The Silent Fox
Chapter 8 – The Power of Words
Dog looked down at the little boy sat on the bed in front of him, who seemed to be drifting almost into unconsciousness. This was only the third evening in which Dog had been attempting to teach the boy the more academic aspects of being a shinobi, but it had already become apparent that Fox didn't quite have the attention span for so much non-physical learning all at once. He sighed. "Okay Fox, let's learn something fun. You'll need to pay attention because we'll be using chakra.". Fox perked up immediately.
"I'm going to teach you how to hide your chakra presence, and then you won't have to stay in the Fuinjutsu array all the time while we're on guard.". Fox had now sat up fully, and was staring at Dog, hanging on his every word. It was remarkable the difference in attitude and attention that he had when it came to something relatively practical when compared to theoretical. "Focus on your chakra, like you do for a shunshin, but just take a small amount this time. Push it out to your skin and hold it there like a shell.". Dog smiled as the boy frowned in concentration. It seemed like he shouldn't try to go too much deeper with the explanation. The basic idea was behind it was that everyone gave of a low level ambient level of chakra escaping from the body, such that only trained sensor ninja could detect it. By creating a low-level, well-controlled shell of chakra at the boundary of the skin, elite ninja such as ANBU could mask their presence. It was a technique that required a fairly large amount of effort to learn that it was often not more valuable than increasing combat skills for many ninja due to the relative scarcity of high level chakra sensors, however it was a standard requirement for ANBU.
Dog was pulled from his thoughts as he sensed a steadily rising chakra presence beside him. He stared as Fox's skin had actually begun to glow blue. He laughed to himself for a moment at the absurdity of it, before reaching out to stop the boy. "Okay Fox, that was a good first try, but not quite it. You used way too much chakra. Try and dial it back a bit, you need to use just a little bit to stop the chakra in your body escaping, too much and you'll just be radiating your presence to everyone. Plus it'll hurt.". Dog winced as the blue glow faded away to a slight reddish tinge, the first signs of low level chakra burns. "Alright kid, maybe we'll try that again tomorrow.".
TSF-TSF-TSF
The following evening found the entire ANBU day guard squad gathered at training ground three after the end of their shift. Dog had decided it would be best to weave in some practical lessons alongside Fox's new instruction in the shinobi lifestyle, and would begin to train him with some of the more basic jutsu, and Crow would be continuing with chakra control exercises, since it seemed like Fox would need all the help he could get if he wanted to learn to mask his presence any time soon. Owl, however, seemed to have taken on the role of doting older brother. He wouldn't be teaching Fox anything, but even with the threat of Danzo now dealt with for the foreseeable future, he was maintaining his practice of watching over the boy's training sessions with characteristic enthusiasm.
"Okay Fox,", Dog began, "we're going to start with Kawarimi no jutsu. It allows you -", there was a frantic blur of hands as Dog vanished in a puff of smoke, before continuing, shouting to the now distant boy, "to replace yourself with another object or person. You can use it to dodge attacks and misdirect your enemies.". Fox turned to look behind him, meeting eyes with Dog, who was now standing in the branches of a tree 20 or so metres away. A large wooden log thudded softly against the grass behind him, as Dog made his way back to the boy, who had clasped his hands in front of his chest and was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet as he grinned up at Dog. "This is going to be the first jutsu that you learn that requires hand signs, so I'll teach you those first.
Dog slowly demonstrated the hand signs a few times for Fox. Ram, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake. Fox watched intently, before slowly repeating the pattern. Dog was surprised, since nobody was usually this adept so quickly when they first learned hand signs. Not to mention that this was likely Fox's first time seeing the hand signs properly at all, not just learning the required combination for the Kawarimi. Dog looked on in growing surprise, as Fox's hands got increasingly quicker every time he completed the set of signs. He whistled loudly, "I guess when you only ever speak in sign language, jutsu hand signs come naturally."
Crow stepped up to Dog's shoulder from behind, speaking in a light-hearted tone. "If he keeps this up, he'll be faster than me some day."
TSF-TSF-TSF
Crow looked down at the dejected Fox, who was crouched on the floor, panting from tiredness. Despite the initial success when learning the hand signs, when it came to actually performing the jutsu, Fox had had little success. He had repeatedly achieved large puffs of chakra smoke, however no replacement was taking place. None of the three ANBU had been able to come up with any ideas as to why the boy couldn't do it, since he seemed very intuitive and fairly talented when it came to learning practical techniques, and eventually Dog had needed to bow out to run some errands. "Come on Fox, I'll teach you something different, we can try this again another day.".
Fox nodded, and pushed himself laboriously upright, a small pout on his face. They made their way through the foliage, and after a couple of minutes, reached a familiar pond. Fox stopped at the edge, but Crow continued, walking out and standing in the centre of the pond. "Okay then Fox, this is what you're going to be learning. Just like when I taught you to climb trees, I want you to come and stand on the water with me.". Crow smiled from behind his mask as the boy scrunched his eyebrows in concentration. Fox stepped forward, gingerly testing the surface of the water with his foot. After a few moments, he steeled his features, and transferred his weight. He stood there for half a second, joy on his face... before he tumbled head first into the pond. It was all Crow could do to stifle a laugh.
TSF-TSF-TSF
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a slightly irritated eyebrow as he glanced up to the rafters above his desk. "Okay Fox, save your practice for later, you're on duty remember.". The steadily growing chakra presence that he had sensed immediately receded. Dog had told Hiruzen about Fox's difficulty in restraining his chakra presence, and the boy had taken to practising the technique while on the job. Hiruzen would not normally have minded the boy's surreptitious dual use of his time, but his failed attempts could be sensed even through the Fuinjutsu array that Dog had laid down all those months ago. Hiruzen looked back down at the puzzled Genin team before him. The Genin themselves hadn't noticed anything as Hiruzen had put a stop to Fox's antics in time, but their Jonin Sensei wore a slightly perturbed look. "Okay team twelve, a well completed mission, you all have two days leave before you return to D ranks for a while. You're dismissed.". The team bowed their heads and made their way out of the office. Hiruzen waited patiently until they had left. "Okay Dog, come down and give me a report on Fox's progress.".
Dog stepped forwards from his position by the door. "Yes, Sandaime-sama. Fox is making steady progress with his water walking technique. He's also had some improvements in learning to restrain his aura, although due to his start point, most ninja would still surpass his efforts even on their first try. They at least wouldn't have the opposite attempt even if they failed. I've had a medic examine him, and there is no lasting damage from the high density chakra exposure in his skin, which I put down to his increased healing factor. His Kawarimi also continues to be an issue. He has learned the hand-signs perfectly, and can perform them in quick succession, however he is unable to complete the jutsu successfully.".
Dog stared stoically at the ground as Hiruzen sighed pensively. He was a little ashamed of himself that Fox was still having issues. He was experienced enough that he felt he should be able to help Fox with this. Hiruzen finally spoke. "Fox, come down and demonstrate your Kawarimi.". The boy dropped from the rafters quickly at the Hokage's command. Hiruzen watched as the boy ran through the hand-signs. It was impressively fast for the boy's age, and rivalled the sign making speed of some of the newer Jonin. There was a large plume of chakra smoke, and Hiruzen observed as the boy was left standing in place. Fox's mask covered any facial expression that he might have had, but Hiruzen could tell from the slight slump of the shoulders that he was frustrated with himself. Still, he thought he had an idea of the problem, Fox was skipping a step that most beginners relied on, not that it was his fault.
