Chapter 22- Teaching Moments

The next morning was that same as before, Kakashi had gone out to train with Guy, and we he came back to the Hatake compound, Yama was once again in the courtyard meditating.

Kakashi interrupted the man.

"Yama, what am I your mother? Time for school you codger."

"Ah, Kakashi, right you are."

Yama softly shook his arms before standing up, and a chipmunk ran out from somewhere inside, and a small chickadee flew away.

Kakashi looked on in silence, waiting to see if the man had some other small animal hiding in his sleeves.

Yama and Kakashi made their way to the academy, where they split into different directions. Kakashi was not particularly interested in supervising every lesson that Yama gave to the children, so he went off to practice by himself.

Yama stood at the front of classroom three and took attendance once again.

"Shimiko-chan?"

"Present."

"Doramu-kun?"

"Here."

"Hikaru-kun?"

"Here."

"Mizuki-kun?"

"Present, sensei!"

"Tsubaki-chan?"

"Here."

"Iruka-kun?"

Iruka once again had his head buried in his arms. He did not respond, but Yama still marked him present.

Yama continued.

"I took the liberty of preparing some study material for Hikaru-kun and Tsubaki-chan.

Shimiko-chan and Mizuki-kun can continued with their assignments from yesterday.

Domaru-kun, continued with your control exercises for now until I have the time to devote to you, You'll need my full attention if you are to improve."

Akimichi Domaru grit his teeth and clenched his fists underneath his desk. This teacher had it out for him from the very start, and here he was, stuck doing control exercises that he didn't even need.

Domaru could easily levitate a leaf, but Yama-sensei was insistent that he couldn't and made him redo the exercise over and over again.

Shimiko pulled some of her clan's texts out and quietly studied in the corner.

Mizuki opened the Body Flicker technique scroll and continued to read the theory behind it. It was easy to learn, but difficult to master. Mizuki figured that he would be able to start making attempts to cast the jutsu by the end of the week.

Hikaru and Tsubaki came to the front of the classroom and stood in front of Yama's desk.

Yama handed a scroll over to Hikaru.

"Hikaru-kun, here is a scroll of the next Chakra control exercise I want you to perform, but don't open it until you have performed your reserve exercises."

"Yes sir, Sensei."

Hikaru took the scroll with both hands and walked back to his desk. Once he was there, he actually got up on top of the desk and sat in a lotus position.

He then closed his eyes and placed his hands palm down on his knees. He slowly slipped into a very rhythmic breathing pattern.

In, 2 3 4. Hold 2 3 4 5 6, Out 2 3 4, Hold 2, In 2 3 4...

As Hikaru sat there and meditated, he was actually refining his chakra and increases his reserves with the standard Konoha Reserve technique, the Chakra Forge.

Of course, his clan had a couple tips and tricks, so his technique was somewhat modified from standard, but the theory behind it was the same.

It was a technique that was rumored to have been developed by the First Hokage. The man had been inspired by the Fire Country when he had named the technique.

A ninja would meditate, refining his mental energy while performing effortful, rhythmic breathing. As he breathed in for four seconds, he would draw on his chakra and fuse it across his entire body.

Once infused, he would hold the chakra in position and temper his body with it for 6 seconds, before slowly releasing it to the environment over four seconds as he exhaled.

He would then let his chakra calm for two seconds before breathing in again and restarting the cycle anew.

The body had been turned into a forge, and Chakra was used to temper it along with ones mental state. The breathing was like a set of bellows and helped to sync the connection between mind and body.

Yama observed Hikaru for a few cycles before he was sufficiently pleased with Hikaru's performance. The boy was performing the exercise wholeheartedly, and Yama could feel his chakra flare and ebb with each cycle.

Tsubaki, who was growing somewhat impatient, started to shift from right to left in front of Yama's desk.

Yama turned his attention back to her.

"I've got a new exercise for you, and I will be supervising you the entire time. Fire is indeed somewhat dangerous to learn, both to others, but most importantly yourself."

Tsubaki was nearly shaking with excitement.

"What's it gonna be, Fireball jutsu? I totally want to learn to breath fire, itd be really cool, or maybe we can start small and I can learn to ignite gunpowder explosions?"

Tsubaki was working herself up more and more, and was starting to jump in place.

Yama repeatedly lowered her hands and tried to calm her down.

