Reincarnation of Asura

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…sadly.

Chapter 3: First Steps in Training

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"Bijū / Summons Talking"

"Jutsu (Technique)"

- Senju Compound -

The Senju Compound lived up to its name, with hundreds of massive trees surrounding the large building that had been grown by Hashirama himself when he became the Shodaime Hokage (First Fire Shadow). Their land was far smaller than their rivals the Uchiha Clan, who had an entire district to themselves; but that was because the Senju were far less numerous by the time Konoha was built.

That wasn't to say the Senju clan was lacking in space, the large compound sat on a massive piece of land surrounded by a forest. And the training area alone featured a massive tree in the center of a pond, with a small stretch of land around the roots of the tree that was marked by generations of Senju who had practiced there.

And it was in that very same location, where Shizune sat upon one of the tree's branches, reading over a report on Konoha's Hospital as the sounds of fighting went on in front of her.

On one side, Naruto stood shirtless in a pair of white shorts, having soaked his shirt with sweat before throwing it away. While on the other, Tsunade stood in her usual attire sans the grass-green haori, her sleeveless grey kimono top showing off the toned muscles of her arms that flexed with her every movement.

Despite the small similarities in their fighting, it was obvious how outmatched the younger boy was as the older woman sent him flying with a flick of her finger.

"AGAIN!" Tsunade shouted, waiting for Naruto to get up off the ground after having sent him crashing into the grass that bordered around the massive tree. Sometimes, just for fun, she'd send him flying into the pond that surrounded them to see how big of a splash he'd make.

"Not giving up, are you?" She challenged, watching as her words brought new energy to the kid as he bounced back up.

"Heh, you wish…" Naruto smirked, wiping some dirt off his cheek with the back of his fist.

Settling back into the Taijutsu (Body Technique) stance Tsunade had shown him, Naruto spread his feet shoulder-width apart and bent his knees while bringing his arms up, fists lightly clenched in a boxing style.

The purpose of the fighting style she was teaching him was to make as few movements as possible, while scoring solid blows that would deal maximum damage. Her intent was to get his body and muscle memory prepared for when his chakra control was good enough to teach him the chakra enhanced strength technique, where each strike would have enough power to take down his opponents without needing unnecessarily fancy footwork.

Getting into a similar stance, though she kept her hands rested at her sides, Tsunade nodded for him to attack.

"Begin!"

Racing across the grass, Naruto got as close as he was comfortable before planting his leading left foot in front of the taller woman, channeling his momentum into a right-handed punch aimed at her stomach. Before his fist could connect, Tsunade moved her hand faster than his eyes could follow, stopping the punch with a finger.

Having seen her do that several times already, Naruto ignored his failure and pushed off her absurdly strong finger with his fist, keeping the leading left foot planted on the ground as he used the movement to spin around for a clockwise round-house heel-kick to her side.

The kick was blocked by the same finger stopping his heel, before Tsunade's hand blurred forward to flick his unguarded back.

Despite the seemingly weak strike, the strength behind it sent Naruto flying in the air before landing roughly on his front, grunting at the harsh landing. "Oof!"

Having no need to move from her starting position, Tsunade waited for him to get back up as she smirked at his last attempt.

The punch and kick were incredibly slow, and more than a little sloppy in her opinion, but that was to be expected after only three weeks of training. What was important, was how natural his body used the movements; how he seemed to lean into the Taijutsu style instead of having to force himself like others usually did.

The problem with Taijutsu styles was that most just didn't work for people, whether it be their personality or body type. An Uchiha with the body of an Akimichi could never hope to learn their clan's taijutsu, no matter how much the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) helped. Just as someone who was more analytical and less physical, like a Nara, could never hope to use the style that Tsunade was teaching Naruto.

It required getting in close with a target, while keeping your movements more natural and less planned out, reacting to the opponent's own movements until an opening presented itself or you created one.

Glancing over to Shizune, she spotted a small clock sitting next to her apprentice, ticking down from the hour timer they had set before starting the spar. Already, they had blown through more than half the time allotted, and despite continually sending him flying, Naruto kept getting back up and coming back for more.

She was so proud of the little brat…Now if only he would just agree to wear a haori like hers, life would be great.

- 1 Month Later -

It had been almost two months since they had helped Naruto move into the Senju Compound, and after the first day Tsunade had wasted no time in testing his abilities. It became very clear to her that he had far more chakra than he could control.

Instead of just teaching simple jutsu that he could overpower (like his godfather probably would have), she took it as a personal challenge to get his chakra control up to par. Refusing to believe that it was beyond his ability to control, when her own grandfather had just as much chakra as he did, and greater control over it than even Tsunade could boast.

Plus, part of her desired to pass on her fighting style to someone else, after having been taught the style so long ago by Hashirama.

Most people were under the belief that the chakra enhanced strength technique was something that Tsunade had created herself, but that wasn't actually the case.

It was her grandfather who created the technique, known as Kongōriki (Adamantine Power), which used perfect chakra control to release their chakra in bursts at the moment of contact. The taijutsu style was called Kongōken (Adamantine Fist), and had been passed down to those of the Senju Clan with the necessary chakra control to fully utilize the style.

The misunderstanding came from the fact that her grandfather was so unbelievably strong, having earned the title of Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi) through overwhelming power that dwarfed all but his rival Madara's, that people just naturally assumed he was that physically strong without needing any sort of technique.

Now that Naruto Senju (who had received confirmation from the Hokage of his name change) was learning directly under her, Tsunade was hoping to pass on everything she had to teach him.

As much as she loved Shizune, her apprentice was never one for close-quarters combat, preferring to use poison and senbon from a distance before resorting to Chakura no Mesu (Chakra Scalpels) instead of her fists.

And considering how their initial training was going, Tsunade was positive that he could learn everything she had to teach him. Their two personalities and preferences in fighting were so alike, she almost wondered at times if they were more closely related than either of them realized.

It had taken Tsunade less than a minute to realize that Naruto had so much chakra in him, it was almost physically impossible for the boy to sit still for more than an hour at a time. To help make sure he never got distracted during their lessons, she scheduled for them to take a break every hour and practice taijutsu, working off some of that excess energy he had.

Which is why they were sparing once again, after having finished instructing him on the first steps of chakra control: Leaf Concentration.

"Time's up!"

Shizune's voice rang out from her stop on the roots of the massive tree, calling an end to their spar as Naruto picked himself up off the ground with a groan. "Five more minutes?"

"No can do Gaki (Brat)." Tsunade replied, a stern look on her face as she stood next to him with her arms crossed. "You know the rules."

Sighing, his blond head dropped in defeat. "Hai, Shishō (Master)." Despite his grumbling at having to stop physical training, his tone was respectful as he followed her order.

Normally he wasn't one for honorifics, or calling people by their respective titles, but Tsunade was different. She had taken him in and offered to train him, spending her days instructing him on how to get stronger, and offering up her wisdom whenever he asked or needed it.

Naruto never bothered being respectful to others before, nearly everyone in the village had made one scathing remark or another to him and he showed them the same amount of respect back. The only ones he truly respected were Tsunade, Shizune, and Hinata.

They had never been mean or rude to him, only ever doing their best to show him kindness and compassion; Hinata especially.

Naruto and Hinata had started to become bestfriends in the Academy as the weeks went on, sticking together during class and always supporting each other during the training exercises like Kunai and Shuriken throwing.

While Naruto wished that he could think of his Jiji with the same level respect as them, he knew that such a thing was impossible now. Not after sitting down with Tsunade and Shizune to talk about what had happened in his life, and the older women revealing the truth of his family and his status as a Jinchūriki.

- Flashback -

"W-What?" Came Naruto's stunned reply, staring wide-eyed at the serious look on Tsunade's face. "How-…But-… I thought the Yondaime killed it?"

Shaking her head, she frowned at the desperation in his eyes, hating that she had to be the one to explain all of this to him. It should have been Hiruzen's job, but the stubborn old Hokage refused to believe that Naruto was ready to handle the revelation, and wanted to wait until the boy made chūnin before revealing anything.

Unfortunately for the old man, Tsunade thought differently.

Since Naruto was now a member of the Senju Clan, that meant his status fell under clan secrets, giving the Head of the Clan full rights to disclose the information as they wished. And with Tsunade as the newly-acting Senju Clan Head, she was the only one who could do so without breaking the Hokage's Law regarding keeping his Jinchūriki status secret.

"No, Naruto…the Kyūbi can't be killed. The only way for someone to defeat it, is to seal it away… and the only thing strong enough to seal a Bijū into is a person." Tsunade replied. "That person is you."

As shocking as the information undoubtably was to the young boy, she refused to sugar-coat it in any way. If Naruto was ever going to grow up and reach his full potential, he needed to know exactly what he was working with; and his status as a Jinchūriki wasn't something that could just be pushed aside and ignored until he made chūnin.

She would wait until the shock had worn off and her godson had time to fully process everything before she'd sit down with him again and explain who his parents were. That was undoubtably going to be another overwhelming conversation for him to process.

"But…" Naruto asked, his young mind struggling to understand what he was hearing. "Why me?"

"Because you're an Uzumaki, a branch clan of the Senju. Only someone from either of our two clans are strong enough to withstand the Kyūbi's overwhelming chakra." Tsunade explained, wrapping an arm around his shorter frame to pull him against her. "I know it's an unfair burden that's been placed on your shoulders Naruto, but you're not alone in this anyone. You've got me and Shizune to support you, no matter what."

Staring past her massive chest into her gentle brown eyes, showing nothing but support and kindness, Naruto melted into the hug as he wrapped his smaller arms around her waist. "Thank you…shisho." He whispered.

It was overwhelming to think that he was the only thing keeping the Kyūbi from rampaging through Konoha, but it was nice to know that he had others to support him. Feeling one of Tsunade's hands come up to comb her fingers through his hair, Naruto sighed happily as he felt himself relax, the tension bleeding out of him as the two enjoyed the quiet moment together.

- Flashback End -

Moving over to where Shizune sat on the roots of the massive tree, Naruto plopped himself down on the grass by her feet. Grabbing one of the leaves that littered the ground, he brought it up to his forehead before holding it against the skin with a finger.

'Alright…now I need to keep it there with chakra.' He thought, reaching inside of himself for that untamed inferno of energy.

Carefully, he directed as small a stream of chakra as he could to his forehead, using the pressure of his fingertip as a guide. While he had more than enough chakra to make the leaf stick and keep it there indefinitely, the point of the exercise was to use the least amount of chakra necessary.

Gently easing off the pressure of his finger, Naruto felt he had reached the right amount as leaf stayed on his head. Before he had a chance to celebrate his success, his chakra fluctuated as his control slipping, sending the leaf flying off from a wave of excess chakra surging to the spot.

Groaning, Naruto sighed as he picked up another leaf off the ground. It was going to take a lot more practice before he got it right.

Sitting on the ground with her back against a root, Tsunade chuckled at his frustrated face before she took a sip from her sake bottle. "Keep at it gaki, you'll get it soon enough."

Hearing her apprentice giggle as another leaf went flying off Naruto's forehead, she shuffled around to make herself comfortable as she waited for the next break in an hour.

Originally, Tsunade thought that teaching her godson would have been a pain in the ass. But as she relaxed under the shade of the massive tree while sipping on sake and enjoying the afternoon breeze, she had to admit that it wasn't that bad.

She could drink as much as she wanted during the hour Naruto spent practicing his chakra control, and then she got to work off some of the excess calories during their sparring.

Even better, since Tsunade was too busy training Naruto and Shizune had very little to do, her apprentice had taken on the role of Director at the Hospital. Leaving her all the free time in the world to relax whenever she wanted; and if she ever got bored, she could just ask Shizune to give her a case to work on at the Hospital.

- Academy -

Thunk!

Naruto's head dropped onto the hard wood surface of the table as he groaned, trying desperately to keep himself from acting out as his leg bounced from the excess energy he had. 'When will this torture end?' He thought, already missing his lessons with Tsunade.

The Academy required them to be there every Monday through Friday from 8 in the morning until 3 in the evening. And unlike his lessons with his Shishō, there were no breaks after each hour to do physical training, meaning he had to sit there quietly and listen for several hours until after lunch when they were finally allowed outside.

"A-Ano…N-Naruto-kun." A quiet, stuttering voice whispered from his right.

Rolling his head to the side, he glanced up at the worried face of his bestfriend.

"Yeah Hinata-chan?" He asked, not needing to keep very quiet as no-one could hear what they were saying.

The two of them sat together in the very back of the classroom next to the window, the aisle spot left open as there weren't enough students in the class to fill up every row. Since they always sat together in the back, the two had the entire row to themselves because no one wanted to sit near the orphan and the girl with the 'creepy' eyes.

