The Dream And The Sensei
Uzumaki Naruto sat in front of the Third Hokage as the old man inspected his ninja license. Of course, there was nothing wrong with it. So the old man merely stamped it and set it on his desk, then turned to the blonde jinchuuriki and said, "I don't doubt that you have questions."
"Yeah," Naruto replied with an undertone of snark as he said, "Imagine my surprise the reason why everyone hates me is because of my very own Hero. The Fourth Hokage chose me to seal the Nine tailed fox into, and nobody thought to tell me that? Even though everyone else knew."
"I understand where you are coming from, Naruto," Hiruzen stated as he leaned back in his chair, not breaking eye contact for a few moments before finally speaking up again, explaining, "The truth is that nobody was supposed to know you were a jinchuuriki. I am still baffled how that information got out, since I hid your existence from the very moment your mother entrusted your care to me with her final breaths."
Then the Third Hokage paused, and rested his forehead on his hand as he said, "Truthfully, I had hoped that you would have held off on graduating until you were twelve, a bit more emotionally mature then, and then reveal the Kyuubi to you with the help of my student Jiraiya. Unfortunately he can't be here, and Mizuki derailed any hope of waiting until you got a bit older."
"But why wait?" Naruto couldn't help but ask, he was hurt and confused as to why he couldn't be trusted with this secret, specially since it concerned him.
"Naruto," Hiruzen started, "The Fourth Hokage chose you to help him save this village even though you were just born then, and the few people who were close to the Fourth when he died have all expressed interest in looking out for his legacy. Jiraiya wasn't just my student, he also taught the fourth, and I know he wants to teach you on how to be a good ninja and Minato's student, has also expressed interest in taking you as a student."
Naruto raised his eyebrow, "If they are so interested in my development, how come they weren't there when I had nobody? When the church abandoned me."
The old man couldn't help but sigh at that statement, and had to physically refrain from cringing. The boy was so off the mark about his perception of the church that even when Hiruzen had tried to explain things to him, the boy refused to see it his way.
He had spoken with Gabriel yesterday, and Hiruzen would have been worried about Naruto's lack of connections in the village. Severing ties with his familial connections and keeping to himself wasn't helping anybody.
Though it seemed that things were beginning to change thanks to Iruka.
Hiruzen sighed and said, "Naruto, you know why I had to move you from the church. Don't keep blaming them, you don't even seem to blame me but you keep punishing Lady Gabriel and Lady Rias, what about your siblings?"
The blonde looked at Hiruzen with a flat look and said, "I understand why you had to move me, I couldn't understand them not making more of an effort, they just left me in my own place at six like i didn't even matter to them. Like they didn't raise me practically my entire life, and that's why I don't talk to them. Now, again, why does the teacher and student of the fourth seem interested in me? Do they genuinely want to know me as a person? Or am i just a tool to them?"
"On the contrary," The Hokage replied quickly, "Hatake Kakashi has always looked out for you in ways you don't even know. However, he was only fourteen when the Kyuubi attack happened, and he was also and still is my best ninja. Konoha needed his strength out in missions, missions which he used to help the church in the years since. As for Jiraiya, it's a bit more complicated, he is the spymaster, he's never in the village. But he tries to send gifts and money your way when he can, there's people that care about you my boy. You just need to give them a chance."
"What about you?" Naruto asked, "What's your connection to me? Why do you always go out of your way to see me?"
"Why?" Hiruzen chuckled, "My deceased wife Biwako, was the midwife to your mother. She was there when you were born, and don't forget, I just told you. I promised your mother on her dying breaths that I would take full responsibility for your upbringing. I know it hasn't been ideal, there's decisions i wish i could take back, but hindsight is 20/20,"
The blonde nodded and then turned to look out the window, "Say old man, you clearly knew my parents. Why have you never told me about them, or does it have to do with the fact I look so much like the Fourth Hokage and you can tell me?"
"Become a chunin first," Hiruzen stated, "And I will answer any questions about your parents."
Naruto couldn't help but sigh at the secrecy and just nodded in acknowledgment. Becoming chunin was already one of his goals.
Then the old man asked him, folding his arms on top of the table, "Now that you graduated, what goals do you have in mind for your career?"
"I want to become Hokage," Naruto answered, as he said, "I want to prove everyone in the village wrong, If having the Kyuubi makes me undesirable. I want to prove them wrong so I become undeniable, and become the Perfect Hokage."
"What is the perfect Hokage in your mind?" Hiruzen asked with Curiosity, intrigued at the answer given to his previous question.
"The perfect Hokage is as strong as Lord first," Naruto answered, "So that nobody can think about attacking the village or her allies. The Perfect Hokage is also pragmatic yet kind as you. It may be the church's teachings, but I think the treaty of reconciliation was a good idea, so many people died on both sides that if we had pushed our advantage and tried to force them to surrender on harsh terms, we would be at war already."
Naruto by this point had raised his fingers in a counting manner, and raised a third, "The Perfect Hokage is also as respected and feared as Lord Fourth, not only did people flee at his mere appearance. I hear people say his presence commanded the respect of everyone. And finally, as Intelligent as Lord Second, who reformed the village into a proper military force when the first ninja war broke out and made sure we weren't caught unprepared, if not for him, we may not be here."
The Third Hokage nodded in agreement at the assessment of the boy. As usual, Naruto was insightful, and he sent his silent thanks to Lady Gabriel for raising him, and wondered where the boy would be without them. He smiled and said, "You are correct, in all of your assessments Naruto. But you are forgetting two more things."
"What?" The blonde said as he looked at Hiruzen with curiosity.
"The Hokage is also a human," Hiruzen stated, "And we all have our flaws, nobody can be perfect. Hashirama-sensei was often an idealist to the point of naivety, and sometimes could overlook even the obvious. Tobirama-sensei was intelligent and his reforms did help the village survive, but perhaps, in his reformation."
"The original intent of the village was lost, and we have suffered through major losses because of it, as he often neglected to explain his rationale. Myself? I am an old fool, years in power have made me soft and comfortable. And sadly, Minato died before he could truly make his mark on this village." the old man paused for one moment, making sure to look Naruto in the eye.
"In short Naruto, we are human, and we all make mistakes," Hiruzen said with earnestness in his voice, "and at the end of the day, the Hokage's job isn't to be perfect, but to put the village above themselves. To protect everyone and put their best interest before your own, because they are all our family, and if necessary- sacrifice ourselves for its survival."
The blonde jinchuuriki remained silent for a long while, and then nodded, "I think I understand. The Hokage's job is to make sure the village is safe, and prospering."
"Indeed," Hiruzen said with a smile, "Keep these words in mind, and I am sure you will eventually take my job from me: The Hokage isn't the king of this village. The Hokage is the protector of the king, and the king of the village are its children, because without them, we have no future. So we do whatever is necessary for the people. That is the essence of this village, its founding principle, the Will of Fire."
"A shinobi is one who endures," Naruto said echoing one of his earliest teachings of the academy.
The Hokage nodded, "We endure so others don't have to, we fight to protect what's ours so they can live in peace."
The next day found Naruto sitting in an empty classroom waiting for his Jounin-sensei. It was weird, as he was the only one of his classmates not assigned to a team, but rather he was assigned to apprentice directly under Hatake Kakashi.
He knew from his previous conversation with the Third Hokage that this particular ninja was a student of the Fourth Hokage, as well as someone who had looked after him, even if he himself hadn't ever noticed it or known.
The first hour passed, then the second, and then Naruto got tired of waiting, so he left the classroom and made his way halfway across the village to the outskirts towards a training ground that would suit his needs.
As he arrived at the training ground, he said to himself, "Install!"
Then his outfit changed in a glowing shower of golden particles into a knightly outfit, as the weight of one of the two noble phantasms rested on his hands.
"Interesting get up there," a voice called from behind him.
Naruto quickly applied invisible air to the sword in his hands and then turned around, as the same jounin that had shown up to capture Mizuki stood behind him.
"Hatake-sensei?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, "You're late,"
"Ah, apologies," the man said lamely as he explained his lateness with, "My meeting with Lord Third ran long, and then my student wasn't in the classroom."
Then the jonin said, "Interesting sword you got there, know how to use it?"
"Yes," Naruto replied blankly, "So, what are we supposed to do?"
