Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This disclaimer goes for all future chapters.

"Normal Speech"
'Normal Thought'
'"Talking within mindscape"'

"Tenant Speech"
'Tenant Thought (rare?)'
*"Tenant Outside Speech (probably never, just setting precedent)"*

In more ways than one, this night will forever scar the Elemental Nations.
When many forces converge on a single spot, the result is often Maelstrom.
Whatever the coming years hold, my Naruto, I love you.
Be strong for me. Be brave for me.
My Maelstrom.

-- Kushina Uzumaki, dying thoughts

As the day progressed, Cat had sat back and watched, in the near-dozing state that most Anbu operatives quickly learned and adopted - a mix between meditation and waiting at a stoplight - loose and ready for anything. The two would-be bullies had spent most of the afternoon and early evening with Naruto, and had managed to break or reduce most of the poor habits they'd taught him - as well as many that he'd picked up on his own. Progress had especially been made with kunai, now that the blonde was throwing them properly - straight instead of rotating, from the fingers instead of from the wrist.

If the kid had launched a kunai in a battle earlier that day, he'd have ended up hitting most of his targets with the haft or butt - or worse, cutting an ally as the blade spun by, in a relatively wide silhouette, contrary to its intended purpose. Now, the blonde could throw a kunai straight with... well, with about as much accuracy as Cat could expect out of an orphan his age.

The Anbu yawned, stretching like the feline his mask portrayed. He'd have to tell his replacement about the arrangement their ward now had with the two Academy teachers. With an eye on his ward, he began a report. With quick, efficient gestures, and a small bit of his own blood, Cat filled a scroll with the details of his shift, sealing it into the branch beneath him. It would be hidden there until Raven arrived.

He'd have to fill out another for the Hokage, he supposed - and no doubt the aging Ninja who would be bitter with the paperwork it would require... But Cat knew that his employer would be pleased. Naruto, a Ninja. Like his parents. The village could use that strength, now more than ever. 'The kid's already displayed the guts for it, that's for sure.

A glint appeared in the distance, its reflections playing across Cat's mask - easily mistaken for the last rays of a setting sun through the trees. Apparently, Bull had arrived. The lounging Anbu briefly wondered what terrible fate had befallen Raven... Paperwork, most likely. He'd report this to his employer, as well. No matter - The two Anbu swapped places with a mutual Kawarimi, no smoke to signal the exchange, no sound to betray their presences. Bull read the scroll that Cat had secreted on his perch, and sighed. 'The Hokage isn't going to like the pile of paperwork this'll fetch...' With a swirl of leaves, Cat disappeared to report to his employer.

When Naruto's arms got tired of throwing Kunai - and later, Shuriken - Iruka settled him down to explain the next technique they'd be teaching him. The kid couldn't read yet, and it fell to Mizuki to take care of that later. As it was, the dark-haired Chunin was forced to repeat himself until Naruto had it more-or-less memorized.

"Mizuki and I are jointly teaching first-years after the Summer ends, Naruto - this means we'll be taking on a batch of brand new students - and you - and running them through the basics." He stopped to make sure Naruto was paying attention - the blonde had issues focusing for very long, but the promise of learning - and more importantly, learning jutsu - kept him attentive.

"Then, at the end of the year, our students will be required to perform a final exam, appropriate for their level." Naruto blinked, "What's an 'exam', Iruka?" The Chunin's shoulders slumped - this was going to be harder than he'd thought. "An exam is a test - a hard test, meant to give us teachers an accurate picture of how much progress you've made." Naruto nodded solemnly, processing the information.

Iruka continued, "The test is composed of three areas - a written portion, where you'll be graded on your Ninja lore and history," Naruto groaned - that sounded so boring. "A practical portion, which is usually mixed sparring, as well as an assessment of many other physical skills which Ninjas are required to demonstrate," Iruka paused for any comments the blonde might have, but Naruto was simply sitting - eagerly awaiting more information, "And finally, we'll test you on the 'Academy Three'." He held up a hand to stow Naruto's questions. "Before you ask, the Academy Three are commonly used Ninja techniques and jutsus, picked to meet each grade's expected weaknesses."

