Naruto woke up with a kick. Literally.
"You're back." Grumbled Sasuke.
"Honey i'm home!" joked Naruto.
Sasuke humphed and asked for a spar.
"Can you defeat my clone?"
"...no." the dark boy admitted.
"Then no. But i can give you new jutsus to learn.." Naruto looked into his backpack that he had thrown in a corner upon his return and small stay at the hospital and pulled a storage scroll where all the sword Katas were kept. "Here, for your sword practice. And this is a Raiku Jutsu of rank C, it electrifies Kunais and Shurikens. Don't ask where i got them."
Sasuke took the scrolls and turned away. As he was about to leave he mumbled something that Naruto's trained ears were barelly able to catch. The words were not meant to be heard by anyone but Sasuke.
"Welcome back."
..0.
The wake had been sinister at first. Then sake had been involved and the ANBU present started telling stories of their time with their missing partner.
Many Yamanaka clan members were present too.
It was the first time for Naruto and he hesitated longly before downing his first glass. Since it had no effect on him he took another and a third.
Half an hour later he was walking -stumbling- back home completely drunk.
It was Naruto'ss first experience with alcohol and he swore it would be his last.
..0.
One year and a half had passed by since his return to Konoha. Since then he had gone on eleven assassination, eight capture and five escort mission under the guise of Kitsune. Naruto was now eleven.
The new school year would start soon and Hirusen had been clear when he had said that Naruto would participate. He was even warned about sending Shadow Clones.
..0.
A Year had passed by, Naruto was twelve and it was finally the Genin exam. Naruto made short work of it and got the optimal grade, ranking top of his year and graduating in one.
The problem came when his sensei, who was no other than Kakashi Hatake, made them go through what he called a 'Survival Exercise' and defied them to catch a pair of bells off of his belt. Saying that whomever caught the bell would truly be a Genin. Their was three of them but two bells, the exercise was clearly meant to separate them but none of his two partners, the top kunoishi and the dead last of his class, saw through Kakashi's manipulations. He could have told them of the true purpose of the exercise or caught the bells on his own but doing that would have put the two others in danger as they would then have faced dangers they were not ready for.
As a result Naruto 'failed' the true Genin test and was 'sent back to the Academy' which meant that he got to be put under the tutelage of a Tokubetsu Jonnin.
..0.
"I, am the amazing and sexy Anko Mitarashi! You will bow before me and follow all my orders! Is that clear?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
Naruto was currently in a training ground with the rest of the returning students and their teacher of the week.
'This one has character...' Thought Naruto with a smirk. 'I like her. Might do a prank or two on her...'
..0.
Naruto sat in the secret scroll library under the Uzumaki Manor. He had just finished applying the seals to stop intrusions and spying and had decided to place back all the scrolls and manuals he had found where they belonged. The library was even more stacked than when he had found it as he had added those from Uzushio and Kusagakure and Konohagakure to the library. He had also replenished the armory and protected it with the same seals. No one except him could pass from now on, not even his clones and using an old sample of his blood, one that did not contain his chakra, would not work either and would instead trigger deadly retaliation.
Since he had progressed so much Naruto had looked at everything he had once again and had decided to learn all that he could not previously. So he learned the Medical Ninjutsu Dokunuki no Jutsu and the Forbidden Fuinjutsu used by his revered Tsunade Senju herself: Sōzō Saisei.
[Dokunuki no jutsu:/20
Extremely complicated poison extraction technique. If not applied correctly can have disastrous consequences on the target. Paralytic Poison 1-5, Mild Poison 5-10, Slow Acting Poison 10-15, Fast Acting Poison 15-20.
Requires Chakra Control 65%.
+1% chakra control per skill level.]
[Sōzō Saisei:/30
Regenerates surface wounds (5/30), light wounds (10/30) and Mortal wounds (15/30) on oneself by using chakra sealed in a square tattoo on the forehead using the Jutsu Ninpō Sousou Saisei and can control the external age of the body (20/30)(filled out tattoo on the fore head) and the internal age of the body (25/30)(tattoo on the heart) and stops the body from aging all together (30/30)(second stage of the heart tattoo).
Requires 90% chakra Control
+0.5%chakra control per skill level]
As was usual he left shadow clones to grind the jutsus on one anothers and joined Sasuke for his dayly spar with one of Naruto's shadow clones. He would observe his charge's progress then adapt his training.
..0.
If it was simple to grind Dokunuki no Jutsu by poisoning a fish and extracting the poison, then pass to a rat then a rabit and then a pig, it was much more complicated to rise the level of Sōzō Saisei as it could only be applied to Naruto. He had tried spamming it with clones but the separation of Yin and Yang Chakra proved to be not only painful at first but also damaging. His clones popped every time they managed to carry on the exercise. So, everyday after waking up Naruto spent six hours manipulating his chakra to separate its two sides. It was written in the Fuinjutsu's scroll that he needed to be used to the separation before he sealed his Yin chakra.
After this he would watch Sasuke's morning spar with one of his shadow clones, join Maito Gai in his morning exercise, eat at Ichiraku's with Hinata and Neji or alone sometimes with Sasuke, study medicinal scrolls -he had taken an interest in poisons since he had obtained the poison extracting Jutsu- work on his Taijutsu and Kenjutsu Katas and go to his class at the Academy and before dinner he would go to Training Ground 44, also known as the Death Forest, to hunt for a specimen to use Dokunuki no Jutsu on in the night. He would rise at six am and sleep at mid-night.
It was a busy life and he liked it so.
..0.
There was a month left in the school year when Iruka Umino, a new teacher, came to announce to their class that the Genin exams would be held soon. Naruto signed in for the trial and once again he was put with two others. This time his two companions and him took the time to establish a strategy and moved in formation as they were supposed to.
Their task was to find a package that was guarded by Iruka Umino and ferry it back to the rendez-vous point. Of course as soon as they got the package Iruka started ambushing and attacking them from all sides. It was only because Naruto blocked each time his team mates panicked or froze that they manage to succeed.
[Congratulation, your job has changed to Ninja (Genin). Reward: Frontal Leaf Headband, Tittle: Genin]
Out of the twelce students only one team did not pass.
..0.0.
Naruto was standing before the Hokage, it wasn't the first time they had been in each other's presence since their clash from more than a year ago but each time Naruto was polite and kept a stoic expression. This time however Naruto and Hiruzen were alone and the young blond ninja didn't need to keep appearances. His face was hard and his eyes spoke of mistrust towards the veteran.
"You wanted to see me, Hokake-sama."
"Naruto, i wish to apologize. I know it is late, i know it won't change things between us..."
Naruto didn't say a thing and listened, curious to see the excuses the old ninja would use to justify his lies.
"I was scared. At that time you were such an energetic boy, always shouting at the top of your head and claiming you wished to become the Hokage. I was afraid that if i told you about your parents you would scream the news to everyone around you and other ninja village would learn of it and try to adduct or kill you."
The old man let out a sigh a took his hat off, revealing a balding head of grey hair.
"And then you changed. You no longer pulled jokes and were doing better on your own. I thought that time was coming for me to tell you of at least your mother's inheritance and of your father's when you became a Chunin. But before i could you had defeated Kakashi with ease, a feat that only Jonin and Kage's can do, you kept your cool when confronted by the Head of Clans and even frightened a few. You manipulated them into supporting you and had the Hyuuga's back up. It scarred me. So i decided to wait some more. At least until i knew what was happening with you. But then your results as an ANBU surprised me. They were so perfect that it reminded me of another child that had made ANBU: Itachi Uchiha. Itachi having murdered his whole family i worried: i didn't want you to be like him, a weapon that had lost it's humanity."
"So you sent me on this infiltration mission where i would act the part of a normal child. It was not to keep me away but to give me a chance at childhood..." understood Naruto in a whisper.
"Yes. However it backfired on me. Your cover was blown and you nearly died."
"I even suspected you had a hand in my being spotted... I see now that i was wrong."
"Naruto, you cannot imagine how relieved i was too see you alive! On your parent's deaths i had taken an oath to protect you from any harm and that included those external and internal to Konoha. When i realized that had failed you on both ends i was destroyed. When you returned i was on the verge of giving up all hope and resign from my position."
Naruto took everything he had been told and realized that he had been harsh on the old Shinobi. The man had to surmount the death of his successor and half the villagers, rebuild the village, loose a clan to a mad man and deal with the stupid overbearing and overconfident Civilian Council. All while being the Hokage at an advanced age.
Still, there was one thing that he wanted to be sure off.
"What have you been doing this last year?"
"Protecting you. The Civilian Council has been trying to have you banished. They are using your one year long absence to imply that your loyalties have been compromised. I had to stop them several times but it was not easy, especially since they were helped by Danzo a powerful-"
"I know who is Danzo. And if he had a hand in trying to banish me..." Naruto shivered at the thought of having the rumored head of ROOT as his enemy "then you have had to go through quite the ordeal."
It wasn't an apology but an acceptation and both of them knew it. Through this new peace between them was welcome to Naruto. Especially if the Civilian Council and Danzo were after him. He would also have to start befriending the rest of Konoha's clan heirs his age. Maybe he could ask Sasuke...
Nah! The boy is anti-social. I doubt he even knew which are the heirs. I will ask Hinata.
"I have a question: when you came to me after the scrolls were stollen, why didn't you ask me to empty my inventory?"
"You mean that pocket of space you hide things in?" Clarified the Hokage.
"Yes"
"If i had done so then the council would have learned of it and attempted to exploit you. Plus i kinda wanted you to have those. It was the council that stopped me from training you myself in the first place." the veteran admitted while puffing from his pipe.
Naruto nodded, taking into account that the old man still cared and thinking of what to do next. As Naruto wondered on the next course of action Sarutobi sighted with relief. He had managed to mend his relationship with Naruto. He considered the boy his second Grandson and didn't want anything to happen to him. Now that the blond was aware of the dangers surrounding him maybe he would be more careful of himself.
Naruto left soon after as he had to meet his new Jonin sensei at the Academy. He was already late and didn't want to pull a Kakashi on his new teammates.