A/N: Hello all. Before you begin, I'll ask you to reread the end of chapter 9, that I modified slightly by adding a short paragraph. Are you done? Then enjoy all this that I do not own.
Sob sob.
Naruto was watching from the top of the Hokage Mountain as in front of him, far off to the west, the sun was slowly disappearing, bathing Konoha in an orange hue. Quite ironic, for a population that positively hated orange, to have some of the most magnificent sunsets of the entire continent. Naruto's old orange suit had not been just an eyesore. At least as far as the boy was concerned.
Today had been the boy's rest day, something everyone had insisted he take to wind down rather than to train. Tiger had reminded him that even he was not immune to wounding himself and that resting was an important part of any kind of work.
Tomorrow, a new Monday would come and he would have exactly three weeks to uncover the secrets of the Jyuuken and adapt it to his problem. It was not an absolutely perfect solution, as Owl had discovered that during his sleep, any open tenketsu would close off again, but it was of no real consequence for him. If he was asleep, he did not need to pulse chakra.
The only problem would be a possible ambush and the need to use chakra quickly but that was quite the isolated case. No, all in all, it was a good solution for now.
The blond squeezed his two fists and let out a growling huff of determination. He was definitely going to learn it. He had the trust of Dragon and he could not betray that. The ANBU general had been sincere in the help he had provided Naruto. He had yet to betray his word and the blond knew to repay that. He could not disappoint. For himself and for the efforts Dragon, Tiger, Dog, and Cat had invested unto him to rectify and further his training, he had no right to falter during the last part of the run.
He had too much to gain and he had started to find things to lose as well.
Naruto knew that overcoming this last challenge meant to be bestowed the mask of the initiate. He would advance a step closer to the family he had so dreamed of, for so long. He would be eternally grateful to the Sarutobi, to the Ichiraku, to Iruka, but they had never adopted him.
ANBU would, if he could prove he deserved the war paints. He would be an unmovable part of the third company and the red claws on his mask would ascertain he belonged there. He would become their brother. He would not abandon them.
The blond had a confident smile that faltered when his eyes swept over Konoha. Even after three weeks, the anger he could feel deep within him was unrelenting. He had yet to talk to anyone about it. ANBU training was the greatest of all distraction. It kept him busy. It did not allow him any time.
It barred him from working out this chaotic mess he could feel weighing down on his chest. From his towering position over the village hidden in the leaves, the blond had a view that only brought conflicting thoughts to his mind. It had not changed since a week ago since he had last reflected on it but Naruto knew it had to. He could not keep going like this.
He knew it was eating at him. His behavior during the training against the dummy, his actions during some of the mock mission were proofs of that. Bouts of violence or small cruelties that he was not used to feeling or committing were as many signs. Those were not him but his anger, that much he had understood.
It hurt too much to keep alive the fire of his anger against the Hokage. It was too painful to keep being spiteful toward his grandfather. Especially as part of this rage was fake, reported, displaced. Hiruzen was Naruto's black sheep much like the blond himself had been the village's.
The difference was that Hiruzen Sarutobi was the boy's grandfather, and Naruto missed him, whereas no one missed Naruto. Except for said grandfather.
The blond boy sighed heavily. He had to talk with the Hokage. Naruto knew Hiruzen was enduring his obstinate silence with patient sadness. The blond could see it in the old man's eyes when he assimilated the memories of his clone. It was an uncomfortable status quo for both of them.
The boy balled his fists. If it was so, he had to break it. Naruto Uzumaki did not dwell on things yet what did he do? Dwelling, exactly! It was unacceptable, 'ttebayo. He could still be angry and not forgive, it did not mean he had to suffer from it. It was ridiculous. He had to stop sulking and talk to his Jijie again.
If he could not wait for his anger to pass, he would chase it away. The thought brought a smile to Naruto's face. That was the Uzumaki way, being proactive and all, 'ttebayo!
"How are we going to do this?" Naruto questioned his instructors as they all stood at the entrance of the Warmer.
"You have three weeks. In three weeks, you must master the solution, keep training in the necessary techniques of ANBU, and execute at least six long distance removals." Tiger explained to his charge, who nodded.
"What I propose," continued the sergeant, "is that you manage those mission however you want, with the shadow clones. I'm also thinking of allowing you to create more shadow clones at once for training. You still need to be physically here with me for physical conditioning."
"How much can I afford to cut down?"
Tiger hesitated for the fraction of a second, something Naruto did not notice. "Not much," answered the man.
It was a lie. The blond could stop working out as hard as usual for a little while, as his physic was already high-chunin level, but Tiger did not want the boy to slack off. If anything, the challenge was once more an opportunity to push his student. Another test the man expected Naruto to pass with brio.
The blond thought for a second about his sergeant's words. If he could not cut down on the workout, it meant the blond had to complete faster what could be completed fast. He would need to run up the warmer quicker than ever to gain some respite. He would need to execute his mandatory five hundred full counts in less time than before.
He could do it. He would do it.
"How will I work? I mean with whom?"
"Owl and Dog here will both work with you."
Naruto nodded. "Alright. Then I don't have time to lose. Let's begin. Shadow Clones Jutsu!" The boy bit out while crossing his fingers.
