Reflections of a Jinchurikki

Chapter II: Sticks and Stones

After the incident at the Hokage monument, Sarutobi had insisted that Naruto undergo a full checkup at Konoha's hospital, despite the boy's protests that he was fine. Sarutobi received another shock when the medic-nin's needle bounced off of Naruto's skin without penetrating it. Naruto had loudly proclaimed at that point that he was stab-proof, fall-proof, and poison-proof, and the explanations behind how he had discovered these things about himself. Sarutobi was mortified that the boy was allowed to go unsupervised to this degree. He trusted the two elderly caretakers at the orphanage, but perhaps it was time for them to retire if they could no longer keep up with the children in their care.

They managed to get some blood by having Naruto bite his own lip, and collecting the few drops that came out before the wound sealed itself up less than two seconds after it had been made. They tested his blood to see if he could have an advanced bloodline, as well as for anything else they could think of at the time. Every test which might have offered an answer came back negative, indicating that Naruto's skill of reflecting damage was linked to his status as a Jinchurikki, as the Third Hokage has suspected all along. After the visit to the hospital Sarutobi returned Naruto to the orphanage. Before he left the boy, he sternly warned him not to test out his abilities any further, as he could become seriously injured or die if he happened to find something he was not immune to. Naruto solemnly agreed, willing to follow any order from the old man he loved so much.

That night Sarutobi did some serious pondering. With his chakra reserves and special ability, Naruto had the potential to be the most powerful ninja the world had ever seen. With stamina enough to fight continuously for hours or days, and the ability to never take damage, he would be nigh unstoppable. Oh, Sarutobi could think of half of a dozen ways to neutralize him, but he was a Kage-level ninja, of which there were maybe a dozen in all of the world. With some early training, and a lot of work, Naruto himself had the potential to not only be kage level, but to surpass in power all of the world's ninja combined. Even if it turned out he wasn't immune to ninjutsu and genjutsu, it was the rare ninja who fell to those techniques directly. Chakra techniques were mainly used to trap an opponent, the final blow usually delivered with kunai, shuriken, or bare hands.

Early the next morning, after spending hours considering his options, the Third Hokage finally decided that he would train Naruto himself. With the potential his ability granted him, the boy's introduction into the ninja arts was too important to waste on a lesser teacher. No other ninja living or dead could claim to have trained three raw students to kage level, after all.

After a few hours nap on the couch in his office, Sarutobi sent a group of administrative chuunin over to Naruto's orphanage to inspect the living conditions there, as well as the state of the children. They returned a few hours later and gave their report. Evidently one of the caretakers was midway into senility, and the other so ill that she could barely walk. The children basically ran out of control. With a weary sigh, Sarutobi ordered the orphanage closed. He was at a loss as to what to do with the children though. Konoha had only one other orphanage and it was over capacity already. Quickly shuffling through some papers, he found what he thought would be a good solution. None of the orphans was younger than five years old, except for Naruto, and so he appropriated an abandoned apartment building that had been sitting empty for just over six months, and ordered it cleaned and furnished, and the children to be given single occupancy apartments. He offered a few trustworthy ninja he knew free housing in the complex, provided that they look after the children in a rotating schedule, and seven of them agreed, providing him with an assurance that the children would be at least somewhat looked after. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would do in a pinch.

For Naruto, Sarutobi decided to move the boy into his own home. When he heard the news, Naruto actually cried. It was the first time the Sandaime had seen Naruto cry, or even heard of it. As the child embraced him, the old man smiled. He was glad that he could help his surrogate grandson.

Sarutobi started Naruto's training the day after he moved in. He decided that the most important skill the boy could have would be speed. With the speed to dodge traps and get in close to the enemy before they could cast a jutsu, Naruto would be nigh unstoppable. Most ninja considered it suicide to rush a stationary opponent and try close quarters weapon fighting or grappling, but with Naruto's ability to take no physical damage, it would be perfect for him.

