Thanks for all the reviews! Actually planned to move forward a lot more with this chapter, but it ended up at around 12k words, so I decided to split it. This is more of an interlude, for a few social interactions... Next chapter will be action again. As usual A.N. at the end.
What happened last time
"Because, it's also almost public knowledge, that you're a closet pervert," Kakashi said, and belatedly added, "Hokage-sama." After another short pause, he continued, "You would probably push the transfer out for a week, only to win the bet."
"Ahh, I think it's time for you to leave, Kakashi-kun," the Hokage said, smiling a little too sweetly. Hiruzen had rarely seen a faster shunshin.
Chapter 5
22. March 1299
Naruto was woken by loud knocking at 7.45 a.m. The previous day had been a Sunday and Naruto had spent it relaxing, trying to recuperate from his latest mission and subsequent first kill. Rubbing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes, Naruto got up and opened the door.
"Good morning Naruto-kun! Hokage-sama told me, that you returned from your mission two days ago, but you missed our training."
"Huh? Oh, morning Gai-sensei. Yeah, didn't feel like training today. Gomen, I should've told you."
"Don't worry Naruto. Would you mind if I come in? I'd like to talk to you."
Naruto was a little surprised, but stepped aside and gestured towards the couch.
"Please, sit down. Do you want tea, breakfast?"
"Yes, thank you," it seemed as if Gai's usual exuberance vanished, when he entered the apartment.
Naruto made himself busy in the adjacent kitchen, while Gai looked around the living-/dining room. Since Naruto generally didn't have time to waste in the morning, he kept enough pre-cooked rice in the fridge, to last two or three days. Ten minutes later, he placed the bowls with his usual breakfast on the low coffee table; rice, fermented soybeans, fried eggs and tea.
"So, what did you want to talk about sensei?" Naruto asked between bites.
Before answering, Gai set his bowl of rice down, placed his chopsticks on top of it and interlaced his fingers.
"I want to talk about the reason of your absence," he said seriously.
"There's no particular reason, I just didn't feel like it."
"Naruto-kun, in the last four months that I've trained you, you didn't miss a single day of training, when you weren't outside the village. You even came right before you left the village quite often. Something troubles you and I want to know what."
"It's nothing important sensei, I'll be there tomorrow, promise," Naruto said, trying to deflect the unasked question. Gai sighed before speaking again.
"Naruto, I think it's important for you to know, that when I decided to train you, it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing. You have to understand, that you're important to this village and not just in your position as jinchūriki. While early graduates aren't that uncommon, it's usually after their third or fourth year. Becoming genin after only one year at the academy, draws attention. Pretty much every chūnin and jōnin knows exactly who you are, now more so than ever. Having young, strong ninja sets an example to others your age, of what can be achieved with hard work. It shows our clients and the other villages, that our next generation will be as deadly as the one before.
"Admittedly you weren't exactly the inconspicuous person before, due to your pranks, but they lessened notably when you started at the academy. When you approached me outside that dango restaurant, I knew exactly why you were there. One doesn't graduate as an eight year old by being stupid and collecting wrong information," Gai explained.
"You knew from the start, that I actually wanted you to train me?" Naruto asked incredulous.
"Of course I knew. You don't become jōnin by being an idiot either. There's a subtle difference between being intelligent and being good academically. Besides, there's this whole common sense thingy," he chuckled a bit.
"So why didn't you call me out on my bull shit? And why would you train me, when you knew that I was lying to your face?"
"Because, as I said, you're important to this village. And being cunning isn't a bad trait for a ninja. You were desperate and did what you had to, no one can blame you for that. Five minutes after you accepted my offer, I went to Hokage-sama to inform him about our arrangement. You have to understand, that there's a lot of things going on behind your back, that concern you. It would do absolutely no good, to have a jinchūriki training completely unsupervised, especially one, that has very few bonds to the village."
"So, you only did it, because it was for the good of the village?" Naruto asked a little hurt.
"No, of course not," Gai replied instantly, shaking his head. "I wanted to see, what you're made of. I heard that Itachi had a hand in your training and I was curious. You heard about Kakashi, yes?" Naruto simply nodded and his sensei continued. "He has a saying, that is very true for us ninja. 'One has to look underneath the underneath'. Nothing is ever as it seems. There're very few jōnin, that believe what's said about Itachi, but what we believe doesn't matter. He was declared a traitor to the village and as such has to be exterminated. Our feelings and believes have no say in the matter.
"Being trained by one of the most talented shinobi to ever come out of Konoha, was for me a sign, that you obviously had talent as well. A talent I wanted to further and bring out."
"I see… So, what exactly are you trying to say with all that?"
"Being your sensei means more to me, than simply train you in taijutsu. I'm here to support you, to help you along, to sort off smoothen your path. Your actions directly reflect on me. Your failures will be partly laid at my feet and in exchange I get a share in the glory you will one day reap. I will be known as the sensei of a Hokage," Gai said with a wink and Naruto smiled brightly. "It was me who told the Hokage, that you were ready for this mission. If I hadn't done that, you would've never be assigned a B-rank.
"So, why don't you tell me what's troubling you? I know it has something to do with your last mission, but I don't think it's about your first kill, is it?"
"No… Well, yes. Sort off." Naruto paused before he said in a whisper, "I liked it."
"You mean killing?" Gai asked, his voice even.
"No, I don't think so," the young ninja said and furrowed his brow, starring at the bowl in his hands. "I believe it was more the battle itself. It was… exhilarating beyond believe," he said and looked up at his sensei. "The fighting itself, knowing, that a mistake could mean your death… I've never felt so alive. Seeing your enemy, and suddenly knowing what he's going to do, before he knows it himself. The knowledge, that you hold his life in your hands. It was intoxicating, I had to stop myself from running after them," Naruto finished, his voice growing steadily quieter.
"I see… And what about all that has you so troubled?" Gai asked softly. Naruto expression turned quizzical before answering.
"I shouldn't feel that way! I feel dirty even thinking about it. And I'm afraid, that I won't be able to stop one day."
"Well, don't be afraid then. You're not the only one with those feelings Naruto-kun. It might not be the best example, but Madara Uchiha was well known for his thirst for battle. Many great ninja had it. Tobirama Senju had it, Sandaime-sama has it, Kakashi has it. I myself enjoy a good fight and many others do so as well. Even Shodaime-sama was said to relish in a decent battle, even though he dedicated most of his life to bringing peace. It might be possible that your… condition enhances those feelings, but they're nothing to be ashamed of or worried about.
"There're two types of fighters, Naruto-kun. Those who go into battle with trepidation, only thinking about their survival and those, that go into battle with a smile on their face, wishing for a strong opponent and let loose. The former never become truly great ninja."
"But I never felt that way before. Even when Hana and I really get into it and our spars turn vicious," Naruto exclaimed.
"Well, that's simple biology. Even though your fights may be hard fought, both of you know unconsciously, that there's no real danger. All the hormones – especially adrenaline – you release when fighting for your life, make those feelings possible in the first place."
"I see," Naruto concurred. "Thanks sensei, that helped a lot."
"That's what I'm here for Naruto-kun. Now that your head is set straight, I'll be on my way. Breakfast was delicious and I expect you tomorrow for training," Gai said, suddenly turning brighter again.
"Hai, sensei. I'll be there."
26. March 1299
Friday evening, Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha towards the barbeque place, he frequented with Shikamaru and Chōji. He wanted to celebrate his first successful B-rank mission with his friends and had invited them out. Entering the restaurant, Naruto saw Shikamaru and Chōji already seated and went over to them.
"Hey guys, you're early," he greeted his friends and sat down.
"Hello Naruto. Yeah, Shikamaru was too lazy to go home after school only to walk back to the restaurant, so we decided to wait here for you. He's been napping ever since," Chōji explained.
"And you've been snacking, I guess," Naruto replied chuckling. The rather chubby boy smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, before elbowing the sleeping Shikamaru in the side. The dark-haired boy didn't so much as look up, but only lifted his arm and waved towards Naruto with a lazy 'Hey Naruto.'
Chōji and Naruto chuckled at their friends' antics and waved over a waitress in order for them to order. Even though constantly grilling meat and only eating from small bites, there was only little small talk. It was usual for Chōji not to talk much while eating, but today it wasn't because he was too focused on his meal. In fact, both him and Shikamaru seemed rather distracted. The blond ninja guessed, that they had a stressful week.
"Sooo, anything happened at the academy? You guys seem somewhat not your usual selves…"
Shikamaru looked up from his meal and muttered, "Emotional conditioning."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"Well, we told you how every second-year student was given a baby rabbit to take home about three months ago, yes?" Chōji asked, and only continued when Naruto nodded in confirmation. "The task was to care for him and stuff. They talked it up as a preparation for protection missions or something like that. We were asked to bring the rabbit back into class yesterday and then were told to kill it…"
"Huh… I see how that can kill your appetite. Do you know whether there will be more of that sort of thing?"
"No idea," Shikamaru answered this time, "but since we're only in our second year, I guess we'll have to do something of that sort every other year. You seem rather unfazed by it though."
"Yeah, might've helped to have done something like that before my latest mission."
"What? Oh right, we were actually here to celebrate something. You never told us what exactly."
"Sorry, I was a little in a hurry when I met you at the academy," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "Well, last Saturday I returned from my first B-rank, successful and all," Naruto smiled.
"Wow, congratulations Naruto," the two boys chorused. "B-rank huh? What was the objective?" Shikamaru added.
"Bandit extermination," was the curt answer. Both Naruto's friends looked at him a little strange, before Shikamaru acquiesced, "I see how some emotional training could've helped you there. It's actually strange, that it isn't done for early graduates in their first few months as genin. So, did you actually… you know?" He asked with a slight grimace.
"Yeah, didn't have much of a choice. I've been pretty much told, that I was assigned to this mission, so that I could get it over with. I have no idea why the emotional condition thing isn't just part of the genin-exam. I mean, in hindsight being able to go through with it and not freeze is kind of important," Naruto explained.
"Well, that's great and all, but it doesn't feel like we're celebrating. Naruto, aren't you allowed to buy alcohol? I remember Iruka-sensei telling us, that ninja are allowed to drink."
"You want to get drunk?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No! Just a cup, to, you know, try it. And maybe it gets rid of this depressing mood." Chōji tried to explain. Naruto just grinned and waved over the waitress. A minute later all three had a little cup of sake in front of them. Glancing at each other, they lifted the cups in a silent salute. Shikamaru spit half the liquid out again, while Chōji and Naruto started choking, all three grimaced.
"Well, that was disgusting." Shikamaru summarized their experience laughing. His two friends simply grinned.
"You know, I was wondering, how are the two Uchihas doing? It's almost been a year since the… incident." Naruto asked, after a few moments.
"Where does that sudden interest come from?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm just curious about how they're faring, I guess."
"Well, Sasuke has been his usual stuck up self," Chōji said unusually blunt. "He's been broody ever since the massacre and socializes even less than before. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts killing his fangirls sooner or later."
"Wow Chōji, you sure that isn't the sake talking?" Naruto said laughing. Chōji didn't even deign to answer and turned his attention back to the sizzling meat.
"Izumi is hiding something," Shikamaru said quietly. "She doesn't sit with Sasuke anymore, but with Hinata."
"You mean the Hyūga heiress, right? The quiet one, always seemed a little weird."
"She's nice when you get to know her," Chōji interjected between bites.
"Yeah that's the one," Shikamaru replied, ignoring Chōji for the moment. "First I thought Izumi was just fed up with Ino and Sakura worshipping the very ground Sasuke walked on and their whining when Izumi already sat beside her brother in the academy. Sakura was even worse and tried to butter up with Izumi too, probably thinking she could get to Sasuke through her or something. But now I think she's hiding something and wants to simply distance herself from Sasuke."
"What do you mean 'she's hiding something'?" Naruto asked, looking quizzical.
"Well, in our first year she was always up there with the best in our class ranking. While she's still in the top third now, something's wrong. Whenever she's asked something in class, she knows it, but on tests she only scores like 70-80%. When we're on the throwing-range, I think she misses on purpose. Like, she hits seven out of ten bullseyes and the other three go wide. If she's trying to play down her abilities, she's doing it rather badly though, it's kind of obvious."
"Obvious for you maybe Shika," Chōji said, "I didn't really notice."
"I wonder why she would do it though," Naruto interjected with a furrowed brow. "And why is she sitting with Hinata?"
"No idea why she would want to hide her abilities. Hinata is a lot less nervous, since she's sitting with Izumi, but only when we're in school. Outside she's still super shy, dunno what that's all about. Izumi is probably just sitting with her, because Hinata takes being a kunoichi more serious than the rest of the girls in our class. You should've seen them when we had to kill that rabbit, their wailing was almost worse than the killing itself," Shikamaru answered, shaking his head.
Naruto snorted. He barely remembered the girls form his class, but what had stayed with him was their obnoxious need to impress Sasuke.
"But weren't there like two or three other girls that were actually serious?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I don't know whether they take being a kunoichi serious, but there are three girls who keep away from all the fangirls and sweep the floor with them in spars."
"Haruka, Mai and Naomi," Chōji interjected again, earning him surprised looks. The boy noticed the prolonging silence and looked at his friends, only then noticing their staring. "What? I like to know who I'm in class with," he said defiantly.
"The more you know…" Shikamaru mumbled.
The rest of the evening the three went back to their usual banter. Naruto took care of the bill, he had invited them after all and B-rank missions payed rather well. He fell asleep that night with a content sigh.
-xXx-
28. March 1299
Naruto was having his well-deserved Sunday dinner at Ichiraku's and was chatting with Ayame, while destroying his fifth bowl of ramen.
His ji-san had been quite proud of him, when Naruto had shown him, that he had mastered the first step of water manipulation. Hiruzen had shown him the next exercise for mastering his element and Naruto thought it simply impossible. He had to change the direction, in which a body of a water flowed. The exercise was considered mastered when he could force whole rivers to make a bend. Naruto had tried it with a tiny creek, barely a foot wide, but he seemed to be unable to force any change.
As Naruto was about to order his next bowl, he was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Hey Naruto! You're quite difficult to find, I was looking for you for half the day."
Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw Hayate entering the ramen stand.
"Hayate, good to see you. Yeah, sorry. Old pranking habits, you know, can't be seen and all that" he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"No worries. But speaking about pranks, it has been quite some time or am I just missing them?"
"You're right! Ever since becoming genin I neglected my one true talent! Well, I got to remedy that soon, can't have people become too lax. Maybe the ANBU are up for a good chase, it's been too long," Naruto replied, with a thoughtful look.
"I have it on good authority, that the ANBU are not too upset with not having to chase you around the village anymore," Hayate explained laughing. "Although it was always amusing to watch, I have to admit."
"Hmm, maybe something small. I had a D-rank a few weeks ago, and the client didn't want me painting his fence. Argued for an hour with me about sending another ninja. The old codger would make a good target. Maybe I should paint his fence pink or something."
"Sounds like a plan," Hayate said chuckling. "But I didn't come looking for you to talk about pranks, as amusing as it is."
"Didn't think so," Naruto replied, while viciously attacking his next bowl of ramen. "So, why did you look for me?"
"A spot has just opened on our team. Anko was finally transferred to T&I fulltime, she'll only be going on recon missions from now on and only with teams from T&I. You did a good job on our last mission and I thought I would offer you the spot on a trial basis."
"You for real?", Naruto exclaimed with gleaming eyes, his ramen forgotten for once. "That would be awesome, no more reserve corps and a chūnin team too!"
"Yeah, I am for real," Hayate said, laughing again. "As I said, it's on a trial basis, since we've only been on one mission, but both Koji and Emiko agreed to give you a chance. Just meet up with us tomorrow for training, and we'll look over it, alright?"
"Sure thing, when and where?"
"We usually meet at 8 a.m. at training ground 42. It's the one close to training ground 44, Anko loves that place, so we picked something in the proximity. Our normal schedule is three hours of team exercises; formations, collaboration attacks and stuff like that. Afterwards we spar for an hour, or help each other with projects. We often get lunch together and in the afternoon, everyone does what he wants."
"Sounds perfect, I'll be there," Naruto said. 'I got to switch up my schedule with Gai-sensei, I hope we can fix something', he thought.
"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then, enjoy your ramen!"
"Thanks Hayate, see you tomorrow!"
"Oh, and since you're on the team now, you can call me Taichō," Hayate said, while leaving Ichiraku's.
Naruto turned his attention back to his ramen in high spirits. Finally, a real team. It may make participating in chūnin-exams even more difficult, but at least he would get more experience. He would get his promotion some way or another.
"So Naruto-kun, it seems you made good impression on them on your mission," Ayame said, from behind the counter. "You seem awfully chipper, even more so than usual, is it really such a big deal to be on a fix team?"
"Of course, Ayame-neechan. There're lots of advantages, when being on a fix team. For one, I'm part of the active corps, which means I get a base income," Naruto explained.
"Huh, I thought you ninjas get your salary from missions?"
"Nu-huh. Missions are like a bonus. Or maybe it's the other way 'round, since as a genin I can barely live from the base income. Every rank has different income, you see. ANBU get the most, since they don't receive payment for missions and it's based on how long you've been in ANBU. The base income is actually very important, if you're injured at one point or when you retire. You're only paid 80% of your income, 8% go into your so called 'old-age provision' and another 12% go into a collective fund, that supports injured shinobi.
"I mean, think about it, you would be screwed as shinobi, if you were injured and didn't have any income besides missions. Fortunately, the village covers all health bills, for hospitalized shinobi, so at least that's something you wouldn't have to worry about," Naruto continued his explanation.
"I honestly never thought about it, but it makes sense," Ayame said with a frown on her face. "But what happens, when a reserve corps shinobi is injured?"
"Well, then you are screwed. While your hospital bills are still covered, you lack income. That's why it's so important to pass the test set by your jōnin-sensei. Less than half the genin who fail their test, advance in rank or make it out of the reserve corps. You either work your ass off and make it work, or you get a civilian job and withdraw your shinobi license completely," Naruto explained.
"But why would you withdraw your license? I mean, you could always work on the side and hope for a chance to get out of it."
"Yeah, but while shinobi in the reserve corps are allowed to decline missions, they're still obligated to fight in case of war. Not training due to a civilian job makes you cannon fodder in war times. Most reserve corps shinobi are in there, because they don't want to constantly take missions. Take the Clan heads as an example. They're still very capable shinobi, but have too many obligations, to leave the village on a regular basis."
"Well, that was interesting. What else do you get from being in the active corps?" Ayame asked.
"There're lots of other things. Like having regular missions, being able to train with a team and all that sort of stuff."
"Well, good for you Naruto-kun, you deserve it," Ayame said with a smile.
"Thanks, nee-chan, but I got to go. I should get a good night's sleep, before my first trainings-session and I'll have to check with Gai-sensei, whether we can change up our schedule or not," Naruto replied, while dropping some money on the counter and getting up from his chair.
"Alright, good night Naruto-kun."
"Bye, Ayame-nee, tell Teuchi good night form me" Naruto exclaimed, idly waving his hand over his shoulder, exiting the ramen stand.
-xXx-
29. April 1299
Naruto smiled unconsciously while slurping his noodle-soup. If it wasn't for the – according to him – 'Food of the Gods', he would probably be talking just as much as Emiko. Team Hayate was currently having dinner at Ichiraku's, celebrating Naruto's permanent admission to said team. During the one month trial period, the young ninja integrated himself quite well.
Naruto's position in Team Hayate was somewhat similar to Hayate's. His huge chakra reserves made him into a nin-jutsu power house, while his smaller frame and speed made for an elusive fighter, who still packed a punch. Not to mention his stealth skills were some of the best ever seen in a nine-year-old. The young blond was turning out to be an all-around type shinobi and he had already decided to pick up kenjutsu, as soon as he was done with the second step of water manipulation.
Of his team, Naruto was probably closest to Emiko. The teenager had kind off adopted Naruto as a younger brother. She had taken a liking to pranks after Naruto told her about the one time he had sneaked into ANBU HQ and painted large parts of the underground facility orange. More often than not, lunch was spent making plans for their next prank, after Naruto decided to go back into pranking-business. Hayate kept out of it for the most part, according to Emiko, it was under threat of his girlfriend. Koji however surprised them all. It seemed the young man had a hidden sadistic streak and offered to get them some rather humiliating neuro-toxins for their pranks. Needless to say, that they kept him far away from their plans.
There had also been a short discussion about Naruto's tenant. The young blond figured that his teammates probably knew anyway and wanted to be able to trust them with everything. Surprisingly none of them showed a negative reaction. Hayate had studied seals and had informed his teammates about the nature of a jinchūriki even before they had been on their first B-rank. While both Emiko and Koji had lost loved ones during the kyūbi-incident, they knew where to lay the blame and it certainly wasn't Naruto.
-xXx-
30. April 1299
Naruto was working through one of his katas when Gai suddenly interrupted him.
"Naruto-kun, we've got company!" Next to Gai stood a kunoichi with purple hair, wearing ANBU gear and a katana on her back. Naruto looked at the kunoichi a little quizzically, there was something familiar about her.
"Naruto Yūgao-chan wants to talk to you," Gai explained.
"Morning Naruto-kun, sorry to interrupt your training. Hayate-kun told me where I could find you, I wanted to talk to you. How about breakfast?"
The young boy was little perplexed, not knowing what exactly this was about. He didn't want to be rude though, so he asked, "You're Hayate's girlfriend, right?" receiving a nod in return he continued, "Alright, I know a place." Naruto then turned towards his sensei, "What about you Gai-sensei, want to tag along?"
