Chapter 2

Taking the first step

"There you two are, I've been trying to track you two down for nearly an hour. We've already had the discussion about how you're not supposed to just vanish like that." Shizune half-heartedly scolded her two charges.

It was one of the mornings where she watched over Tri and Naruto. She'd been doing it pretty much ever since Tri started living with the Hokage family, she had offered after all. It had been a few weeks since Tri's formal adoption and she'd stopped by the Uzumaki Namikaze household as usual. It was only after a brief chat with Kushina that she'd discovered they had both vanished.

She'd eventually tracked them down to a nearby park where they were sitting on the grass under the shade of a tree, both had a book in their hands. "Sorry Shizune-nee-chan and hi Ton-ton," Naruto replied scratching the back of his head with a wide grin on his face, the small pig in her arms oinking in reply. "We were never really alone Shizune-nii chan," Tri said, never looking up from his book but with an arm raised pointing towards the top of a building across the park behind her. Shizune followed the trajectory of his arm and sure enough, she could just make out a figure in the shadows. A figure with an animal facemask.

"How did you know the ANBU was there?" She inquired, again he didn't look up from the book, all she got was a shrug of the shoulders. "I'd tell you not to disappear on me again like that but I'm thinking it won't make any difference," she said more to herself than either boy.

Sighing as she sat down in front of them. "What are you both reading?" she inquired. Naruto answered by lifting up his book to show Shizune the name. "An introduction to Chakra. I see. Your parents said you'd begun to take an interest. How are you getting on?" she said, inquiring as to their progress. Her question brought a look of frustration on Naruto's face. "I don't understand some of the words," the blonde admitted. "And you Tri-kun?"

"I'm good Shizune-nii chan," he replied lifting his copy of the book showing her he was well into the book.

"Okay then, if it's okay with you, I'll help Naruto," she said shuffling across behind Naruto as Tri nodded. Lifting him into her lap she began helping him. Any words he couldn't read, she'd teach him to say. Any words he didn't understand, she'd explain.

Ton-ton meanwhile settled down against Tri's leg. As the three read families came and went in the park, others walking by going about their days.

She guided him through the pages, explaining what chakra was, its purpose and how a shinobi utilised it. She also taught him some of the simpler hand seals, again explaining their purpose. And the young boy had quickly understood most of what she taught him, she concluded that the best ways of teaching Naruto were through verbal, physical and social means. She already knew that Naruto could get frustrated if he didn't understand something, having someone there to explain things in a different way was of great benefit to him.

And that's how it continued for the next hour or so before Tri closed the book having finished, "Done," he quietly said to himself.

Shizune looked up to see Tri practising hand seals. Ram, Dog, Monkey, Hare, Horse, Bird, Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Boar, Rat and Ox. She was astounded to see that he'd already learnt all twelve including the correct hand movements and positions. The slightest of movements on top the building opposite told Shizune that Tri had also piqued the interest of the ANBU assigned to watch over the boys. "Tri, how long have you been practising hand seals for?"
"I've only just started Shizune-nii chan," he answered. "And you already know all twelve?"
"Yes. The book talks about a few more specialist hand seals and makes a vague reference to one-handed seals. But it doesn't show them."
"You don't need to worry about one-handed seals Tri-kun, there are very few Jōnin who can perform them."

"Ok Shizune-nii chan," Tri replied before he took a deep breath and forming the Ram seal. "Tri, are you sure you're ready to try that?" Shizune asked. "Yes, Shizune-nii chan. It's the only thing this book has left to teach me."
"Then explain to me and Naruto what chakra is," Shizune asked, wanting to test his retentive skills. Still sat in his meditative pose with the Ram seal still formed in his hands he began to speak.

"Chakra is created through the mixture of Spiritual and physical energy. It is the foundation of all Jutsu regardless of field. A shinobi can through practice learn to manipulate their chakra through their chakra circulatory system. Furthermore, the human body has 361 chakra points, it is to these points that a Shinobi can focus their chakra." Shizune was surprised, he'd explained it superbly, wanting to pry further, "Superb, now explain what hand seals are and their purpose."

"Hand seals are a fundamental element of all schools of Jutsu except Taijutsu. They allow a Shinobi to focus their chakra in the correct quantities to successfully execute a technique. This ultimately is their purpose, a shinobi uses hand seals to help manipulate their chakra in the manner they require, the more advanced the technique the more hand seals tend to be required," he explained. Shizune could only shake her head whilst smiling. 'His ability to assimilate and utilise what he's only just learnt is impressive'.

"Very good Tri-kun, Naruto-chan sit like Tri-kun is and form the Ram seal like this," she said showing him the hand placement. After tweaking his thumb placement slightly he was ready. "Okay you two, since I and Naruto-kun have just finished covering chakra and hand seals in the book and you've just explained it to me. We're going to try and awaken your chakra. Keep in mind it may take you a few tries to find it. First, watch me," she finished as she too assumed the meditative pose.

Both boys watched as Shizune slowly drew out her chakra, they could both feel it radiating from her before she ceased. "Did you both feel it?" she asked, receiving two nods.

