The week that followed Naruto's first two days with Ibiki was much like the beginning, except that the boy's new sensei began to add scares and frightening pranks to the overall mind games. The result was a paranoid, jittery Naruto who had taken to having his eyes peeled 24/7 to avoid any bad surprises.

It wasn't enough. During the second week, Ibiki apparently decided that reminding to his genin why he was jounin was the funniest of things, which got on Naruto's nerves in a completely different fashion. The retaliatory pranking the blond tried to inflict on his sensei failed repeatedly and spectacularly and Naruto was often made the victim of his own traps.

That only needled to boy further in his determination to get back at his sensei.

Oh, Naruto understood what his teacher was getting at. He was forcing him to observe, analyse and think before acting and he was forcing the boy to do all that fast. It was already yielding results as Naruto was less prone to fall in Ibiki's layered traps, be they physical or mental, or at least, he was getting out of them faster and faster.

It was always the same play. Ibiki would ask Naruto to meet him somewhere and Naruto would have to gather relevant intelligence; what was the place, who worked there, what people did and so on. Just yesterday, he had identified where and who his jounin was in under five minutes, which earned him a "well done, Naruto."

It was thanks to the jounin explaining to him how to spot a transformation jutsu from various tells. For example, the natural motion of hair was something extremely difficult to mimic. What many shinobi settled on for their transformation was a shell of chakra of a sort, covering their real hair. To an attentive eye, however, this shell didn't behave remotely like hair and as such, was a relatively easy tell. Only excellent ninjas were able to correct that.

Ibiki had seemed overjoyed when Naruto had asked if there was a way to do better. The boy liked the transformation jutsu, it was the first he had ever successfully mastered after all. He had even devised a personal version.

In any case, there was a way to not be sloppy: the ninja had to infuse each strand of hair with chakra and manipulate their appearance from there. It required a rather high level of chakra control and Ibiki recommended it to Naruto as an exercise to do every day, to help the boy wield his massive reserve more efficiently.

All in all, yesterday had been a good day. He had apparently graduated from "bird-brain" and after two weeks of hard work, Naruto could say he was rather proud of it. Certainly, he was a little disappointed in the lack of jutsu and in that all the physical preparation he was doing was the obstacle course but there was a satisfaction in completing the run faster and faster.

His sensei had sweetened the deal after his success yesterday, saying that if Naruto could beat the record time, he would teach him a jutsu. Needless to say, the blond was fired up even if, after he had informed himself - that had become a reflex already, he had realized - he had learned the record was held by the Yondaime and even his best student, Kakashi Hatake, had a time five entire seconds behind the Fourth Hokage's.

Well, he couldn't become the best Hokage who would beat all other Hokage if a simple record time was too much for him to break. Admittedly, it was not going to happen any time soon but that did nothing to hinder his determination. A jutsu was a jutsu, after all.

Today was a change in the blond's routine, however. It was his first day of tutoring with the Hokage. With a purposeful gait and a spring in his step, Naruto excitedly made his way to the training ground where he had been told to meet the old man.

It didn't mean he wasn't alert, however, as Ibiki-sensei had warned him that a day with the Hokage didn't mean a day without his "favourite" sensei. So Naruto had a spring in his step and his awareness strained to the maximum.

It did him good because as soon as he stepped in the training ground, he felt something barrel towards him at seemingly the speed of light and he had only a breath to jump away to the side and dodge.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

"Jiji?!" The blond answered in surprise, momentarily allowing his guard to drop. That immediately earned him a kick in the gut that folded him in two and pushed him a meter backwards. Naruto had to grit his teeth to not vomit his breakfast. "W-what the hell, Jiji?" He breathed out painfully. "Wha-"

Before he could add anything, Naruto had to roll out of the way of an axe-kick. The blond straightened himself and drew a kunai, only to receive a punch to the jaw that made him see stars.

"How are you this morning, my boy?"

Spitting out blood, Naruto spun and crouched low before he jumped at the Hokage, attempting to tackle the aged leader but the man simply took hold of one of his arms and spun himself before throwing the blond to the ground, one arm locked in his back.

"You're way too open Naruto-kun, and I mean that in every way. Your guard is open, your stance is open, your intent is open. What does shinobi mean, Naruto-kun?" The Hokage asked, twisting the boy's arm further.

