22 Shinra Tensei

"It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise."

Anko - One Month Later

The Shi no Mori was filled with the noises of combat (Forest of Death). It sounded like two people were fighting with fists and kicks. Anko and Naruto were the two individuals. Anko wasn't wearing her trench coat because she had misplaced it during the battle. As Naruto flew towards her, Anko braced herself. He made a large number of them using the Bunshin (Clone) technique. Anko cursed and remained vigilant. Naruto could now assault her from any angle.

She didn't have to wait long before a streak of fire appeared behind her. She jumped out of the way, exactly as Naruto had instructed. In mid-air, he seized her with a flying tackle. He instantly spun her around and slung her into a tree with a shoulder throw. Anko slammed into the tree and gasped. Naruto smirked with delight at his win until he saw Anko transform into a log. As he was revealed, he cursed, which Anko took advantage of. Four snakes wrapped themselves around Naruto and dragged him to the ground. With a thud, he landed on the ground. Anko drew him closer, and when he was close enough, she pressed a kunai against his throat.

"It's a win for me." Anko spoke up, but in a sleepy tone.

"Okay, you've won! Get these snakes off of me now! When you utilize the Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands), why do you keep using venomous snakes?" Naruto was ecstatic.

"Stop being a baby, please. They're not going to nip at your heels." Anko remarked.

"That's what you said the previous time!" Anko simply smirked and let him go. For a while, the two sat and rested. When she looked at Naruto, she couldn't help but be proud of how far he'd come in just a few months.

His chakra control was far superior to that of his classmates. His taijutsu has also developed significantly. She taught him the fundamentals of the Hebi (Snake) fighting technique, but warned him against using it around Konoha. His ninjutsu was particularly impressive. He was able to do the three academy jutsu as well as a few of others that she demonstrated. He knew the Katon: Ryka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) and the Doton: Doch Eigyo no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique). Last but not least, he was able to detect and dispel genjutsu.

She also enhanced his deception, infiltration techniques, and awareness. Naruto, she could argue, was far superior to even a Chunin like Iruka.

Of course Anko knew Naruto could perhaps beat her but held back everytime against her for some reason.

Anko ate her sweets in delight, it had been a month now, and sometimes she still couldn't believe it, despite feeling free now, she just couldn't explain with words how she felt, since that cursed day, she always felt that someone was spying on her, like an ugly feeling behind her head, as if the monster was still controlling her, despite how many times telling herself that he wasn't here, she couldn't make the feeling disappear, her nightmares didn't help, they keep showing her the night her life became hell, his laughter at her.

And now, Anko felt like a free bird; she felt like she could fly everywhere, even her friends like Kurenai and Yugao had commentaed that her face looked brighter, almost like a sun shining in her face.

Even common people around the village seemed to have noticed her sudden change in attitude, even the Hokage seemed to have noticed it and had asked what had made her so happy.

Anko had wanted to tell the truth, but she had said nothing, Naruto hadn't told her to either tell or not tell the Hokage the truth but Anko knew from the way Naruto acted towards the Kage, him hiding his true strength was a clear sign of her student not trusting them, in A way Anko understood him, the kid was an orphan and the Kage had denied any clan head from adopting Naruto, she knew if her blonde student knew of that information, he would most likely betray the Village.

Anko, of course, knew that because of Yugao, who was an ANBU, who often spoke about it, the snake mistress would often talk about Naruto with either Kurenai or Yugao, about him being an excellent student, one-night Yugao had spilled the beans, telling about the Hokage denying any clan head, to say Anko had been disappointed was an understatement.

And the reason he had denied it was not to cause unbalance; Anko had almost yelled at the top of her lungs in anger. The Kage was the one in charge; why should he care if the clans complain if this other clan has adopted Naruto.

Anko told Yugao the same thing, especially stating that she was disappointed with the Hokage. To her surprise, Yugao had not tried to protect him, had just kept silent.

Right now, Anko had decided to tell Yugao and perhaps Kurenai the truth; she was wearing a coat that covered her shoulders, one couldn't see the Mark was missing unless she took the coat off.

After she had been free, after that long night of Pain...

'Opening her eyes, she blinked once and twice, the memories of what happened last night fresh in her mind, for a moment she wondered if all of that was a dream, her throat became dry, biting her lower lip, her hand went to her shoulder expecting to feel the usual heat of the mark in her skin, but to her surprise, she felt just her skin, No Heat.

