6 Act I: Chapter 6

Hello everyone,

Kubikiribōchō seems to have divided my viewers. And I think it's well warranted. We shall see what happens. I'm glad everyone agreed with Gai's actions and the deaths of Zabuza and Haku. It's a dog eat dog world in Naruto, so it just felt more natural for that to happen than for them to survive and possibly have another opportunity to kill.

Anyway, let's get to the chapter.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"How many aggressors?" The Third Hokage asked.

After the last mission, his chakra wasn't as impressive. The brief thirty seconds that Gai had activated the third gate for were forever etched into my memory. The amount of chakra, while unrefined, was like a raging tsunami to the Hokage's calm ocean.

Despite everything I knew about Gai and how far he could take the gates, I knew that the hokage could probably still kill him with the Reaper Death Seal.

"Thirty-four. Including Gato." I answered. I knew the number by heart.

'Thirty four civilians armed with rusty swords and cocky smiles. All dead within two minutes by five copies of myself and Lee.'

"And after that?" The Sandaime asked, brushing off the number of dead thugs without effort.

"The bridge was completed a day later. That was two days ago." Gai summarized.

Had Lee been here, instead of getting his leg and arm checked at the hospital, I knew he would be standing straight next to Gai. Sakura and I had perfect posture before the Hokage. But that mission had taken a lot out of me, and I knew it showed in my face, as much as I tried to hide it.

The Hokage's eyes bored into me. It had unnerved me the first few minutes. Now I wasn't sure what to think about it. Why wasn't he looking at Gai, the person giving most of the report?

The Hokage sat back in his seat, and folded his hands on his lap. "This team has to have the worst luck out of almost any of the rookie teams. Yet you keep rising to the occasion… You should be proud of yourselves. I certainly am." He said as he broke eye contact with me and looked through the window in his office. I didn't have to follow his gaze to know he was staring at the hokage's faces that constantly looked over the village. Perhaps he was even looking at my father.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Sakura replied, with a dip of her head. I couldn't find it in myself to think about anything other than my bed, so I did not respond.

I was not proud of being helpless under Zabuza's power. I was not proud of massacring civilians, who were too stupid to know they were walking to their deaths. I could not be proud.

Not when people like Pain existed. Shit, A-rank ninja were fucking scary to me right now. Not to mention Obito, and the ever looming threat of Madara and a rabbit goddess.

"Your mission will be raised to A-rank, and you will receive appropriate compensation for your commitment to the village. It will be in your accounts by the end of the week. Gai, I believe that a small break is in order for your team." The Hokage said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yes sir." Gai answered with a nod and a smile.

"Good, I will leave it to you to decide the duration. Sakura, you are dismissed."

Well that did not mean that I could leave… Was I in trouble? What the fuck had I done this time?

Sakura bowed again, and I felt, more than I saw, her look at me with a confused look on her face. But she turned and left all the same, without a word of protest.

"Zabuza Momochi was a member of the Seven Deadly Swordsmen of the Mist. Wielder of the legendary Kubikiribōchō. Do you know how much Kirigakure would pay to see it returned to their village?" The Sandaime asked.

"I'm assuming a lot, Hokage-sama." I answered, a little cheekily. Was this supposed to be when I asked for permission of wielding Kubikiribōchō?

"Blood. Of ours and their shinobi. Do you understand?" He asked. He was calm on the outside, but the ocean that was his chakra was becoming tumultuous. He was not angry, per say, but he was berating me. That much I was sure of.

I nodded respectfully towards him and reached a hand into my kunai pouch.

The feeling of something metallic on my neck, caused me to freeze all movement. A chakra signature had appeared behind me, without any warning. I was shocked by my chakra sense being thwarted so easily, but my self preservation kept me from moving.

"Do not move." The person behind me, with a sword pressed to my neck, commanded. The voice was bland, and devoid of emotion. I couldn't even tell if it was male or female.

'Anbu. They thought I was reaching for a weapon.'

"There is a storage seal in that pocket. It contains the Kubikiribōchō." I explained, trying to diffuse the situation and keep my head attached to my shoulders.

"Stand down." The Hokage said simply. He did not raise his voice, he did not use a commanding voice. It was a quiet statement.

Yet the chakra presence behind me disappeared, as did the blade on my neck, immediately as the words left his mouth. I knew whoever it was had just moved about the room, and was still around. But as my chakra reached out, I couldn't find anyone but myself, Gai, and the Hokage.

"That was not a very smart thing to do, Naruto." Gai said.

I looked at Gai, still a little shaken. He had a smile on his face, as if the situation was a bit comical. Like it was a part of some ritual that always happened to a newbie. Anger towards my sensei, and the ninja sparked inside of me.

Another fucking moment I was helpless to their power.

I made a decision then. It was time I stepped up my training. More shadow clones, heavier weights, more chakra control, and deeper fuinjutsu. Another thing that kept nagging at me was the desire to learn some sense of medical ninjutsu. Although I would have to be self taught. I would not take Tsunade's oaths. I would be a frontline fighter, not a healer.

But being able to heal myself would be a major benefit.

I snapped back to attention, not bothering to hide the disdain at what just happened on my face.

"You may leave the scroll at the front desk, Naruto. You are dismissed."

I nearly stormed out of the room.

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I primed my chakra and took in a deep breath. My hands flashed through seals. Dog, Horse, Bird. The air in my lungs became saturated with my chakra, and begged to be released.

I allowed it, and exhaled.

The tree in front of me gently waved in the wind in front of me.

I groaned at the anti-climactic jutsu. Utilized properly, I could have at least ripped a branch off or something. I could feel that I was letting the chakra release at the wrong point, causing it to destabilize and lose power.

I took another deep breath, and flashed through the hand signs.

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Hiruzen POV

"You will take Neji then?" I asked my student. Jiraiya's hair had always been white, but I could see the effects of time in the roots. It had lost its shine, and looked closer to my own hair color than the one he had grown up with. It was a curious thing to watch the young grow old. It put perspective on life.

"Yes." Jiraiya answered somberly. "He had to master the Kyubi's chakra, sensei. And the Akatsuki are mobilising." He added, trying to explain his reasoning. "He'll be safest with me, wouldn't you agree?"

I had known the information was coming. Itachi had been very clear in his latest report. They were not waiting on the villages to get more information out of them. It was time to make a move.

"Yes." I answered. It was true, as much as I didn't want to admit it. My chakra, while it dwarfed all but my students, and perhaps Kakashi, was not what it used to be. There was a time that I would have embarrassed Tobirama-sensei with my prowess. That time had long since passed.

"Good. I only wish I could take Naruto with me." Jiraiya said, finally getting to the issue at hand.

"You could." I told him, honestly. Naruto's potential was ...nearly limitless. Neji's was arguably higher, but he was prone to arrogance, and over reliability on the Juuken. It would be difficult to get him to adapt his fighting style at this point.

"I can't protect both at the same time." Jiraiya retorted.

'You don't want to.' I didn't say. I had plenty of things I didn't say to Orochimaru that I wished. But Jiraiya would not abandon the village, and he was an adult. I could not force Naruto on him. If he did not want to teach Naruto, then he wouldn't.

But I knew the real reason. He couldn't stand the blonde hair and blue eyes that Naruto wielded. He couldn't stand the look of determination on his face. He couldn't stand the way Naruto walked like his father. Jiraiya had yet to forgive himself for the death of Minato, and perhaps would never.

"As you say." I said. "When will you take him?" I asked.

"After the exams. We both know why." Jiraiya responded, his voice taking on a deeper tone. His chakra flexed and Jiraiya was gone, out the window of his office. I continued to stare at the same spot on the ground that he stood.

Orochimaru.

I inhaled a bit of smoke from the pipe in my mouth. Chakra coated the inside of my lungs without effort, yet the nicotine still raced through me.

So much was happening at once. An organization of S-Rank ninja's hunting jinchuriki. Orochimaru and Rasa planning on killing him during the chunin exams…

'Kakashi isn't ready.'

My thumb split open with a careful application of wind chakra, and my hands sped through seals perfected over five decades ago. When my hand hit the top of my desk, and the blood was accepted, I healed the wound quickly with another burst of chakra.

Smoke clouded my vision.

"Saru." My loyal companion Enma greeted me. "I assume this is not for shogi, per usual?"

"No. I have someone you might be interested in." I said. I had put off this particular issue for too long. My life might not last much longer, and this was one of many loose ends I needed to address.

"Asuma? We've talked about this." Enma said.

"No old friend. Someone else entirely. I want you to test him."

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Naruto POV

The last thing I expected to do when I got home, was to find a baby monkey sleeping on my couch. I hadn't even noticed it at first, until it had made a noise, almost causing me to impale it with a kunai.

It was white all over but it's face and parts of it's belly.

"Is this the old man's way of saying sorry for taking Kubikiribōchō from me?" I muttered to myself.

