Naruto 1. Discovery

**Name**: Nidaime no Sairin

Naruto x Senju Tobirama (not Yaoi)

Pairing unknown

Action/Adventure

**Summary**: Uzumaki Naruto always enjoyed discovering new places and locations in Konohagakure. One night, after entering a cave, he decides to venture inside only to find the most beautiful waterfall he had ever seen. Once inside the cave, Naruto finds a lone rock that contained black markings. Thinking nothing of it, Naruto touches the black marking. What happens then no one could ever predict. Romantic pairings are still undecided.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 1 – Discovery<strong>_

_**Beta: Kyuubi123**_

* * *

><p>It was a bright sunny day in Konohagakure, and one Uzumaki Naruto, aka Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, now nine years old, was abusing his tiny legs running throughout the main pathways that crossed the village.<p>

He ignored the dirty looks he received along the way, getting used to them a long time ago. As long as he could remember, the majority of the villagers looked at him like that. He figured that his pranks were the issue. A bright smile could be seen on his face, though, as he had just came back from visiting a beautiful waterfall he had found near one of the training grounds. The mental picture was engraved in his head as he entered the Hokage's Administrative Building. Naruto ignored everyone inside the building as he ran past the hallways. He almost bumped himself against a man with silver hair that defied gravity, but managed to evade him, while running. The jounin in person looked at Naruto's back before smiling and walking away.

Ever since he was seven years old, Uzumaki Naruto always enjoyed exploring the various sights of the hidden village in the leaves.

The Sandaime Hokage shared with him once that a long time ago, before the village foundation; the entire area was a large forest, filled with caves and waterfalls. Every new sight Naruto discovered he would then talk to the Sandaime about it in lively detail. The boy could feel the warmth of the old man's smile when the boy talked about the many sights in Konohagakure. The boy ignored the protest coming from the Hokage's secretary as he immediately barged inside the village leader's office, alerting the Anbu staff that protected the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, merely smiled at the energetic boy, already used to his antics, especially when the boy wanted to tell him about a new sight he discovered in Konohagakure. Despite it all, he needed to scold the boy a bit for barging inside.

"Naruto-kun, how many times have I told you not to come in like this?"

"Sorry jiji, it's just that I managed to find another waterfall today and it's even more awesome than the last one." Hiruzen smirked as he looked at how happy the lad was.

When Hiruzen took him away from the orphanage, he was worried about his state of mind. It was his hope that Naruto would have a normal childhood or as normal as it can be, considering everything. Despite the fact that Naruto had no friends whatsoever, Hiruzen was glad that the boy had found such interest to occupy his mind. In addition, the usual pranks severally diminished, so the paperwork diminished. He heard the boy describing the location and smiled even more at the words described by Naruto to describe this new location. It was quite amusing to see a nine-year old trying, but failing, to use big words. After the kid finished explaining, Hiruzen smiled warmly at Naruto.

"That's indeed quite a beautiful scenery Naruto-kun." The kid's face brightened at Hiruzen's answer. "However, I do remember you're supposed to be at the academy right now."

Just like Hiruzen expected and fought every urge not to laugh aloud, Naruto's exuberant face turned immediately into a deep scowl.

"But jiji, it's so boring there…all we ever do is listen to Iruka-sensei's boring lectures." Hiruzen released a sigh at the comment he heard time and time again. The boy just could not settle down and focus.

Right then, Hiruzen had decided to approach this manner more thorough.

Perhaps, he could reach to Naruto using his hobbies and his dream of becoming a strong shinobi in the future.

"Naruto-kun, if you aim to be Hokage one day like you want to be, acquiring knowledge at the academy is crucial for an aspiring Hokage." Hiruzen smiled as the boy paid attention to his words, he always did. "The most important knowledge is provided by the Academy. Once you master the basics, it is much easier to improve your skills and abilities, which will only help you in the future. Trust me on this Naruto-kun, it may be _boring _as you say, but if you work hard enough, you will have a very important edge. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Naruto nodded, but he felt like he was receiving a reprimand from the kind old man to whom he respected dearly. Hiruzen caught on the downtrodden face and gently lifted Naruto's head to maintain eye contact. "There is no need to be sad, Naruto-kun…all I want is for you to apply yourself harder at the Academy…trust me…it will only benefit you in the future."

Naruto nodded once more, now with a relieved smile on his face.

"I will try jiji, believe me. Just you wait. I will be the best student at the academy and I'll make you proud." The grandfather figure smiled dearly, caressing the kid's hair gently.

"You already make me proud Naruto-kun…now go on then. And, don't worry about Iruka-sensei. I will explain to him that you had a small fever and could not attend today. Go home and think about what we just talked about." Naruto energetically straightened up and nodded resolutely, before running back towards the door. Hiruzen watched Naruto leave and wondered if the boy truly paid attention to his small lecture about the Academy. The boy inherited his mother's energetic behavior, no doubt but Naruto was also son of the Yondaime Hokage. Hiruzen mused that bright yellow hair and blue eyes were not the only inheritance he received from his father.

* * *

><p><em><strong>===With Naruto===<strong>_

* * *

><p>No sooner had the boy left the Hokage's Office; then he marched straight to a training ground he knew no one ever used. It was close to his apartment building, so he could see the training ground from his window. The kid always wanted to see awesome techniques, but he never got to, as no one used this location. Taking into account the stuff he saw at the academy, Naruto devised a small training regimen. Like Iruka-sensei instructed before starting physical exercises, stretching the muscles was important. That being said, he did the routine he performed at the academy with a couple of laps around the training ground followed by some sit-ups and push-ups.<p>

With that done, Naruto performed the set of Katas he was taught at the academy. The training grounds had no targets to practice on, so he settled for the trees instead.

The first ones hurt like hell, but Naruto pushed through the pain, thinking about what the Hokage said to him earlier today. For some reason he could not identity, every time he performed it at the academy, people would point at him and laugh at his expense. He tried asking what the funny part was, only to receive more mocking laughter in return. The teachers would simply brush his questions off telling him to repeat the positions more and more. Like he was told before, he repeated the exercise, pounding on the thick tree, while trying to ignore the bleeding knuckles in his hands. When the pain became too unbearable, he stopped and took a seat on the ground for a moment. He figured that it was enough taijutsu training for the moment and started some chakra control exercises. He remembered that Iruka-sensei always told him to practice this exercise, as it would help his ninjutsu in the future.

Naruto grabbed a lone leaf and placed it on his forehead. To the regular person in training, this exercise required very little effort, since most children have very little chakra to use. Naruto was the opposite, hence why drops of sweat began to pour from his face as he struggled to keep the leaf attached to his forehead. Of course, Naruto's difficulty was unfamiliar to the lad, as nobody ever stopped to inform him about it. All everyone said to him was that he was doing it wrong, but nobody bothered to explain what he was doing wrong. As it always happened, he was not able to hold it for long. The three regular ninjutsu practice wasn't much different from the chakra control exercise as the techniques required very little chakra to perform. The _Kawarimi_ and _Henge_ were no picnic, but Naruto managed to perform it eventually. The Bunshin, however, still eluded him as the results were always the same.

Naruto sighed in dismay as he saw the dead looking clone in front of him.

The same experience occurred throughout the day as he tried repeatedly, but with the same result. Eventually, even his chakra reserves were not enough and he collapsed in the middle of the training ground.

* * *

><p><em><strong>===Three hours later===<strong>_

* * *

><p>When he opened his eyes once more, it was already nighttime. The boy let out a curse at his stupidity as he quickly got up and looked around. Remembering the training, if that could be considered as such, Naruto sighed once more. Contrary to what he believed when he decided to train, Naruto did not feel like he progressed. His movements were the same as he performed at the academy. If Mizuki-sensei were here, he would say the same thing to him. Kicking a stone in frustration, he marched towards his apartment with a pout. As he walked, however, a noise reached his ears, which was strange, considering that he had not heard it when he was training. He stopped abruptly looking around the direction of the sound. The noise was similar to the waterfalls Naruto enjoyed searching throughout the village.<p>

However, it was strange. He did not know of any waterfalls close to his house. Deciding on a specific direction, Naruto walked a bit, realizing that the sound got louder.

He passed through his apartment building and entered the forest behind it. Ten minutes of walking inside the forest later, he could see a small entrance to a cave. A smile appeared as he had found yet another. Quickly entering the barely illuminated cave, the boy walked through the narrow pathway. The noise reverberated throughout the passageway. When the walkway ended, Naruto's eyes immediately lost their usual focus as he could not describe it. The area around the waterfall wasn't much to be considered. The water, however, was what caught Naruto's attention. Of course, it was blue just like the others, but Naruto could see directly behind the water. Looking at the lake, Naruto was also shocked to see the bottom without much difficulty. It was a mesmerizing vision as he became hypnotized by the deep azure color. Deciding to spelunk, Naruto looked around the waterfall, but saw nothing in particular aside from the crystalline blue waterfall.

As he was about to leave the place, through the same passageway, Naruto's eyes locked on something that did not belong to the scenery.

Near the lake margin, one rock was slightly taller than the others were and the boy could see some sort of dark mark engraved on the stone. The cave lacked sufficient light, so he could not see what it was. When he caressed the marking however, Naruto became startled as a ledge seemed to open right where he stood. His screams of fear echoed throughout the cave, but no one was around to hear and once more, Uzumaki Naruto passed out, this time because of a slight head bump.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was that he was no longer inside the cave he was spelunking before. This place had the same wall structure, but this time he could see little torches illuminating it. Naruto could see the same black markings he saw earlier, but instead of a big one, he now saw multiple markings, sprawled all over the room. When Naruto looked behind him, however, he screamed in fright as he realized he was not alone in this place.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked trembling as he looked at the man, trying to recognize him. He was tall, fair-skinned with white shaggy hair. The man's outfit consisted of dark blue armor and he wore a different forehead protector bearing the symbol of Konohagakure. His face looked menacing enough and Naruto felt like the man was looking at his very soul. However, something about his face was familiar to the young Uzumaki. The man in question frowned at the strange boy's question and crossed his arms in irritation.

