seven
Naruto activated his bloodline limit, staring intently at the form of Kakashi in front of him. The jounin began to move. Naruto focused on his minute muscle contractions and followed the almost imperceptible beat of his arteries. The world around him faded away until all he could see was what lay beneath Kakashi’s skin and tiny, undisputable movements that rippled down the jounin’s arms.
“Rock.”
Kakashi completed the action and was holding out a curled fist.
“You’re getting the hang of this,” he eye-smiled.
“Is predicting your moves in jan-ken-po really the best way for me to improve my bloodline limit?” Naruto asked dubiously.
“One of the Emperor’s Eye’s best attributes is the ability to discern the smallest details in a person’s movement,” Kakashi responded. “Breathing, heartbeat, muscle contractions, sweat; you can see it all and that means you can predict the enemy’s movement perfectly. Your timing will mean you will always have the advantage. You just need to hone it. What better way to do that than jan-ken-po?”
“And it’s not so we can just sit here instead of working on using it with taijutsu?”
Kakashi waved a hand dismissively.
“We’ll build our way up to taijutsu.”
Naruto rolled his eyes. While Kakashi did seem to know what he was talking about and he was getting better at predicting the jounin’s movements, he could be very blasé about things. Naruto was just as likely to find him reading his orange book in a random tree as he was to find him waiting in the right training ground.
It was a stark contrast to Gai’s way of teaching but Naruto found that he liked it that way. The mix of the two teaching styles made sure that he didn’t get too used to one way of learning, even if he spent the most time with Gai.
He needed some time away from Gai anyway. The D-ranks were getting unbearable and despite the fact he knew Gai meant well, it felt like he was being punished for the villagers’ behaviour; like it was up to him to fix their horrible opinions of him despite the fact he had done nothing to earn them. He didn’t want anything to do with them and he knew the feeling was mutual. He just didn’t know how to make Gai see it. The man was so joyful and optimistic and he loved Konoha. Naruto didn’t know if it was even possible for the man to understand where he was coming from.
“A ryō for your thoughts?”
Naruto looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the grass beneath them. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it again. Kakashi was Gai’s friend first, his teacher second. He probably wouldn’t appreciate Naruto’s thoughts on Gai’s current teaching methods.
“D-ranks getting you down, huh?”
Naruto snapped wide eyes towards the jounin. He couldn’t see much beneath the mask and the tilted headband but his grey eye was soft with understanding.
“I get it,” Kakashi began, looking up at the overcast sky. “I wasn’t exactly popular with the village myself when I was younger. I was already a chunin by then but I hated doing missions in the village. My sensei tried exactly the same tactics as Gai did and it didn’t work.”
“When did the village change their minds about you?”
“When I fought in the Third Shinobi War,” Kakashi’s posture sank slightly. “I think it mostly had to do with people forgetting my father existed though.”
“Did people hate you because of your dad?” Naruto asked hesitantly.
“Pretty much,” Kakashi shrugged. “He screwed up a mission that cost a lot of lives and when he died, I had to shoulder the burden since he wasn’t around to do it.”
“That sucks,” Naruto muttered in understanding.
“Yep,” Kakashi said, his countenance abruptly switching to cheerfulness. “But it did get better. You know that Gai just wants the best for you, right? He means well.”
“I know,” Naruto reluctantly admitted. “It doesn’t make the missions any easier.”
“Have you thought about talking to him? Explaining how you feel and what you think would be the best way forward?”
“It’s hard to talk to Gai,” Naruto admitted, constantly monitoring the jounin for signs of retaliation against the negative comments about his friend. There was nothing so Naruto continued hesitantly. “He’s so happy and enthusiastic and he just loves this village so much. I don’t want to be the one to upset him, especially for something I know he can’t understand. He’s so positive it feels like there’s no room for negativity.”
“Even if that negativity would be better for all those involved,” Kakashi nodded knowingly. “You know, Gai might understand better than you think.”
Naruto tilted his head in confusion.
