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Another day dawns in Konoha, but this time it was more agitated and full of nervous tension in the air. It was the long-awaited day that would decide if the students of the ninja academy would finally be able to graduate, for that they would need 'only' to take the test in which everything they had learned during the long years of studies would be judged. In other words, it was the most awaited and feared day for all the students and their families.Naruto, like every good young man on the eve of an important test, had been excited, but also very nervous and anxious, so he had had trouble sleeping the night before. He woke up blinking his eyes slightly sleepily, smiling as he remembered what a day it was. However, his smile vanished when he saw what time it was, which made him stumble out of bed, and even fall to the floor when he reached for his clock to check that his eyes were not deceiving him."Ah, damn it!" the blond man shouts in desperation and starts jumping around the room picking up clothes to get ready in a hurry. He wondered if the clock had a personal problem with him since it always failed him. Although deep down he knew that the object had been sold to him with a defect, just like every time he tried to exchange it or buy a new one. "I'm very, very late!"He quickly eats his breakfast and rushes out of the house in an almost futile attempt to get to class on time where Iruka-sensei is waiting for everyone to start with the exam. When Naruto finally arrives, unfortunately, he was already 15 minutes late. So he has an idea: to enter the room without his sensei seeing him. However, as always in these situations, his plan went wrong and he found himself face to face with an angry Iruka with his problem student. This made him wonder if the teacher could sniff out his discomfort every time he was late."Ohayo, Iruka-sensei..." said Naruto smiling ungraciously at his situation."Ohayo, Naruto... Why are you arriving at this time today if you knew there was an exam today?" asked Iruka with a serious look on his face, but sighing disappointed that his day had already started with the boy causing trouble."Gomen, Iruka-sensei... I just missed the time... Hehehehe..." the younger boy replied, scratching his head."You always miss the time, Naruto," said Iruka, rolling his eyes, already used to the boy's excuse, which caused laughter from the other students in the class."It's not funny!" Naruto looks frustrated at his classmates in an attempt to get them to stop laughing. It was the damn clock's fault, not his."Go to your seat and wait to be called to take the exam. Until then, make sure you don't do anything foolish, you hear?" Iruka asked, more orderly than anything else, seeing that Naruto wasn't paying attention."Huh? Hai..." replied Naruto a bit confused that he had heard almost nothing his sensei had said. Although he had a notion of what the elder had said, that of always "not causing any more trouble" and how the test would work, which he knew because he had already taken the final test two other times.Naruto sat down while he saw his classmates looking at him and whispering to the others. 'I don't understand why they look at me with such contempt like I'm a freak or something. But one day I will be strong and the greatest Hokage of all time, then they will have to respect me! That's right!' he thought trying to pass on his confidence, like a mantra he had created to reassure himself. After all, no one was more respected than the Hokage.A few hours later all that remained was for him to take the test, all his colleagues had already taken it and been dismissed. As almost everyone had left with a happy and satisfied expression, confident that they had passed, the boy was sure that he would also pass, that he would also become a genin this time. He stood there imagining what his life as a ninja would be like and didn't even notice that he had been called."Naruto... Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto, can you hear me?" called Iruka, almost shouting at the boy distracted in his thoughts."Ahh," he jumped, startled. "You scared me, Iruka-sensei!" the nervous young man protested."Come, come. It's your turn," said Iruka as he led the young man into the examination room.When they entered Naruto was amazed at the size of the room. His teacher led him to a table where there were two seats, one of which was occupied by an old man with red and white clothes and a triangular hat of the same colors, the Sandaime Hokage (third Hokage). Someone the boy already knew well, although it was unusual for him to appear on these occasions."Shall we begin the evaluation?" the Hokage asked, giving the blond a slight, encouraging smile."Yes ... Naruto start doing the cloning Jutsu." guided Iruka."Hai... Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" said Naruto.When the clone appeared his observers soon noticed some differences between the clone and the real Naruto. The clone had evil chakra that did not belong to the young man, it had wild red eyes and the characteristic whiskers more prominent. This made the Hokage a bit worried. Then Naruto curious and confused because of the reactions of his sensei and the Hokage turns to look at his clone. 'It can't be that bad...' he thought."Ahhhhhhh!" he screamed as he saw the appearance of the 'copy', jumping away from it and closer to the adults. "Is he my clone?" Naruto asked, looking at the adults for help. 'No...It can't be ... I'm not like that ... I don't look like a monster, do I?' he thought desperately."Yes... Yes, it is..." the old man sighs, not expecting something like this to happen so soon. "Naruto, I'm afraid I need to reveal something to you." says the Hokage seriously, looking into the boy's terrified eyes.
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Flashback: on
"Ahhhhhhh!" he screamed as he saw the appearance of the 'copy', jumping away from it and closer to the adults. "Is he my clone?" Naruto asked, looking at the adults for help. 'No...It can't be ... I'm not like that ... I don't look like a monster, do I?' he thought desperately."Yes... Yes, it is..." the old man sighs, not expecting something like this to happen so soon. "Naruto, I'm afraid I need to reveal something to you." says the Hokage seriously, looking into the boy's terrified eyes.
Flashback: off
"Reveal?" replies Naruto a bit confused, and afraid of what it could be, since the Kage's tone half implied that it wouldn't be good news."Are you sure, Hokage-sama?" Iruka looked at the gentleman next to him. 'I don't think that's a good idea, to tell you the truth...' he thought, worried about the boy's reaction and how he would handle the truth."Trust me, Iruka." he tranquilized the sensei. "But first, Naruto, undo the clone." said the Hokage still serious."Hai!" Naruto tried to undo the clone, just as he had been asked, but nothing happened. "Nani?! Why can't I undo it?" he wonders aloud, not understanding anything anymore."As I imagined..." said the Hokage, thinking out loud, 'The clone is not under his control,' he added internally."That's not good... " agrees Iruka, annoyed with the situation."What do you mean? Old man, didn't you say you were going to tell me something?" the blond boy asks, hovering between curious and frightened.An unpleasant silence breaks out in the room. Until the Hokage orders Iruka to finish off the clone, thus beginning a short battle between the two. 'Strange, my clone doesn't fight the same way as I do as he should. He seems to have much more experience than me and fights in a wild and dark way that scares me...' thought the boy, without looking away from the movements of what should be his copy. When, at last, Iruka managed to finish off the clone (which took about 25 minutes) they got back to talking."Naruto, I think you have noticed that you are a little different from your classmates." the Hokage begins."Yes..." responds Naruto, it wasn't too hard to notice actually, since he looked more like an outcast within the village. 'But that doesn't explain or justify the way everyone looks at me!' he thinks indignantly. "But I don't understand why, old man.""I'll explain it to you now. But you can't interrupt me until I'm finished, understand?" the Hokage asks, seeing that Naruto was very curious."Okay..." agrees with the elder, after all, he has wanted the answers to this for a long time. The incident with the clone only made him more lost. "But when you're done I can ask questions, right?" Naruto asks."Sure," he says, smiling as he sees the curious nature of the younger man emerge. "You know that ten years ago a nine-tailed fox attacked the village, right?" he received a positive nod and then continued. "On that day, besides Yondaime defeating the fox, as told in books and classes, the monster was sealed inside a newborn child." the boy's eyes widen and he shivers with a bad feeling. "There are other giant beings like the fox scattered around the world. These monsters are known as bijuus and possess a large amount of chakra, much more than any human being can have. Their strength is classified according to the number of tails, which goes up to nine." pauses to see if the boy is following. "The people who have a bijuu sealed inside them are called jinchuurikis. Since a long time ago, the shinobi nations (ninjas) have fought to capture these bijuus, which, being powerful, could serve as an excellent weapon in wars. However, they were too dangerous to be manipulated and the only way to do this was to seal them in people so that they could control them, and so the jinchuurikis appeared. By the population of their villages, they are seen as the very monsters within them, which makes them unhappy and often makes them hateful." tells Hokage "Do you understand, Naruto?""Hm... A little... But what does this have to do with me?" Questions Naruto. 'Strange the way he said people treat 'jin' something, it sounds like the way people... The way they treat me...' he thinks increasingly uncomfortable by the idea forming inside him."Can't you really figure it out? Think: what happened on October 10th 10 years ago?" speaks the Hokage trying to help the young man to arrive at the answer."Old man, you yourself said that day that the Fox attacked the village and..." Naruto says until he remembers something important. "Wait, that's... That was the day I was born!" he exclaims. 'That day that monster was sealed inside a newborn child...' this phrase repeated in his mind. "Well... On that day someone else was born beside me, right?" anybody could hear the nervousness in his voice."No. You were the only one born that day..." Hiruzen replied. 'I think he's beginning to understand now,' he thought."So I was the only newborn in the village..." speak swallowing dryly. "That means that I... That inside of me is the nine-tailed fox?" He looks at both adults trying to hide his despair, 'That explains the way people look at me and treat me. But, that can't be true... No, not at all...' he pauses. "You've got to be kidding, right?" pleaded. 'Please say this was just a joke, because of all the things I've done in the village,' he thinks, pleading internally as the long-held feelings begin to come back into his heart."Yes, Naruto, you are the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi (nine-tailed demon fox)." said the Sarutobi, feeling a feeling of sorrow as he saw the boy's suffering as he absorbed the information."Why? Why me?!" he asks with his head down and fists clenched. "AND THAT'S NO EXCUSE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE TO LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" screams angrily, feelings cascading out. "I AM NOT A MONSTER! I AM UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!!" now the young man's hatred was very apparent, his expression was starting to look like the clone he had made, although with tears in his eyes because of how much it had hurt him to know. After saying all that he hurriedly left the room and the ninja academy grounds."Is that Naruto?" Rock Lee asks after a figure in orange runs past them."That's what it looks like..." says Shikamaru. "Problematic...""He had some strange chakra on him..." says Neji with his Byakugan on."What a problem..." repeats Shikamaru."That's all you can say?" Tenten looks at the boy with the ponytail."Yep". Ino answers the girl with the two buns since she has known the Nara for years due to their family friendship. "But what could he have been up to?" she asks, returning to the subject of the blond boy.Little did they know that poor Naruto had done nothing, he was just running to get to the only place he could think straight and that was also his favorite: The Hokage monument. Although now it leaves him in a certain conflict after everything he had discovered. After some time he comes to a conclusion...
Continues...
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Flashback: on
Little did they know that poor Naruto had done nothing, he was just running to get to the only place he could think straight and that was also his favorite: The Hokage monument. Although now it leaves him in a certain conflict after everything he had discovered. After some time he comes to a conclusion...
