'Thinking'

"Talking"

"Talking in mind-scape"

'Demon Thinking'

"Demon Talking"

Chapter 11 : Training others

Sunday morning, in an apartment of Konohagakure no Sato. A blond boy woke up, moving a fox from his covers. He went to his kitchen, grab a bag of cereal (another idea from his "sister"), and put some in a bowl, and the bowl on the table.

The fox had followed, reluctantly due to the early hour. He watched the ballet in the kitchen and emitted a sound, like a request.

"You want some? Fine by me."

He took another bowl, put some cereal in it and on the ground near his chair.

"Hope you like it."

The fox walked slowly to the bowl, smelled it longingly, and turned his head to look at the boy.

The blond turned his head from his own breakfast to look at the fox, not understanding. The fox tilted his head, showing to a knowing eye that he was disturbed.

"I know it's not really good, but Nee-chan forbids ramen at breakfast." The boy said, and turned his head back to his bowl to eat unhearty.

The fox did the same, and started to eat the food that was most strange to him.

After his breakfast was finished, the boy, still a little sleepy, raised to wash his bowl, only to walk on something crispy. Looking at his feet, he discovered that half the content of the fox' bowl was now on the floor, up to 40 centimeters from the bowl.

"Man, you sure are a dirty eater... Maybe we should grab you a better suited bowl, don't you think?"

The fox looked at the boy, with no expression at all. Like he did not really understood.

After taking a shower and dressing, Naruto was preparing to leave.

"Wait for me here, Hojun, I'll get some things for you to be a bit more at ease here, but I am already poorly seen, I don't want them to hurt you thinking you are... well... a demon or something..."

The fox curled itself on the carpet, in the middle of the room, showing that he would wait.

'Sometimes it look like he understand what I'm saying.'

"He might just be... You know, there are some foxes who you can talk to..."

'True...'

He arrived in a small alley, in the commercial part of the village, just by the side of a pet shop.

"Okay, now the tricky part."

He formed the Ram seal with his hands and muttered.

"Henge"

After the created smoke cleared, there was another boy. One of his classmate, in a gray jacket with all opening showing black fur, he had red markings on his cheeks, like tattoos. He walked to the pet shop. The shopkeeper raised his head from the counter when he arrived, and his face lighted up seeing him.

"Hey, young Inuzuka, you are alone today?"

'Crap, I should have known he would have been known here...'

"Yeah, I came to grab a few things for a friend, Akamaru is home sleeping, we had a tiring training early this morning."

"Be careful not to work out too much. What do you need?"

"Well..."

He was interrupted by a sniffing sound, repeated louder, like to be noticed.

"Who are you" The voice came from the same person that made the sound.

A woman, facing the wall, so Naruto was only seeing her back. She had long hair tied in a pony tail. She wore a creme colored jacket reaching mid-thigh, covering a tight mesh short. He was a bit startled by the aggressive sound in her voice.

"You don't smell like by little brother." Naruto was now frightened. "So... Who..."

She turned her head a little, showing her read marking on her right cheek.

"Are..."

Her head turned a bit more, showing an eye whose sight seemed to be piercing through his skull.

"You?"

This last word was so cold that Naruto would have froze in place, if his survival instinct had not been this sharp. He shot through the front door, with all possible speed.

The woman did not expect him to flee, neither at this speed, so she reacted a bit slow, but she also shot through the door, not long after the boy.

Outside, he turned immediately to reach the alley he came from, this saved him from being grabbed by two dogs that stood in front of the shop. He run the five meters to the alley, not turning his head, but knowing that the dogs had started to give chase.

'Kami they are fast!'

"Don't swear!"

He turned in the alley at top speed, avoiding the opposite wall so close, an advert sticked on it flew like a leaf in the autumn wind.

The woman turned, like the boy, just exiting the shop, only to see him running to a side street, with the dogs on his trail. The dogs turned as fast as possible in the alley. She followed, just a few meters from them, and stopped just entering. There was no need to run anymore.

The boy was on the ground, one dog had his right ankle in the mouth, and two others were around him, ready to bite.

"Drop your disguise, you will not fool our noses." The woman said.

"Crap." The boy said. "Kai." And he was back in his normal attire, as …

"Uzumaki Naruto?" The woman asked surprised, as the dog at his ankle released him.

"I don't know if I should be honored to be recognized..." He said, the voice lingering a bit of worry.

"Why did you disguised as my little brother? Another prank? You wanted him to be blamed?" She was now angered.

"I never needed anyone to take my blames. I assume all my pranks and most of them were done on people deserving them!" He was angry too, he took pride on his pranks and he let no-one take credit for them.

"So why?"

He sighed.

"You won't escape before I have an explanation. This can be considered a great offense made to my clan." She sounded serious, but not angry anymore.

"I needed to look like someone unsuspecting, and Kiba is the only one I know who has an animal."

"Why?"

"Because they would not have let me buy my things otherwise. And... I wanted to avoid questions... Kiba is known to be with Akamaru, so nobody would have asked questions about him buying pet bowls or toys..."

"You have a pet?"

The three dogs were now seated, showing no signs of tension. The woman's tone was now light, tainted with curiosity.

"Yeah, since yesterday..."

"What is it? A dog? A cat?"

"No..." This sounded anxious in the boys voice.

"Come on, tell me, what it is? Mouse? Squirrel? Toad?" She was now clearly curious.

"I won't tell, if it is known, he might be in danger."

The boy looked serious, which worried the woman.

"Sorry, I failed to present myself. I am Inuzuka Hana and one of the vet of the Inuzuka Clan. You have my word as a professional that I will not attempt to your pet even if it was ..." And then, there was light. "Oh... It's a f..."

She stopped seeing his terrified eyes, and remembering the law.

"He did nothing to anybody, his life is already at stakes for being with me, I don't want him chased for being like my... other... furry companion."

The woman was now surprised, and showing it.

"Yeah, I know, you still cannot speak openly about it, but no need to fear mere allusions made to me." Naruto was not at ease, but his voice was less anxious.

"Is it possible to meet him? You know even as a vet, I don't have often the opportunity to meet one of his species... I'll even help you by teaching you how to take care of him and help you acquire your needed items." Hana offered, with a gentle smile.

"Okay, but I am not sure there is enough space at my home for all of us." He said looking at the three big dogs.

"Don't worry about that, we'll see once there." Hana said, smiling.

"Come." Naruto was smiling a little.

Once at his apartment, he opened the door, and let Hana enter first. When seeing the size of the apartment, she turned her head a little on her right, and the three dogs jumped on the roof of the building, then she entered.

"Are you sure they won't feel bad for being left outside?" Naruto asked, closing the door.

"Don't worry, they know the reason. Where is he?"

"I asked him to stay there, maybe he hid when he heard you. Hojun? There is no danger, she is a friend."

A small squeak was heard. Then a head appeared from under the bed, and the fox jumped in Naruto's arms.

Hana smiled, and proposed her hand for the fox to smell, in a sign of respect and peace. The fox smelled it, and started to lick her fingers a little. She then reached for his head to scratch it.

"He really behave like a wild dog, no wonder they are from parent species." She same smiling. "I would be glad if you bring him to me in case he is ill or injured, I really want to know more about his kind, so I will look for information."

He nodded after looking at the fox who seemed to approve.

"For now, you said you needed bowl, what do you feed him and how much?"

"Well, we eat the same. Friday evening, we had boar, but his was raw, I was on a survival training when we met, yesterday we had survival rations for breakfast, rice and fish for lunch and veggies with eggs for diner. Cereals this morning, but he put most of them on the floor."

"He seems to be 2 or 3 years old. Usually, we feed our dogs 2 meals a day, composed of specific food garnished with meat or fish. If we are not on mission that is. On mission, we share the hunted meat or what has been fished. I think it should work the same for him. Will you bring him with you on mission?"

"Well I don't know, I don't want him to be hurt, and if I have to protect him all the time, it will put both our lives in more danger."

"Well as you are not an Inuzuka, I am not allowed to teach you how to communicate with him or to train both of you in our arts. But if you play often with him, and try to learn him some form of communication of your own, you might be able to find a way to work together, so he will know when to hide, run or find help when you ask him."

"Thanks Hana-san, we will try that, won't we, Hojun?" The fox seemed to nod in response to Naruto's question, which lightened a spark in Hana's eye.

"Now, to take care of him..."

She explained him the basics of pet caring, teaching him how to wash the fox, how much to feed him, what to do and when. It took them most of the morning, and when he opened the door to let her go, he found one of the dogs in front of the door, with a bag in the mouth, who dropped the bag before darting to the roof once again.

"That's all you'll need, and food for a few days." Hana said, taking the bag and giving it to Naruto.

"Thanks, I... don't know what to say, it too much, you already taught me so much..."

"Just take care of Hojun, and be sure to bring him to me from time to time." Hana smile before jumping to the roof.

Naruto closed the door, a bag in his hands and a smile on his face.

