IV
The walls are breathing,
They can talk, and the ceiling,
Got lost, stars,
Bouncing off in the deep end…
- Grady, Can You Hear The Moon?
"You're going to train us…to be killers?" I repeated slowly, the confusion apparent between the three of us. Sakura looked a bit peckish at the thought, and Sasuke looked like someone had just told him he'd won the lottery. I shook my head, "How's that any different from what we've already been doing? It's not like you've been training us to be gardeners or something. I mean, D-ranks aside…"
Sasuke snorted, his lips tugging upward for a moment. Sakura hid a smile behind her hand. Kakashi stared at me again, his eye looking at me with vestiges of curiosity- a look I was getting all too used to from him.
It was weird. Minato had only ever gotten to see Kakashi as a kid. Naruto had only ever seen him as an adult. Every time I looked at him now, it was like these two images of the man were blending, and I was forced to reconcile the differences between both.
Of course, I knew now that the eye he covered- what Naruto had only recently found out was a lone Sharingan- was the eye of his former teammate, and Minato's former student, Obito Uchiha. That was also why he was late to basically everything- a little tidbit from Minato's memories.
I felt a surprising amount of buried guilt resurface at the thought. Well, not surprising in terms of the guilt itself (I assumed that made sense, given that Minato trained these kids), but surprising in the fact that it felt so real.
I guess I thought it would be easier to dismiss those feelings; easier to write them off as something Minato felt, not me. I'd like to think I was more Naruto than Minato, but no dice- it was becoming pretty apparent that Minato was as much of a part of me as Naruto was.
And, well, that's where things got the most interesting. Those memories, the feelings I got from the part of me that was Minato- that stuff wasn't all just a one-way street. Through Naruto's point-of-view, the part of me that was Minato got to learn about what he'd been up to lately, too.
Much to my surprise, it kind of looked like Kakashi had gotten less strong than Minato would've expected.
Out of all his students, Kakashi had been the most focused. Not only in terms of ninjutsu, but taijutsu, genjutsu- everything. The kid, not even old enough to legally drink alcohol, aspired of becoming an SS-Rank ninja, dreamt of mastering the Rasengan, adding an elemental component into it, and breaking free of the shackles that the death of his father had placed on him.
Truth be told, that was the main reason I felt so surprised- back when Minato had known him, it was as if Kakashi believed that the only way to outrun the shame he felt from his father, the only way to rise on his laurels and become respected by the village instead of scorned, was to become the absolute strongest ninja he could.
He must've lost his way somewhere. With Minato's years of experience in reading people and Naruto's surprisingly developed emotional sensitivity, I could tell that the man in front of me was a far cry from what he had been on track to become. For better, or for worse.
At the same time, though, I was intrigued by my sensei now. More so than I'd ever been, and that's saying something, because I'm pretty sure I was foaming at the mouth when he pulled out his Sharingan.
On a more general note, I remembered that Kakashi had been fast-tracked through the shinobi process, and even at my age, he'd been stronger than most of the ninja currently left in the village. It helped his credibility as a sensei, something that his, well, teaching had yet to do so far.
Even though we'd more or less been focused on vague concepts like teamwork and all that, I knew that, in the grand scheme of things, I could trust his judgment- and jokes aside, I knew that the man was about to put us through the wringer.
Training by myself was pretty good, don't get me wrong. I'd seen progress the likes of which I'd never seen before in my entire career.
I had memories in my head of a former Hokage- not only that, but a former Hokage who was a jonin-sensei himself. I could understand the theory behind things from all kinds of levels of understanding.
Minato always held onto the belief that you only really ever mastered a concept if you could explain it, in its entirety, to someone who had absolutely no idea what you were talking about. As such, even the most intensive subjects in ninjutsu, things like yin and yang chakra, were boiled down to the absolute basics somewhere in the reaches of my mind.
