CHAPTER TWO: Training day

Beautiful morning sunshine, some gorgeous greenery and lots of fresh air. That was what assaulted Naruto's sense of touch, sight and smell respectively. He was currently standing in the middle of a very luscious training field, one designed specifically for the main family of his clan. The clearing that he was in was so large that the closest tree was actually an entire half a kilometre away.

Unfortunately for him, though, the beauty that could be associated with the training field was completely lost to him due to one very important fact. He was not alone. He was currently standing in the training field with the ever oppressive leader of their clan, Jin.

Jin was decked out in a black gi, while Naruto was dressed in a murky grey coloured variant. Jin had a pair of g-string sandals on, easily the most worn shoe in the world, while Naruto was barefoot.

"All right, boy," the powerful and very commanding voice of Jin said, looking down at the boy, "I hope my father was able to relay your schedule to you yesterday."

"Hai." Naruto answered the man, looking up at him. The man may have had an oppressive aura to him, but Naruto was his mother's child. Uzumaki Kushina was notoriously stubborn, and Naruto would be lying to himself if he said that he did not get at least a fraction of her stubborn nature.

"Before we begin, I want to make a few things clear." Jin said, looking at the child with an unreadable expression etched onto his face. If Jin were honest with himself, he didn't like the boy much – if at all – for personal reasons. The way in which the boy was no longer shuffling under his gaze, but rather staring up at him defiantly, irked him a little.

The fact that the boy also took his pause as a means of him asking for permission to speak to him, to which the boy had nodded his head at him to do so, also aggravated him a bit.

"I wasn't asking for permission to speak, brat." Jin said a bit menacingly, making Naruto gulp a little, "Now…here's what I wanted to say. You're a smart boy, smarter than anyone that has come before you apparently."

Naruto could almost taste the but that was coming.

"But," and he had been on the money, "I don't see it. To me you're just a worm, an insignificant insect that I could crush if I wanted to, but I won't. My father sees value in you."

'In other words, training me was actually your father's idea and not really yours, Jin-sama.' Naruto concluded in his head. In all honesty it put to rest the theory he had developed last night before he went to bed. He could tell from his first interaction with Jin-sama that the man did not like him, not one bit. Yet he had invited him to his home in order to train him. It didn't make sense to the genius eight year old.

And now he had just confirmed his assumption.

"Secondly," Jin's thoughts broke his own thoughts, "I want to make this very clear. If you complain, if you cry, if you so much as ask for a break when I haven't offered you one, you will be punished, severely."

The boy nodded at the man a bit too fearful for his own liking. The more time he spent with Jin, the less he liked his clan's leader.

"And now the final thing I wanted to say…every training session that we have shall be held at this time." Jin said, making Naruto nod once more. They had gotten out of bed at five, and it was a few minutes before six, from what Naruto could tell.

"I do not tolerate tardiness." Good thing Naruto's father was such an early riser, because he had pretty much instilled the same sense of hard work into his son, unlike Kushina, who was a heavy sleeper.

Naruto nodded once more, showing his leader and teacher just how much he understood what he had said.

"Good. Now then, we are going to spar a little." Jin said, "This will give me a chance to see what you are made of. Today, we will only focus on Taijutsu. Tomorrow is Kenjutsu. And we will alternated between the two every second day. Am I understood?"

"Hai." Naruto said.

Naruto found himself flying through the air and landing on his back a few feet away from the man thanks to a shove that was initiated by the leader of the Uzumaki clan, who spoke immediately after Naruto hit the ground, "Hai, sensei."

Naruto stood up and dusted himself off a little, before he looked at his teacher and said, "Hai, sensei."

"Good." the man said, "Now come at me with the intent to kill, anything else would be but a waste of my time, and yours."

Naruto's sharp little mind was able to piece together why the man wanted him to attack him in such a manner. There was no way an eight year old was ever going to be able to take on a clan leader, so even if he did want to kill him, Naruto was but a speck of dirt when compared to his leader.

