Demon Calling
Inside the Anbu HQ, Naruto and Kakashi were training taijutsu. It's been a couple of days since their mission against the cursed seal users and so far, no word on Orochimaru's response to his second-in-command getting killed by Kakashi. Right now, Kakashi was observing as Naruto was going through a sequence of advanced katas while supporting twenty pound weights in each limb. Kakashi was surprised with Naruto's ability as a quick learner, since the blond managed the Anbu advanced taijutsu style in just one day and now was learning to improve the power of the blows as well as its speed by using the weights. "One more time, finish up, stretching your leg over your shoulder height" – Taught Kakashi, before seeing Naruto kicking up high as drops of sweat fell freely from his body.
After that, Naruto pretty much fell on the ground, panting like crazy. "Wow, Kakashi-sensei, I never thought your training method was so severe. And here was I thinking Gai-sensei was a slave-driver" – Mumbled Naruto, earning laughter from his sensei who in turn, threw a bottle of water and a fresh towel for the blond to wipe the sweat and drink some liquid to replenish his breathing a little bit. "What are you talking about, Naruto? For your ninjutsu to come this far, you must have been more exhausted than this. As to Gai, why do you think he picked me as his ultimate rival? We do have a kin sense of what appropriate training means and by training until exhaustion appears is the best way to grow stronger" – Explained Kakashi, before seeing Naruto looking at him like he grew a second hand. Turned to think about it, not once after he entered Anbu, did he read his all time favorite book and Naruto wondered how different this Kakashi was from his lazy sensei.
"Well, let's do one last sequence and then finish up for today" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and got up, before beginning the punching and kicking sequence. While the training was going on, Naruto's team joined by Yamato, Shikamaru and Shino were watching the whole thing. "Doesn't Naruto get to rest anytime soon, he's been doing this for a good two hours?" – Asked Bear, earning a shrug in response from Hawk and Yamato, however Shino and Shikamaru were speechless. Both of them entered Anbu in order to become stronger, but seeing Naruto's unreal training was something they never seen before and Shikamaru was comparing Naruto to Lee and Gai's level of stamina. Yamato looked at the new recruits and smiled upon seeing that they were impressed with Naruto's training. Actually, he thought that Kakashi was being a bit too harsh on the blond's training. Yamato was told about Kyuubi's constant tests and that he was the last one to be used as Naruto's opponent. According to Kakashi, Naruto lost because he happened to focus his training more on ninjutsu and genjutsu, thus losing track of close contact abilities like taijutsu and kenjutsu.
Back to Naruto and Kakashi, they were both seated on the ground, talking about Naruto's improvement in taijutsu and that Naruto would advance to advanced kenjutsu, seeing that every Anbu must learn how to properly wield the ninjato. "Rest for a bit, Naruto; in an hour, we'll proceed to kenjutsu practice. While you're seated, use the time to ease the flow of your chakra, my sharingan detects instability in your chakra that needs to be fixed. Meditate and circulate your chakra slowly towards the chakra pathways. While you're doing this, I'll go to the library and take some books on Anbu advanced kenjutsu style" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and closed his eyes before remaining in solitude until Kakashi returned with the book.
===With Kurenai===
With little to nothing to do since her team wasn't under her charge anymore, Kurenai walked around Konoha for a while. Because of Shino undergoing Anbu duty, Kiba took upon himself to train hard to pass the jounin trials and Hinata followed him. The Hyuuga girl was with her father, learning advanced forms of the jyuuken and trying to reach the final stage of the byakugan. Even if the Hyuuga doujutsu didn't actually had stages, the Hyuuga ninja must learn how to use the byakugan for different purposes. Like, for instance, increase the eye's reach or be able to activate in only one eye, instead of both of them, thus saving as much chakra as possible. She walked for a while until she passed by the Yamanaka flower shop and decided to buy some flowers to make a new vase and place it by the window of her apartment.
Upon entering, though, Kurenai saw Ino behind the counter looking down and wondered why she was feeling sad. "Good day Ino-san, why are you so sad? How is Shikamaru doing?" – Asked Kurenai, before seeing the Yamanaka girl look even further down and made her wonder if perhaps the Nara heir did something to upset her. Upon asking, though, Ino told that she missed him. Ino and Kurenai talked about Shikamaru joining Anbu and having to train a lot in order to reach the members's level. Kurenai nodded, since she knew all about not being able to see Naruto because he was either training to death or being sent to a mission outside Konoha. However, her case was different since Naruto was already one year inside Anbu before they got together. "Say, Ino, let's go out for lunch you and me. You and I now share one thing in common and I'd love to teach you how to deal with the fact that your boyfriend is currently in Anbu" – Said Kurenai, earning a smile from Ino who accepted the invitation and both went to a sushi place right in front of the flower shop.
After both seated, Kurenai began explaining how Naruto, even though busy by either mission or training, would do everything he could to come visit for a while. Also, she told that he would sometimes sleep together with her. Ino, however, sighed explaining that Shikamaru was too lazy to be doing two things at the same time. Ino told that while on a mission, the lazy genius could come up with thousands way to proceed, but when It came to dating, he didn't know what to do. "Ino, I believe that as his girlfriend, you must talk to him about what you're feeling. Keeping up with Anbu is tough as hell and he'll need to know that you exist in his mind and heart as well" – Said Kurenai to which Ino nodded, but wasn't entirely convinced or rather was feeling nervous to speak about this subject with the lazy. "Kurenai-san, how can Naruto keep up with all this and still has time to do all the stuff he does to you? I mean, he has to split in two for that to happen" – Said Ino, before seeing Kurenai smile and telling her the answer.