"Okay Fox, I think I can help you. Do you know why the Kawarimi is called the way it is?". The boy looked up at Hiruzen for a moment, before tentatively beginning to sign. 'Because it allows you to substitute yourself with another object?'. Hiruzen chuckled. "Yes, but why isn't it called Shunshin no jutsu? Why does it need a name at all?.". Fox just stood there. His hand came up to his mouth, as if to bite at his thumbnail, only to meet the hard exterior of his mask. "Word's have meaning Fox, not just to others, but to you. By calling out the name of the technique, you subconsciously focus more on what you are attempting. Most beginners call out the name of even a simple jutsu like the Kawarimi when they begin to learn it, and only forgo doing so once they are intimately familiar with it. Doing so, along with being able to shorten the hand-sign sequence, can make a jutsu more useable in combat. You however, are not able to use that crutch that other beginners rely on. It will be a big hurdle for you now, although I daresay it will help you with your control in the long run. For now I want you to try again, but call out 'Kawarimi no jutsu' in your head as you apply your chakra. It might not be as good as calling aloud, but it should help you.".
Fox nodded his head, and concentrated on the spare chair in the corner of the room. He ran through the seals quickly, and called out 'Kawarimi no jutsu' in his head. He lost vision for a moment in a puff of chakra smoke, before his head smacked against something hard, dizzying him as he fell to the ground, only to hear the Hokage roaring with laughter. "Well done Fox, your first successful attempt, although you could use more practice.".
Hiruzen had been pleased to see the boy disappear from within the cloud of chakra smoke this time, and then amused as the figure that was now at the corner of the room overbalanced and smacked his forehead against the wall. He still struggled to contain his mirth, as he spoke once more. "Okay then Fox, return to your station for now, I'm sure Dog will put your newfound success through its paces this evening.".
Jutsu List:
Kawarimi no jutsu: Substitution technique
Review responses:
Poseidon1702: Thanks again for another kind review :) the part with Cat calling him a "thing" was actually a slip of the tongue (or finger I guess), since she blames him for what happened to Tiger, but certainly isn't part of the whole Naruto is a Demon trope. Also it's like ten minutes since it happened in that scene so I hope you'll forgive her for taking it badly. Something people say sometimes is 'pretty little thing' or 'stupid little thing' etc, and I used it unthinkingly, since its a colloquialism I remember from when I was a child. Thanks for pointing it out though, I've gone back and changed the wording to something without that particular buzzword :) Also yes, the Suna chunin exams will be pre-graduation. I've decided on Naruto being 9 I think when they graduate, just need to put the finishing touches around some timings before I lock that in, not really major changes, just how long particular time jumps will be. Makes me jealous of Kishimoto for not really including dates much because god damn is it effort, although maybe he did in the manga? I'm an anime peasant unfortunately so I wouldn't know.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates the past couple of days, I had a bit of a relapse of symptoms, so
I'm back on anti-inflammatories. Will just have to see how it goes, but I'll be trying to keep updating as much as possible since the writing is great for relieving stress when I feel up to it. I might even be able to get another chapter up this evening. That being said, I'm super surprised and pleased at the reach this story has been getting. Almost 100 follows at the time of writing. This is the first time I've ever actually published anything I've written, and those numbers and the reviews that I've gotten have really given me the confidence to keep going :) Also if my attempts to fix the title alignment still don't work this time I may jump off a building lol. I've just given up and left aligned it.
With regards to when Naruto is referred to as Fox/Naruto: So it depends on how the in-perspective character is thinking about him. Right now, if he's wearing his mask, he's pretty much always Fox. Dog will think of him as Naruto when they are alone and Fox is unmasked (although not when specifically thinking of him in the context of his budding shinobi career), but also only ever calls him Naruto in his head and not out loud. Hiruzen does what he wants, and in my mind thinks of him as Naruto more often then he does as Fox, more so than Dog, but I've just not written as many things from his perspective so you haven't really seen it. Hope that gives some perspective on previous chapters, and chapters going forward. When I write, I try to put myself in the shoes of each character so to speak, so markers like that in speech and internal dialogue will help you to understand character motivation I hope.
A note on chakra sensors: Anyone can sense chakra according to my pseudo-scientific explanation, but only a few have the necessary talent and training to sense ambient levels given off when a person is actively trying to hide. Hence why Dog could sense Naruto despite not being a sensor, since he basically turned himself into a chakra beacon. Also I hope people are enjoying the thorough approach to chakra theory, I find it quite fun and should make things interesting going forwards.