Chapter 1 - Sporadic
In this story the Yondaime Hokage was able to seal off the Kyubi Influences altogether. So Naruto has normal chakra pathways (He's got the amazing Namikaze amounts of it though) He doesn't go into berserker mode. Doesn't have to eat a lot because he's only eating for 1 (He hasn't tried ramen yet, but when he does he'll be addicted to it like in the manga/anime) since Kyubi isn't able to influence his mind Naruto obviously inherited his fathers genius trait. I know most kids don't learn how to read until they're like 6-7 and Naruto's been doing it for years. Please attribute it to his prodigy status. He may be slightly overpowered but it will only be for his age group. There will be stronger, older people. I don't like how they avoid using low D rank skills in the official Manga/anime so I like to incorporate useful ways they should be using them. This story will not contain Yaoi. It will be straight.
The timeline is basically the same with a few minor/major differences. I haven't decided if Itachi should massacre or not. After this message I will keep my A/N to a minimum
Caspian Knight
The sounds of roosters broke the peacefully quiet morning in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. Many people were already awake though, but you're not able to hear them, unless you're a ninja yourself.
--
Breathe in.
Breathe
out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Thump, Thump, Thump Thwack, Thump, Snap, Crack, Thump, Thump…
Various sounds of training could be heard, from this particular ninja, everyday. The boy had been practicing this routine every morning since he was 4. It was a unique style of taijutsu, built off of old Konohagakure training manuals. It was modified for speed and power by the boy. It was a solid style, not the greatest even though it had a genius, through hard work and natural instincts that created it.
He had wanted to join the Academy this year but once again, the old crone at the registration office denied his application form. Naruto was 6 now, the proper age most students enrolled in the academy at was 7 but the school started in September and his birthday was in October so it was his range of age that were starting. Didn't matter to him though, he knew most of the curriculum anyways, he figured he could just ask Old Man Hokage to take the test later so he could skip the formality of attending the Academy, because frankly, it was a waste of time.
Naruto's beating of the poor stump turned splinters ended after his rigorous 2 hours of training, it was now 6 am. He quietly shunshined to the hidden shinobi section of town and pulled up his hood. He had just recently found out about the shunshin and it easily became his new favorite technique, right behind the kawamari. Naruto didn't have any access to clan jutsu's or ones ranked higher then D so he stuck to mastering all the academy ones. Even though they sucked mostly, the only ones worth using were bunshin and kawamari. He got lucky in finding the shunshin in an old academy manual that was used in times of war. It was idiotic of them to take it out of the new workbooks. It was uber useful if Naruto would say so, but he wouldn't because he hadn't willingly spoken a word in nearly 2 years.
It wasn't that Naruto was mute, or angry, it was just that he had no real motivation to talk. The only person he knew that would speak kindly to him was the Sadaime.
--
"Could I get a new black cloak with white fringes like this one? Except in a larger size, this one is getting small" (Think akatsuki cloak, no clouds, but built a little more like a priest and less fluttery. The tail only starts to spread out at the hips almost exactly what Gaara wears after Naruto's 3 year training trip) Naruto said, with very little emotion in his voice. He had learned at a very young age that it was best not to draw attention to yourself; it only got you hurt in the end.
Underneath the cloak Naruto wore a standard black muscle shirt, pants, sandals and a face mask that covered his lower face; it hid whisker marks and emotions. It drew less attention if it was all standard shinobi equipment. He liked the cloak because it came with a hood and more places to hide equipment and your movements. No special emblems or insignias, very discreet. Like a true shinobi because as the saying goes "The nail that sticks out gets hammered in" meaning it would be less painful to hide in the shadows.
(Sorry people but I don't know the conversion rate of the Ryo so it will I will count it like dollars)
The cloth merchant came back from the storage room with a new cloak.
"'tis 'ere boy come 'ter 123.16, one 'O my moe' uniqe 'uns, take it, 'O leav' it, ya"
Even though it was an outrageous price for a small child's cloak he really didn't feel like arguing with the man who could barley speak coherently. He would just end up with a headache and a loss of training time. Throwing away his old tattered one Naruto put on the new one in the change rooms.
His internal clock aided by the rising sun told him it was around 7 am, time to hit the library. Stealthily he exited the store and just heard the clerk's exclamation of surprise when he went to check up on him and noticed he already left, when he bumped into a slightly taller figure just opening the door to also leave. Damn he got distracted by the clerk's voice, or he didn't hear the other kid.
Glancing up he noticed the Uchiha fan on the front of his clothes. Double damn.
The konoha military police force members often participated in the "Naruto beatings" along with the villagers. It also happens that nearly the entire force is made up of Uchiha.
Noticing the kid's raised eyebrow, Naruto quickly added "Sorry Uchiha-sama" and shunshined away to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
Naruto was studying storage seals today in the library; he had just recently come across them and found them interesting. It worked by creating an extremely small and compressed storage area using simple time/space manipulations. Although anything "simple" in seals jargon usually meant if you were average at them you'd take a couple years to understand them, so most people just learned to copy them. If the original seal was destroyed for most simple seals the equipment all came out of the space/time hole. In more complex storage scrolls they don't come out and you could re-write up the access codes you wrote with your blood and access the vault of items again because they don't appear after you destroy the scrolls. And if you forget the combos for the scrolls there are even more seals to show you an inventory of vaults but that's getting into very complex methods of sealing. The book only provided the most basic storage seals so Naruto decided he'd stitch a few into his cloak using chakra conductive threads.
(Which he conveniently had at home for mending emergencies)
He decided to locate them as noted: one beside each hip, one under each elbow and one at the back of his neck. The first 4 were for basic senbon, shurken, and kunai and ninja wire while the seal by his neck was for medical supplies, food rations and a map. It took him 13 hours to stitch the one on his left elbow because there was so many characters to do in limited space. He decided to test the first one out later and start stitching again tomorrow.
All in all Naruto thought he was pretty set up for a 6-7 year old and felt like kicking that old stumps wooden ass again.
--
Eyeing down the stump he quickly drew a kunai from his leg pouch and launched it for its head. Bull's eye. He had perfect aim already and now he was just working on his speed. Just as he was about to reach into his pouch again he sensed a shift in the wind as someone just arrived in what they thought was a well concealed hiding spot in a one of the trees lining the training ground. Quickly Naruto Created a Bunshin and used the Kawamari to escape to a higher ground to observe the new spectator. Naruto's bunshin began to simulate meditation.
Scanning the tree's Naruto checked for chakra signatures. Odd, there was none. Trying plan B he decided to smell for the person. Bingo. Just as he settled on the branch behind the person the guy spoke.
"Hn…"
Triple Damn. That's that Uchiha Kid from Earlier. This one made him uneasy, like he was hiding his powerful abilities behind a small frame.
"I see you are exceptional at tracking"
"…why are you here" Naruto asked with the same toneless voice the Uchiha was speaking in. It unnerved him that he was caught be a kid not much older then him.
"What is your name?"
"Answer my question first"
This gained a raised eyebrow from the Uchiha kid
"Hn…I've never seen you before today. I'd like to know who you are"
"Why?" Naruto asked, he was trying to study the shinobi's face for his intentions. If he was going to attack him, Naruto wanted to be ready.
"You were able to track me even though I masked my chakra signature, sound from movements and I hid with a B rank Genjutsu. You can't be any older than my little brother and you are not a genin yet because you have no hitai-ate" He surmised
"Naruto…and you smell like pocky. Now, who are you?" When Naruto stated pocky Itachi showed a momentary pause before he raised his eyebrow once again.
"Itachi"
Quadruple "Damn…." Naruto accidentally whispered
"Hn…?" Itachi was curious about that outburst from the Ninja of few words like himself.
"What are your intentions?" Naruto asked as he switched into a defensive stance.
"What?" Itachi asked, not expecting the question, and definitely not the reaction.
"Are you here to get rid of me? I know the Uchiha have something against me but I didn't expect they'd send a jounin after me, and clan heir to boot" Naruto stated
Raising both eyebrows now Itachi stared at Naruto.
"Do you want to spar?" He was really curious about Naruto now, high tracking skills and being targeted by his clan? He had to see what would posses them to do so.
Noticing Itachi didn't say "fight" Naruto replied
"It would be nice to kick a person instead of a log for a change" And with that a Kunai was launched at Itachi, aiming for his backside. The projectile embedded itself into Itachi's head as his eyes went wide, and then exploded in a plume off smoke. Appearing in a flicker of shunshin Itachi kicked his leg out to the side, aiming for Naruto's head. It passed through the Bunshin's head. Slightly surprised for a second time Itachi regained his balance long enough to dodge a hail of shurken from another Naruto 20 meters away on another tree branch. Hiding, Itachi created an exploding kagebunshin and several water bunshin's, he then sent them to act as decoy's to keep Naruto distracted while he laid a few traps and preformed the headhunter jutsu. Surrounding Naruto the clones took turns sparring Naruto.
Keeping up with Itachi's incredible speed Naruto found himself hard pressed to dodge all the attacks. Most taijutsu styles used your momentum to perform attacks on the opposition. It seemed that the Uchiha style used momentum built off of the attacking party's movements. It was very difficult to counter. Naruto realized that even though he had control of the situation he did not have an advantage because his options were being eaten up by Itachi's offensive strategy. Naruto shivered just thinking about how much harder this match would be if Itachi used his sharingan. Itachi was clearly leagues better then he was, even though he too was holding back.
Naruto had finished dispatching most of the water clones and was now working on the kagebunshin. When he finally landed a solid hit his eyes went as wide as saucers as it exploded in his face. He managed to escape with a few burns here and there with his quick use of kawamari. Just when Naruto regained his breathe he felt a sudden lurch as his body was pulled underground, leaving just his head above. The now grounded Naruto promptly shimmered as the Genjutsu disguising Itachi's water bunshin disappeared when the water clone exploded into liquid.
Now that was surprising for Itachi. He didn't even sense Naruto do the second kawamari and Genjutsu combo. It was also very odd that Naruto, not even a genin, could hold his own against an Uchiha Jounin using 4 D ranked jutsu's and Academy style taijutsu. He had to be a prodigy of geniuses like himself. Spotting Naruto he placed an A rank Genjutsu to lead him to a trap laid be him. Apparently this was Naruto's weakness, but it was expected that he wouldn't be able to fight off an A rank Genjutsu. Heck even Itachi couldn't do it at Naruto's approximate age. (He still has to find out) Stepping in the loops of wire Naruto was soon hanging upside down. Itachi supposed the feeling of inertia disabled his Genjutsu because
Naruto was now reaching for his kunai/shurken holster when he realized it wasn't there. Glaring at Itachi he swung himself to face away from Itachi to hide his motions. Reaching to his left elbow he silently summoned a kunai and cut himself free while casting a Genjutsu over the area to make it appear as though he was still hanging upside down. Resealing the kunai he shunshined straight a Itachi, hoping a frontal attack old take him off guard. It worked to an extent because Itachi cursed himself for falling for a low level trick and then caught Naruto's left outstretched fist. Twisting it Naruto tucked in his right arm and brushed his hand over the elbow as he was spinning. Summoning a senbon he jabbed it at a vital point in Itachi's arm to make it stop working for a couple of hours. Scoring a direct hit Itachi let go of Naruto.
Momentarily dazed that Naruto got the drop on him he decided it was getting out of hand and flicked on his sharingan.
"Hn…I see…an equipment seal"
Naruto never knew what was happening before Itachi shunshined at an unbelievable speed and easily dodged Naruto's feeble attempt at blocking to disable his arms and legs for a few minutes with a slight tap to the back of his neck.
"…Good spar, I don't suppose you could teach me that Exploding Kagebunshin could you?"
Giving a slight smirk Itachi replied "No, that's a personal technique. But for kagebunshin all you need to do is created the ram seal and use a ton of chakra. You should work on your dreadful taijutsu and expand on your limited ninjutsu. What year are you in the academy?" Itachi didn't know what possessed him to share a forbidden technique to a kid he just met but he sensed a connection they shared. It was an odd sensation of trust.
"I'm not in the academy. That Old Crone at the registration office won't let me in. I've applied every year since I was 5. I'm 7 in October." Rotating and stretching his limbs Naruto began to feel awareness creeping back to him.
"Hn…" and then Itachi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. A higher level of shunshin built for long distance traveling.
Geez…what a guy, leaving just like that. Naruto thought as he walked home.
--
That damn cat named Tora was sneaking in his apartment window again to sneak some food. Naruto was just about to use kawamari with it so he could be there to close the window before it came back again when his concentration was ruined as the deafening roar of a bomb exploding in his bedroom demolished the apartment building a few buildings beside it. The silhouette of the cat was seen being launched across the flame lit sky as it landed in a pile of garbage bags. It crawled out. Damn, dumb cats used up more then 9 lives why won't it just die? Looking back at his apartment now. Double Damn.