After a quick lunch, he went out, Hojun in his jacket, towards the orphanage. Not sure how Hojun will behave at high speed on the roofs, he decided to walk. After a while, he began to feel followed, so he turned to an alley.

Three young children, two boys and a girl, walking slowly in the street, under the disguise of a box. The man they are following is totally oblivious to their presence, as they blend with their surroundings like a tree in a forest. They turn in the same alley he just did, only to find... Nothing.

The alley is empty. There is nobody to be seen. Some dumpsters, some cardboard boxes containing trash, a small boulder, some papers, bot no blond teenager wearing black and orange. They continued to walk in the alley nonetheless.

"Konohamaru, I think he saw through our disguise." muttered one of the boys.

"Impossible, it's perfect... Well he IS the Boss... we can never know..." the other replied unsure.

"Acknowledge your own skills and prowess, but never get overconfident. However powerful you think you might be, even the greatest can fall."

That was the voice of the boy. But where was he?

"The dumpster!" Konohamaru shouted, raising up, as smoke engulfed their disguise and a part of the alley.

There were now three children coughing hard, in the middle of the alley.

"Never act impulsively. Gather the necessary information before taking action." The voice from before said, not coughing and resonating on the walls.

"Way too much smoke there, Udon, try less next time..." the boy in the middle said to the other one, as the smoke cleared. "You saw through our disguise Boss, but you are cornered! Play ninja with us." He was now pointing on the dumpster, his two friends on his sides.

"There's always a silver lining even in the most hopeless situations." The voice came from behind them.

There was nothing. Well, only some papers and a boulder. And then, the boulder melted into a boy, who rose to stand up.

"Whoa, you got us on this one Boss!"

"Where have you ever seen a walking box in the streets, Konohamaru!?" Shot Naruto, pointing to the middle boy.

"We won't fail next time!" The said boy replied pointing at Naruto. "Come play ninja with us!"

"Play ninja? Why don't you use that to teach them some real tricks? They could use some looking at their present skills."

'Nice idea, Kurama-sensei.'

"Meet me at training ground 8, I'll be there shortly." And he jumped to the street and mixed with the crowd, leaving the three children surprised.

"We better go, we can set traps for him there!" Konohamaru said, starting to run.

"Wait, I'm not sure it's a good idea" Said the girl, starting to run after him, as the other boy did just after her.

Once near the orphanage, Naruto jumped to the roofs. There he took the fox from his jacket and placed him on a corner, hidden.

"Stay there, I will enter there and come back shortly."

The fox nodded, and the boy changed into a copy of Konohamaru and jumped the roof edge going for the usual window. Once inside, he dispelled the transformation and all the clones present.

"Tomomi-chan?" He asked.

A little girl head rose from behind a piece of furniture.

"Naruto!" She ran to him. "You afraid me, when the clone disappeared I thought that the one entering was dangerous."

"Don't worry it's just me. Say, do you want to come with me outside for a moment? There are some friends that I will train, and I think you might appreciate to be in the fresh air a bit."

"But, if they find out I am not here, they will punish me, or throw me away..." The girl was panicked.

"Don't worry for that, I have and idea. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Six clones appeared.

Four changed into Konohamaru and when under the furniture next to the wall, to reach the secret room. Another one went to hide, like the usual bodyguard. And the last changed into a copy of Tomomi.

"Whoa! It's me!" The girl said.

The clone then took what he thought was a sexy pose and winked to the real girl who giggled.

"Stop playing around, take her spot and behave like her." Naruto said, then turned to the guard. "If anything arrive, even someone enters, dispel, one from the other room will come to replace you, but I need to know as fast as possible."

The guard nodded, and Naruto changed once again into Konohamaru.

"Come with me, Tomomi-chan." And when for the window, followed by a smiling girl.

Once outside, Naruto sticked himself to the wall and took Tomomi in his arms, and walked to the roof. There, he changed back.

"Hojun?"

The fox appeared and came to him.

"Hojun, this is Tomomi. Tomomi, this is Hojun."

The two stared at each other an instant, not knowing if they had to be afraid or happy, and then the girl knelled to pet the young fox, who licked her hand.

"Great, now, come with me."

The fox jumped in the boy's arms, who placed him in his jacket, and took the girl in his arms, avoiding to crush the fox. He then started to run from roof to roof and then on the ground til reaching the training ground 8.

There were the three children, arguing with each other whether or not place traps.

"Don't bother placing traps, I'm already there." Naruto said.

"Told you we would not have enough time." Said the girl.

"Anyway, glad you dropped the habit of presenting yourself anytime we meet."

