It feels good to be able to write again; between work, gym, Cyberpunk RED, and trying to maintain a healthy social life, I haven't had as much of a chance to churn out the ideas I've had buzzing in my head. However, now that I'm able to sit down and put fingers to keyboard, it's time to get to work.
To start everything off, I want to thank all the people who clicked the Favorite and Follow buttons; hell, I want to thank anybody that even read the chapter, let alone decided that it was good enough to keep tabs on.
That said, now that I've had time to sift through the ideas I felt were good or bad, plausible or ridiculous, I've come to a point that I do want to paint a clearer picture for everybody regarding the story. As I said, I do intend to keep the overall tone of the original Naruto series - for the time being, that is - while mixing in a bit of realism and balance, and dedication to the original lore. I will be dealing with a lot of the power scaling and bringing in stories with side characters, in an effort to actually explore their stories and involve them within Naruto's growth a bit deeper than in canon, but also give more impact to seeing the fruits of their training as the years progress. The timeline may end up expanding a bit; what was essentially four years will be stretched out to perhaps six, maybe even seven or eight years.
I have to go back and study the points of conflict between the Akatsuki and Orochimaru's plans.
It never made sense to me that years of training was essentially turned to nothing, when characters were unlocking literal god ability after god ability within the span of a few nights. The powers themselves I love and adore, but the time frame is just…ridiculous at time, and by the end of it, the world ultimately falls into the hands of one or two saviors as most, with everybody else quietly taking the role of cheerleaders.
No plans on pairings just yet, really. I actually want to leave that up to you guys; who would you see as the most plausible fit for a more reasonable Naruto? Same energy, still the Shounen protagonist that he is for the time being, of course.
With that said and done, onto the chapter itself!
Trudging along a sandy bank that oversaw the body of water extending beyond his view, Naruto grunted as he slung a small bag over his shoulder, his feet sweeping across the soft earth beneath them. Clenching much tighter onto the thin ropes that held the mouth shut, the young Genin closed his eyes and came to a stop as he shook his head.
Doubted clouded his mind, and where he initially found purpose and motivation, he now felt questions arising - why in the hell was he even going to this girl for training? What in the world made him believe that she could actually help him grow as a shinobi? Hatake Kakashi was a Jonin within the rank of Konoha, so wouldn't he know more than a girl who abandoned her village?
Well, then again what good does that experience do if the lazy ass is always spending his time reading his perverted novels?
The thought didn't come with any particularly ill will, save for the frustration that Naruto felt for the lack of involvement on Kakashi's part. Sure, he could see the point in teaching them to form their own solutions, but when all you had was 'Focus chakra on your feet,' to go by, you were prone to mess up. Or, at least, he was prone to mess up a lot - and that was what annoyed him the most. He hated making mistakes and falling behind, but it wasn't as if anybody really ever bothered to help him - though, if he really wanted to be honest, he might not have always been the best listener.
No, but wait, it wasn't like the academy had ever really gone over anything interesting - it was always world history or politics, science and math, just useless things he couldn't have been bothered with.
"Are you always this distracted?" asked a voice directly behind him, stunning him. The shock alone causing Naruto to let out a sharp yelp, his voice cracking under the abrupt strain as he lunged forward in an attempt to create some distance from the unexpected intruder. Stubbing the toe of his sandals into the ground, however, Naruto fumbled onto his hands and knees, dropping his bag of spare clothes across the sandy bank. "It seems my question has been answered with a resounding demonstration," commented the voice, the sound of feet passing him by as he struggled to stand up.
Once he managed it, however, he shot the girl - Konan - a deep glare.
She was hardly bothered to even acknowledge, though, instead choosing to fold her arms as she tucked a small cup of ramen noodles into her cloak, giving him nothing more than a quick passing glance.
"Do you not have anything else to wear?" she asked blankly, though he only offered a scowl.
"I like orange - it's an amazing color," he scoffed. Konan, to her own credit, didn't snap at his attitude, though her eyes did narrow ever so slightly. "So screw you," he finished.
Immediately, he raised his hands defensively, awaiting the usual smack he expected from other people, like Sakura or even Iruka.
It never came, however.
"It's also a welcome sign to anybody who is looking for you - I spotted you from across the riverbank just by the sheer contrast of your clothing," she rebutted, before shaking her head. "If you insist on wearing that hideous color, make the effort to minimize it, so that the enemy doesn't spot you so easily. Try adding shades of black or gray, perhaps express the color through a sash or an undershirt. Something that does not scream your location and identity," she added, catching the blonde off guard.
After a moment of silence, Konan arched an eyebrow. Naruto blinked in surprise once more, but managed to catch his lapse in thought.
"I…wait, that's it? No yelling or screaming?" he asked, earning a barely audible sigh from the azure-haired girl. Honestly, it was quiet, he wasn't sure it hadn't been a figment of his imagination.
"After your display yesterday, I hardly find it productive to resort to corporal punishment - and I am not a child, I don't need to shriek to get my point across," she answered him, before cocking her head as if to signal for him to carry on. "Any other questions you'd like to ask?"
"N-no, no, I just…huh, I guess I didn't expect you to be this relaxed or upfront…"
"I like efficiency, why waste a minute getting to something I could have covered in ten seconds? As for your opinion of my attitude - don't confuse stoicism for a lax personality. You will do as I say, when I say, how I say, and nothing more nothing less, understood? I clearly don't have time to to take it easy on you with training, but I can see there are certain lessons that would be meaningless as they're currently beyond your skill level. We'll have to find that middle ground, where there is enough challenge that you will get every little inch of progress you can manage to make over the next week or so," she replied. Naruto immediately nodded and allowed a large grin to spread across his face as he crossed his arms behind his head.
She wasn't mindlessly beating him, shrieking like a banshee at him, and she intended to get right into training? This was everything he had ever wanted!
It was such a tragedy, to know that one so young was in such a state of despair - how could a protagonist insist on living in a cruel world where he could win the hearts of any and all women, yet never reach out to the one who mattered? It made such a heart wrenching tale of star crossed lovers that the-
Oh, wait, hold on, is that how that position works? But what does the woman do if he cu-
"Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, her green eyes pointing off towards the masked figure, his lone eye lazily swiping the pages of his erotica-romance novel. With a soft hum of acknowledgement, the silver-haired Jonin offered his lone female student a look of appraisal, before waving a hand for her to continue.
"Yes?"
"Naruto hasn't shown back up yet - it's almost lunch time, don't you think it's a bit odd? Even Sasuke-kun came in to grab some food," she asked him, earning a small shrug.
"Did you pick up the small ramen up on his bed from last night?" he asked her, earning the young kunoichi's curiosity.
"I…there was no ramen cup on his bed, Kakashi-sensei, and I haven't entered his room at all during our stay here," she replied hesitantly. Kakashi nodded softly and returned to reading his book.
"Then I'm sure he's fine. I left it for him as a snack, in case he left in a rush…which it seems he did," he explained, drawing a look of realization and understanding from Sakura. Taking advantage of the moment, Kakashi offered the pinkette a bit of advice. "It's good that you care about Sasuke so much, however, don't let your thoughts blind you to the fact that you have a third teammate, regardless of how stubborn he can be. After all, one of the most important things to being a shinobi is-"
"-learning to look after yourself, because even the best people can't be around forever," commented Konan. Naruto scratched his head, however, and gave her a quizzical expression - his brow furrowing in thought and protest. "Kindness and compassion can only carry you so far, and if you allow it to hold you up each time you come across difficult times, you will never learn how to deal with life's tragedies the day you do happen to find yourself alone, even if only for a day or a week or a month."
"That…seems kind of cold, don't you think?"
"It's only cold if you view it that way - everything in this world is no more than what we decide to make of it," replied Konan. "The way I see these lessons, you're learning to deal with the loneliness, so if you ever happen to lose somebody close to you, you can stand strong. Even our dearest loved ones cannot be everywhere; you may find yourself alone one day, and then what will you do?" she asked him.
Naruto gave no response, but seemed to slowly take it all in.
Learn to deal with the loneliness…how many times had he felt saddened by the fact that he didn't have the family that the other kids had? How many times did he sit by himself until the evening hours? If Konan could teach him to move past that pain, to not hurt as much…wouldn't it make life feel so much better?
It had taken the better part of the last two hours for her to convince him to sit down and begin a discussion prior to training commencing, but as he sat in place and listened to her expand on a few key subjects, he was starting to see just what he could gain from her. Each time she asked him a question as to what he could do, she would analyze him - not just the response, but the way he said and acted. If he got too uppity, she quickly settled him down with a few choice words. There was no shouting or slapping, no ominous threats or even a reprimand - just a simple warning for him to act his age. Honestly, he liked it - it made him feel like he was being taken seriously.
But he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't getting excited for their training to begin - the longer they talked, the more he could feel his leg want to bounce, or his hand begin to move on its own accord. He felt like a walking ball of energy.
If Konan can make these conversations actually bearable, I can't wait to see what she does with the lessons!
As if sensing his growing excitement, however, Konan quickly followed up on her statement.
"Settle down - I don't need you exploding with hyperactivity and ignoring what I have to say. If you want to succeed as a shinobi, you have far too much to learn," she chastised him. Naruto nodded and forced his legs to calm down, though his eyes betrayed every bit of anticipation. "Now, let us go back to the beginning - what all do you know? What were you taught thus far, and what have you practiced?" she asked.
Thinking for a moment, Naruto crossed his arms and legs, closing his eyes in thought - what all had he learned exactly?
"I mean, nothing much? Nothing cool, really, the academy mostly taught us boring stuff like history and culture, math and science, just things I never really liked. We only ever did the basic things when it came to Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. They had us all perform the Henge no Jutsu as well as learning to control chakra," he responded.
Konan leaned back a bit and shot him an unreadable look, before she nodded with a bit of a disappointed frown.
"I was hoping for more than that from a world power, but it seems they focus much more on the politics and academia than actual combat," she responded, though a soft hum followed soon after. "I suppose when your village has very few dangers to face on a mass scale, you don't have to put as much emphasis on raising troops. Konoha does have a vast array of funding from their shinobi, anyhow, so it does make sense that they could use more diplomacy from their future generations," she continued, breaking down her own analysis of the situation.
"Yeah, but none of that is really cool - I want to be able to kick some ass and never lose a fight! There's a lot of cool jutsu out, and that's the type of stuff I want to get involved in - you can't become Hokage just by talking, you need to be strong, too!" he cut in, causing the azure-haired teen to shoot him a much heavier scowl. It was enough to quiet the boy down immediately, though she didn't anything after that.
Not immediately, at least - it took her a few minutes to finally speak up, though, when she did, she pointed to the cool waters of the seas bank several meters away.
"You will have to learn patience - I'm not going to repeat myself every single day. A Kage is a leader, and a proper leader is more than a mindless brute that used only force to intimidate those around them," she admonished him. "You'll be learning your first lesson today - since you know how to walk along the trees with chakra control, I will be teaching you how to walk on water next."
Naruto immediately opened his mouth in protest, but halted himself as he sucked in a deep breath - thinking to what Konan had just said about patience, he closed his mouth and leaned back as he bit the inside of his lip. He needed to calm down; she claimed that she would train him, so that had to mean that there was a purpose behind water-walking, right? It couldn't have been the same thing as what Kakashi had taught them with trees, otherwise Konan wouldn't have planned for it.
So, Naruto did the one thing he hated doing in the Academy - raising his hand to ask a question.
Arching an eyebrow, Konan gave a curious cock of her head.
"This is not school - if you have a question, save precious seconds and simply ask it if nobody else is speaking," she instructed him. Nodding Naruto lowered his hand.
"So, what's the difference between tree-walking and water-walking?"
It wasn't an entirely bad question, presuming that he had only just learned something as fundamental as tree climbing.
"The fluidity of the water, even when it is still, makes it ever more difficult to match the correct level of chakra you must constantly channel - rather than focusing it evenly across your feet, you have to account for the ripples that form beneath the soles of your sandals. While they may seem small and insignificant, they still form an imbalance in the water surface - it's even more difficult when the water is moving," she answered him. Naruto let out a huff of surprise and understanding, before the slow dawning of realization struck his face.
"Oh, that's why you had me bring an extra set of clothes - if I fail to focus my chakra correctly, I'll end up falling into the water and drenching my current uniform?" he asked, though Konan shook her head, much to his dismay.
"No, not at all, your clothes will mostly stay dry. You will wear only your trousers when attempting this exercise,"
"Then why bring the extra set?"
"Because you will not be going back to your team until you have finished your training - and I don't want your fabrics forming a stench from the constant sweat and humidity, after the second or third day, you will switch to the fresh set of clothes. By the time we finish a week from now, you should be much more improved and I will not be dealing with any lingering body odor on your clothes," she explained. Naruto opened his mouth to argue back, but quietly closed it as he furrowed his brow in thought. "Now, get in the water - remember to try and focus your chakra before you step into the shallow end," Konan continued, folding her arms.
Well, she wasn't entirely wrong…it would be better to not have to wear the same musty clothes for a week.
"Are you going to turn around? Or should I go behind a tree or something?" he asked.
"No, now undress and hurry it up," she replied, causing the blonde to stare at her with clear disbelief.
"You can't expect me to change in front of a girl! That's weird!" he pointed out, though Konan shook her head.
"This is training; do you want to improve or not? I'm not going to waste even a single minute waiting for you to find the right tree," she responded, before adding to it. "You're going to be a shinobi - it's one thing to be indecent in the public eye, it is another to be pointlessly dogmatic on social etiquette in a situation where manners hardly matter. As the old saying goes, there is a time and place for everything - learn when to be civil and when to stop being so," she explained. Naruto nodded quietly.
There was a time and place for everything…
It hardly took a minute to shed his jacket, shirt and pants. However, as Naruto set his sandals down by the shoreline, he let a small gasp when a shiver ran down his spine, causing his skin to break out in goosebumps. Not wanting to seem weak in front of Konan, however, he pushed past it and formed the signature Ram seal with his hands, the tips of his toes just barely edging the waterline by a few inches. With a single deep breath, he poured the stable stream of chakra into his soles and took one step forward.
And it connected rather well; he could feel the water running gently beneath his feet, though it still felt otherwise solid. It was almost like standing above a shallow little stream of rainwater in the streets of Konoha - nothing but strong ground underneath the thin wet surface.
"Hey! This is easy! This is ea-"
SPLASH!
"Da-damn it!" shouted Naruto, gulping for air as he jumped out of the water, his teeth chattering as he wrapped his arms around his torso. It was all going fine, yet as soon as he'd begun to crouch down to jump in celebration, the water gave way and he'd taken an abrupt and unexpected plunge into the cold sea. What rally put in a bad mood, however, was that he'd half expected to hear Sasuke to make a snide comment or Sakura to point out his mistake and flaw, but was surprised when he heard Konan's voice simply call out to him.
"You got distracted - you went to celebrate your first step and ended up losing focus. The ability to walk on water may be a basic concept in the grand picture of being a shinobi, but it is not something you master in your very first attempt. It will take countless days and weeks of practicing it before it becomes second nature - even then, you will eventually slip up," she explained, earning a look of disappointment. Already knowing what the blonde was likely to say, however, Konan shook her head. "You will never get a technique perfectly - the best that any shinobi can do is practice and refine their techniques each day, so that the conditions for making a mistake get narrower and narrower with each day. There is a reason for why shinobi at the highest caliber largely win by only one of three ways; with unmatched technical precision, sheer overwhelming force, or a brutal battle of attrition."
"Attr-what?" asked Naruto, following her with rapt attention until the very final word.
"...endurance, anything that slowly drains at your resources, energy, chakra, or strength."
"Oh, okay…attrition, huh," he replied, letting the word sit in his mouth for a minute. Ultimately nodding, however, Naruto took in another deep breath and walked back out to the shoreline, focusing his chakra as he turned back around and began to pace onto the water. He managed to make it a dozen steps or so, before he turned around to face Konan - his eyes shining brightly, though they continually flickered back down to his feet. He'd learned his lesson after she'd explained it; if he was going to talk or do anything other than focus his chakra, he'd have to learn to multitask without getting distracted. "Konan-sensei! How's this look!" he shouted.
The boy was a bit too loud for her personal taste, but he was arguably one of the most eager learners she'd ever seen; perhaps even the most eager one, since Yahiko first trained with her and Nagato under Jiraiya. With a shake of her head, though, she stood back and watched as the boy fell into the water, only to stand back up and try again. At each attempt, though, she noted he was continually getting a few steps further and further - occasionally he'd reach a plateau, but than after a dozen more attempts, he'd break through and get further along.
"Naruto," she called out, drawing the blonde's gaze as he stood several meters into the calm sea.
"Yeah?"
"Do you happen to know any Bunshin-based techniques?" she asked.
"Oh! Yeah!" he grinned, flashing her a wide and proud smile. "I can do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he answered, giving her a thumbs up. She furrowed a brow and said nothing, instead giving a curious look. After a moment, however, she simply nodded and held up a lone finger for him to see. "Form a single Kage Bunshin, and have them chase you across the water. You have the bare basics down for water walking, but now I want you to try and maintain focus while you're forced on the defensive - you'll be doing this for the rest of today and tomorrow. After that, if you're feeling like you're honed it enough, we'll take a look at your actual taijutsu skills," she informed him.
Letting out a yelp of excitement, the blonde gave her an even bigger smile.
"When will we cover ninjutsu!? What crazy techniques will you show me!?" he asked her, though she simply offered an arched eyebrow in response.
"I doubt you will be here long enough to cover any particular jutsu; that is why I am covering the fundamentals, instead," she answered pointedly. It caught the blonde by surprise, but with a sigh of defeat he nodded slowly. "You seem disappointed," she stated.
Naruto nodded quietly.
"Yeah, I was hoping we could cover more…you're definitely a bigger help than the others have been so far," he murmured, though Konan scowl softly.
"Speak properly; if you're going to say something, let the world hear you," she snapped at him. Naruto shot her a glare, but ultiimately nodded in agreement.
"I thought we would have more time to cover - you've helped me more than the others have in the last two days," he repeated. Konan relaxed a bit and shook her head.
"What did I tell you today? About relying on others?"
"...that even the best people can't be around forever?"
"And what else?"
"That I should learn to stand on my own two feet - that if I want to become Hokage, I need to form my own plan and my own path?" he answered, though only half-confidently. Konan nodded, however, and pointed back to the water.
"If you take my lessons to heart and actually learn from them, you'll learn where you need to improve and how to do so. Whether I'm there to teach you or not, should never matter - you should be able to improve upon the lessons I hand you, if not outright surpass them by leaps and bounds," she informed him, before looking away. "Learn to stand on your own two feet, and not rely too much on others. It is one thing to have loved ones, and another to be a child latching onto their mother's hand even in adulthood," she finished.