Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 24: The New Normal (Patreon)

I let out a soft yawn as I woke up. Attempting to stretch, I found that something was keeping my arms from moving. All manner of situations flashed through my head, had I been kidnapped, had Obito struck early? My eyes snapped open immediately and I was already beginning to mold chakra before I suddenly stopped.

“Right,” I murmured.

Blonde hair was pooled on my chest and a pair of familiar arms tightly wrapped around me as Tsunade continued to sleep. It seemed that while showing her a movie after that emotionally stressful day, the both of us had fallen asleep on the couch.

Moving slowly, I tried to free my arms or even just shift into a more comfortable position, but it was no use, I was trapped. Tsunade was too strong for me to break out of her grip. I gave up, I was simply going to have to wait for Tsunade to wake up.

Glancing out the window, I realized it was still fairly early. It was only just beginning to get brighter outside.

The sound of the floor creaking drew my attention and my eyes snapped up to meet Shizune’s, who had an incredulous look on her face.

“Um… Good morning,” I said softly.

“N-Naruto? T-Tsunade-sama. I… what’s going on here?” Shizune stuttered as she looked between the two of us.

“Would you believe it if I said we fell asleep while working on a jutsu and Tsunade turns out to be a cuddler?”

From the look on Shizune’s face, I could tell that decidedly didn’t believe me.

“I… I’ll go make a cup of tea for Tsunade and myself. If you.. Tsunade’s ribs… If you tickle them, she’ll let you go,” Shizune said, struggling to get her thoughts in order. “I never saw you.”

“Got it,” I nodded, wondering how Shizune came to know that trick.

Once Shizune left, my arms drifted upward as I prepared to tickle Tsunade.

“That won’t be necessary.” Tsunade loosened her hold on me.

I jumped lightly. “You were awake?”

“It was a bit difficult to sleep when your heart went crazy for a second, you should work on that by the way,” Tsunade replied, sitting up.

“Work on being able to control my heartbeat, I’ll get right on that.”

“Work on calmly assessing your surroundings,” Tsunade smirked and patted my cheek. “You need to be skilled in medical Ninjutsu to be able to safely control your heart.”

“Got it, I’ll go work on… assessing my surroundings,” I said as I slowly got up.

“I suppose that would be for the best,” Tsunade let out a yawn as she stretched. “We have to keep the illusion up for Shizune… before you leave, there is one last thing.”

“What wo–“

Before I could finish, Tsunade grabbed my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. A cup shattered in another room and as quickly as the kiss began, it ended and Tsunade pulled back with a smirk on her face.

“That,” Tsunade finished. “Come to the Hokage tower later today, I still have a few of Orochimaru’s old bases for you to help raid.”

“Alright,” I replied, still a little surprised at the kiss. “I’ll see you later then.”

Leaving Tsunade’s apartment, I briefly walked past the kitchen and spotted Shizune who stood unmoving, her eyes were wide and the shattered remains of a pair of tea mugs were lying on the floor.

Being around Shizune from this point forward was going to be kind of awkward. I don’t know why Tsunade knowingly exposed our relationship to her… I mean, she had kind of caught us snuggling, but she seemed willing to pretend she hadn’t seen anything. At the very least, I know Shizune won’t say anything to anyone, she respects Tsunade too much to ruin her reputation.

I quickly made my way back to my apartment and upon reaching it, immediately collapsed on my broken bed with a groan. It was yet another thing that I still had to replace, but didn’t have the time to do

…PTL….

Several hours later and I was almost finished with my shopping. I’d considered sending a clone out to fetch everything for me, but the clone would likely end up buying something stupid like a toilet that’s been painted gold, or several kilograms of sherbet.

Shadow clones, while great for training and filling out forms had a small flaw. Seeing as they had a short lifespan, they sometimes ended up being impulsive. They wouldn’t do anything that would truly harm their creator, but they might get up to some mischief if given too much free reign.

That was actually the reason Tsunade’s clones were so… amorous with me. They knew that Tsunade felt something for me and then they decided to act on it.

“Naruto?”

I snapped out of my inner musings and turned to find Sakura who looked slightly out of breath.

“Hey, Sakura,” I greeted her. “You look… tired. Have you been training?”

