Free Time!
It had been two weeks since the end of the sudden preliminary round of the Chuunin Selection Exams and all the finalists of the exams were busy training for their competition in the finals…
From what Ran had heard Hinata had been training under the tutelage of her father after Hiashi learned of the skills his daughter had shown during the match. He was surprised knowing to find his eldest with such skills and thus decided that he didn't need to wait more to start Hinata's advanced Jūken training.
The same was with Shikamaru and Shino; they were training with their respective clans for the preparations of the finals. As for Sasuke, she learned that Kakashi-sensei had decided to go give some personal training to the Emo-Uchiha. It irritated her to no end when she received that piece of news from her father and then later learned that Sakura just like her had no clue as to where their sensei and Sasuke was until she informed her. That day she saw a look on her father's face that she hadn't seen in years… he was angry… and it was clear as to who the anger was going to be directed at. Then there was Neji… she never liked him and only tolerated him because of Hinata… who despite being looked down by that jerk still thought of him as his brother… the boy currently was training with his sensei Gai and also did some personal training with Tenten's help.
The information she received about the training of the foreign-genins of Sunagakure and Iwagakure was that the two teams were given two private training grounds to train at which would keep their secrets to them. It was a show of good faith by her father… by Konoha… one that he wished would help a bit to the alliance between the two villages and Konohagakure.
As for her friends that had not reached the finals… she heard Ino had also given more importance to her training and was working with her father and her sensei to improve her skills… Kiba too trained more vigorously with his mother and sister… Tenten trained alongside Neji with Gai-sensei… somehow to her surprise Sakura had found herself under the training of Kurenai-sensei… how that had happened she would never know… and as for Lee, the boy was asked to remain bedridden for the next two months.
Her training had also come along smoothly with her mother taking on the role of her sensei… and as one would expect from the Akai Chishio No Habanero, her mother had put her through one of the harshest training sessions she had till date… but she certainly wasn't complaining… she needed to improve herself to fight against her opponent at the third round and also win against other opponents too… especially when there were opponents like the likes of Naruto… he had shown to all the difference in their levels… and for some reason she had no desire to stay behind him.
Her training mostly consisted of improving her current skills along with sharpening her reflexes and reaction time… the latter part was mostly done by means of her mother shooting rubber balls and water balloons at her… also she had signed the Toad Summoning Contract and had learned to summon the toads… though she didn't like the fact that she had to use the chakra of the Kyūbi to help summon Gamabunta… she never liked the feeling of using the Kyūbi's chakra, but her training under her mother… the former of Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi… and her father had helped her a lot and now she was able to control up to one tail of the Kyūbi's chakra in the first form of a Jinchūriki… she only hoped that she would never be forced to use the power of the Kyūbi.
Today she was enjoying a free day from her training… a full day to enjoy for herself.
Her very first stop had been the Hyūga clan house where she had persuaded Hinata to join her and then later visiting Ino's house to invite Ino to join her too. As the trio of girls made their way towards one of the restraints of Konoha, they were joined by Sakura and Tenten on the way… from there it had been a girls' day out… they had come across the boys of their teams, but had shooed them of saying it was a girls' day out. Though neither of them shared information of their respective training from each other… they decided it to be their day of so there would be no talking about their training and ninja duties. It was mid way through the day that the five genins were joined by other kunoichis they were friends with… Kurenai, Anko, Shizune, Yūgao, Yakumo and Hana… it was no wonder they were drawing in so much attention from the population of Konoha… especially the male counterpart.
"How is your training going on Hinata, Ran?" asked Hana… those two of the five genins that had entered the Chuunin Selection Exams had made it to the third round and both had a really tough opponent to go against.
"Great! I just wish kaa-chan was not such a slave-driver", commented Ran.
"Well it is to be expected from Kushina-sama… after all your opponent has some great skills (Tenten nodded at that) and the second possible opponent you will be facing will be one of the strongest genin I have seen so far", replied Kurenai.
"I know… that is why I am giving it my best… but that still doesn't remove the fact that kaa-chan is a slave driver", added Ran… the group couldn't help but laugh at her misfortune.
"My training is coming along great too… O-tou-sama is working me through the ground to learn the advanced Jūken moves… they are really tough…" stated Hinata.
"Well that's to be expected… there is a reason why the Jūken is so feared throughout the Elemental Nations", Tenten pointed out which everyone agreed too.
"True… b-but I wish I could get more time to work on the moves I was working on with Tsunade-sama and Kushina-sama…" replied Hinata in a bit of disappointed tone.
It was something that had shocked almost all present during the preliminaries… the jutsu Hinata used had made quite a stir… and put the meek, shy girl as one of the strongest contenders for the finals… as of all the finalists only Hinata and Naruto had shown some real skills while the others had made it easy to the finals… with the exception of Uchiha Sasuke as the boy was unable to perform his best because of the curse mark.
But before anyone could say any further their eyes caught the sight of two girls animatedly talking with each other… and being a shinobi that they were it only took a glance for them to know that the two girls were trained as a shinobi… well at least to the more experienced of the group.
The two girls seemed to be around 12-14… one had long black hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes and she wore a pink sleeveless, low-cut kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-colored swirls that went to her ankles, around his waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and she wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps and to add to her feminine appearance, she also wore a dark choker around his neck… the other girl had fair skin, amber eyes, ultramarine eye shadow and light blue hair and she was wearing a karate top and skirt bottom, with a pouch she wore at the front of her outfit and the most highlighting of her features was the light blue paper flower in her hair…
As it was the time of the Chuunin Selection Exams, finding foreign shinobis walking the streets of the village was a normal occurrence so appearance of those two girls normally wouldn't garner much interest of the other shinobis… but getting a good look at them, neither of the two girls wore a hitai-te… but before they could decide as to who were to follow the girls and who was to go inform Hokage-sama, those two approached them.
"Kunoichi-sans… would you mind telling us the location of the place where the best ramen is served in the village?" asked the girl with long black hair.
"No, no… tell us of the onsen where most of the woman visit?" asked the one with blue hair.
The group of kunoichis looked a bit surprised by those questions… according to them, the map detailing the tourist attractions of Konoha would certainly give these two girls information on the restaurants and onsen in the village… but their questions were more to the point and so they deiced to answer them… but before they could answer they watched in amusement as those two started to bicker amongst them…
"I am telling you we only need to know of the place where they serve the best ramen… that should be enough", said the black haired girl.
"And I am telling you… the onsens are our best bet", replied the blue-haired girl.
"I don't think so… he will be too busy with his work to indulge in his habits…" replied the black haired girl… she believed it to be so.
"Come on… you know that's just impossible… even in worst and serious times he would find a way to be at the onsens", said the blue haired girl… she was completely confident in her belief.
"And the same goes for ramen", the black haired girl replied back…
The two girls to the group of kunoichis seemed to be on a stand-still… confident about their words…
"Are you two searching for someone?" asked a new voice familiar to the Konoha kunoichis… all eyes turned to find Kushina and Tsunade walking towards them…
It also stopped the glaring contest between the two non-Konoha kunoichis as they recognized two new comers… their eyes widened in reorganization as the red-head and the blonde are considered to be one of the strongest kunoichis alive… the AKAI CHISHIO NO HABANERO and KONOHA NO NAMEKUJI TSUNADE-HIME… two legends in their own rights…
"So are you two looking around for someone?" Kushina asked the two girls again… something about the girls felt odd to her and Tsunade… but neither could pinpoint what.
It was the black haired girl who was the first one to regain composure as she spoke, "Y-Yes… we are searching for our ma-friend…" the slip of tongue didn't go amiss by most.
It was the blue-haired girl that continued after her friend as she spoke, "Yes… we are searching for our friend… spiky, red-hair… blue eyes… mask wearing pervert (at this the black haired glared at her companion)… he is participating in the Chuunin Selection Exams…"
"He isn't a pervert… he just has some very odd tendencies…" the black haired girl said to clarify her friend's stupid statement about their friend being a pervert.
"Right… odd tendencies… peeking at bath houses… groping girls he knows… having a collection of adult literature… and that jutsu… truly just odd tendencies…" supplied the blue haired girl causing the face of the black haired girls face to turn scarlet with each word she spoke.
It didn't take much long for the Konoha kunoichis to know the person (boy) in question… even for Yakumo who had yet to meet him… also their belief of him being a pervert just solidified…
"You are looking for Naruto-kun", said Kushina… it wasn't a question as there was no other participating in the exam matched the description given by the blue haired girl…
Naruto-kun… that word and the emotion behind the word caught everyone off guard except for Tsunade…
"Y-Yes", replied the black haired girl.
…Meanwhile with Naruto…
It had been a tough week for him… for he dwelled into the ninja arts he had very little knowledge of… and so throughout the week he was worked to the ground learning about Tiger Clan and the its members and their abilities… starting a new friendship with them… except with one… Momoka… the first of the Tiger Clan he summoned… and unfortunately for him, being his first summons she became his primary summon according to Old White Tiger…
The two of them… he and Momoka… were not even on the same page of thoughts and there was hardly a moment when there wouldn't be a fight between them… somehow that tigress had the ability to grate his nerves… it also didn't help that the first time he summoned her, she was having a relaxing bath at one of the natural hot springs in their land… and she seemed completely irritated with him for summoning her from her relaxing bath… and from the very first day they were on the opposite sides of the coin… it also didn't help that she was asked by the Old White Tiger to help him make acquaintance with the others of the Tiger Clan he would summon… it was a wonder they came to like him, especially the boss Kansuke who happened to be the father of Momoka… summoning Kansuke had drained him of all of his chakra.
Now here he was enjoying some well deserved rest after a week of rigorous training… training which had his depleted by the end of the day… and for that reason he was here to enjoy himself… an entire day at the onsen… it sure was relaxing…
The Onsens… the greatest gift to mankind… the Old Man believed it to be so and he agreed too… this was the best relaxing spot for all… and above all the best place to have a peek at the marvelous beauties of nature…
Suddenly a chill ran down his spine forcing him to drop the binoculars… he quickly looked around to find him to be in no danger… thus it confused him for that sudden chill running down his spine… bringing the binoculars back to his eyes and decided to enjoy the wonderful view that he was enjoying a moment ago… though something on his mind was nagging him that he was forgetting something…
"Hyōton: Hyōshō Rō no Jutsu (Ice Release: Ice Crystal Prison Technique)…" he heard a familiar voice call out…
It took less than a second for him to recognize the bearer of the voice… but unfortunately for him he didn't have enough time to react as his body was completely encased by ice crystals…
"See… I told you… I am always right…" he heard another familiar voice which like the previous one it took him less than a second to recognize… even after his whole body was frozen solid.
Now the feeling that he was forgetting something made sense… he was supposed to meet him soon after the second round of the exams were over… he had completely forgotten about that… no wonder their voices seemed a bit pissed off…
"Kukuku… the gaki is truly bold… to spy on an onsen in a ninja village… I like it", another voice chimed in… this voice seemed to have a mischievous ring to it…
"And the brat is going to learn why it is so dangerous to spy on an onsen in a ninja village", said another voice in a bone-chilling tone…
Both of the voices he recognized… and just to be certain he focused to get a sense of them. What he sensed made him pale… it was not just his friends and those two, but about more than a dozen of kunoichis along with his two friends just behind him… and their emotions made his face go paler… more than half seemed to be furious at him, while a few had some very confusing emotions for him to decipher…
…With the black haired kunoichi…
She was angry… scratch that… she was FURIOUS!
It had been about three week since Naruto had left for Konoha with his main objective being warning the Hokage about Orochimaru… and for that they had decided to use the Chuunin Selection Exam as the reason to enter the village.
At first she had been worried about that plan… but also knew that he had already infiltrated Suna before and with both of their help had infiltrated Kiri… also she had faith in his skills… after all he had given Zabuza-sama a run for the money and also had defeated Hōzuki Mangetsu – Kijin No Sairai (Second Coming Of The Demon)… it was those two battles of Naruto that had shown her the true extent of his powers… and it was his killing of Hōzuki Mangetsu that had landed him in the Kirigakure Bingo Book as an A-rank ronin and was given the name Narukami No Naruto (Naruto Of the Thundering Spirit).
His abilities made her respect him and also they frightened her a bit… he was a couple of years younger than her and yet he possessed powers and abilities rivaling the strongest… maybe not the Kages, but close by… she always wondered how strong he would be in his prime… and then there was his dream to surpass that man… to learn of the abilities and powers of his sensei she couldn't help but be shocked… to think that such a power was not a fairy tale, but a reality and he wished to surpass it and she believed he could.
