First try at a Naruto story I suppose as well as writing with an OC. Huzzah!
Four years after the attack of the Kyuubi
A four year-old Takai Tekkan sat in his apartment, staring out his window aimlessly. He was all alone in his small apartment.
He didn't really remember his parents, only that they died in the Kyuubi attack. He raised his left hand up and lightly dragged it down the scar on the left side of his face. He grimaced as he thought about it. He was permanently impaired by the loss of his left eye.
The small house he was in had been destroyed by a swipe of one of the Kyuubi's tails. A shard of metal had flown across the newborn's face, permanently injuring his left eye and leaving a scar running from below his cheek bone to a bit above his eyebrow. Worse yet, his eye had to be removed lest it become infected. The small boy dropped his arm. He had never seen someone with an injury exactly like his, and since he was different from other kids, he was ostracized heavily.
It actually reminded him deeply of one other young boy like him in the village: one Naruto Uzumaki. He seemed eternally happy and excited. Takai wanted to be like him. Able to ignore that crushing sadness and loneliness that haunted him as he knew Naruto did.
He looked down at his hands and sighed deeply. He than looked out his window only to spot a man with silver gravity defying hair on the roof of the building across from his. That by itself was not too interesting, but what was interesting was the way his Konoha headband sat upon his head: it was at an angle. It covered his left eye.
The man was remarkably skinny looking and wore what Takai recognized as the Jonin uniform for Konoha. He was stunned into amazement at what he saw.
'Is...is he like...me?' Takai thought hopefully as he once more raised his left hand to his face, cupping it over the empty socket and scar. He felt the corners of his lips twitching upwards. Takai had forgotten the feeling of smiling as his lips curved into a half smile, than a full smile, before long, he had a blinding grin as he studied the Shinobi as closely as possible.
He did his damnedest to burn the image of the man before him into his mind. He could go to the library and find a book on recent Shinobi in Konoha or even better, might be able to "borrow" (read: steal) a Bingo book from one of the freshly graduated Genin. Thoughts for later he mused. Takai in the mean time pressed his left hand against his window, his smile fading as the man crouched down and leapt away so quick he didn't even see him move in a blur off the roof, just gone from that crouching position.
Takai grinned once more as he remembered his earlier thought, 'The library!' He jumped off the wooden chair he was sitting on, an audible creek sounding out as he sprinted full speed to the scratched up door of his apartment and tugged his sandals on. He burst through his door and slammed it shut before running through the building to reach street level and headed off towards the public library.
Konoha Public Library
Takai arrived after a good ten minutes of running. He nearly flew through the doors until he remembered the last time he did that which resulted in him being tossed out the library by an assistant. He stopped before the doors and quietly opened them, slipping into the library.
"Hello dear, may I help you today?" An ancient looking lady said at the front desk, book with a blank green cover in her hand as she looked up and smiled kindly.
"YE-" He winced as he remembered the rules and the results of last time, glancing at a fairly bulky man in the corner of his good eye that was doing his best to stare a hole through Takai's skull. "Yes, Librarian-shi." He said far quieter, the bulky man behind him nodding approvingly before going back to placing books from his arm onto the shelf.
The old lady chuckled at his outburst. "Thank you for your politeness young man. Your name?"
The boy responded quickly, "Tekkan Takai." He said.
"A very nice name. I am the librarian here, Tamaki Koki. Now, how may I help you today?" She questioned.
"I saw this really cool ninja and I want to know more about him. Do you have any books on the recent shinobi in Konoha or maybe even a copy of the Bingo book?" He belted out as fast as possible.
The old lady merely smiled as she stood from her desk, grasping a cane as she led him through the slightly dim library to the smallest section in the civilian area. She bent down slightly and donned reading glasses as she went over the titles, muttering too quietly for Takai to understand. After a minute of her perusing the three shelves in the back of the civilian area built into the wall, she grabbed two books down for him.