The boy grunted and squirmed, trying to alleviate the pressure on his locked arm. "Argh, i-it means, urgh, to conceal!"

"Good." The old man freed the younger boy and allowed him to breath. "You must understand that a ninja must fight like that. We conceal our weaknesses, we hide our forms, we dissimulate our intentions. The enemy will do the same and that is why we all must learn to look underneath the underneath. We must reveal the opponent's weaknesses, read his openings and figure out his intentions. Do you understand, my boy?"

Naruto swallowed thickly. He had rarely seen the Hokage so serious, never even. The boy nodded earnestly. "Y-yes Jiji, I mean, Hokage-sama. But how do I do that?"

"That's what you're here to learn, Naruto-kun," answered the Kage with a warm smile that felt weirdly threatening to the blond.

The beatdown Naruto received was one for the ages. For the entire morning, the Hokage deconstructed the boy's preferred fighting style - something akin to a brawler's - and attempted to lay new foundations for it. Naruto was eventually allowed some respite when a clock, somewhere, rung noon.

He was bruised, his body was aching badly and half his face was swelling, not to mention his pants and jacket were torn. The Hokage looked pristine and like he hadn't fought at all for the entire morning and that annoyed Naruto more than his own state.

"Bastard old men with no care for the youths," muttered the blond.

"You say something, Naruto-kun?"

The blond shook his head hurriedly. "No no, Jiji, no no," he answered with a nervous smile.

"Good. Now, what have I taught you today?"

"You beat me up today," grumbled Naruto before he received a smack on the top of his head. "Ow, Jiji! I don't know! You're super strong and I'm super weak? Jeez, I knew that 'ttebayo!"

The Hokage smiled. "Yes but that's not all there was to it. You have good instinct, Naruto-kun. You move swiftly on your feet, you're resilient and you adapt quickly. That'd be enough if you were embroiled in a bar fight. Your technique needs polishing, however. There are efficient ways to punch and kick, ways to transfer the maximum of force to your opponent while preserving yourself. You need to work on that. But that'll only be enough if you were a samurai, Naruto, and you are not. Do you remember what I said at the beginning?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "A shinobi conceals, right? So…"

The Hokage waited for the boy to reach his own conclusion. Ibiki had told him the blond was making steep progress on that point.

"So that means I need to be less direct? Try more feints?"

Hiruzen smiled. "That'd be one practical aspect to it, Naruto. What I am talking about is the philosophy of our way of fighting. Your entire martial style must be confusing to your enemy. You must be surprising, unpredictable. You must-"

"Conceal my intentions? So, in other words, hide how and where I'll strike next?"

The Hokage nodded. "See? You get it. But again, you only see the topmost layer of the game." The Hokage rose a hand to stall Naruto's protest. "It's normal, Naruto-kun. You're a fresh genin and I've been a shinobi for forty years already. It's only fair I know more than you, right?"

Naruto considered the facts for a second and shrugged. "Yeah, can't argue that Jiji."

The Hokage smiled. "I'm happy you give me some credit. As I was saying, it is a game of layers. You must hide the very reason why you fight in the first place. Maybe you fight because you must buy time for an ally to escape. Or you fight because your opponent has something that you want. Or you fight because you need to get past your opponent. Even this, you must conceal because if your enemy knows, he'll use this information against you."

Naruto was puzzled. "How, though? I mean, if I need to get past a guy, how does knowing I must do that help him?"

"Think Naruto. Imagine the situation was reversed. What would you do?"

The boy thought for a second. "I'd taunt him?"

"Exactly. You could tell him he'd never get past you in time, that it's already too late and whatnot. Taunts can be very efficient, Naruto-kun." At that, the blond nodded. He had been weak to teasing, he still was. "What else?" The old Kage asked, pressing the blond to think further.

"I'd fight differently," began the blond after a few seconds of reflection. "I mean, I don't have to defeat him, just stall the guy so I'd kite him I guess? Try to set up traps if the place is good for it."

The Hokage smiled. "Precisely, that is excellent thinking, Naruto-kun."

The blond blushed slightly at the praise and beamed a smile at the old man, all the while scratching the back of his head.

"Now, a ninja must always think like that: what is my true objective and how can I achieve it without anyone knowing. A shinobi conceals Naruto-kun, never forget that."