But that was not her mind at the very moment… it was that the idiot had both her and her blue haired companion worried as he didn't meet them after the second round of the exams when a break is given and it was what they had decided… but for some reason he hadn't met up with them even after a week and that worried her, after all he had ability to attract trouble… and the trouble was never the small kind.
For that reason both of them had decided to make a trip to Konoha after waiting for him for a week… and arriving here they seemed to learn that he was in no form of trouble which irritated her the most… it also brought forth the question as to what had him go against his own words… she needed answers and she was going to get them…
Unfortunately for her, her companion seemed to have no worry of the situation… she had even gone to say that Naruto was probably spying on the onsens in Konoha the entire time… which she was certain was close to the truth but yet she had kept denying it even after knowing of his perverted antics and being a target of his antics…
So one had to understand her state of mind as the first time she saw him in Konoha had been him spying on one of the onsens… she didn't find him at a ramen stand nor at a training ground preparing for the third round… not caring that the ones that had followed her would know of her abilities her hands sped through a few hand seals…
"Hyōton: Hyōshō Rō no Jutsu!" she said as she finished the hand seals and encased her target in ice crystals… and seeing that her jutsu worked an victorious smirk spread on her lips…
That aside she could see the shock on the faces of the Konoha-nins, especially the older ones… Hyōton is the advance nature Kekkei Genkai of the Yuki Clan of Mizu no Kuni… the Yuki Clan was said to be wiped out during the civil war that raged the country… so it would certainly be a surprise for many to find a wielder of Hyōton Kekkei Genkai… luckily for her, her companion came to her help dissolving the shocked look on faces of the kunoichis.
…With the blue haired girl…
"You are so dead…" she said to Naruto… they were alone as the others were discussing of his punishment.
The boy in question was currently tied up after being captured red handed for peeking at the woman's side of the onsen by not only Haku but also by about thirteen Konoha kunoichis… he was so dead… especially considering that one of the Konoha kunoichis happened to be Senju Tsunade that was not only legendary for her medical ninjutsu, but also her cursed luck at gambling and her hatred for perverts… and then there was Uzumaki Kushina and also that red eyes
"Aren't you going to help me?" she heard him ask.
"Indeed…" she replied with a slight mischievous smirk on her face and knowing Naruto as she did, she knew he would catch onto her… and that he did within a couple of seconds…
"And that would be when?" he asked her… she could see his eyebrows twitching in annoyance…
"Well… you did make us wait for a week…" she replied in a sad tone which caused his eyebrows to twitch further in annoyance… she really loved his annoyed face… and just wished she could remove that damn mask of his face and see the entity of his face… his annoyed reactions were fun to watch.
"They'll kill me", he spoke…
"Indeed they will", she replied back… wasn't that obvious and something he should have learned a long time ago… after all he was almost killed before a few times… and it was clear that he understood the meaning behind her words from his facial expressions…
"They are no ordinary kunoichis… two of them are S-rank… Senju Tsunade and Uzumaki Kushina… and Yūhi Kurenai can also be dangerous in such situations can be as dangerous as an S-rank-nin with her genjutsu", he tried to put forth his point which she was well aware of…
"So…?" she trailed the question…
"Please… help me… I'll do anything you ask" she heard him say… that was it… hook, line and sinker… this was what she was waiting for…
"Anything I ask?" she asked… this was it; his answer would seal his fate…
"Yes…" his reply came… she could feel the defeated tone behind it…
Oh, how long she had waited for this… to find him under her thumbs… she was going to relish it when she would make her request… even thinking about that, she couldn't help as giggles left her lips… giggles of impending doom…
…With the remaining girls and women…
They were having a very long discussion… a discussion to find a suitable punishment for the red head ronin… a punishment that would make him reconsider him of his habits…
Normally in such a circumstance a pervert found peeping on the bath house would be beaten to the inch of his life or in Kurenai's case would be tortured to insanity by her genjutsus and with Anko would be running for his life from her snake summons… but Naruto was taken as a special case… Tsunade had described him to be the Jiraiya-type… as in no amount of beating, torture were going to make to his thick skull… and to further promote that notion was his action at the end of the preliminary round… groping Tsunade and Temari in front of so many people… also the accounts of those two girls that had accompanied him for a long time… they needed some strict actions against him… thus a meeting was needed.
Leaving behind the blue haired girl to keep an eye on Naruto… as the girl seemed to have no interest in foreseeing the punishment for Naruto and rather seemed to be accustomed with his antics… it took them a while but finally they had come to a decision… to think that there was such an ingenious punishment for someone like the red head, it was truly brilliant…
"That is quite a brilliant idea Ran… what brought that forth…" Kurenai inquired… who thought that the girl had such a devious mind… she certainly didn't.
"Well… it was because of the way he acted before the start of the first round of exams… and…" Ran stated… but stopped in mid sentence… this got everyone curious and their eyes were more focused on her making her feel nervous… especially her mother's stare… the next words she was going to speak was going to put her in a lot of trouble…
"And…?" most of the girls-women asked in unison.
"And… you see… I felt like… you know…" Ran tried to say it, but she just couldn't find the right words...
Luckily for her distraction came in the form of laughter… evil laughter at that… all eyes turned to see that the source of the laughter to be the blue haired ronin who now sported a mischievous grin… and only her black haired companion caught the meaning behind it…
Deciding to not think much of it on the insistence of her companion they made their way towards their captive and just like they had anticipated he didn't seem to have much fear of any kind of punishment… oh! How wrong the boy was… they were going to enjoy seeing a pervert suffer…
…With Naruto…
He looked at the girls and women in horror as they announced his punishment… a punishment which according to them was befitting his crime… a punishment he never even dreamed in his dreams… actually he did and it turned out to be a nightmare…
Now a couple of hours later since his punishment had started his right hand had gone numb… how can the world be so cruel as he glared at everyone around him… that smiles on their face he was going to a find a way to wipe them away…
"Finished!" he groaned out…
"Good job brat! Hope this teaches you a lesson… 'I will never peek on girls/women… I will never grope a female'…" said Tsunade in a haughty tone… he could see the haughty smirk on most of the faces…
"I hope so too…" he muttered…
"What did you say Naruto-kun?" asked Kushina with a glare which made him sweat…
"N-nothing", he replied… seriously something about Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina made him acknowledge her words more than the words of the others…
"I hope you have learned your lesson Naruto-sama", the black haired girl spoke making his eye twitch.
