11. Training in Taijutsu

Later that night, Aiko didn't see Jiraiya during dinner.

A week later, as the seals were becoming incredibly complex, Aiko went to Kushina asking for advice.

"Hmm.., Aiko-kun, learning all of them is useless if you can't use them effectively, ya know, why don't you first think about what you want to use it for?,then you can study the techniques related to that," said Kushina.

'what do I want to use it for?, what do I want?' thought the boy dumbfounded, he had never really thought about that.

Looking at the boy's confused and lost face, Kushina sat down and gently hugged him.

"You don't have to think so hard Aiko-kun, you can take your time, ya know, we will protect you till then." she said gently, like she was coaxing a baby.

Aiko hearing those gentle words, felt a sense of security and relief that he didn't know he lacked, suddenly washed over him, and his eyes, like his heart got warm and his vision blurred as he hugged her back.

Kushina sighed in her heart, as she felt her sleeve go damp.

That was the day Aiko cried for the first time, since he woke up in this strange world.

And that was also the day Aiko Uzumaki decided to do everything he could, to protect the strange warmth he felt in his heart.

After that little incident the atmosphere in the house became more harmonious, Aiko also sometimes had a small smile on his usually stoic face.

There was also a change in behaviour from the Namikaze couple, Kushina would hug him occasionally and Minato took him to the park a few times and even practised taijutsu with him in the evenings, so soon another month passed by.

In this month Aiko's level increased by two and his mapping skill due to his constant usage levelled up increasing his range, he had a feeling that sparring with Minato was the reason for the level up and asked if he could have Kakashi spar with him in his free time.

Minato thought for a bit and agreed to have Kakashi train him as he thought it will also be beneficial for Kakashi to be more around people.

Since that day it was decided that Kakashi would train him in the afternoons and Minato said that it can be considered a C ranked Mission and it will be added in Kakashi's account.

"What is a C ranked mission?" asked Aiko as he still did not have much knowledge about the ninja system.

"Missions are like the work offers provided to the shinobis of the village, by the village, based on the shinobi rank and the mission difficulty the rank of the missions are divided into D,C,B,A,S, with D being lowest and S being highest." explained Kushina who was with them.

"Oh" he nodded his head in understanding.

............…...

Aiko was sitting by the garden, there was a training field close to it, as he was waiting for Kakashi while checking his system.

Status:

Name: Aiko

Level: 4

Strength: 6

Agility: 11

Stamina: 8

Vitality: 12

Intelligence: 9

Charm: 8

Skills: calm mind [innate], mapping [lvl 4], Instinct manipulation [lvl 2], chakra molding[lvl 5], Seal creation [lvl 4], Chakra control [lvl 3].

............…

Soon, the white haired boy with a dark blue mask covering half his face came in front of him.

"Hello, Kakashi-san," greeted Aiko

"Hello, let's get started" said Kakashi as he walked into the training grounds where Aiko followed him.

The training field was nothing but a flat ground with a barrier around it to provide privacy while practicing new jutsu and avoid loud noises from reaching out and disturbing the surroundings.

Once the barrier was activated both stood quite distance from each other.

"I heard sensei telling that you were quite skilled in taijutsu, so I won't go easy on you," said Kakashi, taking a basic fighting stance.

Aiko also wordlessly took a fighting stance, increased his calm mind skill to 99% and increased his senses and reflexes with instinct manipulation skill, he could now maintain this state for about fifteen minutes before he exhausted his stamina.

-------Kakashi's POV--------

I came to sensei's house today to train the boy who had been living there for quite some months now.

At the beginning, when I was given the mission to protect lady Kushina from the shadows, I was perplexed but also a bit relieved as the fighting in the ANBU made the nightmares more frequent not that I didn't deserve it, but I accepted that mission as I could also keep watch on the boy, ofcourse to see if he had any ill will towards sensei as the timing of his appearance was quite suspicious, and his behaviour did not match his age giving me a uneasy feeling.

The boy didn't cause any problems, in fact he was too well behaved, but my senses told me that it wasn't a act, just that he was diligent and I also noticed that the house's atmosphere became warmer as days went on, so when today sensei asked me to train him in Taijutsu and even praised him for his quick learning speed, I agreed.

I took a casual stance wanting to test his level so as to not injure him, but those thoughts were pushed out of my mind once he took his stance.

I watched as his eyes went cold, filled with indifference and his face expressionless, as he adjusted his stance relaxing his muscles before tightening it and propelling himself forward as he punched straight towards my face with twice the speed I had when I was his age.

-------------End of POV------------

Kakashi ducked down trying to punch his stomach, but Aiko's knee was coming straight at his fist, so Kakashi quickly changed his fist to palm pushing the knee sideways causing Aiko to spin while he punched with his other hand.

Aiko as if expecting it fell forward escaping from the punch as he rolled to the side as he stood up regaining his balance. It was Kakashi's turn now to attack as he jumped up in the air and kicked his head.

Instead of dodging Aiko took a step forward holding Kakashi's knee as he tried to slam him into the ground, but Kakashi used his palm to support himself and used his other knee to slam it in his face.

Aiko sensing that used his elbow to block the knee and used his own knee to attack Kakashi's stomach, which he blocked again with his forearm, separating from him as soon as the knee connected.

His whole arm, which he used to block, tingled with numbness, but he adjusted his stance as Kakashi rolled on the ground from the force of his attack and came to a stop standing up.

This time kakashi increased his speed to almost 70% as he attacked with less wasted movements, but was surprised again as the boy started gradually adapting to it and almost didn't fall for the same trick twice.

With his calm mind activated Aiko only had Kakashi in his eyes, this was a fighting method he had come up with after his instinct manipulation skilled levelled up, first he would increase his senses and body reflexes to react and respond quickly to the incoming attack, but soon he found out that his responses weren't efficient or if his opponent was faster (like Minato), his body reacted fast but while sacrificing strength.

So, he used his calm mind skill to analyse his opponent's movements and use his instinct manipulation to adjust the way he reacted to the stimulus, and after a while of practice, the result was now visible, even though he was slower and weaker than Kakashi he was barely able to keep up with him, though he knew it wasn't Kakashi's full strength.