Sakura shook her head. “I was looking for you,” She panted lightly. “Yesterday you said that we could catch up and then you just disappeared.”

Oh, right. I did say that, but in my defense I had to deal with Kimimaro waking up and then I spent the rest of the night comforting Tsunade.

“Sorry about that. There was an issue with the… patient I was transporting, he woke up and I got stabbed,” I explained. “It’s actually the reason why I’m out shopping for clothes, my jacket was ruined.”

Sakura stared at me blankly for several moments, before her eyes sharpened. “Well that doesn’t matter right now. Kakashi-sensei’s back and he’s called for a team meeting!”

“Oh, Ok,” I blinked. “Let me finish my shopping first and then I’ll go to the meeting.”

“You’ll go now,” Sakura growled. “I didn’t spend my morning looking for you, just for you to blow me off.”

“Look, even if we both go to the meeting now, odds are that Kakashi’s not going to be there, because he’s always late, so there’s no need to rush,” I replied, before pulling out a pair of jackets. “Now tell me, which jacket looks better, the burnt orange and black or the grey and white one.”

“What?”

“What do you mean what? I’m asking you which jacket would look better on me,” I replied. “Or should I go and find someone that can actually help me choose? Maybe I should go ask Ino instead.”

“Like hell, my advice is better,” Sakura grunted. Looking between the two options, Sakura hummed. “Does it have to be one of these?”

“Well these are the two that I like the most,” I said.

“Great, so it doesn’t,” Sakura beamed. “You keep those two with you for now while I go look for better options.”

I should have seen that coming, but, this wasn’t so bad. It was at the very least a good break from all of the craziness that my life had become.

“Naruto, you can put those two back, I’ve already found a better pair,” Sakura called out from further in the store.

Rolling my eyes, I placed the jackets back on the rack and followed after Sakura

…PTL….

Half an hour later and I soon found myself as the new owner of several pairs of a simple red jacket. Sakura had been insistent that I take a blue jacket that had black flames, but I’d decided on this one. I tended to get in fights where I ended up bleeding a lot, so the red should help me out, especially when it came to stains.

“That was actually really fun,” Sakura grinned as she walked besides me. “What should we do next?”

“Well that was the last bit of shopping that I needed to do, so… I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Maybe we should go check if Kakashi’s made it to the training ground?”

“Yeah, right. Knowing Sensei, he’s probably still going to be another hour and a half,” Sakura scoffed. “Maybe we could go and look at that other clothing store, it’s civi–“ Sakura froze and blushed as her stomach let out a loud groan.

“I think it’s decided, we’re going to get something to eat.”

“No way. I’m on a diet!”

I let out an audible groan, not this shit again. “Sakura, you’re going to get something to eat and that’s final!”

“But… I’ll get fat,” Sakura argued. “I… I noticed that I was starting to pick up weight, I’m heavier on the scale!”

“have you considered that it might be because you’re growing taller or getting more muscle?” I asked.

“I… did,” Sakura said weakly. “You just don’t get it, it’s different for boys. Girls have to be thin or nobody will like them.”

That was some of the dumbest crap I’d ever heard, but I doubt I’d be able to easily change her mind… But there was someone that might be able to and I know for a fact that they weren’t too busy.

“Come,” I said, grabbing Sakura’s arm. “We’re going to a restaurant that a friend told me about.”

“Naruto, I’ve already said that I’m on a diet!”

“Well you don’t have to eat,” I replied.

Arriving at the small dango restaurant with Sakura in tow, I smirked when I spotted a familiar pony tail of purple hair.

“Morning Anko,” I greeted as I slipped into the chair in front of her.

“Huh, Naruto, what’re you doing here?” Anko asked, her mouth full of dango.

“I just finished shopping and remembered that you mentioned this place and thought it would be a good place to bring my old teammate,” I replied, gesturing to Sakura who was still standing.

Swallowing her dango loudly, Anko gave Sakura an appraising look. “So what, you on a date or something?”

“Like hell,” Sakura snapped.

“Yeah, no. Sakura’s more like a sister to me,” I said honestly.

A small smile bloomed on Sakura’s face.

Anko raised an eyebrow, before an infuriating smirk came to her face. “Kinky.”

And then Sakura gagged.

