Hiruzen peered down at the boy. The boy in question, Naruto, was short. He stood more than a foot shorter than even Hiruzen himself and he was a short man if there ever was one! Naruto's unruly hair spilled in all directions and was cut in ways that clearly indicated he'd done so himself, and without a mirror. The goggles perched on his head seemed to serve no purpose that Hiruzen could think truly mattered. Sweat beaded on his tan skin. The boy had clearly run here.
"Naruto, a pleasure to see you this evening." Hiruzen smiled at the boy.
Without missing a beat, Naruto dove right into his usual requests. "Teachmeyou'vegottoteachmesomethingnewpleasesasukehasthiscoolnewjutsuwithfireI'veneverseenanythinglikeitIswearifthatstuckupnogood-"
"Naruto, boy, take a breath." Hiruzen patted the boy's head, an amused smile creeping onto his face. "Say it again, but this time, a touch slower."
Naruto laughed, a light pink coloring his cheeks. "Sorry, old man, I'm just really worked up."
He nodded. "Go on, boy," Hiruzen said.
"Ok, so, Sasuke, he's this kid in my class. He's like the super cool type that the girls all go ga-ga over, ya know. Actually, do you know him?" Naruto said.
Hiruzen nodded again. "Of course, young Sasuke. He's quite a talented student isn't he?"
Naruto's expression shifted, a sneer graced his features. "Yeah, that's the issue. He's got this amazing jutsu. It's a giant fireball. It's just," he paused, "it's just, ugh. It's just so cool!"
Hiruzen could see that Naruto struggled to give his rival due credit. Mastering a jutsu of that quality at his age was certainly impressive. If reports were to be believed, Sasuke was quite proficient with ninjutsu. It was a fact that Naruto was clearly hesitant to admit.
"You know, being a ninja is about more-" Hiruzen began before Naruto abruptly cut him off.
"-than just learning the most jutsu," Naruto said, exasperated, "I know. But if I'm ever going to catch up to him, I have to have, like, some jutsu. I don't even have one! I'm just going to cut to the chase, old man. Teach me a jutsu. Please, I promise I won't use it to show off, even if I really want to. I'll train so hard, I promise you won't regret it, then I'll get out of your hair, believe it!"
Hiruzen could see the passion in Naruto's eyes. A glint of intense focus spurred on by childish rivalry. Hiruzen had been there himself more than a few times as a young ninja. There was something to be said about the bonds and growth rivalry could foster. But, he was also busy. A Hokage's job was never-ending, as well as thankless.
"While I would love to train you, boy, there's quite a few tasks that I must accomplish and the days are quite short, you understand," Hiruzen said.
Naruto's body slouched, his expression sullen. Hiruzen's own expression softened.
"I could have one of my grandson's valued tutors help you with some of the academy basics. That would surely help you catch up to young Sasuke," he added.
"I don't know, old man. I've been trying to learn from the instructors at the academy for a while. I just don't think they get me, ya know. If I was learning from you, maybe I could actually do something for once. Everyone knows you're the best," said Naruto.
His expression was determined, not unlike the one Hiruzen had seen on a rosy cheeked, red haired girl some decades ago. She had been so unrelenting in her desires.
Suddenly, he was struck with a memory. Look out for him, will ya?
He had, hadn't he? He'd made sure the boy had shelter. Many would consider a suitably clean apartment in a safe part of town a blessing. He'd protected the boy's identity, ensuring his peers would treat him fairly. He'd even passed decrees allowing for a monetary allowance to children orphaned from the fox's attack, something that Naruto benefited from. Here's this month's allowance, don't waste it.
But, what of love and kindness?
A great shame enveloped Hiruzen at that moment. So he said, "Very well. Meet me at the Sarutobi training grounds tomorrow at the break of dawn and we will see if we cannot find a jutsu that fits you well."
Naruto's eyes lit with joy. He whipped his hand in the air and cheered. "Old man! You're the best. I better get home and rest. See you tomorrow. Trust me, I promise I won't let you down, believe it!"
I trust you will, boy. Hiruzen smiled as Naruto raced back to his apartment. Perhaps he could make an exception for the boy.