Gasping, she felt her eyes welling, and her body immediately stood up, removing her jacket to see the Mark was gone; she checked multiple times to see if the mark was truly gone and she wasn't just dreaming, she felt a smile on her face the biggest smile, her heart beating in her chest, her body felt like a feather, ready to fly away with the wind.

"You're free from him,"

I'm indeed Free, I Am FREE, she screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring if people thought she had lost her mind, her legs kept bouncing up and down, her arms raised in the air, as she kept crying and laughing.

"I'm Free, Freeee," she yelled; Anko couldn't remember how long she had run around her apartment, maybe minutes or hours; she didn't know and didn't care.

Suddenly she remembered Naruto, wearing her jacket, she left through the window.

Anko had found him much to her surprise in his apartment, almost sure that he would be in the Training Yard at this point.

Walking inside, Naruto looked to be focused on a blank scroll in front of him, a brush by his side with dark colour.

Naruto lifted his head to see who came inside, but Anko already engulfed him in a tight hug, bone-crushing hug. "Thank You," she repeated over and over again, kissing both of his cheeks, making Naruto turn red like fire.

"I C-can't breath," Naruto muffled out, being choked by her well-developed assets; she let go of him; Naruto's face had turned blue as he kept trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," She apologised, but he just brushed it off, saying he was fine.

That day Anko and the following day, she had bought Naruto anything he wanted, but he had just said that he didn't do it for that, but Anko had insisted on it, in the end, they ate Ramen together to Ichiraku.

Anko had asked Naruto how he had found out about the Kyuubi sealed inside it. The blonde told her that everyone called him 'Fox Demon' and other names that linked him with the Fox.

"Only a Fool wouldn't get it by now,"

Anko had seen there was probably more to it but hadn't asked anything; therefore, she had kept quiet.

Naruto

He was currently lying on the grass as he was tired from his private training of doing chakra control and keeping the balance of ten kunai around his fingertips. Anko had drilled into him the art of deception, and he followed that advice to the letter.

Of course, the real Naruto was actually somewhere else entirely doing real training with Kurama's Chakra.

As popped up to his feet and was about to go at it again. He felt that he was being watched. He zeroed in on where he was getting the feeling and threw a kunai at the spot. He heard a small squeak and rushed over to the area.

He saw someone and immediately tackled the person. He spun the intruder on their back and faced them. He was surprised to see the girl from his class.

"Hey, your name is Ino right?" Naruto asked. Ino could not answer him as she was currently out cold. Naruto was very confused as to why she lost consciousness.

A gentle groan and the fluttering of eyes signaled the awakening of one Ino. She sat up and realized that she was on a couch. She recognized the couch as it belonged to her father, Yamanaka Inoichi. She was wondering how she got here when her mother came out of her kitchen. Following her was her crush, Naruto. She was a little red in her cheeks. Her mother just smiled at her while Naruto looked confused.

"Hey, is her fever coming back?" Naruto asked.

"I don't believe so. How are you Ino?" Her mother asked.

"I am fine. How did I g-get here?" Ino asked.

"You have to thank young Naruto here. He was carrying you toward the hospital when we ran into each other." Her mother explained, pointing towards the blonde who looked embarrassed by her praise.

"Yeah, I guess I startled you into your fainting when I threw that kunai. Sorry about that." Naruto said.

"I-It's alright." Ino said.

"What were you doing there anyway?" Naruto asked with a confused look, playing the ignorant again, the little blonde knew from the feelings he got from her, that perhaps the beautiful blonde girl perhaps liked him. Naruto had nothing against it but wondered if Ino would actually like to train and perhaps be an actual kunoichi, and not lazing around everyday.

Ino wasn't sure how to answer, she had been very interested to see Naruto after his big talk in the Academy about Fuinjtsu Art and chakra control exercises.

Her mother seemed to have noticed that her daughter's lips were locked. "I think my daughter was impressed by your little speech," her mother spoke, making Ino blush a bright red.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow, yesterday he had kinda shamed the whole Academy system right in front of everyone for excluding Fuinjtsu Level 1 Exam and Walking on Tree not being part of it anymore.

Deciding to change the subject.

"So, you use that style of yours right? What is it called? Oh yeah, it's called the Yamanaka Dance right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes but I'm not that good at it." Ino said. She had kinda tried to come up with her own style of Taijutsu, since Shikamaru always told her that Naruto respected strength and wisdom above everything.