"It's alright Naruto-kun, go ahead. I'll have my breakfast here, as usual," Gai replied with a gentle smile.
Naruto nodded and fell in step with Yūgao walking towards the village. He inhaled the crisp morning air deeply through his nose, before his face crunched up in confusion and then turned towards the purple haired kunoichi. "Neko-neechan?!"
"Hai, Naruto-kun. It's been a while, ne?" Yūgao answered smiling. Suddenly a lot of things fell into place for Naruto and his eyes widened.
"That manipulative old man. I'll have to thank him later," he grumbled more to himself, Yūgao however heard him clearly.
"Hmm, what are you talking about?"
"Hokage-jiji. He used you and Hayate to get me onto a team," Naruto explained. Yūgao stood still for a moment before starting to laugh.
"I can't believe I didn't see it before. He played us well. And some of the higher ranks were starting to doubt his capability as Hokage," she said still chuckling and shaking her head. "He could obliterate them both in body and mind…"
-xXx-
"So, what did you want to talk about nee-chan?" Naruto asked between bites.
"Hayate-kun told me you had a water affinity and I wondered if you needed any help."
"Yeah, that would be awesome! I'm on the second step, but it's super annoying," Naruto said a little downcast.
"Don't worry gaki, I can make some time here and there to give you some pointers. It's the least I can do," Yūgao said, smiling softly. Naruto looked at her a strangely, trying to figure out why she'd owe him. He shoved the thought into the back of his mind for later.
"You know Naruto, I was wondering. How are you being treated nowadays?" Yūgao asked quietly.
"It's weird… I don't spend much time in the village to be honest. Well it's kind of difficult to explain. Two years ago, I did everything I could to get their attention, you know, the clothes, the pranks and stuff."
"Yeah, I heard some ANBU talking about submitting a motion to split your team. Everyone was happy when the pranks lessened and now you got Emiko-chan helping you," Yūgao said wistfully.
"You do realise, that there's no point in trying to hide that you're in ANBU by talking about them as if you're not part of it, right?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hai," Yūgao laughed sheepishly, "force of habit I guess."
"The clothes are somewhat of a give-away," Naruto deadpanned. "But yeah, the pranks are back. Although we're really limiting ourselves to be honest. Less trying to annoy people and more for a good laugh and sometimes just to reveal security risks. I'll remember not to touch your stuff the next time we raid ANBU HQ, Neko-neechan," Naruto said with a slightly maniac grin.
"Thank kami for small favours," Yūgao muttered.
"Back to our topic though, as I said I changed quite a bit during the last two years. Instead of channelling all my energy into annoying people, I train or study. I'm rarely seen and since I'm not wearing anything bright anymore, people tend to ignore me rather than glare at me. It's easier to overlook me and pretend I'm not there I guess.
"The ninja changed too, but I only realised it after Gai-sensei told me, that graduating after only one year is kind of special. I mean, there were always fewer ninja that hated me, but the others didn't really do anything about it. I was just treated with indifference. Now they look almost as if they're respecting me, it was creepy when I first noticed," Naruto explained.
"I see. You've also become much more quiet. You stopped running around shouting about becoming Hokage, I always thought it was rather adorable." Being remember of his past behaviour made Naruto blush in embarrassment.
"Yeah, my first sensei was super quiet and I somewhat tried to emulate him, because I really looked up to him," Naruto said with sadness in his voice. "He taught me to do my physical exercises in the morning to burn as much energy as possible and it made it much easier to do other stuff that I had to sit around for."
Naruto and Yūgao spent the rest of their meal talking about water jutsu and manipulation. Since Yūgao only had little time to help him, they decided that she would simply look for him, when she actually had time. After all, she knew where to find him.
Ninja – A how-to, Chapter 4 Taijutsu
In accordance with our teachings at the ninja academy I shall too cover the three main shinobi arts. The first of them being Taijutsu. It is in my opinion the most important discipline of all the shinobi arts. A ninja can lack in all other areas and still be a dangerous opponent. Its importance stems from the fact, that it does not require additional items or even hand seals. Outside of the Hyūga-clan there is no one that can shut down the inner workings of a person's chakra system, as such chakra-enhancement (which will be discussed later) is almost always possible.
Taijutsu is a foundation that is required for any competent shinobi. While it is no necessary to become proficient or even master a certain style, is important to be able to defend oneself in close quarters.