I let out a pained sigh. Trust Anko to make that connection. “I came here hoping you would help me with something. Sakura here has decided that She’s gaining weight and needs to go on a diet, I for one think that’s a stupid ass idea, so I brought her here.”

“What, really?” Anko snorted.

“Naruto’s making it sound worse that it is,” Sakura replied, shooting me a glare. “It’s not like I’m starving myself, I was picking up a little weight so I decided to eat less. You know how it is.”

“Ah, I see how it is now,” Anko nodded. “Your teammate’s an idiot.”

“Well he has been getting better,” Sakura commented.

“”I wasn’t talking to you,” Anko said.

“Wait, so I’m the idiot?” Sakura squawked.

“No shit girlie,” Anko replied, smirking. “You’re a Kunoichi and you’re still growing. Keep up with that diet and you’ll end up as a flat chested midget who can’t use chakra properly.”

“You… You’re lying.”

“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to,” Anko said calmly. “The effects will soon show and by that point it’ll be too late. If you get fat you could always exercise, but if you stunt your growth… well, there’s not really much that could be done for that.”

Sakura seemed to be fighting with herself, so I decided to give the final push.

“That’s an awfully big risk if you ask me. Why not eat properly and do some training, that way you’ll get stronger and you won’t be a hindrance in a fight.”

Sakura puffed up to argue, before her stomach gurgled and she deflated. “Fine,” She sighed and sat down at the table.

“Great, you can order your own food,” Anko smirked. “Oh, and Naruto, seeing as I helped your little girlfriend here, you can pay my tab.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sakura muttered under her breath.

I figured she’d say something like that. “Alright, I was going to do that thing you kept asking me to do on our next mission, but I suppose paying for dango is just as good.”

“Done,” Anko immediately agreed. “I’ll pay for the dango!”

“What are you talking about?” Sakura asked. “And wait… this is the person you’ve been going on missions with? What about that other woman in the hospital? The Hokage’s apprentice?”

“Blondie was out with a woman other than me? I’m hurt.”

“It was just Shizune,” I explained before Anko could say anything more. “We were busy transporting him to the hospital while you handled the mission report, remember?”

“How could I forget, the two of you stuck me with all the paperwork,” Anko whined. “And by the way pinkie, Shizune was the third member of our team.”

“Oh.”

…PTL…

“Man, that was filling,” Anko grinned as she patted her stomach.

“I suppose it was,” Sakura agreed.

I hummed in agreement.

“So, where are we heading next?” Anko asked.

“You’re coming with us?” I asked.

“Of course. What, did you think you could bring your little girlfriend here with you and have breakfast with me and then just leave? It doesn’t work that way.”

“Well, it has been over an hour since Kakashi called for that team meeting,” Sakura noted. “We should probably go check if he’s there yet.”

“Then let’s go,” Anko said. “I’ve gotta make sure that Kakashi’s not trying to poach my teammate!”

“Poach your teammate?! Naruto was a part of team 7 first, if anyone’s poaching a teammate it’s you!”

“Alright, then I need Kakashi to know that I’ve poached his student and I’m not giving him back!” Anko grinned.

I rolled my eyes. “Sakura. Anko’s specifically trying to mess with you. Just like how she keeps saying we’re dating. If you ignore it, she’ll stop.”

“Spoil my fun why don’t you.”

“What? But she’s an adult,” Sakura said.

“There’s no age limit to fucking with people,” I replied.

“Well you should really wait until you’re a bit older before doing that,” Anko noted. “But if you two are sure, there’s no harm in fucking.”

“WHAT?!” Sakura shrieked, her face turning a bright red.

“She’s just trying to mess with you!” I reminded her.

“No I’m not. I’m just voicing my concern over your sex life,” Anko said innocently.

“You… You,” Sakura ground out, unable to find the words, her face still red.

“What about me?” Anko asked, a grin splitting her face. “Oh, are you interested in little old me? I’m sorry but you’re a bit too scrawny for me!”

...PTL…

Arriving at the training ground, I was surprised to see Kakashi already waiting there with Sasuke. From my memories, I couldn’t recall a single time that he wasn’t late… but then again, Sakura and I were also late, so for all I know, Kakashi might have arrived only a few minutes ago.

