Chapter 2

As his seventh year progressed, Naruto found his training at a standstill. Asuma deemed him too young to learn elemental jutsus and Gai worried about overworking his muscles before they had a chance to develop fully. As such, Asuma had him repeating the basics and Gai had him doing endless drills. At first, Naruto was furious about their lesson plans. After learning about his lineage and gaining a fiery determination to become the next Hokage, this setback seemed major and unnecessary. Naruto knew he was young, but he also knew he didn't have time to waste if he wanted to become Hokage. After all, so many ninjas out there were already better than him, to be setback simply because his instructors thought him too young was a major slight to his already damaged pride.

But weeks after being drilled endlessly about the basics, Naruto came to a realization that his chakra control was getting better. Asuma had praised him countless times about his henge (although he hadn't actually found out about his Sexy no Jutsu...and if Naruto had his way, he'll never find out about it), but the fact remained that he still couldn't henge the way normal people did. The only explanation he got from Asuma was that he was brute-forcing the jutsu, and somehow the raw amount of chakra he poured into it helped transform it to something completely different. It didn't make much sense to him, but Asuma couldn't elaborate because he was more of a hands-on type of a guy than an intellectual one.

But as time progressed, it became easier and easier to envision trickling a drop at a time of his chakra into the jutsu. It was difficult because his chakra seemed more like an ocean than anything else, but at least he was getting better at it. He would never be known for his chakra control, but at least he wouldn't be abysmal at it.

With the slowing down of his training, Naruto was also given much more free time. With his new jutsus, Naruto ended up sneaking out of the palace and down to the common areas more often than not. It tested his stealth as well as built on his ability to lie, which were both things that were essential to the ninja way. He differed it up every day; sometimes he was a little street urchin trying to get by in the harsh world, and other times, he was a rich merchant with money to spare. He learned a lot about how people treated others based on appearances. When he had money, most of the commoners bent over backwards to ensure he was happy. If he ever returned to his rich merchant's disguise, shopkeepers would shout out his fake name and even remember what he had last bought when he had visited their shop. But when he was a street urchin, hardly anyone gave him the time of day. He had even been cornered by other poor boys at the time, and had watched with wide eyes as they had threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't get off their territory. The shopkeepers were even worse; they didn't even allow him to browse their wares, convinced he was going to steal from them. And it was worse when he proved he had the money to shop there. One had even threatened to call the authorities if he didn't admit that he had stolen the gold.

But what he found most interesting was the reactions to different genders. He liked posing as an attractive young woman the most. Men were throwing themselves at his feet and shopkeepers treated him like a princess even when he didn't have any gold. However, other women sometimes treated him like dirt while some were still as polite as ever. He learned a lot about women each time he posed as one, although the way women talked to each other would always baffle him. He chalked it up to him not understanding because of age and left it at that. It hurt his mind too much when he thought about it.

No one caught onto his visits because of the fuss around his new baby brother. And because he had learned how to affect inanimate objects with his henge. It wasn't difficult for him, if only because he had multitudes of chakra to spare. He couldn't remember ever running out of chakra before, even after hours of experimentation. If he just overpowered his henge even more than usual, he was able to transform even the smallest of objects to look like him. It took no time at all, and even less energy from him to accomplish it. Since he never told Asuma about it, the teacher thought nothing of him spending hours cooped up in his room, especially when he was visible through the windows and looked like he was just reading. And since Naruto was known to be a bookworm, no one ever questioned the amount of time he spent there.

For his eighth birthday, his parents gifted him a cat named Tora. Tora was beautiful, with orange and black markings and a fierce disposition to anyone who she deemed a threat. She was tiny, but she acted as if she wasn't. Naruto fell in love with her the very moment he laid eyes upon her, and within days, the two were inseparable.

The two were known troublemakers. Naruto had already fallen in love with the art of pranking, and spent most of his free time plotting pranks on his enemies. Although he couldn't communicate with Tora, Tora seemed to mostly understand what he wanted her to do, and he often enlisted her help on his pranks.

He used a combination of chakra as well as logic to pull them off. He prided himself on his stealth; only Asuma seemed to figure out what he had been doing. Luckily, Asuma was too lenient to really crack down on him, and the teacher seemed to enjoy the damage his pranks inflicted too much to hinder him.

It was after one successful prank that Naruto realized that he could integrate Tora into his ninja training. He had read up on the Inuzuka clan in Konoha and had learned about how their dog companions fought alongside them. Although much wasn't written about their techniques, Naruto figured he was intelligent enough to come up with new ones for Tora. After all, he had the chakra and time to spare.

He had realized long ago that Konoha was extremely secretive about their jutsus. It was a rare day in which he found one in the library, and his repertoire consisted of Asuma and the scrolls he were gifted from his parents. Having the daimyo as his father was extremely helpful in getting stuff he wanted and ninjas were no exception. Still, even then the ninjas were extremely careful of only giving Naruto the general jutsus, and his father didn't protest, claiming that Naruto was too young for any of the more complicated jutsus anyway.

He didn't begrudge his father for that, because the truth was that he was not ready for the more sensitive jutsus. He was training as hard as he could, but a boy could only go so far with only a handful of teachers and zero field experience. He knew to be respected as a ninja he would have to run missions and gain a reputation that way. When he became a genin, he was definitely going to badger his father into getting him better jutsus.

But for now, he was going to have to settle with daydreams and his own inventions to satisfy his curiosity. He couldn't wait until he became a genin!

It took months to convince Tora to join him for practice. The cat didn't seem to mind watching him jump from branch to branch, but couldn't be bothered to join him even when Naruto tried to persuade her with treats. Cats were their own creatures, and even with Naruto pleading, Tora hardly moved an inch.

Naruto grumbled about it constantly, telling Tora bitterly that he wished that his mother had gotten him a dog instead. Tora had seemed amused at his words, but still punished the poor boy by refusing to let Naruto pet or hold her for the next couple of days.

Naruto knew to keep his mouth shut after that and gave up his dream of Tora fighting by his side.

His parents never visited Konoha because the ninjas usually came to visit them instead. This was because the ninjas' traveling time was much shorter than theirs. Naruto accepted this, figuring he would never end up visiting Konoha until he was ready for the genin test, and instead enjoyed meeting the various ninja that would come by the palace. They weren't always from the Land of Fire, and he ended up meeting loads of interesting people. Some of them didn't even want to talk to him, but some were kind and even spent some time training him.

Naruto knew that visiting Konoha was out of the question. He threw that dream out of his mind and concentrated on other things.

So when his parents sat him down and told him that Asuma was planning a trip to visit the Hokage, he was ecstatic. He immediately agreed to go, even though the entourage that his presence would bring would be enormous and bothersome. Unfortunately, his father, the daimyo, wasn't allowed to take such big risks and it was only through persistent needling and begging that Naruto was allowed to tag along.

When the day finally came, Naruto could barely sit still, his anticipation hyping him up and making him more energetic than usual. He had run down to the stables and back up to his room about five times before his mother had caught him in a fierce and painful embrace. There were lots of tears and lamenting about how she was going to let her baby out of sight, and it took all of Naruto's willpower to bear it in good humor. He loved his mother, but she had a tendency to overreact and to baby him when he knew he was already more powerful than some adult ninjas.

Asuma rescued him a few minutes later, and Naruto couldn't help pouting at the wide grin his teacher bore. Trust Asuma to think this was funny!

He sulked as he followed his teacher down to the stables, and within an hour, the entourage had packed up and hit the road. Naruto had been given a whole carriage to himself and Tora. He hadn't actually told anyone about how he had been trying to integrate the little cat into his fighting style, but they hadn't objected to him bringing along his companion anyway. Grinning uncontrollably, Naruto reached upward to scratch Tora's head, and let out a small chuckle when Tora nuzzled him back. Maybe visiting Konoha would make the cat more agreeable to joining him during training. He made himself comfortable in the carriage, and settled in for the ride.