"The first is Konoha: A History of Shinobi. I also have a copy of the Bingo book, but it is a few years outdated. Let us head back to the desk so you can check these out for two weeks." She said nicely as she turned around and hobbled back to the desk with her cane, Takai in tow.
Takai's Apartment
He squealed in excitement as he burst into his apartment, shutting his front door and kicking off his sandals next to the door. He ran to his small bedroom with a single bed and a small closet and jumped onto his bed. He first grabbed Konoha: A History of Shinobi and opened it. He flipped to the table of contents. Using his finger as a guide to reading line by line. He was four after all, he was still in the process of learning how to read correctly.
Takai stopped on one of the last chapters, chapter nineteen. "Notable Shinobi of Our Time..." He read aloud to himself. He smiled broadly.
'An appearance that unique, he has to be in here somewhere!' The young boy thought as he flicked through the book so fast his hands got warm, he was later surprised it didn't catch fire. He stopped when the title showed what he wanted, Notable Shinobi of Our Time. He slowly flipped through the book. "Asuma Sarutobi...a guy with a big sword...Itachi Uchiha...Kakashi Hatake..." He almost flipped past Kakashi Hatake's page before he stopped.
"This is it!" He squeaked in joy. "Known titles and monikers. Sharingan no Kakashi? Friend-Killer Kakashi..? Copy Ninja Kakashi?" The boy muttered to himself. He noted the amount of titles and moved down to the history of the man. He read aloud to make it easier, "Kakashi Hatake is a shinobi of Konoha. He specifically is noted for his used of the Sharingan which has reportedly allowed him to copy and use over one thousand Jutsu successfully. This makes him a highly unpredictable and varied opponent. On top of that, Hatake is a former ANBU, and as such will be incredibly difficult to detect unless you are a skilled chakra sensor."
Chakra sensor? What the heck was that? Takai shrugged, something for later. He looked around the page, noting the lack of pictures for the most part, only one drawing of the man depicting him standing still with his hands in his pockets and a slight slouch. The young boy stared in awe at the man's picture, absorbing his image. He specifically noted the color of his headband and mask, a dark blue that was nearly black, standard for Konoha shinobi uniforms. He shook his head as he looked along the page, immediately focusing in on the section labeled "Personality".
He once again read aloud, "There is little known of Sharingan no Kakashi's personality apart from being absolutely ruthless in combat, otherwise usually looking dispassionate and disinterested, even in the face of foes. From the very notably low amount of survivors and the few witnesses of his work have seen him reading the Icha Icha series of romance novels written by the Toad Sannin whilst giggling profusely."
The young boy blinked. He supposed he would have to rectify the disappointingly short section. He looked over to a stack of empty notebooks for the Academy. He looked back to his books, closing Konoha: A History of Shinobi. He grabbed the Bingo booked and skipped to the "K" section.
"Kakashi!" Takai half-yelled as he found the page first. He scanned the page. He noticed something interesting, his affinity was Raiton. "Lightning release?" The boy said to himself questioningly.
He then looked down at the bounty price,"2-2-2...200 MILLION RYO?!" The boy shouted as he read the price aloud. That could likely buy the entire building he was in and the other eight around him with plenty of left overs! Takai closed the book calmly and placed them on the spindly table next to his lumpy mattress and walked to the corner of his room, picking up a notebook and a pencil.
He squinted as he thought of a name for the notebook before he settled on one. The one that sounded the coolest to him: Sharingan no Kakashi.
Hours later, outside Takai's Apartment building
Takai sat outside his building, simply passing the time until he noticed a certain blonde walking out of his building. Takai blinked. He knew Naruto lived in his building, only two doors down the hall from him even, but the only times he left were to visit the Hokage or to pull some type of prank as far as he had seen. Takai stood up and followed after the young boy from a distance.
Maybe the other boy had some place to get really good food for a cheap price? After all, how else would he eat? Takai had seen him being scammed in stores before and even flat out being kicked out or completely rejected before he could even step foot into the shop. He wore a white shirt, light forest green shorts and black sandals.
