Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, OP. Bet you didn't see that coming did ya!*sarcasm*

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support. I value each and every one of your contribution. Guess, a small chapter this time. On with it.

A child's mind is like a lump of modeling clay. Soft and malleable. All it needs is a pair of hands, that a guardian is, and it can be shaped into anything. It can be turned into any of the types. Turn it towards someone or turn it against someone, neither is impossible.

With this sort of flexibility in the state of mind, comes innocence. Blaming them for their actions, or lack of actions therein, is like blaming the clay lump for the ugly model it has served its purpose for. It's wasn't the clay that was ugly after all. It's the process it has gone through and the handicraft related abilities of its maker that is to be blamed.

Even though this blame game is an ugly one. Blaming isn't the solution to problems. It's more like running away from one. Let the actions speak and deliver a solution rather than crying out loud and bitching about each other related to something that has already happened.

The innocent little mind of a kid is too young and immature to understand these complex philosophies. All it understands is about their basic needs, if they are being served or not. A more appropriate way to describe this phenomena is by stating that a child's mind rather tries to understand this world better and judge it's actions and happenings from a view point of a curious bystander.

They know nothing of this world when they arrive. All they know is how to eat, pee, shit and sleep. It's all throughout the actions of their surroundings and people inclusive, they form their own beliefs.

That's how the life of one Uzumaki Naruto began. He doesn't remember that far back from his life. Who does after all, except maybe some genius with eidetic memory. But exceptions aside, Whatever little memory of past, even though hazy, he had proved to be indicating one thing.

People, a whole lot of them, hated him for no reason.

It was a simple but ingenious question indeed that plagued his mind. The question in question was Why? Why would they hate him? What did he ever do to receive those glares. Sure he was a kid but understanding the difference between love and hate, even indifference, comes rather quickly to anyone. It was hate, he was sure of it.

His curiosity got a little better of him as he got older and one more question popped up in his mind. Could it be an action of his that caused people to carry this kind of behavior towards him? After all he understood by now that actions speak. The continued inability of him or anyone else for that matter to answer this simple question forced him to dump this question somewhere in the back of his mind. For now.

His mind followed the natural tendency to mature with age and he was now completely able to hold a conversation with people. If you learn something new, you would want to apply it somehow. But he couldn't. People just won't want to talk to him after all.

Adults just plain shunned him away, glared at him with abhorrence or ignored him as if he didn't even exist. Children were a little better. Their minds weren't corrupted by the cycle of hatred after all. Like any usual child would do, they did try to approach him. However, this didn't go unnoticed by the older generation.

As if doing the unthinkable wasn't enough, they started discouraging the young minds to approach the 'Fox Demon', as they so casually called him, and restricted the children from interacting him.

A childhood filled with loneliness and despair, that's what he got in result. No friends, no parents, no guardian, except maybe an old man who used to visit him sometimes. Apparently this was the same old man, whom Naruto saw being respected by everyone.

Slowly but consequently, the hatred was being passed down to the younger generation too. It was the adult they would look out for advice and guidance in any case. He was looked upon with hatred and disgust by everyone... wait not everyone maybe.

You see, there was this guy. He was a royalty of sorts in the orphanage. People would call him by names like 'Hon'ble Son', 'Namikaze-sama' or 'Ace-sama'. Everyone treated the elder kid like a royalty of sorts. Sometimes Naruto wondered if he was a prince.

Those couple of eyes held something other than hatred or neglect, love? he daresay? He couldn't quite put it but he knew as much that they held warmth. The gaze was absolutely kind and sometimes even moist towards Naruto. But Why?

Questions... Questions, so many of them. Not a single damn answer. With such a complex life, specially for someone as young as him, he was able to spend 4 years of his life.

Within the short span, a lot has happened. Some of his fellow left the orphanage as they became a ninja of the village. The young 'prince' was one of them. He couldn't put it into words in front of him but he wanted Ace to stay. He severely missed the warmth his eyes held.

He was so used to the ill- treatment by now, he didn't even stopped caring anymore. But was it the worse he would get out of the adults? The answer came to him on his fourth birthday.

Glaring and scowling was one thing but beating a child to a pulp was absolutely inhumane. Every single one of the question dumped somewhere within his mind came flooding to the surface that night. He was immediately carried to the hospital after the event and was unconscious for the whole night.

When he woke up, he could faintly hear a commotion around his bed. He turned around and tried to make out who was the culprit only to find the well respected old man and Ace arguing about something. Having noticed that he was awake, Ace took his departure but not before glaring at the old man. Why would he go? Naruto wanted him to stay.

That evening, he was sent back to the orphanage. But his usual uncaring demeanor changed to a somewhat timid and frightened one. If the beating happened once, who was to stay that the same wouldn't happen again. He considered every single possibility from here on out but not the one that changed his life forever. For the better, much... much better.

It has been a while since the 'prince of konoha' entered the orphanage ever since he became a ninja. What could be the reason for the unexpected visit was the significant question in Naruto's mind right then? From the looks on the guards faces, they too seemed to be pondering over the same question.

Whatever it was, Naruto was happy that within the sea of sullen expressions towards him, the one with the most kindness was back. He didn't show it on the surface but inwardly, he was truly delighted. Ace seemed to be searching for something... someone? Who? His eyes fell on Naruto, their gaze met.

The same sense of warmth was exuding from the stare. Naruto couldn't help but lock on to it. For a flicker of a second, there was something else other than the usual warmth in those eyes, sense of security and responsibility? Guilt? It lasted for a few seconds and the first thing that happens after this was a surprise to Naruto.

Ace started walking slowly but steadily towards him. Their eyes met once again but radiated any visible expression. Ace turned his head to look towards the guards and commanded, "Leave."

"But Namikaze-sama, we have orde-" They were trying to explain to him but his gaze was as hard as ever.

" I am not asking. You don't have a choice." Ace said and one of his arm transformed into a fist of fire in order to intimate the two guards.

It worked perfectly and the two frightened men left without a word.

That being settled nicely and without any form of violence, Ace turned back towards Naruto.

Naruto was utterly confused now. He wondered if he was in some kind of a danger. Could it be possibly that Ace has hostile intentions towards him? No, it can't be. Could it? Is he like everyone else? Hating him for unknown reasons.

Before his train of thoughts could travel any further, Ace said only a couple of words that changed everything.

"Let's go." He said, extending one of his hands towards Naruto expectantly. He didn't look Naruto into the eyes this time. His gaze was fixed on the ground.

"Where?" Naruto asked, his confusion rising to new levels, every passing second.

"Anywhere. I am tired of seeing you suffer. No one would want to live a life of such animosity and hatred. I can't watch this happen to anyone, specially YOU." Ace said. The last couple of words were said with so much softness and love that Naruto couldn't help but trust the apparent stranger.

He just couldn't help but extended his arm upwards towards where Ace's was rooted expectantly. Before it could touch the other's, he asked one last question that was still plaguing his mind at the moment.

"But why? Why ME? You said 'specially Me'? What's so special about me?" Naruto asked looking right into Ace's eyes.

"What kind of person could condemn his own brother to such a life? I will have to take care of you, ne? Otouto." Ace said with all the guilt that has accumulated through the past four years. A lone tear fell from his eye.

"Wha... What?" Naruto said having faced the biggest shock of his life. He... He had a brother? Family? Someone who knew his parents? His own big brother? But... But where was he when Naruto needed him the most? When people would look towards him with that loathing and badmouth about him? Where was he when Naruto would need someone to play with? Where was he when Naruto would wish for a shoulder to cry on?

The hand that he extended towards Ace was turned into a fist and before Ace could respond, he had air knocked out of him from a punch.

'That felt better' thought Naruto.

Ace was holding his stomach painfully and the expression reflected on his face. It wasn't the punch that hurt the most, it was the fear that he would be rejected by his own bother for not acting on time.

But Naruto had other plans. Four years of longing and yearning and now when he finally gets a family, a brother to look up to, he wasn't just going to throw away the opportunity.

"What are you waiting for, foolish aniki? Don't tell me you can't take a punch or two from a four year old kid. You said you would take me away, didn't you? Let's go then." He said, crying out tears of utter joy and happiness which could be seen from the face-splitting grin plastered on his face.

All the doubts, guilt and sorrow vanished from Ace's face at once. He had been accepted. He won't run away from his duties and responsibilities anymore. Never ever. He extended his hand again and it was grabbed within a second.