"I'd like to ask you the same question boy and how did you find this place?" His voice also made Naruto tremble in fear and he felt compelled to answer the man.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." The boy gulped as he saw the man frowning, but answered the second question. "I was exploring a cave when I accidentally opened a ledge and fell. When I woke up, I was here." The man in question stayed silent as he observed the kid for a while. He could not find any chakra fluctuations, meaning that he was telling the truth. In addition, he could tell that it was the kid's chakra that touched the seal array he had left on the top floor. With that out of the way, the strange man immediately lowered his killing intent, allowing Naruto to breathe normally once more. Naruto, for his turn, looked at the man and wondered what was going on here. This man was very familiar to him, but he could not remember. Suddenly, though, the image clicked as he remembered seeing the stranger's face a lot. Actually, he saw his face every day. The thought of terror once more invaded his senses as he pointed at the stranger with trembling hands.

"Are you a ghost?" There was simply no way the Nidaime Hokage would appear before him. The man had died a long time ago…like fifty years ago.

"That's a rather rude question, boy. But to answer all of your questions, my name is Senju Tobirama, known as the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure." The Nidaime was about to continue, but Naruto interrupted.

"How can you be here talking to me? You're dead!" Naruto screamed, before covering his mouth frightened as he saw the look once more.

"You'd well not to interrupt me again boy…I don't enjoy repeating myself." Naruto gulped in fear, but nodded. "As I was saying, my name is Senju Tobirama, but the one before you is a mere fragment of the original. Foreseeing my inevitable death at the Second Great Ninja War, I decided to seal a part of my essence here so that I can be of use to Konohagakure in the future. It was my hope that either one of my students would find this place, so that I could bestow upon them my legacy. I even chosen this very place as I used to gather with them here." Tobirama stated, before looking at the kid before him. He said his name was Uzumaki Naruto and Tobirama indeed verified it through his sensory abilities. However, there was another chakra that the Nidaime felt and he remembered it as belonging to another person, that being his sister-in-law, Hashirama's wife. Tobirama's mind worked fast in estimating that a long time has passed since his death.

Naruto heard the man's explanation, but understood very little. His face was proof enough as he struggled to make sense of everything.

"Are you a ghost or not?" Tobirama stared at the boy in deep irritation at his stupidity. He was clear before.

"No, I'm not a ghost boy. Now tell me just how many years have passed since my death?" Naruto still was not convinced, but answered nonetheless.

"I don't know…about fifty years…give or take…I was never good at history." Come to think about it, he was not good at other subjects as well. Nidaime, however, simply acknowledged the information with a grunt, already processing his choices. Naruto saw the man place two fingers on the ground, before closing his eyes. Immediately after doing so, one Senju Tobirama was bombarded by information he processed using his chakra sensing technique. Extending his senses, he frowned, as he could not sense any Senju presence in Konoha. He was able to sense many Uchiha, which made him frown even more, from sheer disgust at that accursed clan. He could not sense one of his students Uchiha Kagami, but he sensed a familiar presence in another Uchiha, perhaps his student's offspring. A fond smile appeared on his face as he recognized Hiruzen's presence, though it is much weaker now. Saru must be close to seventy now if what the kid said was true. He could not find traces of Shimura Danzou at first, so he extended its reach a little. When he found it, Tobirama realized once more that he had chosen his successor wisely.

He could feel Danzou's chakra; however, there were also traces of Uchiha and even his older brother. T

Tobirama always felt pride knowing that he was able to raise his students to become fine shinobi. Naruto felt the temperature in the room drop as he looked at Tobirama. Naruto had never felt so scared in his life. The Nidaime Hokage looked pissed at something and he was afraid that it was he the cause of it. Perhaps today was the day he died, after all. Taking a step back in fright, Naruto's foot moved a small stone, causing the Nidaime to look at him right away with those menacing eyes. The pressure was still unbearable. Like before, however, the second hokage stopped to look at the child more thoroughly. The intention behind sealing a part of his essence was for the Nidaime to give his legacy to either one of his students. However, neither one of them were adequate right now. However, the boy in front of him…Tobirama always had the ability to find potential candidates.

This boy's chakra capacity was on pair with his own when he was a child and it would only grow with time, even with the aid of the fox that was now inside of him.

Naruto, in the meantime, wondered if he was seeing things. Perhaps the wound caused by the fall damaged his brains and now he was hallucinating. He was talking to the Nidaime Hokage for Kami's sake.

"Tell me boy…" Naruto looked up abruptly, swallowing nervously. Hallucination or not, the Nidaime's stare was quite fearsome. "The very reason I am here in the first place is to pass on my knowledge so that Konoha can use it for its benefit. I had hoped that either one of my students would find this place, but they did not. You were the one who found this place and as such, I have decided to grant you my legacy, all the knowledge I collected throughout my time shall be yours." Naruto's eyes widened at the prospect of learning from this man, but he immediately slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Wait a minute…how could you be real? I don't understand….one minute I fell and hit my head…the next I'm seating in some sort of cave talking to a man that was killed fifty years ago. Am I going crazy here?"

Nidaime saw the boy pulling his hair frantically. Indeed, to a boy with no knowledge of the intricacies of fuuinjutsu, his sudden appearance like this was incredibly suspicious.

At least, the kid had bothered to check Tobirama's facts before accepting everything at face value.

"My presence here was already explained to you. In addition, the mind can only produce certain scenarios that you've already been through before. It is simply impossible for your mind to create all this, even everything I just told you." Naruto blinked a couple times in confusion at the explanation, before his face morphed into sudden clarification. Tobirama saw it and could not help but show a smirk in amusement. The naivety of a child, he mused. "Now, since we clarified that you're not hallucinating, I need you to tell me everything about your life, the skills you already possess and your weaknesses. In order for me to tutor you to the best of my abilities, I need to understand everything about you and I ask you not to lie to me or alter the facts. I will know when that happens and will deal with it accordingly." Once more, Naruto flinched at the sudden spike in killing intent. The man asked him about his life as well as other things. With a sigh, the boy took a seat and began his rather short tale.

Throughout the story, the only movement that Naruto could spot was Tobirama's eyebrow. They either frowned or lifted slightly, which the boy assumed, indicated anger and surprise.

Tobirama, for his part, began to look at the kid in a new light, while hearing Naruto's story. Surprisingly so, Naruto's story was not as colorful as Tobirama would expect from a child, a child born in Konoha no less. His brother always envisioned a place where children could be nothing but children. Naruto, on the other hand, hadn't had a nice life growing up. He did not know why people looked at him with disdain, but Tobirama had a distinctive guess as he remembered how his sister-in-law was treated when she came to Konoha. People respected her because she became the Shodaime's wife, but everyone looked at her with extreme caution and even fear at her back, assuming that the beast could come out and attack them. Naruto's treatment appeared to be even worse as people openly mistreated the boy. When he heard that Hiruzen could not help him all the time, Tobirama frowned. His successor would not stand for these things and would solve the issue in the blink of an eye. Perhaps, Hiruzen's old age had caught up to him.

"Well, that's it about my life so far. About my skills, I'm at the academy, but I can't say I have much skill to tell you about." The Nidaime raised his eyebrow once more. "My chakra control sucks, I can't seem to perform the academy style taijutsu, I can't throw a shuriken or kunai like i should, don't get me started on genjutsu and I can't even perform the regular three ninjutsu required of me. At least, that's what my teachers say to me. But they are all a bunch of jerks. They all say that I'm doing it wrong, but neither one bothered to tell me what I'm doing wrong!" Despite the rather foul language, Nidaime nodded, reaching that conclusion before Naruto told him. If the entire village treated him with disdain, the academy teachers would not be any different. Once more, Tobirama wondered if Hiruzen was on the verge of dying from old age.

"I see…"

Naruto looked at the man while taking some time to recover his breath. He did not know why, but in between his explanation, he started shouting in indignation. Perhaps it was because the person in front of him was the first that actually bothered to listen to him, instead of making wrong assumptions. Tobirama, for his turn, decided not to dwell on the kid's story much. Also, Hiruzen must have his reasons for not telling about the fox. For now, Tobirama would keep that secret.

"Since our goal here is to focus entirely on your skills as a shinobi, I will provide you with answers that your teachers failed to provide." Naruto frowned but said nothing. At least, he would give him one answer. "The majority of the problems you are facing at the academy is due your larger than average chakra capacity. Memorize this…the more chakra you have, the harder it will be to control it. Genjutsu, the art of illusion, requires good control over your chakra. One with no sense of chakra control just cannot perform low ranked ninjutsu. I shall aid you in correcting this as well as teaching you taijutsu and shurikenjutsu. With my aid, I can guarantee to correct all these in less than three months. Throughout this period, we can cover important topics for a shinobi, like strategy, infiltration and stealth. After the three months, I shall begin to teach you all of my techniques…one by one." Naruto looked at the man with wide eyes at such prospect.

"You really believe I can do it…sensei?" Tobirama smirked at the term of respect.

"One aspect you'll learn from me is that I don't bother saying anything aside from the pure and logical truth. I would not bother saying so if I believed otherwise." Naruto smiled and nodded in appreciation.

"Ok when do we start?" Tobirama smirked at the eagerness, but he had to deal with one important issue first.