In a puff of smoke, sixteen clones of the blond appeared. Five went to Cat, five to Dog and Owl, five other to the library, and the last one to the Mission Assignment Desk.
Dragon believed in him, he would not disappoint. He had a future family to impress and make proud. His eyes set in steel, Naruto saluted before he went against the Warmer. His current time was a little below two hours. A leap compared to the three hours he had needed three weeks ago.
He would need to reach below the bar of the hour and a half. With fire under his step, Naruto began the race against the last three weeks.
As the original blond was running, the first batch of shadow clones under Cat followed the ANBU to their usual room. While three were allowed to take a wooden, training sword, two were given senbons and taught how to circulate chakra into the weapon.
It was Dragon's hope that if the boy could refine and sharpen the flow of his chakra out of the needle, it would help him make progress with his personal wall walking technique.
The second group was led by Dog and Owl in a room that differed from the usual, bowl-shaped one. It was more of a dojo. Owl motioned for all the clones to sit down and cleared her throat.
"What you are going to learn is the mirror of my clan's taijutsu. It does not have a proper name but we call it the reverse-Jyuuken. First, you need to understand how the Jyuuken itself works."
The clones nodded silently.
"The goal of the Jyuuken is to seal the tenketsus of the enemy. When a tenketsu is sealed off completely, it creates a strong unbalance in the chakra flow. Tenketsus do not only make up the external vent system for chakra to escape but they are also the points from where chakra flow into our muscles, bones, and all of our organs. Do you understand?"
"Hai sensei. We studied it in the Academy." One clone answered.
Owl nodded once, sharply. "Excellent. It means you know that we barely understand how our chakra coils work, just what they do. As such, do not ask me why the Jyuuken works, as I have no idea."
"Hai," chorused all five replicas.
"Good. A user of the Jyuuken mold what is called Yin chakra. The little we know about this chakra tells us that it "creates form" as vague as it is," Owl explained, her hands mimicking quotation mark at the end. "Our elders understand the Jyuuken as us rewriting the state of our enemy's tenkentus. Are you following me?"
"I think I do," said a clone. "Like an eraser of a sort? Then you decide if it's open or closed?"
"The image is rough but yeah, like that."
"Okay. How do we do that? This Yang chakra?"
Owl joined her hands in a strange sign: the extremities of her thumbs were touching, her index and major fingers were laced, forming a circle with the thumbs, and her ring and little fingers were straight and away from the rest.
"This sign is the equivalent of the cross sign for Yang chakra, the one you use-"
"For shadow clone," completed one blond replica.
"Your goal is to mold this chakra through the sign and expel it from the tip of your fingers at first. The second step is to imagine a river flowing when you hit your tenketsus. That is the mental picture we use to command an opening. The third step will be to pulse this chakra from all your tenketsus all around your body. Understood."
"Hai hai."
"Good." The theory explained, Owl fished a scroll from within her cloak. Unsealing its content, she revealed ten little lump of wet earth. "Remember what the characteristic of Yin chakra is?"
"It gives form." One Naruto answered after a moment of hesitation.
"Exact. Once you mold Yin chakra, pulse it through this earth and mold it with your mind. Once you get a decent result, we will try hitting your tenketsus of the real you with me as a guide. One of you meditate. Your goal will be to identify where your tenketsus are located. All good?"
"Hai."
"Begin!"
It could not be simple of course. It had taken two meager days for Naruto to figure out the emplacement of his tenketsus from meditation. As some form of just retribution from Fate, the Yin manifestation evidently had to be apparently impossible for him.
A week had already gone by and Naruto, despite trying his best, could not, for the life of him, shape the earth into anything with a proper form. It was not looking good for him and he had no intention to wait for a miraculous breakthrough that had no business happening.
The blond had asked Tiger for an exceptional break. He had a favor to cash in and he wanted to do it in person. Naruto breathed in deeply and entered the Mission Assignment Desk. The Hokage owned the boy a jutsu and it was the perfect occasion to mend some bridges and act on his decision.
No one paid any attention to Naruto when he crossed the room. The ninjas working at the Desk were by now all used to seeing the blond boy sit to the Hokage's right. As time had passed, more and more shinobis were now greeting Naruto rather cordially, some with a smile even. The blond had proved he could work right and had never burdened the office with a mistake as of yet, which had certainly mellowed the opinion of the more unsure chunin present in the room.
Naruto bowed to the Hokage, who was already sitting in his chair, getting ready for the day. "Hello, Sarutobi-sama."
The Hokage sighed imperceptibly and waved the formality away like he had been doing for the past few weeks. "Hello, Naruto."
The boy nodded and sat at his place and started to examine the various "orders" coming from all around Fire Country and beyond.
The shinobi business was a strange world. All requests could not rightly be accepted, of course. It was, supposedly, the difference between ninjas sent by a hidden village and rogues: in the former case, the missions were more or less legally approved by a higher corpus of laws, in the latter case they were not.
People could not ask Konoha to just murder their ex-wife, or their mother-in-law, no matter how much money they were ready to spend. It was illegal. Or rather, you had to possess the political clout of a Daimyo to do so and even then, it was bad taste to be discovered. Cold-blooded murder outside of battle was frowned upon and assassination was not that common of a political move.
Subtler manipulations and set-ups were okay but even then, there was a problem. Konoha had a double alliance with the ruling family of Fire Country. Firstly, against a sum of gold paid each year by the Daimyo, the Leaf had to answer all calls to arm as long as they were defensive. Secondly, in exchange for monopoly over certain market opportunities, Konoha was not to take any action that could damage the royal family and it was sometimes difficult to puzzle if a mission could have such consequences.
Those were the two official terms and Naruto had no doubt there was more to it. ANBU would not have existed otherwise.
As for the rest of the countless nobles of various importance swarming the luxurious corridors of the Red Castle, they were fair game -patrons or targets- as long as the Daimyo had not given them a jade pendant. The strangest of things was that, despite the menace of Konoha shinobi storming their house, the nobles kept plotting and scheming, including against the royal family.
One solution found by the nobles to survive was to create a status quo. Konoha shinobis were the only ninja authorized to operate in Fire Country. As such, they were the only line of defense against their own, as they obviously would not fight each other. Nobles would thus pay for a team of shinobi to escort them, nullifying any team hired by a rival to kill them. All that was encouraged by the Hagasuma royal family and carefully monitored by Konoha. It kept the nobles busy and poor. From the court of the Red Castle originated more than half of all the Hidden Leaf's revenues, subventions included.
The Hagasuma clan had truly proved to be the rattlesnakes in the vipers' nest when they had first secured an exclusive alliance with Konoha, some sixty years ago. It had allowed them to form Fire Country and rule it, after all.
The blond flipped through the papers. There were three reports about the escort teams of two counts and one viscount needing to rotate out. Naruto quickly checked the conformity of the payment and stamped it. Three standards B-rank missions for three standard chunin teams.
For a few hours, the boy worked through the files on his desk. Some were internal Konoha business to be given to the shinobi of the inner-barracks, including the rookie teams, some were important contracts from towns and merchant companies that would need a dispatch from the outer-barracks. Naruto verified the payment, analyzed the request, graded the mission, and wrote his recommendation as to the type of team needed.
The task was quite unequally stimulating, considering the mission could range from weeding a garden out to chasing down a wanted criminal. It was not without relief that Naruto heard the bell signifying it was time for lunch. The blond put down his pen -a modern model with a ball at the tip- and stretched as a few ninjas, a genin team to be exact, brought the food. Naruto grinned slightly when he saw who was carrying the takeaway boxes.
"Hello, guys." The blond greeted cheerfully.
"Hey Naruto," answered a lazy Shikamaru Nara while Choji waved. Ino decided to simply send a nod his way. The blonde had become much more respectful after her jonin sensei had finally threatened to take Choji to hit her through the ground after one of her outburst concerning Naruto, their D-rank missions, and Naruto assigning them D-ranked missions. Choji had vigorously protested against the idea of being used as a human hammer.
Shikamaru and Choji, Naruto had discovered, seemed to be in fact "alright" guys. Shikamaru had an ever bored smirk on his face because most other facial expressions were simply too troublesome to make and Choji was kind. If the Akimichi offering some of his chips to the Naruto clone two or three times meant anything, at least. Regret was not something Naruto allowed himself to feel but maybe he could have been friend with those two. They had taken part in some of his pranks after all. Had he been more trusting, or rather, less trusting of the appearances, then maybe...
The blond shook his head. It was wishful thinking by now, one could not change the past. That was not to say they could not become friends now. It would be difficult, as Naruto very rarely had time for himself but they could at least become acquainted.
Neither Shikamaru nor Choji had contested Naruto's headband and that was already a good point in the blond's book. Even if the possible reasons for it were as shallow as it being too troublesome for the first and too much of a break for the latter's eating habits. It was still a good point.
"So, did you succeed with the mission?" The blond asked team seven with a sideways grin.
Shikamaru sighed, his arms hanging by his side as if weighing tons. "Troublesome. We lost a box. You could have warned us."
Naruto shrugged. "You're clever enough to figure it out by yourself." The boy shrugged again. "Next, I can give you the chase where you need to "poison" the food. Or is that too troublesome?"
"Ya know," said Choji in between munches. "I never thought D-rank could be simulations."
"Well..." Naruto threw a glance at the ninjas in the room. "When you work at the desk, you realize almost all D-ranks have a hidden simulation purpose. Why do you think we allow Madame Shimiji to regularly "lose" her cat?" The blond asked in a conspiring tone, mimicking quotation marks to put emphasis on "lose".
"Troublesome. She is your partner in crime." It was not a question and Naruto only sent a wide smile Shikamaru's way.
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"That totally means yes. Troublesome." The lazy Nara looked up before his gaze swept across the large room. "How much for you to pretend it's not available the next time we are here?"
Naruto snorted and held back his laugh. "Is it that terrible?"
"More than you think, Naruto." Choji munched unhappily.
"Team seven, with me," suddenly drawled the white-haired jonin responsible for the Ino-Shika-Cho new generation trio.
"Well, enjoy your afternoon guys."
"Pff, we are gonna run and spar, so troublesome."
