Chapitre 8: Chapter 7: Training Begins
Chapter Seven: Training Begins
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"First thing you all need to do is work on your chakra control. In order to do that, you will be climbing trees," Kakashi stated.
~Do I know my student or what?~ Minato said, smug that he'd predicted the exercise correctly.
"But we already know how to climb trees, sensei," Sakura protested.
"Do you know how to do it without your hands?" Asuma queried and the Genin shook their heads.
"How do you do that?" Ino asked.
"Observe," Kakashi said as he climbed up a tree, crutches and all, until he hung upside down from a branch.
~Show off,~ Minato snorted with a shake of his head.
After explaining the concept behind the tree climbing exercise, Kakashi threw six kunai at the Genin. "Use these to mark your progress up the tree," he stated.
~This is going to be dull,~ Naruto groaned. He'd have to pretend not to know the exercise.
"You'll only be doing this until noon each day, however," Asuma said. "After that, we'll be working on your personal strengths and weaknesses."
"This is going to be a long week," Shikamaru complained, gingerly picking up the kunai from the ground.
"Just think of it this way, Shikamaru. The faster you master it, the more time you'll get to be lazy," Naruto said brightly.
Shikamaru blinked at ball of sunshine before smiling. 'You amuse me, Uzumaki Naruto…' he thought.
They got started on the exercise with mixed results:
Sakura and Ino were able to walk up the tree with almost practiced ease, Shikamaru and Sasuke managed a few steps before slipping, Naruto was blasted off and Chouji just fell the moment he attempted to climb.
"As expected, Ino and Sakura managed well enough. Girls tend to have better chakra control as it is, to make up for the lesser amount of chakra they hold in their system in the beginning. Shikamaru and Sasuke, you've got the right idea but you haven't found the right amount of chakra to put into the exercise. Naruto, you're putting way too much chakra into this and Chouji, you're putting too little," Asuma assessed them.
Naruto ignored Sasuke's smirk. The boy could act as smug as he wanted, it didn't change the fact that Naruto had already surpassed him without anyone knowing.
~It's hard to fail at something when you already know how to do it,~ he grumbled.
~Just be a little patient, once the two Jounin slip away you can replace yourself with a Kage Bunshin and I will get you started on seals and Taijutsu,~ Minato said.
~Sounds good to me,~ Naruto said, sounding pleased.
Minato knew it was a little early to get Naruto started on seals but it would greatly improve the boy's abilities in battle and that was something that would be very helpful in the future.
When Asuma and Kakashi left the Genin to their own devices, Naruto made his move, switching himself with a Kage Bunshin.
Minato led Naruto to a large clearing with a lake.
~Okay, first of all, make at least a hundred Kage Bunshin,~ the former Hokage instructed.
100 Kage Bunshins popped into existence and Minato began his lesson plan as he produced mass copies of scrolls on basic sealing.
~Twenty clones will focus on learning everything in those scrolls and I do mean everything. There's a lot of complicated material involved in sealing, so pay attention. You do even one thing wrong, and you can deal terrible damage not only to yourself but to your comrades as well,~ Minato barked out, no longer acting on the doting father, leaving a strict teacher in his place.
"Yes, sir!" the designated twenty complied, albeit a little reluctantly. Reading from scrolls was just so boring…
~Moving on, another twenty of you will work on chakra control. You will be doing, water walking while keeping leaves sticking to your foreheads… and you will be sparring against each other as well to test out how well you can keep it up,~ the Yellow Flash decided.
The chosen twenty slunk off, muttering "slave driver" under their breaths.
~Thirty of you will be working on mastering the Fuuton and Suiton jutsus on this scroll. They're all mostly C-rank jutsus. They're not terribly powerful but if used the right way, they can deal a good amount of damage," the older blonde ordered.
The thirty clones held no complaints. If there was one thing Naruto loved, it was learning new jutsu.
~Naruto, you and the remaining clones will be working on your Taijutsu. Your clones may not be able to help you develop physically but at least they can help you remember the katas properly,~ Minato said. ~It will help you get used to the new gravity seals too.~
"Why'd you have to make them so heavy?~ Naruto grumbled.
~You'll get used to it,~ Minato said simply. Naruto glowered at his sire before the training commenced.
'Who's he talking to?' both Inari and Haku thought from their respective hiding places.
'Why does he try so hard?' Inari wondered. He didn't understand why Naruto was working so hard to win a losing battle.
When it was noon, Naruto switched with his Kage Bunshin as the Genin returned to Tazuna's house for lunch and the second part of training was set to begin.
"You okay, Naruto?" Chouji asked, seeing how Naruto was rubbing his temples.
"I'm fine," he said. "I just have a bit of a headache."
He'd made the mistake of dispelling his clones all at once, knocking him out within an instant.
He woke up to Minato pouring water on him, exasperation clear on his face. The orange-clad boy then had to deal with his parent's reprimand.
"Did you exhaust your small brain trying to figure out how to do the tree-climbing exercise, dobe?" Sasuke taunted, earning a withering glare from the boy that sent chills down everybody's back.
'He's got his father's death glare down pat,' Kakashi thought in amusement. 'Once he actually grows into his body, that look may just make his enemies run in fear instead of fighting him.'
"At least I have a bigger vocabulary than just grunting," Naruto sneered before dismissing the Uchiha as he sat down at the kitchen table. He was starving after all of the training he'd stuffed into just a few hours.
"Don't say that to Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura chorused angrily, only to get snubbed by the grouchy Jinchuuriki.
"What's up with him?" Ino whispered to Sakura as they all sat down to eat.
"He looks kind of tired," Sakura remarked.
"A stamina freak like Naruto tired already? That doesn't seem normal," Kakashi frowned. He'd figured it would take a lot more training before Naruto got tired.
"I'm not tired, just a little disoriented, that's all," Naruto defended himself as he ate as if he was ravenous.
Minato himself was staring at Inari, who was observing Naruto closely. He knew the boy had been watching them during training. He hadn't mentioned anything because he wanted to take the time
After lunch was over, Kakashi and Asuma gathered the Genin together, to explain what they'd be doing for the afternoon training sessions.
"Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino, during this time you will work on your family jutsus as well as improving on your physical abilities. As it is, only Chouji could act as a close combat warrior and it's time for all of you to become a little more well-rounded. This isn't going to happen overnight, but it would be a nice time to start," Asuma declared, knowing how important it was for his team to learn their family techniques while working on getting rid of their one major weakness.
"As it is, out of the three of you, only Sasuke has family techniques he can work on," Kakashi began, cursing the fact that he couldn't openly speak of Naruto's own heritage and help train him as the future Namikaze heir just yet. It would certainly have been a great help in this particular mission. The fact that Naruto was already becoming a miniature version of the Yondaime all on his own was really confusing Kakashi. The boy had no means of doing it by himself… but who could be teaching him? He denied the thought of the Yondaime possibly helping his son from beyond the grave. That was impossible… even if all the clues seemed to be pointing towards it.
He gazed at Asuma. He could tell that Asuma was putting the pieces together too. The only thing keeping him from being as suspicious as Kakashi was because he didn't know of the connection between Naruto and the Yondaime, and so Naruto's progress posed as a much bigger mystery in the bearded Jounin's eyes.
The most unfortunate aspect of not knowing just how much Naruto knew was finding an appropriate training regime for him. He didn't know what was useful.
"Sakura, you will be joining Asuma's team with the physical training while learning the Genjutsu techniques on this scroll I borrowed from Kurenai-sensei. Do your best to master them during the week. As for you, Naruto, I don't know many Fuuton jutsus myself but Asuma-sensei has agreed to help you out with that. Also, you've shown a penchant for making great strategies while in the middle of battle. I want to see that skill honed, so I'm going to teach you how to play Shougi. It might be helpful for you to learn how to swim. Yesterday's battle proved to be the second time that you were hindered by your inability to stay afloat," Kakashi pointed out.
Naruto flushed as the others snickered in the background.
"I know how to swim," he argued. "I just stumbled a bit last time…"
"A mistake that nearly cost you your life," Kakashi pointed out. "If you claim you can swim, you will show me and I will be the judge of your competency."
"Did no one teach you how to swim, dobe?" Sasuke taunted, enjoying seeing his annoying teammate humiliated in such a way.
"Well excuse me for not having an entire village kissing the very ground I walk on like a certain ungrateful bastard does," Naruto scowled. "I taught myself."
He wasn't going to admit to the weights being the source of his problems. That would just lead to more questions about how he was receiving his training and they were all suspicious enough as it was.
"Look, I don't need you fretting over my swimming abilities. Whatever trouble I'd had with it earlier has been resolved," Naruto said, pleading with his teacher to drop the subject.
"We'll see about that," Kakashi responded firmly. "As for right now, all of you should go and start doing what we've assigned to you."
Seeing that they were all being dismissed, the Genin dispersed to perform their own tasks.
Asuma, Kakashi and Shikamaru took this time to also try to sort out what made Naruto such an enigma.
'His academy teachers spoke of how inept the boy was at most things, but the boy who became my student is hardly like that at all…' Kakashi frowned, thinking back all the way to the beginning. 'He is a bit of a loudmouth, but not as much as I expected him to be. He's a lot more efficient with the skills he knows than what the teachers believed. He's been hiding his skills from us all… but why?'
'Naruto shouldn't be able to use elemental jutsus as effectively as he is just yet. His chakra capacity and control would hinder him… yet he wields the wind like a seasoned professional. There's something very weird about Uzumaki Naruto…' Asuma thought.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru was thinking about the slip up Naruto had made when the boy had been arguing with Inari. 'He started with To – instead of just saying Yondaime… just what had he meant to say instead. Naruto keeps giving clues… but they're so scattered nothing can be made sense of them without coming up with absolutely absurd answers… Just what goes on in that mind of his?'
As he thought of what Naruto could have been saying before he caught himself, he came across the possibility of 'Tou-san.' He quickly shook his head. There was no way that Naruto was the son of the legendary Yondaime Hokage… was he? Now that he thought about it… they did bear an awfully strong resemblance to one another…
Intrigued by the possibility, Shikamaru eyed Kakashi who was observing his students as they worked on the jutsu assigned to them. If anyone was to know about the Yondaime Hokage, it would be Kakashi.
"Can I speak with you, Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru asked, walking up to the masked shinobi. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the lazy nin before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Seeing that as a go ahead, Shikamaru began to talk. "You were the Yondaime Hokage's student, weren't you?"
"That I was," Kakashi agreed, beginning to wonder what Shikamaru was getting at. He noted that the Genin had stopped working on their respective projects as Shikamaru's question seemed to peak their interest. Kakashi didn't view this as a good thing. There was, after all, a lot about the Yondaime Hokage that was meant to stay hidden from those who had no business knowing it.
"Did Yondaime-sama, at any time, have a child?" Shikamaru asked bluntly, thinking it too troublesome to beat around the bush.
~Fuck…~
~Fuck…~ Naruto and Minato cursed as one, earning an indignant slap on the head, courtesy of a displeased Kyuubi's tails.
Inwardly, Kakashi was more than a little shocked at the question the boy had asked him. His eyes imperceptibly fell on Naruto, who didn't seem quite as intrigued as he expected him to be… he was more… nervous? Kakashi found that rather odd. What did the boy feel nervous about? It wasn't like he knew Minato was his father… right?
Looking back at Shikamaru, Kakashi didn't let any of his inner emotions show. "No," he lied flat out. "He died long before he could start a family. Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious, that's all… thought it was a bit of a waste that a man as legendary as the Yondaime Hokage had no one to pass all of his knowledge to," Shikamaru shrugged, deflecting Kakashi away from the reason of his real interest.
'I'm going to have to keep a close eye on that boy… he's more perceptive than I thought,' Kakashi thought, watching Shikamaru walk away with narrowed eyes.
"Is there a reason you're eyeing my student like he's just become your greatest enemy, Kakashi?" Asuma queried suspiciously, wondering just what was going on. Team 7 seemed chalk full of secrets.
"I'm just wondering how smart that kid really is. We should be glad that he's on our side," Kakashi responded, looking as indifferent as ever.
"You can say that again," Asuma agreed.
Later that night, Minato and Naruto held a discussion as Naruto bathed. It was one of the few times during the mission that Naruto was guaranteed absolute privacy.
~I've been thinking, Naruto…~ Minato began as he sat at the edge of the bath tub, tracing little designs in the water with his finger.
~Did it hurt?~ Kyuubi teased, much to Minato's irritation and Naruto's amusement.
~Oh shut up,~ Minato scowled, dunking Naruto forcibly in the water when he saw the boy was enjoying the banter a little too much for his own good.
"Hey!" Naruto protested as he emerged from the water, sputtering. He glared at Minato, who looked completely unrepentant. Glowering, Naruto sank back into the water. "You were saying…?" he pressed.
~We should bring Kakashi into the fold,~ Minato said, matter-of-factly.
"What brought this on?" Naruto asked curiously. "You were the one who said that no one was to know about you."
~I know but keeping this secret is proving quite difficult with so many perceptive shinobi breathing down your neck in circumstances where hiding your abilities proves difficult. With Kakashi on our side, we could divert a lot of attention away from us and he can use the Sharingan to erase memories if the situation becomes serious enough,~ Minato pointed out. ~Aside from that, as your sensei, he's going to need to know what you know so he can help you get past that. There's only so much I can teach you that can be explained away as something you read from a book. He can back you up.~
"You've got a point," Naruto agreed. "But how are we going to tell him?"
~I'll think of something,~ Minato mused, crossing his arms.
They remained silent for a moment before identical looks of mischief appeared on their faces.
~Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Naruto?~ Minato asked his son, looking like the devil himself.
"Yup," was Naruto's smug reply as the two blondes began to plot their mischief.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone