《Re: Naruto.》


 Chapter 1: Wound up in the Naruto Universe.

    "Sigh... what a pain...." muttered Steve as his devil of little sister drags him to his dem- shivers- to the mall.  Steve a 19 year old college junior who let''s say is doing fairly well in life, well accomplished in his academics and extracurricular activities; seldom has he had a regret in his life. His family has always been the focal point in his life. Unfortunately his life of peace has just come to a screeching halt.


    A car which abruptly swerved off the road was heading at an incredible speed towards his sister, who is about to cross the road. Faced with no option, he leapt and pushed his sister out of harm''s way but left him dead center of the car''s path.


    "Blood....."


    "NO NO NO HOLD ON PLEASE DON''T LEAVE ME PLEASE DON''T LEAVE US"


    .....Silence.....


    "Why is it so dark....? Is this really the end" he ponders as he is suspended in pure darkness. He no longer feels the flow of time, unaware of where he is. Yet the only thread connecting him to his soul, his memories; the sounds of laughter of his family, his first birthday, the birth of his sister, the hilarious events of his life, the moments of accomplishment and the proud gazes of his family. All of it has come to an end. Yet he feels no regret; he feels a sense of, for the lack of better terms, wholeness. His sacrifice for his sister was the ultimate moment in his life therefore he feels no regret. If his life saved a life of another who he loved then there is no point in regret.


    Suddenly a white light descends onto his body, illuminating the entire space and with that he loses his consciousness. Once again darkness descend but he feels different, almost too different....


    ".... Where am I??" As he opens his eyes, he feels the cool breeze blowing across his body, the soft earth beneath the ground and the many bruises which aches throughout his body. As he returns to his senses, he sees his reflection on a puddle of water, he notes how he looks completely like the 12 year old Naruto Uzumaki just before he became a genin.


    A strand of memories appear before his sight; foreign to his own, he could only theorize that this set of memories belonged to Naruto. As to how Naruto got into his current predicament, he apparently slipped off a tree and fell head first into the ground, as he was escaping with the scroll to practice the jutsu allowing him to pass.


    Wait hold on, what are those those green strands glowing in my mind am I hallucinating. Strangely however he felt no anxiety nor did he feel it was right to question his circumstances, for now as he felt in his subconsciousness that he had a certain course of action . He got up feeling a bit groggy and unable to get his bearings right. He closed his eyes trying to get acquainted with his new body, slowly raising his index fingers then rotating his wrists, bending his elbows to finally rotating his arms. He then moved on to wiggling his toes and bending his knees to finally raise his upper body to a kneeling position. As he successfully accomplished this feat he then threw arms around the tree next to him and tried to get on to his feet.


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    He stood panting as he is still getting used to his new body and as he did so he observed his surroundings for the first time. He seems to in the middle of a forest, with a stream flowing through it to his left. He felt parched and he reached for the scroll and walked up to the stream. Kneeling down he drank as much water he could possibly take.


    Well let¡¯s see what I should now¡­¡­ hmmm if I remember right from the story, this is clearly a trap. Also is the day that he learns that he is jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Fox. Mizuki eh¡­. Oh well better master the Multiple Shadow Clone jutsu as soon as I can. He then opens the scroll of forbidden scrolls and then memorizes the sequence of hand seals. Hmm this scroll first mentions the parent jutsu, the shadow clone jutsu and then goes onto mentioning the multiple clone. Figures that Naruto was able to master this technique pretty soon due his monstrous levels of chakra .


    As he stands up he takes in a deep breath he realizes one amusing fact, he has for some reason obtained an eidetic memory. How this fact is amusing however attributes to the fact that his memory only applies to his current self, not to the two previous lives of the host''s body and mind; he knew this as if someone has reprogrammed his mind. As he exhales he focuses on his chakra and starts executing the hand seals for the shadow clone jutsu. He then takes a mental note of his chakra flow and then as reaches the final seal, he mutters ¡°Shadow clone jutsu¡±. With a puff of dust two clones of himself appear in front of him.


    While he was observing the chakra flow in his body, he noted certain deviations to which he attributed to the Nine-tailed fox. With that said it is puzzling as to how there seems to be no difference on the seal as Naruto did die. Well no point dwelling that let¡¯s get back to training or whatever last minute preparation to avoid death is called . As he observes both clones, once the green strands flare up in his mind, he commands ¡°Start running a circle of circumference 400 meters and then fight each other for two hours¡±. As the two clones start running he focused on redoing the same technique and he noted the subtle differences this time around his chakra flow, it seemed more efficient. Interesting. As the two clones appeared, the green strands appeared in his mind as he remembered the tree climbing exercise that Kakashi put team 7 through. Well there seems to be a few hours before the main event better try not overdo it. He then ordered them to focus their chakra onto their feet and started climbing the tree with running start without using their hand for two hours. As the two clones ran over to fulfill their task, Steve.. no Naruto started observing the scroll more carefully.

 Chapter 2: Realizations, the first use and Confrontations.

    As he continues to observe the scroll, the green strands in his mind starts to fade away. Slowly as if waking up from a deep slumber, he slowly starts being aware of his current situation. However despite this, observing his actions one would feel that they are haphazard, for he felt no apprehension of being dumped into another world let alone assuming the identity of a fictional character. Analyzing his current predicament, he frowned. From the moment he woke up in this foreign world and the first conclusion he was forced to come to was to not think about his current predicament. Any sane person would be scared witless yet why am I excited? Even more importantly why am I accepting the fact that I am Naruto? This doesn''t make sense, unless...


    For the next 10 minutes, he continues to dwell on this and came to three hypothesis due to his memory being the only source.


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>He believes that during the period that the white light shone on him, certain mental maybe even physical changes could have been made. Those changes were maybe made to nullify any forms of anxiety or fear. However it is still to be known to the extent of these changes.</li>


    <li>The green strands were responsible for his actions a short while ago. As if they were some sort of intermediary. However it is still to be proved whether they are detrimental or incremental. Also it is still to be proved whether or whether not these stands completely disappeared.</li>


    <li>The final theory is by all means is the easiest to prove with time, not only has the original body of Naruto has fused with Steve''s mind; Naruto''s mind too has fused with him. However it is still to be seen the extent of this fusion. There are three ways to prove this theory. Firstly the strands of memories which appeared his mind. Secondly the fact that there has been seemingly no change to the Nine-tails seal (presumably) and finally subconsciously accepting the fact that he is Naruto.


    </li></ol>


    As to who or what is responsible for his changes, it is still beyond his comprehension. Well right now there is little that I could do about it. Time to move on I guess and take this second chance at life with a new identity. Hereby I will be Naruto; his hopes and dreams being my own, my past and my mind his. Ultimately to live a life with no regrets. With that resolve, he assumes the lotus position and inhales, closing his mind off to the environment and starts focusing on his chakra. He focuses on those slight distortions and notices that these distortions follow a certain pattern, which leads to his navel. As I thought these are caused by the Nine Tails.


    Suddenly he appears before a gigantic gate with a small seal at its center, looking around he only see the wet floor otherwise he seems to be in dark and a spacious room. He only hears the sound of water droplets falling onto the floor and sounds of breathing from across the gate. A red flash illuminates the room, blinding him for a few seconds. As he slowly opens his eyes, he sees a dark red miasma which had a shape of a fox. Its red eyes looking down at him in a condescending manner; its teeth curled to a snarl.


    "Oh, it seems like we meet finally puny human." The red miasma snarls. "Let me introduce myself I am the Nine Tailed Fox, you dare appear before my presence! "As he finishes his last syllable, he emits a frightening aura towards Naruto. His pupils shrink at the sudden aggressiveness. The overbearing nature of that vile aura suffocated him making him unable to breath. His hand trembling before the might of this age old beast. I shall not kneel, I shall not yield and I shall triumph. He remained resolute and out of the deep recesses of his mind a white light began illuminate the darkness which was rapidly consuming him. Suddenly the tables were turned, the white aura made its presence known. It illuminated the surroundings, blinding both the fox and the little human.


    As the baleful aura dissipates, Naruto regained his senses. The white light concentrated to a form, a form of a human with a height of around 6 feet however he could not make out his out features, yet displaying a majesty rivalling that to a deity. As the white image formed, the nine tails could only gape at him in awe. The white image then teleported before the seal, laying his palm before it and once again illuminating the surroundings before disappearing once again. This sort of answers my first theory but this is beyond what I imagined.


    The Nine tails stares at Naruto as if he has seen the most amusing little toy he has ever seen. "Hoo how amusing, a little ant with such a vast potential. It would be an amusing sight indeed. Though I wonder whether he would ever as great as he was. Looks like our time is up, until next time little ant.." As he utters the last word the cage disappears only to have Naruto appear back to his own world.


    With that he opens his eyes and observes that his shadow clones are carrying out their orders. Another observation was that he could feel that his chakra reserves have increased and at the same time he could sense chakra. Wait is this even possible? What on earth was that? From what I saw even the Nine Tails was humbled before the white light/image. Oh well, since I have another 3 hours left let''s try the multiple shadow clone jutsu.


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    He disperses his previous clones, gathers his chakra and then executes the hand sign he then roars "Multiple Shadow Clone jutsu!" and as he uttered the last syllable he felt 30 percent of his chakra drain and then hundreds of clone appeared before him. Hold on, has my comprehension speed increased and what is with the monstrous level of chakra regeneration. I could easily cast this technique. Currently there are is exactly 1500 clones. This is just ridiculous. Hold on, the reason why I summoned the 4 previous clones was simple. It was to merely get used to this body. However what would two hours was accomplished within 15 minutes according to the information from the clones. Let''s see... why don''t we conduct a mass training session.


    He then looked at his clones. He decided to create 3 groups of 500 and then set the following commands. For the next two hours one group was made to do the tree climbing exercise. Another group to do the leaf concentration test. He then commanded the final group to go for an all-out brawl. So each clone would at least train for a time span of 1 hour therefore each group would at least have 500 hours of training. I better switch between groups every 20 minutes.


    And so the 1501 ninjas labored away, climbing and falling from tree, concentrating their chakra to a single point and honing their battle skills. However during this intense training he still did not feel any form of fatigue. But what he did not notice was deep inside his soul rotates two orbs, white and green, giving out voracious amount of chakra which his body absorbs at a staggering pace.


    Well it must be past two hours now. Suddenly he hears his stomach grumbling loudly. Goddammit I am hungry. Sigh, let''s get this over with and what is with my stomach anyway, that more an explosion than a grumble. Grumbling to himself, he stands up. Well not much time left now, better get to the place where Mizuki shows up. As he makes his way through the forest, he recalls the training from the Multiple Shadow Clone jutsu. He notices that despite the insane nature of his training he is brimming with energy.


