Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ To Measure My Capacity ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

The morning sun's rays found Jiraiya and Naruto up early. They walked out of the inn they stayed at clean, refreshed, and ready for what Naruto assumed to be a day's tough training which he hoped would be both physically and mentally exhausting. Two hours later, however, Naruto was only mentally exhausted and extremely frustrated.

“Tell me how this is supposed to be done,” Naruto growled. He'd done everything he could possibly think of, but it still wasn't working.

Jiraiya once again repeated his explanation. “Contrary to popular belief, shinobi do not need hand seals to use jutsu. What hand seals do is force the chakra in your body to move in certain ways, allowing you to perform jutsu when the chakra is released. However, you can also control your chakra mentally. Very few people know this is possible, and even fewer know how to utilize the knowledge.” Jiraiya responded, wondering what part of his explanation Naruto couldn't grasp.

“I know all that! I want you to tell me what to do. You left me to teach myself how to do it for a year and I didn't figure it out, what makes you think I would now?”

“Damn kid, you should be thankful I even told you it was possible!” Jiraiya exclaimed.

“The ability to use jutsu without hand seals is incredibly powerful. Think of the advantages you have in battle when your opponent is unable to predict what jutsu you'll use next.”

”I know it would be useful!” Naruto argued. “The problem is you haven't told me how to do it! Tell me how to do it.”

Jiraiya sighed. He really wanted Naruto to learn how to do it on his own. `If he doesn't know the rules, he can push and break them; twist them to his own will. If you don't know what is believed to be impossible, you can make things possible'. Obviously Jiraiya's thinking wasn't working with Naruto as well as Jiraiya had hoped.

”Fine,” Jiraiya said, finally giving in. “Naruto, when you make a hand seal you're manipulating your chakra in such a way that allows you to release it to produce impressive feats. What you need to do to master this ability is to manipulate your chakra using your mind, mimicking the same movement of chakra hand seals create. Of course, the more hand seals the jutsu requires, the harder it will become to use without hand seals. It will probably be easier to work our way up from the bottom. So, what's the easiest jutsu you know?”

”Uhh, probably the basic ones. You know, Henge no Jutsu, that kind of thing.” Naruto replied.

”Bah!” Jiraiya dismissed the option with a wave of his hand. “Something that's a little tougher than that.”

“Err, how about Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?”

`He knows that?' Jiraiya thought. `I really didn't pay enough attention to him. I wonder what this kid's really capable of'. Jiraiya nodded. “That should work well.”

Jiraiya came closer to Naruto, making a familiar cross-shaped hand seal. “Okay, Naruto. What you need to do is make the hand seal and focus on what happens to your chakra. It's very hard to do, and requires a large amount of concentration and practice. I don't expect you to figure out how this particular hand seal works for a month at least.'

Naruto frowned. “Don't you think it'd be a waste of time just trying to do this one thing for a couple of months?” Naruto asked.

”Yes, which is why you're going to be doing this while walking on water. That's the main reason it's going to take so long, you're going to have to subconsciously control the chakra in your feet at the same time.”

“Why bother with that?” Naruto questioned. It seem to be a waste of time more than anything, he already knew how to walk on water.

”Builds chakra capacity and control. I told you we'd working on building your chakra supplies up yesterday when you tried summoning. Also, if you ever find yourself in a fight on water you'll automatically start walking on water.”

”I guess that would help make me stronger. Can we get started now?”

”Sure,” Jiraiya said. “There's a river leading to a waterfall around here somewhere. You can practice on that. Flowing water is harder to stand on than calm water, and the water of a river is fastest near a waterfall”

`It's also a popular swimming spot' Jiraiya thought, a perverted grin forming on his face.

”Lead the way,” Naruto said, arms crossed, frowning, and looking at Jiraiya's perverted grin. `I bet that water training thing was just an after thought, damn Ero-sennin'.

===

 

Naruto's brow was creased in concentration, his eyes closed, his hands forming a cross shaped seal. He was completely still, only his clothes and hair wavering in the slight breeze, despite the rushing water flowing beneath his feet. He had been in this position for over an hour, and had been in a similar situation to his current one every day for the past three weeks.

Naruto was focusing as much as he could on the chakra in his body and how it was moving, trying to find out exactly how he was meant to tell it mentally to move in the same way. `I always loose focus right there, why can I never tell what happens at that point?' Mentally frowning, Naruto tried once again to figure out why he lost focus at that one particular tenketsu. Jiraiya had told him in detail about the chakra circulation system in an effort to help Naruto with his training.

