(PU) FIELD TRIP

Normal and private classes continued as usual, but the line between them had never been clearer.

The normal sessions looked like any other P.E. class, with laps around the gym, exercise drills, dodgeball, and the occasional basketball game when they had the time. The private sessions, though… those were different. Those were real training, modeled after his own childhood… well, minus the academy jutsus, weapon and tool training, and trap setting. He wasn’t about to hand out sharp objects to them anytime soon, at least, not without ensuring a few things first. 

Other students still begged to be included in the private class, most whining, some trying to bribe him with cafeteria snacks, and others even offering to run extra laps or do more work if he’d let them in. Naruto’s answer was always the same:

“Not yet.”

But within those private sessions, something had changed.

The kids could feel their chakra now, not just vague tingles in their hands or the occasional burst of power, but real, constant awareness of it flowing through them. Some of them—like Halle and Jessie, headphones girl and double-layered boy respectively—were only half-aware of what they were doing, channeling on instinct most times. But others—Taylor, Greg, and Sophia especially—were already beginning to intentionally test their body’s limits.

Which meant it was time for the next step.

“Field trip,” Naruto announced one Thursday with a grin that immediately made the group suspicious.

That weekend, with permission wrangled from Winslow’s administration (and definitely smoothed over by the PRT behind the scenes), he took them out on what the school had labeled a ‘two-day wilderness development field trip.’ It wasn’t mandatory, not a single one of his private students sat it out. The promise of more control, or leveling up as Greg would say, was too tempting to pass up.

The bus ride out of the city was lively in a way Naruto secretly loved. Greg and Halle bickered over seating until Jessie threatened to throw Halle’s headphones out the window. Sophia sat in the back, thumbs flying over her phone, pretending she wasn't paying attention to the happenings but smirking every time someone failed to win an argument. Taylor sat by the window, chin in her palm, watching the scenery slide past with a faint crease in her brow. She occasionally interjected, but was content to stay with her thoughts for most of the journey. 

Naruto didn’t interfere. Rivalry and camaraderie, especially those slowly built over time, went hand in hand, and he knew both would fuel their progress.

The forest on the city’s outskirts wasn’t much compared to Konoha’s old training grounds, but it would do. The air here was cleaner here, carrying the kind of freshness he hadn’t realized he missed until he breathed it in. The trees rose taller than the cramped greenery scattered through Brockton Bay, their canopies filtering the light into shifting patterns across the ground. Most importantly, there were no prying eyes, no noise of the city, and no distractions. He had made sure of that himself, scouting the area days before to confirm it was isolated enough for what he had planned.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply. The scent was damp and earthy, a reminder of long days running drills with his team, bruises and laughter and everything in between. It was different here, but the same in all the ways that mattered.

He gathered them at the base of a massive oak, its trunk broad enough that even three of them linking arms couldn’t have circled it.

“Alright, brats,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Today’s lesson is tree walking.”

That earned him blank stares.

“What’s the point of walking on trees?” Sophia deadpanned.

Naruto folded his arms and smirked. “If you can walk up a tree, you can theoretically learn any jutsu.”

That got their attention, especially from Greg, whose hand shot into the air like they were in algebra. “What’s a jutsu?” His eyes practically glowed from interest.

Naruto scratched his cheek. He hadn’t planned to introduce the concept this early, but… what the hell. They deserved a taste of what they would learn in the future.

“Jutsu are techniques powered by chakra,” he said. “Once you’ve got control, you can shape it and make it do what you want: everything from making illusions to spitting fireballs to… well, a lot of things that can change a fight in an instant.”

He continued. “Think of it like spells, except fueled by your own energy instead of waving a wand.”

That got the expected wide-eyed stares all around, with Sophia looking intrigued despite herself.

“But—” Naruto raised a finger, cutting them off before Greg could explode with questions, “—that comes later. Much later. You don’t start with fireballs, you start with control. Without it, you’ll waste chakra, burn out, or worse, hurt yourselves.”

He jabbed a thumb at the tree behind him.

“That’s why tree walking comes first. Master this, and you’ll have the control to learn anything else down the line. No shortcuts.” Naruto finished with a grin.

And just like that, they were hooked.

The first attempts went about as well as Naruto expected: Halle smacked her nose against bark and tumbled back; Taylor managed two steps up before sliding back down and catching herself with an angry huff; Greg, brimming with too much enthusiasm and not enough control, overloaded his foot and cracked the wood, nearly knocking himself out on the rebound; and Sophia, naturally, tried to brute force it and ended up flat on her back with leaves in her hair.

Naruto only laughed harder with each tumble, clapping and hollering like a proud coach. “Good! Fall harder! It means you’re trying.” 

They groaned and grumbled, but not one of them quit. And that was exactly what he wanted to see.

By the time the bus came back, the sun had dipped low and his students were sweaty, bruised, and more determined than when they started. They piled into the vehicle with a quiet kind of pride, arguing and laughing about who had gotten furthest before falling.

The ride dropped them off at a small hotel near the forest’s edge. Technically paid for by the school, though Naruto knew the real funding came from the PRT. He still didn’t like relying on their support, but he wasn’t about to turn down a roof over his kids’ heads.

Before dismissing them to their rooms, Naruto stopped them in the hall. His grin slipped, replaced by something serious enough that even Sophia straightened.

“One more thing,” he said. “Don’t try walking on the hotel walls.”

That earned him a chorus of protests, excuses, and guilty looks.

“The backlash if you lose control could damage the plaster or punch a hole in the wall. Some of you have too much chakra, and not enough control. So unless you want to explain to the principal why the hotel suddenly has skylights in the wrong place, save it for tomorrow.”

Silence. Sheepish silence, but silence all the same.

Then he clapped his hands, grin snapping back into place. “Alright, now go get some rest. Tomorrow is another day!”

The hallway filled with groans and laughter, but beneath it all, Naruto caught what really mattered: the spark in their eyes, the way exhaustion couldn’t quite smother their hope and determination.

The very same things he’d carried once—back when he was a loudmouthed kid trying to prove himself to the world—and still did, to this very day. And if these kids held onto that spark, even in a place like Brockton Bay? Then maybe, just maybe, they’d shine even brighter than he did.