The monkey's eyes opened then, and looked up to me. As soon as it saw me it started crying. I have never heard such a horrible wailing sound in my life.

"Hey hey, it's alright." I said as I held my hands out in front of me.

Its hands reached out to me immediately, as a normal human baby would. That was the first thing that made me suspicious. But my biological response still told me to pick the damned thing up and so I tried.

Only for it to grab my finger and bite me.

"You motherfucker." I said as I slung my hand around trying to get the pain out.

It actually laughed at me, in a baby monkey kind of way. A part of me wanted to grab a kunai out of my pouch and just get rid of the annoyance. I actually felt my hand dip into the pouch.

My chakra fluctuated, and I thought nothing of it. But the sound the monkey was making, the laughing, was angering more and more by the second. It was when I actually grabbed the kunai in my pouch that I noticed something was wrong. My chakra was concentrated in a certain area.

It all clicked.

I pulsed my chakra, and expelled the foreign chakra I felt gathered near a certain part of my brain. My anger dissipated immediately and I shook my head, while letting go of the kunai and letting it fall into my pouch again.

The laughing stopped immediately.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to break out of that one."

I stared at the baby monkey on my couch in front of me with pure surprise and shock on my face. "You just talked!" I said, flabbergasted. The Sandaime was definitely fucking with me. This had to be a summon.

"Of course I did. You've never seen a summon before?" The monkey said as it started combing it's fur all over its body.

"Not in person." I answered, still looking at it. How the fuck was it's vocal cords developed enough to talk? Chakra is broken.

"Well now you have. Dad will be shocked to hear about this one." It said as it rubbed the back of it's head sheepishly. "I really tried this time too. It's crazy. You one of those Sarutobi's he talks about so much?"

"No." I answered, not sure how to handle the situation in front of me.

"Damn, he's really gonna be shocked. Say, got any spinach?" The monkey asked as it jumped off of my couch and started moving towards my kitchen. I moved in front of it.

"Hold on a second. What the fuck is going on?" I asked.

The monkey stopped and looked up at me. "Potty mouth." It said as it pointed a finger at me. "Dad told me to come test you, you passed to my ultimate surprise and now you're about to get me some spinach. Can't you hear?"

"Of course I can hear. But why are you here?!" I asked as I pointed to the ground beneath me.

"Are you listening to me at all?" The monkey answered. It moved quickly, and managed to grab my leg and hoist itself up. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to smack him off of my form. Although maybe I should have. Soon he found himself on my shoulder where he banged on my head a little. I could barely even react to the incredulousness of the situation so the monkey pointed forward and yelled.

"Onward to my spinach, meatsack."

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"Your dad is Enma?" I asked. "Like the Monkey King Enma…"

"Yep. Prince Maca at your service." Maca introduced through a mouth of spinach. "I can't believe we've never tried cooking the spinach and putting salt on it. This is the food of the gods." Maca said.

"Didn't you say something about a test?" I asked.

It was currently the morning after I had found this tiny white furred monkey in my apartment. I knew it had a real species, but I had zero clue what they were in my old world. All I knew was that it could talk, and was as intelligent as I was.

I jumped off of the last roof before for the training grounds and landed gracefully. I currently had four clones at my apt, and two clones at another training ground. Two clones would sleep at my apt. Two clones would study fuinjutsu. The other two would work on chakra control and elemental manipulation.

But I had a team meeting before I could get to any training. So that is where I set my sandals towards, despite having a talking monkey on my shoulder.

"Wow these trees are tiny." Maca said as he leaned off of my shoulders looking at them.

"Compared to your home?" I asked, curious. The trees here in Konoha were most certainly not small, nor were they weak. These were trees grown by the Shodai himself. They were anything but weak.

"Yes. They're at least three times this size. And the Elder Tree is as big as a mountain! At least that's what dad says. I've never seen a mountain so I wouldn't know." Maca responded.

"That sounds like a place I'd like to visit." I said as I approached the training ground where Gai and Lee were sparring. They looked like blurs as they sparred.

"Lee, are you supposed to be sparring?" I asked as I walked into their view.

The blurs did not stop, but Lee managed to respond. "They cannot stop the power of youth!" Lee responded as the sound of limbs striking together hit my ears. I rolled my eyes at him. Whatever bro, just don't cry to me when you cause lasting damage to your bones.

"You might be able to visit one day." Maca said.

"Speaking of." I said. "Why haven't you gone home yet?" I asked as I looked at my companion.