“Gai’s father, Dai, was known as the ‘Eternal Genin’. Gai used to get into all sorts of fights trying to defend him from what the villagers were saying. The approach he’s trying with you is one he was taught by his father. He just hasn’t realised that it won’t work with you.”
Naruto sat back in his place on the grass. It was hard to imagine Gai as a kid, picking fights with villagers. He would have thought the man would have just yelled at them about ‘Youth’ or tried to show them the folly of their ways through a dramatic re-enactment or something.
“Maybe I’ll talk to him,” he reluctantly agreed, although he still had doubts about how effective it would be.
Kakashi ruffled his hair and Naruto squawked indignantly, swatting away the offending limb.
They didn’t notice the rustle of the nearby bushes as someone turned and walked away, his green spandex standing out against the dull background.
Gai sat in his chair outside the Hokage’s office, his leg bouncing erratically as he frowned in thought. He missed the strange looks thrown at him from passing shinobi, a sombre air surrounding him. The nearby guards kept glancing at him; they were almost confused by his uncharacteristic behaviour. Gai was oblivious to all this as he continued to think deeply about what he’d overheard in the training ground.
He had gone to meet up with the pair, maybe surprise Kakashi into taking up a challenge but he couldn’t bring himself to speak to them right now. Not with what he’d heard.
Was he really failing so badly as a jounin-sensei? That his only student felt like he couldn’t talk to him? That he felt like he had no say in his training? He knew that the boy was having trouble with the villagers but he’d been blind to the extent. Was he just making everything worse for his pupil?
“Gai.”
He looked up into the expressionless mask of the ANBU guard. The man had obviously been repeating his name. How had Gai not heard him?
“Hokage-sama is ready for you.”
Gai nodded and silently made his way into the office, bowing low in greeting to the village leader. The Hokage looked back at him with warm eyes but the smile dropped off his face as Gai continued to be quiet.
“Is everything okay, Gai-kun?”
“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Gai shook himself. “It’s something I need to work on myself.”
The Hokage considered him for a long moment.
“If you say so,” he allowed. “You may begin your report on your student.”
Gai gathered himself and stood straight.
“Naruto is continuing to improve immensely with his taijutsu and overall physical conditioning. His chakra control also continues to improve daily and he proves less resistant to learning ninjutsu, although he only prefers the close combat ones that he can incorporate into his taijutsu. His dōjutsu is developing under the guidance of Kakashi and he handles tasks with a determination and integrity that magnificently showcases his blossoming Youth.”
The Sandaime nodded along to his words as Gai continued in a serious tone.
“Genjutsu is still a struggle and his mindset is much the same as it was when he graduated seven months ago. He had accepted Kakashi’s and my guidance but he continues to isolate himself from the village and his peers. His attitude towards the villagers on D-ranks still requires much improvement but…”
Gai stopped, thinking back to what he’d overheard.
“…but that is not necessarily Naruto-kun’s fault. I have been trying to help Naruto-kun’s relationship with the village by showing them how hardworking and earnest Naruto-kun is, but I do not believe this is working. They are not willing to engage with him so I believe his D-ranks are ending up more of a punishment than a benefit.”
The Hokage sat back in his chair, his hand clasped together as he looked back at Gai thoughtfully. Gai waited for his leader’s verdict. He had not been able to see how much his student was suffering; he was a failure as a jounin-sensei.
“So why not use D-ranks as punishment?”
Gai’s head snapped up.
“Hokage-sama?”
“You can stop putting him on regular D-ranks,” the man elaborated. “He’s ready for something like guard duty which involves no interaction with civilians and while he will be working with other shinobi, I believe this is unavoidable. We’ll keep him on guard duty until we move him on to C-ranks.”
Gai’s brow furrowed as he considered the Hokage’s words.
“However, Naruto is still prone to acting in ways that are not acceptable for a shinobi,” the Sandaime continued. “So if he does things like openly threatening civilians or pranking his comrades or such then assign him a D-rank. It will give him incentive to behave himself.”
