Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
...
Naruto stood in the centre of the training ground nervously, having been in the one spot since well before the sun's first rays had crept over the horizon. The young boy had hardly been able to sleep the previous night because of excitement for what lay ahead. Five years old and he was already going to start learning how to be a ninja. It didn't really bother him that the person who was going to be teaching him looked only about twelve years old, all that meant was that the boy was clearly a good shinobi despite his age.
"Good to see you here bright and early," commented Itachi as he appeared behind Naruto as if by magic.
Twisting around on the spot (and nearly falling over as a result of a mixture of speed and fright) Naruto saw his teacher for the week, as well as a young boy roughly his age who shared a very similar appearance to Itachi. "If you don't mind me asking, who is that?" asked Naruto recalling the lessons in manners that Makino had been giving him.
"This is my younger brother, Sasuke," introduced Itachi putting a hand on the shoulder of the black haired boy. "When he heard that I was going to be teaching you he practically demanded that he come along as well."
Naruto eyed up the newcomer and while and other kid his age would likely see the potential for a new friend, Naruto's mind raced through several other lessons that he had been given. Here was a boy roughly his own age, the younger brother of somebody who was already Chunin in rank. Gathering from that, he considered that there was a fair chance that Itachi and Sasuke hailed from a ninja clan. He tried to recall whether or not he had heard of their family name the day prior but that single detail seemed to have slipped his mind for the moment. Yet if what he was considering was true, then he believed it would be advantageous in the long run to become Sasuke's friend. The blonde blinked a couple of times as he quickly went over what had just gone through his head; he really needed to know when to switch off this side of him and just enjoy himself.
"Are you alright?" asked Sasuke as he looked at the mix of confusion spreading across Naruto's face.
"Yea, just over thinking some things," said Naruto sheepishly as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you," he said as he extended his hand.
"Uchiha Sasuke," said the black haired boy as he took the hand with his own, slightly unsure as to what it meant. He had seen his father do it on a number of occasions with guests of the household yet he himself had never shaken the hand of anybody.
Itachi watched the scene with a hint of amusement spread across his face at his brother's bewilderment. Then he turned a cautious eye over Naruto. From what he had just witnessed it seemed as if the boy was already being taught the lessons of a man, a solid businessman at that. Naruto had said that he had been overthinking something just before and he couldn't help but wonder just what was going through the five year olds mind. Did the boy even have a childhood or was he simply being groomed for something else?
"So what are you going to teach us?" asked Naruto as he looked across to the older boy. In his mind flashes of possibilities raged: triple backflips, shooting fireballs from his hands and vanishing in a puff of smoke to name a few.
"Over the next week I'm going to be teaching the two of you dozens of different things, stuff that you wouldn't usually learn until the first couple years of the academy," stated Itachi as he looked at the two boys who were paying him their utmost attention. "And the first thing I'm going to teach you, is how to stretch properly."
"Stretching?" complained Naruto.
"Yes, is there a problem with that?" questioned Itachi.
"Could you explain how stretching is going to help us become kick ass ninjas?" asked Naruto.
"Of course," said Itachi. "Stretching your muscles on a daily basis allows you to increase the flexibility of your body, allowing you to do more techniques in the when your body is capable of doing them. It is also allows you to watch your progress as you find yourself being able to execute harder and harder moves that you couldn't do before as your body wasn't flexible enough to do them beforehand. Is that a good enough explanation?"
"Definitely," said Naruto rubbing his hands together, coming to understand what Itachi was saying. Basically, this was a building block to what could potentially come in the future. Without taking these simple steps he would cripple his chances in the long run.
"I'm going to run the two of you through a twenty minute stretching exercise that I want you to memorize and do on a daily routine. Each morning this week we will always start with these stretches before moving on to something else, including a various number of kata."
"Kata?" questioned Naruto, never having heard the term before.
"Kata are movement patterns that teach us the basics of how to execute certain techniques in a controlled environment. These patterns have been passed down for hundreds of years and are the original building blocks for a number of martial arts," explained Itachi. "While I will teach you a handful this week you can also find more in scrolls in the library."
"I've got to go there in the next few days," muttered Naruto under his breath.
"Brother, are we going to learn any jutsu?" asked Sasuke.
"Not with what I have planned, but that being said I can at least show you a few things provided you both do well in these lessons," said Itachi, knowing exactly how to push the buttons of the two boys. "Shall we begin?"
Just like that Itachi began to teach the two boys what he had learnt in the academy. He wasn't planning on doing anything too overstrenuous, while he had become a genin at their age neither one of them was truly ready to take on such a burden. He had climbed through the rankings at a steady pace and he tended not to show off during missions and simply did the objective to the level that it needed to be done. Having successfully completed so many missions with a hundred percent success rate, he was looking at joining the ANBU next year. Even though he probably could have joined either this year or the last he had decided to hold back so that he could spend more time with his brother as the boy was growing up.
"Alright, that concludes the stretching," said Itachi as the two boys felt limbered up. "We will begin with that exercise every day this week and I hope the two of you will continue to do it well after I have finished training you."
Naruto looked down at himself and shook his arms and legs slightly. The positions he had been taking wouldn't even have come to his mind but he didn't doubt Itachi's judgement, he had felt tightness in his muscles and knew that this was a step in the right direction. "So what are you going to teach us now?" he asked.
"Well, I'll need to get a grasp of your abilities at this point, so I want the two of you to spar. Try to prevent yourself from seriously injuring yourselves but give it everything you've got."
Sasuke slightly grimaced at his brother's instructions, how was he meant to give it everything he had if he couldn't injure his training partner.
Itachi watched as his brother and the young Uzumaki turned to face one another. He knew that Sasuke had already begun studying Taijutsu and would likely need somebody to test his skills against. As for Naruto, he had been told how he often gotten into scuffles at the orphanage and had grasped a bit of a brawler technique that he'd immediately need to beat out of the young boy's system. A brawler fighting off one on one against a fully fledged ninja rarely ever got too far. "Begin," he announced as he leapt a small distance away as to get a better view of the spar.
Neither Sasuke nor Naruto made too many big moments as they both shifted into different stances. Sasuke, who stood in the basic stance he had been taught, eyed off what he was facing and didn't quite know how to proceed. The number of openings in Naruto's stance, if it could even be called that, was ridiculous. He didn't know whether or not even attacking Naruto would be a good idea at this point until the blonde haired boy spoke up.
"Show me what you got Sasuke," said Naruto as he used an extended palm to beckon Sasuke to make the first move. Taking this as his cue, Sasuke charged forward and quickly closed the gap between them, much to Naruto's surprise before Sasuke drove his elbow into the blonde's chest with a good deal of force. From his standing point Itachi thought that the blow would have been a little overkill for a first move but understood that he would undoubtedly have to work on improving Naruto's guard. Yet he thought that Naruto would have been winded from such a blow, any normal kid their age would be on the ground in tears yet Naruto didn't even seem to be phased by it as he made his counter.
With Sasuke in such close quarters he used one arm to wrap around Sasuke's neck, holding the young Uchiha in place before he repetitively begin punching his opponent in the chest. There was no serious force behind any of the blows but the sheer number of them was quickly wearing Sasuke's endurance down. With all the force he could muster, he pushed his way out of Naruto's grasp and quickly got some ground between them, using this brief period to recover some energy. His reprieve would not last long however as Naruto chased after Sasuke, intending on not letting the Uchiha recover as he lashed out with a frontal kick which thanks to his earlier stretching he was able to aim at Sasuke's chin.
Tilting his head back, Sasuke was able to avoid the blow and quickly kick out at Naruto's other leg, knocking him off balance and to the ground. While he hadn't studied any actual techniques with how to deal with a downed opponent, Sasuke took this as the best time as any to improvise as he leapt on top of Naruto and readied to punch the boy in the face. Yet what he didn't know was that Naruto had been in this position plenty of times before and knew exactly how to reverse such a simple brawling manoeuvre. Ten seconds later Sasuke found his head pushed into the ground with one arm being pulled behind his back as Naruto sat on top of him with a cheeky grin upon his face.
"With that I believe Naruto is the winner," said Itachi as he appeared next to where the two had finished. To say that he had been surprised by the result was an understatement, at the beginning of the spar he had undoubtedly thought that he would be congratulating his brother on his victory but it seemed that it wasn't meant to be. "Now, I'm going to have the two of you fight again tomorrow and the day after, in doing so I want you to learn from your mistakes. Naruto, what's the one thing you're going to take out of the spar with Sasuke?"