With this in mind, the blonde obliged to his teachers instruction.

Three and a half hours later – Uzumaki Main House

Tired. Absolutely god-damn tired. That was how Naruto felt after a three hour workout session with Jin. The man had proceeded to curb stomp him into the ground in their spar, showcasing the difference between a man and a boy, a leader and a soldier.

The kimono top that once hung nicely to Naruto's body was now slumped over onto the right, meaning that the right shoulder was exposed to the air. His pants were much better, since they were held up by a piece of cloth tied around his waist tightly.

As Naruto continued his procession in the house of their esteemed – and asshole, a conclusion Naruto reached very quickly – leader, Naruto passed two women that he had not seen the previous day; and they were decked in white.

'Huh?' Naruto thought for a second, watching them talk amongst themselves while they carried some folded clothes and another carried a broom and a bucket of water that was half full.

'Must be the servants.' Naruto concluded. He hadn't seen them yesterday, but then considering that t he had arrived late in the afternoon the previous day, then that meant that the servants either left early or they didn't work everyday.

Upon passing them however, he soon forgot about them and his mind decided to remind of his fatigue.

Jin was a monster when it came to taijutsu, that much had been obvious to Naruto. His teachers in the academy didn't hold a candle to the man. Naruto, by the time he graduated, could land a few hits on his instructors, when they were actually serious. Jin on the other other, was leaps and bounds ahead of him in this shinobi discipline.

The wood creaked tiredly from under his feet, which where sore from all of the sprinting he had done this morning. He silently mused to himself, remembering the training he had just been put through, for the next several minutes, never really taking heed to where he was headed. After all, he had memorised the map of the house last night.

Naruto was brought back to reality when he suddenly found himself in front of a paper door that lead into a room that he was told he would meet Ginrei in.

Taking a deep breath to compose himself Naruto slid the screen to the side, allowing him entrance into the room.

Upon entering the room, Naruto was greeted by the sight of Ginrei kneeling on the wooden floor of the large and very empty room, dressed in a green kimono top and a black pair of pants. Kneeling a few feet in front of Ginrei was a small bundle of white clothes and red hair that Naruto was able to immediately associate with the girl that had practically strong-armed him into being her friend..

Okay, not really strong-armed, but he did not have much of a choice.

As soon as he entered the room, he was immediately assaulted by Mito's smaller frame. She crashed into him, wrapping her hands around him and holding onto him for dear life as if he would disappear if she let go.

"Ack…Mito…lungs." Naruto managed to rasp out as he lightly tapped her on her shoulder.

"Oh, sorry." Mito said sheepishly, immediately letting go of him and taking a step back. She had an innocently apologetic look on her face as she scratched her chin a little bit while saying, "I'm sorry… it's just that I thought that you weren't coming."

"I told you he was, child!" an irate looking Ginrei said from the sidelines.

"Nobody asked for your input, Jii-chan!" Mito shot over her shoulder at her grandfather, leaving him a bit stupefied.

"Mito…" Naruto began, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, drawing her attention away from her grandfather, "What on earth would make you think that I wouldn't make it?"

Mito looked down, trying to hide the blush she sported from Naruto, and said, "I know how Otou-sama can be a bit…too much."

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow at her answer, "Huh?"

"She feared that her father would have broken your spirit after just one day." Ginrei said from the sidelines.

"And why on earth would you think that could happen?" Naruto questioned both the old man and the girl.

"…Because you are not the first student to walk through these doors." Ginrei answered, his wrinkled finger pointing at the screen Naruto had just entered through.

"What?" Naruto was perplexed by what the old man said.

"A few years ago," Mito said softly, choosing to look at her feet rather than the blonde she was speaking to, "Ken-nii-san, left."

"Nii-san?" Naruto felt the words roll out of his mouth before he could stop them. Of course he knew what she meant when she said the word nii-san.