"Why don't you introduce yourself, you can share your likes and dislikes and goals for the future," The Jonin suggested, "Just so I can get an idea of what i am working with."
The blonde nodded, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like to cook, learn about chakra and ninjutsu, and my goal for the future is to become Hokage."
"Interesting Kid," the silver haired man said as he crossed his arms and then introduced himself, "My name is Hatake Kakashi, but you can just call me Kakashi-sensei. I don't have many things I dislike personally, and I'm not particularly picky about my likes, and my goals for the future is to see what kind of ninja you become."
Then he took out a piece of paper and and pen and said, "So, right now, why don't you tell me about your biggest weakness you think or know you have."
"Chakra control," Naruto admitted, then said, "Give me one second- uninstal!"
His knightly outfit and sword disappeared and his outfit returned to something more common, a blue shirt with a pair of blue slacks and his combat sandals.
The jonin nodded as he wrote down what his new student had said, and then pointed out, "Interesting ability you got there, something from the scroll of seals?"
"A class card," Naruto stated as he mentioned, "According to the scroll the class card encapsulates a heroic spirit and when on install mode, grants me access to their noble phantasm, skills and appearance."
"Cool," Kakashi replied as he continued to jot what Naruto said down on his piece of paper, "What's a noble phantasm exactly?"
"I think they are the embodiment of a heroic spirit, something they are known for- a type of armament they are associated with," The blonde replied, "The Noble Phantasm in my class card are two, the Sword of Promised Victory, and the ever distant Utopia."
"You seem to know alot about them despite having it all of two days," Kakashi observed.
"Just fairy tales told by my former caretakers, nothing more," Naruto answered rather vaguely, "Now, back to my weaknesses. Chakra control, I can never get the clone jutsu down. It's beyond me."
"Interesting," Kakashi replied and then said, "Follow me!"
The blonde did as told, and then stop when they reached a tree. Only Kakashi didn't stop, as he kept walking up to the three and then continued walking onto it defying gravity as if he were walking on a normal flat surface.
After he reached a sufficient height, the Jonin stopped and then turned to look back at Naruto with his hands on his hips, "This is commonly known as the tree walking exercise, it is a form of chakra control and a necessary skill for all shinobi to have. The key to it is to maintain a constant flow of chakra to the sole of your feet to stick to the surface of the tree, too little and it wont stick, too much and you'll blast right off."
"I see," Naruto said as he watched his sensei jump off the tree and land on his feet.
Kakashi nodded to himself and said, "You're gonna wanna practice for about two hours, see how far you can make it. Then we'll take a break, I'll get us some food before the two hours are up. Then we spar a little bit so I can see where your other skills are at and go from there."
The blonde agreed, and before he started kakashi handed him a kunai stating, "Use this to mark your progress, at first you will wanna go into it with a running start. Remember to keep yourself cool, frustration will only make it difficult to concentrate on your control."
A few days later found Naruto and Kakashi painting a fence together as part of a D rank mission. They were close to finishing it, so Naruto asked, "So, Kakashi-sensei, when do you think i'll be ready for C-rank missions?"
The silver haired jonin paused mid stroke of the brush, thought about it for one moment and then said, "Mostly, I am aiming to get you to a level where your chakra control is good enough to fight while maintaining the tree walking exercise or the water walking exercise. Not only will your chakra control be improved then, but we can move onto more fun stuff like elemental training."
The blonde genin nodded as he continued working on his side of the fence, they remained silent for a good few minutes before he asked, "So, what was it like studying under Lord Fourth?"
"Hmm," Kakashi hummed as he thought back to his days as the student, "You know, I wasn't all that much different from you then. If anything I was worse, I did start out as Minato-sensei's sole apprentice but eventually he took on two more genin. At the time I didn't care much for people, I only cared about completing whatever mission or task I was assigned to. I guess you could say I took it for granted."
"I see," Naruto stated as he painted the last portions of his section.
"So, what was growing up in the church like?" Kakashi asked in return, wanting to know more about his student.
The question paused Naruto to stop for a moment, but then he answered the question, "It was fine for the most part. Priestess Gabriel did the necessities. Fed us, clothed us, taught us how to read and write and math. It was fine,"
"Interesting," Kakashi said as he finished his section, "Well, looks like we're done."