"My boyfriend knows Kage Bunshin like no other ninja ever did. He usually leaves one inside the Anbu HQ and takes the time to come see me. Also, since Naruto's team often does a vast scouting mission within Konoha's walls so he picks the side that my apartment is located so he could come greet me from time to time. I'm sure that Shikamaru will find a way to make it up to you, Ino, he is very smart after all" – Said Kurenai to which Ino nodded and appreciate lunch and having this conversation. Kurenai nodded and both of them left with Ino returning to the flower shop and Kurenai returning to her apartment with a bouquet of red roses. Naruto, I'll be expecting you tonight, I'll make a surprise dinner for him.
===Inside Anbu HQ===
After 30 minutes, Kakashi returned with a pile of material, but most of it wasn't for Naruto. When he got Shino and Shikamaru's attention, he threw a few books to each of them and told them to stop goofing off and get some training done. Shino received material for his lightning manipulation and Shikamaru received elemental initiation book as well as exercises for chakra and stamina increase. "Even though I'm only training Naruto, doesn't mean I can't teach some stuff to you guys. Remember, although you are in Anbu now, you are chunnin in rank, thus both of you need to constantly improve your skills" – Said Kakashi before he returned to the center of the training ground to where Naruto was found meditating. Using his sharingan, Kakashi acknowledged that Naruto's flow of chakra was consistent and stable, hence showing that the blond was ready for more action. "Naruto, that's enough for meditation. Now, shall we proceed to kenjutsu practice? This time, you'll train with a much heavier sword as well as the already existing weights on your body. Now, get up and let's get a quick run with the advanced katas for this style.
Back to Shino and Shikamaru, both of them were hiding their faces behind the books as both of them were reading every piece of material Kakashi picked up for them. Shikamaru chose to learn about suiton manipulation, since his family's shadow manipulation was pretty much dealt with. His skills would only grow with time as his mind would be more sharpened, so his father told. Shino, for his part, was reading all about advanced raiton manipulation and he was enjoying every sentence of the book. Turning around and leaving, he said that he would see if there was an empty training ground for him to be able to set into practice everything he learned so far, while Shikamaru thought about using the same as Naruto, since the blond wasn't using the lagoon to practice. According to the book, for him to learn how to manipulate water, he would need to be in direct contact with it and focus on the water's properties.
Shikamaru smiled upon learning that the water's nature was peaceful on the surface, but powerful below it and that he held a certain similarity with this type of personality. Focusing on a single seal, Shikamaru closed his eyes and began to mold his chakra towards the water, in hopes of managing to complete the first exercise written in the book. Back to Naruto, he was swinging left, right, up and down and all the secondary directions, while adapting to the heavy sword on his hands. Kakashi taught him about how the sword must become like an extension of the ninja's body, meaning that Naruto needed to become familiarized with handling the sword, even if kenjutsu wasn't his style of fighting. "Naruto, bend your knees at all times, you can't stretch your legs during movement, your bones will be seriously damaged from the continuous strain you place them in. By flexing your knees, you'll have the necessary mobility for your movements, go again" – Said Kakashi earning a nod from Naruto who in turn, began, now, bending his knees and acknowledging the increase in speed and mobility.
With Shikamaru, he was focusing for quite some time, but just as the book said, elemental manipulation is one of the hardest ninja arts to learn, but once he learned everything, Shikamaru would be able to move water at will. Closing his eyes once again, this time, focusing more chakra towards the water, Shikamaru managed to set the lagoon on edge, by using his chakra to change the flow into an unstable one.
When nighttime reached, Naruto was finding hard to walk from his all-day training and turned to look at Shikamaru already able to manipulate water at will. Getting up, Naruto greeted Kakashi goodbye in hopes of seeing Kurenai tonight for some dinner. The blond was exhausted; however, he knew he couldn't simply walk to her house, hence why he used the last of his stamina to jump through the roofs, thus reaching his lover's house in a few minutes. Upon arrival, he knocked on the door a few times before Kurenai opened with a smile on her face, kissing him on the lips and ushering him to enter inside, saying that she made some dinner for him. Needless to say Naruto kissed Kurenai's foot in appreciation for some food. As the blond ate his blessed meal, he and Kurenai talked about Naruto's training.
After a while, Kurenai talked with Naruto about her talk with Ino and how much she missed Shikamaru, before Naruto said that the Nara was training hard to initiate suiton manipulation. Naruto found it strange that Shikamaru didn't leave Anbu HQ since the day he entered and he promised Kurenai to go talk to him tomorrow. After the light conversation between the couple, they ate dinner quietly, while each one looking at one another and smiling. Sometimes, words didn't express more than a look, after all.
Eventually, Naruto took the opportunity to curse Kakashi-sensei for almost killing him in training, earning laughter from his lover. Kurenai always wanted to know about Naruto's limit, but now she knew that only someone like Kakashi could make him get tired like this. After dinner, Kurenai invited Naruto to take a shower with her to which he gladly accepted and, then, both went inside the bathroom, naked. After the water drenched Naruto's muscle straining, he felt two soft hands caressing his body, before turning and kissing Kurenai deeply. No matter how much his body suffered from pain, Kurenai's hands would always manage to heal every muscle in his body, even if she didn't know how to perform medical ninjutsu.
"Your hands are so soft Kurenai-chan, I wish I could feel them forever" – Moaned Naruto as the coupled hugged. Kurenai for her part smiled and continued to rub her hands on her boyfriend's body, while confident that Naruto enjoyed that a lot. "Your muscles are so stressed up Naruto-kun. Let me see what I can do to ease the strain" – Whispered Kurenai close to his ear, earning a shiver in anticipation from Kurenai's sexy voice.
Grabbing the soak, Kurenai now began to smoothly pass it along Naruto's skin, while smiling at him. The woman loved to feel his body and by doing this, her mind would go wonders. Kurenai never imagined herself to be quite driven by her hormones like this, but she couldn't help it. Every time, she felt Naruto's body, she just wanted to get wild and lose all inhibitions with him. Moving her hands south, Naruto felt the immediate change in direction and wondered what her intentions were, when her hands suddenly grabbed it. Instantly, Kurenai whispered in his ear once again. "Naruto-kun, I don't know why I feel like this every time I pass my hands on your body, but this feeling right now is so damn good and I don't want it to stop"
Massaging her soft hair, Naruto kissed her passionately, making Kurenai's body shiver with anticipation. After the kiss, Naruto used his mouth and began sucking her neck while using his hands to massage her sexy body. Kurenai loved Naruto's lips going all over her body and when he would reach downstairs, Kurenai had to struggle so as to not lose her mind. As he went down, Kurenai was beginning to feel the tension go away and be replaced by her hormones. When Naruto reached the area between her thighs, Kurenai went crazy and her legs trembled. Instantly, she was pushed to the wall where Naruto pretty much licked her inner walls. Her resolve was getting weaker by the minute and she grabbed Naruto's hair with intensity while using her free hand to massage her breasts.
"I…want you inside Naruto, please I want you inside" – Moaned Kurenai to which Naruto complied and stick it in gently, while seeing Kurenai's face contorting in ecstasy. Her position didn't change. She was still attached to the wall and Naruto spread her legs a little bit and suspended her midair so as not to tire her legs and be able to continue the love making. After a while in said position, Kurenai motioned for Naruto to sit down while she would get on top of his member, with her back facing Naruto's face. After sticking it in, she bended her body and laid both hands on Naruto's chest before beginning the up and down movement.
It wasn't long until Naruto chose to do the movement with his waist, making Kurenai scream in pleasure. Because of Kurenai's submissive nature, someone strong and dominant like Naruto was perfect and truth be told, she felt like being in heaven right now. After some time, both couldn't hold much longer and had their respective orgasms, thus finishing their shower in style. Soon after leaving the shower, the couple went to bed and Kurenai fell asleep soon after resting her head on top of Naruto's chest, thus earning a smile from her lover.
===Inside a cave close to Tea Country===
Inside the Akatsuki's hideout, Pein, the leader of Akatsuki, watched the statue that was responsible for keeping the tailed beasts at bay. He was looking at the nine eyes of the statue, which represented the nine cages for the demons. As he looked, he noticed only a couple that was empty, meaning that only a few demons remained out in the open. Just as he was about to turn and walk away, a huge earthquake was upon the cave followed by a huge screaming coming out of the statue. Pein was at loss of what was occurring right now until he saw the eye that trapped the Sanbi and it was glowing.
Suddenly, out of the eye left a huge beam of light and the next second, the eye became empty once again. Needless to say that Pein was furious at the prospect of the bijuu being able to escape from the statue's grasp. He remembered that Sanbi was the only demon that wasn't extracted from a jinchuuriki and imagined if that was the reason as to why the statue couldn't contain its power. However, he needed to find the damn turtle one more time and that was unnerving to say the least. Closing his eyes in ways to calm down, Pein summoned Zetsu in set him in charge of finding the tailed beast's whereabouts.
===With Naruto===
Naruto and Kurenai was sound asleep on her bed. However inside his mindscape, Naruto was protecting his ears from the deafening screaming inside his head. "It's the Sanbi. He's asking for help"– Said Kyuubi to which Naruto questioned about the fact that the turtle was captured by Akatsuki. "Maybe, he found a way to escape their grasp, but ended up using too much energy to do so. His voice is weak right now, we must track him." - Said Kyuubi, but Naruto knew he couldn't just leave Konoha without a proper authorization by the Hokage. However Kyuubi tranquilized him by saying that they didn't need to hurry since Sanbi was good at hiding and nobody knew where he was right now.
Upon hearing this, Naruto nodded and fell into unconscious once more. Tomorrow morning, he would need to talk to Tsunade and Yamato about what have transpired tonight. Naruto feared that Akatsuki would be all over the three tailed beast by now and wondered how a huge turtle was able to hide, seeing that aren't deep lakes, apart from the sea or even the ocean.
The next day, he, Kurenai and his wolf companion were inside Tsunade's office, talking about what happened yesterday. Kurenai already knew since Naruto told her as soon as he woke up. Tsunade, though, was astonished with said news, but she knew that she couldn't send Naruto's team to reach the demon simply because they were Anbu and their top priority was to protect the village. Upon voicing her decision, Naruto nodded, since he expected as much. However, he told Tsunade about the fact that Sanbi managed to escape Akatsuki's grasp and maybe has information about the group.
"Naruto, you shouldn't trust a demon as much as you are right now. Maybe, it could be a trap from Akatsuki, we have to be careful here" – Said Tsunade, before seeing Naruto nodding in negative. "According to the fox, Sanbi used a language only known to demons and that Akatsuki couldn't possibly know said language. Nevertheless, I didn't say we should go there right away. The Sanbi is now hidden and won't appear until either I or another jinchuuriki appears near the designated place. I could, perhaps, go in two or three days and have a little chat with the turtle" – Explained Naruto to which Tsunade concurred.
"Well, ok then. You'll go, but I can't send your whole team. Kakashi and Kurenai will follow you in three days from now for you to be able to meet up with him. The reason as to why I'm not sending you alone is because you still didn't give me enough evidence to prove that this isn't any trap from Akatsuki to nail you and capture the Kyuubi" – Explained Tsunade to which Naruto acknowledged and concurred with the hokage's assessment since no one truly knew what Akatsuki was able to do in order to capture all of the nine tailed beasts. After Naruto and co. left, Tsunade was left alone to think as to how and why Sanbi escaped from their grasp. What he intended to do and why would he contact Kyuubi for? Those questions plagued Tsunade's mind constantly. The Sanbi was captured by Akatsuki a while ago by a member of the group called Deidara who in turn was killed by Uchiha Sasuke.
