At his familiar training grounds, Naruto had dropped onto his back. He wasn't exactly tired or exhausted, he was just, as usual when he was alone, really bored. He had finished his Strong Fist training in record time and now he had nothing else to do, stuck with a lot of energy and not a lot to do with it.

"Man! I really wish Lee was here! It would be awesome to spar with him!" He let his head fall back on the ground, felt the breeze past over him. "Or maybe Hinata. She could show me that cool palm thing she does! I knew I was getting close to it last time but I'm still missing something."

A frown passed over his face, Naruto staring up at the sky, his focus on a cloud moving through the air.

"I wonder if I could punch a cloud?"

Guy-sensei would say that, if he put his all into it, gave it a hundred percent and more, he could definitely do it no problem.

Lee would say the same. Would challenge him to see which of them could do it first.

Hinata would be red in the face if he asked her but she would say he could do anything he put his mind to.

His eyes narrowed in determination, his fist was raised in front of his face. Blue eyes were lit with the blazing fire of determination, of a passionate desire to succeed.

"I'm totally going to do it!"

His passion reignited, he kicked up to his feet, held his arms out to his side.

"You hear me clouds! I'm going to punch you!"

He threw his arms into the air, his fists raised in challenge.

"There's nothing impossible for Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna be the next Taijutsu Master and I'm gonna be the next Hokage AND I'm taking you down!"

With his passion for training reignited, he set himself to start up another Kata.

It was one about pure punching, focusing on form and endurance. He fell into the opening stance without issue, threw out his first punch and then the next.

"I've got a Wind Chakra Nature so you better be ready!" His fists were covered in flickers of blue, his Chakra released from his hands as he threw punch after punch in the middle of the training grounds. He was working on his Chakra Flow with the familiar technique, releasing it in time with his blows to dish out the most damage against an opponent.

Guy-sensei had told him that, with his massive reserves, he could utilize Chakra in ways not even he could. With Hinata's help over the years, he had been working on getting the timing for the release down but it was tough.

Finding the right flow of Chakra, knowing when to release it and how, wasn't something he could do regularly. Hinata had told him as such, that the Hyuga Clan could use the Gentle Fist so easily because releasing Chakra from their tenketsu was a natural ability for anyone born in the clan.

She had told him it was extremely difficult for other Shinobi to learn to do the same, to use any beyond the basic ones in their hands or feet.

Naruto had accepted the challenge.

Hinata not being here made it harder since he didn't have someone to watch him, tell him when he was succeeding or failing, so he was focusing on his punches for now.

He had worked it out enough to use it a handful of times on the last few missions but it still wasn't at the best.

As a disciple of the Strong Fist, Naruto was determined to make it the best he could. He was going to learn to punch with his Chakra no matter how long it took or how exhausted it made him. Once he did that, he knew he could do anything and he would be one step closer to becoming not only a Taijutsu Master but also the next Hokage.

"If I'm gonna be Hokage, I've got to have something that makes me awesome! Just like the First with his Wood Release or the Second with all his really cool Water Release techniques and all those super dangerous Kinjutsu he made! Gramps is cool too because he knows everything! And the Fourth could teleport and was super awesome! He even saved the village! I've got to be just as cool and strong as all of them if I'm gonna wear that hat!"

He continued his Kata, blow after blow, each releasing a new wave of Chakra, a burst that dispersed not that far away from him.

He noticed what was going on, blue eyes narrowing in focus as he kept punching.

He worked on the visible flow of Chakra around him, focused on picturing it building up in his hands before launching forward when he threw his fist forward.

The wave was less dispersed but still didn't reach far, didn't even clear a quarter of the distance between him and the trees at the other end of the clearing.

"I've got to keep going just like Guy-sensei would! I'm gonna train until I drop if I have to!" He kept going, smoothly stepping into the next step of the familiar routine, a barrage of punches that each released a burst of Chakra.

He could tell they weren't all the same, most at the start were too weak and only the ones past the middle of his barrage were any good. He still wasn't able to keep the flow constant like Hinata could. She showed him her cool Chakra Needle attack she had been working on, had hit all the leaves him and Lee had thrown in the air for her.

'I may be starting from the ground up but I'm not stopping until I can do this right!' The Chakra for his next few blows was better, an almost blue haze in the air even if it was quick to disperse. He wasn't really shaping the Chakra after all. That was already hard to do but he was set to work on that once Guy-sensei got back, maybe talk to Sai or Sasuke about how they made their Chakra make all their stuff.

He was sure those two could help him, would show him what he was missing but he had to get this down first.

"I can't skip step one and go on to step three! I've got to get this down first!" Naruto knew he was coming to the end of his Kata, started building up his Chakra for the big end blow while working on keeping the flow to each and every one of his other punches.

It was better than last time but was still off more than it was right, something he would need to work on.

His last blow in the Kata was the one he used to test how much Chakra he could push out, released it with a shout and all the Chakra he had stored up.

He didn't notice that his eyes turned from blue to red, that the surge of Chakra he released had been changed.

A blue, and red, wave ripped forward from the end of his fist, slammed into a tree at the far end of the clearing he was standing in the middle of.

The tree didn't tip over but it definitely shook, leaves raining down from the branches at the sudden force. The whole tree shook for a moment and, for a second, Naruto thought it would fall.

It stopped shaking but it definitely looked weird now.

Like it was…

"Did it get bigger?" Naruto stopped before he began another Kata, ran over to the tree to check.