DISCLAIMER: We in now way own Naruto...ya'll need to remember that...
. . . .
The Twice Caged Bird
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Chapter 4: Forbidden Friends
. . . .
Naruto had a lost look on his face and tilted his head to the side. "Huh?" he said lamely. Kurama groaned once more at Naruto's incompetence.
"This is going to take a while…"
. . . .
"Okay brat you've almost got it...a little more chakra...there! Stop!" Kurama instructed the little blonde as he channeled his chakra into the Ram seal, trying to perform the Henge no Jutsu. After letting the chakra he was storing loose throughout his body, a small plume of smoke covered him. Once the smoke disappeared, where a blond, spiky haired blue eyed boy stood, was now a red haired boy with green eyes and a few freckles on his face.
Naruto looked into the mirror that Kurama conjured up next to him in his mindscape and smiled widely. "Yatta! I look so different!" he cheered until he looked to his forehead. The Seal was still there and it caused him to become slightly depressed. "Aw man..I thought I hid that this time…" he grumbled to himself and hung his head. Kurama snorted and shook his head before he rested his muzzle on his front paws.
"Don't worry kid, you've only been working on this Jutsu for four hours. Most brats your age don't even begin to fathom what chakra even is, let alone use it. You will get it in time." he said to the blonde after a long yawn.
After explaining to Naruto how the mindscape worked, Kurama began coaching the boy though his chakra exercises and helped him learn his first jutsu. It had only been three hours and Kurama had to admit, the brat was a quick learner. With Kurama's help, he was able to get the jist of the leaf sticking exercise and began working on Henge. Since Kurama was a being made of entirely of chakra, he had quite a bit of knowledge of how it worked. So while reading Naruto's chakra flow easily, he let the boy know when he was using too much or too little chakra for the technique.
It amazed Kurama still, even though he knew that Naruto's chakra coils were using his own chakra to expand themselves and increase the boys reserves past what was humanly possible, but to have at least a high Chunin level of chakra at six years old was just unimaginable for a human child. However, Naruto's large reserves weren't necessarily a good thing. With his large reserves, it made it harder to use the low level jutsus he was trying to learn since they used so little chakra that it was near impossible for the blonde to filter out the smallest hint of power through the vast ocean of chakra he had without overdoing it.
But, that was why Kurama was helping him by telling him when he had enough. Under normal circumstances, it would have most likely of taken the boy weeks, if not months to even begin to master the Henge, let alone already be able to change his hair and eye colors.
And Kurama would not have a weak host, especially in the hostile kind of environment they were in. He knew that these Jutsu the boy was learning were going to be useless in the future, save for the Kawarimi, and that the Old Monkey of a Hokage would try to send him new jutsu and other assistance once he finished learning what he was given. So, Kurama needed his Kit to learn as fast as he could so that he would be able to defend himself and one day, hopefully, find a way to remove that damn seal from his head.
Naruto sat down in and looked at Kurama. "Hey, Kurama, how long has it been since I started working in here?" he asked the fox. Kurama peeked down at him and though for a moment.
"Well, time here works differently than it does in reality. In here it has been about five hours, but in reality, it has been nearly half an hour. Time here moves ten times faster than in reality." he explained to the blonde.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion and Kurama sensed this was going to be a recurring theme whenever he would try to explain something. He groaned and mumbled to himself. "10 hours in here, 1 hour out there." he said slowly to the confused child.
Understanding dawned on the boy's eyes. "Ooohhhh." he said intelligently in response. "Got it, so, I can spend a long time here and it would be like I was just taking a nap in my house." he summarized to himself and nodded.
Kurama shook his head at the boy's minimalistic knowledge and sighed. "Precisely." he said to the boy before sitting back onto his haunches. "Alright, what we are going to do next is work on your physical skills. You won't be able to gain muscle mass here, but you will develop muscle memory from repeated practice." he started to explain to the boy and stopped himself as he saw the blonde's head begin to tilt to the side. He sighed before he started again. "You can't get muscles in here, but you can learn how to do things. You have to exercise in reality if you want to get bigger and faster." he said slowly to the boy, getting a nod of understanding from him he continued. In front of Naruto formed a small box filled with Kunai and another box filled with Shuriken. About ten yards away from him a target dummy like the ones at the Academy formed. Naruto looked at Kurama with a confused expression before the fox explained.
