While Suguru, Gyuuki, and Killer Bee were engaged in conversation, someone else was training hard for an upcoming exam.
—Clack!
A single kunai had weaved through a plethora of moving obstacles, landing onto the outer circle of the designated target.
It was good... but it wasn't good enough.
"Damn,"
Naruto, who let out a short hiss of frustration, massaged his fingers. Long hours of training had numbed his hands. The Uchiha's Shurikenjutsu was a daunting task that he had been working on for a while now.
Although Itachi's teachings echoed in his ears, Naruto still found a little trouble with keeping up with the calculations needed for complex shuriken flight paths.
"I'll go with the Pervy Sage's training for now..."
Sitting down, Naruto held his wrist with one hand and began pouring chakra out of his palm. Soon, a rotating sphere of pure chakra began to form. The signature sound of whirling blues and the swirling winds resounded throughout the training grounds.
However—
—Vwhoosh!
The Rasengan failed to fully compress itself and dispersed in a violent gust. Looking at his shaking hand, Naruto took a deep breath.
After a few more breaths, he held out his hand again. Despite the shaking, more and more chakra poured out of his palm.
Unfortunately, the jutsu was never completed. Always a step away from success, Naruto found himself exhausted at the end of his training.
—Thud.
Collapsing onto the grass, he looked up at the orange sunset sky.
Unlike the Naruto of the original, it was taking him a little longer to learn the Rasengan. However, this version of Naruto no longer used a clone. Without the pressure to succeed amid a battle and his bet with Tsunade, Naruto went about his training more systematically.
This, in effect, was a behavioral change induced by Itachi himself — in more ways than one.
With the countless dreams vaguely floating in and out of his consciousness, Naruto had an eeriness about him. It was as if his gaze felt out of focus at times, reconnecting with reality only when he was prodded.
On the other hand, Itachi had taught Naruto on more than one occasion. Having been training together on Mount Myoboku, Itachi's personality had naturally rubbed off on Naruto's own.
That eerily vacant gaze thus bore an analytical calm that left Sasuke and Sakura speechless when they first saw it. It was a conflict of natures forced together by unbelievable circumstances.
Having been training for the whole day, Naruto decided it was time to head back.
'I'll go get some ramen...' He thought to himself, 'Then I'll resume training when I'm done eating.'
The Chuunin Exams were coming up. Both Jiraiya and Itachi agreed that he should participate. Thus, he had been going out on missions with a Konoha jounin — Hatake Kakashi.
Naruto had been learning a lot, although they were mostly from covert operations that minimized risks.
Just yesterday, he and Kakashi returned from a small skirmish with the Root's remnants. A few rogue shinobi who had been kidnapping civilians.
During their mission debriefing, Hiruzen's gaze had grown weary. Clearly, the skirmish hid something nefarious behind its seemingly mundane encounter.
Naruto had consulted with the Kyuubi, Kurama, on this matter.
'Their chakra was unnatural.'
Such were the fox's words before returning to his lazy slumber.
With that, Naruto felt a greater urge to train. He still wasn't strong enough — such a fact was made clear when he had difficulty following Kakashi's movements.
'Should I try learning Kakashi-san's Chidori as well?'
Pondering over what jutsu he wanted to learn next, Naruto arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.
The wafting scent of miso broth brought back some of his deepest memories — memories untainted by his myriad dreamlike lifetimes.
"Haap,"
Taking a moment to compose himself, Naruto paused just outside Ichiraku and took a deep breath.
"Hoo,"
Then, he put on a smile and walked through the curtains. The flickering darkness in his heart was momentarily snuffed out.
"One Miso Ramen please!"
***
Uchiha Tatsuya and Gaara were at Ichiraku Ramen, having wanted to get dinner after training. Although Tatsuya's shinobi ranking was vague given the missions he had been involved in, he was still a Genin.
The same went for Gaara.
With the upcoming Chuunin Exams, they were knee-deep in preparations.
Just as two bowls of ramen were placed in front of them, an energetic voice made its entrance.
"One Miso Ramen please!"
Gaara paid the voice no heed, keeping to his silence as he picked up his chopsticks and began eating. On the other hand, Tatsuya's curiosity was piqued, and he glanced over.
Eyes of obsidian darkness shone as it observed.
'The Kyuubi's jinchuriki... What a coincidence,' Tatsuya thought, and his instincts screamed.
"Hm?" Naruto felt Tatsuya's gaze as he sat down.
The two then made eye contact, and a short silence lingered in the air.
"OH!" It was broken by a loud gasp as Naruto's mouth widened in animated realization. "It's you! Tatsuya, right? Sasuke told me about you, do you believe it?"
Blinking in surprise, Tatsuya chuckled. "What did Sasuke say?"
Recovering from his shock, Naruto's eyes narrowed into slits filled with a smug undertone. "Hehe~ That's a secret! I was actually told to approach about something. Kakashi-san told me that we'll be doing missions together with one other person."
Tatsuya raised a brow. "We'll be forming a team? With Kakashi-senpai?"
"Mhm! Mhm! Do you know who Gaara is? He's going to be our third member, believe it!" Naruto nodded in excitement.
Gaara finally looked over, having been interrupted from his meal.
"Me?" His voice was a low, scraping droll. "In a team, with you?"
A deadly gaze — one born only from those who have taken the blood of other humans — scanned Naruto from head to toe. Chills crawled through Naruto's spine, and a cold sweat formed on his nape.
"Hmph. Are you even strong enough? The missions we've been doing are more than any Genin can handle."
It was clear what kind of provocation this was. The Gaara after Itachi's Takamagahara was still quite the selfish kind. However, it was controlled now — like a cursed sword hiding in its sheath.
Furthermore, the cold politeness of a honed assassin had slowly been bubbling up to the surface.
"I'll have to check your skills myself." A small smile formed on Gaara's face. "Shall we fight?"
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Hi! I am back~
But not with daily uploads. I'm halfway through my thesis proposal and I'm no longer as burnt out. I'll be pacing myself with around 2-3 days per chapter.
Still, have five chapters today as an apology for being gone for a while!
Chapter 3/5.
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