Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
-A Testament of Things that Never Will-
Naruto sat in the soft grass of one of the many training fields in Konoha. He had his eyes closed and took deep breaths as he focused his mind. He was Yuri Karasu now and he had to make sure he didn't slip up when he eventually spoke to others.
He marvelled at how things had changed for him. He had grown used to a life of constant warfare and found it very strange that he was in a place that was safe. He was in Konoha. Not his Konoha for his had been destroyed three years ago right around his twenty-third birthday. It had been hard on him, to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man he respected above all others, as he had grown comfortable with the idea of his death but now he had the chance of saving the old man's life and allowing him the peace he so richly deserved. He wasn't the same old man but he gave off the same feel that he, Yuri, he reminded himself, remembered. He couldn't help but relax when in the company of the man.
Things had gone well for Yuri after he met with the Hokage in his mind. He recovered and was allowed to leave three days after being brought into the hospital, much to the shock and displeasure of the medical staff who all but demanded that the old man make him stay. Hiruzen hadn't but he had forced Yuri to mandatorally go into daily check-ups for the next month. They were annoying and took about two hours to do but he had convinced the medic-nin responsible for his check-ups, a cute girl named Keiko, to have them done early in the morning so that they didn't interfere with anything that he was doing during the day.
After being released he had met with the old man and was given a small sum of money, just enough to get a cheaply furnished apartment, replace his cloths, and stock his fridge. He had also arranged for him to do a few D-rank missions every day as a supplemental income. They were simple little things that he had a few kage bunshin do when he was at his check-up. He had also told the Hokage that he wanted his healing ability to be a secret and the old man agreed to his request. He had seen what people would do for power and the ability to survive, with no negative repercussions, something that would kill any normal shinobi was worth doing something drastic for.
It had been five days since he had arrived in this new timeline and he found that he liked the slow life as it had been a long time since he had the time to just breath. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard something and was surprised to see that he had a visitor in his training ground.
-A Testament to Things that Never Will-
Naruto marched through the city at a steady pass. He had a month to get ready for team selections and he wanted to make good on the old man's advice. He had been to one of the many training grounds in Konoha every day since he had fought Mizuki-teme and he felt that he was getting stronger. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was just so cool. He always had a training partner to spar against and he could practice his dodging skills with them too. Kami, he was a good shinobi!
He followed the road he was on over a bridge and then followed a dirt path that went into the forest. He had spent the entirety of his first day of training looking for the perfect training ground and had finally found one that was secluded enough that no one would be able to steal his training secrets. He grinned to himself at a job well done.
The path emptied into his training field and he was shocked to see that there was someone sitting in the middle of it. It was a man with somewhat spiky black hair, a slim dark green flack jacket over a crimson shirt, black shinobi pants, and black combat boots.
He thought about what the man was wearing and thought that it looked familiar but couldn't place it. He thought that it might have had something to do with the night he had stol-protected the Forbidden Scroll but if he was honest with himself he knew that he couldn't remember much during the time his kage bunshin were destroyed by Mizuki and when the old man talked to him. The old man had explained that the memory loss was likely due to him experiencing his first dose of killing intent and that it was normal for any shinobi fresh out of the Academy.
He put the nagging feeling of familiarity behind him and called out, "Hey you! This is my training ground so beat it so that I can train. I'm going to be Hokage one day you know!"
The man looked at him and Naruto stopped when a sickening feeling washed over him. The air seemed to thicken and he could feel the slightest change in the air like it was a thick syrup flowing over his skin. His lungs couldn't or wouldn't pull in the offending air and his knees started to shake uncontrollably.
He watched as the man he called out to rose and turned toward him. A feeling of pure terror caused his heart to beat painfully hard when the man locked eyes with him and Naruto unwillingly stared back into the depths of the man's dark blue eyes. They looked at each other for several seconds and then the pressure disappeared.
Naruto gasped for precious air and coughed out, "What was that?"
"Killing intent," the man answered as he walked over to Naruto.
Naruto tried to suck in another breathe but it caught in his throat and he coughed violently. The man crouched next to him, placed a hand on his back, and then Naruto felt a rush of something inside him and he found that he could breath normally again.