"Is that a talking monkey!?"

I threw a backhand towards the direction that Lee appeared at. He swatted it away casually and leaned into the monkey confidently. His eyes were wide and he stared intently at Maca.

"This guy is a freak. Of course I can talk." Maca responded, as if Lee was very very intelligent. He drew the words out as if it was a different language. I couldn't help but laugh. "Dad hasn't called me back yet, so I'm…"

"AAAHHHH…"

I felt the chakra signature appear out of nowhere. It was one I didn't recognize, and it was approaching me rapidly. I drew a kunai and turned to the owner of the chakra signature.

It was another monkey, except this one had black hair all over its body and it was slightly bigger than I was. It also wielded a jet black sword that caught my eye. That sword was currently headed towards Maca's place on my shoulder.

"Chimp!"

I deflected the sword with my kunai, and lashed out with a kick. It impacted the chimpanzee's torso, and threw him off balance. I stabbed towards the chimps neck with my kunai, intending on ending the fight quickly.

My wrist was grabbed by the chimp, and next thing I knew I was flying through the air. I righted myself in the air, and braced my chakra. I landed horizontally on a tree right beside the chimp and stuck as if it was second nature.

The chimp pursued, and we danced the deadliest dance of all. One thing I noticed quickly was the speed advantage I had, and the strength advantage it had. Every blow I was forced to block did a little damage. Eventually, the chimp slipped up and overextended himself. I capitalized with a foot buried into the side of his head, sending him flying away.

He grabbed a tree branch just as I performed three hand seals. When he used the tree branch to throw himself back in my direction, I took a deep breath and released the wind built up in my lungs.

The chimp disappeared into a cloud of smoke immediately as the wind created enough force to dispel his form. Pride ran through me at the successful application of Wind Release: Breakthrough.

Out of the smoke, the katana he wielded fell to the ground in front of me. I couldn't help but reach out and grab it. I caught the blade by the handle.

"Congratulations." I heard in the trees next to me. When I looked, I noticed that Maca was no longer on my shoulder, but on the shoulder of an eight foot tall white haired monkey. The monkey had a physique that made Gai look small. He was an impressive specimen. He wore a black suit with a mesh armor underneath. He even had a Konoha headband on his head that kept the long white mane out of his eyes.

Monkey King Enma stood in front of me.

"When Saru told me that he wanted me to test you, I had no idea you would pass. In fact, I would have bet against it." Enma's deep voice said. He reached a hand out, and a massive scroll appeared in his hands. He wasted no time in unfurling it and walking over to me.

He held out the scroll. On it were names written in blood. The most recent was Sarutobi Hiruzen. Before that, Sarutobi Sasuke. In fact, almost all of the earliest summoners were Sarutobi clan members also.

"I am not a Sarutobi." I said, confused.

"What does that matter? You are worthy, as of now. Do you know what is being offered to you?" Enma asked.

What about the Toads? Wasn't that my legacy? My father had been a toad summoner, and the Naruto of the anime was a toad summoner. That seemed to work out very well for him.

But this wasn't the anime. Something I was having to be reminded of over and over again. There was no guarantee I would ever meet Jiraiya, let alone get him to give me the Toad contract. It was also possible that I wouldn't go on a three year training trip with the man.

It would make sense if I did. He was most likely still my godfather. He was a seal master, something I aspired to be. He trained my father, the list goes on and on.

But what if he didn't… Should I pass up the opportunity for a summon on the off chance that I would get the toad contract?

No, I shouldn't.

I nodded. "Yes. Do I sign?" I asked, unsure of how to proceed.

Enma nodded, and held out the scroll. I moved the sword in my hand without thinking and nicked my thumb on it. It dug into my skin deeper than I expected, but I didn't allow it to stop me from signing my name in blood on the summoning scroll in front of me.

"Call on us in a time of need, and we will answer. If you manage to summon me on your own, we will have an in depth discussion on what it means to be a summoner of the monkey clan. Keep the sword, it suits you."

Enma, Maca, and the scroll in his hands disappeared.

I stood there staring at the spot on the ground with blood dripping from my finger and a new sword in my hands. I brought it up to look at it properly. It was the furthest thing from heavy, but it wasn't necessarily light. One thing that was obvious, was that it wasn't made of ordinary steel. It's black blade gleamed differently than others seemed to. It was shaped like a traditional katana, and even had a traditional hilt, although it was made of black thread around the wood that surrounded the blade and made the handle.

