Naruto:A New Path

The Nine-Tailed Fox

It had been one week since Naruto's training with Jiraiya had started. The blond had improved by leaps and bounds and didn't appear to be slowing down. Jiraiya was proud of his student, even though he wouldn't be telling him anytime soon, and knew that he would be the only one capable of surpassing the Fourth. If it weren't for the boy's fear of using the Kyuubi's chakra then he would easily be high chuunin level. Jiraiya had hinted that he wanted Naruto to use the fox's chakra but Naruto would refuse.
Naruto had improved on, what he had said, were his weaknesses. The boy had easily grasped the toad style taijutsu. It had been difficult at first, since Naruto would always rush into the attacks, but Jiraiya had drilled that out of him. The blond was on his way to mastering the taijutsu but, again, would have been a lot better mixed with the Kyuubi's chakra. It was a shame for Naruto to ignore something that would give him a great advantage over any other ninja.
The blond had mastered the two wind chakra control exercises already. Naruto had already attempted to use the jutsu Kakashi had given him but had some difficulty performing them. Sometimes the jutsu wouldn't have enough power behind them while other times Naruto would put too much chakra behind the jutsu, making the attack too hard to control. The boy was making some progress but would need help on his wind jutsu.
Naruto had also improved on his sealing. It had been hard to make the boy pay attention when they started but when he got the basics down, he began to soak everything up like a sponge. The blond could now use his own seals for basic stuff like packing things into scrolls, making paper bombs and making restriction seals. It would take a while for Naruto to learn advanced sealing and Jiraiya had a feeling that this would be difficult for Naruto to learn.
The only thing that the boy still struggled in was summoning. He had continued to summon weak toads and had even summoned a tadpole once. Jiraiya knew that in order to get his student to master summoning, he would need to get the boy to use the fox's chakra. It would be hard to get Naruto to use it since he didn't plan on using that chakra anytime soon. The sannin would have to trick Naruto into using it but knew that Minato wouldn't approve if he still liver.
Jiraiya sighed as he thought about what the boy still needed to learn. It would take time to train the boy and from what he heard, the Akutski had begun to move. They hadn't captured any jinchuuriki but they had begun to prepare to do so. Jiraiya would need to train the boy in order to make him strong enough to protect himself. This would require his full attention but he couldn't stay in the same place for too long, this meant that he had to take the boy on a long training trip. The sound of giggling was heard and Jiraiya smile. He would push his thoughts aside for now. Right now there was potential research material waiting for him.
Naruto walked through town with a smile. Jiraiya had treated him to ramen since his training was going great. The sannin had asked if he liked any girl and, though skeptical at first, Naruto admitted to having a crush on Sakura. Jiraiya had then asked him to find her and give her a hug or kiss and that they would meet for training the following day. Naruto had been flagger stabbed but agreed to give her a hug when Jiraiya said that it was part of his training. So Naruto was currently looking for his teammate with his usual fake smile.
He spotted the pink-haired girl on the distance and gulped. He knew what would happen if he just outright asked her so that left catching her by surprise. The girl would probably hit him when he hugged her. Naruto thought that maybe Jiraiya had asked him to do this in order to test his resistance. The blond walked up to his teammate and waved.
"Hey Sakura!" Naruto greeted with his usual cheerfulness.
Sakura frowned. "Naruto, shouldn't you be training or something? You're up against Neji after all." She said, "He is a genius like Sasuke so he'll be hard to beat."
Naruto frowned. "As if Sasuke could actually beat me." The blond crossed his arms and huffed, "I'm actually in the middle of my training."
"What kind of training?" Sakura asked.
The blond gulped and had a light blush on his face. "W-well you see…" The teen began, "What's that?" Naruto pointed behind Sakura and the moment she turned around hugged her around the waist.
Sakura fumed. "Naruto!" She punched the blond away before walking away with a stomp on her step, "Stupid pervert."
Naruto sat on the ground and found that his nose was bleeding slightly. "Man, Sakura packs a punch. I have to commend Ino on actually fighting her, when I next see her." The blond murmured.
"You know, that you're not really supposed to throw yourself at a girl, right?" Came a voice.
Naruto looked up and found himself in front of Ino. "Hey Ino!" He said with a smile, "What are you doing here?"
