Alright Chapter 4 is finally here! I've been gone for quite some time. I hope everyone had a great break from this story. Did you miss me? I certainly missed you all. However I was slightly disappointed last chapter. No one got the reference I made. However, I 'm not going explain it to you. You need to figure it out. But other than that, I really love the way this story is going. I hope you will join me for the rest of it.

The other thing that didn't go as planned was the poll. I put up three options, three people voted, and they each voted for different options. So I decided to do whatever I want and just take this story in that direction.

So with that out of the way, I think it's time for the chapter to officially begin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, everything would have gone to hell much sooner.

Naruto: The Jinchuuriki Mercenary

Chapter 4: Let the Training Begin

Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he trudged toward the fridge. He shivered a bit as the cold air hit him in the early morning. Grabbing the carton of milk the young blonde decided to forgo getting a glass and began to drink it straight. He was interrupted when a gloved hand grabbed the carton from him mid gulp.

"Hey Kakashi-nii, I was drinking that!" The young jinchuuriki said angrily.

"Yeah? Well it's my milk." Kakashi snarkily replied pulling down his mask and taking a drink. Naruto wondered why Kakashi always wore that mask. He wasn't ugly or horribly scarred. In fact, in Naruto's opinion his older brother was actually a handsome guy. But who was he to judge his brother's life choices?

"Quite a mature way of thinking there, Kit. I have to admit, you're better than a lot of people out there."

'Thanks. I think… Wait. How are you talking to me?'

"Through your mind. It seems that our little chat in your mind opened up this little connection between us. Just think and you can talk to me."

'Wow. That seems like it could be incredibly useful.'

"Yeah. But I think we should cut this chat short. Your brother seems a bit concerned."

Kakashi waved his hand in front of Naruto's face.

"Hey, Naruto. You still in there?" Naruto shook his head and looked at his brother in a wide-eyed daze. He gestured in front of his mouth.

"Nii-san. Mask." Kakashi lifted his mask covering his face once again.

"Your eyes were glazed over and you were just staring out into space." Naruto scratched his head and chuckled.

"Oh, Kyuubi just wanted to tell me something. Apparently we can talk to each other just through thinking."

The silver haired man rubbed his chin as he considered this new information.

"Well, you're going to have to work on your communication. You can't go all glassy eyed in the middle of a fight." The older man eye-smiled as he ruffled his little brother's hair.

"Now let's hurry up and eat. The sooner we get to eat, the sooner your training can begin." Naruto's eyes lit up at the words breakfast and training.

"Yeah! Can we have ramen for breakfast?"

"No." Kakashi deadpanned.

Training Ground 7

Kakashi set Naruto down on the ground and sat on a log as he figured out how to go about training his little brother, who sat cross legged on the ground expectantly.

"Naruto, do you still have the scroll from your father on you?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I have it right here."

The young blonde nodded, digging into his pockets and pulling out the message from his father. Kakashi opened it and examined it. At the very bottom of the scroll were three storage seals labeled "Rasengan", "Hiraishin", and "Hummingbird." Kakashi bit his thumb and wiped some blood across the seal. A puff of smoke covered the scroll. When the smoke cleared, Kakashi held two scrolls in his hands instead of one. Kakashi opened the scroll and began to read.

His sensei's style of taijutsu was unique to say the least. He remembered how fast and versatile he had moved while using it. The kata seemed to put a lot of strain on the body. Even Kakashi would need years of training if he were to even attempt to try learning. It wasn't until he noticed a bit of scribbling at the bottom.

"By the way, this style is incredibly difficult to learn and could possibly cripple you for life if you jump right into it. So I've included a gravity seal that you should place on your body. When you reach level 10 on the seal then I think you'll be ready to start learning. Have Kakashi of Jaraiya-sensei apply it before you do any of this.

Good luck Naruto!"

Kakashi sighed as he looked over the seals he needed to use.

'That's Minato-sensei for you. Always forgetting that one detail until the last minute.'

"Naruto, take off your shirt." Naruto got really confused and his face showed it.

"Why?" Kakashi pulled a jar of fuinjustu ink and a brush.

"In order for you to learn the Hummingbird Style, your body has to be conditioned to handle the strain. So I'm going to put this seal on you. It's going to make you feel a lot heavier and get you prepared to learn the techniques."

"Okay." The young blonde said as he removed his shirt. Kakashi dipped the brush in the ink and began to paint the seals on the young boy's torso. Think was very cold against the young boy's skin. However Naruto stayed perfectly still. Kakashi had told him about how touchy fuinjutsu could be. He didn't want Kakashi to slip up and cause him to explode or something.

When Kakashi was finished drawing the seals on the boy, he began to do a long series of hand seals. The silver-haired man's hand began to glow as he finished the hand signs before slamming his hand against the seals. Naruto's entire torso began to shine brightly before the seals began to converge on his right shoulder. As the seals stopped glowing, they revealed a tattoo in the shape of a sun with the kanji for zero on it.

"This is the Gravity Seal." Kakashi explained as he pointed to the seal.

"It's not activated right now. Once I activate the seal, immense pressure will be put onto you and your entire body will become heavier. Once you are able to fight properly when the level is on 10, then you can begin training in the Hummingbird Style. Are you ready Otouto?" Naruto nodded in understanding.

Kakashi channeled a bit of chakra through his finger and into the seal, activating it.

"Everybody do The Flop!" Naruto wondered what the bijuu meant by that when suddenly…

THUD!

Naruto found himself face first in the dirt. He couldn't move as he felt like he weighted a million pounds.

"Uggh. Is this level 10 Kakashi-nii?" Kakashi squatted down beside his little brother.

"Nope."

"Well what level is it?" Kakashi eye-smiled brightly.

"0.5" Naruto groaned in frustration.

"Seriously?! It's going to take forever to reach level 10!" His cycloptic brother patted the blonde on the head.

"Don't worry Naruto. You'll get there sooner than you think. Now try to stand up. If you can walk by lunch time, I'll buy you all the ramen you can eat." That got Naruto's energy going as he strained with all his might. Kakashi sat on the log and pulled out his orange book and began to read.

5 Hours Later

Naruto stood on shaky legs. He struggled as he moved his leg forward. The young jinchuuriki made slow heavy steps toward his brother who closed his book and looked up and eye smiled.

"Very good, Naruto. You actually got to trudging faster than I expected. Now let's go get that ramen I promised you." Naruto smiled at the thought of food. He was sweating profusely from all the work he put into just standing up.

"Don't worry, Kit. As with most things, the first one's always the hardest. When your brother decides it's time to up the level, you'll be ready for it."

'Wow, thanks Kyuubi-sensei. That actually makes me feel a bit better. One question though.'

"And what's that?'

'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING SOONER?! You were completely silent for FIVE HOURS! I could have used some support!'

The bijuu chuckled at the boy's reaction.

"I was planning out your training in here the whole time."

'Oh. I'm sorry. Once I'm done here with Kakashi-nii, I can begin my training with you.'

Ichiraku Ramen

Naruto and Kakashi made it into the blonde's favorite eatery in about half an hour. Naruto's trudge had finally become more of a shamble and the young jinchuuriki could walk like he was tired, which wasn't too far from the truth. Naruto plopped himself on the stool as Ayame came up to the pair. Her smile faded when she saw Naruto.

"Naruto-kun!" She reached over the bar and hugged the blonde. His cheeks began to burn as he felt the teen's breasts against his face.

"I heard what happened on your birthday. We were so worried about you." Naruto scratched his head when the young waitress let him go.

"I'm sorry I made you and Teuchi-san worry. But I'm all better now." Ayame gave him a stern look.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Ayame smiled at his words.

"Alright. So what'll you have today Naruto-kun?" Naruto gave his classic foxy grin.

"One of everything and keep them coming Ayame-chan! Kakashi-nii's buying me all the ramen I can eat!" Ayame looked at the silver-haired man with a smirk.

"Oh he is, is he? Well then, I better tell Tou-san to start cooking." The young brunette said as she walked over to the kitchen.

'The fool has no idea what he's just unleashed. Looks like we'll be able to buy some new equipment after all. Tou-san will be happy about that.'

Kakashi felt a chill wash over his spine as the first bowl was placed in front of Naruto.

'H-He's only five. How much could he possibly eat?'

An Hour and a Half Later…

Kakashi wept as he pulled the last bill from his wallet. He handed all of the money to Ayame who smiled brightly as she placed the money in the register.

'21! He ate 21 bowls of ramen in one sitting. It must have been the gravity seal. He was eating so slowly that he ended up digesting the first bowl as he ate the next! This couldn't possibly happen a second time.' Oh the poor naive fool.

By the time Naruto had finished, the afternoon rush of people had begun out in the village. As such Naruto didn't want to walk around with the gravity seal activated and unable to run if need be. So Kakashi cast their usual genjutsu, or the Piggy-Backpack no Jutsu as Naruto liked to call it, and the two made their way back to Kakashi's apartment.

Once inside the apartment, Naruto shuffled toward the bedroom.

"I'm going to go to sleep for a bit, okay Kakashi-nii?" Kakashi simply waved to him.

"Alright, have a good one."

Naruto flopped on Kakashi's bed. It was really soft and comfortable. He somehow expected it to be hard because ninjas were expected to sleep in trees and on the ground while on missions.

"Oh well. It's nice and I can get some rest after training so hard. Once I get used to this seal, hopefully Kakashi-nii will actually start teaching me how to fight. But first, I need some sleep."

"Not so fast, Kit. We still have to do our training."

Naruto's Mindscape

Naruto awoke in the dojo of his mindscape. The Kyuubi was curled up in a corner. The fox stood up and made its way out of the room. Kyuubi returned with a sword in its mouth. It dropped the sword at Naruto's feet.

"Pick up the sword. It's not too different from your mother's sword. I'm going to train you how to use it." Naruto stood up and picked up the sword.

The hilt was long. He could easily fit both of his hands on the grip. The pommel was round and could be used to hit people. Unlike a katana, the guard was large and could cover his hands with ease. The most interesting thing about it was the blade. The blade was about a foot and a half long and completely straight, both sides of the blade were sharpened and there was a groove down the center of the blade. It was unlike any sword the young blonde had ever seen.

"This is called a broadsword. The people of Uzushiogakure were all proficient with this sword. However, very few swordsmen ever came to master this blade. Your mother was one of those few. With my help, you will be too. Are you ready Kit?" Naruto brimmed with pride as he held the sword in his hands.

"Yes I am Kyuubi-sensei! I'm ready to make my Kaa-san proud!" Kyuubi shrunk down to the size of a wolf and poised itself.

"Good. Now you better get ready Kit. Because training begins NOW!" The bijuu roared as it lunged at Naruto.

Wow it's been way too long since I updated this fic. The last poll didn't end up with very favorable results. So I'm going to do a new one and then write the next chapter based on that poll.

But first I'm going to explain the story arcs I already have outlined for them:

Intro Arc (Everything up until The Bell Test)

Mission to Wave Arc (You know this arc. This is where thing really get started.)

Mercenary Arc Pt 1. (Naruto will start out his career as a Merc. Building a reputation.)

Land of Snow Arc (1st movie)

Chunnin Exams Pt 1. (Stages 1-2 and prelims)

Invasion Prep Arc (Just what he does in the one month before the Invasion)

Mercenary Arc Pt. 2 (Covers several filler arcs as well as the Sasuke Retieval Arc)

Since I have all of this planned out I have to ask. Do you guys want me to skip forward to the graduation and give flashbacks to the training. Or do you want me to skip to the second part of Naruto's training and do the graduation after that?

Let me know by voting in the poll. Remember to leave a review telling me what you thought of the chapter. As well as Following and/or Favoriting this story if you already haven't.

So until next chapter, McManus D. Ninja Out!