Shikamaru and Choji were the ones who spent most of the time with Naruto in the academy, therefore Ino had asked them what could she do to impress him.

Ino had seen many girls who liked Naruto in the academy, especially the Hyuga girl who looked ready to faint the moment he was close, in some cases, she even did.

From that Ino had understood that Naruto valued something else in a girl and not just looks, Hinata was quite pretty and somehow cute, but Naruto hadn't paid her any attention.

With that knowledge, Ino had asked Shika what to do to impress Naruto, her friend told her to perhaps train to become stronger or become very smart.

"Well, you won't get good unless you practice. Say, how about, as an apology, we train together after school?" Naruto suggested.

"Really?" Ino asked with surprise.

"Sure, you don't act like the typical Student. You seem nice. Why don't we train together?" Naruto said. Ino couldn't be happier. It was a start that she could work on. Her mother was happy for her. She knew how much Ino admired the blond jinchūriki and would help her any way she can.

"I think that is a great idea. You can both grow from training from each other. Who knows, you two might become friends." added her mother, sending a wink at her daughter. This made both of them smile. Ino smiled because it would mean that she would be spending time with her crush. Naruto smiled because he might be gaining a new friend and perhaps a strong one if she took it seriously.

After One Month

The real Naruto was lying a few feet away from Shikamaru and Choji. They had decided to cut class today and made their escape thanks to Naruto.

"You know Shikamaru; I can see why you like doing this. It is kind of relaxing." Naruto said.

"See, I know what I'm talking about." Shikamaru said.

"You're still a lazy ass though." Naruto added. This only got him a mendōkusei (How Troublesome) from the lazy Nara. Naruto just smirked and kept looking at the sky. How did he ever become friends with the laziest person ever was a surprise to him, Shikamaru and the whole academy. It began over a game of shogi (general's board game)

Flashback

Naruto was eating lunch with Ino. It had been a month since the two started training and they had become very fast friends. They learned things about each other and helped each other.

Ino helped Naruto how to know everything about everyone, to the blonde it sounded like Ino could become an amazing Spy. Naruto helped Ino become stronger, and more agile. Both enjoyed the friendship and were becoming best friends.

They suddenly turned to a commotion. They watched as two guys were dragging someone else away from two other guys. Naruto instantly knew the two as Choji and Shikamaru. He wondered why the guy was so angry about.

"What do you think is going on Ino?" Naruto asked.

"He must be angry with Shikamaru. He must have won again in shogi." Ino said.

"Shogi?" he asked.

"It's a game but you would find it quite boring." She answered.

"It can't be that boring. Can you teach me how to play?" Naruto asked.

"What are you planning Naruto-kun?" Ino asked. She was wary of the grin on his face.

A week later, Naruto walked up to the two friends with Ino in tow. The Yamanaka heiress had tried hard to deter Naruto's idea, but she knew how stubborn he can be. Naruto stood in front of Shikamaru. The lazy Nara gave him a bored but curious glance.

"Hey Shikamaru, how about a game of shogi?" Naruto asked. Choji almost dropped his chips after he said that. Shikamaru was now aware of things. He sighed and pulled out his shogi board. Naruto grinned and sat down in front of him. Shikamaru didn't understand what he was so happy about. When everything was set up, Shikamaru made the first move. Naruto quickly made his move and waited. Shikamaru made another move and Naruto made another quick move. This continued for five minutes and a small crowd appeared.

It would be another five minutes and the two were still playing. The crowd had gotten a little bigger and it included Iruka. Everyone was amazed that Naruto had lasted this long against Shikamaru. The young Nara had a very annoyed look on his face and was glaring at the board. He couldn't understand how it got this way. This was supposed to be a quick victory. Naruto didn't have any plan. He would just move a piece as quick as possible. He barely gave the move any thought. Still, he was gaining some sort of ground and it frustrated him to no end.

Naruto was having the time of his life. When Ino had first showed him how to play, he was bored. He decided to put his own spin on the game to suit him. It wasn't actually a strategy. He would just move his pieces quickly and without thought or that's what he wanted others to believe. Each move piece moved because Naruto knew it would move like that, is far better to make the enemy think that the ideas he has had gotten were on his own free will rather than being forced into that idea.