"Hai." Mito said, still choosing to look down at her feet, "His reason for leaving was that he was tired of father always bullying him whenever they trained together."

Naruto could see the solemn expressions that both grandfather and granddaughter shared. Whoever this Ken person had been, he had been a fundamental part of their lives until the day he left.

Mito, who had been trying very hard to hold back the tears at the memory of her brother, suddenly felt something warm touch her chin. When said warm thing had forced her to look up, she noticed that it was Naruto's hand. She also noticed that the blonde was looking at her with a confident smile on his face.

"Hey…" he said softly, using his thumb to caress her cheek in slow circles, trying to calm her down the same way that his mother used to when he was younger. Mito instinctively leaned her head into the soft ministrations of her friend, which also caused her eyes to become half-lidded, "I'm not going anywhere, all right."

Mito didn't know how, but she felt the honesty that was in his words in her heart. She could see it in his eyes. He was being completely honest, and she liked it. Oh, and the soft touches too. They made her feel something unexplainable. Nice, but unexplainable.

"Your father's training may be tough, but I am tougher." Naruto said confidently, his smile broadening ever so slightly, "I won't be going anywhere until I am done with it. Okay?"

She nodded her head at him.

"Good. Now don't cry." Naruto said cheekily.

Mito slapped his hand away and said, "I wasn't crying!"

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were!"

"I said no!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Yes!" and then Mito realised her mistake. Judging from the smirk that Naruto gave her, though, it was too late.

"Got you." was all he said, before moving his way past her, looking to get his lesson with the softly snickering Ginrei started.

"Well done, Naruto." Ginrei said, behind the still and shocked Mito.

"What did I do?" Naruto asked innocently.

"You did something I've never been able to do…you shut my granddaughter up." Ginrei said. That, unfortunately, had been the last thing either of them got to say. Mito, with her budding feminine fury, reared her head at them like an animal that had just turned on its master, and shouted her lungs off, "You shut up, you stupid Geezer!"

She then set her sights on Naruto and pointed her index finger at him, "And you! That is the last time I will ever worry about you, okay? Good!"

She then plopped herself onto the ground unceremoniously, and folded her arms while also emitting an audible huff and looking away from them both.

Both males looked at each other in shock, then at Mito, before looking at each other again, before they simply shrugged their shoulders in unison.

"Naruto, sit down." Ginrei ordered him a few seconds after their joint shoulder shrug.

Naruto did as requested by the old man.

"Well, I had originally intended for you and Mito to begin at the same time." Ginrei said, before he looked at his very annoyed granddaughter with a mischievous look in his eyes, "But then I guess she's just going to have to settle with being behind you. I mean, she is a year younger than you, right Naruto?"

Naruto could clearly see what the old man was trying to do. The elderly Uzumaki was trying to make Mito jealous. It seemed to be working if Mito's facial expression was anything to go by. She went from being annoyed and in "ignore mode" to being shocked and afraid. Afraid of being left behind by her friend.

Naruto knew that he had to choose his next words carefully, for they could be detrimental to his (forced) friendship with the Uzumaki heiress.

"Um…you know, I think it would be best if we waited for her." Naruto said, eyes darting back and forth between grandfather and granddaughter.

He saw Ginrei look at him a bit sceptically for some odd reason, while the corner of Mito's lips curved upwards slightly, signalling that she was pleased by what he had said, and that her "ignore mode" was over.

"N-no, it okay…I'll be joining you." She said, making Naruto sigh internally.

Both children turned to look at Ginrei, who looked shocked for reasons that neither child could fathom, before he simply smiled at them both and said, "All right. Let us begin."

A few hours later

The soft patter of feet on wood alerted Naruto to someone coming into the room that he was using as his own. He had just taken a nice, warm bath, and he was feeling refreshed. Tired, but refreshed. Looking at the shadow that approached his door, Naruto was able to quickly surmise who it was without them saying a word.

"Come in, Mito." he said.

"How did you know that it was me?" the girl asked, feeling rather annoyed by the fact the blonde was able to figure out it was her.