    However when gets closer to the location, he starts hearing a verbal confrontation between two individuals. One distinctly is the voice of Iruka sensei, while the other being Mizuki. Oh interesting turn of events. In the main series it was Naruto and Iruka who first meet, I guess that there maybe a few differences. Interesting if we were to see how events would play out this time around.Hopefully the sequence of events won''t change drastically.. He observes the surroundings and observes how the area around those is an open area of width of around 50 metres and then formulates a plan. He summons six clones at a safe distance away from the two. When all six clones appear he points at the 5 clones from the furthest to the right then he commands, "You five are to throw your kunai and separate Mizuki from Iruka sensei, when I raise my hand. The remaining one throw a smoke bomb when there is sufficient distance between the two. Now go hide on top of 6 trees where you could get a clear aim and where you could see my signal."


    After the 6 clone take their positions he then makes his way towards the two instructors. He notices the lack of reaction towards his well second life and death situation. As he makes his way he shouts "Ah Mizuki sensei, Iruka sensei look look I could use the jutsu in this scroll does that mean I pass, does that mean-", Mizuki then turned towards Naruto with a crazed look in his blue green eyes and retorted "You fool, you really think that you are capable enough to perform such a jutsu, it was all a lie. A lie so that you could do my dirty work for me, Iruka you damned fool your parents were killed by that monster, the nine tails and yet you take his side, how pathetic. Oh well kindly give me the scroll and die, die being my scapegoat." As his ridiculous laugh echoed through the night, Naruto finally raised his hand. Kunais from 5 directions rained down and Naruto yelled with all his might "Iruka sensei get away from Mizuki" and as the distance between them was 50 meters, the last clone threw his smoke-bomb at Mizuki. Finally Naruto roared with resolution, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu".


    Hundreds of shadow clones appeared out of nowhere swarming Mizuki whose countenance pale with fright. Naruto then, pointing at Mizuki, roared "Charge" and with that hundreds of clones beat down on him, pummeling him for a good part of an hour. The final result was a bloody mess of a man sprawled all over the floor. His face beaten black and blue, his ninja outfit in tatters as he remains unconscious.

 Poll- Just to get your opinion

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    I just wanna get your opinion on who the potential romantic lead would be. I would like to give my thanks to all those who are reading this series and a big thank you for those who have taken their time give me their feedback. Sorry if I do not answer you back in person but I appreciate all your input.


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    Areima

 Chapter 3: A dinner at Ichirakus and a dream.

    Meanwhile Iruka who eyes are bulging out of their sockets, just cannot believe what just transpired. Ignoring the fact that he beat Mizuki senseless, he just cannot believe that Naruto executed such a high class jutsu. Then as he came back to his senses, he panicked. What would his reaction to being the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails be?Did he hear the entire conversation? As he glanced towards Naruto, he saw his pensive expression. "Are you okay Naruto?" Iruka asked with a hint of concern in his voice.


    Ahh he must be assuming that I am deeply shocked by the revelation. "Well yeah, why on earth would I be shocked by something I knew?" he replied with a deadpan expression. Iruka''s eyebrows twitched at this reply. "You knew what does that mean? Did someone tell you? If so who was it?" Iruka is still overwhelmed by the events which took place let alone this revelation.


    Naruto however smirked at his discomfort. He however opted not to answer that question. If Iruka knows the actual sequence of events, it would surely reach the ears of the higher-ups. After period of silence he replied, "Know this however, neither am I disheartened or angry about it. I know that it is the source of my sadness and isolation; however it is not something I dwell on." Dumbstruck Iruka''s continue twitching at the rate of knots. Disheartened? Isolation? Dwell? What side of the bed did I wake from and did he run into a tree, knocking his head causing some sort of concussion? Looking at his sensei''s idiotic expression, Naruto started laughing his lungs out. This brought Iruka back to reality, only to see Naruto sprawling on the floor laughing while pointing his direction. Well somethings will never change. While was gathering his composure, Iruka restrained the unconscious Mizuki.


    Third Hokage''s Residence.


    "We must get that brat and teach him a lesson."


    "Hmph he dares to steal such a valuable scroll."


    "Well he is the Nine Tailed kid."


    Ignoring their outbursts of anger, the Third Hokage observes what took place between Iruka, Mizuki and Naruto. "Call of the search" the Third Hokage says. "But''" "The situation is under control, Naruto is not the criminal." the Third Hokage cuts of the chunin, "Disperse". As the congregation of shinobi leaves, the Third Hokage signals at an ANBU agent.


    "Get rid of Mizuki and retrieve the scroll."


    ...........


    After a short while Naruto notices a foreign presence. ANBU eh? As expected a cleanup job. Within a flash, the ANBU member retrieved the body and the scroll, leaving only a note to Iruka before disappearing once again with a flash. Body flicker technique eh? Gotta learn that shit fast. Would an ideal way to get out of tight situations. A loud grumbling sound resonated throughout the forest, Iruka started taking his guard when Naruto starting scratching his head. "Umm sensei that noise was my stomach" said Naruto. Iruka smiled "Well then why don''t I treat you for a dinner at Ichiraku ramen? Besides I got one other thing I need to give you. "


    Two of them made their way back to the leaf village, well back is strong word in Naruto''s case. As they made their way to the front gate, he could finally feel how this is no dream. As if everything is a reality and the most intriguing fact is that he is in smack dab in the center of it all. Guess I really am here, he sighed, an action which Iruka picked up. Puzzled by his reaction Iruka asks Naruto, "What is it Naruto?". He took a slight glance at Iruka and once again resumed looking at the gate with complex emotions. He remained silent as he walked through the gate and continued following Iruka. He continued to recall and ponder each moment he stepped onto this world, the white light, the green strand, the training, the meeting with the Nine tailed fox, the white form which intervened and the battle with Mizuki.


    As he was absentmindedly pondering his plight, he felt a soft body collide against him, a cute scream of "Kyaah" which snapped him from his daze. He saw lovely form before his sight, a girl around his age with short dark blue hair with two strands reaching her chin and just the most mesmerizing pair of unique pearly white eyes, where you could get lost in and yet believe its absolute heaven. He caught on to her soft, slender waist as soon as she started falling backwards. Her cheeks reddened with a wonderful hue of rosy red. They stared at each other and finally Iruka asked, "Hinata are you alright?". She stammered out, "Um, um, I''m sorry" and blushed several shades of red before fleeing away. Naruto still dazed looking at her fleeing form, gaping like like an idiot. Iruka nudged his shoulder, waking him up from his daze, "Let''s get going shall we?" Iruka smirked. Ahh the liveliness of youth. Naruto however felt something more, She felt soo familiar.... What was that feeling....


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    They finally made their way to Ichiraku ramen. "Welcome, Iruka sensei and Naruto, what would you have today?" Teuchi asked. As they made their request, the master and student ate while conversing from trivial matter, the incident today to the future. I guess it is about time better give it to him before it gets late. "Naruto I got something to give you." He then removes his headband and then hands it over to Naruto. "Congratulations, you just graduated."


    "Thank you sensei" Naruto gazed at the headband with a wistful look.


    Soon they bid each other farewell and parted ways. Naruto made his to his apartment by following the direction according to his memory strands. As he opened his door his noticed the mess that was his room. His eyebrows twitched, how the hell do you even live in a dump like this, is too much to ask to clean your bloody room, sigh.


    He then moved on to clean the room, organizing each item and after a hour of hard labour he finally completed that daunting task. At least its habitable now. Oh well better take a bath now. After taking a bath and changing into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, he lay down on his bed. Contemplating about his past, present and future, he fell slowly wore himself and fell into a deep slumber.


    Where am I...... Why is it so green here.....


    As he slept he gradually realised that he is in his dream. Surrounded by a vista of green, he looked around puzzled. Am I still dreaming..


    Oh I assure you young one, you really are sleeping it''s just that you are living your dream. Well that could said to be the closest explanation.


    Surprised by the voice behind him, he turned around to see a white figure; the same figure he saw when he first met the Nine Tails. Even though he within hand reach from Naruto, he cannot discern any facial features, as if it is covered by a mosaic.


    Look, I do not have time to answer any question nor is it the right time to reveal the answers to your particular questions. I will only say this once so listen well young one. This green space in your mind, it is a tool which has been implanted to your soul. It is the origin of your "green strands" as you call it. The exact function of it I shall not reveal at this time. Know that only it is a survival tool and serves another purpose, which you may or may not find useful. This space is a training ground where time here moves at a relatively faster rate than the real world. Two hours in the outside world equates to 15 hours here. This space is made of the purest energy of the universe therefore you would never exhaust your chakra. In this space, however I recommend you to only practice your ninjutsu as this place would not increase your physical ability and the terrain would never change. Furthermore you could only access this place when you are sleep and you only can access it for 2 hours per day. You could bring one other person to this world however beware of who you choose.


    You do not have to know what the white aura in your body is at this point in time, only know that it is beneficial to you. I am also aware that you know a certain sequence of event relating to this dimension, however be wary, nothing in time and space is certain. You are very living proof.


    The final instruction I have to you would be to not rush to gain power. With the various influences present in your body, gaining too much power without developing physically and spiritually would only spell a recipe for disaster.


    I will know leave your mind and you will fall back to sleep; you cannot access the green world today. Farewell young one. Till we meet again.


    With a blinding flash, the image disappeared and Naruto fell back into his slumber.


    Somewhere in a desolate plain.


    A feminine figure adorned in clothes of mourning and a veil, stands on top of a barren mountain, her gaze fixed on a lifeless land. The once vibrant plains are non-existent.


    A white man appears out of nowhere, the very same who appeared before Naruto.


    "Is he prepared, my dear husband?"


    The man looks on in silence.


    "Only time will tell"


    If Naruto was present here, he would immediately feel the similarity between the auras of the feminine figure and Hinata.

 Chapter 4: Planning, a glutton and training.

    Naruto slowly opens his eyes, slowly getting accustomed to the dark interior and the unfamiliar room that he is in. Gradually, he leans his back against the headboard. Well that certainly was a weird dream. Sigh, it only raised more questions if any.  But at least it confirmed my theory that the white and green energies are indeed separate. He glanced to his right, and looking at the clock, his raised his eyebrows. Wait I only slept for 4 hours, why do I feel as if I have slept for more than 7 hours. Interesting, again the only assumption I could make is my increased regeneration. But then again would it not affect my metabolism?


    He got of the bed, refreshed himself and ate a breakfast solely consisting of cup ramen. Oi oi this fellow only has cup ramen and snacks, does he not eat anything else. I mean I know that he loves ramen, I do to but urgh what the hell am I even ranting about?


    Shaking his head, he started contemplate on more pressing matters. That weird white dude however left several important pieces of information. Firstly the training space which I could access when I am sleeping. He said I could drag one person; but the damn fool did not even tell me how. Furthermore what is with the "little one" shit anyway. Ahh not good, not good I''m ranting on about useless shit again. Sigh that must definitely the "Naruto" in me speaking.


