Sealing Salientia - Chapter 36: Misinformation - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia: He had questions and he needed answers from Kurama. And with the unexpected break in time, he figured now might be the best time to access the information that he needed.

Konoha
Wednesday, October 14th, Year 71

Receding from the outside activity into his internal seal dimension, he entered into his mental library and then into the seal space where the great beast was restrained. Ascending to his typical perch atop the broken wreckage of steel beams, he could see the red eye of the great kitsune looking at him, aware of his presence.

He had already decided that the beast within him wasn't an enemy to be scared of, and so he had begun to talk to the chakric being in a more familiar manner. "Hiya Kurama. I'd like to pick back up where we left off last time about the different types of chakra."

A slight shuffling noise as dust shifted and settled again accompanied an exhalation from the being in front of him. "Why must you continue to use that term? Didn't I already tell you that there is no such thing as a 'type' of chakra? It is just energy, ever-present and connected through everything."

Naruto looked slightly ashamed, he should have remembered that. His life had been rather packed with activity these past few days, but that few minutes where Kurama had been laying bare the secrets of the universe should have stuck in his head better. He made a mental note, which literally appeared in front of him, to stick back into his library later.

Kurama continued, "As I told you before, what you humans consider as the different types of chakra, are all just differing forms of energy, harnessed and released in various ways. The heat from a flame and the coolness of ice, from the cutting of a blade to swinging a chain, the gathering of energy into a sphere and releasing it into the world, these are all just different ways to talk about the same energy that surrounds all of us." The kitsune seemed to attempt to shift his paws while he talked, though the restraints of the bars prevented anything more than miniscule finger movements.

However, with those movements, the chakric creature created a thread of chakra to perform the different subjects he was talking to, and creating a visual example for him to follow as well, flames dancing and water splashing across the void in front of him.

"The toads had some things correct, much closer to the truth than your simian instructors. When you harness your chakra, you are just taking advantage of the energy stored inside you, and a very tiny fraction of it at that. But there are vast stores of that same energy everywhere and in everything. That's where the idea of nature chakra comes from." Kurama kept going, though Naruto started to feel confused, between the vocabulary and the subject, he was having a hard time understanding exactly what was being explained.

He noticed Kurama's frown and realized that the kitsune must have picked up on his mental confusion, as his thoughts were practically shared. "Let's try a different method. Do you remember when the white-haired man and the amphibians spoke to you about chakra exhaustion? More specifically, what caused it?"

Naruto's face scrunched up in an attempt of recollection, before coming up with an answer. "When your body runs out of either the mental or physical ability to carry on, you can no longer mix chakra. And without chakra, the body starts to shut down."

"As I said, they got some of it right. Now, I want you to think. Do you need chakra to live?"

"Of course." Naruto replied instantly and matter-of-factly.

"And why is that?"

"Because… Uhm… You do?" Naruto realized that he didn't really know.

"And that is where the lack of information is. Let's think about it differently. Instead of calling it chakra, let's just call it energy. Everything takes energy to happen. Every single action that you have ever seen or heard or done took some amount of energy to accomplish. Even something as simple as just laying on the ground like your friend is doing."

"But, he isn't doing anything. How can that take any energy?"

"While I've never had a physical body myself, I've been sealed within three human ones now. As well as killed uncountable numbers of them in the past." With this thought, Kurama's eyes brightened and a bright pink tongue darted out from between teeth as he seemed to quickly relive thoughts of battles long gone. "A body is just a collection of different things using energy to stay together. You have guts that are digesting food. You have lungs that are taking in oxygen. You have eyes that are receiving light. You have a nose that is taking in scents. And a brain that is always interpreting all of these things, plus commanding tons of other things you've never thought of. Just existing is using a ridiculous amount of energy."

Naruto sat still, trying to comprehend everything and make sense of all the information just unloaded on him.

"This is why it is so dangerous to suffer from what you call chakra exhaustion. If you mix too much chakra up, stealing from the energy your body needs to live, you can no longer do the things that you need to do to survive, such as your heart beating or lungs breathing."

The white-haired boy listened with rapt attention as the entity sealed within him explained.

"Have you ever thought of why you could turn to stone when dealing with nature chakra?"

Naruto shook his head, it had never occurred to him to think why, he just had accepted it as truth.

"The energy flows both ways. In fact, it flows in every direction. If you connect with nature chakra, the energy can come into you as well as flow out. When the flow is leaving you, each little piece of your body loses the energy it needs to move. This causes it to become still and stiff. Rock-like. All of the energy that was once inside of you flows out into the universe and your body is left behind, unmoving."

His mouth subconsciously opened and he made the mental connection. "So, you could take the energy away from anything if you wanted?"