“It seems my two wayward students have finally arrived and they even brought someone with them,” Kakashi noted idly. “You two are late.”

“S-sorry sensei. I struggled to find Naruto at first and the–“

I placed my hand on Sakura’s shoulder, stopping her. Kakashi had always used a dumb excuse for why he was late, so I decided to do the same. “You see, the thing is… A black cat passed our path and the Kyuubi demanded that I follow after it to see if it was his sister, the Nibi. When I finally caught up to the cat, I noticed it only had one tail. After a long discussion, I discovered that the Kyuubi is in fact colour blind and decided to go try and have him tested, but I couldn’t find an optometrist capable of testing him as he is so large!”

I could hear Kurama let out a deep sigh from within me, before he went to ignoring me in favor of whatever he was watching.

Everyone looked at me oddly, except for Anko who seemed to find the whole situation hilarious.

“Naruto,” Kakashi began, his lone eye twitching. “What was that?”

“The reason why we were late,” I replied. “You used to give us such outlandish reasons for why you were late and I never really believed them, but now, having experienced it for myself, I see how such odd things could happen… unless you’ve been lying to us all this time.”

“… Let’s just start the team meeting,” Kakashi said, his eye hadn’t stopped twitching. “As you’ve likely all noticed, we haven’t had a meeting since the chunin exams, that is caused due to the influx of missions. The other nations could see the attack on Konoha as a sign of our weakness and decide to act upon that, starting a new war.”

“We’re going to war?” Sakura asked weakly, there was a slight tremble in her voice.

“Well the chance of us going to war right now is unlikely,” Kakashi hummed. “Completing the excess of missions shows that Konoha hasn’t lost any strength from the invasion, but that’s beside the point. I called all of you here because this is the first break I’ve had since the missions began. I won’t be getting much free time to lead team 7, so for the foreseeable future, genin are going to be led on lower ranking missions by whoever’s currently available. It’ll most likely be a shuffle between various Jonin sensei’s and perhaps a few chunin.”

“Shouldn’t this have been done earlier?” Sasuke asked.

“You would think so, but in the past month, without a Hokage, everyone was too busy to organize this,” Kakashi’s eye lid crinkled as he smiled. “But now we have a Hokage again. I’m letting you all know this, because I want all three of you to look after each other on missions.”

“I’m gonna have to stop you right there, Kakashi,” Anko announced. “Those two brats can go on missions with each other, but that’s not going to work for my partner!” Anko slung her arm around my neck.

“Partner?” Kakashi asked, before turning to me. “You’ve been promoted?!”

“Well yeah, I was the one who stopped the Ichibi from rampaging and helped bring the Hokage back,” I replied. “If that isn’t grounds for a promotion, then what is?”

“That changes things slightly, but not by much,” Kakashi said. “It’s only Jonin and experienced Chunin that are going on the major missions. Naruto, while you’ll be getting some of your own mission, you’ll likely be able to take team 7 on those missions.”

“Wrong rank, Kakashi,” Anko chuckled.

“What?!” Kakashi began, slightly startled as he glancing at Anko and then me. “You’ve been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin?! What’s Hokage-sama thinking? You’re not ready for that!”

“Not ready? You of all people should know how strong your student is. You’re his Jonin-sensei after all.”

“Actually,” I stepped forward. “Kakashi-sensei only taught us up until the Chunin exams and even then it was only basic sparring and the tree walking exercise. I started training with Jiraiya-sensei after the preliminary matches. Kakashi hasn’t seen me fight since before the chunin exams.”

Anko blinked. “So he probably thinks you’re a little stronger than you were in the preliminaries… That’s hilarious.” Anko chuckled.

“To be fair, you thought the same until our first mission,” I replied, halting her laughter.

“Good point,” Anko said. “All this time, I thought you were some kind of miracle worker, but as it turns out, your student was just lucky to find a better teacher.” Anko shot a glance at Sakura before smirking. “It all makes sense now.”

“I don’t think I like what you’re implying,” Kakashi replied, a hint of steel entering his voice.

“What do you mean by implying, I’m outright saying it. You’re a bad teacher. You’ve had your Genin team for several months now and all of your students are pretty weak… outside of Naruto, who got training from someone else. Pinkie over there would probably struggle to win a fight against the next rookie of the year while the Uchiha… he could probably win a fight against a few chunin, but would fail at Tokubetsu Jonin.”

“I think it would be best if you leave, Anko,” Kakashi gave a strained smile.

“Fine, I can tell when I’m not wanted,” Anko said and turned, dragging me with her. “Come along partner. Let’s see if we can get some more dango before our next mission.”

“Stop. I only said that Anko should leave, not you Naruto.”

“Well she is my self proclaimed partner,” I replied. “And we do have a mission later, so it would probably be for the best if we hung around each other.”

“And I am your Jonin-sensei.”

I turned, removing myself from Anko’s hold and regarded Kakashi calmly. It seemed that Anko’s comment about being a bad teacher must have gotten to him.

“Kakashi-sensei… You are a great squad leader and teammate, but when I think back on it, Anko is kind of right. I know you’ve been busy with missions, I’ve been busy too, but as it stands right now, you don’t really know much about me and how strong I’ve grown. Maybe when things settle down and we both have some free time, I can show you how far I’ve come.”

Kakashi stood silently. I sighed, before turning back around to join Anko.

“By the way, I wasn’t promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin, I was promoted to a full Jonin. Konoha currently needs every capable Shinobi it can get right now and I made the cut… what with me having landed the killing blow on Orochimaru.”

…PTL…

Once we were out of the training grounds, Anko finally asked the question that had been on her mind. “What was that about?”

“It… It’s a long story,” I replied. I tried to be level headed, but I was genuinely getting angry at the end there. I understood that Kakashi was worried about me, but the fact that it seemed like he was only taking interest after I’d been promoted and it was because he felt I wasn’t ready really hit a nerve.

There was a time that I would having someone act like that out of concern for my wellbeing and that was before the Chunin exams.

“We’ve still got time until the mission. You wanna talk about it?”

“I didn’t have the best time growing up and a few months ago I found out that Kakashi could have helped with that… That’s pretty much it.”

“How could he have helped you with that? He didn’t have any connection to you… The only ones he had actual connections with was his teammates who both died, Gai and the Yon… Dai…me.” Anko’s gaze snapped to the Yondaime’s face on the mountain, before looking back to me. “No way.”

“So you figured it ou–“

Anko grabbed my face and squished it. “The whisker marks are distracting,” She said, before shaking her head. “No, it’s also the shape of your face. It doesn’t quite line up with the Yondaime’s, but the hair and eye colour are exactly the same!”

“Well, yeah, I had to inherit a few things from my mom as well,” I replied, before freeing myself from Anko’s grasp.

“You know who your mom was as well?”

“Uzumaki Kushina, the red hot blooded Habanero of Konoha… Also known as tomato!” That was likely going to cost me later, but I couldn’t resist.

“I’ve never heard of her.”

That’s strange, from my understanding, Kushina was a powerful Kunoichi that had a connection to Minato. Was her identity hidden because she was a Jinchuriki too, or because she was my mother.

“The Sandaime must have suppressed any information on her to prevent anyone from finding out about me.”I sighed. The more I thought about Hiruzen’s actions, the more confused I got. The knowledge that I’m the Kyuubi Jinchuriki was leaked while the fact that Minato and Kushina are my parents was hidden… I just don’t know how any of that was to protect me, it’s not like the other nations would overlook me being a Jinchuriki and then immediately be up in arms when they find out I’m the son of the Yondaime.

“I get it now, you’re pissed that Kakashi wasn’t there for you when you were growing up.”

“Well, that’s part of it,” I admitted. “I’m also angry that Kakashi wasn’t a better teacher. He’s had us as his students for several months now and while he has protected us on missions, he’s never really made an effort to help us improve. There was a time where I was pretty much begging him to teach me and he just told me to focus on the basics and work on my chakra control, but he didn’t even mention the water walking exercise.”

“It makes sense when you think about it. Kakashi’s a genius, he picked things up quickly just by seeing others do them once, so it probably never registered to him that others might need to be told what to do in order to improve,” Anko explained.

“It’s just as I said,” I sighed. “He’s a great team leader, but not that good of a teacher.”

