Naruto sat a few metres ahead of his Sensei, waiting for his evaluation of where he had gone wrong in his first attempt at a D-rank missions. He was unusually attentive, considering his knowledge that a lecture from Jiraiya was imminent; however the memory of firstly, his failure, and also that of what the failure would have meant in a real mission. His comrades, possibly even a friend, would have been killed. As a direct result of his decisions. Because of his prisoner, he had grown up alone. Other children were told to keep away from him by their parents and carers, and they listened obediently. He had never harboured any resentment towards the children, nor their parents; he had always assumed that it was simply because of something he, or his parents had done (if he even had parents, of course). Even now, when he had at least some of the answers, he found that he didn't hate the parents or children for their actions. Indeed, having come face to face with the Kyuubi no Kitsune himself, he found that he understood the fears of the village perfectly.

However, regardless of this, the damage had been done to Naruto's psyche. His facade was already firmly set into place by the time he had entered the Academy; and to everyone within, he was an eternally loud and 'happy-go-lucky' dead-last. Ironically, looking back, it was his method of coping with his own loneliness that destroyed any chance of him making friends during his time there. The children belonging to some of the major clans he realised, held no ill will to him what so ever. But despite this, the blonde had found himself to drop his mask. And this inevitably put the others off. Of course there were some that didn't outright dislike him. Nara Shikamaru seemed eternally curious and did actually speak to him every now and again, and by association, he also spent some time with Akimichi Chouji who was Shikamaru's best friend. As well as those two, Inuzuka Kiba seemed to appreciate the art of pranking, almost as much as he did. But he would never go as far as to call any of them 'friends'.

As a result, a friend was something he had wanted for as long as he could remember. He of course had precious people now. Iruka, Jiraiya, the Sandaime and even Yuugao; were all utterly precious to him. But they weren't friends as such. They were more like family to him. So to him, the mistake he had made was crushing.

Jiraiya observed his student as he became absorbed in his own internal monologue. It was evident that the blonde had taken the implications of his exercise to hear, which was pleasing as the Sannin had initially been worried that Naruto would not take things seriously. Conversely, Jiraiya did not want his student to be too 'immersed' as it were; as that could tear apart Naruto's confidence, which wasn't as high as Naruto would like people to believe.

"Firstly, I would like to make it clear, that you were not expected to succeed in that mission Naruto. In fact, generally I will be endeavouring to cause you to make mistakes, and sometimes fail as a result." He observed the familiar confused look on Naruto's face, before continuing in oder to cut off the inevitable questioning. "The reason for this, is that it allows you to learn from the mistakes that you do make. If I allowed everything to go to plan for you all the time, it would not punish any errors in your decision making and planning. Learning from actually seeing the consequences of your mistakes, and making changes to your strategy accordingly, is an infinitely better way to learn than me simply telling you where you went wrong. So with that in mind, what do you think went wrong in the exercise we just did?"

Naruto didn't need to think before answering.

"I sent my Bunshin ahead by themselves, whilst i was still fighting your Bunshin."

"That was indeed the most glaring issue. The fact is, you had no real need to do it. I understand that you wanted to keep the cargo out of the way of the battle, but you had my Bunshin on the ropes. It didn't pose a serious enough threat to the mission. As a result, you were separated from them; and as a result, you could not relay vital information about further danger. However, it is important for you to understand that some situations will call for that kind of action. If the enemy was powerful enough, sending some of your party onwards in the hope of giving them a chance of fulfilling the missions objective, is the only option. However, it is a last resort option. It is a strategy that acknowledges that those left behind, will be defeated; and therefore sacrificed for the good of the mission, as well as the safety of their comrades."

Jiraiya saw the mix of understanding and determination on his students face, and smiled. It was a familiar scene to him. His father had been exactly the same when he failed his first D-rank; distraught at first, but utterly determined to improve, and ensure that when he did lead a squad into combat, he wouldn't lose any of his comrades. Of course, life doesn't always play fair, and even the best laid plans could be unravelled. But that was not a lesson that could be taught, it could only be learnt through experience.