'Need to concentrate on that point as much as possible, I can't loose my focus again!' Once again Naruto's consciousness observed his chakra, his entire being willing him to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, Naruto found himself in a familiar place. Floor covered with water, large bars with a paper seal, red chakra seeping out between them.

”You again, what do you want this time?” Kyuubi asked, its voice booming and echoing around the cage and adjoined room.

Naruto looked up to the huge demonic eyes of the fox, not quite as intimidated as he was last time. “I didn't really mean to come here. I was trying to master this new technique, but ended up here.”

”Oh? You must have been trying pretty hard to end up here.”

”Yeah, well, there's this one tenketsu that's messing everything up.”

“Is that all? Let me guess, it's the one closest to the seal on your stomach.”

“Uhh, yeah, that's it. How did you know that?” Naruto asked.

”You actually have two chakra systems,” Kyuubi stated. “That tenketsu is what joins them and blocks off from each other, as well as this seal. I can push small amounts chakra through that tenketsu to mingle with your chakra, but only if you will it - that's a measure this seal has in place, it's completely controlled by your will.”

”How do you know that?” Naruto questioned. He was pretty clueless as to how his seal worked, but was willing to learn about it.

”Ha! I've been stuck in this place for 10 years. I've had to do something to keep myself entertained. So I've learnt this sealing system inside out. I have to give some credit to the guy who made it, it's brilliant. I cannot do anything at all without your consent in one form or another, whether it be your desire for more power or will not to die.”

“I see. So you can't really do anything without me wanting it, right?” Naruto was starting to think this relationship could prove pretty useful.

”That about sums it up, yes.” Kyuubi responded in a rather disdained voice.

“Can you do anything about that tenketsu?” Naruto questioned. He wanted to know how much power Kyuubi could potentially have over his body if he let it.

”I could make it so the two systems weren't completely blocked off all the time. It would mean you could use that tenketsu properly. It would probably help your chakra control, too, as that slight blockage in the system would be cleared.”

“Wouldn't that mean your chakra would be in me?” Naruto asked cautiously. “Wouldn't I turn in to a demon or something?”

“I'm not too sure about the side effects. It would mean my chakra would seep over slightly, but I doubt that would have many effects. Your regenerative ability might be heightened slightly, maybe your senses too, but I doubt that.”

“How do I know you're telling the truth? Why are you helping me, anyway?” Naruto asked suspiciously. He could have sworn the fox inside the cage grinned.

”You can't know if I'm telling the truth. I guess it'd be a gamble on your part. You humans seem to like gambling though - the chance to improve yourself for nothing is too appealing to your worthless existence.” Kyuubi actually licked its jowls with its long tongue .

Naruto made a face. “That wasn't exactly what I expected to hear, and it didn't tell me why you're helping me.”

”Mostly because I'm bored. You're the first being I've socialized with in quite a while, even if you are my prison guard. Besides, it wouldn't look good for me if I had a weak vessel.”

A battle was now raging inside Naruto's mind's mind. `Can I trust Kyuubi? Its explanations seem right, but it's a demon! It would have thousands of years of experience manipulating beings to its advantage.' It was entirely possibly Naruto was being manipulated, but if what the fox had said was true then there really was nothing it could do without Naruto's permission. `But then again, the Yondaime wouldn't have made a seal that would allow it to escape under any situation, and the fox's reasons are so stupid they have to be true. And the advantages to me are priceless if this works…'

“Alright,” Naruto said, his decision made. “I allow you to open that tenketsu, permanently.” `Oh man am I screwed if this gamble doesn't work in my favour'.

===

 

Naruto suddenly found himself back in his own, physical body, still standing on water. He didn't feel any different, so he took that as a good sign that everything had worked how it should have, and most importantly, he was not possessed by a nine-tailed fox.

”I see what Ero-sennin meant about water walking becoming completely subconscious.” Naruto muttered. “I wonder how long I was out for.” He looked to the sky, and the sun was starting to fall in the sky. `Guess it's late afternoon sometime. Got an hour or so before I need to fetch Ero-sennin from his “resting spot”. Who rests with binoculars?'.

Naruto made his familiar hand seal. Turning his attention to his insides Naruto found it much easier to map how the chakra moved. `I guess it really did work' Naruto thought. `I see how it works entirely now!' It was the first time he'd been excited about his training in quite a while.

He spent several more minutes going over what he needed to force his chakra to do before finally steeling himself. He walked to the river bank, left his hands hanging by his sides, and focused inwards. He mentally willed his chakra to move a certain way - the way he had been mapping for the past 3 weeks. Naruto was surprised it moved the way he wanted it to.

When he got it where he wanted it he muttered “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu”. A single, retarded clone appeared beside him. Naruto sweat dropped when he saw it. “I was trying to make 5, guess I did something wrong.”

Naruto practiced for another hour before moving off to find Jiraiya. He found him perched on a tree branch overlooking the waterfall, peering through binoculars and busily scribbling something down on his scroll.

”Ne, Ero-sennin, I got this technique.” Naruto shouted up to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya looked down at Naruto. “Show me, Naruto.” Naruto was silent for a few seconds, his eyes closed. When he opened them three perfect clones appeared beside him.

Jiraiya was rather impressed, mostly for the fact he'd gotten the hang of it in just 3 weeks. “Good Naruto. It's not mastered yet though. Keep practicing until you can do it as well as you could with hand seals. You can't pull that concentrating act in the middle of a battle, either. Get quicker. Once you've done that we can work on Hari Jizo and that Taijutsu style of yours. I'll get you some weights to increase your strength and speed.”

”Hai, Ero-sennin. We should head back now.” Naruto said.

”Now, now, give me another hour,” Jiraiya said, his gaze once again amplified by binoculars. “Go train a little more. The sooner you master that the sooner we move on to other things.”

Naruto turned his back on Jiraiya and began walking back up stream. `Goddamn pervert' `Goddamn pervert.'

“What the hell!” Naruto exclaimed, looking around for the voice he had heard.

'Calm down kit, it's just me, your friendly neighborhood Kyuubi.'

“What are you doing in my head!” Naruto questioned, now noticing a presence in his mind.

'You don't have to speak out loud you know, you can just think. People will start looking at you funny if you keep having outbursts like that. As to why I'm here, it seems changing the tenketsu like that allowed me to speak to you like this.'

`Uhh, right. What're you doing then?' Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled at having a demon speaking to him in his head, but he didn't really loath the idea either.

'I just thought I'd see what you were up to. You should kill that sensei of yours. All perverts need to die. They're a scourge on this world.'

That's pretty rich, coming from a demon who has no doubt murdered thousands. Naruto thought. `Why would you care if he's a pervert or not?'

`Any self-respecting female should be actively searching out and destroying the perverts of the world.' Kyuubi said seriously.

`Wait… female? You're a female?' Naruto asked, utterly shocked.

`What? You couldn't tell from my voice?'

`What the… of course not! How could anyone think such an evil and demonic voice to be female!'

`Ow. That hurt. I always thought my voice was quite sexy.'

`”Sexy!” Evil? Sure. Demonic? Definitely. Sinister. No doubt. But sexy? No.'

`Aww,' Naruto could have sworn Kyuubi was pouting. `You're not nice. I think I'll go back to my cage now. You probably shouldn't tell anyone about me, though.'

With that, the presence in Naruto's mind vanished.

`Random' was Naruto's only thought as he made his way out on to the water.

===

 

“Good Naruto,” Jiraiya said. Naruto was standing in front of him, his sharp, pointly hair retreating to its original length and softness, which was just as long as Jiraiya's now, although his bangs were short and held up by his black head band.

“Well, you seem to have that mastered.” Jiraiya praised. “I've taught you as much as I had intended to right now. It may not seem like much for the three year's you've been with me, but the skills you did learn will be infinitely useful for the rest of your life.”

Naruto nodded. He knew now, looking back, that his three years with Jiraiya weren't wasted. He had learnt several valuable skills and had learnt to control Kyuubi's powers to some extent thanks to Jiraiya's unconventional teaching.

“Now, there's one area in which you're lacking. Genjutsu. It's probably my worst area as well. Because of this I want to take you to Konoha. They have quite a powerful Genjutsu user there, and I hear she's quite the looker.” A perverted grin came across Jiraiya's face at the thought.

“Now, you don't have to stay in Konoha if you don't want to, but you need the training.” Jiraiya said in response to Naruto's frown.

Naruto's face became determined. “Let's go.”

”We'll leave tomorrow.” Jiraiya said.

Naruto nodded, thinking about what would happen when he returned to the village which hated him for that damn fox sealed in his stomach.

`Hey! I'm not that bad!' Kyuubi pouted.

`Pfft.'

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Yes this story will eventually have M/F pairings. Search for my story on fanfiction dot net to see how the poll for pairings is going, and submit a review if you want to vote.