The two saw dozens of ma.s.sive rock and wood structures that were built into a hill side. Leading through its entrance stood an elaborate orange torrii archway, a large lake surrounded the area between the facility and the forest trees, a series of stairs and bridges led up to the giant hill side"s peak into several cave entrances, and a ancient looking building hung off the wall next to the highest cave entrance. As the two walked over to the red stone bridge Naruto looked around and asked "Is this Dad"s Estate?"Kibo laughed, "This is the training cave! Your father and the Sannin Jiraiya perfected their Ninja Arts here, and we"re gonna conquer it before Hinata"s birth day."
Naruto scratched his head and asked, "Why?"
"The Namikaze compound isn"t such an easily found thing without the key, I"ve heard that not even the Hokage could find it." After saying Naruto seemed to have wised up. "So there"s a chance he left something here that can tell us how to get there?"
"I just couldn"t help but think, if your father"s father figure Jiraiya trained here, and he trained Minato here himself, then there"s a good chance your father intended to train you here as well. If he left the Key anywhere then, it"s got to be here."
"That does kind of make sense, if dad was going to give me the Namikaze"s inheritance; it would be only when I completed my training right?"
Kibo raised an eyebrow at Naruto, when Naruto saw Kibo"s expressive and unbelieving look on his face responded with a simple "What?"
". . . Keep reading books Naruto." Kibo said in a joking voice.
Naruto slanted his eyes and said in a monotone voice, "Hah . . . Hah!"
Kibo looked to the entrance of the cave then at Naruto, "I think it"s time we start training." Kibo said as he began moving over to a nearby tree. Taking out a Kunai he marched up to the largest tree he could find, and then handed the Kunai to Naruto.
"Climb this tree only using your chakra to hold on to your body, and use the kunai to mark your progress." Kibo said as he demonstrated, "Whoa that"s so cool!" Naruto tried but the moment he stepped onto the tree the bark exploded. "Too much Naruto, here try this exercise." He held out his hand and placed his first and middle finger up, then he proceeded to push a small amount of Chakra to his finger tips. A glowing aura of Chakra appeared around his p.r.o.nounced fingers.
"You have to feel the Chakra, once you"re able to do that imagine that the Chakra is flowing like water inside your body towards a single direction. Then place it into your fingers like so and. . . . "The aura began to grow brighter and taller, "Afterwards you need to slowly lower and raise the Chakra level getting used to the sensation. The slower you can move the flame the better your control. Now you try the technique I"m going to be doing training of my own." Kibo said as he raised the suits parameters to x10 Normal Gravity, it was this was another first time sensation since reincarnating, his sage physique did nothing for him at the moment Kibo felt like a regular human again.
Pushing the suit up to x11, he started feel the strain but he continued to go about practicing his Ancient Dragon Fist Martial Art. The first set of this technique required a certain stance to be mastered, as he went over the technique in his head, he realized that the movements and breathing seemed to based in a strange wood elemental style, as it required a lot of rooting stances to help the pract.i.tioner draw energy form the earth. His feet were firmly placed into the ground as he placed his arms outward in front of himself, and formed his hands into a pair dragon claws. Lastly he squatted into the horse stance and began meditating.
He felt a surge of Natural Energy quickly began bubbling inside his body, "Is this land nature energy?" Kibo felt like a plant each of his toes became his roots firmly attached to the ground, as he began absorbing the land nature energy like a tree, Kibo"s muscles began to itch. After the first hour his skin began to change into a reddish hue, it felt like millions of tiny hammers pounding on his physique, when he was about to stop Seiryu spoke, "Keep at it young Kibo, my nature is that of wood and pond. The martial art you practicing uses wood suppresses land in turn, the earth nurtures the body. The longer you can keep this up, the quicker your physique will evolve." Kibo listened as he tried desperately to hang on, on the second hour; it felt like those hammers had grown more than twice in number and in pain.
Naruto watched Kibo carefully, seeing the look on determination on Kibo"s face, Naruto was inspired as he kept trying to reenact Kibo"s Chakra Aura Training, he placed his body in the same position and began gathering all his chakra to his finger tips, when after more than 30 failed attempts, a 10 foot Aura appeared making Kibo whistle. "That"s an Uzumaki for ya!" he said laughing.
