Chapter 4

Learning Curve

Itachi couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. They'd both explained it to him already but he had to ask again, he had to make sure. "Can you repeat that I think I misheard."

*Flashback*

"What?" both quietly exclaimed after one end of the paper in Naruto's hand became wet. They assumed therefore that Naruto's affinity was Suiton. But before either could speak the other end of the paper began crumbling, falling onto the floor as dirt, then the paper split in half.

"Does that mean I have…." Naruto tried to speak. "Three affinities? Yes, I think it does." Tri finished for him.

"You have Doton, Suiton and Fūton. Kaa-chan has Suiton and Tou-san has Fūton but I don't know where you've gotten Doton from. Doton affinities in Konoha are uncommon," Tri explained, Naruto was still open-mouthed in shock.

Naruto re-discovered his voice enough to ask, "Are you going to find out what your affinity is?" Tri was apprehensive, his family history was a total unknown. Children pre-dominantly inherited their parent's affinities. But for Tri that was all blank, he figured, however, that his distant relation to the Uchiha clan might mean a Katon affinity.

And that wasn't what happened as he channelled his chakra into the paper. Sure one end caught fire, but not before the paper split in half and after the paper had divided the other half quickly turned soggy.

This time it was Tri's turn to lose his voice and control of his bottom jaw.

*End Flashback*

"So you both have three affinities?" Itachi asked, wanting to make absolutely sure. "Yes," Tri replied while Naruto firmly nodded.

"So which are you going to learn to use first?" the Uchiha asked, genuinely curious as to which affinity his new friends would look to learn first. "We think that the affinity that displays on the paper first is the most prominent affinity," Naruto replied, "So I will be learning to use Doton first but Tri will be learning Katon to begin with since Fūton is notoriously difficult to learn," the blonde finished. "Not to mention dangerous," Tri added.

"But before that, we want to learn to mould and manipulate our chakra into our affinities before we try any Jutsu," Tri explained. Itachi nodding in understanding. He had learnt how to mould Katon chakra before learning any Jutsu. It was very unsafe otherwise as you were quite literally playing with fire in the case of Katon.

Unsealing a book on advanced chakra control Tri began reading. Shizune was the first to put his remarkable memory skills to work. He only had to read a scroll or book once, whatever he read he simply remembered without fail. He would quickly read the entire book and then hand it over to Naruto.

Naruto charged straight towards Itachi, they'd spar while they waited for Tri to finish reading.

Naruto cocked back his right fist, looking to land a haymaker on Itachi's jaw. The young Uchiha, however, was quicker, deflecting the Namikaze's arm while landing a glancing blow of his own against Naruto's left collarbone. With that Naruto was immediately forced on the defensive as Itachi turned the momentum of the fight against him. Naruto's Taijutsu style was effective, it was compact and got him in closer than most other Taijutsu styles were comfortable with but that was if it landed. Naruto lacked the overall speed needed to bring most of his heavy hits down on his opponents.

His primary Taijutsu style was a hybrid formed from a mixture of what Tsunade and Gai had taught him. In reality, it meant that Naruto knew three Taijutsu styles, and its switching between these three styles that allowed him to land his hit, totally catching Itachi out as a left-hand hook crashing off his temple. His quick instincts to jump back the only thing that stopped a leg sweep from leaving him on the floor.

Looking up to find a wide grin on Naruto's face as the Hokage's son assumed a defensive stance. Itachi came forward, the momentary ringing in his ears ceasing. He got within a few feet before vanishing. Naruto was caught off guard for just a moment but it was enough as Itachi reappeared behind him, letting fly with a kick to the kidneys. He vanished again as Naruto tried to turn to face him and was struck in the kidneys again, a punch this time. This happened several more times before Naruto was forced to drop down to one knee, his breathing ragged.

"Okay I get it Itachi, I need to be quicker," Naruto rasped, his admission only getting the slightest of smiles from the stoic Uchiha. "Then allow me to assist you Naruto-san," he said before disappearing again.

