I guess I'll see you in the Chunin Exams?"
"Yes. Kankuro, Temari, lets go." Garra walks away with his teammates.
This Chunin Exam suddenly got a lot more interesting. Naruto walked away with his group in the opposite direction.
That's it. I actually wanted to publish this last week, but it ended up being longer than I expected. Anyway have a good week, and I'll see you guys next time.