Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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'Person thinking'

"Person talking"

"Jinchuriki talking inside his head with Bijuu"

'Bijuu thinking'

"Bijuu talking"

"Bijuu talking inside jinchurki's head"

Chapter 6 - Training Begins!

The two days following Naruto's meeting with Kurama were spent mostly indoors, with Naruto practicing his sensing ability. What Kurama did not explain to Naruto however, feeling that it would just go over the boy's head, was that, what he was really practicing was sensing and visualizing other people's auras. Each person operates on a certain frequency, which is the sum of their emotional baggage, altered slightly by how they view themselves and the world subconsciously. As such, this could change over time but there were always things that remained constant. It was also a fact that very few changed their signature significantly. Over the course of a lifetime, a person undergoes maybe one or two major shifts in personality and only then would their frequency change. The ability to sense emotions was really just the initial stage of the ability Kurama imparted on young Naruto. Really, what Naruto felt was the change in frequency a person experienced from their status quo as they went through various emotions. Our brains are wired to associate said frequencies with specific emotions and that is what Naruto was really alluding to when he first discovered the ability. By having Naruto associate emotions with colors, Kurama was helping him visualize what he felt. In time, the boy would be able to judge distance, intensity and even identify people based on their overall pattern. That this ability also acted as a lie detector was indeed a fortunate consequence of how it worked on a fundamental level. Alas, Kurama resolved to explain these details to Naruto when he would be a bit older, a genin perhaps.

Throughout the initial trials, Kurama guided Naruto in extending and retracting the radius of his sensing ability from just around his body (thus enabling him to prevent getting overwhelmed when walking through Konoha) to as far as he could take it. At the end of the second day, he was able to sense at a maximum of about 50 meters. This allowed him to sense when people walked through his sensing field on the streets, as well as detect and analyze the ANBU that were stationed to protect him. He also sensed Natsumi when she got back from work. Naruto made it a point to memorize what the ANBU and Natsumi felt like, in order to one day thank the former and to make sure he can protect the latter should trouble find her in the future.

At this point, Naruto was still having trouble keeping track of each and every person's signature, but he figured that this would come with practice. Once they got to this Level, Kurama told Naruto that he should practice extending his sensing ability every day, for at least thirty minutes. That way, in time, he would be able to cover the entirety of Konoha. Naruto was excited at the idea of having such a cool ability, but at the same time was a bit afraid that Kurama might be expecting too much from him. He was, after all, just a six-year-old boy. His friend encouraged him however, telling him that it would probably take a few years to get to that level, so he should not put too much pressure on himself to get there too fast.

By this point, Naruto became quite familiar with his surrogate sister's schedule as well. After concluding the initial stages of training on his sensing ability, he decided it was time to show Natsumi his thanks for having been by his side in his darkest hour. So, on the third day he woke up earlier than usual and prepared some milk and cookies. Two glasses and two plates, one for each of them. Sensing her come, he went in the apartment building's hallway to greet her.

"Natsumi-neechan! Come, I have breakfast!"

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing up so early in the morning?"

Blushing a little he responded fidgeting in place "Well, you work really hard and you've been helping me learn the numbers too! It helped me a lot in my training! So, so, I wanted to do something nice for you as well!"

Natsumi smiled at her adopted brother. 'This is how family should treat each other' she thought to herself.

"Lead the way, my little gentleman."

Naruto invited Natsumi in his flat and guided her towards the table where the milk and cookies were waiting for them. The simple, honest gesture, made Natsumi's heart melt. She knew that, if Naruto continued like this, he would one day become a man that every woman in the Elemental Nations would dream of marrying. Catching herself thinking that, a giggle escaped her on her next breath.

"What's wrong, neechan?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought of something funny."

"Oh, ok. Well, let's eat!"

As they were eating the cookies, Natsumi remembered Naruto saying something about "training". Curious, she decided to probe Naruto to find out more.

"So, Naruto-kun, what was that about training? I know you said you wanted to become a shinobi, but you never told me you already started training."

"Oh, well, reading, learning letters and numbers is training too! But the past two days I learned this cool ability to sense people's emotions from a distance!"

Natsumi saw her fair share of strange things in her life, especially now that she lived in a shinobi village and had frequent experiences in the less savory sections of Konoha. But never had she heard of anyone being able to detect and read people's emotions, let alone from a distance. To say that she was shocked was the understatement of the century.

"How did you learn you have this ability?"

"Well, it was when Hokage-jiji came to apologize to me. I could feel his regret and shame when he was saying those words so I knew he really wasn't lying."

"Is that why you asked me why I felt ashamed of my work a few days ago?"

"Oh, umm, yes. But then I wasn't really controlling my ability. I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean to do it. It just kind of happened."

"It's ok, Naruto-kun. But, now that you have control over it, I would appreciate it if you did not use your ability on me unless I agree to it."

