Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 3, replies to some reviews in the A.N. at the end, however there's one I'd like to reply to first.

To the guest who wrote "trash bye": I don't mind negative feedback, as long as it's constructive. If you'd tell me why the story is trash, I might be able to make it better...

This is kind of a filler chapter to skip some time until the action starts. Due to the bad weather, I had some time on my hands during the weekend, but weektimes are rather busy, so chapter 4 will probably come next weekend.

LOOKING FOR BETA!

I don't own Naruto!


What happened last time

"There is one thing I would ask of you Naruto. You're a shinobi of Konoha now, please watch over my siblings while I'm gone."

"I promise!" Naruto said with determination.

"Arigatō Naruto-kun. I'm afraid I'll have to leave now. Until next time," Itachi said and vanished into the night.


Chapter 3

18. July 1298

Despite having just graduated, the next few days were very depressing for our favourite blond. He spent the morning after his graduation in his apartment, looking at Itachi's gifts. The first was a jutsu scroll for the shunshin. Naruto bounced around his apartment quite a bit. However, there was also a note attached stating, that he should start with water-walking before trying the jutsu. Apparently, the jutsu could be quite dangerous when performed with bad chakra control.

His other gift was a storage scroll and when Naruto pushed some chakra into it, a box with fifty new ANBU-grade kunai and shuriken respectively popped out. Considering that ANBU only used the best equipment, one could assume that the weapons were quite expensive. Itachi had also added some strips of soft leather and a short instruction on how to put the leather on the kunai handle.

Naruto had debated with Itachi many times over the last year, about how kunai were technically close combat knives, not throwing knives, and apparently, Itachi tried to mock him a little bit about it. Naruto decided to wrap the leather around ten of the kunai and to use them as actual knives and the rest for throwing. After having eaten a healthy lunch, Naruto decided to visit the Hokage and show him Itachi's gift.

That was, when he heard the first rumours about the Uchiha massacre. Everyone was saying that Itachi went mad and killed his whole clan! Despite the fact, that he didn't believe Itachi would ever do that, how could a single man wipe out a whole clan? He knew Itachi was super strong, but there were other strong Uchihas for sure! To his utter dismay, he couldn't even ask his ji-san. The Hokage had absolutely no time for Naruto, due to the massacre and its aftermath.

-xXx-

25. July 1298

One week later, Naruto wasn't certain how to feel about Itachi. Although his ji-san had confirmed, that Itachi massacred his whole clan, Naruto didn't believe that Itachi – as the villagers put it – 'went around the bend'. He had visited Naruto on the night it happened and he seemed quite normal. If he were actually insane, he would have killed Naruto too, anything else didn't make sense. And he let his little siblings alive, so he definitely cared about them.

Finally, there was still that nagging thought, that even Itachi couldn't kill so many people without being noticed. In conclusion, Naruto really wasn't sure what to think. He decided he would simply ask Itachi himself one day, not even considering, that Itachi was now a S-ranked nuke-nin and Naruto as a shinobi of the leaf was therefore obliged to fight him.

Naruto had also realized that Koto-chan had to have been an Uchiha. When the women had come by the very first time, she had told him, that she was not supposed to visit him, so they had to keep it a secret. Instead of risking a 6-year-old accidently slipping, she simply didn't tell him her name and told Naruto to call her Koto-chan. He knew that she would've come by after she heard about his graduation or would've told him, if she were to be out of the village for a longer time.

The week had also a slight upside however. After having talked about Itachi with his ji-san, the Hokage took him shopping for his shinobi gear. He already had all the kunai and shuriken he needed, but there were still clothes and ninja wire and bandages and all the other stuff he had to buy. The Sandaime took him to his personal shinobi-outfitter, Hirashi's shinobi gear. Apparently Hirashi and his ji-san fought together in the first shinobi war and after being injured, Hirashi opened his shop. Ever since, Hiruzen was a loyal customer.

Naruto quite liked Hirashi, who treated him kindly. However, he declined the offer of buying a weapon, having already decided, that he first wanted to work on the more general aspects of his skills, before taking up a weapon. Although Naruto was already certain, that he would chose some sort of sword, it was just by far the coolest weapon.