Flashback: off
"I have to train, otherwise, I'll never get the respect of the village! Even more so being a jinchuuriki..." said Naruto thinking out loud, sighing at the end. The weight of that revelation was still hard to digest, no matter how much it explained many things. "I have to prove to them that I'm not a monster. I have to prove to them that I'm not a monster. That's right!" he exclaims looking at the horizon with determination, although his gaze wavers when he looks at the forgotten headband, which he still holds tightly since it was handed to him during the explanation, showing how afraid he was of what awaited him from then on.After this, he went home to sleep, because the next day the teams and the ninja senseis that had been formed would be revealed. The next morning he woke up early, with dark circles under his eyes that denounced the quality of his sleep, which had been completely turbulent and surrounded by nightmares. The memories of the conversation with the Hokage the day before were still tormenting his mind, which was what prevented him from being able to sleep peacefully. When he finished getting ready and eating breakfast, what was left of his ramen, he quickly went to the academy, unwilling to face the daily stares that haunted him even in his dreams. It was five minutes before the appointed time when he arrived, so he just sat down on his swing, isolated in a corner of the courtyard. It took a while for everyone to arrive and for the Hokage to announce the genin teams he had assembled."First I would like to congratulate you all for becoming the newest generation of Konoha's ninjas!" he praises the Hokage with a smile, passing his eyes over the young people present and some of their relatives, and proud teachers. "I am happy to see that they are already wearing their headbands with pride. Now I'll tell you how the teams turned out. As I think everyone knows, at first I will list them, but after that, they will be known by the name of the jounin in charge. They are:Team 1: Tenten, Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee.Jounin responsible: Maito Gai.Team 2: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji.Jounin responsible: Sarutobi Asuma.Team 3: Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba.Jounin responsible: Yuuhi Kurenai.Team 4: Tsuchigumo Megumi, Kurama Ryuji and Jin.Jounin responsible: Mitarashi Anko.Team 5: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Sai.Jounin responsible: Hatake Kakashi.Hearing the announcement of each team eager to hear his name, him not coming up at any point caused the little blond to shiver. The announced teams soon gathered and got to know each other better, socializing although some knew each other and hoped they would end up together. While Naruto, as usual, remained excluded and confused. 'Why am I not in any team, if the Hokage handed the bandana to everyone who passed and graduated? Shouldn't all Genin be on a team?' wondered Naruto, until he decided to go to Sarutobi himself to get an answer."Old man, why am I not in any team?" Naruto asked, hoping that the older man would say that it was a mistake, or that he was on a team that was still being decided."Because, as you are a jinchuuriki, you need different training. To learn to control your powers effectively." explained the Hokage, with a serious and patient tone, even though he felt a certain regret for not having been able to do anything else. A feeling that was intensified when he saw a wounded look forming on the two blue eyes."Why?" he asked again with tightness in his chest. "I thought ninjas had to work in teams..." he looked confused at the old man he had always trusted and believed in his words."As I said, it's because you are-" was interrupted by the younger man."But I couldn't pass the test...? I didn't become a ninja?" speaks in a low, almost pleading tone. But he felt betrayed when he saw the pitying look Hiruzen sent him, the failure of all the times he had promised him that everything would be fine and that things would get better. "Then why did I went to the academy?!" the sentence comes out in an indignant grumble, clenching his fists as he feels the same negative feelings he had felt before coming back into his chest. The anger that that breach of trust was bringing him."Naruto..." the gray-haired man sighed and shook his head, trying to shake off the great feeling of helplessness. "I'm sorry..." he switched to a soothing tone, in an attempt to relax the boy in front of him. "It can't be helped. I promise it won't be so bad..." the boy closed his face, unable to buy those words. The statement that had been repeated countless times in his dreams echoed again in his head, the conclusion he had made: Jinchuurikis were weapons and... That was the only reason they kept him alive in the village."But I don't want to be different and excluded even in that!" he implored, his eyes shining in a revolt that Sarutobi hadn't seen in a long time and that made his eyes widen. "I'M NOT GOING TO STAND HERE AND WATCH PEOPLE STARE AT ME AND MISTREAT ME WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING!" Naruto shouted, making everyone look at him before he ran out of there."Anbus!" calls the Hokage, in a sense of urgency and bad feeling. "Follow him and keep an eye on him!" he ordered, although he hoped and prayed that the boy wouldn't do anything foolish.All the other graduates who witnessed the scene were at a loss. They had never seen the blond boy act like that, as much as he had always been a noisy delinquent. They kept whispering about it, trying to see if anyone had any theories about what was going on."Why is Hokage-sama sending the Anbus to watch Naruto?" - asks Ino, shocked by such a drastic action. She never imagined she would see the Kage summoning the special squad of elite ninjas right at her graduation."I don't know... I wonder if he's up to something," says Sakura, sharing the same feeling as her friend and rival, but suggesting the most obvious and common option when it came to the former classmate."What did he yell anyway?" Neji asked, imagining that there were clues in that sentence. Since something strange had already happened the day before."I couldn't get it clear, but I think it was something about not accepting something without doing anything about it," answers Sasuke, wondering if he had imagined the slight tone of pain behind the Uzumaki's speech. "Or something like that.""Guys, be quiet. The Hokage is looking this way!" Tenten said although she was also curious about the subject and where that line of thought was leading.Everyone quickly fell silent. At home, Naruto begins to pack his things to leave, he felt no other choice. All he wanted was to be normal and accepted, however, he had the impression that training to be a jinchuuriki was not going to help when everyone already saw him as a demon. But when he arrives at the main gate of the village he notices that they are chasing him and knows that this is his last chance. So he runs fast, making the Anbus rush after him, but they end up losing sight of him. So they return to report to the Hokage."Hokage-sama!" calls out to one of the Anbus, who had a bird mask and spiky hair."What do you want?" asks the Hokage, raising his gaze from the table, finding it strange that they were already back. "I think I told you to keep an eye on Naruto.""But he's the one we want to talk about!" the three ninjas responded with an immediacy and synchronicity that evaporated the brief relaxation he had felt when he imagined his feeling was wrong."What's he up to now?" Hiruzen felt a headache coming on, remembering all the things the boy had already done in the village, just to get attention."He left the village, sir." reports the cat-masked one in a serious voice."He what?" Sarutobi's eyes widen, getting up from his chair and slamming his hands on the table with shock. "How did he get away?!""When we found him he was heading for the village gate, we followed him there. As soon as he was in front of the village entrance, he noticed that we were following him and ran away." explains the one in the bear mask."And you didn't go after him?" questions the Hokage, massaging the sides of his head, foreseeing the amount of criticism he would receive."Of course, we did, but he was very fast and somehow managed to lose us." answers embarrassed."I can't believe that some of my best Anbus were lost by a genin," he commented in disbelief, shaking his head in disapproval although he was surprised that the boy was capable of such a feat."Gomenasai, Hokage-sama." descended the kneeling Anbus, frustrated at his failure."We have to find him, otherwise, we'll be in trouble..." comments the Hokage, thinking aloud. The village he was responsible for would be at risk if it was discovered that they were without their bijuu.Meanwhile, elsewhere, Naruto was short of breath from running.'I did it! Now I just have to worry about getting stronger!' thinks the blond leaving to start his training finally. Next chapter: After 8 years... The Return
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Flashback: on
Meanwhile elsewhere, Naruto was short of breath from running.'I did it! Now I just have to worry about getting stronger!' -thinks Naruto leaving to finally begin his training.
Flashback: off
During the 8 years since the Uzumaki's departure, many things have changed. The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi died. The position was to be passed to Jiraya, one of the legendary sannins, but he did not accept it, so it was passed to Tsunade Senju, named Godaime Hokage (Fifth Hokage). The ninja who had graduated with him had also changed, grown, and matured. They were 18 years old, so inevitably some couples ended up forming: Neji and Tenten got together after years of pretending there was nothing between them, Sasuke admitted he had feelings for Sakura after years of fighting and denying it, Shikamaru assumed he liked Temari's (a Sand Village ninja) troublesome manner and ability to complicate his life, Ino stubborn as ever got very close to Gaara (another Sand Village ninja and the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku) showing him that there was much more to the world than he imagined and knew. They missed Naruto, and wondered about him, even if some would not admit it. The one who missed the young man the most was Hinata, who had been in love with him since she first saw him, so she decided that she would become the strongest kunoichi in the village for him since he always shouted that he would become Hokage. Meanwhile, in a place far away from Konoha:Naruto was finishing another one of his morning training sessions. This, however, would be a little different, this one was to evaluate how much he had improved in the years that had passed since he found them. After a few hours of training with his masters (master 1 and master 2), when they thought it had been enough, they stop to rest and talk about an important subject."You have really evolved," said Master 1."You don't look like that boy from before." Master 2 agreed with the former. "You've improved a lot compared to when you first came here.""You're right, thank you," Naruto replied. "If it wasn't for you I would still be the same as before. But I think it's about time I return to Konoha.""It's really time to go back. But you know you can still get stronger, don't you?" asks Master 2, looking at the younger one."Yes, but I need to be in the village, something important is about to happen that only I can prevent," says Naruto seriously."Okay. We believe in you," speaks Master 1. "If you need us for anything communicate with us through this parchment, you know how the jutsu on it works." says handing over a red and gold scroll."Ok." says grabbing his things to leave back to the village, from where he had left a long time ago. "Now I'm going, goodbye," he said before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.In a short time, he was already in front of the village entrance. In his mind came back countless memories of when he was there, good and bad. He spent some time thinking until he forced himself to stop and went towards the gate. The guards at the entrance soon barred him."Who are you and what do you want?" asked one of the guards."I need to talk to the Hokage." announced the blond who had not been recognized, keeping his face covered by the cloak he was wearing."You didn't answer the first question..." replies the second guard, cautious, ready to draw a kunai. "Who are you?" repeats."It doesn't matter now... First I have to talk to the Hokage," he said, walking towards the Hokage's building, with every intention of ignoring the two. The guards tried to stop him, but it was useless since the 'mysterious ninja' was much stronger than both of them together, just dodging and distracting them with a smoke bomb at the end."Who was he?" says one of the guards, to no one specifically."I don't know... But he seems very powerful." reflects the other, still briefly shocked by the interaction, he had gotten rid of them too quickly."He looks familiar..." says Neji who had approached them with the intention of helping them with the intruder. There wasn't even time for the brunette to activate his byakugan to track his chakra signature. He had only seen part of the other's face partially."Are you sure, Neji-san?" both of them looked at the younger one, still confused."Yes ..." answers Neji. "I will scan the village to see if I find him or any disturbance," he warns before walking away. Meanwhile, in the Hokage's room, someone was already knocking on the door. The village hadn't changed enough for him not to know how to get there quickly and unnoticed if he didn't want to."Come in!" shouted a female voice. 'Whose voice is that? It can't be the Old man's. Did he get an assistant due to old age?' thought Naruto before entering the room."Who are you?" Naruto stops to face the stranger and asks, leaving the woman sitting at the Hokage's table confused."I am Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha." she introduced herself, upset that the ninja in front of her didn't know who she was, especially since she was in the office clearly labeled as belonging to the Kage of the leaf village. "And who are you and what are you doing here?" demands cautiously, after all, it was someone strange, however, something about him reminded her of someone else, who had clearly not been escorted there."My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Where is the Sandaime?" the young man removes his hood as he searches the room with his eyes as if he expected the old gentleman he had grown accustomed to seeing at a young age to suddenly appear and frighten him.'Naruto Uzumaki?! The Kyuubi jinchuuriki who fled the village 8 years ago?' she asks herself mentally, not expecting him to come back to Konoha like that. "The Sandaime passed away almost three years ago, Naruto. He was murdered during an invasion," she told carefully seeing the look of astonishment and sadness on the young man's face. "Naruto?" she calls."Huh? What?" turns his attention to her, somewhat shaken by the news, part of him scolding himself for being so surprised by it."How old are you?" says the Hokage."18." he answers her quickly "Why?""You're late. You need the proper training for a jinchuuriki. You'll need to be strong, even more so for what's to come..." ends Tsunade, thinking aloud."What's to come?" questions the blond."Nothing for now..." the older woman diverted the subject and soon changed it. "Naruto, tomorrow you will start a special training for a jinchuuriki. But today at 8 pm you must show up at training camp number 3 so we can assess what you need to improve." informs. 'That's suspicious, but it's best to keep quiet for now...' thinks Naruto as she spoke."Hai." shakes his head and accepts without any protest. He needed to be accepted in the village. "With your permission, I will retire to my home, there are a few things I need to take care of..." speaks respectfully before turning and going towards the door and leaving.After leaving the building he walked calmly in the direction of where he was going to stay. He doubted that that old apartment was still his, not that he expected anyone to want to live in a place that was once his. Even his thoughts were interrupted when he bumped into someone."Gomenasai, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and..." he lost his voice when he saw the beautiful girl with dark blue hair and pearly eyes that were focused on his face, analyzing him with curiosity."It's okay, I-I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either..." she answered shyly, looking away and blushing when she noticed that she had stared at him."Both of us then." he looked at the lower one, she certainly didn't seem strange to him. "What is your name?""H-Hinata..." she starts to speak but is interrupted."Hinata? Hyuuga Hinata?" speaks surprised, he didn't expect to meet one of his academy classmates like that right away."Yes, it's me... H-how do you know my name?" Hinata asks. 'He looks familiar... I wonder who he is?' she asks hesitantly looking back at him, but she was puzzled."Don't you remember me? It's me Naruto... Uzumaki Naruto." speaks the Uzumaki a little disappointed that she didn't recognize him, since he never really forgot her. You don't forget the people who were nice to you when most of them despised or ignored you."N-na-naruto-kun?! Is that really you?" the girl stutters in surprise and happiness at the same time, since her beloved crush had finally returned after all these years. "When did you come back?""Yes, it's me!" he gave that smile that only he could do. "I basically just got here." there was no need to mention that he had gone to the Hokage first."I'm glad you're back, N-naruto-kun. Welcome back!" the blue one managed to speak, turning as red as a tomato in the process."I have to go, bye Hinata!" the blonde says goodbye, going to where he was going to stay, he really needed to rest a bit."Bye, Naruto-kun..." Hinata says watching her lover leave, then goes to meet her friends who were waiting for her. 'I am so happy that Naruto-kun is back... Will my dreams finally come true? I even managed to talk to him without too much trouble! I have to tell the girls this news!' she thought, going to meet her friends.When he arrived, he put his things away and rested before going to train a little, which was a good idea since later the Hokage would test him. As much as he had trained that morning, training was never really too much. Not for a shinobi. After a few hours of training, he goes back inside the house, takes a shower, and gets ready to go to training camp 3. Next: Tsunade's test.
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Flashback: on
When he arrived, he put his things away and rested before going to train a little, which was a good idea since later the Hokage would test him. As much as he had trained that morning, training was never really too much. Not for a shinobi. After a few hours of training, he goes back inside the house, takes a shower, and gets ready to go to training camp 3.