The Sarutobi training grounds were modest compared to some of Konoha's clan training grounds. The Sarutobi clan was not one to flaunt their material possessions. The sun had not yet peaked over the tree line. Beams of light worked their way through the trees, finding small avenues through the sparse forest behind the grounds. Through the sound of morning birds he could hear Naruto trudging through the forest. Twigs snapped and leaves crunched under his step. Not particularly ninja-like, in Sarutobi's estimation, but the boy was only an academy student after all.
Naruto burst through the tree line. "Old man!" He said.
"A bit early for yelling, don't you think, Naruto?" Sarutobi said.
Naruto clamped his hand over his mouth self-consciously before he laughed nervously.
"My fault, old man. I'm just really excited," Naruto said. Hiruzen smiled down at the boy.
"No need to apologize, my boy. It is early and if my grandson sees you here, he'll want to join in too. You see, he's a rambunctious type," he said with a chuckle. Not unlike Naruto, he mused inwardly.
Naruto nodded and then dug his fist into his open palm with determination. "Right! So what super awesome jutsu are you going to teach me?"
Hiruzen had thought for some time last night about what jutsu would fit the young boy. Both his parents had been quite talented in ninjutsu, so it stood to reason that Naruto would share their strengths. As he had thought more of the boy, he realized that he did not truly know what Naruto did well. In an effort to not show favoritism to the boy in the past, he had mainly glossed over Naruto in meetings with the academy leadership, choosing instead to focus on the talented students that deserved the praise and attention they were receiving. He always believed that Naruto's natural talent would find him in those ranks one day too.
However, as the years went on, Naruto had yet to break through.
"Perhaps a warm up spar would help us begin," Hiruzen said. Naruto nodded in agreement. "Do not hold back, Naruto. Use any and all jutsu that you have learned from the academy."
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. His eyebrows knit together in determination and Naruto slid into the Academy Basic stance. Hiruzen could see that the boy was at least versed in the basics of this taijutsu form. Good, he thought.
Naruto charged at him in a blitz. His speed was not unimpressive for his age, though his tactics were predictable. Hiruzen stepped aside to avoid Naruto's first blow, a wide looping right hook that sent Naruto off-balance as he caught air with his wild swing. Hiruzen ignored the opportunity to strike, instead resuming his stance as Naruto corrected himself. Then the boy attempted to engage him in taijutsu. Hiruzen nodded in approval at Naruto's self-correction. His strikes were quick, without much wasted movement.
"Better!" Hiruzen said. Naruto beamed from the praise.
Hiruzen blocked Naruto's strikes in succession, waiting to see an opening. Naruto paused, slacking from the exertion of his barrage. There! Hiruzen's hand blurred out and grasped the boy's wrist. He spun Naruto around, twisting his arm behind his back. With his foot, Hiruzen pushed Naruto off-balance and the boy went sprawling to the ground with a yelp.
With a huff, Naruto scrambled to his feet. "You're fast for an old man!"
"And you're slow, for a brat!"
Naruto sputtered with indignation. Hiruzen laughed heartily, grinning from the exchange. He had forgotten how much fun it was to train up a young lad. Memories of training Jiraiya at the same age came to his mind. They were so similar in personality. Both were thirsty to train and grow, but not quite knowing all the ins and outs of the ninja world due to their peripheral standing put them in a state of floundering. Nothing wrong with an underdog, he thought.
Hiruzen motioned for Naruto to continue. "This time, use the academy basics," he said.
This time, he blitzed Naruto before the boy had time to get set. Naruto stumbled back in surprise and Hiruzen struck his foot forward with the intent to make Naruto lose his breakfast. The boy reacted at the last moment, performing a substitution with nearby debris.
"Oy! No fair, old man!" Naruto bellowed across the grounds, but even from Hiruzen's vantage point, he could see the grin on the boy's face.
Naruto attempted to engage Hiruzen again, lashing out in a fury of blows. To a ninja of Hiruzen's caliber, it appeared impossibly slow. However, the teacher in Hiruzen recognized the boy's tenacity relative to his peers. Instead of dodging as he had before, Hiruzen took the opportunity to test the boy's mettle. He struck back where he saw fit. Which was often.
