I don't own Naruto

Chapter 8

Naruto followed his sensei to the outskirts of Konoha. It was a familiar path now, but he still felt reassured that the older man was with him. Try as he might, the sight of those 3 Kumo shinobi running towards him was a memory that was deeply ingrained on his mind.

Naruto pushed through the shrubbery as the familiar sound of the stream grew louder. They were close by. Soon they arrived at the clearing where they usually trained.

It was a sight to behold. Seemingly hidden, surrounded by dense forests on all sides the clearing was still abundant in sunlight, which reflected off the glistening water of the stream. The stream had the clearest of water, and the koi-fish which swum in it were visible to the naked eye. Almost smack dab in the middle of the clearing, there were two giant rocks on either bank of the stream, that reached towards one another. A green carpet covered the floor and the occasional wild lily adorned its surface. Every time Naruto stepped out here, he felt an unexplainable joy.

The Fourth Hokage had been trained here, Jiraiya had revealed when Naruto had first seen it. That too had given Naruto as sense of reverence for the place, much like a temple, he was more careful in breaking the peace with his voice.

The student and master approached the giant rocks. Once might have expected the smooth surface of the rocks to be hot under the sun, but base of the rocks seemed to have sunk into the stream's bed. The rocks themselves seemed to be fairly good heat conductors, and therefore always seemed to have the coolness of the stream below. They were cold to the touch of Naruto's feet as he climbed them to the top.

He naturally relaxed into the meditative posture as his sensei did the same across him. He closed his eyes.

"Let us begin active perception", Jiraiya said. Naruto's mind focused on his teacher's voice.

"A sage's greatest weapon is?"

"Awareness."

"Awareness comes from the?"

"Present"

"Very well, we shall focus on the present. Tell me then what can you hear."

Naruto listened. In the past he would have made the mistake of repeating the answer without listening. But Jiraiya had instilled in him the habit of listening even in familiar situations.

"The stream is a bit wilder today, it rained somewhere upstream. The wind is blowing east. There seem to be some deer in the forest in the north and some wolved further in that direction. And… Jiraiya-sensei you're hungry since we skipped breakfast."

"Hey! You're growing a little impudent my student. Very well now describe to me what you feel?"

"The heat of the sunlight bathing my face. The cold of the stream against my feet though the rocks. The wind playing against my skin and hair. My leg has still not recovered fully, the ankle is still a bit strained. My condition is good, but a little lethargy still persists."

"Good, what do we do next?"

Naruto took a deep breath in and his body straightened up as he carefully stretched out his spine. Then he tightened his ankle muscles until they were taught and as he breathed out, relaxed his strained ankle. He repeated a few times until his ankle warmed up properly.

"Ready sensei."

"Open your eyes."

Even before he opened his eyes Naruto felt the first strike coming from the disturbance. From the right, he determined, and left arm reached out to deflect Jiraiya's blow. His eyes opened fully as he saw his sensei's other arm reaching out to flick him. He managed to block it barely. Then rolling to a side and opening his crossed legs, he leaped back to put some distance between the two.

Jiraiya was on him in an instant. The strikes of his sensei were unpredictable and pattern-less, and Naruto felt himself forced to the limit as he struggled to keep up with them. He had grown used to guarding with one arm, but the limitation necessitated more dynamic blocking, which meant he needed to do more deflecting and dodging. Absorbing a hit was not an option since he didn't have the luxury of distributing the impact.

He heard Jiraiya's back foot twisting against the grass and he knew the man was winding up for a right. Naruto prepared to dodge to a side and anticipated the attack. Just as Jiraiya threw the punch, Naruto moved. Even knowing it was coming he managed to only just dodge it.

Behind him he heard a snap go off in the distance. Instinctively he ducked as smooth pebbles went sailing off above him. Checking his periphery, he made out a few clones behind him. He cursed internally. Jiraiya always made clones before the active perception began, which meant Naruto had missed them when he was observing.

The sparring continued as Jiraiya attacked, slowly getting faster. Naruto managing to barely keep up. Finally, he groaned with frustration and threw a wild hit, but even as he did, he knew the punishment was coming. Jiraiya swept his feet and pinned the boy to the ground.

"Naruto. Always impatient. What must a sage always be?"

"…content."

"Was that content? Seemed like you attacked in desperation."

"Sensei…"

"All right, all right kid. Come on get up."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a hand and pulled him up. Jiraiya gestured to the stream and Naruto obliged by walking into it. The water was cold against his feet and washed away the fatigue of their spar. Naruto felt it tickle against his toes and once again he was able to enter a more peaceful state of mind. Suddenly his own agitation during the fight became evident to him.

"Sensei… we've been doing this for half a year now. Why can't I get it?"

Jiraiya smiled at his student's frustration. The slow pace of the training was hard for Naruto whose energetic nature stood in contrast to the fundamental heavy teachings of sage jutsu. But the kid did have talent. A capacity for single minded focus that reinforced with a more general awareness could become a powerful ally. And for all his groaning Naruto never once asked to stop.

"Naruto, you remind me of the Fourth you know."

"I do? Did he struggle with this too?"

"No"

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Minato was a nimble kid, always thinking. Very intelligent, and the fastest learner I ever had the pleasure of teaching."

"Sensei, how is that anything like me?", Naruto asked half-seriously.

"You see Naruto he too was focused on results. And given how quickly he learned he often used to get them. But a sage doesn't crave results, and that was a lesson that took him quite a while to learn. And he never quite mastered it."

"Never mastered it?"

"Yes. Minato was fast, and that speed was his greatest weapon, but also ultimately it was his only weakness. I was very proud of him, you see. So, I never saw his shortcomings. But his speed used to blindside him sometimes. He used to engage in battles before fully absorbing the situation. And while he grew wiser as he grew older, the root still persisted."

"The Fourth was not perfect?"

Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed loudly. His infectious laughter brought a smile to Naruto's face despite having no idea why the man was laughing.

"Naruto, no one ever is perfect. Minato was my greatest student, but even he had shortcomings. Some of them even originated from my teaching. All one can do is try to be better today than the day before."

Naruto mused on that.

"Naruto, it has been a couple of decades since I taught Minato. I'd like to imagine I'm a wiser man now, but perhaps I'm just older. But I will teach you not to make the mistakes he did."

"So, I can make new mistakes of my own?"

Jiraiya laughed at his student's jest. "Yes, indeed. Now you're getting it."

Silence fell on the two as a moment passed. Naruto looked at the man who had spent so much time teaching him. The training had not been easy for the boy, but it was the thought of Jiraiya which kept him going. The old man seemed to have faith in him, which was a novel experience for the boy. Even without a hand he felt more confident than he ever had before.

Naruto couldn't quite control his emotions and a few tears trailed down his cheeks. He wiped them off as best he could and looked embarrassed, but Jiraiya gave him a comforting smile.

"Take it easy Naruto, we have all the time in the world."

Naruto believed they did.

-Page Break-

"Just as we have chakra, all living things have it as well. Chakra is life-force and it is what drives most of our actions. Most people have just enough chakra to function, move around and live a simple life. However, as shinobi we develop our chakra pools from a young age, and once that growth is set into progress, we can eventually use our chakra for jutsu."

Naruto listened patiently.

"But you are not limited to the chakra that is within your body. Right now, as you are, you can't even access it since you can't make hand signs. In order to harness chakra, I will teach you how to sense it outside of you. Use your active perception."

Naruto obliged. He allowed his senses to roam freely as he got a grasp of his surroundings. Once he was sure he was alert he nodded.

"I want you to focus on my hands. And observe any fluctuations."

Naruto focused his eyes on Jiraiya's raised arms. There was no visible change. He stared for a while but nothing happened.

"Not your eyes Naruto. I said focus on my arms."

"Oh… ok."

He turned his other senses so they too focused in on Jiraiya's arm. Then he noticed something. Not quite a sound, and not quite a feeling. But across his senses a pattern emerged, of a rising and falling. He couldn't quite place a finger on it but there was certainly something happening in his sense's arms.

"Yes. That is chakra. I'm currently rhythmically filling up and emptying my arm with it. Ingrain this sensation in your mind. This is the flow of chakra."

Naruto nodded silently. Jiraiya gave him the time to grow accustomed to the feeling.

"Now I want you to sense it around you."

Naruto looked at him skeptically. But he broadened his attention to his surroundings.

But he couldn't sense it. Not one spec. He looked in the stream, in the grass, there was no chakra. No patterns emerged.

"The whole picture Naruto, sense everything."

Everything? What in the world did that mean? As a whole.

Naruto consciously broadened his scope even more until he no longer could identify the individual elements of the surroundings. Only a symphony of sounds and feelings and light. And in that harmony, he sensed it. The same pattern he had sensed before. A sway of chakra. Almost as if his surroundings were breathing.

His breathing grew sharper as his elation spread. But his excitement disturbed his focus and his mind slowly struggled to perceive the flow. That only served to panic the boy as his breathing grew more labored and he was forced out of the peace he had attained.

He woke to find Jiraiya holding a hand to his chest and he could make out his sensei asking him to breath. "Wh-What was that!?", he sputtered out.

"That, Naruto, was true active perception, and what you sensed was the chakra we're all surrounded by. If you can achieve this kind of peace while living, you needed worry about specific stimulus, the fluctuations in the charka surrounding you will show you the way. Life itself will guide you. This is the heart of Sen-jutsu, the acceptance of the present."

"The light?"

"That is how things really are. Outside of our limited senses and ability to perceive them. With our senses working in tandem, we can glimpse at the symphony of the world."

"That was insane."

"Quite so. And I must say we've finally found something you're a genius in Naruto."

"Sensei?"

"Sensing the chakra of your surroundings in one lesson. Naruto my boy, that's not just good, you're a bona-fide prodigy."

"I am."

"Yes, you are. But don't let your head swell too much. Sen-jutsu is the hardest to master so any talent you might have will still need years to hone."

"Will you teach me for years to come then?"

"I am your teacher, so yes."

"Then I'm happy."

Naruto gave Jiraiya as wide smile. The man felt happiness wash over him with such intensity that he felt like a young man again. He ruffled the boy's hair lovingly.

"Come on, it's hot let's go get some ice-cream."

"Yay!"

-Page Break-

Naruto slowly drew his breath in and along with it drew into himself the chakra that surrounded him. He noted the way his own chakra network flared in response, slowly he had grown more accustomed to the feeling.

The problem was, he couldn't do anything with the chakra. He had with training learned to sense it, but he had no idea what molding chakra even meant. Jiraiya-sensei had promised that it would all work out, and it was only his faith in his teacher that kept Naruto working hard on sensing.

It still felt amazing to feel the chakra though. He felt the sheer energy that flowed through him. It made him want to shout in joy.

"Very good Naruto. You are doing well. But now we're going to move on to something a little more advanced."

Naruto nodded.

Jiraiya walked down to the stream and dipped his hand in. Then he drew chakra from the stream into himself. "This is your next task."

"Huh? Seems easy enough."

Naruto also dipped his hand into the stream. Breathing in he attempted to draw in chakra. Only it didn't work. He could definitely feel the chakra in the river. But when he tried to draw it in, it seemed to just slip out of his pull.

"Sensei? It's not working."

"Maybe you're not working", Jiraiya suggested.

Naruto shook his head. Jiraiya being cryptic meant this was something he was supposed to figure out on his own. And so, he sat there, next to the stream as he kept trying. To no avail.

For three mornings and nights he kept at the training. It was only on the fourth day that he realized his mistake.

The life-force of the river was slippery, much like water. He had been trying to grab water. But water would always slip through one's hand if they tried to force it. He needed to guide it.

He considered it for a while coming up with an idea. Instead of using forceful drawing, he instead emptied his hand of chakra. The chakra of the river, sensing the void in his arm flowed into him effortlessly. This chakra felt cold as it travelled up his arms. He felt it enter specific channels of his chakra network as it travelled through him.

"Very good. What you're feeling is water elemental chakra. We shall spend a few days committing it to memory. I want you to remember how it feels, which parts of your chakra network resonate with it."

"Sensei, is this how I will learn the other elements too? Through nature?"

"Finally asking good questions. Yes, this is how the first men learned to use chakra. I can't wait to have take you to a mountaintop with an iron sword so that lightening can strike you."

"What?" Naruto asked looking alarmed.

Jiraiya smiled at him innocently. "You're messing with me sensei."

"What really is messing?"

"Just tell me you were joking please."

"Reality can be a joke sometimes."

"Argh!"

Chapter 8 End.