It was when they were at the halfway mark that everything went to hell. Naruto had excused himself to go into the woods to take a leak when a cacophony of sounds interrupted all around him. There were sounds of steel hitting steel over by the carriage and then there was a loud crunch as a stick near him was stepped on. Naruto immediately tensed, inwardly scolding himself for being so careless. He didn't even have Tora with him!

Before he could do anything, arms circled around him roughly, and his head was being jerked back.

A husky chuckle sounded throughout the glade, and Naruto realized with a sinking feeling that he had been captured by rogue bandits. They could be found circling paths widely used by merchants and nobles alike, and they never left a soul alive after their raids.

"My, my, my, look what we have here," whispered the bandit next to Naruto's ear, causing the blonde to flinch out of surprise. "The Daimyo's adopted son? You'll fetch a pretty price on the market, little boy."

"I'm not scared of you," he bit out angrily, hiding his fear under a facade of anger.

The bandit laughed loudly, "Well, you should be, little boy. There's no way you're getting out of this one. All your attendants should be biting the dust right about now."

"No," he countered, "you have no idea what ninjas are capable, sir, if you think that way." And concentrating hard, he flared his chakra and used it at the same time, transporting himself a few feet away and leaving a log inside of his captor's hands.

Adrenaline filled his body as he watched the bandit's face contort into anger. He knew he was fighting a losing battle; despite training since he was five, he was still a little boy and the bandit was probably calling for reinforcements right now. The only way he had a chance of surviving was if Asuma was able to come rescue him before it was too late.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that," the bandit mocked as he paused to unsheathe a long sword from his side. "I can't kill you, but I'm sure a little pain could be overlooked. Now come here, little boy, come -"

A loud roar cut the bandit off, and suddenly, a tiger two times the size of Naruto was jumping onto the bandit's back. The tiger made short work of the bandit, ripping his head off with just one swipe of its deadly claws. Naruto almost vomited at the sight of the decapitation but he steeled his stomach just in time by looking away from the corpse.

And he didn't have time to be sick. Two bandits had trailed after the tiger, and were now shouting angrily at their comrade's death.

He couldn't in good conscience let the bandits hurt the tiger after the animal had saved him. Naruto used the flicker technique once again to appear behind the bandits just as they were raising their swords to slash at the tiger.

Without thinking too much about his actions, Naruto slammed two kunais into the back of their heads, killing them instantly.

He watched, detached, as the bodies fell forward onto the dirt. Blood had sprayed onto his clothes and hands, staining them a dark red. It took Naruto a while to draw his eyes away from the scene in front of him, and when he did, he caught sight of the stains. The adrenaline drained away from his body, and he soon started to realize just what he had done.

He had taken someone's life away. Those bandits would never wake, and he was the one who had made them that way. Even though they weren't good people, they still deserved to live. And he was the one who killed them.

He didn't even realize he was crying until he fell to the ground. The bandits' blood pooled around his knees as he bent over, heaving and sobbing as the consequences of his actions hit him. When he had decided to be a ninja, he hadn't thought about what being a ninja actually meant. A ninja was a cold-blooded killer.

He was startled out of his pain when he felt the tiger from earlier approaching. He immediately scrambled back; even though he was in shock and pain, he wasn't about to let the tiger think he was an easy target. He made for his weapons as the tiger continued to approach, but couldn't get a good grip on them because his fingers wouldn't stop shaking.

He was going to die, just like these bandits.

But the tiger didn't snap its jaws down on him; instead it had bent its head to nuzzle Naruto's. He let out a yelp in surprise and then a startled laugh as the tiger continued its ministrations, purring all the while. Hesitantly, he hovered a small hand over the tiger's head, and was shocked when the tiger paused to lift its head until the two entities met.