"I did…" he said making it as convincing as possible… and it seemed like most seemed convinced, except two… one was his blue haired companion and the other being Namikaze-Uzumaki Ran…
He understood that she (the blue haired girl) would catch onto him, after all she knew him the longest apart from the Old Man… but how the daughter of the Yondaime caught onto him he would never understand…
But he knew that his right hand was going to remain sore from all the work for a long-long time… and the memory of this punishment was forever going to be etched in his memories and would give him nightmares in the future.
…Normal point of view…
It had been two weeks since that incident… since Naruto had faced a punishment that was giving him nightmares. Somehow, someway that he didn't understand both Haku and Konan had become good friends with the girls that had been in the group that had delivered punishment on him… how he would never come to know… but since then they spent any time they could with those girls.
Today was not such a day for both of them had decided that they would join him in training… as it had been quite some time since they trained with each other… because of that the three were currently at a private training ground provided by Konoha and its privacy was further increased by Naruto's privacy seals which could only be breached by those who knew of Uzumaki sealing methods.
Currently the three were engaged in a handicap spar with Haku and Konan going against Naruto and if the destruction of the ground was any indication the three had been in one hell of a fight. As it was the three were going on for the past couple of hours sparing amongst each other and by now their chakra reserves and stamina was severely low… they just had exerted themselves to their limit and yet a winner was to be decided… and the only reason one of them was not killed or out of commission was because some of their jutsus were restricted from use…
"It's time we end this", Konan said to Haku… she was at her limit and knew well enough that the next attack from her would be the last and to her it seemed that neither Haku nor Naruto could go any further… though he seemed much better than the two of them.
"Yes", replied Haku… she too had similar thoughts in her mind.
Quickly throwing a few paper pieces towards Naruto which formed the shape of shurikens as they sped towards the red head, Konan clapped her hands together which resulted in compressing the wind and transformed into a powerful gale. The gale worked to speed up the shurikens and increase their power and also their ability to wound… the combination of Kami Shuriken (Paper Shuriken) and Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm) was one deadly combo.
Meanwhile Haku sped through a few hand seals as the air around her turned cold… ending her hand seals on the Tora (Tiger) hand seal…
"Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki (Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm)!" Haku called out… the water around her froze and formed cluster of ice needles in the form of miniature swallows which then made their way towards their target.
"Shit!" was the only word that left Naruto's lips as he looked at the two jutsus heading his way… both of them were unavoidable considering the speed they were moving at and taking into account that Shippuu Jinrai was one of the forbidden jutsus… there remained only one option… so his hands flipped through four hand seals ending at the Tatsu (Dragon) hand seal…
"Ranton: Reizā Sākasu (Storm Release: Laser Circus)!" Naruto called out… as he called the name a halo of bright energy spreads around his hands as the jutsu was activated, then the jutsu encircled his hands and from it energy beams were shot out towards the incoming jutsu.
The beams of energy collided in mid air with the shurikens of paper enhanced by wind ninjutsuof Konan and the cluster of ice needles shaped in the form of miniature swallows of Haku… the jutsus destroyed each other in an elegance display of fireworks.
"It's over", the voice of Naruto spoke from behind Haku and Konan making their eyes widen… there standing behind the two of them were clones of Naruto holding a kunai to their throats… which made them groan out loud.
…A few hours later…
The trio of the ronins was currently at one of the restaurant of Konoha… not an expensive one, but a nice and comfortable one… and also not the Ichiraku Ramen stand much to the annoyance of Naruto.
"That Ranton: Reizā Sākasu jutsu of yours is seriously annoying do you know that…" Konan commented as the three of them waited for the arrival of their food.
"And isn't your paper ninjutsu an annoyance too", Naruto countered…
Unfortunately that wasn't the right words to say at the moment as he received a slap at the back of his head making his head meet with the table…
"What the hell was that for?" Naruto growled as he looked directly at Konan in annoyance.
"That was for you being cheeky…" Konan replied as she glared back at the red head… he could really be annoying at times… and also recently she learned that he had been flirting with a lot of girls, one of which was the girl at the ramen stand… that certainly wasn't boding well with her.
The glaring contest continued for another few minutes gathering a crowd of lookers…
"Please stop it you to… you are gathering a crowd…" Haku spoke up getting the attention of the two and stopping their glaring contest…
"…and Naruto-sama you should be more considerate about others' feelings", Haku said confusing the hell out of Naruto… as she too had similar thoughts as Konan and very well knew how Konan felt.
"What does that mean?" asked a confused Naruto.
"I-it means… y-you should…" Haku tried to say… but what was she going to say she didn't know… the truth was certainly not her option she believed…
"That you are an idiot", Konan spoke up… which made Haku sigh in relief…
Before Naruto could respond to that the waitress arrived with their food cutting their fight… but it gave a lot of time for Naruto to think. The behavior of the two seemed to be ticked of these days and he seemed to be reason of it… how he didn't know but wanted to correct it as he never liked his friends being cross with him, especially these two. Both of them had and always will have a very special place in his life… with Konan being his friend and companion for the past three years since he and the Old Man had stumbled upon her… and Haku because the girl had lived a life similar to his as she was hated because of something out of her control, something that was part of her blood and family.
But his further thoughts were interrupted as his eyes laid upon someone he hadn't met for the past three weeks since the preliminary round… entering the restaurant were Temari, Kankurou and Gaara… that caused a grin to spread on his face… it always was fun tormenting the blonde. Also it seemed that he wasn't the only one that caught the sight of the three entering the restaurant… Konan and Haku did too… it was really easy as Gaara was leaking a huge amount of killing intent…
"Aren't those the children of Kazekage you spoke of?" asked Haku… she had heard of them from Konan, even when the girl had not been to Suna with Naruto.
"Yep… that's them alright", replied Naruto as a mischievous grin spread on his face… he currently was not wearing his mask and had placed a small genjutsu on his face which showed he was wearing a mask to anyone and only could be broken when one knew what they wanted to look at.
