Day 1:
-South West Kumo: Naruto-
It was official: he hated mountains.
He gave a wheezed victory cry as they finally reached a stay, the innkeeper giving him a strange look. But for once, that look wasn't a hateful one and the realisation that he wasn't in Konoha was refreshing enough to allow him to almost forget his screaming muscles.
Almost.
Tsunade grabbed him by the scruff of the neck as he attempted to leap onto the warm fluffiness of the bed covers.
"You're going to make it dirty." She said with a tut. Shizune, who- god damn it- didn't even look the slightest bit tired, gave him an exasperate chuckle.
"Mou, Tsunade-sama, for a student, I'd say that was plenty impressive." The Jonin crouched down to let Tonton crawl out of her arms. "Allow him a little rest, yeah?"
In lieu of a reply, the Sannin dropped him.
Onto the floor.
Leaping up in indignation, he waved an angry fist at the woman but before he could get a word out, Tsunade thrust an unrolled scroll towards him. A smile- which looked a tad evil and a tad determined- rose onto her face.
"Oh hoh hoh, go get your rest then, brat, because we're starting right tomorrow! Get ready to die!"
Minimum Expectations (3 year)
Essentials:
Literacy: Proficient
General knowledge: Proficient
--> Nation-wide, internal/external conflict, history, famous figures, shinobi system, sexual education/history and consent, physical and spiritual anatomy, legends and beliefs, Clans and politics etc.
Stance and positioning: 1 standard form for each (long, medium and short distance)
--> Weapon handling, escape prioritised, coordination, close combat etc.
Physiological and physical manoeuvrability: Advanced
--> Motor/hand-eye coordination, flexibility etc.
Further:
Language and culture: Proficient (Nation-wide) (foreign tongue fluency to be further confirmed)
Coding and signals: Proficient
Psychology and tactics (uncertain in expectation of proficiency):
Strategy and tactic/Leadership
Interrogation/Identification
Information gathering/Infiltration
Lying/Manipulation/Seduction*/Baiting or tempting
Chakra, Jutsu and Techniques:
Chakra control: Proficient
--> Chakra meditation, Chakra Gate manipulation etc.
Chakra capacity: Advanced*
Chakra Shape Transformation: Proficient
Chakra Elemental Natures: Advanced (in 2, acceptable in all)
--> Suiton, Fuuton (Uzumaki heritage, Namikaze's ancestor's speciality)
Kekkei Genkai: (to be confirmed)
Hiden (secret techniques): (heritage needs to be discussed- Space-Time Ninjutsu etc.)
Bijuu chakra: (to be seen)
Genjutsu: Novice (recognition and cancelation) (potential in Genjutsu to be confirmed)
Taijutsu: Proficient
Nintaijutsu (chakra enhanced Taijutsu): Proficient
Ninjutsu: Advanced (A-Rank working downwards - for chakra capacity and control purposes)
Fuuinjutsu: Acceptable (based on Uzumaki standards --> depends on interest level)
Kenjutsu/Bukijutsu: Acceptable (depends on interest level) (senbon/needles + trapping --> Fuuin?)
Iryo Ninjutsu: Proficient (to be seen)
Kuchiyose: Acceptable (do not prioritise)
Sensing: Acceptable (to be seen)
Poison/Antidote/Medicine etc: Acceptable (to be seen)
Chakra scalpel, chakra blades/extensions and similar techniques: Acceptable (to be seen)
Note: These expectations are the basic foundations. Area of expertise/specialisation needs to be considered.
"I- I can't... read that..." Naruto squinted harder until he felt his head starting to throb and heat up. "Oh, seduction? I can do that!"
Shizune face palmed.
Tsunade had a different reaction. "Listen. I know I can fool around a lot but you saw what happened back then. This is serious training and we aren't going to fool around like some porn-writing, sleazy pervert would."
("What?"
"Don't ask." Shizune patted Naruto's arm.)
"Let me be honest with you, Naruto." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "You're a hundred steps behind step one."
The solemness of her voice froze their surroundings.
"Lemme tell you something then, Baa-chan." Naruto grinned back challengingly and the heat of it thawed the atmosphere. "I'll work hard enough for a thousand people."
The instinctive reply made Tsunade chuckle.
"Ok brat. I believe in you but you must also believe in me. To even reach the beginning of the path I walk on, you'll have to go through hell and back. I'll make it fun and interesting but that doesn't mean it'll be any less painful. If you can get through it though, you'll understand 'power' like never before."