When Naruto didn't immediately start petting the tiger, the animal turned to look at him with startling green eyes. Naruto jumped and continued to hesitantly pet the tiger, his eyes wide as the tiger seemed to relax, settling down near Naruto's legs and growling each time his petting slowed.

The pair stayed there for what seemed like hours before the sounds of fighting finally stopped. It didn't take long before Asuma's voice filtered throughout the air.

"Naruto! Naruto, goddamnit, where are you!? Why couldn't you have been a good little boy and stay in the carriage like I told you to?"

Naruto stifled a laugh at his teacher's exasperated voice, before speaking up. "I'm here, sensei."

There was a pause before Asuma answered. "Oh, thank the gods you're safe. Do you know what your mother would have done to me if something happened to -"

Asuma's words trailed off as he appeared in the clearing, and Naruto could see the moment Asuma's mind processed the scene in front of him.

"Oh, Naruto," sighed Asuma as he shook himself out of the stupor and made his way toward the nine year old. "Well, at least you found out about Tora."

He started as he realized that he hadn't seen his kitty since he had left the carriage. "Tora?"

Asuma nodded at the tiger currently dozing off near his bloodied legs. "The tiger? Oh, well, it was your mother's idea. A ninja came to us a long time ago, selling a tiger that was placed under a seal to look like a cat. The seal is under Tora's control so she could transform whenever you were in danger. And apparently she did her job," Asuma pointedly turned his glance to the three corpses.

"It was me, not Tora. I killed them."

Asuma's jovial expression dropped, and it was a while before he spoke again. "You're too young for this."

Naruto shrugged before pasting on a smile for Asuma's sake. The man had never worn that particular expression around him before and a minute later, Naruto realized that it was pity. "There have been younger jounins, Asuma-sensei. I'm pretty ancient compared to them."

"No one's too young to experience their first kill, Naruto."

"I'm pathetic, aren't I? They were planning to sell me, Asuma, and I'm still regretting their deaths." Naruto shivered as he thought back to what had just happened.

"You're not pathetic, Naruto," responded the jounin fiercely. "Everyone reacts strongly to their first kill."

"Then did you, Asuma?" shot back Naruto angrily as he pinned his sensei with distraught blue eyes. "Did you feel as if you're drowning in a sea of guilt? I took someone's life, sensei. They'll never be able to open their eyes again and it's all my fault."

"No, Naruto, it's not your fault." Naruto flinched as Asuma surged forward and placed his hands on his shoulders. "As long as you never kill without a reason, no death is in vain. They would have killed you, Naruto. I don't speak for everyone, but believe me when I say I much rather them than you."

Naruto shook his head at Asuma's words, "That still doesn't give me the right to take someone's life. Am I playing at God now? No one deserves to decide who lives and dies. Least of all me. I took someone's life and now I must spend the rest of my life paying for it."

"Naruto…" Asuma seemed to be at a loss of words, and his hands lost his grip on the boy's shoulders.

"I'm done pretending. I'm not cut out to be a ninja. I'm sorry, after all the time you spent teaching me and I'm throwing it all away."

"No, don't be. Not everyone has to be a ninja, Naruto. That's the beauty of being human. Our choices define us, and if you don't want to be a ninja, you don't have to be. And I'll love you either way, Naruto. You'll always be my favorite student."

Naruto burst into tears at Asuma's proclamation, and launched himself forward to land in his teacher's arms. Covered in blood and who knows what else, he clung himself tight onto Asuma, and in his teacher's strong embrace, sobbed himself hoarse as the full reality of what had just happened hit him.

Naruto was nine when he gave up on becoming a ninja.

A/N: omg, I apologize for such the long wait. Thank you EVERYONE who reviewed/faved/alerted! The amount of support is staggering! ^_^ Hopefully you guys enjoy!