Once outside of the building, he walked in the direction of the training grounds, where he had already sensed the large lava-like signature of Mei Terumi. He was curious why she was in training ground three.

'Mei?!' Naruto tried his best to sound surprised when he saw the blue clad Kiri Jonin with her genin. 'What are you doing here?'

She turned, blocking a kick from the blue haired genin with the absurdly long katana at his back, 'Ah. Naruto, fancy seeing you here.'

She smiled at him charmingly and was pleased to see a blush creep up his cheeks. 'My team and I were just getting in some training.'

Naruto had noticed that Harui and Chojuro, as he had learnt he was called, were looking worse for wear and out of breath. 'Oh… right. I'm sorry for interrupting you. Please carry on.'

Mei had already been told by Harui that he was coming, and informed her genin to go along with her. It had been a few days since she had last seen Naruto and it saved her going looking for him. Although, she was curious as to how his chakra control training was going.

'Nonsense. We're guests here, Naruto. And even though we have been granted permission by the Hokage to train, it is still your training ground. I was just preparing my genin for the Chunin exams.' Hook.

If Naruto had thought before that she had some ulterior motive, this just sealed it. She was here on purpose, knowing that this was Team 7's training ground. And quite surprisingly, he felt a possessiveness in him growl for them to leave, but he squashed it just as quickly.

'You're welcome to train with us if you want', Mei said, knowing that this would interest Naruto. And indeed, the hopeful glint on the boy's face was just as telling as to the conditions in which he was living here.

Line.

A few more subtle pushes in the right direction and he would be willing to do what she asked of him. A part of her rebelled at using such an innocent, naïve boy in such a way, but she ignored it ruthlessly.

This was the shinobi world and there were either ninjas who were used, or those who used others. She mollified that slightly honourable part of hers by saying this was for Kiri. This needed to be done.

'Thanks, Mei. But I don't want to trouble you', he replied. That and he didn't like the death glare the white-haired girl was giving him. He still remembered the thrashing she had given him and if he was being honest, it hurt his pride to train with her.

But there was no denying that she was stronger than him. And as he had come to realise, that resenting someone just because they are stronger than you, makes one petty. And it's a useless emotion.

Strength, when it comes from hard work and guts isn't something to be resented. It's something to be respected. After all, wasn't that what he was trying to do himself?

'Un hn. In fact,', Mei turned to motion towards her two genin, 'We were just done with team training and they have their shift to guard the Princess. So, I can help you with whatever you're having problems with.'

She didn't need to explain it to her genin what she was trying to do. They understood it just be her looks alone and left to carry out their duty, but not before Harui threw Naruto one more dirty look. Judging from the way Naruto seemed to be struggling with the idea, she just needed one more push.

'Well if you would rather learn from your own sensei, the famed Kakashi of the Sharingan, I can understand of course', Mei gave a slight pout that always works on men, just slightly pushing her breasts together by squeezing her chest. And quite expectedly, she saw his resistance vanishing.

And sinker.

'No, no', Naruto said quickly, rubbing the back of his head. Even though he had mastered the Academy three, that wasn't enough to make him strong. And who knows. He might even learn something. 'It's just that…. I don't know why you would want to help me.'

Mei's lips pursed together and she resisted the urge to do a repeat of the hot springs and just saddle up to him. They were ANBU watching them after all. Although she sensed that one of them had taken off to tail her genin. Mei weighed her odds here.

She could lie to the boy but there was the chance that he would find out, and she would lose whatever trust she had garnered. Or she could be partially truthful.

'Well, Naruto. I could help you by way of an apology for my genin's behaviour. Or I could say it's because I need something from you', Mei said, knowing she had the boy's full attention now.

Naruto had an idea where this was going and wasn't sure he liked it. But compromises needed to be made in life, didn't they?

'Besides, it's not like tutors are lining up to take your mission request', she added, noting the flash of anger in the boy's eyes before it smothered. Oh yes, he was coming along nicely.

Naruto wasn't that surprised that she knew about it. It wasn't a secret anyway. It's not like he had requested an S-ranked mission. Besides, he had heard quite a few ninja snickering about it as he had left the Hokage's building.

'It…' Naruto hesitated, 'Maybe I made a mistake in writing the request…'

'Hmm… That could be true', Mei narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering where the boy was going with this. 'From what I gather, its been five days since you filed it. If there was a mistake, they would have told you, no?'

Naruto grumbled, 'Then I should have requested a separate tutor for things I need help with. But apparently, it doesn't work that way. It's not like the academy teachers taught me anything useful anyway.'