"You humans seem to value the art of Bukijutsu, so, you need to at least know the basics on how to handle sharp objects. We'll start with target practice. Now pick up a Kunai and we'll get started."
. . . .
When Naruto returned to reality the sun had finally set and it was nearly eight o'clock. He had spent thirty hours with Kurama in his mindscape and had a basic understanding of how to use the Henge technique and after several hours of practice, could pin a Kunai into the target dummy from fifteen yards away. Not in the bullseye, or anywhere close, but he could at least hit the target. And seeing as he was only six years old, Kurama told him he had plenty of time to improve.
So, now that he was back in reality he got up and went to water Kakutasu-chan with the sink he had. After watering his little cactus he put her back on top of his dresser and curled up in his cot. He pulled his woolen blanket and gave a slight shiver. The October nights were getting colder, and the fact he didn't have a door did nothing to help the draft from coming into his shack.
Even though he was cold, the mental exhaustion from training with Kurama won out in the end and sent him to an early sleep.
. . . .
His dreams that night were strange. He dreamt of a man with golden hair, standing with his back to Naruto. The dream was too blurry to make anything else out, until a flash of red caught his eyes and suddenly he was looking into large, pain filled violet eyes. The eyes closed as tears poured down them, and then a voice called out to him through haziness of his dream.
"Naruto-chan...my little Naruto-chan...I love you so much...little Naru-chan…" cried out a feminine voice.
Naruto wanted to call back to the voice. He wanted to know who she was, and where she was. But before he could say anything the image faded to him sitting on an altar, and the blurry image of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, reaching down to him. The old man had tears running down his cheeks as he picked Naruto up in his arms and held him close.
"I swear on your graves -, -, I will protect this boy…" he vowed as he held Naruto to him. The two names he said were drowned out by a static like sound, and the image was too blurry to make out what he said by reading his lips. Again, Naruto tried to call out to him but the image faded.
And he woke up.
. . . .
"JIJI!" Naruto yelled as he woke up with a start. The little boy sat up in his cot, noticing he was in a cold sweat and shaking slightly. He took his time to get his breathing in check and looked outside to check what time it was. It was nearly midnight out and Naruto was wide awake. He tried to probe his mind and see if Kurama was awake, but the only answer he got from the fox was a loud snore and slight grunt of annoyance.
Naruto shakily stood from his cot and walked over to his 'door'. He needed to go somewhere, he needed to get his mind off the dream he just had, and he knew of only one place he could let himself go and forget all of his worries.
The gardens.
The little boy snuck out of his shack and silently made his way over to the gardens. After the last two years of him running and hiding from angry villagers, he had become accustomed to moving silently and unseen.
He stuck to the shadows, and avoided anything that could make any form of sound as best as possible. It took him ten minutes of a silent crawling pace, but he made it to the center of the garden, where the large tree stood that held the old rope swing.
He silently made his way up to the swing and chose to sit on it this time. He didn't know why, but it just felt like the right thing to do. He sat on the swing, lightly swinging back and forth for what seemed like hours before he felt the first tear fall from his eyes. He stopped swinging, and just sat there, silently letting his tears fall freely, not trying to hide them, not trying to wipe them away, just letting them fall. His mask of happiness down and broken for the moment, he let his emotions do what they felt was needed, and he let the tears fall.
He sat there for a few moments in silence, till he heard a quiet voice from behind him call out. "A-Ano…" a quiet and girlish voice called to him. Naruto's fear took over for a brief moment as he launched himself from the swing and turned to the voice while crawling away. He looked at where the voice came from, and saw a little girl partially hiding behind the tree. It was too dark to see any of her features...but her voice seemed familiar, he just couldn't remember where he knew it from.
When he suddenly jumped away from the swing the girl let out a quiet 'eep' and hid a little further behind the tree. She looked at him with nervous, and slightly curious eyes. "S-Sorry if I scared you." she said quietly, pressing her index finger together as she leaned out from behind the tree.
Naruto's tension started to leave him when he saw that she was just a shy little girl, not any of the Elders or older Branch Members. He opted to just sit and look at her with caution, not wanting to speak incase someone was watching, or if he accidentally spoke too loudly and alerted someone.
So he sat there, looking at the little girl, waiting for her to continue talking.
She continued to look at him nervously and pressed her finger together. "I-I was just wondering w-why you were out here by yourself c-crying...it's really late o-out…" she asked the blonde innocently as she looked to the ground, only stealing glances at him.
Naruto just looked at her, debating actually answering her or just trying to make a run for it before he was spotted by anyone else. He stayed there until a few clouds moved out of the way of the moon, letting its light wash over the gardens and illuminate the area so Naruto could finally see just who he was speaking to.
It was the little girl from the day before. The little blue haired girl that was hiding behind Ko. The little girl Kouen had explicitly warned him to never talk to. Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto gasped lightly as he started to back away slowly. "I-I'm not supposed to talk to you…" he mumbles quietly to himself. But not quiet enough for the young Hyuuga not to hear him. She looked down and and backed away behind the tree. "I-I'm sorry…" she said softly, a slight hitch in her voice catching Naruto's attention.
It sounded like she was about to cry, and for some reason, he didn't want to see her cry. He stood up and slowly walked over to her. "K-Kouen-sama told me not to talk to you...but Kouen-sama isn't here, and we aren't breaking the rules if we're not caught." he said to the little Hyuuga. He held out a hand to her and let one of his false grins show itself on his face, his eyes closing as he hid his emotions behind his mask once again. "My name's Naruto, it's nice to meet you." he said in a vote of false happiness and confidence.
Hinata looked back up at him, blushing lightly. She tentatively reached out and grasped his hand and shook it. "I-It's nice to meet y-you too. I'm Hyuuga H-Hinata." she stammed quietly as her blush increased as she held onto his hand.
Naruto shook her hand for a moment before an awkward silence took over and the two stood in uncomfortable silence. Naruto debated with himself before he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "I-I should go…" he said as he started to turn to leave. Hinata's eyes went wide and she reached out for him for a reason unknown to her.
"W-wait!" she called as she grabbed lightly at his sleeve.
Naruto stopped and turned to the brightly blushing girl. "Y-you didn't answer my question...W-why were you crying?" she asked in a quiet voice, still holding onto his sleeve. Naruto looked down to her hand and then back at her curious and nervous face. He sighed and looked down a bit before he answered her.
"I-I had a bad dream. I just needed to got out and sit for a while...it was nothing to worry about, honest." he said in a sheepish tone as he scratched the back of his head, letting his false smile spread across his face again.
Hinata didn't buy it for a second. No one shows emotions like he had from just a dream. He had absolutely the most depressed, saddened, and lifeless expression on his face when he thought he was alone. Then, as soon as she arrived, it was like a completely different person had taken over his body. False confidence and faked happiness hiding all of the pain in his eyes.
But she knew better than to pry too far into his business. She had experienced what tended to happen when she asked too many questions…
So she decided to drop it. She smiled and nodded to him. "O-oh, that's g-good then." she said to the boy. She was about to say something to him, but Naruto asked his own question before she could even open her mouth.
"Why are you out here? Did you have a bad dream too?" he asked the girl. Hinata averted her gaze and looked around at all the flowers around them.
"W-Well…" she started to say. "I-I like to come out here w-when no one's around so I can press some of the flowers." she explained to the blond. Naruto tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Press flowers? What's that?" he asked innocently. Hinata smiled shyly, before leading him back over to the tree by his sleeve, which she noticed she was still holding onto. She lead him around to the other side of the tree and showed him a book that had several flowers laminated into the pages with descriptions of what they were and their potential uses.
Naruto's eyes widened as she showed him all the different flowers she had pressed into the book. "W-Wow...I never knew flowers could do stuff like that...medicine and tea? I just thought they were really pretty…" he breathed as he looked through the book. Hinata smiled at him and giggled at his enjoyment.
"A-All things have a use, silly." she said to him, but the second the words left her mouth, a sudden depression swept over her. "A-At least that's what my Kaa-san used to say…" she mumbled to herself, not quite loud enough for Naruto to catch. But, he did notice her depressed state.
"Hey, Hinata-chan," he said to the girl, causing her to look up and blush at him. It was the first time someone had called her 'chan' since her mother, and...she sort of liked it. "You come out here everyday, right?" he asked her. She nodded in return, cocking an eyebrow at him, wondering what he could be asking about.
Embarrassment swept over Naruto as he thought of what he would be asking her. "W-well...would it be okay if I came out tomorrow and you showed m-me how to-to press flowers?" he stammered in embarrassment as he scratched his cheek, trying to hide the blush spreading across his face.
Hinata's eyes widened as her own blush covered her face, making her face glow crimson in the dark night. She slowly nodded to the boy, not meeting his eye for fear of fainting on the spot. Naruto smiled brightly, a true smile this time, not his false masking grins he used to hide his pain. And Hinata noticed. She was nearly blown away by the sudden warmth she felt spread over her when she caught even the faintest glimpse of his happiness.
"I'll see ya tomorrow then Hinata-chan. I should probably go before it gets too late." he said as he stood up to leave. And noticed that Hinata was still holding onto his sleeve.
She also seemed to notice when she let out a quiet 'eep' and slowly retracted her hand. "S-Sorry…" she muttered to him without looking him in the eye. He smiled warmly to her. For some reason, the thought of her holding onto his sleeve made him...happy.
"It's fine Hinata-chan. I'll see you tomorrow." he said in a kindly tone before he turned and left the garden as silently as he came.
. . . .
Ko smiled as Naruto walked out of the garden.
He had been watching the two ever since Hinata left her room. He knew she liked to go out late at night and spend time in the gardens. And he didn't mind it as long as he was there to watch over her, and honestly, after all of the things she has to go through in the day, she deserved to have the night to herself.
He followed her to the garden and watched her and the newest member of the clan interact. He couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his heart when he saw the utter pain on Naruto's face when she first saw him out on the swing alone. But he began to grow a smile as the two interacted.
And when Naruto finally really smiled to her, he grew a full blown grin. The two seemed good for each other. They were both social outcasts of the Hyuuga clan. One for his burden he bare's to protect the lives of everyone of the village, only to be misjudged and ill forgotten. And the other to be shunned, beaten, and degraded for her kindness, and compassion towards others. But when they were together, they seemed to meld together and flow with one each other naturally.
And to Ko's amazement, it was probably the most Hinata had ever spoken at one time since her mother died. The girl had been silent and depressed ever since the tragic death of Hyuuga Hitomi one year ago, which only added to her beatings and verbal lashings for not being strong. Not acting like a 'proper' heir to the Hyuuga clan.
So, to defend their sliver of happiness, he would keep quiet. And silently cheer them on from the shadows.
. . . .
Naruto slept soundly that night. Content that he had finally made a friend. It was such a novel thing to think about. A friend he would only be able to speak to in secret. Truly peculiar. But he didn't care. She was now a friend, and one that he could most likely confide in if he needed to. And now that he thought about it, that list now had two people on it. Sure he had considered Hiroki and Ko friends, but he just hadn't connected them like he had with Hinata, like with Kurama.
He had felt something familiar between himself and Hinata, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly.
And with Kurama, well, it was either get along and help each other in this hostile environment, or hate and struggle with each other and hinder themselves from growing and surviving. But before he could really think anymore on it, he let his fatigue get the better of him and drifted off, to thankfully dreamless, sleep.
. . . .
Naruto woke up early the next morning. It was about six in the morning and Ko would be around to pick him up at seven. So, to capitalize on his hour of time, he went into his mindscape to train with Kurama. Naruto closed his eyes and sat in the position that Kurama had taught him the day before and slowed his breathing. He reached into himself until he finally found what he needed, and then let himself go.