D-ranks as a punishment, but intentionally? That had never even occurred to Gai. The moment he’d found out how much those missions were hurting his student, he’d decided to stop them entirely and find an alternative.
“Hokage-sama, he’s young but he is still a shinobi of Konoha. It may be detrimental to treat him like a child being grounded for bad behaviour.”
“Naruto-kun has always been a unique case,” the Hokage shook his head. “He hadn’t had parents or guardians to shape his sense of right and wrong and his academy teachers punished him for doing both. Naruto will break the rules as he does not see them as applying to him but we need to teach him otherwise, before he breaks a law he cannot come back from. Behaviour like this was ignorable when he was an academy student but I cannot ignore complaints from my shinobi.”
Gai wanted to argue that this was still technically special treatment but he kept his mouth shut. No other genin was being assigned D-ranks as a method of discipline but Gai knew something had to change. He could not keep failing his apprentice.
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
He bowed low, his mind swirling. He needed to speak to his pupil.
Naruto grinned evilly as he watched the ANBU land on the roof. He and Kuma had had a particularly contentious relationship in the past and he could not think of a better test subject to try out his new traps on. He figured that if it worked on an ANBU, then anyone ranked jounin and below would fall for it. That was the excuse if he got caught anyway. He hadn’t forgotten how Kuma had thrown him off the roof and into a dumpster when he was an academy student…twice.
He loosened his grip on the wires but before he could spring his trap, a hand came out of nowhere to grab them out of his hand. He looked back at Gai sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
“Hi, Gai-sensei,” he said. “I was just trying out some new traps and I thought if they would work on an ANBU they’d work on anyone and…”
“Naruto-kun, you cannot prank the ANBU.”
They had drawn the attention of Kuma and Naruto glared at the bear mask. He would get him back one day. The man vanished from the rooftop and Naruto was forced to dismantle his beautiful network of wires. He genuinely felt sad about it too; it was some of his best work yet. Enemy nin wouldn’t stand a chance. He finished up only for Gai to order him to follow him.
He walked behind his teacher, a bit confused. What was he going to do? They finally reached a training ground and Naruto stopped, his guard up and hackles raised. He did not like this. Gai was better than the rest of the adults that Naruto had encountered in his life but he was still an adult; he could turn on Naruto at any time. A part of him didn’t want to believe it; it had been months since he’d been assigned to Gai and he felt like he could trust the man. With the way he was acting now, Naruto wasn’t so sure.
The jounin stopped in the middle of the training ground and Naruto halted a few steps away from him. Gai turned and Naruto didn’t have the chance to spiral further as Gai bowed so low his forehead slammed into the ground.
“I AM SO SORRY, NARUTO-KUN! I HAVE FAILED YOU AS YOUR SENSEI AND HAVE BEEN BLIND TO YOUR STRUGGLES! I SWEAR ON THE POWER OF YOUTH THAT I WILL BE BETTER AND SUPPORT MY PRECIOUS PUPIL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES!”
Naruto opened his mouth. He then closed it. He had no words. This hadn’t been what he’d been expecting. Gai lifted his head back up and Naruto’s eyes widened at the bright red patch beneath the man’s bangs. There was no reason for him to go that far.
“What?”
That was all he was able to manage right now. He’d never had someone apologise to him before; he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.
“Naruto-kun, I apologise for forcing D-ranks upon you,” Gai continued a bit quieter. “I did not understand your aversion and was under the impression that the villagers would warm up to you through exposure to your brilliant Youth. I wanted to show the village how wonderful you are; you are hard-working and earnest and I could not ask for a better pupil. I now realise that I am in fact making things worse and I hope you can forgive my foolishness.”
He’d been planning on bringing up the D-rank issue with his sensei but he hadn’t expected the man to get to it first.
“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” he said faintly, still in shock from the whole conversation.
“Are you alright, Naruto-kun?” Gai frowned. “I understand if you need time to find forgiveness…”
“No!” Naruto blurted out before wincing. “No, Gai-sensei, I really appreciate it. No one’s ever apologised to me before so it means a lot.”