"Tomorrow, after the academy, you will come here and we shall begin. However, before you leave, we must take care of something first. When I created the seal, I had stored enough chakra to last this conversation. My extension in this place requires a steady supply of chakra, and I do not have said luxury." Naruto blinked once more in confusion and the Nidaime began to understand that perhaps it was best if he used smaller words to explain things. At least for now he would adhere to it, but when they began to cover advanced knowledge, Naruto's vocabulary would have to improve drastically. "In simpler terms, I need you to give me some of your chakra every day to sustain me."

"Ah, you could have said that from the beginning, sensei. But how can I train without my chakra?" Nidaime nodded in the negative at the question, as absurd as it was.

"I do not require all of your chakra. Depending on the level of your training, I shall increase the amount, but nothing too extreme." Naruto nodded once more with a smile on his face.

He would make the old man proud and he would do so by training with the Nidaime Hokage.

* * *

><p><em>===<strong>Author Note===<strong>_

* * *

><p>Ok, here is the first chapter of my new story.<p>

If anyone is interested about how the Nidaime appeared before Naruto, when the Nidaime Hokage faced Kumo, he created a shadow clone to perform the essence sealing in secret. It's the same technique that Minato used on Naruto to appear inside his consciousness. About the story, the events will not suffer much change. I'm still stuck on a couple of basic choices like Naruto's genin team and his jounin-sensei. I can tell right now that his affinity will be both wind and water.

I am open to as many ideas as possible, so feel free to provide them.


	2. A strict coach

Hi there and welcome to another chapter.

Amazingly, the first chapter had reached the 100 reviews barrier. That never happened before and I appreciate it. It means that people enjoyed my idea. I have received many ideas for me to use, hence why I will answer some right now.

_Sasunaru for life – Naruto on a team with Shikamaru and Hinata was already used in a story called 'True Potential'. Very good story by the way._

_Spark681 – I thought about that, but then decided against it. Naruto's training will be a secret from everyone forever. It does not mean that the Sandaime Hokage won't be suspicious as hell. _

_Jasonr7 – The pairing is still undecided. _

_Tastybigsexy – The teams will be different. That is all I can say for now._

_Silver Reflexes – Pairings are still undecided. Yuugao could help him true, because Nidaime always fancied a sword. About his affinities, his primary affinity will be wind. Water is second, but not far behind. _

_Elder Sibiling – the teams will be different of course. His personality will of course change as well, but I will stop here. _

_Narutofan8762 – Yes, Tobirama will only be until the academy and Naruto will not be graduating early. Naruto will receive training for three years total. That is a lot of time, but guess what…it can be multiplied if you know what I mean. _

_Cerulean Knight – A ninjato will suffice I believe. I intend for him to confront Aoi on a personal level. _

_Dbtiger63 – Sure, his personality will change over time. The rest of your questions will be supplied throughout the chapters._

_Theronjohn325 – No, he will have strong wind and water affinities, but he will not have hyoton._

_Raggon – Actually I used wind and water affinities in my first story 'Tired'. In my other stories, he has other affinities. _

Now, let us begin with the second chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 – A strict coach<strong>

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

><p>When Naruto awakened the next day, he first believed that the events of last night were nothing but a dream. He had every reason to considering that he just had a conversation with a man that should be dead for fifty years now. Still, the conversation was fresh in his mind, especially the part when the supposed Nidaime Hokage told me about his high chakra capacity and that because of it; he could not perform most of the techniques that were taught at the Academy. That fact alone made Naruto hope that what happened yesterday was not just a dream. If it were, then he would be greatly disappointed. His day started like usual, with a ramen breakfast. He got dressed quickly, without much concern for hygiene routines.<p>

The academy was the usual with Iruka-sensei focusing on lectures and Naruto doing everything wrong.

The teacher did look at the boy with pity, but did not correct him otherwise.

The boy thought about talking about his chakra problem with Iruka, but he thought otherwise. Naruto did not have anything against Iruka, but for some reason, he did not trust the man to keep what they talked about a secret. Hell, Naruto would not be able to explain just how he came up with his high chakra capacity problem. The thought itself became humorous. Telling Iruka about his meeting with the Nidaime would only inspire the man to believe that Naruto was making things up.

Thus, he endured throughout the academy time. The minute the bell rang, he left as quickly as he could.

In no time, the exuberant kid reached the place where he remembered from last time. His smile grown even more at the noise of the waterfall inside the cave. As soon as he entered the room with the waterfall, however, Naruto was surprised to see the Nidaime Hokage sitting on top of the small lagoon. The man had his eyes closed the entire time. Naruto smiled upon realizing that what happened yesterday was not a dream. He was about to run and scream to the former Hokage, when the man opened his eyes and looked directly at the boy. Just the look alone was enough for Naruto to shiver on the spot. Nidaime Hokage got up from the lagoon and walked towards his apprentice.

"Now that you're here, we shall begin." Naruto meekly nodded as he watched the man approach with dread. "As you explained to me, yesterday, you need tutoring in multiple fields: Chakra control, shurikenjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu." Naruto lowered his head in shame at the list of his flaws, but nodded regardless. Nidaime frowned at the sight, however. "Pity is a word I don't particular enjoy. It is an emotion that will only hinder you in the future, be it pity at others and even self-pity. You said to me yesterday that no one ever bothered to tutor you properly, so the reason you have yet to grasp the basics is due to a gap in your teaching." Naruto blinked repeatedly, trying to grasp what the man was talking about. His confusion was evident on his face. Nidaime released a sigh once more. This kid needed a dictionary fast. "In simple terms, you suck because no one bothered to teach you."

"Oh…yeah…hey you could have started with that sensei." Naruto showed a pouting face typical of a child to which Nidaime ignored.

"I was not kidding when I said yesterday I would take us three months to cover everything. Now, time is of the essence here, so let us get started. First, can you explain to me what chakra is?"

"Oh…chakra is what we use for ninjutsu, right?" Nidaime stood there waiting for more, but frowned when the boy stopped talking. Ok, then, from the beginning…

"You're partially right, but that's not what I asked. Chakra is essential to even the most basic technique; it consists of mixing physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from the mind. Do not worry about memorizing this, as we will be covering throughout your training." Naruto nodded with a relieved sigh. The man sounded just like Iruka-sensei and frankly, he was starting to dose off. "It is important that you understand this in a practical sense, not just the theory. Ninjutsu requires more physical energy and less spiritual energy while genjutsu requires more spiritual energy than physical energy. We will now focus a large amount of time in your chakra control." Nidaime ignored a slight protest from the boy and continued. "There are many suitable exercises to increase your chakra control, the easiest being the leaf balancing exercise. In your case, it would be next to impossible, considering your large chakra capacity.

"So that's why I burned the damn leaf every damn time. Stupid Iruka-sensei for not telling me this."

"Precisely for this reason, we shall begin with a more chakra intensive exercise, in my opinion, right up your alley. It's called tree climbing." Nidaime calmly walked towards the cave walls and placed one foot on the wall and then the other. Naruto's mouth started drooling as the man calmly walked up the wall as if he was walking on the ground. "To perform this exercise, you need to focus chakra on the soles of your feet using the ram sign and then start climbing. If the stream of chakra is too weak, you will lose your footing and fall. If it is too strong, then, you will be pushed from the wall and fall as well. By my estimate, it shall take you one week to master this exercise, but when you do, ninjutsu and other chakra-oriented techniques will be much easier. Now get to it…" Nidaime saw Naruto forming the hand sign and then the blue aura around his feet. He already realized that it was too much, but he continued to watch the boy try to perform the exercise.

As he expected, the brat took a couple steps before the area, which his foot stepped on, exploded upon contact. Naruto fell inside the lagoon with a splash.

"You used too much chakra. Try again…" The second time it was too weak and Naruto instead slipped and fell once more, cursing the man for falling once more. Naruto attempted the exercise for two whole hours but to no avail. The most he got was ten steps up, before he slipped. "Let us move on to another branch of shinobi arts. Try the tree climbing exercise every chance you get, even inside your house. Now, let us start with shurikenjutsu." Now Naruto's interest was peaked. "Grab a couple and throw them at me." Naruto grabbed his whole lot of shuriken, before realizing what the man asked him to do.

"But what if I hurt you sensei? Isn't there a target I can use?" The absurd question rang in his ear and a vein popped on his forehead.

"Kid, if you managed to hit me, then I would not have lived for long as I did. Now stop wasting time and do as I say."

Nidaime stood there with his arms crossed as Naruto aimed the projectile and threw them. It was four total, none came even close to be considered a threat to a genin level shinobi. Nidaime could only imagine what his older brother would think upon seeing the damage that the teachers did to this kid. Naruto would be lucky if he even managed to graduate without the Nidaime's assistance. Taking that out of his mind, Tobirama analyzed Naruto's every move in order to pinpoint exactly what he was doing wrong. Naruto appeared to be using the right hand, but he noticed that the wrist movement was too stiff. Normally, this mistake would be corrected immediately, but Tobirama stopped wondering about that. It was obvious at this point that Naruto had been deliberately denied proper training. Calmly, Tobirama stood next to Naruto as he taught the proper way to throw the projectile. The second time, the kid showed more proficiency, but was still not close enough to be considered a threat.

"Practice until your wrist hurts."

Before, Naruto would wine like a kid, because he would always miss. Now, however, it was different. He now knew what was wrong and he practiced hard.

Tobirama saw the kid throwing his shuriken time after time with a frown. He could see that the kid had talent; all it took was one single tip. He figured that by the end of today, Naruto would manage to aim the shuriken straight at him. However, today's target was for them to cover every field so that Tobirama could explain what he wanted of Naruto. Even if the kid managed to hit the target, he would still practice until bloody perfection. It was this way Tobirama used to train Hiruzen and the others and look at the results. Two hours later, Naruto flinched in pain, after the throw, showing the end of the exercise for today. One thing Naruto did not mention was his ability concerning hand signs. It was imperative for the boy to perform the hand signs sequence perfectly, or else the technique is flawed.