A jab to Naruto's shoulder sent him spinning. Letting the boy recover, Hiruzen countered the blow meant for his groin by seizing the boy's wrist and yanking him to the dirt. That brat! Naruto sprawled out clumsily, unused to being manhandled so easily. Not so easily deterred, Naruto leapt back with a battle cry. His attempt at a high kick was slow and clumsy. Hiruzen stepped back and let the boy's own momentum crash into his waiting fist, which plunged deeply into Naruto's gut. His eyes nearly bulged from his head as the wind was knocked out of him. Naruto collapsed to the ground wheezing. Hiruzen stepped back and gave him the opportunity to catch his breath and recover.
"Done yet, boy?" Hiruzen said. The hapless boy regained some of his composure and shakily rose from his prone position. Bile dribbled down Naruto's chin and tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. But his resolve was unshaken.
Naruto wiped his chin. "You wish, old man," he said.
Hiruzen crossed his arms and chuckled. "Very well," he said, "then show me."
It was not often he saw someone so young with so much fire in his belly. He was a firebrand with so much to prove. In a strange way, it made him feel young again. His mind drifted to a time, four decades ago, when he began training a team of talented, but unruly youngsters. He'd made mistakes with them that he couldn't take back.
Naruto charged him from across the field. Hiruzen's lips curved upwards in a smile. To think the boy was so eager to try such a straightforward tactic again. Oh, Hiruzen would make him regret that. He slid into a powerful stance ready to punish the boy for his lack of creativity.
As Naruto approached, he clasped his hands together in a tiger seal. "Transformation!"
A cloud of smoke enveloped Naruto. Hiruzen tilted his head in confusion. He'd never known a transformation to be particularly helpful in battle. From the smoke, a buxom blonde woman burst forth entirely naked. In his shock and embarrassed stupor, he could feel the blood rushing to his head. Then he passed out.
Hiruzen roused from the ground, the taste of dirt and blood coating his lips.
"I beat the Hokage, I beat the Hokage, I beat the Hokage…"
Much to his chagrin, the boy was prancing around gleefully proclaiming his victory. Hiruzen pulled himself into a seated position and wiped his face.
"Oy, brat! You fight dirty," he said, "don't believe for a second that I'll fall for that twice."
Naruto, hands on his hips, puffed his chest out. "Weren't expecting that, were ya?" Naruto said.
"I don't think anyone would expect such underhanded tactics from a brat. Though, I'll give you credit, your transformations are quite polished," said Hiruzen. It was a lesson for an old man too. He'd been quick to deposit Naruto into a box he'd thought appropriate. Namely that of the dead last academy student he'd heard so much about.
"I invented that jutsu myself, ya know?" Naruto said.
"Well, more apt to say that you adapted its application," Hiruzen said.
Naruto scratched his head. His brows knit together in thought. "What's the difference?" He said.
"Well for one, the transformation jutsu was invented hundreds of years prior. It was primarily used as a stealth jutsu and was identified as a core competency for ninja entering Konoha's forces by Lord Second when he founded our Ninja Academy," Hiruzen said, "come sit."
He patted the ground next to him and Naruto came and plopped down into the dirt. A fine cloud of dust rose around him where he had landed. Crossing his legs, he leaned in, obviously eager to listen. "That's interesting," Naruto said, "why did they never teach me that at the Academy?"
Hiruzen chuckled lightly. "Actually, it's part of your first year, unit three curriculum," he said.
"Oh," Naruto said, "Sorry, old man, sometimes I have trouble paying attention in class. At least that's what Iruka-sensei tells me."
His cheeks were a rosy shade of pink and he looked down at his feet. Hiruzen had seen and taught students who could not focus before. They were what they used to call useless daydreamers, when he was a boy. He wondered about the multitude of thoughts that must possess Naruto's mind at any given time.
"Not a problem, my boy. In fact, it's clear that you understand the transformation technique quite well. Thinking outside the box tends to be difficult for most students, including ones that focus well on lectures. Your application of the technique is commendable," he said.