"That was one hell of a punch by the way. But remember, next time you hit, I won't hold back." Ace said with a smirk of his own and with that being said, they disappeared in a whirlpool of flames.

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Naruto broke the hug and stared at his brother angrily after that. How long has it been? Six months! six freaking months! that's how. How hard could it be to show his face once before six months. He didn't tell him but he missed him like hell. His only living family by blood.

He was stomping his left leg on the floor in an attempt to show him that he needs an explanation rather quickly, and a good one at that. He learned this from Tsunade. Whenever she used to do this to people, well mostly Jiraiya and a few times Ace, It worked surprisingly quickly. Except, when she did it, there were craters on the ground from the force of impact she made.

Ace recognized the action all too quickly. Thankfully Naruto wasn't strong enough right now to make it look much intimidating. Still, seeing a bit of disappointment on his brother's face, Ace's heart melted fast.

"Eheheh... Umm... Well, you see, I was on my way here when a little birdie told me that I forgot to bring a gift for you. So, I went back to get a gift for you. Which took rather less time, mind you. But then I thought that I should buy a gift for the little birdie too and that's how I got lost on the road of life." Ace replied trying to make something on the fly which seemed to come out rather pathetically.

Naruto gaped at the lame reply. " But... birdie? A gift for a bird? Road of-? What the? Arghh!" He screamed frustatingly.

Ace was laughing nervously. He knew that Naruto was pissed and the excuse did nothing to make it any better, it worked rather against it. He will have to deal with this version of his chibi little brother somehow and as soon as possible. But how? Wait, what is it that Naruto dreams of? Yes, perfect.

" Come now Naruto, I will make it up to you. I promise. In fact, I know just the , What is your dream for the future?" Ace asked his little brother. He juts hopes that this will work.

"I wanna become... No, I will become the greatest Hokage ever and will surpass dad, Dattebayo!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs with conviction in his voice.

"Then how about you commence making your dream come true, and I help you with it." Ace offered.

"Really? That's so cool. Woohooo... Wait, but how?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. Oh, he was so clueless about all of this, thought Ace. But the confidence with which he talked about it, Ace had no doubt Naruto would achieve his dream some day.

"Well, the most important duty of a Hokage is to bind the village together and protect them from any danger, inside or outside. For that to be possible, the Hokage has to be strong, like really, really strong." Ace preached. He had Naruto's undivided attention by now.

"And, I personally think that you are old enough to train and become strong. What say, wanna train with me as your sensei?" Ace asked.

"Wha-? You will train me? Sugoi! Alright, I am not mad at you anymore. Come on, let's go out. Teach me some really cool jutsu quickly. Wow, this is gonna be so awesome." Naruto chirped happily dancing all over the room.

Tsunade and Shizune were watching all the happenings from their spot. They knew Naruto would be disappointed by Ace's disappearance for such a long period of time but were elated to see that Ace will make it up to him in the perfect way.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, how about you go out and do around 100 push-ups or so. I will join you in a moment." Ace suggested. Naruto accepted it rather quickly and was out to train within a second's notice.

Ace turned around and looked at Tsunade and Shizune, trying to gauge their reactions. It was much easier to convince Naruto but these two were a different matter altogether. He was rather perplexed whether he should make up a more believable excuse for them or should he just admit the truth about his absence.

Fortunately for him, Tsunade broke the ice.

"Excuses won't work on me. Come on, out with the truth. You don't hide your problems from your own grandmother brat." She said softly. Yeah, he should just admit everything, Ace decided.

"Things are much more grave than anything since the Kyuubi's attack." Ace accepted sadly. This was a sensitive topic even for him. He took a long sigh and continued.

"The Uchiha clan is planning a coup." Ace confided in the two women in front of him. He knew he has to come out with the truth around a third party if he needed some much needed advice. Itachi, Shisui and Ace himself were desperately looking for an alternative to prevent the war being on the verge of breaking.

They were walking around circles and were out of ideas about the situation. Sarutobi, as usual, kept his opinion rather diplomatic. But Ace knew that when it concerns the village's security, The aged Hokage is as hard a leader as there can be.

"That Bad huh?" Tsunade's eyes widened hearing the implications of the founding clan's actions. She offered her own couple of words on the situation. Being a shinobi of Konoha and direct descendent to the first two kages, she knew most of the politics and internal workings as such in Konoha.

