Ch 9

Two weeks later)

"One!"

"HA!"

"Two!"

"HA!"

"THREE!"

"HA!"

"Dig deep! Find your inner strength! Let the enemy know you are delivering the blow… not receiving it," the firm, commanding voice of the female Hyuuga instructor shouted as she walked between the rows of twenty adolescent branch and main clan students. Her hands propped behind her and white eyes wide open, the female with the scar across her cheek scanned the rows of tiny soldiers in front of her, watching as they were all assumed in a striking position.

Palms fully extended, the children, all arranged in order from youngest to oldest, remained locked in position with their eyes focused on the area ahead of them. It was a very dignified spectacle, seeing all the young members of the clan sticking to their task and listening to their teacher so diligently. Obviously she was greatly respected by the members of her clan.

The brown haired woman then spotted a discrepancy amongst her ranks and marched forward, grabbing the guard hand of one of her students and nudging it towards his ribs. She then stepped back as the child in question, a young Hyuuga male with dark brown hair tied into a top knot, broke out a worried sweat. "In this position, keep the hand positioned over your centre mass to protect your vital areas. Do not give the enemy any openings to exploit. Understood?!"

"Hai, Fujiko-sensei!" the boy shouted back, at the same time firming up his stance.

Nodding, the woman then moved on down the rows towards the back, inspecting everyone's stances. After lightly stepping on the back foot of a student who had overextended it, prompting him to slide it back into place, she then stopped at the final row when she noticed something odd about the formation.

It wasn't the fact that the students were doing anything incorrectly, no. All of them were lined up and standing perfectly. It was the fact that one of the students, who was standing on the far left of the arrangement, wasn't a member of any of the Hyuuga Clan families at all.

Naruto, who'd been watching from the entrance since the start of the lesson a few minutes ago, had decided to come out to join the class and inserted himself into their ranks. Hoping that he wouldn't get noticed, the child had stripped himself down to a pair of long blue pants that he'd borrowed from a donation box and tacked on a white, tattered oriental top with patches in it- and had obviously been worn by a child practicing martial arts.

He'd managed to slip into the back row of seven-year-old Hyuuga students and had been practicing the techniques with their class unnoticed. That was until the instructor, Fujiko, marched towards the back to inspect her troops.

Needless to say it was a rather bizarre and unexpected turn of events.

For the next minute the kunoichi stood there staring down at the boy curiously, at the same time watching as several of the other students turned their attention to him, but remained in their stances. After looking over the out-of-place six-year-old for a moment, the woman raised an eyebrow as she saw he was doing his best not to move in any way. This was obvious from the way he had his eyes fixed on the space ahead and all his focus on the lesson.

"This is the child that's been showing up and watching our lessons for the last few months," Fujiko thought, her eyes tracing over his build and taking note of his form. "He hasn't missed a single one." This much was clear from how clean and steady his stance was.

She hadn't seen anything like it.

After several moments of tense silence and watching the blond sweat a little bit out of sheer nerves, Fujiko then cracked a smile and looked back at her class. Noticing the children were looking back at her, her expression steeled once more and she shouted, "HEY! Who said any of you could break form?!" She then watched all the children snap back to their previous positions before she once again glanced down at the newcomer. "Keep that stance tight and centre of gravity low. Understand?"

Naruto nodded. "Hai!"

"Let's get back to it!" the Hyuuga woman shouted, keeping her hands locked behind her while moving back towards the front. "Twisting palm strikes! On my count! ONE!"

"HA!"

"Two!"

"HA!"

"Three!"

"HA!"

And so, class continued, with one little surprise addition to the group, who was more than thrilled to be there…

XXX

(A year later)

It was another early morning over Konohagakure and the start of a new work period for the citizens of the great shinobi state. The majority of the people residing in the metropolitan and downtown areas of the village were all getting up to start the day, with the streets gradually starting to fill the higher the sun rose.

But far out of the way of the large bustling crowds, dirt roads and heavy atmosphere of the hidden leaf, in the more peaceful and clear atmosphere of the forested areas surrounding the ninja community, one particular youngster was tending to his own business. As usual, Naruto Uzumaki had once again dedicated the waking hours of his morning to training and honing his skills, polishing his skills in a way that only the most disciplined and driven of prodigies would.

After having powered through an incredibly tense morning of cardio and strength-based training for this particular day, Naruto was now finishing his day with a heavy meditation session under a waterfall.

Having found this secluded lake in the woods quite some time ago, the now seven-year-old youngster had been coming here frequently to practice some other more intense methods of training. This was evidence from how damaged some of the nearby trees were, which looked as though they'd been shredded by the child driving punches and kicks into them, with several more sporting what looked like bullet holes embedded in their trunks.

However, the main focus for Naruto's presence here was to practice chakra control and manipulation, which he'd recently been doing a lot more studying of during his visits to the library. With his classes at the academy gradually starting to steep more and more into the shinobi curriculum, the blonde was now aiming beyond that and getting into the real nitty-gritty aspects of the subject. Hell, Naruto already understood the basic fundamentals of chakra, nature transformations, and all its advanced forms. Now he was starting to put them into use.

Unlike his fellow classmates and villagers though, the route he was taking on this was a lot different to what everybody normally followed.

In his explorations of the library's oldest sections, Naruto came upon some new journal entries involving the strange taijutsu he was practicing, which required the use of some strange type of chakra. According to the monk that wrote this set of books, the energy system described was completely different from the normal chakra and circulatory charts studied at the academy, and it was something the blond was now devoting all of his sessions towards accomplishing.

At this stage, his control was minute, but it was present.

As the child sat there, underneath the heavy downpour of water beating down on his head and shoulders, Naruto kept his eyes shut and his hands lanced together in his lap. Sporting only a pair of tight shorts, the warrior-in-training was in a state of complete and utter concentration, as he was not only being forced to endure the cold of the current crashing down on top of him, but also work on stirring the energy inside of him, which still seemed like an entirely foreign and untameable force.

That was until, after about half-an-hour of sitting there, the child's tense expression then relaxed, which was shortly followed by the rock he was sitting on beginning to shake as what looked like heatwaves started to waft off of him. Seconds later, as the peculiar anomaly gradually became stronger with each passing second, the little pebbles and debris sitting amongst the rocks sitting around Naruto lost all weight to them and lifted into the air, while the water slamming into the boy from above suddenly started to get pushed back by an invisible force.

This unusual atmospheric disturbance was comparatively small and didn't really amount to much, except for a two foot break in the waterfall above the blond that for a brief period kept him from getting wet. However, it was exactly the kind of reaction that Naruto was hoping to achieve and, upon reaching his moment of clarity, held it for as long as he could. Controlling his breathing and keeping his heartbeat steady, the blond then reached out with his hand and suspended it in front of him. Upon which he focused the ethereal chakra into his palm, causing the end of his limb to start shimmering with the same steamy effect that had previously enveloped his entire body.

After several moments, Naruto opened his eyes and finished his display with a sharp yell, which led to him firing off a blast of wind from his palm that cut through the air for a few feet. Seeing the leaves in the distant tree become disturbed from the tiny shockwave he produced, the youngster grinned triumphantly, only to then give a grunt of surprise when the waterfall that he'd been holding back slammed down on top of him, cutting off his great moment.

"Ugh… right…" the child mumbled under the force of the torrential downpour, but then smiled seconds later when he realized it wasn't that much of a bother. "I guess… I'll just call this a day then, dattebayo…"

Standing up and stepping down from his rock, the youngster then walked out from under the falls and jumped back to shore. Once there he returned to the clothes and scrolls he had folded up nearby, dried himself off, and got himself redressed for the day ahead.

OOO

With the end of one season came the start of a brand new one and Naruto had most certainly begun his with earnest. Having moved back into his apartment a couple months ago after an extended and incredibly harsh chapter of his training, the orphan was back to living somewhat of a healthier lifestyle. Having experienced a whole other side of the village and gotten a taste of hardship by way of unfairness in the class system, he could walk-away feeling even more motivated to pursue his dreams and fulfil his goals.

Normally such an experience would've made a person more jaded. But instead what Naruto received was a genuine wakeup call. It made him stronger both inside and out, and he now felt that whatever decisions he now made moving into his future would have a lot more weight to them.

Of course, this was all mostly feeling at this stage, as the youngster wasn't able to make such a sophisticated breakdown of his training. So right now he was ready for the next step.

After yet another day at the academy in which Naruto didn't really receive much in terms of learning or support- as he'd already long past the current level of the curriculum- the child then headed to the Hyuuga Compound for another class session with Fujiko. Having progressed quite far in their special brand of taijutsu, the boy was given a chance to work with the more advanced and well-trained students to focus on their exchanges and techniques. After a vigorous round of practice and spars, the students were dismissed and Naruto was sent home with some very positive feedback from the instructor.

Needless to say, the blond was starting to like the tough Hyuuga woman with the scar on her cheek. She was spunky and cool- two traits that he greatly admired in other people.

Now back in a normal set of clothing, which consisted of an orange and white hooded vest over a black T-shirt and a pair of orange shorts, the blonde youngster was now on his way to the academy. Wandering down the street by his lonesome and ignoring the people passing him by, the child then stopped by a convenience store to pick up some breakfast and lunch. When he re-emerged with a plastic bag in hand and a bun in his mouth, the child then turned down the road and headed for home.

The moment he did so however, Naruto suddenly spotted a familiar group of people crossing the junction just a few yards ahead of him. The sight of the gang prompted Naruto to stop in his tracks and narrow his eyes, as he quickly recognized one of the five children to be none other than Kaito Uchiha- dressed in a grey high-collar shirt and white shorts- along with Hiko, Yochan, and two of his other mates. All of them were walking shoulder to shoulder, laughing, and chatting excitedly with each other, making a big show of themselves in public and looking like they were having the time of their lives.

They were so caught up in their outing that the group didn't even notice the blond in the hoody standing further down the intersecting road. When they passed the crossroads and disappeared around the corner moments later, the stationary Naruto remained where he was and considered them for several moments. He chewed on the pork bun piece in his mouth and swallowed it, at the same time his brain ran over all the memories of every single encounter he'd had with their gang. At that moment, the child was given three options.

One: turn around, walk away, and forget he even saw them. Two: go back to one of his designated training areas and take his frustrations out on a tree.

Or three: chase them down and beat them up for all the hell they'd put him through.

Remembering the pain and torment Kaito and his crew had inflicted upon him over the years, and how their actions had further managed to ostracize him from the rest of the village and the children at the academy, a surge of energy suddenly rushed through the orphan's body. It gripped at Naruto's chest, causing his hands to clench and his gaze to darken.

Upon which a malicious grin then crossed his lips.

"Hmm… I feel like eating something different tonight," the boy chirped to himself as his eyes flashed dangerously. "Maybe I'll go for a hunt, dattebayo."

Decision made, Naruto quickly finished the bun he was holding, crouched low to the ground, and leapt high into the air. Spring-boarding off of a nearby balcony, the youngster made it to the rooftop of the adjacent building with ease, where he then proceeded to follow the group from a distance.

Hey. He was bored and stressed. He needed to take these out on something.