Chapter 4 – Learning Chakra

Sometime after my third birthday, I had my first run in with chakra. Unlike how several fanfictions made me believe that chakra was a natural thing in Narutoverse, chakra had its own rules in this world. Every being in Narutoverse possessed chakra. The ones who unlock those things can become Shinobi. But unlike chakra, chakra coils are entirely different things.

The chakra coils or chakra pathways usually developed during the first few years of a baby. A baby's body doesn't automatically possess chakra coils. Rather, the chakra coils develop as the baby matures into a child. Any premature attempt to unlock chakra before the coils were entirely formed would eventually result in malformed chakra coils.

When I first learned of this, I began to sweat for I had tried to access my chakra for the past few months. After seeing Asuma begin to train with his chakra, I had secretly tried to access it. Seeing me sweat Biwako chuckled before beginning to explain how it is very difficult to unlock chakra when the coils are still being formed. Three years is an ideal time to begin chakra unlocking and hence Biwako had waited for me to complete three years before starting to explain about chakra.

I was immensely grateful to her for that. When I had calmed down a bit, Biwako stated my first lesson on chakra. Chakra, as I already know, is present in every living thing. Each and every one of us had unique chakra signature, capacity, and affinity. Some are greatly attuned to their chakra. Some are far less attuned their chakra. Some had large reserves and some had lesser reserves. Clans like Uzumaki, Senju, Sarutobi, Akimichi, and Uchiha had larger reserves of chakra in general. While clans like Nara, Yamanaka, Hyuga, and Inuzaka usually had lesser reserves. But, that doesn't mean it is set in stone. The capacity of each and every individual differed.

So is their control of that said chakra. Those who are attuned to their chakra more had greater control of their chakra and those who aren't attuned to their chakra more are had lesser chakra control. But, these all could be rectified with proper training.

But, there are unchangeable aspects of each individual's chakra too. For example one's nature. The Uchihas have greater control towards Yin chakra. While the Senjus and Uzumakis of the world had greater control towards the Yang chakra. Because those are what they are naturally aligned to. So is the elemental affinity of the chakra. The five basic elemental affinity of the chakra is unique to each person and however one may try they can't change it. So is the Kekkei Genkai aspect.

After lecturing me about the various types of chakra and its nature, she set me on my first chakra exercise. Unlocking the said chakra. The most ideal way to unlock one's chakra is to meditate and feel it on our own. In case of emergencies and extreme situations, an adult can unlock a child's chakra coil. If the chakra is failed to unlock before one hits his teen years, it can't be unlocked at all.

I spent a few hours each day trying to unlock my chakra. It wasn't easy either. If I had really been a child, without any preconceptions of how the world worked or some other things an adult's mind is tainted with, it would have been a walk in the park. Unfortunately, I had those said preconceptions on how the world worked and other things leading me to have a difficult time in unlocking my chakra. After the first week, even Biwako was beginning to get worried. Nevertheless, I preserved in my attempt to unlock my chakra on my own.

I could have easily asked Biwako to unlock my chakra. But then again it had its own drawbacks. Due to the external help, my chakra would always be difficult to control. Poor chakra control is a recipe for disaster for a Shinobi. And I didn't want that unless until there was no other way. There was a reason they only used it in emergencies.

Despite the frustrations the task brought me, I kept at it for a few weeks before I finally started to clear my mind out of all the distractions that were clouding me. In my past life I had heard about the concept called zen state. It was the only thing I could describe as the state I was in.

But the job was only half done. Honestly, after reading all those fanfictions you would think it would be easy to unlock one's chakra. But the truth could be nowhere close to it. After reaching the zen state, I tried various methods I had known to unlock my chakra. But all ended in vain. But still, I preserved in my dedication to unlock my chakra. And it paid off after ten weeks after I had initially begun.

It was a beautiful evening in Konoha. Rain was always a special occurrence in Konoha. While we weren't starved for rain like Suna, Konoha didn't get much rain either. But, I wasn't enjoying it like I usually did. Asuma had tried to drag me out to play in the rain, but I had refused to be budged from my meditation. Asuma had given me a weird look before rushing outside to get wet in the rain.

I slipped back into my zen state and started to think about various methods to unlock my chakra. But after a while, I realized it wasn't working. Sure, I had some progress with some of the methods but none of them had unlocked my chakra yet. And it was so damn frustrating.

Believe me, ten weeks of meditation to do a simple task which other kids took only days to do was so darn frustrating. Especially if you had an adult mind!

I emptied my mind once more and started thinking of some innovative ways to unlock my chakra. But, none came to mind. I could hear the raindrops falling from the nearby window though. The pitter patter sound they made was beginning to intrude on my concentration. Unable to concentrate further I let out a huge huff and began my process once more.

It had become a common occurrence that it didn't even phase me to go through all those steps again. But the raindrops were not letting me concentrate. This time I wasn't even able to reach the zen state in the normal way I used to.

