The sound was dry and rhythmic. Flesh against wood. Again and again.
Naruto was alone in Training Ground 7. The afternoon sun beat down on the village, but he didn't feel the heat. He only felt the burning in his knuckles.
Thud. Splinters. Blood.
"Dammit!"
He kicked the base of the post, kicking up a cloud of dust. His hand hurt. His legs hurt.
"You're still doing that wrong, brat."
The voice made him spin around.
Tsunade was sitting on the lowest branch of a nearby oak tree, swinging one leg. She held a bottle of sake in one hand and wore an expression of absolute boredom on her face.
"Grandma!" Naruto shouted, rubbing his nose. "How long have you been there? You look like a ghost."
"Long enough to see you have the technique of a drunk fighting in a bar." Tsunade took a long swig from the bottle and hopped down to the ground. "And stop calling me Grandma if you don't want me to rip your tongue out. It's Tsunade-sama."
"Whatever," Naruto muttered, turning back to the post. "I'm busy."
"Busy?" Tsunade let out a short laugh. "You call that busy. I call it throwing a tantrum. You're hitting that wood like it owes you money, Naruto. You aren't training anything. You're just breaking your hands."
"I have to get stronger!" he shouted, his voice cracking slightly. "Everyone is getting stronger! Sakura is learning things from genius medics, Hinata moves so fast I can't even see her, and I... I'm still here! Disqualified!"
Tsunade walked slowly toward him. She looked at the post, which had a considerable dent and spots of fresh blood. Then she looked at Naruto's hands.
"Give me your hand."
"What? No. I'm fine."
"I said give me your hand."
The tone allowed for no argument. Naruto huffed and extended his right hand, full of scratches and with bleeding knuckles. Tsunade took it. A soft green light wrapped around her fingers.
"You're an impatient idiot," she said, running her thumb over the wounds that were beginning to close. "Do you think breaking your bones is going to help you catch up to anyone?"
"I have to do something." Naruto looked at the ground. "The exams start in two weeks. Kiba is going to be there. Shino is going to be there. Even that slacker Shikamaru is going to be there. And I'm going to be in the stands eating popcorn. It's... it's pathetic."
"And that bothers you? Not being in the show?"
"It's not the show!" Naruto pulled his hand back sharply. "It's that I'm getting left behind! I'm the leader of the 'Family', right? I'm supposed to protect them. I'm supposed to be the strongest. If they surpass me... why would they need me?"
Tsunade looked at him in silence for a few seconds. She took another drink from her bottle.
"Come here. Sit down."
She dropped onto the grass and patted the spot next to her. Naruto hesitated for a second, but curiosity and exhaustion won out. He sat a meter away, crossing his legs.
"Do you know why you were disqualified, Naruto?" she asked, looking at the clouds.
"Because the rules are stupid and because Iruka-sensei likes following the manual."
"No. You were disqualified because your team doesn't work without its three pieces. And because Hiruzen and I decided it was for the best."
"For the best for who!"
"For you, knucklehead." Tsunade glanced at him sideways. "Those exams... they are a circus. They are for feudal lords and rich clients to come and see which village has the best war toys. It's not about who the best ninja is. It's about who puts on the best show."
"I could put on a great show!"
"You could die."
"I get it. Really. But... it feels bad. It feels like running away."
"Running away is leaving the village and getting drunk in casinos for twenty years," Tsunade said with a self-deprecating grimace. "Staying and training in the shadows while the others play gladiator... that is strategy."
"You think?"
"I know." Tsunade turned to him. "Listen, brat. I'm going to tell you something I don't tell many people. You have something Sasuke doesn't have. And that Sakura doesn't have."
"What? Hunger?"
"Charisma. And a contagious stupidity." Tsunade wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "You managed to get me to come back to this rotten village. You got Kurenai to risk her career for you. You got that Hyuga girl to stop stuttering and fight. That's not a jutsu. That's something you're born with."
"That doesn't win fights," Naruto murmured.
"No. But it makes people want to fight for you." Tsunade became serious. "Brute strength can be acquired. Sakura is acquiring it. You already have the fox's chakra. But keeping people together... that's the hard part. The First Hokage had that. My grandfather. He was a smiling idiot half the time, but when he got serious, no one wanted to disappoint him."