"That he's faster than me, that elbow really hurt," said Naruto as he rubbed the stricken area. If he hadn't been taking endurance training with Renku over the past months he would have been out for the count for sure.
"Sasuke, what about you?" asked Itachi, wondering just what it was that his brother would take out of it.
The young Uchiha wasn't sure just how to respond, there were several things he had learnt in the very short fight. He had been taunted in to making a big move right off the bat that had little effect and left himself vulnerable, then when the next opportunity arose he acted on impulse which in turn lost him the bout. He spoke up about these things and Itachi nodded in understanding.
"Alright then, for the next three hours I'm going to teach the two of you how to punch and kick correctly, in a way that won't hyperextend your joints and leave you vulnerable. Then for the last hour I'll teach you the first kata that I learnt which I want the two of you to memorize and repeat ten times tonight before you go to bed. Am I understood?"
"Yes sensei," said Naruto cheerfully as Sasuke nodded in agreement. Yet Itachi's training would only be the beginning of their day.
...
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," said Naruto as he walked with Sasuke down the dark alleyways that led to his home.
"I know brother was fine with his but I'm still nervous, I mean this is meant to be your private lesson and all," said Sasuke as he continued to wonder whether or not this was a good idea.
"I spent all morning learning with your brother, it's only fair that my teacher teaches you in return," said Naruto.
"I'm still not sure," came the worried voice of Sasuke.
"Doesn't matter, we're here now," said Naruto as he stood at the front entrance, quickly opening the door and gesturing Sasuke to follow him. With one final look over his shoulder at some shady people who were eyeing up the young boy, Sasuke thought it best to follow on his new friend's advice and joined Naruto inside his home. While Naruto had gotten used to the sight of the silken drapes that were the only thing blocking the view of what lay behind, Sasuke had not and the boy's curiosity peaked as he reached forward to grab at one of the curtains only for Naruto to quickly grab his hand. "Trust me, if you do that it's going to hurt, a lot," said Naruto recalling his own experiences of looking in when unannounced. It didn't matter whether or not there was a client or not, some of the women who worked here had other ways to entertain themselves.
"Naruto, that you?" called out Makina from the kitchen. Hearing his name being called, Naruto practically dragged Sasuke through the corridors until the two boys came into the kitchen where Makina was waiting for the blonde. For her to see another boy in his presence was a surprise but not totally unexpected. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Uchiha Sasuke," introduced Naruto. "Sasuke, this is my teacher, Makina."
"Uchiha huh, I think your uncle was in a couple of weeks ago but that's not for me to say," said Makina with a shrug of the shoulders, immediately making Sasuke wonder just what one of his relatives was doing in a place like this. "I was going to go over basic multiplication with you today but since you have a friend I'm going to give you a small lesson which I want you to remember for the rest of your lives."
"Rest of our lives," repeated Sasuke, wondering just what it was that Naruto was learning in this environment.
"Sounds great," said Naruto as he watched Makina go to the nearby cupboard and pull out three plastic cups and put them on the table.
"This is a little trick I learnt a few years ago to make a few coins on the street but the lesson I'm going to teach you is different altogether," said Makina as she turned the cups upside down. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small coin and placed it underneath one of the cups so that it was hidden from view. "I want the two of you to find the coin," she said as she started shifting the cups around one another, repetitively changing the order of motions as Sasuke and Naruto followed the right cup with their eyes. Eventually she came to a stop and gestured for the two of them to select a cup.
"That one," declared Naruto as he pointed at the middle cup, Sasuke pointing alongside him believing it was the same as the one Naruto selected.
"Very good," said Makina as she lifted up the cup to reveal the coin before hiding it once again. "Try to keep up this time."
Once again Makina started to shuffle the cups but at a much faster rotation than before, one that the two boys struggled to keep up with despite their keen eyesight. Eventually she came to a stop and once again gestured for them to select a cup. This time though Naruto and Sasuke selected different cups, not having been able to keep up with Makina's pace one of the two had gotten lost at some stage. With both hands Makina lifted up the two cups that had been selected to reveal that neither of the boys had been right in their selection.
"Whoa, you got us both," said Naruto startled that both he and Sasuke had gotten it wrong. After all the odds had been in their favor that one of them would have been right.
"No matter what the two of you would have selected you would have lost," said Makina with a cheeky grin.