So, I took a gamble and began concentrating on a particular area from the roof where the rain water was falling from. The constant drip drops soon soothed me and I lost myself in their sound. I don't know how long I held on to that particular sound before my mind began to calm considerably and I entered the zen state I was usually in, albeit with the sound of the constant drip drop.

And then it happened.

One moment everything felt normal and the next moment everything became clear. There was a strange sense of rush that usually didn't occur in this state. Accompanying it was a sense of clarity that I have never felt before in either of my lives. It was both calming and energizing.

I meditated for more than an hour before opening my eyes. Biwako was looking at me with a huge grin that spoke volumes. I could feel that she was proud of me for persevering until I unlocked the chakra. The hug she gave me was filled with joy and it gave me a strange sense of accomplishment. And I was sure I had a stupid grin on my face at that moment.

Well, I had initially thought that Biwako would start teaching me more about chakra once I unlocked it. Unfortunately, it was not the case. Instead, I was introduced to morning katas.

Days after unlocking my chakra I was ushered into the garden along with Asuma. From that day on, we both went through hell. Kata after kata, stance after stance, we were forced to perfect it. I am sure both me and Asuma felt that someone had taken over Biwako and was making us suffer. Strangely enough that feeling only persisted till we were in training. Inside the house though, Biwako was an angel as always.

Both Asuma and I went through Taijutsu practice each day in the morning until we could move no longer. There was nothing special about it. We were only learning the basics. But, Biwako expected us to perfect it to an insane degree that left us scarred for life.

Sometimes, Hiruzen would pop in and watch us train. Sometimes some other Sarutobi clan members would pop in. Even Danzo popped in to watch us train one day. I distinctly remember my heart beating faster feeling his eyes on me.

Biwako never taught us any specialized Taijutsu. She was content with teaching us basics. When I asked about it, she gave me a very simplistic answer.

"Hatorama kun, you are very young. As of now, all you need is to know how to throw a punch and kick. There is nothing more to Taijutsu than that. It is all about punches and kicks. All the fancy movements and jumping around doesn't matter. All that matters is your punch or kick connecting with your opponent. Don't complicate things. When you grow up, you can find the style that you are most comfortable with and then combine it to make your personal brand of Taijutsu. That is what Academy is for. Until then, you can relax."

Strangely enough, I understood her reasoning. She wanted us to be kids a little longer. Before we were inevitably ushered into the Shinobi world. And I can't fault her either. As far as she knew, a war had recently ended. She doesn't know that there is another war looming on the horizon or even worse shit was going to happen down the line.

But, I knew it was going to happen. And I didn't want to be defenseless when it came around. So, I took to my Taijutsu practice with fervent dedication that Asuma didn't possess. For him, at this age, it was a boringly monotonous activity.

I didn't mind the monotony though. I threw myself into Taijutsu like a man possessed. I tried to perform the katas faster. I tried to increase the power of my punches and kicks and I kept at it for a long time each day.

As expected, my dedication paid dividends. Pretty soon, I was far faster than any little kid had any right to be. My reflexes were honed to the level of a genin and Biwako stated that I would never have to worry about being bested in Taijutsu at least in the academy.

"So, what do you want?" Hiruzen asked us letting out a thick cloud of smoke from his pipe.

I eyed the rack of various weapons that were arrayed before me. Beside me, Asuma was checking it out too.

Asuma had recently turned six and will be attending the academy tomorrow. To celebrate the occasion, Hiruzen had taken some time off from his Hokage duties and had brought us to a weapons shop. We were each to get one item from the shop. We were allowed to choose though, and if it passes the adult's scrutiny he was willing to buy it for us.

Asuma, as expected, chose a set of brand new Kunai. I knew he was pretty hung on becoming a shinobi and there was no weapon more iconic than a kunai to a young kid. So his choice didn't surprise me. Instead of buying some random thing like Asuma, I eyed the wares displayed critically so that I could buy something useful for me.

"Hatorama kun, what do you want?" Hiruzen asked me after purchasing Asuma's choice.

I bit my lips before making up my mind and pointed at a particular object that had been pretty tempting.

"What's that?" I asked the shopkeeper.

"Oh this, this is something new that has come up on the market. These are called chakra weights. You apply some chakra here into this seal and the weight increases to a certain amount. They say it could be used for training purposes. But, I don't know if it is any good though. I mean… they are very new on the market."

Bingo!

That was actually something I had been searching for. With these chakra weights, I could both increase my speed and power at least double the level.

"I want them," I said in absolute conviction.

"Are you sure Hatorama kun?" Hiruzen asked me with concern etched across his face.

"Yeah, I want it" I nodded my head.

"Wouldn't you like a set of kunai or shuriken?" Hiruzen asked me.

"No,"

"If you are sure, then give me one of those. Something smaller in size that would suit him."