“You won’t find me arguing,” Anko replied, before smirking. “So are you done with the pity party or are you gonna keep brooding like your Uchiha teammate.”

I crossed my arms and gave Anko my best glare. “Hn!”

“Nice try, but in future, you might want to hide your smile,” Anko chuckled. “Glaring with that smile makes you look constipated.”

My façade broke and I let out a little laugh. “But I did the grunt properly, right?”

“You won’t find me complaining!”

…PTL…

It wasn’t much later that Anko and I found ourselves in Tsunade’s office, ready for our next mission. Shizune stood by Tsunade’s side, looking extra jittery. There were only half as many clones in the room as last time.

“You’re early,” Tsunade noted quietly.

“Yeah, well, we thought we might as well get the mission started… It was either that or go out day drinking and the bars probably wouldn’t let Naruto in!” Anko complained.

Tsunade’s eyebrow twitched. “Yes, the bars likely wouldn’t let Naruto in. You two seem to be getting on well.”

It seemed not even Tsunade was immune to Anko’s ability to get on peoples nerves.

“Yeah, we’re partners. He even came to me for some advice on his girlfriend!”

“You told her?!” Shizune half shrieked, half squeaked.

I slapped my palm to my face. “Anko was just talking about my teammate, Sakura, who she calls my girlfriend!”

Tsunade sighed and Shizune’s face turned red. “O-oh.”

“What’s this? Our not so little Naruto here actually has a girlfriend and Shizune knows who it is.” Anko looked like a shark that had just smelled blood. “Who is it?”

Great, now Anko wasn’t going to let it go until she got an answer she was satisfied with.

“It… It’s no one… I don’t know anything.”

Anko shot me a glance, before setting her sights on Shizune. “You know, I occasionally help out the torture and interrogation corps.”Anko sauntered forward, a predatory gleam in her eyes. “It normally takes me an hour to get the information I want and that’s without even touching the prisoner.”

“I…I…”

“You’re not allowed to torture or interrogate fellow Konoha Shinobi,” Tsunade interrupted. “At least, not without my permission.”

“Fine,” Anko sighed. “I don’t need to torture or interrogate anyone to find out who Naruto’s secret girlfriend is… It must be good too, because you’re making such an effort to keep me from finding out.”

A look of dread crossed Shizune’s face as she stared at Anko’s grinning one. Glancing at Tsunade and then me, she steeled herself.

“It… It’s me, I’m Naruto… Naruto-kun’s girlfriend.”

Tsunade blinked and my eyebrows shot up. I hadn’t expected Shizune to take the self sacrifice route in order to protect Tsunade’s secret.

“Sorry, but you’re lying,” Anko dismissed her. “All your personal ticks are telling me so.”

“I-It’s only because I’m nervous admitting that I have a b-boyfriend that’s so much younger than me.”

“I suppose that could be it,” Anko said. “But if you really want me to believe it, I’m gonna need proof.”

“P-proof,” Shizune stuttered. Glancing at Tsunade, Shizune walked towards me and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. A blush painted on her face. ”There. We’re holding hands. S-seeing as Naruto is so young, this is as far as we’re comfortable going.”

I glanced at Tsunade and she seemed just as dumbfounded as I was.

“Oh my, how lewd, holding hands in the Hokage’s office,” Anko deadpanned. “In case you missed it, I don’t believe you at all!”

I cleared my throat in disengaged my hand from Shizune’s. “Anko, do me a favor. I know that you’re interested in finding out who I’m dating, but please just let it go.”

Anko hummed as she crossed her arms. “It seems you really don’t want others to find out about this… What’s in it for me?”

“When we need to destroy Orochimaru’s bases, I’ll let you use the chakra cloak.”

Anko rubbed her chin in thought. “So you’ll let me use it for the rest of his bases? You have anything else you want to add to the deal?”

Anything else I could add? “You could make a clone and I’ll let it hold the Rasenshuriken when we inevitably blow the place up.”

“Sold,” Anko said loudly.

Glancing at a blushing Shizune over to Tsunade who’s eyebrows had yet to stop twitching and then to a proud Anko whom I’d just bribed, I began to wonder just what my life had become.

“Definitely weirder,” I muttered, nodding to myself.

“Damnit,” Tsunade sighed.