"So that blonde must be Temari…" muttered Konan enough for the other two occupants of the table to hear… only Haku understood the meaning behind her tone and words while Naruto just looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Yes… that's Temari…" Naruto replied… he just couldn't understand as to what was wrong with Konan… never had he seen her in such a mood… well except when he had told her of his entire stay at Sunagakure… but even then her reactions were certainly not this extreme.
'Seriously what's wrong with her?' Naruto couldn't help but think as he looked at Konan.
But before anyone Naruto could think further on the situation with Konan he felt a strong dose of killing intent focused completely on him… it didn't even need a genius to know who the killing intent was coming from if the looks of that person was any indication…
Blue eyes met Green eyes… one as cold as the freezing poles and one glimmering with mischief…
The tension in the very atmosphere could be felt by all those in the restaurant, but everyone decided to ignore even with the tension kept on growing… it was finally good thing for all when the blonde companion if the one with gourd spoke something in his ears and he stopped the staring contest and walked away.
"Something with those three isn't right…" muttered Naruto as he watched the sand siblings go to their table…
…Elsewhere…
A meeting of the Konoha jounins had just finished with the priority being the security of the village during the finals of the Chuunin Selection Exams. With information given by Naruto and that gathered by Jiraiya, it was now confirmed to them that Orochimaru was going to launch a full scale attack on Konoha during the finals… and by Jiraiya's information there was a chance that Suna was a part of it too as Orochimaru was heard to have approached the Kazekage.
"So… for Orochimaru to do something on such a large scale he should be fairly confident about his forces…" commented Jiraiya in a grave tone.
"Or he has some ulterior motive behind this invasion", added Tsunade.
"Whatever it is, we can't let Orochimaru walk out of Konoha alive… we have to see that he is to be dealt with", said Minato in a serious tone.
"And what about the boy Gaara… he is the Jinchūriki of Ichibi No Shukaku", said Kushina her voice wavering… it was clear why as she too once was a Jinchūriki… and now Ran had taken on the burden from her.
"If things escalate to that… we will have to see to it that he is stopped as it seems that the boy is their trumph card", said Minato… he understood his wife's plight but for the safety of the village he would stop the boy by any means if necessary.
"I think… we should leave Gaara to Naruto", said Jiraiya.
"And why should we do that?" Kushina asked in a very chilly tone… even if Naruto was powerful as she had seen, the things she had heard about Gaara certainly didn't bode well with her… so for someone suggestion Naruto or Ran to against the boy was not a good idea.
But Jiraiya didn't seemed threatened by her as he calmly spoke, "because apparently both seemed to have had been friends or at least good acquaintance when he was in Sunagakure… and he has already fought Gaara once in a life threatening battle in the desert… and apparently Gaara is the reason for him to be participating in the Chuunin Selection Exams from what I gathered."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Kushina as her voice chilled a few degrees more.
This time it wasn't Jiraiya but Minato who answered, "we all have already concluded that Naruto has no reason to enter the Chuunin Selection Exams… he is already on the level of a jounin… as it was Naruto didn't need to enter the exams to inform us about the invasion…which made us wonder why? The answer was simple, it was because of Gaara. Somehow he learned that Gaara was entering the exams… I don't know whether he knew the reason why… but here he was to stop Gaara from causing chaos… and it is clear that him entering as till date restrained Gaara from killing his opponent outright like he would usually do… Gaara has already marked his opponent as Naruto."
Yep… that was a logic none could deny…
"That aside… tell me of these two girls that I heard are Naruto's companions", Jiraiya spoke up trying to defuse the serious mood… also he was eager to know about those two… after all her had decided to make the red head his protégé.
…Elsewhere…
She had finally done it… two months of rigorous training later she had finally been able to complete it. Ran could hardly hold the ecstasy she was currently feeling within herself… she was on cloud nine… she just wanted to rush to her parents and show it to them… show that her genuine hard work had finally paid off… but her body at the moment wasn't supporting her as she had been training continuously for the past four-five hours to complete the jutsu… she knew she was close and wanted it to be completed before the finals and as early as possible so that she could have a better grip on using it.
Taking a rest for an hour or two to let the fatigue from the training could be washed away and also the numbness in her right hand. Now feeling a bit relaxed she was back on her feet in their personal training ground behind their house she focused on sharpening her use with the jutsu… bringing her right hand forward and gathering her chakra on it she felt the desired result seeping its fruits… a self-sustaining, blue orb of chakra fitting her palm was formed within a couple of seconds… she couldn't help as a victorious smile etched on her face at seeing the Rasengan in her palm…
But she very well knew that she was far from using that in a fight as the Rasengan needed to be formed instantaneously for it to be greatly effective and the reason behind its creation… so with that she was back to work… to shorten the time in forming the blue orb of chakra even by a millisecond.
…Elsewhere…
She had finally done it… she had completed the first step behind the jutsu and even though it was far from completing the jutsu she was happy with her progress… not only that her father had complimented her on her achievement which had made this a great day for her as it had been years since he had complimented her for something… so with new vigor she was back at her training and do better in the finals.
She knew her opponent was the most skilled and someone she new couldn't defeat now, but she was going to give it her all... she had to not only prove it to her father, but to her opponent as well that she was strong… she was not a weakling because of kind heart… and she had promised her best friend… the one she considered a sister… that she was going to give 110% in this fight and show the world the strength and awesomeness of Hyūga Hinata.
…Elsewhere…
She could hardly concentrate on her training… with everything that was going on her mind was in a disarray… and of all things she didn't wish to meet or see him… but it seemed luck was not on her side as she walked into him at the restaurant… she was certain she wouldn't find him there as a ramen-freak like him would certainly not be in a place where ramen wasn't sold… but to her frustration he was there… and not only was he there, but he was with two girls she hadn't seen around… and he seemed quite friendly with those, especially the one with the blue paper flower in her hair…
Something in her had stirred seeing that scene… a primal instinct she never knew she had… something that seemed to have scared Gaara too… though she didn't know of that. So they had hurried trough their lunch and she was here at the designated training ground to clear some of her frustration.
"WHY IS LIFE SO DAMN HARD?" Temari loudly growled while unleashing a torrent of wind from her fan which destroyed everything in her path.