Their spar continued for near on three hours, each taking turns being on offence and defence, learning weaknesses and ironing them out.

"Done!" Tri declared closing the book. Both Itachi and Naruto hit the ground drawing deep breaths, their spar now at an end. Tri looked up, trying to find the suns position in the sky, "Good timing too, Lunchtime," he said channelling chakra into a storage seal on his wrist, a bento box appearing in his hands. Naruto managing to drag himself off the floor dived into his pack to retrieve his much to the amusement of Itachi.

"Tri-san, will you not have to read that book again?" He shook his head, quickly swallowing a piece of beef. "No Itachi-san, I'm able to remember the contents of a book or scroll after only reading it once. Shizune-nii chan called it a photographic memory." The Uzumaki explained. "Did you find out what you needed?" Naruto quickly asked in between mouthfuls.

"Yes, Katon chakra requires the user to superheat chakra within their stomach before expelling it through their mouth, making sure to ignite it after it had left the body. It didn't, however, elaborate on how you go about superheating the chakra."
"You can just ask Itachi, can't you?"
"I could, but I need to be able to discover things like this for myself," Tri replied, Itachi inclining his head slightly, respecting his new friends desire to learn himself. He neglected, however, to mention that he himself had been shown how to mould Katon chakra.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders as he continued devouring his food. He didn't quite share his brothers streak for self-discovery.

"Itachi, how long did it take you to successfully mould Katon chakra?"
"Hmm," Itachi murmured as he cast his mind back. "Around two weeks I believe, although my Tou-san guided me through it. Your book is right about needing to create it in your stomach though." Itachi added.

"Have you tried creating the chakra of any other elements?" Naruto asked. Itachi nodded, "Yes, I can create Suiton chakra but I haven't learned any Suiton Ninjutsu yet." After listening to his new friend Tri set aside his bento and activated another of his many storage seals, a scroll appearing in his hand. He tossed the scroll at Itachi who caught it effortlessly, he curiously looked at the scroll then at Tri, his eyes seeking an explanation.

"The scroll contains a basic Suiton Ninjutsu. Naruto will be reading the book, I'll be trying to create Katon chakra. That leaves you on your own so you need something to do."

-Earlier that morning-

Tri once again found himself in his Tou-san's personal office, Tou-san, of course, had already left for work and Kaa-chan, of course, had her attention focused on Rezano-chan. Tri quickly scanned the labels spaced across the many shelves. The elemental Ninjutsu had its own section, it was also further organised by how complex the Jutsu was. Thus it made it very easy for Tri to find what he was looking for. D-Rank or C-Rank Ninjutsu for Katon, Suiton and Doton. They'd decided to leave Fūton for last.

The scrolls containing the Jutsu weren't protected by any seals so Tri was quickly able to take or copy them. He was about to leave when another label caught his eye, focusing in on it, "Genjutsu.." Picking out the first book, the title read 'An introduction to and the fundamentals of Genjutsu'. He quickly placed the book in one of his storage seals before leaving the room.

'I'll work on that in my own time.' He thought to himself as he headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Thank you Tri-san," Itachi said as he opened the scroll and began reading.

One year later

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

"Suiton: Teppōdama." (Water Release: Gunshot)

The two Jutsu clashed before Naruto had to quickly roll to the right as the fireball consumed his water bullet and continued towards him. He hurriedly patted himself down to make sure his clothes hadn't caught fire. "You almost got me Itachi-kun," Naruto grinned, although underneath he was annoyed that Itachi's Katon was still overpowering his Suiton despite the nature disadvantage. Itachi, however, didn't answer, he never did, he simply vanished. Naruto unsheathed his Tantō just in time to block a kunai thrown from the right.

He had to quickly spin on the spot as Itachi reappeared behind him, another Kunai in hand. The two metal blades clashed. Itachi slowly started to get pushed back, "I'm the strongest of the three of us Itachi, you know that," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I do know, Naruto," was the emotionless reply. His replying at all surprised Naruto for the briefest moment before his instincts told him to duck, the heel of a foot skimming past where his head had just been. The follow-up punch instead of striking flesh struck wood as Naruto Kawarimied to safety.

