Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The New Horizon
Chapter 5:
The New Horizon
Naruto woke up the same way he had for the last several days since he had arrived to the past due to the mission which both he and Sasuke had accepted: to change the past in order to save the future. In other words, it was quite a peaceful and enjoyable experience. What made it all better for the young blond Uzumaki was that he was with his actual family, getting to know them. That was something which had been denied to him once.
Somehow, it had been given back to him.
Sitting up on his bed, the blond rubbed his eyes tiredly as his vision started to clear. The night before had been quite enjoyable all right. He had been able to mess with one of the individuals who had messed with him quite a lot for some time: Orochimaru.
The blond had to tell himself that it wasn't the same Orochimaru whom he had met in the Forest of Death during the Chunnin exams. The snake summoner was actually a Konoha shinobi during this time, not to mention how younger he was. But most of all, he was quite weaker than the future Orochimaru. Then again, he wasn't even at his prime when he along with Tsunade and Jiraiya had fought against Hanzo in Ame.
He only wondered how Tsunade and Jiraiya themselves would be during this time. Well, the blond jinchuriki was sure that he would find out soon enough. How? He wasn't quite sure.
Another thing that suddenly jumped back into the blond's memory was the whole reason why Orochimaru had even come to Uzu in the first place. And the answer was the very thing which the boy was trying to stop from happening: war. If he remembered quite correctly, it was the Second Shinobi War to be precise. Never would the whiskered boy actually think that he would say that he was actually living during that time.
Life was a bitch that way.
After having taken a shower, the blond gazed at his reflection through one of the mirrors in his room as he put on his orange jacket on. Staring right back at his reflection, the boy sighed. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling so down this morning. The night before had just been invigorating. Still, the boy did have some clue as to what had him in the dumps.
Now that he had time to think about it, Naruto realized the implication that the word war would bring to this nation, to his clan, to his family. He still remembered quite well what Nagato had defined war as. And after remembering the death of Neji, the blond had to agree with the once rinnegan user.
War was hell. It was pointless. People died for no reason whatsoever. And with that, he realized in what danger Aika, Haru, and even Kushina were now that Uzu would most likely go to war. As Kurama had told him, things changed when war befell upon a village. And he knew that he wouldn't like those changes.
"Never would have pegged you as one for reflecting, brat. Especially at something like this. Where's all that boasting that you usually show?"
Naruto smiled faintly as he heard the voice of one of his closest companions now.
'Ha, then maybe you just don't know me as well as you thought, furball.' The blond then frowned. 'No matter what you tell me, though, I can't help but feel uneasiness about all of this. I mean, it's not like the war which we came from. Outside of this island, every other nation is the enemy. As much as it pains me to think like this, even Konoha can't be trusted. Not with Danzo lurking beneath it somewhere. I-I really don't know how to do things now…..'
'I'm lost.'
The bijuu was silent, opting to just hearing what his host had to say. After a few moments of silence, the giant fox replied.
"What you're feeling right now is natural, brat. You're still human inside. No matter if you want to admit it to yourself or not, you're afraid. I don't know how you've been able to hang out until now, but it doesn't matter. Neither of us have that luxury. Not with what's at stake. Besides, you said it so yourself. Just keep doing one of the things you're actually good at."
Naruto could almost feel the massive grin on the bijuu's face.
"Just improvise. Luck has been on our side until now. Let's see if we can squeeze out a few more miracles before it runs out."
Naruto laughed to himself, feeling the fear that had been trying to nag at him for the past few days leave him. Scratching his head, Naruto continued to laugh for a few moments. Finally, it quieted down.
'Kurama…thanks. I really need it that.'
Said bijuu h'mphed. Offering his host no reply, he continued to lie down within Naruto's subconscious with his head on top of his paws which were crossed together.
Taking that as a 'you're welcome,' Naruto finally exited his room. Closing the door behind him, the boy walked downstairs to find the others already there. The only one missing was Kushina.
'She must still be getting ready or something.'
Brushing it off, Naruto took his usual spot next to Kaito who was eating his breakfast in a much better mood than Naruto would have thought. Things had been quite tense between him and Arashi after the meeting with Orochimaru. Naruto had seen it, after all. Odd.
Looking at the usual breakfast on his plate, the blond began to eat quietly. While Naruto wasn't the best at reading a situation, he wasn't completely bad at it either. Especially when he tried. He knew that there was a tense atmosphere hidden beneath the calm demeanor of both of his grandparents. For one, Kazumi hadn't even said good morning to him. That in of itself was odd.
But if the council had indeed voted for what Naruto was suspecting it to have, then their current attitude was completely understandable.
It was then that the last member of the family finally made her presence known. Sitting down at her own spot, the young Kushina had a small grin on her face as she looked at her parents.
"Morning, kaa-chan, tou-chan."
Arashi smiled at her, but Naruto could see that it was quite forced.