Naruto lifted his head.
"Your grandfather was like me?"
"He was worse. He was addicted to gambling, just like me." Tsunade smiled nostalgically. "But he believed in the village more than anyone. You remind me of him. And of my brother."
"Your brother...?" Naruto asked softly.
"Yes. Nawaki. He wanted to be Hokage. He wanted to protect everyone." Tsunade's gaze darkened for a moment. "He died because he was too reckless. Because he ran toward danger without thinking. You do the same thing."
"Hey! I think! Sometimes."
"Almost never. But you're lucky. And you have people watching your back now." Tsunade stood up and dusted herself off. "So stop whining about a stupid exam. You have work to do."
"What work? Kakashi-sensei vanished."
"You have to be my research assistant," she said with a mischievous smile.
Naruto looked at her suspiciously.
"Does 'research assistant' mean carrying your shopping bags and watching you lose money at cards?"
"It means that and it also means I'm going to teach you how to move so that the next time someone attacks you, you don't have to depend on getting healed."
Naruto jumped up.
"You're going to train me? Really?"
"Just the basics. Evasion. How to read an opponent. How not to die in the first five seconds. I don't have the patience to teach you complicated jutsu, that's Kakashi's problem. But I can teach you not to be a punching bag."
"Awesome!" Naruto started hopping around. "Let's go! Teach me now! Hit me!"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to hit you?"
"Yes! I want to see how strong a real Sannin is. I won't hold back!"
"Fine." Tsunade placed the bottle on the ground carefully. "Come at me. You have one minute. If you manage to touch me, I'll treat you to whatever dinner you want. Anything."
"Get ready to pay up, Grandma!" Naruto shouted.
He launched himself at her. A straight punch to the face.
Tsunade didn't move until the last microsecond. She tilted her head slightly to the left. Naruto's fist whistled past her ear.
"Slow," she said.
Naruto spun and threw a low kick. Tsunade lifted her foot and stepped on Naruto's calf, pinning him to the ground.
"Predictable."
Naruto grunted, made a hand seal and poof, a clone appeared behind her trying to grab her.
Tsunade grabbed the original Naruto by the jacket and threw him backward, crashing into the clone. Both fell in a pile of orange limbs.
"Clumsy."
"I'm not done yet!" Naruto got up, panting. He created four more clones. "Uzumaki All-Out Attack Formation!"
The five Narutos charged from different angles. Tsunade sighed. A flick to the forehead of the first one. A trip for the second. A light shove on the shoulder of the third that made him crash into the fourth. The fifth, the original, reached her with a war cry.
Tsunade raised a finger. A single finger. And she placed it on Naruto's forehead, stopping his advance dead in its tracks. Naruto flailed his arms, trying to reach her, but his arms were shorter than her extended arm.
"Time," Tsunade said.
Naruto let his arms drop, defeated and breathing hard.
"You didn't even move from your spot."
"I didn't have to. You move with a lot of energy, but you announce your hits like you're sending a letter before attacking. You look where you're going to hit. You tense your shoulders. You breathe loudly. You're an open book, kid."
"So how do I fix that?"
"Stop trying to hit hard. Try to hit fast. And relax. You're so tense you get tired before you arrive." Tsunade flicked his forehead again. "And use your head. Those clones... are useful, but you use them as cannon fodder. Use them to confuse the enemy."
"Got it. Relax. Confuse." Naruto nodded. "Again?"
"No. I'm bored now and I'm out of sake." Tsunade picked up her bottle. "Besides, I have to go to the hospital to check on the Uchiha."
Naruto deflated a little.
"How is Sasuke? Really? Sakura-chan says he's fine, but..."
"He's stable. Your friend and I did a good job. But his body took a beating. He needs time. And that strange energy Sakura used... we are still monitoring it. It's fascinating, but dangerous."
"It's not dangerous," Naruto said quickly. "She... tried to help."
"I know. But the human body is fragile, Naruto. Even with strange magic." Tsunade started walking toward the exit of the field. "Go home. Take a bath. You stink of sweat. I'll see you tomorrow at the hospital. You can help me carry boxes of old files."
"That's not training!"
"It's strength and patience training. See you!"
Tsunade disappeared down the path. Naruto was left alone again, but the silence didn't feel as overwhelming anymore. He looked at his hands, already healed.
"Patience training..." he muttered. "What a drag."
He walked back to the village as the sunset turned into night. The streets were beginning to empty. He passed near the barbecue restaurant and heard laughter. He stopped and looked through the window.
Inside was Team 10. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were sitting around a grill full of meat. Asuma was paying the bill, laughing with them. They looked happy. They looked like a normal team preparing for the exams.
Naruto felt a pang in his stomach.
Further ahead, he saw Kiba and Shino coming out of a ninja supply store. Kiba was gesturing excitedly, probably talking about some new strategy. Shino listened in silence.
Everyone has something to do. Everyone has a clear goal for tomorrow.
He reached the residential area and his steps unconsciously took him near Sakura's house. He saw the light on in her second-floor window. He saw her silhouette moving, probably studying those giant medical books Tsunade gave her.
"Do your best, Sakura-chan... You're doing great," he whispered.
He kept walking. The Hyuga compound was on the other side of the village, but he decided to take a detour. Just to... pass by. It wasn't like he was going to spy or anything.
When he arrived near the walls of the Hyuga compound, he saw Hinata. She was outside, near the side entrance, talking to Neji. Naruto instinctively hid behind a pole.
They seemed to be arguing. Well, Neji was talking with his sour face and Hinata was listening with her head down. But then, Naruto saw something. Hinata lifted her head. She said something. He couldn't hear what it was, but he saw the look of surprise on Neji's face. Hinata gave a short bow and entered the compound, leaving her cousin standing there looking confused.
"Well done, Hinata," Naruto smiled.
He was alone again. The way to his apartment felt long. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked a stone.
Mist began to rise in the streets, something rare for that time of year in Konoha. It thickened quickly, muffling the sounds of the village. The streetlamps became fuzzy blurs of yellow light.
Suddenly, the world seemed to distort gently. Illusory flower petals, a deep red color, began to float around him, falling from a sky he couldn't see.
Naruto stopped and smiled. He knew this sensation.
"Your mind is still an open book, Naruto," a soft voice said behind him.
He turned around. Kurenai was there, materializing from the mist, leaning casually against the trunk of a tree that seemed to have grown out of the pavement just for her. She wasn't wearing her flak jacket, but civilian clothes, a simple dark-colored dress.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto tried to put on his best smile, the one he used to say everything is great. "What are you doing walking so late? Practicing magic tricks?"
Kurenai didn't return the smile immediately. Her red eyes, enhanced by the [Mind's Eye] ability, scanned him. To her, Naruto wasn't just a physical image. She could see the turbulence in his aura; the fear of being alone, the frustration of feeling stagnant.
"They aren't tricks, Naruto. And I'm not walking. I was looking for you."
"Me?" Naruto pointed at his chest. "Did something happen? Did Gato come back to life? Did Tsunade run away again?"
"No. None of that." Kurenai pushed off the tree and walked toward him. The petals parted in her path. "I simply felt... that you were making too much noise in your head."
"Noise in my head?" Naruto laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine. I just trained with Grandma Tsunade. I almost hit her! Well, not really, but I was close."
"You lie very poorly when you're sad."
Naruto's smile faltered and then fell completely. His shoulders slumped.
"I'm not sad. Just... bored."
"Come with me," she said simply.
"Where?"
"To a quiet place. There are too many eyes here, even at night."
Kurenai turned around and started walking. Naruto followed her. They walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached a small elevated park on the edge of the commercial district. There was a stone bench overlooking much of the lit-up village. It was deserted.
Kurenai sat down and indicated for him to do the same. Naruto sat, leaving a respectful space between them. He looked at the lights of Konoha.
"It looks pretty from here," he said.
"Yes. It is." Kurenai looked at the village, but her attention was on the boy beside her. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to use a genjutsu so you see yourself in a mirror and talk?"
Naruto sighed, defeated. He knew he couldn't fool her.
"I'm scared, Sensei," he confessed in a low voice, something he would never tell Kakashi or Sakura, but with Kurenai he felt safe. "I'm scared they'll forget about me."
"Who?"
"Everyone. Sakura... she's getting super smart and strong with Tsunade. Hinata is lightning fast now. Kiba and the others are going to get famous in the exams. And I... I'm just the one who gave them the push."
He clenched his fists on his knees.
"If I don't move forward... if I can't fight at their level... they won't need me. The 'Family' will break. Sakura will go her own way, Hinata will go back to her clan... and I'll be back alone in my apartment eating instant ramen."
The confession hung in the cold night air. It was Naruto's deepest fear, the root of all his actions. He didn't want to be Hokage just for power. He wanted it so people couldn't ignore him, so he would never be alone again.
Kurenai felt a pang in her heart. The boy's vulnerability was overwhelming. She turned on the bench and, without saying a word, closed the distance.
She wrapped him in a hug.
It was a firm, maternal, enveloping hug.
Naruto went rigid for a second, surprised, but then he melted against her. He felt the familiar warmth run through him, a physical validation of his existence that soothed the cold in his stomach. He hid his face in her shoulder.
"Listen to me well, Naruto Uzumaki," Kurenai said, her soft voice vibrating near his ear. "You are a fool if you think that."
"Thanks?" he murmured against the fabric of her dress.
"A solar system doesn't work without the sun," she continued, ignoring his comment. "They don't orbit by chance. They orbit because you have the gravity."
She pulled back a little, just enough to hold him by the shoulders and look him in the eyes. Her red irises shone with an honest intensity.
"Your strength isn't just hitting hard or having a lot of chakra. Anyone can train that. Your strength is that you make us want to be strong for you."
"But I gave them the power," Naruto said weakly. "It was the jutsu."
"The jutsu was the tool. The will was yours. And the loyalty is ours." Kurenai squeezed his shoulders. "Think about it. Without you, I would have died in that swamp. I would have bled out alone. Without you, Hinata would still be hiding in her coat, afraid of her own shadow and her cousin. Without you, Sakura wouldn't have found her voice or her confidence."
Naruto swallowed hard.
"You are the core, Naruto. You brought us together. We aren't a team assigned by the village. We are a family because you decided we would be. And a family doesn't abandon its center just because he doesn't have an exam to take."
"Do you really believe that?"
"I know it. I can feel it." Kurenai touched her temple. "With this ability you gave me, I can feel Hinata and Sakura's emotions when they think of you. It isn't pity. It isn't indifference. It's gratitude. It's affection. And in Sakura's case, a rather amusing confusion, but affection nonetheless."
"Confusion?"
"You'll understand when you're older." Kurenai let go of his shoulder and wiped away a treacherous tear with her thumb. "You don't need an exam to prove your worth, Naruto. You already proved it. You saved your teammates. You brought hope to an entire country. And you brought a Sannin home. How many Genin can say that?"
"None," Naruto said, straightening up a little.
"Exactly. So stop comparing yourself. Your path is different. It's harder, yes. But you're going to reach higher. And we are going to be there, pushing you if necessary."
Naruto exhaled, feeling the knot in his chest come completely undone. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air.
"Thanks, Kurenai." He said it without the "sensei", as she had allowed him, and it felt right.
"You're welcome." She smiled at him and stood up. "Now, let's go. I'll walk you home. I don't want you getting into trouble trying to spy on the training grounds at night."
"I wasn't going to do that!"
"Of course not. Let's go."
They walked back together. Naruto no longer dragged his feet. He walked with a bounce in his step.
"Hey, Kurenai," he said after a while. "Do you think Ino would want to join the family if I brought her prettier flowers?"
Kurenai almost tripped.
"Ino? The Yamanaka girl?"
"Yeah. I tried, but she hit me. And then I brought her weeds and she kicked me out. But I have a plan C."
Kurenai looked at the sky and sighed, but she was smiling.
"Naruto... never change. But please, ask Sakura for advice before buying anything for Ino. Or you're going to end up with another flowerpot on your head."
"Got it!"
When they reached Naruto's apartment, he stopped at the door.
"Goodnight, Kurenai."
"Goodnight, Naruto. Sleep well. Tomorrow the real chaos begins."
*****
I'm happy to announce to all my dear readers that we've reached Chapter 100 of Naruto's Falna System
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Thanks for reading!