Shortly after his eighth birthday, Naruto had punched a training post hard enough that the shattered end of it had put a hole in an Academy wall.
Apparently the year before that, he'd picked up fangirls. Both Hyuga, one of the branch family and one of the main. Both commented on his pretty chakra.
To anyone with sensor abilities, Naruto did indeed have distinctive chakra. To the Byakugan, he glowed like the sun. To his own admittedly more limited sensory abilities, Naruto felt like a small fire.
So, he had to learn control and do so away from prying eyes. Control of that strength and speed, control of that chakra that was growing so quickly, control of his emotional state, control of any of those extra abilities that Minato had demonstrated.
Ah. If only HE had that look-through-things dojutsu. The research possibilities were incredible.
Speaking of which. "Naruto. I have to go into town and pick up some supplies. I'll be back in two hours, I think. Maybe the morning if things develop. Try not to destroy the camp."
Naruto stopped and scowled at his sensei. "That only happened ONCE."
"And I want to make sure that it only happens once," answered Jiraiya. "Once was quite enough."
"I leave for six hours. Six little hours."
"I sneezed."
"We have to move," said Jiraiya. "This is a little too obvious that something unusual happened."
"We just got here!" protested Naruto.
Jiraiya simply whipped through handsigns and stomped a foot. "Swamp Of The Underworld."
The broken trees and shattered boulders sank into the ground.
"Oh man..." complained the eight-year-old.
"He did? You're kidding! Then what happened?" asked Risa Ran as she and her small group of friends crossed the bridge.
"Honest!" answered Midori Miyaki, holding up her hands. "He really did."
"Go on! What did you do?" eagerly asked Natarii.
"Well, then, I-" began Risa.
Crack!
"The bridge?" asked Midori, as the bridge underfoot shuddered.
"The daimyo of Earth Country will know the pain he's caused us when his daughter's mangled body is found," said a ninja suddenly standing there at the end of one bridge.
"What?!" asked Risa before everything started tilting and she and her friends began falling. She caught a glimpse of her bodyguard, sprawled out on the ground and then-
ZOOM! GRAB! ZIP!
Risa blinked as she was suddenly on the path leading to the bridge instead of halfway across that bridge.
ZOOM! GRAB! ZIP!
Suddenly Midori was standing next to her.
ZOOM! GRAB! ZIP!
And now Natarii and Rika?
There was also a boy, perhaps ten or eleven in age standing nearby.
The bridge was still collapsing.
"You shouldn't have interfered. The cost is your life!" Suddenly the ninja who'd been at the end of the bridge was behind the boy and swinging a sword at his neck.
There was no time for her to start screaming before the boy ducked under the blow, then came up with a massive uppercut, springing into the air.
The ninja was launched, literally LAUNCHED, into the air. Risa was able to track the arc as the ninja landed in the small creek at the bottom of the ravine.
A large man appeared in a blur, slinging a second ninja to the ground. "Naruto. Missing-nin like this don't always work alone. Be mindful of partners."
"Oh. Right," said the boy, apparently named Naruto.
"Your bodyguards are in a genjutsu, I'll bring them out but then we've got to leave," said the large man to Risa.
"Ah," said Midori after the two had left. "That was Jiraiya. One of Konohagakure's Sannin No Densetsu."
"Konoha ninja?" asked Risa. "What are they doing here?"
"Jiraiya is said to be an author who wanders the country, looking for inspiration for his novels," said Midori. "My father has been known to read his series."
"Really?" asked Risa. "His student seems formidable."
"I'll have to borrow those books now," noted Midori.
"Oh, here comes the other two guards," said Risa. "Damn well about time."
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at the two. "So was the training a success?"
Naruto released his tight control that suppressed his chakra to the level of "low Academy student" and the sudden burst caused papers to rustle and shift despite the weights holding them in place.
"Strength and speed are already at least low jonin," said Jiraiya. "Resistance to injury and stamina are high jonin at least. On the rare occasion I can get him to focus-"
"Hey now!" grumbled Naruto.
"-his hearing and sight are special jonin in acuity," continued Jiraiya. "Chakra levels? Very high, both his capacity and recovery rate."
"Due to?" asked Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"No. Under VERY controlled conditions, I was able to check. It's all him," said Jiraiya.
"You mean Kurama?" asked Naruto.
"Who is Kurama?" asked the Hokage.
"The nine-tailed demon fox apparently has a name," said Jiraiya. "I still can't believe you offered him tea and riceballs."
"You're the one who was stressing proper manners when ya meet someone," protested Naruto.
"I especially can't believe the fox accepted," further stated Jiraiya.
"I just ignored all his yelling and insults and eventually he settled down," said Naruto. He held one finger and his thumb very close together. "Just a bit."
"Kurama spent the whole time complaining the riceballs were too sticky and the tea too cool and not nearly enough of it," continued Jiraiya.
"Hey, it was my first try at making stuff in there," retorted Naruto. "I had trouble scaling stuff up."
"Only you, Naruto," summed up the Hokage.
Sakura glared at Ino, who glared back.
She was going to be the one to claim Sasuke's heart! She would be the top kunoichi of the class!
"Settle down, everyone," said Iruka as he entered. "We have a returning student."
"Aw man, someone to slow us down?" asked Kiba.
Sakura considered that Kiba might have a point there. Wouldn't someone new require a lot of catching up, thereby slowing all the rest of them down?
Rather than think about something depressing, Sakura decided she'd watch Sasuke instead. He was doing that cool brooding look, as if such concerns were beneath him while he contemplated things only an elite such as himself could.
"Come in," said Iruka.
Sakura blinked and her attention was drawn off of Sasuke as Sasuke himself stirred. It was like there had been dark clouds and now the sun had broken through.
The boy was the same age as everyone else - about eleven. Taller than her by about a hand and a half. Broader too, but not in the manner of Choji.
Then he smiled and the room brightened.
Sakura blinked rapidly, looking at where Sasuke was frowning at the new boy and then back to the newcomer. Hadn't he been in their class previously? So why did he look so much stronger?
Sakura next glanced at Ino, who was staring with her mouth open. Well, this class had just gotten more interesting.
Iwa would want to kill him because apparently he looked a bit like the Yondaime. Kumo would want to kill him because he was fast and strong and they didn't want anyone faster or stronger than their own guys. Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri would try to kill him if he was an Uzumaki and strong enough to be credible at ninja-stuff.
That had been explained to him before.
None of which would matter if he couldn't manage this damn clone technique.
"BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
BOOM!
He did the handsigns right. It didn't seem to matter if he whispered the name of the technique, shouted it, or remained silent. He paused at a particular idea, then slid down into a lotus position. Closing his eyes, he focussed on breathing as he tried to do something he hadn't done for awhile.
The labyrinth of pipes and storm drain with the cage at the center of it.
"A watermelon?"
"When visiting the home of a business associate, always bring a gift," said Naruto.
"I hate you and your kind with a hate that burns hotter than the sun," said the Kyubi.
"You've used that one before," pointed out Naruto.
"It merely bears repeating."
"I needed to ask. I'm trying to use the Bunshin technique, you know - Clone? Except it keeps blowing up." Naruto shrugged. "That something you doing?"
"No."
"Huh," said Naruto. "I wonder why then..."
"Probably a side effect of that solar chakra. It's too potent for such techniques."
"Oh. Hadn't thought of that." Naruto pondered, then nodded. "You're a genius!"
"Flattery will get you nowhere. At least with me. Some kunoichi might give you better mileage."
"I don't know what you mean," confessed Naruto.
"Bring some books next time. Not phantasmal watermelons."
Naruto faded slowly out. Before he faded completely though he nodded.
"-so anyway, Mizuki made this offer to allow me to pass the genin test if I would just bring him the Forbidden Scroll," said Naruto. He shook his head once. "So, anyway, I asked two of the other Academy students to come along. Mind you - the idea of a NINJA Academy having a secret test for advanced placement isn't completely ridiculous."
"Hmph," said Shikamaru. "So you wanted backup?"
"Nah, witnesses," said Naruto. "If it came down to what I say versus what Mizuki claimed? Weight would be on Mizuki's story because he's a chunin. Two additional witnesses? Much better. So I asked Hinata - Hyuga clan. She was apparently a bit sick, she was all red and stuff, but she agreed to hide. I got Kiba to go along too - he couldn't lie if his life depended on it."
Shikamaru slid a piece into place on the shogi board. "Mizuki couldn't tell?"
"Actually, he figured out Hinata was there," answered Naruto. "You'd think she'd be better at stealth and Kiba would be worse. Mizuki attacked her at one point. I rescued her. Excitement must have been too much - she fainted as I was carrying her away from the attack. Kiba tried to attack Mizuki right after that, got slapped down pretty fast. Oh. Good move."
Shikamaru frowned at Naruto. "How did you beat him?"
Naruto picked a rock up off the ground and snapped it in half. "He wasn't nearly fast or strong enough to face me, much less a dozen shadow clones of me."
"I'd imagine not," admitted Shikamaru. "I was just wondering why you had the headband."
"The Hokage didn't classify anything, just implied it," said Naruto. "I concede."
"You saw that, did you?" asked Shikamaru with a smirk.
"Not until you did that last one," said Naruto with a sigh.
"Team Seven," said Iruka Umino. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura's head whipped to the side, seeing the tall blond who emanated warmth on one side. Sakura looked to the other side, the cool and aloof Sasuke.
"WHAT?!" protested Ino. "How does she get the two hottest guys in class on her team!"
"Top kunoichi," said Iruka. "If it hadn't been for the weight of performing the three Academy techniques - Naruto wouldn't have been dead last. That's something we'll have to look at in the future but for now it stands. And Sasuke was the rookie of the year. Traditional team. Now if you'd studied a bit harder, you might have displaced Sakura."
"Not a chance," said Sakura, confident in her scores.
"As it was, Hinata was one point away," said Iruka.
THUD THUD THUD THUD!
"Hinata, stop beating your head against your desk," said Iruka.
"What if an accident happened to Sakura and she couldn't make it?" asked Ami.
"In any case," said Iruka, moving on.
Sakura began to sweat as she realized that the question hadn't been answered. Was Ami checking her senbon? Was that sound Kasumi over there using a whetstone on her throwing knives?
"Team 8. Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 28 Jul 2015 17:34)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.