"Naruto, do you know all the twelve hand signs?" The boy looked up at the question and then fidgeted with his hand a bit, showing discomfort.

"Yeah, I do…but I take too long to do them. The teachers told me that I would never be a good shinobi because of it." Of course they did, Nidaime mused.

"You know that hand signs are used to perform many ninjutsu and genjutsu. Through hand seals, you can manipulate the exact amount of chakra to perform a technique, hence why the sequence must be performed without a single mistake. We will be working on different hand seals sequences for you to practice throughout our training. I'll start with two hand sequence and move on as I attest that you performed them to my liking, understood." Naruto nodded with a smile, earning a nod from Tobirama, followed by a predatory smile. Naruto sure had stamina to burn. "Now, let us move on. Next subject is taijutsu. I will teach you my style. It is focused on agility and precise but also powerful strikes. We need to adapt your body as well to it, so we shall do some physical exercises as well." Naruto found it strange that Tobirama was smiling differently, almost evilly so. The boy gulped immediately.

When night approached outside, Tobirama saw the kid sprawled on the ground, his body aching all over the place. He could not help but smile when he saw the look of pure bliss in Naruto's face.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself there brat? I did not take your for a masochist."

"A what…?" Tobirama's mood immediately sorrowed. That would take a while for him to fix.

"Never mind…I need to explain to you something important so pay attention." Naruto looked at the man and took a seat with effort. He was never this tired before. "Considering that we shall fix many of your weaknesses, in time, others shall see that you're improving." Naruto smiled at that, but Tobirama did not. "If your growth is being sabotaged, as you told me, then no doubt they will be suspicious when you start to show improvement. Do not show everything you will be learning with me or else you will attract too much unwanted attention to yourself. It's better that you show your teachers just enough to be in the middle of your class." Naruto looked in doubt at what the Nidaime was talking about.

"But I want them to see that I'm capable as well." Tobirama narrowed his eyes in anger at the comment.

"You're training to become a shinobi, brat, not a circus clown! You never show everything you can do in a fight unless in life or death situation…the minute you do so, you lose your edge over the enemy." Tobirama had his arms crossed as he spoke with complete authority. The boy could not help but imagine Tobirama in the old man's place. Certainly, the old man had never spoken like this, at least not that Naruto had ever seen before. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Naruto nodded in resignation in the end. He really did want to show off his skills, but the Nidaime had helped more in one day than the academy did throughout his entire stay.

"Good…now go home and rest. Tomorrow we'll do everything again until you master it all." Naruto was aching all over the place and simply turned towards the exit, limping. It was good that the cave was close to his apartment, or else Naruto would have preferred to pass out right there in front of his teacher. His body ached in places he never knew existed and despite it all; he could feel his improvement, just from one day under the Nidaime's tutorship. He could only imagine how much stronger he would become in the future.

* * *

><p><strong>===Three months later===<strong>

* * *

><p>"Again…" Tobirama ordered his pupil once more as he saw a flaw in one of the taijutsu katas Naruto performed.<p>

The kid's clothes were ragged and his face drenched in sweat. Still, Naruto was relentless in his training, performing everything with a content smile on his face.

"You can rest now…" The kid nodded at his teacher and took a seat near the lagoon to freshen up a bit. "As I stated when we began, in three months we managed to correct all your flaws. Your shurikenjutsu is now genin level and you managed to achieve the next chakra control exercise known as water walking. With that, you managed to perform all three ninjutsu required by the academy, even though I believe my older brother is rolling in his grave right now at such low level standards." Naruto came to know a lot about the man known as the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure. When Naruto explained to him the requirements for graduation, Tobirama became mortified. He stated that when his brother founded the academy, the academy requirements was at least three times harder. In addition, Naruto learned that Tobirama valued perfection. He was only satisfied when Naruto performed it to his expectations, or else the genin in training would have to do it again.

"As I was saying, your taijutsu has improved greatly from that monstrosity you showed three months ago."

Naruto nodded with a beaming smile. The man promised and the man delivered.

"Thanks a lot, Tobirama-sensei." The man in question nodded with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Your practical skills are now adequate for us to step up your training, but first I wish to ask how you are faring in other subjects." Throughout the three months, when Naruto became exhausted from the heavy workload, Tobirama would move on to test his mind. At first, the kid complained, but Tobirama silenced him by stating that chakra is a mix of both physical energy and mental energy. Thus, it was important to train one's mind just like one's body. Therefore, Naruto was drilled in history, geography and strategy as well as other related subjects that the kid would need in the future. Of course, the Nidaime could not teach Naruto about the Sandaime and Yondaime's reign, as he was dead before that. Because of this, Naruto struggled a bit at the academy to learn those periods. Aside from this handicap, however, the kid's education improved, much to the Sandaime Hokage's delight. As Tobirama instructed, Naruto rose in the academy rankings, now standing in the middle of the class.

"Right now I'm in the middle…I'm struggling a bit in academics and I'm improving in taijutsu, ninjutsu and shurikenjutsu…" Tobirama cleared his throat and Naruto finished speaking. "…not showing it all as you said."

"Are you observing your teachers and peers like I said?" Naruto nodded, remembering how Tobirama would always tell him to observe his surroundings the entire time. The man also taught Naruto how to maintain his observation without letting it show. It was hard for Naruto, because the kid was too exuberant for his own good, despite dimming it down a bit, because of his interaction with the Nidaime. According to Tobirama, Naruto needed to appear aloof to everything while using only his eyes and ears. In theory, it was easy. For a hyperactive kid with the chakra capacity of a jounin, not so much. He eventually corrected a few things, allowing him to maintain his focus without alerting either the teachers of the other students. Of course, a jounin would spot it easily, though.

"Mizuki-sensei sure look like he wants to kill me in my sleep. Iruka-sensei is pleased with my improvement. The others are the same, I guess. Sasuke is the same as always, broody bastard believes he is kami incarnated…." Tobirama was not surprised, as all Uchiha tend to believe they are gods because of their precious eyes. The Nidaime Hokage was surprised, one day, when he sensed the Uchiha clan dying one by one. He was more surprised when he sensed two Uchiha presences that survived the slaughter. In one of them, Tobirama even sensed traces of his brother's chakra, but it was rather faint. Aside from that, Tobirama theorized that the decision to exterminate the Uchiha Clan was not exactly a move he would make. Despite his grievances with the clan, the Uchiha Clan acted as deterrent to other villages's advances. Without them, Hiruzen's shinobi force was no doubt severely weakened.

If his guess was correct, then Hiruzen was the one who oversaw this manner. A clan as important as the Uchiha would not be extinguished on a whim.

"Right then…seeing as you now have a firm grasp regarding your chakra and physical abilities, we shall move on and focus more on chakra. There is a reason I keep repeating the definition of chakra to you my apprentice. Chakra is the mix between physical and spiritual or mental energy. Through the hand seals you now manage to perform to my liking, you can mold chakra into performing ninjutsu and genjutsu, as well as others I shall not focus on right now. This next phase of your training shall involve advanced chakra control, further training in taijutsu, ninjutsu and dispelling genjutsu. I estimate it will take the rest of the year for us to cover everything." Naruto looked quizzically at the man for a while.

"Why more chakra control? I thought the water walking was the last level and why can't I learn genjutsu techniques?" Nidaime frowned to which Naruto came to understand differently. When they started training, everytime Tobirama frowned, Naruto understood as the man's anger towards him. Later on, the boy realized that the frown was merely the man's discomfort with having to repeat himself. Despite it all, the boy was curious and he could very well blame the man in front of him for allowing him to be curious.

"I do not remember stating that water walking was the last level of chakra control. In fact, there are two others, which are more advanced. The next one, which you will be learning and practicing throughout the rest of the year, is the kunai hovering technique. The exercise consists of focusing large quantities of chakra through your hand and lift a kunai using only your chakra. I will explain it more thoroughly, so don't make that face….it's annoying." Naruto wisely stopped and nodded fearfully. Despite the man not having much chakra, he still could control water like no one else. Those water whips hurt like hell. "The last exercise is reserved for shinobi whose chakra control must be one hundred percent like medic-nins and genjutsu specialists. Since you will never become either one of them, I won't waste time explaining it to you. Now for your second question, your chakra capacity and chakra control are not enough for you to perform genjutsu. However, recognizing and dispelling genjutsu is of utmost importance, considering it is a weakness that the enemy shall exploit. Normally, a shinobi with large chakra reserves is weak against genjutsu techniques."

"Okay I understand somewhat…I mean…" Naruto's face now morphed into a deep thinking one. Tobirama understood that that happened upon a sudden realization on his apprentice's mind.

"What is it?" Naruto looked up from his inner wonderings, but his visage was still contemplating something.

"That last part when you said that people with large chakra capacity are weak against genjutsu. Often times, Iruka-sensei would berate me for not answering the questions as I should. He said that in a history question about the Sandaime Hokage, I had instead written the countries that borders with Fire Country. I tried explaining it to him that I answered correctly, but he did not want to hear it and failed me instead." Tobirama frowned at that, theorizing about what must have happened. Still, as he came up with the conclusion, he thought about the reasons why a teacher would go this far just to sabotage Naruto's growth. This time, it was not due to hatred for the Kyuubi, but rather an open intent to jeopardize Naruto's future. This in itself constituted trouble.

