Illusions of the Sunlight

❸・Training

   This day is reasonably boring, Naruto mused as he went to the kitchen to cook food. He had spent a lot of time browsing through the scrolls containing different kinds of techniques, and therefore forgot to eat breakfast. So, by afternoon, he was already hungry as a wolf.

   As he flipped a pancake—he knew that pancakes were for breakfast but he didn't care; he was too hungry to—he felt something prod the mental link that linked him to the fox. He sighed, flipping the pancake once more and catching it with a plate.

   'Ever thought to take a culinary course, brat?' he barely withheld a groan as the fox's sassy voice assaulted his head.

   'No. And I don't intend to,'

   'Why so cold~?'

   As the fox noticed that he was not in the mood, Kurama decided to let the boy be unless he wanted to suffer the wrath of an Uzumaki, child or not. The Kyūbi was already traumatized enough by the boy's mother.

   Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as silence reigned over the place. 'Glad to know that you could read the atmosphere, Kurama-san,' he told the fox through the mental link, and when he received no response, the boy just shrugged it off.

   Now adding syrup to his pancakes, his mind wandered to his chakra control training. Sure, he was three, but he had the mind of an adult coupled by rational thinking, so that means he could pull it off. . .somehow. His thoughts briefly stopped on the techniques written on the scrolls, but he pushed that thought away. He wasn't ready yet.

   I'll see first whether my control is good or bad, then pursue the physical training. I have a lot on my plate now, no use adding more, he concluded, snapping back to reality, his eyes widening at what he saw. A groan slipped out of his mouth as he realized that he had spilled the syrup on the table, and some of it were clinging on his shirt.

   ...:::*:::...

   "Okay, I hope I won't slip and if I do, I wish I won't have a couple of broken bones. . ." Naruto muttered to himself, channeling chakra to his feet. "You know what, screw it,"

   He carefully placed his right foot on the bark of the tree, and was pleased when it stuck to it. He then placed the other, and started to climb. He was surprised at how fast he reached the top, without falling or anything.

   I never thought that it would be this easy, thought the boy, pleased at his success. He jumped, plummeting downwards.

   Contrary to the scene, he had already channeled a good amount of chakra to his feet. So, when he landed safely on the ground, he wasn't surprised that his feet weren't aching or broken.

   Maybe I should try water walking next, Naruto decided, as he walked a few meters towards the river. The said body of water was raging, but shallow enough for people to not drown. He repeated the same action like before, only adding more chakra to his feet as the tree was solid and stable while water was unpredictable and unstable.

   Once again, his control was perfect. He walked on the river on his first try, and the water didn't have any ripples as he passed through. By then, Naruto was confused; it wasn't supposed to be this easy.

   Sure, he expected mishaps along the way; he even anticipated falling down the tree numerous times and having to practice it for days, but never getting it down in one try. He never got his head in the clouds, and always thought of the worst happening so he could have multiple solutions ready.