"Killing intent is a special type of Genjutsu that is generated when a shinobi or any person pushes their intent to kill another into their chakra and then bursts it out. Unlike most Genjutsu, killing intent can't be dispelled by the normal pulsing of chakra but by countering with your own killing intent or by the disruption of another's chakra in your system. These two methods can also be used to dispel other Genjutsu as well. As you experience more and stronger killing intent the affect it will have on you will lessen," the man explained.
Naruto nodded slowly, his mind processing what he had been told. Killing intent was a powerful tool for a shinobi apparently if it had the kind of effects that Naruto had experienced.
"Yuri Karasu," the man said and extended a hand.
Naruto looked at it suspiciously but took it and shook. "Naruto Uzumaki."
"So, you're training in this field, Uzumaki-san?" Yuri asked.
Naruto grinned and yelled, "Sure am," as he pumped his fist a few times.
"You train alone?"
"I like it that way. I can do my own thing and keep everything I do a secret."
Yuri frowned and said, "True, but if you train alone then you have none to point out your flaws. What is the point of training alone if all you're doing is teaching yourself how to do something wrong?"
"But all of the Jonin train alone!" Naruto barked as his anger got the best of him. Where did this guy get off telling him how to train?
"No, some train alone when they are working on something that requires concentration, like working on a new jutsu or elemental manipulation, but the fact of the matter is that anything that can be done alone can also be done in a group. The advantage of training with another person of equal or higher strength than you is that they may be able to explain something to you that you are confused about or they can tell you when you have done something wrong. You're a new Genin, aren't you?"
Naruto glared at the man but nodded his head. His anger had fizzled out a bit with the man explaining himself but he held onto it for good measure.
"Then where is your team?"
"Don't have one yet. Jiji put off team assignments until about a month from now. So, until then I will be training alone so that when I do get placed on my team I won't be the dead last any more."
Naruto watched the man think something over and Yuri finally said, "How about I train you."
Of all the things he had been expecting Yuri to say it wasn't an offer to be trained. He hadn't been treated well his entire life besides for a few exceptions and he glared suspiciously at the man. He grabbed a kunai that he had stashed behind his back and asked suspiciously, "Why would you do that?"
"Why indeed," Yuri said softly.
Naruto watched the man and when he saw Yuri's hand twitch he had only a moment to raise his kunai to block the incoming blade the man held in his hand. He moved to stab at the black-haired man but before his kunai could even get close he was kicked solidly in the stomach.
He flew back several feet and landed heavily on the ground but rolled onto his feet ready for more. He scanned around for Yuri but the man was nowhere in sight. He growled and cursed himself for letting the man get the jump on him. He heard a heavy footstep behind him and rolled to the side just as Yuri threw a swift punch in the area his head had previously been.
Naruto threw a kunai at the man and crossed his finger. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called out and several dozen popping sounds could be heard as an answer to his call. His clones charged Yuri in a storm of fists and kicks but nothing seemed to connect with the man as he maneuvered out of the way of anything that came at him.
A kunai shrieked past Naruto's ear and he flinched when a clone that was behind him exploded into white smoke and he returned the favor with a kunai of his own but it was pathetically slow when compared to the one that Yuri had thrown. The black-haired man lazily plucked it out of the air, swung it down onto the head of a nearby clone, and ripped another's throat out before casting it into the chest of a third clone.
Naruto called up more clones and ran to the forest. He wasn't getting anywhere with the way things were going now and he figured that things might go better if he had more angles to work with. What actually happened was that Naruto and Yuri started a deadly game of 'find and kill' with Yuri doing the finding and Naruto doing everything in his power to run for his life.
After about an hour of running Naruto ended up in the same training field that he started in and looked around in quick glances to see where Yuri would come from this time. The black-haired man appeared at the edge of the clearing but didn't rush him like he sometimes did and Naruto immediately readied for a sneak attack from another direction. None came and Yuri walked toward him with his hands extended out as a demonstration that he came in peace.
"You did well, Uzumaki-san," Yuri said. "There aren't many who can boast lasting as long as you have after only just becoming a Genin."
"This was a test?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Yuri nodded and sat down on the grass. He motioned for Naruto to join him and didn't seem to mind when he didn't. "I wanted to see what you were capable of before I started to train you."
"Seriously?"
"I'm a shinobi of Konoha, Uzumaki-san. If I had killed you I would have become a missing-nin and would have been hunted down by hunter-nins or the rest of my days. That doesn't sound like a very fun life to me," Yuri commented. "I never had any intention of killing you, I promise."
Naruto lowered his guard slowly and asked, "So, how did I do?"
Yuri looked at him and answered in a serious tone, "You suck."
Naruto's eyes widened and he got ready to scream at the man who would insult him so but before he could do anything he found himself slammed onto his back with a kunai to his throat.
"This is one of your biggest problems," Yuri said, his eyes locked onto Naruto's. "You're impatient and allow your emotions to dictate what you do. If you had stayed calm and observant you might have noticed my left leg move forward slightly in preparation for the rush. You need to learn patience, emotional control, and to always be aware of what is going on around you."
The man removed the kunai from Naruto's neck and reached out a hand to help him up. Naruto took it hesitantly and when he was on his feet he rubbed his neck.
"You have good stamina," Yuri continued, "for a Genin and your ability to spam the Kage Bunshin like you do is a gift from Kami."
"How so?" Naruto asked skeptically. "Sure they're useful but they pop so easily that I'm not sure what else I can do with them other than diversions and sparring partners."
The man sighed and said, "Create a clone." Naruto did as he was told and Yuri continued, "Now, go over there and leave the clone here."
Naruto frowned but walked a short distance away. As he was walking he stopped and yelled, "I am not an idiot!"
He marched back and Yuri said with a small smile on his face, "How did you know that I called you an idiot?"
"I-" Naruto began to say but stopped. How had he known that? He hadn't heard but one second he didn't know and the next it was like he had lived it. The memory was fresh in his head but so too was the memory of walking away. It was like he had two memories that happened at the same time and it was a little strange to think back on because he couldn't think of one of the memories without thinking of the other at the exact same time with equal clarity.
"Weird, I know," Yuri said, "but that is the secret of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This trick it immensely helpful and a powerful tool for a shinobi who can pull it off."
Naruto thought about what had happened but he didn't see how it could help with training and voiced just that. "I don't get it," he said with confusion.
"If your clone reads a book and dispels itself you will gain the knowledge that the clone gathered. To put it simply, you can read a book without actually reading the book," Yuri explained.
Read a book without reading the book. Naruto grinned and started to get excited. If he hadn't met Yuri than he wouldn't have learned this trick and he bowed to the man. "Thank you for teaching me this."
"You say that as if it is the only thing that I will be teaching you," Yuri said. "I said that I was going to train you and I meant it. While we are training you will call me, Yuri-sensei, and you will do as I tell you."
Naruto frowned. "Why should I call you sensei? I get that you will be teaching me but we're not in the Academy and you're not my Jonin-sensei."
"It is a sign of respect, something that you lack in your interpersonal skills. As a shinobi, you will be performing missions that will require you to deal with clients and being respectful to them will go a long way in their satisfaction with the job. If the client is happy there is a better chance that they will deal with Konoha again and the economy will benefit," Yuri answered. "I said that I would train you and that doesn't just apply to physical and mental training. I will also be showing you how a true shinobi should act and it is quite possible you will mature a small bit from it."
"I'm not immature!" Naruto yelled. He noticed the annoyed look on Yuri's face and swallowed loudly. "M-maybe I am. A little."
"I understand why you act the way you do," the black-haired man said. "I understand that you are an orphan and before you ask about how I know that it came up when I was speaking with the Hokage. I am an orphan as well and he mentioned your name and that you were too. I have been away from the village for some time due to a mission and he was explaining everything that had changed since I left."
"You're...an orphan," Naruto said slowly. He hadn't expected that and felt a small connection form with the man.
"Yes and it is because of that that I understand why you act the way you do." He paused and a few seconds went by before he started talking again, "You are desperate for attention. You crave it and have discovered that if you act like a fool, if you act in such a way that people notice you, you get their attention. You don't care if it is good or bad attention as long as they notice you. As long as they acknowledge that you exist." Yuri stood and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You have my attention, Uzumaki-san. You don't need to act the fool."
Naruto felt a slight burning in his eyes and he sniffed loudly. He wasn't going to cry. He was a shinobi and shinobi don't cry. "I-I'm ready. To start training. I'm ready, Yuri-sensei."
"Good," the man said and took a few steps away. "For now, I want you to make about thirty clones."