The blond had to hold back the urge to squarely punch the Nara in the face, knowing that the pineapple-haired boy would actually thank him for that. "It won't hurt you to move your lazy ass. You'll end up round as an Akimichi but it'll be all grease and no muscles contrary to them!"
"Less troublesome than running."
"You can't invent such laziness, you have to see it." Naruto mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Bye Choji. Bye Ino."
"Bye Naruto," answered a lone, if enthusiastic, Choji.
The blond turned to the tables where the lunch boxes had been opened and sat. Naruto fought a smile when he saw the content of the takeaway. Apparently, today was Sushi Day.
"May I know the reason for your smile, Naruto?" The Hokage inquired in a mellow voice.
The boy shook his head. "Nothing Hokage-sama. I was just reminiscing."
"Oh? About what?"
Naruto turned toward the old man and gave him a mischievous grin. "About how I love wasabi in my sushi."
The elder Sarutobi paled and stuttered in shock. "It… It was you." The Hokage shook himself like a wet dog and pointed a finger at Naruto. "It was you!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about Hokage-sama. Shall we eat?" Naruto waved happily toward a tray of sushi that had been deposited in front of them. The Hokage shot the blond a cautious glare.
Shrugging, the blond took a pair of chopsticks and started eating the little treats of fish and rice. With a content smile, the boy hummed. "Hmm, delicious!" It was the first time he was enjoying a meal for real. For the past weeks, it had been a clone who had had the honor of leeching off the Hokage's food.
Hesitantly, the old man next to him relaxed and decided to taste the sushi. A second later, the Hokage was inhaling the content of the plate. Konoha was miles away from the nearest sea and quality sushi was thus more difficult to make.
It had only become possible thanks to Tsunade Senju selling the technology of her freezing container to a rich industry baron. It was funny how an object originally designed during a war to preserve organs and blood from deteriorating had become something of an everyday, common household appliance to keep vegetables and meat from spoiling.
Naruto's mind was absolutely not on such consideration, as the battle for the last sushi against his Hokage had started.
Five minutes later, Hiruzen had once again proven why he was an excellent ninja by winning a chopstick duel with the young blond and heartily laughing at the frown of disappointment the boy was sporting.
"You are a bit too early to steal the last sushi from me, Naruto," chuckled Hiruzen good-naturedly.
"I can see that… Jijie."
In the silence that followed Naruto's answer, all could hear the Hokage's chopsticks clatter against the ground.
"Naruto?" The old man asked hesitantly, hope piercing through the layer of caution.
The blond sighed before he looked at his surrogate grandfather, which prompted another sigh. "Could we… Talk in private, maybe?" Naruto asked, careful not to sound demanding.
"Of course, Naruto. We have some time before we need to go again." Having said that, the Hokage rose from his seat and beckoned the boy to follow him. In a matter of minutes, the old Kage and the young ninja found themselves in the Hokage's office. Hiruzen waved toward the couch and started to prepare tea.
"Do you know how to prepare tea, Naruto?" The Hokage asked suddenly in a light tone, apparently intent on making small talk.
Naruto shook his head. "Not really no." The boy shrugged. "I mean, with a teabag, I can."
The Hokage snorted slightly. "Everyone can. Come to me and watch. It could be useful for future infiltration missions."
"Hai." Naruto dutifully rose from his place on the couch and approached the little table where the old man was carefully monitoring a pot of water.
"The water must be warm but not too much, or you risk denaturing the taste of the powder."
The boy nodded and watched as the water, slowly but surely, started to shudder as small bubbles came to the surface to break.
"You must wait for those small bubbles to form a layer on the bottom of your pot. Then," joining the motion to the verb, the Hokage took a small spoon and put four spoonfuls of a verdant green powder inside one big bowl before holding the chasen close above the slowly heating water. "You prepare the bowl and you humidify the chasen to brew the tea."
Naruto simply observed, counting in his head roughly the number of seconds the Hokage took to prepare the bamboo made kitchen whip. The blond counted to thirty before Hiruzen poured the hot water in the large bowl and started whipping. Very slowly at first, then more vigorously. A green foam started to appear and thickened on top of the beverage.
"And done. A wonderful matcha tea." Hiruzen said with a relaxed voice. Carefully, the old Kage took the large bowl and brought it to the low table in front of the couch before inviting Naruto to sit again.
"Hosts drink first," informed the Kage who took a sip of the hot drink. "In case I poisoned the tea." Hiruzen said with a wink.
Naruto took the bowl and drank from the other side. With a satisfied sigh, he lay the bowl back on the table. It was an excellent tea. The blond allowed his gaze to wander around the office, going over the portraits of the Hokages on the left wall. The boy was content to stay silent until Hiruzen cleared his throat and spoke.
"So Naruto…"
The boy tore his eyes away from the portraits of the Kages of Konoha past and present and trained his blue orbs on the Sandaime. The blond held the older man's gaze for a few seconds before he faltered and lowered his own. His hands joined together, his fingers started to fidget beyond his control.
"Naruto?"
The blond could not tell what it was in the Hokage's address that made him lift his eyes. Was it the seemingly infinite patience lacing the tone? The warm, loving vibrato in the voice? The simple fact it was his name. Naruto swallowed and faced the Hokage. The child faced his grandfather.