Mei nodded, 'That's true. You could have. But you're right. It doesn't work that way. That's not how missions are assigned to ninja, especially in villages like Konoha.'

Naruto looked up from the rock he was kicking around, confused, 'What do you mean how they are assigned? Isn't it just whichever team is free to do them they can have it?'

The Kiri Jonin chuckled and shook her head, 'No Naruto. That may work with lowly D-rank and C-rank ones, but not missions of greater importance.' But the boy looked like it was a foreign concept to him. And likely was.

Given how most Jinchurrikki are treated in villages, it wouldn't surprise her if the academy teachers deliberately sabotaged his education.

Still, that didn't absolve him of his ignorance. But in this case, it worked out in her favour so she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 'Are you telling me you don't know?'

She already knew the poor boy had no clue whatsoever. Kami bless her luck for making the Konoha ninjas stupid. 'Tell me, Naruto. Do you know what the purpose of the Chunin exams is?'

Naruto knew that to give the obvious answer was going to make him look like he was an idiot. Truthfully, he had no idea what the other purpose was, so he shook his head.

Mei sighed, while inwardly she was actually glad for this turn of events. Even so, she didn't want to give an entire lecture on the logistics of these exams.

'In simplest terms, it's to gather clients by showing off their talented ninja. Each participating village sends its best ninjas who are likely to make the cut, to showcase their abilities and talents and thereby compete with other for missions which are given by feudal lords, merchants, and others of prominence, not only from the village's own country but other countries as well.'

Naruto nodded, remembering how they've done a mission for Wave Country which didn't have its own shinobi.

'Depending on the abilities of said ninjas, the villages who impress the clients the most are inundated with mission requests and those who do not, see their income decline. It's a way to increase one's military strength and undermine the other villages' strength without the need for war.'

He understood that, seeing as he had now begun to study history and how the countries were organised before the hidden village system was established.

'Before there were Hidden Villages, each country was made up of many ninja clans which acted as militia groups, battling for power, prestige and money which came from missions. Now, even though many clans, and clanless shinobi, are organised in villages, the part of clans battling for power hasn't changed essentially.'

Naruto narrowed his eyes in disbelief. That couldn't be right. 'But clans don't fight each other in the village? Surely, it means it has changed and improved from the Era of Warring States.'

Mei however shook her head, 'No. Your Second Hokage tried to make it so, for clans to give up their individual powers but it didn't work out. If it had worked in the Leaf, then perhaps other villages would have followed suit as well. In any case, clans are still vying for power, and there exists a tentative balance of it within the village, which is partially maintained by how many missions each clan gets. Fighting isn't always by combat.'

'But the teams aren't just made of specific clans. Neither me nor Sakura are from a clan', Naruto argued, failing to see how this had anything to do with his problem.

Mei nodded. Either the boy knew what he was doing when he arrived, or he was actually this naïve. She mentally smirked; if the latter, it worked out well for her. If the first, it only makes her job more interesting.

He was from a clan, she thought. But he didn't need to know that… yet. That would come later when she was sure it would have the greatest impact. After all, like in comedy and combat, timing was everything. And this was combat, just not with fists.

'Yes. Teams aren't made up on only specific clans anymore. But clans, especially those with special abilities or hidden jutsu such as Yamanaka, Aburame, or even the Hyuga Clan are also specifically sought out by many clients for jobs, not unlike the Era of Warring States. In short, when a client comes to with a mission, it is their prerogative to give the mission to the village as a whole, or a clan specifically.'

Naruto pondered this revelation and wondered what the implications would be to his own training. Either way, he was thankful to her for explaining it to him regardless of her reasoning. However, it didn't have anything to do with his mission request, for he had requested a tutor and not a job that needed to be done, per se.

She smirked, seemingly having read his mind, 'Yes, none of that is relevant to you except that the tutors you hire can't be from clans with specialised jutsu.'

Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'And why not?'

Yes, just a little more and he would be ready to accept her guidance. She could see his walls crumbling, through his eyes. But what was up with this physical change?

'For the simple fact that no one will wish to share their techniques with an outsider. A Hyuga will not teach you taijutsu; a Kurama will not teach you genjutsu; a Sarutobi will not teach you their ash-fire jutsu; and Nara will not teach you Yin release.'

She could have given more examples, but it seemed from his slumped shoulders, he finally understood. The blonde was silent for a while, and she patiently waited for him. After all, Kirigakure wasn't built in a day.

The wind blew by, ruffling his unruly hair, and whistled as if whispering sweet nothings and secrets into his ears. 'You want the sword, right? Zabuza's sword?'

