Chapter 3: Whirlpools and Fans
Naruto approached the academy with a whole new attitude. He used to see this place as a prison; keeping him locked up and holding him back from his true potential. While he wasn't completely wrong. He did have the wrong idea. He figured that the Hokage had sent him here as punishment. But now he came to realization that it was a reward. The Konoha academy, as well as those in other hidden villages, was where many great shinobi got their start. Even the Yondaime, Naruto's hero, first trained and learned at the same academy. He hadn't known any of this before meeting Tatsu. The whole time he walked with the weird-eyed boy, Tatsu told him damn near everything he knew about the academy in konoha. All the greats, what it is designed to teach you, and even each jutsu you must know before graduating.
Naruto was a little distraught about that last part. The only jutsu he knew up to this point was the henge-no-jutsu and the bushin-no-jutsu. And the only reason he knew both were because of someone showing him outside of the academy. One being Tatsu who showed him the henge, and the other was the Hokage himself. Who on one of his check-ins noticed the homework Naruto was doing and assisted. This homework happened to be the bushin. However, even with the extra help from the Hokage, Naruto still couldn't produce a solid bushin. Thinking of how much help Tatsu was with the henge-no-jutsu, Naruto turned in the boys direction to look him in the eyes.
"Hey Tatsu, do you know how to make a bushin?" Naruto asked a little hesitantly. He could see the boys frustration when he didn't know the henge-no-jutsu, and didn't wish to frustrate him again. It was obvious to Naruto that not only was Tatsu incredibly nice and different from the other kids in his class. But, he was also incredibly smart. Not even Naruto's denseness could miss that. So, he waited for what seemed like hours until Tatsu nodded his head. Which came to a shock to Naruto. He expected some condescending remarks, or at least a drawn out sigh.
"Yeah me too, but I can't quite get it right. You think you could give me a few pointers." Naruto said sheepishly trying to play it cool, and failing. Tatsu just gave him a big smile and patted him playfully on the shoulder.
"Sure thing pal." The yellow-eyed boy said as both he and Naruto entered their assigned room for this year at the academy. Upon entering the room Naruto looked around and noticed most of the faces among the masses. It was the same class he was with each year at the academy. However, everyone looked a bit older than last year. He couldn't help but become excited. He knew this year was going to be different than the previous. He just knew it.
"Uzumaki Naruto is here!" the blonde shouted as he raised his fist into the air in triumph. All the kids at first froze, but soon broke into all out laughter. Tatsu just stood there next to the blonde cringing from both the sheer volume of Naruto's voice and from embarrassment. Naruto then looked over to see good old Iruka-sensei beside his desk, his hands on his hips and his face burning with anger.
"Hey there Iruka-sensei how's it going?" Naruto asked sincerely as it had been several months since he had seen the man. Iruka didn't even respond to Naruto's question he just walked over to the blonde and Tatsu his anger growing with each step.
"Nice of you to join us Naruto. I can see this year will be a repeat of the last." Iruka said with spite.
With that said the puzzle became clearer for Tatsu. As he had thought, Naruto was lazy and he even had improper manners, especially when it came to addressing his betters. He hadn't even apologized yet for being late. But then again Tatsu hadn't either.
"Ah come on Iruka-sensei it was…" Naruto started before Tatsu gave a quick punch to the back of his head. Naruto quickly clutched the back of his head and winced in pain.
"Hey what wa…" Naruto began again, but Tatsu had grabbed the back of the blonde's neck and bent him over into a bowing position. Tatsu then followed suit, bowing slightly toward Iruka,
"We apologize for being late Iruka-sensei. We have no excuse." Tatsu said sternly gripping Naruto's neck tight enough so the blonde couldn't wiggle away.
"Yeah we…" tried to speak once again but Tatsu just gripped the boys neck tighter. Naruto franticly attempted to remove Tatsu's vice grip, to no avail. His arms and legs flailed everywhere. This only made Tatsu grip hard to be sure the boy didn't slip away.
Then, Tatsu heard a light snicker come from his new instructor. He slowly raised his head to his instructor and released his grip on Naruto. Iruka stared at Tatsu kindly still snickering.
"You haven't known Naruto for very long have you?" Iruka asked. Tatsu felt lost. Had he missed something? Could it be that it was common knowledge that Naruto was both lazy and an insubordinate. Tatsu shook his his head no.
"You must be our new student then." Iruka said walking back towards to his desk. Tatsu looked over at Naruto to see him walking up the stairs to a seat rubbing the back of his neck where Tatsu had held him. Iruka grabbed his clipboard off his desk and walked to the center of the room and faced the whole class. "Alright everybody settle down."
Iruka waited a few seconds for the room to quite down before he started. Tatsu began following after Naruto when Iruka called to him.
"Hold on there uh… Tatsu. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself." The scared man said with a small smile. Tatsu paused slightly on the steps turning back to Iruka with a big smile.
"That's okay you pretty much did it for me." Tatsu said chuckling nervously and turning back around to take a seat.
"Nonsense now come up here and let everyone know a little about you." Tatsu scowled; apparently his teacher wasn't going to let this go. So, he turned around reluctantly and stomped his feet up to the front of the class. When he reached the front he turned hard on his heel and looked into eyes of the bored, tired, uncaring eyes. The whole class seemed uninterested and bored. This, like Iruka's lack of discipline towards Naruto's rudeness, was puzzling. Didn't they all realize they had everything right in front of them? They were going to be trained by some of the best and brightest that the shinobi world had to offer.
Tatsu remembered back to when his grandparents had told him that he was going to live in Konoha to learn to be a shinobi. He was ecstatic; all he had ever wanted to be was a shinobi. But, all he saw when he looked out among his fellow students was a desire to get out as fast as possible.
"Now, why don't you tell us about yourself. Where you're from. What you like and Dislike. That sort of stuff." Iruka said pulling Tatsu out of sulking and back to reality.
Tatsu mulled over what he was going to say for a minute than stood up straight to address the whole classroom.
"My name is Okami Tatsu. I don't really come from anywhere. My grandparents and I traveled a lot and never really stayed in one place for too long. They were both involved with Jutsu experimentation for Konoha so they went out looking for new and useful Jutsu's in ruins and stuff. They even helped the Nidaime create the Kage Bushin." Tatsu said getting a little more attention from the classroom. Well at least many that had been sleeping woke up and paid a little attention. "And they sent me here so I could learn to be a shinobi like they did. And that's really all I have to say."
Tatsu turned to Iruka to be sure there wasn't anything else he needed to say. Iruka gave him a slight nod and then turned to the rest of the class.
"Yes, Sakura what is your question?" Iruka said motioning towards the pink haired konoichi that had been chasing Tatsu and then beat him up.
"Yeah, what's a Kage Bushin?" she asked inquisitively. "We learned the Bushin no Jutsu. But what makes it a Kage Bushin?"
Tatsu was a little surprised by the girl's knowledge and interest. He had pegged her early as a talentless fan-girl, but perhaps he needed to reconsider.
"A Kage Bushin does the same as a regular Bushin. It creates a carbon copy of the user. However, a Kage Bushin is an actual clone of the user. It is solid and has a chakra network of its own. Allowing it to attack and use Jutsu's." Iruka said before he looked in Tatsu direction. Then back to the pink haired girl, which he called Sakura. "Yes Sakura something else?"
"Umm… could you show us?" Sakura asked cocking her head to one side. Iruka gave a puzzled look.
"You wouldn't know how to perform the Kage Bushin would you?" Iruka asked gesturing towards Tatsu. This was obviously a test of Tatsu's ability, but his teacher was attempting to hide it behind a teaching lesson. Tatsu just gave a quick nod then created the necessary cross hand sign.
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Tatsu exclaimed before there was a poof of smoke next to him, what appeared when the smoke cleared was a perfect copy of the short yellow-eyed boy. The room gave a slight gasp of astonishment, and when Tatsu looked over to Sasuke even he was astonished.
"Very good Tatsu, I only assumed because your grandparents role in it's development." Iruka said with a small apologetic like smile. Tatsu dismissed his worry with a wave of his hand.
But Tatsu quickly became dizzy and he would have fallen to the floor if not for Iruka moving quickly to catch him. The shadow clone was dispelled as soon as Tatsu started to collapse.
The Okami looked up at his dark haired teacher with bleary eyes. He had forgotten how much chakra making a shadow clone cost. Iruka must have realized this as well because he gave Tatsu a soft reassuring smile. Then, he slowly helped the boy to his feet before turning to the class who all looked a little shocked and worried.