He ruffled Naruto's hair as he delivered the praise. The boy was clearly delighted with his words.
"But do try to focus on your lessons. You never know what might help you down the road," he said.
"Right," said Naruto.
"Now," Hiruzen said, "I noticed that while you're clearly proficient with Substitution and Transformation, you did not attempt the Clone technique."
"Oh," Naruto said, "I can't do the Clone technique."
He looked away, a rosy color on his cheeks. What went unsaid was that many of his peers were already proficient with the skill. Some, perhaps, had mastered it years ago. From Hiruzen's estimation, Naruto wasn't so far behind his peers in many of the skills needed to be a successful ninja. However, the Clone technique was a core competency for a reason. If Naruto could not master it by the time of his final exams, he would not graduate, at least not by conventional means.
Hiruzen stroked his goatee. "Show me, then," he said.
With a wide look in his eyes, Naruto nodded in affirmation. He clambered up into a standing position. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and initiated the jutsu. Hiruzen performed a jutsu of his own, a diagnostic sensory jutsu that helped an individual observe the change in chakra of another individual. Naruto executed the tiger, boar, ox, and dog signs in succession.
"Clone!" he said, bellowing the word. His eyes were still screwed tightly shut.
What appeared was a sickly version of Naruto, pale and lifeless. It resembled nothing of the life and vitality of the original. After a moment, it collapsed in a boneless heap.
"Curious," Hiruzen said, stroking his goatee.
"Like I said, I can't do it, but I don't know why. I swear I'm trying really hard, I practice the technique every day," he said. He pleaded his case as if he expected a rebuke.
"I believe that you are. However, simply practicing when you aren't shaping your chakra correctly won't work, no matter how many times you practice it," Hiruzen said, "how versed are you in chakra shaping?"
"Ok, slow down, old man. I feel like I should be taking notes or something."
"Noted," said Hiruzen, "let me explain. Chakra is the spiritual and physical energy that is innate to every living thing on Earth. These energies exist in some balance in a person. Some are more inclined to physical, or yang, chakra, while others are more inclined to spiritual, or yin, chakra."
Alarmingly, when conducting his diagnostic on Naruto, he was able to determine that Naruto had a heavy, unnatural lean toward yang chakra, certainly due to his status as a jinchuuriki and the seal on his stomach. More investigation would be required later, he noted.
"So, what does this mean for me," Naruto said. His sickly clone dissipated in a cloud of smoke.
"Good question," he said, "the Clone technique relies primarily on a heavier mixture of yin chakra. Typically, hand signs would be sufficient for most ninja to mold the chakra required to pull off this technique. From what I can observe, you have a distribution that greatly favors yang chakra. In other words, your yin chakra is quite underdeveloped. What is happening is that you aren't pulling enough yin chakra into the technique for it to be successful. The Transformation and Substitution techniques favor yang chakra, so it stands to reason that those would be easier for you to master."
Naruto blinked, pausing for a moment. "So, I need to get more yin chakra. How do I do that?"
"Well, there are a few ways to train to become more proficient with yin chakra. Primarily, through meditation. Meditation will help you become aware of your chakra system as a whole. Have you ever tried to feel your chakra before?"
Naruto brightened up. "Oh, yeah! That's something I actually remember from class. Iruka-sensei had us feel our chakra and meditate once. I don't remember when it was, but I remember thinking it was boring. Though, when I got the hang of it, I felt better the rest of the day."
I don't doubt that you felt better by alleviating your unnatural balance, even if only for a day, Hiruzen thought. "Good, so you have some experience with it. In order to solve the conundrum of the Clone technique, you will need to develop your yin chakra. Therefore, your homework for this lesson will be to meditate every day," he said.
Naruto, to his credit, did not balk at the assignment. His brow was knit together in concentration. "Right, meditate every day. I can do that."
"You should start by meditating for five minutes a day. After several days, begin increasing your time meditating. And another thing," Hiruzen said, "follow me."