A coup is the disagreement of highest possible degree with the authority. The circumstances doesn't call for such drastic actions. But knowing the history and the attitude of Uchiha clan, maybe this was expected one way or the other. They have always been power hungry arrogant pricks after all. There were a few exceptions every once in a while, mind you.

They were looking for a way to overthrow the authority and establish themselves as the leaders. The possible connection of the clan to the Kyuubi fiasco merely proved to be a fuel in the fire. They have a valid reason to go against the council and the village leader now.

But coup is not a solution. It's only a fertilizer to the ever-growing problems. The village authorities aren't a bunch of dolls who will lay their hands down and let the Uchiha clan rule. There will be a clash of egos, a clash of ideals, a clash of weapons eventually**clang!**. There will be bloodshed, so much of it that the village will be destroyed from the inside.

Even then, as exclaimed earlier, Coup isn't a solution will prove to be true here. This whole debacle doesn't end here. With the last Great Ninja War being ended nearly a decade ago and Konoha coming out as the victor, there is on ongoing cycle of hatred through the elemental nations, the significant one being Iwa.

They should have been looking for a way to get back at Konoha and there cannot be an opportunity better than this for them. It's only a matter of time before this can possibly turn into another Great Ninja War. And Tsunade being a spectator/warrior to the two of them, knew the horrors.

"This indeed is terrible" Shizune offered. She was no stranger to the situation either and knew the possibly consequences to the conflict.

"What does Sarutobi-sensei thinks about the debacle?" Tsunade asked. She knew that the old leader being as old as he was, has immense amount of experience and wisdom. If there is anyone who can solve the situation peacefully, it's him.

"He's giving his best to settle the matter with the clan but they aren't willing to listen a word from him. Ever attempt made by him has been thwarted by the clan. He walks a step towards them and extends his hand in the hope of treaty, They slap his hand violently and take two steps back. It's like, there is no peaceful solution to it." Ace bellowed frustatingly.

"I would except nothing less from them." Tsunade said in agreement.

"Then what is Sarutobi-sama planning to do about the grave state of affairs that has come up?" Shizune leader must have formed a militaristic plan by now if the conflict is on the horizon, she thought.

"It's rather complicated but they do have something up their sleeve. Even I don't know what it is but apparently Danzo has been involved with the plan. So you can safely assume, it's nothing one would want to be executed." Ace stated. He would have to confront Sarutobi about the plan as soon as he gets back to the village. He decided.

"Man, all these serious discussions made me hungry again." Ace groaned bringing about a drastic change in everyone's dynamics.

"I am NOT prepare something for you on my own. Once you dive into your food, you just don't know when to quit. Just hunt something down outside. The most I am going to do is cook it for you." Tsunade grumbled in an irritated tone.

Shizune completely agreed with her mentor knowing that Ace's appetite was in a league of his won. It wasn't like Tsunade didn't like cooking for her only godson. It's just that, only Ace would know about the extent of his own hunger and will deliberately decide the size of the being to hunt down.

Although, the size of the hunted beings varied from a fish the size of a human to a mammal of outrageous sizes. This one time, Ace tried to hunt down a gigantic snake and was almost successful in the process until in the end, the snake just disappeared in a puff of smoke. Later, when Ace explained the size and appearance of the snake, it turned out to be Manda, the boss summon of the snakes.

Apparently, Orochimaru foolishly thought that Manda would be enough to assassinate Ace and sent it as such for the mission. Poor Manda thought that he would be the one to be getting Ace as a 'sacrifice' that day when in reality, the hunter himself was being hunted by a being higher in the chain.

Ace's appetite seems to be growing exponentially along with his age. Sometimes, Tsunade wondered if this appetite will be enough to digest a bijuu, a decade or so later.

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best. Meanwhile I will overlook the kid's training too." Ace proclaimed and went out to meet up with Naruto.

"The circumstances around led Ace to mature rather quickly. So much burden on such a young child, it's only a miracle he's holding his own good. Won't you agree, Tsunade-sensei?" Shizune asked solemnly.

"That may have been the case but Ace is still as much of a child as Naruto is. His innocence isn't lost yet. And mature, **scoff** I hardly think so. Have you seen some of his habits? He's worse than babies, I am telling you." Tsunade said playfully. Although, even she herself knew how difficult a path has been carved out for Ace up ahead. But ignorance was for the best as of now.

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When Ace arrived at the clearing in front of the cottage, there were no signs of Naruto anywhere nearby. He wondered if Naruto went on to journey the vast stretches of the forest up ahead on his own. Just when he was about to use some Sensory techniques to pinpoint Naruto's location, he noticed a flicker of chakra around the river flowing across the forest.

When he reached the shore, he was astounded to see Naruto's interaction with the river. Naruto was sitting on his knees across the shore and his hands, palms to be exact were in complete contact with the river bed. There was a look of sheer concentration on his face and he seemed to be deep within his own subconscious. An instant later, the expression was replaced by satisfaction and a pulse of chakra was sent from his hand into the river bed.

Ace's eyes widened to the size of saucers when the pulse of chakra resulted in a small, almost infinitesimal wave being formed on the river bed which travelled opposite to the natural velocity of flow before dissipating. Here, in front of him, was his 7 year old kid brother attempting an element control exercise of the highest order.

It was an exercise, even the Seven Swordsmen of the mist found to be the ultimate test of their skills with respect to water release techniques. The technique was devised by Tobirama Senju himself. Being the most powerful water release user to have ever existed, he innovated the technique in order to take the said element manipulation to the highest level. He was said to have created waves in size of the order of mountains through this technique.

The fact that Naruto was able to replicate the technique, even though at a much smaller, almost incomparable scale, proves that he has a very, very high affinity to the element. His brother was a damn prodigy!

"When did you learn this little trick of yours?" Ace asked Naruto. The young blonde was so surprised by the sudden company that he lost his concentration along with his balance and jumped straight into the river.

"Damn you Ace, you could have atleast given some indication that you were here. Now I am all wet and... Is that a fish sticking to my arm? Arrgh!" Naruto groaned.

"The technique? When did you learn it? And stop your ranting by the way. A Hokage won't cry over such miniscule things." Ace exclaimed knowing that the Hokage card will get him the kid's undivided attention.

That's what happened. Naruto was in the keen student mode within a second. All it needs is a push in the right direction and the kid's hunger for knowledge is comparable to that of Ace's hunger for food for that matter.

"Technique...? Oh you mean the one where I push my blue energy into water. I discovered it a couple of weeks ago." Naruto said excitedly at the prospect of his older brother being interested in what he thought were his playful tricks.

Ace was practically deflating with pride. To think that Naruto discovered such a difficult exercise on his own, he truly was a genius. "Did you know that the technique is actually a very high level shinobi training exercise?" Ace asked.

Naruto was wide eyed at that. Never would he have thought that he was well on his way to becoming a strong shinobi.

"Judging from your expressions, you didn't. Alright, let me tell you something about what you call the 'blue energy', it's actually called chakra and it flows throughout our body inside custom tubes known as chakra tubes. There are several points known as Tanketsus and gates to redirect and control the flow into the tubes respectively." Ace explained to his little brother.

Naruto seemed to be racking his brains over something and a moment later, he snapped his fingers together and there was a look of realization on his face. "Oh yeah, Tsunade-sensei explained me as much. You use this 'blue ener'- chakra I mean for performing various jutsus and also for chakra techniques like pushing it to your sole in order to stick onto vertical surfaces, right?" Naruto asked excitedly, apprehending that he knew a lot of things that Ace didn't expect him to know.

Ace was flabbergasted at the information at first but slowly, a serene smile decorated his face. "So, you weren't fence sitting these past six months after all. You're pretty knowledgeable for someone your age. So, what's next now? Normally, I would have explained to you how you need to work on controlling the amount of chakra to channel at once, which is commonly referred to as chakra control, but seeing your knowledge on the subject matter, I guess you better explain what you know, yourself." Ace inquired. He would be wasting his time if he dealt with Naruto like a shinobi with average skills. It's much better for the both of them to just hasten the process.

"Yeah, about that... Well, Uhmm... Just follow me and I will show you." Naruto said and rushed excitedly towards a particular direction. Ace followed him close by trying to decipher what would the kid want to show to him? The younger blonde looked excited, it must be something vital.

