Disclaimer: Hello once again, my lovelies! The one who's Roars Rend is back with a chapter update for you hungry folks, so enjoy your noms.
This is the Time Skip chapter, where the pace picks up a bit to get to the meat of matters. So make sure you pay attention early on as some things that happen are explained there.
As always read, review, and enjoy…all up to you, of course. Roarend Darkhowl out.
P.S. Laen is pronounced like lane, just to clear that up for those who were tripping up on his name.
P.S.S. Also, I don't own Naruto…but you already knew that, I hope.
The Prodigal Sun
Chapter 6: Monkey Time Warp
My mother's funeral took place the year after I started the Academy and was attended by many, which wasn't too surprising as she'd been well liked in the village for her kind nature.
My grandfather presided over the ceremony and I was left to watch over Ko. He knew something was wrong, but couldn't fully understand why mommy was gone.
Any comments made within earshot about Naruto being there with us were ignored other than me hugging him to me a bit tighter. I had him spend the night with us later, not wanting us all to be separated while we grieved.
I didn't take more than a week off from the Academy, with Tenten volunteering to bring me my homework and Laen tagging along sometimes.
Naruto and his classmates started attending the Academy soon after that.
I ended up having to put several teachers in their place (a.k.a. used my status to put the fear of the Third in them) when I found them trying to discriminate against my little brother.
During the Rookie Nine's first year, strains in the relationship between the village and the Uchiha clan peaked and the inevitable happened.
I didn't kid myself into thinking I could've done anything to stop the massacre. I wasn't really somebody yet, I was still just the Third's grandson who was expected to sit and listen when the grown-ups talked.
The change it produced in Sasuke was oddly reminiscent of a toned down Obito, a slow burning build up of hatred for his formerly beloved brother surfaced along with a need for control in his life, control that he sought through power.
It was at that point I knew that Itachi, and to a good degree Shisui, were the lucky few Uchihas that didn't allow their hate to rule them, something that Sasuke was quickly allowing to hinder him.
I wondered for a while after that why Itachi would place such a hindrance as hatred on his brother if he wanted him to kill him later on in atonement.
The years went on with my own training under my grandfather now including ninjutsu and taijutsu. Apparently, my grandfather had informed my instructors not to teach me the Academy style taijutsu as he was going to teach me one himself.
I began studying what amounted to Monkey Style Kung-fu under him and Enma.
Oh sure, they called it Saru-ken (MonkeyFist), but if it was a style taught to imitate the movements of monkeys, it was Monkey Style freaking Kung-fu, no bones about it.
I rolled, flipped, and performed acrobatics I shocked myself at being capable of, all in response to grandpa's 'monkey evasion training', which had him throwing rocks at me.
I pummeled training posts endlessly, long after the fronts and backs of my knuckles and the outside of my wrists went numb or bled, those being the main areas emphasized in the hand strikes of the style. I kicked those same posts into submission with all the different parts of my feet, the outer and inner edges, the top and the ball, etc. until my feet collapsed beneath me.
I thanked Kami for the Sarutobi onsen, even if I sometimes practiced too hard for it to soothe all my aches.
Enma emphasized that for a beginning human practitioner like myself, it was necessary for me to form what he called the 'Mindset of the Monkey'. That meant that I had to get into the 'character' of my style to use it proficiently at my level.
I literally had to act like a monkey, facial expressions and all.
This acting sort of bled over into my actual disposition, because I was supposed to be a 'happy monkey', a mischievous monkey. I subsequently started breaking out of my shell, allowing myself to have fun and be little reckless.
It was my second time being young, so I guess you could cut me a little slack.
I was rewarded jutsu only based on my own merits at my own request. My grandfather kept his promise and personally taught me the Sarutobi clan secret ninjutsu Katon: Goen no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Flame Technique)which was the jutsu equivalent to shooting a flamethrower out of your mouth.
It goes without saying it quickly became my favorite technique…because flamethrower.
Anything else that I learned was only in recognition of milestones I myself set, whether they were accomplishments in academics, in training my taijutsu, or training my bōjutsu.
Grandpa regained some of the spirit that my mother's death seemed to drain from him when on my tenth birthday I asked for a bō and instruction on how to use it.
Tenten hadn't discovered her love of weapons yet, but I had shown a certain degree of interest in the bō since my father and grandfather were known for using it. That interest only grew further after I learned that it was one of the only weapons compatible with Saru-ken.
My poor female classmate actually hadn't decided on any specialty since I logically walked her through why dedicating yourself to one person's specialty was a bad way of limiting your potential, no matter if that person was Tsunade Senju of the Sennin or no.
If she was still having trouble after graduation, I planned on helping her.
Now when it came to academics, I allowed myself to remain right behind Neji for top spot in the class…is what I'd like to say. I might've overestimated myself a little bit early on.
It was hard enough just keeping up with the rest of the upper echelon, let alone keep at Neji's heels. Math was my downfall, the calculations and formulas a freaking difficult as they'd been when I went through school originally.
I kept up with the Hyūga genius at almost everything else, not really having a rivalry with him as he rebuffed any attempts to socialize let alone compete, however that seemed to go out the window during taijutsu practice.
We got matched a few times and that was all it took to make him take me seriously.
I forced a draw the first match we had, clinging onto him when he went to knock me out of the circle of contention. After that, he scooped up the only victories of our clashes, with me forcing a few more ties here and there, but I made sure to make him work for it. I also got the impression he was not happy with how I'd be smiling and laughing at him during the matches, my explanation that it was a part of training my taijutsu style not appeasing enough for him.
My explanation was true of course, but I won't deny I took some enjoyment out of poking fun at him.
Naruto kept me up to date on his own classes that were going smoother now, but still bored him to tears. I laughed when he nervously admitted to skipping out to go and prank some people.
His tendency to prank others was a source of much amusement to the monkey in me more than anything.
He'd eventually completed the reading I had set him, retaining a good deal more than I expected him to. I was happy to see he was taking at least the practical things that I assigned him seriously if he wasn't going to follow the Academy curriculum.
We trained together like I promised, but at my schedule.
I trained with him the first day of the week, then set him some reading again (his whining was kind of funny) and a physical regimen to follow until the next week. He was allowed to ask me for help whenever he wanted as long as it didn't interfere with my own training.
When it became near impossible to help Naruto train, train myself, do my Academy work and go to the Academy itself, all while also trying to help Konohamaru learn the basics, my grandfather finally caved into his second grandson's wish to have someone that could focus on his personal instruction.
Enter nemesis Ebisu, oh how I fought that one!
I could tell that Ko was having trouble dealing with the pressure of being the Third's grandson and this, combined with his own impatience, lead him to want to be recognized as his own person.
However, he wanted recognition and status instantly, not listening to me or grandpa when we told him those things only came with effort over time, and instead subscribing to Ebisu's teaching ability and its 'shortcuts'.
I did not get along well with Ebisu to begin with, but we were now at direct odds over my little brother's well being, something I was willing to take a scolding for if it meant Ebisu kept his own personal philosophy away from my impressionable younger sibling's teaching.
My grandfather's response overruled any of my complaints by dint of Ebisu's absolute mastery of basic ninja arts. It was the thing that landed him a promotion to Special Jōnin in the first place.
I wasn't happy about it, but I was willing to let my little brother work out his own life until he needed me to step in for him…just like dad had done for me.
I hoped that my parent's approved of that, along with the rest of how I was living. I'd found my balance, thanks to them and grandpa and Ko and Narut-
BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!
SMACK!
…I hated alarm clocks with a passion unending.
I rolled over to my bed's edge, letting my legs dangle off the side and touch the cool floor to wake me up gently. I waved amusedly at my yawning reflection in the body length mirror on my wall nestled between my closet and my work desk covered with sealing scribbles.
Grandpa had allowed me to get a start on fūinjutsu recently, giving me a few books to read in my down time. I found the art incredibly complex and knew it wasn't something I was ever going to achieve more than a journeyman level of proficiency in, if that.
My reflection moved with me as I got up from my bed and stretched up on my toes. I had grown another foot and little in the last few years, putting me at about five foot three. That was pretty tall for my age of twelve.
I sort of sleepwalked through my morning workout routine, tossing on my gear and cranking up my weight seal by twenty or so pounds beforehand by pure impulse. My dream was still weighing on my mind.
My grandfather had ceded not only the seal's control but also its design for studying purposes over to me yesterday, so assured was he of my ability to pass the Genin Exam…that was today.
That thought woke me up far better than the stupid alarm clock did, pushing me through the rest of my workout, after which I reset the weight seal to automatic and quickly showered.
I was getting dressed when a knock came at my door, so I answered without thinking.
Tenten and Laen had gotten pretty used to coming over to study or hang out, so I was unsurprised that the former had been allowed entry into the compound without a relative coming to alert of me of the fact.
Unsurprised didn't translate to the fact that I'd been expecting the person to be Ko or another relative, someone that wouldn't have gone red in the face and yelled at me for answering in only my pants.
"I'm sorry, Tenten!" I shouted wryly through the door after she slammed it behind her. I chuckled to myself before continuing. "I thought it was one of my family members, otherwise I wouldn't have answered the way I was!"
"I told you yesterday that I was going to come pick you up so you weren't late to class, today of all days, you baka!" she shouted back, her voice clearly conveying her embarrassment and annoyance at the situation.
Oh yeah, she did say that. Seeing her off kilter was totally worth it, though.
Tenten and I had a platonic relationship built on our drive to be good ninja, our easy-going natures separate from our work, and our natural attraction to one another. Case in point was my next statement.
"Oh come on, Tenten! You can't say you didn't like what you saw, right?" I said, barely getting it out without laughing as I continued dressing.
For a moment, her brief silence on the other side of the door made me worry, but whatever it was signifying was destroyed by the follow up of her laughter.
Yeah, so the natural attraction thing I might've made up.
"Whatever your ego needs, oh H-Haruo-sama! I absolutely basked in your body's magnificence, believe m-me! Hahahahahaha!"
The last thing that Tenten and I actually bonded over was poking fun one at another. I did not need reminding of my following at the Academy though. More on that later…maybe.
I slid the door open, now fully dressed, and caught her as she'd been leaning against it. I was wearing my usual green shirt and a pair of brown ANBU-style pants, held up by tape and a belt with a few pouches hanging off it.
I deadpanned as she got her giggling under control, eventually curling my lips into smile. "Quite done, are we?"
She was wearing her normal pink, sleeveless blouse with the red trimming and yellow fastenings. With that, she'd paired dark green pants, same color as my shirt, and a standard pair of blue shinobi sandals. She still wore her hair in buns, no matter how much I tease her good-naturedly about them, with her bangs recently trimmed back to frame her forehead in anticipation of receiving her hitai-ate.
She nodded at me with her cheeks red from the lack of air her enthusiasm had caused her. "I think so, yeah."
We had a brief breakfast with Ko, who ate fast and left faster, claiming that he'd surpass grandpa and I by the time the day was over. It was easy to see that Ebisu was still at work…grrr.
I ended up putting the meal I'd made for Tenten and me between two pieces of toast apiece, so that we could walk and eat on the way to Academy.
Cooking had an oddly soothing effect on me, so I'd kept up with the practice, albeit at a much slower pace than my shinobi training, of course. I didn't have much down time, cooking gave me that.
We linked up soon enough with Laen who was exiting the Nara compound to the immediate left of the Sarutobi's. He was slouched and seemed to be trying to both sleep and walk towards the Academy simultaneously.
He'd donned a grey shirt with an unzipped black windbreaker over it with the Nara symbol etched in white on the back. It matched his dark pants that cut off at the ankle, under which he wore the standard blue shinobi sandals.
He didn't so much as return our greeting as moan and shake his head, as if it was too early for him to speak coherently.
Naruto himself joined up with us about halfway to the Academy, spouting determination about opting out early and joining my graduating class.
He said this even though he still couldn't get the hang of the Bunshin no Jutsu(Clone Technique) no matter how I tried to go about helping him with it. I honestly thought he could do it if he had that down, but I apparently underestimated how much chakra he had and how much control it'd require out of him.
He'd probably never get it down, but I knew that ahead of time and had faith that he'd find a work-around just like in canon.
Maybe after he failed this exam I'd suggest pestering my grandfather for a different type of clone jutsu, one that his overwhelming chakra capacity could handle.
We meandered our way closer to the Academy, Naruto and I purposely ignoring the looks that some people gave us.
Apparently, some people found it shocking that the 'demon' had friends period, the horror they felt when they found out I was one of them was not as amusing after the first time. I'd had to 'deal' with people waylaying me on the streets to try and convince me of the error of my ways.
I enjoyed shutting them down, the annoyance these instances caused me made tolerable only by the sight of their faces going slack in shock when I asked them to not mention my little brother in such a way again or I'd be reporting them to my grandfather.
My grandfather and I shared our amusement with one another when those same people showed up in his office claiming Naruto was corrupting me.
We arrived at the Academy and went our separate ways, Shikamaru slouching his way to class while Naruto continued bouncing alongside us as we went to the classroom to take the Genin Examination, as if he was trying to achieve liftoff.
We entered to see that Neji, Lee, and a few of the Hyūga's fangirls were already seated, with the latter trying to curry favor with the former and sit closest to him. I sort of envied and kind of hated his ability to ignore them like they were nothing.
His eyes locked with my own briefly, his passive-aggressive hatred for me and my amusement at it reaffirmed by our gazes. However, before we could get into too much of a stare-down, our vision was obstructed by Lee's youthful greeting.
"Yosh, good morning, Haruo-kun, Laen-kun, Tenten-san!"
Saying Lee was a little hyper-eccentric was like saying that Madara Uchiha was a little evil.
He was wearing his usual khaki training robe and martial arts belt cinched around his waist. Contrary to what I thought, Lee didn't always have a bowl cut, as evidenced by his braid in our early Academy days and his current swept back look.
He was a good friend though and even if he was only barely average taijutsu alone, he had caught the eye of Maito Guy with his determination so I was sure he'd pass despite his handicaps.
Lee was someone I could make time for, even with his over-the-top personality, as he was a great sparring partner because he tried so hard. I really liked to push my stamina against him. I think he also appreciated the fact that I didn't look down on him like most of the others.
Better training stamina with him than Naruto the living chakra battery anyways, that kid could really wear me out in training.
Speaking of which, "Holy crap, those eyebrows are huge!" Lee and Naruto hadn't met before now.
I bopped my little brother on the head for his rudeness, manners being something that never took when I tried to teach him. I smiled apologetically at Lee, even as Laen covered up a laugh with a yawn and Tenten held a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
"Sorry for that, Lee-kun! My little brother can be somewhat overzealous and it can get his mouth in trouble! Say sorry, Naruto!" I bowed and forced the little blonde's head down to mimic me.
"Ow, ow, okay! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Lee, bless him, took this all in stride and immediately began praising Naruto for his exuberance which led to them both making outrageous claims about their chances in the exam.
In the interim, we all laid claim to the seats in one row, just as the rest of those taking the Exam to begin arriving. Thank Kami for good timing, as a gaggle of my own fangirls came in only to be disappointed to see no open spots next to me.
Yeah, I had my own fangirls…sigh.
It's not as cool as I thought it would be, to be honest. After all my time spent trying to build up the skills necessary to leave my grandfather's shadow, to be openly headhunted for that almost made me ill.
I was polite and courteous to these girls though, unlike some other so-called prodigies…I'm looking at you Neji and Sasuke. I could see how it would be easy to get frustrated with these girls, as many of them didn't necessarily take no for answer and had rather violent reactions to rejection.
Maybe ignoring and avoiding them was the smarter way to do things, but my mother raised me to be a gentleman and I'd rather face down an angry fangirl than go back on her teachings…but only just.
I did boast the lowest number of fangirls actively pursuing me because of this, though. So suck on that, brooding jerkwads and your cold shoulder treatment.
Hijiri-sensei wasn't hosting these exams, which was a tad unfortunate, as he'd been a rather fair and open-minded, if strict, teacher. Apparently, he'd asked to leave his teaching post to pursue his dream of working in the Interrogation Branch of the Intelligence Division.
These exams were being given for the first time by Iruka-sensei and his assistant…Mizuki, who I caught giving Naruto scathing looks whenever he thought no one was watching.
I'd have to keep an eye out for him trying to sabotage Naruto, who honestly needed all the help he could get, as he never studied the Academy work and had a terrible recall on the bookwork I'd give him.
The written portion of the test was quickly sorted without incident, Naruto and Lee taking the longest time to complete it, with Neji barely beating me to hand it in first. It almost made me wonder if he pulled a Chunin Exam cheat with his eyes, just to be done before me…almost.
The throwing weapon portion was aced only by Tenten who got a…well ten out of ten, hmmm. Anyways, I congratulated her in my own way, saying she'd have nailed an eleven out of ten if the sun hadn't been in her eyes. She kind of shoved me for that, but it was worth it.
Naruto and Lee actually beat out most of the fangirls at this, reaching the middle of the pack. I was glad Naruto still seemed to be running the drills I'd assigned him.
The second to last, and my personal favorite test, was next – taijutsu. I capitalized on my license to knock Mizuki on his ass hard, even if he was holding back. It certainly made up for him dismantling the incorrect form of Academy taijutsu I saw Naruto using earlier.
I mentioned to Iruka-sensei that maybe giving him some hands-on remedial instruction would benefit Naruto, stressing that it be him who conduct it. He said he'd consider it, as we watched Lee hold his own against Mizuki, eventually causing the bigger man to ring out.
The jutsu portion of the test finally arrived, with me actually having to hold back a little, and remind myself for the first time since the Academy started, that I had to try not to become the Rookie of the Year.
So no one there ever got to find out that I could do the Kawarimi no Jutsu(Replacement Technique) without hand-seals.
I had an average Bunshin and Henge, but my Kawarimi was the Academy jutsu I prided myself on, the ability to switch places with an object of similar mass without forming the seals really tying in well with another jutsu of mine.
My chakra still ran hot and dense through my body like molten lead, but I'd reined it in with my grandfather's help in chakra exercises. I'll never forget the day he told me to balance a kunai on my finger with chakra and then left for FOUR hours…I passed out when he got back.
He was a sadist of a different color, all wrapped up in his kindly grandpa image, let me tell you.
Needless to say, I passed rather handily, Neji was made Rookie of the Year (Phew!), and Rock Lee was named the year's dead last graduate (Double Phew!), narrowly beating out Laen by the Nara's own design probably.
Naruto failed.
He tried to leave without me noticing, but I collared him and made him spill, even if he was pretty choked up about it while telling me. I hugged him, my own new hitai-ate snug against my forehead as he cried into my shoulder.
"How…how am I going to become Hokage, and have everyone notice me, if I can't even become a ninja in the first place?" he said, distraught as I'd ever seen him.
I closed my eyes in thought, very much aware of the fact that Laen, Tenten, and Lee were looking on, all of us having agreed to go out and celebrate together.
"Naruto, you shouldn't be in such a rush to grow up, even it is to become a ninja. Besides, what do you mean 'everyone will notice you when you become Hokage'? Haven't I noticed you since you were four, hasn't my family acknowledged you since you and I met? Are we not enough?"
This was a bigger deal than it was made out to be. I thought Naruto wouldn't be as affected by the villagers' neglect if my family and I were there for him. Apparently, it still hurt him enough to want their recognition.
I was painfully reminded of how my little brothers had similar problems, one receiving no recognition and the other receiving recognition for someone else.
Even though I was able to understand one better, that didn't mean I couldn't relate to Naruto's position. I'd purposefully retreated from the world before and been isolated with my weaknesses.
Naruto looked up at me and shook his head in denial, his eyes wet and shimmering. "No, that's not it, nii-chan! It's just…" His face twisted from the frustration of trying to describe how he was feeling.
"I just…don't want to be seen as a nothing by them all anymore." He said it so quietly I wasn't sure my friends had heard him until I heard Lee sniff a little bit. He'd know all about people thinking you're worthless.
"That's why I've gotta get stronger and become the Hokage, that way I can be strong and wise just like jiji is!" He said, more to himself than to me.
"Naruto!" My barking call of his name made him look back up at him, startling him and the others as well, if their minute jolts were any indication.
I was looking at him in a combination of exasperation and resignation, as between him and Konohamaru I was reaching my wit's end with this whole Hokage business. I sighed and collected myself, thinking of how I could get the little blonde knucklehead to understand.
"Naruto…" I said, softer this time as I gripped his shoulders so he looked at me directly. "It takes not only the power to be strong and the wisdom to be wise, even they are just two facets of what it takes to be a Hokage…the very best Hokage."
I pictured my grandfather very clearly. The vitality that the leadership position had sapped from him and the weary resignation with which he had to serve in it without a proper candidate to take his place a second time.
I smiled at Naruto, tickling him a little to take some of the iron out of my words.
"You want to be the very best Hokage out of the whole bunch, right Naruto?"
He struggled against my grasp until I stopped, then he took several breaths of air and answered me back with his own foxy grin. "Yeah, I wanna be the Hokage that surpasses all others!"
I nodded at him and recalled something that grandpa himself had told me early on in my training. "Then you have to spend as much time as possible building your shoulders up beforehand, Naruto. That way they can bear not only your own weight, but that of others. That way whenever someone needs your support, they know they can depend upon you."
I nodded to myself, once again thinking that my grandfather could be pretty cool whenever he wasn't being a closet pervert and ordering his ninja to kill people.
I looked back to Naruto and saw that uncomfortable glint of hero worship in his eyes again.
I'd never really wanted that burden, but if it served to propel Naruto to try harder than I would do my best to be a good measuring stick for him. I knew he'd surpass us all one day, until then I had to set a good example where I could.
"The traits of a Hokage: power, wisdom, maybe a little modesty couldn't hurt too…" I smiled when he scratched his head sheepishly, before hugging him again. "There is no rush and no hurry, just give it everything you have and all those things will come to you in time, otouto."
He sniffed and nodded into my shoulder, possibly saying a muffled "Okay, nii-chan."
I looked at my friends to apologize for the hold up, but I was slightly taken aback by the reactions displayed there.
Laen was smirking to himself like he'd discovered a way to get through life without doing anything, Lee was crying to himself while muttering something along the lines of 'inspiration' that I felt didn't bode well for me, and Tenten…she had a look of something on her face, at least until I looked directly at her. Then she turned away.
I decided to focus on the more obvious but less eccentric of the three reactions. "Something on your mind, Laen?" My Nara friend just shook his head unconvincingly with that same smirk on his face.
I rolled my eyes at him, before collecting Naruto in my arms.
He yelped when he was suddenly taller than everyone else. "You're getting a bit old for it, but you're still light enough to ride my shoulders. Now let's go and get something to eat, ne?"
I took off towards Ichiraku's with my little blonde baka of a brother laughing on my shoulders, my other friends shouting as they hurried after me to catch up.
I'd passed the Genin Exam…now I just had to survive team placements.