"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you have a good night's sleep?"
Kushina merely nodded as she too began to dig down on her breakfast. That was something else Naruto had learned from his mother: she had a big appetite. At least it told him where he got his.
Both Arashi and Kazumi glanced at each other with Naruto taking notice of this. Out of his peripherals, the blond also saw Kaito stop eating all of a sudden.
'So, it's time then…..'
Coughing slightly, Arashi looked at both his daughter and adoptive son. "There's something we need to discuss, you two. Something important."
Kushina stopped with her cheerful munching at hearing that while Naruto sighed internally as he relaxed. He couldn't act too normal when his grandfather sprung the news on them. It would be too suspicious. While Naruto didn't know if all of their suspicion towards him had disappear, he couldn't risk even the slightest mistake.
Arashi studied his daughter and adoptive son for a moment, trying to find the best way in which he could explain this to them without sounding as grave as the situation would be from now on.
"There's going to be some changes from now on, especially at the academy."
Kushina titled her head to the side, making Naruto stop himself from chuckling. Really, she just looked too cute. But then he remembered the topic of the conversation, immediately returning his attention to Arashi.
"What do you mean by that, tou-chan? Change how?"
Arashi sighed as he stroked his beard. It could be considered a habit at this point, something which Kazumi had been pointing out to him for a while now with him refusing it at every turn. He didn't know why, he just did.
"Let's just say that the teachers are going to be a bit stricter from now as well as tougher with what they teach you."
Kushina's eyes began to sparkle as she immediately began to jump on her seat. "Do you mean that I'm finally going to be able to learn cool jutsu like you and kaa-chan!?"
Out of his peripherals, Naruto saw Kaito sigh as he shook his head slightly. After having been in a war, Naruto could understand why his uncle would be put off at Kushina's attitude. War wasn't something to laugh at. It would bring deaths to many in the clan. Not to mention that no one knew how long it would last. Dammit, the blond was seriously beginning to hate not having paid any attention to Iruka during his days at the academy. But how the hell was he to know that one day he would be in this position?
Arashi put a forced smile on his face, nodding as well. "That's right. It won't be long before you can do awesome jutsu just like us."
It was obvious to all of the others that Kushina was clearly just looking at learning ninjutsu portion, not even bothering to ask as to why things were changing in the first place. Still, it wasn't that Naruto blamed her. Like he had taken notice of many times before, she was still just a kid.
Kazumi sighed as well before standing up and walked towards Kushina, kneeling beside her as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Kushina, you need to understand why this is happening in the first place."
Kushina stopped her cheering as she looked into the serious eyes that belonged to her mother. Naruto saw how Arashi had a guilty look on his face, making the blond realize that his grandfather had intended to tell Kushina that but wasn't able to do so in the end.
'He really does care for her…..'
"But he's also hindering her growth, brat. There's different types of love, others better than others. Your grandfather realizes that he's making a mistake in spoiling your mother. But at the same time, he can't help it."
Naruto silently nodded with his furry friend's assessment. Once again, he really wouldn't know what to do if he were in Arashi's shoes. It did get him thinking, though. Being a good leader as well as a parent was no easy task.
Kushina tilted her head to the side again. "What do you mean, kaa-chan?"
Kazumi bit her lip for a moment before relaxing herself as she knew that Kushina needed to start thinking that there was a whole world out there besides Uzu.
"The truth is that we're going to be going to war from now on."
Kushina looked on in slight confusion. "War?"
Kazumi nodded. "Yes. This also means that you might be facing battle sooner than expected. That's why you're going to be learning new things at a quicker pace. Understand?"
Naruto already knew that his mother did understand. The young redhead was a lot smarter than one would think. It was just her childish side that prevented her from showing that to others. Not to mention the bit of selfishness that she had in her. Even he had to admit to that.
Kushina looked at Kaito who hadn't said a word throughout the entire conversation. He also had his eyes closed with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"That means Kaito is going to be fighting out there too?"
It was obvious that the question had caught the others by surprise, even Kaito himself as he shifted slightly in his seat.
Naruto internally grinned.
Kazumi nodded in slight hesitation. "That's right."
Kushina looked away from her. "I see…."
The woman looked lost, not entirely understanding what had just happened with her only daughter.
Kaito for his part opened one eye to look at his younger sister. He seemed to be debating something before finally standing up. Both Arashi and Kazumi followed his movements as he knelt on the opposite side of where Kazumi was. He placed his hand on Kushina's head, rubbing it affectionately. Kushina looked up at him with a slight surprised look.
"Don't worry about me, shrimp. I'm going to be fine. Before you know it, it'll be back to normal."
Kushina's mood seemed to lift up at hearing that. The next moment was surprising for everyone else as well. Kaito's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a hug from Kushina.
Both Arashi and Kazumi shared a look before smiling. It was obvious that they were happy with this development. As for Kaito, he only knelt there, patting Kushina's head in an almost awkward manner as she continued to hug him.
