Chapter 020

"Jutsu… jutsu… what kind of jutsu?" Naruto murmured to himself at his desk as he bit at the tip of the spoon he was holding. He gritted his teeth together in frustration when his mind drew up the same list of problems over and over again, "Man… how can picking a jutsu to learn be so hard? Did oji-san and everybody else have the same problem, or is it just me?"

For the better part of the month since his fight in the woods with the three kunoichi, Naruto had been doing everything in his power to come up with a sort of fail-safe project he could develop in time for his graduation to Genin. As it turned out, the group of three Chunin he ended up engaging had been involved in a scuffle a few days earlier in which their team leader had been killed getting Intel on Konohagakure's defenses and patrol routes, and had written it all down on the piece of paper which he'd found wrapped around a kunai in a bird's nest. The team leader had hidden it there for her squad to find before her life was inevitably forfeited while they were hiding from the search parties sent after them, but Naruto managed to get to it first and foiled them with the same tactics he used to mess with the shinobi of his village.

He was pretty sure a Genin of similar skill or even Sasuke would have been able to nail those three. The kunoichi weren't that great a force. This made Naruto believe that the quality of shinobi in the world must have really gone down a peg in the past few years; particularly after all of the gallant tales he'd heard about in his history lessons. That or he was just too slippery an opponent to deal with.

Anyway, after receiving a pat on the back from the Third for saving his village from certain invasion and a lecture from Iruka, Naruto was determined now more than ever to get this agreement he'd worked out with his homeroom teacher on a roll. Should his attempts to produce at least one clone with the Bunshin no Jutsu yield no results, he needed to have another technique in the wet works to show to his sensei that he was indeed ready to become a shinobi.

Sure, the research and listings were easy. The problem now was deciding what kind of jutsu was best suited for him.

With all of his time at the beginning and ends of each day spent either training or brainstorming, this meant he had very little free period for anything else. After a particularly exhausting Saturday, Naruto had decided to break away from his exercises and assignments to work on one of his other personal projects to clear his head. He was currently trying to perfect the formula for his new firework pellet; an explosive with a colorful kick to it that didn't just leave damage but also emitted blinding flashes and sparklers that did even more damage.

Once it was completed Naruto knew it was going to be sweet once he tried it out on something… or someone.

With his goggles pulled down over his eyes, the jinchuriki pulled the spoon out of his mouth and went back to work.

"Ah, I'll figure out the name of the jutsu later. All I want is for it to be a big one," the jinchuriki said excitedly, using his utensil to measure the amount of powders he had. With the canister for the self-propelled explosive laid out on the table of his living room, it almost looked like he was running some sort of shady drug experiment since he had all these science gimmicks lying all over the place. It was almost comical how focused he was on the thing.

It was good to know that he had a substantial amount of experience in this area and knew exactly what he needed to do; otherwise he'd be more concerned for his own safety than he was. It was a big ass bomb after all.

Naruto continued his rampant of audible thoughts while mixing the deadly cocktail between the vials.

"I want something flashy. Not like a blazing fireball jutsu like that idiot Sasuke's, bleh," Naruto shook his head while tapping the contents of the tube he was holding up in front of him. "It's too much burning and not enough bang. I want a jutsu that can blow people away! Something that can make people's hair stand on end! But what?"

His ideal jutsu had to have charisma and needed to be eye-catching, as well as simple enough for him to use… sort of like an explosive tag.

Shrugging his shoulders thoughtfully, Naruto reached out and randomly grabbed a flask of flash powder nearby. Without measuring it, he gently poured the contents into the vial in his other hand. It was about time for the final mix…

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Plop…

Sizzle…

BOOM!

The entire apartment complex was rocked by a massive explosion. Every single window of Naruto's block was blown out in a horrible flash of blinding light, scattering glass and debris all across the neighborhood. Nearby villagers out and about turned towards the building in shock, many giving out startled yelps at the sight of the discharge. Seconds later, once all the fire and embers had passed, black smoke began pouring out of every opening in the building.

"What was that?" a shop keeper asked while poking his head out of his stand at the side of the road.

His most recent customer, an old woman sporting a hunch and a shawl, also looked towards the building in surprise.

"Oh my, is it new years already?" she murmured curiously.

It made sense as firework sparks were now starting to shoot out the shattered panes and were bursting into colorful flowers above the streets. It was a glorious sight to behold indeed.

Inside the disaster zone though, it was a completely different story.

With fixtures blown out of place, walls and furniture shredded, and every surface area within sight of the center charred a smoking coal black, the once clean experiment had transformed into a real, God-awful mess. And of course sitting in the very heart of the smoldering lounge room, a very surprised looking Naruto sat staring at his now disintegrated workspace.

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