Ino sighed. "I just came back from my training with Asuma-sensei." She explained, "But that doesn't matter right now. You're bleeding Naruto."
The blond shook his head. "I'm okay, don't worry." He stood up and smiled, "A bloody nose is not too bad."
The kunoichi frowned and crossed her arms. Naruto knew that look and sighed. "You know where we're going already, right?" Ino asked. Naruto nodded in understanding, "Let's go."
Naruto followed Ino with a pout. Ino would take him to her house again and look at his wounds. They had been spending more time together since their semi-promise and had come to know each other a lot better. Whenever Ino would see Naruto in bad condition after training, she would take him to her house and fix him up though Naruto still avoided bumping into her mom. The two blonds had been keeping up with each other's improvements. Naruto was happy to know that Ino had actually taken his words to heart and had improved on her skills.
Ino had learned that she had a water affinity and had begun to learn how to control water with her chakra. Asuma had told Ino that she had good chakra control and it would only be a few days until she mastered the water element. For that same reason he had gotten Kurenai to teach the girl some genjutsu, which she picked up rather easily. Her chakra capacity was still kind of low but had been improving as her stamina.
The two would get together on their days off training and teach each other any new things they learned. Naruto had been teaching Ino how to control wind chakra while Ino, in turn, taught Naruto how to control water chakra. Though they hated to admit it, the two were doing completely horrible. It was true that a ninja could pick up a second nature but that took a long time. The two blonds had made little progress but still tried whenever they got the chance.
When the two finally got to Ino's home, they entered and made their way to Ino's room. Naruto had become quite familiar with the home since he was there constantly. Ino still told him to talk to her parents if he could but he would be too nervous to do so. He wanted to make Ino happy, since she was a good friend, but his past experiences with adults made him keep his distance from them.
"Sit down while I get the first aid kit." Ino said with a sigh. Naruto was a good friend but Ino was mad at his inability to stay safe. Though she had to admit that she actually enjoyed healing his wounds since it made her feel needed and she was glad to help Naruto get better.
Naruto sat on the all too familiar chair and ran a hand through his hair. The blond was glad that Ino would worry about him and go to the trouble to heal his wounds but he hated to bother people, much less his friends. Ino emerged from the bathroom with the first-aid on hand. The teen couldn't help but sigh, he was getting tired of the burning brown stuff Ino would put on his cuts.
Ino gave Naruto a smile. "Don't worry; I'll get you cleaned up in no time!" She exclaimed cheerfully.
Naruto smiled back. Even if the stuff Ino would put on him burned like hell, he was glad to see her smile. Ino had become one of Naruto's most important people and he would do anything to see her happy. "Thanks Ino." He said with a smile.
"Don't mention it." She replied happily. With that Ino began to work on the area around Naruto's nose. She saw that part of the skin had been torn off with the punch the blond received, "Remind me not to piss off Forehead."
Naruto chuckled. "She packs a nasty punch." He replied, wincing slightly as Ino put the brown stuff on his wound.
Ino frowned. "Why would she do this to you? Next time I see her, I'll give her a piece of my mind." She declared, "What's wrong with her, anyway?"
Naruto laughed nervously. "You don't have to do that." He said, "It was kind of my fault anyway."
Ino sighed. "Okay I'll drop it but if she ever hurts you again, I'll knock some sense into her." She finished working on Naruto's wound and patted him on the head, "All done."
Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Don't treat me like a baby!"
Ino giggled and shook her head. "You're really something Naruto." She smiled and held out her hand, "All done, you may leave now."
Naruto smiled and took Ino's hand. "That's so nice of you." He joked, "I really do need to get back to my training." Ino helped Naruto up and the two began to walk out of the house.
Ino looked confused. "I thought that you were done with your training with Jiraiya by this time of day?"
The orange-clad ninja smiled. "I am done training with him for today but I have to do some training of my own." He explained, "I'm having trouble with my wind jutsus and have to practice."
"You're already practicing your jutsus?" Ino asked in surprise. Naruto nodded with a grin, "Well, why don't you ask Asuma-sensei for help? He's a wind user after all."
Naruto smiled in excitement. "What are we waiting for? Let's go see him!"
Ino sighed. "You're really loud sometimes, you know?" Despite herself, Ino smiled, "Fine, let's go see Asuma-sensei." With that the two blonds left the home to meet with Asuma.
Ino led Naruto to Team Ten's training ground. It was very similar to Team Seven's training ground, with the only difference being a small hill next to a rocky area. From the condition the rocky area was in, Naruto guessed that it was used for sparring or training. Asuma stood on the training ground with Shikamaru and Choji. He gave the two blonds an odd look before walking over to them.
"What are you guys doing here? You're training is over for today, Ino." Asuma said with a look of slight confusion.
Ino smiled. "We didn't come here for my own training, I already trained a lot." She explained, "We came here hoping that you could help Naruto with his own training."
Asuma raised a brow. "Why would you need my help?" He asked Naruto.
Ino elbowed Naruto's ribs as a sign to start talking. The blond winced and glared at Ino. "Why'd you do that?"
Ino returned the glare. "I'm signaling you to tell him why you need his help!"
Naruto frowned. "Well, you shouldn't have signaled me like that." He poked Ino on the side, making her yelp, "See, it hurts when you hit someone on the ribs."
Ino blushed in anger. "Why'd you do that?" She exclaimed before elbowing him on the side again.
Asuma watched the exchange in amusement. He was glad that his student had made a new friend and from what he could see, they were quite close.
The jonin chuckled. "What do you need my help with, Naruto?"
Naruto stopped poking Ino and turned to Asuma. "I'm having some trouble using my wind jutsus and Ino said that you might be able to help."
Asuma ran a hand through his beard. "It's quite rare to see wind users in Konoha." He began, "Have you done any of the chakra control exercises?"
Naruto nodded. "I've done the leaf and rock cutting exercises."
Asuma smiled in approval. "So I take it that you're having problems with the power behind the jutsu?" He asked. Naruto nodded, "Very well, I'll help you out. It might take a few days so I want you to come here whenever you can, you'll be training with Team Ten from now on."
Ino smiled. "That'll be great Asuma-sensei!" She said in excitement, "I only hope you can keep up with us, Naruto."
Naruto grinned. "You're the ones who aren't going to be able to keep up with me." He said, "Thanks for helping me out, Asuma-sensei!"
Asuma grinned. "Don't worry about it kid." He began, "We'll begin tomorrow at two in the afternoon."
"Got it!" Naruto said with a smile. If he was able to master the jutsu then his skills would have improved overall. He would have the strength to protect his friends in no time. He made a note to thank Ino later; she didn't know how much she had helped him with everything. He was glad to call her a friend and was even happier to get to spend more time with her; he really looked forward to his training with Team Ten.
Naruto sat on the ground in front of Asuma. The jonin had been explaining the concepts of wind chakra. Ino was sitting against a tree and watching the two train. Shikamaru and Choji had been given the rest of the day off and left the training grounds. Naruto learned that wind chakra came from his surroundings not like other elements that came from within.
"What jutsu are you trying to learn?" Asuma asked once he was done with his explanation."
"I've only tried two so far." Naruto informed, "One is the Spiraling Wind Ball and the other is the Wind Wave."
Asuma nodded. "Those have great use in battle." He said, "They are easy to master once you get a hold of the basics. In order to use the Spiraling Wind Ball, you need to keep molding the chakra after gathering it. As for the Wind Wave, what you need to do is create a smooth end instead of a sharp one, as you learned in your training."
"I want you to use the jutsu with the things I told you in mind." Asuma pointed at a large boulder, "Use the jutsu on that boulder and remember what I told you."
Naruto nodded and stood up. He stared at the boulder in complete seriousness and took a deep breath. He blew into his hand and began to mold the wind chakra. A ball of compressed air formed on his hand, it wavered slightly but it was still passable.
"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto yelled as he ran at the bolder. The blond slammed the ball into the rock, making the attack break apart pieces of the rock before unleashing the compressed wind in a small explosion. Naruto grinned when he saw the large whole on the boulder. This attack had been a lot better than any of the others he had done.
"Way to go Naruto!" Ino cheered with a smile.
Asuma nodded in approval. "That was very good Naruto but you didn't use the attack like it was supposed to." He said with a sad smile, "You are supposed to throw the ball not keep it in your hand like that. Let's see the next one."
"Got it." Naruto said with a nod. The blond flashed through hand signs and began to gather wind chakra, "Wind Style: Wind Wave!" The teen swung his hand and a large wave of air shot towards the boulder. It hit with great impact and broke small pieces of the rock.
"That was great Naruto." Asuma praised, "Take into mind that Wind Wave is used to push people aside instead of hurting them."
Naruto smiled. All he needed to do now was perfect his spiraling ball and start practicing his other two jutsu. "Thanks for the help, Asuma-sensei."
"Don't mention it." Asuma replied, "I'm sorry to say this but I have to go. I promised I would be somewhere and its getting kind of late. I'll see you two tomorrow." The jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke with a look of worry on his face.
"Will he be alright?" Naruto asked Ino.
Ino smiled. "Don't worry about it, he's probably late for a date with Kurenai-sensei." She looked at Naruto's clothes and smirked, "I have a surprise for all your hard work Naruto."
"Really?" Naruto asked in excitement.
"Yup." Ino said with a smirk, "Just follow me." She smiled inwardly when she heard Naruto cheered. She had gotten to know the blond and knew that he wouldn't be too happy with the surprise.
"What? Why are we here?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown. Ino's surprise had turned out to be a clothes shop.
Ino frowned. "Look at the stuff you wear." She deadpanned, "You need to get some clothes that make you look more serious."
The blond pouted. "There's nothing wrong with my clothes." He said with his arms crossed, "Besides I'm not sure this store is for me." He really didn't want to get thrown out in front of Ino, that would only raise questions and he would be forced to tell her about the fox.
The kunoichi smiled. "Don't worry about it Naruto." She said, "I'm sure that you'll like this store. It opened a few months ago and has the best clothes from neighboring villages. Everything there, even the workers, are from other villages."
Naruto's expression changed into a hopeful one. "Are you sure everyone there are from different villages?" He smiled when he saw Ino nod; this would mean that they might not know of his condition, "Fine, let's go."
Ino smiled and took hold of Naruto's sleeve before dragging him in. The inside of the shop was pretty spacious and had many people looking around. He noticed that some of them threw him dirty looks but the workers simply kept to themselves.
"Welcome!" A female worker with long brown hair greeted, "Please call for me if you need help looking for certain clothing."
Ino smiled. "We're looking for shinobi clothing." She pointed at Naruto, "It's for him, so could you show us to what would fit him?"
The worker smiled at the two and got a weird look on her eye. "It's always nice to see young couples shopping together." Naruto's and Ino's right eye twitched at the mention of the word couple, "Follow me, I'm sure we'll find something you'll like."
The woman led them to an area with many pieces of clothing for shinobi. Some of them had metal plates and some had many hidden compartments. Naruto's eyes immediately landed on a lone orange and black jacket. He instantly ran over to it and smiled excitedly.
"Don't even think about it!" Ino snapped, "We're here to get rid of the orange. Get some other colors!"
Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Fine." He said with a sigh, "I'll get something else."
The worker giggled. "We have some selection over here." She said, gaining Ino's attention, "Please follow me."
Ino followed the worker while Naruto stayed behind. The blond had found some clothes that he actually liked and there was no orange on them. He hated the idea of not wearing any orange but Ino would only lash out him again if he got something with the smallest tint of orange.
Ino smiled in excitement. "This is perfect!" She declared. Ino was holding a purple t-shirt and a pair of purple pants for Naruto. She thought of finding matching ninja sandals but noticed the absence of said blond, "Where did he go?"
"Here I am!" Came a loud voice. Ino turned around and gasped. Naruto was dressed in a new wardrobe, with no sign of orange.
The blond wore dark blue pants with a kunai hustler on his right thigh. He wore a pair of black ninja sandals and a pair of black fingerless gloves with small metal plates, like his teacher Jiraiya. He also wore a long-sleeve black shirt with a white spiral on its back. He had also changed his headband from blue to black. Ino thought that it was a much better and need improvement.
Ino gave Naruto an approving smile. "Not bad Naruto." She said, "You actually look like a ninja now."