Naruto left the store with his ji-san on his heels and clad in brand-new 'ANBU-style' pants. Meaning black cargo pants with lots of pockets, finished off by bandages around his shins. For his upper body, he had chosen a black sleeveless hoody, with red trim on the waist and shoulders and a custom made, red Uzumaki swirl on his back. The ensemble was finished by black shinobi sandals and red fingerless gloves. Naruto looked quite badass, if he may say so himself. He wore two standard pouches on the right side of his hip. One with medical equipment, such as bandages, blood-replenishing pills and soldier pills, and one for shuriken and standard kunai. Bandaged on his right thigh, was a pouch dedicated to his ten leather-hilted kunai and on his left thigh, was another pouch with various supplies such as ninja-wire and various seal-tags. All the pouches being a natural grey colour.

Having forgotten about his ninja registration, the Sandaime accompanied Naruto to the administrative building. After a quick photograph with his new look, he handed his registration form to the Sandaime and made his way to Ichiraku's ramen. The Hokage decided to retire to his office, instead of abusing his wallet even more, after the shopping tour Naruto had just made on his pocket.

-xXx-

17. August 1298

"Stupid, biased sensei and his stupid genin test," grumbled one Naruto Uzumaki on his way back to his apartment. Changing his mind, he jumped onto the next roof and made his way towards the Hokage tower, he needed advice and with Itachi gone, the only one he trusted was his ji-san.

Due to his early graduation and general disposition, Naruto just narrowly made the cut. Since he was still rather small compared to the usual graduates, his taijutsu wasn't rated too highly either. This led to him finishing in the middle of the pack of graduates. Therefore, his former teammates were both civilian born, finishing their exams in his grade-spectrum. Most students from ninja families ended up with top grades. Being only nine his – now former – teammates didn't take him too serious and they failed the test set by their jōnin-sensei spectacularly.

Now, he had two choices. Go back to the academy for another year, which seemed rather dull or join the genin-reserves. Joining the reserves meant getting missions from time to time filling up empty spots on teams. For low-rank missions it was usually a genin team with a jōnin-sensei, which was missing one genin, due to injuries. For higher ranked missions, sometimes reserve genin were picked to fill the spot of a missing chūnin temporarily. However, this also meant, that he had no way to participate in the chūnin exams and getting a field-promotion in peace times was a lot more difficult. Therefore, he needed his ji-san's advice, he would know what was best.

Unfortunately, the office was currently occupied by all the jōnin-senseis reporting back from their genin-tests. Although Naruto's patience had definitely gotten better, he was still fidgeting the time he was waiting outside the office. When the last jōnin had finally left, he quickly made his way inside.

"Oi jiji! I need your help. I failed the stupid genin test," Naruto said a little downtrodden.

"I know Naruto-kun, I just received the results. I guess you don't know what to do?"

"Hai jiji. I think I'll join the reserves, but then again, I don't want to be a genin forever!"

Flashback

3. August 1298 (one week before team assignments)

"What do you mean I won't get a genin-team Hokage-sama? I thought you want me to work with Naruto."

"Yes, that was the plan Kakashi-kun. However, due to recent events, we're short on personnel as you should well know. ANBU agents had to take over the village security and missions are stacking up. Not to mention that you're currently the only person with a sharingan in the village. The council voted against your appointment, because the elders want to keep you back, in order for you to take up the two Uchihas when they graduate."

"But that's still four years from now. By then, any team I would take now, would've easily made chūnin!", Kakashi exclaimed.

"I know that Kakashi!", the Hokage said rising his voice a little, "But there's nothing I can do… Some pushed for the Uchihas to graduate early, but I blocked them from the start. I won't have them under the strain of ninja life, only a year after their whole clan was slaughtered. If I can, I will make certain, that they stay the whole five years in the academy."

"The elder will push for some jōnin that will fail Naruto. Danzo still has his eyes on him. You won't allow Danzo to train him, so the only way for Danzo to get to him, is by making Naruto desperate for training!" Kakashi exclaimed angrily.

"Remember who you're talking to Kakashi," Hiruzen said, emitting some KI.

"Gomen Hokage-sama, I was out of line."

"Hai, you were Kakashi-kun. Don't think I have made no contingency plan. If Naruto fails, I will push him into joining the reserves. I have complete control over mission assignments, therefore I can make certain that Naruto gets decent experience. He should be able to make two or three kage bunshin by now, so he can complete D-ranks all by himself. Then I will simply put him on as many C-ranks as possible, without rising too much suspicion. Having people think he gets preferential treatment would make the situation only worse."

