Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Death Brings New Life ❯ Branches of Wisdom ( Chapter 4 )

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Reviews

GrayPhoenix: Too long to paste

 

CrimsonCat10101: It's so long…it's BEAUTIFUL! I love long thoughtful reviews! You're too kind! Good ideas I will give them some thought, but some of it I've seen to often. I'm trying to make my story as original as possible. Anyway thanks!

 

Saric: good story hope to read more.

 

CrimsonCat10101: Thanks! I intend to continue this to the very end!

 

Mirena: The idea of the kyuubi training Naruto an gettin back is great. The description of the characters was awesome, I was laughing by the two sqealing Uchiha fan girls. Please keep it on.

 

CrimsonCat10101: That's right, DIE SASUKE! Tee hee! Really? You think so? It's reviews like this that keep me writing!

 

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does however.

 

Death Brings New Life

-Branches of Wisdom-

 

Tsunade paced her office back and forth. Her steps echoed against the wood on the floor. She had been waiting for this moment, but was she prepared? She didn't want to face this; it had been haunting her in her sleep. It had been two days since Naruto died and she still hadn't told anyone the news except Kakashi, Shizune, and Jiraiya.

 

As she was thinking, Kotetsu opened the door. “Tsunade-sama, they're here.” She nodded and he left, leaving the door open as a hand grabbed the handle and walked in the room. Sakura came in, along with the rest of the rookie nine. (Excluding Naruto and Sasuke) Gai's team also filed in behind them, which only consisted of Lee and Tenten, since Neji was still in critical condition. Choji was also in critical condition and unable to attend. Him and Neji were heavily wounded on the mission to retrieve Sasuke.

 

Tsunade watched as they walked in, confusion present on their faces. Tsunade wanted to retreat immediately, but she held her ground firmly.

 

She had to tell them.

 

Sakura was the first to speak. “Tsunade-sama, what's all this about?” They all watched as Tsunade closed her eyes in silent contemplation.

 

She began, her voice strong as she could force. “As you all know, a team was sent out to retrieve Sasuke.” They nodded, wondering why she was repeating the information. They already knew the mission had failed. “One by one the team was split up, so that Naruto could reach Sasuke. They fought as Naruto attempted to bring him back to us.”

 

“Tsunade-sama, we already know that he betrayed us. Why are you telling us again?” Sakura questioned, uncomfortable about talking of the tale.

 

Tsunade shook her head solemnly as she continued. “There is more then you were told.” The group became curious, as to what she was getting at.

 

Tsunade looked at the group with sorrow. “Sasuke and Naruto fought at the Valley at the End, but what you don't know is that…” Tsunade's voice began to crack when she said the last four words. “Naruto died in that fight.”

 

The group tensed in shock. Hinata began to shake violently, her eyes wide and filled with tears from the dreadful news that had been cast upon her. Kiba looked away in sadness. Shikamaru had one hand covering his face. Ino's face was frozen in shock, while Shino's gaze was locked on the floor. Lee also lowered his gaze to the floor, but then brought his gaze on Sakura. Sakura's tears were falling against her hands held against her face, as she sobbed for her fallen comrade. Tenten put a hand on Sakura's shoulder in order to comfort her.

 

“He c-can't be d-dead.” Everyone turned their gaze onto the one who spoke. Hinata continued to speak anyway. “H-He's not d-dead.” She sobbed.

 

Tsunade looked at the small Hyuga with pity. She knew that the girl had a crush on Naruto.

 

Tsunade closed her eyes briefly only to reopen them, replacing her depressive eyes with the calculating eyes of a leader. “His body was taken about a day and a half ago, by none other then Kabuto. I have no idea what that snake's intention is, but it can't be anything good.”

 

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“DAMMIT!!!” Naruto continued to stare daggers at the branch that lay in his hands. He had been trying to break off the leaves from the branch for the past hour. “This is so frustrating!” He cried out again, the strain on the branch increasing dramatically.

 

It was just an hour before that Kyuubi gave him a one sentence explanation and left him to the task. Why the hell did the Kyuubi leave him? He had been channeling his chakra into the branch with no reaction whatsoever for ten minutes. The rest of the time he had been cracking and snapping the wood in random places.

 

Naruto sat down to continue the exercise, focusing on the branch and releasing his chakra in steady amounts. He relaxed, letting the chakra flow through his hand and into the wood. Focusing on the leaves, he released his chakra.

 

`SNAP'

 

“DAMN IT ALL!!!” Naruto screamed, making several animals flee from the surrounding vicinity. The branch had broken halfway, splitting the branch in half.

 

Tossing the wood in the growing pile of broken branches, he began to think.

 

`I wonder how everyone is faring without me.' He slowly became depressed in the perpetual silence. `The villagers are probably throwing a festival in celebration of the demon brat's death. Tsunade's probably in pieces knowing that she already lost Dan and Nawaki. Ero-sennin is probably also upset. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan will probably mourn about my death for two days, and then focus on retrieving their precious Uchiha.

 

The blonde's expression turned darker as he processed his thoughts. `He…he killed me when I said he was like family to me…could I possibly bring him back?…No…No, I will not bring him back! He is NOT Sasuke! The Sasuke I know is long past dead.'

 

The blonde continued to contemplate, while someone observed him from within the shadows.

 

He broke another small branch off, only to continue his previous attempts. After snapping yet another branch a voice spoke.

 

“So this is what you do over here eh.” The tall black haired girl sat down next to him. Naruto stopped what he was doing, noticing her sudden appearance. Her ruby-red eyes were looking off to the sky. “What exactly are you trying to do?” Akane questioned him.

 

Holding up a newly acquired branch, his gaze set on the said object. “I'm trying to improve my chakra control by making these leaves from this branch snap off using my chakra and holding the branch by it's base.” Naruto sent chakra through the branch, while concentrating on making the chakra release at the stems of each leaf. Akane watched as she felt the chakra he released flow through the branch until…

 

`SNAP'

 

“As you can see, I can only brake parts of the branch.” The blonde said sadly, before tossing the split branch into the large pile of wood he had created.

 

“I see,” Akane chuckled.

 

“Its not funny!” The blonde huffed. “Just frustrating.” He grumbled.

 

“Well, you've destroyed a reasonable amount of forest attempting this, I can't help it if you suck at it.” Akane said smugly. Naruto growled at the comment.

 

“I don't suck!”

 

“Your right…you're just mentally challenged.” Akane grinned as she watched Naruto gain a red tick mark. He continued to snap the branches, while Akane watched him with amusement.

 

“Hey, how old are you?” Akane watched as he tossed yet another branch before replying.

 

“Twelve.”

 

“Twelve…that's pretty young to be by yourself in enemy territory, doesn't your family worry that you're missing?” Naruto's eyes became unfocused as he looked up. His back lay against the thick trunk of a larger tree.

 

“I'm an orphan. I don't have family.” The blonde grabbed another branch and began to channel chakra again. Akane's head lowered as she realized her mistake.

 

“I'm sorry.” She apologized, her eyes enveloped by a shadow. Turning his head to face her, he smiled. Not an honest smile, but one that was part of the mask he had been upholding for years. The mask was there to cover and hide his true emotions. To others he would be a happy grinning prankster, but under the mask he was sad, depressed, angry, lonely, and an uncontrollable feeling of betrayal. No one could ever see past the happy mask. He deceived others through the joyous mask with ease. The ease of it had come from years of unforgotten practice.

 

“Awww, don't be, it's fine!” When he said that, the branch that he was holding snapped in several places. Naruto and Akane stared at the splinters now present in Naruto's hands.

 

“Whoops! My bad.” The blonde rubbed the back of his neck with one hand in embarrassment. Tossing the splinters into the woodpile. He slowly pulled out the small pieces of wood lodged into his hands.

 

It was then that he noticed the red eyes that glowed in the shadows of the woods.

 

`I better close this up.' Naruto thought.

 

“Hey, Naruto.” Akane began, bringing Naruto back from his thoughts.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Where did you get your clothes from?” Akane said pointing at the navy blue trench coat and black apparel. Naruto thought for a second, trying to come up with a good explanation.

 

“Well I sealed spare clothes in a scroll before I left.” He said, trying to sound casual. Akane seemed satisfied with his response. Naruto restrained himself from sighing in relief. He remembered the red eyes and popped a question to Akane. “Hey Akane, how old are you?” He said innocently.

 

“Seventeen, why do you ask?”

 

“Seventeen? I thought you were somewhere in your mid-twenties.”

 

That did it.

 

`THWACK'

 

“Owwwww…You didn't have to hit me that hard.” The blonde groaned, rubbing the sore spot that was now atop his head.

 

“You deserve it! You stupid runt!” Akane shouted, storming off towards the house. A red vein appeared on her forehead and her hands were closed in tight fists.

 

Naruto continued to rub the sore spot on his head. `Damn. She hits just like Sakura-chan.' The pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura, his former teammate used to do the same thing. She would punch him hard on top of his head and send him rocketing towards the Earth. She then calling him a moron, idiot, or loser afterwards. She never was nice to him, yet he was nice to her. The only time she was nice, was when she was around her precious Sasuke-kun. It was always Sasuke-kun `this' or Sasuke-kun `that' she never cared about Naruto. Cutting off perhaps one of his more painful memories, he got to his feet.

 

When he looked up, Kyuubi was striding towards him. It was an hour until noon, which didn't give him much more time. The fox demon stopped right in front of the blonde Jinnchuuriki. His arms were crossed and he wore a smirk that screamed insanity.

 

“Alright brat, demonstrate to me how far you have gotten with this exercise.”

 

Naruto slowly stood up, patting the excess dirt off. Walking over to a new tree he snapped off another thin branch. Kyuubi watched as he stood in front of him, with the branch in one hand.

 

When Naruto channeled chakra into the said object it then broke in a couple places. Naruto looked at his results before tossing the branch aside.

 

“That was…pathetic.” Kyuubi snickered.

 

“Shut up! You bastard—” Before he could finish his insult his chin hit the ground with unsuspecting force and his arm was painfully held behind his back. The demon fox sat on top of his back, a scowl placed firmly on his face. He held the blondes right arm with ease, yet with enough force that made Naruto wince.

 

“Watch your mouth brat! You should respect me, for I am the King of Demons. Especially, since I saved your sorry ass from death! You ungrateful boy!” The fox pulled Naruto's right arm farther to the left side of his body.

 

“Save me? You only meant to save yourself!” Naruto said, struggling to break free. Unfortunately he wasn't strong enough. The fox was a Bijuu, the nine-tailed Bijuu as a matter of fact. He never stood a chance.

 

“So what? I still saved you. Now show me respect, unless you prefer your arm being snapped in two.” The Bijuu said a sickly grin cast on his face. Naruto felt his arm close to being broken, so he did the only thing he could do.

 

“Hai, Kyuubi…-sensei.” Naruto's arm was released and the weight on his back decreased. He slowly got back on his feet, stretching his arm to get the feel back into it. Kyuubi stood with a smirk plastered on his face.

 

“That will have to do. Now, I guess I should give you a few pointers to speed up the training process. So listen carefully, because I'm not the type that likes to repeat myself.” Naruto nodded dumbly, not trusting his mouth to speak for him. “Good. Now when you channel your chakra into the branch you want to adjust the amount as it's being channeled. In the beginning you burst the chakra to get it started. Right after that, you want to decrease it immediately so that you don't snap the branch.” Naruto nodded in understanding. “Once it is decreased, concentrate so that it stays at the decreased amount until your chakra has reached the leaf.” Naruto started to show some signs of confusion, but stopped after a moment of thought. He nodded to Kyuubi to carry on. “Now, you would hold your chakra there until your chakra has reached all the leaves. Then, send a burst of chakra to snap them off.” He finished. He looked at Naruto to see some mixed feelings of puzzlement and understanding.

 

“Alright, I'll leave you to ponder that.” Kyuubi walked past him towards the other direction. “I'm going to set up the next part of your training. You have another half hour to work on those leaves. After that, take a half hour break and meet me at the clearing just west of here at 12:30P.M.”

 

After Kyuubi left, Naruto continued with his training to see slightly better results. The places where he cracked it were now closer to the leaves. After the time was up, he trudged out of the woods to grab a bite to eat. He was exhausted from all the chakra he had put out and a half-hour break would be perfect to rejuvenate his chakra reserves.

 

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After he had eaten some ramen, courtesy of Hiroshi, he strolled towards the clearing Kyuubi had specified. He walked on through the forested area, passing by many broken trees. He chuckled, hoping that the forest destruction would go unnoticed by other Oto ninjas. When he had reached the space he could feel his jaw drop.

 

There in the clearing lay hundreds and hundreds of books and scrolls.

 

Kyuubi noticed his presence and put down the scroll that he had been reading. “Alright lets get started. C'mon brat.” Naruto walked towards Kyuubi in an awestruck daze.

 

“This is a LOT of BOOKS! Where did you get all these?” Naruto spoke, his gaze still locked on the many books. Kyuubi chuckled at Naruto's priceless look of amazement.

 

“I checked them out from the demon library. I simply make a seal that summons the library for our personal usage. Only one can have the library checked out, but since this library is limited to greater demons only, meaning the eight-tailed Bijuu and I, we should have access to it whenever we please. Unless for some reason the eight-tailed Bijuu has it checked out, but I highly doubt that.”

 

“Wow! There's a demon library?” Naruto asked gleefully, but stopped dead in his tracks. Kyuubi cocked an eyebrow at the sudden change in atmosphere. Naruto's face became one of sheer horror.

 

“Does that mean I have to read all of these?” Naruto questioned, his voice no louder then a whisper.

 

Naruto saw Kyuubi's instant smirk and shuddered. God, did he hate lectures and speeches, but THIS? That was just plain pushing it.

 

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CrimsonCat10101: I'm done! Whew! Check out my other story if you can. Honestly I believe it's better! But who knows…

I'll try to update as much as I can I mean I'm only 14!

 

Kyuubi: No, way…

 

CrimsonCat10101: Sadly yes. Oh Well! See ya!