"Concentrate" Akio barked from the sidelines. They were back at the mansion and Kakashi was currently trying to control the White Wolf's chakra and failing miserably. The chakra would envelope around him, and then it would take the shape of claws, then all hell would break lose as the claws destroyed everything they could reach.
It's already been three weeks since the seal was undone. Ever since then Kakashi has been following the same routine. Sundays and Wednesdays he would train with Akio in honing his senses. Mondays and Thursdays he would spend training with Kioshi, Tuesdays are dedicated to working on his speed, taijutsu and stamina, Saturdays he would spend studying in sealing jutsus and the theory on it from Akio's library and Fridays were his day off which were usually accompanied with a two hour session with Masami concerning his health.
Kakashi also worked on controlling the Wolf's chakra every day after training and so far no progress has been achieved. As if things weren't hard enough, the White Wolf found out that its new hobby is belittling Kakashi everyday with snide comments on his failures to control his chakra. Needless to say Kakashi was exhausted, tired and frustrated.
Kakashi enjoyed his Saturdays the most, Akio usually spent Saturday helping the ninja world leaving Kakashi to sit behind his books. Since he would have had a thorough check up done the day before, it was the only day Kakashi spent time by himself and he was grateful for it. Not only that, but Kakashi found out the he was actually really skilled in Sealing jutsu and Time Space jutsu. He wondered why he never tried learning it before seeing as how his sensei utilized them as his main form of jutsu but looking back at it he never had the time. Fuinjutsu took a lot of studying and in between ANBU, then becoming a jounin, numerous S-ranked missions, a genin team and finally Akatsuki; he simply never had the time.
Yet now Kakashi had to return to the matter at hand which was trying to control the Wolf's chakra. He knew he was failing miserably but he didn't seem to care.
Realizing that this was another failed attempt, Akio approached Kakashi with caution and used the seals he drew to suppress the chakra once more. The chakra faded away, and Kakashi allowed himself to sit down on the ground, panting heavily.
"Your father, all of your clan, they all managed to control the demon's chakra with relative ease. Pull yourself together!" Akio scolded
"It's no use," Kakashi thought "I don't even want to use it unlike the clan. Besides from what the Wolf said it wanted them to be able to control its chakra so they can become hated. However, the Wolf wants to take over me and giving me control over its chakra kind of contradicts with that. The Wolf was defiantly not going to make this easy for him. But what I don't understand is why I'm not telling Akio all of this. I just know I don't want to, but I have no logical explanation for it."
"What's wrong?" Akio asked in anger "You NEED to control the Wolf's chakra, pull yourself together!"
But Kakashi didn't reply and just sighed in both anger and tiredness. Akio was about to lecture him once more when one of his butlers suddenly appeared.
"Akio sama, you have a guest, Jiraya sama actually, who says it is urgent to speak to you" the butler announced
"Very well" Akio nodded "Tell him I'll be there in a second" the butler nodded its consent and disappeared again
"You will stay here and think about just how vital it is for you to control the demon but do not attempt it; you know very well that I need to be here to suppress the chakra should you fail." Akio reminded him and with that he disappeared.
"I don't know why you keep trying to control my chakra" the White Wolf sneered "You know that you will never succeed"
"I will succeed" Kakashi replied as he entered meditation in an attempt to collect his thoughts
"I'd have a better chance at believing you if I knew that you were trying your hardest to control my chakra" the Wolf snorted "Until then, your attempts are futile and even when you become dedicated to controlling my chakra, you have no chance of succeeding"
"Jiraya, what brings you here?" Akio asked curiously then noticed the blond ninja standing behind Jiraya "It's been a while, Naruto kun"
"Right back at you, old man!" Naruto replied enthusiastically as Akio's eye twitched at the nickname
"Do you have somewhere we could sit down?" Jiraya asked "This is going to be a long meeting"
"We can use my office" Akio nodded, "Will Naruto be joining us because I only have two chairs up there?"
"I don't want to" Naruto replied "I heard it all before, I'm just here because it's dangerous for me to be left alone, Ero senin is protecting me"
"Well then why don't you join us for dinner" Izumi suggested "It'll be ready in half an hour"
"Great I'm starving!" Naruto yelled "Whatcha cooking?"
"I know your ramen obsession and it doesn't take long to prepare so I'll just add that to the menu" Izumi smiled
"You don't have to change your menu for me" Naruto replied in embarrassment
"It's no trouble," Izumi reassured him as Akio and Jiraya left "I'm not changing the menu, only adding ramen"
"Thank you, Izumi san" Naruto's smile radiated across the room "Is Kakashi sensei around?"
"He's outside somewhere" Izumi nodded and Naruto immediately made for the door "Make sure you both come back in time for dinner" she called out to him as he bounded away.