"Okay, now you try. Close your eyes and look deep inside yourselves. You're looking for a warm sensation, it's normally the pit of your stomach. If you can feel it, focus on it and try slowly drawing on it, pull it to the surface. They sat there in silence for a few minutes then she felt a chakra flow brush against her, steadily it grew stronger, plateauing before receding. Naruto had found his first, he opened his eyes again, a wide grin on his face. "I did it Shizune-nee-chan! He cheerfully exclaimed. Shizune took note of the chakra Naruto had generated, it was more than she had expected.

"Well done Naruto-chan. Tri-kun, how are you doing?" she inquired of the quiet boy with bi-coloured hair. "Okay Shizune-nii chan, I don't think it's in the pit of my stomach so I'm looking elsewhere," he replied, his pose not budging. A few seconds of silence passed before he quietly spoke again, "Ah, I think I found it." He slowly began to pull.

The ANBU on the roof was really paying attention now, first Naruto had awoken his chakra at the first attempt and now she was waiting to see if Tri would do the same. The ANBU herself thought back to when she'd first awoken her chakra, it had taken nearly an hour to find and draw it out. Yet it had taken the young blonde boy less than five minutes. She'd also noticed the amount of chakra Naruto displayed.

Then the wave hit her.

It was somewhat brief, lasting barely a few seconds but the ANBU and Shizune both were astonished, the chakra simply poured out of Tri. It had been enough to startle Ton-ton, the micro pig practically jumping into Naruto's lap. Both watching ninjas were dumbfounded. 'Five-year-olds shouldn't be able to do that' both thought as Tri opened his eyes, a rare wide smile on his face.

"How was that Shizune-nii chan?" It took the medic-nin a few seconds to actually manage a response. "Very good Tri-kun. I'm amazed both of you achieved this so quickly. And good timing too," she said looking at the sun, already part way through setting. "It's time to get you two home." She declared standing up and brushing the dust off of her clothes. Her two charges quickly doing the same. Ton-ton jumping into Naruto's arms, briefly nuzzling the boy's neck. "Ah!" Naruto exclaimed, "Ton-ton, that tickles!"

They left the park, making their through the many streets of Konoha, their ANBU guard silently going from building top to building top. It was still relatively busy as people finished work or school for the day, all heading for their next destinations. They were nearing the street the two boys lived on when they heard a female voice call out. "Shizune-chan." Turning towards the voice Shizune spotted a woman slowly walking towards her, a young girl, a toddler next to her.

The woman wore a white Qipao dress with red circular patterns across the bottom. She was fair skinned and had shoulder length blonde hair with a single large bang that fell down between her green eyes. The little girl wore a red Qipao dress, with a white circular pattern she shared her mother's green eyes but instead of blonde, her hair was pink.

"Mebuki-san," Shizune greeted her old work colleague. Haruno Mebuki used to work alongside Shizune at the hospital as a nurse, she'd taken an extended leave of absence following the birth of her daughter. The two friends shared a brief hug. "Babysitting are we, Shizune-san?" Mebuki asked looking at the two boys at her side. "Yep, Mebuki meet Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto and Uzumaki Tri," Shizune replied point at each of the boys in turn.

"And this must be Sakura," Shizune waved at the little girl, getting a little wave in reply. "Yep," Mebuki said with pride in her voice, "Three already, you'll have to forgive her, she's still a little shy," the blonde woman added, her daughter slightly hidden behind her leg. Sakura looked at each of the three strangers, first the woman who gave her a gentle smile, then the blonde boy who gave her a wide grin. And finally, the black and red haired boy who with a slight smile gave her a short wave, getting a diminutive wave in return.

Rushing up the front garden path, barely taking the time to open the door properly before he was in the hall. He less took his sandals off, rather kicked them off at the wall. He was hopping around the hallway trying to get the second one off when Tri and Shizune entered.

"Kaa-chan!"
"Dining Room, Naru-chan." Barging through the door, "Kaa-chan! I awoke my chakra!" the blonde loudly exclaimed. Kushina's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she smiled, put her hands on her hips and lent forward, "Oh, is that right?" she asked, giving him a half-serious glare. "Yeah, me and Tri did it!"

"Both of you huh, well Shizune, am I hearing the truth?"
"Hai, both managed it and very quickly." Kushina looked at her two eldest, she walked over to a cabinet and pulled two books out of a draw. "Well if you've finished the first book, then you'll be needing these." She handed them both a book called 'The basics of Chakra control'. "But it can wait till tomorrow. Now both of you clean up before dinner," she ordered, both did as they were asked and rushed off.

After they were both out of earshot Kushina turned to Shizune. "How did they do?"

"Naruto needed help with words he either couldn't read or didn't understand. Tri breezed through it without issue, and his ability to recall information is incredible. Naruto was able to awaken his first and he seems to have large chakra coils, the standard for an Uzumaki. Tri is the oddity, he took a little longer to awaken his but when he did..." she trailed off towards the end.