Iruka was in lecture-mode now, and there was no stopping him - to Naruto, his voice seemed to have lost all character, and colour began to leech out of the surroundings, his vision began to blur... "The Academy Three are a set of skills that new ninja are able to build off of and improve, and as a new student, you'll have all year to learn them - along with your regular studies - so it's good that we're starting now. You'll have all summer to catch up to the other kids!"

Mizuki walked over as Iruka finished his rant. "Passing the exam requires at least two of the Academy Three to be mastered - as well as a passing mark in both the Practical and Written portions - and it's a majour part of any student's final grade." As he wound down, Naruto pieced together the parts he'd managed to catch. Finally, his eyes lit up. "You mean, if I can learn the 'kwarami' and the 'booshin', you'll let me be a ninja!?" He was ecstatic at the notion, until Mizuki burst out laughing. "Kid, you can't even pronounce the jutsu, and despite our skill as teachers, I don't think you've got what it takes to learn the Kawarimi and the Bunshin from us."

'He's not entirely wrong,' Iruka had to solemnly agree. Judging by the difficulty Naruto had had finding his Chakra - let alone using it to do anything - the two Chunin were truly afraid of the sheer effort they'd need to put in over the coming year. It was a simple exercise - any civilian child could do it, and most civilian teenagers were still in-tune enough to detect their own Chakra systems. But, try as he might, Naruto couldn't make out a small blue ball anywhere near his stomach when he closed his eyes. 'It would've been lost against all the blue everywhere, anyways! It's probably just another stupid exercise, like the pull-up.'

For those passers by who may be wondering at the two Chunin teaching a young boy, a convenient excuse presented itself. The Academy was opening to first-years soon, and Mizuki and Iruka had been assigned to the TAI, or "Teachers Advanced Initiative", a group that spearheaded new academic material and training methods. They were mostly required to create new courses and exams - exercises that were designed push and reveal the limits of the Academy's students. TAI had also been in charge of setting the Academy Three for the first-years earlier this summer, a tradition that dated back to the founding of Konoha. It followed logically that they needed a test subject, and who better to practice on than someone whom everyone thought would fail?

If a student failed, of course, they could re-take the year at no detriment - the Academy was grueling, and there was never a mission failed because of a Ninja having the basics down too well. Alternatively, they could attempt the make-up exam at the beginning of the next Academy year, an exacting test that required the student not only to pass a new final exam, but also to demonstrate complete mastery of last year's entire Academy Three in a two-minute spar - failing this makeup exam was something that reflected badly on you for mission priority as a Genin.

That is, often, the work required to pass the make-up exam would hinder a student's summer studies - and the Academy is a year-round deal. This backlog causes a student's ranking to drop, which means the team they're on is less prestigious, and contractors are less likely to select them for a mission - losing the village money overall. As well, those with a number of do-overs tend to be held back by their Jonin-sensei, unable to become Chunin until they're more well-rounded - or at least until they've learned some flashy techniques to impress clients.

The first-year's Three for this year - and for Naruto's impromptu training - were a pair of notorious combo-jutsus - the Kawarimi, and the Bunshin. The third was a Chakra exercise - leaf-sticking - to compliment and ease the use of the first two. As part of TAI, Iruka and Mizuki knew that most of the new students would be civilians. The ninja ranks were simply too thin to keep up the necessary reproduction and child-bearing, after The Attack.

Without the ninja training awarded to the children who'd been lucky enough to be born into clans, Chakra control and reserves would be well below average. As well, Mizuki and Iruka knew that Naruto was still too young to learn Kawarimi and Bunshin. Both jutsu required a Chakra cost that could kill or severely harm a civilian kid his age.

After a brief explanation of the required technique, and enough of a demonstration for Naruto to show what he'd be working toward, they'd begun him on leaf-sticking. Despite their low estimates of his Chakra - which is usually coupled with above-average Chakra control - Naruto was unable to keep leaves stuck to his forehead, the simplest step of the exercise. They kept fluttering off, or burning up, signs that stumped Iruka, and troubled Mizuki...