She wanted life to be simple… she wanted it to be progressive… she wanted it to be peaceful… but being a kunoichi she full well knew of her duties… duties towards her country and the Kazekage… that was what she had signed up when she had agreed to becoming a kunoichi… and thus she had to go through this even if her heart was against it… it was for her country… for her village… for the betterment of Sunagakure…
But it didn't stop the emotions she was feeling when she thought of him… of his reactions and his thoughts of her when she would go through with the plan… she couldn't deny it… as she had come to acknowledge it that he mattered a lot to her… her feelings for her had gone beyond that of friendship…
…Elsewhere…
"Katon: Karyūdan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet)!" Kurotsuchi called out as she exhaled a hot flame breath from her mouth which burned down everything in the path of the flame breath.
"Hnn… looks like… hn… I got a good grip on this one too…" she said in between taking huge breaths as she was by now really exhausted by the amount of training she had done.
"It certainly seems so… so do yourself a favor and rest for some time… you will need energy to continue with your training", said Akatsuchi from his spot beneath a tree where he was taking a rest from the training.
"No… rest is not an option… I need to get those jutsus and combos down perfectly to stand a chance against him… or the least get to surprise him", Kurotsuchi replied.
"So you agree that he is out of our league… or even of all those that participated in the exams", said Akatsuchi… that had been a major topic of their discussion considering he was someone that the Tsuchikage had asked to keep an eye upon for reason he didn't divulge.
"Yes…" she hated that answer coming out of her lips, but she couldn't deny the fact… for that very reason she had divulged into the use of Katon jutsus… something she had previously not given much importance to even after her Kekkei Genkai gave her advantage in learning Katon jutsus… considering her Doton jutsus were going to be useless against someone who used Raiton ninjutsu on that level.
"There is more to the training than just trying to win against him… more than showing that the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage is superior to the others… isn't it?" asked Akatsuchi… he had know her long enough to know that what the world considered arrogance was her pride in her abilities and strength… and with pride had come her recognition of her limits and faults… and so seeing her try this hard to fight an opponent which was clearly superior to her, he knew something was up.
For the next few minutes Kurotsuchi didn't reply as she just stared at nothingness… and when she spoke there was determination filled in her voice, "it is like something in me doesn't want to lose to him… and even if I do lose I need him to understand that I am no pushover… I don't know why I am thinking this way…"
FLASHBACK
She was silently enjoying her meal… not her favorite dish but still good enough on her taste buds… who could have thought that she would ever enjoying something like ramen… something with so much fats… but she was and this place definitely served the best ramen she could ever imagine to taste…
"YO… AYAME-CHAN, OLD MAN TEUCHI… RAMEN TIME!"
A loud shout from next to her stopped from blissfully enjoying her ramen and by the tone and words the person next to her seemed a good acquaintance of the ramen chefs… someone from Konoha… but for some reason she seemed to recognize the voice… whom it belonged too she couldn't pinpoint.
"Coming up Naruto-san", the soft voice of the waitress collided with her ears which stopped her from eating any further.
Naruto was certainly not a common name… actually she had only ones heard it in her life time and the other time being just recently. The first she time she heard of someone of the name Naruto was the dead son of the Yondaime Hokage and the other one she recently heard was the ronin participating in this Chuunin Selection Exams.
So imagine her surprise when she turned around to find that the person sitting next to her was the same ronin from the exams… and to her annoyance he to noticed her.
"Yo! Fancy seeing the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage here" he said as it looked at her with a cheeky grin… something about that grin just irritated her.
"And pray tell me why the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage can't enjoy a normal, peaceful meal?" she asked to him in annoyed tone.
"Indeed she can… but I don't think you are the type who normally eats and enjoys her ramen…" he replied back with that same cheeky grin still plastered on his face.
At first she wanted nothing of this conversation and go onto enjoy this wonderfully made ramen… especially after knowing of his character to be that of an open pervert and the stunt he pulled at the end of the preliminary on the Suna-kunoichi… but she at the same time also remembered that they were to gather information on the ronin…
So with a heavy heart she spoke, "yes I am not a huge fan of ramen and normally don't bother with it, but the ramen served here is certainly good and I am enjoying it."
"BLASPHEMY! YOU CALL THAT ENJOYING RAMEN!"
His shout made her jump of her seat in shock and horror… what the hell had she done to make him respond in such a way… but before she could say anything he stood in front of her with what could be only called a genjutsu… his entire body seemed to be glowing with an ethereal glow, and there were hundreds of hands on him… one hand holding a pair of chopsticks and the other a bowl of ramen… such was the sequence with the hundred hands.
"You girl… You know not of the way of enjoying your ramen…"
There also was an ethereal edge to his voice…
"For that reason I Uzumaki Naruto – the Tetsujin (philosopher, sage, wise man) of the Ramen Kingdom has descended to earth to teach a beautiful maiden like you of the ways of enjoying the food of the Gods!"
For the first time in life she was embarrassed… a crowd on lookers had gathered looking at the scene and some seemed to worshiping him to… try she might she couldn't leave… and thus begin her never-ending journey to the world of ramen.
END FLASHBACK
"… I just do", she completed her sentence after some time as she reviewed that day in her mind… it would be a lie for her to say that she had not enjoyed that time.
…Elsewhere…
He could feel it, the impending doom around him… but being the awesome Uzumaki Naruto that he was he stood his ground unafraid of the coming pa-fun ride.
Unsealing the chokutō he readied himself for the pa-fun ride that was going to be unleashed on him by his clones and the traps they had set all around the training ground… this was a tor-training for his reflex action and dodging abilities that the Old Man had come up with… a through and through torture session in his opinion but the Old Man insisted it to be the best training method… and it really was the best one if one discounted the pain he went through during the training.
A wheezing sound caught his ears… the sound of shurikens and kunais sailing through the air… which indicated that the pa-fun ride was on… simply stepping a few steps to his left he let a dozens of kunais and shurikens sail past through him and extended his senses to get a know of the other following weapons that were going to flung by the traps towards him.
For the next fifteen minutes he kept on dodging and parrying… dodging for the most part… the projectiles making his way from all directions. With each passing minute the difficulty of the course kept on increasing and he had to use more of the chokutō to parry the incoming projectiles.