When he opened up his eyes he was in the dark sewers that was his mindscape, standing in front of Kurama's cage. The massive fox was looking at him with a sly smirk and half hooded eyes. "I see you've gotten yourself a vixen Kit. You're a little young for that in human years, but depending on where we are, it might be best to leave a few kits of your own sooner rather than later." Kurama drawled lazily as he propped his head up on one of his paws, never letting his smirk slip from his face.
Naruto's face lit up like a fire and he turned away from the fox before steam could come from his face. "I-I'M SIX! WHY W-WOULD I THINK ABOUT THAT Y-YET!? ERO-KITSUNE!" he yelled indignantly. Apparently living in the red light district has a certain effect on children by making them learn about the birds and the bees at an early age. It was an awkward day after one of the girls living in his apartment decided to give him the uncensored 'talk'. He stayed turned away from the fox so he could reign in his thoughts and calm himself.
After a while he took in a deep, calming breath and let his muscles relax themselves. Now completely calm and ready for action, he turned back to the fox.
Kurama couldn't help but snicker at the boy before letting out a long yawn. "Alright brat, we're gonna keep working on Bukijutsu for the first three hours we have here. Then we'll switch back over to Henge and Chakra control for the rest." he drawled as he rolled onto his side. A basket of Kunai and Shuriken formed next to Naruto and a target dummy stood down field from him. Kurama yawned again before waving his massive paw towards the boy. "Get to it then. I'm gonna go back to sleep." he yawned and closed his eyes to fall back asleep.
Naruto scowled at the fox and huffed.
"Lazy ass fox…" he grumbled under his breath as he turned to the weapons and started throwing.
Kurama snorted at the boy. "Heard that ya' dingy Human." he mocked the blond, causing him to growl at the fox before returning to his training.
. . . .
"Henge!" Naruto called as a plume of smoke enveloped his body. After the smoke cleared away a near perfect copy of Ko stood in Naruto's place. The only difference between Naruto's illusion and the real Ko was that Naruto made the hair slightly darker than the originals, and his face was a few shades darker than the pale Hyuuga's normal skin tone.
Kurama had woken up from his nap about an hour before Naruto started working on his Henge, and was nodding to the boy for a job well done. "Good work brat, with a little more practice you'll have it down. Now, why don't we start on the next jutsu in that scroll." he instructed the blond. Naruto nodded and took the scroll from its table and opened it to the second jutsu that was within.
"Kawarimi…" he read aloud. This jutsu was constructed to be a means of escape from dangerous positions, as well as a way out of traps and snares. The user uses his chakra to replace themselves with a nearby object, usually within ten meters and within eyesight. The first part of this jutsu was to get a feel for being able to send out a focused pulse of chakra to touch the item that the user wanted to substitute with. So, Kurama had Naruto working on pulsing his chakra.
This exercise was surprisingly easy for the blonde. Due to his massive amounts of chakra for his age, all he had to do it open up his tenketsu a bit and his chakra would flood out of him in a nearly visible blue flame. So, after a half hour, he had chakra pulsing down. And with some assistance from Kurama, an hour later he was able to substitute with an object from five feet away.
After practicing Kawarimi for about an hour longer, Naruto was getting close to his time limit so he decided to put training to a stop for the moment and return to reality.
. . . .
Naruto opened his eyes yet again and found himself in his shack, sitting in the lotus position on his cot. He got up and stretched out his stiff joints before washing himself to the best of his ability with the sink he had on hand. He checked his clothes and noticed they were going to need to be cleaned soon. He didn't know how he was going to go about doing that, but he decided to just ask Ko about it when he showed up.
He put on his goggles to cover his Seal and checked on Kakatatsu-chan before sitting back down on his cot to wait for Ko.
A few minutes later Naruto heard a knock on the wall next to his 'door'. "Hey Naruto-kun, you up? I brought breakfast and it's time to go to the gardens." Ko called from outside. Naruto got off his cot and walked over to the entrance of his shack. He opened the curtain that acted as his door and smiled up at Ko. Ko smiled back at him before seeing the goggles on Naruto's forehead. "Uh...Naruto-kun...where did you get those goggles?" he asked in a worried tone.