"I'm… I'm still angry you know?"
There was hurt in the older man's eyes as Naruto said that but the blond refused to allow it to stop him. They needed to pass this step first.
"I'm still hurt. You didn't trust me." The blond continued, his voice nearly cracking from repressed emotions.
Sensing the "but" coming, Hiruzen decided to stay silent. Taking a deep, long breath, Naruto centered himself, pushing back the cracks that threatened to make his voice falter and the tears that menaced to blur his eyes.
"But I don't want to stay like that. This… This cold war, this isn't me." Blue orbs peered into black ones, searching. After a second, Naruto broke contact and looked down.
"I can't be angry at my Hokage. But I also don't want to be angry at my family. But..." The blond confessed before abruptly falling silent. His blue eyes darted left and right, refusing to meet the Kage's and his hands started to fidget again.
"Naruto." Hiruzen spoke in a low, slow tone he wanted reassuring. "Please, my boy, you know you can talk to me," assured the older man pleadingly. "What is on your mind?"
Naruto felt his mouth go dry and took a sip of the cooling tea before his tongue darted out to humidify his lips. The boy swallowed and forced himself to meet the Hokage's gaze. In the black eyes of the old Sarutobi, the blond saw acceptance, hurt, but mostly a plea, a wish to make thing right.
Tiger lessons on body language had been successful.
"I'm afraid," Naruto whispered. "I'm afraid that If I'm not angry against you, I'll…" The blond breathed in hard. "I'll be angry against the village!" The boy blurted out quickly.
The Hokage's eyes widened quickly before the Sarutobi tightened them again.
"I know I can't, I know I shouldn't, but I'm angry at them Jijie." The blond whispered precipitately, almost panicking. "I thought… I thought I'd stay angry at you but it doesn't work. And I know I can't… I can't..."
Naruto choked on his words and Hiruzen had to hold back bitter tears when he saw the fear shine inside Naruto's blue eyes. Now the old man knew. He knew why his grandson had refused to talk to him. He had lost so much trust that Naruto had thought the Hokage would act against him if he ever expressed his feelings.
And it was true that, as Hokage, Hiruzen could not allow that. Just like he should never have allowed anger from old wounds to fester and hate to bubble below the surface. He had already decided that he had taken enough from Naruto. The old leader took a deep breath and steeled his resolve.
"Konoha…" Began Hiruzen searchingly, as if unsure on how to word what he wanted to say. "Konoha took enough from you, Naruto. It's time it gives back. You are a ninja and from what I can see, you are shaping to be a brilliant one. But you are also human, Naruto, a fine young boy. You are allowed your emotions, I would never take that from you."
"But…"
"No, listen. I committed mistakes after mistakes when it comes to you Naruto. Old age, sorrow, fear; I don't know what it was and I won't search any excuse. I forgot the tenets of our philosophy and that makes me the worse scum."
"Jijie no!"
Quelling the boy's outburst with a raised hand, the Hokage continued, eyes locked with Naruto's. "If you're willing to give me a chance, I'd be most honored, my boy."
The two fell silent until a sob racked Naruto. Silently, the older man rose to sit closer to the blond boy who shuddered against him.
"It hurt so much Jijie. Holding back everything. Why?"
The Hokage sighed, his chest constricted by the weight of too many regrets. "I'm a foolish old man Naruto. The hat isn't for me anymore."
The blond breathed deeply to calm himself and seemed to contemplate something before he answered. "I'm sorry Jijie."
"What for?"
"I… I can't take it from you anymore. The hat. Not with how I feel. Not with the reasons I had."
The Hokage sighed discreetly before he chuckled. "You are years too early anyway."
Naruto could not help but smile, comfortably tucked against the flowing white robes of his grandfather. "I can still prank it out of you."
"I have no doubt on that. Please don't use your ANBU training to prank Konoha, Naruto."
The blond pressed a pensive index finger against his lips. "Hum? Why not? I know what you owe me, but they have no idea what I owe them…"
The Hokage shuddered and he exhaled a resigned sigh. "Please limit property damages to the minimum?"
Naruto smiled. "I'll see what I can do."
The boy and the old man fell into a comfortable silence for five more minutes before Naruto coughed.
"Say, Jijie?" The blond asked while bashfully scratching the back of his head.
"Yes."
"I, hum, I actually need your help."
"Oh?"
"You know the jutsu you owe me?"
Tiger and his teammates, alongside Owl, stood on the side of the "bowl", the room used for vertical walking, and watched as Naruto sat at the bottom of it. Suddenly, they all heard the blond recruit take a deep breath and hold it.
Tiger felt his own breath itch and catch in his throat. Beside him, Cat and Dog had stopped breathing, they had probably forgotten how to. Owl also had suspended her need for air momentarily.
The blond dived inside his own coils and focused. The Hokage's counsel had been beyond precious to him. After an explanation of the theory of yang-release and yin-release, the reality of yin-yang-release, and the reminder that Naruto's chakra was wholly unbalanced toward the yang element, the old man had simply opened the boy's eyes by scribbling an eon old symbol: the Dao circle.