"C'mon, it s not gonna be that exciting, Let's go to another room so we won't disturb the other students.

Domaru, keep up the exercise. Shimiko-chan, please let me know if he doesn't. I would love to give him any demerits he deserves."

Tsubaki followed him to an empty neighboring classroom, but she was still a little bouncy and continued chirping.

"Shouldn't we go outside for this? I don't want to burn down the school?"

Yama laughed and sat the girl down at a desk before continuing.

"No worries there, this is your first exercise."

With a flourish, he stuck a hand under his jacket and reached into his flak jacket, from which he produced a small candle.

Tsubaki groaned.

"Don't tell me I have to light this candle? That's so bo~~~ring..."

Yama grinned.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Tsubaki perked up and Yama continued.

"The candle will already be lit."

Tsubaki groaned again.

"I though I was gonna light stuff on fire..."

"In due time, Tsubaki-chan. but we have to start small."

Yama pulled a lighter out from his flak jacket and lit the candle after he placed it on the desk in front of Tsubaki.

"I want you to put either hand three inches away from the candle. You will then channel your chakra and release it from both hands.

Feel your chakra become warm before you release it.

If you release pure chakra, it will blow the candle out, but if you convert it to fire chakra, it will grow the flame."

Tsubaki continued to grumble before attempting it for the first time. As Yama expected, she put the candle out.

She grumbled and put her hand towards Yama, palm open and facing up.

"Lighter, please."

Yama smiled and handed it over. Tsubaki relit the candle and continued to practice.

Yama watched on in silence and his thoughts drifted back.

A very long time ago,

Naruto had just mastered the Senjutsu of the Sage of Six Paths and formed his bond with the nine Bijuu.

While fighting Kaguya, the Tailed Beasts had been feeding their immense knowledge and experience into him, preparing him to use their secret technique against Kaguya. He had never gotten thee chance, but the knowledge remained.

Naruto was originally attuned to wind, but it was now hard to say what his natural element was.

Untold years of life experience poured into him through his spiritual connection to the Bijuu.

Shukaku's had mastered Earth release and Wind release, granting him Dominion over the Desert.

In his mind, the wind howled and called, and the earth answered. Together, they formed the desert, and they would dance together.

His impression and understanding of earth and Wind were poured into Naruto.

But it wasn't until Shukaku knew Bunpaku, his first jinchuuriki, that Shukaku understood Magnet Release.

Bunpaku had once told the Tanuki.

The human heart is like the reflection on the water's surface… The mouth says things opposite to what the heart really feels… But in truth, the hidden heart wants people to accept each other. Even when one of them is a beast...

Humans and beasts… There is no need to make a distinction.

It resonated within Shukaku. He who had always viewed the Earth and Wind as a pair of dancers, started to understand.

The Wind did not simply call while the Earth answered. The wind was an expression of the Heavens.

And the Earth and Heavens loved each other. They were inseparably bonded together, never one without the other.

They were attracted and held together by something called Love. Something that pulled seemingly disparate things togetherr and held them tighter as they gre closer.

From Shukaku's understanding of Wind and Earth, he had developed Magnet Release.

And all of that mastery was poured into the Vessel known as Naruto Uzumaki.

Matatabi was fire incarnate. She burned with every breath, and she was ALIVE.

Her understanding of Fire was the greatest of the Bijuu, and when she shared her life experience with Naruto, Naruto became the strongest Fire Release user in the History of Shinobi, perhaps even rivaling Matabi herself.

Matatabi impressed question after question upon Naruto and guided him towards the answer.

What is Fire?

Why is it different?

What separates it?

What distinguishes it?

Why is fire Fire?

What can no other element do that fire can?

Naruto was on the edge of epiphany, and Matabi's next words resounded in his ears like a thunderclap.

Fire can grow.

Fire can spread.

Water does not beget Water

Earth does not beget Earth.

Wind does not beget Wind.

Lightning does not beget Lightning.

They all peter out and succumb.

But Fire begets Fire.

FIRE IS ALIVE!

Naruto understood, and that was why he was confident in being able to teach Tsubaki.

Isobu was a being of the Depths. He called the abyss his home. He swam within the dark, and he hid within it.

He was a turtle. And never did he deny or decry his existence.

Isobu loved being a turtle, and a long nap at the bottom of the ocean was delight and pleasure.