Naruto took all of this to heart. A smile formed itself on the blond's face as he gazed at the scene in front of him. He hadn't really thought too much about it, but his mother must have suffered much more than him in some instances. After all, she lost all of this once.
"It's because I had those bonds that I'm suffering now."
Naruto recalled those word all too well. It was what Sasuke had told him when they had fought at the Valley of the End. And he had to agree with his rival. Naruto himself had experienced that as well with Jiraiya. Not to mention with Neji as well. Bonds were powerful. But when they were destroyed for whatever reason it could be, it hurt. A lot. There really was no way to describe the pain that came along with it.
At the same time, however, Naruto knew that things were different this time. He was here. In this time period. And he had the power to change things. Which was exactly what the blond was planning on doing. Hell, even if he didn't have the power, he would still try to do something however futile it could be. That was just the kind of person that he was. It was also the same reason why he even accepted coming back to the past in the first place.
Kazumi tore her gaze away from her children to look at Naruto, remembering that they had yet to know how he felt about the situation. But before she could even get a single word out, her eyes saw the serene expression that was present in the young boy's face. It was the same serene expression that she had seen the boy express when he thought that no one was looking. And even now she didn't know what it meant exactly. If only she could know what the blond was thinking.
But then the expression changed. Instead of it being calm and peaceful, it turned into one of full determination. The thing that shocked her the most, though, were the blond's eyes. No longer were they calm, belonging to a person which could bring no harm to others. No, they were the exact opposite of that. And that was what shocked her.
Arashi saw his wife's eyes widen out of the blue. Following her gaze, he too saw the look which now presented itself on the blond's face. The thing that shook him up the most was the blond's eyes as well. He recognized those eyes. He had seen them many times before in other people in the past. That particular thought brought the most shock to the Uzumaki leader.
They were the eyes of a capable shinobi.
Arashi lost himself in the intensity of those eyes. There was nothing he could think of that would explain the sight in front of him.
And if he were honest, that scared him even more than the coming war.
Naruto glanced at Kushina as they made their way through one of the hallways in the academy in order to get to their classroom.
What his future mother had done had certainly surprised him a lot alright. It seemed as if the redhead had taken to doing that to him at every chance she got. It was the fourth time now in which she had caught the blond off guard. At first, Naruto had thought that he had gotten Kushina's personality down. And while he wasn't exactly too thrilled at what he saw, it was what he had been expecting. But now? A complete one eighty turn.
And the blond couldn't be any happier.
Reaching their classroom, the pair walked inside, finding many other students already there with the instructor being later for once. But with the changes that were coming up, Naruto could understand that. Both Aika and Haru were also already there.
Walking to the back of the classroom to his usual seat, Naruto ignored some of the stares he got. It seemed that not all of the students were used to him yet. Well, he could live with that. He had been a pariah for twelve years. A few days was nothing to him. Kushina was also walking next to him which could explain some of the stares. Naruto idly remembered that they had been much worse yesterday when he had ran into the playground dragging Kushina along with him. Even more so when she had hung out with him and the others instead of the usual flock of girls that she did.
Aika immediately frowned when her eyes caught sight of Kushina. Haru merely waved at him. The issue between the two girls was something that neither boy wanted to get in between of. They cared too much about their health to do so.
Instead of the usual orderliness that ran supreme in the classroom, now there was only chaos. Okay, maybe not chaos per say. But all of the students were scattered about, talking amongst themselves about the unusual absence of their instructor. Some were even talking about the sudden change in Kushina.
Aika leaned on top of the desk as Naruto and Kushina stood in front of her with Haru being the only one actually seated in his seat.
"So….I'm guessing you two have heard."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Did your dad tell you already or what?"
Aika shrugged. "He wasn't entirely sure. But I told you he was a jonin. My mom was a jonin too. They resigned after they had me. But that's not the point. My dad had a little get together with his old buddies last night who still are shinobi. It seems that they already suspected war once those shinobi from Konoha got here. Haru over here confirmed it for me."
Hearing his name, the boy nodded. "Y-yea."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. 'It's only logical, I guess. Kenji-ojiichan was there too. Telling Haru was to be expected.'
"For the boy? Yes. Especially since he's not like the others his age."
Kushina on the other hand was looking around the classroom, a frown on her face.
Naruto noticed this but decided not to comment. He had a feeling as to what was troubling her.
Aika continued, "Anyways, at least now we're going to be able to learn useful things because of this stupid war."
Naruto's attention was immediately focused on her. "Stupid? Why would you think it's stupid?"
Aika looked around the classroom for a moment before finally answering the eager Naruto. "Think about it, whiskers. This is not our war. It's Konoha's. They should just handle it themselves instead of trying to get us into it. Well, not try anymore since they succeeded."
Haru spoke up from his spot. "But we have an alliance with them. Doesn't that mean anything?"