It was beautiful.

I turned around to see Gai with his hand on Lee, as if he was holding him back. I realized that he must have stopped Lee from interfering with the fight with the chimp. Sakura watched on with a smile also.

"Hokage-sama mentioned something odd may happen. But I did not expect that." Gai said with a congratulatory grin.

"I'm still not sure what just happened." I said as I started walking over to where they stood.

"In shock, eh?" Gai said as he ruffled my hair when I reached him. "You are the newest monkey summoner of Konoha! That is something to be proud of!" Gai said excitedly.

I couldn't help but smile at Gai's excitement. It was pretty fucking awesome, now that I thought about it. The God of Shinobi was the current holder of the contract. Those were big shoes to fill, but I was confident that I could fill them. I had to if I was to survive in this world.

"Now, how about we go get some celebratory lunch. Your choice Naruto." Gai said.

"Ichiraku Ramen." I provided, nearly instantly. It had been a while since I visited the place.

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"Congrats, kid. You deserve it." Teuchi said, as he handed me my normal order of Miso Ramen.

"Thanks." I said, trying not to blush. The old man had been a constant companion for me, and something about his words got to me. He walked back behind the counter to serve another customer.

We ate in relative silence. Mostly Sakura and I watched Lee down his ramen in an anime like fashion. I was half disgusted, and half impressed.

"Now, for the real reason I called a meeting today." Gai said as he pulled a scroll out of his flak jacket. He applied a small amount of chakra to the scroll and there was a small puff of smoke.

Three pieces of paper laid on the table. Each one had our names on it, and at the top it read: Chunin Exam Application.

'So he's willing to sign off on us, huh?' I thought, as I realized what laid in front of me. With this being a different universe, I had expected to sit out a few chunin exams to be honest. I wasn't sure that I was ready either. But I had taken down the Demon Brothers recently. And Lee was still a beast, even if he didn't take a more active role in missions to allow Sakura and I some experience.

"Sensei?" Lee asked, with a confused look on his face.

"I know, Lee. You all are ready. And it will be a good experience if nothing else." Gai answered.

"Even with Neji, you wouldn't all…"

"I know. We've talked about this, Lee. He would have put you and Tenten in danger. I stand by my decision." Gai cut in, as if he didn't want Lee to reveal too much information.

I caught on immediately. "That's why the teams were so weird this year." I said out loud, when I should have kept it to myself.

Gai's face darkened, and he leaned back in his seat. "Neji is a once in a generation talent. His chakra dwarfs everyone in the village. His taijutsu is the deadliest since Tsunade's, and perhaps even a greater threat. He spars with Jonin, and wins frequently. But he lacks ninjutsu, leadership skills, and cares not for his teammates. I deemed him not ready for Chunin, when everyone else pushed for a field promotion. It caused a rift in the Team, so great that the Hokage had no choice but to assign him to another sensei."

"I had thought it weird we were paired with an older Genin." Sakura muttered, comprehension dawning on her face.

"You wouldn't have. The original plan was to assign me a completely new team, but Lee refused." Gai explained.

Another thing clicked in my mind. "We are your redemption." I deduced. "A way to prove competency." I continued.

Gai stared at me for a moment, and I thought he would deny it. He didn't. "Yes." He agreed, after a few moments.

"Good." I said with a grin. "It'll be nice to test myself against our comrades. A measuring stick, if you will. I'm in."

Gai had done so much for me since the academy. My taijutsu is leaps and bounds what it would have been with any other sensei. I had access to Fuinjutsu materials because of him. I knew my chakra nature and had instructions on how to train it and another element.

I looked to my teammates, trying to convey that they had no option but to say yes. I needed this exam. Zabuza had kicked my ass, and now I needed to see where I really ranked, and what I needed to work on. This was my opportunity.

"It would be my honor." Lee said, bowing his head.

I looked to Sakura, who was staring at the paper beneath her. Her response was very like the Sakura I knew, and very unlike the Sakura I thought I knew.

"Why the fuck not?"

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A/N: Boom!

Naruto did not get the Kubikiribōchō. And I think this is the way to go. The original plan was always for him to get it and train with it secretly. But this felt more natural. It also would have caused Naruto to stretch himself thin in a sense. He is already trying to learn a lot.

Jiraiya is being a naughty boy, and choosing Neji over Naruto… what repercussions will this have on the future. Hiruzen sees this happening, while also seeing Naruto's potential and is deciding to intervene.

Naruto is now a monkey summoner.

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