I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
"I am big" God, biju, summon talking
"I am normal" Human talking
"You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner thoughts of a person
So this wasn't the quick update I was planning and for that I apologize. Sadly life got in the way of this update what with having to help my sister move, job interviews, new work schedules, etc. So in return for your patience I give you my second longest update yet.
Chapter 9: The Academy
Naruto entered the classroom and took his seat next Sasuke Uchiha, the same seat he had used for the last three years. Around him he watched as his classmates filtered in and faced the front of the room. It was a smaller class; several had dropped out of the program while a couple just disappeared. Still there were a few dozen students in the room.
As for the Academy lessons themselves, the first two years were inane to Naruto and the other clan children. The purpose of them was to catch orphans and civilian children up in terms of education and chakra knowledge. The chakra lessons had remained focused on unlocking their chakra, simple chakra control exercises, mediation, and hand signs. The rest of the lessons were basic general knowledge.
But after the first two years passed, the Academy switched into high gear. Classes on survival, cooking, poison, detection, strategy, taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu became common. There were even classes on basic code breaking and a what if class, where the instructor provided a scenario and they discussed how they would accomplish the mission with their current skills or even just survive. Finally, there had even been a first aid class where they learned how to treat wounds without chakra.
As for Naruto's personal training he had greatly increased his skills in fuinjutsu and continued to make advances in his chakra control. He had even created a seal by accident when he was experimenting with the listening seal, creating what he simply called a map seal. It was simply a map but his mind had latched onto it and he had combined it and the listening seal to create something glorious, a Scry seal.
The Scry seal allowed him to view any location that he attached it to, allowing him a 3D real-time image of the location. With the addition of a listening seal interwoven into its creation he had created the perfect spying seal. He had even managed to incorporate a relay system into the seal, allowing him to activate the seal from a master seal. Best of all, the seal was designed purely as an Uzumaki seal, requiring an Uzumaki's spiritual energy to activate. Making it seem like an incomprehensible scribble to non-Uzumaki seal masters.
The relay seal was actually an old Uzumaki invention that allowed them to activate seals from afar inside of key locations. Sadly, these seals were not the answer to using combat seals without being in the vicinity and using hand signs, but they did allow the use of basic seals to be used from a distance. The relay seal had only been trickled down in its simplest forms to people outside of the clan. In fact this seal is a point of contention between seal crafters as they often argue over the benefits of the relay seal and chakra tripped seals, a seal often used by security that acts as a trip wire and uses an enemy's chakra to activate. The argument being over the control provided by the relay seal and the ability for chakra tripped seals to activate high level seals at the cost of control and friendly fire. Naruto himself sided with the relay seal as he did not like the lack of control provided by the alternative.
The other seal that he made progress on is the Animation seal. He had started to animate larger objects than the old wooden doll he used to practice with. Though when it came to forcing his connection with the Animation seal to end he still used small objects, trying to acclimate himself to the backlash.
As for his other endeavors they were also advancing. He had finally managed to move to the outskirts of Konoha and into the rebuilt and renovated Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple. The building now having a deceptively beautiful garden filled with poisonous plants, particularly of the flower variety. The building itself had been expanded adding a clan living space, made up of bathing areas, living quarters, a library, and a dojo, being built onto the back and on the sides of the building, yet still maintaining a temple like feel in its design. The front of the building had been replaced with a clan business area, where he would meet with guests, both of the social and business variety. Finally the temple like compound had been surrounded by a six foot wall with a large metal gate, all of which were reinforced with seals. In fact the entire structure had been reinforced with security seals, creating a fortress posing as a peaceful and inviting clan compound. It was Naruto's hope that it would one day be full Uzuamkis.
As for politics he had begun to increase his alliances. He had a relationship with the Hyuga clan through their heiress Hinata. But until he took his seat on the council he had little else from the Hyuga clan. Though he did receive some food for thought from the Caged Bird Seal of the Hyuga clan, something Hinata had told him about after the Academy one day.
As for his other alliances he had managed to achieve one with the Aburame clan. Making a business deal with them using the businesses he acquired through various means, both legal and illegal. He would help sell the Aburame clan's silks through his businesses throughout Fire Country and outside of it, in exchange for giving them a percentage of the profit.
Finally, he had managed to ease some of the ill will that he received from the Akimichi clan and by extension the Yamanaka and Nara clans. This was actually not through his own efforts but because of Ino Yamanaka. She grew curious about him, hounded him, and befriended him. Naturally she brought along her two childhood friends for the ride. While the heirs of these three clans getting along with Naruto may not have brought him alliance an alliance with the three clans it did soften the Akimichi clan's bad feelings for the Uzumaki and allow him at least a neutral stance with the clan, while he also gained a decent relationship with the Yamanaka and Nara clans.
The last thing that happened was the increase in his business connections. He had used his connections with the underworld to affect the markets and because he was the guiding hand he was ready to swoop in and seize businesses, greatly increasing his wealth. He had even stretched his connections into other countries, making liberal use of the privilege to conduct business outside of Fire Country that the Uzumaki clan was given years ago, a privilege that had never been rescinded. Now that he had stretched out his eyes and ears he had begun to listen for any living Uzumakis.
The last thing that Naruto had done through his connections is hear about the civil war in Water Country. With the news of the civil war Naruto sought to take advantage of the country's fractured state. Sadly for him, his attempt to setup in Wave Country failed and he had to look elsewhere for a staging area into Water Country. He would later find a new staging area in the Land of Noodles. However because of the delay caused by his failed attempt to position his less than legitimate connections in the Land of Waves, he had only recently begun to entrench himself in the Land of Water. Currently he was selling supplies to every side in the island nation's civil war. But he wasn't just selling food and weapons. Naruto's people were also selling information and acting as a middleman for various mercenary groups. He had even made use of the mercenaries to inflame the war, having them attack supply lines, destroy small villages, and even wipe out military outposts in the name of opposing factions. All the while he was slowly buying up bars, brothels, and other properties, while at the same time as putting people on either side of the war in his pocket through bribery, blackmail, and favors.
He had even been able to make contact with a mercenary group known as Akatsuki. A man known as Kakuzu had approached one of his black market locations and told them to tell Sage Nise, Naruto's cover identity in the criminal world, how to contact them. They only asked to remain in the shadows a deal that Naruto had accepted. He had never met any of them and frankly Naruto didn't care who they were, they did great work for a reasonable price. As such Naruto found himself often hiring the Akatsuki. Having them do anything from sabotaging a bridge and flooding a trade route, to the occasional sinking of a ship or the very rare assassination. While these missions were typically below shinobi of their caliber, he paid well and often, and they were kept safe and discreet. Naruto liked to believe that his contact for hiring Akatsuki for missions, Kakuzu, appreciated the safe and easy money that his organization provided.
That was not to say that he only used shinobi or the occasional samurai, there were in fact effective killers that didn't need chakra. This very lack of chakra, a perceived weakness, allowed them to be overlooked and not treated as a threat, allowing them to poison or kill vastly stronger people. A civilian bumping into a shinobi on the street could be ignored and thought little of, not realizing that they grazed the shinobi with a poisonous blade, or that the civilian had planted a knife into the chest of the shinobi and slipped back into the crowd.
As Naruto finished his recollection of the past few years his teachers walked into the room. The teachers, Mizuki and Iruka still wore their chunin outfits and looked the same as they did when the Academy first started. Though Naruto thought Iruka might have grown a few gray hairs from dealing with the class, he could not tell if Mizuki had.
"Alright class, today we will once more go over the military structure of the Land of Fire, a structure that was emulated by most of the Elemental Nations and is the structure you are mostly likely to encounter. Sakura-san, please start us off." Iruka said as he began the lesson.
"The Land of Fire's military structure is made up of three parts, ashigaru, samurai, and ninja." Sakura answered brightly. It was a textbook answer but still a good answer.
"Correct. Also monks though rarely seen on the battlefield have been known to accompany the main army, boosting morale and providing last rites for the deceased. Some monks also read the signs of the Gods and can tell us if the Gods favor us in the coming battle. Now, Kiba-san tell us about one of the parts of the Land of Fire's military." Iruka said when he caught Kiba not paying attention to the lecture and instead playing with a small white puppy, his nin-dog Akamaru.
"Well there's the shinobi. We are the badas…" Kiba caught himself upon seeing Iruka's glare. Iruka had few rules in his classroom but not cursing in his presence was one of them. "We are the powerful guys who destroy enemy resistance, the elite forces of the Fire Daimyo." Kiba finished with a nervous expression.
"Would anyone care to elaborate on Kiba-san's articulate answer?" Iruka said with a sigh before turning towards Ino. "Ino-san if you would please."
"Hai Iruka-sensei. Well as Kiba-san said shinobi are the elite forces of the daimyo, but we also come in multiple ranks. Genin, chunin, jonin, and kage. There are multiple shinobi training areas in each country; however each has a main village that trains the elite forces amongst shinobi and contain the central leadership of the shinobi forces." Ino takes a breath before continuing.
"During times of war shinobi are used as strike teams to establish beach heads or invasion points into a country. They are also sent on search and destroy missions, act as scouts, and fight alongside the main army." Ino said the last part with distaste before hesitating, seeming to debate something with herself and continuing. "Shinobi are also assassins, spies, and saboteurs."
"Very good Ino-san, your answer was nearly perfect. Sadly you mixed up the modern shinobi with Clan Wars Era shinobi. As you know the shinobi world changed when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded Konoha and swore loyalty to the reigning daimyo and his family. This gave shinobi a home and in the times of peace our numbers grew. This also allowed people to see the pinnacle of the shinobi world, the kages. During the First World War the daimyos would realize how devastating a powerful shinobi could be on the battlefield. This realization would make us the elite forces of the daimyo and give birth to the modern shinobi way of life." Iruka spoke passionately.
After Iruka had finished his lecture Naruto scrunched his face in disgust. The modern shinobi disgusted the preteen boy. The modern shinobi weren't even ninjas; they were warriors, meeting each other in open combat. In fact Naruto blamed Madara and Hashirama for the modern shinobi. They were not shinobi and while he could respect their power, he couldn't respect them as shinobi. The two juggernauts actually wore samurai armor into battle; no self-respecting shinobi would do that. Their power actually drove the last nail into the coffin of the Clan Wars Era shinobi. Why would you use a shinobi to sabotage a fortress's water supply when a shinobi could just burn it to the ground?
Sadly people forgot that not everyone could become a kage, in fact most didn't make it to jonin. The bulk of shinobi, about eighty percent of them would only become chunin. Another ten percent would only reach genin, and the rest had the potential to become jonin. As for kages, they came from the jonins, and about 1 out of every 500 have the potential to become a kage. That is assuming that those with the potential live long enough to reach it.
Suddenly Iruka tossed a piece of chalk and hit a student in the head. The student with black pineapple shaped hair startled as Iruka addressed him. "Shikamaru-san so glad you could join us. Please tell the class about the samurai faction."
"Troublesome." The boy muttered under his breath before answering the teacher. "The samurai are trained soldiers of the daimyo that use their chakra to enhance themselves, the creation and use of seals, or certain sword techniques. They also don't get along with shinobi."
"Is there anything special about them?" Iruka asked.
"Hai. There is the Nemesis class samurai. They wear armor that restricts them from using chakra but also disperses chakra when it reaches them, making them immune to genjutsu and ninjutsu. Certain taijutsus like Tsunade-dono's have also proven ineffective. Luckily this troublesome type of samurai is rare." Shikamaru answered with a put upon sigh.
"Very good Shikamaru. It should also be noted that the common samurai while not skilled in ninjutsu or the casting of genjutsu is faster and stronger than the average chunin. It is not recommended to fight a samurai in close combat. Finally, Naruto-san, tell us about the ashigaru." Iruka commented.
"Hai Iruka-sensei. The ashigaru, sometimes derogatorily called jutsu fodder, are peasants and conscripts that make up the military of the Elemental Nations. It is also sometimes used as a punishment for criminals in the Land of Fire. These are people not trained in the use of chakra and wear armor onto the battlefield. Commonly used for mass formations or occupational forces. In combat they are also used as archers forcing the opponent to waste chakra and energy in an attempt to avoid a rain of arrows." Naruto spoke formally.
"Good. Now a quick history and geography lesson before we move outside for shinobi training." Iruka spoke.
"But Iruka-sensei why do we need to study history? We already studied it, when are we going to use history on the battlefield?" Kiba spoke in growl filled voice. "I'm training to be shinobi, an alpha, to take over the spot of clan heir from my sister, not to be a scholar."
"There are several reasons to learn these lessons. First it teaches us to learn from the past so that we do not repeat their mistakes. One such lesson is the Uzumaki clan. Before the official start of the Second World War the Uzumaki clan was a powerful clan but they lived by themselves, no village or other clans, only Uzumakis. Their enemies from the First World War saw vulnerability and attacked them, destroying the Uzumakis and their home. Yes they killed many of the invading force but the clan itself nearly went extinct. The fallout from this would start the Second World War. The point to take from this is that no clan can stand alone in this world, no matter how powerful. It takes a village." Iruka said while pointedly looking at Naruto.
