A/N I honestly have nothing more to say other than this. Did you really expect Kurama to let Naruto be a dumbass? If you have any questions on Naruto's current personality being way more calm and stuff, as well as more shyish, it's more based of a combination of having Honoke's support as well as Kurama himself. He's not as outspoken because the two would either yell (Kurama) or bop him aside the head (Honoke) all because he was too loud. He's more trying to understand the volume and amount of words that's okay, thus his personality at the moment. Other than that, the only thing is that I'm not sure how accurate my portrayal of the Jutsus are, but I'm rolling with it. Again, I have yet to really touch Naruto Shippuden past episode...7? So all I know is Sai exists, Yamato exists (Apparently he has the First Hokage's cells in him? Can't remember his backstory from the anime all the way tbh.) and Sasuke is a fucken asshole. Other than that? Nothing.
Also I highly doubt the Hokage, no matter how much he loves Naruto, would ever let him just steal the super duper important scroll, especially without seeing at least one ANBU. (Seriously, if you think about it, how the hell did he steal the scroll? Was literally NO ONE watching the place? That just sounds all kinds of stupid and I doubt the Hokage would actually fall for such a stupid and simple ploy, heck, it wasn't even confirmed in the anime/manga if the scroll was even the real one! For all we know, that actually was the true honest to god scroll, which holds a shit-ton of forbidden jutsu. All that does is just make the 3rd Hokage look like a bloody idiot, and that's not even including how he casually forgave Danzo's and Orochimaru's betrayal. I think of him as a somewhat smart guy that made mistakes, so hopefully you guys can see that via the writing when or if we get to a place where I can actually write the 3rd as something more than "Ah shit more paperwork..." to show you guys that.) So I decided...let's switch it up a bit. Now when you witness this...Mizuki is plain fucked, and it's gonna be bloody hilarious watching it happen.
With all that said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Edit: I touched up the chapter a bit, but not really as much as I had for 1 and 2, been trying to help fix the whole annoyance with Kurama's text and the like, and I'm mostly going to see if this helps end that confusion or not (Hoping it does since fanfiction only has 3 different modes being bold italic and underline!) so we'll see I guess XD
Well the side fact for this chapter is this went completely different from what I thought I would write. I was wanting to introduce Shika and Ino this chapter, but then I guess my brain wanted more fluff from Naruto and Hinata. Honestly I didn't expect to make so much fluff this chapter, as that was my first time writing the sort of thing across all of my previous stories. It was actually really fun to write, and I think if anything else, Naruto X Hinata is real for this story, but probably wouldn't go too far in this story since this is only going to go up until the end of Chunin exams and the like.
Hope you enjoy the chapters and the like!
Two and the Same
Chapter Three: Pre Academy- Hinata
Naruto didn't know how to feel as he woke up in the Akimichi compound. He looked around in confusion before seeing Choji as he opened the door, looking just as tired as he was.
"Today's the big day! What do you think about this whole Pre-Academy thing? Apparently it's more a new type of training in order to help prepare us for becoming Genin." Choji said, Naruto having stopped him from grabbing chips from his bag as he talked. It was normal at this point between the two, as Choji tended to forget what he was talking about while he ate. Naruto let his arm go when he finished.
"Hmm...I'm pretty excited honestly, but I can't help but being a bit nervous. Why suddenly create this right before the school year started, heck they even did it drastically earlier than usual as a pre-rec program type deal to go into the school year itself." Naruto inferred, causing a wide-eyed Choji to look at Naruto in what looked like mock fear.
"Who are you and what have you done to Naruto!?" Choji seemed to gasp in shock as they both burst out laughing at the joke.
"Oh har har har." Naruto rolled his eyes as Choza decided now was the time to come out. He figured to let the two boys have their fun before revealing his presence, the two turned towards the large robust man.
