"Heheheheh Chunin Naruto Uzumaki... Chunin Uzumaki... Chunin Naruto." Naruto commented to himself with a grin on his face as he looked at the vase of flowers that had been left for him when he woke from. He had been asleep for an entire two days, and in those two days he had learned through a letter left for him by the Third Hokage that he had been promoted to Chunin for the reason that he had shown not only good leadership, but also strength, planning, and the ability to endure every challenge that had been thrown at him.
Honestly, Naruto had EARNED this promotion.
Better yet, Naruto had been the ONLY person that had been promoted from his year. The irony was not lost on him since nobody expected him to even become a Genin, and here he was as the first in his class to become a Chunin. He was only one of the very few people that had become a Chunin less than a year after becoming a Genin. He only had a few months as a Genin before he had become a Chunin, which in his opinion made him even more awesome than before.
"I am fond of Chunin Uzumaki, it gives you a bigger sense of respect. It shows people respect you." Erza commented to Naruto from next to him. She really couldn't leave his side, but it wasn't like it was completely boring for her. She had used his sleeping body and possessed it so that she could clean his mess of an apartment while he had been asleep. She was still a girl, even if she was rough around the edges, and she did not want to spend her afterlife in some place that smelled like teenage boy. No offense to teenage boys, but most of them were not the most clean of people.
"Chunin Uzumaki, yeah, that has a ring to it." Naruto said as he stood up from his bed. Naruto started to stretch his body out and get rid of some of the stiffness, before he moved around his apartment. Naruto opened his fridge, before he closed it with enough force that it banged loudly, before he summoned his normal armor around himself and summoned the address with Tenten's name on it to his hand. He had almost forgotten that he was suppose to go talk to Tenten, but then he remembered that today was a Friday... Neji was most likely still suffering from heavy chakra exhaustion, and Rock Lee wasn't in any condition to train, leaving only her and her teacher.
They wouldn't be training, unless Guy was spending time with just her training. He wouldn't want to interupt them, so he tried to think of something else he was going to do today while he allowed his Flame Empress Armor to repair from the damage it had suffered. Naruto looked at the armor he was wearing, and then he looked at the Chunin vest that had been left for him under the letter of promotion. Naruto thought about it for a moment, before he grabbed the vest and placed it inside of his Pocket Dimension. He would store away all of his clothes these days, but he needed to go buy some new clothes.
"You know, I bet you would look great with your hair grown out... it would go well with your face." Erza told Naruto as she looked at him. She thought about it for a moment, and even Naruto seemed to think about what he would look like with longer hair. Naruto opened his fridge again, before he got out some stuff so that he could make something besides ramen. Erza had died eating her favorite food, so Naruto would cut back on his own and try to eat a healthier diet from now on. He didn't want to make the same mistake as she had made.
"Yeah, I think I will grow it out... who knows, maybe instead of a tomato, people will call me something cooler... like a red hot habanero or something like that." Naruto said with a chuckle. Erza was nodding as well, having been called a tomato herself, she knew that it was an annoying nickname to have. She started to float around and watched as Naruto got out a small portable grill, before he put some strips of meat in it and some coal, before he lit the coals and a small fire appeared. Naruto started to place the strips of meat on the grill, before he moved the mini drill onto the table. He even added some... vegetables to the drill, despite how he hated them with a passion.
He HAD to eat healthier!
Naruto heard knocking on his door, before he heard it unlock on it's own as a group of people started to fill up his room. Naruto blinked in surprise when he saw the people that were coming into his room were known other than his own teammates. Not only his teammates, but also a older male with black bowl cut hair with huge eyebrows wearing a green spandex suit under a jonin vest. He could see Tenten next to a Neji on crutches, and even Rock Lee, a mini-version of Guy-sensei, tights included, on crutches as well. Naruto then saw a man with tan skin and a scar over his nose and his hair put back in a ponytail enter the room.
"Hey Naruto, how is it hanging." Kakashi said with an eyesmile, the most you could see of his face, as he walked into the room with a small wrapped gift in his hand. Naruto was surprised when he saw that everyone seemed to have a small gift for him in their hands.
"Loser." Sasuke greeted with a frown on his face. You could just smell the annoyance coming off him as he was reminded that Naruto had been promoted before him, and the fact that Naruto seemed to have surpassed him in strength. Naruto rolled his eyes, before he started to take some of the finished meats and veggies off his drill and piled them onto his plate. Naruto started to eat as he raised his hand and greeted all of the intruders in his apartment.
"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted with a grin, and the scarred man nodded with a smile as he rubbed Naruto's head.
"I'm not Iruka-sensei anymore, you aren't my student. Now you're my equal, huh mister Chunin at age twelve. I got this for you, as a present to congradulate your promotion." Iruka said with a smile. Iruka passed Naruto a small box, and the others started to look at his apartment... and learned that it was big enough to fit multiple people inside of it easily. For a person living all alone, this was a nicely sized apartment.
"Thanks Iruka!" Naruto said with a giant grin on his face as he opened the box, and he was surprised when he reached into it and pulled out small tanto. The blade was in it's sheath, and only about 8 inches long with an 1.5 inch thick blade. The handle was a burnt orange color, and he unsheathed the blade, and looking at it with wide eyes, he read the inscription ingraved into the metal of the blade.
I knew you could do it Naruto!
"Here." Sasuke said as he tossed Naruto a box, and Naruto caught it with one hand. The box was small, very small, and when Naruto opened it he twitched. The entire box was filled with small tomatos, and Naruto glared at Sasuke for the gift. Sasuke was smirking at Naruto, and Sakura walked between Sasuke and Naruto and started to wave her hands at both of them to calm them down.
"Thank you Naruto, thank you for showing me something very important. I don't have a gift for you, but I wanted to thank you in person." Neji said as he bowed his head to Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened, before he grinned. Naruto was surprised when he was picked up into a man hug by Guy, who was crying man-tears of joy.
"The flames of youth you're inspired in Neji are truly ones to admire Naruto-kun! You even avenged Lee! To thank you, I have come to give you this to commend you on making it to Chunin!" Guy said as he let go of Naruto and reached behind him, before he pulled out a green spandex suit. It was very heavily modified from the one that Guy and Lee were wearing of course. They had been there to see Naruto's fights after the one with Neji, and they had seen Naruto wearing his armor.
The green suit had been changed, with the leggings now being a skirt connected to the top, with the skirt being long enough to go to his knees. Naruto looked at the gift, before he started to laugh awkwardly at the... thoughtful gift.
"Uh... thanks Guy-sensei?" Naruto said after a moment. The others in the room were surprised for a moment, but Lee moved to Naruto and smiled at him.
"Do not worry Naruto-kun, even with your new choice in dress I could feel your manly flames of youth burning with the white hot intesity of the sun itself. I for one will never be disgusted by the clothes that you wear!" Rock Lee said with a thumbs up. Naruto smiled lightly at how accepting Lee seemed to be of others, and how he wasn't moping about the fact that he would never be a ninja again.
"Yosh Lee! That is the spirit! Always be accepting of your comrades! If Naruto-kun desires to dress as a woman, then more power to him! In the honor of your spirit, I will do 500 laps around Konoha on my hands, and if I can't do that then I will do 1000 push-ups with boulders on my feet!" Guy shouted, and he flipped onto his hands before he started to run out of the room at his top speed. Rock Lee watched Guy go with a salute to the manly spirit that he saw in his sensei, while Erza behind Naruto seemed to be very confused by that man. He reminded her so much of Elfman for some reason, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "While I am disgusted by your crossdressing, it isn't the worst thing I have seen you do... here you go Naruto." Sakura said as she gave Naruto a small box. Naruto opened the box, and he was surprised to see that Sakura had given him a small potted plant.
"How did you know I like to garden?" Naruto asked in surprise. He had thought that nobody had known about the hobby that he had for watering plants. He had never really thought about telling people that, mostly because he never had thought it would come up in normal conversation. Sakura sighed, before she pointed to the few potted plants that were scattered all over his apartment. Naruto looked away sheepishly when Kakashi raised his hand, meaning he had been the person to tell Sakura.
He had been in Naruto's apartment before after all.
"Yosh! I got a wonderful gift for you Naruto-kun! In the hopes of stroking your youthful flames, I have gotten you these!" Lee said as Neji came forward with a box from Lee, and Naruto opened the box, and he was surprised by Lee's generousity when he saw that Lee a scroll. "That a scroll on chakra control techniques! I saw how much raw chakra you have, and I asked Guy-sensei if he knew of a place that had scrolls for chakra control training for sale!" Lee said with pride, while Naruto smiled and thanked Lee for his kind gift.