The young boy noted his path, "The Hokage Tower?" He whispered to himself.
He decided to catch up to the blonde. "Hey! Naruto! Are you going to see the Hokage?" He asked. The blonde boy turned his head back before flinching, expecting some sort of insult or glare, but none came.
Takai saw Naruto barely even look at his eye. Almost everyone stared at his eye.
The blonde nodded hesitantly. Takai looked slightly puzzled at his behavior.
The blonde spoke up then, however, "You know, I was wondering when you were going to show yourself, I knew you were following me since I left the building."
"Really? How?" Takai questioned.
"Because I'm the Prankster King so I'm super good at sneaking around. Even better, I'm going to be Hokage one day, so I have to be the best at everything. Believe it!" The boy said while giving a grand thumbs up. Takai looked awestruck at the boy's attitude. He immediately knew he wanted to become friends with this boy.
Takai suddenly became aware that he really had never talked to someone his age without someone bullying him for his missing eye and had next to no social skills.
"Can I come with you to visit the Hokage?" Takai questioned quietly.
Naruto nodded excitedly,"Hokage-jiji loves me!" Takai practically wilted in relief.
Naruto did ask a question, "Hey, whats with the eye? The scar looks awesome!" Takai almost turned around right there before realizing something: Naruto was genuinely curious, he wasn't mocking him, but expressing childish curiosity.
"Oh! I- uh...lost it as an infant when the Kyuubi attacked four years ago." He said quietly.
Naruto actually looked remorseful. "I'm sorry about that." He said.
Takai nodded.
Naruto then grabbed his wrist and pulled him along when their little moment of silence was finished with, "What's your name?" Naruto asked as he pulled Takai towards the Hokage Tower.
"Tekkan Takai!" He half-shouted as Naruto pulled him like a kite in the wind.
Hokage Tower
Naruto pulled poor Takai all the way to the Hokage's Office and burst in grandly with his hands on his hips and a huge grin on his face while Takai was attempting to catch his breath, how the hell did Naruto run like that?
Takai hesitated at the door while Naruto sauntered on in and greeted the Hokage, "Hi Hokage-jiji!" Naruto said cheerily as he walked up to one of the chairs before the Hokage's desk and hopped onto the left one. Takai gaped like a fish at the exchange. The Hokage smiled at Naruto, "Hello Naruto." He then looked up at Takai and ushered him in, "Come on Takai-kun." The Hokage said kindly, a sparkle in his eyes.
Takai walked in slowly, admiring the office. It had pictures of men on the walls all wearing the same funny hat the Hokage wore and below that were hip height book shelves filled with various tomes and scrolls.
He stopped at the right chair and climbed onto it. He watched in amazement as Naruto started a conversation with the Hokage.
'Incredible...' He thought to himself.
Takai blinked when he noticed the Hokage turning to him.
"And why are you here, Takai-kun?" The Hokage asked.
"I saw Naruto leaving the apartment building and decided to follow him." He responded somewhat shyly.
The Hokage blinked, "Well Naruto, I dare say you've made a friend today." The Hokage said chuckling.
Naruto stared at Takai in surprised before a massive grin formed on his face, "REALLY? ALRIGHT!" The boy shouted while standing in his chair.
It wasn't before long that Naruto left and Takai was left alone with the Hokage.
"Something you need, Takai-kun?" He asked as he picked up his pen to continue the pile of paperwork he had that dwarfed Takai in height even.
'Shouldn't the Hokage have an assistant for this..?' Takai thought to himself.
"Takai-kun?" The Hokage asked.
"Oh! Uhm- yes." He said very eloquently.
The Hokage said while chuckling, "How can I help you young man?"
Takai figured if anyone knew more about Kakashi, it was his boss, the Hokage, "Do you know who Kakashi Hatake is?" He asked.