He tilted his head in confusion at Gai’s horrified expression.
“So I don’t have to do D-ranks anymore?” He changed the subject to try and get that look off of Gai’s face. He didn’t know why the man was reacting like that but he didn’t like it. Gai was supposed to be happy and smiling and yelling dumb stuff about Youth.
Gai appeared to shake himself out of it and grinned, his white teeth sparkling in the afternoon sun.
“Not quite, Naruto-kun! We will cease doing D-ranks regularly and Hokage-sama has assigned us to guard duty instead. You will need to work with fellow comrades but it will keep you away from the village populace. We will also start C-ranks soon which will take us out of the village. You have trained hard and earned trust in your capabilities.”
Naruto felt a grin spread across his own face. He could leave the village soon! Sure, under supervision and probably not for very long but it was something! Guard duty didn’t sound too bad either; anything was better than D-ranks. Gai’s wording caught his attention before he could get too swept up in the excitement.
“What do you mean ‘not quite’?”
“Naruto-kun, you were attempting to prank an ANBU,” Gai raised one bushy brow at him. “That is not youthful behaviour for a genin of Konoha. You will be assigned D-ranks as punishment for behaviour like that so you must cease your pranks and antagonist behaviour when possible.”
That didn’t sound like Gai’s idea. He knew the man better than that.
“Whose idea was that?”
“Hokage-sama’s.”
Naruto scowled; this had Jiji’s fingers all over it. He loved the man but he had very particular ideas about Naruto’s behaviour and how it should be addressed. He was probably thinking the threat of D-ranks would force Naruto to try and get along with his peers and villagers. Naruto had no desire to get along with anyone and everyone he pranked deserved it. He avoided everyone as a general rule anyway so hopefully it would be a non-issue.
“We will go and get a D-rank but unless you act unyouthfully in the future, this should be your last,” Gai threw him a thumbs up.
Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets but allowed the jounin a small smile. It probably wouldn’t be his last since he wasn’t about to roll over and take the village’s abuse when it inevitably came back to haunt him, but the fact he wouldn’t be subjected to them daily did raise his spirits. Gai really was one of the good ones.
Shikamaru stomped away from his house, grumbling beneath his breath as he hunched his shoulders. Troublesome woman. His mother hadn’t stopped nagging him about his latest scores at the academy and he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d just wanted to nap in peace; she was now tearing into his father, claiming that they were too much alike and that his father needed to set a better example for him.
It was all such a drag. It was the early evening so there were still clouds in the sky so Shikamaru had decided to go look at them instead. His favourite spot was just outside the Nara forest where they kept the deer and he knew there wouldn’t be anyone around at this time.
What was so bad about being mediocre? He would pass with middling scores and get placed on a decent team and eventually settle down with a family. He just wanted a normal, easy life; aiming high and trying hard was just so much trouble. They couldn’t all be the Jounin Commander.
He came to the small hill and flopped down, resting his hands behind his head as he watched the red and gold lined clouds float away from the sunset. His thoughts began to empty and he relaxed, melting entirely into the soft grass beneath him. This is what he wanted; peace and quiet and nothing in his head other than the sight of gently floating clouds.
“Come on, don’t do this to me.”
Shikamaru frowned as an unfamiliar voice cut through the quiet evening air. That didn’t sound like any of his clan but they were the only ones allowed this close to the deer. He reluctantly hauled himself upright to see a boy around his age trying to unsuccessfully herd three fawns back towards the tree line.
The kid was blond, with short spiky hair and he didn’t look tall; he was probably shorter than Shikamaru. He wore black shinobi trousers tied with bandages at the bottom above his black sandals and a sleeveless black shirt. Black fingerless gloves and black bracers to his elbow covered his thin, defined arms and a loose sleeveless orange hoodie was wrapped around his waist. He had three whisker marks on each cheek and they jogged Shikamaru’s memory.
This was the kid who came to their classroom a month or two ago. He’d been told off by Iruka-sensei but had then presented a hitai-ate; so he was a genin? He didn’t see the rest of his team and he’d been alone when he’d come to the academy. The boy hadn’t exactly seemed pleased to be there and he hadn’t answered Ino’s questions which had driven the girl nuts.
“Come on, little fawns, go back to the trees,” the boy begged. “You’re the last ones and I want to go home.”
Shikamaru watched him struggle for a long moment before he heaved a heavy sigh, rising to his feet. Wary blue eyes flickered over to him.
“D-rank?”
The genin didn’t answer as one of the fawns came over to nibble on Shikamaru’s shirt. He brushed a hand over its soft coat.
“You a Nara?”
“Yes,” Shikamaru frowned at him. “Why do you have a D-rank with the deer?”
The boy grumbled something beneath his breath that Shikamaru didn’t catch but he spoke the next few words a bit louder.
“I have to get the herd within the pen at the bottom of this field,” he answered carefully. “Apparently they’re being checked over by the vet first thing tomorrow.”
Shikamaru nodded as he stroked the fawn. That made sense; they checked over the herd’s health every few months or so. He hadn’t realised that time had come around so soon.
“If you’re a genin, where’s the rest of your team?” He asked curiously.
“I don’t have a team,” the boy answered shortly. “I’m an apprentice.”
Huh, Shikamaru had heard of those but they weren’t common. He hadn’t known genin could become apprentices; as far as he knew they all had to spend time on a genin team first. He didn’t know what this guy had done to avoid that but it wasn’t really any of Shikamaru’s business anyway. It would be too troublesome; he’d leave all the information gathering and gossip to Ino.
“Do you want some help?” he offered reluctantly.
He didn’t particularly want to walk around chasing deer but it would be easier with him there; he was a Nara. The deer listened to his clan. The sooner this genin finished with his D-rank, the sooner Shikamaru could get back to his hill and his clouds. He just wanted some quiet and he wouldn’t get that until this boy left.
“I don’t need help,” the boy snapped.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as one of the fawns around the genin escaped his grasp and trotted over to Shikamaru. Blue eyes narrowed as the genin appeared to consider his choices.
“Fucking fine, but I don’t owe you shit,” he finally grumbled.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he walked to the genin, the two fawns walking in his wake. He ran a hand through the third fawn’s fur and it turned to push its head into Shikamaru’s hand. He rubbed the fawn between the eyes for a short moment.
“How do you do that?” the genin spoke up again. “Why do they listen to you?”
“They’re Nara deer,” Shikamaru explained as he began to walk beside the tree line, the fawns in his wake. “My clan has always had a connection with them. They don’t like outsiders much.”
“I could have told you that,” the genin griped.
This kid could rival Sasuke in the grumpy and unapproachable department. Shikamaru didn’t speak to the Uchiha but he’d observed his behaviour in class. Although Shikamaru couldn’t really blame him; if he had that many girls screaming into his ear every day, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t act any better. He didn’t know why this genin was so hostile but it was really none of Shikamaru’s business.
“Do I at least get a name?” He drawled as he followed the tree line, the wooden pen appearing in the near distance. “I’m Nara Shikamaru.”
The boy was silent for a long moment before he muttered, “Naruto”.
Shikamaru nodded as he continued to lead the fawns to their destination. He opened the gate and ushered the fawns in, their mothers coming to greet them. He closed it and turned to Naruto.
“I’ll see you around then.”
Naruto shrugged and began to walk off. He paused mid-step and hunched his shoulders.
“Thanks,” he said, the word sounding like it pained him to say.
He continued to walk away and Shikamaru watched him go. He hadn’t seen him around the village other than that time in the academy. He wondered who his jounin-sensei was.
He abruptly shook those thoughts off; he didn’t need to know. It was too much of a drag to be curious about someone that obviously did not want anything to do with him. He started to trek back to his cloud-watching spot, banishing thoughts about the genin. He had his own problems to deal with right now. His mother would notice he was missing soon.