"And as you see class, the big drawback to the Kage Bushin is the large amount of chakra it takes to create one. Most shinobi at your age don't even have enough chakra to create a Kage Bushin." Iruka said in his teacher voice saying each syllable of each word clearly so to be sure everyone understood. He then turned his head back towards Tatsu. "You may take a seat wherever you wish."
With the dismissal of Iruka, Tatsu looked around quickly to see where he could sit. From his perspective he saw Naruto up at the top row, fast asleep. He was snoring softly and drool was starting to pool on the table. Next to him was one somewhat chubby boy munching away at a bag of chips, making sure to lick his fingers clean of all the salt. Next to the bigger boy, was another sleeping boy with dark spiky hair done up into a ponytail. His actions almost mirrored Naruto's, his body slowly rising and lowering to a perfect rhythm of his inhales and exhales.
Looking to the other side of the room he saw Sasuke sitting with a bored and irritated look on his face. He was leaning back far in his seat with his eyes closed and he could have sworn he saw a vein pulsating in his temples. Around him was a collection of heart-shaped pulsating eyes of the many… many fan-girls Sasuke had gathered. Tatsu couldn't help but notice the blonde haired girl from earlier, Ino. Also, the pink haired girl, Sakura, was among the drooling pre-adolescent girls that caused Tatsu's first acquaintance to seethe in irritation.
Not looking to sit way in the back near two sleeping boys and a humming muncher, Tatsu decided to sit in the empty seat next to Sasuke. For some reason none of the fan-girls attempted to sit next to the Uchiha. Instead they settled with surrounding him so to stare at him better. Tatsu figured he might as well sit close to Sasuke and maybe pull one of these girl's attention. After all, Tatsu didn't think he was the ugliest guy in the world.
So, Tatsu walked even paced up the few flight of steps it took to reach the level of which Sasuke was sitting. He pulled the chair next to Sasuke out and dropped down heavy into the seat. His chakra still quite low from using the Kage Bushin just once, it was amazing how much chakra it took. As incredible as the jutsu was it still didn't have any practical use in combat or anything that involved a hostile. Tatsu had always wondered if there was a way to use the jutsu without using up so much chakra. It wasn't unfounded for jutsu's to use a lot of chakra when they are first developed. He learned this from his grandparents who would often pass out from chakra exhaustion due to new jutsu's taking everything out of them in one attempt. But, he also knew that some… let's say loopholes, were found in jutsus so that they did not use so much chakra. The best example Tatsu could think of is the Yondaime Hokage's signature move the Flying Thunder God technique. The idea of the technique isn't anything special. It is simply a reverse summon you do to yourself. However, the problem with this is the mass amounts of chakra that is used to perform the technique. It take a lot of chakra to perform a summons, and the more powerful the summons, the more chakra it took. The Yondaime was the only one that found out how to perform this usually exhausting jutsu for nearly no chakra, and no one has been able to discover how he did it.
Tatsu's train of thought was only broken by a light tap on his shoulder, turning his head he saw the person who had gained his attention was non other than Sasuke. His face was somewhat new; he looked puzzled and somewhat embarrassed. The Uchiha leaned in close as though he had something to whisper.
"Could you show me how to do that technique?" Sasuke asked making sure no one else heard him. Tatsu smirked a little at the Sasuke's interest in asking for help even if asking Tatsu wouldn't be too helpful.
Tatsu thought about it for a minute, then his yellow eyes pulsed like they had before Sasuke first sparred with Tatsu. The Okami looked Sasuke over before his eyes pulsed again and Tatsu shook his head. Leaning in closer Tatsu cupped his hand so only the Uchiha could hear.
"Sorry, but you don't have enough chakra to pull it off. You'd just end up like I did in front of the class." Sasuke's expression became grim, but nodded in acceptance. It wasn't as if Sasuke could never do it. He simply needed more training to build up his chakra reserves. Tatsu then had a thought, if he couldn't lower the amount of chakra used to perform the Kage Bushin, then he, or any one, would need a lot. He looked up at a particular blonde and thought back to their first encounter.