Naruto frowned. "Clothes don't make the ninja." He stated, "I'm going to go pay. You can wait for me outside if you want."
Ino nodded and went outside. Once there she gave off a big sigh. It had been a very long day for her and was glad that it would be over soon, since the soon was already setting. She had been glad to have spent the day with Naruto since she felt that she could be herself when she was with him. She would show her weak side and trust Naruto not to take advantage of it. Ino was glad to have a friend whom she could trust this much.
Naruto came out of the store with a sad look. Gama had taken quite a blow today but would survive. The blond hated to hurt his companion like that and wouldn't it be doing it again any time soon.
Ino smiled when she saw Naruto come out. "Ready to go?" She asked.
Naruto nodded. "Do you need me to walk you home?"
Ino gave a small smile and shook her head. "I'll be okay." She said, "I need some time alone anyway."
Naruto gave Ino a genuine smile. "Thank you Ino."
"I just took you to a shop, it wasn't a big deal," Ino responded with a grin.
Naruto shook his head. "No, thank you for everything." He gazed at her eyes and she couldn't help but blush. Her heartbeat rose due to the intensity of his gaze, "You've been really good to me. So, thank you for all you've done for me. I'll see you later." With a single wave Naruto made his way home.
Ino stood frozen on the spot. She had been completely thrown off by what Naruto had said. The girl smiled, that idiot had made it seem like he hadn't done anything for her. If only he knew how much he had done for her. He had made her take training seriously and had given her a reason to get stronger, she didn't want to be a burden on anyone and would get stronger to help others.
"No…" Ino began before smiling towards Naruto's retreating figure, "Thank you Naruto."
Naruto panted and frowned, no matter what he did he still wasn't able to summon bigger toads. Like usual, he had gone to see Jiraiya at the waterfall where they would always train. Jiraiya had told him that his usual training would be postponed until he could summon bigger toads. The blond could feel that he was running out of chakra and gritted his teeth, he was getting frustrated with his lack of improvement.
"That's enough kid." Jiraiya said with a serious look, "I'm going to take you to a place where you'll be able to master summoning."
The blond gave Jiraiya a confused look. If the sannin really knew of a place like that, then why hadn't he taken him there earlier? It didn't make much sense but considering that he was dealing with Jiraiya it didn't have to. "Where is that place, Jiraiya-sensei?"
The sannin grinned. "Now where would be the fun in just telling you kid?" He motioned for Naruto to follow as he left their training spot.
As Jiraiya leapt through trees, he looked back to see Naruto trying to keep up with him. The sannin sighed when he thought of shat he was about to do. He had no doubt that Minato would've never approve but it was necessary for the well-being of Naruto. There were S-class ninja after him and if he didn't learn to control the Nine-Tails then he was doomed. The sannin broke from his line of thought when he saw his destination on the distance.
Jiraiya jumped down and landed on a small clearing. "This is it Naruto."
Naruto looked around with a frown. "What gives? There isn't anything special about this place!" The blond exclaimed.
Jiraiya frowned. "Be quiet!" The sannin exclaimed. Naruto instantly got quiet and looked at Jiraiya in confusion, "I brought you here so you could stare death on the face."
Naruto looked confused. "What are you talking about Jiraiya-sensei?" The blond asked. Jiraiya didn't say anything only raised his hand and pushed him away.
Before he knew what happened, Naruto was falling large an endless chasm. He didn't know what Jiraiya had been thinking but tried to hold on to something. He tried stop his fall by grabbing onto the walls of the chasm but found that they were too slippery. The blond was out of chakra from the constant usage of the summoning jutsu meaning that he couldn't use any of his ninjutsu to help him. His vision started to blacken before he finally lost consciousness.
Naruto woke up in a kind of sewer. There was ankle-deep water and not much light except for the brownish glow of the walls. The place looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it. He looked around before hearing deep breathing and most of all, warmth. The blond walked towards the source of the warmth and found himself in front of a cage.
"What is this?" He asked himself. He looked at the large cage in wonder before finally gazing at an advanced restriction seal, "T-this must be."
A large face made itself known from inside the cage. It had a large evil grin and piercing red eyes. " Hello Naruto." It growled.
Naruto gaped. "K-Kyuubi."