Danzo Hokage

Naruto's Root Training

Chapter 10: Naruto's Root Training.

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AN: This chapter came fairly easy for me seeing as I had a fairly good idea what I wanted to do with the chapter from the start. Even so, I did make a few changes to the chapter itself namely team seven's participation in the chapter and a budding romance between Sasuke and Sakura. That was by far the biggest change both to the chapter and the story itself. Up until this chapter I had no plans for the two but seeing as they end up together in the show I decided I would keep that part of the story canon.

AN2: I will likely do one more chapter before the third phase starts. So far only four days have passed so we still have about three weeks to go. I'm unsure what I'll do with that chapter beside showing off more of Naruto's training but odds are I'll cover the others as well. 

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Root Base.

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Naruto once again pushed himself back to his feet before readying himself for another round of rapid-fire punches and kicks from the owl-masked ninja. While there was no doubt at all that he enjoyed battling a shinobi of such high caliber he also couldn't deny the obvious fact that he missed his two teammates. A fact that Isao Utatane better known as Owl made sure to capitalize on by sending the sixteen-year-old boy to the floor for the fifth time that day and the second in the past five minutes alone.

"No fair I wasn't ready"! Naruto yelled out enraged the man had attacked when he was clearly not ready. The man in turn only pressed the attack all the harder in response to the boy's complaint.

"You are now a Root ninja, Naruto. The second you're not ready is the same second you'll die". Came the wise old voice of the man.

"I still wasn't ready". Naruto replied before setting himself up for another round.

"When are we ever ready to kill? When are we ever ready to die"? The man shot back before the two reengaged. Their movements mere blurs to the untrained eye. This fact was made all the more impressive when one took into account that they were going at their slowest possible speed. This was, after all, only a warm-up. The true fighting would be impossible to watch unless one was trained in high-speed tracking.

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Training Ground Seven.

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Team seven was not idle as Kakashi pressed both Sasuke and Sakura hard in preparation for the third phase of the exams. Sakura knew she had only won due to luck more than skill. Sasuke was by far a much more competent shinobi in that field. Even so, both paled in comparison to their sun-kissed teammate, Naruto. This was of course expected of him given his family and training. Even back in the academy, it became quite apparent that Naruto was in a class all his own. This fact seemed only to grow as time passed and before long he was being paired up with kids two or even three years his elder. But even with more training and skill Naruto easily beat them. His cleverness in battle had earned him the nickname, Fox. A name he took with no small bit of pride. From that point onwards he was only ever paired with a Genin or if need be a Chunin. A fact unseen since the days of Itachi or his father Minato.

"Sakura you need to pour more chakra into the technique". Kakashi said as he watched as she failed to remain on the surface of the water. She had improved, they all had but it seemed Sakura was finding the task surprisingly hard to master given her impressive chakra control. But tree walking and water walking were miles apart in their difficulty. A tree doesn't move underfoot, water does and does so continuously forcing the user to always make subtle nearly imperceptible changes to their output lest they soon find themselves drenched and cold from the cool water that snaked its way around the sizeable village of Konohagakure.

"It's too hard Kakashi-sensei". Sakura said as she busied herself with drying herself off. Sasuke only smiled at the girl.

"It's not funny Sasuke-kun". Sakura cried out. Her face turning red in embarrassment.

"It was kind of funny". Sasuke replied before using an E-Rank fire jutsu. No fire appeared but it did warm the body and would dry her substantially faster than the air would have. However, it did mean the two would be side-by-side for a few minutes at least.

"Better?" Sasuke asked the girl.

"Much....thank you, Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied. She could feel her heart thumping hard against her chest but she didn't at all mind. Hell, she was half tempted to just jump back into the water but she knew he wouldn't do so again. He was being kind and so she took the unexpected closeness to the boy as best she could. Kakashi all the while watching the two with a knowing look.

"Alright, you two enough of that it's time we spar". Kakashi yelled out making the two move apart and enter their respected fighting stances. When a leaf hit the ground the three began.

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Root Base.

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Naruto raised his blade just in time to deflect the incoming attack being sent by Isao-sensei. In response to this, he jumped backward before sending out a wave of kunai blades and ninja stars. Naruto seeing this ran through a set of hand signs before calling out.

"Earth Style: Earthen Dome". In seconds a dome of hardened earth formed and deflected the incoming wave of kunai blades and ninja stars. However not one to allow an opening to go unused Naruto erupted from underfoot and took hold of his senses feet before dragging him feet first into the ground. He was about to gloat about his skills as a ninja when his sensei poofed into a cloud of smoke.

"Shit a clone"! Naruto said before a hard kick sent him flying.

"Amateurish". Isao said disappointed in the boy's apparent lack of focus. However just as he had said that the boy also poofed into a cloud of smoke.

"What"! Came the surprised voice of one Isao Utatane before a wave of Narutos descended upon him.

"Uzumaki Style: Multi-Shadow-Clone Barrage". Came the voices of over a dozen Narutos. Each armed with a bluish-white ball.

"RASENGAN*16". Seconds later all sixteen attacks landed sending the Owl masked man flying. His uniform cut up in many places as a result of the successful attack.

"Sensei"! Naruto cried out as he watched the unmoving body of Isao. That was until he poofed away. Turning around he came face-to-face with the man.

"Very good, Naruto-chan. Let's take a 15-minute break before we start the real fighting". Isao said before he and Naruto sat down and enjoyed a bottle of water. The past four days were hard. Harder than anything he had ever done before but he enjoyed it. Isao had pushed him far beyond anything he thought possible. He could feel his body grow stronger day by day and couldn't wait to show his teammates how much he had grown over the past four weeks. Until then he would train with Isao-sensei as best he could for that day.