"But what about his training? Without a sensei to help him along, anything above C-rank could be dangerous."

"My hope is, that one of the chūnin teams will take him on permanently after seeing his performance. They could help him along nicely. If nothing changes after a few months, I believe you could visit him from time to time in his training ground. He uses one of the more secluded, close to the wall, I believe its number 23.

"Naruto can be quite resourceful if need be, I'm certain he will find someone to show him some things sooner or later. And lastly, in case he's still a genin in four years, we'll simply put him on your team with the two Uchihas."

"That could actually be quite nice. Having an experienced genin would make things easier… On the topic of early graduation, why is Naruto the only one graduating early? I was certain, more would try."

"There were a few more that tried, but no one else passed and I don't believe there will be any early graduates in the near future. When I effectively blocked the push for the Uchihas' early graduation, I apparently put ideas in the head of some clan-heads. They want to abolish the whole concept of early graduation."

"Why would they want to do that?"

"Look at it this way. Of the two most recognized early graduates in the last twenty years, one has so much mental scarring that he's perpetually late to anything that isn't an A- or S-ranked mission, because he's staring at the Memorial Stone and the other just massacred almost his whole clan. Then of course there's another early graduate, that was betrayed by her Master and infected with a cursed seal."

"That was mean Hokage-sama," Kakashi said childishly in response to the jibe on his lateness, "and there are many early graduates, that developed well."

"My apologies, Kakashi-kun," came the completely insincere voice of Hiruzen, "and while you're correct, they don't think that the risk is worth it, especially in peace times. I'm certain, if war looms again on the horizon, early graduation shall be the norm once again. I'm just happy that Naruto made the cut in time."

"Hai, me too. Very well, I have been assigned to border patrol since I won't become a sensei, so I won't be around for the next three months."

"I know Kakashi-kun, I was the one who assigned it," Hiruzen said grinning slightly.

"But… but why would you do that to me?!"

"Because even though you didn't have to be here, you didn't know that. You were so late, that you actually missed the whole damn assignment!"

Kakashi deflated at the rebuke and hunched out of the office.

"Hai, hai Hokage-sama," he said, idly waving his hand over his shoulder.

Flashback end

"Yes, I think joining the reserves might be the best for now Naruto-kun. You do know how the mission ranking system works, don't you?"

"Hai jiji, missions go from D- to S-rank, D-ranks being the easiest."

"Exactly. What you don't know, is that D-ranks are solely for genin. They are used to improve team-work and essential skills you need before going outside the village. Some would call them chores, but they're actually quite useful. For example, babysitting is not so different from escort or protection missions, it just doesn't involve fighting. Or catching runaway pets involves setting up traps and working together."

"Hai jiji! It sounds boring though..."

"Yes, I thought so Naruto-kun," Hiruzen chuckled. "However, due to the jutsu I taught you, you should be able to do those missions all on your own. If you do two or three per day you should have a nice steady income and still enough time for training. I will make certain, that you get some more interesting missions soon enough.

"Now, I have another gift for you. Do you know what this is?", the Sandaime asked, producing a sheet of paper.

"Erm… Looks like paper?"

"Hai Naruto-kun, but this is special paper. We call it chakra paper, it shows a ninjas affinity for nature manipulation. Take me as an example. When I was a genin, I had a strong affinity for earth and a minor for fire. When you master one elemental manipulation, more often than not, a ninja develops other affinities. By now I have mastered every nature manipulation, although my earth jutsus are still the strongest per chakra input."

"Woah jiji, that's amazing!", Naruto exclaimed, snatching the paper from Hiruzen's hand, "So how does it work?"

"You simply push your chakra into it Naruto-kun. It reacts depending on your affinity. Crumbling for earth, turning to ash for fire, crinkling for lighting, getting wet for water or splitting in half for air."

Naruto did as he was told and a moment later the paper became wet before splitting in half.

"That would mean affinity for water with a minor wind affinity Naruto-kun."