The Hokage raised an eyebrow, "Yes I do, in fact he should be here very soon even." The Hokage took the opportunity to escape his paperwork for a brief moment and placed his pen down and raised a pipe, puffing it a few times, "Why do you want to know?" He asked.
Every ounce of passion he felt for the man instantly appeared in his eyes, practically bursting with joy and excitement, "Because he's like me!" He replied while bouncing in the chair.
The Hokage blinked in surprise, "What do you mean?" He asked.
"He's missing an eye." Takai raised his left hand and opened his left eye lid, exposing the empty socket for a brief moment before letting go of the eye lid. The Hokage smiled sadly. He remembered pulling little Takai from the ruins of the home he was in during the recovery effort. Poor boy lost his parents before he knew them. The Hokage felt slightly guilty as he couldn't even identify the bodies, having to give them unmarked grave stones. After that, the boy had been given a random surname just to fill out his record.
The old Hokage remembered examining the father's face. He looked remarkably like a Uchiha. The dark hair, pale skin, dark eyes, aristocratic features. The mother had been crushed unfortunately, becoming completely unidentifiable.
The Hokage nodded as he left his musings, "He is indeed missing his original eye."
Takai jumped up in his chair. "And he's still a Shinobi?!" He asked.
The old Hokage chuckled lightly, "Yes, he indeed he is." The Hokage leaned slightly to the left and looked behind Takai and spotted the very man of their talk, Kakashi Hatake. "And speak of the man and he shall appear." The Hokage said with a smile.
Takai looked confused for a moment, "Eh? What does that mean?" He asked as he turned his head to look the same way the Hokage was. Takai's attention homed in on the man like an expertly thrown shuriken.
Takai was awe struck as Kakashi walked into the room right up to the Hokage's desk and set a folder down, "Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama. It was just a few bandits, nothing worth even caring about." He summarized.
"Good. Good, you're dismissed." The Hokage said while picking up the folder and opened it, starting his read on the mission.
Takai stared at Kakashi, mouth hanging open. His left eyelid twitched in excitement. He spoke. garnering the man's gaze, "Are you...Kakashi Hatake?" He asked slowly to avoid stuttering, first impressions were quite important after all.
"Hm. Yes, I am him" Kakashi replied, his voice perfectly even and monotone.
"Are you missing your left eye?" Takai asked.
Kakashi looked a little confused now, "Yes?" He said.
"And you're still a shinobi?!" The little boy finished.
"Well, yes." Kakashi said.
The boy went silent while staring at him. Kakashi noted the closed left eye and...the scar over the left side of his face that looked near identical to his.
"Hokage-sama, who's the brat?" Kakashi asked he asked aloofly.
The Hokage laughed at that, "It seems, Kakashi-san, that you have an admirer." The Hokage answered as he puffed his pipe another time.
Kakashi looked back at the kid, "Is that so?" He asked.
"You're...you're my hero! You're still a shinobi even without your eye and a really good one too! And I'm going to surpass you!" Takai said while pointing at Kakashi.
The sight made the smallest of smiles get onto his face, the very corner of his exposed right eye crinkling just a bit. He would never admit it, but he did smile. But, he had to keep appearances.
"Okay." He said as he turned on his heel and walked away, pulling out an Icha Icha book and reading it as he went.
Takai deflated, "Aw, what?"
The Hokage merely looked on in pity, not the best man to idolize unfortunately, if the saying "Don't meet your heroes" applied to anyone, it was definitely Kakashi.
Takai suddenly re-inflated with happiness as he declared to no one in particular that he would surpass Kakashi and make him proud.
One month later, outside Konoha Public Library
Takai was currently following Kakashi through a throng of people, rapidly scribbling into his notebook in his poor handwriting about the man, his posture, his behavior, what he did, anything Takai could really. The man currently was nose deep in one of his Icha Icha books. Takai had yet to figure out what they were. He stopped suddenly when he realized Kakashi turned off into an alleyway of some sort.
