a/n- Hey there! Prepare for the next chapter!
Also, I think the length of the chapters are going to increase 1 or 2 chapters later. You see, my vacations Monday. So, I can dedicate more time for writing for a bit longer than a month. Again. The reasons why I kept the first few chapters short were- 1) To know what all of you think about my story and, adapt accordingly. But seeing that I have not received a real negative review yet, I guess I can continue with my story as I planned. And 2) I am just a bit too impatient :P
Oh, and about Naruto maining the Kawarimi, as one of my reviewers thought I was planning, from the 'new favourite Jutsu' remark last chapter, I seriously was NOT planning on that. I just meant that as a passing comment. However, now that I think about it, Naruto maining the Kawarimi is not a bad idea. Of course, the Kawarimi will see some more action, I assure you that, but using it as a main jutsu... I don't know...
Oh, anyway, let the chapter begin!
Konoha's Orange Maelstrom
Chapter 4
Naruto was standing in front of the hokage in his office at around 9pm. All that Hiruzen had said to him (after he got out of hospital. Women hit you pretty damn hard when they get pissed off) was that they need to 'talk'. For a fact, Naruto knew that this was not good. When anyone tells you that 'we need to talk', all that you can think of is whatever you could have done to piss off said person. And that was exactly what was going on in little Naruto's mind.
Naruto's head still hurt a bit, and his forehead was covered in white bandage, much like most shinobi wear their hitai-ate, which Naruto liked, considering that his goggles broke on impact with the tree. Naruto didn't notice that his goggles were missing until he saw it's broken remains beside his hospital bed after his fight, when he came back to get his kunai pouch, which was ridiculous, because he had fought with a kage without even packing his kunai pouch!
'Damn, I didn't think jiji would get pissed off at me for that... I didn't know that jiji was a sore loser.'
However, Hiruzen didn't call Naruto to the office because he was a sore loser. Sure, losing to an academy student is the most embarrassing thing possible that can happen to a kage, since losing to a baby was impossible. Then again, a kage losing to an academy student was also thought to be impossible, so, who knows? Maybe the next thing you know will be that a baby defeated the Hokage. Hiruzen made a mental note to be careful of Konohamaru. The boy had started to challenge the old Hokage to fights recently, and the last thing he wanted was for the whole village to know that he was defeated by his grandson. Luckily, no one saw the fight between him and Naruto, except for the lady, but she didn't know it was a fight. All that she knew was that their Hokage was an old pervert, and she would most likely be warning the ladies to be careful of the 'ero-jiji' (perverted geezer). Well, even that was better than news of his defeat by Naruto get out. That would put his position as kage in danger. Coming back to the point, Hiruzen didn't call Naruto to his office because he was a sore loser. It was to discuss a more serious issue...
"Naruto," the Hokage finally spoke "tell me, how did you feel when you used the Kawarimi?"
This puzzled Naruto. He thought that the Hokage was going to tell him off for using such a perverted Jutsu. However, he was not going to complain, after all, which sane kid likes to be scolded? So, he just answered the question- "A bit relieved that the Jutsu worked."
"No, that was not what I was asking," Hiruzen said in a calm tone, "what I meant was, did your chakra levels feel OK?"
Now that was an unusual question. Iruka-sensei never asked him that after he performed the Kawarimi at the academy. Still, he decided to go along with it... Now that he thought about it, he did feel like he used more chakra than he usually did, actually, enough to actually make him feel a bit... drained by the time he Kawarimied back to the rooftops... He had however, dismissed it there because of his excitement on winning. (Who wouldn't be excited on winning against a kage?) (a/n- answer- Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Madara, Orochimaru to name a few. Actually the only guy to even get excited was Deidara!) (Correction- which non OP character wouldn't be excited?)
"Jiji... I... Umm... Felt a bit... drained... as if I had been training for a bit..." Naruto replied, not really sure what to say. Sure, he did feel drained like he did back then when he trained for, like, 10 minutes continuously in ninjutsu, but, losing that much chakra so quick was new to him.
"Ah, I am glad that you noticed that Naruto-kun, because it would be very hard for me to explain this if you didn't." Hiruzen said, happy that Naruto noticed. "What you felt there was a relatively fast chakra drain from using a Jutsu. You will eventually learn that most high rank Jutsu require a lot of chakra, but you can reduce the chakra drain through training and improving chakra control. Moving on, the reason why you felt drained using that Kawarimi is because of thus- now listen carefully Naruto, what I am going to say us very important." Hiruzen waited for a bit and continued after Naruto gave the affirmative. "Naruto, the Kawarimi, although an E-Rank academy ninjutsu, is a very useful one. It enables you to switch places with another object to avoid attacks, and, if used creatively like you did..." Hiruzen said, his cheeks reddening slightly, "...it can be used offensively. However, there is a slight flaw with this Jutsu. As distance between you and the body to be switched increases, the chakra cost also increases. However, when you try to switch with bigger bodies, then the chakra cost increases as well. However, the biggest problem is that if the body to be switched has a chakra network, the chakra drain increases considerably, more so if the target has more developed chakra networks and higher chakra reserves. Considering your poor chakra control, I would say that move you pulled off on me cost around 15 times as much chakra as a normal Kawarimi at the regular range. I doubt that most of the students of your class would be able to be stand from the chakra drain after pulling off a move like that. The fact that you appear to be all right is testament to your incredibly high reserves of chakra. I think it would be safe to assume that your chakra levels are if that of an average Jounin as of now-" Hiruzen was cut off by a jubilant Naruto jumping far joy.
"Yeah! I am the best!"
Hiruzen however decided to cut Naruto's jubilant display short. "Your chakra control however, as far as I know, the worst in your class."
Naruto drooped at this.
"Coming back to the matter, the Kawarimi, although a versatile Jutsu, doesn't see much offensive use in the field because if the above causes, and lack of creativity in a lot of them. However, seeing that you are very creative in your usage of Jutsu, combined with your much above average chakra levels, you do have a lot of potential with this particular Jutsu, provided that you get your chakra control right." Hiruzen said with a smile on his face, but when he remembered something, that smile quickly disappeared.
"Naruto... About the fox... I hope that you forgive me for not telling you." Hiruzen said in a sad tone.
"No big deal jiji! Although, you do need to do one more thing for me to forgive you... But before that, tell me, why did you not tell me about it?"
"Well... You should now know who your parents were. Well, they had a lot of enemies and If word got out that their son is alive, your life could be at risk. Also, I thought that you were not ready for the truth." Hiruzen said with a hint of regret in his voice.
"Hmm... I think I see what you are saying... Ah, anyway if you want me to forgive you, you must teach me how to meditate dattebayo!" Naruto said with a lot of excitement in his voice, knowing that the old man won't refuse.
"Meditate?" Hiruzen asked, genuinely confused. Naruto didn't seem like the kind of boy who would meditate.
"Yeah, so that, y'know, I can meet Kurama."
"Kurama?" Hiruzen asked again, even more surprised.
'What's going on here? Naruto wants to meditate? To meet Kurama? Who is that?'
"Oh, yeah, Kurama is the Kyuubi's real name and I want to meditate so that I can see him again in that sewer cage. He told me that I can meet him if I meditate and concentrate." Naruto said in a matter-of-factly tone.
Hiruzen was shocked. The Kyuubi wants to see Naruto again? This can't be good...
"Naruto, don't be foolish, that fox may be trying to manipulate you! Have you forgotten what he did to our village 10 years ago? You want to meet it after it killed your parents?!"
Naruto flinched at this. He didn't think that the Kyuubi was a sensitive issue for the old man as well.
"Jiji, try to understand dattebayo! Kurama told me his story, and I know that you will understand if you listened... I will tell you the story later it is getting dark and I want to get some ramen before Ichiraku's close for the day! So please have some faith in me, it's not like I am going to release the seal or something dattebayo! Besides, if you don't teach me, I am going to find another way to get there sooner or later."
Hiruzen was very much against the idea of Naruto meeting the Kyuubi, but hearing the last two sentences, he decided to have some faith in Naruto. Naruto was a boy with a really pure heart (as in not evil, not not doing anything wrong) and, after all, he was aspiring to be the Hokage. All Hiruzen wished was that Naruto didn't turn twisted like his once favourite pupil Orochimaru did.
"Fine Naruto, but please don't do anything stupid" Hiruzen said as he told got up and started leaving the room, gesturing to Naruto to follow him.
"You can count on me dattebayo!" Naruto said, following his favourite geezer.
A few minutes later, they were at the Konoha's library, containing all of the documented Jutsu in the village. Naruto was practically drooling thinking of all of the Jutsu that was in the library. Hiruzen gave Naruto the scroll, once again warning him to be careful with the fox. Naruto thanked the old Hokage took his key to meet Kurama and made a run for it to the Ramen stand. He couldn't wait to have his ramen today!
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At around 10pm, Naruto was usually fast asleep, but not today. He was too damn excited to sleep. So, he sat down on his bed and began to read the scroll the old man had given him.
'Let's see... Finding your inner peace... I don't know what the hell that is supposed to mean...'
At around midnight, he finally figured out what everything meant. Even though the scroll was relatively simple, Naruto was never good with books and theory. But he did finally get it and then he prepared to meet Kurama once again, sitting in the lotus position on his bed...
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When Naruto opened his eyes again, he was back to the place that made this day extraordinary. Back to the sewer cage, as Naruto called it.
"Ah, finally, you are back Naruto! It took you forever to go through that simple scroll!" Kurama said glad to see the boy back.
"Well, reading and theory are not my thin- Hey! How did you know that?!"
"That's because I can see everything that you see." Kurama said casually, as if only a child wouldn't know stuff like that.
"Oh... I see... So where is the magic crystal ball?" Naruto asked
"There is no magic crystal ball gaki. It is sort of like, it comes to my mind directly from your brain, assuming that you have one..." Kurama said with a smirk evident on his face
"Hey, shut up! Hold on a second, if you see everything I see, then... that means... You have seen me pooping! Ah, I feel so violated!"
"You shut up gaki, I have no interest in your excretory or reproductive organs!" Kurama shouted at Naruto, not willing to keep quiet after such an accusation.
"Oh yeah, how do I know?"
"Gaki, please, I have been sealed inside two female jinchuuriki previously, and I have seen how children are made LIVE! Muahahahaha!" Kurama said laughing evilly.
"Hey, how are children made? I always wondered how they are made but no one ever tells me. It's like, no one knows!" said the innocent 10-year old, with no clue about what he was talking about. 2 or 3 years later Naruto would have understood what Kurama was implying and promptly blush deep red while telling him to shut up, but not this Naruto. He was genuinely curious.
"Ah, it seems no one has given you the talk yet..." Kurama said with a grin plastered on his face. Although this stuff didn't interest Kurama himself much, he knew how embarrassing this subject was to humans. "...although it would be fun to tell you... I will save it for later... Right now we have a more serious matter to discuss."
Kurama thought about where to begin telling Naruto what he was going tell while Naruto looked on at Kurama wondering what he was going to tell him.
"OK, let me begin then. I am Kurama, aka the Kyuubi. I have am one of the nine bijuu spread around the shinobi world. They are- The Ichibi Shukaku, The Niibi Matatabi, The Sanbi Isobu, The Yonbi Son Goku, The Gobi Kokuo, The Rokubi Saiken, The Nanabi Choumei, The Hachibi Gyuuki, and myself. We were all made by our father, the Rikkudou Sennin, the greatest man to have ever graced this planet. We were all split from a huge monstrosity called the Juubi which our father managed to seal into himself. Our father made us so that when he died, the Juubi won't be unleashed in this world. I will narrate everything to you in detail later on. Now, I have fulfilled part one of my promise."
Naruto, who was carefully listening to Kurama's story excitedly said- "Cool! Now you are going to give me your power right?" Naruto asked expectantly.
"Unfortunately, no, not right now. To gain my power fully, you have to learn to control it first. My chakra capitalises on any hatred or negative emotions in your heart, and while still very low, I can sense a bit of negative emotions in you. If the chakra overcomes you, you will lose control of yourself and attack anything that moves. So, you must first get rid of all of your negative emotions first if you are to gain my power. You must keep your anger in check at all times, if you are to have any hope in using my power. That, however could take a long time, as changing your personality would be very difficult but you don't have any special training for it, so, you can incorporate it into your daily life. However, what we CAN work on is your chakra control, and that is something I can help you with. We will start our training tomorrow. Got all of that?"
Naruto was at first disappointed that he couldn't get all of Kurama's power, but then, something struck him.
"Wait, did you just take up my training?"
"Of course not! I am merely going to help you with chakra control. It is an insult to me that my container has such horrible chakra control!"
"Oh... I see... *Yawn* It is pretty late now, I am getting real sleepy dattebayo. So... See you tomorrow Kurama!" Naruto said while vanishing from the 'sewer cage'.
'I will be waiting for you gaki... Today was a good start... I hope I get along well with him... He is much better than any other human I have met... Good night gaki...'
Saying this Kurama laid down to take a nap. Of course, bijuu don't need to sleep, but Kurama likes the idea of being lazy and doing nothing.
Back in the real world, Naruto was trying to go to sleep.
'I can't wait for tomorrow!'
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a/n- Phew! That was exhausting!
OK, so, what do you think about my theory on the Kawarimi? Sounds realistic enough?
Ah, and like Kurama said, he will help Naruto only with chakra control, because of the reason given by Kurama + Everything Kurama knows can be taught only after Naruto gets the Kurama Chakra Mode, which is going to take a while to keep Naruto from being OP. However I did decide to improve Naruto's chakra control so that he can be a bit stronger than in canon. Oh, and I think there will most likely be a time skip within 5 chapters.
Don't forget to tell me what you think of this chapter!
Some translations
Bijuu- tailed beast
Ichibi- One tails
Niibi- Two tails
Sanbi- Three tails
Yonbi -Four tails
Gobi- Five tails
Rokubi- Six tails
Nanabi- Seven tails
Hachibi- Eight tails
Kyuubi- Nine tails
Juubi- Ten tails
Hitai-ate - Forehead protector