Well hello. This is my first Naruto story so tell me things such as, what I'm doing right, what I could improve, and your general opinion. If you wish to criticize, then give me constructive criticism. Not useless flames. Yeah. Well, here we go.
AN: I don't own Naruto, this story's plot, as it is AU, is mine.
Absolute Control
Uzumaki Naruto was a boy that was full of potential. He could become the savior of Konohagakure, or its destroyer. In another world, Uzumaki Naruto would be on team 7 along with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, with Hatake Kakashi as his jounin instructor. In another world, Uzumaki Naruto would never amount to more than the happy-go-lucky dead last student that only managed to scrape by with luck and help from the Kyuubi. In another world, Uzumaki Naruto would never reach his full potential.
But not in this one. Not a chance."NARUTO! WAKE UP!"
Blearily, Uzumaki Naruto, 8 years of age, brought his head up from the desk to stare blankly at Umino Iruka, the academy instructor.
"Huh...?"
The globule of drool hanging limply on the corner of the boy's mouth as well as his blank expression caused the rest of the class to burst into laughter.
Iruka gazed sternly at the young prankster. Even though the boy held the most fearsome demon in history, Iruka could not help but see himself in Naruto's position: The prankster, the boy who yearned for attention. Iruka sighed,
"Naruto, just for today, don't go taking any naps, today's lesson is about chakra control, one of the most tools ninja can have."
Turning to face the entire classroom, Iruka asked,
"Can anyone tell me some uses of chakra control?"
Haruno Sakura, self-proclaimed resident braniac, promptly raised her hand.
"Sakura?"
"Hai, Iruka-sensei. Chakra control is exactly what it sounds like. Control over the energy that Ninja use allows the user to perform numerous tasks, but the most important is in using the perfect amount of chakra needed to perform a jutsu, so as not to waste any. The more chakra a person has, the harder it is to control, so its best to start practicing in the genin years, when you don't have too much chakra yet. Also, control over chakra can let the user mold it to his or her use. Some examples of this are scaling walls without hands and using chakra to enhance movements."
"Excellent answer," Iruka said. Inwardly, though, he recognized a few phrases in her answer that were taken verbatim from the textbook. He doubted if she really understood what she said. "To practice some basic chakra control today, I will demonstrate the leaf floating exercise."
While Iruka showed the class the exercise, Naruto was in deep thought about what Sakura said. If he could scale walls without his hands and enhance his movements, his pranks would be the greatest ever! Naruto finally decided to pay attention to the leaf floating exercise.
The leaf floating exercise was simple in theory. All one had to do was to use a small amount of chakra to keep the leaf floating above one's forehead by expelling the chakra at a constant pace.
However, when it was Naruto's turn to try the exercise, his try at a "small" amount of chakra blew the leaf into the ceiling.
"NARUTOOOOO! The exercise was to use as little chakra as possible! Not the most!"
Slightly terrified at the expression on his sensei's face, Naruto sheepishly answered,
"Sorry Iruka-sensei, that's about as little as I can make it."
"Yeah, right dobe," Sasuke sneered.
With Sasuke saying something, naturally his fan-girls back him up.
"Sasuke's right! The baka is just trying to show off!" Sakura shouted.
"Yeah! What a dobe!" Ino spouted.
Naruto, dejected, went back to his seat and slumped down, preparing to sleep off his troubles as he usually did. But Iruka said something that officially put him on Naruto's short list of precious people.
"Don't worry Naruto, I believe you. Come see me after class, and we'll work something out."
Iruka realized that if Naruto had this much chakra, he should start the tree climbing exercise immediately. The leaf floating exercise was beyond him at this point. The leaf floating exercise was supposed to be for ninja with academy-level chakra. Right now, Naruto had jounin-level chakra, and it would be the equivalent of trying to dam a river with a piece of paper. Later, when he refined his chakra control with the tree climbing, he would be able to revisit the leaf floating exercise to perfect his control.
Of course, he had to explain this to Naruto.
After class Naruto went up to Iruka and asked,
"Why can't I do this leaf floating thing?"
"Naruto, you are very special. For some reason (cough Kyuubi cough), you have a very large amount of chakra. Because of this, you have a much harder time controlling all of it."
"So what will I do?"
"Well, I'm going to teach you an exercise ninja are taught in the genin years."
The two stepped outside into the training yard of the academy, the greenery of the land truly giving credence to the name of Konoha. Iruka led Naruto to the edge of the forest, and then stopped, so abruptly that Naruto bumped into his back. After waving away his apologies, Iruka started to explain tree climbing.
"This exercise is usually taught to aspiring chuunin, so don't get down if you can't do it right away, okay?"
"Understood, Iruka-sensei!"
Smiling at the boy's formal tone, Iruka calmly walked up to a tree, his hands in his pockets.
"You mold your chakra to the soles of your feet. Imagine that the chakra is a giant magnet and the surface you're trying to climb is a giant refrigerator. If the magnet is too weak, it won't stick. If it's too strong, it'll destroy the door of the fridge. So make sure that you have just the right amount of chakra for the surface you're climbing."
Then, he took one step onto the bark, then another, then another, until he had walked up the tree to its highest point.
"Wow!"
Naruto gaped at this sight. If he could manage to master this, then he could paint the Hokage monument at his leisure!
Flipping deftly back to the ground below, Iruka smiled at his student.
"So Naruto, what do you think?"
"That was so awesome!" Naruto shouted, "I'm gonna try it now!"
Now laughing, Iruka quickly gave his advice.
"Naruto before you start, you should remember that it requires a lot of practice and hard work, but I know you can do it and master it."
"Thanks Iruka-sensei! I'm going to go train now!"
"Yes you will, but not here."
"Huh?"
Iruka chuckled at his student.
"Did you forget where you are? The academy closes right about now. You should find a private area to practice this anyways."
"Okay! See you next class!"
As Iruka watched Naruto run off, he had no idea that he had unwittingly created the greatest hero that Konoha would ever have.
Naruto, after sprinting through town, wanted to find a secluded area to practice where he wouldn't be interrupted. However, training ground after training ground was already taken. So, he decided to go to a fenced off forest area he saw a ways back. Not reading the sign, he crawled through a small opening in the fence.
If he had read the words on the board, he would have read the words, "Forest of Death. Do not enter".
Finding a clearing, Naruto quickly ran up the closest tree he could find.
This, however, landed Naruto on his butt.
Quickly realizing that running up trees would get him nowhere, Naruto decided to think for a little. How did Iruka-sensei do it?
Striking his fist in his palm, Naruto got an idea – he went up the base of a tree and planted his foot on the bark and molded chakra until he felt that his foot wouldn't slip. Repeating the process for his other foot, he quickly memorized the amount needed to stick perfectly to the tree. Finally, the moment of truth arrived. Naruto took one step on the tree. Taking a breath, he lunged his other foot onto the tree, keeping his first foot on the bark.
For one shining moment, Naruto stood with both feet on the tree.
"YES!" Naruto shouted.
However, this expression of his happiness put a fluctuation of chakra through his system, and he blasted headfirst into the ground.
So, Naruto found out that emotions cause loss of chakra control. The hard way.
Still, he was bolstered by his initial success, and now practiced with fanaticism.
Three hours later, Naruto was dead tired and panted from exhaustion. But he had also developed his control enough to consistently run up and down trees without many problems.
But now the true test would begin.
From the shadows of a tall tree, a large, hungry snake appeared.
Naruto froze. What would he do?
As the snake slithered rapidly towards him, Naruto ran up the side of the tree, thinking himself safe. However, the reptile, without delay, coiled around the tree and continued to the path of its prey.
"I'm... trapped!"
With no further place to go, he lost control of his emotions temporarily and pushed off the side of the tree as hard as he could.
Luckily, his lack of control worked for him as his chakra inadvertently aided his movements, and he sprang from one tree to the next, escaping the snake momentarily.
Naruto calmed down and quickly thought about his situation.
"Dang... I forgot my kunai at home, so how can I kill this snake?"
Naruto, however, could only think about chakra control.
"No, no, no! I don't need to think of chakra control at a time like this! What could chakra control do...?"
He suddenly had an epiphany.
"Wait, chakra can enhance your movements... That's how I managed to escape the snake for now... Doesn't that mean that I can use my chakra to enhance my attacks?"
His realization came just in time, as the snake came into view with a murderous glint in its eyes. He instantly came up with a strategy.
"Alright you filthy snake, it's time for some payback!"
As the snake lunged for Naruto's neck, Naruto seemingly disappeared, and the snake looked about confusedly.
"Up here baka."
Naruto jump axe-kicked the snake, right below its head, with his chakra-enhanced body. Predictably, the snake collapsed under the sheer amount of chakra Naruto had poured into that kick.
And so, Naruto survived his first encounter with a snake in the Forest of Death, although it wouldn't be his last.
"Amazing...!" Naruto thought, "With chakra enhancing my moves, I felt like I was flying!"
Finally, Naruto decided that there was enough excitement for one day and decided to return home, but not without one last idea.
"I wonder what the limits are with chakra?"
Hey, 'sup. Remember that this is my first story on Naruto, so any help you can give will be helpful. One thing that's kind of interesting, at least to me, is that fact that I have an outline about what's going to happen in the story, but to expand from the outline to actual story takes me a very long time. That combined with the ever-growing amount of homework from school will force me to take a while to write new chapters. But be of good cheer – perhaps some helpful reviews will inspire to write. Have a good day.