TRAINING GROUND 11
After his meeting with the old Hokage, the now named Naruto Senju, has never been more motivated to do his training than ever. To already have an enemy as Legendary as the great Madara Uchiha, he knew the shinobi world will never truly be safe as long as he is still out there.
He needed to get stronger, and he was willing to train every day and night if he has to make it happen.
Naruto had already completed the first month of his Training Regime with the old Hokage and his ANBU 'Niisan'.
It was a long and tiring journey, but it was also very rewarding for the young Senju.
Naruto's Taijutsu has greatly improve when he first started. His 'Wing Fist' fighting style has already reached its peak on his current level, and will continue to improve through more training and sparring. The speed of his strikes and reflexes are now fast enough block most attacks, and counter with multiple fast Jabs, chops and elbow-shots.
Of course he still won't be able to defeat someone of Elite-Jonin Level like Dog, or obviously a Kage Level like Hiruzen, but his Senseis can proudly say that he can stand toe-to-toe and possibly defeat a Mid-Genin Level shinobi in a Taijutsu fight.
The next phase of his Training would be Chakra Control, which surprised the old Hokage since Naruto is the one who recommend it. Hiruzen had assumed, that the little blonde would eagerly like to move on to his Ninjutsu Training already. But when he explains his reasons such as...
'I still need more time to control the amount of Chakra I use, otherwise the execution of my Jutsus won't be as perfect as I wanted, and I'll just be ending up wasting a lot mine and Kurama's Chakra in the process.'
The old Hokage still can't get over the fact of how mature and responsible Naruto is for someone his age. He could only think that he gained most his mannerism and humility from his Mother Nono, which he is very grateful to the young mother.
Hiruzen also agrees with his reasons. Chakra Control may not be the flashiest or the most popular subject when it came to the younger generation like Naruto's. But it IS one of the essential skills to become a strong and skilful Ninja. Chakra is the Shinobi's greatest power after all, and if you lose respect of that power, it will only lead to your early downfall.
There are Two stages he needed to do, in order to gain 'Perfect Chakra Control'.
The first step is 'Tree Walking'. It is a training method to gain more beginner-level-skills with chakra control. This training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of one's feet, and using that to climb a tree without using one's hands. If the stream of chakra is too weak, the user will lose their footing on the tree and fall off. If it is too strong, the user will be pushed away from the tree, causing the tree to break around the point of contact and the user will fall. The concept of this exercise is similar to magnetics.
The Second step is 'Water-Surface Walking'. This training method is use to gain more advanced-level-skills of chakra control. To do this, the user has to be emitting a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of their feet and using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface. This technique is more difficult to master than the Tree Climbing Practice, because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly.
Naruto began with the Tree Walking exercise, but surprisingly it wasn't as difficult as he thought. He would of course fall down a couple of times, but thanks to his previous training, he already knew the basics of how to channel chakra into a certain amount around parts of his body such as his fist. All he needed work on now, is balancing the amount.
It took him around four hours to finally reach the top of the tree. The old Hokage was very proud of his young student for completing the exercise in such a short time.
Once that was done, they move on to the Water-Surface-Walking exercise. But this however, was slightly more difficult for the whiskered face blonde. The surface of the water is constantly changing, unlike the solid surface of a tree. This exercise lasted for almost 2 days for him.
But eventually he managed to stay on the water surface without falling in for almost 30 minutes. Which is already an impressive start.
FOREST AREA - A FEW METERS AWAY FROM NARUTO AND HIRUZEN.
There is a mysterious onlooker standing on a branch of a tree a few distance away from the training ground. She had been observing the young blonde trained his heart out with the old Hokage.
As she looked at his little figure, she couldn't help but thought of how cute he is every-time he gets frustrated, or pouted with his big whiskered cheeks. Every-time she saw his pouted cheeks, she felt like she just wants to walk-up to him without a care in the world, and start pulling them.
She found her 'New Little Friend' extremely adorable. Then, she heard someone Shunshin behind her.
"What are you doing, Anko?" The silver haired ANBU addresses the mysterious onlooker, now identified as Anko Mitarashi.
"What does it look like? I'm spying on the Gaki, Duh." She straight-up confess what she was doing with a hint of sarcasm.
"I can see that. The real question is why?" asked the ANBU.
"What? The Gaki wanted to be my friend. Can a friend, not spy on the other friend, because they are just bored?" She said in a matter-of-fact.
"Weird friends, sure" The ANBU says with a sweat-drop on his head.
"HAH, who says I was normal anyway" she said with a proud smirk.
"Regardless, you are also spying on the Hokage, which is a serious offence. And I have been ordered by him to make-sure Naruto's training goes uninterrupted by anyone." The ANBU said with a serious tone.
"OH NO, THE BIG BAD ANBU HAS FOUND ME. WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO? WILL HE RAVAGE MY BEAUTIFUL BODY UNTIL I SUBMIT TO HIS EVERY NEEDS? " The purple haired Kunoichi says in a overdramatic fashion, as she flaunt her very busty body around to tease the silver haired ANBU.
