Once Naruto has finished his ice block, Pervy sage says, "I reckon it's time to give you another hint in the right direction."
"Cool!" grins Naruto.
"Hold out your hand," says Pervy Sage, pulling out a pen and sticking the rest of his ice block in his mouth.
Naruto holds out his hand. Pervy Sage draws a spiral pattern on his palm. "What's this for?" asks Naruto, staring at the mark.
"I'm guessing you were the kind of kid who had trouble concentrating in the Academy?" asks Pervy Sage.
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with this mark?"
"The mark is to help you focus," explains Pervy Sage. He holds up a white piece of paper. "Look at this paper."
Naruto looks at the paper. "I've looked at the paper. Now what?"
Pervy Sage draws the same spiral shape on the paper. "Now look at the paper. Notice anything different?"
Naruto's eyes are drawn to the spiral. "That's the same symbol you drew on my hand," he says. "But what's the point?"
"Well, the first time you looked at the paper, you didn't really focus on it, did you?" asks Pervy Sage. "But I'm guessing the second time, your eyes were drawn to the mark in the centre."
Naruto's mouth opens in surprise. That is exactly what happened!
"If you look at a blank sheet of paper, your eyes roam all over it, not really focusing on anything," explains Pervy Sage. "But if you put even one small dot on it the eye is instantly drawn in, focusing on the dot. Along with focus come mental stability, and then you can tap into great power."
Naruto stares at the swirl in the middle of the paper.
"I'm guessing when you popped the ball, you were just trying to gather as much chakra as you could, not really focusing on where it all went so long as it as in the palm of your hand," continues Pervy Sage. "When you concentrate, you draw out power, but without a target, concentration is difficult."
Naruto chews his ice block stick thoughtfully.
"In order to draw out the power you need, you need something to focus on. That's what the mark is for. When you try to pop the ball, concentrate all your chakra on that mark."
"Concentrate…" mutters Naruto. Concentrating is what Grandma likes him to do when he is studying, or doing his violin lessons. "I can do that!"
Hiruzen was not expecting that.
Nope. Not at all. This cute, black-haired girl: Jiraiya's child? He thought Jiraiya was ALWAYS careful.
Apparently not.
And here Hiruzen thought he had seen it all. Orochimaru with breasts, the First and Second Hokages reanimated, the Queen of the Whirlpool in action, Naruto flying - not to mention Uchihas growing facial hair at an alarming rate.
But Jiraiya with a kid? Never thought he'd see that.
Hiruzen realizes he is staring. "Well then, leave the child with me and go back to your post, Izumo," Hiruzen says.
Izumo bowns and leaves.
The little girl stands by the door, shaking like a leaf. The poor thing looks exhausted.
"Come here, child," says Hiruzen, beckoning the girl over to him.
She staggers up to his desk, which is almost as tall as she is.
"No, no, come around to my side of the desk where I can see you," says Hiruzen, smiling.
The little girl does so, and stares up at Hiruzen.
"I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage," Hiruzen introduces himself. "What is your name?"
"Ki-Kimiko," whispers the girl, looking down at the floor.
Hiruzen notices that her clothing has the Mount Myoboku Clothing Label on it. "Well, Kimiko, why have you come all the way to the Hidden Leaf?"
"To find my Dad," whispers Kimiko.
"Did you come by yourself?"
Kimiko nods.
"Where is your Mother?"
"D-d-dead," stammers Kimiko, her eyes welling up with tears.
Hiruzen picks the little girl up and hugs her. "There, there, it's alright. You'll feel better once you've had a good cry." Hiruzen sits back in his chair with Kimiko crying on his shoulder. What to do with her? With her round face and spiky hair, she looks a lot like Jiraiya did when he was small. There is no mischievous glint in her eyes, though. Hiruzen could keep Kimiko at his house until Jiraiya gets back, but then what? He can't take care of her forever, and Jiraiya won't want a little girl along for his exploits.
Someone knocks on Hiruzen's office door. "Come in," calls Hiruzen. Lord Second did tell him off for being so lax in letting all and sundry into his office whenever, but he wants the people to feel like he is always there for them.
Arashi comes in, his usually tidy hair in a mess - which makes him look like Minato. "Lord Hokage," says Arashi, bowing.
"There's no need for formalities, Arashi," smiles Hiruzen. "Now, what is it you want?"
Kimiko has gone quiet, and is peeking at Arashi from behind the fold of Hiruzen's clock that she is hanging on to.
"Well, um," Arashi is staring at Kimiko. "I'd like permission to access all the files the Hidden Leaf has on the Hidden Whirlpool. Something in what I have been able to research doesn't add up."
"Very well, I will sort that out for you by tomorrow," says Hiruzen. He was expecting Arashi to ask sooner or later.
"Who's the kid?" asks Arashi, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Ah, this is Kimiko," says Hiruzen. "Her mother is dead and she is here to find her father. The only problem is that Jiraiya is her father, and I don't know what to do with Kimiko until he gets back."
Arashi smiles. "She could stay with us," he offers. "We don't have a Naruto getting under our feet, and Jiraiya knows us."
"That is a good idea," says Hiruzen, smiling in relief. He is glad that he can hand Kimiko over to someone he trusts until Jiraiya turns up. Now all he has to figure out is who to hand his hat and paperwork to. "Kimiko," he says to the little girl. "This nice man has offered to let you stay at his house until your Dad gets back. His grandson is your Dad's apprentice now."
Kimiko looks up at Hiruzen, then at Arashi.
Arashi smiles. "Come on, then," he says.
Kimiko slides off Hiruzen's lap and walks stiffly over to Arashi. Arashi takes her hand and leads her out of Hiruzen's office saying, "I think someone might need a big lunch and an afternoon sleep."
Kimiko does not even try to to protest about the nap.
Naruto practices and practices, but he does not get anywhere. Jiraiya's advice helps a little bit, but not much. Broken rubber balls litter the ground around him as he trains. No matter how hard he tries, Naruto just cannot focus hard enough.
Focus. Sasuke…
Focus! Can I really learn my Dad's jutsu? Would he even want me to?
FOCUS! Naruto mentally flinches as his Grandma's voice cuts through his wandering thoughts. He can see her strictest glare, and tapping foot in his mind's eye. Forget about everything else! None of it is important right now. Focus only on what you are doing.
Of course, Grandma was talking about his violin lesson at the time, but it applies here as well.
Focus… Naruto picks up another ball and holds it between his hands like he has every other ball. Then he changes his mind and starts injecting it with chakra from all sides in quick succession like he did the water balloons. The rubber ball gets bumpy, then the pressure inside it builds up…
Can I really do this?
The momentum Naruto had vanishes and the ball lets out all the chakra inside it through a little hole in the side.
"AARRGH!" yells Naruto in frustration. He nearly had it too! Damned stray thoughts! He grabs another ball, and with all his anger and frustration directed at the mark on his hand, starts over.
Never fight or train while you are angry, Iruka-nii's voice pops into Naruto's head.
Naruto stops and sits down. What is he supposed to do? Naruto throws the ball away. It bounces off a nearby tree and hits him right in the forehead protector, knocking it off. Naruto stands and walks over to the forehead protector, scooping it up off the ground. Naruto stares at it, remembering how, after he graduated, he sneaked into Iruka-nii's room and swapped their forehead protectors. Iruka-nii never seemed to notice or, if he did, he never said anything.
Naruto knows it is wrong to steal things that belong to his precious people, but he really wanted something he could carry with him all the time. He does not want to damage the scarf his mother made, and none of the other things he has in his stash are the sort of things you can carry around. Except his father's kunai, which he stopped carrying after he found out what his father did to him.
Naruto stares at the Leaf on the forehead protector. He can stare at that Leaf for hours and not get bored…
Grinning, Naruto ties Iruka-nii's forehead protector back onto his forehead and pulls out a pen. He turns the spiral on his palm into the Symbol of the Hidden Leaf and picks up the rubber ball. Naruto starts the exercise over, focusing on the leaf. The pressure builds up inside the ball until it bursts, sending Naruto flying backwards. Pervy sage stops Naruto before he hits anything.
"I finally did it," says Naruto, smiling, and promptly passes out.