Naruto blinked a few times before Kurama gave him an excuse he could use. "They were with my old clothes. In my back pocket." he said quickly to the older Hyuuga. Ko gave him a dry look, not buying it for a second, but just shrugged it off. If the kid wanted to wear some goggles, why not let him? Everyone else in the Branch Family wore wrappings or a Hitai-ate to cover their seals, so why not the goggles.
He sighed and handed Naruto a small box of food. "Alright then. Here, eat up so we can head on out." he instructed the blond. Naruto nodded and sat down in his shack and quickly ate the rice and scrambled eggs that were inside. He got up and went back over to Ko, who handed him a small bottle of water to drink. After downing the water Ko smiled at him and ushered him to the Gardens for another day of hard, but enjoyable, work.
. . . .
Naruto was busy pulling a weed from a bush full of daisies when Hiroki came up to him. She gave him a curious look before smiling. "Nice goggles there Naruto-kun." she chirped to the boy. Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "T-Thanks Hiroki-neechan."
She crouched down next to him and started helping him with the daisies. They worked together for a little while in silence before Hiroki turned back to him. "Hey Naruto-kun...I actually have a little news for you." she said with a shifty glance, like she was worried about getting caught.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to go on. "Well, in two days there is going to be an Ambassador from Kumo coming...and...Kouen-sama ordered that you weren't to leave your housing while he was here…" she said the boy in an embarrassed tone. Naruto's eyebrow just continued to rise as he listened to her tell him about the meeting. "So, you won't be aloud to leave for the whole day...and I'll be busy with taking care of the Ambassador...I don't want to make you think I was just leaving you alone okay? I won't be able to bring you lunch, and...and I don't think anyone will be there to get you breakfast either…" she continued to the boy.
Naruto paled a bit when he caught onto where this was going. No food for a whole day. Oh the horror! But he put on a brave face, not wanting to look weak in front of Hiroki. "D-Don't worry about it Hiroki-neechan. I can go one day without food. It isn't that big of a deal." he said with a false smile.
Hiroki smiled at him and gave him a hug. "Oh, you're my little trooper. I'm so sorry I won't be able to help. I don't think anything I make will stay fresh long enough in your shack to last the day, unless you want to eat cereal and dry oatmeal all day." she said in a sarcastic tone. Naruto shuddered at the thought of eating nothing but dry cereal and dry oatmeal all day. Kami forbid that nightmare ever came true. The ration bars he got from Inu sounded better.
They continued in a somewhat awkward silence until it was time for lunch. Naruto followed Hiroki back to the pavilion area where the other three gardeners ate their lunches.
"Oh hey Hiroki, and hello again Naruto-kun." Tora greeted the two as they sat down with them. Hiroki smiled and offered a curt bow to the elderly man. Naruto smiled brightly but didn't say anything. Mira and Michiko said their hello's and went back to talking about whatever it was they talked about aside from their daily duties. Mainly gossip around the compound, whose cousin married who and rumors about an up and coming prodigy in Branch Family.
"So, I heard Neji-kun is starting at the Academy next spring." Mira said to the group before she took a bite out of an apple. The other Branch Members all nodded with slight smiles on their faces. Naruto blinked a few times. trying to remember where he had heard that name before.
"I bet Mina-sama is very proud of him. I heard he's gifted that one, a real Jyuken prodigy." Tora added with a hardy laugh. The others joined in with him and laughed as well.
Naruto cocked his head to side, wondering what he was talking about. The blond tugged on Hiroki's sleeve a bit and made her look over to him. She saw that he was confused and leaned over to him. "What's up Naruto-kun?" she asked the boy.
"What's Ji-yuken?" he asked with his head still cocked to the side, having some difficulty pronouncing the word. He waited for an answer, but he saw that the branch members flashed their Byakugan before responding. Hiroki moved a little closer to him before she explained.
"Naruto-kun, the Jyuken is the Hyuuga's prized Taijutsu technique. We use our Byakugan to see your chakra pathways and strike certain points to make the flow of chakra stop. Or we can hit internal organs, or even paralyze you with a touch." she explained to the boy in a hushed tone while the others kept a watchful eye for anyone trying to listen in on them. Naruto blinked a few times, taking a moment to think about what she said and make sense of it. He was about to ask about it again before Kurama filled in the details.
