Naruto woke up early in the morning. He was excited to start training with Garou and he didn't want his parents to find out. So that's why he was up earlier than usual. Putting on his clothes, he snuck out of his room and down the stairs. Making sure to close the door behind him as quietly as he could, he ran as fast as his legs could allow and made a B-line for the park.

Garou was sitting on the same bench he slept in as he waited for Naruto to show up. He pretended to check his non-existent watch and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Naruto running toward him. He smirked as he saw the sweat dripping down from Naruto's forehead, "My, my, you really want to train with me, huh?" Garou asked

"Y-yes," Naruto said in-between breaths

"Okay, let's get started," Garou replied, getting off the bench and onto his own two feet. He did a few little jumps as he rolled his shoulders and said: "We'll start with a warm-up jog,"

"O-okay, h-how long will that be?" Naruto asked

"Until I say 'stop'," Garou replied as he started jogging in a random direction

"H-Hey! Wait for me!" Naruto shouted as he ran to catch-up with Garou.

Naruto was dragging himself across the ground as Garou leaned against a wall, watching him. Naruto gasped and wheezed as he crawled to where Garou was, who only shook his head, "At this rate, you'll never get stronger," Garou said

"W-what?" Naruto asked

"You won't get stronger if you don't push yourself more, but at the same time, you should learn to pace yourself. This was a warm-up and now you've wasted your energy," Garou stated as he walked over and picked Naruto up and set him on his feet, "go back home,"

"Huh?"

"Go back home, we'll do this again tomorrow,"

"B-But you said we'd start training today!" Naruto shouted

"And I did, but we're done. Now go home," Garou said, pointing in the opposite direction. Naruto shook his head as he stood up and said: "I-I'm not done! W-we can c-continue,"

"You really want to go on, huh?" Garou asked, crossing his arms

"Yes!"

"Fine, follow me... and try to keep up," Garou replied as he ran in another random direction. Naruto, even though he felt like he was going to collapse, ran after him. His legs were sore. His lungs hurt. His feet were on fire. Yet Naruto persisted. Naruto ran after Garou, following him through the villager as best he could. Garou, meanwhile, was making sure Naruto was still following him, stopping a few times to make sure Naruto wasn't getting lost, "That's it, kid, just keep moving forward," Garou whispered as he continued 'running' to his destination.

Naruto's body was shaking. He was tired. His legs were going to give out from beneath him and his lungs felt like they were going to explode. His clothes were drenched in sweat as Garou stood in front of him, "We're here," Garou said as Naruto looked at him

"W-where a-are we?" Naruto asked

"This giant forest your village has fenced off," Garou answered as he pointed at the gate. Naruto looked at the gate and the sign next to it, "T-The F-Forest of D-Death?!" Naruto managed to shout

"So this place has a name? With a name like that, I suppose people have died here, huh?" Garou asked

"Y-yeah, T-Tou-san said t-that t-they use this -place for C-Chunin Exams, m-many g-genin died here," Naruto answered, making Garou glare

"I see... well, let's get to it, then," Garou said as he walked up to the lock of the gate and punched it off. Naruto stared in awe as Garou walked into the forest, "Come on!" Garou shouted as Naruto quickly followed behind him. Garou continued walking through the forest while Naruto trailed behind him. He saw birds, random kunai, shoes, even some old bloodstains. But he ignored them as he continued on forward. They went on for a few more minutes until Garou stopped at a large pond. He spotted a few birds drinking from it as he bends down and started drinking the water too, "Alright, this is the place," Garou said, flicking the water off his hand

"W-what are we doing here?" Naruto asked

"This is the place where we will begin your martial arts training," Garou answered

"M-Martial Arts?"

"Yeah... now get over here," Garou ordered as Naruto did as he was told. Naruto stood next to Garou as Garou spread out his legs, "Alright, place your feet like this," Garou ordered as Naruto copied him

"L-Like this?" Naruto asked

"Yeah, now copy my movements," Garou said as he placed his arms in front of him. Naruto repeated the action as Garou started to move his arms in circular motions, similar to that of fans. Naruto copied this action as Garou suddenly chopped Naruto's head, "Ow! What was that for?!" Naruto asked

"You're doing it wrong, keep your arms more inward," Garou instructed, placing Naruto's arms closer to his body, "now stand up straight, repeat the stance, and try it again,"

"Okay," Naruto replied, rubbing his head. He stood back up straight and spread out his feet. Repeated the circular motions that Garou showed him, he made sure to bring his arms closer to him. This went on for a few seconds before Garou shoved him to the ground. Naruto fell with a small thud as Naruto landed on his elbow. He grunted as he stood up, rubbing the said appendage, "What was that for?!" Naruto shouted

"Your stance was off, your opponent could've done what I just did and went for a killing blow while you were on the ground," Garou explained, "try to keep a balanced and sturdy stance at all times, even when you're not expecting to be attacked. Now get up and try it again," Garou said as Naruto spread out his stance again and did the circular motions with his hands.

Naruto was on the ground, again. This time, he was holding his leg as Garou was standing over him, "Your leg was too far forward," Garou said, "keep your arms and legs within your own control. Placing a leg too far out or too far inward can give your opponent the advantage."

"O-Okay," Naruto replied as he stood back up again.

Naruto was on the ground... again. This time his neck was in pain as Garou was face-palming. Garou was shaking his head as Naruto stood back up. His arms felt like weights and his legs were sore from the hits Garou landed. Garou removed his hand from his face as he asked: "Okay, do you know what you did wrong this time?"

"N-no, w-what did I d-do?" Naruto asked

"You were unprepared in every sense of the word, didn't I tell you, like, 20 minutes ago to be prepared for anything?" Garou said as Naruto nodded

"Y-yes?"

"*Sigh* Alright, we're doing a different exercise," Garou instructed. Naruto nodded as he waited to be told what to do. Garou then sat down and crossed his legs. Naruto repeated what Garou did and sat across from him, "Okay, now focus on your breathing," Garou said

"Breathing?" Naruto asked as Garou took in a deep breath and exhaled. Naruto felt the force of Garou's breath against his face, even when Naruto was 3 feet away from him. But Naruto sensed something from Garou... something... frightening. Naruto watched as Garou inhaled and exhaled again, and the feeling Naruto got was gone, "Do that... about 200 times,"

"200?!" Naruto asked

"You know what, make it 300," Garou said as Naruto sweat-dropped

"Y-you're kidding me? R-right? Naruto asked as Garou stood up and tossed a rock at his forehead. The rock bounced off of Naruto's forehead as Naruto rubbed the spot it struck him, "What the hell!?" Naruto asked as Garou smirked

"You think this is boring, fine. I'll just have to make it more interesting! You're going to dodge the rocks I throw at you while you also control your breathing! Every time you take in too much air, I'll hit you! Every time you take in too little, I'll still hit you! And if you get hit by a rock... I guess it's your own fault then, huh?" Garou said with a shrug as Naruto huffed. He was then hit by a rock, "Did I mention that every time you screw up, you have to redo the entire exercise?"

"OH, COME ON!"

Naruto had blood from several cuts on his forehead as he continued the breathing exercises Garou told him to do. He also had bruises on his face and neck as Garou threw another rock and Naruto moved his head to the side, barely dodging it. But his breath hitched as Garou smirked and struck Naruto in the head. Naruto was sent to the ground as Garou snickered, "You were sooo close too! You only had 279 more breaths to take!" Garou teased as Naruto got back up. A determined look was in his eyes as Garou's smirk turned into a smile, "You know what, kid, go home. We'll continue tomorrow,"

"N-no, I-I can keep g-"

"Go. Home... that's an order," Garou ordered as he looked down at Naruto. Naruto begrudgingly left as Garou said: "See you, later! Same time you met me at the park, except it's here!"

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Sensei!" Naruto replied as Garou twitched

"'Sensei'? Damn, now I feel old," Garou whispered as he put his hands in his pockets and slowly followed Naruto of the Forest of Death.

Naruto entered his home as he put his shoes next to the door. He walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Kushina, his own mother, standing there with an annoyed look on her face, "And where have you been, young man?" she asked as Naruto turned his head

"I-I was, uhh," Naruto stuttered as Kushina crouched down to his level and inspected the bruises on his face. She gasped as she saw the dried blood on his forehead and picked him up. She quickly carried him to the counter as she pulled out a small medical kit, "Who did this to you?!" Kushina demanded

"N-no one," Naruto replied

"I don't believe you," Kushina said as she pulled out a box of band-aids and a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide

"I'm serious! It was no-one!" Naruto pleaded as she grabbed a rag and poured the bottle onto it. Kushina covered Naruto's eyes as she wiped his forehead. Naruto flinched as the hydrogen peroxide stung his cuts, "And I'm still not believing you," Kushina repeated as she pulled out some band-aids and placed them on the cuts on Naruto's forehead

"Nobody did this!" Naruto said, still trying to keep his new training with Garou a secret

"Do you want me to get your father?" Kushina asked, knowing full well that Minato could have Ibiki get information out of him. Naruto gulped as he turned his head... and decided to lie, "I-I got into a fight," Naruto said

"With who?" Kushina asked

"S-some kids on the street. T-they said that you were a... 'Uzu-whore'," Naruto said, closing his eyes and getting ready to hear what his mother had to say. Kushina's eye twitched as she then smiled, "I-It's alright Naruto, at least you got into a fight for a good reason. How about we go get ice-cream later? Maybe even some ramen for lunch?" Kushina said as she picked Naruto up and placed him on the ground. Naruto was surprised at how calm his mother was as he was sure there was some consequence to be had, "A-are you sure?" Naruto asked as Kushina nodded

"Yes, I'm sure. Now run along to your room... I've got some talking to do with your father," Kushina said as Naruto quickly ran to his room, "love you, sweetheart!"

"L-Love you too, Kaa-chan!" Naruto replied as he ran up the stairs.

"MINATO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU BETTER GET HERE RIGHT NOW, BEFORE I FIND YOU!!!!!!!!!"

The past three days had been hell for Naruto. He woke up at 5 AM every day to go train with Garou and usually came home around 4 to 5 hours later, depending on if Garou wanted him to go home. Naruto had band-aid's on his face from all the times Garou drew blood from the training. Today, Naruto was early and waiting for Garou. He decided to do the first exercise Garou taught him. Spreading out his feet, Naruto did the circular motions with his arms and combined it with his breathing. This went on for a few minutes before Naruto sensed that he wasn't alone. He assumed it was Garou and said: "Come on out, I know you're there," out of the blue. There was a growl as Naruto felt the ground shake beneath his feet. Turning around, Naruto saw a giant tiger-man wearing clothes and two different color glowing eyes.

"Ohhh, crap-baskets," Naruto whispered