Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series. So please, don't sue me.
Ninko, Chapter 4: The Plans of Fox and Man...
"Welcome to my humble abode, Hiruzen-kun," drawled the red-haired woman, a smile upon her face.
Sarutobi frowned as he looked at his 'pseudo-grandson', seemingly unconscious in his hands. It was...disturbing to consider that the demon sealed before him would be able to exert such influence on the boy. The seal must have been more damaged than he had anticipated.
The wizened Hokage's trained eyes took in his surrounding in an instant, and of particular note was the strange paper adhered to one of the metal column before him. It was split in two, as though ripped, and he saw that beneath it - on the bar itself - lay the second seal he had seen before. As of yet, it's purpose was unclear to him.
"I do not relish being referred to in such a companionable register by one such as you, Kyuubi no Yoko," Sarutobi Hiruzen responded at last. "I haven't been referred to as 'kun' in decades."
"Ah, but you are so young, 'Jiji'," the red-haired vixen replied, eyes shining mischievously. "So young, yet so close to death. Tragic."
"Un, I'm sure you're quite grief-stricken," the gray-haired shinobi replied, his brown eyes like stone beneath the hat of his position. A breath passed, before he continued. "I'll not let you corrupt this boy. Minato-kun's legacy won't be turned against this village," Sarutobi asserted, gently laying the blond-haired boy to the floor of his dream-scape.
"And what would you do if you are already to late?" the redhead queried.
"I'd do what must be done, for the good of the village. Better...better put to rest then ensorcelled by one such as you."
"Yare yare! So cruel Jiji. Would you really kill dear little Naruto-kun for being nothing but a victim of fate?" the woman asked, her voice feigning shock.
"If you forced my hand? Indeed," the Hokage replied, firmly.
"I have little doubt," the demon in human form replied, much of the levity leaving her voice. "You apes are a...zealous bunch."
At that the conversation paused, an Sarutobi took the opportunity to look at the form the Kyuubi no Yoko had taken. Her red eyes shone like rubies as her piercing gaze rest upon him, and he couldn't help but note the delicacy of her features. She was clothed in a delicate red kimono, highlighted with gold-colored leaves and swirls. The choice of clothing was tasteful, but it did little to hide her physical beauty, the seductive features that kitsune of myth were renowned for evident in her form. It was difficult to connect this woman standing before him with the best that had lain siege upon the walls of Konoha.
"Like what you see, Hiruzen-kun?" the woman queried in a melodic tone, her words carrying a slight teasing quality.
Hiruzen's eyes were drawn back the woman's face, and his attention fell upon the fire-red hair that flowed down her back. He felt a pang in his chest at how similar such a look was to Kushina-chan. "Your appearances are aesthetically pleasing...but such things haven't mattered in years. I'm not some amorous young man you can bewitch."
The redhead pouted, "aww, so mean. Can't you let me have my fun?"
Her only response was Sarutobi's hardened gaze.
"Tch. Fine then, to business it is. Why do approach me?" she demanded, her tone lacking the frivolous quality it had possessed mere moments prior.
"I wished to see you influence on Naruto-kun. To be honest, I find the depth of it troubling. If you may influence with your illusions as you did to send the boy to sleep..."
"Minato-kun's seal was a work of art, I'd not seen a prison of caliber in millenia," the woman replied cryptically, "nevertheless, the attacks of your countryman damaged the seal. Through that, I was able to...ensorcell him, as you claim."
She paused, allowing the words to sink in before she continued. "I saved his life, Hiruzen-kun. When he was alone in an alley, bleeding to death, I was his salvation. Thanks to your oversight, were it not for my intervention, he'd be in a grave," the woman asserted bluntly.
Her words struck home, and the gray-haired Hokage winced. Nevertheless, he replied with equal vehemence. "It's not a thing you'd do out of the goodness of your heart. His death would have meant your demise."
A pause, before delicate laughter flowed from the woman's lips. "Is that what my sealer desired? Oh how quaint, the mortals who would be gods!" she exclaimed, laughter still dancing past her lips.
"Oh poor, deluded man. This boys death would be little more than an inconvenience," she said, shaking her head as through reprimanding a child.
"You lie, demon," Sarutobi responded.
Immediately, the woman's features darkened. For a moment, all was still, before the world itself seemed to buckle beneath the Kyuubi's gaze. An aura of malevolent red chakra erupted from her form as nine red tails flowed behind her like reeds in the wind.