All those years he spent in water were shared with Naruto.

The water pressed in from every direction, and the embrace of the cold depths was warm indeed.

Son Goku wished for nothing more than freedom, and the sweet taste of liberty was often denied.

He was naturally attuned to earth and fire, and whether it be from his explosive temper or his desire to explode and shake the chains that bound him, he had learned Lava Release.

Son Goku's memories were shown to Naruto.

In one hand, Son Goku held fire. In the other was a handful of Earth.

Fire is untrappable. It is freedom incarnate. But it is transient, it dies, it fades, it leaves nothing behind. It lives only as long as the fuels burn. It can be said to be alive like Matabi says, but it does not exist in the same way that Earth does.

Earth is eternal. It may be weathered, but it will reform. It remains. It however is however locked into its form. It is not free.

Son Goku felt a rumble in the earth and turned his gaze to the horizon. A volcano erupted, exploding with Lava and Ash.

When Fire and Earth are combined though, there is Lava.

Lava flows, Lava is not locked. It is free.

It is material though, and lives without fuel. It may one day cool and die, but that is the nature of life too.

Let me be like Lava, burning bright and Free, existing in the flesh and real as real can be.

Let me explode with Life!

Life is not what I do before I die.

Life is what I do in spite of the fact that I will die!

Kokuo was simple. He wanted strength.

Kokuo was fire. Kokuo was water. He shunned both.

Strength was everything. Strength was Peace.

Peace was quiet.

He lived simply.

He liked simple.

Eating when hungry.

Sleeping when tired.

Wandering when bored.

Randomly found something.

Geyser spewed water.

Water was hot.

Water isn't hot.

Fire is hot.

Fire isn't water.

Water wasn't water.

It was puzzling.

Water was strong.

Fire was strong.

Steam was strong.

Kokuo didn't understand.

Water was weak.

Water broke apart.

Fire was weak.

Fire broke apart.

Steam was strong.

Steam would push.

Steam would force.

Force was strong.

Kokuo waited long.

Kokuo watched long.

Kokuo didn't understand.

Kokuo tried again.

Kokuo tried again.

Kokuo tried again.

Kokuo finally understood.

Steam is strong.

Steam isn't fire.

Steam isn't water.

Water and Fire.

Steam is Strong.

Steam will push.

Steam will force.

Force is strong.

Kokuo pushes Kokuo.

Kokuo forces Kokuo.

Kokuo is strong.

That is enough.

Kokuo is enough.

Naruto synced up.

I am enough.

Saiken had a secret, only Hagoromo knew it. He shared it with Naruto anyway.

Everyone thought that Saiken was purely a being of water.

It would make sense, right? he was a slug, and slugs are wet. Water is wet, too.

Not a huge leap in logic. Everyone saw that Saiken could dissolve things, and they simply saw that as some form of water manipulation.

Water dissolves many things right? This should just be an extension of that power.

They thought that he separated water into Base and Acid, and then only expelled the acid.

But Saiken had a secret.

Lightning coursed through the water. A minute and undetectable amount. It broke things apart and the water simply whisked away the parts and stabilized them.

No one saw underneath the underneath.

It was actually somewhat obvious, but still, no one questioned it.

Saiken was somewhat confused that no one ever questioned the exploding bubbles.

Why would a bubble explode? It's made of water.

But water itself could be dissolved by lightning, it could form something that was Not-water, and when that Not-water was exposed to a small arc of lightning, it would rapidly reform back into water.

Explosively reform. Shockingly reform. Destructively reform.

Saiken cultivated an aura of cheery go lucky, but any being that lives as long as a Bijuu learns a few hard lessons here and there. Saiken always kept an ace in the whole.

He happily handed the Ace in the whole over to Naruto.

Naruto would need one of those to fight Kaguya.

Saiken didn't mind after all, who only has one Ace in the Hole?

Chomei was happy to share with Naruto! That boy was lucky! Hagoromo-tou-chan said so!

The boy used wind! He didn't understand it though!

How could he when he is not a being of air! What's the point of wind if you don't fly!

Flying is the best and flying is lucky!

The best way to know the air is to be submerged within it! To feel it on every surface and in every way!

How can you understand the wind if it doesn't blow across your carapace!

But wait, Naruto doesn't have a carapace or shell! Very unlucky!

Chomei will fix it!

Chomei once listened to Shukaku! Shukaku said that Earth and Wind are the best pair!

And they are! Shell is hard like earth, its just lucky Earth! Chomei is lucky piece of Earth!

Living things are not made of different things than Earth, living things are just lucky enough!

If you're a piece of lucky Earth, you get to live, breathe, and FLY!

Naruto had learned a lot from the Bijuu, but what he had learned from Chomei, of all of them, might have been the most illuminating, most distressing, most unknown.

Naruto, at that time, and on the fly, wasn't able to understand exactly what Chomei was impressing on him, but he eventually came to understand after his fight with Kaguya. He had not spent all those years nailed to the God Tree with Ash Bone spears for naught.

I am naught but Dust and Ashes.

From Dust, all come, and To Dust, all return.

Gyuki fist bumped with Naruto, and the two started to share memories.

Gyuki was laughing to himself.

Saiken thinks he so sneaky, huh?

I mean seriously, we're all beings of chakra, how could we not tell that he had started to infuse lightning chakra into his jutsus.

I can't imagine his face if we let him know that we knew.

Too bad that Kurama would get incredibly pissy if we bullied Saiken like that.

That damn fox has a soft spot for him and Chomei, something about them retaining their childish innocence.

Especially Chomei, when will she start acting like the eldest sister?

However, Saiken does have some interesting ideas about mixing water and lightning.

I've kinda plateaued on Water release recently, and the ink and natural water affinity can only take me so far.

Let me take a look at this whole Lightning and Water thing.

Gyuki shared his experiments and test with Naruto, and Naruto lived the moments where Gyuki took his excellence and experience in water and practiced their tenets in his forays into lightning.

Gyuki wasn't really getting anywhere with it until he ended up being caught in a hurricane.

The winds whipped around him, the waves raged, and the rain fell in sheets, but he was mesmerized by the Lightning of all things.

The lightning flowed. It moved from one place to another.

Water flows downhill, and Lightning does too. Its just that where downhill wasn't as easy to figure out with lightning.

Water and Lightning are flexible.

The highest good is like water.

Gyuki had taken his first step and the door was thrown wide open.

Eventually he figured it out, and by leveraging his understanding of Water and Lightning, he was able to Supercharge his Bijuu Dama.

Hehe, this'll show Kurama, he'll be mad as hell when he figures out that I have a more powerful Tailed Beast Ball than he does.

Kurama spoke with Naruto.

How does it feel to become a Sage, Naruto?

Does it feel good? Does it feel like the palm of the world is in your hand.

You may feel like the world is at your fingertips, but that is just an illusion.

There is always a higher aspiration.

You may have been instructed your entire life to look for what is underneath the underneath.

But I come to you with something different.

You must look above the above.

What you can see is never your limit, and if you only strive for what you can see or imagine, you have already placed the chains upon you.

Let me show you.

I guard this knowledge jealously, and I will never teach you what I found, but I will give you a simple glimpse, so that you may truly understand what I mean when I say "above the above".

And take not what I have found as "above the above". There is more above that. More above that as well. The ladder will never end.

You must climb without end.

Kurama was a being of Destruction. He could call twisters down and summon fire.

It was no surprise that he, the strongest of the Bijuu would discover a Kekkei genkai.

Wind naturally fed Fire, and it was obvious to combine them.

Kurama was the first Scorch User. and He thought himself highest because of it.

His flames burned hotter than any others.

He shared those lessons with Naruto freely. They would come with time to anyone of dedication and imagination.

Those humans were so foolish. Kekkei Genkai could be formed. How else could they have come to be?

The only reason that Humans no longer developed them was because they assumed it was linked to the bloodline.

They thought that just because their parents didn't have one, they couldn't have one, and so an invisible chain fell upon their necks.

It was incredibly foolish, especially in the face of someone like Mu and Onoki, who were obviously unrelated, yet still passed down a Kekkei Tota.

Kurama lazed around in the sun, content in his position atop the food chain. Content in his superiority over his fellow Bijuu.

Kurama yawned, and felt the warm rays of the sun upon his back.

It draped over him like a blanket, and it suffused him with strength and comfort.

Kurama was warm in a way he had never felt since his father had last released him from his bosom.

Kurama's eyes flew wide open.

Why can I feel warmth?

I can bathe in Lava, wade into the Fire, not even my own Scorch release could burn me!

But the Sun warms me to the bones.

Kurama directed his gaze to the Sun, and the memory ended.

Naruto looked at Kurama.

What did you see?

Kurama bared his teeth.

Wouldn't you like to know, brat?

Yama was shocked out of his reverie by a loud noise and a roil of frustration, anger, and despair.

Tsubaki tossed the lighter aside, and slammed her hands on the desk next to the candle as she stood up. Every time she tried to release chakra, she ended up putting the flame out, rather than growing it.

Even worse, Yama-sensei had been staring off into space for the last hour, and didn't even respond when she was asking questions about what she was doing wrong.

The man was off in his own world, and nothing she did could rouse him from his stupor.

"Goddamn it! Why can't I get this to work! and what the hell do you mean by "Warm Chakra" Yama-sensei? Will you even answer me?

What's the point of you being here if you're just going to watch me fail over and over?

If you're not gonna help me get stronger, than who is?"

Tsubaki was holding back tears and a hitch was present in her voice. She hadn't lost her parents in the Kyuubi attack like Iruka did, but her father was gravely injured and still in the hospital.

She bit her lip and settled back into her seat. She was determined, and she was just venting.

However, Yama actually responded this time. He shook his head as if to shake himself from some fog and looked over at Tsubaki.

His eyes were gentle, and he had a small, hurt smile on his face.

"I'm sorry Tsubaki-chan."

Tsubaki, now that Yama-sensei's attention was on her, was somewhat embarrassed by her outburst and tears. She turned to face away from him as if to hide her countenance.

Yama continued to speak to her in a soft voice.

"I know its frustrating to learn. It took me a very long time, too, and it was very difficult.

I remember passing out from exertion for days on days, weeks on weeks, trying to get the hang of it.

When I first succeeded, I was jumping for joy.

That being said, I didn't have a good teacher, and I had to learn it myself."

Tsubaki looked down in shame. It was incredibly childish of her to get so mad so quickly. Nothing in this world comes easy, and she was acting like a spoiled brat.

More tears came from her eyes, and her shoulders shook with emotion.

"Don't be ashamed, Tsubaki-chan. To feel, to anguish, to strive, and to fail is to be human.

The fact that you are upset just means that you care.

And that is not an issue.

Let me be extremely clear about something.

You did fail at expressing you Fire Chakra properly.

But that is not your failure. That is my failure as your teacher.

I am supposed to teach and guide you, and I got caught up in myself just now while you struggled.

It is an incredible failure on my part as an educator, and I beg your forgiveness."

Yama crouched down until his head was at the level of the desk. He looked at Tsubaki, who was still looking straight down and averting her eyes.

Yama continued.

"Tsubaki-chan, please look at me."

Tsubaki looked up and her red and puffy eyes looked directly into Yama's clear blue ones.

"I am incredibly sorry to have failed you.

Will you forgive me?"

Tsubaki clenched her lips together and nodded.

"Will you try the exercise one more time?

I promise that I will guide you properly this time."

Tsubaki nodded her head again, and wiped her face and nose with her sleeve.

She reached out to the lighter and lit the candle once again, and then placed her hands on either side of the candle.

Yama placed his hands on top of hers, and she tried again.

This time it was different though.

She reached down into her dantian and mobilized her chakra. As it moved from her stomach to her her heart and out into her arms, her entire body felt warm. It reminded her of last winter, sitting under the kotatsu with her father, who was peeling clementines for her.

The chakra raced down her arms, and left her hands.

She watched and waited for the candle to go out.

But it didn't.

The flame doubled in size.

Tsubaki looked on in amazement.

The candlelight was incredibly warm and bright.

Tsubaki leaped up from her desk and started jumping around.

"I DID IT! i DID IT! TAKE THAT YOU STUPID CANDLE! TSUBAKI WINS THIS TIME!"

Yama looked on with a wry grin as the young girl celebrated.

Tsubaki quickly turned to face Yama.

"But what did you do? Why did it work this time?"

Yama shrugged.

"All you. Sometimes all you need is someone who believes in you."

Tsubaki wasn't naive enough to completely believe her sensei, but she remembered the warm feeling her chakra had as it moved around her body, and she was sure that she would be able to reproduce it in the future.