A/N:

If you read chapter 3 of this on Sunday last week between like twelve and four or you haven't seen the chapter note at the start please read it and read the end of the chapter. Please don't spoil the story if you did see the original.

I'm severely cutting down the Narrator POV. After reading the last chapter and disliking how it felt I have decided to cut down on that aspect. In general I didn't really like chapter 3 in the entirety. Though that might be author bias as I'm writing this note on the day chapter 3 was released.

It's me from when the chapter is coming out. I would say sorry for the late update but i won't. Why? This wasn't a me issue. I was like three hundred words away from the chapter ending on Friday but I accidentally deleted the entire chapter except for 900 words. I mean the chapter is better because of it but it's still annoying.

So the other updates that are happening today is just me going back, ironing the spelling issues and not giving out my plot at the end of chapters. I as the author shouldn't give you information, that's the story's purpose. So you guys are going to have to see my plot the hard way.

Naruto was frustrated. You would think that having over six years of experience in chakra would make this training easier. No it didn't and that was annoying. It was actually detrimental. It wasn't that his chakra was actually earth and/or water. It was a mental thing. When someone had great elemental affinity like he did they're chakra would feel like the element. It wasn't actually like that. Chakra was chakra. It didn't come as an element it was transformed into the element by the shinobi.

His problem? His chakra felt like it was being stopped by his own chakra. Like rocks stopping water from passing and the rocks being too connected to the walls to move either. They were rocks though and some water seeped out. Not enough to use jutsu but enough that Naruto had a slight passive increase in strength that chakra gave you.

Why this was happening? It was usually trauma rearing its head and making itself known. He was pretty sure that he knew what it was. The death of his friends. Why couldn't he just get over that? Everywhere it kept popping up and forcing Naruto to remember what he was desperately trying to forget.

He decided to focus on something else. He looked at Persea who was training close to him. Normally it took a few days to get academy students to the level of being able to manipulate their own chakra. After a month he still hadn't gotten to that level. Do you know how embarrassing that was? Persea had mastered it and moved on to basic chakra control and augmenting your strength with chakra.

That was at least the second year of the academy stuff. Granted she'd skipped the sneaking and basic introduction to genjutsu, sealing and medical ninjutsu and other stuff like that but compared to Naruto, who was stuck on moving the chakra, it was aggravating.

He couldn't help but feel jealous. The feeling you get when you see a kid doing what you can't at half your age. It didn't help that his mother was spending more time teaching Persea then him. Which made sense in context, there wasn't much she could do but tell him to meditate, but it was still frustrating. He hadn't forgiven her but she was still his mother and he still liked attention.

"Argh!" he yelled after failing again. He grabbed his hair and pulled at it. Persea jumped at the sudden movement and the leaf she was attempting to stick to her head fell off and landed at her feet.

He growled and got on his feet. He moved towards the door. He didn't know where he was going except from just here. He was done.

Don't get him wrong; he wasn't giving up. He was goddamn Naruto Natit nèe Uzumaki. Does nèe work in this case? No? Either way he was Naruto. He just didn't give up. He was just getting away from Persea and her successful endeavors.

"Where are you going?" his mother asked, across the room. Persea's mother wasn't around. She only came around on Sundays and to drop and pick up Persea. He didn't respond to his mother and continued towards the door. Just before he opened the door it opened, almost hitting Naruto in the face. Speak of the devil, he thought.

Sally was standing there in her work uniform. She carried a box of donuts on her arm and a purse in the other. Ever since they started training Sally would bring them baked goods from her house every Saturday, packaged in these cute pink boxes, spare boxes from her workplace. She would bring them as a thank you for taking care of Persea.

Naruto's mom would pick them both after school. Then Persea's mother would come at around evening and pick up Persea. The one day she had off she spent here. Her and Naruto's mother would chat for hours and that would usually result in a sleepover. Sally and Persea even had they're own rooms because of how many times it's happened.

"Hi Naruto. How are you?" Sally asked. "Fine," he grumbled. He had no way of passing her so stepped back so he wasn't in her space. Persea literally bounced to her mother. "Mom! You should have seen me today. I made these leaves stick to my head. Look!" she said and stuck a leaf to her palm and pointed it to the floor to show the stickiness.

Sally ruffled her hair. "Amazing, Persis." She looked at Naruto's mom. "Hare. Thank you again."

"It's no problem," she said, waving her hand. Naruto watched the interaction quietly, waiting for Sally to move so he could go and brood. He never thought those words would ever pop into his brain but here he was. Sally presented the box to her daughter and instructed her to take it downstairs. His mom looked towards him and he understood the message.

Follow her and don't allow her to eat any of them.

He sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was to talk to Persea. So he devised a plan. He would stand a few steps behind her and avoid her. His plans worked at first. Persea walked ahead for a few steps then stopped, waiting for him but he stopped before he could catch up. She looked at him puzzled but moved again after an awkward amount of time.

She reached the staircase and stopped there again and made a movement to indicate he should catch up. He stayed at the same place though. Persea pursed her lips and started scaling down the stairs. At first he'd done it for the sake of keeping conversation at the minimum but a part of him was doing it as an act of rebelliousness. Or maybe petty. Whichever one you prefer.

Persea seemed to get this and went all the way to the second floor. They walked pass the midnight living room as he and his mom had dubbed it. It was a room that was reminiscent of the downstairs but with no window and a bigger television. There was also the addition of a kitchenette that held nothing but snacks for enjoying while watching movies.

They weren't eating here though. His mother encouraged them to get at least some Vitamin D by making them eat by the veranda-greenhouse area.

When they reached the beginning of the second set of stairs leading to the bottom floor Persea stepped aside and pointedly looked at him to go ahead. He wasn't going to fall that easy though and just looked at her weirdly. Her eyes shone with mischief and intelligence. She slowly started opening the box of doughnuts. "Uh. You shouldn't eat those now." he said, somewhat upset she'd forced him to talk. Persea made no indication of hearing him and continued opening the box.

He narrowed his eyes. Persea once again pointedly looked at him, motioning her head towards the stairs. He groaned. This situation was so bizarre. He walked ahead and she immediately stopped trying to get a doughnut. He decided that he wasn't going to be the only person to lose and motioned for her to give the doughnuts. She relented after a long stare down and handed the box. He smiled mischievously and started walking down the stairs.

He tried to make sure that there was a bit of space still between them. Persea wasn't someone to take this quietly and sped up. He sped up too in response. They did this for a few seconds but they were limited amount of stair space. Persea noticed that before he did. She leaped up over him and landed on the stair he was about to step on to. She wobbled from inexperience and used his body as assistance to stay upright.

He had the courtesy to wait for her to get her balance before moving to go up the stairs, completely forgetting why he came here. Persea stopped him by holding his arm. He yanked to get it loose but Persea gripped harder and climbed the stair he was standing on, putting them a hair's breath away from each other. Naruto took the moment to compare there height. He won thankfully. He was tired of being shorter than everyone his age. Physical age obviously.

"What did I do?" Persea asked. Naruto tried taking a step back but Persea's hands held him in place. He decided to reply to her comment.

"You? Nothing." he said genuinely. He wasn't exactly frustrated at Persea. Jealous maybe but he wasn't upset at her. It wouldn't be fair to her to blame her for being good. He just didn't want to talk right now. "So.. You're mad at something else- someone else? Are you still mad at your mom?"

Yes but that's not what was making him upset right now.

He once again tried to manoeuvre his chakra but his mind took the earth component of it too seriously again or in other words; his trauma kicked him in the face again. How rude don't you think? The audacity.

"It's nothing Persea," he said a bit touched by her concern. Persea didn't stop with her concern. "Are you sure?" she asked. Naruto smiled, hopefully reassuringly. Naruto saw the concern melt off. He almost let out a shout of joy. The small victories were what mattered. Persea's expression turned pensive and she looked at the ground, rubbing and twirling the non-existent moustache on her chin . Apprehension immediately filled him. He didn't want a repeat of the curry incident. The need to not be caught surprised overweighed the fear of knowing Persea's next idea. "What are you thinking?"

Persea's gaze broke from the floor and looked up to look at him. Her hands stopped twirling and her posture froze as if she was remembering he was in the room. Her eyes twinkled with inspiration. A small slowly made a way across her face as she got more invested in her idea. "I have an idea," she said after about twenty seconds. Naruto bit down on the disrespect he was going to present to a child.

"My mom says that when I'm upset I should take out my anger by doing something that drains you of your energy. Like a workout and that kinda stuff."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I already told you Persea. It's nothing-"

"Hear me out," she interrupted. Naruto rolled his eyes again but did as she asked. "You have a lot of energy, right?" she asked but didn't give him the time to answer. "But you don't have full access to your chakra?"

"What is your point?" he asked, getting a bit frustrated. He knew these things. He didn't need to be reminded.

"I'm getting to that. I have access to my chakra and so I'm stronger than you."

Naruto took a deep breath to try to compose himself and failed miserably. "So?" he asked, through gritted teeth. Persea didn't seem to notice his frustration and continued on unabashed, "So fighting me will be dis.. disadvan.. well bad for you," she stumbled out. Naruto's eyes widened in understanding. "So you'll have to spend your energy trying to beat me. A workout, if I do so say myself."

Naruto looked at her, stunned. It was crazy, he was basically being told he was going to be beaten up for his sake. You know what was crazier? He was interested. A spar would be horrible but it would be something to do. He remembered one of those quotes that Pervy Sage would spout out, like it made him sound wise. Insight comes through action or something like that. An excited smile made its way across his face. Maybe it was a side effect of having the Kyuubi in him but he's always loved fighting. Not causing harm to someone, he didn't care for that. It didn't matter if it was a friendly spar or a fight to the death if it was fighting he would enjoy it.

Persea cracked her knuckles across from him. She was in her training outfit, they both had unlimited amounts of them. She had on a excited grin, probably from the chance to beat him up. His mother walked up to the both of them. She was sighing and rubbing her sinuses. "Okay. You two have the house. Don't break anything and don't kill each other."

Naruto was done trying to understand adults. Like, why would you ever allow your children to have an unregulated spar? Persea's strength and his Kyuubi wasn't a match they wanted. Nonetheless they were being left alone for their spar with even the harpy cleaner being let off the day.

Sally gave Persea a goodbye kiss to her forehead and walked out of the door. His mother kneeled to his level and opened her arms, looking hopeful. He didn't leap into them as he usually would do and looked at her blankly. Her expression shifted and she was the one who jumped towards him and engulfed him in a mighty hug. His hands twitched to wrap around her but he was strong in his hold of them. "I'm sorry," she whispered. He made no indication of hearing her.

She stood up, brushed off the dust on her clothes, gave him a courteous nod. "Chao," she whispered, hoarsely. Naruto watched her back as she walked from the room. "Now shall we do this?" he asked Persea, who was also looking where his mother had gone. She turned to him with a troubled expression. "Yeah," she said, anyway.

She took a big sigh and stepped one leg back and brought her fists up to her chest, left hand in front of right. Her posture was off and her thumb was in her fists. Classic mistakes. She was his opponent so he neglected to inform her of the issues in her stance. He got into his own stance. It was unpolished, he hadn't used it in four years at least. He wasn't too big on stances too, going for a more classic street brawl look. Which could be anything from a wrestling stance to hands at the pockets.

He decided for the former. The training outfits didn't have pockets you see. There was the slight reason that he didn't want to piss of Persea. The one with enough strength to kick a ball across a massive Kindergarten. Yes, a very slight reason.

Persea and Naruto looked at each other from across the room. They both sucked in a deep breath of air and charged towards each other. They clashed right at the middle of the room. Forearm against forearm.

Naruto immediately regretted doing that. His right forearm exploded into agony, he heard a crack that was definitely from him. He was the one to disengage first and jumped back towards where he came. Persea kept herself attached to him and followed him. She met him while he was still in the air. She threw a kick at his chest from the right. He reflexively tried to bring up his arm but it stayed to his side.

The kick hit him just on the joint of his elbow. He felt the pain increase to unbearable and saw his arm go to a side it was not supposed to face. The kick sent him flying to the other side of the room. He rolled, each time he tried to avoid aggravating his right arm. He stopped just before the wall. He took that moment to lean on the wall and nurse his arm. A little whine escaped his lips, too focused on the pain to scream.

He gripped just above his wrist but below his elbow. He took a deep breath and exhaled it out. Then again. He yanked his arm. A scream tore through his throat. He focused on the task at hand. He pulled his arm and positioned it back towards where it was supposed to face and let go. Naruto let out another scream and made an effort to stop himself from crying. A few tears did escape though.

Persea rushed over to him. "Oh my God! Are you okay? I'm so sorry" she asked, kneeling next to him. Naruto chuckled, though in his state it didn't sound too good. "Good hit," he said. Persea gaped at him. She then smiled incredulously. A little chuckle escaped her mouth, then a few more before a full blown laughter was erupting from her throat. It was an ugly little thing but Naruto didn't notice. Too caught up in praising himself.

A bit of vile chakra was being manoeuvred to his arm. He felt the pain ebb away until all was left was the phantom feeling. He flexed the arm and when no pain came he grinned. "Okay! I'm all healed up. You ready to go again?" he asked. Persea stopped dying on the floor and turned to him in complete awe. "Whoa," she said, marvelling at his healed arm. He hoped seeing him healed would resolve the trauma that would definitely spring up if a four year old broke someone's arm. Hopefully it didn't make her think that was would happen if you did it to someone else.

"Are you sure?"

"About? If you're asking if I'm fine. I am."

"No, no. I trust you. You wouldn't lie to me about that." He didn't know why that warmed his heart. "But I'm worried that I might hurt you again. I can't really control my strength. It's zero or hundred for me. Not that I want it to be! I'm just.. yeah."

"Trust me, Persea. I wouldn't lie to you about this. I want to fight you." He relished in how weird that sounded. Persea smiled at his first statement but it turned determined at the last. She smiled up at him.

"Ready to get your butt whooped?"

"In your dreams," he challenged. Her smile grew wider and his did too. She planted another one of her Persea friendship kisses to his forehead and jumped back, scaling the entire room. Naruto stood up and eased back into his stance. On the other side Persea did the same. They both sucked in a deep breath and charged at each other.

See you next week!