"Your arrogance is astonishing, child," the woman sneered. When Sarutobi's eyes finally returned to the woman's he noticed them warped. No longer where they the striking red of a ruby. No, instead they held all malice and power of a flame, the slitted eyes gazing upon the aged-worn shinobi as though he were mere brush to be consumed by a hungry blaze.
Sarutobi felt his heart beat in his ears, as the incredible weight of the woman's mere gaze made him feel like a child, powerless before the fury of a storm. It was only through sheer mental discipline that he prevented his body from trembling.A moment passed, before she spoke once again. Her voice was devoid of any kindness or mirth it once held, it echoed with the force of the kitsune's ire. "I tire of your misplaced arrogance. Perhaps I should prove my words with action?"
Faster than Sarutobi's eyes could perceive, one of the woman's tails wrapped around the blond-haired orphan's neck and yanked him within the bars. 'The seal does not hold her?!' His shock was replaced by fear, as the Naruto was shoved none-too-gently against the inside of the cage.
"Wait!" Sarutobi exclaimed, his voice coming out ragged as he gestured frantically for her to stop. No longer was his posture dignified and resigned; concern and fear plagued his every movement.
The woman paused, her other eight tails whipping behind her in a frenzy. A sneer, so slight as to be imperceptible, crossed her lips before disappearing in an instant.
"Please," the venerable shinobi requested, his tone far softer than before, "forgive my words. Don't punish the boy for them."
The woman paused, her head tilted to the side before she licked her lips. "You care for him deeply, don't you?" she questioned, though it was clear she knew the answer regardless. "What is he worth to you, I wonder..." the woman trailed off for a moment.
The silence of disconcerting, filled with the constant dripping that characterized this child's mindscape. With eyes, blazing with a flame momentarily tempered, the exotic woman continued. "I'd ask for something in return for sparing this boy. Six favors, in return for the six years you apes sought to be gods."
At that, the man's face began to harden, as his mind imagined every wicked demand the demon might make.
"I'll ask nothing of you that would harm those precious to you, of that...you have my word. Now choose."
A pause, little more than a heartbeat, before the venerable shinobi responded. "Deal."
With a casual flick of her tail, the demon-in-woman's-form sent the unconscious boys form into the Hokage's waiting arms. "Your first shall be easy, impudent monkey. Teach him to control chakra immediately, his wellfare depends on it."
She turned, gliding further into the darkness that enveloped her cage, her namesake tails still scything through the air, indicative of her displeasure.
"Now, begone."
Sarutobi removed his hand from young Uzumaki's forehead, and felt the weight of exhaustion settle upon his form as his head was striken by lances of pain.
The Yamanka clan techniques were useful tools, indeed. They were descended from a school of genjutsu that, as far as practitioners could tell, transferred the shinobi's awareness into the targets chakra coil's, and eventually their conscious. They were dangerous techniques, as a novice could easily lose themselves amongst the ebb and flow of their foe's chakra. It was this that led to the techniques becoming almost exclusive to the Yamankas. Their intensive training techniques enabled them to use their techniques far more safely than any other would be able to.
The all-encompassing ache that assaulted Sarutobi's every sense proved why a novice shouldn't make use of the techniques. Some of the Uchiha clan's best and brightest had been ruined when they tried to use the techniques, copied from the infamous Yamanka Inoichi with their Sharingan. It highlighted one of the doujutsu's greatest weaknesses. Though the eyes might see the technique's creation, it missed the finer details of the chakra manipulation that characterized much of Konoha's hijutsus. Even the Sharingan couldn't force its wielder's chakra to act in a way it was not accustomed.
Sarutobi scowled, wrenching his thoughts into the present. His mind was flighty, likely do to the use of the Yamanka family's techniques. The Professor though he may be, he'd never had the ability to use those techniques effectively. He believed it safe as Uzumaki Naruto was accustomed to his presence: his mind would be far less likely to oppose or, even more dangerously, assimilate his intruding chakra. The fact that the Kyuubi was in control, however...
...meant that the beast had spared him. He'd lept into the demon's jaws and provoked her with his every word, and she - no, it - spared him. It assuaged a few of the aged Hokage's fears.
"It's alright, Kakashi-kun. You needn't worry, Naruto-kun is safe for now..." ...I hope.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. If there is nothing else..."
"Actually, Kakashi-kun..." the old man paused, frowning. "...there is something else. I want you to stay here. When the boy wakes up...I want you to explain chakra to him."
"...now? He's in the hospital. Have you gone senile?"
"I'm well aware of where he is, Kakashi-kun. I have my reasons, now, do as you are ordered," the aged shinobi commanded.