"Oohh." he said while slowly nodding his head.
Then he had stars in his eyes from hearing about the technique. "Can you teach me how to do that Hiroki-neechan? Can you?" he asked excitedly, nearly bouncing on the spot he was sitting. Hiroki frowned a bit before shaking her head.
"Sorry Naruto-kun. The only way someone can use the Jyuken is if they have the Byakugan. And we aren't aloud to teach anyone how to use the technique without permission from the Main Family." she said in a saddened tone, hating to put the kid down.
Naruto looked down a bit and his excitement died down. "Oh...oh well. I guess I'll learn something else then." he said before looking back up at Hiroki and flashing a false smile to her. "Don't worry Hiroki-neechan. I'll learn something even cooler than the Jyuken and become Hokage for sure!" he exclaimed with a thump on his chest. Hiroki smiled sadly, knowing that one day Naruto would have to wake up from his dream, and face reality. But today was not that day. She reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair with a smile.
"I know you will little brother. I know you will…"
. . . .
That night Naruto went into his mindscape before going to meet up with Hinata. It was six o'clock and he had just finished his dinner before he went to train with Kurama.
He appeared before the fox and started to stretch out his small arms. "So Kurama-sensei, what's first?" he asked with a bright smile.
Kurama gave him a slight grunt and thought for a moment, a frown on his face. Naruto blinked a few times, wondering what was up with Kurama. It took a few seconds before Kurama finished thinking. "Alright brat, I think it's time for you to start learning some form of Taijutsu." he said to the boy. Naruto cocked his head to the side before asking the obvious question.
"But I thought we couldn't do any physical training here? Just muscle memory and chakra control." he asked the fox, deeply confused.
Kurama nodded to the boy. "Yes Kit, that's all you can learn here. But, when practicing what you humans call Taijutsu, you will need a certain amount of muscle memory in order to successfully kick someone, or use a combo of strikes. Your body will need to be able to register how you want to move before you can. So, even though you won't be gaining any physical strength, you can learn how to move and strike an opponent here." he explained to the boy. Naruto nodded along, trying really hard to understand just what the fox was talking about.
Kurama snorted at the trying boy and shook his head. "Now, I've seen hundreds of different styles of Taijutsu while I was trapped in my previous host-" he started before Naruto cut him off.
"WAIT! You had a different host before me?" he asked in shock. Kurama growled lightly at him.
"I might tell you about...her...in the future, but not now. So don't interrupt me again brat." the fox warned, letting a little anger into his voice. Naruto gulped and decided to shut up. Kurama nodded with a huff. "Good, now where was I...Ah, yes. Since I have seen so many different Taijutsu styles, I think I can show you a few that may be useful." the fox told the blond. Naruto nodded and waited for Kurama to continue.
Kurama sat on his haunches in thought. Scratching his head, trying to think of a style that could work for the Kit.
"He's small, but very fast for his age...probably gets that from 'him'...but he's got an incredible amount of stamina...strong fist? No that works too much physical strength and hard blows, he's too small for that...cheetah style? It could work...but then again, I don't think it could help us against 'these' opponents...We need something that works on redirecting blows without getting hit...Hold on…" he thought to himself, working through all of the possible styles he could teach the boy. Until he snapped his head up with a feral smirk.
"Alright brat, I think I have just the Taijutsu style for you to learn…"
. . . .
(A/N): To be continued….
Bulba Fett: Still just doing some basic changes. Thank God the amount of basic structure mistakes in this are becoming fewer and fewer as this goes on, I was really doubting my past self as a writer for a bit there :P. Again, fixing Hinata's stuttering problem. BIG shoutout to Peacemaren for pointing out that I had the title of the story spelt wrong xD God I'm still banging my head on my desk about that one.
Anyway, don't expect a Chapter out tomorrow, gotta go meet my sister in South Carolina tomorrow to drop some stuff off to her, so I've got about 6 hours of driving to do and I'm not gonna bring my Laptop or do the editing on my Phone, that would be fuckin' torture man.
Remember to REVIEW! And like always, we'll see ya next time!