"W-Wha...What...NO...I wouldn't....." Dog was completely flustered as his cheeks were burning bright red behind his mask.
"Hahahaha oh lighten up, Kakashi. I'm just watching the kid. And he doesn't even know I'm here. So TECHNICALLY, I am not interrupting him, am I?" Anko said calmly, trying to defuse the tension.
"Anko, when I'm wearing this ANBU uniform, its Dog." He said in a serious tone once more.
"But why? That will be an insult to 'Real Dogs' hihihi." She said before laughing at her own joke.
"Ever the charmer, aren't you?" Dog, or the now named Kakashi said with a tired sigh.
"The one and only. Besides.....I don't care what masks you wear. To me.....you'll always be Kakashi." Anko said with a warm smile, as she looked at him with admiration in her eyes.
Kakashi said nothing in return, but he was blushing a little behind his mask for what the pretty purple haired Kunoichi thought about him.
"But then again, you're not the same Rule-Following Stuck-Up I remember. You're quite a softie when it comes to the Gaki" Anko said with a smirk.
Kakashi now had a tick mark on his head after hearing what she just said about him. But deep down he had to admit, she wasn't completely wrong.
"What makes you think that? I'm just doing my job, that was assigned by our Hokage" Kakashi said trying to prove to her that he wasn't a 'softie'.
"Oh please, I have never seen you be this nice or protective of anyone before. Besides, I don't blame you, the Gaki is freaking adorable! But....he does look a bit familiar, doesn't he?"
The Silver haired ANBU said nothing, as he already knew what she was implying.
"......He must really mean a lot to you huh?"
"......More than you know."
"Yeah well.....I bet I mean a lot to him than you! He called me 'Neechan'. What do say about that?" Anko said with smirk and a challenging tone.
"Oh yeah? He called me 'Niisan'. And I know him waaaay longer that you do" Kakashi said with his own smirk behind his mask, but the purple haired kunoichi could clearly tell, and she refuses to lose to him.
The two continue to argue out loud, of who Naruto values most, but failing to realize that the Old Hokage is fully aware of their conversation the whole time they were there.
TRAINING GROUND 11 - WITH NARUTO AND HIRUZEN
'I never thought those two could get along with each other, out of all people' The old Hokage thought to himself, but was smiling that his pain-filled bodyguard is finally learning to open-up to someone again.
He then turned his attention back to his little blonde student.
Naruto is completely exhausted, both physically and mentally. Even with Kurama's chakra support, Naruto is still a child with a child's body. He had been working to the bone of trying to improve his Taijutsu and Chakra Control.
The old Hokage then decided to give the little blonde boy some time to rest and recover his strength.
"Naruto-kun, I am very proud of your progress. But now...I want you to take the week-off, to rest." Hiruzen said.
"B-But Sensei, I'm fine.....I can keep going" Naruto says between deep breaths.
"I know you are worried about Madara, Naruto-kun, but right now I am more worried about you. You wanted me to intensify your training which I have, but right now you can't even stand-straight or breath-steady anymore. Even the strongest Ninjas need rest, my boy...."
Naruto said nothing, as he continues to take slow deep breaths.
".....You have already completed the first phases of your training, and soon we will move on to Ninjutsu, and eventually training with your Hyoton. They will be your toughest training yet, which is why I need you to be at a hundred percent by then. Besides, I still need time to search for any scrolls regarding the Hyoton, that your father or grandmother might have left. There are some places around the village where I can start looking, but it will take a while. And in case you think otherwise, this is an order." Hiruzen said with a serious tone.
"Yes Sensei, I will do as you wish. Besides it might not be too bad. I have been craving for Ichiraku Ramen for days now" Naruto said with an exhausted smile and a drool of saliva from his mouth from the thought of delicious Ramen.
"Hahaha, very good, Naruto-kun. Do you want me to Shunshin you back to your place?" Hiruzen asked.
"Actually yeah, that would be great. My legs feel like jelly right now." Naruto said with a tired smile.
The old man than placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and they Shunshin away to the little blonde's apartment.
Naruto immediately collapse on his soft bed and fell asleep. The Hokage smiled at the sleeping Senju, and then Shunshin away again, but this time back to his office.
NARUTO'S APARTMENT
Naruto was asleep for 2 days straight. The reason why he woke up now, is because his stomach was crying out for food. Ramen in particular. He got off his bed and saw it was now the middle of evening.
He then went to take a long shower first, after realizing he had not clean himself up before falling asleep, which he now stinks of sweat. He then put on his clean clothes, which consist of a green long-sleeve shirt, with a white short-sleeve t-shirt over them that has a red spiral symbol at the front, and dark blue shorts and sandals.
He then went off to his favourite Ramen stand.
