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I don't own Naruto, but I do own the pencil stuck behind my ear. I also own this story, so NO STICKY FINGERS!

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The next morning Kane nudged Naruto awake before the sun was even up. "Come on, kit. It's time for training. Before you do anything with jutsu of any kind, you need to learn how to use your chakra. Come to the mindscape."

Kane leaped back on to the couch as soon as he saw Naruto awake. He slipped into a meditative position and closed his eyes. Meanwhile Naruto felt Kyuubi's presence appear in the mindscape in a stirring of red chakra. He, too, entered the grassy plains of the mindscape where Kyuubi met him, this time in the form of the Genin age boy. "Alright, kit. I'm going to need a lake and some tall trees. To pull off some of the jutsus I'm going to teach you, you must have PERFECT chakra control."

"Hey, Kyuubi-sama?"

"Mm?"

"Don't you think that if you want me to have good chakra control I should also master those in the physical world before we're done with my mental training?"

"Well, it would get them out of the way…fine. After you master them here we will master them in the physical world before continuing the rest of your training."

Naruto concentrated, making several very large trees and a lake near the center of the mental training zone. "So what's first?"

"The first step to mastering your chakra is the tree-climbing exercise. You will have to concentrate your chakra to the soles of your feet and climb one of these trees without the use of your hands. Like so," Kyuubi walked forward and stepped up the tree, climbing up in it until he was out of sight beyond the branches. Five minutes later, Naruto heard him call. "How high did you make these trees, Naruto?!?"

"Um…you didn't say how tall so I…" Naruto turned red, a sheepish grin on his face. He heard Kyuubi sigh.

"Well, in that case instead of reaching the top you will just climb as long as your stamina allows." He jumped down and did several mid-air flips to slow his fall and land lightly on the ground. "Now then, you must make sure you don't use too little chakra, or you will slip. You must also not use too much, as you will be blasted backwards. If you are up high, neither of the options is very pleasant. Make sure you stay focused. If you lose your concentration you will lose control of your chakra. Now, get to work!"

Naruto ran towards the tree, concentrating his chakra into his feet. He started sprinting up the tree, but before he got ten feet up he slipped and landed hard on his back. He picked himself up and brushed some dust off. "This is harder than he let on…I just barley learned what chakra is, and he expects me to climb up this tree…"

Kyuubi, sensing the child's doubt, called over from the stump he was sitting on. "High expectations from your sensei should be attempted to be met. If you master these exercises you'll be years ahead of other students when you get into the academy."

Naruto nodded, new determination on his face. "I'll be way ahead of the others…I'll master these so fast, Kyuubi-sama will be blown away!" He charged up the tree again, but this time he was a little too hasty. He got up just a little farther than last time when he was blasted backwards and landed in the mindscape's lake. He emerged, spluttering, much to the amusement of Kyuubi. Giving a frustrated growl, Naruto charged at the tree again. This went on for some time, when Kyuubi called over with a bored yawn. "Come on, kit. Time for us to take a break."

Naruto shimmied down from the branch he had been catching his breath on and came over. "What do you mean US? You're not doing anything!"

Kyuubi glared. "Hmmph. I see before you learn any jutsu you're going to have to learn some respect. Any way, I have something I want to ask you. What are you going to do when you enter the academy, in terms of your school work?"

Naruto smiled. "I'm going to be the top of my class, I know it! I'll show everyone who the best of them is, and they'll put everything their parents said about me to the side and respect me!"

Kyuubi sighed. "This isn't some game, kit. In the real life, a skilled fighter is one who hides their true potential. By doing so, they gain the upper hand in battle by shocking their opponent with something they would never expect. Kit, I want you to hide as much of your strength as possible. You are going to be known as the dead-last, the one who barely scrapes by in his studies. You will be noisy and obnoxious, and people will think of you as being annoying. I also want you to wear bright, loud clothes. People will never suspect that you have been training under the most powerful demon in the world. You will struggle with simple jutsus, and will be a horrible aim with weapons. Got it?"

Naruto squirmed, unhappy about all the things Kyuubi was expecting him to do. In the end, he thought, Kyuubi did have a point. When he did rise to the top, everyone would be completely shell-shocked. "All right, Kyuubi-sama. What kinds of colors were you expecting me to wear?"

Kyuubi grinned. "Orange is a color often associated with playfulness. No one takes it seriously because it seems immature. I think an orange jumpsuit would suit you quite nicely."

Orange! Sure, it was a nice color, but…it wasn't one that Naruto wanted to wear, especially all the time. "A-all right, Kyuubi-sama…"

Kyuubi stretched out his arms, yawning. "Let's go back to the physical world. We haven't eaten yet."

They pulled out of the mindscape; Naruto immediately noticing an uncomfortable emptiness in his stomach. They had gotten up before the sun, and it was already past lunch. "Oh, man…um, where should we eat?"

Kane thought for a minute. "I remember how good that ramen was…why don't we hit that Ichiraku place?"

Naruto smiled. "That sounds good. Alright, to Ichiraku!" He said, his voice rising to a shout.

Kane looked at him with a disgusted expression. "What's with the hyper attitude? It's really annoying…and you didn't even use it for a whole sentence!"

Naruto gave a wide grin. "You wanted me to be a hyper idiot, didn't you?? Well, I might as well start now!"

Kane grunted, wishing all of a sudden that he had told Naruto to be an emo jerk instead of a hyper knucklehead. "I guess this is my retribution…"

They headed to Ichiraku, pointedly ignoring the glares that several people sent their way. Naruto was a very good actor, Kane decided. He was already passing off as a hyper brat in the eyes of everyone else. That orange jumpsuit would just complete his new fake reputation.

"Hey, Kane? Where is the Ichiraku place, anyway?" Naruto asked, looking around.

Kane took a deep breath. He could smell the ramen not too far away. "It's in that direction." He said, pointing. As they got closer he could hear the sound of sizzling noodles.

"Welcome!" exclaimed Teuchi and his daughter Ayame as the two kids entered their ramen shop. "What are you having?"

Naruto sat down at the bar stool, grinning. "I'll have a bowl of miso pork!" It was the flavor he had eaten the first time he tried it.

Kane took a brief look at the menu. "I'd like the beef, please."

"Coming right up!" said Teuchi, starting on their orders. "You two haven't been in here before, have you? How old are you?"

"We're a year away from the academy!" exclaimed Naruto, his weird grin growing wider. "This is our first time in your shop, but we heard about how great it was!"

"Is that so?" said Teuchi, smiling. "Well, then, the first bowl's on the house!"

"Really? Whoo-hoo! Thanks old man!" shouted Naruto. "Ugh" he thought. "Being this hyper feels kind of weird. I hope Kyuubi-sama tells me to tone it down." He felt Takeru nudging a thought his way. Sorry, kit. Annoying as this may be, that's exactly how I want you to act. At least until you're done with the Academy.

"Yeah, yeah…I know. I was just hoping I could tone it down." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kane shake his head no. "*sigh* I guess I'll get used to it after a while. Can I at least be calm while we're training?" Kane subtly nodded. Naruto turned as Teuchi set down the bowl in front of him and Kane. "Here you are! Enjoy!"

"Thanks again old man!" Naruto said, tucking in. It was better than last time he tried it, warm and rich. Next to him Kane was also going at it. The beef, in his opinion, was better then the pork. He chewed the meat slowly, enjoying the flavor. Naruto finished his bowl first. As they left, they heard Ayame calling to them, "Come back VERY soon!"

Naruto turned around and waved, smiling. "We will!"

Kane smiled at Naruto. "That was…delightful. We should come here more often."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! But I should start saving up my money. You can't expect them to give us free meals every time." He looked at the sky. The sun was still high, but it was starting to move towards the west slightly. "Looks like it's about an hour past noon." He turned towards Kane, who was walking silently and looking around at the village. "Should we do some more training?"

Kane shook his head. "You should meet up with Junko and get settled in. We'll resume the tree climbing tomorrow."

Naruto nodded. "All right. I'll get my stuff from my apartment and then leave you to it." They walked back and grabbed Naruto's things. After Naruto set out to Junko's house, Kane laid on the bed in the apartment that was now his. "Huh. Seeing the kit's progress today, I wouldn't be surprised if he mastered the chakra control exercises in a week. He's certainly eager to learn." He smiled, a feral look on his young face. "Well, do not get too comfy with this easy training, Naruto…because before the year is up, You will have trained so hard you will claim to have been through Hell and back. Heh…and after you enter the academy, the training's going to get even harder!"

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A/N: Did I go on too much about the ramen bit? Sorry. I just felt like it was appropriate since Naruto likes ramen so much.

Also, I would like to extend my thanks to ArmorOfGeddon, Love4Death, and Chibi Strawberry, who helped me out with the honorifics and the Hidden Village names from the last chapters. I've made the necessary changes to the previous chapters, so now they make more sense! Thanks so much guys! *gives them cookies*

I don't think I need any translations for this chapter, but if you have a question feel free to ask.

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Anybody want a SPOILER?

Kyuubi told Naruto that he was the most powerful of the Bijuu, but he sounds like he's exaggerating a bit… : )

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