Naruto not liking that his clan was used as an example especially one in such poor form decided to speak. It wouldn't do for others to think his clan foolish or weak that would not bring allies. "Hai, Iruka-sensei, my clan has learned from its past mistake taught to them by the combined forces of the Lands of Water and Lightning. In fact in the nurturing home of Konoha we have provided two Hokage candidates, one of which became our Yondaime."
The statement may have been a bit bragging and Naruto's father may not have been a true Uzumaki but he was taught by his mother in seals. The man had also been married into the clan before he became the Yondaime. In the eyes of the law the Uzumaki Clan had provided a Hokage to the village.
"Hai Naruto-san your clan did learn from past mistakes, but please refrain from interrupting the lecture, even if you feel the need to defend your clan. Iruka-san continue with the lesson." Mizuki spoke with a glare, practically choking on the politeness he had to give towards the Kyubi brat. "I can't even give the brat detention because he backed up Iruka-san's lecture."
"Another reason to learn these things is to avoid a military disaster like when we fought the Land of Wind at the Battle of Red Winds during the Second World War. Can you tell me why the forces lead by the commanding jonin, Fumeiyo Senju were defeated it what is considered one of the largest disgraces of the Land of Fire?" Iruka challenged Kiba.
"That's easy. Fumeiyo Senju wasn't strong enough. He didn't have enough shinobi under his command. Like when my clan hunts, we use a pack of dogs to get our prey." Kiba said.
"No, that is incorrect. In fact Fumeiyo Senju greatly outnumbered his enemy using a force made out of ninjas, samurai, and ashigaru. Some say his numbers lead to overconfidence. Would anyone else care to answer?" Iruka asked.
"Supplies, Femeiyo Senju lacked enough water for his forces. So he was forced to direct his forces to the nearest known water source by taking the most direct route." Choji answered before taking a bite from his chips.
"Correct, because he hadn't thought about the desert temperatures his forces were dehydrated and this caused him to march his forces toward the nearest water source, where else did he mess up?" Iruka continued before turning to Hinata. "Hinata-san can you answer?"
"His sc-scouts were poorly used." Hinata spoke in a soft voice, stuttering slightly on the word scouts in her nervousness.
"Good. Because Fumeiyo Senju believed the opportunistic forces of Wind Country to be practically defeated and the invasion to be a formality, he never considered the idea that his enemies would attack his massively numerically superior force. As such his scouts were quick only doing a quick glance over the area, only looking for the remnants of the Land of Wind's military. What problems did this lead to, Shino-san?" Iruka questioned.
"Lack of water, large numbers, and lack of knowledge lead to a slow moving army that was discovered by enemy scouts. Allowing a small force to logically calculate and setup an ambush for Fumeiyo-san's army." Shino answered in the straight logical tone that all Aburame seemed to possess.
"Very good. Hai, Fumeiyo-san's forces were greatly slowed by their size and thirst. His lack of knowledge would also prove to be his undoing. What did this lead to Shikimaru-san?" Iruka said as he caught the Nara attempting to nod off in his chair.
"An ambush. His forces encountered quicksand and were quickly caught and massacred at the Battle of Red Winds." Shikamaru answered lazily.
"Correct Shikamaru-san but next time a little more details. Naruto-san, please fill in the blanks." Iruka spoke.
Naruto perked up before answering. He actually enjoyed reading about the Battle of Red Winds and not because he could live vicariously through the Wind forces but because he respected the Land of Wind's tactics. "When Fumeiyo-san's dehydrated forces reached the quicksand an ambush was launched. Puppets, undetected under the very sands rose and attacked the surprised chakra users of the army, killing many in the initial seconds of the ambush. As the puppets attacked, volleys of arrows were fired on the Land of Fire's forces by a group of ashigaru archers on the other side of the quicksand. These archers were protected by at least one shinobi squad specializing in defensive or supplementary techniques. When Fire Country's chakra using forces began their counterattack on the puppets in earnest, using squads to surround them, they suffered a severe surprise when the puppets were used as bombs to release large clouds of poisonous gas. This in turn leads to why it is called the Battle of Red Winds, as the famous wind release shinobi of Suna used their techniques to quickly spread the poison through the army. After that a few more volleys of arrows were fired before Wind's samurai moved in and cut down the survivors." Naruto finished.
"Good, very detailed Naruto-san. As you can see class this battle is perhaps one of our greatest disgraces and teaches us many lessons. We learn geography so that we know whether to expect extreme heat, know the availability of water and food, or even how to recognize treacherous terrain such as quicksand. We learn the importance of scouts and the dangers of overconfidence." Iruka spoke imparting the value of the lesson to his class.
Naruto noticed that it was left unsaid that no one outside of maybe the royalty of the Land of Wind or their nomads knew the full layout of their country and its desert, a defense that had caused the vastly inferior forces, at least numerically, of the Land of Wind to resist invasion every time. Also left unsaid was that the Fumeiyo Senju and a dozen or so of his compatriots were spared during the massacre to spread the message of their defeat and disgrace. Fumeiyo would actually commit seppuku one week after the battle. Finally three months after the battle a peace treaty would be signed between the nations of Fire and Wind.
"The final reason for studying these things is the incident in Noodle Country about twenty years ago when we were attempting to get their support. An Inuzuka plucked two pieces of fruit from a tree, giving one to himself and one to his nin-dog. Normally this would be fine but this tree was part of a festival that the area had. Once a year before harvest a priestess would pluck a fruit from the tree and eat it, promising great harvests for the current year and the next. A show of worship for the rabbit goddess that they believed guided the Sage of Six Paths into adulthood. Naturally the people reacted violently and the Inuzuka and the other teams were violently expelled, resulting in the deaths of multiple shinobi and the royal diplomat. We responded in turn and launched an attack on the town. This miniature war would end after a week but its consequences would be dire. Since that day, the Land of Noodles has been a staunch ally of the Land of Water and barely tolerates doing trade with our homeland. This is why we learn history. In fact it is recommended that you take a day to research the location of your mission before you go on it." Iruka said with a pointed look.
Iruka's mother had been a part of that incident, on the inciting Inuzuka's team in fact. She survived but Iruka held a bit of a grudge, similar but not exactly like the one he had for Naruto though, his mom had actually died in the Kyubi attack. Maybe in another life he might have sympathized with the young preteen, a life where Naruto acted out and played pranks or even sought his friendship and help, but in this life Naruto was formal, had money, was playing the political game, and was skilled in the ninja arts, there was nothing for Iruka to sympathize with. Only his integrity as a teacher and perhaps if he admitted it to himself, the presence of multiple clan heirs stopped from sabotaging his teachings to the young redhead.
As the class took in the impromptu lecture on the importance of what many had considered pointless subjects for a shinobi in training Iruka seized on their wonder. "Now class let us move on to our history lesson for the day. Today we will be talking about Land of Waterfalls and the reasons for their hostile relationship with the Land of Earth and how this helped forge their alliance with the Land of Fire."
"Alright class we are done for the day. Line up. We are going outside for taijutsu practice." Iruka said.
Quickly the class lined up and marched out of the classroom and into the training areas of the Academy. Off to the sides they could see other classes as they participated in their exercises. Whether they were war games, taijutsu, ninjutsu, weapon practice, even the brutal game called client: Sacrifice or Save could be seen being played.
Client: Sacrifice or Save is a game where a class is split into two teams and put on opposite sides of the training field with a training dummy in the middle, then each team would send one person each. One side would be the attacker armed with a training kunai and a training shuriken while the defender would be armed with one training kunai. The attacker starts by throwing the kunai with as much power as possible typically to kill the client (the training dummy) while the defender, who is placed near the training dummy, races to block the shot. The attacker then launches their shuriken in an arc to finesse the shuriken into the client. If the client takes a lethal shot the defender is eliminated, the same happens if the defender takes a lethal shot while attempting to save the client. If the defender is hit in the arm or leg, then they may not use that limb for the rest of the game, whether they are attacking or defending. At the same time, if a defender catches a weapon of the attacker, they may use it as an extra weapon when they are attacking. No matter what the attacker must have at least two weapons, one kunai and one shuriken, and the defender must have one kunai. The game ends when an entire team has been eliminated.
Naruto turned his attention from a competitive game of Client: Sacrifice or Save once he noticed that his class had reached an open training ground. "Alright class, stretch out while Mizuki-san and I discuss the layout of today's spars." Iruka said as he walked over to Mizuki.
Naruto observed them as he stretched making sure his body was limber. Naruto's fighting style required that he use his opponent's strength against them, strike pressure points, dodge, and take advantage of kill strikes. This style was one that required quite a bit of flexibility and perhaps wasn't the most manly since it didn't focus on the ability to take a hit, but he didn't care. Besides he was trained by his mother, a very powerful woman, so what if his style wasn't considered macho. Naruto believed that it was better to be alive then the alternative.
Once the class was sufficiently stretched Iruka and Mizuki stepped forward. "Today we will be sparring. You will test your taijutsu abilities against each other and we will mark you for a grade. Mizuki-san will be the proctor for the match and will interfere if you do not stop when he calls the match. After you have sparred, assuming you have not been knocked out, come to me and Mizuki-san and I will tell you what you can improve on. However if you are knocked out we will have an after class session where you will be expected to ask us on how you can improve. Mizuki-san please call out the first pair." Iruka said in his teacher voice.
"Ino Yamanaka and Ami." Mizuki stated
From the crowd Naruto observed as a girl with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail appeared. She is the average height of an eleven year old but has begun to develop early, causing the appearance of a slight roundness to her chest area and the beginning of a curvature to her hips. She wears a purple outfit consisting of a purple blouse like shirt that revealed her midriff and a skirt that stopped a little above her knees with slits that nearly went up to her waist. Finally she had bandages around her legs and stomach and wears two elbow warmers.
Her opponent is a girl with short purple hair wearing a blue dress with a striped shirt over it. A quick observation of the girl's body would reveal that she had yet to reach the onset of puberty.
Naruto shuddered at the mention of puberty. For chakra users that have an active and trained chakra network, this natural body process hit them a little earlier. Bringing interest in the appearance of others in a more personal manner and brought changes to the body. Nothing ridiculous like an adult body by age thirteen but the changes were faster and began earlier. Something his mother and he had not truly prepared for and had brought an awkward moment when he noticed the changes and she saw through his eyes.
"Yeah that was embarrassing." Kushina said with a half hearted laugh from inside of the seal. It had been embarrassing to explain the concept of morning wood to her son, especially when he was undressed.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about it." Naruto fired back. For all of his maturity he like every other kid did not like to talk about such things. The fact that he couldn't hide such things from his kaa-san only made it stranger to him.
"Hai hai. But really you should pay attention to the fight, that Ino girl has almost… scratch that she has defeated her opponent." Kushina said from the seal. Truthfully the woman had fallen on humor to avoid the awkwardness of experiencing her son's puberty right alongside him. Bathing had actually been a point of contention in the first couple of days, as Naruto would jump in the bath or shower and not thoroughly clean himself or even avoid it all together. Luckily the phase was short and she got him accustomed to the idea.
"What! What happened?" Naruto asked.
"We are going to have to practice communicating with each other in public more often if you are going to zone out." Kushina reprimanded lightly.
Naruto took a quick glance at the sparring circle to see that Mizuki and Iruka had finished talking to Ino and Ami, while idly noting his sensor picking up the newly arrived presence of one of Konoha Academy's medical ninja.
"Kiba Inuzuka and Sasuke Uchiha." Mizuki called.
"Come on Akamaru. Let's kick Sasuke-san's as… butt." Kiba said while quickly correcting himself once he noticed Iruka's evil eye. The man was really big on respect amongst comrades.
"Leave Akamaru. This will be a pure taijutsu spar, no ninja tools, including ninken." Iruka said.
As Kiba signaled for Akamaru to stay before he entered the sparring circle Naruto shook his head. Kiba's fighting style relied on a partner or a group. It relied on distracting his opponent and leaving them open to his teammate's attacks. The taijutsu of the Inuzuka clan was inadequate without the addition of a partner and Kiba had too much clan pride to use the standard Konoha style, commonly referred to as the Academy style.
Naruto truly didn't understand why people looked down on the Academy style. Yes it was well known and perhaps a little simple, but it was effective. It was a balanced style created to fight all types of chakra and non-chakra users. Granted it wasn't the Juken but it was like the clans actually believed it a poor style. It was actually a very good style with no real weaknesses though it lacked definitive strengths. The style could also be refined to incorporate other styles rather easily. All together it was a very effective style. After all thousands of shinobi came from outside of the clans and it wouldn't do to have such a large portion of a nation's fighting force to be ineffective in close combat.
Still since Kiba wouldn't even consider the use of the Academy style despite the handicap the spar had given him, Naruto had little interest in it. The spar would be won by Sasuke. With this knowledge Naruto turned back to his conversation with his kaa-san.
"Well at least I have control over my facial expressions down. But how did Ino-san's fight go?" Naruto asked. He while being a tentative friend, ally, with the girl was understandably wary of her. Ino belonged to the Yamanaka clan, a clan renowned for its mind techniques. Unfortunately for Naruto the clan kept their secrets closely guarded, rumors even spoke of how their secrets might only be passed down by word of mouth or even a specter hidden in the minds of their children, which meant Naruto had no idea how the clan's techniques worked or even the handseals to activate them.
"True and you will need that if you truly wish to be on the level of the nobility in the world of politics but that is no reason to be lax." Kushina stated in a playful teaching voice. The woman never could keep a strict tone up with her son unless it dealt with matters of the utmost importance, like life and death.
"I wasn't defending myself; you know you taught me to always improve myself. Now Ino's match?" Naruto thought back.
Kushina sighed mentally to herself. Yes she knew that she was being a slight hypocrite with her son's youth and his strive for perfection. In her youth she had been a bit of a wild child while her son was a formal… she wasn't sure if she could call him a do-gooder, but he was well behaved. Still he was in danger and she didn't want him to make her mistakes nor did she want him to be ignorant of the dangers around him, perhaps she could call it motherly instinct.
"I know, but remember not to be too hard on yourself you're still young and already pretty advanced. Now Ino-san, her fighting style was interesting and similar to yours. It focused on dodging and it seemed she fought herself to avoid creating a distance, still I noticed that she too hit pressure points. However she avoided kill strikes at least by her hands, there were slight twitches to where she would keep alternative methods of death, such as poisons or kunai. Without seeing her weapons pouch I couldn't say for sure. Either way it has changed from the usual Yamanaka style of leaving the close quarters combat to their Akimichi allies." Kushina analyzed.
"Interesting. Kaa-san should I be suspicious of her?" Naruto commented idly as he turned his attention to the current spar, watching as Sasuke punched Kiba in the face before taking advantage of the young Inuzuka's daze to lash out with a kick and knock him out of the ring.
"I am unsure but I would advise caution. Ino-san's answer to what a ninja is, her fighting style, her responses when your teachers give your class a 'what if' situation, and her lack of surprise whenever you have a pop quiz; they all suggest that she is not a normal kunoichi." Kushina said.
"Should I be worried?" Naruto questioned.
"No. If Ino-san or someone else from her clan broke into your mind I doubt they would get anything. Either the Kyubi or I would get them. Besides I think she's just curious about you. Trust me it's a girl thing." Kushina said seriously from inside of the seal before teasing her son.
"Shino Aburame and Hibachi." Mizuki called from the sparring ring. Iruka and he having already critiqued the taijutsu display of Sasuke and Kiba.
"Thank you kaa-san, I will back off for now." Naruto replied before he turned his attention to the newest spar. Shino, the tallest kid in his class wore sunglasses, a green jacket, and shinobi pants, and seemed to be growing the beginnings of an afro. While his opponent only real feature was a bandanna over his brown hair and the cocky grin over his face. Personally Naruto didn't like Hibachi and was rooting for Shino to win the match.
"I didn't say to stop being friends with her! Just be careful." Kushina screamed from the seal. Her son needed more friends, Ayame was a great start and helped him to loosen up, but he was still too uptight at times.
"Hai kaa-san" Naruto thought back to his mother, not quite sure what he had done wrong. He hadn't even thought about ending his tentative relationship with Ino, the girl not only brought three clans to the table but a small part of him found her to be rather fun; a notion that had appeared despite his best efforts. Don't get him wrong, he will still unite his clan and get justice for the wrongs that had been committed against his family, but he was still human.
Mentally shaking his head Naruto turned his attention once more to the sparring circle and watched the fight between Shino and Hibachi.
Shino was doing well but there were moments where his blows stopped short of the target Naruto notes. It is as if the young clan heir would be placing something on someone instead of punching them.
"Most likely his insects." Naruto thought as he recalled the information he knew on the Aburame clan. While the capabilities of the insects beyond draining chakra were secret, Naruto at least knew that the Aburame had a hive placed inside of them when they were young.
Eventually the match ended in the Aburame's favor though with some slight difficulty, as Shino's trained instincts to use his kikaichu beetles in the battle worked against him. Hibachi had gotten cocky and made fun of the Aburame heir for the punches that would be just out range of his body, instead of pressuring Shino and winning the match.
"Hinata Hyuga and Sakura Haruno." Mizuki called.
From beside Naruto the shy Hyuga heiress began to walk forward. Her head tilted downwards as she attempted to hide her eyes behind her short blue hair. She wears a cream colored jacket and dark blue pants. Also like Ino she had begun to show the signs of puberty, if a little more pronounced then said blonde, a fact that she tried to hide behind her clothes, and a subject of teasing between Hinata and Ino when they hung out.
"Good luck Hinata-san" Naruto while turning towards her.
"Arigatou Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she lifted her head with a slight blush on her more confident face.
Mentally Naruto sighed. Hinata was a naturally shy girl that had several insecurities, some stemming from her family and others her own preconceptions about herself. In his ambition to get an ally from the Hyuga Clan and his subsequent befriending of the young heiress he had found himself trying to raise her confidence, and while she didn't stutter anymore around him or small groups of friends, she still didn't do well around strangers or any group larger than a small intimate gathering. This wasn't help by the insecurities she had when it came to the shinobi lifestyle.
"Bright side, being her pillar of confidence has driven her closer to me." A callous part of Naruto's mind thought as he watched Hinata enter the sparring ring and face off against a girl with long pink hair wearing a red qipao dress with spandex shorts underneath.
"Did you wish Hinata-chan good luck?" A voice spoke from behind Naruto in an attempt to surprise him.
"Hai Ino-san." Naruto said evenly, having noticed the blonde's approach through his sensor before she even spoke.
"Good. Not that she will need it; forehead isn't that skilled in taijutsu." Ino spoke as she took up a spot next to Naruto.
"Shall I take this as Haruno-san and you are still fighting?" Naruto said while turning his head slightly to look Ino in the eye while also keeping the sparring match in his line of sight.
"How's your garden? Do you like your azalea bushes?" Ino asked, pointedly ignoring the question.
"I guess that means they are." Naruto thought to himself, taking note of Ino's redirect in the conversation.
"The garden is great and the azaleas are lovely. Thank you for the kind gift." Naruto responded happily.
"Well no garden is complete without some form of flowering bush and you didn't seem like a rose person." Ino responded with a smile.
"Hai, I have to agree they really do bring out the place." Naruto spoke easily. Naruto's and Ino's shared interest in gardening allowing Naruto to be more at ease and not as measured with his words.
"You know, now that I have added to your garden, you should totally let me see it." Ino said cheekily.
"It's not exactly a secret Ino-san, but if you desire I shall show it to you. Oh, it appears that Haruno-san has lost the use of one of her arms." Naruto said smoothly before he brought up the recent development in Hinata's sparring match.
"Hai Iruka-sensei will call the match soon." Ino observed.
In fact the match ended not ten seconds later when Hinata used the Sakura's weak side to deliver two juken strikes to the girl's hip followed by a chakraless strike to her chest.
"Gomen." Hinata said quickly before giving a slight bow to Sakura when the match was called. Through Hinata's interactions with Naruto and later Ino, Hinata had gotten better at sparring. Now the girl was able to attack and while not willing, could inflict pain during the match. Still she did not like hurting anyone and always found it necessary to apologize after a spar, an attribute that Ino claimed was too adorable to change.
After that the instructors quickly advised the two girls on how they could improve their skills before Mizuki called the next match. "Choji Akimichi and Naruto Uzumaki."
"Well I am going to congratulate Hinata-chan." Ino said before turning and walking over to Hinata.
As Naruto entered the ring he took note of his opponent. Choji wears a green haori over a light green shirt and wore a pair of black shorts. He also has a long white scarf around his neck and small earrings in his ears. Size wise the boy is at least half a head taller than Naruto and at least a couple dozen pounds heavier.
Before the match begins Naruto quickly began to think through his options. "Taller, heavier, longer reach, don't get into a strength contest. Weaknesses are earrings and scarf. Can't use earrings too brutal, might be off putting to allies, plus Choji-san is a member of Konoha, action suspicious, plus earrings too small for an easy grab. Scarf is possible, could use to choke opponent, just beware of retaliation. He is slow. Use my superior speed, can't let him hit me. Drawn out fight would go badly, must knock out target early."
After Naruto finished his assessment of his opponent like his mother had taught him he settles himself into his stance and waited for the match to start. Only sparing a moment to curse the disadvantages he had against his opponent in a pure taijutsu match. Without the use of chakra or weapons, he was a boy with several disadvantages fighting someone from a clan who had designed themselves to be a tank on the battlefield.
The moment Mizuki announced the start of the match Choji moved forward, charging the smaller boy, the typically kind natured boy confident in his ability to win and his ability to absorb the blows of his physically weaker opponent.
Naruto settled himself, waiting for the attack. It would be a punch as the Akimichi fighting style made little use of kicks, and he had to be ready for it.
Choji's punch came soaring at Naruto's chest, a blow that would easily knock the air out of the redheaded Uzumaki. Naruto seeing the punch coming, adjusted his body slightly sideways before lashing out with palm of his opposite hand, hitting the elbow of the arm and driving it away from his body, followed by using the elbow of the same arm Naruto had deflected the punch with to daze the Akimichi. With the Akimichi dazed and backing up, Naruto lashed out with a kick catching the Akimichi in the chest.
Choji bleeding from his nose and no longer off balance responded. The training from his clan and their focus on being able to absorb damage allowing him to grab the Uzumaki's leg as it retreated and drag him towards him.
Once Naruto reached the bleeding Akimichi, Choji lashed out with a punch striking Naruto in the chest. Naruto gasped, his body built for speed and dodging not designed to take the punishment of an Akimichi's fist. He had to escape Choji's hold if he wanted to win the match, for Naruto could not take many more of the physically stronger boy's blows.
As Choji dragged Naruto closer, once more using the redheaded boy's still captured leg, Naruto balled up his fist and ducked low, painfully stretching his body as his leg was lifted high into the air, before he lashed out with a punch to Choji's kidney. Choji now in pain, grimaced and a little spit shot from his mouth before Naruto twisted, making use of the very flexibility some in the academy had made fun of him for, calling him girly, before he boxed the Akimichi's ears, once more dazing the young shinobi in training.
Making use of the daze, Naruto kicked off the ground and wrapped both of his legs around Choji's arm, before twisting the boy's arm, forcing the Akimichi heir to let go of his leg. Once free Naruto began to fall to the ground only for Choji to instinctually respond to the pain and lash out with his other arm. Naruto barely having enough time to raise his arms to block the punch from his hitting his face hit the ground hard and rolled.
Quickly getting to his feet Naruto took in his opponent. Choji's nose was bleeding and one of his arms had been twisted out of its socket, if not broken, but still the tank like shinobi stood. A quick check of his sensor showed that Choji's emotions were now darker than normal, reflecting what Naruto believed to be anger and frustration, probably due to the multiple head blows and the state of his arm.
Meanwhile Naruto himself, despite only having suffered two hits could still feel pain in his chest and the jarring of his arms. If the second hit had reached his face; the fight would have been over. He might even have pulled something in his leg or groin area when he performed the stretch needed for the kidney shot. He shouldn't have kicked the more rounded boy in the chest during the first part of the spar.
Once more the Akimichi heir charged him but this time his punch was aimed at Naruto's face. Naruto seeing the punch coming adjusted his body. When the punch came Naruto grabbed the opposing arm with one hand and placed his other hand on the Akimichi's chest before using attacking academy student's power to toss Choji over his shoulder.
With Choji down Naruto quickly turned and grabbed the boy's scarf, grabbing each end of the scarf with his opposite hand and pulled, choking the Akimichi heir. With Choji down Naruto gave a significant look to Mizuki, telling him to call the match, a look that was ignored.
With the match continuing Naruto noticed Choji attempting to rise from the ground in an attempt to throw him off, so seeing little choice the Uzumaki stomped down on the back of Choji's knee, ceasing the Akimichi's efforts to raise. Squeezing further on the scarf Naruto continued to cut off Choji's air supply and waited for the match to end, but once more Mizuki refused to call the match.
"Mizuki-sensei isn't going to call the match; I have to end it myself." Naruto thought to himself as he watched Choji reach for the scarf around his neck.
"Please concede the spar Choji-san." Choji froze for just a moment when he heard his strangler's words, the words slipping through his darkening vision.
"If you continue then I will have no choice but to kick you in the back of the head and I have no desire to do that to a friend." Naruto spoke.
For a second Choji didn't move before he extended his good arm and tapped the ground twice, conceding the match to Naruto. Naruto seeing the match had ended released the scarf.