The two small but parallel balls stuck onto a larger ball that the shadow indicated were a dead give away. Although he was not going to tell her that.

"Genius, remember?" he said smiling at her.

"I don't know…" Mito said playfully, looking at the blonde dressed in a white robe, indicating that he just took a bath, "All I see is an idiot."

"An idiot that's already ahead of you in Fūinjutsu." Naruto said cheekily, sticking out his tongue in order to add insult to injury.

Mito faulted a bit, not really able to create a good comeback, but she did settle for saying, "Whatever, I will catch up to you eventually."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night." Naruto said, turning his back on her and walking towards the walk-in closet that was in his room, before he shut it.

"Hey, it's only been one day!" Mito replied, looking to get the last word in. It seemed to work, as Naruto didn't bother with replying.

Naruto was busy fiddling with the contents of the bag he had brought with him the previous day. The sack-like bag contained five scrolls, each one containing something of his. Throwing the one that contained all of his formal clothing aside, he took the one that had all of his nightwear. He unfurled the scroll, before channelling bits of his rather large chakra into it and he got the desired result of watching his Jinbei (traditional Japanese pyjamas) pop into existence.

Naruto, as quickly as his tired aching body would allow him to, put them on before he left the confines of the walk in closet. Upon doing so, he found Mito sitting on the ultra padded futon that he had slept in last night.

'Seriously, these guys sleep in style.' Naruto had concluded. He had never seen a futon with padding so thick before.

Mito was quietly drawing kanji on a little scroll that she had. Every time she wrote incorrect kanji, it would simply disappear. Which meant that the only way she could be sure that she had written the right thing was if the kanji stayed in place.

"Sorry to make you wait." Naruto said, quickly plopping himself down on the soft futon. Mito just nodded her head.

Naruto chose to keep quiet and watch Mito do her thing. The seven year old girl turned her head to look at the boy next to her with curios eyes. She noticed that he was staring intently at her hands as she wrote on the scroll.

"It's "mah" not "nah"." she heard him say, "Add a curve at the top."

Her eyes went back to the scroll and stayed on it as she decided to heed his advice. She redrew the kanji that had just disappeared, but she added a slight curve at the top, and watched in fascination as the kanji stayed put.

"Wow, you really are a genius." she said before she could stop herself.

"It's just kanji, nothing special." Naruto said. He may have sounded arrogant, but he was anything but.

"Still, you know how to write perfectly, and you're only eight." she said, turning to look at Naruto.

"So?" he said in genuine curiosity. He wanted to know what was so special about him being able to write at the age of eight.

"Onii-chan was only able to perfectly write at the age of ten. Jii-chan said he learned how to write perfectly when he was nine." Mito stressed.

Naruto had a raised eyebrow at that comment, "I still don't see your point."

Mito huffed out loud, before shoving the scroll and the brush into his lap and said, "Hold this."

She stood up and walked over to the a small cabinet that was next to the futon. The cabinet had an oil lamp on it and three drawers. Pulling on one of the drawers, Mito brought forth what Naruto assumed was rice paper.

Mito turned around and showed him what was written on the piece of paper. It was the kanji for ten. Done crudely at that.

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

"It's onii-chan's. He had a habit of always writing his favourite number. The number ten. And this is one he did when he was your age." Mito stated.

Naruto blinked owlishly, only now understanding why she made such a big issue out of him being able to write kanji neatly. If what he saw truly was Ken's hand writing at the age of eight, then the guy was terrible. He was absolutely horrendous.

'Damn, even Mito writes better than him. He must be terrible at Fūinjutsu with handwriting like that.' Naruto's thoughts reverberated through his mind.

And here he was thinking that a four year old wrote that. Then again, he was comparing it to his four year old self.

"Okay…fine. You win." Naruto said, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.

"I didn't realise that we were playing a game." Mito said while shoving her brother's piece of paper back in the drawer.

The girl returned to sit next to him, before prying the scroll out of the boy's hands and continuing with her writing skills. They stayed silent for a really long time, with only the occasional word of advice from Naruto on how Mito should write her kanji.

"Was this Ken-sama's room?" Naruto asked, after there had been a long bout of silence between them.

"…Yes, it is." Mito said, looking at the scroll in her lap.

"I see…" was all Naruto said. He silently wondered where her older brother had gone off to. Whenever somebody leaves their clan, they are immediately placed within the Wanted Books. Every clan had a Wanted Book.

A six year old Naruto sat comfortably in his room, going over a scroll that was unfurled on his lap. The scrolls contents were a bit lost to him, as it spoke of something he could not understand. Luckily for him, he knew someone that could help.

Jumping to his feet, the little boy left his room, with the scroll in hand. He quickly rushed down the steps of his home, all the while shouting, "Okaa-san, okaa-san!"

"What is it, 'ttebayo!" Uzumaki Kushina's slightly annoyed voice rang from the kitchen.

Naruto's soft feet hurried towards her location, and upon entering the kitchen he found his mother, the one person that could help him.

"Okaa-san, I need your help with something." Naruto's softly asked his mother.

"What is it?" Kushina said while wiping her hands dry using a dish cloth.

"It's an assignment from school." Naruto handed his mother the scroll.

Kushina looked at the scroll's contents, picking out the question that Naruto needed help with.

"Clans have been know to work together over the years, even rival clans. What is the name of the special condition that has to be met when they do so?" Kushina read the question out loud, before a smile graced her soft pink lips as she said, "Well, that's easy. It's during a Wanted Case."

"Wanted Case?" Naruto asked, all of his innocence coming to the forefront.

"Yes, Wanted Case." Kushina said, handing the scroll back to her son.

Naruto jotted down what he needed to with his brush, and once he was done doing so he looked up at his mother, who was looking down at him expectantly.

"Anything else I can help you with?" Kushina asked.

"Not really. But I just wanted to know…what is a Wanted Case?"

"Oh…take a seat. It's a bit of a long explanation." Naruto heeded his mom's advice and sat down on the floor around the table he had just used to write his answer on a few moments ago.

"Okay." Kushina said, exhaling a bit, feeling herself go into "teacher mode".

"A wanted case is one that involves the Wanted Books. You know what those are, right?"

A shake of the head was the only answer she was given, prompting Kushina to sigh out loud while before adding, "What do they teach you guys, nowadays?"

"Um, Mathematics, Fūinjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Literature-"

"It was a rhetorical question, son." Kushina's face sported a warm smile as she leaned forward and ruffled her son's hair a little bit. Honestly, despite all of his intelligence, he was still only six years old.

Naruto just calmly let his mother ruffle his, already unruly, hair. Trying to fight of his mother would only lead to further embarrassment. Besides, he secretly enjoyed it.

"Well," his mother said, getting on with her lesson, "I guess the best way to explain a wanted book is…they are a series of books kept by every clan. They contain information of everything that a clan wants…well, only the things that they want known to the world at least."

"Like?" Naruto innocently queried.

"A hidden treasure, some medicine plant or even another shinobi that they want dead."

"Why would they want people to know about a hidden treasure. I mean, wouldn't they be better served if the treasure was only known by the clan?"

"True, but then sometimes it happens that someone else stumbles upon something that, while they think it is useless, someone else would pay a lot of money for."

"Such as what exact, okaa-san?"

"Well, let me think of an exam – aha – got it." Kushina snapped her thumbs triumphantly as she looked at the ceiling before she looked back at her only child and said, "Well, I know for instance that certain jutsu scrolls, or information pertaining to certain jutsu is highly valuable. For instance, I once heard that the Uchiha clan are willing to pay a hundred thousand Ryo for concrete information on the Hachimon."

"What's a Hachimon?"

"The Hachimon is a technique that allows you to increase your body's strengths exponentially. It's a short-lived power boost, but very handy. Only several people throughout history have been seen using it because it's too complex for ordinary shinobi to utilise. It's said that complete mastery of the Hachimon can make you the strongest person in the world."

"That's so cool!" Naruto had stars in his eyes, just picturing himself throwing around the five elements like a god.

"No, not cool." Kushina said sternly, pointing her index finger threateningly at her son, "If one were to use the full power of the Hachimon they can destroy an entire clan, but at the end of it all, they would die."

Naruto swallowed thickly upon hearing that someone could die from using the Hachimon. As unbelievably powerful as it was, it was too dangerous to use. He did not want to die.

"And another thing." Kushina said, "If the Uchiha were to get their hands on it, no clan, not even ours, would be safe. They would literally take over the world. Even with just partial mastery of the Hachimon, you are considered one of the strongest in the world."

Just thinking about a world ruled by the Uchiha and their red demonic eyes that he had only seen illustrations of sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. Most kids his age would not understand the full implications of what his mother had said, but he did. The Uchiha would be unstoppable. An entire clan of Hachimon utilising Dōjutsu wielders…too scary.

"Okay…" Naruto concluded, "…not cool."

"Not one bit."

There was a few moments of silence between mother and son, before Naruto asked another question, "I understand the treasure part now. The medicine part is self-explanatory, but what about the shinobi part? Why would clans advertise who they wanted dead?"

Kushina took on a thinking pose as she thought of the best possible way to explain things to her son. She entertained the idea of using herself as an example, before she shut it down for something a bit more progressive, "Imagine this, you're a very strong shinobi and you get into a skirmish with…wait, which clan do you detest the most?"

Naruto thought about what his mother was asking him for a second, before the answer formulated in his mind, "None."

"Really?" Kushina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. None." her son replied.

"Huh, well I'll be. They used to teach us to hate the Uchiha because they were the natural enemy of the Senju, but now it seems as if they don't do that any more."Kushina thought out loud, before she quickly said, "Anyway, for the purpose of this conversation lets use another example then."

Kushina took a thinking pose once again, trying to see what she could draw upon from her many years of service to her clan. Eventually finding what she was looking for, the Uzumaki kunoichi said, "There had been a case a few years ago where a man that was part of the Kaguya clan of Mizu no Kuni had decided to cut all ties with his clan and he left them. He was someone that had killed a lot of people, and when the vapour specialists, the Terumi, had found out they contacted the Kaguya and decided to eliminate him together."

Naruto scratched his head in such a cute manner that it made Kushina want to squeal in delight. It honestly reminded her of an animal cub scratching its ear, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did the Terumi clan get involved in a matter that was clearly not theirs to concern themselves with?"

Kushina smiled at her son's quick thinking, "Because the man had apparently killed more than fifteen Terumi clan members before he defected from the Kaguya. The Kaguya wanted him dead because they wanted him to serve as an example of why you should never betray them, family or not."

"I see…" Naruto said, finally understanding what his mom was saying, "What happened to the man?"

"Well, the information about his defection was placed in the Red Book. When your name enters into the Wanted Books, you become public enemy number… whatever. Only your strength and your pursuers determination to exterminate you determines how high you are placed. To the Kaguya, and the Terumi, he was public enemy number one."

"I'm guessing that they found him and tortured to death?"

"And what gave you that gruesome impression?"

"Shinobi torture and kill...it's the world we live in."

"I guess so."

Kushina looked at her son with adoration. She could see his small, yet very brilliant mind trying to sort through everything he had been told. She loved her son, oh so very much. His cute chubby cheeks just made her want to hold him and squeeze him like a teddy bear.

She was cut off from her musings when she smelled something burn.

"Holy shit, the food!" Kushina did not realise that she had just cursed in front of her son, and he had picked it up. He did not say anything, however. He simply chose to slip away from the kitchen while his mother fretted over the burning meal.