Flashback
Tatsu had just showed Naruto the Henge no Jutsu and told him to give it a go. As Naruto was doing to necessary hand signs, Tatsu's eyes pulsed showing him how Naruto's chakra flowed. It was something he has been able to do since he was just a baby. He grandparents told him that it was rare genetic trait that only a few in their family had ever developed. Not only could his eyes let him see the flow of chakra in people, but also everywhere else. He could even see where someone's chakra had been and where it went; he could track people by their chakra. He wasn't really sure how it worked. Not even his grandparents knew how it worked, it just did, and Tatsu was not about to question it.
So as Tatsu strange and mysterious doujutsu, which he like to call the Hantagan, activated he could see Naruto's chakra emanating from his body. His eyes were a little different from the Sharingan and Byakugan in terms of seeing chakra. He didn't see the network; he saw the small amount of chakra that was slowly released from every shinobi's body as a result of chakra overflow, as his grandfather described it. It was a release of chakra from an individuals system. The body is always creating more chakra so naturally some must be released to make new room for the fresh supply. This is how Tatsu can track people, and how he knows how much chakra a person has. So if someone has a large reserve of chakra it also means that they exert more chakra to make more room for the large amount that they make new. People often overlook this, but it is how people can sense chakra and also feel killer intent. Tatsu can merely see it.
Besides for tracking the eyes also gives him an adept amount of perception. He sees further distances, sees small detail others miss, and can have a small amount of predictability, just like the Sharingan and Byakugan.
Anyways when Tatsu took a good look at Naruto while he was trying to focus his chakra to create a henge. The blonde boy was nearly cloaked in chakra. He was producing enough chakra for three people maybe four depending on the people.
Tatsu couldn't believe his eyes. No wonder he was having trouble doing the simple jutsu's the academy taught. Him performing something like a regular bushin would be like trying to pore a gallon of water into a thimble, not happening.
End Flashpoint
It was such a simple yet brilliant idea. To have so much chakra means limitless possibilities, he need only learn something that required a lot of chakra and not so much finesse. The Kage Bushin would be perfect.
He didn't know why he had the desire to help the boy. He figured that if anything it would just be more training for him.
Even now as he looked up at the sleeping blonde he wondered why he even bothered. Maybe it was because of his potential. Or maybe it was because he was lively and exciting. Even in that small twenty or so minutes Tatsu had spent with Naruto, he had more fun than he had, well, ever. He was always studying or training he didn't have time to make friends and have fun because him and his grandparents were always on the move. Naruto seemed like a normal, fun loving person and perhaps that's were the attraction lied.
Tatsu was once again pulled out of his long train of thought by a loud bell ringing. He looked around questioningly until he made eye contact with Sasuke.
"It's time for lunch." The Uchiha boy said flatly standing up and walking past Tatsu towards the door. Tatsu watched the boy leave followed by the mob of fan-girls. Suddenly, a big gasp was heard in the back of the room as Naruto shot up from his sleeping position.
"Wha..?" The Blonde muttered his goggles hanging down into his eyes blocking his vision. After readjusting his green goggles to their rightful position on his forehead he glanced over at Tatsu and a smile crossed his face.
"Hey Tatsu!" hustling over to Tatsu, Naruto was beaming with excitement about lunch. "Did you bring anything for lunch?"
Tatsu looked at the rambunctious blonde and smirked.
"Nah, you?" he replied with a wave of his hand. He had totally forgotten to pack a lunch in his excitement. Perhaps Sasuke had one and would share.
Tatsu paid no mind to Naruto's pout, undoubtedly caused by hunger, as he stood up and walked towards the door. Naruto's face quickly turned to surprise and hurried after his… friend? 'No it's to soon to be friends.' Naruto thought.
"Wait up!" the blonde exclaimed. "So… What are you doing after class today?" the blonde's expression turned to one that someone would make if they were afraid of being punched.
Tatsu shrugged half heartedly before putting his hands behind his head. He turned his head slightly towards Naruto, who looked a little upset.
"What do you have planned?" The dark haired boy asked walking through the doorway to the academy courtyard.
Naruto seemed to be struggling for an answer. Tatsu knew that the blonde wanted to hang out, but it was too much fun watching him squirm.
"I don't know." The blonde then shoved his hands into his orange pockets, and looking in the opposite direction of Tatsu.
"Good then me, you, and Sasuke can train together." Tatsu said approaching Sasuke who was clearly in earshot.
