The Pathless Sage

A/R: Thanks to all those that reviewed. The review responses shall be at the bottom section of the chapter.

Meh, Ill rant. The amount of hits I'm getting on this story is starting to seem unreal to me. While I didn't get as many reviews on chapter 8 as I did on chapter 7, I'm still getting a good amount of reviews considering I updated a few chapters in bulk. All in all, I am baffled by how well this story is doing on reviews, hits, alerts and favourites.

On with the story!

Naruto was walking through the Village's main street, his destination being the Ninja Academy. Well, stomped might be the more appropriate word. He couldn't exactly walk like a normal ninja while he was wearing all the weights he was wearing.

Naruto hated walking down the main street. Everyone either stared at him in disdain or just glared, some chucked small pieces of rotten fruits. While it was slowly became rarer as he became older, some people also thought it appropriate to beat him.

The fact that he was wearing his usual 'Kill me now' orange jumpsuit did not help. Being a ninja and all, he was meant to be stealthy and not stand out. His attire, however, did the exact opposite and make him stand out like a sore thumb from the crowd, whose attire usually consisted of duller colours like grey.

Truthfully, Naruto hated his attire. He didn't like orange at all, but he still wore it in an attempt to keep up his cheerful persona. After he had released the Seal on himself on that fateful night, he had found that several old traits had left him, being replaced by new ones. Gone was the old cheerful boy, replaced by a calm, calculating young man that was always alert.

He still retained some of his old self though, the happy aura, the innocent smile. Just because he wasn't going around pranking the Villagers every day didn't mean that he was a completely different person. He may have changed, but he was in no shape or form a brooder. He hated those kinds of people.

'My life sucks so I'm going to take revenge." What kind of ideal was that for someone to live by? Naruto was calculating, he understood what revenge brought. People that sought revenge became powerful, but all they ever managed to bring to the world was hate and evil, breeding more and more thoughts of revenge until the world was consumed in an inferno of rage.

He didn't want that kind of life, living only to kill someone or to overthrow a certain power, it made no sense to him. Sure, it will give you a purpose to live by for a short while, but what will you do after that goal was accomplished? What will you do after you have had your revenge?

Regret.

That's all that revenge will bring you, along with sadness and despair.

These were the philosophical thoughts that ran through the young boys mind when, absentminded as he was at the time, he ran into a pink wall of soft flesh. He knocked the person over and ended up sprawled over the back of the said person, on the floor.

Coming out of his reverie, Naruto realised the unfavourable situation he was in right now. He was spread eagled over Sakura, the top kunoichi in his ninja class, on the floor on main street, with hundreds of people staring.

Ino Yamanaka laughed hysterically as she looked over at his predicament, though she wasn't laughing at Naruto. She was laughing at Sakura Haruno, her somewhat of a love rival for the love of Sasuke Uchiha, the class prodigy and resident emo. Sadly, though, Sasuke payed absolutely no attention to the hoarde of fangirls he had accumulated over the years.

"See, Sakura. You should take Naruto and be happy with him, Sasuke is way out of your league," Ino was just trying to egg her on, it was a normal thing for the girls to argue over Sasuke, though neither had a hope of woeing his heart.

Naruto got off the girl hastily, muttering an apology he knew would be ignored. Rather than try to explain, he just braced for the pain he knew was going to come. Normally, he would block a strike so slow, but he couldn't do a single thing against her with all those weights strapped to him.

"Don't attack me, Baka!" With that, Sakura began her hateful treatment of his blonde head, treating him to her best punches. Which, admittedly, weren't all that soft.

-TT-

Naruto was sitting in his seat at the back of the class, nursing his bruised head. It didn't hurt as bad as the soreness from training for ten thousand and ten hours in the space of ten hours, but it still hurt. Sakura had given him a pretty good beating this time around, for no reason whatsoever. Again.

People would often beat him in his younger days, though as he grew older the civilians stayed further and further away from him. He didn't know why, but they seemed to become apprehensive of him, sometimes muttering something about 'The Demon is getting stronger, he'll kill us if we go near him.'

