Blue Cave

Naruto was lying on his bed and stared at the ceiling. A thousand strings of thoughts were mingled in one huge knot inside his head, the reason being Sasuke as always. As if it was happening right now his memory of their last meeting replayed continuously in his head. "Why can't I bring him back? Why is he always so far away from me?" asked Naruto himself. No useful answer came to his mind and with a deep sigh Naruto stood up to go to the toilet.

After he was done he looked critically at his reflection in the mirror. What he saw didn't really please him. Scrawny limbs, no muscles, childish round eyes, hair that didn't want to obey any of his efforts to comb it, those fox scars and height below average. Naruto sighted as he run through his hair with his hand.

"No wonder," he thought, "does Sasuke not want to trust me if I look weak like this."

He pinched his arms in search of muscles but had to laugh bitterly at the result. He said to his own reflection:

"You ought to do something about that pathetic look of yours."

and the copy answered:

"Maybe YOU ought to train for it. How about exercising with Lee?"

Naruto shook his head and said:

"No way in hell I'm doing that again. I'd rather something on my own, at least then I won't be laughed at by others."

"Then how about running? Some kind of jogging?"

"Na, that's too visible and it wouldn't train my whole body in one go."

"Hmmmmm... Since it's summer I suggest you do some swimming."

... "That sounds nice but where? The river flows through the training grounds..."

"You know a quiet lake, don't you?"

*sigh* "Is that really the only option? Going back there?"

The reflection nodded and only now it struck Naruto that having a conversation with your own reflection was something that most people wouldn't do. But that idea wasn't that bad and so he went to pack his bag since he had a free day.

After a light run through the shadowy forest he stood at the border of that valley. The two statues at the waterfall silently watched over this whole area while Naruto jumped down from the cliff on a little island made out of big rocks. Slowly he put down his bag on the ground and looked at the place where he and his best friend (if they really could have been called that) had fought with their lives on the line. The stinging pain of his loss almost drew some tears in Naruto's eyes but he shook his head and tried to think about something else. With some fast and smooth movements he took off his clothes and put on his swimming trunks. The water was chilly at first and goose bumps covered his skin when he walked over the stones into the water. But then, as his body obeyed the years of training, he suppressed the shivers and dove in.

The water felt nice and almost like silk on his skin as Naruto went down deeper and deeper. The lake was known for its exceptional clearness and a pure blue world opened itself to Naruto as he looked at the eerie landscape of rocks and sand beneath him. He looked up and saw the sunbeams pierce the darkness and draw irregular patterns on the ground. With a single strong breaststroke Naruto pulled himself up the surface and swallowed greedily the warm air.


Naruto decided that he would swim lengths for now and made his way to the border of the lake. Luckily the shore was on most sides just a steep cliff and so he didn't have to bother with shallow water or similar stuff. With enduring strokes he plowed through the lake, enjoying the feeling of speed and the silk touch of the water. After two hours he decided to take a break and climbed back on his little island. The sun gently dried his body and warmed him as he lay down on the rocks and watched the blue sky. Only the boom of the cascade could be heard and sometimes the cry of a bird as it flew by over the lake. As soon as even his hair was dry, Naruto sat up and drank some tea. Afterwards he stretched and jumped back into the lake to continue with his training. After three more hours he stopped and after eating a small lunch, he left for Konoha.


It became part of his routine. Every time he had some free hours, he would leave the village and go the small lake. Although he didn’t get as much muscles as he had wanted, he felt his body become even more trained. The only thing he regretted was that every time he left Konoha he could feel the doubting eyes of the guards. If he wasn’t back 6 hours later, the alarm would be given. That was a much shorter time that was allowed to the others, even if Naruto always stated in the register that he was out for training. As a Jinchuuriki he had no other choice – did he ever have it? – but to obey the strict restrictions put on him.