"Oh crap, we forgot! Udon!" The boy in the middle said, while the boy on the left took something of his pocket and launched it on the floor.

Appearing from the smoke, turning on herself, was the girl of the three.

"The most sexy kunoichi from my class, I'm Moegi!"

Appearing from the smoke, jumping and landing on one feet, was one of the boys.

"I love assembling models, I'm Udon!"

Appearing from the smoke, right between the two others, was the last boy.

"The greatest genius of the village, I'm Konohamaru!"

"We are the Konohamaru Corps!" They shouted together, taking a group pose.

Naruto deadpanned, while Tomomi was laughing in her arms. Even Hojun was emitting laughing sounds.

"Don't encourage them, please..." Naruto sighed. "As they said, these are Udon, Konohamaru, and Moegi. Guys, this is Tomomi" he said putting her on her feet. "She will be spending the afternoon with us. And this is Hojun." he placed the fox from his jacket on the ground.

"Hey, what kind of dog is this?" Asked Moegi.

"It's not a kind of dog, it's a fox." Replied Naruto, which made Udon shiver.

"A fox?" He asked trying not to sound as afraid as he were.

"Don't worry, it's not the Big One, he is friendly and he will not hurt you. At least as long as I tell him not to, or you don't hurt him yourself." Seeing that the three were relieved a little, he continued. "So, you wanted to play ninja. We will. Hojun, do you mind playing a role in that?"

The fox emitted a squeaking noise.

"So, you three will hide, as best as you could, and Hojun here, will play the role of your hunter. If you are too easy to find, he will eat you. Hojun, don't use too much your nose, they cannot hide their sent, so that would be cheating. But guys remember, he also has great ears. Hide!"

The three did not had time to nod, they ran to the forest edge. A moment later, Naruto gave the signal to Hojun to hunt, and he complied.

"While they do that, do you want to try to see if you can be a ninja?" Naruto asked, looking at Tomomi.

"Does that hurt?" She asked, unsure.

"Well, the try won't hurt, but being a ninja might. A ninja's duty is to protect the village, the country, by fighting attackers, protecting allies or customers, spy alleged threats, and sometimes, ninja die in battle. Those that dies, as well as those that lives, offers their lives to the village, to the villagers, to protect them." Naruto explained.

"I don't want to protect the people from the orphanage." The girl was now frowned

"There are nobody you like? You would not want to protect them?"

"But you don't need protection, neither Anko-san does..."

"You could never know. But I will not force you. It should be your decision. When I was your age, I suffered immensely. When they threw me out, I wanted to forget them all, to never have anything to do with them anymore. And then, I read a paper I got from the room." he blinked on the last word. "One of the lines said A ninja is someone who can endure the greatest hardships and burdens that were placed on him. I thought that if enduring hardships and burdens meant being a ninja, then I was destined to be one. Then I learns what I explained to you, the duties and all. First I repelled the duty. Why protect these villager that refused me from shops, that hunted me sometimes. And I thought that if I was not able to forgive what they did, or at least, leave it behind, then I was no better than them. And what better way than to be their ultimate protector? So I decided, that I would not only be a ninja, but I would be the best there is, the Hokage, so they would be forced to acknowledge me." He was now looking at the sky, a tear running slowly on his cheek. "I wont force you to anything. This is not my place, and I don't want you to be hurt in any possible ways. Never let others take decisions for you. Be it because they force you to do something, or because they act in a way that force you on a decision. If you don't protect those precious to you because that can protect those you don't like, you loose."

The girl was lost.

"If you want, we can try, if you cannot be a ninja, then there is no need for worry. If you can, then you can decide by yourself whether you want to be or not. It you don't, we will never tell to anybody that you could have be."

"I can try, I guess."

"Wait it seems Hojun as already found them." Naruto said, whipping the tear from his face.

He turned to face the incoming party.

"So, how did it go?"

"He did not even needed to try, he found us directly." Konohamaru replied, frustrated.

"Why do you think it append?" Naruto asked.

"He is too good."

"Are you telling that you are not good enough to handle a small animal?" Naruto taunted.

"Not at all! Bring it on, Hojun!" Konohamaru ran to the forest, Moegi and Udon in tow.

"Wait a bit before going, give them a head start." Naruto said to the fox,who looked neutrally to him.

After two minutes of waiting, Naruto gave Hojun the move to start.

"Now, Tomomi, I want you to breathe calmly, clear you mind and when you are ready, join your hands like this." He made the ram seal with his hands. "and try to pull on your inner force."

She did as explained, and stopped after nothing append, and she looked deceived.

"Don't worry, it might take a moment to come. Wait, they are coming back once more."

Konohamaru only exited the forest, and began to shout.

"Once more, Boss!"

"Come here Hojun." Naruto shouted to his companion.

Konohamaru ran back to the forest, while Hojun was coming back to Naruto, who knelled to pet him.

"You are doing a great job here. Try to catch faster the poorly hidden, so they can learn a bit." He did not knew if the fox understood what he said, but it made him feel like a teacher.

After a moment, Hojun went on his own, without having a sign from Naruto, and Tomomi started once again to attempt to gather chakra, and quickly stopped.

"I think I felt something. Like something moving inside."

Naruto smiled.

"It looks like you are getting the edge of it. If you want, you can try to reproduce it."

She placed her hands in the ram seal, once more. And then, it surprised Naruto.

"Tomomi-chan" She stopped at his words. "I am no expert, but you are gifted to be a kunoichi. And if I'm not mistaken, a powerful one."

"How do you know?" She asked with wide eyes.

He took a mirror in a scroll from his inner pockets.

"Try once more, and look in the mirror while doing it." He said, placing the mirror so she could see herself.

She placed her hands in the seal once more, and pulled. She stopped shortly, her eyes opened wider than ever.

"Is that normal?"

Naruto, as a response, put his hands in the same seal, and pulled. He made it so that an effect was visible. There was a visible aura of blue energy emitting from his body, his hair started to move a little, mostly due to the chakra exiting.

"It's doing it on you also!"

Naruto stopped.

"Yes Tomomi, but not exactly the same. What you witnessed was nearly half of my power. And trust me, it is much. Usually, chakra effects cannot be seen. But your hair started to move on your second attempt at chakra molding. Maybe it is a special characteristics of you family, but it can only say that your chakra is usable."

"It would be a waste to not use it, no?" Tomomi asked.

"I told you, it is your choice to use it or not. I will not force you in any way. I will support your choice whatever it is." Naruto replied, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I will think about it."

"Don't hesitate to do this move again and again. If you want to be a ninja, it is the first training.

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon appeared once more, Hojun following.

"It took more time this time, you are improving. Once more?"

Udon sat on the ground, he was panting, the other were not really better.

"I take that as a no... Tell me, what do you know of chakra control?"

"Iruka-sensei made us do the leaf sticking exercise." Moegi replied. "I can do it just fine, Konohamaru and Udon took a bit more time.

"How often do you do it?" Naruto asked.

"Well, we've done it once or twice, I guess." Moegi said after thinking a bit.

"Why not more?"

"Because nobody asked again, I think." Moegi, again.

"Show me how you do it." Naruto asked.

"But..."

Naruto created a clone who darted to the trees and came back with a handful of leaves. Naruto took one and placed it on his forehead.

"Show me." He said once again.

The clone darted once again to the forest.

The three academy students took a leaf and placed it on their forehead. Moegi removed her hand fast, leaving the leaf in place. Konohamaru and Udon took at least twice the time, but Udon's leaf felt shortly after his hand withdrew. The clone came back, with an armful of leaves, and began to place them on Naruto.

At some points, all the leaves on the children felt. They were looking at Naruto, partially covered in leaves stuck like on a branch. Seeing that, Naruto made a sign to his clone to stop. And the leaves began to turn on their axis, at different speeds.

"Whoa..." Tomomi was amazed by the show. "You are a tree!"

"This, is what you should be aiming for. Don't limit yourself to what the academy ask. Your personal time is yours. You can do whatever you want. This exercise has nearly no risks, besides evident chakra exhaustion, and can be practiced at anytime. You can go to the academy with a leaf stuck between your shoulder blades and try to carry it the whole day. When you are there, just add another leaf. When all your clothes will cover leaves, you can try to move one leaf, and then move a leaf wearing other leaves, and so on. Tell you what. Next Sunday, the one of you that can stick the most leaves for one hour, I will invite him, or her, for the lunch."

"You better keep you word, Boss!"

"I never go back on my word, Dattebayo!" Naruto replied, in a nice guy pose.

"It's getting late, guys, we should go back home." Moegi said to Udon and Konohamaru.

"Yeah, you are right, Moegi-chan, Tomomi-chan, we should go back also." Naruto said. "Be sure to be there Sunday morning by 10, so we can test your progresses." he said looking at he Konohamaru Corps.

"We will" they replied altogether before leaving. "Bye Boss, bye Tomomi-chan."

A/N : If you ask, Naruto did not Henge himself and the fox into the boulder. He henge around the fox, and grabbed him back while raising.