Takai turned quickly and pursued the Jonin, only to lose him to the shadows. Takai walked deeper into the alleyway, only to feel a hand grab his shirt from above and pick him up by it. "What do we have here? An stalker taking notes?"
Takai turned his head to the right and looked at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. 'No way he lost me that easily! Just goes to show how good he is...'
Kakashi then reached for the notebook in Takai's hand, easily taking it from him. It was then Takai realized Kakashi was standing perfectly horizontally on the wall. " "Sharingan no Kakashi, huh? Must be famous." Kakashi said dryly in response to reading the title of the notebook.
Kakashi dropped Takai on his butt and opened it only to be assaulted by massive amounts of information.
'Jeez, I knew this kid admired me, but this is some pretty next level stuff. Oh, he even has my favorite book series written down with question marks? Must not know what it is. Behavior? Hm. Cool and collected, ALWAYS late and has a...dumb excuse?! Has managed to switch places with a log to avoid socializing. Always calm and disinterested, only friends are the ones who have adopted him as their own friend?!.' Kakashi thought to himself, sputtering a bit in his thoughts in response to the last note. For what only could have been a four year old, it was pretty good stuff.
Kakashi handed the notebook back to Takai before an idea of genius levels struck him. 'I could teach him how to Henge into me and keep Gai and the others from making me have lunch with them later. Only issue is he wouldn't have the slightest idea as to what they would be talking about, there's no way he knows anything of my missions for the most part either. Hm. Should be fine though! It would even get him off my back for at least a little bit.' Kakashi thought to himself as he stepped down off the wall smoothly.
"Alright, I'm going to teach you a jutsu and in exchange you're going to fill in for me at a place I'm suppose to be." Kakashi said, his tone unwavering.
Takai nodded rapidly as he stowed his notebook and pencil away for later.
"Alright, take your hands just like I'm going to do and form the hand signs while gathering your chakra." Kakashi then demonstrated the dog, boar, and ram signs slowly for the boy to replicate.
The boy did so, except for one thing, "How do I gather my chakra?" He questioned.
Kakashi nearly face faulted at that, after all, how would a four year old without training know how to do that? He almost let out an audible sigh.
He proceeded to explain it to the boy, essentially quoting what he himself had been told in the academy.
Luckily for him however, Takai caught on after only three minutes and managed to create a sickly pale Henge of himself in under five minutes, pretty impressive all things considered. With another twenty minutes Takai made a passable Kakashi Henge. The only thing amiss was left pinky, it being just a few degrees off center, but other than that, absolutely perfect.
"Heeeey, wait a minute, doesn't this mean you're avoiding your responsibilities?" Takai questioned. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, "No! Nothing like that, just a tactical diversion is all!" Takai squinted at the man before accepting it with a grin.
"Alright. Where do I go and what time do I arrive?" Fake-Kakashi asked, adjusting his posture to what his notes had down.
"The restaurant across from the library. I'm suppose to be there at ten sharp, but as you have noticed, I'm always late due to some unforeseen circumstance so-" Kakashi started before Fake-Kakashi interrupted with his hand up.
"You mean you're lazy?" He provided.
Kakashi provided no visible reaction to that.
"So arrive about forty-seven minutes late since this is a friend gathering and not some important village meeting and make sure its an odd number to avoid seemingly perfect timings so its natural." Fake-Kakashi started, already slinking away before he stopped, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his notebook, scribbling into it.
"Can-" He turned to ask Kakashi a question but Real-Kakashi was already gone like the wind. Fake-Kakashi shrugged as he settled into his role, glancing at a clock.
'9:42. I can make it there in time.' Fake-Kakashi thought as he picked up his pace ever so slightly.
Shishimi's Grill House
Fake-Kakashi walked into the restaurant exactly forty-seven minutes late as intended. He immediately heard a loud voice welcoming him over to a booth with two other shinobi he recognized as Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Maito Gai. Fake-Kakashi recognized them from the Bingo book. Though, Kakashi still had the largest entry of the four.