"Of course!"

"So, can you do anything else with your ability?"

"Umm, well Kurama has been teaching me how to control it and I can use it to remember what each person feels like. So, if I need to find someone, I can find them by their sig-na-ture, yeah signature. That's what Kurama calls it."

"I see. So, how far away from you can you sense someone?"

"Umm, well, right now I can sense from here to around there." As he said that, he pointed to through the window towards the roof of a building about fifty meters away from their apartment.

"That's really good, especially since you just discovered that you can do this."

"Thanks!"

"So, you never told me who Kurama is. I am going to go ahead and guess he is the Kyuubi."

"So you knew too, huh…" Said Naruto with a bit of sadness in his voice. He understood why she didn't say anything but he couldn't help the feeling of betrayal that crept in his heart.

"Yes... I am sorry I could not tell you."

"It's ok… Hokage-jiji told me that no adults were allowed to tell me or any other children about it. He was hoping that this way children wouldn't judge me for it. It didn't work the way he hoped though…"

"So I have seen, unfortunately. But at least we have each other" As she said that, she placed her hands on Naruto's to reassure him. Naruto's sadness washed away and in its place a knowing smile came about. It was the kind of smile that only those who endured could share between them.

They continued the rest of their breakfast in comfortable silence and soon after that Natsumi excused herself so she can go and get some much needed rest.

Naruto continued his sensory training until about 10 in the morning. After that and some reading, he started to feel restless. It was the middle of October. The academy enrollment was approaching and he wanted to be in the best shape possible for it. The problem was that, aside from reading and the training he had already done, he had no idea what to do next.

"You could try to get in a little better shape. Your body could use some strengthening before I teach you how to unlock and use your chakra." Suggested Kurama.

"Right! But, where should I go? The villagers are still mean, so I don't want to go anywhere near them right now."

"Hmm, ask the ANBU guy. He should know."

"That's a great idea!"

Code-name "Crow" was the ANBU currently on shift to watch over Naruto. As far as Konoha's shinobi forces were concerned, ANBU were the top 1% of their manpower in terms of skill. They took the hardest missions and had to get their hands dirty more often than not. It came with a huge psychological and emotional toll. Crow, being one of the top agents of the organization, had seen his fair share in his career, but he wouldn't change it for anything. The Hokage however, felt that Crow became distant and dark and, worried for his mental and emotional wellbeing, decided to assign him what the ANBU agent considered to be a babysitting mission. Sure, he understood the importance of the assignment because he knew of the status of the boy. That said, sitting in a tree and watching over a boy who did not even leave his house for the past few days was getting really old really fast.

The lady of fate seemed to smile upon him in a teasing way however, when he was suddenly surprised by a 6-year-old Naruto Uzumaki who opened the door and shouted towards him with no amount of regard for discretion or personal safety.

"Hey, ANBU-niisan! I have a question!"

'ANBU-niisan? And how did he detect me? I made sure no one knew my position. Are my skills lacking?' Of course, none of these doubts could be seen through the crow shaped mask that the agent was required to wear as part of his uniform. Seeing that there was no point in hiding and wanting to minimize the trouble his detection would cause, he decided to use the shunshin no jutsu (body-flicker technique) to quickly make his way into Naruto's house. Shunshin no jutsu is a technique normally taught to chuunin and above for fast speed travel on short to medium distances. It requires one to put chakra into their feet and move in a linear fashion using the momentum built in by the instant chakra release. Needless to say, it requires a significant amount of control and precision to do it right and only a handful were able to master it to the point where they could use it in battle for high speed evasion and surprise tactics. One such example was Uchiha Shisui, also known as Shunshin No Shisui for his gift in using the body-flicker. Most shinobi used it for travel mostly.

Naruto was understandably startled by the ANBU's appearance in his home. He took a couple of steps back afraid that he might have upset the man. After a few moments, noticing the tension in the room reaching a breaking point, the ANBU agent decided to respond.

"Naruto-san, I would appreciate it if you called me with a bit more discretion. It is my duty to watch over you with the utmost of stealth."

Feeling reprimanded, Naruto looked sad at the ground as he replied "Oh…Sorry, I didn't know… I didn't mean to make your life difficult."

"It's quite alright. Learn from this experience. That is what matters. Now, what was your question?"

"Right! Well, I want to train for the academy, because jiji said I could enroll next spring, but I don't know where to go. The villagers don't really like me and I am afraid that if they catch me when I am tired, they will hurt me. So, do you know of a place where I could train and where they wouldn't find me?"

Crow thought about this for a moment. He could allow Naruto to do his laps around the village even, but that would make his job more difficult. He was supposed to maintain as high a degree of concealment as possible. Mentally, he ran through the list of available training grounds and remembered that there was one relatively close to training ground 44 (a.k.a. the Forest of Death) that was practically abandoned because it was just too far for most people to even bother going there. As it happened, this would be a perfect spot for a jinchuriki in training. It was far enough from trouble and it would also allow him to see and, subsequently, report what the boy was truly capable of.