"Hey…is your brother in one of the Wanted Books?" Naruto asked innocently, but he soon regretted it because of the way Mito reacted. Her whole body turned stiff as a wall, but she quickly shook her head immediately afterwards.

"Oh." was Naruto's reply, "Sorry."

Mito didn't say anything, she just slowly stood up and then she sauntered to the door. She pushed the screen aside, before she stepped out of her older brother's room.

"Good night." she said a bit too quietly for Naruto's liking, before she shut the screen without even looking at him.

Naruto was left all alone in his room to think about what had just happened.

Naruto was not much for swearing, in fact he abhorred it. Yet at the same time he felt like doing so at that particular moment. So he had chosen the least vulgar vulgar word that he knew of.

"Shit."

He had screwed up with that last question.

Elsewhere

When an ant looks at the world it sees everything as gigantic. Something that humans deem small and insignificant could mean something else to an ant, usually certain doom. If one were to look at the world from an ant's point of view then the stamp that Jin was using in order to officiate the document in front of him would seem really large.

The almost inaudible thud of the stamp being slammed onto the piece of parchment would seem like an earthquake. One relatively short-lived earthquake.

"Jin," Ginrei's voice caused the paper stamping to cease for the time being as Jin looked up from his paper and noticed his father's silhouette at the paper door, "I'm coming in."

That was all the warning he was going to get as his father sauntered into the office of the Uzumaki clan head.

"Sit, father." was all Jin said to the man.

Ginrei's face showed his displeasure at his son's treatment of him, "Please…as if I needed your permission to do that, especially in an office I have occupied for more than half a century."

Jin never looked up at his father as he furiously worked away at the papers that were in front of him, "Be that as it may, it's my office now, and if I wished it, I could have you removed from it."

Jin's incessant working made him miss his father's frown. Ginrei did not know why, but he should have been used to this now, his son was as rude to him as he was towards everyone within the clan, with a select few here and there.

Quickly schooling his features into a neutral expression, the old man said, "I wanted to discuss Naruto's first day in training."

"What's there to discuss?" Jin said, still not bothering with looking up, "It's only been one day."

The former leader of the Uzumaki clan reached up and started his customary beard stroking, "Yes, and in that one day the boy looks like he was put in an abattoir."

There was nothing said on Jin's part, he instead focused on the papers that were in front of him. This continued for a few seconds, before he felt his father's intense gaze on him, prompting him to look up from his work and see his father's furious gaze matching his own cold, uncaring one.

"Huh, what?" Jin's tone matched his facial expression.

"What did you do to the boy?" his father's rage could be felt through the question.

Jin watched the blonde Uzumaki boy move about. He was quick on his feet, he would give him that, but his attacks left a lot to be desired. They lacked any real power, power that he, at the same age, had long since obtained.

Parrying another strike to the head, before delivering a palm thrust to the boy's chest, Jin watched in impassiveness as Naruto picked himself off the ground. The boy's outfit had grass stains on it from all of the times he had fallen flat on his back.

"Stop." he told the boy in a calm manner, befitting an individual such as him, to which the boy complied with.

"I have seen enough." He told the boy, "And I have to say that I am disappointed. Genius of the Uzumaki, my foot."

Naruto was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to hear that last part, but he didn't care. Unlike most people, he didn't live for the soul purpose of getting his clan head's recognition. He didn't really care what Jin thought of him, and he had a feeling that Jin knew so.

"While you are very quick on your feet, boy," he paused a bit, what for, Naruto didn't know, "You are also very weak in terms of physical strength. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to have to work with you on increasing your upper body strength while also keeping you light on your feet."

The boy was fast, exceptionally so, for an eight year old.

Once again, Naruto nodded in understanding.

"We'll begin that now." quicker than Naruto could follow, Jin shoved his hand into the ground and withdrew a chunk of it, holding it up for the world to see.

"You will take this," he threw the large rock at Naruto, who caught it with a loud huff, "And you will run around the edge of the clearing at full sprint."