'Burning leaves is usually a sign of too much Chakra being pumped into the leaf - half the exercise right, at least. And as for the leaf fluttering away...' Mizuki quickly stuck a leaf to his forehead, and began pushing a trickle of Chakra through the tenketsu there. The leaf stuck to his forehead as it absorbed the Chakra, like a wet sponge against a wall.

This was the most common error sensei at the Academy had to rectify with civilian students; Chakra permeated everything. It did so at a fairly predictable rate, like water flowing over a porous surface. Push Chakra out, and small objects touching your skin near tenketsu - leaves, paper, dust - would stick to you. An important distinction between this and the leaf-sticking exercise, was that pushing Chakra out didn't work for large objects, like humans, or weights. You couldn't water-walk, or tree-climb by pushing Chakra out.

Leaf-sticking required you to infuse the object with Chakra, and then control that Chakra - keep it close to you, hold it fast and don't let it evaporate. Chakra that slipped away, that you pushed away, was wasted. You couldn't reclaim it, and it would leave you weak and drained on the battlefield. If a student didn't figure this out after a few hours of trying it, the teachers would eventually let on - but it was always good to know how much 'feel' for the art each student had.

Mizuki steadily increased the flow, pushing Chakra out at a rate that would bleed him dry in a few hours... Minutes... Finally, the leaf fluttered away, weakly. He watched as Naruto blew another leaf away, launching it a few feet before the air caught it, spinning it dizzily to the ground. He flinched, visibly. 'Monstrous.' He informed Iruka of his findings in a short intermission, while Naruto hungrily guzzled the energy shakes Cat had bargained out of them. Still, there's no way he could keep it to himself, now. 'The Anbu watching would've seen my reaction, I'll have to be much more cautious in my observation of the demon if I'm to ruin him'. Any signs that Mizuki was doing less than his best to teach the brat, and...

After re-examining the boy's Chakra reserves, this time more thoroughly, the Chunin been forced to restructure their exercises. While they didn't have the instruments or experience to make a precise science of it, they concluded that the best way to continue would be to simply keep at it until the boy was exhausted - every waking minute, if Naruto could keep it up, and preferably with something heavier than a leaf.

Their break over, Naruto began throwing Kunai once more. The weapon wasn't the Ninja's signature for nothing - Sleek, deadly, silent, and lightning fast, more ninja lay dead at the hands of kunai than every jutsu combined. The blonde switched between sticking a leaf to his forehead - the easiest tenketsu for Chakra Control - and hitting as many bulls-eyes as he could before the leaf fell or burned. Progress was slow, but it was getting better.

And of course, Chakra control exercises usually had the added benefit of increasing a young child's Chakra pool with extended use. Both Chunin shuddered at what this would mean for Naruto, for whom they were sure this would be no exception. With final instructions to meet back at the training grounds the following morning, the two Chunin took their leave.

That had been long hours ago, and Bull was ready to follow their leave. At 10 PM, though it was mid-summer, twilight approached. Twinkling stars were visible on the horizon, where Konoha's lights couldn't quite reach to blot them out. Bull watched and trained outside of Naruto's perception with indifference, using the time to better the aim of many of his more advanced assassination techniques. It wasn't every day he got to use Training Ground 2's extensive selection of moving targets while on-duty. Naruto himself had been practicing with kunai for 8 hours straight - the dem-, err, brat had guts. Bull would at least give him that. His form was off, though, and through no fault of his instructors. His stance lost each throw a lot of power - and therefore, range and accuracy. But, at least he was improving at a perceivable rate, and with each passing hour the kunai hit harder and harder. Finally, Bull figured out what had been throwing the boy off for so long.

A rustle alerted Naruto to Bull's presence. Before he had time to stop himself, the blonde instinctively spun and threw, immediately calling out in surprise and regret. He needn't have worried, however, as the weapon bounced harmlessly off of the ANBU's armour. "Good ears, kid." Bull caught the kunai before it reached the ground, wiggling it at him.

"Answer me this, kid" he gave the child a second to face him fully, before tossing the kunai back butt-first. Naruto caught it and began trying to spin it like he'd seen Cat do, as he waited for the Anbu's question. Pointing, Bull obliged him. "What hand did you catch with?" The questions' unexpectedness confused the boy. "This one!" He held up his left hand with the kunai.

Bull continued, "And which one did you throw it with?" Naruto thought back for a moment, before indicating his other hand with the kunai's tip. Bull nodded, "Do you know left from right?" Naruto's shaking head revealed his ignorance, and he sat as Bull began to lecture. Having already broken his standing orders by interacting with the boy, the Anbu sat down beside Naruto, pulling him in close so that the blonde could better see what he was talking about. There was no one around to know, and he could keep it off of the report in any case. Besides, if knowing enough about himself to throw a kunai would stop the brat from getting killed on a mission - or even by a drunk civilian one day - it was the least he could do...

"The hand you caught with is your left, Naruto. The hand you threw with is your right. Left and right is... well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but what you need to know is that you're left-handed..." Bull spent the next quarter of an hour showing the boy what he meant, letting Naruto observe the difference in accuracy, form, and flow between his left and right hands. Naruto had to agree that his left hand felt right - that is, felt natural, not right. Right? - when he used it, and the improvement in his form was already obvious to Bull.

Some small time passed as the darkness closed in around them. Chakra-fed lights illuminated the pair's targets, and the throwing range, in a tiny universe that belonged only to Bull and Naruto. "Don't think this means you get off easy with your right hand" The Anbu cautioned, noting a rising pride in Naruto's demeanour as his left-handed accuracy quickly came close to matching his more practiced right. "Once your left hand gets as good as your right, you'll have to train both of them to get better."

He continued, trying to explain why, but Naruto's groan at the prospect of once more working with his right hand produced a sweat-drop that threatened to topple the Anbu. Bull figured, then, that Naruto was just lazy when it came to training - he knew the type, preferring to rely on same trick over and over - So he decided to show the boy something practical. Thinking quickly, he cut the blonde's complaints off with a curt silencing gesture. Then, using some rope, he quickly bound Naruto's right hand. "What happens if your hand is damaged, Naruto?" The boy's confused look elicited a depressed sigh from the Anbu. "What if someone breaks your wrist and you can't throw wi-"

Bull needn't have continued. A lightbulb had blinked on above Naruto's head, and he interrupted with the gusto of insight. "Then I throw with my other hand until it heals! Alright I get it, thanks Bull!" The older male knuckled the blonde's head for interrupting him, but was glad that he'd gotten the point.

As if to ruin the joviality of the moment, a ravenous growling ripped through the clearing - Bull was sent from muscling the boy under his arm into full battle awareness - ready for anything, looking everywhere at once. A second growl allowed him to pinpoint the source of the noise - 'The Jinchuriki! I have to warn Hokage-Sama! I have to-' Bull face-planted, dragging Naruto to the ground as boy's stomach growled a third time, and the ANBU insisted that the blonde go home and rest. "There are Jonin who don't train as hard as you, kid. Keep that up and you'll be Academy-ready in no time - just don't forget to eat and sleep." He shook his head, thinking of some - like Gai - who frequently passed out from overexertion.

Bull patted the boy on the back in farewell, discretely placing a privacy seal that should hold out during the long walk back to his apartment - a shabby dump in the Civilian sector that the Hokage kept renting for the kid. Bull personally didn't think it was safe, having the child surrounded by people who wanted nothing better than to rip him apart, but he trusted the old man's judgement. For now. It was Dog's duty to watch over Naruto at his home, anyways - it would take an army of civilians to get through him. Bull melted into the shadows, before rushing to alert Dog via Shunshin. Handing off Cat's letter and his own comments to Dog, Bull sighed. Reporting the day's activity to the Hokage was going to be a mess.