Naruto != mine
~Chapter 4~
The group reached Tazuna's home without further incident, though there were several false alarms from the genin, jumpy from their encounter with Zabuza. When they arrived at Tazuna's home, they were greeted by Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. The guys were given a room with two futons for the jonin and three cots for the genin, while Sakura got a room to herself. Once they had secured the perimeter everyone settled down for the night.
The next morning Kakashi was out of bed and walking with the assistance of a makeshift crutch. After revealing that Zabuza was alive and would probably menace them again in about two week's time, he took Team 7 out to the nearby forest for a lesson. "Now, what you have to do today is climb trees…without using your hands," Kakashi said. "How?" Sakura asked, while Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow and Naruto gave him a strange look. "By channeling chakra to your feet. It is similar to the academy leaf-sticking chakra control exercise, only you are sticking your feet to the tree. I learned it as part of my escape and evasion training," Ren responded, surprising Kakashi slightly. "Kakashi, since Ren already knows tree walking, do you mind if I take him for kenjutsu training?" Hayate asked, followed by a hacking cough. "Not at all. In fact, I was going to ask you to later anyway. I only know basic swordsmanship, so Ren would have had to get outside tutoring at some point," the cyclopean sensei said, shrugging it off. Ren immediately fell into step with the pallid Jonin as he walked away to another part of the forest.
"Now, Ren, before I teach you, I need to know what level you are already at, and also what style you are learning," Hayate said, his voice a bit raspy from a recent coughing fit. "According to Kakashi-sensei, my kenjutsu is around high genin to low chunin, and the style I am using is the basic style taught to ANBU, which was invented by my great-grandfather for their purposes. It teaches techniques for a variety of sword types," Ren said.
"A good, generalized style, adequate for most ninja, but not for a kenjutsu specialist. I am familiar with the style, so I can help you, but be aware that in order to be recognized as a kenjutsu master, you must create your own style," Hayate said.
"Well, I have been working in private on my own style. It lacks a name, and it is still in its infancy. It relies on the use of a blade in one hand to leave the other free for one-handed seals, and also uses both the standard and reverse grips to keep opponents off balance and to suit different situations. For example, against weapon users, a standard grip is usually preferable because it gives one better range and control. However, taijutsu can be countered with a reverse grip, which gives more power and a broad, sweeping slash that is difficult to avoid and can be quickly followed by a forward stab if they do dodge it. In the interests of being able to effectively wield a sword in reverse grip, I've been training to strengthen my grip, and studying various kenjutsu styles from a variety of sources, including my great-grandfather's personal style, for inspiration," Ren said, intriguing the pallid Jonin.
"Then let me test your skill with a spar," Hayate said, and pulled out a scroll. After a brief bit of coughing, he unrolled it, revealing that it was a sealing scroll. Using it, he produced a pair of bamboo shinai and a wooden bokken with a seal near its base. "These will be your practice weapons. You will use the bokken to practice your kata, while the shinai will be used when you are sparring against a live opponent, usually myself. While the shinai are rather ordinary, the bokken is weighted to imitate a real weapon and equipped with a gravity seal in order to increase the weight. The heavier it is, the faster your strikes will be with a standard weapon. Once we are back in Konoha, I want you to go to the Higurashi weapon shop and have your sword checked out. It has been in storage for some time, and it may need maintenance," Hayate said in a commanding tone while taking a stance with his shinai.
Ren nodded seriously and took the practice swords, placing the bokken aside and assumed a defensive ready stance with the shinai as he watched Hayate warily. "Now, Senju, let's see what your studies have taught you," Hayate said, opening up with a basic horizontal slash which was easily blocked by Ren, followed up by a quick vertical that was deflected away. It went on in that vein, Hayate slowly ramping up the speed and intensity until he had a full test of his student's ability.
"Your studies are paying off, Ren. I'd say that you've gone as far as you can with the ANBU Basic style. Now, You have two choices. If you wish, I can train you to further refine your basics, or I can teach you my own style, which may help you with your own, and also give me a chance to pass on my teachings," Hayate said. Ren pondered for a short while before deciding. "I would be honored to learn your style, Hayate-sensei. This might seem stupid, but do you perhaps have any scrolls I could study?" Ren responded, expecting a negative, only to catch a sealing scroll that Hayate tossed at him. "The scrolls sealed into that hold the kata and techniques I have developed over the years. I carried it with me early in my career just in case I happened to develop something new, but now it is more out of habit than anything else. Also, I never know if I'll be around to teach the student personally," Hayate said, shrugging at Ren's questioning look. "Thank you, I'll take good care of it," Ren said solemnly.
Over the course of the first week, Team 7's abilities grew with leaps and bounds. Naruto's control was at the point where he could manage to create convincing bunshin, albeit only in mass quantities, and his taijutsu was quickly making him a serious threat in close quarters, especially when he used his style with a kunai. Sakura, meanwhile, had improved her medical jutsu so that she could heal wounds up to a minor sprain instead of just reducing pain or speeding up clotting. Sasuke had focused on his chakra control exercises, boosting his reserves in the process, increasing the number of jutsu he could fire before his reserves ran dry.
Ren, meanwhile, was put through the grinder, memorizing every basic kata of Hayate's style, and also learning a few of the more advanced kata. What made this even more grueling was the fact that Hayate also made him do this with the bokken's gravity seal at two times, then while tree walking, and, later on, learning water walking on the fly, resulting in a soggy, exhausted Senju. However, Hayate's brutal training regime made Ren faster, stronger, and with better reserves and control than ever before.
Five days before Zabuza was expected to recover, the Konoha nin and Tazuna's family were eating dinner when Inari, Tazuna's so-far silent grandson, suddenly stood up, smacking his hand on the table.
"Why are you trying so hard!? Gato's too powerful! No matter how hard you try he'll still…" The small boy's tirade was interrupted when he was struck in the solar plexus by Ren, who had grabbed his shinai from nearby and stabbed across the table. "Next time I'll use the real one," Ren said gravely. Naruto, furious at the kid, layed into him before storming out of the house. "I'll go look for him," Ren said, pushing away from the table and giving Inari a final withering glare as the boy held his stomach and cried. Sakura sat there, stunned at what she had seen and heard, while Sasuke was giving the boy a look of utter contempt before he left the table with a "hn".
Ren found his teammate punching a tree without any sort of finesse or precision. "Don't let that pathetic whelp get to you, Naruto. His kind aren't worth listening to,"' said, approaching his bloody-knuckled teammate and setting a hand upon his shoulder. "All you're doing here is hurting the tree and yourself. Remember, it isn't proper for the future Hokage to lose control like that. Now, go back and get some rest," Ren said sagely. Naruto took a deep breath and nodded before heading back to Tazuna's house, knuckles healing as he went. Ren shook his head as he looked at the tree and turned to go, only to feel a sudden pain in the side of his neck before losing consciousness.