Chapter 18: You're A Ninja!
After digesting the extremely important history lesson, Naruto was now happily passing down the Konoha street, smiling widely. As he continued walking, Naruto's smile slowly reduced and soon fell into a frown. 'Does this kid really think he's hiding?'
Naruto decided to ignore the nuisance and started to slowly speed up only to get annoyed more and more. Unable to take it anymore, he finally spun around at a fast pace and delivered a strong punch on what appeared as a square box.
"You're shit!" yelled Naruto. "Why are you so still so shit after everything I've taught you, you stupid punk? Why are you slacking when you're running around yelling to defeat old man Hokage?"
"Ooooowwwwww!" screamed a tiny voice in pain as a young boy jumpuded out of the box. "Big Bro, Naruto, why'd you punch me so hard?"
"Shut it, kid!" shouted Naruto angrily. "Answer my questions!"
"But I'm not slacking off, big bro," whined the young boy, teara welling up in his eyes. "I'm really trying really hard."
"Try harder!" said Naruto harshly. "It's already been weeks since I first gave you the training manual! Your spying skills are still below what it should be! Simply trying hard is not enough! You need to put your heart and mind and soul into it! Only when they are combined with your body will you truly get strong! Undedstood?"
"Yes, Sir!" shouted the young boy, standing straight and saluting.
"Good," said Naruto, nodding in approval.
The young boy in front of him was none otber than Konohamaru, the grandson of the Third Hokage.
Naruto first met him the day after his graduation from the Academy when he was called in by the Hokage to retake his ... colourful ... graduation photo.
*** Flashback Begins ***
Naruto was standing in front of the Hokage's desk in his office after being scolded by the old man for the past hour.
Suddenly, the office door busted open. Out of pure reflex, Naruto channelled his Chakra, spun around and grabbed a kid by the throat and slammed him against the wall, greatly shocking him.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" asked the Hokage, his eyes wide open in shock.
Naruto had reacted really fast; faster than any ordinary Genin - or even Chunin - was capable of. It took him a moment to realize the intruder was simply an 8 years old boy with a few wooden shurikens that had fallen from his hands from the shock.
"What were you expecting, old man?" asked Naruto, turning his head to look at the Hokage. "This is what happens when you surprise a Ninja."
"Sigh ... take him down from the wall, Naruto," sighed the Hokage as he shook his head.
"You shouldn't surprise a Ninja like that, kid," said Naruto as he realeased the coughing young boy.
"What's your name?" asked the boy, starry eyed.
"Hmm? The name's Naruto Uzumaki!" said Naruto, tapping his chest proudly. "The future number one Ninja of the world! What's yours, kid?"
"I'm Konohamaru Sarutobi! The future number one Hokage!" said Konohamaru. "Just as soon as I defeat gramps!"
Naruto smirked at the little kid in front of him. He got reminded of himself when looking at the young boy. Suddenly, through the busted door came a running Ninja.
"Honourable Grandson, there you -!" started saying the Ninja before he got kicked hard in the jaw and was sent flying through the window.
"Dammit! I hate getting surprised like this!" said Naruto angrily.
"Naruto, that man wasn't an attacker," said the Hokage helplessley as he facepalmed.
"Wow! That was super amazing!" screamed Konohamaru, his eyes turning into stars. "Boss, boss! Teach me that techniques! Super Please!"
Naruto stared at the young kid in front of him in surprise and fell into contemplation. He thought for a few minutes before speaking. "Accept me as your Teacher!"
"Sir, I, Konohamaru Sarutobi, hereby declare that from this day forth, you, Naruto Uzumaki, is my Teacher!" declared Konohamaru, proudly thumping his chest.
'Wow, this kid easily accepted me as his teacher,' thought Naruto. 'Is he retarded?'
'Sigh ... great,' sighed the Hokage inwardly. 'One troublemaker meets another. What is this world coming to?'
*** Flashback Ends ***
"Now, what do you want?" asked Naruto, frowning after he finished scolding Konohamaru.
"Do you want to play Ninja?" asked Konohamaru.
Naruto was about to answer when he heard an annoying laughter reaching his ears. 'Dammit, this stupid banshee needs to stop it with the laughter. Permanantly.'
"What kind of Ninja plays Ninja?" asked Sakura as she walked up to Naruto and Konohamaru with Sasuke in tow.
"It's actually pretty useful," replied Naruto. "You get trained in stealth, traps, strategy and tracking. You should try it. You might even improve as a Ninja."
"Go away, you flat chest banshee," said Konohamaru.
A complete silence followed the comment.
"Konohamaru, you should run now," said Naruto, seeing Sakura's deathly glare.
Konohamaru gulped and started running with Sakura in hot pursuit.
Naruto frowned as he watched Sakura chasing after Konohamaru. "This stupid girl is failing to catch up with a small kid. She's not taking her training seriously."
"I agree," said Sasuke, nodding his head.
"What are you agreeing with?" asked Naruto, shooting a piercing glare at Sasuke. "You're no better than she is. Why have you not awakened your Sharingan yet after all the training you've done? You still dare to call yourself an Uchiha Elite? Shame on you!"
"What did you say?" hissed Sasuke angrily.
"You heard me, broody," said Naruto. "Earlier at the training ground, you couldn't even stand up to my glare! You were about to piss yourself!"
"Shut your mouth!" roared Sasuke as he lunged at Naruto only to meet with a sharp and painful blow to his stomach. He doubled over in pain, wheezing for air.