Flashback: off
Arriving at the training camp, Naruto notices that a large wooden arena has been built, with several people from the village waiting for the 'show' to begin. At that moment he understood that the test he was going to take would be in that arena. They wanted to make his return very public. This will be my chance to show how much I have changed since last time, I'm not that failure from the academy anymore' he thought anxiously.He was standing outside, enjoying the silence and the remaining minutes, planning what techniques he would use until he heard a somewhat familiar voice calling him. Then he turned to see who it was and got a surprise: all his old colleagues from the academy were there."Dude, you're really back, aren't you, dobe?" speaks Sasuke, approaching in the front of the group, being the one who called him."Ne Naruto, why didn't you tell us that you were back?" Sakura asks, who was beside Sasuke."And why didn't you come to see us? Where is your youthful flame?" questions Rock Lee disappointed and excited at the same time somehow. The blond didn't even know that the other remembered him, much less expected him to charge something like that, not that the excited brunette was someone normal. But they had interacted so little in the past! They weren't even in the same class and year at the academy!"Wow, why did we just hear about it from Hinata?" protests Ino, she the boy could understand the point. She always hated being the last to know about something.Naruto was pumped with questions but stared at everyone with a serious and somewhat cold look. Making everyone a little hesitant and wary, as this didn't look like the playful and mischievous Naruto they knew."I've just arrived in the village and you're already tormenting me?" he replies with a disapproving look, without much patience. Which made everyone stop in shock. "I need to concentrate to take Tsunade's test, so don't get in my way if you don't want to see me angry." he continued seriously. "Maybe later I'll answer some of your questions, but right now I have to go. The Hokage is waiting for me." basically said goodbye and turned his back as he headed towards the center of the arena, where the Kage, some other ninjas, and Anbus were.All the youngsters were surprised by the other's reaction, but the only thing they could think of that explained this behavior was the anxiety and nervousness about the challenge that the Hokage would propose. So they kept talking among themselves, searching for the answers they didn't get, and compiling more doubts."Naruto has really changed..." thought Ino aloud, vocalizing what most of them were thinking at the moment."But I bet he's still troublesome," said Shikamaru. Everyone looked at him, not at all surprised by the remark, after all everything was problematic for the Nara."Hinata, didn't you say he spoke in a warm and friendly way when he spoke to you?" Sakura turns to Bluette, still puzzled."B-but h-he had..." responded the Hyuuga a bit confused and disappointed in her beloved.Meanwhile in the arena:"Naruto, I see you've arrived. Are you ready?" asked the older blonde, who didn't expect the boy to be so punctual since he was always late in the old reports about him."I am," replied Naruto briefly."The test will consist of you trying to defeat as many ninjas and Anbus in the arena as possible in the shortest time you can." says the Hokage explaining, the goal was to gauge the younger man's current skill level, she needed to know what she was dealing with."Hai." he nodded that he understood and got ready to get into a fighting position."You may start!" Tsunade shouts, after walking away, going to a place in the bleachers reserved for the Hokage. Until Naruto interrupts before anybody can really start."How much of my power should I use?" speaks Naruto with a mischievous smile and eyes shining with some undefined feeling."Well, as much as necessary to win I believe." answers puzzled by the question, already seated on the bleachers. There were 15 ninjas, 9 of them Chunins and 6 Jounis, not counting the five Anbus, all of them with a history of teamwork and higher ranks than a Genin who disappeared after graduating from the academy. It was obvious that they had to give the boy a hard time, whether he was a jinchuuriki or not. After all, who could have taught him how to use the crossbow, if they doubted that he would return to the village so openly."Ok. Well... Let's get this fight started." the blond man adjusts his position again and looks at his opponents, evaluating them. After that, he runs toward the ninjas starting a taijutsu fight. The ninja tried uselessly to land some of their strongest blows on Naruto, who easily dodged them. He seemed to predict their movements and what to expect from them. After a while all the ninjas were tired and the young man was practically in perfect condition, not even out of breath as many would be. This fact stunned everyone, 'If he was outside the village and probably without anyone formally training him, how could he so easily defeat some of the best shinobis in Konoha?' they wondered.Promptly the Anbus went to test the young man's strength."Now that you are coming?" he opened a smile and sneered. "I hope you are prepared," said Naruto, preparing one of his simplest jutsus. "Tajuu Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted. Then more than a thousand of his clones appeared, it wasn't even possible to know where the original was because the young man had done the Jutsu jumping back and taking advantage of the smoke it caused to spread around the opponents, surrounding them.More and more people were impressed by the young Uzumaki. 'Tajuu Kage bunshin no Jutsu is a high-level technique... How is he able to use it being only a genin? And before learning several beginner techniques? He may have a large chakra reserve, but he can't have reached that level on his own... That would be impossible! But my question is: Who trained him?' wondered the Senju.Everyone was so surprised by the situation and trying to find answers to many of the questions forming in their minds, that they didn't even realize that the fight was about to end. Distracted and overwhelmed by the unexpected amount of opponents the Anbus, although they could get rid of several, were not prepared for this, it was not their area of expertise. The blond just needed to apply the right strike to win, which he soon provided."Rasengan!" claimed the Uzumaki, waking everyone from their thoughts and bringing their attention back to the fight, which had their eyes wide open. The scene that was taking place was really impressive. All of Naruto's clones were divided into pairs, each pair with a spinning chakra sphere in their hands, just waiting for the signal from the real Naruto to attack. Naruto gave the signal, and when the attack finally ceased, the only thing that could be seen was a cloud of thick dust. After the dust cloud was dissolved by the wind the result was impressive: all the Anbus fainted, unconscious in the center of a huge irregular and bumpy crater, which was created by the Rasengans."The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" announces Tsunade more out of sheer formality and protocol. "How did you learn these high-level jutsus?" says to the young man, who somehow got out of the fights, not that they really lasted long, without a scratch or show of fatigue. Which proved that he had inherited the stamina and endurance of the Uzumaki clan indeed."With a lot of training," he replied with a smile on his face. "And that was nothing... Hehehehe..." he scratched his head in a nonchalant gesture familiar to those who knew him."What do you mean by that, boy?" the Hokage was amazed at the younger man's tranquility and confidence."It's that I didn't even need to use 5% of my total power!" reveals the young Uzumaki laughing a little, apparently lighthearted. Which once again surprised everyone. 'Where did this boy get so much power? How could he defeat all those ninjas and Anbus without using even 5% of his maximum strength? And using his own chakra?' wondered Tsunade and several other ninjas who had witnessed the fight."..." she remained silent with the revelation until she remembered that she needed to announce something important, that she almost forgot after the other's speech. "Naruto, I want to declare that you, for having won this test, have now been officially classified as a jounin."After stopping by his house to recover from the battle he had had (enjoying a few minutes of peace as well). Which consisted of taking another shower and putting on a change of clean clothes. Naruto went to meet up with his old and new friends (colleagues?), who wanted to celebrate his return to the village and having become a jounin (they were too insistent once they got around him after the fight). They would probably ask how he managed to defeat them all too, the thought made him sigh already from exhaustion for the future interaction. But it was what he needed to do, wasn't it?Next Chapter: Encounters and Reunions.
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Flashback: on
After stopping by his house to recover from the battle he had had (enjoying a few minutes of peace as well). Which consisted of taking another shower and putting on a change of clean clothes. Naruto went to meet up with his old and new friends (colleagues?), who wanted to celebrate his return to the village and having become a jounin (they were too insistent once they got around him after the fight). They would probably ask how he managed to defeat them all too, the thought made him sigh already from exhaustion for the future interaction. But it was what he needed to do, wasn't it?
Flashback: off
The place they had arranged to meet was his well-known favorite restaurant: Ichiraku Ramen, which, due to the years he had been away from the village he couldn't even remember the taste of ramen there. It was some time before the agreed time to meet, he had arrived a little earlier on purpose to be able to see how the village was since when he arrived in the village he didn't even have time to breathe properly, much less enjoy the scenery. All the fault of that crazy old woman!' thought Naruto as he arrived at that little square in front of the Hokage hill. This place brings back many memories...' he thought '... I remember that when I was sad, angry, or when I did something wrong I would come here...' he remembered."This place, for some reason this view..." thought Naruto aloud. "It always calmed me down..." he thought distractedly. Meanwhile, without him foreseeing, someone approached."Talking to yourself now, Naruto?" said the unidentified person. "Now I have no more doubts that you really are the Baka-Naruto I used to know, right dobe?" he said, although the words had a playful tone deep inside."Ah... You are extremely mistaken if you think I didn't sense that you were approaching," he said still on with his back turned as if determined to prove the other wrong. "Sasuke!" called as he turned and faced the surprised and slightly suspicious face of his friend, if they were still friends Sasuke wondered. "And I don't think you should speak ill of me since you don't know me as well as you think you do. I'll let it go this time, but if I hear you speak ill of me again, I don't think I'll be so merciful." the younger man looked at him coldly."Hm, as if I care!" Sasuke pretends."Whatever then." he shrugged and went back to looking at the mountain with the carved faces, 'Man his personality hasn't changed at all since we were younger!' thinks Naruto laughing internally a bit at the irony of the difference between them. "Hey, Sasuke?" calls Naruto already without the coldness in his voice."What?" answers Sasuke, still a little grumpy."Many things have changed in the years I've been away, right?" he asks with a neutral tone, without being cold or friendly."I guess so... But, Naruto, why did you leave?" Sasuke asked looking at the other, he always wondered that after the younger one left. "The Sandaime only said that you had gone on a trip, but I don't think that was it and..." he started to tell what he knew when he was interrupted by the shocked blond."What? That's what the old man said? I don't understand why he said that when the village people were probably happy that I ran away..." it was Sasuke's turn to interrupt Naruto."Ran away?! What are you talking about? And what's this stuff about everyone being happy you're gone?" Sasuke was outraged at the insinuation. "Of course, we missed you, you were our friend and...""Forget it, Sasuke!" says Naruto. "There's no point in talking about it now and..." as he said this Naruto made a face like he wasn't kidding to Sasuke who had half opened his mouth to interrupt him again. "Besides, everybody is coming," he added, pointing to the group that was coming. In this group were: Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Gaara, Shikamaru, Temari, Rock Lee, Neji, Tenten, Sai. When they greeted each other and checked if anyone else was going to meet them there, they all went to the restaurant where Tsunade and the other ninjas were waiting and placed their orders. While they were waiting for their orders they kept talking."Naruto, in the arena you were astounding!" speaks Rock Lee excitedly. "You really have the flame of youth!" says in the 'NiceGai' pose. With that everyone laughed. Except for Naruto who was deep in thought.in"And the way he defeated all those ninjas and Anbus? Without taking even a scratch?" comments Temari. "Now that was amazing!""Yeah. It might have been amazing and all." Shikamaru looks at his girlfriend and then at the blond boy. "But it was still problematic." he declares, although he is intrigued by the questions the fight has raised. With Shikamaru's speech, Sasuke looks apprehensively at Naruto (and to check if the other's speech had been personal or if it was good for anyone), remembering what he told him about what would happen if someone spoke badly of him, but it seemed that the blond boy wasn't paying attention to the conversation."Ahh! I remembered something I wanted to ask you!" exclaims Ino, almost getting up from the table. "Naruto, where did you go these years when you were traveling?" Ino asks, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts and into their conversation."I wasn't traveling." he completely sneered at the idea, as if the suggestion was completely ridiculous. Only Sasuke, due to their interaction earlier, and one other person were not surprised."Huh? What do you mean you weren't traveling? But the Sandai-" Sakura asks but is interrupted by the blonde."Don't you think it's time to tell them the truth about me leaving the village?" demands turning and staring at Hokage Tsunade."Truth? What truth?" asks the young ninja, not expecting the Fifth to know anything."Naruto told the truth about not going on a trip..." started Tsunade half uncomfortable. "He... He ran away." reveals finally."He ran away?!" various people repeated in shock. "Why would he run away from the village? He liked the village and we all liked him and...""Don't even come with that everyone liked me!" Naruto practically growled, startling and surprising everyone. "It seems that you really know almost nothing about the village and its secrets. Come on, Tsunade! Tell them why I fled the village, why I was monitored by Anbus, and why the village people treat me badly! Or are you afraid of their reaction when they find out what I am?" faced the other with a wild glint in his eyes, as if expecting something, before teasing. "I don't understand why when I was a child my dream was to be Hokage if the Hokages are such cowards!""That's enough, Naruto! You've said too much already! You were not allowed to talk about this subject!" scolds him sharply. Most of the ninja present was not understanding anything of the sudden confrontation."What about you? What excuse do you have to hide this from them?" he replies without hesitation. "I wasn't even going to come back here now, I could still be training, outside the village and around the world! But no, I came back, only instead of people treating me better they treat me like before! As if I'm really a stupid monster or a demon, it's not my fault if they sealed inside me the..." was interrupted by the Hokage."Don't you dare mention it, or else..." she threatened, which made the boy almost laugh."It's okay as long as you tell them yourself!" Naruto demands in a tone of finality. "You're not even the one who created the secrecy law! It doesn't even make sense to keep it anymore!""Could you tell us what you are talking about?" all the young people ask, except Gaara, who suddenly finds himself uncomfortable."Here's your chance to tell them." says the younger blond, right on cue."Ok, fine!" she accepted, losing patience and giving in while assuming a serious face."Why am I under the impression that I know what you're going to talk about, Hokage-san?" asked the red-haired man, who until then had remained silent."Probably you do know about it, you must know as well as Naruto." confirms the Kage. "I believe that few of you know about the existence of bijuu's, beings like the nine-tailed fox that attacked our village years ago, and that the shinobi nations, to control them, seal them in people, these people are called jinchuuriki's," Tsunade explained, during this both the Uzumaki and Gaara took a rigid posture, it was a subject that was eternally uncomfortable for both for various reasons. Then she told the whole story of the bijuu's and the jinchuuriki's. At first, the youngsters didn't understand, nor did they accept the idea, but they soon got used to it. "Naruto? Why did you insist that I talk about this?" says to the young man."Because that would make it easier to fulfill my mission here." he calmly reveals, which caused a stir in those present."Mission?! What are you talking about?" Tsunade and Sakura ask together."You don't really think that I would come back here for no reason, do you?" he asks incredulously with a strange smile on his face."..." nobody had an answer to this question, they didn't even expect to have to think about something like this, although some knew that they should have seen something like this coming and that the whole return of the boy was strange in timing."Tsunade, remember when you said I had to be prepared for what was coming and I asked what it was?" remembers the young Uzumaki stopping to look at her."Yes, why?" she looks at him not knowing if she likes where this is going and what it could mean."I was pretending," he confesses. "I know very well what is coming. That's exactly why I came back. There is some information that I need to inform you about and..." he was interrupted by a light coming from a medallion he wore under his blouse, which until then had gone unnoticed. This medallion had been a gift. It contained the symbol of the Uzumaki clan, encrusted in some kind of ruby. Naruto stared at the medallion for a while when he spoke again "Is it time already? I thought I still had more time! Kuso..." he swore as he picked up the red and gold scroll (A/N: the colors of the Uzumaki clan in the fic) that his masters had given him. He opened it and placed it on the ground starting to make seals with his hands to begin the technique."What do you think you are doing?" Tsunade asks, alarmed by the sudden action with unknown purposes and functions."Bringing help! And someone who can better explain about the invasion that will take place in Konoha in a few days," he informed as he finished making the seals and then cut his finger and pressed his bloody hand against the parchment. Soon, the place where the parchment was exploded with smoke, allowing them only to see two silhouettes: one female and the other male. Next Chapter: Help arrives and with it, information...