They'd been taking it in turns to fight two on one and it was Naruto's turn to be the one. The blonde felt this exercise was hardest for him as Tri and Itachi seemed to have developed an instinctual understanding of one another, able to act in tandem with one another without having to communicate.

"Not bad Tri, I only felt the kick coming at the last moment." Naruto commended his brother. "But you should always watch where you land," a smirk crossing his face as Tri and Itachi looked down to see an explosive tag already burning down. Itachi immediately Kawarimied himself while Tri just stood there, Naruto could have sworn he heard a low chuckle before the tag went off.

His instincts kicked in again as he stepped back, a pair of Senbon missing him by millimetres. Not wanting to allow time for more Senbon to be thrown Naruto charged in the direction they'd come from. Bursting through the bushes he found, nothing, he did, however, hear a hiss just above him. Without even looking he again rushed forward again as the explosive tag detonated, utterly consuming the tree it had been placed on.

Naruto cursed as he realised this now meant he'd lost sight of both his opponents. Before both could set upon him, however, he heard a female voice through the trees. "Time!" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, he had lasted the fifteen minutes.

Naruto shunshined back to the clearing, Tri and Itachi were already there. In front of them were Tsunade, Shizune and Hiruzen. The three adults who had taught them so much, the three 8-year-olds by now considered them Sensei, they thought similar of Maito Gai but he was currently absent on a mission.

A few weeks after they'd met, Tri and Naruto had persuaded their new Uchiha friend to join them in their lessons from the four adults and it had worked wonders for him. They'd both also met one of Itachi's closest friends in Shisui Uchiha, someone Tri himself had become good friends with.

Hiruzen surveyed the three young prospects in front of him. Naruto, appearance wise he was the absolute blend of Minato and Kushina. He had his father's hair and facial structure, but he had his mother's eyes, he'd also inherited his mother's personality and had a habit of being boisterous and emotional. His outfit had also developed, he still wore the black three-quarter pants and black shirt. But now in addition to the sleeved mesh under-armour he wore under the shirt, he also wore mesh armour on both legs, something you'd more likely see on Kunoichi.

He now also wore bandages around both wrists as well his right knee, all of the bandages bore utility seals. His blue sandals also remained as did the Tantō over his left shoulder, now though he had a second Tantō strapped horizontally just above his tailbone.

Itachi, for the most part, bore the same outfit, black clothing with grey sandals. He had a similar appearance to Konoha's ANBU, minus the mask and Tantō. His hair while still worn in a ponytail was a little longer now reaching his shoulder blades, the tear troughs more prominent on his face.

The greatest change, however, was Tri. He'd changed his outfit to suit his combat style. His three-quarters pants that cut off just below the knee had gone from Grey to Navy blue, the rest of his legs from the knee to the ankles were covered in bandages. His sandals while still black now totally enclosed around his feet. He wore an elbow length sleeved black undershirt with nothing over it, the high collar was now gone.

Like Naruto he too wore mesh under armour on his chest, his extended to his wrists, the forearms had a layer of bandages over them. He wore additional bandages around his neck, both thighs and both upper arms. All the bandages were covered in seals. But over all of that Tri wore a plain Black cloak, it had sleeves just longer than his arms as well as a high collar that reached the tip of his nose. Hiruzen was absolutely convinced that Tri's hair colour had changed, the black seemed darker, more like Itachi's jet black and the red paradoxically seemed both brighter in tone but darker in colour.

"Alright you three, we're done here today. As you already know you start at the Academy tomorrow, it will be a strange year for you because we've already taught you nearly everything they'd otherwise teach you," Tsunade spoke, the three boys nodding. "And we're pretty sure it'll only be the one year if you display the ability we know you possess," Hiruzen added. Privately he and Tsunade agreed that all three were already beyond the Academy, but to become a Genin you had to graduate from the Academy.