"Yang does not exist without yin, Naruto, and the opposite is also true. Your yang chakra contains plenty of yin." The Hokage had told the blond.
"Where does that leave me?"
"Well, rather than trying to filter the yin chakra directly from the Gate of Wonder, why not take yang chakra and exploit what yin is already inside?"
"Alright but how…" The blond had then slapped his forehead. "Shadow clone?" He had asked the Hokage.
The old man had only smiled widely and nodded once with pride in his eyes.
It was obvious. If yang chakra breathed substance and life into form and yin created form from nothing, it was evident the shadow clone technique relied on both. Before filling it with substance, Naruto had to imagine a replica of himself. It was entirely yin based.
After that, it took the rest of the week for Naruto to get a feel of yin-chakra. He sculpted numerous little statues of clay by simply holding them, just like Owl had instructed but holding the cross-shaped hand-sign rather than the circular one.
Unorthodoxy at its finest but that was how Naruto liked to do things. He was a seal user, after all, unconventional solutions were at the roots of his thoughts process.
The second week had been simply the time required to forge the chakra needles of the Jyuuken to a satisfying level of control before Owl had authorized him to internalize the process entirely.
Having located his tenketsus, the blond molded chakra. The cross-shaped hand-sign had slowly become obsolete to him. If he had enough time, he could gather yang chakra without any help. Ever so slowly, the boy circulated the chakra in his coils, shaping it in a needle-like fashion right before each one of his three hundred and sixty-one tenketsus.
Agonizingly slow seconds passed, dropping like water from a leaky sink. The ANBUs were becoming blue from the lack of oxygen when suddenly, they were allowed to expand their lungs once again.
From Naruto, a maelstrom of chakra erupted all around his body. Owl staggered back and cried, shielding her eyes as the blond's tenketsus all opened at once and waves of life energy started to spill forth and roll around the teenager's frame. The air shimmered and the floor started to bend and heat up under the physical pressure of the manifested energy.
"Holy Flame." Tiger heard Dog swear next to him while, thanks to his peripheral vision, he could see Cat shake her head in disbelief. The man strained his eyes as he forced himself to look at the blond boy, the brightness of the chakra tornado hurting his retina.
Naruto was surrounded by a halo of chakra, whirling, twirling, and swirling around him in pale blue and snow white hues. The boy was looking at his own life energy dancing around him, fascinated by the show. And what a rare show it was indeed, as only someone possessing several times the chakra reserves of a ninjutsu specialist jonin could expel a chakra dense enough and in an amount large enough for it to be visible like that.
Some Hyuuga could do it for a special technique of theirs but for nary a second at most.
Suddenly, startled out of his trance by a cue known to him only, Naruto stood up and neared the slope of the "bowl". The mantle of chakra dispersed slowly as the boy closed his eyes and under his mask, Naruto's face scrunched up in intense concentration.
The breath of the entire ANBU team watching itched once again as, slowly but surely, the blond recruit started to climb the impossibly smooth, slippery slope on wobbly legs.
Tiger sighed a breath of relief and discreetly squeezed his right fist victory. Dragon would be pleased. Tiger himself was pleased, to be honest. It had taken the boy two and a half of the remaining three weeks but Naruto had done the impossible.
Tiger smiled behind the porcelain and mentally corrected himself. Naruto had done the unlikely, for impossible was not a word worthy of Naruto Uzumaki's dictionary. "Dattebayo," had, of course, added the blond to his declaration, all the while breaking protocol and earning a straight to chin and a mean hook to the left side.
The man smiled wider, unknown to all. The kid had gone places, from the clueless, dead-last genin he had been a little less than a month and a half ago. And he would not admit it to anyone under threat of painful death but Tiger was proud of his charge.
Next to him, Dog was less private and subtle in making her enthusiasm known as she hollered and whooped around like an excited teenager. Which she was. "Yeah! Fuckin' finally, we are going back on missions!"
Tiger's smile broke his face in two. It was true. Now capable of vertical walking and considering the boy's results to the evaluations in the various subjects that were taught to him, which were all more than sufficient, Naruto was ready to take another step in his ANBU career.
It was time for the blond to receive the mask of the initiate.
Tiger was broken off from those thoughts when Naruto suddenly staggered as if hit. The boy turned toward the assembled ANBU and they all could see his blue eyes shine with a smile.
"I did it."
The lone male ANBU had barely the time to react when the boy crumbled on himself and slid down the slope. All four ANBUs present instantly surrounded the downed form of the young teenager.
"What happened?" asked Cat, the barest trace of worry in her tone.
Dog was already crouched near the boy, her hands glowing a soft blue-green color as special, medicinal chakra suffused them while she diagnosed what the recruit was suffering from. It was Owl who answered first.
"Chakra exhaustion, sergeant. He pulsed out way too much, look at the floor."
And Tiger looked and he saw that the floor was a mess indeed. Naruto's chakra had burned through the tiles, carving them as if a cat with claws made of diamond had decided to scratch them. The floor was bent, cut, and melted. The man could not help but sigh. While it was impressive -if unsurprising- for Naruto to possess that much chakra and so potent at that, this would cost a fortune to repair.
"Alright, Dog and Owl, you take him to the infirmary and you monitor him. Cat, you're with me and we will see Dragon. Move."