"As you know, Naruto, genjutsu is the art of creating illusions, but that is not the definition of the art. Genjutsu consists mainly in disrupting the enemy's chakra system, in order to make the enemy believe he's seeing or feeling something that's not real." Naruto nodded as he heard the man explaining this before. "Now with that in mind, your teacher could very well have placed you under an illusion that you were answering a different question than it showed on the paper." Naruto's eyes immediately widened and his mouth was hang open. Iruka-sensei would not do that, for sure. It must be Mizuki-teme. Throughout these three months, Tobirama gave him answers that he always craved for. After all the answers were given, the boy felt like shit. Tobirama already expected that as Naruto tended to behave like that on occasions in the past.

"Do not waste time feeling miserable about this. You cannot expect to know these things right now and it's expected of an academy student to follow the teacher's teachings."Naruto nodded at his teacher's words, knowing that Tobirama would not concern himself with trivial situations such as these one.

"Now, as far as ninjutsu is concerned, I shall teach you a few techniques that can aid you in the future. You must remember that being a ninjutsu specialist is not simply unleashing techniques left and right. You must consider a number of factors in the middle of the fight before choosing an adept technique to use. First, it's the environment, which you find yourself in. For instance, if you are in a restricted place, medium to long-range type techniques are frowned upon. Second it's the amount of chakra you still possess, thus you must know how much chakra you need for each technique of your arsenal. Third factor, but no less important, is precision. No matter what your choice will be, you must take into account that the enemy will not simply stand still nor will he give you ample time to perform the technique that may kill him." Naruto let out a giggle at that last one. Tobirama enjoyed speaking with sarcasm. "You will need techniques that fits your fighting style. Learning something you will never use in a battle is a waste of time and effort in my opinion.

"What about elemental ninjutsu?" Tobirama could not help but smirk at the eagerness.

"That will come afterward, kid. First, you need to understand and control your chakra better as well as memorize the principles of ninjutsu on the battlefield. Elemental ninjutsu is too advanced and no apprentice of mine will attempt something he is not a master of." Naruto nodded as he then proceeded his taijutsu practice for the day. The next phase of his training will start tomorrow after all.

* * *

><p><strong>===Next day===<strong>

* * *

><p>As per Tobirama's instructions, Naruto had a small change in his wardrobe. Nothing major as it would attract unwanted attention. Instead of his jumpsuit, Naruto kept only his pants, going for a brown t-shirt instead. Since people could still see bright orange, no one thought much about it. The genin in training did his routine at the academy, performing slightly worse than his full capabilities. However, to the trained eyes of the Nara Clan, Naruto needed to cover his tracks a little better. Despite being troublesome, one Nara Shikamaru looked at him from the corner of his eye. One month ago, he noticed a slight difference in Naruto's behavior. Others did not even bate an eye, but the little genius knew something was off.<p>

Naruto was the dead last of their class. He did not show aptitude for most assignments. The change however was subtle.

He would last ten seconds longer in taijutsu practice. He would hit the shuriken and kunai target two times when before he missed all of them. Even in academics, the boy improved, also in a subtle manner. To the untrained eye, all of this showed nothing but slight improvement. It was bound to happen to everyone, after enough time. Last week, though, his performance improved once more, this time hitting four shuriken and three kunai. Shikamaru's dad always said that their clan's intellect was above others and that Shikamaru should learn to trust his intellect. After spending time observing the blond kid, Shikamaru came up with a conclusion.

Naruto was more skilled than what he showed at the academy. Sure, Shikamaru did the same thing, showing just enough effort to pass, but he did not expect that the class clown would do the same.

Come to think about it, now the Nara genius was at a loss. He did not know whether Naruto did this from the very start. As he watched Naruto throw kunai, he could see that the kid deliberately threw a couple off target. As usual, the others laughed at him, either those who scored less than him. Normally, what would follow was Naruto screaming at the rest that he would be Hokage someday. Surprisingly so, the troublesome dude just shrugged it off and walked to the end of the line, but Shikamaru could see a faint smile on his face, a content one at that. Shikamaru resolved to confront the kid about this recent behavior. When the break came, the Nara heir searched for Naruto, but he could not find the damn kid anywhere. Usually, it was so easy to find him because of his hideous orange jumpsuit, but he remembered that it has been some time since he saw him wearing it.

That in itself only served to increase Shika's curiosity. He dropped the search when his best friend Chouji appeared offering some chips.

He then followed the chubby friend to a small table as they began to talk about something. Naruto looked down with a frown, sitting on the academy building rooftop. Naruto did see that Shikamaru took notice in his actions and decided to avoid direct confrontations. Tobirama-sensei did say that Naruto should watch out for members of the Nara Clan. In his opinion, they were too smart for their own good, not to mention rather intrusive at times. Despite it all, Shikamaru was not the reason Naruto was on the roof right now. He was rather there for the view of the entire city as well as the forests that protected the village. He could see the occasional blurs traveling through rooftops as well. Because of Tobirama's training, Naruto became more adept at spotting movement. He would follow the blurs and look at them with envy. How he wanted to graduate and become a genin…chunnin…jounin.

Naruto still visualized the top goal, but he became more realist after his talks with the Nidaime. Becoming Hokage means that your strength and ability is beyond question even to the elite of Konoha, Tobirama said. Not only that, but the Hokage needed as much experience as possible in order to make the right and the needed decisions. The only way for Naruto to reach that goal was to climb through all the possible positions in the shinobi hierarchy. One goal after another, he and Tobirama concluded. When the academy ended, Naruto did the same thing he always did right after school, meeting his sensei for his new training regimen. The others looked at his fleeting back and wondered where that kid ran off to every day. The sudden lack of pranks was a welcomed sign for everyone, however. None of the civilian population enjoyed it and surely, no one missed it.

* * *

><p><strong>===Inside the cave===<strong>

* * *

><p>As soon as Naruto entered the cave, he was assaulted with water whips. Narrowing his eyes at the sudden attack, Naruto focused chakra through his feet and evaded the attacks. A kunai was already on his right hand, showing his battle awareness. He focused on the environment for a while, before jumping just a strong torrent of water came flying at him from the right. As soon as he landed on the ground, Tobirama was standing behind him with his arms crossed.<p>

"If I was the enemy, then you'd be dead right now." Naruto released a sigh and nodded as he turned to meet his sensei. "Do you care to explain what I just did?" Naruto looked at a loss, like the man expected. "I stated yesterday that a ninjutsu specialist knew how to best use his techniques against an opponent. Through specific water techniques, I managed to lure you just where I was positioned, rendering you useless against a killing blow that would follow, if I was your enemy that is. This next part of your training, I will teach you how to do just like I did. Remember this…a battle is only won when you manage to control the battlefield." Naruto nodded resolutely at his sensei's words.

"Now…let us proceed."

* * *

><p><strong>===With Hiruzen===<strong>

* * *

><p>Releasing a tired sigh, Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, slowly massaged his right wrist from signing too many forms today. The man felt every bone inside his body protesting against the onslaught caused the unending paperwork. Hiruzen figured he would focus on something else instead. Smoking his pipe and drinking some tea just did not help him much these days. He needed to find a new successor and quickly. Grabbing his all-seeing crystal ball, Hiruzen tried to locate one Uzumaki Naruto. Hiruzen got wonderful news from Iruka that the kid has shown improvement, which meant that the chat he had with the kid three months ago bore fruit.<p>

However, come to think about it, three months was also their last conversation. Truth be told, Hiruzen missed seeing the bundle of energy running around. The ball was taking too long to locate the boy, though, which worried the Hokage. According to Iruka, Naruto did not miss any of the classes, so that meant that the boy hadn't gone missing. Still, it should not take this long for the crystal ball to locate the orange bundle of joy. Hiruzen stopped the ball technique after a while, clearly bothered by not being able to find Naruto anywhere. He was about to send someone to investigate when his former teammates and advisors entered his office for their meeting. The Hokage decided to check on him the next day at the academy. Right now, he needed to solve the problem that arose because of the Uchiha Massacre.

Unaware was Hiruzen that the Nidaime Hokage knew exactly how the ball worked and knew how to block its view.

* * *

><p><strong>===With Naruto===<strong>

* * *

><p>The training started out with his new chakra control exercise and as Tobirama expected, Naruto was not doing very well. It consisted of hovering a kunai using only chakra from the hand. Too much chakra and the kunai would fly away. Too little and it would not leave Naruto's hand. As expected, Naruto would overload the chakra and send the kunai skyrocketing. The first few times it was rather amusing to see the nine-year-old kid scream in fright at the flying kunai. When the day ended, Naruto felt the immense fatigue of trying to control his chakra to such a degree. He managed to achieve the necessary amount to sustain the kunai, but the projectile only hovered for about two seconds.<p>

Tobirama settled a partial objective of a minute and ten minutes as the final objective.

"As I said before, it will take time for you to master this level of control. Now, I shall tell you about some ninjutsu techniques that will help you immensely." Despite breathing hard and laying on the ground, Naruto did show a determined smirk. "First technique favors agility and shall aid in your taijutsu. It is called **Shunshin** (Body Flicker Technique). This ninjutsu is a high-speed movement technique, allowing you to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed." Tobirama could already cut Naruto's giddiness with a knife. "Next one you shall learn is **Fukumi Hari** (Hidden Needle Technique). As the name suggests, through this technique, you can throw needles at your opponent using your mouth. The best quality of this technique is that the enemy will never suspect it." The blond showed his disgust at the description, but as usual, Tobirama ignored. "Next one is called **Doku Giri** (Poison Mist Technique). It consists of emitting a poison mist at your opponent. This technique is perfect for multiple opponents and also for when you need to escape. The stupid enemy will attempt to pass through the mist, only to inhale all the poison."

