Groggy eyes open only to be blinded by the bright and unforgiving light radiating from the buzzing yet lifeless fluorescent ceiling lights. He opened his eyes again, forcing them to quickly adjust to the bright lighting. Looking around, he saw a trash can and two chairs to his left, a nightstand on his right, and that he sitting in a hospital bed once again.
"Ugh," He groaned as he plopped back down on his bed. 'I can't believe I'm back in here again. I hate this place. I always hate the smell of the hospital… smell. Ughhhhhhhhhh…"
Click!
Naruto sat up and saw his master Jiraiya climbing through his room's window. "Pervy Sage?"
"Hey, kid." He spoke with a reluctant tone, slightly putting Naruto on edge. "I need to tell you something."
Naruto's eyes widened and quickly replayed the last memories he had before he woke up in the hospital. "What is it? Is Sakura-chan okay? Is Sasuke okay? Where's Gaara?"
"Calm down kid, they're all fine. You've only been out for two days, your teammates are alive and the sand kids all left after your battle." Naruto sighed, relieved that his friends were okay. In the back of his mind, he hoped Ino and Hinata were alright as well but he would not be asking that question to Jiraiya. He's the last person he'd tell about his two girlfriends. "It's something else. I don't know if you heard this or not but…" Jiraiya sighed as Naruto looked at him with confused and innocent eyes. He turned his gaze away and instead focused on the floor, "It's Sarutobi. He-, he died fighting Orochimaru."
Silence.
Dead, heavy silence filled the room.
"...what?" Naruto's head was spinning. It was reeling. The Old Man Hokage? He's- He can't be-. Is he-? He should still be here. Naruto still wanted him here. Naruto wanted the Third to see him become Hokage. Sure he was still a bit angry at him for lying to him about his mom, but he didn't want him to die. He-... He can't-...
"You're going to take the rest of the week off. Rest during this time. The funeral will take place in two days." Jiraiya's gut churned at seeing Naruto solemnly and silently nod his head. He didn't want to admit it but he grew quite fond of the little blonde so seeing him like this... it wasn't easy. Jiraiya walked over and patted Naruto's back, "A week from now and we'll go look for the next Hokage." Naruto turned to face him with a small shine in his eyes. "Yeah, the two elders tried making me Hokage but I told them that I knew someone better so we're going to go out and look for her in a week."
Naruto nodded his head as he robotically turned back to stare at his lap. "okay jiraiya-sensei."
The Sannin smiled softly. He was still a kid so all he needed was time. Jiraiya ruffled the blonde's hair and said his farewells before leaving the blonde alone to handle all the angst he was feeling. He didn't think Naruto was the one to talk about his feelings anyway.
With his master now gone, Naruto laid back down. His eyes flicked down to the golden exclamation mark, making the HUD spring to life. He had earned 5 points from winning his battle with Gaara… but it seems that his level only increased three levels. He vacantly stared at it for a while before closing it. He didn't feel like celebrating his victory or delving into why he only went up three levels. How could he right now?
After a few minutes of just blankly staring at the ceiling, Naruto dragged himself out of the hospital bed and slowly got dressed. He walked out of the hospital and wandered aimlessly through Konoha's streets. Naruto was surprised when he was getting commemorated the first fifteen minutes he wandered around, but he just waved them off. His mind was elsewhere.
Naruto's thoughts were filled with uncertainty. He was sad that the Third Hokage was gone and he would never see him again. He also wondered what would happen now that the Third Hokage was gone. He knew that things were going to change and he wasn't sure if it was going to be for the better or worse. He was scared of the unknown future and he wished that he could have done something to help.
A deep part within him knew that against someone who beat the old man, he would have done nothing. In fact, he might have only been in the Third's way. Either way, Hiruzen Sarutobi would've-.
Muffled sniffling broke Naruto out of his train of thought, much to his guilty relief. He looks around and sees that he is now close to a park where he used to play with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji when they were in the academy. Sniffles intrude on the silence again and Naruto tries to find the source of them. He comes behind a nearby tree further back from the park and he spots a hunched-over boy he knows.
"Konohamaru?"
The boy jerked harshly and tried to quickly wipe away the tears before he stood up, "Who is it? What do you want!?" The young kid shouted.
Naruto waited till Konohamaru saw him before he spoke. He waved his hand awkwardly, "Hey, it's just me."
Konohamaru calmed down but his eyes quickly welled back up. He scrunched his face up to try and stop the tears but his emotions couldn't be bottled anymore. And Naruto watched the boy. His rival but more importantly his idol watched as he began to sob much to the young boy's behest. He wiped his eyes with his hands over and over but more tears just replaced the ones that were wiped away. Konohamaru finally stopped crying, but it wasn't of his own free will. He was shocked into silence because Naruto pulled him into a tight hug. He looked up and through watery eyes, he saw tears running down Naruto's eyes while his lips were trembling. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Konohamaru gave in and sobbed into his friend's jacket.
Naruto, with tears running down his eyes, turned his vision to focus on the game system icon. It pulled up his stats but he focused solely the one stat that he knew was responsible for him to completely understand Konohamaru's emotions.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Intelligence… 7
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
He silently sighed before he hugged Konohamaru tighter. "It's okay, I miss him too."
Knock Knock
The blonde genin sighed as he looked down. Black ceremonial funeral robes were what he was wearing. He let out a short snicker as he remembered once saying to the Hokage, "Why do I need funeral clothes? It's not like I'm going to use them especially when I'm Hokage! I'll protect everyone so no one will die!"
Knock Knock
He glanced around his apartment. His dirty clothes, and trash-filled apartment. If the old man saw the state of his apartment, man would Naruto get an earful from him. The mess wasn't that bad Naruto reasoned, the mess was just littered here and there.
Knock Knock
"Huuuph…" Naruto sighed as he knew that he would have to get up. "...okay." Naruto robotically pushed himself off of the chair and made his way to his front door. He opened it and saw Sasuke standing on the other side wearing the same funeral attire. The blonde poked his head out of the doorway and looked around for his other teammate.
"Sakura is still in the hospital. Doctors said she'll be okay but that she'll still need time."
'Right.' Naruto nodded and walked out of his doorway. 'I failed Sakura-chan.' He locked it and began walking toward the Hokage tower, where the funeral was held. 'I took too long to stop Gaara… and Sakura-chan got hurt real bad because of it.'
Sasuke followed close behind him, but the Uchiha could tell Naruto's mind was elsewhere and he couldn't fault him for that. Sasuke himself felt a bit bad for the Hokage's death, after all the Third did try to get close to him as well, but the boy pushed him away before he could.
The two boys walked to the funeral atop the Hokage tower and during their walk, they ran into Team 10. They were standing outside Ino's family flower shop, Shika and Choji were most likely waiting on Ino to get everything ready before they headed to the funeral. Shikamaru and Choji both sympathetically nodded their hods to the two boys, but Ino was the one who spoke, "Naruto…"
Static.
That's what Naruto felt. As if everything around him was fading into TV static. He even heard the lifeless buzzing that TV static came with, but it wasn't loud enough to completely drown out Ino's voice. Naruto solemnly turned to face Ino before his gaze turned to focus back on the ground, "Oh, hey Ino."
He began walking again with Sasuke following close behind the blonde after he gave Team 10 a nod. "Man," Shikamaru started earning the full attention of his two teammates, "I can't imagine what Naruto is feeling."
"Yeah, " Choji continued for Shika, "He was the closest to the Third Hokage out of all of us."
Ino watched Naruto as he made his way to the funeral, walking like a dead man himself. Ino thought to herself of ways she could cheer up Naruto, 'He's going to need a lot of love and support right now.' She thought to herself, 'Me and Hinata will be here for when he needs us.'
"We are gathered here to remember and honor not only the Third Hokage, but all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle so that our village would survive."
They were atop of the roof with the ceremony halfway through before he heard Iruka whispering. Naruto slowly turned to see what was going on and saw that his sensei was comforting a sniffling Konohamaru. Flashes of him comforting the boy replayed in his mind. Of both of them letting out the pain they felt within their hearts.
Why did it have to happen? Why did someone so good have to die? Why?
He looked back to the front, not wanting to be disrespectful during the ceremony. Naruto tried to drown out Konohamaru's sniffling but it soon turned into light sobbing as people began to walk up and place their white chrysanthemums. Naruto tightened his jaw, trying to not let a single tear escape his eyes.
Iruka looked down at the boy and remembered the impact the Third Hokage had on his life. He remembered the day when he was crying in front of the Hokage monument, mourning his parent's recent death. The Third Hokage had come up behind him and talked with him, giving Iruka a chance to let out all of the emotions he kept bottling up. All the sadness and bitterness he felt toward his parents.
Because they left him behind all alone.
The Third had given Iruka a tight hug as he told him about the Will of Fire. about how the Will of Fire gave them the strength to defend their village. An unbreakable bond that tied them all together, it's what made them all a family.
Iruka crouched down and brought the sobbing Konohamaru into a tight embrace, one that mirrored how the Third had done to him. "He's still so young". He wanted nothing more than to be able to shield all of his students from pain like this, but he knew life wasn't that considerate.
Kakashi was staring at the memorial stone when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around and saw Yugao with flowers in her hands, "Are those for Hayate?" The purple-haired woman walked forward just as he turned around and walked away from the stone, giving her privacy to honor her lost love.
Kakashi looked to his left and saw Jiraiya in the distance looking off into the sky with a smile on his face. He walked over to him and asked, "What are you doing here Jiraiya-sama when the funeral has already begun?"
Jiraiya looked over his shoulder, "I could say the same thing to you there kid." Jiraiya chuckled before he looked back toward the clouds. "I'm just reminiscing about my genin days. Back when Sarutobi used to be a young green leaf." The Sannin saw Kakashi nod his head. "You should head over to the funeral. Your genin team is already there so their sensei should be as well."
Kakashi nodded his head again and was about to head out but stopped. "Oh, I want to thank you for taking over Naruto's training for the finals."
"Oh that, don't worry about that but I will be taking Naruto with me on a mission to retrieve the Fifth Hokage."