"Wait a second," said Sasuke as he reached across the table and lifted up the final cup to reveal that the coin wasn't under that cup either.
"Are you a magician?" shouted Naruto, wondering just where the hell the coin had gone.
"I wish kid," chuckled Makina. "It doesn't matter how I did but the two of you need to know that I successfully scammed the both of you, there was no chance that either of you would win. If you had put money on selecting the right cup that money would now belong to me. This is just a small type of scam, out there in the real world people try to scam good working businessmen and women out of everything that they own through different means and methods. The one thing I want the two of you to take out of this lesson is to avoid getting scammed. While small ones like this are hard to avoid, there will always be some way of seeing through bigger ones that can cost you a lot more than you bargained for."
"Is there a name for these kinds of people?" asked Sasuke, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Con-artists," answered Makina. "People who make a living by taking away from others."
"Alright, stay away from con-artists and don't get scammed," said Naruto absorbing the information.
"Anyways, we'll get back to our usual lessons tomorrow kid, for now why don't the two of you go out and play or something, whatever it is that kids your age do," said Makina dismissing the two five year olds with a wave of the back of her hand.
"You want to go to the park?" Naruto asked of his new friend.
"I guess," said Sasuke unsure of just how much more of the enthusiastic blonde he could take.
Makina watched with a smile as the two boys ran off before she picked up the plasti cups to return them to their home in the cupboard when she spotted Boss standing in the nearby doorway opposite the one that the two boys had run through. "Boss, I didn't see you there," said Makina apologetically.
"Well I didn't expect you to give the boys such a good lesson," appraised Boss having watched the whole scenario play out. Since both of the boys had had their attention on the cups and Makina's back had been turned away from him he had practically been invisible throughout the whole lesson. "Keep up the good work."
Makina didn't get a chance to say anything else as Boss headed down the hallway. As she finished putting her equipment away she realised that she now had the rest of the day to herself. With the sun shining outside she decided it was as good a time as any to go visit the hot springs and relax a few hours, it wasn't like there was anything better to do at that time of day anyways.
...
"Really, you've never had ramen?" questioned Naruto as he and Sasuke went back and forth on the swing set.
"My aunt always makes the meals for the family, I've never even had a meal outside the clan compound," answered Sasuke.
"You need to get out more," replied Naruto as he turned his attention forward.
"This is the first time I've actually been out of the compound without someone watching over me," said Sasuke as he started to realise just how much of a sheltered life he had been living.
"I can't say that I've done much different, Boss often takes me out for dinner sometimes but no matter where he takes me it's always for some other business and I'm just there to watch and learn," said Naruto. He had to thank Boss though, from one of these outings the boy had gotten his first taste of the heavenly broth known as ramen. It turned out that one of the biggest ramen vendors in Konoha had actually been in a great deal of debt. Boss had relieved them of said debt a few years ago on the pretence that they eventually pay back the money in full and provided both him and any guests that he brought to free ramen for life. The debt had been cleared up a year later and now Boss just went there for a casual meal every once in a while just to check up on the business. When he had brought Naruto for a meal he had given the owner a small lump sum to ensure that Naruto would be entitled to the same benefits with or without Boss in tow.
"So is his name actually Boss?" asked Sasuke.
"Possibly, I haven't heard anybody else call him any other names," said Naruto. "I've just gotten used to it I guess. I don't even call him dad now that I think about it. I'm just happy that I got out of the orphanage when I did, don't think I could have stayed in there much longer."
"I can imagine," said Sasuke. While he had never been to the orphanage he could only imagine what it would have been like to be surrounded by people who had lost their parents for one reason or another.
"Anyways, I'm getting hungry, come on I'll treat you to some ramen," said Naruto as he leapt off of the swing set while still in motion, landing softly on his feet as Sasuke repeated the motion and landed beside him. Sasuke was going to argue but his stomach caught him off as he realised he hadn't ate anything since before the training with Itachi. "C'mon it's this way."