"Hai. But..."

"Yes, Naruto?"

"How do I hide my intentions in a spar?"

The Hokage smiled. "Simple, we will play a game, Naruto-kun. We will play a game. Before that, however, let's work on your technique a bit. Your punches aren't sloppy but they ought to be leagues better my boy."

Seeing how Naruto's features were downcast in what seemed to be a vague disappointment, the Hokage grinned crookedly. "If you reach a level I'm satisfied with, we'll get to jutsus," offered the old man.

Naruto sprung to his feet and saluted with an excited smile. "I'm on it, Jiji!"

The afternoon was turning to the evening when the Hokage stopped the boy from punching and kicking a training post. Gesturing for Naruto to sit next to him, Hiruzen fished into his satchel for bandages.

"Would you show me your shins and your hands Naruto?"

The blond looked at his grandfather for a second before a grin stole itself on his face.

"Hehe, Jiji, should I use my transformation?" The blond teased.

The Hokage smiled good-naturedly in return. "Let's keep that for our spars, alright. Even if I'm warning you. I won't fall for it twice."

"You bet?"

The Hokage shook his head in amusement. "Why not? What do you want?"

Naruto hummed and suddenly looked bashful as an idea struck him. "Hm, I know you said to my clone it'd be dangerous but… Could you… Could you maybe give me something from my parents? Even if- even if-"

The blond was interrupted as the Hokage hugged. "I will find something Naruto, even if you don't win. Hell, if I fall for the same trick twice, I'll tell you about your mother."

Naruto felt his eyes go wide. "Really?" He asked excitedly before hugging his grandfather back even tighter. "Thanks, Jiji!"

"Now, what would I get if it's my win?" The Hokage wondered with mirth.

Naruto backed off. "I dunno. What could I even help you with?"

The Hokage grinned. "How about you come to the tower and help me for a day with my work?"

Naruto's eyes widened comically as excitement made him practically vibrate. "You mean, helping you being the Hokage? But Jiji! That's not punishment, that's awesome!"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Don't say that before you actually try it, Naruto-kun."

Naruto laughed. "Whatever, I'm sure I'll be super awesome and better than you."

"I'm certain you'll do an excellent job. Now let's get back to you. I need to see that you didn't hurt yourself too badly hitting the training post."

The blond nodded and uncovered his shins and removed his sandals. They were obviously bruised from hitting a sturdy piece of wood for an entire afternoon but, to Hiruzen's surprise and the boy indifference, the wounds were already fading.

The Hokage eyed Naruto who shrugged. "I heal fast Jiji. Must be thanks to him," he explained, gesturing towards his stomach.

Hiruzen frowned and shook his head. "Maybe," he said, scratching his goatee. "Then again, maybe not. Your Uzumaki heritage is surely helping too."

Naruto cocked his eyebrow. "Uzumaki heritage?"

The Hokage sighed. He supposed Naruto deserved to know that. He had promised he would do better by the boy and the child deserved to know at least part of his roots. More would come later.

"The Uzumaki were a clan, Naruto. It could be that your mother was a member but of course, I never said that to you because it's a secret," said the Hokage, looking at the blond kid with a rare intensity. "Am I understood, Naruto?"

The blond looked back, visibly puzzled. "But if it's a sec- Oh." The boy nodded and mimicked a zipper closing his lips. "I never heard that."

The Hokage only eyed the blond harder, almost glaring. "I must insist so that I'm sure I was clear, my boy. I. Never. Said. Anything. Concerning your possible clan to you."

Naruto nodded, a picture of seriousness mirroring the Hokage's grave features. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good. I also never said anything about a book in the library titled The Great Clans of the Warring Era, where you might find something about this clan."

The boy swallowed his excitement. "Sure Jiji, I don't know what you're even talking about."

The Hokage nodded once and the seriousness bled off his features for a light smile to replace it. "Don't get caught snooping around where you're not supposed to."

Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Good, now, my boy, what do you say we go eat something?"

"You're paying Jiji?!"

"Only if we get sushi."

"What?! B-but ramen is so much better."

"I'm only paying for sushi."

"Fine, fine, I guess sushi is also good," grumbled the blond.

"Let's go home first to get cleaned up." The Hokage said with a small smiled.

The blond looked down at himself and grimaced. "Urgh, sure. Where do we meet?"

"I'll come to your flat to fetch you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto beamed a smile. "Sure, see you later Jiji."

Decked in a dark shirt with an orange spiral on the back and creme shorts, Naruto was drying his hair when someone knocked on his door. Rushing to open, the boy smiled at his surrogate grandfather who, uncharacteristically, wasn't dressed in the official white robes of his function.

"Trying a new style Jiji?" The boy asked, unused to seeing his grandfather dressed so casually.

"I don't always wear my robes Naruto. After a while, they get itchy."

"Pff, they are so cool, how could they be itchy."

"You'll see when you get to wear them. Really, really itchy. Shall we go?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure!"

The two discussed the little things of life on the way to the restaurant, which they reached after a ten minutes walk. Only once they were in front of the place did Naruto begin to fidget. Obviously, the Hokage noticed it immediately.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?"

The blond frowned. "What if… You know?"

The Hokage smiled gently to reassure the boy. "Know what," prodded the old man.

"If it happens again. If they refuse… Me."

"You're with me, Naruto-kun. They won't."

The boy's frown deepened. "That's not normal Jiji. It shouldn't be this way, you having to come with me."

"I know Naruto, I know it isn't fair but-"

"No Jiji. You told my clone I couldn't make them fear me but when you come with me, they only serve me because they fear what'll do. How is that different?"

The stumped Hiruzen. He liked to think he was respected and even maybe loved by the people of the village. However, the truth was that he was also the strongest ninja in the village and the Hokage at that, with absolute authority over an army of shinobis. If a civilian crossed him, he could disappear them and their entire family in a snap of his fingers.

Or, alternatively, he could roast them himself with a fire jutsu. That was as good a reason to be feared as any. He was in all honesty more of a menace to the villagers than Naruto, only their bigotry kept them from seeing that.

But maybe they did see it. The rare case of physical violence towards Naruto had been punished by a brutal death sentence. He had often dealt with the punishment himself. The villagers knew the cost of attempting to harm Naruto directly was the Hokage's fury. Maybe his citizens were afraid of him.

As they should be, to a certain extent but that wasn't what Konohagakure and the Will of Fire of the founding fathers stood for.

"I really allowed things to become ugly, my boy," muttered the Hokage out loud.

Naruto squeezed his grandfather's hand. "Jiji…"

"No Naruto-kun. You might be entirely right and that's wrong. I'm known as The Professor but for entirely the wrong reasons." The aged Kage scoffed.

"What are you talking about Jiji, you're awesome."

"Not awesome enough to do my duty. Let's go in, Naruto-kun and see what happen."

The host didn't oppose any resistance and seated them at a table of four, as per the Hokage's request. They were professional enough to not let much of their disgust towards Naruto show.

"Why a table for four persons Jiji?" The blond asked with a nervous smile.

"Because I also invited my son and my grandson, Naruto-kun. I hope that's okay with you?"

"You mean that Konohamaru pest?"

The Hokage smiled. "Now now, Naruto-kun. I heard you helped set my grandson on the straight path and I thought you could be a good influence on him."

"I'm not training him, Jiji! I'm way too busy!"

The Hokage appeased the young blond with a raised palm. "I'm not asking to train him but if you have a little time, share your wisdom with him."

"I'm not wise Jiji," pointed the blond.

The Hokage smiled. "Much like I'm wiser than you, you're wiser than young Konohamaru. Now, here they come."

And indeed, walking towards was a kid Naruto knew to be Konohamaru and a tall, muscular adult with black hair and a beard that reminded the blond of the Hokage.

"That's your son?"

"Indeed. Asuma-kun, please meet Naruto-kun."

The tall man smiled good-naturedly. "Evening Pops, nice to meet you Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "Nice to meetcha Asuma-san."

"Eya Boss!" Konohamaru greeted with enthusiasm and a toothy smile with a hole in the middle.

Naruto scowled. "I told I'm not your boss shrimp! Come back to me when all your milk teeth have fallen!"

Konohamaru's eyes watered. "B-but, you said you would! Meanie!" The kid wailed.

Naruto flushed in embarrassment and shushed the younger boy with promises of being his boss if he shut up. The two older Sarutobi chuckled and Asuma took a seat before the host came to take their order.

Naruto felt warm inside. That evening was awesome.

AN: Reader?

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