fourteen
“Are we going to talk about it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Naruto…”
“Kakashi…”
The jounin raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto mirrored him. Kakashi folded his arms. Naruto copied him again. He was not going to lose this game. He knew exactly what Kakashi was talking about but he was not going to engage. It was none of his business and he already had to avoid the topic around Gai-sensei. Kakashi was supposed to be easy and not care about stupid things like this. Occasionally the jounin would bring up personal questions but Naruto thought he’d managed to get the man to take the hint.
He did not want to talk about it.
“Gai is worried about you.”
He narrowed his eyes but remained silent. That was a low blow. They stared at each other for another long moment.
“You are going to have to talk to them at some point,” Kakashi sighed, showing the first sign of weakness. “You share a teacher with them.”
“No I don’t,” Naruto snapped back. “They’re not my team, not my problem.”
Kakashi lifted his hand to rub his forehead wearily and Naruto almost growled at the jounin.
“I didn’t come here to be fucking judged,” he fumed. “I was under the impression that we were going to work on ninjutsu, which would make sense since you are my ninjutsu teacher, but apparently not. So find me when you are ready to work instead of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
He turned to stomp his way out of the clearing but stopped as his name was called.
“Fine, I’ll drop it,” Kakashi raised his hands in defeat.
Naruto nodded but he didn’t relax. The jounin was fond of a sneak attack. He walked back over to stand in front of him, waiting for him to continue.
“You still can’t do Bunshin, can you?”
“Nope,” Naruto shrugged.
He’d never been able to do it. His clones always came out looking sickly and faded no mattered how many times he practiced the technique. There had been a minor improvement after he’d improved his chakra control with Gai but not enough to make a difference. He wasn’t that bothered about it since he didn’t like the technique that much anyway. He had other things to focus on.
“I may have a different technique for you.”
Naruto waited for him to continue.
“The only thing is that it can be incredibly dangerous,” Kakashi said with a seriousness Naruto hadn’t seen in him before. “It requires a lot of chakra and very little control which is why I thought of you, but it requires a lot of chakra. You need to be careful when and how you use it. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, loads of chakra,” Naruto waved him off.
Chakra had never been an issue for him. He’d never even come close to using up his reserves before. Kakashi sent him a look and Naruto rolled his eyes.
“I understand that this technique requires a lot of chakra,” he recited dully. “I should be careful when using it.”
He could tell Kakashi picked up on the fact that Naruto could not care less but the jounin left it alone, moving on.
“It is called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” he said. “It is a clone technique that allows you to make solid copies of yourself via chakra constructs. Your chakra will be divided equally between the clones: if you make one, your chakra will be halved, if you make two, they will each have a third, and so on. Why would this be an issue?”
Naruto was going over the possibilities in his head. Solid clones? Clones capable of taijutsu? There was so much he could do with that! Would the clones hold up after one blow? Would the amount of chakra influence the stability of the clone? How many hits could one take? How much autonomy would they have? If they were chakra constructs, could they also use ninjutsu?
“Naruto.” The jounin said his name with a hint of amusement, as if he could see the possibilities blooming in his head. “What would the issue be with the chakra division?”
“It’s divided evenly.” Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. “So if you made ten, and went down to a tenth of your reserves, that might be below what you need to stay alive.”
Kakashi eye-smiled.
“Correct, my cute little genin!”
Naruto let that one slide.
“Even making one, I would lose half of my reserves.”
“Yes,” Kakashi agreed. “It’s a risk; does the benefit of having an extra pair of hands outweigh the danger of losing so much chakra? It would limit your use of ninjutsu for the rest of the fight.”
Naruto grinned.
“What are the hand seals?”
Kakashi lifted his hand to show and Naruto mimicked him.
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.”
A puff of smoke appeared next to Kakashi and Naruto looked at the identical clone with interest. He couldn’t see any difference between them, none of the telltale signs that could be seen in the ordinary Bunshin. He reached forward and poked the clone curiously. The clone tilted his head at him in a way that was scarily identical to his teacher and poked him back.
“Is there any way to tell the difference?” He asked, looking for any signs himself.
“Their behaviour sometimes,” Kakashi shrugged. “They are never really used long enough for issues like that to come up.”
There was another puff of smoke as Kakashi let the technique go. Naruto grinned widely as he raised his hands.
“Naruto, wait-”
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”
A massive cloud of smoke erupted around them. He felt a dip in his reserves but it wasn’t so bad; he felt fine, not spent or anything. It certainly wasn’t as bad as Kakashi was trying to make him think. He would replenish the losses in a few hours at most. Had he not made enough?
The smoke started to clear around him and he stared at the crowd of clones that surrounded them. They were everywhere; in the trees, bushes, sitting on rocks, standing around the clearing and they all looked identical to him. He had no idea how many there were, just staring at the sea of orange. There had to be at least a hundred. He had a feeling that wasn’t supposed to happen and as he looked at a rigid Kakashi, he was pretty sure he was right.
“How much chakra did you put into it?” His voice was a bit faint but most of his expression was hidden by his mask.
“Don’t know,” Naruto shrugged. “A normal amount.”
There was a noise from Kakashi that Naruto couldn’t identify but Kakashi was already asking more questions before he could try.
“How do you feel? Faint? How are your reserves?”
“Fine,” Naruto looked back at him, a bit confused. “I could probably make way more. I wouldn’t really notice that little chakra missing.”
There was a moment of silence and Naruto let the technique go, coughing slightly at the sheer amount of smoke released. As it cleared, he caught a look in Kakashi’s eye that spelled doom.
“Looks like we are going to have to work on your control if you think that is a normal amount of chakra.”
Naruto groaned. Chakra control always came back to bite him in the ass.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Hiruzen sighed, gazing at the young genin as he fumed in front of him. He felt for the Uzumaki but it simply wasn’t a possibility this year from him to attend the Chunin Exams. This had been a sore point for the genin the past few years but Hiruzen couldn’t change the rules for one genin.
“This isn’t fair.”
“It is not a matter of fairness, Naruto-kun,” he said, keeping his tone level. “You do not have a team therefore you cannot attend the exams. You knew this.”
“Yeah, but there are supposed to be teams that I can fill the gaps on,” Naruto insisted. “There are teams where one became a chunin and the others stayed genin; that’s what the genin reserve is for!”
“You are correct, however there are no teams available this year.”
“There’s never any teams available.”
Hiruzen sighed again. This argument came up every year.
“Naruto-kun, you are only eleven. You are still younger than most academy graduates; you have time. Most spend two to three years as a genin after their graduation from the academy so you are not falling behind. You are still very much ahead of your peers.”
“People from my academy class became a chunin last year, so sorry, Hokage-sama but I am very much behind.”
Hiruzen blinked at the use of his title. Naruto had been using Jiji less and less frequently as of late but he also knew that Naruto did not use his title with the respect it was intended. He had heard good reports from Gai about the genin’s training and was aware he was receiving additional training from Kakashi and Hayate but it hadn’t done anything to improve the genin’s relationship with people as a whole. The latest he’d seen in Naruto attitude towards Gai’s genin team had been less than promising and it made Hiruzen wonder if he’d been too lenient on Naruto.
There were not many people he would have bent the rules for to this extent. Allowing the boy to be apprenticed to Gai rather than join a standard three-man squad may have been more detrimental for his development as a shinobi. He had a valuable bloodline limit but he did not possess the Will of Fire like his parents. There had been nothing in the reports for his missions where he did work with other shinobi to suggest he was not working well or doing his part, but this was not what Hiruzen had hoped for.
“Naruto…”
“Are Gai-sensei’s team getting to go?” Naruto interrupted.
“They turned down the opportunity, preferring to build their skills for next year.”
“So they could have gone if they wanted to?” Naruto scoffed and Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
“That is enough, Naruto.” He ordered, watching the genin flinch at the steel in his tone. “I will not have this argument with you again and I will not tolerate this disrespectful attitude of yours. I am your Hokage and you are my shinobi, is that understood?”
“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Naruto grumbled, dropping his head to stare at the floor.
It really did appear as if Hiruzen had been too soft on the boy. It was fine when he was younger but he had been a genin of Konoha for over two years now. He needed to learn to work with the system and his fellow shinobi instead of sulking when things did not go his way. He needed to do what he should have done when the boy graduated.
“When the new academy class graduates in January, you will be joining one of the teams,” he ordered, Naruto’s head snapping up. “Your apprenticeship with Gai-kun will be dissolved although you may train with him on your own time at the discretion of your jounin-sensei. You will take the Chunin Exams with this team when your jounin-sensei decides both you and your teammates are ready.”
“I have to join a team of green genin?” Naruto sounded horrified but Hiruzen steeled his heart. This was for his own good.
“You will have a team to take the Chunin Exams with.”
Naruto’s mouth opened and closed as he froze in place, struggling to compute Hiruzen’s words.
“I…I’m going to lose Gai-sensei?” He asked, a lot quieter.
“Gai-kun has other responsibilities,” Hiruzen responded. “He has his own team to manage. He has done incredibly well with you and your taijutsu abilities have soared under his instruction but that is something you can work on under your new jounin-sensei.”
He sighed at the sight of the crushed genin.
“This isn’t a punishment, Naruto-kun. You should have been placed on a team when you first graduated. I thought being a solo apprentice would help you more but it has become evident that I was wrong. You are being treated like any other genin, just a few years late.”
Hiruzen felt the lie in that statement but he ignored it. This was the right decision. If he had treated Naruto like any other genin two years ago they would not be here now.
“Is that everything, Hokage-sama?”
“Yes, you are dismissed, Naruto-kun.”
The door shut quietly behind the genin and Hiruzen realised he had been expecting a lot more anger from him. Naruto’s issues surrounding the Chunin Exams had always brought out his fury and even dealing with other people, he was gruff and impatient. He did not know if the lack of anger was a sign that the boy had actually matured during his apprenticeship with Gai-kun but the decision was made. Naruto would be joining a genin team in the upcoming year. It would be good for him. If he was ever going to actually become chunin, it was something he needed to learn.
Gai strode through the training ground, looking for his Eternal Rival. His wonderful genin team had completed their D-ranks for the day and wished to work on their individual skills. Gai was thrilled to have such hardworking and Youthful pupils and he knew they would reach the Springtime of their Youth and blossom for the whole village to see. They were following in the footsteps of his first wonderful pupil.
He finally spotted a sliver of silver hair in a tree and he grinned widely, running up the trunk to land on a branch nearby. His rival was sitting against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out in front of him on the branch with his ankles crossed.
“My Eternal Rival!” He called out, Kakashi continuing to read his book.
“Did you say something, Gai?”
“You are so hip, Kakashi!”
Kakashi sighed and placed the book on his lap, looking at him.
“This is about Naruto, isn’t it?”
Gai dropped to sit down on his own branch, swinging his legs. He knew he made the right choice coming to talk to Kakashi. He knew Naruto well and had been training him almost as long as Gai. Kakashi had an entirely different perspective than his own; he hoped that his rival could see something that Gai was missing. Gai knew he had his faults as Naruto’s teacher but he wanted to do his best for his pupil. Naruto deserved nothing but the absolute best from him and that meant sometimes looking to others to help.
“You are so insightful, my rival,” he said, his cheerfulness fading as thoughts returned to his apprentice. “Tell me, you have seen it too?”
“He’s totally avoiding that team of yours.”
“I do not understand why,” Gai insisted. “He is a wonderful genin and there is much they can learn from him! They look up to him as a shining example of the power of Youth! I do not understand where it keeps going wrong for him.”
It was frustrating. Gai could not see why Naruto and his team could not work well together. Naruto had a lot of experience and wisdom to share and his genin team could provide a source of friendship for his apprentice. He knew his genin team did not judge or dislike Naruto. Lee had stated several times how much he looked up to the younger genin. Gai felt as if he was missing something about his apprentice; he felt like he could not be the best teacher for him unless he figured it out.
“Can I be honest, Gai?” Kakashi put his book away in a pocket and sat up, curling one foot underneath his leg and leaning forward.
“Always.”
“Naruto has shit social skills.”
Gai blinked as Kakashi continued.
“It’s not his fault; he never developed them. He never had any friends or family and everything he got from the village was negative, so he learned how to deal with that. He never learned how to deal with people normally in non-negative situations.”
Gai frowned.
“He assumes the worst in people, not because of his own actions, but because of his own experience. We probably haven’t helped. Yes, we provide him with some normalcy and positive experiences but we roll with Naruto as he is. He likes us and respects you at least, so he makes an effort. He doesn’t see a reason to do that with anyone else as he’d never been given a reason. You following me?”
“I am, but I have only experienced Naruto as a hardworking, earnest young man. He is direct and does not enjoy empty words, but those are strengths of his! Why would my team not see the same?”
“You have a pretty unique perspective, Gai,” Kakashi shook his head fondly. “The problem with your genin is that Naruto doesn’t know how to read them. He can’t easily pick up emotions or cues as he’s just never learned. At the same time, they also don’t know how to read him. He doesn’t respond to things or think about things like they do. Something that is normal for them might not be for Naruto and vice versa. He’s fine with you since you’re pretty open and straightforward about everything that goes through your head.”
“They are unable to connect,” Gai continued for him. “They misunderstand each other and do not realise they are misunderstanding each other as they view the other as the same. They do not realise they have different ways of communicating.”
“Now you’re getting it,” Kakashi nodded. “It’s not that any of them were deliberately being difficult, they just can’t relate to each other. Another problem is that Naruto’s response to an unknown social situation is to get angry and defensive. He assumes that he is going to be blamed so he pushes them away and ends it then and there. He then avoids it like his life depends on it to protect himself.”
Gai nodded, thoughtful. Now his rival had pointed it out, it did make sense. Naruto had avoided him when he thought Gai was angry at him. He was currently avoiding his genin team after the discussion of training went wrong. He could see it was no fault of Naruto’s or his team’s, but it didn’t fix the issues that had caused the rift in the first place.
“You’ve done a great job with him, Gai,” Kakashi added. “I don’t think there’re many people who could have gotten him to open up this much. He really respects you. This is just something that will take a while.”
“Naruto-kun has never done anything less than his best while training with me,” Gai smiled. “He is a wonderful pupil and I am blessed every day to be his teacher. He is determined, intelligent, focused, strong and never gives less than one hundred percent. I have learned as much from him as he has from me. He is a shining example of the Springtime of Youth to all of Konoha.”
He meant every word. Naruto had a lot to overcome, more than anyone at his age, and it has been a privilege to be a part of his journey. He looked forward to many years of training and working with his pupil and he knew Naruto would achieve any goal he set his mind to.
“Never change, Gai,” Kakashi huffed in amusement, leaning back against the tree.
“So what can I do to help them?”
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.
“I really don’t know. Naruto shuts down any attempt to talk about it. It might just take time. Keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully it works itself out.”
“I do not like that I am unable to do more,” Gai frowned. “It is not very Youthful.”
“They’re young,” Kakashi crossed his ankles once more. “They’ll figure it out. You just have to be patient; something for you to work on too.”
Gai looked at his friend for a long moment.
“You would make a wonderful jounin-sensei, my rival.”
Kakashi snorted.
“Yeah,” he said, although it was obvious he didn’t believe it. “That’s why I fail them every year.”
“You have your reasons,” Gai insisted. “You know if they are ready for the trials that come with becoming a shinobi and you would not fail them with a deceptive heart. You only wish the best for them. Becoming a shinobi is not part of their journey; you merely wish to keep them alive.”
“You make it sound much better than it actually is.”
“Perhaps you are waiting for the right team!” Gai grinned. “I could not imagine my life without my dear genin; all four of them are irreplaceable!”
Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head fondly before tilting his head thoughtfully.
“Hey, did you know how much chakra Naruto has?” he asked suddenly.
“I am aware that he has a great store of it,” Gai nodded. “He has much more than any genin I have encountered before.”
“But have you ever actually measured it or anything?”
“Is there something you wish to address, Kakashi?”
“I taught him Kage Bunshin,” his rival said, leaning forward once again. “He accidently made at least a hundred. One hundred, Gai! That would kill anyone else! I asked him about it and he said he barely noticed the drain.”
Gai’s eyes widened at the implications of Kakashi’s words. He knew Naruto had been blessed with a large chakra store and had valiantly worked hard on his physical conditioning and chakra control, which would have naturally increased it. He had never heard of what Kakashi was talking about.
“Is it due to the Kyūbi?” he suggested.
“I don’t know,” Kakashi shook his head. “But I think we are seriously under-utilising it. We need to look over his training regime again.”
Gai was about to agree when a hawk landed on a branch above them.
“We’ll talk after you see the Hokage,” Kakashi brought his book back out. “I’ll be here.”
“Thank you, my Eternal Rival!” Gai grinned, throwing him a thumbs up. “It is wonderful to know you are as invested my pupil’s training as I am. Naruto is fortunate to have someone as diligent as you watching over him.”
“Just don’t tell him that,” Kakashi muttered beneath his breath, bring his orange book back up to read. “I have a reputation.”
Gai left him to it, making his way towards the Hokage Tower, with a lighter heart than before. He may not be able to do much to help the relationship between his pupils but he could continue to be his most Youthful self and help his students strive to the Springtime of their Youth!
Sasuke huffed as he walked to the meeting location. He only had six months left of the academy and it was six months too long. No one was taking it seriously! In every taijutsu spar, every genjutsu tutorial, every single ninjutsu practice, he could feel the lack of discipline and motivation in his classmates. They were all content to float along the course, never bothering to push themselves, and Sasuke was sick of it. He put so much effort and training in and it all felt like it was wasted on them; everything was designed to go at the snail’s pace of his classmates.
With every day spent in that hellhole, he could feel Itachi getting further and further away from him. When Itachi was his age, he was on the verge of ANBU; his brother graduated five years earlier than Sasuke and he knew from his experience with Naruto that it mattered. The blond genin was in a completely different league to Sasuke’s classmates and he knew a huge part of that was getting out of the academy and actually doing the shit they were training for. How was he supposed to ever beat Itachi when he was stuck memorising stuff that would never actually be relevant for his actual shinobi career instead of doing something productive?
He could not wait until graduation. Yes, he would be potentially stuck with a couple of dead weights but he would get a jounin-sensei and missions and more time to train and get stronger. He would be moving forward which is more than what he was doing right now. Right now, he felt like he was trapped, cursed to remain in the same place, despite the fact he knew he had the power to move forward.
It wouldn’t be so bad if he got someone like Naruto on his team. He could be an asshole, but he was strong. He didn’t care that Sasuke was an Uchiha, only if he could beat him in a fight or what training they could do. He did not conform to the expectations of the village and he certainly didn’t follow the crowd. Sasuke appreciated that; the rest of his peers were like sheep. If he suggested a training method to his classmates, they would fall over themselves to agree even if it was a bad idea. Naruto actually gave it some thought and would tell him to his face if it was shit or would suggest improvements.
Sasuke respected hard work and ability and Naruto had that in spades. He also didn’t hold back for Sasuke. If he knew how to do something, he wouldn’t wait around for Sasuke to catch up. He would just forge on ahead and expect Sasuke to catch up in his own time. Sasuke loved that; Naruto made it feel like he was moving forward. He knew there were things Naruto got out of this arrangement too. Sasuke did not care about whatever stick the village had up their ass about Naruto. He took the blond at face value and he knew Naruto appreciated that.
Naruto was the only person Sasuke could trust to be upfront with him, and Sasuke was someone that Naruto could be himself around without having to worry about repercussions or offense. There was a freedom with each other that they couldn’t get anywhere else. He had never expected it to become what it had but he was also not going to question it. The less he thought about stuff like that the better.
He finally made it to the training grounds and spotted the genin in question sitting quietly in the centre. He walked over to him, letting the tensions of the day drain from his shoulders.
“Oi, dobe,” he called out and frowned as Naruto didn’t respond.
As he got closer and saw Naruto’s face, alarm bells started ringing. Naruto looked miserable. Sasuke had seen him angry, annoyed, smug, joyous, thoughtful, vindictive but never miserable. He didn’t know Naruto was capable of that; his default was always anger and always loud.
“Naruto,” Sasuke tried again, walking around to sit directly in front of the genin.
Naruto didn’t appear to hear him. He didn’t even seem like he could see Sasuke. He waved a hand in front of his face and there was no response. What the fuck? Sasuke started to get nervous; this was not normal. He didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t something that had ever happened before. He knew Naruto had a list of issues longer than the Hokage Tower but it wasn’t Sasuke’s problem. It had never affected their training before. He shoved at his shoulder, finally getting a reaction. Dull blue eyes gazed back at him.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Naruto blinked and some life started to return to his eyes but there was still a weight to him, as if a dark cloud had settled on his shoulders.
“I’m losing Gai-sensei.”
Sasuke frowned.
“Is he dying or something?”
Naruto shook his head.
“Our apprenticeship is going to be dissolved and I’m being assigned to one of the graduating genin teams in January,” he elaborated, sounding defeated.
Sasuke ignored the little spark of hope that flared in his chest. Naruto could be his teammate; he could potentially have one less dead weight on the team. He could have an equal.
“That’s it?” He snorted derisively. “You made it seem like the world was ending.”
Naruto glared at him and something in Sasuke’s gut loosened at the sight of the familiar anger.
“You don’t get it,” he snapped bitterly. “Gai-sensei was the first person ever to treat me like a human being. He cares and thinks I actually matter! He’s the best jounin-sensei in this damned village and now I’m going to get stuck with some asshole that probably won’t even bother with me while Gai-sensei forgets me, too busy with his shiny, non-pariah genin.”
“Suck it up,” Sasuke said bluntly. “Gai wasn’t going to babysit you forever. If you are going to let a shit jounin-sensei hold you back, then you’re not the person I thought you were.”
Naruto looked back at him in surprise and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
“It’s not as if you’re losing him forever,” he pointed out. “He’s still going to be around the village and you can still talk to him and stuff. You’re just being a melodramatic ass.”
Naruto went quiet for a moment and Sasuke waited for him to process. This is not what he wanted to be dealing with today. He knew Gai meant a lot to Naruto. He’d never heard a single bad word from Naruto about his jounin-sensei and the blond was not the type to hold back. Naruto had been jealous of the new genin team Gai had taken on and Sasuke had been forced to listen to him whine about it for weeks. Sasuke also complained about his classmates so he figured they were even on that front.
“I’m going to get stuck on a green genin team,” Naruto pouted, but it was obvious that the depressive spell had worn off. Thank fuck. Sasuke never wanted to see him like that ever again. He didn’t suit it.
“You might get put on a team with me,” he couldn’t help but point out, keeping his tone disinterested in case the dobe got the wrong idea.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at him but for a brief moment, there was something warm in his gaze. It was gone before Sasuke could blink.
“I guess you’re not the worst person to get stuck with.”
Sasuke glared at him while Naruto grinned. He shoved over the blond, climbing to his feet. That was probably the closest he would get to Naruto saying he wanted to be on a team with Sasuke. It was pretty unlikely, but it would be cool. They could train like this every day. Sasuke shook those thoughts from his mind as Naruto bounced up, seemingly back to normal. He wanted to get some training done today and he didn’t need any distractions.