Hiruzen led Naruto through the training ground and toward his main residence at the Sarutobi clan grounds. His home was nestled amongst a group of tall, hardwood trees, a gift from the Lord First to his family after he had made chunin. The trees provided ample shade and made cooling his home easy in the hot summer months in Konoha. The back of his home, which faced the training grounds, was covered in vines. Clematis flowers grew near the base of his home and were in bloom right now, their purple flowers swaying in the light breeze. Hiruzen opened the back door and led Naruto up the stairs to his personal library.
"Books," Naruto said. The boy gazed at the many shelves lining the walls. They were filled with books and scrolls of all kinds. Strewn about the room were piles of well read scrolls. In the center of the room were two high backed armchairs. Each chair had a foot rest, as well as a small table.
"Yes, this is my personal library. It is often a space I like to abscond to when the demands of a Hokage become troublesome," Hiruzen said, a small smile gracing his lips.
"Why bring me here?" The boy asked. He swayed side to side and his eyes wandered from title to title on the shelf nearest him.
"To encourage you to read, of course," Hiruzen said with a laugh.
Naruto's focus shifted to Hiruzen. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
"Now, boy, fighting and training aren't the only important aspects of being a ninja. Reading and learning are just as important, if not more so. Reading helps to develop the mind, change your perspective on all sorts of matters, and build caches of knowledge that will help you in the future. Alongside, meditation, reading is one of the key ways to develop your spiritual yin energies. Besides, I think you will be interested in the titles I have chosen for you today," he said.
Hiruzen strolled around the room, reading titles as perused his personal collection. He found the first title easily enough. The second title was rather more of a challenge to find. He hadn't picked up this particular title in ages, so it took several minutes for him to find. In the meantime, Naruto had taken to looking through the shelves himself. He wondered if anything would catch the boy's eye.
Once he acquired both texts, he turned to Naruto. "My boy, come here," he said. Naruto approached him eagerly.
"The first title is Chakra: An Introduction. This is the seminal text on chakra manipulation, control, molding, and development. If I could assign this to every genin in the village, I would," he said.
He handed the book to Naruto. The boy thanked him before absently flipping through its pages.
"The second is one that I think you'll find particularly captivating. It is called Ninjutsu of the Uzumaki Peoples," he said. Naruto's eyes widened swiftly.
"You mean…" he said, reaching out unconsciously for the scroll.
"Not much is known about the ways of the Uzumaki. This scroll contains some of the only recorded information on Uzumaki jutsu that remains. I don't have to tell you to take special care of this scroll," said Hiruzen.
He had no doubt that this would bring up countless questions for the boy. Being nearly twelve years old, Hiruzen figured it was time to start letting the boy in on some of the closely guarded secrets of his life. It would be no use hiding these facts from the boy much longer. Hiding truths was a quick way to breed resentment among youths. He felt this was especially so in Naruto's case. Hiruzen had done a rather poor job at developing the boy's social network to this point. If Naruto were to find out the truth about his family from an untrustworthy source, it could spell disaster for Konoha.
Naruto accepted the proffered scroll with delicate hands. He treated it with reverence and careful attention.
"Can you teach me one from this book now?" Naruto said, turning a pleading look to Hiruzen. "You said you'd teach me a jutsu, right? So, will ya, Old man, please?"
Hiruzen shook his finger. "Ah, ah, ah," he said, "You must complete your homework first. Read these books and meditate daily. Then we will commence on finding an appropriate jutsu for you to master. Young Sasuke did not master the fire ball jutsu in a day, I can assure you of that."
Hiruzen desired to get around any incessant begging and questioning about jutsu. It was important to dissuade young ninja from jutsu obsession early and often. There were many ways to be a successful ninja and seldom did a great ninja find success without understanding some key learnings about chakra.
"Go on, boy, you have much to do," Hiruzen said, shoo-ing him from the library with a wave of both hands. His grandson would be awake soon, after all. "And, Naruto, I'll be sending one of my dedicated ANBU to check on your homework progress later this week, so please don't be alarmed by any masked intruders in your home."
He smiled as Naruto blanched. He clutched the book and scroll under his arm before darting off. "Understood, old man!"
Look out for him, will ya?
I will, thought Hiruzen.