But the next volley of shurikens and kunais that made his way towards him made his eyes grow in horror… there were tell-tale signs of a Futon jutsu enhancing their speed and destructive power… possibly Fūton: Reppūshō…
'What the hell is my clone thinking?' he couldn't help but think as he brought forth his chokutō parrying each and every one of the projectiles… these were the ones that had come closest to hurting him.
But he didn't have much time to think any further as another volley of projectiles were set free and were also enhanced by a Futon jutsu… and so it continued for the next five minutes not even giving him even a moment to say a thing.
But what happened next clicked off the patience switch within Naruto… those idiotic clones of his had somehow come up with brilliant ideas of new torture and were firing jutsus after jutsus towards him… luckily they were low-level ones which he could dodge or block with a jutsu of his own.
They were all going to die… a slow and painful and torturous death… he was going to see to it… he didn't care if they were just clones… his clones to precise… and he would be receiving their memories… hell with that.
And that was when his eyes caught the sight of the first of his clones… the first that was going to be subjected to the slow, painful, torturous death… but before he could move in for the kill his eyes widen in fear at the jutsu the clone was about to use… channeling a huge amount of lightning chakra into the chokutō he thrust it forward in the direction of the incoming concentrated, destructive blast of lightning…
"Haran Raimei (Turbulent Thunder)!" he roared…
A powerful lightning barrier met the incoming concentrated, destructive blast of lightning… the two powerful jutsus fighting to overpower each other… but being of the same element and both were formed from highly concentrated lightning… the two nullified each other.
When the clash of the jutsus died down the clone saw a sight that would haunt him forever if he were real… there standing amidst the destruction caused by the two jutsus was Uzumaki Naruto with Shippuu Jinrai active… glowing pale white and surrounded by the coat of ethereal white lightning… but that wasn't all as he had a look of pure anger… and it was further characterized by his iris which normally turned white were now blood red… and also there was a small amount of red lightning circulating through the lightning coat indication his anger.
If it wasn't for the barrier, the entire of Konoha would have heard the painful, tortured, pleading screams of the clones of Uzumaki Naruto as the real went on a rampage.
…The Next Day…
He stood there by the edge of the small bridge that was built over one of the rivers flowing through Konoha waiting for Haku and Konan to meet with him.
Somehow, someway that he just couldn't figure out, Haku and Konan had become good friends with the Konoha-kunoichis that had participated in the Chuunin Selection Exams or more specific with the ones that had caught him red handed at the onsen… was it girl thing… or as the Old Man said a small link or an incident that brought them together… It seemed more leaning to the latter one…
Currently waiting for the two he felt a powerful chakra signature close by… and it seemed whoever that chakra signature belonged to that person was trying to suppress his chakra… and normally he wouldn't bother with the suppress chakra signature around him considering this to be a ninja village… but this shinobi he couldn't ignore as he heard faint perverse giggling sounds… so he focused on the Natural Energy around him to get to know the perfect location of the hiding shinobi and finding the location he decided to see who it was.
He had an urge to smack his head on something when his eyes landed on the hidden shinobi… he should have come to the conclusion even before seeing the person or sensing his chakra that such a perverse giggling belonged to only one man… the man being Jiraiya of the Sannin… and it seemed he was currently enjoying some beautiful view through his telescope which was causing those perverse giggles.
Well he certainly wasn't going to miss a chance like this and by the looks of it neither Konan nor Haku were close by… though he decided to keep his senses on high alert so he could react in moment of incoming danger. His eyes then locked onto the direction that the pervert was looking through his telescope with the help of his binoculars…
'No wonder he is the writer of Icha-Icha' Naruto couldn't help but think… the sight that he was seeing through the binocular was something that was forever going to be etched in his memories… there beneath a waterfall were dozens of girls around the age of 18-24 all enjoying a fun bath beneath the waterfalls and almost all of them were beauties to watch out.
"Loving the show gaki", Jiraiya spoke up after a while… he had already sensed Naruto next to him for a while.
"You rock Ero-Sennin!" Naruto exclaimed.
A tick mark grew on Jiraiya's words… or rather that single last word… a nickname of sorts to him… so he spoke, "Stop calling me Ero-Sennin, gaki."
"Eh! Why?" asked a completely confused Naruto… he believed that to be an awesome name to the man, the legend.
"Why…! Because brat that feels like an insult…" Jiraiya said… but the words died in his mouth when the word 'insult' left his mouth as Naruto suddenly spoke up as if he was insulted.
"INSULT! The nickname Ero-Sennin is not an insult to you rather it is a title to your awesomness, to you manliness", Naruto proclaimed.
"How so?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask… the way the boy spoke it, he knew that he meant it.
"Ero-Sennin means the sage of perverts… and you the writer of Icha-Icha series are the God to the perverts who cannot be as daring as us", answered Naruto.
For the first time in his life Jiraiya felt honored… he felt like his years of hard work had finally paid off… not even being called the Sannin had this much effect on him… also it further clarified any doubts he had for making the boy his successor of Icha-Icha… though he shuddered to think what would happen to him when Kushina, Tsunade and Minato would learn of this.
But before their conversation could go any further, Jiraiya saw a look of alarm cross Naruto's features as if his death was close…
"Got to go Ero-Sennin!" Naruto said as he sensed the chakra signatures of the two coming close to the designated meeting spot.
"Ok… but meet me tomorrow at Training Ground 3", Jiraiya said… he too sensed the coming of some of familiar people close by.
"Uh… sure", Naruto said and with a Shunshin disappeared of his place.
Appearing back at the meeting spot before they could arrive, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief… but the next sight again caught his breath… seriously what was with those two as they had decided to bring along with them Ran, Hinata, Ino and Tenten… all were wearing kimonos as if ready to go to a party/festival… and add to it that they all looked quite stunning in the kimonos.
"What's with all of you in kimonos? And it's not like I mind… on the contrary I LOVE it… you all are looking quite stunning and beautiful", Naruto couldn't help but say as his eyes travelled from one girl to another… he just couldn't help it until a paper shurikens impacted on him.
"Stop staring you pervert", Konan shouted with her face being red… it was not just her face that was red, the faces of the other girls were red too.
"You really should start behaving yourself Naruto-sama… or would you love to have us reinforce the punishment from that day…" said Haku in a sing-song voice sending shivers down the spine of Naruto… that punishment was still giving him nightmares.
