Hell Sword

"Earth Release: Mud Wall!" Kakashi fended off Naruto's relentless attacks with his right hand while rapidly forming hand seals with his left and slapping it against the ground.

A thick earthen wall sprang up from the grass with a series of thumps, carved with four dog heads. It blocked the Great Fireball.

Black smoke poured from the point of impact, and the stench of scorching earth spread through the air.

With both of Kakashi's hands occupied, Haruno Sakura seized her chance and attacked from the side, slashing her kunai at the cord holding the bells around his waist.

The three of them working together had actually managed to put him under a little pressure. Naruto was undoubtedly the most important factor: his strange swordsmanship and Taijutsu let him keep Kakashi occupied head-on.

Kakashi got a little more serious.

White smoke burst into the air.

Sakura's kunai failed to reach its target. Kakashi's Shadow Clone caught her by the wrist.

A kunai infused with Lightning Release Chakra sliced through Naruto's iron staff. Electricity coursed along it, numbing his limbs and leaving him stiff.

A jonin could completely overwhelm a genin in an instant.

And Kakashi had once been Captain of the Anbu. Pushing him to counterattack was already something a graduate could boast about.

Naruto had eight years of experience in Magnetic Field Martial Arts, but in Konoha at this point in time, he was still just a boy standing five feet tall with an utterly average amount of Chakra.

But a fierce desire to win burned in his chest.

He'd made so many bold claims. Now he had to make them come true!

"Chakra... drive! Hell Sword!"

As Naruto swung his arm, a roar shook from his chest, and a sword-shaped glimmer appeared at his fingertips, half real and half insubstantial.

The sword came down. A blade of energy shot out, slicing through Kakashi's tool belt and streaking more than ten yards through the air.

The bells dropped into Sasuke's palm as he came running over, panting after using the Great Fireball Technique.

It was as if the world had frozen. Four pairs of differently colored eyes fixed on the bells.

Naruto grinned, wild and unrestrained.

He turned and walked away without asking who would get them.

He had done what he'd said he would do. That was the greatest reward he could ask for.

Sasuke gripped the bells, feeling their metal grow scorching hot in his hand.

Haruno Sakura glanced at Naruto's retreating figure. An inexplicable loneliness welled up inside her, but the joy of passing the test soon drowned out her sadness. She cheered:

"Sasuke got the bells! We won!"

Sasuke whipped his head around and glared at Sakura, his eyes sharp as knives, like a lone wolf. He tossed both bells to her.

Then he walked away in the opposite direction from Naruto.

Sakura caught the bells and looked at Kakashi in confusion. The metal felt cool in her hands.

Kakashi scratched his hair and glanced up at the sky with his uncovered eye. He'd never even considered the possibility that someone might take the bells.

His plan had been to tie one of them to a wooden post and warn the other two not to give him any food, testing whether the graduates would defy orders and cherish their teammates enough to share their meal.

But now they'd taken the bells—and the three of them had done it together. He didn't seem to have anything left to criticize.

The one thing he couldn't stop wondering was where Naruto had learned that move.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Come back." Kakashi cupped a hand around his mouth and called loudly, "All three of you passed!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked back. A ninja's mind really did take the most roundabout paths. What a damn hassle.

Sasuke muttered with a dark expression, "You said my name after Naruto's. So you really do think I'm weaker than him?"

Naruto stopped five meters in front of Kakashi. "Give me an explanation."

Kakashi looked at Naruto, feeling dazed for a moment.

Looking at that hair and face, the same as his master's, and seeing the same boundless talent...

He almost felt as if his master were reprimanding him.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled warmly. As expected of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage's son.

"Naruto, if the three of you become a team, will you protect Sakura?"

"I will."

"What about Sasuke?"

"I will."

Naruto answered both questions just as quickly. It had nothing to do with the others; it was simply a matter of who he was. "As long as they earn my approval."

Sasuke's mental state truly collapsed.

Protect them? Their teacher was already talking about protecting them?

Kakashi turned and asked Sasuke the same question. "Will you protect Naruto and Sakura?"

"I will." Sasuke relaxed a little, then added, "As long as they don't get in the way of what I have to do."

Kakashi smiled. "Then you've all passed."

Sakura struggled to contain her smile. For the first time, her eyes took in both of them at once, though they didn't settle on Sasuke's face.

Holding the bells, she asked, "Teacher, can I keep these as a memento?"

Kakashi nodded, then flourished his arm and gave a thumbs-up toward the sky. "You've all passed! Team Seven! Starting tomorrow, you'll be going on missions!"

Naruto's life was lonely.

He wasn't someone who could build an entire life around martial arts training.

He longed for warmth. Everything he'd done as a child, every dream he'd held, had been for the sake of earning the people of Konoha's approval.

Though he no longer needed the recognition of people who meant nothing to him and had grown into a well-rounded person,

he was still someone who couldn't stand being alone.

After finishing his martial arts training and using up more than half his Chakra, he left home that night.

The warm yellow lights of Ichiraku Ramen spilled across the ground, casting a vast doorway of light.

As usual, he ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen.

Uncle Teuchi was busy. He greeted Naruto, then went back to work without saying anything more, but Naruto still felt warm inside.

At least it was warmer than living alone in that rundown house.

Just then, an old man took off his hat and sat down beside him.

"Naruto."

"Third Grandpa."

In Naruto's memories as an orphan, the old man had been Hokage, yet he'd occasionally kept him company. He was one of the few good people in Konoha.

"Lord Hokage!" Everyone in the shop stood and bowed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said amiably, "Please, sit down and keep eating."

Naruto had been thinking of ordering another bowl, but Third Grandpa had come to see him for a reason. He finished his last few bites, gulped down a big mouthful of soup, and then took the initiative to head outside.

Hiruzen Sarutobi followed. An old man and a boy walked along the quiet streets of Townhouse Street beneath a sky dotted with stars.

"Naruto, there's something I'd like to ask you. You can answer me, or you can choose not to."

"Go ahead, Third Grandpa."

"You've changed a lot lately, and you've even used some ninja techniques that don't belong to Konoha. Did you meet a fox spirit?"

For an instant, countless images flashed through Naruto's mind like a movie, linking a whole string of events together. He nodded and stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "That's right."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed at the moon veiled by thin clouds and sighed. "You've grown up. What did the fox spirit say to you? Can you tell Grandpa?"

Naruto's gaze deepened. "I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone about our secrets."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped walking. His small, aged body slowly turned toward Naruto.

Today, he'd come to confirm whether Naruto had learned from the Nine-Tails that his father was the Fourth Hokage.

The hero he'd admired most—the man who had defeated the Nine-Tails Demon Fox and saved Konoha.

If Naruto already knew, how much hatred would all those years of secrecy and suffering have caused him?

He decided to lay some groundwork first. "Naruto, the Nine-Tails Demon Fox can't be trusted. He's the embodiment of hatred, betrayal, resentment, and lies. Everything he does is meant to deceive you and devour your consciousness."

Naruto suddenly understood. So the Nine-Tails Demon Fox was inside him. No wonder so many brainless villagers hated him.

A great many questions rose in his mind.

He wanted to know the whole story.

He smiled innocently. "Don't worry, Third Grandpa. He's locked up tight."

"He was too lonely, so he came to talk to me. We get along really well. He likes me and treats me nicely. He even taught me ninjutsu! You don't have to worry."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned.