Chapter 3: Troubles in Chakra Training.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

Author's Note (Endbanner: Lol, told you): First of all, thank you to those who reviewed the story and as suggested, I will be changing the currency used in the story to Ryo (1 Ryo is roughly equal to 1 cent, and 100 Ryo is roughly equal to 1 dollar)!

"Ha… Ha… Ha…"

In the middle of the room, a young boy sat on a chair, his hair sticking to his forehead, his back soaked in sweat. His breathing was rough and his throat was dry. It felt like he hadn't drunk a drop of water for a whole year!

"Urgh?!"

Suddenly, the boy leaned forward, falling off the chair with one hand covering his mouth.

Gulp!

Eyes shaking, the boy gulped whatever threatened to come out of his mouth, used his other hand to support himself, and stood up while leaning against the wall.

'This is…' the boy thought, 'I should've paid more attention…!'

[Flashback; A week ago]

Returning from the library, Naruto walked around the village before heading home. It wasn't that he wants to tour around the village, no way! He hated walking around the village!

He walked around the village only because he wanted to find a shop that sold ink and paper. In the end, he found none, but he wasn't dismayed. 'Since there aren't any shops here that sell ink and paper, I'll have to look into other areas of the village.'

Once he reached his apartment, the first thing that Naruto did was lay down in his bed.

'So… tired…' Forgetting about his grumbling stomach, Naruto succumbed to his fate and closed his heavy eyelids, entering slumber town. All the reading he did back at the library made him tired and after walking around the village, Naruto couldn't take it anymore and slept until the next dawn.

"Yawn!"

Standing up, Naruto prepared breakfast. Today's breakfast is simple: eggs, bread, and a glass of milk. Glancing at the wall clock, '8:20', Naruto sat on a chair.

Crunch—!

Chewing the crunchy slice of bread that he toasted, Naruto recalled the books he read yesterday. 'According to what I read yesterday, I should be able to sense my chakra as I already have the beginnings of a chakra system.'

Gulping down the glass of milk, Naruto washed the dishes and utensils he used and swept the floor clean with a broom. After doing so, he pulled out a carpet from under his bed and spread it open on the floor. After locking the door and closing the windows, Naruto smiled and patted away the imaginary dust on his shoulders. Then, he sat on the carpet.

'At last, I can start my training! With this, my dream of learning fuinjutsu is one step closer!' Grinning, Naruto closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm down.

"Fuuu— Haa…"

A few minutes later, Naruto felt that he was calm enough and tried to sense his chakra.

'… Oops, I don't know how to sense chakra!'

Thankfully, after some trial and error, Naruto felt something warm inside him and realized that it was his chakra. Focusing on the feeling, Naruto concentrated.

'So bright!' Resisting the urge to open his eyes, Naruto kept "feeling" his chakra to get used to it.

'I didn't know chakra would be so bright and… intense! Like fire, but without the pain! It even feels a little warm… Is this what those ninjas feel every day? Hmm… I wonder if my chakra is a lot or very little.'

After feeling his chakra for a while, Naruto got out of his trance and remembered his purpose. 'Right, the first exercise of chakra control is allowing the body to get used to moving chakra. For that, I must circulate my chakra throughout my entire body. The natural flow of chakra is clockwise, so I suppose I have to circulate my chakra clockwise?'

Following his guess, Naruto began circulating his chakra throughout his entire body. From his head to his torso, from his torso to his arms and legs, and from his arms and legs back to his torso and head. Repeating the process, Naruto couldn't keep the corner of his mouth from arching upwards.

'This is easier than I thought?'

A civilian's chakra system would mature at the age of 10 at most. Most civilians would awaken their chakra system at the age of 4 and have it mature by the age of 6 to 8. On the other hand, children from shinobi clans would awaken their chakra system at the age of 4 and have it mature by the age of 14 to 15, fully exploiting the natural development of their chakra system by delaying it.

Without training, like the one Naruto is doing, a child from a shinobi clan will have their chakra system mature at the age of 12 or 13. By delaying it using chakra exercises to stimulate the chakra system, they would delay their chakra systems from maturing, developing their chakra system for an extended period of time, thereby increasing their chakra system's efficiency and increasing their chakra level.

As Naruto is from the Uzumaki clan, as well as the fact that his father was a genius with high chakra levels despite being a civilian with no clan affiliations, Naruto's chakra level is massive, not to mention that he is the nine-tail's jinchuriki. With such a massive chakra level, it became easier to perform the exercise he was doing. Obviously, a massive chakra level means that finer chakra control is difficult, but controlling a lot of chakra is a piece of cake for Naruto.

After circulating his chakra for the hundredth time, Naruto opened his eyes.

'?! W-water! I need water!'

Rushing to the sink, Naruto gulped down every drop of water that poured from the faucet like a man stranded in a desert who hadn't licked water for the past week.

After drinking a large volume of water, Naruto shivered. Touching his arms, Naruto felt that his arms were wet and a little sticky…

Looking at his body, he realized that he was soaked in sweat, his clothes stuck to his body while his hair now stuck to his head like a withered plant.

"…"

Left with no other choice, Naruto picked a clean pair of clothes and bathed. Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom.

Grumble…

"H-huh?"

After bathing, Naruto felt a sudden wave of hunger. 'But I just ate breakfast!'

Glancing at the wall clock, Naruto blinked. "O-one o'clock?!"

Rubbing his eyes, Naruto felt that something was wrong, 'One o'clock? Is the clock broken?' Shaking his head, Naruto went to the windows and opened them.

Creaaak—

Squinting his eyes, Naruto was met with the bright sunlight. Looking up at the sky, Naruto's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "I-is it really one o'clock in the afternoon? The clock wasn't broken?" Shutting the windows closed, Naruto went back to the carpet he laid on the floor and touched it, planning to sit down.

As soon as his hand touched the carpet, Naruto cringed. 'Thankfully, I didn't sit immediately and tested it with my hands… It's soaking wet! Is this all from my sweat? No wonder I felt dehydrated after opening my eyes!'

Shaking his head, Naruto sensed his chakra while standing up and his frown finally turned into a smile. 'It seems that the exercise worked. Now, it's easier to circulate my chakra, but I should eat first before continuing my training. I don't have anything to do anyway and doing anything on an empty stomach is inefficient.'

After eating lunch, Naruto replaced the carpet on the floor with a spare rug and sat down, his eyes closed. Circulating his chakra around his body, Naruto thought, 'According to the "Art of Fuinjutsu," the basic requirement to creating seals is the ability to release a steady stream of chakra from your fingers and palm. What's more, the chakra must be stable and calm, otherwise, it would create an unstable seal.'

Stretching his right arm forward with his palm facing the ceiling, Naruto controlled his chakra and released it from his palm. 'Did it work?' Opening his eyes, Naruto was confused when he didn't see anything on his palm.

'I clearly feel that I'm outputting chakra from my palms…' Focusing again, Naruto nodded his head in understanding. He realized that the chakra output was too low, resulting in the chakra not being visible to the naked eye.

'I need the chakra to be visible. "The Art of Fuinjutsu" stated that the chakra must be visible, or I can forget creating seals.'

Concentrating, Naruto increased his chakra output.

"! Ack?!"

'That hurts!'

Suddenly, Naruto felt a sharp pain on his palm. Looking at his palm, he saw a small circular wound that was bleeding. 'Did I use too much chakra that I injured myself? The book didn't say anything about hidden dangers when exercising chakra control!'