The office perched high above the bustling village down below fell to a silence that cut like a recently sharpened kunai. With a tired sigh the Third Hokage looked at one of the villages most dutiful ninja with a weary eye.
"What exactly has spurned this decision? Ever since you were little I remember a young ninja who wanted to serve the Hokage in any way that he could. Now, you would give up a chance to teach directly an heir to a Hokage's bloodline, to teach someone you said yourself was a 'nuisance'. Such a change looks suspicious which I'm sure you can understand, right?" Sarutobi met the gaze through Ebisu's glasses, the older man's eyes didn't steel with a cold might, but curiously scanned like a scholar through a new book.
"There are a plethora of reasons Hokage-sama. I see Naruto as someone who has talent that is untapped and on his current training it would go to waste. The boy also has issues that need to be delicately attended or it will also be exceedingly detrimental to future growth. I don't think I have to belabor the point of his upbringing and how that has shaped his path Hokage-sama. I wish to teach him not for my own benefit but his, something I feel like he deserves." Ebisu laid his thoughts bare at a humble bow towards his better.
Sarutobi visibly mulled over the words strewn in front of him. His thoughts weren't that of paranoid trepidation but necessary skepticism. The boy was not something that could be passed from person to person like a trinket that one could discard once it no longer tickles their fancy. He had a hand in setting up the teams for graduation for a reason. A seasoned ninjas intuition is invaluable not only for the present, but the future as well. To change something of this magnitude, something that he had actually put time into considering, was a hard sell.
"I understand that you have pride in your capabilities but remember what you're asking. You are trying to convince me that somehow the boy is better off with you than someone who, quite frankly, could be a Hokage level ninja if he only applied himself. I know that you're not so arrogant as to believe yourself to be better in that way, so we won't dwell on it. Kakashi has his own abilities that will allow Naruto to become a great ninja, if you wish to continue assisting, I hold nothing against that idea." Sarutobi turns around in his chair to look at the village. Said village was lightly shadowed by the few passing fluffy clouds that inhabited the bright blue sky.
"Hokage-sama." Ebisu would bow even deeper. "I find my fellow ninjas tactics to be quite lacking. He does not allot the time necessary for the boy to have his specific needs met. This is not a question of what kind of power he and I possess, but what we're willing to do for this boy who desperately needs someone. Which actually reminds me. . . Hokage-sama, I have news to report concerning the nine-tails itself."
This caught the older man's attention. It was clear in the glass that he was looking through that his face found an interested expression. The shadows started to move ever so slightly when the village leader stayed their progression with a simple gesture.
"What is this news?"
"The Kyuubi is dead. No more than a skeleton now. It appears that it's chakra has also faded from existence as well."
Silence once more. Even the shadows stayed themselves, not out of sense of duty but shock and terror. The Hokage himself slowly rotated back around with his eyes looking dead into the soul of Ebisu. Nothing more for another solid handful of seconds. Each tick of time passing felt like a needle under the skin drawing an extreme sense of discomfort for all involved. The sweat forming on the brow of the prospecting teacher drug across his skin like a claw dragging down a tree to be sharpened. Many thoughts racing yet nothing could form into anything coherent, just excitement and anticipation.
"What are you telling me? Those demons are not simple entities. You cannot kill energy and it cannot just die. Are you sure of what you say? Could it be that it has been misplaced or even subdued for the moment?" The questions seemed far more frantic for the normally composed leader. For the first time in many years, something has him truly gripped in fear.
"I am sure. I had the head of the Yamanaka clan perform a jutsu that allowed me into the boys mind. I saw quite a lot there and one of those things was the corpse of Kyuubi. None of its power seemed to remain as we explored but I am not one hundred percent sure how it's power works. Perhaps there is a chance it lurks somewhere darker but, for the moment, it's influence is removed from the boy."
Another silence almost filled the room if it hadn't been for Sarutobi's footsteps. The elderly Hokage walked slowly over to the humbled ninja that hadn't moved from his spot. Sarutobi couldn't help but to smile a crack even in this situation. Lightly, he puts a hand on Ebisu's shoulder and squeezes.
"We have much to discuss. But if what you tell me is as accurate as you say.. Well, then it looks like I will have to file a little bit more paperwork to ensure a transfer for one Naruto Uzumaki."
A couple of days later, one week until the tournament.
His heart had been lodged tightly in his throat for the past several days, but he had slowly grasped a sense of calm. There were plenty of things that he had to keep in mind so he would keep his head but all of it was worth the effort. So much could've gone wrong but he had lucked out, no, he had used what was his to allow victory in such dire straits. One cannot ignore pride as it is a positive driving force when used in moderation.
Naruto knew this all too well. Back in the hotsprings he sneaks around to the other side of the bath with his quietest shoes firmly attached to his well soaked feet. The sense of pride was something that swelled inside of him at first, sadly, he was still not efficient enough to hide his own juvenile maturity releasing a small snort in the general direction of the opposite bath. Within seconds a cavalcade of wooden shoes bombarded the boy bashing bluntly. He escaped narrowly, but next time, he might not be so lucky.
"What do you think you're doing over there, boy?" Ebisu chided looking down at the prone form of Naruto with shoe imprints clear over his face.
"Uhh, I was just... Practicing my stealth?" Naruto says in a voice riddled with uncertainty.
Ebisu pinches the bridge of his nose. "Nevertheless. I hope that you enjoyed your weekend, and I trust that you finished my suggested reading material I gave you after my meeting with Hokage-sama, right?"
"Yeah, the reading, totally, read that stuff real good."
"..."
"..."
"You didn't even open the book did you?"
"No."
The simple nose pinch evolved into a full facepalm. "Naruto Uzumaki, in order to become a great ninja like you say you want to be, you have to train your mind just as much as your body. If you don't understand what you're doing out in the field you're going to be just as inefficient as someone who hasn't trained. Take this seriously." Ebisu's voice lost it's casual conversation tone. It bordered on cold if the tone wasn't accompanied by the obviously fiery look that was hidden just behind the glasses.
Naruto gulped as he stared at his sensei. A small pang of shame ran through him. Without dwelling much on it, the boy shook his head as if to shake the sense of guilt out of himself.
"You're right Ebisu-sensei. I will do better to accomplish my training." Naruto bowed which made Ebisu grin widely.
"I'm disappointed that you didn't finish the reading, but I am very impressed by your increased sense of respect. Finish the reading tonight. For now, we must have you ready for the tournament. I'm all too aware of the dangers that face you, and I'm not going to have you lose because you were unprepared. Today we will continue your chakra concentration and then I will show you some combat techniques to help in a face to face confrontation. Now, show me your water walking."
Naruto nodded and walked over to the pools of hot spring water. The training went well enough as the boy had an average grasp on the chakra control. His concentration could slip momentarily and his control could regularly keep him above the water, but it just seemed odd to the teacher. Something seemed off about the control, like he wasn't in full control. One moment he would be walking perfectly fine, the next it seemed like something had placed a damn in the river flow of his chakra. If something was interfering with his chakra control it was truly remarkable that Naruto was able to maintain himself as much as he had. The water walking was nothing special but it was still a feat for any ninja to attain. To do so at a disadvantage speaks volumes for grit and determination.
Ebisu walked out onto the water with Naruto. "I believe this is as far as we can get you in the short amount of time we have left before the tournament so I will bring you to the next step." The teacher takes a fighting stance, although not a terribly serious stance. "I will be alternating punches from your left side to your right aimed at your head. My advancement will also force you to move backwards. The exercise is to test your ability to defend from attacks while also moving and maintaining concentration on your water walking. Are you ready Naruto?"
The genin nods and takes a fighting stance of his own. The first punches are incredibly slow, almost tauntingly slow. Naruto was going to say something when he decided to bite his tongue, if he wanted to learn he needed to trust that the man knew what he was doing. As each of the glacial punches moved by the boys face, Naruto pushed them off to the side as he would do to deflect normal punches. The two slowly moved in the promised backwards trajectory until Naruto's back bumped into the wall of the hotspring.
"Your attention is going to be split threefold, at minimum, in combat Naruto. Your environment, your enemy, and yourself. You must keep in mind what's around you, who's around you, and what you have on or in your person. Each of these need to be kept evenly in mind or one of them is bound to surprise you."
Naruto listened with rapt attention at the lecture. A new feeling of intrigue actually caught him a wide net. His eyes dart between the three subjects and he then nods to his teacher to continue the training. And continue they did, for hours Ebisu increased the speed at which he would launch his punches at Naruto and the speed at which he was forcing his student to retreat. They boy had lost his balance a number of times and even got decked more than a couple of times. This didn't erode his resolve as Naruto pulled himself up and out of the water each and every time. The sun had begun to set and lights started to fill the area.
Ebisu looked down at Naruto, whose face was red and nose was bleeding, but the look in his eyes was still unfettered grit, and his improvement was undeniable. The teacher even found himself a bit tired after the training. The two sat down inside the building on a bench in a deserted mens locker room.
"Okay, I believe this is a good place to stop. You've improved a lot Naruto. I see that your chakra control is getting much better even as your mind is distracted by multiple outside interferences. Not perfect mind you, but much better. Tomorrow for training I will be giving you a new set of weapons and equipment to get used to. I want to ensure you have plenty up your sleeve for the tournament, I know how much it means to you. But there is one thing above all else I want you to prepare for Naruto."
"What's that?" Naruto looks at him with a mixture of confusion and intrigue.
"I want you to be prepared to not be promoted to chunin." Ebisu stats plainly.
"What do you mean 'not to be promoted'? I'm going to win that tournament! Are you saying you don't believe in me!? I won't lose, I won't accept losing!" He jumps up on the bench declaring his intent loudly.
"It's not a matter of whether or not you win or lose boy. The tournament takes far more into account than whether or not you win or lose. You could win the tournament but the only one to be promoted could be the first person you defeated. It's more about 'how' you deal with your fights as opposed to just actually being the victor. As you have only just begun training under me I have limited time to catch you up. I will ensure that you can perform to the best of your abilities at the moment, but just brace yourself in case that's not what Hokage-sama is looking for at the moment." Ebisu said in a slow, calm tone. A seed of fear grew inside him waiting to hear the boy's response. Ebisu knew Naruto's sensitivity could prove to be a weakness of his, but it was one that the teacher had no room to judge.
Naruto on the other hand gazed, for a moment, off into the distance. He then collected himself looking at his teacher. "I understand, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Ebisu-sensei." Without another word the student left for home, much less swagger in than in his normal step. Ebisu sighed and removed his glasses. Sometimes being a teacher was so emotionally taxing.
On his way back to his home, Naruto drifted looking at nothing in particular. His mind left empty as he had to physically cope with the simple revelation that, in his arrogance, he didn't even consider. Then the thoughts of people like Hinata, who fought so hard even though they didn't want to, and Kiba whom he had beaten with a petulant trick. The sense of doubt creeped into the boy's mind, unable to grasp the old ideas of him being worthy of where he was. Each step up to his apartment was slow and deliberate like he was trying to prove that he could at least walk correctly.
Finally lying down on his bed Naruto tried to close his eyes but no restful sleep came to him. That's when the thought about the books came to mind. Leaning over, he grabs one of the books that were strewn on the floor. It was the smallest book but it had the most interesting cover. It showed a young boy with black hair and ninja gear holding up a mountain. Naruto quirked an eyebrow and opened the book.
The story detailed the trials and tribulations of Menma, a boy that was born with nothing but pursued his dreams, all to the amusement of the local nobles. They had laughed at Menma making nothing out of the boy's aspirations. Everyday the boy trained but eventually found himself at a loss. He didn't know how to get any stronger than he was. That was when a baboon had come out of the woods by where he lived and gave the boy advice. The baboon showed him how to fight better, how to think faster, and how to be one with his environment. The improvement was not lost on the local nobles and one had challenged the boy to a duel, to show Menma where his lot was in life. Menma accepted and the two had a grand duel. Everyone who watched were mesmerized by both combatants. In the end, Menma was unable to pull out the win and was defeated.
Naruto read the line and immediately felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. He grew so interested in Menma's story and now he could feel something welling up in his eyes, his thoughts drifting off to Ebisu.
'Are you trying to tell me something.'
He continued reading the story and was surprised again at the events of the story. Menma got off the ground and bowed towards the victor. Said noble walked over to the boy and raised his hand in the air and proclaimed "This is the true victor of our duel. A boy who gave everything he had, honored himself and his opponent, and never let shame grip his heart,". The noble then turned back into the baboon to everyone's shock. The people then apologized to the boy for being so terrible to him and promised to be better themselves, like Menma had.
Naruto smiled a little as he reached the ending of the book. It seemed almost like a fantasy but he wished for something like that in his real life. It did feel a bit painful knowing how far he still had to go but he was determined to make something of himself damn it. That's when he noticed the last line in the book. It was supposed to start off with "Menma" but the name was somewhat covered with a black 'x' over it, and written in cursive underneath was the word 'Naruto'.The full line read as such:
"Naruto, you are loved."
The boy cried.