NARUTO REMASTERED

(Recap)

WHAT was he doing?!?!

I stretched out my senses in the backyard. He was trying to gather yang chakra inside his body, focusing it in his right hand. But he wasn't creating any ooulet, no technique, no release.

The boy was going to kill himself!!!

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(Itto Heizo Pov)

After having my breakfast and chatting with Mamama, I headed outside to the backyard. There were some trees and a small garden. I looked around and gathered some leaves.

I took one and carefully placed it in my palm. Then, I willed my chakra to gather in my right hand, specifically in my palm.

I could feel the chakra slowly moving toward my right palm, coming from all over my body. It started gathering in a cluster where I willed it to. Once I thought I had gathered enough chakra, I tried to connect it to the leaf I was holding. The process was smooth up until that point.

But then I hit a problem. No matter what I did, the chakra wouldn't leave my palm and connect to the leaf.

So, I did what seemed necessary. I forced the chakra. As I applied more force, the chakra began building up inside me. After a while, I realized how stupid I had been to try something like this without supervision.

I could feel the chakra building, spiraling out of control.

Something bad was about to happen—I could feel it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone appeared beside me. It was Gramps. He grabbed my hand with a grip of steel. Concern and worry were written all over his face. He had an ink brush in his right hand. Hurriedly, he began drawing on my palm. The chakra was still out of control, but as soon as he finished writing, my chakra froze for a second and then rapidly dissipated.

I let out a sigh of relief. When I finally took in the situation, I realized I was sweating like crazy. Gramps still had a frown on his face and was looking at me critically with those intelligent eyes of his. There was also a sharp, tingling pain in my right hand.

Our eyes met for a moment, but I quickly looked away. I knew I was in the wrong.

"I'm sorry, Hii-Ojiichan."

When you mess up, it's better to apologize quickly. I knew that much. I only called him Hii-Ojiichan when I knew I was in trouble. Otherwise, I'd call him Jiji or Gramps, especially when I wanted to annoy him.

"Boy, do you even know what you just did?" he asked, still angry.

"No, I don't, Hii-Ojiichan. But I know whatever it was, you saved me. Thank you, Jiji."

He sighed, long and heavy, frustration laced through it.

"Itto, what were you trying to do?" he asked, his voice firm.

"I was trying to use chakra," I admitted, guilt heavy in my voice.

"Why didn't you come to me or go to Chiha?"

"I didn't want to bother you," I replied, maybe a little too quickly.

"Try again, boy," he said, clearly not buying it, his anger still simmering.

"I got the impression that you wouldn't teach me because of my young age," I said, feeling a bit down.

He sighed again, softer this time.

"Itto, because of your maturity, I sometimes forget how young you really are. We might not have taught you everything, but we would've at least pointed you in the right direction. You're our grandson. We don't want you doing dangerous things like this on your own," he lectured me, his tone a little stronger now.

"I understand, Jiji," I replied, feeling pretty stupid.

"Also, we know you're an intelligent child. We wouldn't just neglect your questions, okay? We already give you a lot of freedom. I thought you'd be more responsible. But perhaps it's time we review just how responsible you are," he said, sounding disappointed.

"Jiji, I'm really sorry I did something so stupid. I didn't know it was this dangerous. I promise I won't do anything like this again by myself," I apologized again, fearing he might take away my freedom.

His expression softened as he seemed to think it over, and finally, he said, "Alright, this was your first strike. I'll let it go."

I exhaled internally in relief.

Then, with a teasing smile, he said, "Honestly, I'm more disappointed that you thought we didn't know what you were up to. We were both jonin and chunin before we retired. We might have stepped back, but we haven't forgotten our skills, boy. Especially me, being a Nara."

I blushed. In hindsight, it was stupid to think I could hide anything from two ninjas who had been living with me for eight months.

"You should've said something, Jiji..." I muttered in a small voice, feeling embarrassed.

He laughed heartily. "You were the one who should've approached us if you wanted something, Itto. No one's going to offer you anything unless you ask for it. Besides, I was interested in seeing what you would do once you stagnated—and so was Chiha."

"...Right. I'll keep that in mind," I replied, sheepishly.

"Also, you're lucky Chiharu is out shopping, or else you'd have been spanked silly for that leaf stunt."

I felt a shiver run down my spine at the thought. I silently thanked the gods Obasan wasn't here. When I glanced back at Jiji, he was looking at me with a knowing smile, as if he could read my thoughts.

Then, with a serious face, he said, "Go and bring me a chair. I'm going to explain exactly what you did wrong."