    He then searched the room for a notepad and a pen. Surprised that he actually found them, he started brainstorming for the next half hour or so. Then he organized his notes for another good part of an hour. Hmm looks like I got a week for my ninja registration date and four days later would be the genin team assignment date. Okay then, let''s see my list of priorities or whatever they are called.


    List of Priorities.


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>Re-learn all the basic jutsus and definitely try to master the Body Flicker jutsu.  Furthermore train to use hidden weapons such as kunai more efficiently.</li>


    <li>Gather knowledge about the human anatomy, chakra in all its aspects such chakra control, elements and affinities.</li>


    <li>Set up a daily training routine, starting with 5 hours of taijutsu, 5 hours of ninjutsu and chakra control; finally two hours of assimilating the knowledge and the data gathered. Added to this schedule will be the 15 hours in the dream world. Again I wish the damn white image man thing gave more information on how to even get in first place. (Author: Dude I know you wanna rant but isnt this bit too much?)</li>


    <li>Master the rasengan.</li>


    <li>Using the knowledge from human anatomy, learn about how to activate the 8 gates.</li>


    <li>Accumulate knowledge on jutsu, especially take note of any information on space-time.</li>


    <li>Get some bloody vegetables.


    </li></ol>


    Hmm looks like everything I''ll need for now. Well better take a break of an hour half way through the training. I could probably head over to the Konoha library. Oh yeah better get some training weights. I better use 5 shadow clones to read in the library. Better not overload myself with too much information at one given time. Better to gradually settle in. Taijutsu training I guess would be just super hard physical training. Nin-jutsu... this one would be I guess trying various techniques, oh I do remember that the ANBU member used the body flicker jutsu, so better recall that and try it out. I guess the rasengan would fall under this as well. Let''s see it is still 5am, so why don''t start off with running around the village for two hours then moving on to martial arts. The weights will have to wait till tomorrow though.


    With that, Naruto changed to his trademark outfit and made his way to the outskirts of the village. By taking a deep breath he started out with a full blown sprint at his highest speed. 20 minutes later, he started feeling the lactic acid building up and signs of fatigue. However as he continued running he felt a comforting energy deep within his mind easing fatigue and the pain. This cycle continued for the entire period of two hours. Without taking even the slightest of breaks, he made his way to an isolated training ground. Here he straight away focused on just punching and kicking continuously against a bunch of wooden dummies. Forty minutes into this, his skin started peeling away and fatigue starting settling in. Once again he noted the comforting sensation however he noted the color of it; it was a combination of green, white, red and blue. Not really blending together to form a different color, but just seperate, acting as if they had their own will. He also notes how his speed and strength are ever so slightly increasing. He redoubled his efforts and continued pushing himself. He does not try to theorize or waste his time speculating, his sole focus is to just push himself. He is trying to act without thought, to subliminally commit himself to his cause. Two hours later he stopped his current actions and and moved to an area with 5 targets.


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    He inhaled deeply, as he threw each kunai at his target then as soon as they struck the target, he moved towards each target at his highest speed, gathered each kunai and got back to his position. He carried out this sequence for one hour. As the time came up he lay on the ground panting. He stayed in this position for a while, drained from his training session.


    "Well better take a break and get some lunch" he muttered. He slowly dragged himself to the village, recalling every second of his session. He once again absentmindedly made his way to the Ichiraku ramen store. After devouring couple bowls of ramen, he walked around village observing the many shops in its streets which when he heard-


    "Shikamaru~~~ can''t we go eat something, like barbecue meat, let''s go eat~~~"


    "Oi didn''t you eat lunch just 20 minutes ago?"


    "But that is just lunch, come on Shikamaru, let''s just go already~~"


    "What a drag...."


    As he glanced to his right he saw the two sources of this conversation. Yep makes sense, humu it''s definitely them, as his eyebrows twitched at sight of the thin black haired boy being dragged by a fa-cough- big-boned boy of his age. Yep the legendary Shikamaru/Choji duo.


    "Yo Shikamaru, Choji!"


    "Ahh Naruto- wait is that the head band you have on your head, you sure it isn''t stolen?" asked Shikamaru with his trademark tone of voice.


    "Oi oi, who do you take the great me as? I am Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of the Hidden leaf village. Do you take as a fool who is unable to graduate from a mere academy?"


    "Well yeah actually." repled Shikamaru. Oi thats harsh you know, I will cry you know.


    "Ahem, forget about that where are you guys off to-"


    "Oooooh, all you can eat barbecue, let''s go Shikamaru~~~" exclaimed Choji as he dragged the lifeless body into the underw- well actually god knows he dragged him and just vanished into thin air.


    "Humu, the king of Gluttony, common sense really has no effect on him"


    After aimlessly walking around the village for another ten minutes, he made his way back to the training ground. Soon as he got there, he made the hand seal for the Multiple Shadow clone jutsu and shouted "Multiple Shadow Clone jutsu!". A total of 1500 clones appeared.


    Better separate them to do several tasks then. Have a group of 300 clones to practice the substitution, clone and transformation jutsus, another three hundred on the body flicker jutsu, 300 more on the three chakra control exercises, 300 on meditating and the final group on the first stage of rasengan , rotation of chakra. Granted that Jiraiya made naruto practice through water balloons but.. well you know I''m sorta kinda of on budget so......


    He then gave each group their respective commands, for starters let''s start off with the body flicker jutsu. He closed his eyes, recalled the moment he saw the technique and relived every moment. He then executed the hand signs, concentrated his chakra throughout his body and pictured himself 5 meters away. With a moment''s notice he then appeared 3 meters away and fell down face first into the ground. He got up, walked back to his initial position and once again focused once again, this time recalling the sensations he felt executing the technique and the memory of observing the ANBU member. When he executed the technique for the second time however, he reached a little further before staggering down. That is when he instantly reviewed each clone doing this task. Ahh so thats why I went wrong. Let''s try it out this time and see what happens. As he got back to try for the third time, instead of uniformly spreading his chakra, his main focus was on his feet, and then the rest of his body. Immediately afterwards, Naruto executed the jutsu, this time reaching the 5m mark without falling. He smirked at his success and then gradually increased the distance each time he was successful. After 30 minutes of practice, he then walked over to the rotation group.


    Before he did so, he reviewed the information gathered by each clone. Then he immediately saw the error; it was because the direction of the chakra rotation is in a singular path. Instead the rotation should similar to that of a whirlpool. Taking a deep breath, he focuses on his task at hand. Slowly he feels the flow of chakra moving through his body, into his right hand, then he gradually tries to exert it and rotate the chakra, clockwise in many directions.


    For the next 5 hours, Naruto switched around the two tasks at random intervals while reviewing the information gathered by each task at each hour, just so it will not overwhelm him. Each time he nearly depletes his chakra, the comforting aura increases his regeneration to monstrous levels; however the mental exhaustion from training is slowly draining him due to the extreme amount of concentration needed. As the 5 hours came up, Naruto fell down, drained from his training. Phew, daunting but absolutely worth it.

 Chapter 5: Knowledge and revelations.

    After resting for several minutes he made his way back to the village. Better get something to eat, sigh the seventh objective of my list of objectives will never be met at this rate. Oh well not that ramen is a bad substitute. A sated stomach and a half an hour later, Naruto reached the Konoha library. He then created 5 clones dispersing them towards each section which he prioritized earlier on. Naruto however focused on gaining knowledge on the 8 gates.


    Naruto and his clones spent a total of 2 hours; feeling that they have met their daily requirement, he then made his way back to the apartment. Urgh I smell like shit better clean myself. Refreshed, he then started organizing all the information and experiences. Reviewing each one, he could clearly see what he lacks and how he should proceed.


    Three hours later, he decided to call it day, exhausted from the day''s events. As he fell asleep, several moments later, he found himself in dream world; the green vista which spans for miles, knowing no ends.


    So it just happens eh? Then why the hell did that egotistic white piece of shit not say so? Urgh, my poor blood pressure and cholesterol levels.


    Sigh, I''m just gonna meditate. He however unconsciously starts absorbing the energy around him; two hours later, he notices this fact. Intriguing turn of events. Looks like I am absorbing the energy here. Wait .... this is ridiculous .... my chakra reserve has increased by 25%. Furthermore I could literally sense every fibre of my being just by a mere thought. This...


    Flabbergasted, he could only attribute his changes to the strange green energy. Better gain as much out of this as I can. However 2 hours later he started experiencing an excruciating amount of pain and by 3 hours he spat out blood, damaging his interior organs. Looks like my limit is 5 hours. Better not continue unless I want to kill myself. As he withdrew, he grimaced as he stood up; he noticed he could no longer sense that strange energy. Guess I could only do that once a day.


    A few seconds later, he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply as probed his body with his mind. What he found out astounded him; his body was back to its optimal condition. Must be the doing of this dream world. Well then I got around 10 hours left, why don''t I resume training the body flicker jutsu and rasengan.


    The main issue with my body flicker technique is that it takes time for me to gather the chakra and then use it effectively. Currently it takes me 30 seconds to execute the jutsu. Reading the information about the chakra pathway system from the books in the library, I realize that I could change the path by which the chakra flows, though it is pretty risky. The lesser the time taken the better; the fastest reaction in the human body is a reflex action. Therefore the logical conclusion is to see whether I could carry this out through my spinal cord. After all even if I mess up, I''m pretty sure the green space could heal about any injury. Quite a useful way of experimenting really.


    Summoning a total of 1000 clones, he gave an explanation on the theoretical application of the jutsu. Afterwards, he formed a horizontal straight line with a distance of 4 meters between each clone. For the next 8 hours, Naruto and his clones were continuously looking for efficient means to cut down the time.


    Naruto closed eyes focused his chakra along the 5 tenketsu, which are the part of the spinal cord and represent the main gates. Within a fraction second he executed the body flicker technique appearing 20 meters from his starting point. Finally I succeeded, whew that was pretty intense .Once again he executed the technique this time 50 meters away.


    For the next half hour, Naruto and his clones continued to flash around. Looking at his clones successfully utilizing the jutsu, he smiled. Hahaha identifying those tenketsu really was a big help; it only takes me 1 second at most, depending on the distance. Besides my current maximum distance is 1 kilometer. Now then I get a feeling that my chakra control has increased by leaps and bounds. He turned back to his clone.


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    "Listen up, by using the same principles I want you bunch to complete the first step in forming the rasengan" he commanded with an air authority. Little more than an hour later, Naruto and his clones completed the first step in forming the rasengan. Green sparks levitated off the surface of the dream world and within moments, a blinding flash illuminated the dream world and Naruto fell back into his slumber.


    Six days later, within the dream world.....