"Cool! This makes me even more badass. They never taught us how to master nature manipulation at the academy though…"

"With good reason. Nature manipulation is only needed to advance to jōnin rank Naruto-kun. As you know, becoming chūnin is possible by either field promotion or taking part in the chūnin-exams. However, you don't need to display any particular skill-set. It is different for jōnin. Since jōnin can become senseis themselves, they need to be at least competent in the three main shinobi arts. Competence in ninjutsu means, mastering at least one nature manipulation and being proficient in the use of a second element. There is also a lot of knowledge that needs to be showcased, and has to be learned by the aspiring jōnins themselves, at least the academic aspects.

"However, since you can't fully train your body yet, I thought you might like to start with nature manipulation. After all, it's never too early to hone your skills. Mastering an element is done in two steps or with some elements in three. Although, the first step is very similar with every element. I'll tell you about it in a minute. I suggest you start with water manipulation, since it's your dominant element, Naruto-kun.

"Using elemental jutsu usually means transforming your chakra directly into the chosen elemental nature. When mastering an element, you change that process. Instead of transforming chakra, you use it to influence said element.

"Take the Doton: Doryūheki no Jutsu (Earth Style: Mud Wall Technique) as an example. There are two ways to perform the jutsu. The unexperienced earth-user transforms chakra into earth and spits it out, creating a wall. Someone who has worked on earth manipulation, uses his chakra to influence the earth around him, rising an earth wall from the ground. This gives you a distinct advantage in a fight. You utilise less chakra for the same result and the wall appears much faster.

"On the other hand, the Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Bullets), takes longer if you don't transform your chakra, since you would have to swallow water first, in order to manipulate it. It is of course possible to use the water within your body, but that's quite dangerous and not recommended.

"That is what makes water manipulation so special. While water is everywhere around us, it is often not in its pure form, but in the air or the plants. Tobirama Senju, a true master of water manipulation, was able to dissolve water out of anything. He is to this day, the only ninja to use water manipulation on such a scale. A true master of elemental ninjutsu knows when to transform his chakra into the chosen element and when to manipulate the surrounding resources.

"As you know, we use hand seals to mold and guide our chakra depending on what we want it to do. However, with good control over your element, it is possible to use less hand seals, since you have direct control over the element, without the need to guide it.

Halfway through the Hokages explanation Naruto became slightly glassy eyed. 'Tobirama Senju was one of the foremost Suiton users, at least now I know who the T.S. guy was that wrote How to ninja'. Bringing his focus back on the old man, Naruto heard the end of his monologue.

"Awesome jiji, so how does it work? It seems I have lots of training to do!"

"I planned to show this to you whether you passed or not, so I came prepared," the Sandaime said, picking up a lonely leaf from his desk. "As I said, nature manipulation for every element is very similar in the first step. You try to recreate what happened to the chakra paper with an ordinary leaf.

"While the goal is to influence and not create the element in the end, we have to start small. The idea is to do the nature transformation outside of your body. This way you experience the feeling of a chakra infused element, even though you created it," Hiruzen said, dampening the leaf in his hand with his chakra.

"Alright jiji, so I just try to transform my chakra without using hand seals and outside of my body, correct?"

"Exactly Naruto-kun. However, I suggest, you first learn a few D- or C-ranked water jutsus, to get a feel for your element. I believe the genin-part of the shinobi library contains a few. There might also be some other low ranked jutsu you want to look into. Remember, it's better to master a few, than being sloppy at many.

"One other thing. From now on you'll have to buy your groceries again yourself," Hiruzen said.

"But jiji! You know the merchants don't like me and don't want to sell me their stuff," Naruto exclaimed a little depressed.

"Hai Naruto, I know. However, you're a shinobi now. Maybe you should remind those merchants, that discriminating and mistreating one of the village's ninja is considered treason. As you know, there's only one punishment for traitors," the Hokage explained, "Now, off you go, I have paperwork to finish."

"Hai, I'll be on my way then! Bye jiji!"

-xXx-

18. August 1298

After one month of D-rank missions, Naruto had formed the distinguished opinion, that they sucked. At first it was somewhat funny to abuse his kage bunshins to do the work of four ninjas simultaneously. Quickly enough though, the whole thing became repetitive. On the upside, he had lots of time to train. His usual routine hadn't changed much since the academy, only that he now did D-ranks instead of studying.

He was still working more on agility and endurance rather than strength, since his body wouldn't be able to support real weight training. With his improving chakra control, he would be able to supplement his strength by enhancing his muscles with chakra. This would have to do until he was a little older. His speed at least was quite respectable by now.