"Ok you three, we're done for today, off home with you. You're expected at the Academy entrance by 9:00 am," Shizune stated, dismissing the three.

-Later that evening-

Naruto was shovelling his food into his mouth as he always did. Tri could only shake his head, "Naruto, why do you persist in eating as if someone's going to take your food from you?" he asked his blonde brother. "Bccuus mmm unngwwey," Naruto replied, his mouth still full, one or two grains of rice flying from his mouth across the table. "Naruto, that's disgusting, Swallow first, then speak," Tri's blunt voice getting through as Naruto swallowed the entire Onigiri he'd just stuffed in his mouth with one great gulp.

"Sorry Tri, I forgot," said the blonde with one of those eyeless smiles that Kakashi was so known for. "Kami forbid you actually remember for once," Tri muttered under his breath as another Onigiri vanished down Naruto's maw quickly followed by a piece of prawn toast. Tri just shuddered, looking anywhere but the blonde.

His eyes fell on Minato who was, in turn, watching Kushina feeding the latest addition to the family, a few months earlier Minusha had been born. And even at such an early age, they could tell that daughter would become the spitting image of her mother.

The expected had also happened, Minusha's arrival had relegated Naruto and Tri even further down their parent's list of priorities. Both he and Naruto were confident their parents no longer kept up to date on their training and that neither knew how strong they now were.

Over the past year, Tri had made many visits to his Tou-sans office, he had borrowed or copied dozens of scrolls. He had even found a scroll on the Hiraishin, although he couldn't open it. The locking seal on the scroll was, for now, beyond him. Katon, Suiton, Fūton Ninjutsu, Chakra control, Fūinjutsu, Genjutsu. Tri had systematically assimilated all the knowledge available to him.

Not even Naruto knew of Tri's studying Genjutsu, despite Tri's vast chakra reserves, he'd developed a great level of control over it. And it had allowed him to learn to use Genjutsu. And if Naruto didn't know then nobody knew. Although Tri wondered whether Itachi suspected, since as Tri improved in his secret skill it had become harder for the Uchiha to use Genjutsu on him.

He would likely keep his Genjutsu a secret until he needed it. Surprise and deception suited him and his style of fighting.

Over the past year he had refined his style, he wasn't very good at Taijutsu, that was Naruto's field so he focused elsewhere. Tri focused instead on Ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu and pure speed. The speed was his counter to Taijutsu, after all, how can someone punch you if they can't catch you. He and Maito-Gai-sensei had spent hours improving his speed. Tri wore weight seals permanently now, with them active he weighted double his actual weight. Only Gai-sensei had seen him move with the seals deactivated.

He used shuriken and Senbon to unsettle opponents, and Ninjutsu to finish fights. His greatest asset though lay elsewhere, it was his ability to dictate any fight. His skills with misdirection and confusion meant he was always in control, whether on the offensive or defensive he was always dictating what happened next.

This wasn't to say Tri couldn't fight in close quarters but when he did he utilised his speed to the maximum. The damage dealt through the kinetic impact of his punches and kicks was provided through speed, not power.

He now possessed a level 5 knowledge in Fūinjutsu, his photographic memory allowing him to the art of seals far faster than would otherwise be possible.

Naruto happily chewed on another piece of prawn toast, sparing always made him hungry and his sensei had had him sparing with Tri and Itachi all day. Testing their overall skills. He could see Tri looking at their Tou-san, they both knew Tri handled the loneliness better than he did. And the arrival of their new sister only made it worse. The seating plan at the dinner table said quite a lot about the family dynamic.

And their guest tonight noticed it too. Hiruzen Sarutobi would dine with them on occasion. Naruto and Tri both loved it when he did because it meant they had someone present who would actually regularly interact with them.

Minato sat at the end of the table with Rezano to his right, on the other side of Rezano was Kushina and in-between the two of them was baby Minusha. Tri and Naruto both sat to the left of Minato and rarely interacted with anybody else at the table other than each other.