Ace was in general, more of a calm and calculative guy these days. He lost his life in a moment of brashness last time. This has changed his views over a lot of things. For one, he always tried to keep his emotions in check in order to counter any possible weakness in psychological warfare from opponents during a battle, Akainu one upped on him due to his overflowing emotions the last time, conclusively. But when, after around 5 minutes of jumping and sprinting, Naruto stopped on his tracks and pointed towards a clearing, the only thing Ace could do was to forget all about his emotional charade crap and gape like a fish with his eyes out of his eye balls and his tongue doing a twisted zig-zag dance.

"What the- ? What kind of- ? How- ? When- ? Who- ?" Ace muttered. He couldn't find the words about how to begin asking his questions.

There, right in front of his very eyes, were about 50 or so Naruto clones doing their respective jobs. Few climbing up and down the trees, a small group of them walking in water surface nearby, but barely. Another group was going through a rare taijutsu kata and the rest of them reading up on several books, few of them looked like being related to Fuinjutsu.

First things first. "You're the most unpredictable ninja I have ever seen." Ace whispered. The only way he could describe the situation ahead.

"So, you know chakra control exercises." Ace said regaining some of his bearings.

"Tsunade-sensei taught me. She said that I am a chakra monster and should know how to control it as such or else I would be a failure in a few of the very basic jutsus." Naruto explained the reason.

"And your taijutsu, That's a rare style, haven't been seen since centuries. 'The Cheetah Style' to be exact. Made solely for speed and the attacking pattern is noted from that of a cheetah. I have read about it in a really old and dusty book. It's said to be the most revered style for someone who's quick on his steps. There was a clan of shinobi once who could battle against a skilled opponent with all of their senses closed but eyes and still come out unscathed. They were said to use this style. How did you learn it?" Ace asked quite intrigued about the possibilities.

"It's really cool, ne? And about your next question, I am a summoner of the cheetahs." Naruto said non-chalantly not knowing the significance of holding a summoning contract and that too of a very, very rare being.

"Wha- ? Ok, I can't be surprised anymore. Throw anything at me and I will take it coolly. BUT HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET A SUMMONING CONTRACT?" Ace yelled the last words. Saying that Naruto is unpredictable was an understatement.

"Ohh, it's a loooooong story. I will tell you later sometime." Naruto said happily not slight bit fazed by his brother's antiques. Or maybe he didn't even realize what Ace was going through.

"Alright, so you also know about the training trick pertaining to the shadow clones. That's a really useful technique indeed, specially for reading and learning. Well, considering that you are already pretty advanced on chakra theory, I guess we can work on your taijutsu a bit more and have a casual spar for the sake. What say?" Ace asked Naruto.

"It's a fight you want, It's a fight you will get." replied Naruto in a mock declaration. When fist meets fist, hearts connect. He was sure that these sessions will help him understand his brother a bit better.

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A calm evening and a serene weather was settled on the horizon. Chirping of birds being heard through all directions with occasional growling of wild animals. The sun was visible through the branches but barely. That was proof enough that it's not too dark nonetheless. Majority of leaves were limply hanging on to the branches for their lives. Few of the lot falling slowly and peacefully resulting from mild wind being blown through the thick stretch of trees. The forest environment was a true testament to the nature's beauty.

Occasional sounds of a crisp could be heard despite all the noises present. It was eerily similar to someone stepping on a dry leaf. That was almost the complete truth however. The foot that was producing the sound belonged to a little blonde kid making his way through the forest. The kid was quick and spontaneous. His reflexes seemed extraordinary from the way he was evading the forest floor almost full of dry leaves spread through and through.

Ahead of the kid was an older looking blonde who was doing the same thing however his actions seemed almost unintentional. Yet, he was easily dodging all the fallen leaves and was stepping only on the ground despite the speed at which at which they were traveling. The younger blond was being almost successful at avoiding the dried leaves for most of the time but when he noticed that Ace was getting a little too much ahead of him, he had to increase his speed and consequently step on a few leaves in a while.

"You're doing good. Keep it up and you will be a top notch shinobi." Ace said without looking behind.

"I still don't get what's the purpose of this dodging exercise. I mean, couldn't it be better if you were to throw projectiles at me and I would try and evade them." Naruto asked and stepped on a few more leaves than usual as he made his way through the forest due to momentary distraction while talking.

