Hatake Compound

Suffice to say the old woman was not too pleased to see Katsu. It was only until he had received the worst verbal lashing of both of his lives and told he'd been banned from the store for life, was he allowed to leave.

Katsu, now mentally bruised and battered, stood at the entrance to the Hatake compound. It took a bit of asking around, but he eventually found his way with little issue.

The front of the compound was relatively simple with a few trees and a stone path leading to the main building — a classic Japanese-style minka topped with dark-green shingles. Around the compound was a three meter high wall crowned with shingles of identical make.

Approaching the main building, Katsu raised his hand to knock on the door, but before he could do so, it was slid open from the other side.

"Good evening, little guest," Ayaka said while appraising Katsu from above.

Katsu looked up at her and returned the once over.

"Do you size up all the women you meet?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Do you size up all the little boys you meet?" He returned with an equally raised brow.

"Touché," she said with an amused smile, "Come inside, little one."

Katsu nodded and followed her through the scantly furnished interior.

'Talk about being minimalistic,' Katsu thought, 'Hell, I had more furnishing in the middle of the woods.'

"What is your name, little one?" Ayaka asked as she led him through a hallway on the edge of the main building.

Lining the entirety of the right wall was a row of unblemished window panes in which light could penetrate through, giving life to the otherwise modest hallway. Though the windows did not allow much of a sight, as the outer compound wall blocked any sort of appreciable view.

However, Katsu did somewhat enjoy the compound's simplicity thus far. For someone who spent years cramped in a studio apartment, the open space and lack of clutter was a breath of fresh air as far as interior living goes. Though nothing matched the "open space" aspect quite like Training Ground Seven did.

"Katsu," he replied, "And your name, madam?"

"You may call me Ayaka, or even auntie if you prefer," she said without turning around, continuing to lead him on.

"Will do, auntie," he said, at which she smiled, though he could not see it.

"Sakumo is in the interior courtyard, where he has been awaiting your arrival."

"I understand. I hope I did not make him wait too long."

"It will be alright. Sakumo is a patient man, especially as it pertains to kids," she said while sliding open a door at the end of the hallway.

As the light broke through the darkness behind the newly opened door, the pair were immediately greeted with the sight of a smiling Sakumo playing with a toddler of identical hair color.

Seeing Sakumo place Kakashi — who'd just face planted into the grass — squarely back onto his feet to give another go at walking, Katsu muttered, "A patient man, indeed."

Ayaka ushered Katsu into the courtyard and said, "I will go make you two some tea."

Katsu gave her his thanks and began approaching Sakumo, though as he walked away, he could've sworn he heard someone whisper, "Finally, someone called me auntie."

Katsu thought nothing of it approached the giddy Sakumo, who had yet to acknowledge his presence.

"It looks like he's making great progress," Katsu said to break the ice and catch Sakumo's attention.

And great progress Kakashi was making. He could now move a dozen steps without toppling over.

Sakumo didn't shift his gaze from Kakashi and replied, "That he is. At this rate, he'll be running by the end of the hour."

'Running?' Katsu thought with some confusion.

"When did you start trying to teach him how to walk, anyway?" He asked.

"A few minutes ago," Sakumo said with the most proud tone a father could have.

Katsu went slack jawed and his eyes broke into saucers.

"A few minutes?!?" Katsu exclaimed in utter astonishment.

"I know, isn't my Kakashi a genius?" Sakumo bragged with a smug grin.

'A genius? That's a damn monster in human skin!' Of course, Katsu did not say this out loud.

'All it took was one father-son training session, and Kakashi is already on his path to surpassing Usain Bolt as a toddler,' Katsu thought, 'I fear what Kakashi would become if Sakumo were here to guide him every single day.'

After a few minutes of watching Kakashi's ever-astounding progress, Ayaka returned with a platter that held two cups of tea and a cup of apple juice.

"I'm grateful, auntie," Katsu said as he took one of the cups from the platter.

Sakumo passed the apple juice to an excited Kakashi, who greedily drank it down, before grabbing the other cup of tea for himself.

"Ayaka, I leave him in your hands," Sakumo said, gesturing to Kakashi who's face was hidden behind a ceramic cup larger than the hands with which he held it.

"Of course, Sakumo-sama," she said, carrying Kakashi away. Though he struggled to return to his father at first, he eventually relented to the larger, more powerful Ayaka and accepted his fate into the unknown.

After Katsu and Sakumo finished their tea, they set the cups aside and officially began with Katsu's training.

"Before we do anything, I want to know your strengths, your weaknesses, what your preferred fighting method is, what your chakra nature is, and what you hope to gain from our sessions," Sakumo declared.

"Don't you already know my weaknesses?" Katsu asked, remembering the not-to-long-ago past where Sakumo attacked him out of the blue.

"I do, at least some of them. But I need to understand if you know your own weaknesses. If not, then you are your own greatest inhibitor."

"Meaning I cannot improve myself if I don't know what I'm doing wrong to begin with?"

"Exactly." Sakumo nodded.

Katsu went on to explain what he was good at, which was not a lot, but not totally disregardable considering his age. Much of the weaknesses he mentioned were reiterations of what Sakumo had pointed out earlier in the day, but with "inept at genjutsu" added to the list.

"I don't exactly have a preferred fighting method, but I suppose I would like a good mix of taijutsu and ninjutsu," Katsu said with some thought.

"A prototypical shinobi, then?" Sakumo asked.

"If I was particularly talented in anything, I would focus on it. But the reality is that I'm not, so I choose something both effective and achievable."

"It's good that you're grounded," Sakumo said with approval, "Many kids simply choose what looks coolest or the most attention-grabbing, rather than nurturing the inherent talent they have for a particular field."

"As for my chakra nature, I actually have no clue. I've never had the money to buy chakra induction paper, and the academy doesn't hand them out. Which by the way, is utterly illogical and a breakdown of common sense. Knowing the chakra nature of your future shinobi seems kinda important for teaching and guiding them, and would just be good intelligence to have on your own forces, but no one asked the opinion of a six-year-old, so who cares?"

"That's a… good point. Bring it up with Hokage-sama if you ever meet him."

"I absolutely will."

'If I survive the war as a child soldier, I deserve to meet him at least once in this lifetime,' Katsu thought.

"Also, I'm surprised you didn't just steal some chakra paper. You seem to be pretty good at that," Sakumo said.

"It was one time!" Katsu replied with his fist raised.

"Sure, sure," he mock-agreed while pulling a small slip of paper from his flak jacket.

He handed the slip of paper to Katsu and said, "Inject some of your chakra into it, and we'll know your chakra nature soon enough."

Katsu did as instructed and watched the paper eagerly.

'Lightning! Please god, lightning!' Katsu pleaded in his mind.

And the paper split in two.

"Wind," Sakumo said simply, "A good nature to have. I know many jutsu of such chakra nature. And with a couple fire techniques thrown in there, it can make for some nasty combinations — for your opponent that is."

Katsu was disappointed, but it didn't last long as the idea of splitting trees in two with a wind jutsu flashed through his mind. In truth, he would've been happy with whatever chakra nature he got. He simply liked the idea of lightning the most. The only thing he truly feared was the chakra paper failing to do anything and it being revealed to him that he had no chakra altogether. He might have leapt from the Hokage Mountain in his ensuing depression.

"And lastly, what do I hope to gain from our sessions, huh?" Katsu fell into thought.

It was such a deep and profound question that boggled the philosophical mind. So unfathomable was the question that Katsu doubted the average man could come up with a suitable answ-

"How not to die," he said with a straight face and sincere gaze.