-Three years and five months later-
Two four year-old children were on the lawn standing in attention, childish excitement and desire were on full display in their faces. This two are Kajirama and Asuma.
Kajirama Ogata's development growing up as a baby was great. Now four-years old, Kajirama had a height of 3 feet and 7 inches, he was even much taller than Asuma by half a head, which was unusual considering that Asuma was older than him by a couple of months, although, when taking into account his father's astounding genetics and gluttonous eating habits as an external factor, then it is only logical that he had a height much taller than his little uncle. However, unlike his father's morally deprived and perverted frame of mind, Kajirama was an obedient and calmly collected child, furthermore, he was filled with spirited enthusiasm that kind of reminded his grandparents of his mother, Anzu. Nonetheless, Kajirama's fervent disposition, for the most part, focused on shinobi related context. This personality of his was revealed to the people around him when he began reading through the books found in the Sarutobi Clan's Library, the instant he knew how to read with the help of his grandmother Biwako, he showed intrigue perused through books that contained mainly of shinobi-context, occasionally asking the meaning of big words that are too complicated for him to understand.
In front of the duo was Hiruzen - well, a shadow clone to be exact since the original Kage was still on his Hokage Office doing some paper work - he was standing there with a smile sporting on his face. The old man had finally decided to start their ninja training, hence the aching excitement and stares of thirsting desire he was subjected by his son and grandson.
Hiruzen's shadow clone eyed them before he beckoned the children closer.
"Kajirama, Asuma. Today will be your first time training in the ways of a shinobi, I won't be teaching you anything complicated yet, so we'll start off with the basics." Hiruzen informed in his teaching voice.
Hearing this, Asuma whined a complain in his childish voice. "Whaaaaat!? Does that mean no cool jutsus then, Otō-san?"
"Sorry, Asuma. But, you and Kajirama are no where near ready for a jutsu, you wouldn't even be able to perform one without training in chakra control and memorization of the twelve basic hand signs, to say nothing that both of you haven't even unlocked your chakra yet. Only when you fully trained on this things would I consider teaching both of you a jutsu." Hiruzen announced.
"Uhhhhh!" Asuma continued to whine, even Kajirama began to pout, obviously, both the midgets wanted to learn loads of cool jutsus right of the bat.
Hiruzen just shook his head at his son's tantrum, he had already expected this much of a reaction, kids are after all kids, then he continued. "For now, I'm going to teach you how to unlock your chakra. This would be officially your first run with chakra, before teaching you how to unlock it, can anyone of the both of you tell me what chakra is?"
Asuma raised his hand fast, which Hiruzen then nodded for his son to answer.
"Chakra... Is chakra." Evidently, little Asuma thought that he could find an explanation what chakra was when they were questioned about it by his father, but when he began, he found it difficult to explain it.
Hiruzen released an amused smile as his sweat drop. "Can you tell me the specifics of chakra, Asuma? How about you Kajirama?"
Since Asuma wouldn't be answering the question, then he should try to answer it to the best of his knowledge. Kajirama thought for a moment, as he brought a hand on his chin to think, before eventually answering. "Chakra is a form of substance that's around us, every living being possessed chakra. The ones who unlock those can become a Shinobi. Chakra has also become a form of life energy that all individuals produce to some degree, in turn, those who run out of chakra will die. Produced within and manipulated by organs such as the heart, the energy circulates throughout the body in a network called the 'chakra coils' which is similar to the cardiovascular system. Groups such as shinobi have learned to generate more chakra and release it outside their bodies through pressure points called tenketsu in order to perform a jutsu..."
Hiruzen also had amazement in his eyes, he didn't expect such a depth answer from the child. Asuma, was in a trance as his gaze was on Kajirama, as if his nephew had grown another head, not really understanding what the words the fellow kid at his side was uttering from his mouth.
Kajirama continued. "But unlike chakra, chakra coils are entirely different things. The chakra coils or some may call it chakra pathways usually developed during the first few years of a baby. A baby's body doesn't immediately possess chakra coils, unlike chakra itself. Rather, the the chakra coils develop as a baby matures into a child. Any premature attempt to unlock chakra before the coils were entirely formed would eventually result in malformed chakra coils."
"Woah! How did you know that, Kajirama." Asuma asked in bewilderment and wonder.
"I read it in passing from a book in the household library, Asuma." Asuma and Kajirama then began to chitter and chatter among themselves.
Hiruzen was silent at first, then he smiled. "Impressive, Kajirama." Kajirama may had collected this information from reading in their library, even he knew how passionate he was on his intrigue towards shinobi related stuff.
Receiving a compliment from his grandfather got Kajirama to rub his head bashfully.
"Yeah!" Asuma also pumped a thumbs up on Kajirama's way as he flashed him a smile.
Seeing this, Hiruzen began to chuckle and explain. "It is very difficult to unlock chakra when the coils are still being formed. Four years of age is an ideal time to begin chakra unlocking, hence the reason why I waited for the both of you to grow up four years before talking about the details and usage of chakra."
Hiruzen started their first lesson on chakra. "Chakra, as both of you already know, is present in every living thing. Each and every one of us had unique chakra signature, capacity, and affinity. Some are greatly attuned to their chakra. Some are far less attuned to their chakra. Some had large reserves and some had lesser reserves. Shinobi clans like us, the Sarutobi, Senju, Akimichi, and the Uchiha had larger reserves of chakra in general. While clans like Nara, Yamanaka, Hyuga, and Inuzaka usually had lesser reserves. But, that doesn't mean it is set in stone. The capacity of each and every individual differed."
"So is an individual's control of that said chakra. Those who are attuned to their chakra more had greater control of their chakra and those who aren't attuned to their chakra more had lesser chakra control. But, these all could be rectified with proper training."
"There are unchangeable aspects of each individual's chakra too. For example one's nature. The Uchihas have greater control towards Yin chakra. While the Senjus and Uzumakis of the world had greater control towards the Yang chakra. Because those are what they are naturally aligned to. So is the elemental affinity of the chakra. The five basic elemental affinity of the chakra is unique to each person and however one may try they can't change it. So is the Kekkei Genkai[Bloodline Limit] aspect, which is a subject I'll leave for you to learn in the academy when the both of you are eligible enough in age to attend."
After lecturing them about the various types of chakra and its nature, he allowed that to sink in, Kajirama had no problems but that didn't sailed the same way with Asuma as he kept on asking Hiruzen a couple of times to repeat some parts he didn't quite understood, Hiruzen didn't mind as he patiently taught Asuma. After which, he set them on their first chakra exercise. Unlocking the said chakra.
"The most ideal way to unlock one's chakra is to meditate and feel it on your own. In case of emergencies and extreme situations, a skilled shinobi can unlock a child's chakra coil. Due to the external help however, your chakra would always be difficult to control. Poor chakra control is a recipe for disaster for a Shinobi. And I didn't want that unless until there's no other way for the both of you. That's why shinobis only used it in emergencies."
Kajirama and Asuma took in the information dutifully, as they looked towards Hiruzen with all the seriousness their babyish face could muster. They looked a bit silly, but Hiruzen reciprocated their willingness with an appropriate expression.
"As per my instructions, you would be trying to unlock chakra all on your own. Both of you can ask Biwako and I if you had some difficulties in it..." Hiruzen trailed off, as he thought in contemplation. 'Should I do the carrot and the stick trick to have them more motivated? Hmmm... Let's do it, it wouldn't hurt the children anyway.'
"How about we make an agreement?"
Both Kajirama and Asuma perked up as they looked on with a new curious gaze.
"What agreement, Otō-san/Ojī-san?" The children both put forward in unison.
"If you can unlock your chakra within a week, then I will reward both of you a D-rank jutsu. If not, then you will have to wait a year or a few for you to attend the Shinobi Academy to teach you more techniques."
This caused Kajirama and Asuma's eyes to visibly brightened at that admission.
"I will try to unlock my chakra within a week, Ojī-san." Kajirama replied brightly.
"Yeah! Me too! I will get that D-rank jutsu from you before you know it, Otō-san." Followed Asuma.
Both the vibrant replies made Hiruzen's smile curve upwards more.
"I'll wait for the good news, children."
...
{Kajirama's POV}
After Ojī-san taught Asuma and I, we quickly returned inside the house after we saw his clone disperse with a white cloud of smokes. We sat down on a futon, after which we tried to unlock our chakra as according to Ojī-san's teachings.
I was excited on the prospect that I'm finally starting my Shinobi training, I had been waiting for this day to arrive, I even kept pestering Obā-chan[Biwako] on it, although it didn't help even when I used my secret weapon, puppy-eyes nō jutsu on her, which was abnormal since she always would reconsider everytime I used that on her, it seems that this time was different, rightfully so now that I learned the reason from Ojī-san.
I spent a few hours trying to unlock my chakra. Every minute passed which made the time laps longer, this made me frustrated, but I persevered as he remembered from Ojī-san's words that it wasn't easy to unlock it in the first place.
I could have easily asked Obā-chan to unlock my chakra. But then again it had its own drawbacks, and according to my grandfather's words and the books I read, it was significantly important that a shinobi had to possess adequate chakra control, so with that in mind, that option was destroyed.
Despite the frustrations the task brought me, I kept at it for a few days before I finally started to clear my mind out of all the distractions that were clouding me. I had read about the concept called 'mushin' in a book before. It was the only thing I could describe as the state I was in.
But the job was only half done. Honestly, after reading all those books you would think it would be easy to unlock one's chakra. But the truth could be nowhere close to it. After achieving 'mushin', I tried various methods I think would work to unlock my chakra. But all ended in vain. But still, I preserved in my dedication to unlock my chakra. And it paid off after the sixth day of the week - after I had initially begun -.
It was a beautiful evening in Konoha. Rain was always a special occurrence in Konoha. While we weren't starved for rain like Suna, Konoha didn't get much rain either. But, I wasn't enjoying it like I usually did. Asuma had tried to drag me out to play in the rain, but I had refused to be budged from my meditation. Asuma had given me a weird look before rushing outside to get wet in the rain.
'You can play all you want, little ojiī-san. You're missing out when I'll get that D-rank jutsu from Ojī-san, hmph!'
With that in mind, I slipped back into 'wushin' state and started to think about various methods to unlock my chakra. But after a while, I realized it wasn't working. Sure, I had some progress with some of the methods but none of them had unlocked my chakra yet. And it was so damn frustrating.
I emptied my mind once more and started thinking of some innovative ways to unlock my chakra. But, none came to mind. I could hear the raindrops falling from the nearby window though. The pitter patter sound they made was beginning to intrude on my concentration. Unable to concentrate further I let out a huge huff and began my process once more.
It had become a common occurrence that it didn't even phase me to go through all those steps again. But the raindrops were not letting me concentrate. This time I wasn't even able to reach the zen state in the normal way I used to.
So, I took a gamble and began concentrating on a particular area from the roof where the rain water was falling from. The constant drip drops soon soothed me and I lost myself in their sound. I don't know how long I held on to that particular sound before my mind began to calm considerably and I entered the 'wushin' I was usually in, albeit with the sound of the constant drip drop.
And then it happened.
One moment everything felt normal and the next moment everything became clear. There was a strange sense of rush that usually didn't occur in this state. Accompanying it was a sense of clarity that I haven't felt before. It was both calming and energizing.
I meditated for more than an hour before opening my eyes.
"Congratulations, Kaji-chan."
Biwako was looking at me with a huge grin that spoke volumes. I could feel that she was proud of me for persevering until I unlocked the chakra. The hug she gave me was filled with joy and it gave me a strange sense of accomplishment. And I was sure I had a stupid grin on my face at that moment.