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Flashback: on
"What do you think you are doing?" Tsunade asks, alarmed by the sudden action with unknown purposes and functions."Bringing help! And someone who can better explain about the invasion that will take place in Konoha in a few days," he informed as he finished making the seals and then cut his finger and pressed his bloody hand against the parchment. Soon, the place where the parchment was exploded with smoke, allowing them only to see two silhouettes: one female and the other male.
Flashback: off
All the ninjas present were paralyzed and staring at these silhouettes. The smoke that covered them seemed unwilling to dissipate, to the unhappiness of all the curious ninjas, who seemed so curious that they couldn't even blink or breathe. Tsunade watched everything with a hint of concern, along with many questions and doubts to be unraveled. Interesting, to her, was that the chakras of these people were extremely familiar. As if she knew the figures that slowly appeared among the smoke very well. The only person who wasn't surprised or curious was Naruto, who seemed to be amused by the reactions of the Konoha ninja. But out of nowhere Naruto turns in the direction of the strangers and enters the smoke, something that created a more tense atmosphere than before. After a few seconds, he resurfaces and stops looking at everyone before focusing on the Hokage."I know you must be curious about who trained me, especially you, Tsunade. Your curiosity is as evident as if you had written it on your forehead." sarcastic comments. Tsunade quickly approaches Naruto to punch him for the way he dared to talk to her, but when she went to give him a hit, Naruto just turned away and held her wrist firmly in a way she couldn't move. "You didn't really think that such a trivial blow would really hit me, did you?" he said as he let go of the older woman's wrist and continued as if nothing had happened. "As I was saying, you must be curious about who my masters are. But this is irrelevant now because we have more important matters to deal with and it's a long story that only they can tell. First, I will start telling you about my plan to prevent Konoha from being destroyed by the invasion and about the information..." was interrupted by Sasuke."Plan? A plan of yours? Hahaha! Only if you want to kill us! Hahahaha!" the idea itself was so absurd with the boy he knew that the Uchiha didn't contain himself and was dying of laughter, the same one just looks at him with a face like: 'You better stop before I kill you for real!'. Suddenly someone punches the brunette and he goes flying for some meters. In the place where Sasuke had been before was now a woman with long red hair, green eyes and beige and gray ninja clothes with her fist closed and staring at Sasuke who was sitting on the ground with his eyes wide open. "Are you crazy? You shouldn't go around hitting people for no reason!" he said indignantly at what that unknown and somewhat familiar woman, he was almost sure he had seen her picture somewhere, had just done to the last survivor of the Uchiha clan, what if he had been hurt? Fortunately, it hadn't caused any permanent damage although it had hurt quite a bit."What do you mean for no reason?! You're the one who badmouthed Naruto! Dattebane!" answers the angry woman, only stopping now to notice the appearance of the person who she had hit. At this moment everyone stared at this woman because the only person they knew who spoke like that was Naruto himself. Then a man appears who looks very similar, almost identical, to Naruto, only older, with blond hair, blue eyes, Konoha ninja clothes, and a white cape with drawings of red flames. The younger blonde just rolled his eyes at the drama of the older man's outfit."Hold on, darling! You know Naruto knows how to handle a provocation." says the man."Masters, please ignore their taunts. They still think I'm still the same as before." says the boy."Masters? So they trained you, Naruto?" Tenten asks, looking between the three of them, who in response got a brief nod from Naruto."You guys..." pronounced Tsunade " It can't be...! You are... You are..." she was so surprised that she couldn't even formulate or finish her sentences properly."That' s right, Tsunade-sensei. It's us." responds the red-haired woman, smiling at the oldest of them all."Namikaze Minato and..." says the man."Uzumaki Kushina." complements the woman. The revelation left everyone shocked, after all, one of Naruto's masters was the Yondaime Hokage (fourth Hokage), who was declared dead eighteen years ago in the battle against Kyuubi."I really didn't expect this!" comments the Godaime, laughing without knowing how to react. "I thought you guys died that day, but... You're alive! I don't know whether to be happy or to kill you for just letting us think you were dead!" she says with a somewhat frightening face, which makes the couple laugh at her speech. "Ah! Naruto? she remembers something important."What?" the younger blonde looks at her."You know they're yours..." starts, not really knowing how to bring it up."Of course! I wouldn't train with them without knowing who they were, teebaka!" Naruto retorts, but gets a slap from Kushina "Ouch!" he says, passing his hand on the bump that was left on the spot and turning to her. "Did you really have to do that?""Yes, where are your manners, brat?" Kushina asks."I didn't get it. You were "dead" when I was a child, remember?" answers with a deadpan."Guys, we're still here, you know." interrupts Sasuke, who was annoyed at having been excluded from the conversation and trying to remember how, when, and where he had seen those faces before. "Can you explain to us what you are talking about?" he says, referring to what the couple was for Naruto other than being his masters."Okay, I'll make it short, okay?" Naruto basically just warns them, without really expecting an answer. "These are my parents," says Naruto pointing at Kushina and Minato with an expressionless face."WHAT?" shouted all the young ninjas. "ARE YOU THE SON OF THE YONDAIME HOKAGE?! they ask, not believing what they have just heard."No! Just kidding! I just said that as a joke!" he replies with pure sarcasm. "Of course, I was sincere! What you just heard is true!" says Naruto almost out of patience and with a super urge to roll his eyes. "Okaa-san, otou-san I think you need to tell Tsunade about the information we have. And, Tsunade, in order to prevent the attack that is about to happen I ask for permission to form and train a counterattack team." Naruto asks the Kage."Hm..." Tsunade stops thoughtfully. To confirm that she can trust the young Uzumaki she looks at his parents, whom she knew best despite being shocked at why or how they were alive, who stated, only then answers. "Permission granted, as long as the one who chooses that team is me.""Okay." accepted without any protest, it was a fair condition since the village was hers."The team will be: ..." the Hokage begins to announce.
Next Chapter:
Team formed! Training begins.
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Flashback: on
"Hm..." Tsunade stops thoughtfully. To confirm that she can trust the young Uzumaki she looks at his parents, whom she knew best despite being shocked at why or how they were alive, who stated, only then answers. "Permission granted, as long as the one who chooses that team is me.""Okay." accepted without any protest, it was a fair condition since the village was hers."The team will be: ..." the Hokage begins to announce.
Flashback: off
But she was quickly interrupted by Minato, who had approached the Senju along with his wife."Tsunade-sama, I think you should decide on the team only after we tell you all the information we have and evaluate the file of the available ninjas according to that information." manifested Minato, extremely polite despite never having imagined, not even in his wildest dreams, that one day he would see this woman as a Kage."There's no need to be so formal, Minato, after all, you are still a Hokage of Konoha, that hasn't changed despite everything. And I don't need my ninja files to form a team." Tsunade replies. "Now continuing, the team will consist of: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Sai, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Temari, and Sabaku no Gaara. The leader of the team, as previously stated, is going to be Naruto. As he said, there really will be an invasion here in Konoha in a short time. So I advise you to start training as soon as possible. After talking and discussing the information with Minato and Kushina, I will explain it to you better. For now, you are free." she said before heading towards her office in the Hokage's building along with those who were previously considered dead."Great! That's all we need!" begins Kiba with a frown on his face. "Not only do I have to put up with this baka, but I have to join a team where he is the leader! What happened to the rule that you have to earn to become a leader?" he shouts. He was speaking softly only to the other participants of this team because he didn't want Naruto to listen. Which was useless, because the Uzumaki had heard everything clearly. And he turned to face the little group with a closed face."Futon-Daitoppa (big break)," says Naruto, at the same time that Inuzuka is thrown far away. "That's for you to learn that it's ugly to talk about others behind their backs! I already told Sasuke that if I heard someone bad-mouthing me, I wouldn't take it lightly!""Kiba, he really said that earlier, and I don't believe it's a bluff." the Uchiha declares, trying to prevent things from escalating even further. He had a feeling that when the blond used that tone he was not to be trifled with, especially since he didn't have any trace of a smile on his face. But he was promptly ignored by the other."And I say: I don't care!" answers the brunette, getting up and going to the place he was before 'flying'. "At least I didn't run away from the village like a scared little puppy! Even Akamaru as a newborn was braver!" provokes, turning to face the blond."You really can't learn to not speak ill of others, can you?" says Naruto with a frightening face, his eyes shining with anger. "You think you're that good?" he asks mockingly."At least I'm better than you! I bet I can beat you in a fight!" challenges the sharp-eyed man."Are you sure? You saw when I defeated all the shinobi in the arena!" Naruto reminded him, looking slightly surprised by his audacity. Didn't the other one have any sense of self-preservation?"And when he held off a punch from Tsunade-sama!" complements Ino promptly, who like Sakura was Tsunade's pupil, thus knowing of her 'strengths'. Then the scene would be forever etched in her mind."And who his parents are doesn't count, does it?" adds Tenten, who was still processing the shock of the news."Whatever! I'm still better than him at EVERYTHING!" he continues to ignore everyone and looks at Naruto, maintaining the challenge."If you want it that way..." speaks shaking his shoulders, in a nonchalant gesture. "Just to warn you: I won't take it easy!" he said, already preparing for a fight."I say the same! Come on Akamaru!" calls the Inuzuka already going after Naruto.But when he was very close to Naruto, he disappears. Leaving Kiba dizzy, but not for long, because Naruto appears from behind and kicks the other, who rolled away for about 5 meters. When the brunette got up he ran towards the Uzumaki forming a 'fang against fang' together with his ninken. The blow was close to hitting Naruto's belly, but before that happened they both got a strong punch to the belly, but this was not a normal punch. It was given along with a chakra manipulation that prevented much movement of the target or person hit, which causes great pain at the site if this person tries to move. And since the other one is proud, he jumped away from Naruto, which caused such pain that it made him twitch and fall to the ground with his hands pressing on his stomach."What did you do?" Kiba asks, his voice failing him because of the pain."I just made sure that you couldn't move for an hour." explains Naruto "And if you try to move you will feel a lot of pain in the place where I punched you." looks inexpressively at the duo who were moaning and groaning in pain for stubbornly trying. Sasuke was never happier to have stayed still and not be in his colleague's shoes, it was worth following his intuition."I-in-incredible, N-naruto-kun!" compliments Hinata, regardless of how embarrassed and stuttering she was."Arigato, Hina!" thanked Naruto opening a smile for her, Hinata turned super red at the way her beloved called her. "What's up, Minna? Can we get started with training or does anyone else want to try to beat me?" he asked in a relatively casual tone, although he was looking at them as if to see if anyone else would dare."Training" all answered without a second thought after another demonstration of strength from the one who returned."Hai! I hope that everyone gives their best because what is to come is only the beginning!" he said, grinning even wider (Were they hallucinating, or was there a touch of sadism there?).They spent the rest of the afternoon training. Since it was their first training session they started with something basic: fighting and evaluating each other's Taijutsu to see what and where they could improve. When Naruto wasn't fighting someone (which was very rare) he was looking at each other's potential and forming possible pairs or trios, so that none of them would be disadvantaged in a fight. 'But for them to be able to defeat what's coming, there's still a long way to go... They need to get much stronger. Like 5 times stronger at least,' Naruto thinks. 'Since it's just the beginning I think it's okay. Hopefully, we have some time before the invasion...' he sighs just imagining the work he would have.At the same time in the Hokage's room: "Now we can talk. I have so many questions. How did you guys survive? How did you find Naruto? When did you..." Tsunade's excitement was interrupted by Minato who was serious."Tsunade, can we talk about this later? I think that, at the moment, we have more urgent matters to deal with." speaks the youngest Hokage."Yes, that's right. What information do you have?" focuses the Senju, already pulling herself together according to what the situation and subject required. As there was a lot of information, they talked for several hours. They compared and gathered all the data, thus having basically everything they needed to know to prepare the village for the invasion. But in a discrete way so as not to alarm the enemy with too abrupt changes. Minato and Kushina asked Tsunade not to reveal to the village that they were alive and also for her to tell the shinobi who had seen them. According to the information they had gathered, the expected time until the invasion would be a week and a half. For Unit 7 (For it was later decided that they had too many people to be named as just a team), as Naruto's group was named, to be prepared faster, if needed, they would help train them. Next chapter: A break. The story.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
"Yes, that's right. What information do you have?" focuses the Senju, already pulling herself together according to what the situation and subject required. As there was a lot of information, they talked for several hours. They compared and gathered all the data, thus having basically everything they needed to know to prepare the village for the invasion. But in a discrete way so as not to alarm the enemy with too abrupt changes. Minato and Kushina asked Tsunade not to reveal to the village that they were alive and also for her to tell the shinobi who had seen them. According to the information they had gathered, the expected time until the invasion would be a week and a half. For Unit 7 (For it was later decided that they had too many people to be named as just a team), as Naruto's group was named, to be prepared faster, if needed, they would help train them.