"What happened when he awoke his chakra?"

"It flooded out of him, I'd have to check with Tsunade-sama to be sure but I think his chakra reserves better resemble that of an adult, not a five-year-old. In addition, he looked unaffected afterwards, not a hint of fatigue."

"If that's the case then his chakra control might be an issue," Kushina added. "I'm not so sure it will Kushina-sama, I believe his calmness streak will be of great benefit. After Naruto awoke his chakra and Tri couldn't, there was no frustration, little emotion at all in fact. That and he retains what he learns like a sponge retains water."

Kushina thought a moment, "I'll inform Minato, can you keep me up to date on their progress?"
"Hai, Kushina-sama."
"Thank you, Shizune. Now, would you like to stay for dinner?"

A week had passed since that day in the park. In the days that followed Shizune had spoken to both Kushina and Minato about their son's success in awakening their chakra. From there the two had been introduced to simple chakra exercises. From channelling their chakra at will to balancing things on their fingers using chakra alone.

They'd started with light objects, slips of paper and leafs. It had been a difficult first day or two. Naruto had managed to complete the task first. Tri seemed to instead push the paper away from his finger instead of hold it. He displayed his calm and collected temperament in the face of these frustrations. Hiruzen's suggestion to test Tri to discover how large his chakra reserves were allowed them to discover the issue.

Shizune had taken Tri to see Tsunade a few days earlier and her suspicions were quickly confirmed, at five years old Tri had the chakra reserves of a highly developed Chūnin. One of the rules of chakra was 'The more chakra a Shinobi has, the harder it is to control it'. As a result, the fledgeling training regimes of the boys differed slightly. Tri's included more chakra control than Naruto's.

Minato and Kushina had both taken a personal role in their son's training when available. Introducing them to kunai and shuriken and much to Naruto's chagrin, the mathematical theories behind their use.

It was early afternoon and Tri was at home training while Shizune had taken Naruto to see Tsunade for his chakra medical [1].

"Tou-san?" Minato heard from behind him, turning his head he saw Tri poking his head around the door. "Tri-chan," he replied greeting his son. Tri quietly entered the room, shutting the door behind him before sitting down next to him. "What can I do for you Tri-chan?" he asked. He assumed that his son had finished yet another book on chakra control techniques and was looking for another. But Tri didn't reply, seeing what had his attention he noticed Tri was staring at what he himself had been doing.

Minato had some free time for the first time since October 10th so he'd decided to scrub off some of the rust from his Fūinjutsu. "Tou-san, what is this?" the child asked, utterly captivated. "I'm practising my Fūinjutsu Tri-chan," seeing the look of confusion on his face he explained. "Fūinjutsu is a school of Jutsu that allows someone to seal objects, living things even chakra within other things through the use of various seals. You can also restrict movement and suppress things with seals." He explained.

"Like a storage scroll?" Tri asked earning him a nod, "That's right, storage scrolls are one of the easier seals to make. A more advanced version lets you seal objects in a seal placed on your own body. If you have the skill and imagination, you can do almost anything with Fūinjutsu," Minato elaborated.

"Am I too young to being learning this Tou-san?" Tri asked. Minato could see the wide-eyed fascination on his face. "No, you're not too young, but your handwriting and calligraphy skills need to be really good before you can start learning it. Do you still want me to show you?" Tri nodded his head vigorously. Minato hadn't ever seen him so excited by something.

Minato gave him fresh paper, a pot of ink and a brush. He was already aware Tri knew his Kanji so they could move straight onto the neatness element. "Tri-chan, I want you to write the Kanji for Fire. Don't worry about speed, focus on making it as neat as possible. Speed will come later." Minato explained.

Dipping his brush into the ink he slowly began the four brush strokes needed to write fire. A few seconds later he was done. Looking over his work, Minato could only find one mistake to point out, after quickly doing so Tri tried again, this time getting it spot on. Then they moved onto water, then Earth and over the next hour, Tri managed to perfect over 20 kanji symbols. At the end of their lesson, Minato handed Tri a book on level 1 Fūinjutsu.

"Now, Tri-chan. I only want you to practise drawing the seals ok. Don't try using your chakra with any, I don't want you to hurt yourself. When you think you're ready to test if the seal works, come and see me or Kaa-chan, Ok? We're both really good at this stuff," Minato said to his son, "Ok Tou-san."

Unseen by either of them Kushina had her ear against the door. She'd sent Tri to Minato for the next chakra exercise book but when he hadn't come back she'd gone to find him. Hearing Minato talking from the other side of the door, she listened in. Only smiling as she managed to piece together that her husband was introducing their son to Fūinjutsu, she loved the art of seals as only a true child of Uzushiogakure could. And now another had begun their education in it.

With a smile on her face, she hurried back downstairs before Tri caught her eavesdropping at the door.

End Chapter

[1] - Chakra Medical is a medical examination performed on children shortly after awakening their chakra for the first time. It is done to ascertain the potential of the child as a Shinobi (Chakra Reserves, General Intelligence etc.)