He needed chakra control training big time.
"I wanted to thank you for beating Temari for me, so I got you these." Tenten said as she passed Naruto a box as well. Naruto opened it with a smile, and he was surprised to see that she had given him two different books. The first book was a book on Taijustu, and the second book was a book on Kenjutsu. Hand to hand combat and swords training were just the things he needed when his main form of combat resolved around the two.
"Thanks Tenten, this will help my training!" Naruto said with a large grin on his face. Tenten sighed, before she nodded with a smile on her face. She had figured that Naruto was a training nut, and when Kakashi finally stepped forward he pulled out a scroll and opened it up, to show sealing symbols covered it. He made a handsign, before he made three boxes appear in front of him with an eye smile on his face. The first box was yellow, the second was just a wooden box, and the third was a red box.
"Your parents had given these to me should they ever die before they could see you become chunin... don't talk, I am allowed to tell you who they are, only the Third Hokage or Lord Jiraiya can tell you that... the wooden box is from me, a proud sensei to his cute little genin... whoops, chunin." Kakashi told Naruto with a smile showing even under his mask. Naruto opened the yellow box first, and he was surprised to see a scroll inside of it... it was a jutsu scroll that much was for sure. Naruto was about to open it up to see what kind of jutsu was inside of it, but Kakashi's hand stopped him. "Sorry Naruto, but there are prying eyes here... this is a secret for your eyes only right now. This was from your Dad." Kakashi told him, and Naruto nodded with a frown, before he smiled and grabbed the box from his mother.
"You knew Naruto's parents? What were they like?" Sakura asked while blinking slightly.
"Strong... stronger than I am by far. Naruto got his mother's red hair, and she used to be called a tomato by people... before she kicked their butts and they called her a habanero." Kakashi said as he absentmindedly called his own butt. He could remember making that mistake once when he looked at her and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind when he saw her. He never made that mistake again, not when his hide had been tanned red for a week after that... it had been more purple from bruising than red actually.
He felt phantom pains sometimes.
"Mom's hair..." Naruto said as he opened the box while he curled a lock of hair around his finger. Naruto looked into the box, before he looked to see that inside of the box were a few black hairclips. Kakashi eye smiled at Naruto again, and Naruto's eyes softened when he saw that there was a note inside of the box.
Dear Naruto,
Not sure what you look like right now, or even if you will need these, but just in case you got my hair I wanted you to have these. They were given to me by somebody important to me, and I wanted you to have them.
With Love, your Mother.
Naruto closed his eyes and he rejected the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes when he saw the black hairclips that she had given to him. Naruto rubbed his eyes, and those around him smiled lightly, before Naruto reached up and put one of the many clips into his hair and used it to push his bangs out of his eyes and to the left side of his hair. Naruto shook his head, before he took it out and found a better place for it. Naruto clipped the hairclips to the side of the scroll that was from his father. That was the best place for them after all, until he truly needed them that is.
"You mother had nice taste." Erza commented, and Naruto nodded.
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei... this means a lot to me." Naruto said with a small smile as he grabbed the box that was actually from Kakashi. Naruto opened the wooden box, and he was surprised when he saw a set of five different scrolls lined up side by side.
"One Jutsu of each element, all of them being Chunin-level jutsu. Inside each scroll is not only the jutsu, but the theory behind the jutsu, the handsigns needed for the jutsu, and helpful tips to help you master the jutsu, along with useful ways to use the technique." Kakashi informed Naruto, who was beaming at the amazingly useful gifts from Kakashi. Now he had a lot of stuff to help him train with. Naruto grinned, before he heard the sound of chewing and saw Tenten eating what was still on his portable grill. His eyes narrowed on a piece she was about to put in her mouth, before he reached out with his chopsticks and grabbed the other end.
The sparks were flying between their eyes, and they each stared to pull on the meat.
Tenten leaned forward and bit down on the meat, and when she was doing this everyone else was stealing meat from his plate. Naruto looked down at the grill and his plate, only to see that he had no food left for himself in seconds. Naruto's eyes widened, before he saw Sasuke staring at him for a moment with narrowed eyes. When Naruto looked at Sasuke, the boy scowled and got up before he left the room and the sound of the door opening and closing was heard.
What was his problem?