Naruto swallowed thickly upon realising that the circumference of the clearing was one whole kilometre, meaning that that is how much he would have to run, at full sprint.

Oh, he was fucked.

"Nothing." Jin answered coolly.

"It better be. I don't want you to treat him as an anvil to pound out your frustrations."

"What are you talking about, old man?"

"I know you hate the boy because he reminds of what you've always wanted, but could never have-"

"-Shut up!" Jin said, striking the small table he knelt in front off with all of the might he could master, which resulted in the table taking on the form of two hemispheres like a brain.

Ginrei knew he had struck a nerve with his son, but he needed to say what was on his mind, or else he would continue to torture the boy that was left in their care, "Why?"

"Because-"

"-You, boy, seem to have me confused with those of the clan that fear you." Ginrei said, his eyes becoming as ice cold as his son's in an instant, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it. Remember that when speaking to me."

Jin knew his father was serious. This man was one of the most dangerous men alive. He was the strongest Uzumaki alive, despite his age. If provoked, he could kill him. After all, it nearly happened once.

"The boy…" Jin began, trying, and failing, to control his rage at having been treated like a child, "He means nothing to me beyond being a tool I can utilise to take the clan to new heights. That's the only reason why I agreed to this idea of yours, father."

"So he does not have any emotional effect on you, in any way?" Ginrei asked, although he already knew the answer.

"No." Jin answered. Ginrei would have frowned if he could at that moment, but he was too cross with his son to do so. His son did just lie to him about Naruto not having any effect on him.

"Good. See to it that it stays this way." Ginrei said coldly. Honestly, his son brought out the worst in him at times.

Getting up, the old man marched towards the paper door that would lead out of his son's office...

"I got a letter." but he was stopped by his son's voice

"From whom?" Ginrei asked, spinning on his heels to get a look at his son.

"Our distant cousins…"

"And what do they want now? Another one of us to teach them how to seal? Or are they still trying to get us to catch them a Bijū?" Honestly, the supposed greatest clan in the world that mastered everything were a pain in the back at times, even to their relatives.

"None, fortunately. Butsuma-dono just lost a son, and he wanted to take his remaining three on a trip to see our island." Jin answered his father with neutrality. He could see it in his father's eyes. The old man did not believe a single word of what Butsuma's letter had said. He had ulterior motives. That man was always scheming. And honestly, he shared his father's sentiment. It was one of the few things that they could agree upon. Senju Butsuma was as slimy as an Uchiha.

"I see." was all the old man said, his mind running at a mile a minute. He had so many thoughts that ran through his mind, and when he saw his son's eyes, he knew that the same could be said for the young man, "What do you think about all of this, Jin?"

"I don't know what to think. But I know that whatever it is, we have a few months to prepare." Jin answered, scratching his chin.

"How many to be exact?" Ginrei asked, stroking his beard.

"Three months."

There was a few moments of silence, as neither father or son said anything. Ginrei's feet shuffled to the door, before his hands slid it open and walked out of the room, realising that he had a huge job on his hands. Getting Jin to ease up on Naruto; and to also deal with this mess that was coming with the Senju.

Those morons were probably going to ask his clan to join in their silly skirmishes with the Uchiha and whatever other clan they dared cross paths with…or a clan that dared to cross paths with them.

Honestly, why was he still alive?

To Be Continued

Wow, second chapter done already, and I've already begun work on the third chapter. I know this chapter was not as explosive as the first one, but it had to be put out there because of all of the fantastic things I have planned for these characters.

What do you guys think of the Wanted Books? Surely clans had some sort of Bingo book system before the Bingo books were invented? I just thought of this as a possible predecessor to the Bingo books.

Also, thank you so much for all of the love and support for this story. I want to thank all of those that took their time to review this story, and just know that all of your suggestions (for those that suggested things) have been taken into consideration.

Anywho, with that said, I would like to bring this chapter to a close.

I'm Out.

P.s If I made a comic book, how many of you guys would buy it?