As Dog and Owl hauled the blond's body between them, his arms around their shoulder, his feet dragging on the ground, Tiger and Cat left quickly. They had a report to make. The two ANBU walked for a few minutes in the labyrinth that were the endless, white, featureless corridors of the Central Barracks until they reached the office of the general. Tiger rasped his knuckles against the reinforced door and waited for the signal.
"Come in," ordered Dragon's voice, muffled by the panel.
"Tiger three reporting, in the company of Cat five."
The general took a few moments to orderly stack some papers he was reading in a folder before turning his focus to the two ANBUs standing at attention. "Go ahead," answered Dragon in his monotone.
"Recruit Uzumaki has successfully applied the solution and can now perform vertical walking sir," began Tiger, excitement piercing in his voice in a rare occurrence of his control slipping slightly. "With the two days left to properly work on it, he will be ready."
Dragon propped himself up in his chair and laced his fingers in front of him. "Good." The general answered. "Good," he repeated with something like mirth somewhere in the confine of his monotone. "No. Excellent even." The man concluded while exhaling a deep breath.
It had not been by design that Dragon had pushed Naruto against the wall. He had promised the boy no preferential treatment and the boy had gotten none. Just like any recruit, he had been trained from the ground and up in all disciplines necessary for a ninja. The chakra problem was not something Dragon had foreseen and its solution even less.
The general was relieved that the Uzumaki had made the cut and challenged any and all expectations. Dragon had not lied when he had told Naruto he believed in him. Not entirely at least but sometimes, a little white lie for encouragement was better than to see a promising recruit fail.
"I want details." The general eventually said.
"Hai, general." Tiger answered before he took a deep breath, in preparation of the story he was going to recount. "The first part of the solution entailed teaching recruit Uzumaki the location of his own tenketsus. Thanks to his habit of meditating, it was rather easy for the boy to map his chakra circulatory system."
Naruto awoke to the sound of water dripping into more water. Plick, plock, plick, plock. It was a light, vaguely annoying pitter-patter that had no business existing. Something was leaking somewhere nearby and it made Naruto growl: some people had no idea how expensive a water bill was. Plick, plock, plick, plock. The noise finally getting on his nerve, the blond opened his eyes.
He knew immediately that there was a problem. He also knew where he was. He had carefully avoided coming here.
The blond rubbed his eyes tiredly as a wave of exhaustion crashed onto him. It took a minute to understand its origin. He had pushed open all his tenketsus at once, as he had practiced for the last two weeks or so. Rather than controlling the wild flow, Naruto, by a strange instinct, had allowed its freedom. His chakra, after being confined all those years inside his body, was yearning for release and the boy had let it go.
Now though, he was probably suffering from chakra exhaustion but he was not too worried. It was not the first time it had happened to him during a month of training and he had always recuperated quickly.
The current problem was that he had never found himself so deep. The first time chakra exhaustion had hit Naruto, the boy had found himself floating in shallow, slowly coursing waters, with above him, a night sky. He had recognized in the stars the various parts of his body: his beating heart, his sleeping brain, and so on.
The second time, he had allowed himself to go with the gentle flow of his nearly dried up chakra. It was the reason he knew he would be fine. It was not chakra exhaustion if he could still feel chakra coursing through him, right?
It had been a strange experience to follow the current of his depleted life energy. Rather than the breakneck ride he was used to, it was a gentle glide. Thanks to the flow being tame, the blond could hear his own body work and beat. His heart was a solid, pristine pump, his muscles were, at the time, protesting like overburdened cables while healing and his bones were creaking in protest of the treatment they had received.
The third time had been when he had reached "the Pit". Naruto knew where it was. Anchored by eight prongs to the eight tenketsus around his stomach was a hole darker than black, bleeding into his coils a reddish chakra. It was a strange horizon of nothing beyond which Naruto did not dare venture. For the blond knew that the orb of Void was the prison for a beast far too dangerous to contact.
The "Pit" was the seal and Naruto had no wish to see what was inside. Was he afraid? Yes, and rightly so in his opinion. The Kyuubi was a monster that had brought Konoha to its knees in a matter of minutes. Was he ashamed of his fears? Absolutely not. Naruto Uzumaki feared no man but a demon made of chakra was another thing entirely.
So it was dismay the blond was feeling when he awoke where he was. Slowly, the boy stood to stand knee-deep into the water. It had a red hue to it as if untold, sickening amounts of blood had mixed in it. Above and around him, there was not the usual sky of his body but the concrete walls and ceiling of a dungeon. Naruto was standing into a corridor that was slightly curving to the left. He could not tell which way was behind and which lead to the monster inside his guts.
Warily, the blond took a step forward. He had to find his way out. He just hoped the Kyuubi was further caged. If the monster somehow roamed in the corridor, it would be the boy's end.
For what felt like an hour, Naruto strolled along the ever-curving hallway, unease making him sweat and fear griping at his heart, making breathing difficult. The air was damp yet warm, the combination was suffocating. The dungeon basked in an unnatural light, a sickly yellowish glow that seemed to radiate from the walls. The dungeon itself had a decrepit feel to it: Naruto could see cracks in the walls and places where the layer coating the walls had come completely off, revealing grey, hard concrete.