Sarutobi also intended to work on the boy's taijutsu, and help unlock his chakra, if that was even necessary. Because of his other duties as Hokage, Sarutobi made liberal use of the Shadow Clone technique. He also enlisted the help of two young chuunin, Yuhi Kurenai and Maito Gai, as shadow clones were liable to disperse during training, preventing full or even partial contact sparing.

The first day of training was very enlightening for all parties involved. Gai and Kurenai both stood off to the side, as the elderly Hokage and the young jinchurikki stood facing each other in the Sarutobi family training ground.

"First, Naruto," said the ancient shinobi, "We will attempt to unlock your chakra. It usually takes a few tries to do it, but I expect it won't be a problem for you." The Hokage smiled as he said this, and his expression was mirrored on the young boy's face, along with an excitement that only graced the young. Sarutobi placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders, and lightly, delicately, channeled chakra through them and into the tenketsu lying just under the skin there. He let his eyes close in concentration, and slowly, carefully, sent a stream of chakra through Naruto's chakra pathways until it reached the boy's kaimon, the first of the Eight Celestial Gates. Sarutobi let his chakra build up over the next few seconds, then began to use his spiritual energy to push against the Opening Gate. It took more force than he had every heard of to force open the door, and when it did, torrents of Naruto's own chakra spewed out, flooding the child's body with energy.

Naruto's eyes opened wide as he felt warmth unlike anything else he had ever felt spread through him, pouring into his legs, arms, and even his head. He suddenly felt like he could run faster than a horse, or leap higher than a jaguar! He felt complete.

Sarutobi stood back, lightly grinning as the boy became completely, and irrevocably, a ninja. Once the word had meant something else, but now a ninja was anyone who had had their chakra unlocked by another ninja. This had been the way since the time of the first ninja, the only natural ninja; The Rikkudo Sennin, Sage of the Six Paths. Pushing open the door to the first Gate allowed a body to have enough free chakra to be able to use ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu… Of course, there were martial artists who didn't use chakra, but they couldn't be said to be using true taijutsu, as even the strongest blow from a civilian couldn't equal a fraction of what a ninja could do through chakra reinforcement.

Every human had chakra, and thus the potential to become a ninja, but in order for that to happen their chakra must first be unlocked, freed from the reservoirs located within the kaimon, and allowed to flow freely through their bodies. If one was to make an effective ninja, this had to be done at an early age, so that the body's still growing chakra pathways could respond to the strain of so much extra chakra by widening., and so the tenketsu, the "chakra holes" located under the skin could respond by becoming stronger. There was also the matter of chakra reserves. The hachimon were the area where all chakra was created and stored, and now that the first gate was cracked, it would open periodically to release bursts of stored chakra as new chakra was generated by the body. The more a ninja trained and used up their chakra, the stronger their potential to generate chakra became, and the more the internal storage area of the hachimon were forced to expand, thus increasing a ninja's chakra capacity. Also, the chakra pathways in the body became larger the more one trained, allowing the body to store more chakra and increasing the power of the user's ninjutsu and taijutsu. Control was mostly a matter of mind as well as the proper timing of releasing chakra from one's tenketsu.

Naruto didn't know any of this, he was still just standing there before his mentor and grandfather figure, smiling and feeling the warmth of his inner energy. The only thing close to this he had felt before was when he had jumped off of a tree, or tried to jam stabby-kun into his skin, however that was a transitory sensation and barely brushed the surface of his skin. This warmth was everywhere.

Sarutobi allowed his student a few more moments to get a feel for having his chakra unlocked. Usually it was done the first week or two of class, by a team of specially trained chuunin and jounin he personally selected, as it was a delicate process, and the students were allowed to go home early, as many of them would be useless for work for the rest of the day. Sarutobi figured that Naruto would be able to work through it. And judging by how much chakra he had felt pour into the boy's frame, he would have enough energy to start learning some control exercises today.

Author's Note: Finally, a new chapter of something! This was mostly finished, actually, and just needed a bit of polish. I will try to update Rise of the Science-Nin or Heart of Gold next.