===At Anbu HQ===
After leaving the hokage, the group separated. Kurenai went to the Hyuuga compound in order to visit Hinata while Ace went to the Inuzuka compound to visit his pups. Naruto for his part went to work. Once inside, he found the usual training ground only that it wasn't empty anymore. Kakashi was there together with Shikamaru and Shino. Shikamaru was obviously attempting the Water Dragon technique while Shino was practicing a hand seals sequence. Going over to Kakashi, Naruto explained the events that followed, more precisely, about Sanbi's possible escape from Akatsuki's grasp and calling for Kyuubi to aid him. Kakashi heard about Tsunade's authorization for Naruto to go talk to the demon, being accompanied by both Kakashi and Kurenai in three days.
"Ok then, now seeing that we still have three days, let's continue your kenjutsu training, Naruto. Yesterday, you already got the hand of it so now the only thing you need to do is get accustomed to fighting at close range, instead of relying on ninjutsu most of the time. By learning taijutsu, you now can devise a perfect sequence of attacks that can be soon followed by either ninjutsu or genjutsu. Now, get to work, I'll come to see you in just a minute" – Said Kakashi, before he moved towards where Shikamaru was there attempting one of his first suiton techniques, the Suiton Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Barrier Jutsu).
Shino, for his time, finished the seals sequence and immediately a little thunder was created, but not so threatening as he wished it would be. "Naruto, could you help Shino for me, while I take care of Shikamaru?" – Asked Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and approached the Aburame, while asking which technique he was attempting to do to which Shino responded that he was trying the Raiton Rakurai no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt Jutsu).
Naruto saw Shino performing again and he noticed a few minor mistakes with the technique. "Shino, you're not being able to separate normal from lightning chakra. Focus, purely, on lightning chakra and also try using more chakra. The strength of the jutsu is measured by how much chakra you pour into it" – Taught Naruto, earning a nod from Shino who in turn, closed his eyes and made the hand seals slowly while molding the right type and right amount of chakra as per Naruto's instructions. When he opened his eyes, he saw the thunderbolt charging fast against the incoming tree and hit in dead on, thus destroying the tree and creating the peculiar sound of thunder.
Turning to Naruto, Shino appreciated the help and settled himself to master this technique before going for another one. Naruto for his part smiled and recovered his heavy sword, before continuing with the katas. After a while, Kakashi arrived and chose to just watch Naruto's movements as he murdered imaginary opponents with his sword. The blond was coming along nicely and Kakashi wondered if there was something Naruto couldn't do. "Naruto, now use chakra to increase your speed; pure speed alone is good, but if you add chakra to the mix, you'll be much faster, thus it will be difficult for the enemy to track you" – Said Kakashi, earning a nod from Naruto as he channeled chakra to his feet and doubled his pace.
As he was performing the exercises, he couldn't help but find flaws in what Kakashi just said and voiced it while slicing the air. "Kakashi-sensei, if I use chakra to increase my movements, someone with a doujutsu could see where I'm going, right? Won't that be a serious disadvantage" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi smiled, seeing that the blond had enough knowledge to sometimes, doubt the orders of a superior. "Yes, you're correct. However, you won't need to fight a Hyuuga and the only sharingan user that is our enemy is Itachi, so trust me, he won't need the sharingan to match your speed, continue with this pace until I say so" – Explained Kakashi.
After a while, Naruto was resting for a while on the ground when Shikamaru came to greet him. When Naruto saw the Nara heir, he could see that the man didn't sleep at all, since he began his training and he remembered about Kurenai's talk with Ino. "Shikamaru, how long have you been here?" – Asked Naruto, earning a sigh from Shikamaru who clearly saw this coming.
"Counting today, there would be two days now, troublesome. Suiton manipulation is hard to perfect" – Mumbled Shikamaru, earning a disapproving look from the blond. "Clearly, you don't expect to master elemental manipulation in two days. You need to get some sleep, also Kurenai-chan told me about the fact that Ino misses you a lot. She hasn't seen you since you got inside HQ. I happen to know you won't get any missions until they qualify your skills worthy in battle, so go find her and then get some sleep. Your chakra control is ruined because of lack of sleep. Go and sleep for a while and then return here, you'll see that it will be easier. Suiton manipulation requires a steady chakra control in order to properly manipulate it, you can't hope to achieve that with only your mind awake and the body asleep" – Explained Naruto, earning some mumbling from Shikamaru.
Kakashi heard everything and concurred with Naruto. Suiton manipulation, although relatively easy to master, requires full attention. Shikamaru, for his part, wondered about Ino and felt ashamed that he completely forgot about her. He hoped she wasn't mad at him for not paying attention to her. He nodded at Naruto and left the premises to go meet with Ino and then return home to sleep for a while. Shino had to leave as well because of a family conference.
After seeing both leave, Kakashi approached the blond. "Naruto, tomorrow I'll be setting you up against those two in battle" – Said Kakashi, earning a look in surprise from the blond, since, clearly, he wasn't expecting this. "This will be a test of your performance so far. You'll be restricted to taijutsu only while they won't have any. I'm doing this for two reasons. First is to test how far you've gotten and second is to test if those two are truly ready to fight against tough opponents" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto smiled. "You consider me a tough opponent Kakashi-sensei?" – Asked Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi.
"Your skills are top notch and your chakra and stamina are off the charts, I'm just stating a fact. Besides, I believe those two will end up using their family techniques" – Stated Kakashi before ordering Naruto to continue with the exercise and don't stop. "Okay, Kakashi-sensei, but first can I expend some chakra on a jutsu. It's killing me inside" – Laughed Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi. Naruto, after the authorization, began his hand seals sequence and screamed Fuuton Kyoumou Shippu (Wind Release: Fierce Hurricane Jutsu). Instantly, Kakashi was head to head with an immense hurricane and had to focus chakra to his feet, so as not be sent flying.
Flashes of fights against Suna ninjas passed inside his mind and he wondered if Naruto would be able to pass on his ability with fuuton ninjutsu. So far, only Asuma was a fuuton user, but his style was more suited to his trench knifes, rather than the techniques itself. While Asuma was more close-ranged fighter, Naruto's chakra capacity suited him better for medium range, also the fact that his taijutsu is now up to par, he could adapt easily to close ranged fighting. "Ok, Naruto, now that you leveled up the entire training ground, again, let's continue with your kenjutsu practice" – Said Kakashi, earning a nod from the blond who channeled chakra to his feet and dashed to the front before making a fast swing with his sword.
===In the Anbu commander's office===
The office was similar to the Hokage's, except not as large and certainly not illuminated by sunlight, meaning no windows. The people inside were having wild discussions about Naruto's mission and Yamato never thought he would see Anbu members whine about not being able to go on a mission with the blond. "How many times have I told you two? We cannot afford to let both of you go with hi m and leave the village unprotected. Besides, Hokage-sama already set Kakashi-senpai and Kurenai-san to accompany him, so I'm sure he'll be okay" – Said Yamato, before seeing Hawk and Bear look at him not particularly convinced. "Yamato-sama, Bear, Black Wolf and I formed a bond together, where he goes, we go. Our team together, even before Kakashi-sempai joined, was already one of the top Anbu teams. He won't need more than a day to go and a day to return; can't you place another Anbu team to guard the village?" – Asked Hawk, before seeing a thinking pose from Yamato.
He thought about the situation and couldn't help but smile while seeing how easy Naruto could befriend someone, even if he was now a changed person. Perhaps, it was his ability to think of others before his own live or perhaps it was deeper than that. Of course, he could place another team for border patrol while they were gone. Yamato didn't like to contradict the Hokage's orders, but these two's insistence to follow the blond wherever he goes was something to consider. "Okay, here is what we're going to do. I'll talk to the Hokage and see what she thinks about it. I'll give both you the answer shortly" – Offered Yamato, earning the nod of both of Naruto's comrades, before bowing in respect and vanishing via shunshin. Well, Naruto I guess I should stop trying to understand you.
Seeing that his paperwork was pretty much done for (Thanks to Moku Bunshin), Yamato thought about going to talk with the Hokage about Hawk and Bear's request. He wasn't in any kind of a hurry, so after leaving the Anbu HQ, using his trench coat and an imposing lion mask, Yamato walked casually towards the Hokage's tower. Being inside Anbu since forever, Yamato wasn't much known by the majority of the population, hence when the population turned to see him, all of them wondered who the guy behind the lion mask was. Yamato always joked that should the people of Konoha know about his mokuton ability, tomorrow the entire elemental nations would know and be assuming something that wasn't true, like for instance, if he was a descendant of the Shodaime Hokage like the Hokage is. A while later, Yamato entered the Hokage Tower and immediately every shinobi halted in their tracks and saluted the Anbu commander. Those chunnin or higher ranks knew of such a position, but their fear was mostly caused by someone spreading false rumors about him being ruthless and didn't stand insubordination.
Upon seeing even someone that graduated the same year as him at the academy was gulping nervously, but Yamato didn't bring himself to correct those rumors, whether it was by laziness or any other thing, he didn't know. All he thought was that it wasn't worth his time, paying attention to false rumors, so he let it be. Upon entering at the corridor that lead to the Hokage's office, he saw Shizune who, just like the rest of those present inside the Hokage's tower, gulped nervously. Upon seeing this, Yamato sighed in secret. The others he could accept but not her. She already saw him before on a time he had to remove the mask and participate as replacement for Kakashi in a mission towards the Uchiha's rescue. It seems, however, that the rumors reached her ears. Yamato always found Shizune to be quite pretty and even thought of inviting her for some coffee, however after he was promoted to Anbu commander, his life became the Anbu HQ and his and the ninjas below his command.
After knocking and entering inside, Yamato looked at the Hokage who in turn was taking another one of her occasional nap. Shrugging it off, he just rest near the wall and looked outside for a moment. The sun was illuminating every path of the leaf village, looking like a city in the middle of the forest. Huge trees and gardens filled the village together with the buildings and Yamato couldn't help but smile upon seeing a couple of children playing ninja right next to the Hokage's tower. Looking up, ninjas were found jumping through rooftops, which could only mean they were in a hurry to get somewhere. Looking back to the office, he noticed a television set showing what appeared the image of a hidden camera and, unsurprisingly so, Yamato saw a leveled training field inside Anbu HQ, which could only mean one thing. Naruto, it took me way too much chakra to fix the damn training ground, you just have to use that technique once again, didn't you.
Fuuton ninjutsu wasn't much known in Konoha, simply because wind affinity was the opposite of fire manipulation and that was more common to happen here in Fire Country. The fact that Naruto was able to manipulate wind, among other elements, showed Yamato that from here on out, Konoha could improve in this type of affinity. When he was about to wonder much further, he heard sounds of someone just getting out of bed and turned to stand in front of the Hokage, only waiting for her to see that he wants to talk to her. Tsunade's vision was blurry for a while, but she was able to identify that someone was there in front of her, who though, she couldn't figure out. It was only after a while, when her sight was normal, that she saw Yamato standing in front of her.
"Yamato, what are you doing here? I thought I said to Shizune not to send anyone inside, until I said so" – Said Tsunade while scratching her eyes a little bit. "My apologies, Tsunade-sama; I guess she forgot to mention that you're not available right now. She didn't say anything so I didn't know you were unavailable" – Explained Yamato, earning a sigh from Tsunade who always wondered why the girl behaves that way from seeing the Anbu commander. Being a Hokage, she knew of the rumors of Yamato being strict and didn't tolerate insubordination, but she, of course, knew such thing to be a unfold lie that people began spreading once one shinobi saw Yamato being pissed after hearing the news of a team under his command that went overboard and, thus failing the mission because of it. Since then, Yamato's fame, or the Anbu commander's fame was of a strict individual as well as send fear to those who pass by him.
"So, what do you wish to talk about Yamato?" – Asked the Hokage, earning a nod from the Anbu commander who in turn began talking. "This morning, Black Wolf's comrades Hawk and Bear showed me their dissatisfaction upon knowing that they wouldn't be accompanying him on the mission to talk to the three tails. They asked me if I could place another team for border patrol while they could be on the mission as well" – Explained Yamato, earning a smile from Tsunade, who in turn concluded the same thing as Yamato did upon hearing Bear and Hawk explained before. "I assume you explained them the reason as to why I didn't let them go" – Said Tsunade to which Yamato just nodded and then she continued once again. "Huh, it seems the blond managed to form yet another bond with those two, I've already promised to send Kurenai as well with Naruto, not for his protection, but everything related to bijuus and Akatsuki, worries her to death so I sent her as well. Hawk and Bear can go. Now, I was going to pass on a mission for them, but seeing that they would be accompanying Naruto, I'll pass it on for Gai's team. It will require speed so Lee and Gai should be able to conclude nicely. Is there anything else, Yamato?" – Asked the Hokage to which the Commander nodded in negative and left the office.
A while later, Yamato was back inside the Anbu HQ and went to the training ground that was leveled by Naruto, only to find both Hawk and Bear watching Naruto sparring with Kakashi on kenjutsu. "The Hokage authorized both of you to accompany Naruto on his mission. Both of you are to present at the west gate in two days, at 0600" - Said Yamato, earning a nod from Bear and Hawk, before the group turned to the spar which, by the way, it was going on for quite a while. Kakashi was using his sharingan in order to track Naruto's movements before he did move, but after a while, he noticed Naruto looking to Kakashi's arms instead of his face, so he smiled and remembered Gai's way of counteracting the Sharingan, by looking at the user's feet. Kakashi actually thought it was a good method, if they were fighting in close-ranged, however should the Uchiha use ninjutsu or genjutsu, Gai wouldn't even see the attack until it hit. Naruto's method was better and actually worked against the Uchiha. By following the opponent's arms, he could see body movements and hand seals sequences. The only problem, though, was that him, Sasuke and Itachi were already proficient in using genjutsu only by using their eyes, so Naruto would have to be more careful so that he wouldn't fall for the technique.
It was more of a curiosity than anything, Kakashi thought as he considered matching Naruto's eyesight and cast a genjutsu to see if he would learn how to either dispel or dodge looking directly at Kakashi's eye. Swinging his sword upwards, he knew that Naruto would defend the swing, but then Naruto would have to bend his body, thus looking forward for an instant. True to Kakashi's plan, he looked at Naruto's eyes, thus casting the genjutsu on him. Naruto for his part didn't date a genjutsu mistress for nothing and he noticed Kakashi's attempt immediately, thus dispelling it almost instantly. Looking at Kakashi, he noticed Kakashi's surprised face and smiled. "You can't hope to date a genjutsu master and not get to learn a few traits, Kakashi-sensei. Kurenai-chan taught me how to acknowledge a genjutsu and dispel it before the technique can ever be completed" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi nodded, thus agreeing with the blond. "The reason as to why I did this Naruto, was only to test your method of avoiding eye contact with the sharingan, as well as what to do once they are able to cast a genjutsu on you by using only their eyes. As it seems, looking directly at the opponent's arm is effective, but any Uchiha is fast enough to look directly into your eyes and cast a powerful genjutsu" – Explained Kakashi, earning a nod from Naruto followed by a smile.
"Yeah, Naruto I believe there is no reason for us to remain here any longer. Rest up for tomorrow's fight" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and left the premises, before Yamato and co. arrived to talk to Kakashi. "Sempai, Hawk and Bear will accompany you guys on the mission in two days as well. Now, I understand you're promoting a fight between Naruto and Shikamaru/Shino, why is that?" – Asked Yamato to which Kakashi sighed since he would hope the very Anbu commander would drop addressing as senpai. "I plan to test all three of them. Naruto will be limited to plain taijutsu while Shino and Shikamaru will be able to use anything. I plan to see how Naruto's taijutsu could come up with a strategy against long distance jutsus such as the Nara and Aburame secret jutsus. Also, I plan to test Shino and Shikamaru's resolve upon fighting an Anbu jounin" – Explained Kakashi before seeing the commander nod and turn to leave before greeting the group.
===With Naruto===
After leaving the Anbu HQ, he arrived at Kurenai's house only to see that she was wetting her little garden near the window. Upon turning, the woman was surprised to see Naruto home so early. "Sorry if I scared you, I was released early. Kure-chan I was thinking about visiting Ace and his pups, care to join me, we can stop for some dinner, afterwards" – Invited Naruto, earning the nod from Kurenai who in turn, placed her black short dress, before the couple left towards the Inuzuka household. On the way, the couple was talking about Sanbi as well as Naruto's fight against one of her old students Shino.
On the way, the couple encountered both Ino and Shikamaru walking on the opposite directions and both could plainly see how happy Ino was to finally meet with Shikamaru. Naruto and Kurenai thought about greeting them, but they decided to leave them be and spend some time together on their own. After passing, Kurenai asked Naruto what he talked to Shikamaru to convince him to which Naruto explained that aside from the fact Ino misses him terribly, Naruto explained that elemental ninjutsu requires full concentration and full unity between body and mind, so If Shikamaru was tired, he wouldn't be able to learn suiton manipulation. Kurenai was shocked to say the least. According to Asuma, Shikamaru was as lazy as he was a genius and knowing that the man considered training instead of just going home to sleep was at least shocking.
"One can't help but change upon joining Anbu forces; I was shocked at first that Kakashi-sensei not only wasn't late anymore to meetings but also he stopped reading his famous books" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Kurenai who thought that Kakashi, although a very respected man, did have some very irritating hobbies. A couple minutes later, they arrived at the Inuzuka household, only to see a little wolf running away, before seeing Hana charging towards him in an attempt to not let the little fellow escape. However, once again she was beat by the little wolf's father Ace who in turn was only waiting for his little pup to reach his position before grabbed the little guy with his mouth and walk casually back to the compound, earning a sweat drop from Kurenai, a sigh in dismay from Hana and a smile from Naruto.
Upon taking her time not worrying about the fleeing little bastard, Hana looked that both Naruto and Kurenai were there as well. Right before greeting them, she saw Ace walking inside the household with the pup on his mouth and Hana invited them in before running towards Ace so as to not lose any more puppies. When Naruto and Kurenai entered through the main garden, they saw what appeared to be Kiba and Akamaru trying to restrain the pups, but not having too much luck. It only took Ace's barking, using fuuton ninjutsu that the pups stiffed and halted like an army after the captain's command. Seeing this, both Kiba and Akamaru seated on the ground, while panting. "Jeez, how much stamina these pups have?" – Asked Kiba to which Ace took the front and explained that this wolves comes from the ancestors of Wind Country, therefore they are used to climbing mountains up and down and not getting tired"
After hearing the explanation, Kiba nodded to their newest member of the family and nodded. However, when he sensed other familiar senses, he looked up to see his ex-sensei and a blond person he didn't recognize. His presence, though, was familiar, but a lot stronger than before. In fact, he remembered sensing a very similar presence when his team was captured by Kumo shinobis and were saved by…
"Naruto, is that really you?" – Asked Kiba. He knew about Naruto's entering the Anbu for quite some time, but he never got to talk to the blond in like almost two years. Upon seizing him up, Naruto was stronger, more powerful; just his aura was enough to send fear to the enemies. How did he get so strong? How much he trained to reach this level? That's not possible. All these questions plagued Kiba's mind and Kurenai already knew this would happen. She thought about telling Naruto about Kiba's pride but she thought nothing really bad would happen, however seeing her ex-student looking at Naruto like that, she feared that Kiba would try to attack Naruto, in order to test his abilities. Naruto for his part was able to hear Kiba's muscles stretching which indicated that the stupid would attack him at any time. When he looked at Kurenai, he nodded showing her that he wouldn't raise a finger on Kiba. Kurenai saw the sign and nodded; now only waiting for Kiba to begin.
Immediately, Kiba channeled chakra to his legs and jumped attacking Naruto who in turn only smiled before Kiba used his claws and attacked, only for his arm to pass through Naruto's body like he was transparent. After doing a back flip and devise a better strategy, Kiba attacked again only this time and used both his arms in attempt to slash both sides of Naruto, but just like the first time, both his arms passed through Naruto's body. "What's happening here? Why can't I hit you dammit" – Shouted Kiba, this point in blind rage, before the Naruto in front of him disappeared and Kiba looked around only to see him standing next to what appeared to be a very pissed Kurenai. "Besides the fact that you attacked not only a fellow Konoha-nin, but also a superior officer says very little of you right now Kiba. Also, I'm ashamed to see you falling so easy for a genjutsu even after all those times we practiced" – Explained Kurenai to which Kiba nodded before looking on the ground, before seeing Naruto kneeling on the ground and begin speaking with Ace about his pups.
"It seems that you're no longer a lone wolf, aren't you Ace? You already have a family here in Konoha" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from the wolf who in turn smiled and looked up to see his beloved mate feeding one of his pups. "You aren't one to say either, Naruto. You already have someone you love as well." – Said Ace, making Naruto nod and turn to see Kurenai smiling at him. "I guess you're right. So, I guess you'll be training these pups soon, so we aren't going to see each other much. I just wanted to say that you and your family are always welcomed in my house, take care my friend"- Said Naruto before getting up and walking towards Kurenai, when suddenly, Ace called him and yelled Fuuton Kaze no Kiba (Wind Release: Wind Claw Jutsu), thus attacking Naruto who in turn smiled and made some hand seals for Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu). When the attacks collided, everyone could see the three wind slashes against one very long one, before they both dissipated. After seeing this, both Naruto and Ace smirked at one another. "Naruto, this will be our bonding seal. Don't ever forget about that" – Said Ace to which Naruto nodded and walked back to Kurenai.
Kiba for his part, watched the whole thing and wondered how strong Naruto really is. Genjutsu, Fuuton ninjutsu, what else? After a while, the couple left and Hana was alone with her stupid brother. "Kiba, you damn imbecile, why would you attack him for?" – Shouted Hana gaining the attention of Kiba who only looked down in shame and walked back to his room, not even bothering to respond. But the answer was clear, at least to his sister, Naruto beat him without even lifting a finger and now he doubted his skills. Out of a sudden, Tsume walked into the garden only to see Kiba walking inside with his head down and tried to ask what was wrong until Hana came and explained what occurred. Needless to say, Tsume was pissed at her son from lack of knowledge regarding subordination and attacking fellow Konoha-nins just to test his skills.
===Next day===
The next day, Naruto was standing against both Shino and Shikamaru as promised by Kakashi. Shino and Shikamaru were discussing on ways to beat the blond, since none of them ever went against him before and none of them knew what he was capable of. They knew that Naruto would be limited with taijutsu only, so they were at an advantage since both of them happened to be long range fighters, however Naruto was and always have been a wild card, thus giving even Shikamaru a pain while trying to devise a strategy against the blond.
Naruto, for his part, was only waiting for them to attack. Being restricted to taijutsu, he just couldn't attack first, thus giving the enemies a lot of options to catch him with long range attacks. This way, he wouldn't be the one to fall in a eventual trap. Back to Shikamaru, he thought of something that could work and explained to Shino who in turn nodded and both made hand seals. "Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Binding Technique)" – Said Shikamaru while Shino released his bugs and stayed only waiting for Naruto to go where they wanted. Seeing the shadow approaching, Naruto summoned chakra to his feet and dodged strongly to the left, thus gaining speed when Shino threw their bugs at him. Naruto knew that they would ambush him like that, but he wasn't afraid of Shino's bugs sucking his chakra, since he had plenty to feed an entire hive and not even be winded. Summoning once again chakra to his feet, Naruto increased his speed once more and passed through the middle of the bugs, thus not allowing them to capture him, before he approached his two opponents.
Shikamaru's kage mane was still active, but since Shikamaru couldn't control his shadow enough to dismantle the shadow beam, Naruto dodged the incoming shadow and jumped before landing a roundhouse kick right in his face, thus sending him flying. Shikamaru used the momentum and flipped his body, thus landing on his feet, before Shino warned him of Naruto's approaching once again. The blond didn't even wanted to let them recuperate and charged in seconds, before seeing Shino making hand seals. "Raiton Rakurai no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt Jutsu), thus sending the lightning strike straight at Naruto who in turn jumped just in time and did a back flip, before landing on the ground and eyeing his opponents once again. Shino and Shikamaru had to be the most intelligent ninjas of their generation and Naruto knew they would be tough to beat. Charging once again, he saw Shikamaru doing hand seals for what seemed to be Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu) and prepared to his plan. Suddenly, a huge water dragon attacked Naruto, but the blond dodged at the last minute to the right, before channeling chakra to his feet and increasing his speed, before attacking Shino right between his legs, before flipping and aiming an uppercut kick right at Shino's chin, thus sending him flying.
Naruto didn't have time to see Shino's trajectory because Shikamaru was using the opportunity to capture Naruto with his shadow, which he almost succeeded had Naruto didn't look backwards that exact moment. Focusing on another hand seal, Shikamaru screamed Kage Nui no Jutsu (Shadow Sewing Technique) and the shadow instantly left the land and began to attack Naruto who didn't waste time and kept dodging until he had a clearance of movement and summoned chakra to his feet, once more, to leave Shikamaru's field of sight for a moment, before using chakra once again to approach Shikamaru, thus using his fist this time and landing a straight punch right at the left side of Shikamaru's face. This time, Naruto waited for his opponents to get up and wait to see what they would do, when suddenly Shino's bugs left him once again, forming another Shino and Shikamaru used Kage bunshin and created a duplicate, thus surprising Naruto a lot, considering that Shikamaru still had energy left to split his chakra. However, now Naruto would face four enemies instead of two and now it would one hell of a challenge.
Meanwhile, the ones in the audience saw Naruto's taijutsu and couldn't help but applaud the blond. Using his high chakra capacity, he could channel chakra to his feet, thus earning a boost in speed and approaching the enemy from his or her blind spot. Kakashi smiled upon seeing his student putting his training to fruition. Also all of them acknowledged Shino and Shikamaru's teamwork against Naruto, but truly, they wished to see the aftermath of this fight. Now it was four against Naruto and all of them knew it would be hard. Looking once again, this time Naruto attacked them first, thus the four scattered to different corners and Naruto chose one to attack. Of course, it would be Shikamaru, since he was losing chakra fast and wouldn't be able to keep up with the kage bunshin. Seeing this coming, Shino and his clone advanced in terms of stopping Naruto before he landed a hit on the Shadow clone from fear of sending Shikamaru straight to chakra exhaustion. The real Shikamaru knew about the weakness in this technique, but he didn't know that Naruto would be the one attacking this time. Yes, Naruto was a wild card, indeed. When Naruto landed a swift kick at the clone's stomach, it vanished and Naruto turned to see a panting Shikamaru. The fight was over since one of the fighters wasn't able to fight any longer.
However, they passed the test with flying colors and Shino and Shikamaru were now able to attend Anbu level missions. Naruto received his sensei's approval before going to Shikamaru and tending to his comrade. Needless to say Shikamaru smiled at Naruto offering help to lift him up to which he accepted. "You did improve your chakra capacity Shikamaru. I never expected you to be able to do the Kage Bunshin" – Said Naruto to which Shikamaru nodded and said that even though he did, that wasn't enough to even land a hit on the blond. "Forget about it, let's just say that I had more time to train than you and we can leave it at that" – Offered Naruto to which Shikamaru nodded and then went to the nurse to have a little chakra incision.
===Sanbi's mission day===
Anbu team 5 was waiting patiently for the mission's last member to arrive. Because Kurenai would be following an Anbu team, it didn't make sense for her to go as a regular jounin, since it would show too much attention. So, Kurenai went to change her attire and put on an Anbu armor suit, before looking at the mirror and admiring her appearance. A while later, upon her appearance at the meeting place, while everyone turned towards their destination, Naruto kept staring at his girlfriend for a while. Kurenai, already picturing this, simply walked passed him, before whispering to his ear some naughty conversation, making Naruto tremble inside, thus giving the victory to Kurenai this time. She loved competing against Naruto to see who gets to tease the other more and the count was even before, but now it seemed Kurenai just gained a point in her favor, thus winning the competition for now.
Instantly, images flashed inside Naruto's mind, but he threw them away for now, in hopes of focusing on the mission, but he smiled, though, upon looking at Kurenai while thinking of ways to even the numbers once again. Revenge would be sweet.