"That's-" His grin widened, "-exactly what I'm looking forward to, dattebayo!"
Day 2
"You should realise by now how impossible the goals I set for you are." Tsunade tapped a finger on the boy's forehead. "And no, that wasn't insulting you. The first lesson I'm going to teach you is this: your pride means nothing until you can back it up with your strength. And I'm talking Hokage level strength. Like me."
For once, Naruto didn't talk back, clamping his mouth shut when he saw the commanding fire in her eyes. Tsunade just had a presence that made Naruto stop acting like he usually did.
"I don't know what fairy tales feed you but pride. Does. Not. Matter." She bit out. "I cannot stress this too much. As soon as you're out of a league- whether psychologically, physically or spiritually- drop out. Even Elite shinobi don't fight for their pride- ignore whatever you've heard from Sarutobi. Pride can lead to impulsiveness which can lead to other people- not just shinobi- to their deaths. Or worse, to their captures."
"And captures," Shizune inputs, "means being used as a hostage or a source of information. Enemies would use any means possible to get the most use out of a captive- and I mean, any means possible. Shinobi are supposedly emotionless tools and many are taught how to suppress their morals in order to get to their goal."
"That's why if your enemy is stronger than you, they won't care if you have a tragic past or a crippling disability. They won't care if you've worked your arse off for this single moment or fight. They won't care about any of that. On the off chance that they do, it's probably because they aren't either a) a real enemy, or b) a strong enemy. But then there's a possibility that the enemy is an-" Tsunade's eyes turned dark as she remembered the three Ame orphans- what were they doing now? Didn't one die or something? "-unprofessional shinobi who acts upon emotion. Examples would be outcasts, orphans- particularly war orphans, or avengers etc. Survivors- you could name them- are the strongest kind of fighters."
"Survivors." Naruto echoed with brows furrowed in deep thought. There were many things he wanted to protest against but this woman was strong and experienced like Hokage-jiji. She was more honest than Hokage-jiji as well so Naruto didn't want to push his luck by defying her words. "Why survivors though? It can't be because they're... full of anger or hate." 'Like I am.' was a phrase left unsaid.
"Yes, you're actually right as sad as it is. They don't even have to be shinobi or anything. Survivors either from conflict and battle or from situations like..." Tsunade gave him a pointed look, "like yours. They're all strong in different sorts of ways, whether in the head-"
She tapped a finger on Naruto's chest, "-in the heart, or in the body. Some survivors grow up with a lot of malicious energy and it eventually forms into a wrong kind of strength but they become powerful no less. They are unprofessional because their skills would be rooted off emotion and as soon as someone hits a sore point, they'll blow up or snap. To many people, 'survivors' are the strongest, most unpredictable foes and lots of people hate fighting against them but you..."
She gave him an unexplainable grin, "...I'm not too sure about you. That's why I picked you, ya know?"
The Sannin gave a helpless sort of smile, "I'm not glorifying what you had been going through but survivors just have a different potential, path and journey. They have a different look in their eyes to mere outsiders. Survivors who grow under professional tutelage are perhaps one of the strongest kinds. All those instincts they honed through experience could be filtered through to what many consider 'overpowered'."
"Are you a survivor too then?" Naruto glanced up at them with wide eyes. "Cuz you're so strong-ttebayo."
She stopped herself. "Well, yeah. I guess. Any shinobi you see that look around the age of 30 or older have probably been through shitty things-" "-Please do not swear, Tsunade-sama-" "-I'm getting off topic. I'll make time to explain exactly what I feel about all that and I'll also rant about Konoha and your ex-class but for now, we're talking about your pride and why you should keep it stored away- not thrown out, but stored away from when the time calls."
"Naruto," Shizune piped in again when she saw the confused and conflicted expression on his face. "Many people are put into a situation where they'd have to suffer horrible humiliation and dishonour to get to their goal. The only exception is Clan and Village affairs but that's getting into politics and we'll discuss that later. This is why Tsunade-sama left the entire 'psychology' section blank for proficiency levels- like how good you are at something."
She pointed at a small section of neat cursive and waited for him to nod. "She did that because these kind of things aren't usually understood by the younger generations. Being a shinobi rarely means coolly defeating the guards and sneaking into a bedroom. It's usually much dirtier and grittier. The few times that 'cool' method succeeds, it's used as a propaganda story."