Flashback: off
Three days had passed since the team had been formed and had begun training. The training schedule was: three days of training and one day off (in that order over and over again). Since it was the fourth day, they were to have the day off. As the team had been created with the objective of fighting the attack that would occur on the village, it was basically almost like a mission, so they also had to deliver reports informing the Hokage about how the training was progressing. When it came time to deliver the report it was a mess. Almost everybody wanted to go and deliver it to the Kage (if you think that's willingly, you are... WRONG! They wanted to deliver the report so they could - try - to rest. Because even though it was a day off Naruto didn't take it easy). But Naruto doesn't allow it, because only he can deliver the report since he was the leader, the commander of the team. Even though it was the day off, the young man still advised everyone to train on their own to advance the training and get stronger for the attack.In a short time, the Uzumaki was already in front of the Konoha leader's office. But when he was about to knock on the door he heard some voices, along with Tsunade's. Even though he couldn't see who was talking to the woman, he recognized the voices. So he sighed and knocked on the door."Come in!" Tsunade quickly shouts, and then Naruto enters the room."Tsunade-san, I came to give you the training report," speaks Naruto handing the scroll to the blonde, only then he turns to look at his parents. "Konichiwa, Okaa-san, Otou-san." as a response got a brief nod and a smile from both of them."Naruto..." calls Tsunade. "Call your team and meet us on top of the Hokage hill." looks at the other two present seriously though opening a smile. "We have a lot to talk about, right?" says more specifically to the two, who until then were making her curious about everything unrelated to the impending invasion."Hai. But for this task to be faster, I will use kage bunshins, okay?" says, without really wanting to ask permission, Tsunade just nods. Even without pronouncing the Jutsu, making only the necessary seals, the clones appear and leave after the boy's instructions. When he was sure that everyone had understood and knew who they should call, the young man let them go, and they promptly left to carry out their orders. While the clones went to call everyone, the real Naruto, along with Minato, Kushina and Tsunade went towards the Hokage hill, where they waited for the others. When everyone from the team arrived there they saw a hut and a sign that said: training camp 001. Which was very strange since there was already a training camp number one. Seeing their faces of astonishment, doubt and curiosity the Hokage felt sorry for them and decided to explain."This training camp is really little known, practically secret. It is where the ninja who will become Hokage in the future train to improve their skills to be able to protect the village from any eventuality. There are very few exceptions, such as the authorized use for creating high-ranking techniques of high-ranking shinobis who have earned one." Tsunade explains."But I guess you already knew, right Naruto?" said Kushina and Minato together, in perfect synchrony. "We already told you that, right?" they smiled, looking with a hint of pride at their son, who looked away, briefly appearing uncomfortable."Is that really the Naruto we knew?" doubted Ino, something that was slowly becoming normal, especially with these unfamiliar sides."But we didn't call you here to talk about this subject no matter how interesting the history this place contains." interrupts the Kage before the subject spreads."Tsunade-sensei is right, the subject we want to talk about is something that probably many of you are wondering about these days: how Minato and I survived Kyuubi's attack since everyone was sure that we were dead." after Kushina said this the mood changed, it became heavier. While everyone made surprised or curious faces, Naruto's face showed a mixture of pain, hatred, resentment, and fear. This and the aura he exhaled unconsciously left him with a frightening appearance, capable of making the bravest tremble (try to imagine Naruto looking like he does when he uses the Kyuubi power without using the tails, only without using this power and also darker and more terrifying. Complete with a dark and suffocating aura, that freezes for a few moments the soul of those nearby). Which gave the impression, almost to the point of certainty, that this was a subject that did not please the boy very much."It's a rather long story, so if you want to understand it, pay close attention," Minato said, complementing his wife. They looked at each other as if they were wondering which one of them would start talking. Losing the competition the same begins. "It was morning, October 10th, when we started heading to the place that had been previously prepared for weeks, to be exact: a hut a little far from the village for Kushina to give birth to our son, Naruto. The birth had to be far away from the village since she was the former Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The only time a jinchuuriki's seal is known to weaken is during birth, so there was a risk that the Kyuubi would try and break free. I went ahead to check that everything was ready. During this time we reviewed the barriers we had put up, the position of the Anbus that would watch, and all the protection and precautions we could think of at the time that would be necessary. It was almost 11 o'clock when I picked her up to take her to the cabin." he stopped talking, he needed to breathe a little, he had talked too much and breathed too little."While they were doing this I was walking around the village thinking, when I saw Mikoto, my best friend." she opened with a wistful smile. "She had just had her second child a few weeks earlier and we hadn't met since then, since the last few months of my pregnancy had been complicated. She held him tightly and lovingly between her arms. I greeted her and asked what was the name of the baby on her lap whom I had not yet had the chance to meet, and she told me it was Sasuke." said Kushina who looked sadly at Sasuke as she spoke the last sentence, who stared at her with a 'Did you know my mother and were you friends with her?' face as if he hadn't heard, much less processed the information, he didn't expect he would hear from his dead mother that day. "I said it was a nice name, and asked, as I was going to give birth to a son soon too if it had hurt. But before she could answer me, Biwako, Sandaime's wife, arrived, interrupting our conversation, and called me saying that it was time for me to meet Minato. I had to say goodbye and leave. After having found him, the three of us went together to the place where we began the process of childbirth. It was already starting to get dark when Naruto was finally born. The medical ninja who had come to help with the delivery showed him to me, but they took him away to clean him." she said as her expression changed from a serious one to a fearful one, distressed just remembering the next moments she was never going to forget."While they were cleaning up Naruto, I approached to start redoing the Kyuubi seal, which had indeed loosened, but I was interrupted by a child crying and bodies falling dead to the ground. And I saw a masked man holding my son. He stared at me as he told me to move away from the jinchuuriki or he would kill the child who had just been born, in one minute and without hesitation. I asked him to calm down, but he retorted that he was completely calm and it was me who was not, and then threw Naruto up. He prepared with a kunai to kill him, but I used one of my teleportation jutsus and managed to catch the baby. But it was a trap. There were many paper bombs glued to the blanket that wrapped Naruto. I was forced to use the teleportation jutsu again after taking the baby blanket from him, and this is what he wanted: to force me to get away from Kushina to save our son. I teleported to the grass in front of the cabin, where I finally realized his plan. I had to stop him, I had to save my wife, and to do this I first had to keep my son safe. I used the space and time jutsu to go to our house, where I left Naruto lying on the covered bed." says Minato."While Minato was doing this the masked man took me to a lake with stones that looked like an altar prepared for the situation, he used the seal to tie me. He used a Sharingan to release Kyuubi, but before that, I asked what he was going to do and he said he was going to release the fox and destroy Konoha, that's all he told me before he extracted the bijuu from inside me. It was the second time that night that I felt pain. After that, he turned to go to the village, but he noticed that I had not died like any other jinchuuriki would die with the extraction of the bijuu from inside him. This surprised him, 'You Uzumaki's are really amazing beings, even after the extraction of the beast you didn't die' he commented, and ordered the fox to kill me. But my husband appeared just in time, saving me. 'Your speed lives up to your nickname, Yellow Lightning of Konoha. But you were too late,' he said to Minato before disappearing. I quickly asked if our son was ok, and to my relief, he said yes, I told him what I had been told and asked him to stop the masked man and Kyuubi. He just stared at where the masked man had disappeared and used the space and time jutsu to take me to the place where he had left Naruto, at our house. He put me next to him on the bed and went to put on his Yondaime Hokage cape, I wished him good luck, since I was too exhausted to be of any help. But when he was about to leave, he was stopped by two familiar people who had just arrived." said Kushina."They were her parents, Kurume and Aika Uzumaki. They said that we shouldn't fight the masked man, because if we did, we would be facilitating his plan, that we would be more useful if we survived and waited for the right time to strike back. I said that as Hokage it was my duty to protect the village and its residents. Kurume replied harshly that I would protect neither the village nor the villagers with early death. They said they were aware of part of the masked man's purpose, that he was as powerful and cunning as Madara once was. And I asked what we were supposed to do, 'sit around and watch our village get destroyed?' I asked them sarcastically. 'We never said that no one was going to do anything' they replied. It was then that they told us their plan to stop the masked man. 'Wait, you want us to run away and leave our son behind?' I said incredulously at that absurd suggestion. 'How will everyone believe that we are you if Naruto had mysteriously disappeared?" they replied seriously. 'For everything to work out you'll have to trust us and follow the plan,' they explained. We, Kushina and I, were very undecided about this. Seeing our facial expressions Aika said, 'You know that what we are going to do is exactly what you would do if you did it!' she looked us in the eye. I knew that every one of those words was true, however painful. She was right, no matter how hard it was, it was what had to be done. We agreed. They did a Jutsu, called: Kage Kagami Shinten no Hou (which means: Shadow Mirror Shape Shifting). That made their appearance permanently transform into mine and Kushina's, something that not even death would change. The rest of the story is as you know it." concluded Minato, without looking in his son's direction.The story impressed and surprised everyone (A/N: I hope, literally!), but what really blew them away was, when they looked at Naruto he was staring at them, analyzing them and each of their reactions. His face was expressionless and his eyes glowing like embers with many intense emotions. The most interesting thing was that in Naruto's shadow one could clearly see the nine-tailed demon fox, better known as Kyuubi. Next Chapter: Time passes... The Invasion Begins
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
The story impressed and surprised everyone (A/N: I hope, literally!), but what really blew them away was, when they looked at Naruto he was staring at them, analyzing them and each of their reactions. His face was expressionless and his eyes glowing like embers with many intense emotions. The most interesting thing was that in Naruto's shadow one could clearly see the nine-tailed demon fox, better known as Kyuubi.
Flashback: off
It had been 8 days since the day they went to the training camp: 001 or also known as the Hokage Camp. Everyone was still frightened and surprised by how they saw Naruto, or rather his shadow that night. In training, they had already advanced a lot, although since the event it was rare that Naruto showed up these days, both to train them and to train with them. Clearly, he was avoiding everyone for some reason, they figured it might be because of the story they had been told, which he clearly hated to be reminded of. And so they ended up being trained, in a secretive manner, by the Yondaime Hokage and his wife, Kushina in their days of absence.Hinata was walking around the village quietly, since she wouldn't have any training, when she found herself standing in the square, looking at the Hokage mound. 'This place has always been one of Naruto-kun's favorites...' she remembered, and it was with that thought that she decided to go visit the young man since she had hardly seen him lately. Honestly, she was already worried. She walked until she stopped in front of a house, a mansion actually, bigger than the one she lived in. It was beautiful. It had many windows and sliding doors, and the architecture was traditional Japanese, only mixed with some circular pillars from some culture she didn't recognize, but it had carved swirls, its details were painted and decorated in red and gold. In front of it was a magnificent and grand garden, with the most amazing Momiji trees (a tree with reddish-orange leaves), fantastic Japanese bamboo, ponds with carp, etc. The sight was really breathtaking, so breathtaking that it seemed unreal. Too bad that around it there was a barrier that made only authorized people see it, the others just saw it as an abandoned and neglected house (totally the opposite, I know). This was not the first time she had come to visit. In the last few days, she had been coming to this house a lot, trying to visit. She walked through the garden and knocked gently on the door. Who answered it was Kushina, who smiled at the bluish girl amiably."O-ohayo, Kushina-san..." says Hinata shyly. "I've come to see N-naruto-kun..." she spoke blushing a little, she thought that no matter how long she was exposed to him, she would always blush at this rate."Yo, Hinata. Naruto's not here..." tells Kushina, already used to the younger girl's efforts, but seeing the young woman's disappointed face, she quickly added. "Probably he's somewhere isolated training, he's always training, you know. Since he's been spending a lot of time with you guys, you might be able to find him," she said with a small smile, which grew bigger when he saw the gleam of determination and hope in the young woman's eyes."A-arigato, Kushina-san. Ja ne!" said Hinata, leaving the residence without waiting too long.The Hyuuga went looking for the young man in the places where she saw him the most, places where everyone knew there was a chance to see the blonde since forever, when she remembered what her mother had said: 'He's probably in some isolated place'.'Isolated place, isolated place...' she repeated mentally as she paced back and forth thinking 'Where is it? I've looked everywhere I've ever seen him... Except in... I got it!' she remembered and ran to the top of the Hokage hill.Arriving there the young woman saw the Hokage training camp occupied, where a young blond man was training alone. He was practicing some taijutsu moves, a style she had never seen before. She was discreetly watching him from behind a tree, but it wasn't long before the young man noticed her."Why are you hiding behind this tree, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto, turning and looking in the direction where the girl was standing. This took her by surprise, the girl came out from behind the tree blushing from being caught in the act."It is... It's b-because..." Hinata tried to explain, but ended up getting confused, she was very embarrassed and when she was like this her brain refused to cooperate with her and think rationally."No need to explain. Just that if I were an enemy, and you didn't hide your presence, as happened now, it would be very dangerous." said the Uzumaki with a serious expression, with a look that was almost reproachful, but contained and slightly hidden, so much so that she thought she read him wrong."But you are not my enemy, N-naruto-kun..." says Hinata with her eyes turned to the boy who was also watching her, who almost sighed in frustration."That is true, I am not. But you have to be careful and always watch out. You never know when an enemy is going to attack. And I don't want you to get hurt, Hinata-chan." Naruto said calmly and serenely, despite his serious words. But before the young girl could say anything back they began to hear noises of explosions and battles coming from the center of the village. Which made the boy's face turn into a cold and serious expression "Kuso!" he called out, going towards the edge of the hill so that he could see better, without the trees hindering his vision. "The invasion started early. I don't have much time. The ninja in the village doesn't know how to fight this kind of opponent. Probably not every ninja here knows the real reason for this invasion." said more thinking out loud."And what is the real reason, N-naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, confused and curious, turning to him, which was easier than looking at her village being destroyed and some places on fire."Now I don't have time to explain. And probably soon you will find out..." he answered, though not really giving an answer, while he created some kage bunshins and sent them to call all the members of team 7. When everyone arrived, he explained the situation and the way the enemies were fighting. "The orange-haired ninjas are the most dangerous, but there are also several other enemies. I just tell you to stay away from the orange-haired ninjas, unless your only option is to fight with them. If you must, don't go alone. For the one who will fight them will be me." he said, but soon noticed that the others were reluctant to agree. "You're no match for them the way you are! If they defeat you, who will protect the village against the other threats?" he added. "Even if you don't agree, only I will fight them and their leader. That is if you don't want to die." Naruto added with disdain."Are you really threatening to kill us?" asked Sasuke, incredulous at the blond's words."That's not what I said." denied Naruto coldly, shaking his head in exasperation. "What I meant is that if you fight them and one of them tries to kill you, I won't stop it. Your death will only show that no matter how much training you take if you don't know how to obey orders, you are useless," he said coldly, his eyes in the same tone.After that everyone left to get whatever else they needed, prepare to fight the enemy, and help the population evacuate. Only Naruto stayed behind, standing in the same spot."They're gone..." said the boy thinking out loud. Then he sat down on a rock and began to meditate, entering his mind. More specifically, he found himself in front of a large iron gate with a seal that kept what was inside imprisoned. He knew very well what was trapped there. It was then that 'something' began to move, placing itself in front of the gate. It was a huge monster shaped like a fox, but with nine tails. But all that could be heard was the demon's evil laughter, its fierce eyes turning towards him, and a frightening voice saying:"This is going to be interesting, brat!" said Kyuubi with an animalistic smile. Soon everything went dark and he found himself back in the real world. He walks to the edge of the Hokage hill and slowly closes his blue eyes and when he opens them again they are blood red and fatally fierce, just like the eyes of the fox. Then after another explosion in the village, he looks around and sees everyone fighting. He cuts off his right palm, raises it, and shouts:"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Karuma!"An explosion occurs with a great cloud of smoke. In the middle of the smoke, you could see the silhouette of something gigantic and two glowing red eyes.