"Stop wasting my time!" hissed Naruto, pulling Sasuke's hair. "Get that lazy ass Kakashi to give you a more tailoured training that's suited to your needa. Whether you like it or not, we're members of Team 7. We're bound to meet someone who's more powerful than all of us combined. At that time, you shouting "I'm an Uchiha Elite!" will only get you killed even faster. Understood?"
Naruto simply walked away after he let go of Sasuke, who picked himself up and grudgingly walked away. In his entire life, he had only been humiliated like this once before; that night by his brother Itachi Uchiha.
"Dammit!" cursed Sasuke, slamming his fist into a wall. "Why is there such a large gap between us? What am I doing wrong?"
"Your mentality is wrong," said a voice calmly from behind Sasuke.
Sasuke spun around and saw Kakashi looking at him with a serious expression. Kakashi had his hands in his pockets as stood there in front of Sasuke.
"What's wrong with my mentality?" asked Sasuke through gritted teeth.
"You feel like the world owes you," said Kakashi simply. "The world owes you nothing. The world only owes it to itself. Just like how you owe it to yourself. Naruto understands this despite his young age."
"Naruto understands more than you know," said Kakashi. "He's better at dealing with the pain of loneliness than you."
"He knows nothing!" said Sasuke, flunging his arms around. "I'm an avenger!"
"Naruto's parents were killed just after he was born," said Kakashi. "He's lived his entire life being chased, abused and nearly killed for something he did not do. So tell me, you think he's had it better than you?"
"I don't care about anyone else!" hissed Sasuke.
"Why? Are you planning to create more people like yourself?" asked Kakashi. "Are you planning to become a second Itachi Uchiha?"
"Shut up! I will never become like him!"
"Then stop living the life he wants you to live. Live the life you want to live."
"My life is to kill my brother!"
"And then what? After you've killed him?"
"I will think about that when the time comes," said Sasuke, straightening himself.
"You will be far too broken for you to think by then," said Kakashi, looking at Sasuke with a sad eye. "Look, I can help you become stronger. Let me help you. Both you and Sakura."
"And Naruto?" asked Sasuke, throwing Kakashi a sideway glance. "I don't think he needs my training. Look, the Chunin exam is only a few days away. We need to do as much as we can now."
'Dammit! Why am I letting Banshee and Broody annoy me?' thought Naruto as he went after Konohamaru.
Konohamaru was still running when he took a sharp turn around the corner and ran into another Ninja.
"Dammit brat, that hurt," said the Ninja, turning to face Konohamaru.
The Ninja grabbed Konohamaru by the collar and prepared to hit hhim when Naruto heard the outburst and quickened his pace.
Naruto arrived to see two strange Ninjas with headband protectors that had the Sand Village Symbol. The one holding Konohamaru was wearing a black, baggy, full body outfit with a red and yellow circle at the front. He also had a bundle in his back with white bandages covering it completely.
The otber Ninja wore a single light purple-coloured outfit that reached halfway down her ties, with a scarlet sash around her waist. She wore her forhead protector around her neck while also wearing a fishnet over her shoulders and legs.
"Leave the kid alone, Kankuro," said the female Ninja.
"I've got to teach him some respect, Temari," said Kanjuro in response to the female Ninja.
"You're on your own if you get into trouble," said Temari, shrugging her shoulders.
Kankuro smirked mischeavously as he prepared to smash his fist into Konohamaru's face. Sakura was scared stiff and simply just stared at the scene unfolding in front of her.
"Hey, clown, put the kid down," said Naruto as he arrived at the scene.
"Who're you calling a clown?" asked Kankuro in a threatening voice.
"The idiot that's wearing a cat suit and make-up and holding a kid by the collar," replied Naruto, smirking. "You seen him anywhere?"
"Why you little -!" growled Kankuro as he started approaching Naruto.
Naruto suddenly turned into a blur and disappeared from Kankuro's line of sight and a cold metalic feeling came into contact with Kankuro's throat.
"I'm not going to aske you again to put the kid down, clown," said Naruto in a sweet voice from behind Kankuro. "Be gentle while you're at it.
Kankuro was sweating buckets as he felt a trickle of blood run down his throat. He did not even see Naruto's shadow move. He was simply a blur.
"Your teammate hiding behind the tree does not look to happy either," whispered Naruto, causing Kankuro to shiver from head to toe. Although Naruto whispered, he was heard by everyone present as the surrounding area was deadly silent from Naruto's showing off.
The third Sand Ninja silently walked out from behind the tree. He was a little shorter than the average person his age. He was fair skinned and had short, spiky, auborn hair. He had green eyes with no distinctive pupils or eyebrows either. He had eye rings that were distinctive to tanuki's and had the kanji of "love" written on the side of his forehead to the left.
"G-Garaa ...," muttered Kankuro, clearly afraid of the Ninja now identified as Gaara.
'This boy not only managed to produce a Clone that is solid, but also managed to get behind both Kankuro and Temari leaving of them unable to react,' thought Gaara. 'He's good.'
Seeing that Kankuro had let Konohamaru go, Naruto lowered his Kunai and placed it on his pouch and regrouped with Konohamaru and Sakura. He also called off his clone.
"You need to make a decision here, Sakura," said Naruto. "Continue being a fangirl of Sasuke and quit being a Ninja or focus wholeheartedly on becoming an excellent Ninja. Whatever you decide, you have the talent for it. You come from a civilian family. You have no foundation. There will come a time where you'll have to fight using your own strength, unlike how you have been relying on us until now. If you continue as you are, you'll only die and put the rest of your team who rely on you in danger too. Think carefully of your decision. You're not a child anymore. You're a Ninja."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone