Author Notes: Thanks to all the people for the reviews provided and the pairing suggestions, at the end of the chapter there are some suggestions that I liked. To reply for some reviewers, no I don't care about age difference between characters. Will meet you at the end of the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just own the ideas of my AU. Now, onto the fic, enjoy.
Usual Stuff:
" Normal Speech "
" Normal Thought "
" Summon/Demonic Speech "
" Summon/Demonic Thought "
" Ninja Techniques/Jutsus "
Self-Correction
Chapter 2 : A Visit to the Library
We always hear that, hardwork is the key to success. Without hard work we cannot achieve our dreams or the goals we have for ourselves. Some people are born with innate talent which helps them and makes their path to success easier, like here we can say Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuuga for example, but even then, they have to pull their own weight to even skill up to their proficiency of the Jutsus they perform.
Now, some people may not have this innate talent, for example Rock Lee, but due to their regular hard work to become better and drive to fulfill their goals, they achieve more they could have thought.
Naruto Uzumaki is a person we can say comes in the borderline between these two conditions.
Sounds absurd, doesn't it?
How can someone fall between these two conditions, it is as simple as either one has natural talent or not, Yes?
No, Naruto is a person who has natural talent, an example for this is learning Shadow Clone Jutsu within three hours, but it got suppressed due to the sabotage and abuse he has suffered in his life, so because of this he has to work hard for everything he has to earn, which has been done through blood, sweat and tears.
That's why, we can say he has to work hard and concentrate on what he has to earn but if he puts his mind to it, the reward he gets is more than many others can dream.
|| === Naruto's Apartment === ||
Here we find naruto with all the books and scrolls related to the Academy curriculum spread throughout his living room. After completing his dinner, he thought now will be the time to start coping up the baggage he left in the Academy.
"The librarian Mai was nice in providing a little bit extra knowledge on Academy that I don't even know was there. Must have been the time they purposely punished me to exclude from some important lectures" thought Naruto as he zoned-out, thinking about the experience going to the Ninja Library.
|| === Flashback : Ninja Library === ||
In regards to the general people of Hidden Leaf, mostly civilians we see hold resentment towards Naruto and some Ninja, as they don't know the concept of sealing very well and always let anger cloud their judgement to even listen about it. Ninjas mostly are indifferent as they know it's not the boy's fault for what happened but they also suffer the pain of loss of their precious people. Some civilians and ninjas think the boy is a hero, as they had belief in their most beloved leader Fourth Hokage and will help the boy in private, so to make his life a little better.
Mai Satoshi, the librarian of the Ninja Library, was one of them. A Chunin-level Ninja of age 22, who wanted peace in her life chose to be the librarian, denying the promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin, as she doesn't want to go out on missions that much, but does some occasional missions to relieve some stress with regular training, so as to not become rusty. She used to misdirect mobs many times on the Kyuubi festival, so to keep the boy from any harm.
When she saw Naruto coming towards the Ninja Library, she was inwardly happy that he is taking his Ninja career seriously, as not many Genin-level Ninja think of going to Library, due to being from various clans or mainly rely on their Jonin sensei to teach them.
"Bunch of brats, all of them. Don't they know that self-improvement is a Thing?" thought Mai, as naruto came to her desk looking a bit nervous, "He will be, only some people treat him better and like a human, so he is expecting the same from me".
"Hello Shinobi-san, what is that you need?" said Mai with a smile on her face.
Naruto in few words was both surprised and speechless, no one other Old Man, Ichiraku family, Iruka sensei, a few Anbu has ever treated him like that (This we can say due to his low interaction with Ninjas excluding the time he was pranking when they will be angry or irritated due to his pranks).
Seeing the look on his face Mai understood what thoughts would be going through his mind and felt bad about it inwardly but not let that to be displayed on her face.
Naruto collected himself and asked her nervously a little bit, "I was looking for the books and scrolls regarding the Academy curriculum here, can you help me with it?".
Hearing about it she instantly figured out what has happened, "He must had even his education sabotaged, so whoever is helping him must have advised to clear it first and knowing those bastards he must even have gaps in some subjects" thought Mai as she outwardly replied to Naruto without changing her tone, "Ofcourse, we have everything here, just give me a minute and I'll be right back with everything you need".
Again a bit surprised that the librarian did not show any demeaning stare or asked any question and just went with his request, Naruto waited until Mai came with various different books and scrolls for him.
"These are everything you need related to the Academy that you will want" said Mai as she placed them on the counter.
"Didn't you think, Miss ..."
"Mai, Mai Satoshi and you are?"
"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, Satoshi-san" said with a little trepidation thinking that now knowing his name, Mai will not behave with him as she displayed earlier.
"Ah, don't need any formalities naruto you can just call me Mai" said Mai without any change in her behaviour.
Naruto, being surprised a third time since visiting the Library, didn't know what to say or do just to comply with it, "Ok Mai".
"I know what are you thinking about but some of the people don't judge others just by what they are holding but how the person is and you are a very nice boy naruto" said Mai who wanted to come out in open about her thoughts regarding him and wanted to reassure that not all people will hate him in the Village.
The response he got from her was unexpected and to find out that she knows who he is, what he holds and still treats him well, was enough to make him happy inside and it got reflected in his sapphire blue eyes which made them a bit more bright and said, "Thanks Mai".
"You're always welcome naruto," said Mai now more than happy to see the light return to his eyes.
"But Mai, aren't the books a little bit more than the regular course required in the Academy?" asked Naruto as he saw books and scrolls on some subjects he had not even heard of in the academy.
"I knew something like this has happened" thought Mai as she came to the conclusion of naruto not knowing some subjects and topics which he thought were new to him and answered him calmly, "These are all the subjects that are covered in the academy so you should have a through knowledge of them to further your growth for being a better ninja".
"Ok, thank you for all the help you provided to me" said Naruto bowing a little bit to Mai which she stopped him from doing.
"Mention not and please don't bow to me. This is my duty as the librarian to help anyone that comes here, ok. Now, just tell me for much time you want to borrow and we can make a note of it which you can provide me next time when you come to return these"
"Yes, of course. I want to borrow these for..." "With the help of Shadow Clones i can complete these books within a week but there are some topics that i don't know and will need help, maybe a whole week will suffice" "a week, I want to borrow these for a week"
"Ok then, just give me a minute to make a note of it" "Ah ha, Shadow Clone it is. Someone knowledgeable might be helping Naruto for him to know the secret regarding the Shadow Clone technique. Excellent idea if I say so myself, this will help him in the long run to overcome all the damage that has happened to his education and development" thought as she completed the note of all the material and handed the note to Naruto.
"Keep it with you and hand it to me at the end of the week period when you come to return all the books" said Mai as naruto kept the note safely in his jumpsuit pocket.
"I will, thank you for everything that you have done. I will meet you at the end of the week period" said Naruto as he started to seal everything in the storage scroll which was taught and provided by the Hokage to him for easy transport.
"You're always welcome naruto and if you need any help regarding any books or scroll you want don't hesitate to come, Ninja Library is always open for you" smiled Mai with a welcoming aura around her which caused a true smile to appear on his face making the surrounding more radiant just by it.
"Yes I will, thanks again Mai, bye" said Naruto as he left the Library smiling and started to roof hop towards his apartment.
|| === End Flashback : Naruto's Apartment === ||
A smile appeared on Naruto's face when he thought about the trip to the library, "Maybe next time we meet, we can talk to each other a bit".
"Now let's get started, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" exclaimed Naruto as fifty copies of himself came into existence, "I think this much will suffice for now and my apartment is also not spacious enough for hundred Shadow Clones, maybe i have to do the reading in an empty training ground too".
"Make a group of five for each subject and distribute yourself accordingly so we can complete everything as much as possible" ordered Naruto which got him a response of "Yes, Boss".
Naruto himself started reading a scroll he got in the materials he had taken from the library as his Shadow Clones started their own task provided by the original.
"Now let's see, The Art Of Trap Making for Beginners" said Naruto as he opened the scroll a bit more. "This Art basically concentrates on defeating your opponent through some well placed traps built by Ninja Wire, Kunai, Shuriken, Makibishi Spikes, Logs, Paper Bombs, Any Fuinjutsu seals etc, i.e, with the help of available supplies or surroundings to defeat an opponent, lose any pursuer you have, dismember them, kill them etc. It requires you to have the tactical knowledge of your surroundings, any information regarding the skills of an opponent (Note: If fighting or on pursuit with a Dojutsu user or any Sensory Ninja, trap have to the best of the best, as the can see or sense chakra or things through their eyes mainly Byakugan and if there is no chakra in the traps, it can fool a Sharingan User; for info about the Dojutsu read about the different clans of Konoha) may prove beneficial to take them down.."
"Wow, never thought that trap making could be this good" said Naruto as he read through the scroll. "Hey, what happens if I apply the principles of Trap Making in my pranks, huh?" thought Naruto as he started to crackle. In Konoha and other villages, many people had a shiver go through their spine and started to think of staying away from a blond-haired blue-eyed kid but thought to let it go, thinking their mind is just playing delusions.
Naruto got involved in the reading with his Shadow Clones and forgot about the time and when he saw that the clock is ticking at midnight twelve and he had been reading for three hours, he thought to rest and will continue to read tomorrow after the team meeting.
So he started to dispel the Shadow Clones in a group of five as the task was assigned to them and when the last group got dispelled, he was very tired. Since his team has trekked from waves to konoha after which reading for three hours continuously and having the same amount of feedback from fifty Shadow Clones, it was too much for Naruto. As he got to his bed, he fell asleep.
|| === Naruto's Mindscape === ||
Naruto woke up to find himself in a dank and dark sewer which was filled with ankle length water. As he got up to steady himself, he realized that he was not getting wet from the water.
The whole sewer was damp and dark with only a single ray of light coming from the front and in the side there are three pipes which are glowing a bit with blue, red and light green or white colour respectively traversing towards the ray of light coming from the front.
"How did I get here, last time when I was conscious I was on my bed" asked Naruto to himself.
He started seeing any way of exit but found none, even pinched himself to wake up if it was a weird dream he was having but he got no result from it other than a little bit of red cheek, "Ouch!"
So with nothing to do, he started to travel himself towards the path where the light is coming from which felt like hours and hours which in reality was a few minutes. He came across a pathway that led to a chamber of sorts.
Walking inside the chamber on the farside he saw a massive cage whose width was the same as the chamber which was really huge and it's height was so much that he was not able to see the end of it and it had many massive bars of steel (I don't know, maybe steel) and the distance between two bars can fit at least two to three people.
Between the cage there was a paper tag with the word 'seal' written on it. Inside the cage, it was full of hollowed darkness that if anyone traveled only a short distance will just get lost in it.
All in all, naruto was intimidated and by using his brain only thought came to his mind, "Kyuubi".
As he thought that, from inside the cage two giant red orbs glowed as little by little the Nine Tailed Fox came to light.
"How are you, brat?" said the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune.
This is the end of the second chapter of this story.
I got a few suggestions for the pairing and I ones i like are:
Naruto x Shizune
Naruto x Tayuya
Naruto x Shizuka
I have few in consideration like:
Naruto x Fem. Kyuubi
Naruto x Mai (OC)
Not taking this story as a Harem, so the few which get decided will be the ones, at most two girls.
So until next guys, bye for now ^_^