Maito Gai immediately walked over to the door and pulled him along to their booth, making him sit next to Asuma. "Kakashi, how's it going? Are your fires of youth still burning?!" Gai immediately began, his voice so loud the other patrons could obviously hear him.
"Yeah, sure thing Gai." Fake-Kakashi replied. Gai raised his fist, crying while talking about youth.
"Anyway, sorry I was late! I crossed paths with a black cat under a ladder so I had to take the long way around the village." Fake-Kakashi said while giving an awkward eye-smile and rubbing the back of his head. Exactly the way Real-Kakashi does. 'Nailed it.' Fake-Kakashi thought to himself.
"That might very well be the worst excuse you have ever given. Last time it was because there was a big pane of glass being moved and it blocked your path-" Asuma started.
"Yeah- well-" Fake-Kakashi interrupted.
"-for two hours and fifteen minutes." He finished.
Fake-Kakashi gave the appearance of a sweat drop while thinking to himself, 'Is he serious? I didn't know it was that bad, even with all my stalking- I mean, information gathering.'
Once everyone was settled in, they ordered their meal, Fake-Kakashi refusing to.
"So, Kakashi," Gai began as their food arrived, "how was that last mission yesterday?" Gai smirked as if Fake-Kakashi didn't know something.
'Going to use this to spring the trap on him-' Gai thought.
Fake-Kakashi looked up at him, "Good, it went quick."
Gai stared at him as the booth stopped eating. "You haven't been on a mission in at least a week though."
Fake-Kakashi began sweating profusely, "I- Uh- Well- Haven't been feeling the best, you-" He began before he was interrupted by Gai picking him up piggy back style.
"Then we shall visit the hospital for your ailment!" He yelled in a fashion he would describe as youthfully. He walked out of the restaurant only to leap upwards onto a roof top and break into a full sprint, Fake-Kakashi flowing like a kite in the wind.
Asuma and Kurenai shook their heads.
"WOOOOOOOAAAAHAAAAAA!" Fake-Kakashi shouted as Gai pulled him along so fast everything looked like a blur.
Else where on an opposing roof top was Kakashi reading one of his Icha Icha books while giggling perversely.
Konoha Hospital
"WE HAVE ARRIVED KAKASHI!" Gai yelled as he slid to a full stop in front of the doors. Gai walked in, approaching the front desk, "Hello there! My companion needs medical attention!" Gai turned to show Fake-Kakashi.
The nurse deadpanned, "This better be some kind of joke." She said, "That's no ninja, that's a damn kid, now get the hell out so we can take care of the people who really are hurt and sick." The nurse said harshly, waving them away.
Gai looked behind him, "Eh?" He laid eyes on a barely awake Takai hanging on to Gai.
"Woooohahaha yaaah..." Takai said in his barely conscious state.
Gai sweat dropped, 'Did Kakashi seriously get a kid to Henge into him to avoid us?'
He shook his head as he sat down and waited for the young boy to wake up.
Two days later, Hokage's Office
Naruto and Takai were currently sitting in the Hokage's office listening to him talk about the shinobi and their job. Takai managed to convince Naruto to sit still long enough for the Hokage to finish. "Hokage-jiji, I'm gonna take that hat from you one day! Believe it!" He said boisterously as he stood on his chair.
The Hokage chuckled, "Good. I'm getting old Naruto, I hope you can meet the demand of being Hokage when I finally hand down the hat." He said while puffing his pipe. Naruto smiled broadly, "Thanks Hokage-jiji!"
Takai smiled at Naruto's display as they went to leave only to find Kakashi walking into the Hokage's office, reading one of his Icha Icha books again.
"Ah, Kakashi-san." The Hokage said.
Naruto squinted at the book in Kakashi's hand, "That's one of those pervert books! Are you some sort of pervert?!" Naruto questioned.
