Rasengan Training Stage 2

The next day at school, Namaru is approached by Chino and Osawa. Chino is the first to speak up.

"Hey, Namaru. We haven't seen you outside of school for the past couple days. Is everything alright?"

Namaru nods.

"Yeah. I've just been training to perfect a technique I'm working on."

Osawa butts in.

"A new technique? What's it called?"

Namaru shakes his finger at the both of them.

"That one's a secret. You'll see once it's finished. All you need to know is that it's coming from the Hokage."

Chino tries to beg Namaru further.

"Oh, come on. Please?"

Namaru shrugs.

"Nope, sorry."

Both of the other boys hang their heads in defeat as Chino continues.

"You're no fun."

Namaru laughs at Chino's last comment. Originally Naruto was going to teach all 3 of them the Rasengan, but Chino and Osawa turned down special training from the Hokage, Which Naruto didn't mind. Maybe if Namaru told them what jutsu they were going to learn, things would have been different. Namaru looks between the both of them as he continues speaking.

"Come on, you two. We need to get to class."

Chino and Osawa nod, and they all 3 head to class. They are the first 3 to arrive, and are greeted by Shino.

"You 3 are here early. Well, Namaru doesn't surprise me. You two, however, do. You seem to be rubbing off on them, Namaru. They're becoming less lazy."

Shino chuckles at his own comment, only to be yelled at by 2 ten year old boys, simultaneously.

"We aren't lazy!"

The 2 seem to say it in sync as if they rehearsed it for the past couple days.

Shino chuckles right through their yelling, and Namaru begins to join him.

"Haha. Come on, guys. He's only messing around with you."

Shino tries to calm them down, himself.

"Correct. I didn't mean to offend anyone, if I did so. I was only getting at that Namaru is usually the first one here, and you 2 are usually the last."

Chino continues arguing with Shino

"That isn't true. We aren't the last 2 here."

Shino holds up a chart, which tells the young boy otherwise.

"I am required to write down the time every student walks into the room. You 2 have the latest times."

Namaru jumps in.

"Caught red-handed."

Chino slugs Namaru in the shoulder.

"Shut up, Namaru..."

Namaru only laughs at the comment. Once he has finished, he speaks to Chino and Osawa.

"Come on, let's go in and sit so we can talk."

They all 3 walk in and sit down at their desk. Shortly after, the girl with pure white eyes walks in. She's very shy, like Hinata was when she was younger. She looks up to see Namaru looking down at her, and quickly looks away, blushing. She quickly sets her things down, and walks out of the room, telling Shino she has to go to the bathroom. As soon as she's gone, Chino speaks up.

"She likes you, Namaru."

Namaru goes beet red.

"What? I doubt that."

Osawa makes his way into this conversation as well.

"Oh, come on. Didn't you see that blush, dude? She's totally into you. Also, look at you. Your face is really red, right now. Something tells me you like her, too."

Namaru slugs Osawa.

"Shut up. I do not. Anyway, I doubt, highly, that she likes me at all."

Before they can finish their conversation, she walks back in, and sits down at her desk. Shortly after, more kids start walking in, and Shino quickly gets to writing down the times they walk in. After they all have arrived and are seated, Shino begins his lesson.

"Today, we'll be learning about Genjutsu. Genjutsu is all about casting illusions, and can be used to fool your opponent. Unlike Ninjutsu, the effects of Genjutsu are not real, being only sensory illusions experienced by those who fall victim to it. A Genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses. This is frequently used to create false images and/or trick the body into believing its has experienced physical pain, when in reality, it hasn't. Genjutsu can also be used to manipulate others, similar to brainwashing, by feeding the victim illusive suggestions. Some very well known users of Genjutsu are Kurenai Yuhi, Itachi Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha. Any questions?"

Immediately, a familiar hand shoots up; the Hyuga girl's.

"Ah. Tsumira. What's your question."

Tsumira puts her hand down and asks her question.

"Well, if someone uses a Genjutsu, how would one counter it?"

Shino points at her, briefly.

"Good question. There are many ways to counter a Genjutsu. A victim's chakra flow, if disrupted enough, can break the caster's influence, be it by the victim if they realize it, or by someone else who emits Chakra into them. Pain that is not caused by the genjutsu can bring victims back to their senses. Possessing a Sharingan renders one largely invulnerable to genjutsu as their acute vision allows them to recognize its flaws and influence. They can also free others from genjutsu by inserting themselves into the opponent's illusion and release it (much like Sasuke did to Naruto in Shippuden when he entered Naruto's subconsciousness). Any other questions?"

Chino's hand is the next to go up.

"Arekkusu, what is your question?"

Chino puts his hand down.

"Please, call me Chino. Anyway, you said a Genjutsu can be used to control people almost like brainwashing the victim. How is that?"

Shino goes into his explaination.

"Well, Chino, it depends on the Genjutsu and the caster. One of Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan abilities was the Kotoamatsukami. It allowed him to control people without them even knowing since the presence of the Genjutsu was so subtle, they couldn't detect it. Next?"

Another hand goes up. Shino calls on them and they ask away.

"If a Genjutsu can't kill people, then what's their purpose? Depending on the fight, you sometimes need to kill your opponent. What's the use?"

Shino elaborates on the student's question.

"The Genjutsu, itself can't hurt anyone, but there are known Genjutsu that trick the victim's brain into thinking the effects are real, and if the victim dies in the Genjutsu, then they die outside of it, too. The after effects of a Genjutsu can also kill people. There's also no point for the Genjutsu to kill the target. After they're in the Genjutsu, it would be easy enough to kill them outside the Genjutsu since they would be incapacitated. Any other questions?"

As no other hands go up, Shino moves on with his lesson. Once it is complete, he dismisses the class and they all leave. Once outside, Chino and Osawa meet up with Namaru.

"You gonna join us at Ichiraku today?"

Namaru shakes his head.

"Can't. If I'm late for my training, Lord 7th will be mad."

Chino and Osawa begin to looked bummed.

"Oh. Well, that's ok. Not a big deal. Just hope this training ends soon so we can start hanging out again."

Namaru looks at his disappointed friends and tries to raise their spirits.

"Don't look so disappointed, guys. My training will be done before you know it, and we can go back to the usual."

Chino and Osawa both smile and nod. With that, they all bump fists, and part ways, Namaru headed straight for the training grounds to train with Naruto. Once he arrives, Naruto is already there waiting for him, and tosses him a thick rubber ball. Naruto tosses it to Namaru and begins his lesson.

"Stage 2: Power. Now you need to increase the volume and density of Chakra you output, but there is no water inside to help you burst the exterior and the rubber shell is thicker than a balloon's. Just input sheer force Chakra into that rubber ball. But, since that ball is solid, it won't be as easy as it sounds to get your chakra to flow into it. It's going to require a high level of Chakra control that the rest of your class doesn't have, but knowing your grandma, you probably have quite the high Chakra control. Only thing is, is it enough?"

"This should be easy enough."

Namaru starts focusing his Chakra into the ball, but it barely moves at all. He quickly realizes that Naruto was right. This is going to be harder than the water balloon.

"Heh. Just needs more Chakra."

Naruto shakes his head.

"Nope. It's not about how much Chakra you use, it's about how much power your Chakra has behind it. I can burst one of these using a very small amount of Chakra."

Namaru looks at Naruto, not believing what the Hokage is saying. He decides to put it to the test.

"Fine, then. Go ahead."

Naruto picks up a rubber ball, and holds it in his right hand. Almost immediately, the ball begins to move violently, and bursts, creating a loud popping noise, and sending a sound-propelled wind current toward Namaru.

"That was a minimal amount of Chakra. Like I said, it's more about the volume and density of your chakra, not the amount."

Namaru sighs.

"And what if I can't get it?"

Naruto places a hand on Namaru's shoulder as he tries to raise the child's spirits.

"Trust me, you can. If you can master Chidori, you can master how to use the Rasengan."

Namaru nods, and tries again. He imagines the Chakra that he's putting into the ball is growing in power, in volume, but when he opens his eyes, while the ball is moving more than before, it still didn't burst. Suddenly, Namaru hears a voice (Everything said in single quotes is in his head).

'I can loan you my Chakra, if you want?'

Namaru knows exactly who the voice belongs to.

'Saiken!'

Saiken sounds very proud of itself as it continues speaking.

'That's me. Until you refine your Chakra, I can subtly feed some of mine into you.'

Namaru starts arguing with the Tailed Beast.

'But that's cheating, Saiken.'

Saiken continues trying to persuade Namaru.

'Not since we are one. You're my Jinchuuriki.'

Namaru finally gives in.

'Fine. Just promise me you won't try and take over.'

Saiken agrees to Namaru's conditions.

'Deal!'

With that, Saiken feeds some of his Chakra into Namaru, and Namaru tries, once more, to burst the rubber ball. He imagines the Chakra being flowed into the ball is expanding, becoming more powerful, growing, growing, BAM! Namaru opens his eyes to see that the ball has burst in his hand. Naruto congratulates Namaru.

"Very good. Now, do it without Saiken."

Namaru, realizing he's been caught, tries to play it off.

"Huh?"

Naruto crosses his arms.

"I can tell when a Tailed Beast is involved. One second, you could barely move it at all, and the next second, your bursting it with ease? Not on my training grounds."

Namaru pouts, but still goes back to building his Chakra power, slowly getting closer to popping the ball, and eventually, he succeeds...right before sundown.

"I did it! I did it!"

Naruto congratulates Namaru once again, this time, genuinely.

"Way to go. You did great today, Namaru. You learned the 2nd step quicker than the first. Starting tomorrow, we move on the hardest step of the training, so head home, and get some shut eye, because we have a busy next couple days."

Namaru nods and turns to leave, but remembers something.

"Hey, could you walk me home? I tried telling my mom last night that I was training, but she didn't believe me. If she heard it from you, then maybe she won't be so mad that I'm home late."

Naruto looks at the time.

"I suppose I can, real quick, but then I gotta go do more paperwork."

Naruto gets up and walks him home. Namaru opens the front door do be greeted by his mother.

"Out late again, I see. Do I have to - Oh, hey, Lord Hokage. What brings you here? Namaru isn't in trouble, is he?"

Naruto gives Sarada a greeting hug, then explains himself.

"Not at all. I was just walking Namaru home after training. For the past few nights we've been training together since I've been teaching him the Rasengan."

Realization hits Sarada like a truck.

"Wait, so he really WAS training last night?"

Naruto nods.

"Yup. With me."

Sarada turns to Namaru.

"I am so sorry I accused you of lying, Namaru. I forgot the Hokage was going to teach you the Rasengan."

Namaru shrugs.

"It's okay. *Yawn* I'm really tired, though, so I'm going to go to bed."

Namaru gives Sarada a hug, and heads upstairs. Sarada turns back to Naruto.

"Thanks for bringing him home and clearing that up. I should've listened in the first place."

Naruto shakes his head.

"Oh, not a problem. He said he tried explaining it to you, but you wouldn't listen, and asked me to explain it to you instead, so, here I am. Anyway, I gotta get back to the office. I have more paperwork to do."

Naruto and Sarada say their farewells, and Naruto heads back toward the Hokage office. Sarada shuts the door, and heads to bed, herself.