That was something about the Villagers that he didn't understand, as intelligent as he had recently become. They always treated him as if he was Kurama, even though it was pretty obvious the Demon Lord and he were two completely different entities. Were they blind? Probably, seeing how angry they were.

"Not everyone can be a saint like you, brat. When I was forced to attack this Village under that Genjutsu, I killed a lot of their family members. They can't get revenge on me for killing them, so they do the next best thing and attack you, the container. It's a miracle you're as purehearted as you still are, brat." It wasn't often that Kurama spoke to him, but when he did, he was there either to make a point, or make fun of Naruto, something the Fox enjoyed wholeheartedly.

"I understand why they do it, Kurama-nii. I'm not an idiot, but understanding their reasons doesn't make it any less frustrating," Naruto thought back to his tenant through his mental link. He cut the link as Iruka stepped into the class, hearing Kurama laugh heartily as his voice faded from his mind.

"Hello, class, it's nice to see you again," nobody paid any attention to Iruka, favouring their own quiet conversations over paying attention to their teacher. Iruke used his Big Teacher Head Jutsu and started screaming to get his students' attention, "QUIET YOU BRATS!"

The result was immediate, everyone shut their mouths and turned ot the front of the class and payed rapt attention to Iruka. They knew he meant business as soon as he started using that Jutsu to get them to quiet down.

"Alright, most of you are probably wondering why you are back here," at this, everyone but Naruto nodded in agreement. He was the only one that was aware of the situation with the traitor within the Academy teachers. "While you already passed the Academy's Graduation Exam, you have been held back for an extra six months for supplementary lessons. Due to some corruption and foul play among the teachers, the amount you students learned is under scrutiny from the Hokage and the Ninja Council. They want you to stay back an extra six months to make sure that you learned everything to the standard that is expected of Leaf Gennin."

As soon as Iruka was done with his explanation, many hands rose up in the air. Though their teacher hadn't asked if they had any questions, they knew that Iruka would always try to answer any questions they had for him. Among these hands were Sakura's eager one.

"So sensei, what happens after the six months are over? Do we take a test of some sorts or go straight into Ninja duty?" Sakura asked curiously, she wanted to know why this kind of an exeption was made for them. Though she was no stranger to special treatment due to her mother's presence in the Civilian Council, she was still stranger to special treatment that affected her negatively.

"You will retake the Graduation Exam." Everyone looked at him with murder in their eyes. "But anyhow, onto today's first lesson. Tree climbing."

Everyone shouted out a form of verbal complaint, ranging from "But sensei, we already know how to climb trees," to "Hnn, the Uchiha don't climb trees. That kind of thing is reserved for monkeys."

Iruka sighed. Obviously, his students were too closed minded to see the truth behind his words. Deciding to stop the riot that was threatening to break out within his classroom, he started to speak out, only to be interrupted by the last person he was expecting to understand the exercise.

"Fools, who said you will be climbing trees normally? Tree climbing is an exercise used to increase your Chakra control," everyone looked at him like he had grown a second, third and fourth head. Sighing, Naruto continued, "You focus your Chakra to your feet so you stick to the tree trunk. You climb the tree with your feet and Chakra only."

"And this helps us improve our Chakra control by?" Kiba was the one that spoke up and he wasn't the most polite person in the class. At least, that's what was suggested through the tone of his voice.

"The feet are where it is hardest to focus your Chakra. By learning to stream a steady amount of Chakra to your feet to climb the tree, you ineveitably increase your ability to mold and control your Chakra." Iruka finished off his student's explanation, "Thanks for bailing me out there, Naruto."

"No problem," Naruto only grinned at his teacher, as he often did with Iruka around. He was his favourite teacher for a reason, and that reason was that Iruka happened to be one of those very few blessed people that weren't idiotic enough to hate him for something that was totally out of his control.