Kakashi's one visible eye widened, "What?! No no no, I'm a lover of quality literature!" He said while waving his hand.
"Eh, Naruto-san, what's a pervert?" Takai asked.
"I already told you, no honorifics, you don't need to! And a pervert is someone who is creepy towards girls because they're lonely because he can't get with a girl." Naruto answered brightly.
Kakashi sweat dropped as the two boys left, the Hokage cracking a small smile.
Konoha Park
"Come on Naruto! We have to train if we want to be the best ninja out there!" Takai said as he pulled Naruto towards the park.
"But-" Naruto began weakly.
"No buts! You want to be Hokage, right? Then you have to be the best! And I'm gonna be right there with you as your partner!" Takai declared valiantly.
"Ugh, fine! I'm going to show you up too! Believe it!" Naruto said in response, the two boys running off deeper into the park to get basic exercises down from a book Takai had read from.
As they did there exercises Takai explained it, "Listen, this book, Preparation for Shinobi Training is telling us how to train so we can be the best ninja ever!" Takai said as he made Naruto get into proper position for push-ups and the two boys began working.
It took the pair twenty minutes to get through their training together. "Now! We have about three years until we hit the Academy, so we can get a lot of stuff down now so we can be the best there and get even more good training!" Takai reasoned.
Naruto paused, humming to himself, "Yeah! Alright, let's go!" He finally responded.
The pair cheered as they went through the list of exercises. By the end of it both were hurting, their joints and muscles worn but determined. "Let's look at the last one!"
Takai pulled the book from his pocket and flipped to the back, noting an...interesting exercise.
"Chakra?" Takai said questioningly.
"Catra." Naruto replied with much wisdom, a sagely look on his face
"Hold on, let me read this- 'Chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual energy. All living beings, people, animals, plants, even the ground and air around us all have chakra within. Ninjutsu are techniques used to shape chakra to accomplish things such as wall walking, spewing fireballs, summoning waves of water, or lightning bolts. In theory, chakra can be used to fly. However, these techniques require both power and control. The leaf sticking exercise is the very beginning of this process of learning.'" Takai read aloud.
They looked at each other, completely in awe. "Awesome!" and "Awesome, believe it!" The two said.
Naruto jumped off the ground and ran right to Takai's side, examining the steps to perform the exercise.
"'Assume a meditative position and hold a leaf to your forehead with your hand and focus on summoning an energy from inside you. You will begin to get a small draining feeling. Let go of the leaf when this is focused to your forehead. This is what most people do and it works quite well.'" Takai read aloud.
"Hm. Let's go find some leaves!" Naruto sounded as he ran off towards the treeline.
The duo pulled a leaf each from a low hanging branch and sat down, affixing the leaf to their foreheads via their hands.
Takai closed his eyes and started the process, 'Come on, I gotta get this down! If I can master a bunch of stuff before the Academy, me and Naruto will be the best!' He thought to himself. In the end, he sat there for well over twelve minutes without realizing it.
Takai nearly jumped in joy when he felt the drain the book described, and nearly vibrated in excitement as it focused to his forehead. He did his best to remain calm, but a smile formed on his face anyway. He sat like that as long as possible before the leaf slid off his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked down once he realized it did and saw that it was shredded into pieces. He wondered how long it stuck to his forehead.
He then looked at Naruto who was surrounded by what had to have been the scraps at least forty leaves! "Naruto? What's wrong?" He asked.
"Gah! It's this stupid exercise! Look!" He placed the leaf to his forehead, which stuck immediately. There was a pause before it practically shattered like glass, bits of leaf flying everywhere.
Takai stared. "Ehhh- Maybe the Hokage knows?"
Naruto brightened up at the mention of the old man, "Yeah! Let's go see Hokage-jiji!" He cheered.
Feel free to leave reviews and such.
Beta'd by the wonderful Dragon.