Kakashi's eyes widened a bit. "How come?"
"I recently made him my apprentice. He's got potential just like his father, maybe even more."
"So are you taking him out of Team 7 to make him your full apprentice?"
Jiraiya laughed as he heard the slightest bit of disappointment and irritation in Kakashi's tone. "Don't worry, it won't be anytime soon. He said he wanted to spend more time learning from 'Kakashi-sensei'. I'll just be taking him to track down and bring back the Fifth Hokage. I'll also be teaching him the rasengan since I previously promised I would."
"Are you sure he's ready for such a jutsu?"
"He's more responsible than you realize Kakashi. The kid may still be young and naive but I trust him enough to know when to use this jutsu or any jutsu of this caliber." Kakashi nodded stared up into the sky and began thinking about what Kakashi could eventually teach Naruto. "There's also another reason why I want to teach him the rasengan."
"What is it?"
"During our training, a portal opened underneath Naruto and I barely managed to follow him. We teleported to a village I later found out was still within Fire Country that was being attacked by Sound Shinobi. After me and Naruto saved the village, he managed to use the Nine-Tail's chakra and summon Gamabunta on his own, someone ran and grabbed Naruto before running away."
"What?"
"I almost caught up to them but the stranger put up a high-level barrier and fought Naruto." Jiraiya began to chuckle at this point. "The little squirt managed to surprise the stranger by using that sexy jutsu of his before sticking the palm of his hand to the stranger's back and using his own bastardized version of the rasengan after I used it in front of him a little earlier."
"Really?" Kakashi was stunned to hear that since as far as he was aware, Naruto wasn't that inept just yet. 'Could it be because of the gamer potential? Or did Naruto suddenly develop this potential on his own?'
"The guy said his name was Hamura Otsutsuki and told Naruto that he would be 'Helping you grow stronger when the time is right.'"
Kakashi was silent. "I'm guessing he got away?"
"No, we did. The same portal opened underneath us and we fell through it again and ended up back in the training ground we were first in. That whole… experience has me confused. I have no idea what happened or why. That's why I wanted to take him as my apprentice to teach him everything I could to make sure he would be ready for anyone who thinks they can take him on." Jiraiya waved his hand in front of his face, diminishing the tense atmosphere that had grown around them. "Anyways, I'll tell you more about it later. Go to the funeral already."
Kakashi nodded and flickered out of sight. Jiraiya was left alone and sighed out of annoyance at the situation he was in. With all the Hokage talk, Hamura Otsutsuki targeting Naruto, and the idea of having to track down Tsunade. "If I didn't have white hair, all this stress would certainly give me some."
It's a shinobi rule, never show your feelings. Keep your mind focused on your mission, no matter what. No matter how much you're hurting inside, you can't shed a tear.
One by one, all of the rookie genin placed their white flowers atop the flower bed. Remembering times when the Third Hokage spent time with them, talking and laughing with them.
It was now Naruto's turn to place his flower on the memorial. He walked up to the flower bed and stared at the Old man's picture. Memories of when he and the Third spent time together flooded his mind. When he pranked the Hokage with his Sexy Jutsu, when they argued, when they went to Ichiraku's together, wherever the Hokage visited his apartment.
Naruto choked out a soft chuckle as he remembered how the Hokage always scolded him for leaving his apartment a mess. He placed his white flower down and when he rose back up, he glanced at the portrait again. He bit his lip to prevent tears from spilling before he made his way back to his spot.
As others went up to place their flowers, Naruto looked up at the Third's stone face with a stern face painted on the boy's face. "Iruka-sensei, why do they do it?"
"Why do people risk their lives for other people?"
Iruka took a second to ingest Naruto's question before he answered, "Well when someone passes away, it's the end. His past and future, all the dreams he once had all disappear along with him. This is true even if he died honorably in battle, as so many have, as Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed- all but one, the most important of all, people."
Iruka continued, "Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who are important to him. And these people, the ones left behind are joined together in a great circle by their shared memories of him- a circle of friendship of trust and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it. We remain in the circle together, we have no choice. It's important to us."
"Hmm, so we do it because we have to. I get it, sort of." Naruto looked up and stared at the portrait of the now-dead Third Hokage. "Still, I'm sad he's gone."
"Think how sad it would be if he'd died for nothing. But he left us something priceless. Don't worry, you'll understand one of these days." Kakashi interjected with a soft but stern tone.
Naruto looked back with a small grin, "Hey, give me some credit, that much I get."
Kakashi looked down at Naruto before he gave him an eye smile. 'Guess Jiraiya was right. Naruto has grown up a lot since he became a genin.'
The rain soon stopped and parted to reveal the bright blue sky with the sun shining down from above. After the funeral was wrapped up and finished, Naruto was left in a better mood. He was still sad about the Third's passing, but he had gotten closure. He was beginning to move on as he knew the Third would want him to.
"Bye Iruka-sensei! See you later!" The blonde excitably called out.
Iruka watched with a smile as he saw Naruto run towards Sasuke and Kakashi. He looked over all of his old students who now carried themselves as confident shinobis. Sure they were still young and still had much to learn- but they had the drive and passion to be better. To become stronger for those close to them.