Next Chapter: Invasion complete! And what happens next?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Karuma!"An explosion occurs with a great cloud of smoke. In the middle of the smoke, you could see the silhouette of something gigantic and two glowing red eyes.
Flashback: off
Meanwhile, in the village's center, several shinobi were trying to stop the enemy. The situation in the village was getting more and more critical, the enemy was extremely strong and would not die (because there was another one that revived them). Everyone was giving their best. The genin ninja and some chunins were evacuating the civilians to the shelter inside the Hokage hill, the jounins and Anbu's were fighting and retreating in an attempt to keep the pace, the enemies seemed endless, there were always more coming. And the problem was not their strength and quality, but their quantity, the organization should have recruited a lot of people before the invasion, because in the information they had they didn't have that many members. The Hokage, Tsunade was worried, 'Where was Naruto and his team? The invasion had already started a long time ago, did they not notice? No... It's impossible that they didn't notice, counting the amount of explosions! Then why were they late?' he wondered as he looked at the village from his living room window together with Minato and Kushina, who seemed relaxed and surprisingly calm about the situation."How can you stay calm in a situation like this?" asked the Hokage, it was the first time something like this had happened under her tutelage."We have to stay calm... Because otherwise, we won't be able to handle it." refutes Minato, full of logic and reason, he may have been Kage for only a few years but it was a lesson he learned during the war that the invasion of the masked man who stole Kyuubi reinforced."I believe you are right..." says thoughtfully. "We need to be calm to be able to use all our powers to protect the village and the residents... But, the team formed and trained to fight this invasion, Naruto's Team 7... Hasn't shown up yet... I think it's impossible that they haven't noticed... And..." she paused, thinking about everything she had said. "And I'm the one who's nervous, right? But it's just that it's going to be my first invasion as Hokage and I've been present during other invasions that have happened here in the village, I've seen how a Hokage's responsibility is during situations like this... A-and..." was interrupted by Kushina."Err... Tsunade-sensei you really are very nervous, too nervous to tell the truth..." said the red-haired woman a bit shakily, but soon recovered and returned to normal. "But you mustn't lose your head, tebanne! How do you think the villagers and the shinobi here in the village would feel seeing the Hokage acting like the fearful one she is not?" she exclaimed, causing the blonde to come back to reality and straighten her posture returning to the Tsunade they knew."Tsunade, regarding my son's team, you don't need to worry anymore... They have just arrived." comments the Fourth Hokage, returning to observe the village through the window, seeing the long-awaited ninja going into action. With this the situation changed a little to the Konoha side, showing that the training had really paid off. >> In the fight, Team 7:When they arrived at the center of the invasion the Team 7 shinobis were terrified by what they saw. There were residents, those who had not yet been evacuated, badly injured, hiding in stores and houses, and trying futilely to protect themselves as they were destroyed by the giant monsters summoned by the invaders. Many ninjas were already exhausted and with very little chakra who, even though tired, were trying to stop the monsters and the invaders, without much success."Kami-sama! It is just like Naruto's warning! Look at the destruction these guys have caused and are causing!" exclaims Tenten, shocked and frightened by the state of their village."These guys really are strong! But we have been training ourselves for it, and besides, we have the flame of youth!" says Rock Lee already very excited, somehow he could get excited about anything."But guys, speaking of him, where is he?" Ino asks, looking around and only now noticing that he had not followed them."I knew he was a coward! I bet he left us here to fight alone and ran away!" says Kiba mocking Naruto."K-Kiba-kun!!! N-naruto-kun would never do such a thing!" says Hinata defending her beloved to the teammate, she didn't understand the schism the other had created against the blonde (little did she know it was because of her). While everyone was distracted by the conversation they didn't notice an orange-haired man with the Akatsuki cape coming towards them. It was only when this one was in front of them that they noticed."Who are you and why are you invading our village?" Sakura asked, trying to keep her posture, as she was frightened to have one of those very powerful orange-haired men that Naruto had mentioned and warned them not to face."Where is the jinchuuriki of the nine tails, Uzumaki Naruto?" the man asked, ignoring the pink girl's question completely. But it was the man's question that took everyone by surprise. What did he want with Naruto? How did he know that Naruto was a jinchuuriki? Why did he want to know where Naruto was? They were left wondering in confusion. But Hinata had only one question: Was that the purpose of the invasion? To capture the Uzumaki? "Answer now! Or else I will eliminate you!" he threatened, making all the ninjas stiff and apprehensive, they had been warned that the orange ones were dangerous.Then everything became cloudy. All you could see were things close by and shadows in the distance. But one shadow called the most attention, not only because it was huge, but because of the two big red eyes, which were so intense that they shone. Then a gale blew the smoke away, revealing a giant fox with nine tails and a fierce gaze. What impressed everyone the most was the fact that Naruto was standing on top of it."Were you looking for me?" the blond boy asks sarcastically to the orange-haired man. He then looks at his team. "How much longer are you going to stay there? Hurry up!" he calls rushing them. Who even with fear and apprehension climbed onto the beast, which quickly moved away from the enemy."Naruto-san this is really the..." began Neji, but was interrupted by the demon."Yes, I am the nine-tailed fox!" said Kyuubi. That made everyone nervous both because it spoke so much because of the tone of voice it had used, which made it laugh and say. "Relax, I won't attack you, after all, you are not my enemy yet. And also my jinchuuriki wouldn't let me, no matter how much I wanted to...""That's enough, Karuma! You've already managed to scare them!" Naruto scolds it coldly, which makes it look at him sulkily. "I'm gone for a few moments and when I come back I see you doing the opposite of what I told you? But don't get used to it, I might not come again to save you, even if I want to. So get ready, it's just beginning!" he says, finally looking at them. They were even tenser when they saw the fox's red eyes instead of the boy's blue ones.
To be continued...
Next chapter: Challenged?! Konoha VS Akatsuki!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
"That's enough, Karuma! You've already managed to scare them!" Naruto scolds it coldly, which makes it look at him sulkily. "I'm gone for a few moments and when I come back I see you doing the opposite of what I told you? But don't get used to it, I might not come again to save you, even if I want to. So get ready, it's just beginning!" he says, finally looking at them. They were even tenser when they saw the fox's red eyes instead of the boy's blue ones.
Flashback: off
The great fox quickly moved away from the center of the village, where the worst part of the invasion was. Heading in the direction of the Uzumaki mansion, for reasons unknown to virtually everyone in team 7, since they could only see an abandoned house. That is everyone but Hinata, who had been there a few times before, so the barrier simply didn't affect her anymore. She quickly deduced that it must be part of her beloved's plan. When they arrived at the mansion Naruto undid the visual protective barrier of the house, which made everyone gawk at the size and beauty of the place."Wow! What a magnificent mansion!" Ino began, delighted with the landscape in front of her, looking at everything around her. It was intact, like an oasis in the middle of a sea of destruction, flames, and debris. "How could I have never noticed this place? And, Naruto, how did you know this place existed?" she question surprised."You never noticed this place because of the protective barrier, obviously. It's rare that people outside the clan see it and visit it..." he says, rolling his eyes slightly, with no patience for small talk in this situation. "And how could I not know about this place if I live here?" complemented Naruto, just to reinforce the point that this was a clan residence, which left everyone even more surprised."What do you mean you live here?" they all shouted together. Didn't the blond live in an apartment by himself when they were younger? When and how did that change?"Living, come on!" he says with sarcasm practically dripping from his voice."Why didn't you ever tell us?" says Rock Lee upset."You guys who never asked!" he answers simply, starting to lose even more patience that he didn't have. It was somehow growing to the negative side, and he didn't even know that this was possible."Hm... But, teme, why do you bring us here?" Sasuke asks, coming back into focus and remembering that this really wasn't the reason they were there and not the time to be debated. "And even more with this monster?" as he grew up he heard rumors and theories from other ninjas about the involvement of someone with Sharingan in the previous attack on the village, with the story he had now he was starting to think that maybe it was a possibility. Although he didn't believe or think that anyone in his clan would do that, there had to be another explanation. His mother had even been quite devastated when Naruto disappeared, it was the first time he had seen her so upset and arguing with his father about it, the beginning of a few others about it later. The presence of the beast there at the moment only reminded him of what he missed when he was younger."Is there a problem with that, kid?" provokes the fox already angry (she basically always was), and she didn't like Uchihas anyway. Which caused her chakra to resonate through the Uzumaki's body. Which made him look even more wild and more aggressive.'CONTROL YOURSELF, KARUMA!' shouts Naruto in his mind angry with the fox and because of her, at least she could cooperate with him at least, looking at her with a murderous look, which returned it with the same. Immediately returning to normal, with her forcing herself to control her hatred."Can I explain to them, or are you going to keep complaining and wanting to pick a fight?" said the blond, stopping to look at his bijuu, but she didn't need the answer. She was practically always listening to his mind. "Well, while some thought I had run away," he speaks pointedly looking at Kiba, knowing that the latter had probably spoken some such nonsense, which shot back at him. Inuzuka had his reasons for not liking him and Naruto couldn't care less about that. "I was watching the enemy. From what I understand they're not using their full power yet, which isn't good since many of the ninjas in the village are exhausted. I've decided that we'll have to split the team in two...""Why only in two if you are attacking three parts of the village?" Tenten asks, interrupting him, raising a point that the others were also in doubt."Each team will go to a side of Konoha that is being attacked: east and west. The first team will be formed by: Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Temari, Gaara, and Sai (who was also part of team 7 led by Kakashi). The second team will be made up of the remaining ninjas. And I will take care of the invasion of the village center, which is being done and commanded by the Pains, the rest is more a distraction by numbers. The Pains are those orange-haired guys, they have the rinnegan, an almost omnipotent doujutsu that allows them to see what others see and gives them abilities like resurrecting each other and sucking someone's soul. But I suspect they are controlled by someone like they are just puppets." he explains quickly, trying not to drag it out too much and waste precious time, impressing everyone with this more intelligent side of him that few knew, they didn't even know he had one being honest."At times like this, I wonder if you are really Naruto?" says Sakura amused, trying to soften the tense atmosphere that was hovering in the air."Sakura, this is no time for jokes. We are in the middle of an invasion against the Konoha village, this is something very, very serious!" Naruto scolded her, not liking the joke. If they were invading his house, he would not be so calm as to be able to play. At that moment the fox, which until then had been forgotten, vanishes in smoke. Giving everyone a fright and leaving them confused about it."Where did the demonic monster go?" Ino asks, in an exaggerated manner to the irritation of the fox, who was listening to everything through her receptacle."Karuma cannot stay long in our world because of the seal." the boy clarifies knowing that if he didn't they would ask until he spoke, that he felt the fox's anger and was the only one who could still hear it. 'If I was still out there I would finish that human!' says Kyuubi in Naruto's mind, who becomes irritated."And where did it go?" she asks Ino, curious and a little bit slow to understand what Naruto means."She went back to where he came from: the host body, her jinchuuriki." speaks the Uzumaki in a somber and now visibly angry tone. "But enough of this silly talk at times like these! Or have you forgotten about the invasion?!" explodes, losing control of his temper.Naruto's outburst brought them back to reality, this time for good. After some time reviewing the plan and adapting to it, the group split up and each went towards a different part of the village. Everyone was already fighting bravely, causing a difference in the situation, and making it more favorable for Konoha. Meanwhile, in the center of the village, one of the Pains, the main one named: Tendo, was levitating over the village."Shinra Tensei!" pronounces the Jutsu, which produces an explosion that emits a brightness so strong that it blinds everyone. This creates a huge crater, its epicenter being in the middle of the village. This could have killed the entire population, had Tsunade not invoked Katsuyu (a slug capable of splitting into thousands of mini-versions of herself and possessing healing properties) who split and saved as many people as possible. But even for her, saving everyone was impossible.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: Challenged?! Konoha VS Akatsuki! Part 2
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
"Shinra Tensei!" pronounces the Jutsu, which produces an explosion that emits a brightness so strong that it blinds everyone. This creates a huge crater, its epicenter being in the middle of the village. This could have killed the entire population, had Tsunade not invoked Katsuyu (a slug capable of splitting into thousands of mini-versions of herself and possessing healing properties) who split and saved as many people as possible. But even for her, saving everyone was impossible.
