Magnus: After a long time of being stressed and being unable to write, I'm back with this story, now showing the first stage of changes on Naruto, enjoy, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto or Too human, as well as anything you believe is being mentioned in this fanfic
Chapter 3
Gods among shinobi
Three years have passed since Baldur adopted Naruto, and during these three years, Sarutobi visited them at regular periods of time, ensuring the safety of Naruto, and making sure Baldur didn't run away with the legacy of the fourth. Sarutobi was amazed, for it took Baldur only one month to build a bunker with the remains of his ship, a bunker that looked impenetrable. Sarutobi also noticed the changes in Naruto, some of them were disturbing, others were truly welcomed. And today, it was the day to welcome the young blond into the shinobi academy.
"Hiruzen, are you sure that this is the right thing to do? He is one year late to join the kids his age, and he hasn't played with the other kids, meaning that he may be unfitted to follow the rest of the students" Homura stated. The reason to allow the kids to play 'ninja tag' was to allow them an early training, so the academy would not finish them before needed
"Homura is right, Naruto should be lead to live a civilian life now" Danzo added, from the first day he went against the decision of the third, but after three years of having no report of the status of the vessel of the Kyuubi, he just lost any hopes of turning him into a weapon
"Oh! But he is fit to keep up with the kids his age, in fact, I'm afraid that the kids his age won't be able to keep up with him" Sarutobi replied, during all these years, he has followed Naruto's growing, and to say that he was amazed, would be an understatement
"We shall see, Hiruzen, we shall see" Danzo muttered, just in time to see two figures entering the gates
Two cloaked figures approached the gates, one looked too tall to be a child, but yet not a teenager, the other was frightening tall. Izumo and Kotetsu cowered in fear by the sheer presence of the duo, both were grateful by the closeness of the Hokage. The two cloaked men ignored the gate guards, and walked directly to the Hokage. Homura and Danzo instinctively gave a step back, both had heard stories about the self proclaimed God that lived in the woods, but seeing him, all tall and mighty…
"As agreed, Naruto will enter your ninja academy, and will become genin. After that, staying here or not is his decision, his alone" Baldur stated, and Danzo couldn't help but to hate the authority that his voice carried. Homura couldn't say anything at all, lacking the courage to even look up at the man
"Of course, such was our agreement" Sarutobi replied, with a respect on his voice that bothered Danzo to the core
"I will accompany my child to the gates of this academy, is my right as a father to see that my son finds no difficulties on his way to school" Baldur added, but it was more like a declaration than asking permission
"If such is your concern, you may want to start living inside the walls of the village, instead of the wilderness" Danzo finally said, earning Baldur's glare
"Nay! We will keep living where we are. Do not bring that again, or I will not take in consideration your state of disabled man" Baldur warned, and Danzo had to fight the urge to run away
"Father, we must go if we want to get there early. I do wish to get to know the grounds where I will spend my education, specially the data archive and training facilities" Naruto spoke, his voice mature, ancient and regal. This was completely unexpected by Homura and Danzo, who remembered him as the small and hyperactive child of the past, this of course made Sarutobi smirk
"Aye. Please lead the way, Hokage" Baldur conceded, and allowed Sarutobi to lead them to the academy.
Ninja academy…
Iruka Umino sighed, today he would greet the students again. First years were actually easy, for they only received an introduction on the shinobi life style, but second years are a whole new challenge, for it was time to shape their bodies and minds. Some like the Uchiha would be easy, he was already on heavy training from his family, but others like the young Nara heir…
"Iruka, do you have a moment?" Sarutobi asked, breaking the meditation of the patient sensei.
"Of course, Hokage-sama. Is something wrong?" Iruka asked, expecting to hear something related to one of the children of the clans, or maybe about placing him again with the first years
"Actually, it's a special case. You are going to have a new student. Is his first year on the academy, but will start with the second years" Sarutobi half explained, and Iruka couldn't help but to frown
"Hokage-sama, if it's his first year, wouldn't it be better to place him with the first years, even if he is a prodigy… Unless… Is HIM, right? He is finally here!" Iruka said in surprise, he wished to have him last year, but at least he was here now…
Meanwhile…
"Their data archive is archaic, all in paper, old scrolls and books" Baldur stated, coldly, it was hard to tell if he was only resuming what they saw, or if he was complaining
"Just as we suspected, father. Their data may be stored improperly, but it's usable" Naruto replied, in a voice full of respect
"They don't have a resistant training facility. Everything in there is frail, and will not last even a fraction of the time our dull training gear endures" Baldur stated now, making noticeable his discomfort
"Father, I will adapt successfully. You don't have to worry about me, or the humans that will spend time around me. I will learn and become stronger, I'll be humble and become honorable, I'll be a man and then I'll become a god" Naruto said with pride and religious devotion
"Very well. Take care, son. Learn all they can teach you, but never allow them to change what you truly are" Baldur finally said, giving a warm and manly hug to Naruto, earning a few stares, but no one commented anything at all
Some time later…
Iruka watched his classroom getting filled with the students, all of them known faces, all of them not ready for the new student
"Ok, calm down already! Today we start a new year, a year were you not only will learn more about the art of being a Konoha's ninja, but also will put in practice all what you'll learn" Iruka started, and many cheered, eager to start doing the most awesome ninja tricks, unaware of the intense training that awaited them
"Also, I want you to welcome a new kid into our class" Iruka voiced again, and then gestured toward the door, motioning for the new student to enter the classroom. The class watched a tall kid entering the room, completely covered by a thick cloak, said cloak seemed to be made of an unknown type of material, it looked old and new at the same time, completely clean, and still it looked as if it had seen way too many days under the sun. The kid walked up to the middle of the platform where Iruka gives his lectures, and stood tall and prideful, looking at all the other students.
The kid took off the cloak, revealing a sun kissed mane, tied at the back of his head into a low ponytail that reached to his mid back, a pair of tribal braids fell at the sides of his head, in front of his ears. His eyes were of a never seen before shiny blue, as if they were emanating a faint light, and three whisker marks were adorning each of his cheeks. In resume, he looked somewhat… Feral. He was dressed in a strange way, with a full tight black body suit that seemed to be made of hard plastic, covered with a crimson coat adorned with golden plates, the boots looked as if made of hardened plastic too, but with no distinctive marks, as well as black gloves
"Will you introduce yourself, please?" Iruka politely asked, not because the Hokage ordered it, but because he knew that any human, specially one who had to be a living sacrifice for the safety of the village, deserved some respect
"Aye, teacher Iruka of the Umino. My name is Naruto son of Baldur, son of ODIN. I'm here to learn all I can, and to become genin of the village hidden among the leaves. This is an honor bound promise, and I live up to my promises and honor code, believe it." Naruto presented himself, in a voice that sounded as regal as the Hyuga clan, as authoritative as the Uchiha clan, and as serious as the Aburame.
"Now that is a well mannered soon to be shinobi… Ok Naruto, go and take seat wherever you see fit" Iruka said, signaling the entire classroom, not that there were that many empty seats
"Thank you, teacher Iruka" Naruto politely said, and then walked toward the last row of seats, where a lonely girl with pale lavender eyes was sitting, she even seemed to shrink when Naruto came even closer
"Would you mind if I take the seat at your side, beautiful maiden?" Naruto asked, he even used a low voice to not intimidate the girl, failing miserably in doing so. The girl limited herself to shook her head no, not wanting to antagonize with a boy obviously stronger than her
"Thank you" Naruto added, and then took the seat
"Hinata Hyuga, since you were one of the top students last year, I want you to explain Naruto some of the basics, when you have the time, of course" Iruka ordered, earning an eep from the girl at Naruto's side
"Yes, Iruka-sensei" Hinata replied, earning an smile from Naruto
As the class advanced, Hinata had the opportunity to watch things that could be very well named magic or sorcery. Naruto took from a pocket on his coat, a strange device, this rectangular device produced a light that became solid, then, at the eyes of the boy, light became solid too, forming something like clear sport shades. Hinata watched in morbid fascination how Naruto touched the solidified light on the device, forming words at high speed, as well as in his shades, words danced at frightening speeds, she was unsure if someone could read something at such rate. This continued for some time, until Iruka decided that Naruto was paying more attention to whatever he had on hands than on him
"Naruto, while I appreciate that you are taking notes, or at least I hope you are taking them, I would be more glad if you pay me more attention" Iruka stated, deciding not being angry at the new boy
"I'm paying attention, teacher Iruka of the Umino, in fact, I would love if you continue with your lecture. I find fascinating the history of the shinobi wars, how their honor code seems so similar to the one of the Odinsons, and yet, there are some decisions that I do not agree with" Naruto explained, surprising everyone, even the smarter ones
"Like what?" Iruka couldn't help but to ask, he just had to know if Naruto was truly paying attention or not
"For example, in the last war, the fourth Hokage had the power to annihilate entire armies in the blink of the eye, he even decimated Iwa in a very brutal way. I understand that in an open war, you can not make an excessive use of force to destroy your enemies completely, in order to keep resources stored to defend the land, but with the power shown by the fourth Hokage, wouldn't it have been much more beneficial to completely destroy Iwa, instead of leaving the village standing with the resentment on their hearts, and the idea of striking again in the future?" Naruto asked, and Iruka felt so… Unfitted to teach such a bright mind…
Lunch time…
Naruto was hungry, hungry of knowledge, hungry of a chance to put to use all what he has learn, so he watched the other kids on the area, all of them already on groups. Naruto knew that eventually he will have to choose a group to belong to, but he also knew that trying to enter into an already formed group would most likely end in failure and rejection, so, he watched in a predatory fashion, looking for a lonely soul to start his training, because a good god knows how to properly interact with the humans.
Hinata, as usual, was all alone, sitting below an old and small tree, almost as if hiding, she had no friends, no one to talk to. The civilian kids hated her for being a clan member, the others that came from shinobi families avoided her for being a Hyuga, for her clan was very secretive and strict, allowing no friends for the main branch members, so, she was all alone in the school
"Greetings, Hinata of the Hyuga, would you mind if I share this time of relaxation and food sharing with you?" Naruto asked, in a way too polite and strange, that Hinata felt unable to respond immediately. Naruto watched her shocked face for a full second, and then decided that she may not be comfortable with his presence, at least not right now
"If you don't feel like sharing your time with me it's ok, I don't want to…" Naruto couldn't finish his apology, when Hinata's hand grabbed his wrist
"No please don't go!" Hinata said a little too loud, in that moment, Naruto understood that she was alone, and starving for company
"Of course, I will stay for as long as you wish" Naruto said with a warm smile, not knowing the impact that this was going to bring on their lives.
For half an hour, Naruto and Hinata were silent, just eating in silence, watching each other with strange fascination. For Naruto, Hinata was like the daughter of a consul, or an ambassador, her posture, her manners, all pointed to finesse and perfection, to grace and beauty. For Hinata, Naruto was strange, his figure was imposing and intimidating, not in the way of her cousin, but in a more primal fashion, his manners were puzzling too, he spoke and interacted in a way clearly unfitted for a child, even in the most respected clans, at this age the children were all the same, loud, cocky and reckless, but this boy was perfect, as if sent by the gods to be allowed to be her friend, so good that her father may actually allow such friendship.
"Humm… Naruto-san… may I ask you a question?" Hinata finally gathered the courage to speak, much to Naruto's relief, who simply couldn't find how to start a conversation
"Aye. Feel free to ask whatever you want, Hinata of the Hyuga" Naruto replied, smiling again for her. He could feel how she loved to be smiled like that, and he couldn't help but to concede such small thing, that's what a good god does after all
"Errr… First of all, you can call me by just my name, there is no need to use my family name always, I mean, I don't call you Naruto son of Baldur… errr… I didn't mean…" Hinata began to stammer, unsure on how to approach this subject. But Naruto gave a small chuckle, silencing her
"As you wish, Hinata. I will use your precious name, just as you use mine. Now ask, and I will answer" Naruto accepted her conditions, and prompted her to ask her question. Hinata almost went into shock, Naruto called her by only her name, which means closeness, of course, being him her very first friend, she supposed that they'll become close anyway, so, she didn't corrected him
"Humm… In the classroom… You were taking notes… writing on some kind of light… How do you do it?" Hinata ventured to ask. Her father once told her that the Hyuga had the best jutsus of the world, that no other clan was above them, but if this was a jutsu…
"You mean my Datapad? It's a common tool to store data… Oh right, you've never seen it before… Let's just say that this is how the gods writes their stuff" Naruto concluded on the most simple way he could come up with, unfortunately, this time Hinata truly went into shock
"That's how the gods write?..." Hinata absently asked
"Hey! Look at that, the Hyuga princess and the weird dressed new kid!" A student suddenly called, and another four arrived at his calling. Making Hinata squirm on fear
"You never told me you were a princess" Naruto playfully said, sending Hinata into panic
"It's not like that, Naruto!" Hinata defended, but her reply only worsened the situation
"So, the little princess thinks she is too high to be friends with us, and selected an outsider? Now this we can't allow, can we, guys?" the leader of the little gang said, earning some laughs from the other four kids. Naruto sensed their intention, and thus stood up, and faced the small gang
"Now hear me well, tainted hearts of Konoha, I'll warn you once, and only once. Hinata of the Hyuga is under my protection, any aggression against her being, either physical or psychological, will be retaliated with my wrath" Naruto warned with a voice so serious, that it wasn't funny. The small gang began to cower, this kid was taller than them, and unlike them, he had muscles
"You think yourself too high, stranger, but I'll teach you to not mess up with us!" The leader shouted, while throwing a rather pathetic punch toward Naruto, who caught it with his hand, way too easily, then he began to apply pressure, making the kid cry and wail due the pain, the other four ran away instantly, they were just a mob, they weren't there to find opposition
"The powerful bear that inhabits the forest fear the grip of my hand, show at least the intelligence of the beasts, leave and do not rise your hand against me or those who have my protection" Naruto spoke, released the kid, and then turned around to look at an astonished Hinata
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you, I swear it upon my honor" Naruto said, earning a blush from the little Hyuga
Hokage tower, later that day…
"So, what do you think?" Sarutobi asked to Iruka, who still has to overcome his shock yet
"It's… Disturbing…" Iruka finally said
"How so?" Sarutobi asked with a knowing smile
"He devours knowledge at a rate that is mind blowing, I doubt the other students will be able to keep up with him, besides, the physical training seems to be not tiresome to him, he is… Like a machine…" Iruka voiced, disturbed at his own words
"I thought you would love to have a dedicated student, Iruka" Sarutobi stated, smirking at the coming storm
"Hokage-sama, Haruno and Hyuga are dedicated students, they absorb knowledge like a sponge absorbs water… Naruto… He DEVOURS the knowledge! By the end of the week we won't have nothing left on the second year library for him to read! And he… And he…" Iruka couldn't continue out of fear of being thought crazy, but Sarutobi already know what he saw
"And he writes on a book made of light? Yes, I know about that, I've already seen it" Sarutobi helped Iruka to finish, who went into further shock
"Hokage-sama?" Iruka said, not really wanting to hear another thing
"You said that he did not tire, how physically fit is he?" Sarutobi asked now, bringing Iruka back to reality
"Well, he really does not tire at all, but… While not the slowest, he is far behind the fastest of the group. Also, he weights much more than an Akimichi, although we don't know if that suit of his has something to do with it, may as well it's like Maito Gai's training weights. Besides that, he doesn't have any trouble jumping or falling large distances" Iruka reported, not knowing where this was going
"Most interesting. Iruka, I have a very special mission for you. I want you to watch Naruto's interactions with the other children, I want immediate reports on anything that could relate to friends, enemies, and specially, if he happens to like any girl. I will make sure he want to stay, at any cost" Sarutobi ordered, sending shivers through Iruka spine
Hyuga compound…
"Father…" Hinata approached her father, without stuttering, without squirming on his presence, a welcome change, even if truly startling
"Yes, daughter?" Hiashi asked, he will have to investigate what caused this little improvement on his usually shy daughter
"Does the gods walk among us?" Hinata asked, still nervous. Hiashi blinked once, twice and thrice before answering as polite and serious as it was possible
"Of course not, the gods lives on heaven, not among mortals" Hiashi replied, soft enough to not sound as if he thought she was crazy or stupid, it was a childish question after all, even he himself made it at that age
"I see… But… The gods can have children that can walk among us?" Hinata asked now, and in her eyes, Hiashi saw her dire need of an answer, one that Hiashi didn't want to deliver in the usual way that the elders does, so, he went for a neutral approach
"There is some literature about such topics, the legends call them Demigods, or Titans… Why the sudden interest?" Hiashi felt the need to ask, and at this, Hinata began to play with her fingers
"I think I met one at the academy…" Hinata replied, earning a shocked stare from the clan leader of the Hyuga
Meanwhile, at the Hringhorni (Baldur and Naruto's home)…
"How was your first day, son?" Baldur asked, not failing to notice the smile on Naruto's face
"It was illustrative, and besides getting some interesting data on the history of the village, I started to form a friendship with a pretty maiden of my own age" Naruto informed, and couldn't help but to notice the raised eyebrow of his father
"A pretty maiden?" Baldur asked, although it sounded a little bit like teasing
"Yes, father" Naruto replied with a grin, while showing a small crystal, which contained all what he has seen during the day
Magnus: Well, I hope you liked the changes in Naruto, don't worry, he won't be all boring and proper, just you wait until a battle comes, his father is a God of War after all!