Kakashi looked over his two students in front of him, "Alright, tomorrow is a rest day so do whatever you'd like to do." Sasuke nodded and Kakashi dismissed him but pulled Naruto aside. "Naruto, now that we have some downtime, I was wondering if you'd finally like to train that gamer ability of yours."
Naruto's eyes grew wide with excitement. "You bet Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi takes the overly excited Naruto to their usual training grounds where he begins to tell Naruto the plan. "Okay, we haven't had the chance since you first told me about your gamer potential, but we're finally here now. Today we'll mainly be focusing on only what we can exploit."
"How do we do that?"
"We train normally, we train your jutsus, and in other various ways to see what will evoke a reaction from the gamer system that we can exploit."
After two hours, they couldn't find anything they could use to exploit. Kakashi frowned as he tried everything that he usually did to grind stats in the games he played… but if stats couldn't be "farmed" then that only left levels.
"Naruto," The blonde turned to face his sensei with sweat covering his face, "How do you usually level up?"
"Oh, the HUD usually tells me I have to defeat enemies or save a village or some sort of…
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Objective
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Some sort of objective."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the boy's small pause and correction. "The HUD gave you the answer didn't it?"
Naruto's head dropped and nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright, and I'm guessing that all the objectives so far have been defeating enemies?" Naruto nodded which made Kakashi put his hand to his chin, after a few seconds the jonin nodded to himself and turned to face his student, "Okay, let's try this."
The blonde jinchuriki was about to ask what he meant, but he was suddenly slammed in the face with a horrifying amount of killing intent. 'This, This feeling is just like when we fought Zabuza!' Naruto flinched as he felt a stronger wave wash over him.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Objective:
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Kakashi pushed his headband up to reveal his implanted sharingan. His left hand grabbed his right arm's bicep and he held his right palm up just as a chidori chirped to life. "Let's see if this works."
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Defeat Kakashi-sensei
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Naruto frantically nodded his head, "YUP YUP, IT WORKED KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
The overwhelming pressure quickly disappeared. Naruto let out a relieving sigh just as an eye-smiling Kakashi walked up next to his genin. "And here's how we abuse the gamer potential."
Naruto nodded excitedly, eager to level up quickly and get stronger even faster.
Kakashi walks forward and places a hand on his shoulder. "This training will be brutal, but I know you can get through it."
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi eye-smiled right before he blasted Naruto with Killing Intent point blank. The blonde's eyes widened before he turned around and ran to hide in the trees. "Try and hide Naruto! Survive me for five minutes and I won't put you in the hospital!"
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Objective:
Survive Kakashi-sensei for
00:05:00
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Huff, huff, 'Okay, just five minutes… this will be easy.' Naruto thought to himself just as he jumped to a high tree branch. Right before his feet touched the tree, Kakashi flickered right in front of him wielding a kunai in each hand.
"Ah, ah. I won't go that easy on you now." Kakashi chillingly spoke right before he channeled lightning chakra through both his kunai. He brought his hands down in a wide swing, slicing right through the tree branch and since he was closer to the tree trunk, Naruto ended up falling with the cut tree branch. The boy fell down five feet before he crossed his fingers and jumped off the shadow clone's body to get away. He lept from tree branch to tree branch just trying to get away from Kakashi, but the jonin kept body flickering in front of him forcing Naruto to run in a zigzag manner. The blonde was about to leap from the branch he was on, but Kakashi grabbed onto his wrist and blasted him with killing intent.
Naruto felt dizzy. No, he felt like he was drowning. The onslaught of killing intent was enough to make the hairs on his arm stand up, but being suddenly blasted point-blank made the killing intent unbearable. As a result, Naruto's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he passed out.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Objective: failed
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Naruto groggily rubbed his eyes as he woke up. After a few good rubs, he opened his eyes and quickly noticed that he was in someone's house. He immediately became alert and tried to get a hold of a kunai, but his pouch wasn't clipped to his pants. 'Where am I?' He thought in a panic. There was noise coming from around the corner so he silently went against the wall and took a peek.
"Looks like someone finally woke up."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief, "Oh it's just you Kakashi-sensei. Is this your place? I've never been here before."
Kakashi turned down the heat on his stove as the fish was almost perfectly cooked. "Well you did pass out back during our training, it's my duty as a sensei to look after my genin."
"Why not just take me to my place?" Naruto asked as he made his way over to the dinner table.
"I did, but you had nothing but cup ramen so I took you here so you can get a good meal in before you go back home."
"What's wrong with cup ramen?" Naruto mumbled under his breath.
Kakashi placed Naruto's food consisting of a bowl of rice, miso soup, a salad, and the main dish, a perfectly cooked fish. "They lack fiber, protein, and other crucial vitamins and minerals. Now eat."
The blonde gave his sensei the stink eye for insulting his favorite food before he dug in on the food in front of him. "Mmm, Man Kakashi-sensei, you really know how to cook!" He said after trying the fish in front of him. He glanced over his food and frowned when he saw the salad Kakashi gave him. "Ew, why'd you give me salad sensei? I hate it."
"Because salad is good for you, better than those cup ramen you eat daily."
Naruto scowled before he looked up to see if Kakashi had eaten his salad… and saw that Kakashi finished all of his food. "What-? How-? When-?"
The jonin raised an eyebrow at his genin's antics, "Is something wrong with my food?"
"The food's not the problem sensei! When the hell did you eat all your food!?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's just how I was raised." The incredulous look on Naruto's face made Kakashi continue his explanation, "My dad was known as Konoha's White Fang, he was one of Konoha's most feared shinobi, and with the fame came slight paranoia about everyone being out to get you."
"So your dad just inhaled his food and taught you how to do it?"
Kakashi nodded, "Yup, my father taught me everything I know." He went quiet for a bit as memories of his father filled his mind, but then his emotional side took over and replayed the anger and pain he felt when he saw his father's… "Anyways, if you want I can teach it to you at a later date. Now, eat."
Naruto rolled his eyes playfully and brought his chopsticks down toward his fish, but stopped when he heard Kakashi tapping his chopsticks on Naruto's salad bowl, "You need veggies too, eat the salad."
"Ughhhh, whyyyyyy?"
"Because I said so." Naruto stared down at his salad with a frown, "Naruto, if you don't eat it you won't get as strong as you could possibly get. You have potential but you'll never reach it if you don't take care of your body."
After hearing his words, Naruto sighed as he knew Kakashi was right, "Alright alright, I'll eat my veggies from now on." The blonde picked up his chopsticks and at all of his food, much to his dismay. After he finished, however, Naruto felt much better. He felt energized and ready to take on the day. He was determined to reach his potential, no matter what. "Alright Kakashi-sensei, let's get back to training!" He exclaimed proudly as he shot out of his chair.
"Hang on a second Naruto, I want to try something else." The boy's mood deflated only for a second. "Our earlier training will have to be put off until you get more experience," Kakashi raised his hand as he saw Naruto open his mouth to protest, "before you complain let me explain."
Kakashi stood up from his chair and motioned Naruto to follow him into his living room. Naruto sat on his sofa while Kakashi sat down on his leather club chair. "Okay as I was saying, I'm putting off your earlier training because I want to take you out on more missions so you can hone your skills and get more experience." Naruto let out a sigh as he understood Kakashi's words. He nodded his head and Kakashi continued, "Good, so from now on we'll just have you do daily exercises to slowly build up your strength and skills." He stood up, walked over to his TV stand, and picked up a sheet of paper. The jonin walked back and handed it to Naruto, "I want you to complete all those every day, take breaks if needed but I want you to complete them."
Naruto took a look at it and soon a chime played in his mind.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
New Challenge Unlocked!
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"Huh?"
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Daily Exercise:
Pushups 0 / 100
Situps 0 / 100
Running 0km / 10km
Meditation 00:00:00 / 01:00:00
Chakra control training 00:00:00 / 01:00:00
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi prodded as he saw Naruto blankly staring at the paper.
"The game system… it made it a challenge called 'Daily Exercise'."
"Hmm, does it list a possible reward?"
Naruto examined it further but had to shake his head, "No, nothing."
"Hmm, alright well just complete these and we'll see what happens."
"Okay, oh Kakashi-sensei! Don't forget to teach me that inhaling food jutsu later!"
Kakashi rolled his eye before he shooed him away. "It's not a jutsu but okay, I will."
"Yay!"
Now arriving back at training grounds 7, Naruto looked around and walked over to the log he was tied to back when Team 7 was taking their real genin test. Letting nostalgia briefly wash over him, he shook his head and stretched real quick before he started on the challenge.
After he finished, he jumped on the tips of his toes, "Okay, so we'll start withhhhhh~ situps! Then pushups, running, chakra control, and mediation." Naruto sat down and laid back. "1! 2! 3! 4! 5!..."
"48…! 49…! 50…!" Naruto plopped down on his back and stared into the night sky. "Oh man, this might be harder than I thought." Naruto panted heavily for a minute before he scrunched his face and continued. "51! 52! 53!" The boy winced as he felt his abdomen grow sore. 'I can't stop. I have to just power through this!'
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Situps 100/100
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"OH GOD!" Naruto yelled as he flopped back down on the ground."Uhn! My stomach! Man that killed my stomach!" He lay there for a while, letting himself catch his breath and also giving his muscles a chance to breathe. "Well, it's good to see that the game system is keeping track of the challenge… now I got pushups next."
...
"Yayyy."
He dropped to the floor and took in a deep breath. "1! 2! 3! 4! 5!"
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Pushups 100 / 100
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Oof!
After a while and after much-needed breaks here and there, Naruto finished all of his pushups.
Naruto winced and panted heavily. "I…huff…hate…huff… you…huff…Kakashi…huff… sensei…" His biceps twitched in pain as he lay there on the ground. He rolled on his back and struggled to sit up as his abs were still screaming in agony. "Okay… what's next?"
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Running 0km / 10km
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"Oh man, next is running. I've never been happier to run than now."
"I'm never running again!" Naruto yelled as he flopped face-first into the ground.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Running 10km / 10km
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
He checked what remained and let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank god, it's just chakra control and mediation." He rolled over and stared into the sky before he nodded his head, "I'll do mediation first. I'm too tired to do anything else."
He sat up, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. 'Okay, let's meditate. This should be easy."
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Meditation 00:04:53
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Naruto's snot bubble shrank and grew with every inhale and exhale until it unexpectedly popped and woke him up in the process. "Huh? Whazzat?" He looked around and it suddenly clicked. "Ah, man! I fell asleep! How long did I-...? Only 5 minutes! That's bullshit!"
He angrily stood up and mentally decided that he'd just work on his chakra control instead so he went out and began to walk on the river's water.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Chakra Control 00:03:21
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Naruto waited a few seconds to see if the timer would count up, but it wouldn't go any higher. The boy frowned but instead of whining, he chose to go and walk up trees.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Chakra Control 00:06:16
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Now the boy clicked his tongue out of irritation. He was working on his chakra control for crying out loud! But instead of screaming off the top of his lungs like he wanted to, he chose to go ask Kakashi-sensei what he should do.
When he got to his sensei's place, he raised his fist to knock on the door, but then…
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Naruto's face slowly blushed crimson. He slowly took a step back. Then another. And another. He spun around and booked it to the academy. He'd rather get help from Iruka instead of intruding on what Kakashi-sensei was doing. After quietly opening the academy doors and slowly making his way to Iruka's classroom, he peeked around the corner and let out a sigh of relief when he saw his old sensei just grading papers.
Knock Knock Knock
Iruka looked up, "Naruto! What brings you here? I'd thought you'd be home or somewhere resting."
"Nah, I'm training and I needed some help so I dropped by to ask you a question."
"Oh? Well go ahead and ask."
Naruto grinned from ear to ear, "Thanks sensei! I was just wondering if you knew another chakra exercise I could work on! I already know tree and water walking."
"Have you given the leaf-sticking exercise a try?"
"Hmm?" Naruto blinked as he tilted his head to the side. "You mean that one you tried making me and the guys do back in the academy?"
"Yes, and I'm glad you remembered it. So you've tried it?"
"Nope!"
Iruka sweatdropped before he shook his head. "Then you should try working on that one."
'Well I have nothing else to work on…' Naruto nodded, "Sure thing Iruka-sensei. So how does it work?"
"Put it on your forehead and channel chakra to that specific chakra point. Too much chakra and the leaf will crumble itself up, too little and the leaf will fall off. If you don't channel chakra to that specific chakra point, you'll crumble the leaf as well since it'll be too much chakra for the leaf."
Now back in Training Grounds 7, Naruto does as instructed and tries to stick it to his head, but it drops a second later. He cursed, picked the leaf back up, and tried again, crumbling the leaf up in his second attempt. "Dammit. This is harder than it looks."
Crumble
Crumble
Crumble
Fall
Fall
Crumble
Crumble
A tick mark grew on his forehead after the last leaf. "ERR, DAMMIT!" He punches the tree as hard as he can causing a few splinters of wood to fly to the sides. He pulled his fist back and shook it, the punch left his fist stinging. "Haaah, guess I'll go ask Iruka again."
Slam!
Iruka jumped due to the sudden loud noise but calmed down when he saw it was Naruto. "Sensei~!' Naruto whined. I just can't get it right! I'm always either crumbling it or it's falling no matter how hard I focus!"
Iurka raised his hand to his chin, "Hmm, let me see you attempt it." Naruto nodded his head and tried to stick the leaf to his forehead, but accidentally made it crumble. While the boy began grumbling and cursing, Iruka understood the boy's error. "I see where you're going wrong."
"Really!?"
"Yup, it's because you weren't paying attention in class!" The teacher yelled as he lightly bonked Naruto on the head with a rolled-up test paper. "Honestly Naruto if you would've just paid attention in class then you would've gotten the hang of this in no time."
"Alright alright, I'm sorry! Please just tell me how I can control my chakra better!"
"Haaah, okay. The chakra pathway system is enmeshed within the body, transporting chakra through the body and each organ as the circulatory system does blood. The system is involved in the creation of chakra itself as well, as every cell and protein in the body are connected to this pathway system by a capillary which draws out the cell's physical energy and is refined into chakra by several organs, notably the heart. If the chakra flow to a section of the body is blocked or severed by techniques, then that portion of the body will be unable to release any chakra from any of the tenketsu."
Iruka stopped himself and turned to face Naruto to see if he was paying attention, but what he saw was exactly what people meant when they said "Lights are on but no one is home". Iruka let out a sigh before he waved his hand in Naruto's face. After a quick apology from Naruto, the teacher thought of a way that even Naruto could understand. "Think of it like tiny tubes throughout your body. When you usually channel chakra from, let's say your hand for example, your chakra usually spills throughout your whole arm, right?"
"Uh-huh," Naruto said with a nod.
"This is because you're channeling it throughout your entire body, not just your arm."
"Wait I'm confused, what's the difference?"
"You waste more chakra that way. Okay, think of it like…" Iruka looked around him before he had a sudden idea, "Come with me."
He led Naruto around back where the hose was. He turned the faucet and water came rushing out of the hose. Iruka grabbed it and turned to face Naruto.
"Okay, think of it like this- the water is chakra and this is how much you should be wasting," Iruka switched the hose nozzle to the shower setting and squeezed the handle, "A nice and steady stream of chakra. But this is how much you're wasting," he switched it over to the jet setting and opened the faucet more. He squeezed the handle again and water came rushing out with gusto, "You're forcing out a lot more than the leaf can handle which is making it crumble up. You have to take it nice and easy," Iruka switched over to the shower setting and gently pressed the handle. "Start with the least you can push and slowly push more and more until you get it right. Slow and steady wins the race in chakra control Naruto."
"Okay, I got it Iruka-sensei!" He ran back toward the training ground but waved behind him before he was too far, "Thanks Iruka-sensei! Let's get some ramen later!"
Iruka rolled his eyes and shouted back, "Alright, but you're buying this time!"
Iruka waited a bit for a response and had to laugh when he heard Naruto's frustrated and indignant cry, "...what! That's not fair!"
Back at the training grounds, Naruto took what Iruka had said and began training.
'Okay, only use what I can barely push out,' He channeled his chakra but kept it all in his core. He let the faintest wander up and directed it straight to his forehead where the leaf was.
Fall.
'Okay, push out a little more.'
Fall.
'More.'
Stick.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked up. The leaf was still stuck to his forehead. "I did it. Yes! I did it!"
Fall.
"Ahh! Okay that was my bad. Let's try keeping it for even longer!"
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Chakra Control 01:00:00/01:00:00
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Naruto let out a huff with a smile on his face. He hadn't mastered the technique yet due to not finding the right balance, but he did manage to make a new record of five minutes.
"Phew, now all that's left is meditation…" He looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was already beginning to set, "Let's… go ask Iruka-sensei while I take him out to ramen." He quickly checked his frog wallet, Gama-chan, "Okay, I have more than enough for Iruka and me but I'll only have 4 bowls today… 6 bowls today."
After a quick run to the academy once again, the student and teacher enter Ichiraku's mid-conversation.
"Ohh, so meditation makes it easier to control your chakra?"
"Close. With meditation, you circulate your chakra while clearing your mind so that it becomes easier to control your chakra."
"Ohhh, okay I get it. Thanks Iruka-sensei!"
"Naruto! Iruka! How are my two favorite customers?" Teuchi jovially asked after he came from the back of the little shop.
"Hey, Old man Teuchi! Me and Iruka are doing great!"
"Glad to hear that! So, what can I get for you two?"
"Give me 2 bowls of Miso ramen please!"
"And I'd like a bowl of Pork ramen please."
"2 Miso ramen for Naruto and Pork ramen for Iruka, alright I'll whip up these in no time!"
"Thanks, old man! Oh hey, where's Ayame?" Naruto asked as he looked around.
"She offered to go deliver a couple of orders. My little girl is growing up so fast!"
While Teuchi went to the back to cook the three meals, Iruka grew perplexed at Naruto's sudden interest in this type of training. "Hey Naruto,"
"Yeah, sensei?"
"Why the sudden interest in meditation and chakra control training? Back in the academy you always deemed them a waste of time."
"Oh, it's because of Kakashi-sensei. Here lemme see," He dug in his weapons pouch a bit until he found the slip of paper he was looking for. "Here you go."
Iruka opened it and saw the daily exercises Kakashi wanted him to do. It was a good exercise plan but Iruka felt that it was a bit too much for a fresh genin to do. "Are you sure you can do this every day? Some chunin can't even handle this amount."
Just then Teuchi came back with two bowls in his hand. "1 bowl of Miso ramen and 1 bowl of Pork ramen! Naruto, I got your second bowl cooking up back there so don't worry."
"Thanks!" He took his chopsticks and began to eat his noodles with a content smile on his face.
"Naruto,"
The boy nodded and with a mouthful of ramen told Iruka, "Yeah I can handle the training," He swallowed his food and took a sip of his water before he continued, "I actually used to train a little bit like this during my final year at the academy. Although it was just the pushups and situps, I didn't think I needed the rest," He finished with an awkward chuckle.
Iruka chuckled as he shook his head, "Well, better late than never. I'm just glad that you're finally taking this seriously."
"Hey!" Naruto slammed down his chopsticks onto the counter and glared into Iruka's eyes, "I am taking this seriously. I was always taking this seriously. Just because I'm not doing things your way doesn't mean I'm not giving it everything I got."
Iruka stared silently, his jaw slightly agape. He closed his mouth and began to chuckle lightly, "You're right. You're right Naruto." He ruffled the blonde's hair, "I'm just proud to see how far you've come. I just know you'll reach your dream of being Hokage if you keep this up."
Naruto's glare evaporated and was replaced by a confident and smug grin, "That's right! And don't you ever forget it! One day, I'm going to become Hokage!
Student and teacher began to laugh together, and not long after Teuchi popped his head around the corner to join the laughter by announcing, "Is that so? Well!" He placed two bowls down in front of Iruka and Naruto, "In honor of the future Hokage's presence, two bowls of miso ramen on the house!"
"Alright!" Naruto excitedly yelled, "You're the best Old man Teuchi!"
"Heheh, the best? Well, then I'll throw you two more bowls on the house!"
Naruto, who had already dug back into his ramen, looked up with a mouthful of noodles. He swallowed the food in his mouth and shouted out, "Really! Thanks! You really are the best!"
After Iruka and Naruto finished their meals, they split ways to continue what they were previously working on. Now back in the now dark training grounds, Naruto sits down and tries to follow Iruka's advice.
"Sit down, slow your breathing, and clear your mind. Once your mind is clear, just focus on slowly moving your chakra around your entire body. If you keep your mind clear, it should be easy to move your chakra around."
Naruto sucked in a deep breath before he exhaled it slowly. He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind for several minutes. He let out a frustrated sigh, opened his eyes, and shook his head. He had managed to clear his mind for a minute or two… but then his mind began to wander and think of several different things. He just needed to try again. Naruto once more closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and tried to clear his mind.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three.
"Once your mind is clear, focus on slowly moving your chakra around."
Four minutes and Naruto began to slowly channel his chakra. He drew it up from his gut and slowly began to spread it throughout his body. First up his chest, then across his arms to his hands. Next, he sent his chakra down to his thighs, calves, and feet. He could feel every muscle twitch as he slowly went through each limb. Lastly, he sent his chakra toward his head and the only way Naruto could describe the sensation was…
"Weird." As he opened his eyes, the chakra was still channeled in his head. His eyes widened.
His vision was enhanced albeit not much, but enough that Naruto could tell a difference. Darting his eyes back and forth he could tell that his eyes saw and registered things more quickly than usual. The chakra he had been circulating in his body was suddenly cut off as a chime rang throughout Naruto's mind.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Mediation 01:00:00/01:00:00
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"Already? It didn't feel like it's been an hour." Naruto looked up into the sky and saw the moon and stars out already. "Dang, it has been an hour." He stayed staring into the night sky for a couple of moments before a memory filled his mind, "…this reminds me of the time I fell asleep out here and Hinata caught me before she passed out due to my… smell." He unzipped his orange jacket and took a good whiff of his armpit before he recoiled. "Oh, I'm not making that same mistake again." As he stood up, another chime made him freeze in his tracks.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Daily Challenge Completed.
Reward: 1 Point.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
"Alright! I can get a point every day I complete the daily challenge? Sweet!" Naruto accepted the reward and left the point stack up with the other 5 points he received after defeating Gaara.
Now with a spring in his step, Naruto rushed home to go shower and sleep the day off.
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Extra: Konoha Playboys
═̴═̷═̶═̵═̴═̴═̶═̴═̵═̸═̴═̸═̴═̷═̸═̷═̶═̷═̶═̵═̵═̶═̵═̶═̸═̸═̸═̸═̸═̷═̵═̸═̴═̵
Izumo and Kotetsu both yawn simultaneously.
"Man." Kotetsu started. "Gate guarding duty is totally-"
"Boring." Izumo finished. "You said it man. But hey it pays-"
"The moneyyy. So that way-!"
"At night-!"
"We can be-!"
"Playboys!" They both chorused.
Now dressed in black slim-fit blazers, gold watches wrapped around their right wrist, navy blue dress pants, and a tight black t-shirt, the two gate guards transition into their playboy personas.
"You ready man?" Kotetsu asked his best friend and roommate. They were both in the bathroom making sure they looked their best.
"Yeah just let me…" Izumo hairsprayed his last piece of hair down. He grinned as he ran his fingers through his now-styled hair. "Ready."
The two walk out of their apartment with swagger in their step. They made their way to the nightclub, ready to have the time of their lives. Izumo and Kotetsu laughed and joked as they made their way inside.
They had much more luck with the civilian girls, as they were more open to their advances because they weren't shinobi. Shinobi women, however, had more strict standards and were more discerning about who they flirted with. This meant that Izumo and Kotetsu had to work harder to impress them, and success was not always guaranteed.
Kotetsu's heart dropped as soon as he saw Kakashi enter the bar. The legendary Copy Ninja had a reputation for being a womanizer and was the last person Kotetsu wanted to compete with for the shinobi woman's attention. He realized that his chances of getting her number had just drastically decreased and could only hope that Kakashi didn't make a move.
He was wearing a navy blue button-down along with black dress pants and his face was partially covered as always, and all the ladies in the bar seemed to be drawn to his mysterious presence. As soon as he entered, the shinobi woman Kotetsu had been talking to lost all interest in him and instead focused her attention on Kakashi. Seeing this, Kotetsu silently cursed and slunk away to the corner, where Izumo was already nursing a beer.
While Kakashi was swarmed with civilian and shinobi women, the jonin did a quick scan around the room and spotted the two gate guards in the corner of the room. He waved at them before chatting up all the girls around him, causing Kotetsu and Izumo to weep crocodile tears.
A/U: I've been gone for three months... so here's three chapters with Chapter 10 rewritten and broken up to fit smoothly.