Chapter 4: Hidden Dangers Inside and Outside.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

Shhhhh! The water poured over Naruto's right hand, carrying with it the blood that flowed from the thumb-sized, circular wound on his palm.

'Oww! It hurts!' Thankfully, the wound was shallow, so the pain was less.

Pop!

Popping the lid off the red box with a white cross drawn in the middle, Naruto took out a white bandage and wrapped it around his hand to avoid dirt getting on the fresh wound. After the bandage was wrapped firmly in his palm, Naruto sighed in relief.

He had no idea that it was possible to injure yourself using your own chakra, but he should've expected it. Chakra was the fuel for ninjutsu that ninjas used, it made sense that there would be danger in handling it carelessly.

'The next time I go to the library, I'll look for books that explain the dangers of handling chakra,' Naruto thought. He was annoyed that the books he read before, "The Origins of Chakra" and "Chakra and its Uses," didn't warn him about the dangers when doing chakra control exercises.

After making sure that the wound on his palm was no longer bleeding, Naruto sat on the carpet he laid on the floor. Cupping his hand on his chin, Naruto thought of the reasons why he injured himself.

'Perhaps my body is still not used to releasing so much chakra at once, hence the thumb-sized wound where I released the chakra. Then, the solution is simple. I just have to slowly increase my chakra output, instead of releasing it all at once. That way, not only will my body get used to releasing chakra, I would also know when to stop and avoid injuring myself… But what if that's not the case?'

Closing his eyes, Naruto moved his chakra into his left palm. 'I guess I'll find out…'

This time, instead of releasing massive amounts of chakra at once, he let out a steady flow of chakra, slowly increasing his chakra output every second.

Wooooo—…

Feeling a breeze pass by, Naruto opened his eyes and a smile bloomed on his face. 'Finally, it worked!'

On his palm, there was a gathering of blue chakra. The chakra covered his entire palm, jumping up and down as if it were boiling water. Frowning, Naruto moved his hand to the side.

"Ah!"

The moment his hand moved even a bit, the chakra on his palm dispersed and his hand went numb. 'Is the chakra unstable?' He thought.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto once again released a steady flow of chakra like before. This time, he didn't close his eyes. As chakra covered his palm, Naruto's eyes shined and his excitement bubbled. 'Can I add more chakra?'

Thinking so, Naruto increased his chakra output.

Shiii—

As the chakra output got stronger, the chakra on his palm began to shake and spike, but it didn't expand. His forehead was covered in sweat, but he didn't bother wiping it away and focused only on maintaining the chakra on his palm.

However, no matter how much chakra he added, the volume of the chakra on his palm remained the same. Rather, every time more chakra was added, it would disperse into the air with a sizzling sound like water evaporating as it touches a hot surface.

'It's getting hot…'

As he increased the chakra output, the chakra on his palm began to heat up and his hand felt like it was holding fire. "Siii—!" Taking a deep breath, Naruto endured the pain and maintained the chakra on his palm, instead of letting it disperse.

'If I can't endure this, then forget fuinjutsu, I won't even be able to control chakra! Endure!'

Naruto's thought process was simple. He wanted to endure the pain so that his body would get used to it and adapt, much like how the more you trained your body, the stronger it becomes.

As he kept the unstable chakra on his palm, he felt his hand becoming numb. His arm felt powerless and heavy, like it was giving away all its energy to his hand in order to maintain the charka output.

Thirty minutes later…

Sweat dripped from his head, drop by drop. "Ha… Ha…" Out of breath, Naruto took deep breaths. "Fuuu—haaa…"

A few seconds later, his rapidly beating heart calmed down. Grabbing a cup of water with his right hand, Naruto drank it in one go.

After thirty minutes of maintaining the chakra on his palm, Naruto could barely feel his left hand. His left arm, from wrist to shoulder, felt numb and heavy. Looking closely, he realized that his left hand was shaking wildly. In an attempt to stop it, Naruto clenched his hand into a fist.

"H-huh?" However, he realized that he couldn't move a single finger on his left hand! Much less closing it, he couldn't even force his fingers to twitch!

'N-no way!' Using his right hand, Naruto touched his left hand to force it close.

"AHH!"

Not expecting a sharp pain, Naruto fell to the floor, with tears in the corner of his eyes. The moment his right hand touched his left hand, Naruto felt like he stabbed his left hand with a hot knife!

"W-what's going on?" Unsure of what to do, Naruto held his left wrist instead of his hand and waited until he could feel his hand again.

Sure enough, after ten minutes, he could move his hand again. Only this time, his entire left hand felt as if thousands of ants were chowing it down. Gritting his teeth, Naruto resisted the urge to touch his hand lest he makes the pain worse.

After another ten minutes, the sensation disappeared and Naruto was free to move his left hand. 'T-that was scary! I thought I wouldn't be able to move my left hand again!' Naruto shivered.

Closing his hand into a fist, and then opening it again, Naruto was relieved that nothing unexpected happened. Glancing at the clock, Naruto realized that there was still some time before he goes to bed.

'Let's see...' Releasing chakra from his left hand, Naruto watched as his palm got covered in blue chakra, this time, it was calmer. Waving his left hand around, Naruto smiled. The chakra didn't dissipate completely!

'Although some chakra still disperse when I move my hand, most of the chakra stays. If I keep this up, I should be able to master it by tomorrow. For now, I need to sleep.'

The next day...

In the streets of Konoha, a short figure wearing a black cloak strolled around with his head lowered. The short figure was Naruto, and he was looking for a shop that sold cheap masks. The cloak hid his hair, but he had nothing to cover his whiskers. He often saw people wearing masks that covered the lower part of their face, so he thought that it wouldn't be strange if he did the same.

'Why are masks so expensive?' He already came across two shops that sold the masks he was looking for, but he couldn't afford them. He only had a hundred Ryo to spare, but the masks that were being sold were more than a hundred Ryo, even the cheapest one. 'I need a way to make money, but… how?'

"Oi, kid! Watch where you're going!"

As he was lost in thought, he bumped into a civilian. Hearing the loud voice of what he assumed was a burly man, Naruto flinched but he didn't look up. If he did, his face would be revealed along with his whiskers. "S-sorry!"

Without waiting for the man's response, Naruto bolted into the distance.

"Hey! Don't run too fast! … What's wrong with that kid?" Shaking his head, the man went back to whatever he was doing.

After running into an alleyway, Naruto made sure that no one was around and took off his cloak. It was a sunny day, and he felt like he was burning from wearing that black cloak! Wiping away the sweat on his face, Naruto turned to leave.

"Hm? Isn't he the…?"

Suddenly, he heard someone's voice behind him. Looking back, Naruto gulped. It was a ninja wearing a blank white mask. Somehow, Naruto felt like winter had come the moment he turned. 'Oh crap, he saw my face!'

Looking through the gaps in the white mask, he could see the disgust and malice in the ninja's eyes. "S-sorry, sir. I'll g-go now!" Turning away from the ninja, Naruto ran away.

'?! I can't move!'

However, before he could take a step, he froze in place. He was scared, sure, but he wasn't so terrified that he couldn't move. '… The ninja is doing it on purpose! I have to get out of here!'

Every cell on his body was screaming for him to run away, but alas, he couldn't move an inch.

"Hmph, want to run away? Not on my watch," as the ninja spoke, Naruto saw him look at the sky through the corner of his eyes. 'Why is he looking up?'

"… He—hehe! It's my lucky day! The ANBU guards are switching shifts!" Then, the man walked toward him.

"Hey, are you scared?" Naruto didn't want to answer that question. He could tell that the ninja was amused by his tone and the way his eyes curved inside the mask. He could almost see the sadistic grin on the ninja's face.

"My… my brother… my younger brother was so scared that night. He watched our parents die while he dodged your claw by a hair's width. Hey, you monster, can you hear me? Do you know what fear feels like?! How it feels to watch your family die in front of you, while you are powerless to save them?!" The ninja grabbed Naruto's jaw and forced him to look directly in his eyes. They were brown, but the malice and hatred inside those eyes made them look darker, like black.

"I know you can hear me, even if you're inside that seal. This… this is my revenge for my brother… You heartless beast, do you know how traumatized my brother was because of you? He cried every second he was awake! He tried to take his life with every chance he got! Do you know how it feels…? How it feels to see the only person left in your life lifeless on the floor, holding a knife that pierced through his heart? DO YOU?!"

Naruto winced. His jaw hurt, his ears hurt, but most of all, his heart hurt. 'I didn't do it! I don't know any of that! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please… forgive me!' He didn't do any of what the ninja said. He didn't even know what most of the ninja said, but he could feel what the man was feeling.

It was a magical thing. He didn't know how it felt to see a loved one die, but after hearing the man, he felt like his heart was about to burst. Slowly, tears escaped from his eyes, as well as from the ninja's white mask.

"I…m… so—rry…!" Naruto could barely say. He didn't know what he was apologizing for, but he was too scared to care.

"Hic—! You're sorry? You're sorry?! If you're sorry… then atone for your sins!"

Suddenly, a kunai flashed in the ninja's hand and he plunged it into Naruto's heart.