"The one with the hidden needles aside, bring it on Tobirama-sensei." Nidaime smirked at the kid. He was indeed a training masochist.

"There is another technique I intend to teach you that is my creation. It will serve you nicely both in reconnaissance and fighting multiple opponents. It's called Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone Technique). Now, I know what you'll say, so save it. This is not like the regular bunshin technique, first of all, because it takes more chakra to perform. The regular bunshin technique is an illusion whereas the shadow clone is a ninjutsu. You will actually create an identical replica of you with its own chakra capacity and movements. Best of all, however, is that the clone you create can learn just as much as you do. Also, everything he learns will be transferred to you. I hope that your brain can process the implication of learning this particular technique do you not?" Naruto was ecstatic at this point, looking at the man with a big smile on his face.

With this technique, he could double his learning time and incorporate more skills to his repertoire. Just this talk alone was enough to give him more energy.

"As I said before, bring it on Tobirama-sensei…"

"Hn, I shall do as you comply…also, I shall teach you how to detect and dispel genjutsu. I will explain the concept throughout this next training phase. Now go home." The boy nodded as he got up and left. Tobirama looked at his apprentice's back, before turning to the scroll and vanishing. His presence was solely due to Naruto's chakra constantly pumping the seal, so he could not afford to be careless, or else his legacy would be lost forever. The thought alone made him ponder. He needed to make contingency plans and fast.

* * *

><p><strong>That's all for now. <strong>

**Look forward to next chapter as Naruto will meet another student of Tobirama's. Points for anyone who guess his identity. Just a small hint. It's neither Hiruzen or Danzou. Also, next chapter, I shall begin with his most advanced training. Like I said before, Tobirama's presence will only last until his graduation. However, I intend for Naruto to learn everything until then. Of course, I'm not saying that Naruto will become kage level by his graduation. Above all else, the kid will have the knowledge and will use it throughout the missions, gaining experience and even more skills because of it. I will explain more as the story progresses.**

**Please review. Once more I appreciate everyone for contributing with this story. So please…the more reviews the better.**

**See ya.**


	3. Learning the elements

**Author Note**

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.

Wow, second chapter and once again, more than one hundred reviews; I appreciate all of you for this as it helps me get some incredible ideas for this story. Many reviews tend to focus on my ideas regarding Naruto's pairing. First, I wanted to make clear that it will take a long while before any sort of engagement occurs. I have already expressed that this story will be focused on adventure mostly, with very few space for romantic interaction, even when I review which one will fill the slot as his girlfriend and so on. Nevertheless, since I have given some of the readers, a tip or two, I shall provide one now. The woman I had chosen is not from Konoha, nor is she from any of the hidden villages. In fact, in canon, the character is 'male', but not here.

Ok that's about it…however, now it became too easy for everyone to figure out.

Furthermore, the readers are quite put off about me taking training arcs a bit too far. I can see that, so I have decided that this will be his last chapter, hence why I intend to cover all the aspects of Naruto's training that Naruto need to master before the academy is at an end. Of course, that means elemental ninjutsu and another ability I shall not divulge. You will have to read the chapter to find out. Lastly, Nidaime's knowledge on space-time ninjutsu will be one of the topics as well. Obviously, Naruto won't be learning it before graduating. However, he will receive the needed basic knowledge to learn the technique in due time. Now, without further a due, let us begin.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 – Learning the elements<strong>

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

><p>October 10th.<p>

Today was the date of Naruto's tenth birthday and he was walking together with the Sandaime Hokage towards the boy's favorite restaurant. As soon as they arrived at the Ramen Stand, they placed the orders and conversed while waiting for it. The conversation topics were varied in nature, but most of the topics focused on the boy's small but constant progress in the academy. It was not enough for Naruto to be in the top ten, but now the boy was firmly in the middle of the class in terms of overall skills. Taijutsu and shurikenjutsu were his best subjects, with ninjutsu and academics following closely behind. Hiruzen even noticed, throughout the conversation, a couple of advanced words in his vocabulary and could not help but praise the lad for it.

"I'm thrilled that you are improving in your studies, Naruto-kun. I guess that talk we had really helped you."

The boy had his mouth full with ramen and ate it all, before responding.

"Thanks Jiji, yeah that talk helped big time you know. I now fully understand the contents in the academy books."

Hiruzen nodded, deeply please to see that the boy had also learned some manners as well. Normally, Naruto would speak with his mouth full.

"That's good…now as you're working hard at the academy, I wanted to give you something for your birthday." Naruto stopped eating and looked at his grandfather figure with glee in his eyes.

"For real, Jiji…thanks...what is it? It is your hat isn't it? I knew it." Hiruzen smiled at that, feeling content with the boy's progress and already making predictions about the boy's future achievements. The Sandaime Hokage grabbed from within his robe, a small scroll and handled it to Naruto. The boy caught the item with a frown on his face, much to Hiruzen's amusement. He really wanted to take a photo of the boy's face once he saw what was inside the scroll.

"Naruto-kun, please open the scroll and tell me what you see." The boy proceeded as instructed and saw what appeared to be kanji sequences forming a circle in the middle of the paper. "Now, this is something every shinobi must learn and is called a storage seal. With this, you can pretty much seal anything you desire. Most shinobi use it to keep their mission gear, camp supplies and even weapons. In order to seal any item, you simply need to place said item on top of the circle and focus some chakra on the scroll. The seal will do the rest and store your selected item. With me so far?" Naruto nodded, looking transfixed by the design. Hiruzen nodded in appreciation. The boy had indeed grown. The Hokage half-expected looks of doubt and a lot of questions, but the boy surprised him once more. "Okay, once you sealed the item, you simply do the same procedure in order to unseal it." Naruto nodded with a smile on his face, satisfied with the newly acquired knowledge. "Now Naruto-kun, let's see if you understood what I explained. Go ahead and unseal your gift."

Blinking twice since he believed that the gift was already given, Naruto beamed in glee at the second gift. He placed one hand on the circle and made the hand seal taught by the Hokage. A popping sound emerged followed by some smoke and Naruto's mouth simply opened wide. The boy held in his right hand a brand new shinobigatana. The scabbard was black in color and had no design whatsoever. However, to Naruto's eyes, at least, it was perfect. With his other hand, Naruto grabbed the hilt, noticing how the band adjusted to his hold. Pulling the blade out, the sword's newest metal reflected the sunlight and nearly blinded the gaping boy.

To Hiruzen, the boy was now as giddy as ever before.

"As I said before, this gift was to reward you for your improvement and hard work. I urge you to always improve, because it will only benefit you in the future." Naruto nodded, remembering the words of wisdom from his secret sensei and that if he had really showed everything he was capable of, he would have been close to the top of the class. Still, Tobirama-sensei was quite clear on keeping his full potential a secret until his graduation and Naruto owed the man enough to abide by his rules.

"I will jiji, thank you so much."

"You are most welcome…however please refrain from taking the sword to the academy. You will not be needing it there. If you show much promise with kenjutsu, then I can supply you with introduction scrolls to a style practiced here in Konoha." Naruto nodded and then sealed the weapon inside the scroll. Their lunch progressed nicely with some small talk shared between them. Naruto was curious about the past Hokages and asked many questions about the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokage. Hiruzen thought that the boy worshipped the Yondaime, but answered regardless. Hiruzen paid for their bill and bid Naruto goodbye, already dreading the amount of paperwork he had to read.

* * *

><p><strong>===Inside the cave===<strong>

* * *

><p>The genin in training bid farewell to the Hokage before running straight towards the cave where Tobirama-sensei was. As soon as he went inside, Naruto saw another one just like him working on taijutsu katas. Another Naruto was busy going through the ninjutsu he had learned from Tobirama-sensei. There was a third Naruto conversing about genjutsu disruption techniques with the Nidaime Hokage. Said Naruto turned to the one that entered the cave and smiled.<p>

"How was the meeting with jiji?"

"Oh you will learn all about it soon enough, boss. I do not want to ruin the surprise." The Naruto who met with Hiruzen was actually one of the shadow clones. The clone tossed the scroll with the sword to the original one, before dispelling and sending the information to the original. All the clones in the cave stopped what they were doing as the information came back to them. All of them showed grins of happiness, while the original unsealed the sword he received from the Sandaime. Tobirama saw the artifact in Naruto's possession and could not help but feel some sense of nostalgia. To believe that Saru had kept it all those years. This very sword was a gift from the very own Nidaime to the head of the Sarutobi Clan, prior to the clan's decision in joining Konoha. Sarutobi Sasuke then presented the sword to his son, Hiruzen and did so right in front of Senju Tobirama.

"Naruto let me see the sword for a second."

Tobirama grabbed the hilt and inspected the blade. The metal still looked the same when Tobirama gave it to the Sarutobi Clan head.

"I guess we can fit kenjutsu in your training agenda. This metal is of great quality and allows you to channel chakra through it, thus hardening the blade." Tobirama explained, before giving the sword back to the boy. "It is important that you treat this sword with great care. With time and without repair, the sword starts to rust and it becomes useless. It is actually a philosophy of the Samurai, but greatly applied to a shinobi, my pupil." The real Naruto looked at the man as he had a lost look on his face, while explaining so. "Like a samurai treats his sword, so must a shinobi take great care with the tools he possesses. There will be a time when a shuriken or kunai in hand is the difference between life and death, so always take good care of the tools you possess."

"Got it…" This was a gift from the Sandaime and Naruto would punch himself before allowing such an awesome weapon like this go to waste.