"Good fight. You have a powerful punch." Naruto said as he offered his hand to Choji.
"Arigatou Naruto-san." Choji said as he smiled and accepted the redhead's hand.
Naruto sensing no ill will hidden in Choji's reply smiled back. There were no hard feelings about the spar. So pointedly ignoring the pulled muscle near his groin, he walked beside Choji as he limped over to their senseis with Naruto catching part of a small argument between the two.
"Why didn't you call the match?!" Iruka spoke in a furious whisper to his teaching assistant.
"Choji-san could have thrown Uzumaki-san off. The spar was unclear." Mizuki fired back, defending his position.
Iruka seemed to turn slightly red in anger, not appreciating Mizuki's willingness to put one of his student's in danger. He might have let it slide if it was the Uzumaki, the walking reminder of the Kyubi attack, even then, Iruka would not have too grievous of an injury take place during a spar. Iruka had his integrity, something he forcefully reminded himself of whenever he taught the Kyubi brat.
"We will talk about this later." Iruka quickly whispered to Mizuki before turning towards the two approaching academy students.
As Iruka and Mizuki began to critique Choji's and Naruto's spar, Naruto tuned them out. His sensor had long shown him that Mizuki harbored only dark feelings toward him, while Iruka's feelings, while not as dark were not amicable either. With this knowledge Naruto instead retreated into his mind, letting his kaa-san critique the match, telling him where he could improve and what he had done right.
After Naruto's spar the taijutsu class would continue for a little while longer. The spars would be mostly linear, with civilian born academy students using the Academy style against each other with varying degrees of proficiency. The only clan academy student to have a spar would be Shikamaru, who being from a clan that did not focus on taijutsu would also use the Academy style.
Shikamaru would show passable skill in taijutsu but would ultimately lose the spar against one of the non-clan academy students. It was a reasonable outcome since most civilian academy students had low chakra reserves since they weren't from a shinobi lineage and thus relied on taijutsu to raise their combat grades in the academy.
As for Shikamaru, while being passable he would still show a marked discomfort with having to use taijutsu in a fight. Naruto thought this reasonable for two reasons. One, their shadow jutsus apparently made them extremely difficult to fight at close range, while at the same time allowed them to quickly kill their opponent. Two, according to his mother Naras were typically used as strategists by the village or their shinobi squad and thus were rarely used on the frontlines.
It was after the spars were finished that Iruka spoke to the medic about helping him teach his class about field medicine and general medical knowledge. The medic agreed and soon the class was back inside the classroom.
"Alright class, Oyone-sensei has agreed to teach the class about the medicine. Give her your attention." Iruka ordered.
For the first time Naruto examined the medical kunoichi in front, having paid little attention to her during sparring practice only noting that he did not feel any dark emotions pointed in his general direction from her. Now as he looked at her he noted that she was a woman of average height with short black hair that framed her face. She wore the standard Konoha medical uniform, with the tan full body scrub with the white neck area over what is presumably her shinobi uniform, though she seemed to fill it out a little more in the chest area than the average kunoichi. Naruto could not see her hitai-ate but he did note that she wore a bandana the same color as her medical scrubs on top of her head.
"Greetings. Iryo-nin like myself, are shinobi that specialize in medical treatment. We do not often see combat, instead being assigned to heal the wounded and cure the sick. With the exception of Tsunade-dono we are not the heroes in ballads or in the books you might read, we do however save lives. In fact, Konoha's medical ninja corps can be credited as a large part of why we have won the past world wars." Oyone said in polite voice, her tone seeming to have a natural bedside manner designed to soothe her patients.
"Now before you interrupt, yes we are not Minato-sama, Sarutobi-sama, or even Jiraiya-san. However, did you know my teacher saved Minato-sama's life early in the Third World War. Or that Tsunade-dono helped cure Sarutobi-sama and Jiraiya-san of the damages they suffered during a poison gas attack. I myself served as a medic near the frontlines during our skirmishes with Lightning Country eight years ago. In fact, behind every great legend in the Land of Fire there has been a medic." Oyone spoke passionately, while pointedly giving only the minimum of respect to Jiraiya by using the san suffix, showing that she felt distaste for the man.
"I know that most of you won't consider a career as an iryo-nin, not this early in your lives. Most of you dream of being the next Hokage or the next one to defeat a biju like the Kyubi, so here's something to get your interest. Every great ninja has had medical knowledge, at least basic. If you want to enhance your strength or speed through chakra you must know how to do it or you will tear apart your muscles. Tsunade-dono focused her medical knowledge so much on chakra and its interactions with the human body that she created her strength technique. "
"Even ninjutsu practice can be advanced by basic medical knowledge. There is a lot of crossover between the two. An example would be how katon experts write about how to mold fire nature chakra inside of the body, how to avoid burns and damage. They also tell of how to acclimate your body for higher ranked katon jutsus whose hotter fires can kill the user if not used properly."
"For those interested in genjutsu it might interest them to study psychology or our limited knowledge of the brain and its makeup. This will allow for more believable and stronger genjutsu that are harder to break." Oyone finished, catching the ears of every student in the class. Most had not known that medical knowledge could be so useful in their career.
With her speech finished the class soon listened intently as Oyone guided them through medical techniques for on the battlefield. She taught them how to make splints from rags and sticks, how to bandage wounds, how to make a tourniquet, how to stop people from choking on their own blood or spit, even how to transport a wounded body. Then she had the class get into groups and practice on each other as she went around and corrected mistakes.
After the Health class was over and the class said goodbye to Oyone, Iruka once more addressed the class.
"Class today was a great day. Now since tomorrow is the Festival of the Sage we will not see each other or the day after so I advise you to have fun. When we return to class we will have overnight survival training with ninjutsu and basic chakra control lessons mixed in. Be prepared. Finally I wish you a happy holiday, dismissed." Iruka said with a bright smile.
As Naruto got up from his chair and walked out the door he was intercepted by Ino who was dragging Hinata behind her.
"We are going to the festival." Ino said with a certain amount of finality while Hinata stood blushing in the background.
"We will like it if you would come." Hinata spoke softly from behind Ino and without a stutter, though her face remained a bright red.
"I would be delighted, though I did promise to accompany someone already. Will you mind if we eat at Ayame-chan's stand and pick her up after her shift? Also will Choji-san and Shikamaru-san be accompanying us?" Naruto asked politely.
"That lazy ass said it was too troublesome and Choji is keeping him company. They're going to hang out at the Akimichi section of the festival. Ironically the Nara kiddie zoo is too loud for him to nap." Ino said with a huff before a small laugh escaped from her lips. You had to know the Nara clan to appreciate the humor in their contribution to the festival being one of the loudest and most popular since kids loved the deer the Naras would bring.
"I do not mind Naruto-kun." Hinata said.
"Ayame-chan's stand is near the Nara clan's zoo. We can go there afterwards; I know Hinata-san will like it. I hear that the Nara recently had some baby deer." Naruto said with a smile.
Naruto may have become friends with Hinata in a bid to forge an alliance with her clan and as part of his cover as a loyal Konoha citizen but that didn't mean he didn't truly befriend afterwards. The girl's genuine kindness was a rarity in his life and while her meekness at times annoyed him and other times made her malleable to his purposes; he did consider himself her friend. Plus Ayame would also love to see the baby deer.
"Then it's a date." Ino said with a teasing smile. She knew of Hinata's crush on the Uzumaki and couldn't resist the shy Hyuga's reaction to her suggestion.
As Hinata seemingly swooned at the idea of a date with her crush, Naruto responded while being slightly confused over Hinata's behavior. "It's a date. Ino-san since you wanted to see my garden, why don't you swing by tomorrow. Then we can go to the festival." Naruto suggested while looking in Ino's eyes. A lesson his mother had taught him about polite conversation.
Ino flustered over Naruto's response to her teasing, flushed slightly before replying. "We'll swing by around ten hundred hours. See you tomorrow."
Ino finished this with a wave before the slightly bossy girl dragged Hinata away. The red faced girl only managing a wave before she disappeared around a corner.
"Why are girls so confusing?" Naruto pondered as he stared at the now empty classroom.
"Sochi-kun, we need to have another talk about girls." Kushina said from inside of the seal.
"Kaa-san we already had that talk." Naruto said from embarrassment.
"No, not that talk, a different talk." Kushina continued.
Naruto sighed. "I am still confused." The actions of the two girls and the mysterious talk his mother wanted to have with him, causing a metaphorical question mark to dance over his head.
Inside of the seal Kushina hit her head against the weeping willow that represented her seal. Despite every nuance of conversation she had taught her son, giving her son the talk, and comforting her son over the awkwardness that is sharing puberty with his mother she had forgotten something major, she hadn't taught him about girls.
Kushina had been planning on it to be during a lesson on seduction and how to go about it but she had liked her innocent boy. Now it seemed that she had no choice, it was time to teach her son about girls. How to attract them, date them, make them fall in love with you, even pleasure them. It wouldn't due for her son to lack the appropriate knowledge.
Once again Kushina slammed her head against the tree. She wished that Minato was still alive; he could have taught their son these things. Sighing Kushina wished she had a drink. Idly she wondered if teaching her son how to seduce women was a betrayal to her own gender.
Alright so this chapter showed a glimpse into Konoha Academy as well as mentioned several classes that take place. Yes cooking is there. It's because there are foods that will kill you in the wild if prepared incorrectly, so imagine it as an add-on to survival.
I also showed you the military structure of the nations. The addition of ashigaru and the more prominent inclusion of samurai is why the wars are not called Shinobi World Wars but instead just World Wars. Also in case I didn't mention it, any academy student that drops out after their second year will complete civilian school and be conscripted into the ashigaru for five years (that means thirteen). The academy drop-out consequences are actually based off of the United States Military Academy.
I particularly like the history class, as I try to show why they are relevant, with inspiration for that coming from RWBY.
Now some of you may think I am being unfair to Iruka's character but I feel justified in this version of him. Naruto isn't a prankster and has already begun to solidify himself as a political and business leader and had made multiple friends/allies. As such Iruka doesn't sympathize with him and doesn't see the lonely boy crying for attention. He stays bitter with Naruto.
Naruto's thoughts when viewing a fight or participating may seem off but remember he has mom in his head guiding him, teaching him, this changes him. It is also why his fighting style is considered girly by some, it's because he is taught by a girl. As such he will have a slim build, perhaps like a gymnast when he graduates.
Please tell me your thoughts on the Choji and Naruto fight. I hope you liked it. I actually picked Choji because someone with Naruto's fighting style would have trouble with someone of Choji's build, plus it is different than a Sasuke fight.
The limitations on the body will help to show the marked difference between genin and jonin, so don't expect any of my genin to fight Zabuza in straight combat or unleash multiple A or S rank jutsus (only a few exceptions to this like kage bushin).
Kushina was used as a bit of a comedic relief this chapter too with the whole puberty thing but it can't be serious all the time.
On that note balancing dark and light is hard but I strive to keep it grey. To that extent Naruto being a lonely kid (Kushina and Ayame are just two people) will reluctantly befriend people from Konoha causing moral dilemmas maybe even sacrifices, or even betrayals from both sides, but that makes a story interesting.
Naruto is also not fully dark in his actions with the Land of Water, he's disassociated with it, like a game, he will likely receive a wake-up call and moral crisis during the wave Arc. This Naruto while keeping his core goals will change as the story evolves sometimes teetering into darkness other times repelled by his own actions.
During the festival I will expand on why the Shinigami is viewed as a dark god by the general populace so that will hopefully answer some questions. Also the fruit tree is a reference to Kaguya before she went dark, that's a warping of legend and an example of fragmented history.
Another consideration is Naruto is now helping to fund Akatsuki through supplying them with missions. What could this mean for the story? No, Naruto doesn't know about jinchuriki hunting and the Akatsuki think he's civilian.
"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail."
-Benjamin Franklin
This quote applies pretty well to the character development of multiple people, like Hinata. Because Naruto interacts with her she becomes more confident. Or because Naruto is a known clan head and his father is known people seek his favor. Etc.
Finally, Naruto will lose a bit of his obliviousness to girls in the coming chapters.
Now for a question to the readers.
OCs, I am trying to keep them few but there are some things that could be fun to do but require an OC. Like a merchant on the Civilian part of the council who tries to outsmart Naruto and prove his underhanded dealings. The merchant will have his own underhanded dealings, so it would be a who blinks first or who can outmaneuver the other relationship. Plus I need samurai. Oyone is actually not an OC.
I am trying to keep the OC count low, but what is your opinion of OCs and how they fit in this story?
Some OCs are throwaway characters like the one Kushina killed in chapter 5 others could become important characters like members of the civilian council or the leader of the samurai.
Once again please drop in a review with your thoughts. I also try to answer questions through the PM function though if multiple people ask the same question I might address it in the story like I did with Sarutobi. (Not sure if people liked my answer for him though)
So again, read and review.