Sasuke took off, following Naruto as the blonde sprinted through the park clearly enjoying himself. From behind him he watched as mothers seemed to grip their children tighter as Naruto passed by, as if afraid of the boy. In the same respect he had seen people deliberately avoiding the two of them down the street when they had walked to Naruto's place together. Was this just because he was connected with this Boss character or was it something else entirely? It happened again later on when they had ordered their food. The small establishment had been quiet that afternoon and as Naruto and Sasuke ate their fill Sasuke had noticed that somebody had walked in looking for a meal only to turn away moments later as if their mind had done a complete turn around at the sight of the blonde. He couldn't really think that it was anything else, they had obviously come in for something to eat and had changed their minds almost instantaneously. He wanted to know why but he just had this feeling that asking questions wouldn't get him anywhere. It seemed like most adults knew what this secret was and were determined not to say anything vocally but just let their actions speak for them. Perhaps later in the week he would invite Naruto to his clan compound and see how his father behaved around the young blonde.
"Great as always Teuchi," declared Naruto as he finished off his bowl of ramen, causing Sasuke to look down at his own bowl to find that he had barely gotten through half. Just how fast did Naruto eat?
"Glad you liked it," said Teuchi as he went about cleaning the utensils that he had used to make the boys' meals.
"Here we go son," came an awfully cheery voice as a new couple of customers entered the establishment. Sasuke immediately recognised the older one as the head of the Akimichi clan, having met him once before when he had come to the Uchiha compound for dinner one night.
"Awesome," said the son as he sat next to Naruto, deeply inhaling the wonderful smells that were coming from the kitchen.
"Hey, how we going?" asked Naruto to the new boy that had sat down beside him.
"Excited, I heard that the food here is something amazing," said Chouji as he wondered just how many bowls his father would treat him to.
"Trust me, it is," said Naruto wondering whether or not he could go another bowl before he extended his hand to the boy. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."
"Akimichi Chouji," introduced the young boy as he took Naruto's hand. "Is there anything on the menu that you'd recommend?"
"Chouji my boy, you came to the right kid for advice," said Naruto with a smile at the thought of making a second friend in a single day, not overcomplicating the situation in his mind this time round. Meanwhile Sasuke watched with curiosity at the friendliness between the two, even the fact that Chouji hadn't shyed away from the handshake. Placing his chopsticks to the side, he held his hand in front of Naruto towards the Akimichi heir.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, nice to meet you," said Sasuke trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Chouji," replied the boy as his eyes drifted to the bowl sitting in front of the young Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," replied Sasuke wondering just what it was that he had gotten himself in to.
"Are you going to finish that?" asked Chouji pointing at the unfinished ramen.
From his position at the end of the counter, Chouza couldn't help but smile at the banter between the three kids and he knew that the next generation was going to be a lot of fun to watch grow up.
...
"So what do you guys want to do now?" asked Chouji as he munched on a packet of chips he had been carrying this whole time. Under instructions from his father he was to spend the rest of the afternoon with both Sasuke and Naruto and get to know the two of them better.
"Well your dad's the head of the Akimichi clan, right?" asked Sasuke pretty sure he already knew the answer.
"That's my pops," said Chouji as he plucked another chip out of the packet.
"So has he taught you any fighting styles yet?" asked Sasuke, wondering how a clan heir was progressing as a potential leader. Chances were that one day both he and Chouji would sit upon opposite sides of the council chambers debating about several mundane topics, or at least it would be so on days that Itachi was out of Konoha. It seemed logical that if he followed the path of a ninja that his father had that he may have learnt something by now.
"Not really," admitted Chouji never losing his cheerful disposition. "I'm not going to pressure my father into teaching me anything for a while, I'm not in too much of a rush."
"But," said Naruto quickly piping up, "If an opportunity arose where you could learn something, with or without your father's help, would you be interested?"
"Are you guys going to teach me?" asked Chouji getting excited.
"Well I will, I mean I only know the stuff that Sasuke's brother taught us this morning but it's a start isn't it," said Naruto enthusiastically. "Anyways there's that saying that goes, those who don't do teach...or something like that, I'm not too sure but it doesn't mean I don't want to do but I can teach, am I making sense?"
"Enough sense for me," said Chouji as he slung his arm over Naruto's shoulders as if they were best buds.
"Sweet, hey Sasuke you want to come help me teach Chouji that kata your brother taught us?" asked Naruto to the other member of the group.
"Now you're doing my kind of stuff," said Sasuke with a smile as the three of them headed towards the nearest training ground, unaware that they were being followed. Keeping as well hidden as he could, Chouza couldn't help but follow his son. Deep down he just wanted to see his son socialize with kids his own age that weren't blood related. Sure he had spent plenty of times with his cousins but never had he really had a friend outside of the family, and yet with a simple bowl of ramen he had practically made the best of friends with the blonde haired Naruto.
He knew just who Naruto was and the burden he bared but he would never stoop so low as to ignore the boy and shun him away like some diseased animal. If Chouji ever wanted the boy to come over for dinner one night he would be right there in the kitchen helping make a wonderful meal for the boys to share. He could just imagine the two boys looking up to him in wonder and awe as he told stories about how he and his teammates had successfully completed a number of missions together and how they became known as one of the best three man groups Konoha had ever produced, minus the Sannin of course.
Despite his large body, the head of the Akimichi clan had no real problem hiding from the three boys. If they were actively looking for him then he wouldn't have remained hidden too long but for the moment it was quite safe to hide in plain sight. He found it intriguing though that instead of heading somewhere where other kids would be playing and having fun they were making their way towards a training ground that wasn't currently in use. Remaining hidden in the shade of a tall tree, Chouza watched as Naruto showed Chouji a simple fighting kata and then repeated it with Chouji joining in and following Naruto's movements, Sasuke helping out by making slight adjustments to Chouji's stance and where he struck out at an imaginary opponent.
Chouza hadn't particularly wanted to teach his son anything at that young age, while he would undoubtedly become a great ninja one day he was by no means a prodigy. Yet here he was learning and laughing with boys his own age as they went over a simple exercise that they went through picking up on the mistakes that each of them made in order to improve it the next time round.
...
"Whew, that was exhausting," said Chouji after having repeating the same movements in a continuous loop for the last hour. The Akimichi's muscles weren't used to such strenuous activity and he was nearly completely out of energy.
"Tell me about it," said Naruto as he collapsed on top of the grass, soaking in the suns rays.
"And you guys learnt this earlier today?" asked Chouji.
"My brother taught us that just this morning, along with some other stuff," said Sasuke as he remained standing.
"Is he going to be teaching you guys anything else?" asked Chouji curiously.
"Yep, we're meeting up here again tomorrow morning for the next lesson," said Naruto with a smile as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Would you guys be able to teach me again tomorrow afternoon, if it's not too much trouble with you guys?" asked Chouji wondering if the three of them would be able to meet up again the next day and do the same kind of thing.
"I might be busy tomorrow afternoon," said Naruto knowing that he had a lesson with Makina booked. As Chouji's mood seemed to deflate slightly the blonde came up with a brilliant idea. "Why don't you come here tomorrow morning and join us in the lesson that Sasuke's brother is going to give us?"
"Naruto, are you sure that we should just be inviting people to brother's training session?" asked Sasuke wondering if Itachi would be alright with it.
"From the deal Itachi made with Boss, it was only meant to be me and him originally but you came along, so I don't see what would be wrong with bringing along somebody else," said Naruto. While he wasn't sure of the facts down to the smallest detail, he was pretty confident that Sasuke would believe what he had said.
"If you say so, but if brother gets angry you're the one taking the blame," said Sasuke hoping that it would all be fine.
"Deal," said Naruto as if he was signing off on some big business deal.
"Wait, so what does that mean?" asked Chouji as if he had missed a specific detail.
"It means that you're telling your father that you're going to be meeting us here at sunrise tomorrow morning for a solid training session," said Naruto as he got to his feet and placed his hand on Chouji's shoulder. Chouji stood there in stunned silence for a moment, wondering just what it was that his father would say when he asked him if he could leave the clan compound so early in the morning.
...
"So what did you say?" asked Inoichi as he drank from his sake cup.
"I told him that I'd take him to the training ground personally in the morning," boasted Chouza as he poured himself another drink.
"Shout louder next time, I'm pretty sure the whole bar didn't hear you," said Shikaku with a sigh. "I wish I had that kind of energy to be able to take my son to join in this little group activity so early in the morning."
"Then don't stress yourself too much, just make sure he's awake before dawn and I'll come pick him up on the way to the training ground," said Chouza. "I'm sure if Shikamaru gets into a regular pattern then he might even break out of your bad habits."
"That'll be the day," said Inoichi with a chuckle, knowing full well that all male Nara's were practically destined to be lazy for the entirety of their lives.
"What about you then, do you want me to pick up young Ino on the way through?" asked Chouza.
"My little darling won't wake until the sun is already in the sky, last time I woke her up earlier I had to get my ears checked out down the hospital," said Inoichi, cringing about the experience. Chouza was about to speak up again but was cut off as one other person quickly joined in on the conversation.
"If you're doing house calls in the morning, you want to pick up another pup on the way through?"
...
"So I take it your day was eventful," said Boss as he sat on the end of Naruto's bed, the blonde already tucked under the sheets eagerly awaiting for the next morning to come around.
"I made two friends today, it was so good," said Naruto with a smile.
"Are they both going to be training with you tomorrow?" asked Boss.
"Yep, and then after that lesson has finished I'm going to come here and study with Makina," said Naruto.
"Don't worry about that, spend the week with your friends and you'll catch up on your studies later down the track," said Boss.
"Really?" questioned Naruto, his eyes lighting up with hope.
"Of course, because this is going to be one lesson that only you can teach yourself," said Boss.
"What lesson's that?" asked Naruto.
"Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know."
...
Once more, Naruto found himself standing in the middle of the training ground well before the sun had risen. As Itachi had instructed he had done the kata a further ten times before he had gone to bed and was eagerly looking forward to what his sensei would be teaching him today. The first rays of light began to creep over the clearing as Naruto spotted both Itachi and Sasuke walking towards where he was standing. Yet there was one person who was missing and Naruto couldn't see any sign of the Akimichi heir and Naruto suddenly felt sad that his new friend may not have been given permission to come and join them that morning.
"Morning Naruto," said Itachi as he closed the gap between the two of them, Sasuke following by his side.
"Morning," replied Naruto putting on a cheery disposition despite his quick change in attitude.
"Sasuke told me that you invited somebody else to join us this morning, I hope he's up to the challenge," said Itachi happy to be helping the next generation of Konoha ninja.
"I think the word might have spread," said Sasuke as he looked off to the side to find four people walking to where the group was standing.
"Sorry we're late," said Chouza as he stood in front of the class. "Shikamaru here was a bit of a hassle to get out of bed this morning."
"It was way too troublesome," said the Nara clan heir wishing he was still within the comfort of his own bed.
"Unlike Shikamaru, Kiba here was more than eager to jump on the bandwagon," said Chouza indicating the other boy who had joined.
"I'm so excited," said Kiba practically bubbling with the same energy that Naruto usually had.
"I trust teaching the five of them will be no trouble for you Itachi," said Chouza, hoping he hadn't overstepped any boundaries by bringing more children then the original deal.
"I'll figure something out," said Itachi as his mind tried to comprehend just what he was going to do in order to make this day as productive as possible.
"Good to hear. Chouji, I expect you back at the house before sundown and I want to hear all about your day," said Chouza as he separated from the small group that had followed him here.
"Bye dad," shouted Chouji as he waved to the retreating figure before turning towards Itachi.
The young Uchiha found it somewhat unnerving as five sets of eyes stared up at him waiting for instruction. Like all kids he knew that the five of them would be full of energy (except possibly the Nara) and he needed a way to burn some of that out of them quickly so that they could fully focus on the tasks ahead. Thankfully, he knew a couple of methods to keep them occupied. "Alright boys," said Itachi as he reached into his back pocket and plucked out a handful of kunai. With precise aim he sent them scattering around the clearing, each kunai impaling into the ground to form a circle around the group. "First thing today is I want the five of you to run ten laps around the kunai. Ready, go!"
For a moment none of the children did anything as they looked at one another in confusion. Clearly Itachi hadn't given them enough of a hint so the older Uchiha knew that he had to motivate them another way. "Whoever completes their laps first will get a prize." None of the kids were within ten metres of him five seconds after he said that. "Kids," said Itachi with a slight shake of the head, that simple reward was all he needed. He knew exactly how to push their buttons and how to get the best out of them today. Two things were for sure. Firstly he was going to enjoy teaching these children the basics to fighting. Secondly, he needed to figure out a worthwhile prize to give the winner of this race.
...
Hope you enjoyed.
It was a complete storm outside today, what better way then to write a solid chapter. Originally it was going to end about halfway but I didn't have access to the internet at the time so I just thought, might as well keep going.
Iryelb: Hopefully this has enough meat for you.
Rickjames196: Trust me, this house is more likely to kill me at the moment, I need to move pronto.
Until next time. Ja ne.