"Make sure that you do. Now, we have managed to cover a lot of ground here. You learned the advanced chakra control exercise as well as the four ninjutsu I taught you. You can already disrupt B-ranked illusions. Taijutsu and shurikenjutsu are greatly above my expectations. I knew that teaching you the _Kage Bunshin_ would aid you greatly. I originally planned to teach you elemental ninjutsu by your 11th birthday, but with the Kage Bunshin method, we managed to advance further than expected. Before you start grinning like an idiot…" Naruto frowned at the jab, but said nothing as the man had an amused smile on his face. "…elemental training is at least two times as dangerous and time consuming. As I am sure you learned by now, I expect nothing but full mastery coming from you. Now, tell me the five elements and tell me the order of them."

"There are five elements utilized in ninjutsu…fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. Fire beats wind, wind beats lighting, lightning beats earth, earth beats water and lastly water beats fire." The fact that Naruto recited that without stopping spoke volumes of the boy's increase in academics.

"Very good, now every shinobi is naturally attuned to one specific element. Therefore, ninjutsu of this element is much easier to learn and less chakra consuming to perform. It also means that the shinobi is weak against attacks from the opposite element. This information may be obvious, but when you're out there fighting for your life, even the most obvious information is forgotten. Some shinobi are born with more than one affinity though but that's quite rare. In order for us to ascertain your affinity, we need a special kind of paper. Since I know you don't have the slightest clue where to find one and I suppose that it would look suspicious if you ask around, there are other means of doing so." Naruto blinked once, waiting for the alternative method when he saw Tobirama take a step forward and place his hand on the top of his head.

The Nidaime Hokage closed his eyes and said nothing aside from brief throat sounds.

Two minutes later, Tobirama opened his eyes and immediately showed what appeared to be a satisfied smirk. The man had stumbled upon a gold mine and now he knew it. Naruto's main affinity was wind, but the boy had also strong ties with water affinity. While Tobirama knew a bit about fuuton ninjutsu, he was considered a god amongst men when it came to suiton ninjutsu. He would make sure that Naruto learned the steps to wind elemental manipulation and even a technique or two. For now, Naruto would have to train fuuton techniques on his own. As far as water ninjutsu, however…Tobirama would make sure to pass on his entire knowledge to his pupil.

Upon explaining his findings with the boy, the man allowed Naruto to show his enthusiasm freely.

Tobirama shared that enthusiasm as he had found a suitable shinobi to inherit his legacy.

* * *

><p><strong>===Two days later===<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto was walking home after the gruesome training he had with Tobirama-sensei. The man made good on his promise and would not end today's training until Naruto could make ripples on the cave's stream using only his chakra. It was the first step to water manipulation, Tobirama explained. The boy was still far from managing, but Tobirama did say it would be time consuming, even with clones helping. Naruto had nothing against postponing fuuton training for the time being. Tobirama already stated before that he would not be of great assistance in regards to wind manipulation mastery. Naruto would need to seek outside help for that.<p>

The problem was that aside from the Nidaime, Naruto had no one else to seek help to.

The Sandaime was the only one, but elemental manipulation was considered rare even for genin shinobi to learn. The boy figured that he could find something in the library, but he didn't have his hopes up. Said information was limited to shinobi only and he had yet to graduate from the academy. Naruto was about to climb the stairs of his apartment building when his nose came to life.

The smell was simply incredible.

He looked to the woods close to his apartment and was startled when he saw a small fire. Acting on his curiosity, Naruto entered the woods and was surprised to see an old man sitting next to the fire, working on what appeared to be a stew of some kind. His nose located the source of the smell and Naruto began to salivate in anticipation.

"Oh welcome young one, are you hungry?"

The voice awakened Naruto and made the boy look at the senior individual. He appeared quite old in Naruto's opinion, perhaps older than the Sandaime. He wore a mesh armor shirt under a short brown sleeveless kimono with a pair of grey paints. Referring to his question, Naruto was not so hungry; however the smell alone had brought a deeper sense of hunger. The elder took a plate and poured some stew, before offering it to the blond. Naruto continued to drool, but instead he stared at the stew, wondering if he really should, considering that he had never meet this man before and was already accepting food from him. "It's not poisoned I assure you young one, please do keep this old man some company."

Eventually, Naruto relented and ate it all like it was no tomorrow.

In no time, Naruto had two more helpings. His stomach threatened to burst through Naruto's clothes.

"Ne jichan, this is very delicious." The old man let out a warm laugh.

"Glad you like it, Naruto-kun." The lad narrowed his eyebrows instantly.

"How do you know my name?" Once more, the same laughter came out from the man's mouth.

"I've been a shinobi for well over fifty years now. There are not many in the village I do not know by name. Also, I am good friends with the Sandaime Hokage and he has talked great things about you." Naruto relaxed immediately and smiled at the elder shinobi. Any friend of his jiji was a friend of his. "My name is Kosuke Maruboshi, nice to meet you." The two began by exchanging introductory conversation about each other, until Kosuke offered to cook something more.

"Say jichan, you must be quite strong then? Fifty years training and doing missions, I mean…you must be at least a jounin."

"Actually, I'm a still genin Naruto-kun."

"…" _3_

"…" _2_

"…" _1_

"What? How can you still be a genin? That's not possible." The man laughed once more, but said nothing. Naruto just kept working his brain trying to understand this old man's situation. He remembered the old man Hokage saying once that some shinobi in Konoha were promoted to chunnin or jounin and did not even reach their twenties yet. How could this man remain a genin for so long? Remembering about Tobirama's teachings, Naruto could see many inconsistences with this story. That being said and taking into account that this Kosuke person was not lying; perhaps there was more to this story. Deciding to change the subject, Naruto asked more questions.

"Well, at least you got to fight alongside a lot of powerful shinobi, right jichan?"

"Oh yes…many powerful one indeed. Konoha's White Fang, the Sannin and all the Hokages, except our esteemed Shodaime." Naruto smiled at the man, wondering about how it would be to fight alongside them.

"You know jichan, I've researched a lot about the Nidaime but the history books does not specify much. How was it to fight alongside him?" Kosuke looked at the little bundle of joy and could not help but show a tender looking smile. Normally, such an exuberant kid would not have the patience to sit and talk with the elderly. In addition, in Kosuke's mind and even Hiruzen's, the boy's hero was the Yondaime Hokage. Nevertheless, Kosuke complied with the request and looked to the skies.

"Senju Tobirama-sama was a man of great power, young one. Just his presence alone commanded respect. People would always see the Shodaime Hokage for the man's many achievements and strength. However, while people revered Senju Hashirama, Tobirama-sama was the one responsible for truly managing the village, with the exception of the academy that Shodaime oversaw it personally. Tobirama-sama would pick missions that he would go personally and thus selected other shinobi to go with him. His suiton ninjutsu was considered a legend in the field and many of our enemies would not dare face the man. However, the Nidaime Hokage had many other skills that were equally feared." Naruto nodded, feeling quite pleased with having said man teaching him how to become a real shinobi. Two years ago, Naruto would boost to the world that he would the Hokage, however inside he felt inferior since he was never able to show any Tobirama's help, Naruto was now able to progress further and further, until the point that becoming Hokage was not simply a distant dream.

It now became a possibility.

"Naruto-kun…?" The boy looked at Kosuke. "You seemed distracted about something? Is something on your mind?"

"Oh no…it's just that I was trying to imagine what was like to fight alongside the Nidaime, based on what you described." Kosuke smiled with a nod.

"You seem to speak quite fondly of him. I remember Sandaime-sama telling me that you idolized the Yondaime, though." Naruto nodded. Well, having the Nidaime as his personal trainer did shift his opinion.

"Yeah…the Yondaime is awesome and all; he was the one that defeated the Kyuubi, right! He even got to swift the tide in the last great ninja war. However, the Nidaime Hokage's prowess comes from before even the hidden village founding. From the books, in those days, simply surviving as a shinobi was already an achievement. Not only that, but from what I read, the Nidaime Hokage was regarded as one of the strongest shinobi in existence, losing only to the Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara." Kosuke could not help but snicker at the book comparison. Tobirama-sama never did like Madara and certainly, he did not enjoy being compared to Shodaime-sama. Aside from that, Naruto-kun did know a lot about the Hokages' history.

"You certainly enjoyed reading about the Kages' history. I bet that they would be proud to hear that you took such an interest in them."

The boy this time showed a bright smile.

"Well, I do want to be just like them in the future." Kosuke opened his eyes a bit looking at the kid in front of him, before smiling fondly. Hiruzen was right…Naruto-kun was indeed quite interesting. The conversation continued for a while, before Naruto bid the old man farewell. Kosuke appreciated the company dearly and invited the kid for another dinner anytime.

* * *

><p><strong>===Next day===<strong>

* * *

><p>After the academy, Naruto started his training in earnest, working his chakra through hell and back in order to learn water manipulation as per Tobirama's instructions. So far, the boy, even with the use of his clones, barely learned the first phase, but Tobirama knew it would take time. In his mind, it was better to waste more time in learning the fundamentals, because then Naruto could learn the most advanced subjects faster. It was like an engineering project. It takes more time do design the project than to perform the actual construction. That way, once the construction starts it wouldn't be hindered by outside interference. Also, the kid had advanced chakra control, so by Tobirama's estimate; he should finish both the first and second steps today.<p>

The clones all worked in different sides of the lake, until one short burst of chakra from all of the Narutos managed to form ripples. Senju smirked…Naruto could already perform C-ranked ninjutsu with this level of control, but the man would wait until Naruto learned all four steps. It was necessary to reach Tobirama's level.