Naruto did as he was told but instead of thirty clones he created about fifty. He blushed at his mistake but Yuri didn't appear to mind and the blonde got the feeling that the man had been expecting it to happen. He gaped when he saw five copies of his new sensei just appear behind the man. There was no sound, no smoke, and he didn't make a single hand sign. They just appeared from thin air and Naruto stared, wide eyed.
"You are nowhere near being able to do that," Yuri answered Naruto's unspoken question. "The amount of control required for that is far above you at the moment but I will teach you how to do it when you are capable."
His sensei waved at his clones and said, "Send ten of your clones with each of mine. Since you made more that I asked I can start working on two other things that will help you out. One set will be taught patience the best way I know how and the rest of the extras will accompany my clone to the library. There they will read books on history, chakra, chakra theory, jutsu theory, and anything else my clone deems necessary."
"Why do I have to learn history?" Naruto asked with a slight pout. It made no sense to the young blonde why a shinobi had to learn anything about the history of anyone or any place. Why waste the time on something that he would never use?
"'Learn from the past so that you don't repeat the mistakes.' Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, said that, " Yuri said. "You will learn the history of not only Konoha but also Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, and Suna because you can use that information in many different situations. When visiting these countries you will know their customs and will be able to demonstrate the proper respect. Another use is that if you ever fight a shinobi from these areas you will be familiar with their potential tactics and be able to plan or fight accordingly."
Feeling thoroughly put in his place and regretting not paying attention in class, Naruto conceded and sent out the clones that were asked for. He watched as the twenty clones left the clearing with two of Yuri's own.
"Time for a lesson," Yuri said. "Muscle memory is a mental process and because of that training can be done in that area with clones. You have kunai and shuriken throwing down pat but that is to be expected of an Academy graduate. However, your reaction time and how you react in general to a threat needs some work. Ten of your clones will work towards fixing this problem."
The man nodded and a clone took another group of ten into the forest. "I noticed during our little fight that you don't really have a definitive style of combat so I will be teaching you two of the taijutsus I know. The first is called, Tetsu Sheru, and is a defensive taijutsu. The simplified explanation of it is the creating of a shell of awareness around you. When an attack of any sort enters this shell you will be aware of it and be able to react to it effectively and decisively.
"The second style that I will teach you is an offensive style called, Odayakana Kaze. It involves remaining calm in a combat situation and is made up of swift attacks that focus on critical points in the body. This style, in the hands of a master, has the ability of killing an enemy in one blow and is not to be taken lightly. Do you understand the responsibility that I am placing on your shoulders by teaching you this style?"
Naruto tilted his head and said, "Uh, yeah I got it."
Yuri frowned and said, "I won't tolerate you lying to me, Uzumaki-san. When you are learning this style there are very specific katas that you will be told are never to be used unless you have the intent of killing your opponent. If I ever see you using these katas in a friendly spar I will beat you into the ground, break your legs, and never teach you again. Am I understood?"
Naruto gulped and stuttered out a quick, "Hai." With the way Yuri looked at him he knew that the man had meant what he said. He promised that he would never use the katas in a friendly spar and he meant it. When Naruto made a promise he always kept it.
His sensei waved and a clone and ten of his clones went to train in the norther part of the training ground. Yuri sighed and said, "It also became apparent to me that you have absolutely no chakra control whatsoever. A group of clones will work to fix this as well."
With the rest of the clones gone, Naruto was left alone with Yuri and he waited for the man to tell what they would be doing. The black-haired man reached into his pouch and pulled out a brush and an ink container.
He waved for Naruto to come to him and when Naruto got close Yuri said, "Take off your shirt."
"What!?" Naruto screamed and jumped back.
Yuri vanished and suddenly a fist connected with the back of Naruto's head. "You idiot," Yuri said. "I'm going to put a gravity seal on you to help with your physical training and to do that you will have to take your shirt off."
"A gravity seal?" Naruto questioned.
"Many shinobi use weights to help build their strength and while it is effective I'm not much of a fan. The weights are centered on very specific places on the body and as such nothing gets trained equally. Arms and legs become incredibly strong but the core and internal muscles are vastly weaker. A gravity seal will spread out a weight over your whole body and affect every single muscle equally. Doing it this will will increase the strength of your extremities and also your core and internal muscles as well."
Naruto's face scrunched up as he thought about what the man had said and finally asked, "Wouldn't having that weight on me cause me to not grow as much as I otherwise would?"
Yuri chuckled and Naruto got the notion that he had just said something stupid. "On any other shinobi that might be the case but you're a special exception, Uzumaki-san."
Naruto placed a hand on his stomach and took a step back. "You know?"
"I am aware of the Kyubi," he answered. "Do not fret, I have no intention of telling anyone that doesn't know and I don't look at you any differently then any other shinobi. I am familiar with having heavy burdens thrust upon my shoulders."
"You...don't care that I have the Kyubi sealed in me?"
"Not in the least. I do, however, care about the fact that you have gained an advanced healing ability from your predicament. Have you ever noticed that, after the days after a heavy workout in the Academy, that you never felt as bad as the others in your class?"
Naruto did remember those days. He had always associated them with him not working as hard as everyone else and he always tried to push himself harder and harder when they did physical activities but he always met with the same results. "I," he said slowly, "have a healing ability?"
"Yes," Yuri confirmed. "Now, will you let me put the seal on you or not?"
Naruto took off his jacket and shirt and sat down. The ink was cold on his skin and Yuri explained how to operate the seal as he worked on it. It was pretty simple, if he wanted more weight he focused some chakra into it and if he wanted less weight he released chakra from it. Yuri also reassured him that the seal would be invisible and only become visible when he was adjusting the amount of chakra he had in it. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he was told that. He did not was to run around with ink painted on his back for all the world to see when he took his shirt off.
Yuri stood and stretched his back. "All done," he said. "Try pushing some chakra into the seal. I would say about a single clone's worth."
Naruto did as he was told and his body was immediately weighed down. It wasn't ridiculously heavy but it was very noticeable.
"Good, you did great. When you get used to the weight just increase it by however much you're comfortable with. Don't go overboard, however, and put to much into it. It isn't a competition to increase your weight as fast as you can and if you do it too quickly all you will accomplish is hurting yourself. If you do this I will remove the seal and make you use training weights. Understood?"
Naruto grinned as his moved his arms up and down, feeling how the seal affected the movement. "Hai," he said and did a test jump. He landed and his knees buckled slightly. So, it was heavier than he thought it was, sue him.
Yuri chuckled and Naruto grinned even bigger. He had to say, the man was scary when he first met him but Yuri was the first person to ever take a serious interest in him and it made him feel like he didn't have to put on as much as a show to gain his attention.
"Ready when you are!" Naruto cheered. "Let the training begin!"
-A Testament of Things that Never Will-
Yuri-sensei was the devil, Naruto was convinced. Every muscle in his body screamed in harmonious pain and his brain hurt from all of the stuff his clones had learned. He had gotten a single kata down for each of the styles he was being taught and his clones had worked on sticking leaves to their foreheads causing him to gained a rather large boost to his control. Yuri said that it was to be expected because he had never done a control exercise before in his life and that the benefits would slowly go down until all he could manage was maintaining the control he was at, but that was a long ways off.
His clones that went to the library had tried slacking off at the beginning as it seemed that even they didn't like the idea of reading but when each of them epically failed the questions that Yuri's clone had asked them about what they had read they began to take an actual interest. Naruto could vividly see the disappointment in his sensei's face and vowed to never see it again as it hurt him more than anything he had ever experienced before. As it turned out, his knowledge of history and chakra was in the pits but with the help of his sensei he was confident that he would know everything that he needed by the time team assignments arrived.
His clones that had been taken to hone his reflexes had been put through hell and his heart beat painfully fast whenever he thought about the anxiety of waiting for Yuri's clone to attack them. He had been shown how to react to attacks from different directions, including from above and below, and he found that he was a little jumpy because of the training. As for the training in patience, all his clones had learned how to meditate and it was boring, incredibly boring.
All in all, Naruto had the best day of training that he had ever had in his entire life. He felt like total crap but Yuri reassured him that he would feel better after a good nights sleep but all he really wanted was something to eat so it was with a small jump in his pained shuffle that he arrived at Ichiraku.
He sat down and when Ayame saw him she gasped. "Naruto," she said, her voice filled with concern, "are you alright?"
He knew the question had been coming. The training had been rough and his jumpsuit had suffered horribly from it. It was covered in stains, cuts, and one of his sleeves was torn clean off. "I'm fine," he said.