His afternoon changed a little bit as well. Instead of doing chakra control for an hour, he let one clone do it the whole afternoon, which actually helped him more, if only by a margin. After lunch, he usually did one hour of each tai- and bukijutsu. He even added the use of ninja-wire to his shuriken- and kunai-throwing repertoire.

His taijutsu was still the standard academy style, although he had looked into both his parent's taijutsu scrolls. He didn't want to learn difficult stances from a scroll without supervision. He'd rather learn it correctly the first time instead of going back time and time again, because his balance was off or something like that. In his few taijutsu classes at the academy, he had seen how long it took other students to work out basic mistakes and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. So he just trained what he knew and hoped that someone could help him soon.

By three in the afternoon, he usually worked on his jutsu. His clone had become quite proficient at water walking, and by extension, Naruto himself too. After one month, he had added a few useful techniques to the standard academy three. As his ji-san had advised him, he learned a few Suiton jutsu. He didn't get the scrolls from the shinobi-library however, but from his parents' personal scrolls.

He had discovered the hidden door to his parents jutsu-vault only recently. It was protected by another blood seal hidden in the library. Since both his parents had quite the collection of jutsu for almost any shinobi art (the genjutsu section was rather small), he didn't have time to look through all of them. Naruto had obviously heard of his father's most famous jutsu, the Hiraishin and Rasengan, but knew they were too difficult for him.

Having the Sandaime as his role model, led Naruto to believe in quality over quantity. By now he had mastered one D-rank, the Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Clone Technique) and was still working on a C-rank, the Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Bullets)

Naruto learned something else the academy didn't cover. First, Chakra seemed to get accustomed to a certain manipulation. After having used the kage bunshins for a few months already and now learning the mizu bunshin, he was able to create a mizu bunshin with only one handsign instead of two, after mastering the jutsu.

Second, even though he didn't know it then, it had made sense that the higher ranked the jutsu was, the more hand seals were needed. Looking through many jutsu scrolls this month, he had noticed a pattern.

D-rank: 1-2 hand seals
C-rank: 3-9 hand seals
B-rank: 10-15 hand seals
A-rank: 16-24 hand seals
S-rank: 25+ hand seals

Of course, there were inconsistencies, such as his father's Ninpou: Rasengan (Ninja-Art: Spiralling Sphere), which needed no hand seals at all. Another example were the elemental Dragon Bullet techniques, all of them required 44 hand seals, simply because there was a lot of shape manipulation involved, which was difficult to do without the help of hand seals to direct the chakra.

Aside from the elemental jutsu, he had mastered three others. His favourite and the gift from Itachi, the Ninpou: Shunshin no Jutsu (Ninja-Art: Body Flicker Technique), the Ninpou: Kage Kunai no Jutsu (Ninja-Art: Shadow Kunai Technique) and its counterpart, the Ninpou: Kage Shuriken no Jutsu(Ninja-Art: Shadow Shuriken Technique), all three being D-rank jutsu although it was slightly misleading. The shunshin, while simple in a standard application, required quite good chakra control and was very difficult to use in combat situations. Both kage kunai and kage shuriken had a similar issue. Creating only one copy with the jutsu was very simple. However, to make it effective in battle larger numbers were required and as such the chakra requirement was very high.

A few days ago he had started out with level three of fūinjutsu. Right from the bat, he noticed, that from now on his progress would be even slower. The stuff was becoming quite complex. He was happy however, that he could make his own standard-grade explosive tags by now. It saved him quite some money, having a kage bunshin writing up tags through the evenings. He hadn't started inventing his own seals yet, apart from the reversed gravity seal, and even that was devised from another seal. Naruto was quite certain, that invention would only start at level six and above, since there could go so much wrong when messing around with fūinjutsu.

All in all, he was quite capable for an almost fresh genin and could hold his own pretty well. This led to Naruto sitting happily on a stool at Ichiraku's slurping some ramen. He indulged himself today, since his first C-rank was coming up and with it, his first foray outside the village walls. It was a simple document delivery to the land of iron and the chance for trouble was quite small. While there were many bandits on the way to iron country, they rarely attacked ninja.