"I know of a place, but it is far away. I will guide you today, but you will have to memorize how to get there."

As soon as he finished, he went through a few handseals and used the transformation technique to turn himself into a ten-year-old boy with dark hair that fell down to his shoulders, dark eyes and tanned skin. Naruto would not be able to tell, but Crow had just transformed into the ten-year-old version of himself.

Needless to say, the blond maelstrom was extremely excited to see the ANBU member demonstrate this technique.

"Woaaah! That is soo cool!"

"You will learn how to do this in the academy. Now, come, let us go to the training ground."

The next hour or so found Naruto and Crow running through the streets of Konoha. On their way, Crow pointed to the various landmarks that would help the boy remember his way to and from the training ground more easily. As he ran towards their goal, Naruto noticed that he still received the hateful glares but the people seemed to just give him space. He figured it was because they must have heard about how jiji dealt with the people who hurt him and didn't want to risk ending up in prison themselves. Well, as long as they left him alone, he was fine for now.

"We are here." Said Crow suddenly.

"Wow. This place is awesome!"

The training ground had a somewhat decrepit running track spanning at about 3 meters from the edges of the forest that surrounded the area. On the far end from where he was standing, there were 5 wooden polls for target practice, a pull up bar and some parallel bars. The rest of the training ground was just flat grass, probably used for sparring. All in all, it was by no means top quality, but it suited the boy's needs perfectly.

After admiring his new favorite spot in the village, he turned towards the ANBU agent who lifted the henge (transformation), closed the distance and whispered "Thank you ANBU-niisan for bringing me here."

Crow appreciated that the little boy did take the lesson to heart, though he would have to work on his stealth and discretion a bit more. "You are welcome. Now, I will retreat and leave you to your business."

Looking away from Crow, so as to not show that he was mentally talking to Kurama, Naruto asked "So, we are here. Now what?"

"Now, we will start by finding out what your limit is in various physical exercises. I want you to run laps until you can't run anymore. After that is done, I will guide you through other exercises that should allow us to determine where you stand."

Nodding, Naruto started running laps as he was instructed. The track was roughly 1km long, so, after about two and a half laps, the boy collapsed on the track, trying to catch his breath.

"I am so tired. I never thought I could be tired."

"There's a first time for everything."

A few seconds later, after regaining some of his composure, Naruto asked what followed.

"Come into the mindscape for a second. It will be easier to explain."

Closing his eyes and focusing on Kurama, the boy entered the temple where his friend now rested contently. The tailed beast once more touched Naruto's forehead with his claw and share with the boy some memories of monks that used to spend time at the temple and the exercises they would do to maintain their physical fitness. Push-ups, sit-ups, dips, squats, jumping jacks and many other such exercises were demonstrated to Naruto through these memories.

Once done, Kurama spoke "Now you know what each exercise is called and what it looks like. Before you go back out, I want you to demonstrate to me how you perform each exercise, so I can correct your form. Form is important, because otherwise you risk hurting yourself."

Nodding, Naruto got to work. He performed each exercise in the mindscape a few times, while Kurama provided feedback based on his memories of the monks in the temple and how they did things. One of the perks of being a tailed beast is that you did not forget anything. Every memory was as fresh and accessible as on the day it was made.

"Good. We will go through each of the ones that don't require the bars and see how you do. Don't worry, I will give you a short break between each exercise."

Returning to the outside world he realized that he had his eyes closed for maybe a few seconds at most, while in the mindscape he had spent a good 30 minutes going through each exercise.

One by one, Naruto tested himself on each of the physical exercises that Kurama asked him to perform. Once completed, Naruto rested and entered his mindscape once more as per his friend's request.

"Naruto, use your imagination and create a white board on this wall here. We will write your numbers for each exercise on it and will use this to measure your progress as time goes by."

"Ok! Thanks Kurama!"

Crow watched Naruto with utmost fascination. Here was a six-year-old boy with no former training, performing exercises as if he had been coached by someone with pinpoint precision.

Yes, this was definitely going into the report for the Hokage.

After the training was over, Naruto went home without Crow guiding him. He got lost a few times but got his bearings after a while and remembered all the landmarks that the ANBU agent had pointed along the way.

Crow was quite impressed with the boy's performance. He was able to follow instructions after only being shown once (albeit with a few hiccups here and there), he was clearly determined to overcome his condition which is something that many genins lacked and, to top it all off, he had great potential as both an Uzumaki as well as his Jinchuriki status. Also, if his behavior that morning was any indication, this boy was also some type of sensor.

'I feel that it would be really fun to train him. Maybe I can have him on the same team as my little brother so I can train both of them.'