The blond hoped it was not as many signs that his seal was slowly failing. He had a little talent in fuinjutsu but when it came to the seal keeping the Kyuubi at bay, it was limited to acknowledging it was way beyond him for now.
Lost in his thoughts, Naruto noticed too late he had entered a seemingly endless room, cut in half by countless thick pillars of anthracite steal. A ridiculously thin and little piece of paper was hanging on the bars, right ahead of the blond boy. On it, the word "seal" was inscribed in dark red that evoked dried blood. The kanji had been painted with incredible strength and authority and for a second, Naruto marveled at the penmanship before his situation came back to him full force.
"Flame almighty," whispered the boy as all colors left his face when he understood he had taken the wrong path. He had walked down the wrong direction and he could only hope. He could only hope he had not disturbed the beast's slumber. Slowly, and as silently as he could, Naruto recoiled.
A deep, rumbling sound froze the boy in his tracks. First came the growl. Naruto thought the structure of the dungeon itself was caving in. It was like two enormous cinderblocks were grinding against each other, like the trunk of an old tree had decided to split under some gigantic pressure, like reality was tearing apart as its seams were engulfed by flames.
Then, a rush of wind lifted the golden hair of the boy as two bellows fit for a giant's forge emptied themselves of the air they contained. It was hot and vibrating with the sound of embers cracking and rocks splitting.
The boy staggered and fell and it was then his heart stopped and his mind derailed.
One eye opened. And for Naruto, the world spasmed and collapsed around it, leaving only it as the sole possible thing in existence. Naruto and the Eye. It was all that was and all that would ever be.
One lone, all-seeing orb of fire and darkness speared through Naruto and kept him immobile, rooted in place. The slitted iris was blacker than the deepest void and was surrounded by flowing flames. It was red, golden, and black. It was beautiful. It was terrifying. It was humbling. It was the end.
The boy felt his head split open as if struck by an axe when a howling wind blasted through his mind and obliterated his thoughts. All was gone; the fear, the awe, the shock. Only lasted one primal instinct; the urge to disappear, the urge to escape, to escape the Eye, to bow to it. An ageless voice, heavy with primordial might and laced with dominance, spoke directly inside the boy's head, unraveling the last shred of his consciousness.
"I see you."
Naruto woke up with a start and a horrified shout gargling at the back of his throat. His vision blurry and his head heavy, he could only feel a hand pushing him back down on the bed he was apparently laying in. The boy's throat, mouth, and lips were dry and he had the feeling he had just stood too close to a sand storm.
"Recruit? Recruit, do you hear me?"
Groggily, the boy turned toward the voice and strained his ears. It was Dog and the ANBU was definitely speaking under water for some strange reason.
"What happened?" A second person asked. Owl, surmised Naruto. She was the operative he had less heard speak. She was also talking with a bucket flipped on her head.
"Wh-what?" The blond stammered, slowly emerging from the dense fog obscuring his mind.
"Recruit, do you hear me?" The voice of Dog rung clear in Naruto's ears and the boy cringed at the volume. "Are you feeling alright?"
Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat and his heartbeat accelerate. There was something wrong, something urgent that he had to tell them immediately if the beads of dread rolling off his spine like sticky sweat were any indication. But he could not remember what. Why was he in this bed in the first place?
"What happened… To me?"
Dog took a glass of water and helped the boy drink. Naruto distractedly realized he was not wearing his mask but his brain did not register it as a problem.
"Chakra exhaustion, you dropped like a rock. You're in the hospital right now," explained Dog while waving her hand, impatience in her voice until it morphed to something else.
Worry?
"Now what happened? You were tossing around like mad and you woke up like you had seen death."
Naruto threw the young ANBU a glassy look before his face scrunched in the picture of concentration.
"Don't know." The blond answered after a few seconds.
Behind Dog's mask, he could see her eyes hold the tale tell shift of doubt and worry. The boy sighed.
"It's okay Dog, really. Some bad dream probably. Thanks." Naruto smiled widely, blinding his two companions. "You too Owl."
"Pff you're welcome." Dog said while lightly punching the blond boy on his shoulder.
"No problem Recruit," Owl added before a pensive finger came to support her chin as she looked slightly up. "It's nothing official but I guess it's not "recruit" anymore though."
Naruto felt his blood congeal in his veins and his chest cave in.
"Stop messing around Owl." Dog cut in suddenly. "If it's not "recruit" anymore, it's because it's "initiate" now!"
The boy felt air return to his lungs and he greedily breathed in while a wide, blinding smile, blossomed on his lips. He was one step closer to his family.
A/N: I own nothing but I do collect reviews. Send one my way? Especially to tell me what you all thought of that. Narratively speaking, this chapter is kind of ninety-degree turn. From then on, basic training is over and the story enters a new age. Also, I would like to cut back the word count to less than 5,000 but I can't. Send help (or don't if you like long chapters).
A/N 2: a chasen is a special, hand-held kitchen whip made of bamboo to "bake" traditional green tea. If you are good enough and the water is not too hot, you create a foamy beverage. Kinda like beer but it's tea. And it's green also.