"Having said that," Jiraiya continued; "there wasn't much else wrong with how you worked. The only fault I can find is with the Bunshin you deployed underground. Whilst the idea in itself was pretty ingenious, there is a large risk attached to that particular tactic. During the fight, you allowed me to get between you and your Bunshin, leaving it isolated. Had I allowed myself to raise my game, that would be another team-mate dead. Of course, there would be nothing wrong with you using a clone to do that on a real mission. You certainly have the chakra for it, and the Kage Bunshin are, to some extent, expendable."

As Jiraiya finished he fished around in his pocket to produce the map he had used to give Naruto his route.

"Now, I want to spend a bit of time working through different ways you could have approached that particular mission. That way, you have a variety of different ways of approaching different situations at hand."

Hours had passed, and Jiraiya was absolutely delighted with the way his session on tactics with Naruto had gone. Largely, Jiraiya had allowed Naruto to plan independently, and then he would point out faults and problems with what the blonde had come up with, so he could find a way round the problem. The Sannin found himself incredibly surprised with Naruto's intuitive grasp of strategy. He did have a tendency to overlook minor issues, but that was something that could be improved through practice and experience, two things Jiraiya could help Naruto attain.

He glanced towards the sky, trying to work out the time from the position of the sun. It had been overcast for a few hours, and it would probably rain in the night; and for someone of lesser ability, judging the position of the sun in such condition would have been a difficult task. Fortunately, Jiraiya had spent most of his later years living under an open sky, traveling between the various informants that made up his spy network. This level of experience meant that he only needed a small glance to see that it was late afternoon. They had been talking for far too long, and Jiraiya needed to speak to the Sandaime fairly early. Especially if he wanted to get some 'research' in.

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"Okay, listen up gaki." Naruto immediately turned his attention from the map of Konoha to Jiraiya. "We're gonna have to call it quits for today. I have some business I need to attend to."

"As if Ero-sennin! You're just gonna go and do your 'research'!"

Jiraiya gave an involuntary flinch at both is nickname, and the fact that the boy was almost spot on with his predictions.

"For your information, gaki, I have a meeting with the Hokage." 'Yeah for about five minutes, and then it's time for some quality research!' "But first, I need to explain to you how training is going to work under me. I want you here at 6 a.m every single morning except for Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will spend the first three hours working over anything that doesn't involve large amounts of physical work; for example, things such as strategy, ninjutsu theory and eventually, things such as sealing techniques and working on chakra mastery, which I know you've already spoken about with Yuugao. The rest of the day will change depending on the activities of the other Genin Cells, which makes it tricky to schedule properly. However you will always do at least one D-rank independently, and one with one of the other Cells. The rest of the day, will be spent on the fun stuff. We will be working on taijutsu and ninjutsu, as well as improving your ability to counter genjutsu. Any questions?"

"What will I be doing on Wednesdays and Saturdays?"

At this Jiraiya smirked slightly.

"Well on those days... You'll be doing weapons training with Yuugao."

The Next Day

Naruto finished the relatively short sequence of hand seals and brought his right hand up to his mouth, with his index and middle fingers extended in front of him. He then exhaled heavily, expelling the chakra he had been moulding at the back of his throat, and combining it with the chakra gathered at the end of his fingers.

"Katon: Kasumi Endu no jutsu!"

The result was a light mist billowing out from his mouth, filling the majority of the clearing before him. It wasn't heavy enough to obscure his vision, yet it was still thick enough to be clearly visible.

"Yes! I finally did it!" Naruto exclaimed, the excitement in his voice clearly audible.

"About time too, gaki. That's a totally basic technique, the easiest of the ones I want to get you practicing today." Naruto looked up at surprise at this statement.

"You mean this isn't the only jutsu I'm going to be learning today?"