Naruto was assigned to a genin team, that had already worked together for a little over a year. He was filling the spot of a currently injured genin. He actually knew one of the two remaining genin, Hana Inuzuka. She was the sister of one of his former classmates, Kiba Inuzuka and the same age as Itachi. Unknown to Naruto, Hana was promoted to chūnin in the exams held in Kumogakure no Sato two weeks ago. Konoha had sent only one team to Kumo, since relations were still a little frosty over the kidnapping-incident five years ago.

The exams were also the cause for the now injured genin lying in the hospital, he had been defeated in the final round. However, since their team worked well together and they all got along, it was decided to keep the team in its current state and only switch a genin in for the next chūnin-exams, should the other two want to participate again.

The only other noteworthy thing, was the slight upswing in Naruto's social life. He had gone out to one of the barbeque restaurants with Chōji and Shikamaru a few times. Once, even Shino and Kiba accompanied them. The Uchihas kept to themselves of course, and so did their fan club.

Chōji and Shikamaru were turning from mere acquaintances to friends and Naruto was rather happy about it. The two were very surprised, when Naruto met up with them one evening after the academy had finished. They had thought, that he dropped out and not graduated early. Shows how little he had actually talked with the two of them, before his graduation. It was also then, that he learned, that early graduation was not possible anymore and the remaining students had to sit through all five years in the academy.

-xXx-

13. November 1298

Over the following two months Naruto had completed six more C-ranks, four of them with Hana's team. He got along with both Hana's teammates and the ninja of other teams, he went on missions with. To Naruto's astonishment, the other ninja were quite friendly to him, even if he had to live through a few jibes and taunts about his age and being a rookie. He put it down to them not knowing about his burden, because they were too young. Naruto even had a few decent spars with Hana and got to know her a little better. Apparently, she was planning to become a veterinarian, which was the reason for her to stay on her genin team. Her goal was to pick up some medical ninjutsu on the way and then join the reserve corps, while taking care of the many ninken the Inuzuka Clan owned.

Since Naruto usually did the D-ranks all on his own, his payment was quite decent and after looking into his savings, he decided to cut down to only one mission per day, so he could spend more time training. One of his personal highlights was his own birthday. He had never celebrated during the kyūbi-festival, for multiple reason. This year however, Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba came by his apartment. Chōji's mother had even made a cake for him and they all brought presents.

Another nice thing, was being invited to Shikamaru's birthday party. It wasn't anything special, a simple dinner at their usual barbeque place. There were a few more people, for example Ino Yamanaka. Naruto learned, that the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clan-heads were quite close, after having been on a team together for a long time and becoming famous as the 'Ino-Shika-Chō-trio'.

Of course, Naruto also met with his ji-san from time to time. Whether it was to discuss his training or going to Ichiraku's for some ramen.

Concerning shinobi matters, the six C-ranks he had participated in until now, were all rather boring. While he liked the change of scenery and getting to know other ninjas, not once did he have to actually fight. Naruto wasn't certain what to think of it. On one hand, he wanted to prove himself, but on the other, he was a little apprehensive about his first kill. He of course knew, that being a ninja involved killing others, being an ANBU-agent even more so, but he didn't have to like it.

At least he now knew, that he could keep up with other genin and chūnin in terms of stamina. Even more important, due to the contact with other ninja, he learned quite a lot about Konoha's ninja corps. The most crucial information being, that the new and upcoming taijutsu-specialist, Maito Gai, had a big rivalry going, with the famous Elite Jōnin Kakashi Hatake. He also learned that the so called 'Green Beast of Konoha', was a little dense in certain aspects. Naruto didn't like manipulating people, even less so if they were comrades, in this case however, he made an exception. He needed help after all.

Thus, we find Naruto currently sitting on a roof outside a shinobi bar, frequented by various jōnin, including Maito Gai. Idly waiting for his target to appear, while his thoughts drifted back to his training.

After having mastered both the Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Bullets Technique) and the Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu (Water Style: Trumpet Technique), he didn't find any other C-rank Water jutsu he wanted to learn. He thought the Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Prison Technique) sounded interesting, but as long as he was so small compared to potential enemies and relied heavily on his speed, a jutsu that forced him to stay still, wasn't the brightest idea. Therefore, he concentrated more on water manipulation and fūinjutsu.