Over the next few hours Kibo coached Naruto while continuing his own training, although he couldn"t claim to be a master of Jutsus yet, he could however boast as one of the world"s greatest Chakra Controllers, he had a Perk to prove it as well. Thanks to Kibo"s steady advice Naruto started to get the hang of it. Although he wasn"t as good as Kibo when it came to demonstrating the technique, he could now actively change the height of his Chakra Aura at will. "Good, now try the tree again."
This time when Naruto tried to step on the tree, he didn"t fall right away; Naruto had sprinted half way up before and marked the tree before falling. Kibo caught him by the scruff of his collar, and held him like a kit. "SLOWLY NARUTO!" Kibo said shouting in his ear, "You need to learn to adjust to every little minute change; the slower you can go the better your control will be."
Kibo didn"t tell him that to walk on water he"d have to move his Chakra a lot faster; but that lesson would come in due time. The sun had started to set and Naruto was covered in wounds that were being quickly healed by Kurama"s Chakra. Naruto was surprised when Kibo said. "It"s because Kurama"s not fighting with you anymore. So the Chakra flow isn"t being reduced."
[Inside Naruto"s Mindscape]
"Naruto tell that kid to shut it!" Kurama grunted.
Naruto giggled and said "Thank you Kurama!"
"I"m not doing it for you, once you open that seal I"m out of here." If Kibo heard this he would have said "Look at the embarra.s.sed foxy."
Naruto still laughed and said, "I don"t think you will. I trust you."
[Back in Reality]
"Talking to the Tsundere Fox?" Kibo asked
(A/N For those who don"t know what Tsundere is you missing the joke.)
Kibo could almost hear Kurama"s hateful cries because of that last comment, "Human I will take a bite out of you some day." or something along those lines. He wasn"t too far from the truth.
It took him all day but Naruto had finally gotten the hang of the Tree Climbing Exercise."Well you made it to the top of the tree, ready to head back home?" Kibo asked.
Naruto looked up and smiled before saying in a satisfied tone "Yes! Let"s go home!" Naruto really like saying that, he grinned as he thought that he finally had a real home to go home to.
While they walked back, Naruto asked Kibo, "What"s next?"
"Tomorrow you learn how to walk on water!" Kibo said as he almost laughed seeing Naruto"s expression become suddenly fascinated, "We can walk on water?" Naruto asked, "Yes, as long as you use the same technique that you learned here today." Kibo replied, when he saw Naruto holding a small log of wood.
"What"s that?" Kibo asked.
"It"s a present for Hinata." Naruto answered.
"You"re giving her a log?" Kibo asked in an over-exclaimed and silly tone.
"No!" Naruto looked at Kibo like he was a moron, "I"m gonna turn this into her present! Baka!"
Kibo stopped for a second when he thought, "Did Naruto just call me dumb?"
[Mean While at the Hokage"s Mansion]
Sarutobi was in a meeting with an all too familiar one eyed, grey haired Anbu member, "Kakashi, what do you think of Yamato, is he telling the truth about finding one of Orochimaru"s labs, or is it a trap?"
Kakashi placed his hand on his chin before saying, "Probably both! Danzo isn"t dumb enough to give me a false location, if he really wants my eye, he"s gonna have to make the bait convincing, otherwise he wouldn"t be able to lure me into such an obvious trap."
Sarutobi sighed, "Okay Kakashi, your work is done. I"ll pull you out of Danzo"s Anbu."
"No need for that yet." Kakashi added, "I think Yamato can be saved, he doesn"t see eye to eye with Danzo; he"s more suited towards the will of fire."
Sarutobi sighed then spoke with great authority "Very well then, tomorrow is you last mission as Danzo"s Anbu, I order you to discover Orochimaru"s lab, and bring back the one who inherited Hashirama cells."
"Yes Hokage Sama!" Kakashi said as he saluted Sarutobi.
[Back at the Hoshi Clan"s Estate.]
Kibo and Naruto were welcomed home by their adoring parents. The two ate a big meal, and headed to bed after a shower. The Next morning they told their parents they were going out to train.
"We found an awesome place to train, so we"ll be going there until the end of the week." When Kibo said this, his mother looked as if she remembered something. "Oh yes! We received an invitation to attend the Hyuga Heiress"s birthday party." Niwa then looked to her father and husband, "Probably because their interested in your eyes, it appears your grandpa and father has been bragging about how it rivals the Byakugan, and Sharingan." Kibo"s father and grandfather were whistling and acting oblivious as Kibo stared them down.
"Well Naruto was invited by the Heiress herself, but having an invitation is good as well." Kibo said as he took the card into his hand. Seeing that the invitation announced that he could bring a friend Kibo cheered up. "Well Naruto"s my +1 duh!" he left the house as he was saying this to suddenly be tackled by red blur. "KIIIIBOOO!"
Bam! Kibo was knocked to the ground, "I came over yesterday to see if you were awake yet, and you were gone!" Karin sat on top of him while she started to cry into Kibo"s shirt, Kibo feeling very embarra.s.sed patted her head and said, "I"m sorry, me and Naruto went out to train. You can come join us if you want."
"Really?!" She said without a tear in her eyes making Kibo go straight faced while implying "Those were crocodile tears!" Karin laughed and noticed Naruto, "Hey Naruto how ya doing?" Karin asked, "Better than my Nii-chan." Naruto replied tying to stifle his laughs. Karin lifted an eyebrow, when Kibo stood up and explained.
"Good for you Naruto! You"re so lucky to have him as a brother." Karin stated when Naruto said teasingly "If you keep pressuring my brother then one day you might become my sister-in-law."
"Oh my!" Karin acted embarra.s.sed as she slapped Naruto in the shoulder.
"A red faced Kibo stood at the front of the group and shouted "Come one Naruto we have to ditch the Anbu." Normally this would be impossible for the three, but because of the importance of an upcoming Anbu mission, Naruto"s watchers were short of hand. They easily ditched the Anbu members and headed to the training cave again.
This time Karin joined, Kibo had her doing the same training he gave to Naruto yesterday. Karin was a fast learner it only took her 5 hours to master tree climbing, all while Kibo spent the time teaching Naruto water treading.
Kibo strolled out onto the water surprising Naruto, as the excited blond charged his Chakra into his feat he ran out onto the water, only he didn"t make it very far. Three steps in his feet began to sank, shocked by this Naruto lost control of his Chakra and fell into the lake dousing himself in the pool of water.
He swam up and shouted, "I don"t understand; why did I sink?"
Kibo walked over to Naruto and said "Because your control was to slow, water is always in motion, so you have to constantly change the level of Chakra you"re applying to the surface of your feet to match the water"s movement. This requires the same control you use for the tree climbing only much faster." Kibo pulled Naruto up out of the water and said, "Again!"
Naruto charged his feet with Chakra, while Kibo returned to the sh.o.r.e to practice his Dragon Stance. After he got into place he held that position and continued to watch Naruto"s progress. The young Naruto failed spectacularly over, and over again. Around his 50th attempt he looked like he started to get the hang of it, because he could walk a few steps before sinking in to his knees while managing to forcefully stopping himself from falling all the way in. "Wow! Naruto looks like the very definition of perseverance." Karin sat down next to Kibo, as she had finished her tree climbing training.
Kibo smiled and said, "Yes and it"s that very spirit that will allow him to accomplish great things in the future." He then turned to Karin, "Why don"t you join him." Karin laughed because he knew he wanted her to help Naruto. "Hearing an explanation from multiple points of views can be helpful to him." Kibo thought as Karin attempted to walk on the water. To her surprise it wasn"t as easy as it looked; she fell 10 times, before she started to get the hang of it.
The sun had started to set, and Naruto could be seen standing proudly next to Karin on top of surface of the water; no longer sinking. With a quick bout of speed, Naruto moved around wildly on the water"s surface. Kibo was surprised to see not a single ripple on the surface forming as Naruto jumped back and forth."
With constant advice and direction from Kibo and Karin, Naruto was picking this up way faster than he did in the show. He only needed people to believe in him and have the patience to explain these things in a way that he could understand. Something he only saw coming from Jiraiya; Kakashi tried too hard on teamwork training and not enough time giving help to each individual member of their team. One should be able to focus on both teamwork and personal improvement of their students to be great master teachers.
Naruto then walked up to Kibo and asked, "Now can we take on the cave?" Kibo laughed and said "There are still two more phases to your Chakra control training and these next ones will be a lot harder and a little painful."
The two gulped after seeing that strange look in Kibo"s eyes; when what he said next made Naruto jump for joy, "Let"s go grab some food at Ichiraku, I starving!" Naruto instantly chimed in informing Karin of the greatness of Ichiraku ramen.
[Meanwhile at one of Orochimaru"s lairs.]
Bam! Two silhouettes came down from the ceiling of an underground lab, smoke and dust quickly faded away revealing two Anbu members standing side by side. The two were Kakashi, and Yamato, the room was full of research papers and various pieces of mechanical lab equipment, the two started to head towards the central part of the lair when Yamato pulled out a Kunai and tried to stab at Kakashi, however as he stabbed him in the back a puff of smoke appeared leaving Yamato"s Kunai inside a log. "Subst.i.tution Jutsu, when?" Before he could speak Kakashi held a Kunai to Yamato"s neck.
"Why don"t we calm down and have a nice long chat." Kakashi whispered into Yamato"s ear, when Yamato"s body suddenly turned into to a wooden puppet. "We have nothing to talk about!" Yamato quickly went through his hand signs and wooden pillars quickly encased most of Kakashi"s body. "Why didn"t you dodge?" Yamato asked.
"Because I want you to join Sarutobi"s faction; Yamato you"re not fit for the darkness of Danzo. You belong in the light alongside the Hokage." Under Yamato"s mask his expressions were betraying him, he actually agreed with Kakashi and the current Hokage"s methods, but his place was at Danzo"s side. He could only think of one way out, "Kakashi what"s so great about the Will of Fire, after all you used your friend as a tool too right, you killed her."
Kakashi"s eyes widened, "You don"t know what you"re talking about!"
"Yes I do! Her name was Rin right? You used her death to further you status amongst the village didn"t you. After all if the great Kakashi is capable of killing a Jinchuuriki then everyone would forget about your traitorous father."
Kakashi felt anger boiling under his skin as he looked to Yamato, "Don"t talk about Rin like you know something."
CHHIII! The wood surrounding Kakashi shattered revealing a powerful lightning Chakra surrounding his fist, with a quick dash he charged at Yamato.
Yamato placed up dozens of wooden barriers to try and stop Kakashi, but it was no use as Kakashi"s Chidori easily cut through them. When Kakashi had finally reached Yamato, he thought it was finally over; he wouldn"t have to betray the village"s goals or Danzo. However the killing blow never came. Kakashi stood over Yamato with a sad look in his eyes. "I failed to protect them, I failed to protect her because I was alone; Yamato please join us. I don"t want to see anymore friends die." Yamato was stunned at Kakashi mercy, the words he spoke had a great impression on the young Shin.o.bi as Yamato laid their contemplating Kakashi"s words.
"You stay here, I"m gonna check out the rest of this lab." Kakashi said to an immobile Yamato.
After looking around Kakashi finally found what appeared to be the main lab, three transparent brightly lit pods were filled with a green liquid. Once Kakashi saw inside of them he was stunned, the first chamber appeared to contain a large snake with a human face, the second appeared even more human. It was looked like a lizard man, and yet the final pod was what made Kakashi breathless, a young looking boy with snow white hair was curled up into a ball, floating inside the chamber"s liquid. Kakashi began to read the nearby papers seeing the first two were labeled as failures he expected the third to be a success, however it was labeled as a failure because the clone refused to obey Orochimaru"s orders.
"Subject shows no signs of being complaint, he constantly tries to escape and kill the original. Sending subject back to lab to be sc.r.a.pped and reused as spare parts." Kakashi was about to place the scroll down, when the gla.s.s surrounding the first two tanks began to crack.
Two large Orochimaru snake clones began to charge at Kakashi, he attempted to use his Chidori but using the Sharingan had left him spent. The giant human faced serpent leaped out to snap its jaw"s on Kakashi"s neck.