Ignoring the other students' harsh words, they both actually preferred being alone together, as it gave them more time to converse during lessons and not have to worry about someone overhearing them.

"Y-You should p-pick your h-head up before Iruka-sensei n-notices." Hinata replied, glancing repeatedly at the tall chūnin lecturing at the front of the classroom to make sure they hadn't been noticed yet.

Sighing, Naruto reluctantly lifted his head off the desk.

Despite wanting nothing more than to leave the class, if anyone could make him stay and pay attention it was Hinata. She was always looking out for him in class and helping to keep him out of trouble, showing incredible patience with him and his boundless energy whenever he struggled to sit in class during lectures.

Shifting his focus away from the Chūnin with a scar across his nose, he took in the sight of his bestfriend as they sat close enough together that their shoulders nearly touched.

Hinata was a slender girl with dark-blue hair cut short in a Hime (Princess) style, dressed in a cream-colored hooded-jacket and navy-blue pants; on her feet, were similar navy-blue open-toed sandals that every ninja (or aspiring ninja) wore. Despite the rather bulky clothing, Naruto could faintly make out her developing curves underneath the fabric.

From what Tsunade had said when she came to pick him up from the Academy one day, Hinata was going to grow up into a beautiful woman as they get older.

Glancing down at his own clothes, Naruto rather liked the sleeveless black shirt that showed off the hint of toned muscle on his arms as a result of his training under Tsunade. The back of the shirt proudly displayed the Senju Clan symbol in white at the base of the neck, and just below it was a red Uzumaki Clan swirl in the middle. To finish off the look, he wore matching black shorts and black open-toed sandals.

He normally would have preferred not going with all black clothing, but the outfit was cheaper and easier to have replaced when they got damaged than to go with something more elaborate.

"Eep!" Hinata squeaked out, having finally caught his staring.

He smiled at the small blush on her cheeks, Hinata having finally realized his attention was on her and ducked her head down to focus on her lap, poking her index fingers together underneath the table.

'Hinata-chan's so cute when she blushes.' Naruto thought, reaching his hand underneath the table to gently pull her fingers apart, interlocking his fingers with hers as her blush grew to full-faced redness.

Small gestures like this were something new for Naruto; usually people didn't like touching him or being touched by him. But it worked wonders for helping calm Hinata down whenever she got nervous, and already he could see the blush fading as she smiled softly, her gaze fixed on their joined hands.

Even though they had been friends ever since that first day of the Academy over a month ago, Hinata still struggled with her nerves and stuttering.

It had taken all of his self-control to not do anything to the Hyūga Clan after she told him about her life at home. The idea that her family could act so cruel to such a kind girl was baffling. He wished that he could pull a prank on them to get some kind of revenge, but that was off-limits.

Tsunade sat him down one day and explained that with his adoption into the Senju Clan, his actions now reflected on their family and his pranks could have real consequences to her and Shizune.

Not willing to risk causing problems for his new family, Naruto had stopped pranking altogether; wanting to be a better person and show Tsunade and Shizune that their decision to take him in wasn't a mistake.

Feeling Hinata squeeze his hand gently as her white eyes stared worriedly at his frown, Naruto pushed the negative thoughts aside to smile back reassuringly, giving a light squeeze of his own as he turned his attention back to the front.

Sparing a glance at the clock, he internally groaned at the time. 'Two more hours until Lunch…great.'

- After Lunch -

"Alright class, it's time for Taijutsu practice!" The voice of their chūnin instructor Iruka called out. "Break up into partners, and try not to hurt each other too badly."

After lunch had ended, the class had gone outside to the training fields for their daily physical practice. It typically alternated between kunai/shuriken throwing, and taijutsu practice every day. And while the throwing lessons could be done together, the Academy was forced to let everyone work on their taijutsu training separately since there were typically students who had their own clan fighting style.

It was even worse this year, with the entire class filled with Clan Heirs from every prominent clan in Konoha.

"Ready Hinata-chan?" Naruto called out, having moved away from the rest of the class like they always did. It was a no-brainer that he and Hinata would always pair up together, since no one else showed as much interest in Taijutsu training as they did.

Already, the Nara and Akimichi heirs (Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi) had called an end to their spar after the first second. Next to them, Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka were going at each other with far too much strength, causing Iruka to intervene in their fight and try to get the two students under control unsuccessfully.