"NANI!?" Naruto shouted in surprise, and Sasuke looked up with a bit of shock. Tatsu couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah why not." Tatsu continued. "Sasuke and me are already sparring partners, and from the looks of it you need all the help you can get."
"I didn't agree on being sparring partners." Sasuke said his face cool and collected once again as he went in for another bite of his lunch.
Tatsu slumped down on the bench next to Sasuke, leaving a still awestruck Naruto to stand. The Okami grabbed the rice ball off Sasuke's lunch box, and took a big bite out of it earning him a hard glare from the hungry boy. Tatsu swallowed and completely ignored his counterpart.
"Yeah but… I did kick your ass this morning, and I figured you would be the best partner considering from what I heard about you being the first in our class." Tatsu said taking another bite out of the scrumptious rice ball. Which he nearly chocked on when two fiery girls came out of nowhere and glared at the boy.
"Yeah right! As if you could ever even touch Sasuke!" Ino hollered with her hands firmly on her hips.
"There's also no way he would ever train with you." Sakura added her hands in the same position as Ino's
"You know you're really good at butting in when no one wants you around." Tatsu said brushing the rice he spat up off his pants.
"Shut your mouth newbie. Sasuke could beat you anytime, anywhere." Ino said before she crossed her arms with a 'hmph'.
"Didn't we hear this already?" Tastsu directed his question at Naruto who chuckled lightly. Both girls just stood there with the same snooty expression, apparently waiting for Sasuke to challenge him or something
"Well don't get your hopes up girls because the fact is I already did it once and I could probably do it again." Tatsu said with confidence. "Besides Sasuke and I don't wish to fight for frivolous reasons such as your unfounded defensiveness, and irrational mood swings."
At this both konoichi turned bright red with anger, even Sasuke slowly slid himself of the bench so to not get in the way of the onslaught that would no doubt occur.
Sure enough both girls tackled the poor boy off the bench and proceeded to beat him senseless. Taking several jabs at the poor boys abdomen, chest, and face. Needless to say, when they both finished their destruction of Tatsu, he was quite swollen and red.
He kept his eyes closed even as his attacker left, flipping their hair in annoyance. Sasuke and Naruto simply stood by as the bruised loudmouth rose slowly until he was supporting his weight with his hands. Both boys had to contain their laughter behind tight lips, even Sasuke. Tatsu was thoroughly beaten.
The swollen boy glared at the other two, and sported a scowl. It was then that Sasuke extended his hand towards Tatsu, which he took graciously as he rose to his feet.
Tatsu watched as the two harpies walked away. He knew he had pushed them a little far, but still, these beatings were already getting old.
"You alright Tatsu?" Naruto asked his smirk still present. Tatsu whipped his head around to the blond buffoon and glared at him. But, seeing Naruto's smile, he couldn't help but put on his own.
"I'll be alright." Tatsu said as he looked back to where the two who assaulted him were. "I gotta say that Sakura has a mean left hook." Naruto and Sasuke chuckled at the boy halfheartedly. Then, Tatsu bent over and picked up his dropped rice ball and took a big bite out of it. The other two cringed as the rice ball and a few blades of grass on it and dirt. But Tatsu didn't care. He was hungry, and he'd eaten much worse.
"So anyways. Tonight the three of us will meet up and train a little." Tatsu continued as he pulled a particularly large blade of grass of his rice ball so to take another bite. Once again the other two boys cringed and spared each other a glance. "We'll meet up at Sasuke's around 7 so we can have some dinner first." It was then that Sasuke sneered.
"I'm not training with the dobe. He'll only slow me down." Sasuke said shoving his hands into his pockets and started to walk back towards the academy entrance.
"Ha, if anything you would slow me and Tatsu down." Naruto yelled, but Sasuke showed no signs of hearing him. Then, Naruto crossed his arms across his chest with a 'hmph'. Tatsu just shrugged his shoulders and took the last bite of his rice ball.
"Oh well. Looks like it'll just be you and me tonight Naruto." Tatsu said with a clap of his hands.
"If you want I know a place where we can get the best food in town." Naruto said carefully still afraid of Tatsu's rejection.
"Sounds good. I still haven't gone grocery shopping." Tatsu said sheepishly.
"Then after dinner we'll work towards becoming the greatest ninja's the world has ever known. Dattebayo!"
End Chapter 3
That was a pretty long chapter. Hope you all enjoy and keep coming back for more. Cheers!