Flashback: off
This stunned everyone because when the slug released them they could only see the dust caused by the explosion. When it passed, it froze them all, and they could see the gigantic damage to the village. If it could continue to be called a village, because there was very little left of the village itself. But Tsunade was worried, not only about the village but about Naruto, because Katsuyu said she had not protected or even been able to find him.Suddenly a smoke (similar, no, identical to the one when someone does an invocation jutsu) appears right in the middle of the crater. Along with Pain Tendo who descends into the crater, landing a few miles away from where it had appeared. A wind passes revealing what was under the smoke: a pyramid of frogs, with three giant frogs at the base, a medium one on top of the one in the middle and on top of the medium frog was a small frog that was soon joined by another small frog and next to them was Naruto."I see I finally caught your attention, Kyuubi... This will save me from having to look for you!" pronounced Pain, satisfied when he saw who it was that had arrived. As he spoke the other five Pains came to join the first one."STOP! As the Hokage Godaime I will not let you continue to do whatever you want in my village!" interrupts Tsunade, who had approached in order to prevent the Pains from capturing Naruto, because of him being the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. Also, because she had regretted letting Naruto fight an invasion that aimed to capture him."My business is not with you!" proclaims the same Pain, sending one of his own to kill her. He didn't need or want anyone else in his way. "My business is with...""Me!" Naruto declared, defeating the Pain that had gone to kill the Hokage just before he reached her. But he was different, in his eyes, there was the sennin mode (A/N: You must be wondering how he learned this, right? Later I will explain better, but for now, I will only raise one possibility: Minato was a disciple of Jiraya, who could theoretically teach him the Sennin mode. If this is all that happened, you will find out later). "Tsunade-sama, please go away and rest so that you can take care of the injured ninjas, I know that you are a medical ninja. After all, it wouldn't be nice if the Hokage fought against trash like this. So trust me and ask no one to meddle, because it's harder to protect and fight simultaneously than it is to just fight. And I'd like to keep my focus today.""..." she just nods, even though she is completely reluctant to make this decision. But something inside her knew that for sure the Uzumaki would not listen if she told him to back off. She soon moved away from the crater looking for anyone who needed help or who was injured to treat them. And with that, he ended up running into a part of team 7."Tsunade-sama, what was that explosion that destroyed almost our entire village?" asks Ino, still shaken by the fact. Never in her whole life has she seen something as powerful as this enemy attack."Hokage-sama, Katsuyu-san told us that she was able to find and protect everyone but..." starts Neji acquiring a half-sorrowful look for his cousin, wondering how the girl would be feeling since Katsuyu told them."Naruto is fine, it seems that before the explosion he teleported to a far away place. And now he's returned with some large frogs, ..." she paused, 'and that look familiar...' she noticed thoughtfully. "Destroyed a pain that came to attack me and then sent me away saying he was going to take care of them alone." spoke the Senju angry at having to admit it."He's crazy to fight those guys alone, right? You saw the damage that only one of them did in the village! He's trying to play the good guy! I bet he won't succeed. And..." was interrupted by an angry Hinata."I-I don't know what's wrong with y-you, Kiba-kun. -she started a little unsure but was already tired of the other's behavior. "B-but it seems like you're just jealous of him because he's stronger than you! AND, BY ANY CHANCE, YOU STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THOSE GUYS ATTACKED THE VILLAGE IN ORDER TO CAPTURE NARUTO-KUN?! AND THAT IF HE CAN'T DEFEAT THEM THEY WON'T JUST LEAVE AND TAKE HIM AWAY, THEY WILL FINISH ANNIHILATING THE VILLAGE AND ALL OF US!" explodes the Hyuuga, who was very angry, nervous, and apprehensive about this information since they got it and everything happened in sequence. After she said all that, which surprised everyone, because no one would ever imagine that someone sweet like Hinata would blow up like that. And then, out of nowhere, after giving everyone there an irritated look, she ran off in the direction where Naruto was standing with her byakugan activated, leaving everyone even more surprised."Hinata!" calls Neji, but she was already too far away to listen or ignored. "Inuzuka, you imbecile! Look what you've done! You didn't realize that she...""What she what?" Kiba replies even though he knows the answer. But then sometime later he admits to himself. "She likes him. Isn't she? She went running there, for what? To save him? What does she think could happen to him? Die?""At least she's clearly smarter than you. Obviously you're the part of the team that lacked a brain." reports Gaara, rolling his eyes at such idiocy. "She's right to be worried about Naruto. If he is captured, he is in real danger of dying. Do you remember the story of Kushina-san? The part where she says: '... I had not died like any other jinchuuriki would die from the extraction of the bijuu from inside of her'. Well, it's like she said, a jinchuuriki's die if their beasts are removed from inside them." he says with bitterness in his voice. With that, the mood of the room became more and more tense, the realization of what this would mean falling upon them. • In the fight against the Pains:The blond had already managed to defeat 4 pains, but even using sennin mode he had a little difficulty. Fortunately one of those 4 defeated was the one who had in power a jutsu that he could use to resurrect the others. What was still missing was the main one and the one that was useless any ninjutsu. But with the previous fights the boy had already spent more than half of his chakra, he would have to end it soon or he would be forced to use the chakra of his bijuu."Are you really going to exclude me from the fight?" Kyuubi begins, very indignant at being excluded from the action. "Naruto?!" proferred his name in the way only she knows in his mind.'We've talked about this! And you're crazy to talk to me in the middle of the fight like that? By distracting me?! Kuso! Don't disturb me during the fight anymore!' Naruto mentally asks. Only during this brief moment of distraction the ninjutsu/chakra absorbing Pain immobilizes him from behind and starts absorbing his chakra.What this Pain didn't count was that the chakra he was absorbing was the chakra that the Uzumaki acquired when he was in the sennin mode: the nature chakra, which contrary to what it may seem is extremely difficult to control and its side effect when badly controlled is to start turning into a statue in the shape of the animal that had guided and taught him the technique. As soon as this Pain noticed this (when his skin was turning into a stone one) he dropped the boy, throwing him to the ground. But before Naruto could lift Pain Tendo, he pinned him to the ground by shoving iron rods into the young man's body in a way that restricted his movements. Hinata who was arriving seeing the scene, of one of her fears come true, filled with rage rushes her, jumps into the crater, destroys the half-frog Pain and runs to defend her beloved."I won't let you hurt Naruto anymore," she said, placing herself between her beloved and the Pain that was hurting him and pushing him away."Hina! What are you doing here?! Quickly run away, it's dangerous here." adverts Naruto, who couldn't believe that the girl had really gone to try to rescue him."I know... But I couldn't bear to stay away, safely, knowing that you would be here, in danger..." Hinata begins shakily, building up courage. "I-I love you, Naruto-kun," she confesses, her eyes watering."Hina..." the boy stopped and shook his head. "You have to run away! I don't want you to get hurt Hinata, onegai, run away!" he asked, knowing that if she stayed it would be inevitable. And he really didn't want her to get hurt because of him, it wasn't a sight he would like to have. But the Hyuuga was determined to protect the one who once did the same for her. Someone she knew she never had anyone to do that for him before.Then the young woman got into fighting stance and went to attack the remaining Pain. After all she who had defeated the other Pain, dealt the final blow. She was only using taijutsu, one of the best of the team, second only to maybe Naruto, Neji, and Rock Lee (but that was unfair since her cousin's team was practically martial arts experts). Pain was having quite a hard time as her speed increased with each blow. The orange one would have to hold out for a while longer, as it was still a few minutes before his true power would activate. Hinata, who was no fool, noticed that Pain was just dodging and defending herself, and thought that this was because Pain must be planning something. Whatever it was would be bad, she sensed. With that, she prepares her new jutsu, which Naruto had taught her and she, with his help, had perfected."Suiton, Perfect Rasengan!" she said, already attacking, proud of her jutsu, which unlike a normal rasengan it had a special aura of acid water around it and also the color, which was kind of lilac.Tendo had a hard time dodging it, but managed to do it, and was only caught by a glance, which even so did a lot of damage. The girl's jutsu not only made a crater, but also the acid melted a good part of the affected area. But it was time for Tendo's power to activate. He didn't delay or hesitate to use it against her, as the blond imagined he would. With the movement of his hand, he made the young woman float into the sky and made her fall on her head. But that didn't kill her, and as soon as she got up and launched herself toward Naruto, intending to free him, since she wouldn't be able to fight Pain alone. He just repeated the move against her, only this time he made her fall close to him, where he would deliver the final blow."HI...!" Naruto's scream stops stuck in his throat, feeling despair as he watched Pain pierce Hinata's chest with an iron rod. Seeing her blood dripping in front of him he felt his heart beating slower and his eyes turning completely red. He felt hatred, an immense hatred, unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. And letting this hatred overwhelm him he let the red cover him. Red, red like the blood of the young woman, that had been spilled.And this causes an explosion, an explosion of hate. A red explosion that in an instant covered him!
To be continued...
Next chapter : Loss of control! Hatred takes over! Is it?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
"HI...!" Naruto's scream stops stuck in his throat, feeling despair as he watched Pain pierce Hinata's chest with an iron rod. Seeing her blood dripping in front of him he felt his heart beating slower and his eyes turning completely red. He felt hatred, an immense hatred, unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. And letting this hatred overwhelm him he let the red cover him. Red, red like the blood of the young woman, that had been spilled.And this causes an explosion, an explosion of hate. A red explosion that in an instant covered him!
Flashback: off
Hinata's Pov's: on
After I argued with Kiba, I took off running toward Naruto-kun. I knew that everyone had weirded out my reaction when my emotions exploded, but I couldn't help it. It seemed like they were joking around, it really pissed me off, how could they not have noticed that the purpose of the Pain's coming to invade our village was to capture Naruto-kun? How could they not notice that he was the one most in danger?! What I didn't expect was that when I got there I would be faced with one of the things I had been dreading: one of the Pain's (I think the main one, at least he had the posture of someone in charge compared to the others) was pinning Naruto to the ground with iron rods, which prevented him from moving. I had to help him, I had to save him! I couldn't let them hurt him anymore...I set off in the direction of the other remaining pain. I finished him off with a single blow, I think it was because of the anger and adrenaline. But luckily for me, that Pain that was close to Naruto didn't notice. And with one leap I put myself between him and my beloved."I'm not going to let you hurt Naruto anymore," I said resolutely. Even though I knew that Naruto-kun didn't want anyone to meddle in his fight, because it was -is- dangerous there was no way I could leave him."Hina! What are you doing here? Quickly run away, it's dangerous here." said Naruto visibly worried about me, which made me a little happy despite the current situation."I know... But I couldn't bear to stay away, safe in the knowledge that you would be here, in danger..." I said with my heart beginning to tighten and trying to get up the courage to say the next words, it was now or never. "Because I... I love you Naruto-kun," I declared with my eyes watering."Hina..." -he looked at me and shook his head as if he considered what I was doing a bad idea. -You have to run away! I don't want you to get hurt Hinata, onegai run away! - he ordered seriously, I could almost see his pleading eyes. Couldn't he believe in me a little more? Or that I could never leave him like this? And I know the timing wasn't ideal, but couldn't he have reacted to my confession? Or was he too worried about me to think about anything but my safety? Was this concern a sign that he loved me too, he just didn't know how to show it? My heart warmed with the hope and courage that the idea gave me. Until I realized that Pain was staring at us with a look of disgust, as if to say that love was a weakness, and therefore disgusting. This made me decide that I would stay here and fight to protect my love, our love, to prove that love was not a weakness but a strength!I quickly got into a fighting position and attacked the enemy. I was using my taijutsu, because I knew I was one of the best at it among all of the team Naruto-kun had trained. I might not be an expert in it like my cousin, but I had my own moves! Because besides training with the others, there were times when I trained alone with him, and this encouraged me to improve. I noticed that the enemy was having more and more difficulty to dodge my blows, which were getting faster and faster. But Pain had the shadow of a smile on his face, which indicated that he was planning something, something bad. I had to end it soon, so I prepared one of my most powerful jutsus, hoping to end it once and for all. I just needed a chance.-Suiton, Perfect Rasengan! -I pronounced the jutsu and attacked. This jutsu was created with help from Naruto, who had taught me the normal rasengan. He said I had an easy time learning this jutsu because of the precise chakra control my clan had and the help of the byakugan. It was only a pity that the enemy managed to dodge it, only grazing his arm, but even so there was a great deal of damage. But not enough to incapacitate him.Pain kind of smiled, and pointed at me, confusing me for an instant, but I hadn't noticed that it was part of a jutsu. And I suffered because of this mistake. He made me levitate and fall from a high height on my head. Even though everything hurt, I could see that he was as surprised as I was that it didn't kill me. And that pissed him off, or so it seemed because he made me levitate again, but this time he made me fall at his feet. Where he seemed to be waiting for me with an iron rod identical to the ones that held my beloved... Would he trap me too?"HI...!" I heard Naruto-kun start shouting my name, I turned my face to him and saw the look of desperation on his face. Then I understood, that guy was going to kill me. Too bad I found out too late... I felt a lacerating pain coming from the place where he had pierced me with the stick. I felt an enormous sadness, not only that I was dying, but that I couldn't enjoy our love... I should have taken courage earlier, who knows, then at least I would have received an answer. I imagined a future where we would be together for one last time, his eyes looking at me fondly and then I lost consciousness...