"Excellent…now let us proceed with the second step. You learned how to make ripples. Now you shall learn how to manipulate the water into forming a whirlpool like this, watch." Naruto watched as Tobirama landed his hand on the lake and manipulated chakra. The boy saw that around the man's hand, a spiral formed until the entire area became a water tornado. "Use your chakra and imagine it swirling around your palm while the palm is on the water surface. Start by transforming the entire lake into one gigantic whirlpool. Your control will improve when you manage to make it smaller and smaller until it barely circles your hand. Get to it…oh and I will be taking a bunshin to teach some kenjutsu katas. The clone will memorize it, but it will be up to you to train the movements and perfect them in time. Remember that Kage Bunshin training will not make up for hard work".

"I know…uh sensei, I was wondering about my other affinity, wind. How do I get to train it while I'm focusing only on water?"

"Getting stronger is good, but getting ahead of yourself is not. Patience is required in a shinobi's life. Even with the bunshin, learning two affinities at the same time will do more harm than good. You won't be able to fully assimilate the intricacies of each element at the same time. It is important that we focus one hundred percent of our time to each task, before moving on to the others. As I told you, while I know of the steps required to learn wind manipulation and even a couple of techniques, I cannot help you as much as I can with water. Perhaps, it will be prudent to leave wind manipulation aside for now and resume once you graduate and is transferred to a jounin-sensei. He or she can perhaps supply you with the knowledge you require."

"Ok I understand…also, after graduating, I can have access to the shinobi section of the library." Tobirama nodded, before seeing the boy return to the task of finishing the second step.

"That too…now stop wasting time and do it already. I expect you to finish this exercised today." Naruto gulped nervously at the look Tobirama sent him from the corner of his eye. The man was no stranger to the old water whip method of making sure that his student stayed focused.

* * *

><p><strong>===Two months later===<strong>

* * *

><p>'<em>Okay…mold chakra in your stomach and inhale through the nose…hold it in and then exhale it all out at once…'<em> _Suiton Mizurappa no Jutsu_ (Water Release: Violent Water Wave Technique). Naruto joined both hands in a praying fashion as he inhaled, before expelling a strong jet of water at the waterfall. Tobirama stood by the boy's side, inspecting the attack while it was performed. In his eyes, the boy was already proficient and will only improve in due time. The second step actually ended up taking Naruto an entire week to finish, due to his large amount of chakra. The third step involved primarily about the level of control regarding the water inside Naruto's body.

Aside from this project, Tobirama had also drilled Naruto's clones with different kenjutsu positions and even got to tutor him on battle plans involving the sword. Tobirama now felt confident enough that Naruto was ready for the fourth and last step of water manipulation mastery. In fact, Naruto was clueless, but there were only three steps needed to be proficient in water ninjutsu. The fourth step was purely Tobirama's creation as it allowed him to use water techniques even without a nearby water source.

"My student, you've come quite far in your training and now it is time for me to pass on the first part of my legacy. Follow me please…" Naruto nodded as he watched Tobirama step into the water and walking casually towards the waterfall. "As I explained it you, water is an abundant element of nature. You are able to find it in almost every place you look. Suiton ninjutsu divides in two types of techniques, the ones where you use the water within your body and the ones you use outside your body. A true master of suiton ninjutsu, however, does not need to rely on any nearby source of water and I shall pass on this knowledge to you, so that it may once more benefit the village." Naruto nodded as the man took a seat right below the waterfall. The heavy water bombarded the man's blue armory, but he did not appear discomforted.

"The forth step to mastery is to learn how to use water ninjutsu by using the water molecules saturated in the air." Naruto looked ignorant of the subject, but the man learned his patience. Naruto was a fast learner. "The air molecules are composed mainly on two chemical substances, called Hydrogen and Oxygen. Both these substances together form water molecules, which for a suiton master is an unending source to be used. Now, come sit by my side and focus on your chakra." The boy did so and immediately flinched at the water pressure. "Close your eyes and spread your chakra through the entire lake around you. The key to this exercise is to become one with the very element."

Naruto did as his sensei told and closed his eyes, attempting to ignore the discomfort.

According to his sensei, the water element was unlike all the other elements. Its nature was calm and serene, but anytime and if used properly, it could become quite fearsome. It took a while but eventually Naruto got used to the waterfall bombarding his shoulder. In his mind, all he could think of was the deep sapphire color of the water he was seating on. Senju Tobirama looked at his student and smirked. The boy was ready to receive his legacy now. When Naruto opened his eyes, Tobirama could see himself in the boy's eyes. Like the water they were seating, Naruto needed to be calm and serene in nature, but perfectly capable of being quite fearsome when needed.

"You're now ready to learn suiton ninjutsu." Naruto nodded in determination.

* * *

><p><strong>===Two months later===<strong>

* * *

><p>After achieving the end of the water manipulation training, Tobirama drilled the boy, teaching him a couple more water ninjutsu for him to practice, the <em>Suiton Suijinheki<em> (Water Release: Water Wall Technique) and _Suiton Suidanha_ (Water Release: Water Severing Wave Technique). The last one was highly offensive and it consisted on spewing a high pressure water stream that was powerful enough to cut cleanly through several thick trees. Naruto learned how to use the water molecules as source, so the water techniques required less hand seals and even less chakra than necessary. Also, Naruto's clones learned the kenjutsu katas taught by the Nidaime, who firmly believed that Naruto could use his fuuton affinity to use it in conjunction with kenjutsu. With that thought in mind, Tobirama started teaching the first step to wind manipulation. It was required of Naruto to slice a leaf using only his chakra.

Unlike before, Tobirama left the clones in charge of learning wind manipulation. Naruto would focus exclusively of honing his physical skills, hence tai and kenjutsu. The clones allowed him to master the positions and battle strikes, but Naruto needed to be able to perform those movements like it was second nature to him. Right now, Naruto was using kenjutsu against Tobirama while the man had two kunai. Their movements were fast, but nowhere as lethal as it would be throughout a fight. Tobirama was of course faster and much more agile, but the man held back his speed to match Naruto's. In time, Tobirama would increase his speed until he deemed Naruto's ability acceptable. Obviously, the man could not expect Naruto to become jounin level right now. He was only ten years old. He will grow and thus increase his strength and speed. Right now, the best Tobirama can hope for is for Naruto to learn the positions as well as learn how to read the opponent's moves.

Right now, Tobirama and Naruto were fighting on top of the water, thus training Naruto's chakra control while keeping him on the move.

The Nidaime Hokage was impressed with the boy's tenacity in battle. Even if they were fighting at chuunin speeds, Naruto was making full use of the katas he learned, not allowing Tobirama to figure out a pattern. The boy would attack high and attack low, using his sword and his feet. If the boy learned another style, he could mix it up even more, thus not allowing the opponent time to breathe. Truly astounding was the boy's progress but equally so was the boy's potential. The style Tobirama taught the boy revolved around speed and agility with fast and precise strikes. There was another style that Tobirama had in mind. It was the complete opposite of his, rather focusing on strength augmented by chakra. Just one punch from Hashirama was enough to break some ribs if used correctly. While Naruto did not possess perfect chakra control like his older brother possessed, it still could be adapted.

Turning to the battle, both traded some blows before skidding throughout the water, making some distance.

"We're done for the day, Naruto. Get some rest." The blond nodded with a smile as he left the small lake and took a seat by the margin.

Tobirama could see the satisfied look on Naruto's face. The boy had grown quite a lot under his tutorship and the man was not speaking about the ninja arts. When they started training, Tobirama often had to resort to his water whips to keep the boy focused. While it seemed brutal to some, it did help keep the boy motivated. Now, it was rare to see the boy losing his concentration, thus allowing them to make full use of their time together, learning new material and even perfecting his already existing arsenal. The clones had gone, transferring their training to the real one, who then grabbed a leaf on the ground and attempted the technique. He placed the leaf between his hands and molded wind chakra. As he saw the leaf, he smiled upon seeing that he managed to slice it half way already. He got up and bowed at his sensei, showing respect and gratitude.

"See ya tomorrow, sensei." Tobirama nodded with a smile as he saw the boy leave the cave.

When Naruto left, Tobirama turned to the scroll behind him and inspected it thoroughly, seeing if he had missed anything of importance. This will be the boy's graduation gift. Tobirama had placed one hundred percent of his knowledge inside this scroll, containing not only his entire elemental ninjutsu repertoire, but also his space-time ninjutsu techniques and even his most dark creation, the _Edo Tensei_ technique. A technique that enable the creator to revive the dead. Hashirama vehemently protested against the creation and Tobirama at the time explained that he would do everything he could to better protect the village. At the time, the man firmly believed that the means were justified just as long as the end meant Konoha's survival and prosperity. For some reason, he did not wish for Naruto to learn the Edo Tensei technique. It was a vile technique; that much he knew. Tobirama wished for Naruto to receive his legacy so that it could be of use to the village. He did not wish for the kid to tamper with such knowledge.

However, that did not mean that he would not teach the boy how to undo the technique. The Edo Tensei was created with the knowledge he acquired from Uzumaki Mito's teachings, which meant that the knowledge the revive the dead was in Uzushio's ancient scrolls. If those scrolls were to be stolen by someone who wished to use the technique against Konoha, it was Tobirama's responsibility to teach Naruto how to undo the technique. Aside from that, it was now time to teach him a thing or two about space-time ninjutsu. Of course, it would take a lot of time for the boy to grasp the concept, but eventually Naruto would learn it through the instructions Tobirama left in the scroll.

* * *

><p><strong>Author Note<strong>

Ok that's it for now. Next chapter, Naruto will graduate and enter a genin team of my choosing. I am open for suggestions, though. One thing is important…I will not follow the regular choices, meaning that some mixing will happen. As to the Edo Tensei technique, I had a couple reviewers asking about it. If Naruto were to tamper with it, it would lead of bad choices in the future and then the boy would start believing that the end justified the means.

To everyone, a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

See you all in 2015.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure