Naruto was frustrated, that much could not be denied. He had spent the last week doing everything he could to get a head start for when he entered the ninja academy in the fall. To be fair the list of things he could do was small. He had no idea how to mold chakra so practicing any of that was out; he didn't know any taijutsu so that was out as well. All that left was physical conditioning and throwing practice. Therefore, without fail every day Naruto had woken up thrown on his white shirt and green shorts s and set out to train.

Unfortunately, Naruto had no idea how physical conditioning worked, he would just do what felt right, running around the village, doing pushups and sit-ups every now and then until he got bored. Naruto got bored very fast, so fast you might as well not measure the time. After a few hours of that, he'd go to the academy training ground since no one was around and try his hand at throwing kunai and shuriken. To put it simply, he was abysmal. Naruto had no aim to speak of, even if he did his ignorance in how to throw properly would still keep his attempts at hitting the target to null.

Naruto sprawled out on the training ground panting heavily, several wooden Kunai and Shuriken littering the ground around the training dummies.

"Dammit! Why can't I hit anything! " Naruto let out between ragged breaths, the stamina powerhouse had been at this for most of the day and he'd barely been able to hit the targets.

"What am I doing wrong!" he exclaimed to the heavens.

"At this rate you'll die of old age before you hit anything." and old gravelly voice called out.

Naruto quickly jumped to his feet in surprise to face the voice and found the old man from the dango shop standing at the training ground entrance in a leisurely kimono and a cane at his left hand.

"Izakuchi-ji! What are you doing here?" Naruto hadn't ever expected to see the kind dango man again.

"It's Ikazuchi not Izakuchi, Uzumaki-san." He said flatly. Naruto had the decency to blush as he scratched his head.

"Ah right, Ikazuchi-ji sorry… wait a minute what do you mean I'll die before I hit anything!" he shouted in irritation, it was one thing to know you weren't getting anywhere but another thing entirely to be told that by someone else.

"You have no shortage of spirit, I've watched you exhaust yourself every day without any improvement to show for it, and yet you continue to press on anyway unwilling to give up." Old man Ikazuchi spoke in his gruff but sagely manner.

"However, you are lost and wandering, without direction and guidance you will achieve nothing." He finished, eyes closed in preparation for the inevitable outburst.

"You take that back, I'll hit those targets for sure, you'll see!" Naruto blurted out rather indignantly.

"I'll bet you couldn't even hit one if you had a thousand tries!" he added in hasty defiance.

Ikazuchi sighed. "The pride of the young", as he reached his right hand into the fold of his kimono pulling forth a strange contraption. It was a black hexagonal shaft about two feet long, affixed perpendicular to a grip held firm in his hand, a wide slit along its center forming two mirrored parallel rods. Naruto had never seen such a strange device before. He could make out the shape of a kunai sitting between the two rods, its handle vanishing into the back of the device.

Before Naruto could even think, the old man quickly pointed the strange device at the farthest training dummy from them. Naruto watched on in awe as suddenly, just as the old man had lined up his target, a brief chirping noise echoed as some sparks danced about the twin rods. Both rods lit up in a white glow unleashing a small rumble like thunder as the kunai between the prongs launched out blindingly fast, too fast for Naruto to follow, as it slammed into the target imbedding itself into the dummies head.

Naruto simply stood there, his jaw proverbially on the ground. In his entire life, as short as it was currently, he had never witnesses something so awesome and frightening at the same time. He turned to old man Ikazuchi, face still stuck in its slack-jawed position, a million questions gathered in his hyperactive mind. The old man was still standing there, that amazing weapon pointed at the now impaled target.

"I will not live forever, and I have no heir. If you wish to dedicate yourself to the same path as I, to hold the thunder in your hands and the storm in your soul, then I have found myself a pupil." Ikazuchi-ji's voice was overflowing with a zeal Naruto could not describe; each word was like a beating thunder resonating in his heart. He wanted to know, he wanted to learn.

"We begin now." The old man said with a since of finality as he placed his thunderous weapon back into the fold of his kimono. With a certain slowness he turned about began to leave.

Naruto stood there, watching as old man Ikazuchi's form slowly moved farther away. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and if he didn't move now it was just going to walk away, he had to decide. So with the tightening of his fists and steel in his gaze, he moved.

Like a bolt, he sprang forward, running with all haste to catch up. He slid into step with the old man, bouncing excitedly as his hyperactive mind began to swirl.