"Alright class, I want you to go outside in an orderly fashion and find a tall tree to climb." Everyone did as instructed by their teacher, and filed out in an orderly fashion, starting from the front of the class. Naruto, obviously, ended up right at the back and near his lazy friend Shikamaru.

-TT-

An hour had barely passed since Naruto and his class had headed outside to train on their Chakra control and it wasn't going well for most of them. Some people with larger Chakra reserves were still running full pelt at their designated trees, while others lay at the foot of their tree, completely exhausted. A few were passed out cold.

They had come out to the playground expecting an easy climb up a tree. What they had found was an utter impossibility that a few of them could even come close to getting right. Within a few attempts, most of them had found out just how hard it was to climb a tree without the use of their arms.

Instructions were to run all out at the trees, then attach themselves using Chakra while they ran up the tree. While most had blindly followed this instruction, they were unaware of the consequences their actions brought with them.

A few feet up the tree, most of them had either slipped off the tree due to using too small an amount of Chakra to hold them there, or because, like Sasuke, they had used too much Chakra and that pushed them off the tree trunk.

Thinking quickly, Sasuke was the only one that managed to mark how far up he had gotten with a kunai. Falling back down the tree, he landed heavily, though still on his feet. Others weren't as lucky, and landed either on their back and the really unlucky ones landed painfully on their heads.

All was not lost for the class though, a few of their classmates had managed to climb up quite far up the tree. They had managed to mark how far up they had gotten with their kunai and land on their feet every time they fell off.

This group was very small, however, and consisted only of the top kunoichi in the class, Sakura Haruno, the lazy genius, Shikamaru Nara and surprisingly Hinata Hyuga and Naruto.

Most people expected Sakura to do well in this, she had a small Chakra reserve and that gave her superb control over her Chakra, for an Academy student that is. Shikamaru was also expected to do well, though he slept during most of their lessons and watched the clouds while he was meant to train, the brunette had brains far better than anyone in the class and was pretty good at the less physical aspects of Academy life.

The last two of the group were unexpected to say the least. Hinata was shy. Though she was the heiress of the current strongest Clan in the Village, she was widely known as someone that was weak and subpar in her abilities. Seeing her climb the tree with relative ease was something of a shocker to her classmates.

Naruto. If people were surprised to see Hinata climbing the tree, they were utterly flabbargasted at what was happening with Naruto. He was the Dobe of the Academy, the Dead Last, the one that came out at the bottom of every test. So, imagine their surprise when he walked up the tree, going higher than everyone else in the class.

When landing, thud that most people landed on the floor with, Naruto landed with somewhat of a loud booming sound, courtesy of the weights he was currently wearing, which surprised most people.

This carried on for the rest of the day, with everyone slowly improving how far up the tree they could climb and getting closer and closer to Chakra Exhaustion.

-TT-

Naruto had gone straight to training ground three after his classes at the Academy was finished. Truly, they had stepped up their training in the Academy, but it was still nowhere near enough to tire out the Jinchuriki.

Naruto was planning on doing his usual training with his clones, when he saw Kisame standing there with his arms folded over his chest.

"Naruto, come over here." Naruto obeyed his teacher, for that's what Kisame was to him now, and walked up to him. "From today onwards, we start your Taijutsu lessons. Kenjutsu will come after you have masatered the basics of my Taijutsu course."

"Right, make two thousand five hundred clones," Naruto stared at him. "Make two thousand five hundred clones, Naruto."

"But wouldn't that many clones training at once kill me?" Naruto asked, scared for his life for the first time. He came close to death quite a few times in his life, but never before was he actually scared of it.

"Don't worry. We are cutting your training time by half, to five hours per day, since you have to go to the Academy now. That means the increase in clones only adds an extra two thousand and five hundred hours of training per day," the colour slowly returned to Naruto's face.

Crossing his fingers in the familial Seal, he muttered: "Shadow Clone Jutsu," and immediately, the entire area was filled with Naruto lookalikes, though there was a small clearing between the real Naruto and Kisame.