Just like his brother Naruto too had defined his fighting style, Naruto specialised in Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, he was a close combat fighter, he had his own complete Taijutsu style combining the styles Gai, Hiruzen and Tsunade had taught him. The combination of the three left him with a hard-hitting, direct style of Taijutsu and the incorporation of his two Tantō provided him range and fast killing power.

His Ninjutsu saw him use Suiton in an offensive capacity and Doton in a defensive capacity. The Suiton Jutsu provided him with range, adding another dimension to his fighting style. He too had begun learning Fūinjutsu, although he was only at level 2 to Tri's 5, it meant he also bore a number of various seals on him.

Underneath the happy exterior he displayed when eating, Naruto was anxious. Tomorrow was the entrance speech, all the new student's parents would be there, Naruto knew Tou-san would be there, after all, he was the one that gave the speech, but.

"Kaa-chan, are you going to be at the entrance speech?" Naruto asked, half knowing the answer already but a part of him holding out in hope. A futile hope he soon realised as Kushina gave him her answer. "Sorry Naru-chan, but I'm busy looking after Reza-chan and Minu-chan. Your Tou-san will be there though." And without another word, she picked up the empty plates and simply walked into the kitchen. Naruto's face dropped, the emotional barriers he'd built over the years of emotional negligence were being pushed to the brink.

Tri, however, wasn't upset. He was livid, his face was the same neutral calm but underneath he was seething. His Kaa-chan's words had no apologetic tone to them, the utter disregarding of them both, the contempt she displayed. Tri wasn't overly fussed about the Academy overall, but he knew how much it meant to Naruto, the excitement had been building in his blonde sibling for weeks and to watch it drain away in a second had him on the verge of seeing red.

Tri was having to concentrate hard, it was the only thing preventing him from venting killing intent, something he'd developed seemingly by accident throughout his training. He wouldn't be denied the satisfaction of letting his parents find out about their ignorance at a time that suited both him and Naruto, he knew it was petty, that it was vindictive. But he simply didn't care.

Looking at Naruto again Tri could tell what was about to happen. Breathing deeply he brought his anger under control, "Tou-san, may Naruto and I be excused, we'd like to go for a walk before bed." Minato only gave Tri the briefest of glances before nodding. The Yondaime Hokage watched as Tri practically led Naruto out of the dining room. Minato mussed over his son's actions but figured they were just nervous before he went to help Kushina wash up.

Hiruzen just sat there, what he'd just watched deeply saddened him. Only he along with Tsunade, Shizune, Itachi and somewhat bizarrely Shisui knew that it happened. But to see it with his own eyes near broke Hiruzen's heart. He knew Minato and Kushina loved Naruto and Tri, that had never been in doubt but to see the damage their actions or lack thereof caused. And Naruto and Tri had asked him to keep quiet on the matter, restraining him on the matter.

-Training Ground 41-

It had taken Tri and Naruto nearly fifteen minutes to reach training ground 41, this particular training area was very out of the way and saw little in the way of traffic. Tri had known he had to get Naruto out of the house the moment he'd seen that look on his face. It wasn't a face he saw often, perhaps once every few months. But he knew that it meant Naruto was on the verge of tears. Tri always took Naruto somewhere secluded, where they wouldn't be disturbed so Naruto could vent the bottled up and repressed emotions while Tri would comfort him as best he could.

And that's exactly what he was doing. A reassuring hand on Naruto shoulder as the blonde quietly cried, the tears cascading down his face. There was nothing he could say that would help, he simply had to let it run its course.

If Tri hadn't been totally focusing on his brother he would have likely noticed they weren't really alone that night.

Sat on a tree branch some thirty feet away was another who needed to away from everyone. He wasn't lamenting the actions of another, he was instead lamenting the actions he himself had taken. In a moment of weakness, his envy had taken control of him. And his weakness had cost the life of a dear friend and rival. He was still coming to terms with his actions and what it had cost him, but there was more. He was also coming to terms with something his weakness had given him, something he didn't fully understand.

A four pointed pin-wheel on a background of red.

End Chapter