It is important to note, that no Taijutsu style is singularly better or stronger than another. Different styles cater to different ninja with different goals when it comes to their taijutsu. It can be argued that a well-known style poses a disadvantage due to accumulated experiences with that certain style. While this may be true it also means, that the style has been developed longer and more and has therefore more facets that can be concentrated on to improve by an individual ninja.
For most ninja taijutsu will become a complementary discipline to their main combat ability, whether it is ninjutsu, genjutsu, bukijutsu or even more obscure arts such as fūinjutsu. It is important to choose a taijutsu style that fits the ninja's style of combat as well as his chosen main discipline (or main disciplines). Taijutsu should complement and enhance a ninja's battle ability even if it is only used as a supplemental art.
A.N. Hope you liked it! I already found some things I'm not happy with in earlier chapters. I'll continue this, until I'm hitting a block and then start to edit a few things. Don't worry, there won't be any huge changes, just to make it easier to read and change/add a few interactions. I won't change the main storyline. After the reviews, I'll post my system concerning fuinjutsu (the levels and stuff). I made it up on rather short notice, so there might be changes coming...
Some general things on reviews: There's obviously stuff, that I handle differently than in canon. I need some changes to make the story somewhat believeable after all (for example the whole thing about who holds the power in the village). If it's such a big issue I'll just put 'AU' into the summary and be done with it...
Reviews:
Yorae Rasante: TIL... Actually interesting. I'm not sure if I ever knew that, but I guess reading fanfiction burned that whole 'deformed chakra-choils' thing into my brain... I won't change it though, I have actually something else planned with it. But thanks for mentioning :)
Timonthy B: Yugao will come up from time to time definitley, but not as a main 'confidant', so to say...
KamiKageRyuuketsu: I actually don't know, why I even bother answering. Calling some 'child' and then go on, writing like a 14 year old throwing a tantrum, makes you seem rather immature... However, there's actually an issue between all the insults, so I'll do it anyway. Of course the progress is slow. I can't just jump fast forward like other fictions do, because there's nothing canon until we reach the rookie 9 graduation. There's has to be some build-up somewhere. Escpecially since Naruto isn't acting like in canon, but a lot calmer. Concerning council and shit: How comes the Sandaime didn't do shit in canon when he had absolute power? He knew about danzo, but couldn't do anything. Being a dictator makes you still suscpetible to backstabbin. The council decided on Tsunade being Godaime. The only difference is, that in canon the council is only made up of the elders - no clan heads, no civilians. It actually states in trivia, that the council is largely responsible for the governing of the village, while the Hokage takes care of the militaristic issues.
It feels like the whole fuinjutsu thing is a gigantic mess without any structure, so I'll try to bring some into it. Incidently I'll do things a lot differently from canon and with some restrictions and stuff... Any seals that do not need to be written, are considered a speciality of the Uzumaki clan and therefore not included below. This will probably change in the future, but I want to start somewhere. :)
Fuinjutsu levels:
1. Kanji and basic Seal-structures:
Just basics and explanations for fuinjutsu, for example difference between seal arrays or how to actually charge seals etc...
2. Basic inanimate Seals:
Inanimate in the sense, that the seals are applied to non-living things, i.e. simple tags, simple seals that can be used on weapons, etc. Example: Explosive tags, seals to keep weapons sharp as long as the seal is charged, stuff like that...
3. Basic barrie Seals
4. Advanced inanimate Fuin
Stronger tags, storage scrolls, elemental sealing. example: Fūka Hōin, and lots of other stuff that will come up later (like a seal that changes chakra into the desired elmental nature and stuff like that)
5. Joint-Seals and advanced Seal-structures
methods to combine differenct seals and advanced arrays. Example: Storage scrolls that release items at high velocity (like TenTen uses), instead of simple unseal. Explosive tags that also blind or defean enemies...
6. Basic animate Seals:
Seals that are applied to to others and interact directly with chakra. example: gravity seals (it's not canon, but...), chakra supression seals (like Kakashis' Evil Sealing Method), etc.
7-10: Novice, Journeyman, Adept, Master (in chosen field)
Fields (I'll probably add more later...):
Inanimate sealing (everything from weapon-advancement to chakra transformation seals)
Animate chakra sealing (everything from biju sealing to chakra surpression seals. It simply has direct influence on someone's chakra...)
Barrier sealing
Space/time ninjutsu