"That would have been better, but then you would have to depend on me for the purpose. This way, you can do the exercise on your own. Get used to to a particular speed while travelling without stepping on a leaf. If you feel you can travel through almost instinctually, just increase the speeds and repeat the process." Ace advised. Knowing that he would have to leave sooner or later. It's just better if Naruto will be independent with regards to his own training.

"Yeah, well. When you put it that way I guess." Naruto spoke carefully not wanting to disrupt his concentration.

They travelled in silence for a while before arriving at the clearing near their home.

"Alright, there's one last thing I want to teach you today." Ace said as he made his way towards the river in order to wash his face after a long, draining day.

"What is it?" Naruto asked. Wondering what else could be remaining.

"Hunting." Ace declared.

"Yup, hunting. It's an art in itself. One of the oldest so as to say. Hunting was the way of living for the primitive. Hunting to kill and survive, hunting to prove that you're stronger and better, hunting to satisfy your hunger. As a shinobi, you are expected to survive in wilderness for long period of times for the sake of missions. You wouldn't want to die by starvation now would you?" Ace asked his brother with seriousness in his voice.

"Hell no! There's no way I am going to die before I become the Hokage." Naruto replied in absolution. Ace smiled at the resolute will his brother carried with him. The will itself will help him reach the glory in the end.

"But, that's not the only reason why you should learn hunting. Hunting, in itself is the most basic of the tutorials for most of the really tough missions. Hunting down your prey and disposing him off is often a stage involved within most of the A and S-ranked missions. So, you should take this as seriously as any other mission." Ace told Naruto. Getting a nod from his brother, Ace proceeded to explain further.

"Alright, now that you got the gist of it, let's start our hunt for food." Ace said. With everything clearly explained, Ace started the preparations.

"Hunting Lesson number 1: Reconnaissance." Ace said and put a finger on the ground. Naruto, assuming that there will be some cool tricks involved in these lessons, was all eyes and years to Ace.

"Recon is basically determining the basic characteristics and the environment of the area we are targeting. In our case, I will be looking for creatures within a specific area and what I am about to do is a very handy technique for such purposes." with that being said, Ace got into action immediately. There was a brief moment of concentration on his face which vanished as soon as it came and he looked over at a particular direction.

"Let's go." Ace said and ran towards the same direction.

Naruto, being all hyperactive and confused due to the lack of explanation involved, immediately caught up with Ace and shot his first question.

"What did you do? Why are we going in this direction only?" He asked with curiosity.

"Quite a curious mind you have. Well, I was going to explain anyways. The technique I used is called 'Chakra Pulse Technique'. The mechanism is like this, you send a wave of your own chakra through the ground, of course you need to have an essence in using Doton manipulation in order to get more accurate results. The chakra travels like... let me show it to you." Ace said and stopped briefly to pick up a stone lying on the ground. He threw the stone into a nearby puddle of water and the result was concurrent waves of water travelling away from the epicenter.

"This, is how the waves travel. These chakra waves then collide and gets reflected or scattered through other chakra source. You can easily visualize it by considering the wave to be made up of water. This disturbance in its path can be felt by the user up to certain distance, which depends a lot on your mastery over Doton manipulation. And I hope that you know by now, every living being possess chakra, be it a plant or an animal. That's how I located an animal to be hunt down." Ace explained.

Naruto made a sound akin to 'Ohhh!'. Indicating that he understood the explanation. However he also looked hopeful of something.

"Of course I will teach it to you in the coming days. Just be patient." He assured Naruto sensing the curiosity.

A couple of minutes later, Ace stopped in the middle of dense forest and Naruto followed the lead.

"Why did we stop? Did we find the creature? Huh, Huh? Let's do this then." He said hastily and brought out a kunai from his pouch.

"Just hold your horses for now. I told you to be patient. Now onto the next step." Ace said, pushing Naruto's kunai hand back which he did and put his Kunai back into his pouch.

"Hunting Lesson Number 2: Locating your target."

A/N: This is a survey of sorts and your views will be much appreciated. What would you rather prefer? A small chapter but frequent updates or a long chapter once in a while? And btw I am sorry if this chapter seemed to you like a bit incomplete of sorts towards the end. The reason I posted it asap is because I won't be able to update the story for a while. The activities I am getting involved with will leech away all of my time. So, a chapter before a brief break.