Aika grinned. "Yeah, I guess that must have been their excuse as well. But my dad has taught me something: in the shinobi world, alliances don't mean a thing. They're just fronts for a temporary peace which will be broken the moment that one nation gains the necessary power to strike."
Naruto couldn't help but frown at hearing this.
"Heh, she's right, you know. These days, that's just exactly how things are. This girl….I'm really starting to be intrigued by her, brat!"
Naruto ignored the now excited fox. Instead, he was analyzing what Aika had said in his mind. Needless to say, it went against everything that he was fighting for. Something which he had been close to achieving in his own time. Then again, it had took a madman trying to place a genjutsu on the whole world to make the other nations realize that fighting amongst themselves was pointless but still. Like Kurama had so kindly put it, though, things were different during this time period. War was a common occurrence. So it was no surprise that Aika's father, who was also a shinobi, would think that way.
That didn't mean that he liked it, though.
"That isn't the right way to look at things."
Aika looked at her friend who had his head lowered, his hair shadowing his eyes. Haru turned his attention to the blond as well. Kushina heard the way Naruto had spoken which made her turn towards him as well. His voice….it sounded kinda hollow in a sense. The young redhead didn't know how to exactly explain it.
Aika had her entire attention focused on the whiskered blond.
"Alliances, treaties, agreements, whatever you want to call them. They're just exactly what are needed right now. They can help foster relations between nations. It doesn't even have to be nations. The same can be said about just two ordinary people. If there can be no agreement, no understanding, then wars will just continue. There will be no true end to any of this. The cycle of hatred will never end, which means war will never end. And all of that will just lead to our downfall one day. That's why, as insignificant as they may look, alliances are important. They could just be a small step to fixing the cruelty of this world."
The other three kids had their eyes wide open, not exactly having been expecting Naruto to be saying things like he was. He sounded a lot older than he looked at the moment. And that confused all three of them.
Naruto came out of his stupor, realizing what exactly he had just said, what he had been planning on saying. He wanted to punch himself. Right now wasn't the time to be saying things like that. As far as any other person was concerned, he was merely an eight year old brat. Certainly not one to be saying things like he was.
Kurama for his part simply smirked. The blond was exactly like the old man in that regard alright. Always trying to find a solution to a problem through peaceful means. Even if the situation seemed hopeless. They would still charge at it head on. It came almost instinctively. One could almost say it was like a curse.
Naruto laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, trying to defuse the situation. "What were we talking about again? Cuz I forgot!"
Aika looked at Naruto for a few more moments, her icy blue eyes dissecting his inner self apart. On the outside, Naruto continued to laugh while he was sweating bullets in the inside. He knew Aika was really sharp, easily being able to grasp new ideas. Not to mention her analytical skills in a situation. She was able to read a person quite well when she really wanted to. It sorta reminded Naruto of how Itachi was. Whether that was a good thing or not, the blond didn't know.
Haru was also studying Naruto except without the intense gaze in which Aika was doing so. The boy was more confused than anything. Never had he expected for Naruto to be so….passionate, yes passionate about something like this.
As for Kushina, the girl was looking at him with an unreadable look on her face. Naruto couldn't really tell what was going on the girl's mind.
Finally, after what seemed like a millennium but was really just a few seconds, Aika spoke.
"You….you're really weird, whiskers."
One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched at that. Was that the girl's catchphrase or something!? But it did bring some relief to the blond. At least none of them were thinking that he was a time traveler or anything like that. Now that really would have sucked.
A snort ran through his mind, belonging to none other than one nine tailed bijuu. "Time traveler? Just because of that? Thousands of other reasons come up before that ever does, brat. Your stupidity really does surprise me sometimes."
Naruto t'ched, trying to hold himself from snapping back at the sarcastic bijuu. Why did he had to get stuck with the snarly one?
Kurama h'mphed. "Please. We both know you would be nothing without me."
Naruto rolled his eyes internally. 'I'm pretty sure I would be living a quite life with both of my parents in my time, thank you very much.'
Kurama smirked. "You got me there. But where's the fun in that? That life sounds way too boring."
Naruto smirked back. 'And I have to give you that one, furball. Which makes us even.'
All conversations ceased as the door of the classroom was opened with the chunnin instructor finally making his first appearance of the day. He looked a lot more serious than he normally did. All of the students were quick to get in their seats. Naruto sat where he normally did with Kushina taking Haru's usual spot. Aika was on Naruto's right with Haru being on Aika's right. For whatever reason, Haru hadn't raised one single complain against Kushina when the girl had said that she wanted to sit there. Aika did, of course. Thankfully Haru had managed to stop a fight from occurring between the two girls, saying that he really didn't mind if Kushina took his spot. Aika had let the matter drop after that.
The chunnin was looking at every single one of his students, mentally sighing at what he was about to do. Honestly, he knew that more than half of them weren't even ready for what was to come in regards to their training, if not all. But that was how the policy was during war. And he had to follow the rules that had been placed down long before he was born.
"As I'm sure many of you have already heard, there has been a sudden change in Uzu's policy as of today. I know that Arashi-sama will no doubt announce this later today, but as future shinobi of Uzu, you should be formally inform as soon as possible."
"That's a nice way to butter things up."
Naruto had to agree on that one.
Waiting just a moment longer, the chunnin finally continued.
"As of today, Uzu will now be joining the Second Shinobi War."
The chunnin paused to let the statement sink in to the young kids. Many of them who came from civilian families hadn't been expecting that all. They didn't even fully understand what "war" exactly was, only that many people died.
The chunnin cleared his throat to catch their attention before they could burst into a whispering frenzy.
"Now, because of this declaration, there will be many changes here at the academy starting today. Mainly, your training. Unlike from before, we will be going at a much faster rate than usual. Now what that exactly means is that we'll be skipping most of the theoretical stuff and focusing more on your physical prowess, such as taijutsu and ninjutsu for example."
Thankfully, the knew what those were at least. Many of the more naive kids had excited looks on their faces at hearing this, much like Kushina had been when she had first heard the news. Now, the redhead was frowning as she noticed all of this.
Naruto glanced at her to see the frown.
"Well, seems like she's learned something today."
Naruto had to agree. 'Yeah. But I'm not entirely sure if that's good or not.'
Kurama remained silent, not quite knowing himself.
The chunnin in front of the class sighed silently as he also observed this. If only they knew what war was like, what it brought along with it. Then they wouldn't be so excited as they were now. But he wasn't about to snap at them for it. They were still kids. Still, he knew that he would have to burst their bubbles eventually. That was one of his jobs as the instructor. He couldn't let them go out there with naive expectations. They would be dead before they could even put up a proper fight if that were the case.
Raising up his hand, the excited murmuring from the class stopped.
"Now, that being said, we will get started as soon as possible. Our first lesson will deal with taijutsu, hand to hand combat. What the goal of this exercise is is to let me know where all of you stand in regards to it. From there, you will be able to improve in this area."
The chunnin knew that the first exercise was really pointless. None of his students had ever been in a real fight before nor have any of them ever been taught any proper stances for basic taijutsu. As far as he knew anyways. But that was regulations. He had to follow it.
Naruto had to control himself from screaming out in frustration.
'Dammit. This really will be a complete waste of time for me!'
"There's no doubt about that, brat. But spying on the meeting between your grandfather and that snake will be useless. We already know what your grandfather's answer is. It would be moot to go."
The fox was right on that point. But even though he had stated otherwise, Naruto really wanted to know if Orochimaru would mention anything about last night's encounter with Arashi.
"Please. You're just grasping at straws now. We both know that you just don't want to be here."
Naruto t'ched. 'Stupid cunning furball…..fine! Yes, that's exactly what I want to do! Happy?'
Kurama shrugged, not that the blond could see it. "Meh, after watching how you'll suffer in the next eight hours I will be."
Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop. 'You…..you really do have some sick tastes.'
The bijuu chuckled. "I take that as a compliment, brat."
Naruto merely shook his head before refocusing his attention back to the real world. Seeing how the chunnin had just ordered them all to file outside, the blond sighed.
Today really was going to be a long day.
Despite what Kurama had said, Naruto had indeed created a shadow clone as he and the rest of the kids filed out on the courtyard for the little test. He at least wanted something to look forward to while this was going on. But the reason he didn't go himself was because he really wanted to see for himself just what exactly both Aika and Haru could do. Kushina…..he really wasn't expecting too much.
And so, things preceded quite fast after that. Naruto had to resist the urge to yawn out loud as he watched the fights in front of him, if they could be called that. He wasn't trying to be an asshole or anything either. But after having fought against the likes of the Uchiha Madara, this really was just…..pitiful. The blond did wince as the thought invaded his mind.
'Damn, I really am an asshole.'
Kurama made no comment to disagree with his host, something which Naruto observed with a slight twitch of his eyebrows. The furball had a comment for everything else but that? Go figure.
Looking around, Naruto noticed the bored look on Aika as well. So they were thinking the same thing about the situation, were they? The blond jinchuriki didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
Haru was simply watching the fights in front of him with a calculating gaze, but just what exactly there was to analyze Naruto didn't know.
Finally, Kushina had her arms crossed as she stood next to him. Naruto didn't really know what his future mother could be thinking about this. Hopefully, it wasn't something like he was.
The chunnin sighed as he called the draw for the fight. The two boys in front of the formed circle were panting after having fought, what they thought was, a tough fight. Just as the chunnin had expected, none of them had any skills whatsoever. He would have to start from scratch. Not that he wasn't expecting that, but still. It would have been nice to be proven wrong. Sighing again, he scanned his pad in his hands, quickly finding the names of the next two fighters.
"Next up are Uzumaki Aika, Uzumaki Kushina!"
Both Naruto and Haru had to flinch as the names were called out. That was possibly the worst match up the chunnin could have made. The two girls had been at each others' throats for the past two days. A physical fight would just worsen the situation, no matter who won.
Kurama was grinning like a madman, eh rather like a madfox.
"Finally! Something interesting to see!"
Naruto internally rolled his eyes. 'Oi, weren't you the one saying how I had to sit through this?'
"Yes, but since you went ahead and created a clone to go and spy on that meeting, I might as well come out too. I'm a trickster at heart, brat."
'Go you….'
Both Aika and Kushina were standing inside of the formed circle on opposite ends, basically having a stare off. Anyone could tell right off the bat that they did not like each other. Even the chunnin noticed this who didn't really put much thought to rivalries among the students and the like.
Aika crouched down at the same time as Kushina got into a basic stance which the chunnin immediately recognized as the one that was taught to the older students.
'So, her parents did teach her something…..' Looking over at Aika, he had to raise an eyebrow. 'I wonder what she's planning….'
On the side, both Naruto and Kurama were surprised as well. 'Aika-chan I understand. But kaa-chan? I didn't think that Arashi-ojiichan taught her anything yet…..'
Kurama hummed in agreement. "It seems like we were both wrong. Still, this will just make the fight more interesting."
Naruto silently agreed with the bijuu as they waited patiently for the fight to began. They didn't have to wait long.
As if an unspoken signal had gone out, both girls rushed at each other at speeds that vastly surpassed the others so far. Of course, it still wasn't anything near to what Naruto could do or the chunnin for that matter. But both were still impressed as they saw this, Naruto even more so. The blond realized that if this had been his first time being an eight year old, the girls would have been able to kick his ass, quite easily perhaps.
Kushina caught Aika's fist with the latter doing the same to hers, both gritting their teeth as they stared at each other. A moment later, they released their holds, aiming for kicks now. They both grunted in pain as they each kicked the other on their sides, knocking the wind out of them as they stumbled back. Managing their balance, they both charged again.
Naruto and Haru shivered slightly as they continued to watch the onslaught in front of them. It had been about ten minutes now, the girls still going at it despite their heavy panting. The chunnin made no attempt to stop them anytime soon either.
Kurama chuckled in Naruto's mind. "Well, we now at least have some idea what those boys that bullied your mother had to put up with. No wonder she gained her nickname…."
'You sound surprised, furball.'
Kurama grinned. "Like your mother oh so kindly put it when you first met her, we weren't exactly the best of friends, brat. I've no shame to admit that, if given the chance, I would have killed her without a second thought. The same goes to your father, him more so. So it wasn't like we talked or anything nor was I interested in having a chat in the first place. That's just how it is."
Naruto remained silent, already having had an idea of what Kurama was talking about. There had been an unspoken agreement between them about the night of his birth: to hell it with it. Naruto understood the bijuu's stand on the matter during that night. He had been a prisoner, and he had been willing to do anything to gain his freedom. The blond couldn't really hold the bijuu accountable for that. It just wouldn't be right. That was all that there was to it.
Back to the fight, Aika panted heavily as she scowled, watching her enemy in front of her. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She had been training hard with her father for the exact purpose of proving her worth to others, especially the little princess in front of her. That was all that she saw Kushina as: a spoil little brat who had it all. She shouldn't be able to match her, it just wasn't possible. The fight should have been over with in a matter of seconds. But instead, it seemed that the girl standing opposite of her had been training as well. That didn't mean that Aika was about to give up, though. Not by a long shot. This just fueled her motivation even more. She needed to beat the girl in front of her. Anything less than that wouldn't be acceptable.
Kushina's eyes widened as Aika zigged zagged the area in between them at an even faster speed than before. Her eyes couldn't keep up. A moment later, the young redhead found herself knocked down on the ground on her back with Aika crouched down on top of her, her fist aimed at Kushina's face.
Both Naruto and Haru looked at each other.
"Woah…."
The chunnin grinned slightly as he noted the fight on his clipboard. It seemed that there were exceptional students in his class after all. That just made his job a slightly easier and tolerable.
Aika stood back up as the chunnin called the fight her victory, immediately walking back to stand next to Naruto and Haru. Kushina stood up a bit slower, watching Aika's walking form with wide eyes for a moment before she scowled herself. This wasn't over, not by a long shot. Her hair began to move slightly in a wild manner, almost as if it was agreeing with her.
This was where their rivalry had truly begun.
Naruto had to scratch the back of his head as his name was called up along with another boy's who he didn't recognize. He did notice how many girls began to cheer as the boy was called up, though, their shock from before having worn off.
'So there's a Sasuke here too, eh? Just my luck…..'
Kurama chuckled. "So? How do you want to do this, brat? Are you going to be the "dobe" again? Or are you going to outshine all of these pipsqueaks?"
Naruto honestly didn't know. Aika was next to him, patting him on his back with a smile on her face.
"Go get him, whiskers."
Kushina was now standing next to Haru, biting her lip slightly as she looked from Naruto to the other boy who was already standing in the makeshift arena. She was having an internal dilemma as to whom she was going to support. Naruto was her friend, but the other boy was…..basically, she too had a crush on the boy. Let it be as that. So the redheaded girl opted for staying silent, not really knowing what else to do.
Haru for his part was nodding. "You can beat him, Naruto-san. I believe in you."
Naruto laughed uneasily as he made his way to stand on the opposite side of the boy, Kaoru, if he recalled correctly. It wasn't as if he was going to like was he was going to do, but there really wasn't much to gain if he didn't. He didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself than of what there already was.
Kurama had to laugh at this, knowing full well just what his host was planning on doing.
"Welcome back, dobe."
The "dobe" wondered what his clone was dealing with at the moment.
Naruto's clone found itself hanging from the side of the main tower in Uzu occupied by the leader of the village. Unlike from the day before, security wasn't as tight as before. The clone wondered why that was for a moment before shaking the thought away. The boss had given him a very simple mission: find out just what exactly was going to go down before Orochimaru and the other Konoha shinobi left. Of course, the boss already knew that the decision had been to go to war, so this was just the boss's way of relieving some boredom for the afternoon.
Still, while security wasn't as rigid as before, the place where the meeting was taking place certainly was. Looking down, the clone squinted his eyes as he tried to see and hear what his grandfather and Orochimaru were discussing as they stood by the medium sized courtyard surrounding the tower. Their standing in the open like that really did make his job a lot harder. But not impossible.
Looking around, the clone judged his calculations as he sensed the chakra of a nearby shinobi stationed almost beneath him. He would have to be extra careful here. A plus for the clone, though, was that in between the courtyard stood a wall like structure with the Uzumaki's clan symbol proudly displayed. This separated the courtyard into two halves. Pushing chakra into his feet, the clone waited a moment longer before lunging forward towards the unsuspecting Uzu shinobi, using the burst of speed and the almost invisible movements that his sennin mode provided him with to his advantage.
The shinobi on guard fell forward after having been knocked out with the clone catching him before the body could fall to the ground. Placing the shinobi's unconscious body against the wall, the clone sat down crossed leg, concentrating as much as he could into his senses as well as keeping an eye on all other nearby chakra in case they tried anything.
Arashi looked on in slight annoyance as Orochimaru extended his thank you's to him and his nation for having have decided to help Konoha in the conflict. Arashi was never one for politics. Of course, that didn't mean that he hadn't train himself to keep his patience when needed. Orochimaru was really pushing it, though.
Orochimaru was currently bowing as he continued to speak, his mind not being entirely there at the moment, though. He was still stuck on last night's encounter with this….shadow. Things just didn't add up. Whoever the person was, he most certainly wasn't an Uzumaki if his hair had been anything to go by. Unless he had been under a henge. If that wasn't the case, though, that still left the question as to why he would even bother himself with Uzu in the first place. Scratch that, just why did he suspect Konoha of all places!?
The snake summoner did chuckle internally a few moments later, however. Now that he thought about it more, maybe this shadow's fears weren't so unfounded at all. A certain image of an old war hawk reached his mind. Danzo had recently asked for Orochimaru to join his Root unit. Thinking of his most recent confrontation, the jonin was seriously beginning to think that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"That's quite enough, Orochimaru. You don't have to thank us too much. Konoha and Uzu are like family after all."
Orochimaru paused as he realized that he had been speaking the entire time. Standing up straight, he put the best pleasant smile he could muster on his face.
"Right. My apologies. I must have gotten carried away there."
Arashi shook his head. "That's quite alright. Just let Hiruzen know that I'll be at Konoha as soon as possible to coordinate our plan of action. This should work in his favor."
Orochimaru nodded. "I shall. And once more, I thank you for this, Arashi-dono. You shall not regret this."
Arashi didn't respond out loud to that. 'I just hope so…..'
Bowing one final time, Orochimaru turned around, signaling for the other shinobi with him to follow as they were lead to the main port in the city back to the mainland by two Uzu shinobi.
Arashi watched them go silently, his mind trying to understand if he had done the right thing by having agreed to all of this.
Naruto laughed as Aika tried to stitch up his wounds with an ointment that she had thankfully been carrying around in addition to her lunch. A present from her mother she had said. Kaoru certainly did know how to pack a punch, though. The blond had to admit to that. Currently the pair was underneath the same tree in which they had met just days earlier with Naruto having his head on Aika's lap as the girl applied the ointment on his cheeks.
The girl was shaking her head as well. "After all that, you get your butt kicked. That's just sad, whiskers."
Naruto pouted. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! The guy could pack his punches!"
Aika pinched one of his cheeks, getting a yelp out of the whiskered boy. "You're just so lucky that I even care about you enough to be doing this in the first place."
Naruto crossed his arms with a huff as the girl went back to actually healing him instead of causing him even more pain. "Yeah, yeah…."
Aika didn't respond. She did smile, though.
After everyone had gone against someone else, the chunnin instructor had told them that they could have an hour to recuperate. And Naruto could see that it was badly needed on all of the kids. Still, it was only going to get a lot tougher from here on out. The blond idly wondered how many were going to last until the end.
After they had been given their break, Haru had gone off to the classroom to patch up on his own minor wounds as much as he could. The boy had been able to win his fight quite easily, the only problem having been that he just didn't have much power to back up his fists. He had the moves already, though. But because of his lack of power, his opponent had been able to land one good hit on the boy before Haru brought him down.
As for Kushina, the girl was with her other group of "friends," talking excitedly about something as they huddled together near the opposite side of the courtyard. But their giggling as they looked at Kaoru gave Naruto the impression that the boy was the topic of their conversation.
Now that amused the blond greatly. He never would have thought. His mother, to have a crush like this. Unable to stop himself, he began to laugh.
Aika looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
Naruto pointed at Kushina and her group. "Them. It's kinda funny seeing them head over heels like that over that guy." He remembered how much it had made his blood boil when Sakura had been the same way with Sasuke during their academy days.
Aika grinned. "You don't have to convince me of that. So he's good looking. He's also a bit of an ass."
Naruto spluttered slightly as he looked up at the girl currently tending to his wounds as she focused on the group of girls. This girl just continued to surprise him. She certainly was one of a kind alright.
Aika finally shrugged before going back to rubbing more ointment on Naruto's cheeks. "I'll just let them have him, I guess."
Both laughed, knowing full well that it wasn't exactly a blessing to the boy. But it was just too funny for them to be able to not laugh.
Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama was grinning to himself as he observed all of this. This Aika girl really did intrigue him all right. And it seemed that his host was beginning to get a bit smitten with her too. Well, that just worked out all the same for the bijuu. Better actually.
'Let's just see where this will lead to….'
Outside of Uzu, now being back in the Land of Fire's territory in the Port city, Orochimaru looked back to catch a glimpse of what could be seen of Uzu in the distance. The blur did nothing to show the village's actual size. Shaking his head, he walked away from the harbor and further into the city, already having told his other companions to move on ahead.
Walking into a deserted alley, it wasn't long before the jonin sensed the presence of the one that he had been waiting for.
"You certainly do work fast, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru chuckled as he turned around to see none other than Danzo himself flanked by two other members of his Root. Currently, Danzo himself was wearing an anbu uniform.
Danzo carried on. "I was surprised when I received your message you sent me from your summons…"
"Surprised?"
Danzo narrowed his only visible eye, the other covered in bandages. "Weary is more like it. I'm not so trustful of an individual who suddenly decides to agree to join my organization just like that. Just days before it seemed as if you were going to reject my offer. But now, you suddenly agree. I'm not one to turn a blind eye to a little detail such as that."
Neither commented on the irony of that statement.
Orochimaru grinned. "And yet, you rushed over here."
"I was in the area is all. If not, I would have asked you to wait before confronting you."
Orochimaru filed that particular detail for later. "Yes, well, you certainly are right into being suspicious at my sudden change of heart."
Danzo remained silent at hearing that, instead letting the shinobi in front of him continue.
"During my visit to Uzu with my negations with Uzumaki Arashi, I had the pleasure of encountering a certain fascinating individual, one which I think you will want to keep a closer eye on in the future."
"And you're willing to offer me this information because….?"
Orochimaru chuckled again. "For one, it's because I know that you don't have any spies placed in Uzu due to their well placed defenses, meaning that I've put myself in a well placed position with this information. And secondly, I'm offering a trade. A spot in your Root with exactly what you're planning on doing. In return, I'll offer my services as well as what I know of this new possible threat to your future plans regarding Uzu….."
Danzo merely gazed at Orochimaru with a hardened look, making said snake summoner realize that he had hit dead on. Danzo was indeed planning something in regards to Uzu, and now Orochimaru was more eager to find out than ever.
Finally, Danzo spoke. "You make a very good proposition, Orochimaru. I accept it. I was already wanting for you to be a part of Root, so this works for both of our favors. Just don't let Hiruzen know of this."
Orochimaru grinned. "That was my intention from the beginning."
Danzo h'mphed at hearing that before turning around, tilting his head to let Orochimaru know to follow him. Orochimaru did so with barely restrained eagerness.
The sun was descending on its pathway across the sky, its rays not illuminating Uzu in the distance. A new, dark horizon now stood in its place for a few moments.
More pieces were now on the move. It was almost showtime.
To be continued.....
Weekly Power Status
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