If Mei was surprised that he had reached the conclusion so quickly, she didn't show it. She had already surmised that the boy was a little smarter than what people gave him credit for. That wasn't all she wanted, but she will let him think that… for now. The timing wasn't right for him to know after all.

'Yes, I need the Kubikiribocho. You did win it when you killed Zabuza, regardless of the manner. But it belongs to Kiri.'

Naruto wasn't surprised she had asked for it. After all, Harui had accused him of being a thief. The only problem was, neither the Hokage nor Kakashi new he had taken the sword from Zabuza's grave.

'So, I propose an exchange', Naruto looked up to the see the serious face of the Kiri Jonin, her beautiful green eyes betraying nothing. It still amazed him how Jonin could go from smiling and smirking to business like in the span of a second. 'What is that you want from me, Naruto?'

The blonde in question scrunched up his face in thought, for a few seconds. There were quite a few things he could ask for, if he was being honest.

'Money, wine?' She seemed inclined to give him suggestions of payment. 'Women?'

Naruto scoffed at the preposterous suggestion, 'What am I supposed to do with women. Not like I can use them.'

'Then?' Mei chuckled, shaking her head. He really was an innocent boy if he didn't know what to do with women. Not completely though, she did notice his eyes shifting to her bust every couple of minutes, until he would make another conscious decision to look away.

'Training. I want you to train me while you are in Konoha', Naruto exclaimed decisively, looking quite serious.

Again, the boy surprised her, though she sure as hell didn't show it. One cannot afford to look taken off guard during a negotiation.

She was quite surprised that he wouldn't just ask her for help as she had offered, but outright training when he had access to a library full of techniques belonging to Konoha. From the determined look on his face, those whisker marks somehow more prominent, she gathered that he had already learnt from took other ninja years to learn. That books and scrolls could only take him so far.

'Train you in what?' she asked, raising one auburn eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest.

'Ninjutsu and taijutsu', Naruto replied. Even though he wanted to learn kenjutsu as well, he didn't want to reveal it yet to the ANBU that were watching. Although, the realistic part of him knew that at some point, he was going to have to learn it from one of the same sword-carrying shinobi he was trying to hide it from.

Mei nodded, her tresses falling across her shoulders in a somehow elegant movement. She was sure she could still have the leg up in this negotiation. 'Okay. And how do I know you will keep to your end of the bargain?'

It was Naruto's turn to cross his arms in indignation, 'I never go back on my word! That's my nindo, my ninja way!'

No matter how much he may have learnt since graduating from the academy, but if there was one thing that would not change in him was his hatred of people who did not keep their word.

That was when they sealed the deal, with naught but a handshake, each giving their word. Mei, that she will teach him for the week, and at the end of it, he would return the sword that he took. And Naruto was more than happy to do so.

When he had hauled the sword out of Zabuza's grave, it was purely because he wanted to look badass when wielding it, and make Sasuke-teme look like a chump. But now he realised, there was no possible way he could wield, let alone master such a bulky and heavy blade. It just wasn't his style.

Mei Terumi smiled, finally having made some progress with the boy, 'Okay then, Naruto. Tell me, what do you know of…' she paused for a little dramatic effect, seeing that the boy was almost on the edge of his toes in anticipation… 'Shunshin no Jutsu?'

Naruto's eyes widened at the prospect of learning the teleportation technique and he grinned as he replied, 'It's a technique for high speed movement. It's a teleportation jutsu. There is only one seal, Tiger.'

Mei nodded in agreement; that much was basic knowledge. 'And what is the other requirement?'

Naruto hesitated, and bit back the immediate reply that came to mind – chakra – 'Smoke', he said but then remembered Zabuza's using mist during his fight with Kakashi. 'or Water?'

The Jonin smiled in return, 'Exactly. Most people use smoke as a way to mask their movement. But it's not the only thing that can be used. Each village has their own version of it. Konoha uses leaves; Suna uses sand; Kiri uses water etc. What else?'

Naruto wasn't completely ignorant of the idea behind it, as he had done some initial research on it, 'It is essentially using chakra to vitalise the whole body for a short amount of time. The amount of chakra required depends on the distance one travels, and the elevation.'

Though why did it require the tiger seal and not the ram seal was still up for debate.

'Correct. Now there are some weaknesses that you must be aware of before learning this. It's not to be confused with teleportation. It's only high-speed movement, not a space-time ninjutsu. Secondly, it cannot be used many times consecutively because of the cumulative chakra drain. Thirdly, it gives its greatest weakness comes from the movement itself – tunnel vision.'

Naruto liked this way of learning. It was relatively new to him but ever since he had started his research into the academy jutsus, he found it worked better for him – understanding a jutsu before executing it.

But there was one glaring question he had, 'Is there any way to eliminate the tunnel vision?'

She smiled, knowing that this would get a rise out of the boy, 'The Sharingan.'

Naruto grumbled at the unfairness of having such a handy dojutsu but nothing can be done about that. He would have to work around the limitations, like always. 'Let's do it!'

'Follow my lead', Mei said, as she put her hands in a tiger seal, whilst Naruto concentrated on the feel of her chakra. He had a sneaky suspicion that the woman might know of his sensory ability, as she purposefully moulded chakra as slowly as she could for his benefit.

But unlike what he had expected, Mei's chakra was immediately moulded in the pattern he had already learnt was for the Ram seal, except that she was holding up the tiger seal. What was going on? Naruto concentrated with narrowed eyes, almost as if he focused enough, he would be able to see the chakra.

But that was irrelevant. For he could clearly sense the chakra from the Ram pattern into the muscles of her legs, her abdomen, her arms, and generally every large muscle group. From there, Mei changed her hands into the Snake seal, and then the Tiger seal again.

Naruto had to almost blink, and if he could have shut off his 'mind's eye!' he would have. The explosion of chakra almost blinded his mental eye. He watched in awe, as Mei was surrounded by a swirl of water, and was now standing much further away then she had been, on the water in the gentle stream.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one who could change hand seals for common jutsus to suit him better. As far as he knew, nobody used the Snake seal in the Shunshin Jutsu.

Already this training was looking to be much more interesting than slaving away for useless academy jutsus that served no purpose whatsoever. The blonde's whiskered face twisted into a grin at the thought of finally getting stronger, 'My turn!'

But how she had surrounded herself by water whilst on land, before doing the jutsu? She had clearly used it to mask her movement, for in the water explosion, he couldn't see where she had moved. But it was also clear that she was not going to give him any more pointers, so he did the only thing he could at this point. He stood on the stream to use its water.

Mei smiled at the boy's ingenious improvising. He eliminated the need to make water on his own like she did. But then would he know what to do with the seals she had shown him? Her genin hadn't been able to figure it out on their own? Could he?

That alone would depend on how she would teach him in the one more week they were to stay in Konoha. Not that Naruto was aware of it, but she had no intention of teaching him taijutsu. The genin of villages in peace weren't aware of it, but when it came to battles between armies, taijutsu and weapon skills were much more useful than the ability to through fireballs or put up water walls. Such jutsu also had the risk of friendly fire.

Even if she did require the Executioner's Blade, she was not going to put her village at such a disadvantage by teaching something so valuable to another village's genin.

Naruto however was not aware of Mei's internal thoughts or her decisions. Remembering on how she moulded her chakra using the Tiger seal, then Snake then Tiger again, he repeated it.

Within a span of what seemed like a millisecond, the world passed by in a blur, the contents of his stomach threatening to be released as he was slammed into a nearby tree.

'Shit!' Naruto cursed, holding up his bruised head.

What the fuck had happened? One minute he had finished the Snake seal, and soon as he did the Tiger Seal, he was crashing into the age-old brown bark, quite painfully.

One look back, and he could see her chuckling to herself, holding up a dainty hand to her smooth, thin lips.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. The damn woman was making fun of him. He would show her! He would master this technique.

'What happened?' he asked her, as he walked back on the stream cradling his head.

Unlike what he thought, she didn't stay quiet this time and answered, 'My guess is that you put too much chakra in the technique, and failed to control its explosion outward.'

Naruto nodded, narrowing his eyes, as he concentrated on the technique yet again. The second time was much the same as the first, so was the third and the fourth. By the fifth and sixth time, his head was seriously hurting by crashing into the damn trees again and again.

But at least, he had managed to lessen the distance he travelled. He could tell by the bumps on the barks of the trees. By the ninth time, his stomach could no longer hold onto the breakfast he had had.

'Ughhhh! Ugghh', Naruto was bent over the edge of the woods, retching out his food onto the base of the tree's trunks. 'Disgusting…', he mumbled.

Unlike the basic jutsus, he could clearly feel the expense of his chakra. It wasn't as great as the Shadow Clone but it was still notable.

There was something he was doing wrong other than the amount of chakra he was putting in. He wasn't moulding it right even though he was using the same seals she had used, 'Tiger, Snake, Tiger.'

'Could you show it to me again', Naruto asked, having finished vomiting and walking back to the stream.

Mei redid the jutsu, and like before, streams of water swirled around her, before she vanished momentarily, only to appear right in front of him, holding a kunai in front of his knife.

'Shit!' startled, Naruto jumped back, as soon as he noticed the kunai, his own having somehow come out of his pouch and into his grip. 'That's not funny!' he grumbled, looking at the chuckling Jonin.

'Sorry, Naruto-kun but I had to show the possibilities of this jutsu', Mei trailed a perfectly manicured nail along the length of one of his whiskers, causing a faint blush to rise to his cheeks.

How the hell had she done that? She hadn't had the kunai in her hand before she did the Shunshin but did when the movement ended. That could only mean one thing.

If she could come out of the Shunshin perfectly fine and holding a weapon ready to attack, then she had somehow lessened the tunnel vision he was experiencing.

In a moment of genius, or stupidity, he remembered that he had more weights sealed in a scroll he carried on his person.

'What are you doing?' Mei asked curiously, seeing the boy strap more weights to his legs and arms.

'I'm putting more weights on so I can see what the hell is going on when I use the jutsu', Naruto replied, being able to barely stand properly. He had learnt the hard way that if he only increased the weights on his legs, then the rest of his body gets unbalanced and he couldn't even walk without falling over. As such, every time he increased the weights, he had to do it across all of them.

This time however when he executed the jutsu again, Naruto grinned momentarily, having forcibly slowed himself enough. The incredibly uncomfortable feeling of his stomach lurching was still ever-present. He could see the burst of water around him, splashing everywhere; could see himself move at unimaginable speeds and he could see the tree getting ever closer.

Right before he slammed into said tree.

'Fuck!' he cursed, rubbing the giant lump that was surely forming on his head.

'Language', Mei admonished him lightly. They may be shinobi but she was still a lady. There was no reason for a boy to use such words in front of her. Even so, she could see the boy was improving right before her eyes.

'Sorry', the boy mumbled, before

Albeit that's not how she would have solved the problem of not knowing what was happening, she couldn't deny that it was effective. He would eventually have to undo his improvised tactic but by then he would have understood the mechanics of the jutsu.

He still doesn't know what to do with the water he was standing on, but perhaps expecting that of a genin was too much to ask without giving him some hints. Even her team couldn't figure it out and they are by far smarter than him.

Another hour later, and Naruto could finally say he had started understanding what was happening. It wasn't that he even needed to mould chakra and direct it in his body. The jutsu was somehow designed in a way - or at least Mei's method was – that chakra burst through his system without even needing to verbalise the jutsu.

He had wondered why some people yell out their techniques when others don't. Granted, he was usually among the first group because that was what he learnt from the academy, but Zabuza and Kakashi's battle showed him differently.

Real ninja after all, don't give their opponents the advantage by screaming out their techniques names before doing them. It was Tobirama's memoire that explained it however. It wasn't that most ninja do it by habit, but that most jutsu included a verbal seal after the last one, to be able to do them.

Experienced shinobi however, can eliminate the need to verbalise them after sufficient training. Shinobi like Itachi Uchiha who was rumoured to be able cast genjutsu without even needing hand signs.

In this case, his chakra started moulding as soon as he starts the sequence, and after the Snake seal, it was like the chakra wanted to burst out from his system immediately.

His surroundings warped around him as if he was looking from the bottom of a round glass, his legs moved so quickly that he didn't feel like they were moving, despite knowing better. Seconds passed and he came out of his warped reality only to see the tree inches from his nose.

'Shit!' His augmented senses snapped back to normal and he applied a hasty layer of chakra to his feet, just only able to stop stumbling forwards, perhaps only a few centimetres away from his nose smashing right into the rough bark.

Blue eyes widened in joyful realisation. He had travelled two hundred meters to the tree, and kept his balance.

'Yatta!' Naruto exclaimed, overjoyed at the first sign of progress.

Now the next step was to figure out what the fuck the Snake seal was doing in the Shunshin.

Mei's surprised teal eyes focused at what the boy had done, albeit instinctively and unknowingly. Her temporary student cut off the chakra to his extremities, only pushing it towards his feet, forcefully cutting the jutsu off before it was completed, thereby stopping himself from crashing as he came out of it. It had taken her team days of practising with it to even realise this could be done.

And all that when he hadn't even learned it properly yet. Still, watching the boy attempt a completely new jutsu – one with her own unique variation of chakra moulding – and make progress right in front of her eyes in a matter of two hours, she couldn't help but feel that Naruto Uzumaki would be someone very dangerous one day.