Hinata's Pov's: off
Team 7, along with the Hokage, who had arrived a little after Hinata, had watched everything. They were impressed by the girl's strength and power. But they were also sad that she had been killed. But they didn't have time to mourn her loss, because there was another explosion, one that this time was not caused by the enemy but by Naruto. Right after this 'explosion', Minato and Kushina joined them, which frightened them. What could have been the reason for this?"Minato, Kushina, why are you here? I thought you weren't going to take part in the fight?" said the Hokage, but was quickly interrupted by Minato, who was clearly agitated."We won't, but that last explosion was not normal." explains the younger blond, his eyes turning to the crater."What do you mean? Didn't Naruto just lose control?" asks Tsunade confused."That's what it looks like, but that shouldn't happen." says Kushina thoughtfully and apprehensively, making all the ninjas look at her with a face of: 'Why?'. "It shouldn't happen, because Naruto has already managed to master a good portion of the fox's power, and is even somewhat friendly with her. It makes no sense that he would have lost control to her. Unless something caused him to lose control of his feelings, causing him to be overcome by hate? Did something happen before the explosion?" she asks, looking at the group."Well... Hinata went to try to protect Naruto and was killed in front of him..." tells Tenten, hesitant to give the unfortunate news. This revelation made Kushina and Minato's eyes widen."Hinata was killed in front of him?! I'm not surprised that he has lost control over his feelings..." while Kushina was saying this, they notice that Naruto starts to stand up with the iron rods still attached to his body.
Naruto's Pov's: on
'No, this can't be happening... How? How can this happen? Is she dead? This can only be a bad dream...' I thought half anesthetized. I really wished I could believe that, that it was just a nightmare, but the pain I felt for her loss was very real. So it was real? A feeling that I already knew well began to take over me, hatred. But this one was different from what I was used to. It wasn't just hate, it was resentment and resentment... And along with that came that feeling, that feeling when I lost control. But this time it didn't matter, why should I care about something like this anyway? This village had already taken too much from me for anyone important to die because of it too."Naruto..." Karuma called me from inside my mind."What is it, Karuma?" I asked, already out of patience. "Aren't you glad you're in control already?" I questioned, stopping to look at the huge creature. I thought it would laugh, but it looked at me in a strange way."I'm in control? -repeated Karuma, laughing. "I called you here because I was weirded that you were using my power even though you said you'd leave me out of the fight!""So you're not taking advantage of my hatred to control me?" I asked a little confused, my mind seemed a little foggy. She looked at me as if I had two heads."It's actually the opposite: your hatred is taking advantage of my power and using me!" Karuma replied, grumpy as always. She hated being used, so this time I understood her indignation."Whatever! It doesn't matter! If you want you can take control and free yourself... My life is not worth..." I offered. Again Karuma looked at me, but this time I understood the meaning of this look. It was as if she was saying: 'Are you stupid? Have you gone crazy?'"You're clearly not thinking straight." she shook his head. "Your hatred is driving you crazy and you're forgetting things.""Forgetting?" frowns confused, something in my mind prickles, like a memory I can't reach."Something important." she reinforced."More important than this village?" I knew that my face had twisted."The idea of revenge is so important to you?""What are you talking about? Since when are you against the idea of me giving myself over to hatred?""You know the price of that." she tried to make me remember something. But my head didn't have room for that right now."I already said I don't care. All that really matters now is to see everything burning in front of me. They will pay." my voice came out almost as a growl. "When do I get another chance to do this?""Gaki..." sighed in resignation. "You know I understand. In another situation, I would be supporting you, but who you are now is not who you are.""Since when does who I am matter?" I laugh bitterly. "We both know how relevant this is. The village is already destroyed, what more can I cause? What's the consequence?""So, go ahead. Just don't complain that I didn't try to reason with you later." she finally accepted. "At least the action will help you burn off this anger, and when it does, you will be able to think straight again." with this she expelled me from the depths of my mind where she dwelled.I knew she would be watching me and probably enjoying the destruction. Kyuubi never liked Konoha after all or forgave them for making her a weapon. She didn't care about them. But now I could only feel the pleasurable burn of power coursing through my body, the reminder of how destructive it really was. It was time for my revenge. Despite my resolve, a memory came to me before I regained consciousness.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: Loss of control! Hatred takes over! Does it? Part 2
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Flashback: on
I knew she would be watching me and probably enjoying the destruction. Kyuubi never liked Konoha after all or forgave them for making her a weapon. She didn't care about them. But now I could only feel the pleasurable burn of power coursing through my body, the reminder of how destructive it really was. It was time for my revenge. Despite my resolve, a memory came to me before I regained consciousness.
Flashback: off
Memory: on
A few days ago, when Hinata went to visit Naruto, he gave her a pendant. The pendant was really very beautiful, something unique, like nothing she had ever seen before. It was made of gold and with some ruby details, it was shaped like a spiral with a four-pointed star in the center made of a special ruby.
"Why are you giving me this, Naruto-kun?" question the half-confused Hyuuga, holding the pendant carefully. It was the first gift she had received from him, it was something precious just for that.
"Because when I was little, right before I left the village, you were the only one who respected me and didn't treat me badly like everyone else. So I'm giving this to you as a thank you gift for that." explains the Uzumaki, but in fact, this was only a small part of the truth. He still couldn't tell the real reason. Nothing in his life was that simple. "This pendant was made of special materials that protect the person wearing it."
"Naruto-kun, the girl is speechless and with a heart full of happiness, but still asks curiously. " Naruto-kun, why do you want to protect me?"
"Well ..." he started to speak, looked away, and scratched his head. "It's because this is important to me. Because you were the first person in the village who acknowledged my existence. And for that, I will be eternally grateful, Hinata." completed Naruto opening a slight smile for the girl.
Hinata blushes and smiles at her beloved. And for now, that was enough for both youngsters.
Memory: off
The moment this memory came back to me it didn't make the slightest sense. Why was it important at all? I couldn't be distracted by this now. I had already decided to take revenge. Even if this memory was real, it didn't mean that they no longer needed to be punished. But still, part of me hoped that the medallion had worked correctly. I didn't like the idea of someone dying because of me. But anyway, I couldn't let the sacrifice be in vain, could I?
Naruto's Pov's: off
Everything seemed less and less logical to the Hokage and Team 7. They were still trying to understand the Uzumaki's words and the whole situation. Minato and Kushina were pondering over the latest occurrences. They knew how hard it was to get Naruto to become calm and the more time that passed the harder it would be. Meanwhile, the young blond was transforming, becoming more and more like the fox, at the moment he was gaining his tails, one by one. Fear and tension took hold of the place more and more."Kushina, Minato, could you explain what is happening?" Tsunade asked, fearful because the aura of hate, and anger that hovered in the place was more intense and stronger than the one Kyuubi emitted when it last attacked the village. "This aura...""Do you really not understand anything? This is going to be more complicated than I thought..." says the redhead with her hand on her head."And yes, this aura of hate is not from Kyuubi..." begins the fourth Hokage looking at everyone, watching their facial expressions of curiosity and doubt. Which slowly changed as they understood what the other was implying. "This aura of hate belongs to Naruto. Completely." complemented, leaving everyone wide-eyed, surprised, and incredulous. Not wanting to believe it."I-impossible! No person could have that much hatred!" Sasuke was the first to say something. He was sure he knew a lot about hate because his whole clan had been killed by his brother. This was a feeling he knew well and had had to deal with for years."Well, you're right. No normal person could have that much hatred. But Naruto isn't exactly a normal person, he is a jinchuuriki. Jinchuurikis go through situations and moments that most people don't go through... Such as: being alone, isolated, or having all the people in his village afraid and hating him, or all of these together." explains the ex-jinchuuriki."You seem to understand this well, Kushina-san." comments Sai curious (he hadn't heard the story of how the couple survived, only brief comments from his colleagues. On the day he had an appointment with the person who raised him and could not attend)."Of course I know! I was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that preceded Naruto! Although in my time people were more afraid of the power of the fox than of me really. Things were different before the attack." explains with a sad and somewhat thoughtful smile. "But I believe I'm not the only one who understands this. And you also understand a lot about this subject, right, Gaara?" she asks, turning to the young man, causing the attention now to turn to him."Everything she said is true." he says dryly, it was not a subject he liked to think about or remember. "I know that because I am also a jinchuuriki." confirms Gaara with a look full of hatred, pain and sadness."Really?" questions Tenten, she remembered the attack years before. Of the confusion of the Chunin Exam. But she never had many details about it. "So you have another nine-tailed fox-like monster inside you?""Yes... The one-tailed one, is known as Ichibi, but his real name is Shukako." answers the red-haired young man in a cold tone. "Because of him I rarely sleep. It's dangerous. If I sleep he takes control and I don't know if I will return to this world." he says, making a half-somber expression, and letting escape a brief and 'small' aura of hatred. "Each jinchuuriki suffers some consequences for being who he is. From what I know and understand that depends on the bijuus that are sealed inside them.""You sound sad talking about it, but I bet you jinchuurikis love having all that power because you get to show off!" Kiba mumbles, with a hint of envy. Because there was always something that made others better or more special than him in some way, and because of this it seemed that no one really saw him. Especially those people he most wanted to be noticed."I don't know where you get this stupid idea! You don't know anything about what the life of a jinchuuriki is like! You don't know anything about being created to be a weapon! You know nothing about what it is like to have that bijuu sealed inside of you! You don't know anything about living with your whole village hating you and being afraid of you! You don't know anything! So stop talking about us and judging us without even understanding anything about it!" stops the first jinchuuriki completely furious, his eye and his left arm changing to be the same as his bijuu's, only on a smaller scale. Then using his power with the sand he stretched his arm and threw Kiba away."Kiba... What have you been doing lately?" Shino said, disappointed with his teammate's attitude. He knew that the other had some unresolved internal problems and that the return of the Uzumaki didn't help. He knew well the passion Inuzuka had for their teammate. He remembered the other stating that there was something strange about the blond and that he was going to end up hurting Hinata. As much as he also thought there was something strange going on they shouldn't come between them without evidence like that. Or act unprompted. Still, he cared about his colleagues, so he sent a group of insects to cushion the other's fall. Even Akamaru seemed not to approve of his human behavior."Gaara!" shouts Ino and Temari together, warning him. Causing him to come to his senses and begin to calm down. Although he wouldn't forgive the one with the painted face.But this was not the time for them to get personal. While they were arguing and talking Naruto had already devastated and enlarged the crater even more. He kept attacking Pain, but with all the confusion they still hadn't noticed or even remembered an important detail. Only when one of the creature's attacks that the blond was becoming made against the enemy and caused a big bang that made everyone look at the fight, was when they noticed that Hinata's body was gone."Where is Hinata-sama?!" questions Neji, who was worried about his cousin. 'Or whatever is left of her,' he thought bitterly, 'The least she deserves is a proper burial.'"I'm right here." answers Hinata herself, who was slowly approaching the group, as her wound was still hurting. It had almost been fatal or caught in some vital organ. Seeing that she was alive, and not dead as they all thought they got a fright."H-Hinata?!" everyone shouted together, no one else expected to see the girl like this after all."How did you manage to survive? We all thought you were dead..." said Tsunade, her instincts and years as a doctor made her approach to check on the young girl. The wound on her abdomen was still bleeding a little, as much as it was obvious that the other had tried to apply first aid on herself. Then she sat her down and began to heal her."I survived thanks to this," she revealed, showing the pendant the Uzumaki had given her, which hung around her neck on a delicate little chain that had once belonged to her mother."That...! Naruto gave you this pendant, didn't he?" Kushina came closer. "I'm so glad that you were able to survive and that it protected you! He'll be so relieved when he finds out," she speaks, smiling at the young woman who nods, also smiling, before looking to where her beloved was standing."Naruto-kun transformed because of me... I understand him, I was also desperate when I thought I was dying, my heart ached for not being able to see his face and for not being able to apologize before I lost consciousness..." says Hinata with her eyes watering just remembering those moments. "I believe that... No, I know that at this moment I am the only one who can calm him down. I will calm him down!" she declared resolutely, getting up to walk towards her beloved Naruto. This time she would help him!
To be continued...
Next chapter: Don't forget who you are