"Yes, training was a tad rougher than he had thought it would be," the deep, strong voice of Yuri said from the stool next to him.
Naruto glance over and saw the black-haired man sitting contently on the stool. His eyes scanned the menu that was placed on the wall above the counter and a frown crossed his lips. "There's a reason you're so short, Uzumaki-san, if this is all you eat."
"Don't knock Ichiraku's ramen until you try it," Naruto growled. "Three bowls of Miso ramen, Ayame-chan!"
Yuri casually reached over and flicked the side of Naruto's head. "Manners."
Naruto blushed and said, "Please."
Ayame giggled and replied, "It's no problem, Naruto-kun. And what will you have?"
"A beef ramen, if it isn't too much trouble," Yuri said. "Can I also ask you a question?" Ayame nodded and he asked, "How often does Uzumaki-san eat here?"
Naruto heard Teuchi's deep belly laugh come from the back room and the old man walked out into the front of the ramen bar. "Naruto-kun is one of my most loyal customers. He eats here at least once a day."
Yuri sighed and closed his eyes. "As I thought."
"What's the matter, Yuri-sensei?" the young blond asked.
"You're suffering from malnutrition, that's the reason you're so damn short."
Naruto bristled from the statement about his height. It wasn't his fault that people wouldn't sell things to him and he liked eating at Ichiraku. He liked seeing Ayame-chan and Teuchi-jiji.
Yuri must have noticed his rising anger because he raised a hand and said, "Calm, Uzumaki-san. I meant no offence."
"He is right, Naruto-kun," Ayame agreed. "You are pretty short."
Naruto gasped, shocked. "You too, Ayame-chan?!"
She laughed and his sensei said, a rare smile on his face, "Don't worry, Uzumaki-san. With your healing ability, you will grow to a normal height when you start getting a better nutritional balance."
"Really?" Naruto asked with a sudden hope.
His sensei nodded and looked to Teuchi-jiji. "Excuse me, Teuchi-san. Would you happen to-"
"So, you have a sensei, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.
Naruto ignored his sensei and Teuchi-jiji's conversation and answered, "Yep. I found him in my training field and after some talking, Yuri-sensei offered to train me to get ready for team selections. I had been doing fine by myself but after today's training I realized just how much I was lacking."
"You sound like you appreciate Yuri-san's help."
He nodded. "I do. He looked at my skills and told me what I needed work in. He is also teaching me his own styles of taijutsu. I want to become really strong before team selections so that I can show everyone that I'm not a dead last."
Ayame smiled and said, "I can't wait for you to do that but after you show everyone how wrong they were about you what will you train for then?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, after you've shown everyone that you're not a dead last what will you get stronger for? If that is all your training for, Naruto-kun, then that sounds a little selfish to me," Ayame said with concern in her eyes.
Naruto thought about what she said. If the only reason he was getting stronger was to prove everyone wrong was he doing it for the right reason? That was what he had always wanted but now that he thought about it, it wasn't all that great of goal. For some reason it just didn't hold the luster that it used to.
"You know," he said slowly. "I'm not sure what I want to get stronger for anymore."
"Well," Ayame said, "don't all shinobi get stronger to make them better fighters? Why not think about what you want fight for? You might find an answer there."
What he wanted to fight for? That wasn't really something he had considered before. Sure, he had heard of other's reasons for fighting. All the different Hokage's fought for Konoha but what did it mean to fight for Konoha? Did it mean that he fought for the city or did it mean that he fought for the people in it? He scratched his head and stayed silent as he thought about what he wanted to fight for.
"Here, drink this," Naruto heard Yuri say and a glass full of a green liquid appeared in front of him.
"What is it?" he asked and sniffed it. He gagged. "It smells like crap!"
"I expect so," Yuri said. "It is something that I made from some ingredients that Teuchi-san had in his inventory. I've purchased enough of the items for five more days worth of that stuff and you will drink it every day after training. The drink contains vitamins and minerals that you need. It appears that I must also teach you how to take care of yourself as well as prepare you for the shinobi life."
Naruto stuck his tongue out and downed the green stuff as fast as he could. He shivered and screamed, "Disgusting!"
-A Testament of Things that Never Will-
Hiruzen scribbled something onto a report and placed it on the edge of his desk. Being Hokage wasn't all it was cracked up to be and much of the time was spent reading, fixing, and signing reports, proposals, and anything else that was deemed important enough for him to look at.
He rubbed his eyes when a knock came from the door. He leaned back in his chair, snatched his pipe from his desk, and said, "Enter."
To his surprise it was Yuri Karasu. The man had been released five days ago from the hospital and that was the last time he had seen the man. He would have liked seeing him more due to the circumstances that surrounded him but with the investigation into the Academy and preparing teams for the Genin team selections he was a little too busy to see him.
"Do you have time to talk, Sarutobi-san?" the man asked in a tone that Hiruzen had grown used too. It was a lower tenor that spoke of great patience and wisdom. It was a tone expected of an old man and was surprising to hear from one so young. He could only guess as to what the man had witnessed to cause him to mature so much past his age.
"Anything to get me away from this paperwork," he responded and took a pull from his pipe.
Yuri sat down in the chair that sat in front of his desk and a comfortable silence filled the room. "I met Naruto Uzumaki today," the man said eventually.
"Did you?"
"I've offered to train him until team selections. He's got a long ways to go but he is a hard worker and the kage bunshin help immensely. A bit thick-headed when it comes to some things but overall he will be fine."
Hiruzen smiled. "You sound confident."
"Shouldn't I?" Yuri asked.
"True, I suppose he is a younger you."
"No," the man said. "The boy that would become me is gone, disappeared the second he met me. I never had anyone to help me, to teach me what it meant to be a shinobi, until I was placed with my Jonin-sensei and even then I was more busy with chasing a specific girl then taking my shinobi training seriously."
Yuri chuckled and Hiruzen asked, "You find something amusing?"
Yuri smiled a small, soft smile that the old Sarutobi had seen many times. It was the smile of someone who had seen things that made them question the goodness of humanity. He had seen it many times on veterans of the Second and Third Shinobi Wars and in the mirror of his own home.
"It is only now," Yuri said unaware of the old Hokage's thoughts, "that I realize just how lucky I am to be alive. Just how lucky I am to have survived everything that I have. It is amazing just how weak I was when I was young and after training with the boy I am convinced that I should be dead. He is slow, weak, stupid, and predictable and it scares the hell out of me that I was once like that."
Hiruzen blew out a cloud of smoke and said, "He is only a Genin and a new one at that, Yuri-san. Give Naruto-kun at least a little credit."
"You're right, perhaps that was a bit too harsh," the black-haired man replied. "While he is all that I said, he is also one of the hardest workers that I have ever seen, he is learning my taijutsu styles far faster than I had thought he would, and with the use of his kage bunshin he will catch up with his peers in his studies by the time team selections takes place. I suppose he is deserving of more praise but only because he is a Genin."
"We were all Genin at some point in time," he said and knocked the tobacco out of his pipe. "Allow the boy time to learn and practice and he will grow into a fine shinobi."
"A fine shinobi?" Yuri questioned. "When I'm done with him he will be more than that."
Hiruzen smiled as he packed his pipe with fresh leaf. "When I first learned who you were," he said, "I had no idea what would happen. I contemplated killing you then and there for fear of what you might know or what you might do but I gave you a chance and I don't regret it in the least."
The man smirked. "You are a better man than me, old man."
Hiruzen looked at the man, they were both silent for a second, but a slow rumbling filled their bellies and soon both started to laugh. He wiped a tear from one of his eyes and used a small amount of katon manipulation to light his pipe. He sucking in a breath and exhaled a perfect circle into the air.
"If Naruto-kun became a man similar to you," he said and looked Yuri in the eyes, "I would be proud."
Yuri bowed his head. The comfortable silence returned and neither moved to break it. Hiruzen finished his pipe and knocked out the burned leaf again. He frowned at how fast it had gone and move to stuff in some new leaf in.
He was stopped, however, when Yuri asked, "Would you like to spar?"
Hiruzen gave the man a questioning look and said, "A spar? It has been a long time since I have stretched these old legs, Yuri-san."
"All the better reason to do it," the man said as he stood up.
There was a new light in his eyes, one that had been missing since he had first seen the man. He didn't know what it was but the man seemed more relaxed. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him and he was able to finally breath for the first time in what seemed like his whole life.
Hiruzen placed his pipe on his desk and folded his hands. "Oh, why not. I could use the exercise."
-A Testament of Things that Never Will-
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-Unbiased Abyss