With good news there is always bad news. I learned this lesson the hard way once I brought back the newest member to Hinata and I's party of two. Hinata acted like I assumed she would and immediately attacked Itsuki on sight. Of course, she didn't get much done from her actions, but I think I had lost most of the trust I had built up with her. She wouldn't even spare me more than a few words at a time now. I think I was lucky she hadn't decided to run away yet. Still, I didn't think I missed someone sassing me as much as I did. On the happier side of things, we were finally on a correct route towards home. Itsuki was rather adept in maps, and I learned that we had somehow traveled back in the direction of Water Country. I had nothing to refute when he asked for the map. However, as we traveled, I learned that the route would take us at least three months to get back with the speed that we were currently traveling. The cons of having two four year olds with short and stubby legs, I guess. He also said something about making sure we rested well, but I really wasn't listening that much when he started to explain. That wasn't so bad compared to the grueling months that Hinata and I had survived together before, but, with the addition of Itsuki, our pathmaker basically forced us to buying clothes from one of the towns we stopped by. This directly upgraded our rags to wired mesh undershirts and thick, long jackets with multi pocketed shorts to match. Hell, our chauffeur even bought us open toed sandals for our feet. My only complaint was the fact that my jacket was a god awful orange. Sure, it was a darker orange, but it reminded me too much of the Kyūbi that was inside me. That, and the fact that Itsuki forced us to stop at every town or village on the way because he was worried about the stress on our bodies. He was too nice. "What the hell are you doing?" Perfectly nice. I pushed myself from the ground to look at him. Skin and flesh from my torn up feet would need to be cleaned, but I felt like I was getting better on my Chakra control. "Learning to climb trees with Chakra." I answered Itsuki. I had gotten into the habit of sneaking out during night time to practice after he joined us. Mainly because I hadn't trusted him too much, but I realized that he genuinely wanted to help after he didn't buy the candy that Hinata wanted so much. I mean, if he really meant us harm, he would have definitely bought Hinata the candy. That's how it works, right? Right. Maybe. I also learned my reasoning skills are rather weird then. Point is, Itsuki wanted to help us. Hinata didn't really talk anymore, but she still interacted with me and not so much with Itsuki. It was progress that she was interacting with someone else, though. "That's not Chakra control, kid…" Itsuki said, interrupting my plots to get Hinata to talk more with us. I blinked as I realized that this man was apparently a teacher at some point. "Can you teach me then?" "What? You're four, kid, your Chakra coils are still developing. Training you harshly now would force you to adjust yourself after your coils grows. Just do some basic conditioning to increase your body's strength." Itsuki commented. I focused my Chakra onto my palm and blew the skin right off of it to force my point across. "I think it would benefit me more if I learned now." "Damnit, kid, stop that!" Itsuki burst out, rushing to my bloodied palm. "Sure, villages used to train kids up from birth, but that's been disproved already! Only those that are geniuses even get much out of it. You're literally blowing up parts of yourself instead of using Chakra!" It was a little manipulative of me to use Itsuki's worry, but I felt like I needed to learn. "Then teach me. You're a teacher, aren't you?" "I'm a history teacher, kid. I barely know much about teaching kids on Chakra." Itsuki started, but nearby footsteps alerted us that someone was coming. We both turned to find Hinata, dressed in her dark blue jacket and black shorts, walking towards us with a serious expression etched into her face. Our minds rushed to understand why she had approached us on her own initiative before she bowed low, and I felt like we both lost track on what was happening. "Train me, too. Please, Sensei." She stated from her bow. Itsuki looked torn between whatever excuse he had and Hinata's plea. "Look," he sighed. "It's not that I can't teach you two, but if I do associate more with you then there's a chance that Kirigakure's Hunter-nin would be after you two as well. Quite a few villages put their secrets close to their elites for a reason, you know." "That doesn't matter." Hinata said, her face scrunching up into one of fury. It looked more like a rabbit trying to emulate a tiger. "I… I need to be stronger." "Hinata-chan, you don't ha-" "No!" She cut me off. "No… I have realized that I have been a burden on you, Naruto-kun. Back when we were kidnapped, I was useless. You were the one who solved everything. Back when we were lost, I just followed you around. I… want- no, I need to be stronger. Then I can finally help my friend." Itsuki didn't respond to Hinata's speech, but I didn't need to split myself to see that he was moved. His gaze turned to our surroundings as he finally spoke again, "I was trained by what some would consider a bad person, and that is the only reference I have to train you two. There will be no turning back now. Do you both still want me to teach you?" "Yes." Hinata's answer came first. "Could I ask who trained you? And if I have to learn the village secrets? I mean, all I need to know is how Chakra works, and maybe some information on the basics." I asked tentatively. Sure, it hurt the mood of the conversation, but I didn't want to suddenly find myself beset by both Kumo-nin and Kiri-nin after me. Itsuki seemed to find my paranoia funny in a way and laughed. "Fine, if it's just teaching you the basics, I can do that easily." He had a smile on his face as he tacked on one last thing, "Oh, and my teacher's name was Jinin Akebino." Itsuki's training began as we continued our trek back to Konoha, but he said that the time it took to travel would be slowed down by a month or two. And from then on I also decided that if I need to persuade anyone, I needed Hinata to help. With Hinata's sudden motivation coming to light, I couldn't really understand her emotions anymore. Itsuki could, apparently, and set her on a training regimen that anyone in my past life would have called child abuse if they ever saw. My own training was much more vanilla compared to Hinata's 'perform five hundred reps of everything'. "Seriously, what the hell are you doing?" Though, most of the time Itsuki was just cursing me for showing him how I normally moved around my Chakra. Apparently, one isn't supposed to use Chakra with the intent of causing internal explosions. "I'm just doing what I normally do." "Well, it's shit, kid. I'm no the leading expert on Chakra, but I know that you're supposed to expel Chakra via your tenketsu, little points on your body that naturally expel Chakra. What you're doing is basically forming a shell underneath your skin, and building up Chakra till something happens." Itsuki explained as I listened to his information with rapt attention. What he was saying some quite a bit of sense. I had only been focusing on the parts of my body that I wanted to spread my Chakra to. I knew that it was half-instinctual and half-input, and I assumed that those were the basis on how the physical and spiritual energies respectively worked, but there was something that I missing in translation. I was missing a step or two that led from mixing the two energies to completing ninja magic. "Look, Chakra is the mixture of physical and spiritual energies, right?" I nodded as Itsuki entered what I dubbed teacher mode. "The mixing happens in the larger nodes of your Chakra coils, which are around here," he pointed to his abdomen. "What some kids forget to understand is that most molding of Chakra happens around here, as well. Sure, some people can mold their Chakra at their hands, but the molding normally happens around here. Another thing to take into account is how Chakra flows out of you. You following?" I nodded, but posed a question. "Then what are hand signs for?" "To control the molding process. The position and combinations of hand signs directs your Chakra into whatever mold you want, and then that molded Chakra is transferred from your coils to wherever the completed stage is. It's why some Jutsus manifest in places other than your hands." Itsuki answered then pointed to palms and feet. "Now these places are where some of the larger tenketsu points are, and subsequently why it's easier to release Chakra from them. The larger tenketsu allow us to supply a constant flow of Chakra through them without worry of harm… in most cases." Itsuki proved his point when he easily stepped up the side of a nearby tree without any effort, and completely against the laws of gravity. "I think I get it." I said, pulling back the urge to jump for joy. I had finally understood a little about Chakra. My specter had enough angles to see exactly what Itsuki was doing to flip the bird to gravity. Instead of trying to form a barrier to stick to the surface like me, Itsuki had filled in the small crevasses and gaps between his foot and the tree. They weren't sticking to the tree they were simply increasing the friction between them and it manifold, forming the illusion that they were sticking. Maybe there was some extra stuff, but that was basically the gist of it. Immediately, I pounced up from where I sat and began to release a consistent flow of Chakra through the feet. There was a visible blue glow that surrounded the bottom of my sandals, and I could practically hear Itsuki muttering about geniuses as at climbed up the tree without my hands. And now that I actually felt what I was doing, I wouldn't really say it was just an absurd increase in friction that kept me there. Maybe I would describe it as a bunch of tiny grappling hooks extending from the bottom of my feet? That seems right. "You… this is not your first time, right?" I wanted to tell Itsuki that it was, but suddenly the tree I stood on cratered from where I stood with my feet as the epicenter. Wood shattered and leaves fell as the thick bark was sent flying. I collapsed into the ground as the rest of the trunk slammed down into the forest floor opposite of me. That was interesting. "Too much Chakra…" I mused. I probably should have stopped increasing the flow of Chakra, but knowing that this was possible with an increasing constant flow would be useful. Well, maybe. "Your surname wouldn't be Uzumaki, would it?" Itsuki asked. I looked at him from my place on the floor, confusion clear on my face. "How'd you know?" "Regeneration, larger than normal Chakra reserves, the only thing that's missing is the red hair and insane Fuinjutsu." The Jōnin counted off his fingers. "Yeah, you definitely have at least some Uzumaki bloodline in you." I frowned. A blurry image of a woman with red hair passed across my thoughts. "What about chains?" "Huh? What are you talking about?" I paused my thoughts as Itsuki's face was clearly confused. He really had no idea then. Did my mom have some other bloodline else, or was it just kept a secret? Shinobi were annoying that way. "Nothing, just a random thought." I asnwered quickly. Itsuki looked at me oddly. "I'm not one to judge, kid, but aren't you a bit young for-" "Think about what you're going to say to a four year old, Sensei." I interjected as quick as I could. Itsuki smartly clicked his teeth shut. Headaches aside, I'll have to look into the Uzumaki as well. "Anyways, kid, try to focus on your hand dexterity from now on. You're no longer at risk for blowing yourself up via Chakra... I hope, but that doesn't mean you're cut out for Shinobi business yet. Usually a skilled Shinobi is measured not in how much Chakra he has, but in how fast they can weave their hand signs." Itsuki steered the conversation away as he flashed out a series of hand signs, fast enough to blur at first but then slowed to a crawl. "Once it's no longer awkward for your hands to make these signs then you'll be ready to learn the staple Jutsu for every Shinobi." I nodded resolutely as my hands fumbled to trying to get the right shapes. Frowning, I went through the shapes that Itsuki had pulled his fingers into, and I nearly lost it. Hands were not meant to be sent into these types of imagery. I persisted in folding my fingers into their required shapes while I split myself to watch Hinata's progress. She had definitely changed in the past week or so that we started this. Her swords looked like they were meant to be in her hands, and her swings looked like they could easily cleave through any obstacle. The fact that her Byakugan let her see exactly where she needed to swing made it so Itsuki was the one who had trouble matching her form. However, it wasn't like Hinata became a master swordsman. Itsuki easily outclassed her in every parameter, and, if it wasn't for the Byakugan being a cheat, Hinata would stand no chance in their spars. I hurried to form my hand signs as I wanted to not be left behind. Maybe I should get some of those conditioning exercises that itsuki talked about as well? "I'm surprised that you actually could get those signs down so fast." Itsuki stated. I chose to not answer and instead stuck my chest out in pride. Sure, my hand dexterity already had a strong base from practicing with my knife, but I had completed my exercise in a clean two weeks. I had the right to be prideful. I am the ultimate toddler. "But don't let that get to your head, those hand signs were the easiest of all of them." And Itsuki goes and ruins my fun. Just show me ninja magic! "However, those exact signs are for the techniques I was telling you about. I'm not quite informed on Konohagakure's Jutsu, but I think that the most important Jutsus are the ones that play off of a Shinobi's greatest strength: stealth and subterfuge." I nodded, hoping that my actions would speed up his teachings. History teacher or not, Itsuki was a Shinobi, and would definitely know what was best. "The two Jutsu I'm going to teach you are the Substitution Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu." Itsuki flashed a few hand signs, fast then slow. "These are the signs for the Substitution Jutsu. Now, I have no idea what you've been told, but it's not a teleportation or instant transport Jutsu. It requires adept timing and a keen eye for combat. Here, hit me." I did so, taking in his words. I had thought that a Substitution Jutsu was like my own ability, but it appeared that I was wrong. Still, when my fist thudded into my teacher, even if I was expecting it, there suddenly being a wooden stump instead of human body after a small poof of white smoke, barely large enough to hide a limb, was disorientating. A pair of feet deftly landed beside me. "Did you see me move?" "No," I answered, trying not to hide the eye roll I was currently giving him. "Then can you tell me how I concealed myself enough for you to lose track of me? I don't think I had the time to get up to max speed, so how did you lose sight of me?" "Probably the smoke." I answered immediately. "It would give you enough time to reinforce yourself with Chakra and make the switch while you ran away." "Not exactly, but you're on the right track." Itsuki smiled. "Now, I'd like to think of the Jutsu itself being as if a rubber band that ties you and whatever object your switching with was pulled taunt, and you'll get pulled towards it as it is pulled towards you. It helps with making a quick switch as you don't have to focus so much on where you're headed so long as your destination is the object." I nodded excitedly. While it wasn't the spacial switch that I wanted, this was still ninja magic. "And the Transformation Jutsu?" "That's a little more complicated." He said, flashing a few hand signs and then suddenly being covered in a veil of smoke. I peered through the smoke only to find myself staring back at me, complete with my spikey blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "Think of it like you're forming that shell you made before. Except, instead of forming it on the inside of you, it's on the outside. Between the shell of Chakra that you create and your skin you produce a molded Chakra field that actively changes your appearance to whatever you want. The downside of this is that the shell is rather brittle, and you have to maintain a constant flow of Chakra or else you Jutsu will collapse." I frowned again at the differing information than what I thought. This wasn't the 'change into whatever I want and keep its physical attributes' Jutsu that I thought it would be. It was more along the lines of a constant illusion that I needed to emulate to get it right. Internally sighing, I put my disappointments aside while I got to work with the new toys that I had been given. Itsuki had told me to see if I can hold a perfect Transformation Jutsu while we moved to increase my proficiency with it. He had wanted me to find that it was barely an afterthought of maintaining the constant Chakra drain that the Jutsu implied. The Substitution Jutsu was to be used in small bursts as we traveled, as well. Nothing like multitasking at its finest. The only problem I had was that I was worried we might accidentally run into something without my specter watching ahead. However, I put my worries aside as I realized that we were traveling with a Jōnin; like anything would happen with a trained mercenary like Itsuki around. My results varied as we approached the next town. I had found that the larger I made the shell of Chakra the easier I could hold the illusion that something was there. I had even found out a way to overcharge the shell, and make it such that the Transformation felt a bit more solid. It was still a piece of shit if it meant blocking an attack, but if I had to shake someone's hand while passing off as an adult, then I probably could. And so, the three of us grew closer as we traveled. We were taking a more common route towards the next town as Hinata tried to get her Transformation Jutsu right. Itsuki and I had started a game of Substitution tag that ended with him being the winner by sheer magnitude of experience. Everything seemed great. We were even making great time on getting back home! I had liked to think that I hadn't jinxed it for us. I liked to think that me not having a specter out to scout ahead for us wasn't what caused the whole situation. I had liked to think that things would be easier for a change. When we stepped into the next town filled with deserted streets and empty buildings I knew that the universe didn't care for what I liked. We peered into ghosted houses, broken windows, and bloodied businesses as we passed, and a chill began to pass through my spine. "Hey, maybe we should turn around?" I asked, finding that the whole thing was sending warning signs down my spine. Hinata wanted to check a few more places to see if there was anyone we could help. I couldn't deny Hinata's wants any more after I had regained whatever trust I seemed to have lost. I had no idea where her heroic sense came from, but we shouldn't have turned the last corner. "Hello, Itsuki-sensei, you have no idea how long I have been searching for you." The voice wasn't what I had expected. It was smooth, deep and felt safe like I could trust whoever it came from. I knew that was a lie when I saw the streets red with blood; when I gagged at the hundreds of bodies hanging limply in the air with gaping holes strewn throughout them. Hinata screamed at the sight as my Transformation Jutsu collapsed, and I began to spill the contents of my stomach from the nauseous stench. Itsuki just stared on ahead at the man sitting atop one building. I couldn't see him from here. He was just a blurry figure outlined in dark clothing. A porcelain mask was stuck to his face, but I knew there had to be a demented smile slayed across it. The most eye-catching thing was the long, deadly looking needle that he held placidly in his right hand. He held it in such a way that I thought it was harmless. I knew that was a lie. "Do you like my work, Itsuki-sensei?" The smooth voice spoke again. "I made it just for you. Why don't you bring those two-" "Naruto, Hinata, run. Now." Itsuki commanded, and I never thought I would hear him speak our names. Sure, he knew them, but he always called us kids. Whatever was happening was serious. I didn't need to be told twice as I snatched Hinata's hand and sprinted backwards. We hurried around the corner that we turned on, and I briefly caught a glance at the weapon that was suddenly in Itsuki's hands. A huge mallet and axe that were connected by a rope, but that was all I could catch on its features before I caught the dangerous man grabbing something and pulling. The town was cut in two.