    Apparently materialising objects was possible within this realm. During the second day, Naruto wished that he had a chair to take a seat; within seconds a chair materialized out of nowhere. After experimenting with it a few times, Naruto used this factor to conjure thousands of rubber balls to help him with the second phase of the training. The main focus of that was power which could be done by increasing the density of the chakra exerted by focusing on one single point. By the end of the third day Naruto mastered the second step and by the fifth, he finally created a rasengan. It also only takes his right hand to successfully create it.


    However that was not the only aspect he made progress with. The maximum distance he could travel using the body flicker technique has increased by 50% at the end of six days. Though he takes the same amount time, it still is vast improvement. His taijutsu has become more lethal and his usage of hidden weapons has become  sharper. The vast quantities of information has helped him understand the nature of chakra and the human anatomy to a new level.


    However there still aspect Naruto is quite irritated about, the meditation in the the energy world. Granted that his chakra reserves are 35% more as compared to the beginning of the week, however he could only meditate for a fixed period of time and the benefits of this are decreasing exponentially.


    Sigh, I guess I cannot be too greedy. After all I have accomplished several feats that normally would not be possible. Tomorrow would be the registration date. Well then looks like my time is up.


    .........


    The next day- Hokage Residence.


    The third hokage looks at the form. Naruto, seated across him, with his eyes closed. Looking at the stoic expression in Naruto''s face, the third Hokage could only smile in amusement.


    Naruto you cheeky brat, you really have changed. Well he does seem inherit something from him. Sigh if only he did not have her temperament at times.


    "Oh by the way, we are moving up the date for the team selection, you better get to your classroom fast."


    "Wait why?"


    "Just get going"


    "Well then I am off old man later~~~"


    Iruka''s Classroom.


    "Well then I will now recite the names of the teams."


    ........


    "Team 8- Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inazuma. Your instructor will be Kurenai Yuhi"


    "Team 9- Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi. Your instructor will be Asuma Sarutobi"


    " Team 7- Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. Your instructor will be Kakashi Hatake."


    "Now until your respective instructor/team leader arrives please do wait in this classroom."


    With that, Iruka leaves the classroom and Naruto closed his eyes.


    Third Hokage''s residence.


    The third hokage observes the classroom through his crystal ball. The surrounding ninjas all seem to be wearing the standard outfit of a Konoha Jonin. Currently they are observing the figures inside. Its is the full display of Iruka''s classroom.


    "So these are this year''s genins huh..."


    "That''s the Uchiha boy isn''t he?"


    The third hokage continues to observe in silence along with one other man. He has distinct spiky silver hair and a mask covering the lower half of his face.


    One by one the surrounding Jonin leave to conduct their first meeting with their respective groups. Yet the masked man remains standing.


    "Take care of them. Especially those two, Kakashi."


    "Yes Lord Hokage."

 Chapter 6: The first meeting and The "Bell" training.

    "Why is he so late?" asked Sakura. Damn whoever it is, hmph such a failure of a leader. She then sneaks a glance at the black haired boy. Huhu I''m in the same team as Sasuke~~~ But that damn fool Naruto.... why must he be in our team. Hmph!  Naruto replied, "He would be here when gets here just wait until then." She turned towards Naruto, acting like a know it all, ha.... why are we stuck with him.


    "Such a burden..." Sasuke murmured to himself. However this did not pass Naruto''s attention. And that, my team mate is why you are a douchebag; you see can''t get any fans like that you know. Silence settled in the classroom.


    Few minutes later, Naruto opens his eyes, finally he shows up. Within seconds the door opens revealing a man, who looks like his is in his mid 20s, wearing a standard Jounin uniform with spiky silver and a mask covering the lower half of his face.


    "Good morning team~~ I apologize for my late arrival, as I was lost in the maze of life." Oi oi can you at least make it a little more convincing?  "Let me introduce myself, my name is Kakashi Hatake. Ahh by the way lets leave the small talk for some other time I got a small mission for you guys."


    As they follow Kakashi, Naruto frowns. Isn''t this a little different from the original story? Didn''t Kakashi do this the following day? Besides why did I not come across Konohamaru during the registration in front of the third. Sure Mizuki was beaten up pretty easily, the team allocation went as expected, but then the registration and team allocation did not occur in the same day in the original story. Will this mean that there may be a change in the plot? Will this mean my upcoming opponents will be tougher? A key character of this story will be Sasuke right here. How much would these changes affect the plot?


    .....


    Kakashi led them over to the Third training ground. Kakashi turned around and in a serious tone he said, "Alright you three listen up, your mission is actually a survival test-"


    "But sensei we weren''t told about this, we aren''t even ready!" Sakura interrupted. Kakashi stared at Sakura for a few seconds. "Firstly you are no longer an academy student, you are now a genin; a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf village. A shinobi must always be prepared for the worst case scenario. Secondly your enemy will never consider your age, your ability or your position. If you are a hindrance to their mission, they would wipe you out without a shred of hesitation. I need to see your response to such a situation. " Kakashi replied with authority.


    Sakura''s expression stiffened at his words. He took out two bells from his pocket. He continued, "Now then your survival test is pretty simple; all you have to is to collect one of these two bells in order to win."


    "But there is three of us and two bells what would happen to the person who does not obtain one?" Sasuke inquired.


    "See the three wooden poles over there? The remaining one would be tied up there and he or she will not get lunch. Well that and the loser will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi pointed out.


    "But that isn''t fair we grad-"


    "What is unfair is that if there is a loose end holding up the team, that would be unfair the rest of its members. Now that is unfair. "Kakashi retorted.


    "Any more questions? Seeing none let the exam begin~~" Hmm this is weird, isn''t Naruto supposed to be the loudest of the bunch yet why is he so silent. The third did say that he noticed certain changes... Kakashi looked suspiciously at Naruto.


    Ignoring the look, Naruto looks at the other two. As expected they have fallen for it. The survival test is nothing but a facade to see whether or whether not they understand its true meaning- teamwork and cooperation. Naruto then took his stance, executed his hand seals and shouted "Shadow clone jutsu". Five clones appeared in front of Naruto.


    The shadow clone just eh? Seems like he has made best use of that scroll. However he seems impulsive, Kakashi observes. However what Naruto did next greatly surprised him.


    "You guys are being fooled, this is not an individual test; this is a test on our teamwork!" Naruto yelled. "Are you stupid did you not hear what he said?" Sakura replied with a hint of anger. Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he was an idiot. "Well you are the weak link after all. No wonder you would say that." Sasuke added on.


    Sigh, they really are meant for each other aren''t they? Oh well time, I knew was going to happen time for plan B. Four clones immediately encircled Kakashi; soon as they closed in the remaining clone dashed towards Kakashi and executed a crescent kick. Kakashi immediately caught hold of his foot with his right hand. The clone then wrapped his other leg around his right arm. As soon as he wrapped his leg, a clone got behind him and detonated a smoke bomb. Time to get some distance.


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    Once the bomb detonated, Naruto immediately used the body flicker jutsu and moved to a location 50 metres away. Sasuke and Sakura used this diversion to get away from him. Casting the shadow clone jutsu, Naruto then knelt on one knee and started scanning a radius of 400 metres with his mind. The clones who initially engaged Kakashi leapt back and threw a single kunai each. However as the smoke settled, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Instead in his place has a log with 4 Kunai embedded in it.


    Shit behind me. Naruto quickly rolled to his left as Kakashi threw a stone at him from 10 meters to his south. He and his new clones charged at him while the other 4 disappeared into the forest.  He jumped up and executed an axe kick, his aim Kakashi''s head. As the kick landed right on his head, Kakashi disappeared with a puff of smoke. Shit, a clone, wait he is moving underground. He quickly leapt a few metres back.


    "Ohh pretty well done back there." Kakashi stated, "Looks like I won''t be able to read it after all". However, soon as Kakashi finished his words, a flurry of kunai headed right at him. Kakashi continued to dodge until Sasuke out of nowhere ambushed Kakashi with a flurry of kicks and punches. Soon as they started engaging each other, the 4 clones who hid themselves in the forest once again encircled Kakashi and Sasuke. Naruto then commanded the other clone to disperse as he made his way towards Sakura. Soon as placed his first step, he heard an ear piercing scream.


    Yep without doubt she has fallen into his trap. As he approached her, he say her muttering incomprehensible jargon as if she was having a nightmare. He did a quick scan and he felt a presence. He is on my tail again. Naruto leapt to the nearest branch, turned around and directly appeared before him using the body flicker jutsu.


    Ohh interesting the body flicker jutsu. However once again Naruto shocked him with his next move. "RASENGAN" as he drove the blue sphere of chakra towards his chest.


    Not good. He raised his head band from his left eye, the three tomoe of the sharingan starting rotating as if they are in a frenzy. Crap gotta run for it. Naruto suddenly pulled out and immediately retreated on top the nearest tree using the body flicker jutsu. Sigh better leave her alone; well she did kinda ask for it by not sticking around cooperating. Ah, Kakashi once again disappeared.


    This is going nowhere he is quickly negating each of our moves. He once again made his way to the starting point only to find Sasuke leaving his back wide open, while Kakashi is moving in to attack Sasuke from behind. He notices the absence of his clones. Immediately he throws a kunai to intercept Kakashi''s path. Summoning 5 more clones, he leapt behind Kakashi, while the clones appeared before and surrounded Kakashi in a semicircular formation, blocking from getting to Sasuke.


    "Get out of the way Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. As turned back, Naruto noticed the sharingan pattern in his eyes. Why does his sharingan have three tomoes in them? Isn''t he supposed to have one? Immediately Sasuke made several hand seals and bellowed "Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu" and blew out a raging ball fire through the clones towards Kakashi. However once again, in his place was a burning log.


    It is at this point that Sakura decides to make an entrance however Kakashi quickly intercepts her, silently knocking her out. A hand grabs onto Sasuke''s heel from underground and then within seconds he was quickly pinned down.


    As soon as Sasuke was subdued, Kakashi charged towards Naruto. The two of them continued exchanging blows for five minutes when Kakashi immediately revealed his sharingan causing Naruto fall into a trance.


    Naruto felt stinging sensation right up his ass crack. Yep, the legendary, all powerful and ever potent One thousand years of Death, right up his arse. A loud scream of "HIYAAAAAAAAAAHHH" echoed throughout the the 3rd training ground. Fuck, Imma lose my ass for the next week. Kakashi without missing a single beat pinned Naruto onto the ground and stated-


    "Yep all three of you fail."

 Chapter 7: The punishment and a cinnamon roll.

    Naruto sprawled across the floor, occasionally twitching with pain. The other two however seem to have dealt with a much better fate. Damn it, I just do not have enough experience fighting real opponents. Frustrated with his display, kept on going through each and every moment of the test. Pointless finding fault with anyone but myself. There were several instances I could have turned the tide.


    Kakashi however is still stunned; he still cannot believe the jutsu he saw from Naruto and the prowess of Sasuke''s Sharingan. Of all the jutsu he used, it was the rasengan and I felt shivers when Sasuke activated his Sharingan. However despite their prowess, they seem not acknowledge each other. The so called rift they have created due the labels they are usually attached to. The tragic genius and the prankster or to be more accurate the monster. Kakashi closed his eyes. Where did he learn that jutsu; rather who did he learn it from? The only person who is capable of doing that lives away from the village... then how?


    Kakashi picked up the limp body of Sakura and tied her to the pillar at the centre. Then he picked up Sasuke and tied him over at to the pillar to his right. He turned back to Naruto and threw a water bottle, "Naruto get over here and wake them up." Puzzled by Kakashi''s actions, he walked over to each pillar and sprinkled some water at each of their faces.


    Why am I tied up to the pole alongside Sakura? This is a disgrace! Sasuke gave a cold glance at Naruto. Why is that jackass free? He ruined my chances of victory. Curse you Kakashi...


    Noticing how the other two seem to have awoken, Kakashi stood in between the two poles. Looking at the two of them he sighed, "First of all, Naruto''s judgement at the beginning was right. This was a test of teamwork, not an individual test. The two of you failed badly. Even at the times Naruto created various opportunities neither of you were to grasp them. At the very least you were not even cooperating despite his somewhat inadequate attempts to do so. First off Sakura, you were stuck in a genjutsu. Granted that it was your first experience of this level of combat and that you effectively dispelled it, you failed in critical combat analysis. In other words you were not aware of your surroundings. Sasuke your pride got the best of your judgement. You completely disregarded Naruto and his efforts and only thought about capitalizing the best out of situation for yourself. That is highly looked down upon in Leaf Village. After all those who break the rules are scum; those that abandon their comrades are even more of a scum."


    "Finally you Naruto. Despite the fact I commend you for your observation, you clearly lacked the ability to effectively communicate with the rest of the team. If you had done so with either of them, the result would have been much different. One last thing despite the fact that you failed the test, neither of you will be sent back to the academy, so don''t worry. By the way tomorrow we will be doing our first mission so be here at 10 am. Alright then see you-"


    "Kakashi sensei, wait a second. Can you spare them and tie me up instead?" Naruto asks. I just hope I am proven wrong. "Sure" Kakashi replied. With a puff of dust he appeared behind each of them and slashed off their bindings. Afterwards he tied him up to the pole.


    "Well the see you tomorrow at 10.00am" and with that he disappeared with a flash. Sasuke took a glance at Naruto. He stated, "We are leaving Sakura" and he grabbed her hand and drew her away. Flushed by the sudden by his sudden contact, she nodded and trailed behind him. After walking for a few minutes, Sakura grew uneasy. After all Naruto seemed to take their punishment upon himself.


    "Sasuke, is it alright that he leave him there?"


    "It is because of that fool and his selfish ways that we lost in the first place. He even interrupted my Fireball jutsu a multiple times with his clones. He just wants all the glory. All his talk was just sucking up to Kakashi."


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    If Sasuke says so it must be true. After all he is known for his troublesome plans and he is nowhere great as a person in comparison to Sasuke. Sakura reaffirms herself continuously reminding herself this, as if it a mantra of some sorts.


    "Naruto..." Sasuke murmured with a hint of malice in his voice.


    .........


    I knew it..... this is a drastic change of events. In fact so much so that it could potentially blow everything out of proportions. In the original story Sasuke and Sakura helped him out when he was punished. Now however they just walked away. Sigh at least getting tied up gave me some hints about the situation. "Kakashi sensei, come out come out wherever you are~~~~ I know you eavesdropped on them too~~~" he chimed.


    "How did you know?"


    "I have my means and methods."


    "What did you want confirm by letting them go?"


    "I have my reasons, you won''t believe me even if I tell you."


    "Oh, is that so?"


    "Very much so."


    "Final question, where did you learn that jutsu."


    "Eyes and ears are everywhere, aren''t they Kakashi sensei? Besides again you won''t believe me even if I tell you. Though do know this however I mean no harm to my village. Ahh by the way, can you remove these already?"


    "No can do, you took their punishment yourself. Bye bye~~~" and with that Kakashi made his leave.


    "OI OI AT LEAST PAY ME BACK FOR GIVING ME CONSTIPATION!!!!!!"


    .......


    Two hours later he made his way back to the village. However once again as he absentmindedly wandered through the streets, he crashed against a soft figure. He just collided with Hinata who was staring longingly at the cinnamon roll shop. He quickly snapped back to reality to find Hinata blushing in shades of red which probably are not even discovered yet.


    "I''m sorry Hinata, my bad I gotta watch where I am going."


    "Nnnnnonono i-i-it''s my bad too" with that she looked down. Did he see what I was staring at?  Will he think I am weird?


    He turned to his right to see a shop "Ahhh this shop is famous for cinnamon rolls aren''t they, OHHHHH they seem to be having some sort of special." He then looked back at Hinata, "Hinata do you wanna eat some with me?"


    When the last syllable left his mouth, her heart started beating faster and faster, she fiddling with her thumbs, seemingly trying to muster her courage to give him her answer.


    "But-but I don''t have any money..." she spoke so softly that it barely came out as a whisper.


    "Then it''s my treat~~"


    He then took her hand and gently directed her towards the shop. Hinata couldn''t help but smile ever so slightly as he held on to her hand. After ordering a couple of rolls and a drink, they sat down facing each other across the table. He could only be mesmerized by her cute expression as munches down on her roll. The way her little button nose wriggled with delight as she takes her bite. Those eyes which seem to sparkle as if they really were a pair of pearls.


    They chatted nearly for an hour from their first day as genins to small trivial matters. The more he talks to her to more he is feels comfortable and welcome for the first time in this world. Her giggle manages to make his heart skip a beat every time.


    "Umm Naruto I gotta leave now, otherwise my dad would get mad at me..."


    "It''s alright but can you promise me something?"


    "Wh-what is it?"


    "When can we meet again?"


    <hr />


    Wow this chapter did drain a lot of me for some reason but I enjoyed writing and planning it out.


    Thanks as always for reading~~~


    Regards,


    Areima

 Chapter 8: Concerns and Nature transformations.

    The Hokage''s Residence.


    His eyes closed, the Third Hokage ponders on what he saw during Kakashi''s test. A sudden gust of wind brushed past his face. "Greetings lord Hokage." said the silver haired man as he knelt down on one knee. Gesturing him to get up with his right hand, the Third Hokage commanded "Give me your analysis on what happened Kakashi. You do not need to recount the details, I already know". He opened his eyes and stare right down at Kakashi''s kneeling form.


    "Sir, Naruto''s prowess is certainly surprising and Sasuke is extremely proficient in using the Sharingan, probably comparable to the likes of Itachi. However, they do not seem to have the ability to cooperate with each other. Furthermore, as you have observed he was able to execute a complete rasengan at his age."


    "Oh why do you think that they do not have the ability of cooperate with each other?"


    "Based one reason alone. Judging by his behavior, Sasuke seems to have a strong thirst for power. He has no qualms in taking every opportunity given to him. Naruto is well aware of this. Rather than confronting him, he is playing a defensive game. He chooses to ignore Sasuke''s actions. Even when he destroyed Naruto''s clones, he did not show any reaction as if he knew something was up."


    "And does this relate to what he tried to confirm the last minute?"


    "Quite possibly, he did not seem to be disappointed but rather pensive for the lack of better words."


    "Do you relate Sasuke''s reaction to the massacre?"


    "Again I could only hope that it is the case."


    The Third Hokage closed his eyes once again.


    "Kakashi what do you think is the Uchiha''s curse is? Where do you think that their true tragedy lies? Do you know what the Second replied with as it is?


    Kakashi kept silent.


    "It was their thirst for power."


    "Naruto was able to use the rasengan wasn''t he? Well I did sneak a peek at him a few times the past week or so. Kakashi would you believe me if I say that he created it alone? That too within a week."


    Impossible! The fourth took more than two years to create it from the scratch and I had to train for weeks to form a complete rasengan. Isn''t this a little bit too preposterous? Kakashi remained his position, dazed by the sudden revelation.


    ...............


    Deep in his dream world, Naruto ponders on what aspect he should master next. After meditating for 5 hours, he gets up and recalls the scenes from earlier. Currently I lack in not having a jutsu based on an element and my sensory abilities are not as sharp as I would like them to be... Should I try nature transformations then.... Naruto does have an affinity towards wind.


    Naruto creates a heap of leaves. After creating a thousand clones, Naruto split them into 2 groups of 500. Then he gave out the following commands; one group is to focus on cutting the leaves in half using their chakra alone; the second group was blindfolded and were given ear plugs, then made to fight each other. That should probably help in reducing the time taken to successfully track an opponent.


    For the next 10 hours, Naruto switches between both tasks, reviewing each task at the end of each hour. By the eighth hour, he was able to perfectly slice the leaf in half. Waterfall training will probably have to wait till next time. Afterwards he spent one and a half hours solely focusing on his sensory techniques. It was then a thought struck him.


    What if I used wind chakra to reduce friction in my movements.. After all air is something which is almost certain to be present in most battlefields. He then focused solely focused on the wind and his chakra flow. However he still hasn''t reached to the expected degree of control.


    Well I still have not completed the waterfall training. He glanced at his open palms. If you really think about it, the human body can be considered a weapon. Lightning and wind are the ideal chakra types to enhance their abilities; let''s try focusing my wind chakra around my body.


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    Unfortunately, the 15 hours have been used up and with a green flash he returned back to the real world.


    ........


    Naruto got up just before daybreak. Preparing for his daily routine, Naruto couldn''t help but frown at the memory of yesterday''s unpleasantness. It seems like he truly is seeking to be more than an avenger. The question is what makes this Sasuke differ from the one I know. What are his true motives? Is it truly to just avenge his clan? Or is it something far more malicious?


    He took a sip of water and sat down on his bed. What would happen to Sakura then? How would her fate change? Is she going to blindly follow him, crushing herself by the harsh reality? From what I see it has almost become fanatical worship, as she if is kissing the very ground he is walking on.  He took a look at the clock and then silently left the house. Would I have to kill one or both of them? Do I just leave them alone?


    ...........


    Tension permeated from the silent training ground. A group of 3 genin continue to silently wait. The dark haired lad was sitting on branch on top of a tree, the girl twisting her pink hair as she keeps glancing at the dark haired boy and yellow haired youth who seemed more interested in the clouds than other two.  They continued to wait for a more than an hour in awkward silence.


    Suddenly a man appeared before then. "Good morning team, I once again apologize for being lost in the maze of life. Ah, by the way we have got our first mission" Kakashi announced with a nonchalant tone to his voice.


    "Our first mission is to weed out the garden belonging to one named Izumi."


    "Sensei why are we doing grunt as mission?"


    "Because you certainly can''t do anything else right now so stopping asking anymore question, let''s just get to work."


    ..........


    Four days later, in the training grounds, Naruto alongside his clones are focusing their wind chakra around their tenketsu. Naruto roared and released his chakra throughout his body, releasing a strong strand of wind chakra around him, drawing the air around and trying to consolidate around his. It continued to twist and turn around him before it exploded blowing him back towards his clones.


    Two days ago, Naruto completed the waterfall training allowing him to have a better grasp at controlling wind chakra. However he keeps on failing to control the chakra flow throughout his body. The wind chakra as it gather air explodes. It seems like I''m just not balancing the forces, but how should I achieve this? Getting back up, he shook his head and made his way back to his apartment.


    After cleaning himself up and changing to a pair of shorts, he took out a can of soda, walked up to the window and took a sip. Staring at the night sky, he started humming a nameless tune.  He closed his eyes and smiled, I wonder how my family from earth are doing. I wonder how my parents are holding up. Is my little baby sister still the little darling devil? How are my friends doing now? Are they all fooling around as they used to?


    A gentle breeze lightly caressed his cheek. I do not regret. I do not feel sad; I do not feel that I have been given the short end of the stick. I gave my life for my sister''s, pretty sweet deal eh? He chuckled and continued gaze at the stars in silence.


    <hr />


    Sorry about the late release, had to attend to an emergency.

 Chapter 9: Rotations and a will.

    Naruto continues to contemplate on his current dilemma. His objective to create a wind chakra around his body. However just exerting is chakra does not serve any purpose. His current method of doing so is using one single strand of chakra around his body. However he is not able to effectively scatter it around his body, causing him to over exert his chakra, creating a distortion and cause an explosion. What I lack currently is balance; a system which would prevent a distortion despite how much chakra I exert. He drew his gaze down towards the busy streets down below and furrowed his eyebrows.


    I should first meld wind chakra to the rasengan; then observe for any hint which I could use. Besides I should have done this before in the first place. Sighing to himself he continued to observe his surroundings in silence for another hour and called it day.


    ......


    Two days later in the dream world, he opened his eyes after five hours of meditation. Then he proceeded to continue with molding his wind chakra with the rasengan. As he continues to fail in combining chakra nature with shape manipulation, he tries to theorize his failure. He then creates a normal rasengan.


    He then observes it closely to get an in depth analysis as to how the chakra keeps its shape. The chakra here rotates clockwise. However I''ve been trying to add wind chakra along the same direction in the same quantity, yet why do I fail? Why don''t I meld in the wind chakra to the opposing direction with the same amount of quantity as an ordinary rasengan and see the result?


    Gathering his wind chakra, he adds it to the rasengan, this time rotating it the opposite direction. However instead of losing its shape and exploding, he notes how it slowly blends into the rasengan. How could I be so stupid? To retain the spherical shape of the rasengan, both forces must be equal and must be rotating in opposing directions. In other words, I cannot treat the chakra in the rasengan and the elemental chakra as the same even though they originate from the same system.


    Smiling at his final product, he thrusts it to the ground. A blinding explosion occurs upon contact and leaves a crater with a radius of 7 meters with a depth of 2 meters. Observing the result of his new jutsu, he starts laughing. So let''s see whether is works with the jutsu I''ve been trying to create. Taking a deep breath, he gathers his chakra. This time instead of using just wind chakra, he combines ordinary chakra and wind chakra. Using shape manipulation he wove threads of chakra around his his body. Then he started adding equal amounts of wind chakra while rotating it is in the opposite direction what regular chakra is flowing. He exhaled and increased his output, however instead of bursting out into an explosion, the wind chakra formed a layer around him, with wind rotating around him, constantly entwining together forming an armor around him.


    He exhales and releases the jutsu. Better test the jutsu tomorrow morning, I''ve run out of time for today


    Grinning like an absolute idiot, he starts dancing around. Hahahaha I''ve just created my first jutsu. Ah I gotta meet up with Hinata after tomorrow''s mission. The familiar green flash illuminated the world and once again Naruto fell into a slumber.


    Waking up before daybreak, Naruto donning his orange jumpsuit left towards the outskirts of town. After doing his usual morning sprints, he headed towards the training grounds. Instead of doing his usual physical training, he activated his wind armor. With a feral grin, he broke out into a sprint, however not used to sudden gain in speed he lost his balance and crashed into the ground. He broke out into a wild laughter and got up. Activating the armor gain, he broke into a sprint again, however he gathered chakra into the soles of his feet to steady himself; this time instead of tumbling he flew across the training ground at a breakneck speed. After flashing around the entire ground for a few minutes, he charged at a nearby tree and kicked it. Upon impact, his foot slashed through three and the remains of tree were sliced into tiny piece of wood as it came in contact with the wind.


    This jutsu definitely uses the finer points of wind. It propels the user forwards while he is moving and also drastically reduces factors like friction and air resistance making the user feel like he is flying. Also this attack power is truly terrifying, the wind around me also act like blades, dramatically increasing its power. I should find out its defensive power pretty soon but I got to meet up with the others for the mission.


    Naruto soon met up with the rest of the team. Sakura grimaced when she saw Naruto''s disorganized form; his unkempt hair with branches stuck in it, his disheveled clothes and his face smeared with dirt. Her eyebrow twitched as she threw a punch at Naruto. Unaware of his surroundings, Naruto felt a sudden force hitting his left cheek. With that a massive blob of saliva popped out of Naruto''s mouth and hit Sakura dead center on her face. Nerves popped out her head as she attempted to knee him right in the balls. Sensing the sudden killing intent, Naruto immediately leapt several meters back. Without missing a single beat, he nonchalantly stated, "Good morning Sakura, please do keep away from my family jewels." while covering his testicles with his hands.


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    Sasuke coldly stared at them then snorted and turn around. Sakura clearly displeased with her predicament screamed at Naruto, "I was trying to teach you a lesson about appearances but instead you spit in my face. Hmph"


    "Ahh you are wrong Sakura, this is the latest fashion I tell you."


    "What fashion and why aren''t you apologizing?"


    "Well why aren''t you apologizing to my future son or daughter, you nearly killed them you know" He exclaimed with mock indignation while wearing a cheeky smile on his face.


    Enraged by his ignorance, she charged at him once again however it is at this unfortunate time that Kakashi decided to appear right in between the two of them. Her kick did indeed land on the intended region but it belonged some other person entirely. Sasuke''s eyebrows twitched the ugly sight and Naruto couldn''t help himself and roaring with laughing. Sakura however had the word horror written all over her face.


    A loud squeal of pain echoed throughout the village.


    ......


    Naruto while walking back to the apartment, started contemplating about his life. Does he really want his dream to be what the original Naruto had as his? Does he really want to be the hokage for a simple reason as recognition? He continued to ponder and felt conflicted on his feelings.


    After refreshing himself, he left to meet up with Hinata. Upon meeting Naruto, Hinata saw the conflicted look in his eyes. They silently walked together side by side. However Naruto came to a halt and started staring at a mother and her daughter. The little child was laughing and smiling, dragging her mother''s hand as they walked towards the village gate.. Upon walking to the gate a man wearing the Konoha shinobi outfit knelt on one knee and spread his hands. The little girl ran towards the figure while screaming "Daddy" and hugged him as tightly as she could. Her mother with tears in her eyes walked toward the man. Looking at his wife, he held out his arm with a smile.


    He must have returned home after a dangerous mission. He sadly smiled at the spectacle. We shinobi are destined to step into battlefield with no guarantee of return. Surviving and killing, doing our utmost to accomplish our mission, witnessing sacrifices and sacrificing your own well being to protect this village is it worth it? Would I be left all alone?


    Noticing his complex mood, Hinata slowly reached for Naruto''s hand. Grasping it gently, she softly said, " Naruto you are not alone. For everyone in this village let''s try our best" . Her gentle words drew his attention to her. As she was about to release his hand, he tightened his hold on her hand causing Hinata to redden. Slowly the pair walked together, savoring their moment together in silence.


    ......


    Three weeks went by and Naruto continued with daily schedule of training and missions. Once every few days he would meet up with Hinata. However today Kakashi instructed them to gather on top of the Academy building.


    "Good morning team. The reason why I told you to come here is to each of you tell us your hopes and dreams. Now we coulda done this earlier but eh I wasn''t really bothered to, okay then let''s start with Sakura. Oh by the way start by giving out full name and don''t bother about asking mine."


    "My name is Sakura Haruno and my hope is..." and she blushes as she looked at Sasuke "and my hope is..." once again she threw a longing look at Sasuke.


    "I see, okay then moving on" Kakashi said. Looking at Sasuke he said "Your turn." His eyes grew cold as he stated, "I have no hopes or dreams. I have a goals that I must accomplish at all costs. One, to kill a certain man; two, let''s put it as I want to show the true might of the Uchiha clan to world."


    Another change in the plot, his goals have certainly changed. What did he really mean by proclaiming he wants to show Uchiha''s true might?


    Kakashi frowned at this statement. Then he pointed at Naruto, "Your turn" .


    Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled.


    "If this was a few weeks back I would have said I want to be the hokage so everyone would recognise me. Now I realise something else entirely." He got up and looked towards the sculpted and continued, "The first, second and fourth have sacrificed their lives for the sake of this village. Countless more have sacrificed themselves for this village. If so isn''t it selfish of me to be the hokage just for attention?" He paused and looked towards the village and laughed.


    "That is why I decided I shall be the hokage to be its protector; to try my best protect its citizens, to try my best to prevent any orphans from war for I know I am one and I hate being one. I want every child in this village to live their childhood relishing every moment. I also know the vile and hypocritical nature of man, despite that I want to be protector of this village, the protector of their dreams." He looked up at the sky and smiled.


    Kakashi''s eye widened in surprise and his hands trembled at the sheer might of those words.


    <hr />


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 Chapter 10: The first "real" assignment and a letter.

    Kakashi took in a deep breath. Composing himself, he studied Naruto closely and sighed. It''s been one surprise after another with him. Being hokage for the sake of another''s dreams and to inherit a will of those who sacrificed their lives huh...


    Naruto sat down and drew his gaze towards the village. After a few minutes of silence, Kakashi resumed, "Alright then since we have introduced ourselves, I will tell you some good news, we got a C-rank mission. The main objective of this mission is to escort a certain individual to the Land of Waves. We will be briefed tomorrow at 11 am on specifics of the mission so be prepared. Any questions?"


    "Are we assume that we might leave tomorrow?" Naruto questioned. Kakashi replied while rubbing his chin, "I would like you to assume that we are indeed leaving tomorrow. Therefore be prepared for a journey of at least a week. Anymore questions? Seeing none, you are dismissed and gather at the mission assignment desk at 11 am."


    Naruto spent the afternoon getting his supplies together. Satisfied with his purchases, he went to the training ground to test out his ''Wind style: Shinatobe''s Blessing '' as he calls his newly discovered wind armor. After a week of discovering it, Naruto could focus his armor around individual body parts; this is faster than creating a full body armor, which will be helpful in tight situation where time is of the essence.


    After three hours, he walked back to his apartment. As he stepped inside, suddenly a blinding white flash illuminated the room. Feeling dazed, he fell backwards. Scrambling onto his feet and trying to find his bearings as he opened his eyes, he realised he wasn''t in the Academy anymore. He was in a space much like his dream world however instead of green, it was white.  He looked around for any presence, however he could find none. Instead he found a scroll. It did not seem to have any sort inscription, in fact it was just a plain scroll without anything exquisite about it. Fearing it to be a trap he utilised his shadow clones to check it while he observes from afar.


    Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, Naruto checked the contents of the scroll. However instead of seeing any  jutsu or anything of the sorts, he saw a letter. It read:


    Dear Naruto/Steve,


    Do not panic as I intend no harm. I am the "white image" as you so eloquently put it. I shall  give you few pieces of limited information. One Naruto and Steve, while having differing personas, is not what you would think it is. You are no ordinary soul who has been thrust into the middle of nowhere. However due to a contract I have made, I shall not reveal how; when the time is right you shall eventually get to know of it. Secondly you have already noticed certain abnormalities in this certain version of Naruto. Again due to certain restrictions I am not allowed give you the exact details of the dangers that lie ahead of you.


    What I can tell is to beware of a black aura giving a similar presence to your white aura; the other objectives that I can give you is not to let the girl with Hamura''s bloodline die; you will eventually learn or rather notice who she is. Your next objective is to prevent the death of the Third Hokage without revealing any sort of detail about the future. Furthermore you are not allowed to speak of the future with anyone; doing so would cause far too much attention for you right now. .  With that being said, good luck with your endeavors, until next time.


    Regards,


    "White Image".


    P.S- Once you finish reading this letter you will fall back to sleep and will be unable to access the "dream world" for today. This message will cease to exist once you leave this space.


    Soon as he finished reading the last sentence, darkness enveloped the room and he soon fell asleep.


    .......


    Naruto woke up, feeling groggy and stiff. He had fallen asleep sprawled across floor last night. Slowly coming back to his senses, he tried to recall last night''s events. He then remembered the contents of the letter. So I received some more vague hints about my presence here. However he now says he cannot reveal any more details. Furthermore now I got to watch out for someone with a black aura. Hamura''s bloodline..... so apparently I will recognise who she is but how... again I could only conclude it has to with either the white or green energies. Next it says about saving the Third without revealing anything about his death and also a warning of not to speak about the future.


    Naruto got up and slowly dragged himself to the shower. After refreshing himself, he noted that he still has a couple hours left for the briefing. Making himself some breakfast, he sat down and frowned while eating. This is starting to make less sense the more I think of it. If I am to not use my knowledge of the future, what is the point of me even being here? Thank god I didn''t tell anyone, well not that they would believe me anyway. Now my woes don''t end there, I might have to even confront Orochimaru. Looking at the many uncertain factors in play, Orochimaru might even be more powerful and besides if he resurrects the two previous hokage, even if they are only able to use a fraction of their power, I am in quite a difficult situation.  He massaged his temples, frustrated with the current situation. He then got ready to leave in silence, still feeling frustrated of his situation.


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    Once he made his to the mission assignment desk, the rest of the team were gathered inside seemingly waiting for him. However as he entered the room, he also noted the foreign presence inside. Must be our client. The hokage cleared his throat and said "Team 7 your mission is to escort this man right here to the Land of Waves.  You are to leave within the next hour. Tazuna would you please introduce yourself to your team?"


    The client looked like a man in his sixties, wearing a pointed hat and towel wrapped around his neck. He cleared his throat and spoke, "My name is Tazuna of the Land of Waves, I am an architect who came here to gather some supplies. Could I count on you to escort me to my village?"


    Kakashi studied the man carefully for a few minutes. He nodded and replied, "We will, we shall meet at the main gate in one hour." The Hokage closed his eyes and said, "Everyone else but Kakashi leave the room now."


    Suspiciously eying the two Naruto left the room.


    Mission assignment room...


    Once everyone left, the Hokage opened his eyes and stared at Kakashi. He chuckled and smiled. "Isn''t that lad pretty interesting?" He got up from his seat and walked over to the window and gazed at the village. "Kakashi beware, this isn''t just another C-rank mission. My sources tell me there is a conflict going on in the Land of Waves centered around a bridge which being built. It could probably be a B rank or even A rank mission" he warned.


    Surprised by the hokage''s sudden warning, " If that is so Lord Hokage, then why you are sending team 7 then?"


    "I have my reasons Kakashi. Now get going, you don''t have time to waste"


    Bowing to the Hokage, Kakashi left the room.


    Naruto and Sasuke, let me see how much you have grown. Naruto show me your resolve to become the guardian of this village. Sasuke let me see your intent, is it to embrace hatred and the lust for power or to truly overcome it all. Show me your intent, the last of the Uchiha and Uzumaki. The hokage reached for his drawer and withdrew two books. Naruto show me you are ready to inherit their legacy.


    ......


    Naruto got back to his apartment and started packing up for the mission. He then walked over to the gate. Looks like I have twenty minutes left. Well better not wander around. He leaned against a wall in shade, waiting for the other to show up. At this point Hinata saw Naruto leaning against the wall and noted the backpack with him. Slowly walking up to him she asked, "Umm are you going anywhere? I''m sorry if I am bothering you...." she dropped her gaze as she blushed.


    Smiling at the gesture, he patted her head as he felt her flinch and watched her countenance glow with different shades of red. Why do I feel so much more comfortable when I am with her? He then replied, "Yes I am, team 7 got a mission to escort a client to the Land of Waves. It would take a bit more than a week I guess. Sorry that I couldn''t tell earlier."


    Clearly saddened by his sudden departure, her eyes drooped further. Then she reached for her pocket in her jacket and took out a white handkerchief.


    "Could you give me your hand?"


    He nodded and stretched his arm out arm. She then tied it around his upper arm. Her face looked like it was about to explode with embarrassment. Unable to take it anymore she ran away towards the inner part of the village.


    He smiled and continued to hold his gaze in the direction she ran towards.


    .....


    Ten minutes later, the rest of the group gathered at the gate.


    Kakashi looking at his team and his client said "Well then since everyone is here, let us depart."


    <hr />


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 Chapter 11: Ambush and the conflict in the land of waves.

    First of all I gotta thank my readers. My fiction became the 56th in the "Popular this week" rankings of this site and it is all thanks to your patience and feedback. I really appreciated all of it though I am sorry that I could not reply to them all.


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    LONG LIVE KISHIMOTO!!!!


    <hr />


    The group continues to travel silence, their destination lies just across the border to the south of the Land of Fire. Several hours later, they have travelled more than half the distance between the Leaf village and the destination. As they continued walking, Naruto sensed the chakra of several shinobi hiding, encircling them with a circle of a radius of 400 meters. Without even glancing towards each hidden presence, he took note of each of their positions. Clearly they want to ambush us and guessing by how Kakashi seems to even notice them, I guess he wants us to take care of them.


    He saw from the corner of his eyes how Kakashi seems to be more amused than anything else. Sasuke has a cold smile plastered on his face. Guess I was right, this is a test eh? There seems to be 9 assassins. Naruto gave Sasuke a nod and waited for an opportunity. Suddenly 7 of the assassins rushed towards them. Naruto summoned a shadow clone and the two of them disappeared using the body flicker technique. Naruto appearing before the closest assassin 5m meters from his original position and stabbed him in the jugular vein with his kunai, then again he disappeared and appeared before a couple of assassins behind them. Crouching down he executed a crescent kick as he got up. The two assassins were lifted off the ground and Naruto appeared in front them and kicked each of their necks in quick succession.


    His clone appeared before the two who were hiding and without a moment''s notice, he stabbed them right in larynx using his the two kunai in his hands. Just before one of the attackers were about to execute a jutsu, Naruto appeared before his adversary and punched him in the solar plexus. As soon as he staggered forward and lost his balance, Naruto leapt forward and trampled his neck with brute force. Spittle flew out of his open mouth.


    Sasuke leapt up and threw 4 kunai blocking off the path of the 3 fleeing assassins. He then immediately and executed an axe kick on the one who was the closest to him of the trio. Launching himself off his face as hit the assassin''s head, he dropkicked the shinobi right in front of him in the chest. Adjusting his body as he made contact and removing himself off him, he used his sharingan and for a split second, drawing his opponent into a trance; he grabbed the neck of the remaining shinobi with his left hand and thrust his kunai through his face using his right hand.


    Walking towards the only one of the 9 assassins, he took out a kunai and stabbed him twice in his kneecaps then grabbing his right arm, he twisted it around dislocating and breaking several bones in the process. After trampling his right wrist, he moved on to his left arm and repeated his motions. Screams of pain echoed throughout the forest as he went about his work. Once he was done, what remained was a near unconscious man who was whimpering in pain, sprawled across the ground.


    Kakashi studied the two of them. Certainly was quick and decisive in taking them out. Both of them were well aware of where their opponents were. In fact these two went the extra mile, Naruto took the two who were hiding in the forest while Sasuke immobilized one who could be used for questioning. Excellent combat instincts. He then looked at Sakura who was clearly shaken at the sight, tears flooding out of her eyes. Welcome to the battlefield, where your life will be constantly in danger. He sighed and then gave the other two a nod of approval.


    Sakura ran over to Sasuke and took out a couple of medicine pills. "Are you hurt Sasuke, are you okay? Here, take some pills, it will help you recover." clearly worried about his wellbeing. Giving her a cold stare, he walked away. She dropped to her knees and started weeping, clearly affected by his coldness. Naruto sighed, looking the duo. Why do I feel that her fate won''t be kind this time around.....


    Kakashi walked up to the remaining assassin and knelt on one knee. Removing his headband from his eye, he asked, "Who was it who sent you?" The three tomoe in his sharingan started rotating at a breakneck speed. Trapped in his hypnotic gaze, he said in a monotone, "I was sent by Zabuza Momochi, he was hired by Gato take out the bridge builder over there" pointing at Tazuna as he said so. Kakashi then stabbed his heart and ended his pitiful life. Kakashi turned and stared at Tazuna. He then stood up and walked towards him. Tazuna swallowed as Kakashi approached him. Standing a couple of feet away from him, Kakashi frowned.


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    "You do know that this mission has surpassed C-ranked the moment these shinobi appeared" he showed the rest of the team the headband, "These guys are chunin from the Hidden Mist Village, therefore this mission is no longer C-ranked but B-ranked. Furthermore since Zabuza could be involved this situation became even more troublesome, if he interferes, this will be an A-ranked mission. Since you are their target, you must well aware of the threat that must have been present your life. Furthermore we are not obliged to help you fend off against fully fledged shinobi but rather bandits and thieves. You nearly put the lives of new genin at risk due to your selfish request. So what is the reason that you lied to us?"


    Tazuna shrank at the stern questioning by Kakashi. He took a deep breath, trying compose himself. "I am sorry about the inconvenience I caused you, I truly am. But I have no choice, I had to lie. The Land of Waves is a poor nation and we don''t have any money to ask anything beyond a C-rank mission. That is why I walked all the way here to request your services."


    He continued, "The Land of waves is building a new bridge connecting the Land of Fire to the Land of Waves. I am the main architect overseeing the project. Gato is a cruel merchant who has a monopoly over the shipping in our region. Therefore to maintain that, he wants to destroy the bridge at all costs. If he succeeds in doing so, thousands of people are going to continue to suffer and be oppressed. Since the construction of the bridge heavily depends on me, he wants me dead to halt any progress."


    He bows facing them, "Please help me and my people and we will forever be in debt to the Leaf village." Teardrops trickled down his face. Naruto closed his eyes as he turned towards the pathetic form. A truly pitiful fate to have your life being forced to be placed into a hand of another.


    Kakashi stared at his miserable client. He glanced at his team and looked up at the sky. Dusk was falling rapidly and the night is fast approaching.  He nodded, "Yes we will. However it would be dangerous to continue to travel under these circumstances. Let us spend the night the next town." Tazuna''s body shook as he heard these words. He whispered softly, "Thank you."


    The group continued to travel in silence, they were thirty minutes away from the village when a mist appeared out of nowhere blocking their sight. Naruto''s senses could not feel anything beyond 50 meters. A few seconds later,Naruto sensed a ball of lightning chakra heading their way 30 degrees south of west. Shit, if that explodes anywhere 10 meters near us, Tazuna would end up getting killed. He gathered his chakra around his body and yelled, "Wind Style: Shinotabe''s blessing". White stands of wind chakra formed around his body, giving him the appearance of a deity of wind. He rushed at the fast approaching ball of lightning and gathered his chakra in his right and created a Wind style:rasengan.


    Within a blink eye the two forces collided 30 meters away from the rest of the team, a dazzling explosion blew up an area of 20 meters. A strong gust of wind and sparks of lightning surrounded the area after the blast ensued. As the explosion occurred, a monstrous ice snake and a water dragon flanking them from either side. Sasuke immediately executed a few hand seals and calmly stepped in front of the ice dragon. "Fire style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet" his voice filled with authority as an elegant fire dragon clashed with the ice snake. The clash of ice and fire was a sight to see, with each entwining around the other dancing to an age old song.


    Kakashi, in the meantime and muttered, "Earth style, Earth wall" and the ground rumbled as a dome made of earth covering Kakashi, Sakura and Tazuna. The water dragon struck the earth wall with brute force, however the wall stood resilient against its adversary.


    Naruto stood in the center of a crater of 20 meters. His right sleeve slightly torn from the contact however for the most part he was unheard. Thank god, I created that wind armor, otherwise I would have been deep fried shrimp. However his relief was short lived; his eyes widened as 7 streams of blue lightning crackled through the air, each approaching him in different directions, their target - him.


    Fuck, this was definitely not in the damn story.

 Chapter 12: A dance for three.

    Immediately Naruto jumped and the 5 streaks of lightning struck where he was however two strands changed their direction and crackled through the air as they tried to flank him. Naruto formed two rasengans in each of his hands and spread his hands to meet the two streaks. Sparks ignited as the lightning and his rasengan clashed; his arm jarred from the ongoing collision. A few seconds later, he felt a foreign presence approaching him at a blinding speed.


    Not good I can''t use the body flicker jutsu in his condition. Despite his current predicament, his face broke into a wild grin. Well then if he wants to dance then let''s begin. He closed his eyes and searched for a certain tenketsu. Finding it within a split second, he yelled,


    "FIRST GATE: GATE OF OPENING"


    His opponent was making ground towards at a breakneck pace, in his hands were two swords similar to a tanto. Both were rippling with lightning chakra. Naruto could not make out any other feature of his opponent. His sole focus was to survive.


    A sudden rush of pain and energy flooded his body. Roaring in pain, he flipped in midair as the presence was 5 meters away from him and thrust the two rasengans and lightning forcefully in front of him while channeling as much wind chakra as he could gather at that point towards his assailant.


    A far more powerful blast ensued, and Naruto was blown 50 meters back from it shockwave and his opponent was thrown back 40 meters from the epicenter. Naruto crashed through several trees and finally lost his consciousness.


    Meanwhile Sasuke continued to struggle against the ice snake; his massive chakra being the only reason why the snake is unable to dominate. Suddenly a flurry of silvery senbon whistled through the air. Sasuke abandoned his jutsu and leapt a couple of feet back. However a sudden shockwave rippled across the area. The senbons were diffracted from the interruption and the Ice snake shook as the shock wave reached it. Immediately using this distraction, he traced the origin of the ice dragon with his sharingan. Without missing a beat he threw several kunai with exploding tags towards the source.


    He quickly executed a hand signal. The tags exploded upon command however what was revealed when the smoke cleared up was a dome made of completely of ice. A slender figure wearing a mask walked out from the dome. Sasuke''s eyes widened at what he saw next, the masked figure was executing his jutsu using only one hand. Seems like a kekkei genkai user like me. However fire type moves do not seem to have much effect on him. Rather it''s not easy to melt the ice, it takes a lot of brute strength to do so. For now I could only fight him to a deadlock till one of the others could give me a hand. Unless I could get him to fall into my sharingan genjutsu or basically overpower his jutsu, there seems to be no other viable solution.


    Clicking his tongue, he charged at his opponent. The masked man threw several senbon at him and simultaneously started creating his new jutsu. Sasuke immediate activated his sharingan and the three tomoe in each of his started rotating as if they were in a frenzy and deflected the incoming senbon with his kunai. Falling into a sudden trance, he masked man halted casting his jutsu. Sasuke immediately starting doing a few hand seals and shouted, "Fire style: Great Fire Annihilation."


    A massive mass of fire exploded out of Sasuke''s mouth and enveloped his opponent . However instead of being burned to a crisp, the masked man snapped out his daze and silently enveloped himself in multiple ice domes. An explosion of steam erupted as the ice and fire came into contact once again.


    Kakashi looked over to the source of the explosion. Not good, We can''t let this assault continue. Suddenly a form with a peculiar broadsword with looked like a butchering knife making its way towards Sakura and Tazuna. Shit. Kakashi rushed towards his intended targets. Executing several hand signs he exclaimed, "Lightning style: Lightning beast tracking fang!".


    Lightning chakra gathered around his right hand and manifested itself into a shape of a hound. Aiming at the form, he released the gathered chakra. The lightning hound crackled through the air as it whizzed towards the form. However once the jutsu struck the form, it immediately burst into water. Damn it a water clone. Wait he is right behind me.


    Quickly taking out a kunai, he blocked the incoming blade. Interlocked and directly facing each other, Kakashi revealed his sharingan.


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    "So you are the infamous Zabuza?" he growled at the towering form.


    "The copycat ninja, Kakashi Hatake. I guess we finally meet." he sneered.


    "Why are you interfering with the workings of the Land of Waves Zabuza?" He snarled.


    "None of your business Kakashi" Zabuza smirked.


    The two leapt backwards and both of them executed several hand seals and yelled at the same time, "Water style: Great waterfall!"


    Two vortexes of water crashed against each other, uprooting the trees and wiping out anything in their path. Few moments after ending their respective jutsu,  both of them once again casted another jutsu simultaneously shouting:


    "Water style: Water dragon bullet."


    Two dragons made of water clashed against each other, each unable to best the other. Suddenly a flash of blue lightning was making its way towards Kakashi. Not good, I got no time time to dodge. His eyes widened at the surprise attack. However the blue lightning could not reach its destined target.


    A figure with yellow hair, covered in a armour of wind, obstructing the path of the lightning like a celestial being of a long forgotten age. He coldly stared at his adversary with his frigid blue eyes.


    "Your opponent is me."


    Few minutes prior to this- Within the Cage of the Nine-tails.


    Where am I.....


    Ahh yes I was blasted backwards by the explosion.....


    I got to get up.....


    "Well, well, well, look what we have here." a cynical voice reached his ears. He slowly opened his eyes however he found that he was staring at the familiar malicious, red eyes of the Nine tailed fox.


    "So you got your ass handed to you didn''t, little boy? You really think such a naive kid like you could take on this malevolent world of hypocrisy, danger and death." its cynical remarks echoing throughout the dark space.


    It laughed at the despicable appearance of its host. "You think that make a difference? You think you can overcome the insurmountable odds? You have nothing significant about you boy. Fate is only kind to few individuals while cruelly looking down at the rest of the trampling them to the ground. The weak are meant to be devoured and the strong are meant to rule. That is the only truth of the world."


    "Now then, I could change that for you. I could give you a glimpse of this power. A glimpse of your fate when you succumb to your deepest and darkest emotions; for they not your foe but your ally. Give in to your hate, let me show you your future!"


    A whirlpool of red chakra frantically encircled him. Naruto took deep breath. He was neither disheartened nor enraged. He knew how insignificant he was currently at the large scheme of things. He knew he had a long way to go. He then looked that the white handkerchief tied into his left shoulder, which miraculously survived the explosion. He smiled remembering the warm feelings in his heart.


    It is then decided that he will not give in to hate. He will not submit to his deepest, darkest desires. He will not kneel before the Nine-tailed fox. He shall not yield to a tragic fate; for he does not fear death but fears isolation the most.


    His eyes were slowly replaced with a resolute look. He exhaled and the red chakra dispersed. The Nine tails expression changed and he was deeply enraged.


    "Nine-tails, the reason why I won''t accept your power now is that it is tainted with hate. It will only consume me and destroy those I care about the most."


    "Boy your stupidity truly knows no bounds. You cannot survive without power. Power is what separates the strong from the weak. Power is what decides your fate, and you by rejecting your fate, you only walk to your own grave boy!" His roar ringing his eyes, making his eyes smart at its sheer pressure.


    "Ha you think you could scare me into submission? I am well aware of the risks and rewards of my path and knowing this I shall walk my chosen path with confidence. However there is one thing you better keep in mind."


    Naruto grinned at the Nine-tailed fox. Then he pointed his right index finger at the beast.


    "You will submit to me."


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