Both came along quite well. Naruto was certain he would get the nature manipulation down soon, being already able to dampen parts of the leaf. As he suspected, fūinjutsu became a lot more complex since reaching level three and without help, his progress was rather slow. It was nothing that killed his mood however, as he was certain, that soon enough, he would find someone to help him. His foremost priority was finding a taijutsu-sensei and so his mind went back to his impending 'mission'.

Right as Naruto turned his focus back on the building, a ninja clad in green spandex and orange legwarmers exited through the door. After waiting another moment to make certain that he was the only one leaving, Naruto jumped off the roof and walked towards the jōnin.

"Ne, Maito-san!", Naruto exclaimed. The spandex wearing ninja turned around and looked towards Naruto.

"Ahh, you must be Naruto-kun, the latest early graduate. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I heard that you know Hatake-san quite well?"

"Of course, I know Kakashi, we're eternal rivals!", Gai exclaimed, sporting a 'good-guy' pose. Being nearly blinded by the flashing teeth, Naruto squinted his eyes a little.

"Well, you see, I heard that Hatake-san is the best to ask about taijutsu in Konoha and since I'm in the reserve pool, I need a sensei. I thought about asking him, but before I do that, I wanted a second opinion."

"My rival the best in taijutsu?", Gai gasped, "That is most untrue my youthful friend and I will prove it. You are most welcome to join me for my light morning workout. Meet me at 5 a.m. in training ground six, if you're interested." Naruto sweat dropped a little. 'That was easier than stealing sweets from a baby,' Naruto thought.

"I will think about it Maito-san, thank you for the opportunity."

"Nonsense, it is Gai-sensei now, Naruto-kun."

"Hai, Gai-sensei."

-xXx-

5 minutes later, Hokage tower

"He actually tried to manipulate you, using your rivalry with Kakashi-kun?", Hiruzen asked, his left eyebrow shooting upwards.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. It was most unyouthful by Naruto-kun. However, considering that we're ninjas it was almost youthful again. I'm quite conflicted about it to be honest."

"I see… I'm happy that you accepted him, I'm certain there's a lot you can teach him.

"Hai Hokage-sama, I'll do my best.


Ninja – A how-to, Chapter 2 Mind and Body

There are many things to be said about training when it comes to ninja, but most importantly, it never ends. No jutsu is perfect, no ninja is perfect. Live by those words and you shall overcome your enemies and sometimes even yourself.

While most shinobi and kunoichi are aware of the fact, that they are required to train, many forget the importance of their minds. Jutsu, strength and speed won't always win you a battle, more often than not it's the quick thinker that comes out on top.

However, there is more to the mental discipline than strategy and planning. Mental fortitude is just as important. To withstand killer-intent or the taunts of an opponent in order to stay calm and concentrated on your goal is critical for a ninja.

Further there is the danger of trauma. Sooner or later any ninja witnesses things that are difficult to accept. To be able to work through issues and keep your mind healthy is paramount for ninja. It may even come to the point, that a ninja is forced to do something he or she may regret for the rest of their lives, for the good of the village. Shinobi and kunoichi kill, steal and sabotage for the good of their village and not every human is capable to do such things and simply carry on. We must be prepared for the ill we do in order for our village to thrive.

When it comes to the body of a ninja, sooner or later a decision has to be made, how a body shall develop. There are obviously limits and predetermined factors set by mother nature to be accounted for. Not every type of body is capable of great speed or great strength. Women are generally considered weaker as they can not achieve the same muscle growth as men. It is idiotic to believe, that kunoichi are actually weaker however. Agility is an often overlook factor when it comes to physical prowess and it is an area where women are naturally better. Further the use of chakra can level the playing field considerably.

When one talks about speed there is often misunderstanding. First of all, to be able to move fast, the body must reach an incredible balance in muscle mass. You want to be as light as possible but have as much muscle as possible to move your weight. It takes a lot of dedication to achieve such a feat. It is often easier to go with a pseudo-speed increase. Instead of moving fast, you move sooner. Reaction timing is often more important than speed. Most battles are fought within close quarters and the actual movements are short, as such speed doesn't come into play as we are led to believe. Instead being able to react a fraction faster than your opponent is often the bigger advantage.