Not only that, but Minato's mind was a tactical marvel. He could look at a ninja's form and decipher everything he needed to know to end the fight. His physical conditioning allowed him to elevate his body and chakra to a point where he surpassed the benefits that being from a clan would've granted him. Seals, jutsu, math- he'd taken to the concepts like a fish to water, wielding them all together in a combination that likely would've planted him at the top of the list of the strongest ninja to ever live. Hands down.
I guess, though, if there was one glaring weakness in Minato's kit, it was his physical capabilities. Seeing as he wasn't a clan kid or a freak of nature, mostly everything about him was average at first. It's entirely possible that if you put Minato's physique in the hands of another, less-motivated and less-intelligent ninja, they would have been hard-pressed to elevate beyond chunin, or jonin if you wanted to be extra nice.
Naruto- I- was the exact opposite. Thanks to the demon in my gut, my physical gifts had been elevated higher than any fresh genin's should have been. My durability, chakra, everything was on the level of a ninja far older.
Okay, so now you're wondering; where's the problem? You have the theory down, you've seen it applied in your head, and now you have the physical gifts to apply it! What's taking so long? Become Hokage already!
Pipe down! Let's look at an example. If I showed you, I don't know, how to compute the outward flux of a jutsu using Green's Theorem for chakra overflow, would you know how to instantly apply it? Even if you had the theory and physical parts of it down?
No! You wouldn't! You'd need to see it done a few times, do it yourself a few times. Even in this hypothetical example, the missing key, the puzzle piece to solve it all is experience. With the mental and physical down, all you need is experience.
That's kind of where my struggle is, too. Despite knowing the theory behind things, it feels like Naruto and Minato are different enough that not everything Minato felt, or even looked at was the exact same as Naruto.
I mean it! Things, basic things like colors are different, too. When he'd been alive, despite not telling anyone, Minato had one of the worst cases of tritanopia ever- everything was either red or blue to him. I was literally looking at things completely differently.
In more advanced cases, I couldn't really use his jutsu the way he did, I couldn't maximize his elemental affinities the way he had. I couldn't even completely buy into his speed is king mentality. I still had too much of Naruto in me for that. I wanted to hit fast and hard, not either or.
The problem, of course, soon became that I still felt like I needed someone to teach me to unlock my own preferences. Having Minato's memories would, no doubt, speed up the process exponentially, but I still had to find some sort of middle ground to maximize my potential.
And who would be better suited for it than his former student? Assuming he was going to be taking this sensei thing seriously now, being trained by a former prodigy would be the perfect catalyst.
"I've been taking it slower with you guys, though, not exactly on my own accord," Kakashi admitted a moment later, choosing his words carefully. His lips moved under his mask, "We're in a time of peace right now. Each jonin-sensei was instructed to slowly build their teams toward Chunin, not fast-track you guys. Burnout in our profession is a significant problem, and the Hokage would like to mitigate our psychological breaks. The Yamanaka clan is working overtime right now to deal with our compromised ninja."
I nodded at his explanation with a grim look on my face. It made sense that the old man wanted to let us cling to our innocence a bit longer. Noble, even, but ultimately, I found myself disagreeing with his logic.
We're paid to kill; it's our job. The better we are at our job, the stronger opponents we face. Now it's true, we see things, and do things that would cause any average person to eventually go crazy, but most ninja either die or retire before it reaches that point.
Occasionally, though, whether it's due to the death of a teammate, a career-ending injury, or a grisly sight that they just can't shake, a strong enough emotional trigger can cause ninja to snap. Now, it's bad enough when a normal person snaps. I'm sure you've seen plenty of examples of crazy people in your own life; but when a ninja snaps, it's much, much worse.
With the information they know about the state, they become a liability from an information point of view. Any random enemy ninja could simply stroll up and uncover secrets about us. Not only that, but they tend to lash out at just about anyone who unknowingly triggers them- a bad omen for any unlucky civilians. So, when a ninja snaps, you'd probably assume that the utmost priority is getting them back to battle shape.
Well, you'd be wrong; that's just not how the real world works. In truth, it's a lengthy and costly process to fully recover them. The Yamanaka clan charges a hefty fee for that sort of psychological recovery, and the overhead for keeping a ninja restrained in the hospital is so steep you'd be better off setting your money on fire. So, instead of getting back to normal, Konoha tends to just get them back to a stage where they're not actively an issue and then wipes their hands of the problem. Whatever happens next happens.
In severe cases, the real cuckoos find themselves retired from service and sent to a home specifically for psychologically unstable ninja, where strong chunin and toketsbu jonin handle their day-to-day. A messy situation all around.
His statement made me wonder, though. If we were truly in a time of peace, why would so many ninja apparently be blowing up our counseling services? You'd expect there to be less ninja in need of the service, not more.
"Our last mission, though, has made me rethink that logic," Kakashi said, pausing for a moment. He slowly closed his book and placed it back in his belt, "Everyone else is free to do as they please, but I refuse to allow my team to be put in danger like that without proper training. If this is something any of you have an issue with, leave now."
None of us stirred. Kakashi eye-smiled, and rubbed the back of his head, "Ah, good. I was worried I'd scare you off. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, you've already taken your first steps toward becoming stronger ninja. I'm proud."
"How are you going to help us, sensei?" Sakura butted in a moment later. Despite the blank slate I had for her, I couldn't deny that the girl had an insatiable curiosity. Minato's influence found that rather interesting from a teaching perspective. Maybe I could work toward becoming friends and teammates with her, even if I didn't feel any romantic attraction for her anymore.
"Well, I suppose the easiest way to describe it is like this," Kakashi started, grabbing a stick off the ground, and drawing a ladder into the dirt next to us. "This ladder represents your rank as a ninja, let's say."
He scribbled down the kanji for student, genin, chunin, TK jonin, jonin, and ANBU next to the rungs of the ladder.
"Your movement on this ladder depends on three things, and three things only," He filled in three dots. One was to the left of the ladder, one was to the right of the ladder, and the last one was placed at the top. "Your mechanical skills as a ninja, your mentality, and your experience."
"Now, my sweet little students," He flipped the stick and pointed to the dot on the left, "What you're undoubtedly focused on is the mechanical skills. Though you may try to hide it, all fresh genin think this is the fastest way to become stronger. Can anyone tell me why?"
"Because it's the easiest place to see results," I commented after no one else said anything. "It's hard to gauge your mentality, and experience only really comes with time. It's much easier to quantify your progress when you can see it in front of you."
"Naruto," Sakura gaped at me, her mouth hanging open, "How do you know what quantify even means? Last week, you had me sound out the word hamburger."
"I've been reading," I defended lamely as my team turned to look at me. "I found my library card."
"Nonetheless, Naruto is correct," Kakashi interrupted, sensing some tension start to build. He shifted the stick back to the bottom of the ladder, "The truth, however, is that you must proportionately grow all of these aspects of your skillset as a ninja."
"Even if your mechanical skills are jonin-level," He drew a line on the left side, "If everything else remains the same, you won't be selected for a promotion."
"What if your mechanical skills and mentality are there, but not your experience?" Sasuke questioned softly. "That kind of system is biased toward newer ninja."
"Perhaps," Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "But, to answer your question, you will still remain limited. Experience is an underrated part of being a ninja, Sasuke. While the higher-ups may think it prudent to elevate you to chunin, or maybe even a special jonin, you won't get to advance any further. On the off chance you do, your lack of experience will likely result in serious injury or death."
The wind blew a little harder, and a flurry of leaves started cycling around the training ground. I scratched my ear as I asked, "So, you're going to help us advance on those three principles?"
"I am. Separately, we'll work on advancing your personal skillsets, but together, we'll shift the focus to merging everyone's skillsets together," Kakashi held up a ram sign, and two clones sprang into existence behind him, "Today, I want to get a good idea on where everyone is. Sakura, Sasuke, please follow my clones to different parts of the ground. Naruto, you're with me."
As my teammates were led away by the Kakashi-clones, the real Kakashi turned to face me, "Alright, Naruto. I want you to come at me with the intent to kill."
I nodded- if he wanted to gauge where I was at, this would be the easiest way. There was also the added benefit that, if I impressed him enough, he'd be willing to teach me even more stuff. Maybe, in an ironic twist of fate, I could end up as his apprentice down the road.
Two shadow clones soundlessly appeared next to me. Unlike before, when I used to spawn hundreds of clones mid-combat, I'd begun to prefer using a handful.
For brute force purposes, yeah, a ton of clones can be helpful, but in a real battle, sticking under ten is probably for the best.
I mean, I'm splitting my consciousness and chakra to create these things. Not only is it more advantageous to keep that sort of stuff limited, it's also much better from a cohesiveness point of view.
Trying to wrangle fifty versions of you into doing the same thing isn't the easiest thing. Especially if you have some predefined plan you have to stick to.
Minato theorized that if you specifically trained your mind to handle shadow clone strategies, it could work. All you really had to do was assign tasks ahead of time. Simple, but its applications are limitless.
Let's start with the main clone- the original. Me. I'm basically the starter- when I create clones, I pick whatever plan I want to execute.
The first clone that spawns makes a judgment call based on what it sees- maybe something I thought I saw was wrong, or maybe it sees a better move from its point of view. It signals back to me using the jutsu's capabilities- if it stays, my plan is good. If it dismisses, I need to rethink it.
The second clone keeps in mind what the second one did. If it stays, we keep going. If it poofs out, it executes a substitution with me, and, mid-substitution, I make a third clone, and the original third clone takes on the role of the second one.
As you can imagine, with more than five clones, that would get horribly confusing.
My sandals bit into the ground as I exploded toward Kakashi, my clones trailing behind me. My first clone sped up a bit, sprinting out in front of us and jumping into the air.
POOF!
He dissolved into smoke.
Without even glancing at my second clone, we switched places in bursts of smoke, right as I spawned in another clone.
The third clone exploded out of the smoke, barreling toward Kakashi with a kunai primed and ready.
I backflipped out of the smoke, blurring through hand signs as fast as I could.
Tiger. Hare. Dragon.
Wind rumbled to life around me, swirling in and out of my hands and around my body. Chakra leaked out of my body, arcing and smashing together into pink petals.
Fūton: Hanachiri Mai (Wind Release: Flower Scattering Dance)!
My clone raced underneath me, flashing through hand signs of his own. We made eye contact and he nodded. I grinned to myself- Kakashi had no idea what was coming next.
A roar echoed throughout the training ground as a tornado of pink petals exploded forward from my body, arcing toward Kakashi, whose eyes widened. He jumped backward as my clone spun out from underneath the tornado, igniting it with a fireball.
Tsūsutairu: Hanabira dai bakuhatsu (Two Style: Great Petal Explosion)!
AN: Ha! Sorry for the super-late update on this. I just get too focused on my other story. Sometimes I forget about this one (oops)! Thanks to everyone who's still here, though, and I appreciate your support. Also sorry for the cliffhanger but the chapter was getting long...anyway!
Merry Christmas.
LightningStrife: Yeah, I definitely try my best to keep the characters as, well, people, and not shoehorn them into fanon tropes. I've read a decent bit of Naruto fanfiction by now, and those tropes all annoy me to no end.
Plus, given the nature of this story, I'm in a position to put a new spin on a lot of things so I'd be mad if I didn't. I'd like to execute a LeafTemari as well, but we'll certainly cross that bridge when we get there.
Hana could be good. I don't trust myself enough to write an OC in this fandom, though, so probably not that.
You made some very good points about Sakura and Kakashi. I took that a bit more into account in this chapter, so thanks! I'll need to get back into my Naruto-writing groove, so please forgive me if this chapter isn't the best. See you soon!