"And we would be happy to reinforce more punishment… because I HATE perverts… also Tsunade-baa-chan and kaa-chan have taught me some effective ways of dealing with perverts", said Ran as she brought out a kunai from within her sleeves… that action was followed by Tenten as the girl now had a horde of weapons for her to use from one of the scrolls she had carried on her.
'Oi! Oi! What's with them? Do they really love to see a tortured-beaten Naruto…?' Naruto couldn't help but think… even Haku had brought out her senbons and Konan had her papers ready… only Hinata and Ino didn't seem a part of this…
"I assure you I am not looking at you in any perverse sense… I am just admiring the six of you dressed in kimonos… and I swear I have not a single perverse thought in my mind at this moment", answered Naruto… it was the truth to be told, the six looked really good… and it seemed like it was the right thing to say as the girls seemed visibly relaxed… though the red glow on their faces was not something he had expected.
"So what's with all of you wearing kimonos?" Naruto asked seeing that he better change the topic since they had relaxed a bit… and it was certainly a good idea.
"Don't you know?" Ino asked.
"Know what?" Naruto asked back with a confused look… did he miss something.
"You don't know what today is?" asked Haku.
"Umm… no…" Naruto replied still confused… what was he supposed to know.
"You seriously don't…?" asked Konan in a tone of innocence.
Naruto shook his head in a negative response… he seriously didn't have a clue… but for some reason the twinkling in the eyes of Haku and Konan was starting to grate on his nerves… it was as if the two were looking down on him.
"A-Ano Naruto-san… today is the festival of the founding day of Konoha", said Hinata.
"The seventy-fifth year to be precise", added Ran.
Now it clicked him… all the commotion he had seen around for the past couple of days… the jovial mood of the citizens of Konoha… it was the festival for the founding day of Konoha… and from what the Old Man had told and Ran informed it had been seventy-five years since the founding of Konoha.
"Oh! I See!" answered Naruto…
"So… that answers you all dressed in kimonos… but it still doesn't answer why you all are here and not back in the village enjoying the festival", spoke Naruto after a couple of seconds… he was really confused about that one.
"Umm… that is… the festival has yet to start… and weren't we supposed to meet here…" Konan replied.
"Eh! Right…!" Naruto replied… the way Konan spoke was clear to him that she certainly wasn't being honest while answering his question… but he was never the one to push her for answers, especially when she seemed really not wanting to answer.
"And also both Konan-san and I… and the others too… we would all love if you come and join the festival with us", said Haku… she and Konan were aware of his dislike of crowds, or rather his fear of them… and even if he had come a long way from the young child who was feared for his abilities and also feared of hurting others, something like festivals were still a no-go for him.
Under normal circumstances Naruto would try to find a way to avoid festivities and such occasions where he would let his emotions be the control of him… even if he had long since learned to control the white lightning ability of his… the fear still was there… but this was a special occasion… a festival to celebrate the day of the founding of Konohagakure no Sato… and it would be more special considering it to be the seventy-fifth year… the village that was born through the dreams and works of Senju Hashirama… and so…
"Ok… I guess…" replied Naruto… though he still sounded a bit unsure.
The Konoha-kunoichis couldn't help but wonder why both Konan and Haku suddenly looked so jovial, so happy… it was as if they had just succeeded in something that they had been working for years… the joy on their face showed no bounds…
"LET'S GO!" both Konan and Haku shouted together as they grabbed onto one of the arms of Naruto and dragged him towards the village… living in their wake the confused Konoha-kunoichis who quickly followed them.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Many of you readers would want to question me of bringing Konan and Haku in the story… why had taken such a drastic step? It's simple really… I had all this planned already as I always felt the two characters from manga who had a great scope were those two… and apart of Haku giving Naruto a reason and belief to make his own path of a ninja and Konan believing in his path, those two had nothing in the story… especially Konan who was wasted as a part of Akatsuki and partner of Nagato… Nagato certainly didn't need a partner… and so they were a part of my story… it also helps that they are good looking too.
As for Konan there will be a small back-story of her… though I am not going to give any spoilers now… as for personality, it is shown in both manga and anime that she had a bright, compassionate, and cheerful personality as a child and the times they trained with Jiraiya and it was the battles and the death of Yahiko that changed her.
For the 4 Kekkei Genkai Naruto possesses:
1 – Unnamed Kekkei Genkai: has the ability to let the body draw in Natural Energy
2 – Iyahi-tai (Healing Body) – Chiton (Heal release)
3 – Ranton (Storm Release)
4 - ?
Unnamed Kekkei Genkai – sensory abilities, helps to enhance the power of his nin-tai-gen jutsu, physical strength, speed, and stamina, reflexes, durability and perception ability.
The ability is similar to those trained in the art of Senjutsu to achieve the Sage Mode… though his current prowess over his not as great as one whom have achieved the Sage Mode… and has no additional ability gained like those trained by the animals.
Iyahi-tai (Healing Body) – Chiton (Heal release) – as the name suggest… Naruto's body has the ability to produce healing chakra on its own and heal any wound he receives instinctively… making him immune to most poisons, wounds, cuts, burns, etc. and by concentrating can heal major wounds too… also helps in use of Iryō (Medical) ninjutsu with relative use… Chiton written with the first kanji of the word Chiyu (healing).
Ranton (Storm release) – the advanced nature Kekkei Genkai which combines lightning and water based chakra to create energy beams…
Also as mentioned in chapter 1, Ranton will have a special ability… but what it would be that you will have to wait and read.
Things To Take Note Of:
The First Summoning tale, the Punishment of Naruto's tale and the Konoha Founding Festival tale will be written as omakes later on… either at the end of some chapter or as a whole new chapter… so don't be surprised if it won't be a part of the next chapter.
Suggestions:
The three of the four Kekkei Genkai have been decided and that leaves a spot for one… and even though I have a fairly good idea of what I would love it to be I am still for suggestions… and for those that might suggest of an advanced nature Kekkei Genkai, remember that Naruto has an affinity to lightning, water and wind nature chakra… also Jinton (Swift Release), Sharingan and Byakugan are not in the options… and also give a good explanation if you come up with a new Kekkei Genkai or of the anime/manga you came to that idea from… and if you suggestion trumps that of mine by logic and usage I will use it.