"What are you going to teach me first? Am I going to learn some awesome jutsu, or maybe some kick-butt taijutsu? What is that kunai thingy? How does it work?" the questions came one after another in rapid succession. Ikazuchi had almost forgotten the kid's reputation as a "hyperactive knucklehead". He briefly wondered if this would work out, he'd certainly hope so.

"Naruto, one of the many skills you will need to learn and perhaps the most important is patience. Everything will come with time. Once we arrive at my home I will tell you what you need to know." He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, in which he mostly succeeded. If he was going to teach this boy, he would have to have patience as well. Many things had changed since he was a child in the great ninja wars.

He had to admit the child was full of energy; the kid could barely walk a few steps without bouncing about in some way. He wasn't surprised at the unavoidable "how far is it" and "how much longer" and "are we there yet" he was peppered with as they walked. He found himself channeling some chakra to his legs just to get home a little bit faster in hopes of ending the torture. This was why he never took a gennin team back in the day.

He couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him as his home came into view. Things were not going to be dull for the next few years, that was for sure. Finally getting inside he instructed the boy to sit in the chair by the fireplace. Naruto complied immediately, eager to learn awesome kick-butt moves. Ikazuchi pulled out his pipe as he took a seat opposite the boy, gently lighting it with a match before tossing the match onto the already kindled logs of the fireplace.

"So Ikazuchi-ji, what awesome technique are you going to teach me first? Oh oh are you going to teach me how to use that awesome weapon!" Naruto's excitement was ready to explode. The old man took a puff of his pipe to calm his nerves; he had to slow this boy down.

"There are more things to being a ninja than flashy techniques and cool moves Naruto." He began as he brought the aforementioned weapon out from his kimono once more, holding it before the boy.

"This is the Todoroki, a ninja weapon I made in my youth during the first great ninja war. I spent my entire ninja life perfecting its design and mastering its use. Using the principles of nature and a set of specific ninja skills it is capable of launching in quick succession kunai and shuriken at speeds far greater than even the strongest ninja could achieve by hand." It sounded impressive but even with its power and speed it required quite a bit of skill to master, ninja were accustom to high speed combat after all, in some cases even having to dodge lighting. However, his weapon didn't need nearly as much chakra as those techniques and was much more versatile with the right preparations.

"So cool! I can't wait to try It, are we going to do it now? Where are the training dummies? I'm going to master it in no time! " Naruto's bravado was reaching its peak. He could already imagine the Hokage's hat sitting upon his head.

"I'm afraid it will be quite some time before you are even ready to fire it, much less master its secrets. There are many steps you must take first before you can even use It." he tried to stress that point to the boy, he wanted him to understand this would not be easy.

"Aw! Well then let's get started! I'll master all the steps in no time!" Naruto's brief disappointment was quickly overshadowed by his confidence. Ikazuchi took another calming puff of his pipe.

"To properly use this weapon you must master the use of fuinjutsu, nature manipulation, and hone your aim and combat movements. Fuinjutsu is a complex art and not vitally important to getting started, so we will instead focus on your chakra and your physical training." Ikazuchi gently placed the Todoroki on the table beside him as he continued.

"Starting tomorrow you will wake up at six in the morning and come to my dango shop. You will work in my shop until my assistant arrives at noon and then we will walk in silence to this house. Do you understand so far?" he gave Naruto a moment to interrupt, which he did.

"What! Why do I have to work in your shop for?"

"Consider it the price for my tutelage, I have my reasons. If you have a problem with the arrangement you may leave now." Ikazuchi countered in a tone of finality.

"Fine" came Naruto's response to the ultimatum.

"When we arrive here we will start with chakra exercises until I decide it's time for shooting practice. You may have Saturdays off to do as you please."

"But how am I going to practice if I can't use the weapon?"

"Some time ago the Land of Sky developed a device called the Kunai Launcher, no doubt trying to mimic my creation. It pales in comparison but will suffice for the beginning of your training." Ikazuchi hoped that when training started the boy would be a fast learner. He wasn't getting any younger.

Glancing out the window the old man noticed the shadows of the setting sun creeping across his yard.

"Alright Natuto, it's getting late. Go home and be sure to get some sleep, we begin tomorrow."

"Yeah! I'm gonna be Hokage in no time!" if only he knew what was in store for him.