Wincing at Sarutobi's tone, Kakashi nodded his assent. "As you will it, Hokage-sama."
Turning to leave, the Hokage paused before speaking once more. "Oh, and Kakashi-kun?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama?"
"Keep your little orange book out of sight. I won't have you giving a six year-old any ideas, understood?"
Responding at first with a long suffering sigh, the masked shinobi the shinobi mumbled dejectedly. "Hai, Hokage-sama."
Leaving the hospital room with a smirk, the graying Hokage fought a chuckle. 'How's that for senile?'
"Heya, Cyclops-sensei!" the blond-haired boy intoned energetically.
Fighting down the urge to groan in response, the masked ex-ANBU set his eyes upon his charge as though surprised. "Oh, I almost missed you. Hello, Naruto-chan."
Despite himself, Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at the 'bedridden' boy's energetic response. The reassuring tone of the child's perpetually accelerated heartbeat was drowned out by his reply, all but yelled back at the masked jounin. "Screw you, Cyclops-sensei! I'm not a baby, I'm six! Six!" Crossing his arms, the child pouted. The cuteness of the situation was washed away be the child's final retort. "Just 'cus you're half blind doesn't mean you gotta be half deaf."
The child was a bit too distracted to notice the slight twitch in silver-haired ANBU's eyes. Sighing, the infamous Sharingan Kakashi ignored the boy's inflaming words and assumed his position leaning against the door frame.
"Anyway, I trust you've been working on the exercise?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" the boy exclaimed, chuckle slightly as a slight blush crossed his features. "I tried that thing you you talked about-"
"Meditation, Naruto-chan," the silver-haired man replied in his usual tone-less voice.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I think I felt it, but when I tried to...ya know, move it like you said I was supposed to, I...couldn't."
"Hmm," Kakashi responded. "And why couldn't you?"
"When I tried it...uh...kinda hurt. I thought I was doing something wrong, so I stopped."
Kakashi was thankful for the mask that covered his face in that moment. Children learning to interact with their chakra frequently took weeks to even become aware of it. Meditation was said to help assist with that. In a meditative state, an aspiring shinobi should have relatively little trouble focusing their chakra within themselves, guiding it toward specific tenketsu.
There was obviously a reason shinobi refrained from meditating in battle, even when they possessed the advantage of choosing the battlefield. Meditation often required a great deal of internal focus, especially for those distracted by coming confrontation. With one's senses turned outwards, be it towards a threat, the environment or even one's comrades, chakra manipulation became exponentially more difficult. Handseals mitigated that issue. It allowed a shinobi to use their body to manipulate chakra, instead of merely their mind.
However, for Naruto's chakra to cause pain when he tried to manipulate it...
"Try it once more. I'll try to see what you were doing wrong."
Nodding, Naruto assented.
Lifting up the hitai-ate, Kakashi allowed his mind to dwell momentarily on the boys words. It had taken Naruto over four days to even settle down enough to effectively meditate, and even then, even the smallest distraction threw off his concentration. For Naruto to be discover his chakra in one night...
His trail of thought was well and truly derailed by the absolutely stupefying amount of chakra being emitted from the tenketsu on Naruto's right arm. The ability to see tenketsu was a trait that made the Hyuuga clan so dangerous. The Sharingan that spun in his eye socket was only able to visualize hints of another's chakra coils, with slightly greater definition when they channeled chakra for a jutsu.
Now, however, he saw the boy's tenketsu with startling detail. This was due to the fact that the child's chakra - rivaling that of an average chuunin - was attempting to simultaneously escape through the tenketsu on the boy's arms. To be honest, it was one of the most disturbing things he'd ever seen an untrained child do.
"Naruto, enough!" the silver-haired nin all but shouted.
With that, the blue chakra which had been moving as a roaring river through the boy's tenketsu immediately stilled. The grimace of pain that Kakashi almost failed to notice in his surprise vanished.
Pausing for a moment, Kakashi tried to understand what his eyes had been telling him. He'd observed two anomalous factors in Naruto's chakra channeling, and he honestly didn't know which was more disturbing.
First, the child's chakra capacity was phenomenal for one his age. His reserves outstripped any genin Kakashi had ever encountered, and the boy hadn't even been trained as a shinobi. At this rate, his reserves might rival those of a Kage before he reached puberty.
Second, his chakra control was...extremely out of the ordinary. He witnessed the impossible, but Kakashi couldn't find himself to be surprised, considering the child was Minato's son. Young Naruto managed to manipulate all the chakra in his coils at once, a feat considered impossible for anyone with shinobi-level chakra reserves. It seemed the boy had absolute control over his chakra, and if Kakashi's hunch was correct, he would be absolutely incapable of performing any jutsu at present. A shinobi with "perfect" chakra control would be able to funnel the exact amount of chakra necessary into a technique, without wasting any. Similarly, they'd be able to manipulate as much chakra into a technique as necessary, up to complete chakra completion.
Both forms of chakra control required a great deal of training. A shinobi like Tsunade, renowned for her chakra control would be able to excercise both types of chakra control. Naruto, however, performed in the exact reverse from what was expected. Instead of being able to work with small, or even moderate amounts, and then gaining mastery over all his chakra, he was attempting to move all of his chakra at once without being able to segregate it into smaller amounts.
Kakashi confirmed this by trying to coach Naruto into mold smaller amounts of chakra, but the result was the same.
If Naruto couldn't regulate the amount of chakra exiting his tenketsu, he'd be unable to channel chakra into any techniques without overloading it. The first jutsu a shinobi learned, the bunshin, would likely be dispelled before creation as Naruto's chakra attempted to converge into the technique faster than he could control it. It would be akin to using a waterfall to fill a cup.
One solution would be to simply allow Naruto to mature. The chakra circulatory system grew at roughly the same rate as the body, and even for a six-year old, Naruto was decidedly diminutive. At Naruto's age, Kakashi's chakra reserves were drastically smaller than Naruto's.
Nevertheless, the Hokage would doubtlessly be displeased by such a solution. He seemed rather determined that the boy be able to use his chakra effectively...
Another solution would be to simply teach the child using a few jutsu that had no "set" chakra cap upon them. The issue, however, is that all jutsu of that sort were elemental jutsu. Jutsu of that type required extensive knowledge of chakra recomposition. If Naruto attempted to reconstitute his chakra into, say, fire, faster than said chakra could escape his tenketsu...
...he'd literally burn himself alive.
The best solution would be to simply drain a large portion of his chakra reserves. Fuunjutsu seals could accomplish that, but it would likely require a specialized array, something few shinobi in Konoha had the knowledge required to create.
Sighing, Kakashi recovered his Sharingan eye as the roiling mass of chakra in Naruto's coils finally stilled. It was fortunate he'd noticed this earlier. If Naruto's first lesson in learning chakra came in the academy, it was likely he'd inflict great injury upon his chakra coils. The silver-haired shinobi decided to ask the Hokage how he knew something was amiss with his chakra system, were it not for Sarutobi's order, Kakashi likely wouldn't have noticed the abnormality.
Giving the blond-haired shinobi a warning not to attempt to mold chakra until his return, Kakashi sealed for shunshin and dissapeared with a puff of smoke and the fluttering of leaves...
...somewhere in the hospital, a janitor groaned.
UPDATE: Cleared up the confusion pointed out by Demonkid.
Japanese Term List/Jutsu List
Un: I've heard it translated as being "yeah", or "alright".
Hitai-ate: Forehead protector (though not always on the forehead) bearing the insignia of a shinobi's hidden village.
Tenketsu: Similar to pores on one's skin, tenketsu allow chakra to exit the chakra circulatory system.
Sharingan: "copy-wheel eye", this is the famed doujutsu of the Uchiha clan.
Byakugan: "white eye", this is the famed doujutsu of the Hyuuga clan.
Doujutsu: A kekkei genkai centered in the eye.
Kekkei genkai: Bloodlimit.
A/N: Another chapter completed! You'll notice I altered the abilities of the Sharingan a bit. I tried to explain why Kakashi's "1,000 Jutsu" repertoire made him so famous. Other Uchiha lacked similar accolades from what I could tell. I made it so that the Sharingan only gave shinobi additional clues as to how chakra was molded, as opposed to an instruction manual. This would explain why seal-less jutsu such as Tsunade's super strength and the Yondaime's rasengan couldn't be copied: without hand-seals as a "road-map" for chakra manipulation, Sharingan wielders wouldn't know the finer details of chakra manipulation that would be necessary for those techniques.
I still intend to maintain the canon "prediction" abilities of the Sharingan, but I intend to alter the means in which the Byakugan and the Sharingan see "through" genjutsu, for obvious reasons.
Anyway, please review, your feedback is very helpful.
Review Responses
adiv: I don't want to disclose to much, but I intend to maintain the distinctive personality quirks Naruto possesses. That said, Naruto's tenant will definately have an influence on his growth, which you can see in this chapter.