"In theory, yes. You humans have created seals that move energy from things as tiny as a paper to beings of energy such as myself. Transferral of energy from one place to another in different forms is all your ninja techniques are, when you get down to it."

While he didn't fully understand all of the words that Kurama was using, he figured out enough through the conversation to answer his question.

"So…" Naruto paused, trying to put all this information into his own thoughts and words. "What you're saying is that chakra is everywhere and in everything, and all we are doing in pulling it out from inside us to use it."

"That's a simplistic view of it, yes."

Naruto tried to wrestle the concept into his brain. Perhaps it would become valuable in the future.

Later that afternoon, after having parted ways with Shikamaru on the hilltop, he started heading home. Meandering his way through the market district towards Jiraiya's apartment, he mused on the revelations that Kurama had presented to him earlier. He wasn't sure that he fully believed the giant vulpine demon within him, as every other person had told him something else.

But, he couldn't really see a reason that the fox would lie to him about such a thing. It had been stated many times over the years that Kurama wanted him to be strong, so he didn't think that there was a good reason to hinder his progress by lying to him about chakra. He mentally resolved to do some testing on it, and talk to Jiraiya and the toads about it later.

As he kept thinking on the subject, he let his other senses guide him up to the correct building. Walking up to the front door proved an extra challenge, as he tripped on some large chunks of concrete debris that hadn't been there previously. Looking around to find the source, he could see the large hole blown in the wall a couple of stories up.

A man clad in a black uniform with a stylized mask spoke up from the doorway. "Sorry, kid, building is closed to everyone for repairs after an accident earlier today made the building unsafe to enter."

Naruto just looked at the man in front of him, then looked up at the hole where he had been staying, shrugged his head, and started to turn around.

"Hold on a second, kid. You're Jiraiya's boy, right?" As Naruto turned around, he could see a scroll proffered by the masked man. It was bound up tight, complete with wax seal and all. "The Third Hokage informed me to give this to you when you came back."

Naruto grabbed the wrapped up paper, popped the seal and read it. It contained a short note from the Third Hokage about where his new living quarters would be, how to find them and who he would be staying with. There was also a detailed map on how to get to the location, and a warning to not try to enter the property unaccompanied.

After reading the contents of the note, Naruto turned back to the man who had given it to him. "Thank you, ANBU-san." A brief nod from the man, as he leaned back in the doorway of the complex.

He followed the maps instructions through the various districts of Konoha until he came up to a long low wall of pure white stone. The wall stretched on for several hundred feet without break, culminating in an entrance at the far end from where he stood. Behind the short white wall were dozens of bushes and trees, blocking any sight into the area behind the wall.

The entrance to the compound held several white banners and flags with a symbol on it, ostensibly the Senju symbol. It was a horizontal line, with a short vertical line making a cross in the center, and on each horizontal end there were two semi-circles facing outwards, the larger inner one circumscribing the smaller outer one.

The entrance itself was made from old wood that looked to be as old as the town itself, with carved characters on several walls announcing exactly who would be behind the entrance. Senju Ichizoku was written in several places, including the primary location under which he would walk to gain entry to the location. There was a dirt path retreating further into the complex, along the sides of which were more trees and bushes obscuring his vision.

Walking up to the gate, he started to proceed inward through the main entry point. He walked down the dirt path, and smelled the forest. It was a comforting scent, aged and familiar. The old growth coniferous trees created a relaxing odor and combined with the peaceful breeze wandering through the area, he quickly calmed down.

Naruto kept walking towards the inner gate, which was a couple hundred feet ahead. He meandered side to side on the path, running a hand along the edges of the bushes and touching the needles of the spruce trees. The path resembled a garden, well-manicured and cared for. Each leaf and needle seemed to fit perfectly in place with the scenery, and the overall atmosphere of the place was enjoyable.

The scent of damp moss and moist tree trunks coalesced in his nose to create an air of calm that he didn't think he had ever felt before. Yawning, he went to stretch his arms. His outstretched hand dragged across a nearby rose bush, and drew a slight line of blood on his palm from a thorn. He looked at it with a mild disinterest behind tired eyes.

Sitting down on the ground, he figured that since nobody was here yet, he might as well take a nap and wait for someone to come find him and show him where to go. He closed his eyes and tried to find a comfortable spot. The only thing that he heard aside from the sing-song of birds was a faint rumbling from within.

As he drifted off to sleep, the last thing he heard was the cry from inside his own body. "What?!"

AN: Another short chapter, I know. I have had no time to write. I have a wedding in 17 days so all my free time at home is taken up planning for that. I used to be able to write at work during down time, but that is no longer an option as work has become far busier with almost no downtime.
After I get back from honeymoon, I should be able to write some per day again, and get back to producing a normal sized chapter once every 1-2 weeks, as I had before. The wait is almost over. My apologies to those who are disappointed by the delay!