STREETS OF KONOHA
Naruto was now walking down the streets of Konoha, and to his relief, they were not many people around at the moment. They were some villagers who still glare at him of course, but thanks to his training he now has a thicker skin, and decided to shrug off the glares with no care.
As he continues to walk, he couldn't stop thinking about what his Jiji had told him, regarding the many stories of his parents.
Of how they met, how they fell in love, and who they were as a person. He smiled to himself when he thought about the part, where his mother was not only a strong talented kunoichi, but she was one of the most beautiful woman in Konoha.
His father on the other hand, was one of the most bravest man the old Hokage had ever knew. Even at a young age, he excelled to tremendous heights in his shinobi career and accomplished so much.
And when Minato and Kushina heard that she was pregnant with Naruto, they were completely overwhelmed with so much joy and happiness, of finally becoming parents.
Naruto let a single tear fell down from his right eye, thinking about that last part. His parents truly loved him. And he was very grateful for their unconditional love, even before he was born.
He knew he had very large shoes to fill, and he vowed to do his best.
As he was so deep in thought, he didn't even realize he accidently bump into someone.
The person fell down and Naruto was immediately snapped back to reality after hearing the loud angry feminine voice.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Yelled loudly by the angry girl, who Naruto knocked down, but her voice was cute and squeaky.
"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there. I guess I was a little distracted" Naruto said, embarrassed for not seeing where he was going, and tries to laugh-away his mistake.
"Well get 'tracted' and help me up shorty!" She said angrily, as she firmly extend her right hand out for him to pull her up.
"Hey! I'm not short! I'm five! And you're a little bossy you know that?! Is this really how you usually meet new people?!" Said the height-sensitive-blonde.
"Hey! I'm five too! And YOU knock me down, which means it is YOUR responsibility to help me up! And as a gentleman, you must help the lady in need!" She said in a matter-of-fact.
"Well I guess that depends, if the lady would kindly say....please" Naruto said with a smirk, and hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"WHAT?! NO! I don't have to say please or anything to you!" The girl said out loud for his 'foolishness'.
"Then enjoy the floor....'Milady'" He said with more sarcasm in his voice and gave a mock-bow at the end.
The girl pouted her cheeks angrily for the stubbornness of the boy in front of her, but eventually she conceded.
"Can you just help me up.......please." She said begrudgingly, as she extends her right hand out to him again.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Naruto says, as he reached out for her hand.
But when he took her hand into his to pull her up, they felt a sudden spark between them when their hands touched.
Their cheeks were blushing red when they felt the mysterious electricity flowing through them.
Naruto began to gently pull her up, and they were now able to get a better look at one-another.
The girl has blonde hair just like his, but more platinum than sunny, and is currently shoulder length. Her eyes are as blue as the morning sky. Naruto couldn't help but blush at the sight of the cute blonde girl before him. And she is slightly shorter than him, which made him even more happy.
The girl however, is even more flustered with the blonde boy in front of her. She found his whiskered marks to be exotic, and they made him look very cute.
But the most important thing she was drawn to, are his eyes. The violet-purple of his lenses were so bright that she almost lost herself in them. Not to mention that purple is her favourite colour.
As they continue to be distracted by the other's appearance, they realized they had been staring for far too long, and their little hands are still holding firmly together.
They quickly let go of each-other's hands, and try to hide their embarrass blush.
"Ah well, t-thank you....for helping me up, I guess" The girl says, trying to ease the tension between the two.
"And....thank you for....saying please haha." Says the blonde boy, trying to let out an innocent joke.
"Yeah....well I should go now. I need to go get some dinner, before all the stores are close" The girl said.
"You're out here to get dinner all by yourself?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, my daddy is a ninja, and he's away on a mission for the whole week. I don't really know how to cook yet, except making toast and cereals, tee-hee. So I need to buy own food, until he gets back." She told him with an embarrass giggle.
"I see.....well, I'm heading to Ichiraku Ramen to get some dinner myself. W-Would you like to join me?" The sunny blonde boy asked shyly, to the cute platinum blonde girl.
"Y-You want me to have dinner with you?" The girl asked shyly in return, with a small blush on her cheeks.
"O-Only if you want to, of course." Naruto said, trying to sound more aloof, so he doesn't come off weird or desperate for company.
"Well....I always wanted to try Ramen....so sure! Why not!" She said with a smile.
"Great! Lets go.....umm....I don't think I got your name." Naruto innocently asked the girl.
"Well as the gentlemen, shouldn't you give yours first?" She asked with a smirk.
But Naruto simply return the smirk with a little bit of sarcasm.
"Well of course 'Milady'. I'm Naruto Senju. Nice to meet you." He said with his signature bright smile, and extended his right hand to her for a handshake.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet you too, Naruto." She said with her own bright smile, while extending her right hand to meet his.
They then shook each other's hands, but once more felt the same unknown Spark, causing them to blush their cheeks red again.
Afterwards, The blonde pair made their way to the delicious Ramen shop together.
Little that they know, that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.