He kind of enjoyed the frustrated look on Shikamaru's face. It only made his grin wider.

After a while longer, Iruka told them that the lunch period was over. He looked over the game and saw that the two were in a stalemate and there would be no clear winner. Naruto stood up and held his hand out. Shikamaru looked at the hand.

"That was a good game. We should do this again." Naruto said happily. Shikamaru looked at the hand before shaking it. He gave a small grin.

"Sure, we should do this again." Shikamaru said.

Present

Naruto was quite famous amongst Academy and even amongst Hokage Council after his little speech about Fuinjtsu.

Many students in the academy thought Naruto was actually cool and not a scary monster. With the good came the bad.. Sakura seemed to yell that he was trying to be as cool as her precious Sasuke-kun!!. She was totally devoted to Uchiha Sasuke and barely did any physical work.

Then one day, she came up to his face and demanded that he stopped hanging around with Ino. When he heard the reason, he was disgusted with how shallow she really was.

' "Stop trying to be as cool as Sasuke-Kun," Sakura yelled at him, her face red with anger, Ino rolled her eyes at her stupidity, she knew herself wasn't that good but Naruto had made sure to train her beyond recognition, she heard from his own mouth saying that if he wasn't fast enough, The Kumo Shinobi would have killed him, three years ago, the thought of dying had frightened Ino, convincing her that training more wouldn't hurt.

"Why should I give a shit what you say or think, now get off my face before I make you go crying home," Naruto spoke with a mocking tone, getting annoyed.

Sakura got even angrier, she raised her fist ready to hit him, when his eyes suddenly became cold, not the usual blue like ocean but they became like ice. Sakura felt cold, real cold, so much that her body started whimpering.

Sakura had walked away without a word, since that day, she had been as silent as a grave.

The other problem was Uchiha Sasuke who was a pain in the ass and the most arrogant bastard in the class. He thought that everyone was beneath him and mostly kept to himself.

Despite the waves of girls that kissed his feet, he was still cold to everyone. Naruto thought that he had the ego the size of the monument. They never got along and never would. Naruto began to see him as an annoying person who didn't like being overshadowed by those he deemed weaker than him. Naruto didn't really care, sometimes the blonde couldn't fathom how a woman as gentle and kind as Mikoto could give birth to such an idiot, full of himself.

Anko

Anko looked at the Hokage with surprised eyes. That quickly changed into worry, which was caught by the Hokage and his advisors.

"Is something wrong Anko?" Hiruzen asked.

"I don't have an issue with the mission but I was hoping for something that could be done within a day or two. The mission that you're sending me on will take at least a week." Anko said.

"You never complained before about time. Is there something more important than this?" asked Koharu. Anko bit back a remark to the elder woman. She was pretty sure that she knew about how close she was to Naruto. It wasn't that much of a secret anymore that the two trained together. Many, who have crossed the blond, had to deal with her. It was something that both of the elders did not like.

She always kept tabs on Naruto progress while he was in the academy. Iruka was very forthcoming in answering her questions despite the fact that he seemed nervous around her. She was happy to know that he was the best.

"I just wanted to train Naruto in something but whatever," Anko spoke, trying to come up with a lie, not wanting to say the real reason.

Hiruzen caught Anko's attention.

"I know that you will want to train him, but this is priority." He told her. Anko sighed and realized that he was right.

"Very well sirs, I accept this mission." Anko said with a sad tone.

"You have an hour to meet your team at the gates." Hiruzen told her. That perked her up. She bowed and quickly left the office to find Naruto.

Later

Anko found Naruto easily as he was at his favorite place, Ichiraku ramen. She entered the stand and greeted the two chefs. Naruto was happy to see her and offered her some ramen.

"Sorry kiddo, I have a mission in the next twenty minutes." Anko said.

"Oh okay, why are you here? The training won't start until tomorrow," Naruto started looking up at her.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I have a long mission ahead of me, so I won't return for at least a week," She responded, letting him know that he needed to delay it.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, it wasn't a big deal after all. "Don't worry Anko, we can continue training after you return," Naruto spoke standing up.

"Very well, see you later," Anko said waving at him before disappearing.

Later - Night

Naruto stood alone in his apartment, his legs in a crossing position, his eyes suddenly opened revealing his Rinnegan, shining in the darkness like a crystal.

Naruto raised his right hand, his palm open towards a vase.

"Shinra Tensei,"