"Propoganga? Like... 'Oh look here, us shinobi are so honourable and cool!'... right?" Naruto furrowed his brows, he thinks he'd heard of something like that before... somewhere.
Oh right. Teuchi had once told him about it but Naruto hadn't listened. It wasn't his fault though; the pork broth ramen was just that heavenly.
"Right. And it's propaganda- when people give wrong information to make one opinion look good or bad... kinda." Tsunade's eyes then widened in shock. "I'm glad you aren't being difficult about this."
"Hey!"
"It was a compliment, Naruto." Shizune laughed. "Many students at this point would say something about being a 'handsome hero' or a 'sexy kunoichi'."
"Oops," He admitted because maybe if he was feeling a little less muted, he'd yell about the same thing.
"Haha, it's like that with many things, Naruto. You should understand that the role of Hokage isn't just to be an intimidating looking figure head. The Hokage is meant to be the 'shadow' of the Fire Daimyo but many Villagers forget that. They think that Kages are like superheroes who managed to blitz their way up to success. Many Villagers forget that each of those leaders had to scrape their way up in disgraceful ways. It is simply the truth that we won't hide from you. This is something you must understand before you begin to train."
"I understand," He frowned, "As much as I... want to-" He cringed, "-deny it."
Naruto had been on both sides of Konoha. He knows that under the masks of the 'tree ninja' were blank, desensitised faces- they never covered their hair so sometimes he'd recognise a few of them when they were off 'duty'. They all had a look to them that screamed 'I've been through blood and death and more than any of you would'.
He understands this because of the scar on Iruka-sensei's face and the many orphaned children who seemed to glare at him harder than the rest. It was only now that he knew that they were probably orphans because of him.
('What do you mean? It's not our fault.')
"But while many need to completely cast away their pride and mental blah blah to quickly achieve their goals, you can skip right past that because of your cheat code..." Tsunade gave a mock drum roll, "You have Kage Bunshin and shits amount of chakra! And using THAT, you actually have the chance to get to those 'impossible goals'."
Naruto's mouth was slightly agape as he processed all the information given, his other thoughts quickly shoved aside for later sorting. "How's my Bunshin a cheat code?"
"How many Kage Bunshin can you make?" Tsunade asked in lieu of replying.
"I haven't tried how many but I know they're definitely more-er and better than the Academy normal Bunshin-ttebayo." Naruto stood up, eyeing the grass clearing before he brought his hands up in a seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Suddenly, all they could see was orange.
"Ah! My eyes!" Shizune screeched while Tsunade was stroking her chin, fascinated. She walked a few paces away until she was out of sight from the original. She then turned to one of the Bunshin and flicked his nose hard enough to make him pop out of existence.
"Ow!" The original yelped before Naruto took his hand away from where it had rubbed his nose. "Huh?"
"How did I just dispel your Kage Bunshin, Naruto?"
"You flicked my nose! Again-ttebayo!"
A smirk stretched across Tsunade's face as a realisation dawned upon her. "I knew it."
"Huh, you know what-ttebayo?"
"By the end of the day, you're gonna be able to walk on water." Tsunade dramatically pointed to the boy.
"Walk on- on water? That's impossible-ttebayo!"
"Right now there's about hmm..." Tsunade gave a cursory glance around the area before the Sannin let out a sharp heave, twisting her body with an arm swinging into the air. A blast of wind cracked forward from her limb and the Bunshin all dispelled from the shockwave. "...Two hundred plus?" She whistled. "How much chakra left?"
"Uh, a lot?" Naruto scratched his cheek. "That was like, a third-maybe-fourth-ish out of all my catra-ish? Datteba-ish?"
"Chakra, you mean. Anyway, I'll explain why your Kage Bunshin is a cheat code soon. Hmm, ok." Tsunade beckoned to Shizune who brought out a clip board, scribbling down her words. "I'll get you to summon one to work advanced chakra control with me, one with Shizune to start on all the essentials- sorry, Shizune, you're playing nanny- and the original with me for evaluation. After the explanations, I'll get your Bunshin to summon more. We'll see how the technique affects you and then we'll tweak the schedule around a bit."
"Uhh, ok, I got it dattebayo. Wait... there was two you's in that though."
Tsunade wordlessly brought her hand up in a seal and another one of her poof-ed into existence. "I copied it." She spelled out for him. "The forbidden scroll had, basically, the easy, 'shortcut' way of doing the Kage Bunshin. And I copied it."
"Wow." Naruto nodded. "Baa-chan is impressive."
"Yeah," She nodded back. "I know right; I'm amazing. But you are correct: not many people can use the Kage Bunshin- mostly only Jonin or above. Shizune would be able to do it easy but there'd be no point because not everyone has as much chakra as you do. I have a lot of chakra compared to ordinary people- even when half of it powers my appearance and my Byakugo- but not much compared to how much you'll have when you're older or Jii-sama."
"Woah-ttebayo... I'll have more catr- cha-kurah than YOU?"
"Brat," Tsunade huffed. "Right now you have, what, double- triple times the amount of chakra a Jonin would have. I could argue it's probably more."
"...Wow, so I'm like super amazing then?"
"Only if you can control it properly."
"Uh- ahem. Yeah. Yeah. Control, mhm. ...And who's your 'Jii-sama'?"
"Maa," Shizune waved a hand. "That's my job. I'll be giving you the answers to all those little questions. And it's chakra. Cha-kra."
"Shizune, life saver as always." Tsunade gave her a thumbs up. "I'll also have you to work on advancing the Kage Bunshin after we finish the evaluation. I want you to eventually get it down to no hand seals, no noise, no visual indication- like the poof of cloud, and basically- I want you to be able to summon a Kage Bunshin as easily as you can blink."
"No way... That's fucking insane-ttebayo."
"-Don't swear, Naruto-" Shizune hissed.
"It's just day one and it's gonna get harder from here onwards." The Sannin smiled like a predator with her glistening teeth and sharp eyes. "You complaining?"
"Hell no!"
"And one more thing, Naruto."
"Huh?"
"Unless you have my say so, don't summon over two hundred Kage Bunshin in a single sitting. If you ever get a headache or feel tired, tell me immediately. I still don't fully understand the effects of the Jutsu but it was forbidden for a reason more than simply chakra drainage so be careful. I-" She sighed.
"I feel like I'm asking for so much but I'll just summarise it into these three promises: Don't lie to me. Trust in me to listen to you. And listen to me when I'm being serious."
"Hm?" Naruto gave her a strange look, more than hundreds of thoughts flying through his mind. "Yeah yeah, of course."
"Not that. I need your word."
...Naruto felt like the last dredges of his trust was being held up by a single thread.
Lying. Trusting. Listening. The three things Naruto seemed to be the best and worst at.
Naruto feels like he's handing out his trust way too easily; if Tsunade cuts that single thread, he wouldn't be able to-
But what did he have to lose?
Tsunade is a woman that Naruto can't- for his life- comprehend.
Why is she so honest? Why doesn't she hate him? Why is she so- Well, Naruto wouldn't say that she's nice because Tsunade could be a nagging, pushing grouch but he would take any number of her ear-grating, irritated screeches over a Villager's single, inaudible whisper.
('You're still a fool.')
Naruto was already grateful with someone to talk to him- actually talk to him. Naruto was already so grateful that she first looked at him in the eyes like a stranger would at another stranger. A tad of curiosity, a bit of wariness and absolutely no prejudice. Naruto was grateful that they first met each other 'stranger to stranger', instead of 'person to orphan' or 'person to monster' or 'person to trash'.
('How low are your standards? How easy are you to please?')
And because Naruto is grateful, he thinks he'll be able to go on without regrets if this mean, annoying, loud and rude woman ever decides to cut that thin thread of his trust.
Because surely someone as kind, honest, brave and estimable as her wouldn't betray someone without a reason.
('Headstrong, positive, persistent... I hate that about you.')
Tsunade hadn't let him down so far- in fact, she's surpassed anything Naruto would've ever expected.
('Do you ever learn your lesson?')
Naruto didn't know why he felt vulnerable (but in a nice sort of way) when he said: "...You have my word." He beamed, "And I never go back on my word, Baa-chan!"
('Why are you trusting her? Do you want to get hurt again?' The voice was furious and for once Naruto didn't feel scared of it. Naruto felt scared for it.)
"Good." The kunoichi reciprocated the gesture, eyes crinkling. "Because I would feel like crap if my precious student got hurt because of my incompetence. I do that kinda stuff to make sure you're in the best environment possible."
-Because clearly that voice inside his head didn't have someone like Tsunade.
"Now," The Sannin clapped her hands, "Let's get started!"