A few weeks ago, it would have been Naruto in Kiba's place, challenging Sasuke to a spar every time and getting his butt kicked mercilessly. But now that he had Hinata with him, much of the resentment he held towards the Uchiha had faded away.

"H-Hai!" Came Hinata's enthusiastic reply as she settled into her clan's taijutsu stance, the Jūken (Gentle Fist). From what he could recall, the style focused on channeling chakra into their palm and finger strikes, targeting the opponent's tenketsu (chakra points) and removing their ability to mold chakra until the tenketsu were reopened.

Though for sparring sessions, Hinata held back from using chakra so that they could practice longer together.

With a nod, Naruto got into the basic stance of the Kongōken (Adamantine Fist) that Tsunade had shown him, bringing his fists up in a boxing-like stance as Hinata moved closer.

Shifting his torso to the side, he dodged a palm strike that was aimed for his stomach before leaning back as her other palm came up to strike his chin. Using her close proximity to his advantage, Naruto swung his fist at her side, causing Hinata to back off as his knuckle skimmed the fabric of her jacket.

Smiling, Naruto pressed his advantage as he moved forward, stepping into her space before kicking up with his foot at the side of her face that she blocked with the back of her hand. Before he could pull his leg back or use her hand to pivot, Hinata's other hand lashed out with an open-palmed strike to his stomach that forced him back, caused him to hunch over in pain.

"-Ugh- Nice one Hinata-chan!" He complimented, getting back to his starting spot as he rubbed the soreness in his stomach.

Despite his training with Tsunade, Hinata had a lot more training in taijutsu than he did, and it showed every time they sparred together.

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun!" Hinata called back, keeping her stance firm as she watched him worriedly.

Chuckling at the difference between her composure and her words, Naruto shook his head fondly at his bestfriend's actions. It had taken forever to get Hinata comfortable enough to spar with him, and every time she scored a hit, she would stop everything to apologize as she rushed to make sure that he was okay.

After the first few weeks, and continued reassurances that he wanted her to give her best, Hinata finally started taking their spars seriously.

Now, she wiped the floor with him every time they practiced.

"Again!" Naruto called out, preparing himself as Hinata closed the distance without hesitation, dodging another strike to his stomach. Proudly, he realized that she was capitalizing on his weakness by targeting where he was already hurt. 'Good thinking Hinata-chan.'

Had it been a few weeks ago, the girl would have never done something like this. But the progress in her personality showed as she continued aiming for his weak spot between other feigned strikes to his head or shoulders that tricked him every once in a while.

Groaning, Naruto sat hunched in his seat, having finished with Taijutsu practice, rubbing at his tender stomach after having suffered repeated palm strikes.

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun." Hinata apologized once again, keeping her voice to a whisper as Iruka finished up the last 30 minutes of class before the day was over. Her hand rubbed small circles on his back soothingly as her white eyes glanced worriedly at his grimacing face.

"H-Here," She whispered, handing over a small jar of cream with the Hyūga Clan symbol on the lid. "I-It will help with the bruising."

Glancing down at the jar, Naruto held back denying her kind offer as he knew that the Kyūbi's chakra fix his injury quickly. Tsunade had explained to him that Jinchūriki usually had increased healing factors, with bruises healing in minutes and larger wounds -such as cuts and burns- would take hours or days to heal depending on the severity.

Coincidentally, when he would start learning how to wield his chakra better and began practicing his Mokuton, his healing factor would increase dramatically like Hashirama's had.

Tsunade had reminisced about how her grandfather could heal from major cuts in seconds, and that bruises wouldn't even show up on his skin because of how quickly they healed. It had even been the basis behind her own form of healing technique that worked in a similar fashion.

Naruto couldn't wait until he could do the same thing; it would make sparring with Hinata so much easier.

Smiling in thanks at her kindness, Naruto took the cream before lifting up his shirt, internally chuckling at the blush on Hinata's face as she tried not to stare. In the middle of his slightly-toned stomach, there was a large black-and-blue bruise that showed just how deadly the Jūken was.

'And that's without her using chakra…' Shuddering at the thought of how painful her hits would be with chakra, Naruto wasted no time in opening up the jar before rubbing the cream into his skin, watching as it slowly began to fade.