"Alright, your first combination. It's basic, but in a fight, it does the job. Left jab, right straight and a left rounhouse," as he spoke he gave Naruto a slow example of what the combination should look like. His arms and legs moved gracefully as he punched and kicked the air around him. "You try it."

Naruto tried to copy what Kisame did, but something felt wrong. He wasn't producing the same kind of destructive force that Kisame had produced, and his suspicions were confirmed by a shake of the head from Kisame.

"No, Naruto, you can't stop betwen each hit. It's a combination, meaning you hit one after the other. If you stop, you kill the momentum in your movement. Try again."

Naruto did the motions again, going through them with much more fluidity this time. They felt stronger somehow, but he felt like something was still wrong. His hits were more powerful, but it didn't feel sharp or fast.

"Better, but still not good enough. You're standing on the spot while you're hitting. Once you hit your opponent, he's not going to stand on the spot is he? No, he's gonna get knocked back. Rather than standing on the spot you should jab, pivot on your left foot and step in with your right foot while you do the right straight. Straight after the straight, you use the momentum, pivot on your right foot and bring your left foot around to kick. Try again."

He followed his instructions to a T, his punches seemed fine, but something was up with his kicks. When he pivoted on his right leg, he felt like he was falling backwards diagonally.

"Almost there. Straighten out your right leg when you pivot. Don't lean back when you're kicking, keep your back straight and raise your hips. Rather than going for their head, go for their ribs."

Naruto nodded and did the motions for a fourth time, getting it right at last.

"Good, practice for five hours with the clones, then head back home," while speaking, he slowly faded out in a white, misty glow.

"I COULD DO WITHOUT THE THEATRICS!" Naruto screamed after him as he shunshinned away from the clearing.

Ordering his legion of clones to get in lines, he started his daily practice, no longer feeling the effects of his weights.

A/R: Is it just me, or are the chapters slowly getting longer? And am I starting to make more mistakes and not paying attention to them? Weird.

Anyhow, thanks for reading. If you liked this chapter, please take the time to leave a Review, Alert or Favourite this story. It really helps me out. Also, if you REALLY liked this story, please share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or via E-mail. If this story was enjoyable, why not share the love?

=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant=*=*=

I hope people don't take this section of my story offensively. I use this section to voice my personal opinions on what parts of the story I find retarded.

Subject this time around, IS EVERYONE IN THE NARUTOVERSE AN EMO?!

Naruto: Oh my God, I have a Demon sealed in me. Everyone in the world hates me and beats me, I have no place to go. I am going to be Hokage so everyone can recognise me, until then, I shall brood in my corner in an attempt to forget my pain and get stronger. Believe it! I will promise on the pain of my right hand to protect all that is dear. No, I lied, I just stabbed myself because it feels good.

Conclusion: Emo.

Sasuke: Oh my God, my entire family was killed by my own brother. My brother that I loved, but he killed all of them. What should I do? Should I try to see the truth and save my brother from the hell he is in, or just be an Emo-King and brood until I can kill him? Hnn, I shall slash my wrist to be an emo.

Conclusion: Emo.

Sakura: Oh my God, Sasuke is so hot with his brooding. Rather than trying to train, I will stay weak and look at him with my massive forehead, and pretend he is the best in the world even though Naruto is pwning him through the Author's powers. I will look at Sasuke's back while he is leaving the Village and cry fake tears because I am retarded.

Conclusion: Emo.

Kakashi: Oh my God, Obito and Sensei were killed in battle. Now, I shall waste away my life looking at a stone and pretending to wallow in my sorrows while I waste time and talent by just standing here. I will cover up my face and pretend to be a good ninja while I just brood.

Conclusion: Emo.

Anyone see a pattern here? I would include some others too, like Gaara and Sarutobi, but I am kinda bored of this. Is it just me, or is the Narutoverse full of emos hiding under masks of awesomeness?

=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant End=*=*=

Is it just me, or am I actually bringing up legitimate points about the Narutoverse that people usually overlook?

Comments are appreciated, random flames are not.