Then he tossed his brush into the paint bucket, followed by the blonde who finished his section soon after. They turned the equipment back to the commissioner and reported back to the Hokage office, after which Kakashi decided to introduce him to a small ramen stand known as Ichiraku Ramen.
The stall was run by a father and daughter duo, who much to his own surprise, greeted him warmly.
"Ah, Kakashi! A new face I see, is this your new student? Who might you be?" The owner of the stand said, rubbing his chin.
"This is indeed my new student," Kakashi said, pushing the blonde forward, "Go on, introduce yourself. These are Teuchi and Ayame Ichiruka,"
"I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde said introducing himself.
"Oh, what a cutie you are," the brown haired daughter said as she winked at him.
"Order up Naruto," Kakashi stated as they took a seat, "What type of ramen do you like?"
Naruto blinked, and stated, "I've never had ramen a day in my life, what types of ramen are there?"
"Not even cup ramen?" Kakashi asked in genuine shock.
"I'm an orphan, not a charity case," the blonde shocked back, "I know how to cook a proper meal."
"In that case, why don't we try to find out what you like? We could start you off with an entry level ramen like Tonketsu or Miso," the ramen chef offered.
The blonde thought about it, he did enjoy miso soup quite a bit so he said, "I'll take miso,"
"I'll take some miso as well," Kakashi said, adding onto his order, "With some slices of eggplant on the side."
A few minutes later, the two got their food, and the blonde looked at the plate filled with broth and scallions, bean sprouts, seaweed, two soft boiled eggs and three slices of char siu pork.
And as soon as he tasted the broth and the noodles he was hooked. He slurped the noodles happily and soon enough put his empty plate on the table as he patted his belly and said, "Man that was good."
"Glad you enjoyed it," Teuchi stated with his thumbs up, "Feel free to come back any time."
"I will!"
After their lunch stop, they went to training field three. Which they had pretty much claimed for themselves as it had all the utilities such as clearings, forests and the naka river cutting through which they did their training.
They spared for most of the afternoon, with Naruto of course losing all of them- since he wasn't allowed to use any of his class card abilities.
He only faced Kakashi with his class card once and won that spar. Kakashi's response had been, "From this point on, your not allowed to use any of your class card abilities against me… ever,"
Following two hours of sparing came two more hours of chakra control in the form of the tree walking exercise with increasing difficulties.
Like jumping from one tree to another, making sure to land with only his legs and stick the landing. Then back after reaching the halfway point, reach the top, then jump to the top of the other tree and run back down.
And every time he mastered a step the difficulty just kept getting more ridiculous, like having to dodge kunai and shuriken that Kakashi was throwing his way while repeating the same exercise.
Then after getting a good handle on that, Kakashi hit him with, "Let's spar some more, only we will be sparring while doing the tree climbing exercise."
By the end of the session that ran three hours long, the Silver haired jonin looked at his student who was taking a break and said, "For the final portion of our training today, we will do water walking."
Naruto followed Kakashi into the river and watched as the jonin kept walking on top of the water, and once he reached the halfway point, he turned to look back at the blonde and said, "This exercise is very similar to tree walking, the major difference is that instead of a constant flow of chakra. You have to continually adjust how much chakra you are sending to the soles of your feet to stick to the top of the water and not fall into it."
Naruto nodded, however he looked at his sensei thoughtfully and asked, "Sensei, I know this is a chakra control exercise to help me improve my control. Do you mind if I use my class card to test something?"
Kakashi, who was always down to explore the lengths of Naruto's abilities with his unique powers allowed it, saying "Sure, why not. Let's see what you can do."
Naruto muttered, "Install,"
And like always his outfit changed into the blue armor, and he took a couple of steps forward stopping short of the water, and then continued walking forwards.
Much to Kakashi's surprise the blonde was able to keep walking on the surface of the water, "Well that's neat, does the feminine looking armor allow you to have perfect chakra control?"
Naruto shrugged and said, "Nah, I'm not even using chakra right now. I think it's a skill granted to me by the class card… blessing of the lady of the lake."
Kakashi actually visibly poute, and replied petulantly, "That cardi-majiggy is just plain cheating."