There is some agreement when it comes to the actual training of the body. It is my opinion that endurance trumps all else in the beginning stages of a ninja career. No matter where your path leads you, having high endurance will always be helpful and it sets a good grounding for further improvement. Until such time, that one determines where his path leads him, it is folly to be singular in your physical development. Weight training can be excessively dangerous in the early years of a human and as such should be left for specialized improvement. I advise however to start early with the training of your explosive strength as well as your reaction timing as both go hand in hand. Knowing what is about to happen but having your muscles not cooperate is one of the most disconcerting things to ever experience.

Another aspect of training that is often overlooked concerns eating and drinking habits. Alcohol and other stimulants are poison to your body and should only be consumed rarely. To improve your physical fitness, it is important that you eat the right food. Proteins and calories need to be consumed in the right amount coupled with the right fats and other supplements.


A.N. Before coming to the reviews I'll make a list of new jutsu mentioned in the chapter [complete list in the last chapter]. There's one other thing I wanted to clear up. It's kinda related to a review questioning why I gave Minato some background (there's nothing in canon) [Minato background has been deleted in rewrite]. The blood-relation to Tsunade. In canon Naruto reminds Tsunade of her little brother and his general character and determination convince her to return to Konoha. Since my Naruto is different and more mature, I wanted Tsunade to have another viable reason to become Hokage - being with her reminding family (she isn't aware of Naruto yet, will be explained later...)

Jutsu-List (information from Naruto wiki):

Doton: Doryūheki no Jutsu (Earth Style: Mud Wall Technique): The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defence. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body and then spat out to form the wall or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall.

Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Bullets): After kneading and converting their chakra into water, the user will shoot one or more condensed blasts of water at the target. The size is dependent on how much water the user can store in their body.

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Clone Technique): Uses water as a medium to create clones of the user by either using surroundings or spitting out water. Like shadow clones, these clones have displayed the ability to perform techniques. Unlike shadow clones, however, water clones only possess one-tenth of the user's power. The range of the clone is also limited, as it cannot travel very far from the original body without losing form. When these clones are struck with a sufficient amount of damage, they will revert to their water form

Ninpou: Rasengan (Ninja-Art: Spiralling Sphere): Why am I even doing this... The Rasengan is a spinning ball of chakra formed and held in the palm of the user's hand.

Ninpou: Shunshin no Jutsu (Ninja-Art: Body Flicker Technique): By using the Body Flicker Technique, a ninja can move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.

Ninpou: Kage Kunai/Shuriken no Jutsu (Ninja-Art: Shadow Kunai/Shuriken Technique): Creates material copies of thrown kunai/shuriken. Number of copies depends on chakra-input and will/imagination of the user (Yin-release). /Edit. As ReddFoxx mentioned in his review, the actual version is an A-rank jutsu (I changed it to C-rank in the meantime). I noticed, that I used a wrong wiki article after having written everything and just sort of rolled with it. In the end I made a mix between the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu and the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The first is what Naruto and Sauske use in canon against Zabuza (hiding a fuma shuriken in the shadow of another) and the latter the actual A-rank, which "creates up to a thousand shadow clones from one shuriken". Since I'm a lazy fuck, I used the basics of the latter, but toned it down, i.e. a thousand copies would consume a shitton of chakra... :) Personally I'd say, that creating copies of objects would be justfiable C-rank when creating copies of a human is B-rank, pleace don't crucify my lazy bum...

Reviews:

ReddFoxx: Thanks, fixed it (that is for chapter 2, the guy has an eye for mistakes apparently...)

TimothyB: You might be onto something.. ;)

LetsSeeIfICanDoThisToo: I didn't do it, in order for Naruto to feel betrayed. It's just that Minato has almost no background whatsoever. Naruto wanted to thank Itachi for all he did and it's something that is plausible and open up options for later. Plus, I plan to give Naruto a weapon, that isn't traditionally used by shinobi (it's nothign outlandish, dont worry) and I wanted to have lots of possiblities :)

ethanfigueroa2929: I'm still not certain what to do with Hinata. Maybe I'll make her friends with Izumi or something, both being the more serious kunoichi (read: not fangirls) in the class. He will have certain traits of Tobirama. Taking shinobi matters very serious for a start. Naruto won't have Tobirama's prodigious strategic mind, or at least not for a long while, nor his political thinking. Naruto is smarter than in canon, but he's still someone who learns better when doing things. He studies because it's a necessity, not because he enjoys it so much.