"Of course not. I don't know if you noticed, but this jutsu isn't particularly useful by itself. I'll be teaching you three more jutsu today. One of which you should have down by the time we're finished; the other two however, might take you a few days, if we work at them intensely enough." The blonde struggled to contain his excitement at hearing this. No matter how much he tried to be more serious about his shinobi training, the thought of ninjutsu still sent him overboard. "However, I first want you to join me up here." The Sannin continued, indicating his position in the tree overlooking the clearing. "I'm going to show you exactly how powerful this technique can be."

Naruto was up and sitting next to Jiraiya almost instantly, allowing Jiraiya to start weaving his own set of hand signs.

"Katon: Komakai Kaki."

Jiraiya fired a miniature version of the Goukakyuu no Jutsu directly towards the mist that Naruto had created, and the blonde looked on, curious as to what effect the seemingly tiny fireball could possibly have. Naruto leant forward in fascination as the fireball approached the mist. As the two jutsu finally met, the area the pair had been training in was swept by an unbearable wave of heat, as the mist ignited upon contact, transforming the previously placid area of Konoha into a tangible inferno. Naruto, although not being within the blast radius itself, could feel the hairs on his arms singe from merely the heat created, and despite only seconds passing, he was already beginning to sweat.

"Amazing..." Naruto muttered, as the roaring flames died down, leaving behind the scorched earth as evidence of their existence.

"Glad you liked it." Jiraiya replied, the smugness generated by the blonde praise emanating from him in waves. "But can you tell me why that jutsu combination is entirely useless in a practical combat situation?" Naruto was initially dumbstruck by Jiraiya's insistence that such a powerful attack was useless. However, once he got round to actually think about it, it didn't take him long to see what his Sensei was talking about.

"...Firstly, it would be too slow to activate in a fight against another shinobi. They would just try to get out of the mist, considering that it doesn't cover a particularly large area, or at least disguise how much of an area it does cover. Secondly, it would be difficult for you to use the Katon jutsu without getting caught in the blast radius. It also puts any comrades in the vicinity at risk."

"Thats exactly correct." Jiraiya answered, ever so slightly impressed with the improved analytical skills his student was displaying. It was obvious that he had been studying outside of what he had been required to do to catch up.

"So why have me learn it then?" Naruto called back, almost whining. He had spent a good few hours learning the mist technique, and he'd be damned if it was for nothing.

"The reason I taught you Katon: Kasumi Endu no Jutsu, and am about to teach you Katon: Komakai Kaki no Jutsu is three fold. Firstly, Kasumi Endu teaches you to mold Katon chakra from within your lungs, which is what ignites when you use all Katon jutsu. Then, Komaki Kaki will teach you to ignite the chakra using the correct hand seal whilst maintaining enough control so that you do not burn your own mouth. This hand seal is what is missing from the mist technique, preventing it from igniting as it leaves your body. Essentially, this is a far safer, and faster way of learning to use Katon chakra; which is notoriously difficult to handle if it is not your natural elemental affinity. This means that you will be able to learn the third of the jutsu I wish to get you started on today, Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu relatively easily."

"Secondly, this combination can be useful in select situations. Due to the fact that Kasumi Endu, providing it is not ignited, can last for a relatively long time; it can be used to set up particularly devastating ambushes, if you can funnel your enemy into the mist. It can also be used to destroy areas containing multiple structures and buildings, should your mission require it. Thirdly, I wanted to give you an example of exactly how powerful combinations of different elemental jutsu can be, which leads you into the final technique I want to get you practicing today, Fuuton: Daitoppa."

Naruto almost cried out in excitement as he leapt down from the trees, into the barren clearing below, that now looked startlingly out of place amidst the vivid green of Konoha. Jiraiya leapt with him, landing just in front of the boy, so that he was facing him. He formed the ream seal with his hands and created two Kage Bunshin.

"Okay, I want you to create two groups of five Bunshin, and each group join up with one of mine. One group will work on Komaki Kai, and the other will work on Fuuton: Daitoppa. Goukakyuu no Jutsu can wait until you have completely learnt Komaki Kai. I want the original over with me, we're going to work on your taijutsu."