"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto called as he searched the grounds "How big is the place" he muttered in annoyance
He tried to be quiet and listen to any signs of disturbance but found none "Kakashi sensei is probably being lazy and sleeping, or reading his books" Naruto summarized "Well then if all else fails, Kage Bunshins will work!"
He formed the familiar signs and sent them out in all direction to find his former sensei. A minute or two later one of his clones disappeared having found his sensei deep in meditation. Curious, Naruto dispelled the other clones and headed towards his sensei.
When he arrived he found his sensei in the same exact position. Naruto decided to wait for his sensei to finish his meditation but when ten minutes have passed with dinner around the corner, Naruto decided to snap his sensei out of it.
He walked towards his sensei until he was inches away from him and shook him whilst calling out to him but that didn't work
"How deep in meditation are you?" Naruto asked in annoyance. He tried everything from yelling, to violently shaking but nothing worked, his sensei was as still as a statue.
"Maybe I can hit him, gently…" Naruto wondered. He smiled at the idea and decided to go ahead, Kakashi would probably know he hit him anyway. Mind made up, Naruto balled his hand in a fist and punched Kakashi at the top of his head.
Kakashi grunted in pain and rubbed his head, finally walking up from his stupor.
"Finally!" Naruto smiled as he waited for his sensei to realize his presence
"Naruto?" Kakashi asked in confusion and Naruto's grin widened
"Sensei, why are you meditating so deeply?" Naruto asked curiously
"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked at the same time
"Long story!" Naruto sighed dramatically "in short, I came with Ero senin"
"Did you hit me?" Kakashi asked Naruto in amusement
"Nooooooo" Naruto replied in way implying that he did indeed, hit him
Kakashi chuckled "Sure you didn't"
"I tried yelling and shaking you but you wouldn't respond!" Naruto huffed "So I resorted to a little punch, no big deal"
"Little punch?" Kakashi snorted "My head is still throbbing in pain"
"It's your fault for meditating that deeply!" Naruto yelled while pointing a finger at Kakashi "Izumi san said that dinner is almost ready and we're going to be late at this point!"
"dinner… right" Kakashi nodded absently. Naruto noticed this and grew a bit worried but dismissed as he followed his sensei back into the house.
"So are you going to tell me why you were meditating, sensei?" Naruto asked him
"To collect my thoughts" Kakashi shrugged "And I'm no longer your sensei, you can drop the title"
"Habits break hard" Naruto replied
"What have you been up to?" Kakashi asked
"I'm on a journey with Ero Senin again" Naruto informed him "I'm learning how to become a sage as well, it's really hard"
"I'm sure you'll succeed" Kakashi chuckled
"Unlike you" the Wolf added
"What about you?" Naruto asked "Are you really training or being lazy like usual"
"I'll have you know that I've been training nonstop" Kakashi answered
"Training does not equal progress" the Wolf reminded him
"With what?" Naruto asked curiously
"This and that" Kakashi shrugged
"Damn it you never give a straight answer!" Naruto yelled "What exactly have you been training?"
"Why does it matter?" Kakashi asked a smile tugging on his lips
"I just want to know" Naruto answered "Are you training with Kioshi?"
"Yes I am" Kakashi replied "among other things"
"Like…" Naruto asked for an elaboration
"You really want to know?" Kakashi sighed
"YES!" Naruto shouted and looked at his sensei expectantly
"Well I've been honing my senses, working on my stamina and speed and I'm learning sealing jutsu at the moment"
"Sealing jutsu?!" Naruto exclaimed "I heard that was really hard. You any good?"
"Of course I am" Kakashi bragged "Unlike you I have the discipline for such an art"
"What did you say!" Naruto yelled "This coming from the person who said that I'll surpass him and the fourth Hokage!"
"I have no doubt in my mind that you will surpass me" Kakashi replied seriously, the conformation in his voice warming Naruto "But not in sealing jutsu"
"I hate you" Naruto muttered at the last bit
"Come on you too!" Izumi yelled from the window when she saw them approach "Hurry up!"
"Great! I'm starving!" Naruto smiled as he dashed inside with Kakashi close behind. He stopped at the door when he saw an unfamiliar face "Who are you?"
"My name is Masami" she smiled kindly "Nice to meet you"
"Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konoha!" Naruto replied
"Maybe" Kakashi smirked
"We'll see about that, sensei!" Naruto huffed as they sat down
"Drop the sensei already" Kakashi sighed in annoyance
"Eat up" Izumi said cheerfully as she laid out an array of food in front of them
"Aren't Ero Senin and Akio san joining us?" Naruto asked when he noticed that they were missing
"They're still busy and it's such a shame to let cold food go to waste" Izumi explained "I saved them some"