"All right class, that's it for today!" Iruka's voice called out, causing a sudden rush of noise as the other students scrambled out of their seats and left the classroom.

Staying in their seats until everyone else had left first, Naruto and Hinata made their way out of the Academy, towards the front gate where a Hyūga Clan branch member and Tsunade stood waiting for them.

As they got closer, the Hyūga bowed respectfully. "Hinata-sama, Senju-sama…"

"Hoheto-san." Hinata smiled, bowing back politely as Naruto struggled to do the same.

It was still a shock for him to find out that his joining of the Senju Clan caused such a massive shift in the attitudes of Konoha's population. The civilian population were divided on their opinions about him, with some still thinking of him as the Kyūbi, while the others began rethinking their opinions.

Whereas the Clans, and shinobi of the village as a whole, became increasingly more respectful. Calling him "Senju-sama" and bowing or waving politely whenever he passed them on the street.

"Gaki, Hinata-chan." Tsunade greeted, "How was class?"

"Painful," Naruto replied, rubbing at the spot where the bruise used to be. "Hinata-chan kicked my butt in sparring again." Instead of getting upset by it, he smiled happily towards the blushing girl.

Raising an eyebrow, Tsunade turned to her with a smirk. "Is that right?"

"H-Hai…"

Seeing the nervous expression on her face, Tsunade praised the girl for her skill, "Well done Hinata-chan. I'm sure you'll make an excellent kunoichi one day." As Hinata blushed in embarrassment, the Sannin turned back to her godson. "Ready to go?"

Nodding, Naruto pulled Hinata into a quick hug, "Bye Hinata-chan, see you tomorrow."

"B-Bye Naruto-kun." She replied closing her eyes as she hugged him back, lingering in his embrace for a second before remembering that there were others watching and jumped back quickly. Hearing Tsunade and Hoheto's laugh, her head ducked down as she blushed furiously.

Chuckling at his bestfriend's antic, Naruto waved goodbye to Hinata and Hoheto as Tsunade walked with him back to the Senju compound. "Come on gaki, let's go home and get some practice in before dinner… Shizune's making ramen tonight."

"Ramen!"

- Senju Compound -

As the sun set over Konoha, bathing the village in its warm orange glow, Naruto was once again seated beneath the massive tree in the Senju training ground.

Keeping his breathing steady as one finger held up a single leaf to his forehead. Naruto practiced the chakra control technique under the watchful eye of his godmother and Shishō, who was enjoying the peaceful calm of the afternoon with a bottle of warm sake.

'Not too much, just enough to keep it there.' He reminded himself, drawing as little chakra as possible towards the leaf, praying that it didn't get blown away again.

The continued practicing of the Leaf Concentration technique had actually started so show some results, his once untamable inferno of chakra -while still overwhelming- could now be drawn out just enough to keep the leaf in place. It wasn't anything spectacular, any Academy student in their last year before graduation could do it.

But for someone with chakra reserves that dwarfed Elite Jōnin and still only in his first year at the Academy, it was nonetheless an impressive feat.

'Don't let the chakra fluctuate…' He chanted, slowly pulling his finger away from the leaf.

One of the biggest issues Naruto had with his chakra was that it fluctuated due to the Kyūbi's chakra. The Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) on his stomach would slowly siphon the Biju's chakra away from the beast, before converting it into chakra that he could use, slowly increasing his reserves by a miniscule amount and causing fluctuations every time it happened.

When his finger let go of the leaf, Naruto waited to see if it would get blown off. When it didn't, he reminded himself not to get too excited and risk losing control, settling for a sigh of relief instead. 'Finally…'

"Nice job gaki!" Tsunade's voice called out, watching with a proud smile as her godson completed the first step in his training. "Now keep it steady for as long as you can. Once you can do it for over five minutes, we can move on to teaching you the next steps…and if you do it fast enough, I'll teach you your very first jutsu." She teased, watching his blue eyes sparkle at the word 'jutsu'.

"Hai Shishō!"

- END -

Author Notes:

And that's 3 Chapters.

It's always a struggle for me to write about the background information. While it does wonders for adding to the number of chapters in the story and helps set the stage for what I want to write, I get so impatient in wanting to get it all done so that I can move forward with the story.

Thankfully, this is where things finally start going forwards, and I can really get into my ideas.

Hope you still are liking it so far! Thanks for checking out my story.