"You know that it starts in the next Fifteen minutes, I suggest getting ready." Choza smirked a bit as he watched the two become shocked from fear, he threw a uniform towards Naruto, "Don't worry Naruto, I didn't forget your situation either, but I wasn't kidding on that, thankfully we live close enough nearby to make it not late, but I wouldn't risk it on your first day." Choza laughed heartily as the two fearful kids dashed towards the showers, with Choji having beaten Naruto, causing him to have to wait. He decided to grab breakfast first, to which Choza gave the full nine yards of it. Naruto and Kurama both sweat-dropped to the display, and knew where the Akimichi gut came from, even with Naruto being over so often, it didn't stop the sight from being jaw dropping. Naruto ate as he waited for Choji to come out, and even though eating only from one bowl of the meal, he still felt his gut grow slightly. A grimace met his face as he and Kurama both knew that he would have to do laps again to get rid of it. Choza rolled his eyes at his so-called nephew's actions, having realized a long while ago what the issue was.
"You know that there's a technique we have to help you with that? It's not something that you should abuse or else it could backfire on you, but once in a while shouldn't be too bad." Choza offered as Naruto sighed, waving him off a bit.
"It's fine, it helps motivate me to work out more, I just have to be careful of it." Naruto said calmly as Choza smiled.
"If you say so." Choza relented as Naruto went to move towards the shower again, seeing as he heard the door open, and immediately went in afterwards.
"So, the gut swelled a bit from just a small amount of the food, jeez how are they still alive from all of that food they eat." Kurama said, being both impressed and mortified by the Akimichi clan.
"From my understanding, I think it's how their bodies are designed, and since their clan techniques are based around those techniques, they have some way to turn the calories to strength or Chakra. Other than that, I think they just like the taste of the food." Naruto thought a bit before saying. Kurama just stared at him. "What!?" Naruto said, not appreciating the blank stare that Kurama gave him, one that spoke of pure disbelief and awe.
"When did you get so...professory?" Kurama said, still unbelieving of Naruto's explanation since it made sense, and that didn't fit the headstrong kid he had grown to know. Thankfully, or sadly, Naruto growled a bit and begun yelling at Kurama mentally as to not cause a scene.
Sadly, this all took a while, and soon Choza knocked on the bathroom door. "You have five minutes or you'll be late!" He told the two, who rushed through the rest of the shower, rushing through putting their clothes on as they rushed out the door.
"See yah Uncle Choza!" Naruto yelled out as he rushed out the compound, rushing on over to the Academy right nearby. He saw Choji ahead pretty far, who looked tempted to stop at a food place. He grabbed his friend by the collar and rushed towards the Academy. "We're gonna be late Choji!" Naruto seemed absolutely nervous as he had just now rushed on the grounds with his friend, but while he released Choji, he noticed something outside his vision. Choji ran on ahead, looking back in confusion as Naruto waved him onward. Choji nodded, trusting his near brother, before running inside the Academy.
"Heh! This all the Hyuga heir has!?" Naruto heard kicking from three separate sources, and while Kurama tried convincing Naruto otherwise, Naruto kept pushing towards them. Sticking to the trees as told from Honoke, he watched the three bullies, one tall and lanky, one short and chubby, and one being what looked to be a three year old beat up a young girl. Naruto grit his teeth.
"Ha! You in the Academy? You're not even worth the bottom of our shoe!" The chubby one continued as Naruto had it, finally revealing himself with a punch to the tall one, sending him straight into a tree. He growled as the remaining two looked shocked from the act.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He yelled in rage as the chubby one tried punching him, Naruto tried blocking it only to get hit in the place the sun doesn't shine by the three year old, leaving him open to a punch himself. He grit his teeth as the three looked towards him.
"Heh, and who's this one? I guess we got a new punching bag!" The tall one said, ignoring the blood that fell from his mouth, and the two teeth that were now missing, with looked like one that was so loose it might as well have been knocked out of his mouth. Naruto used his foot to twist out and proceeded to kick them away into each other, causing the three year old to be nearly crushed by the chubby bully. While they were distracted by that, the girl came and dragged Naruto up and away.
Naruto panted a bit, struggling to hold on, but his pain tolerance was still that of a kid, and the nut punch in combination of the gut punch knocked the wind out of him for a bit. He had a feeling Kurama wasn't healing these wounds, but didn't know why. (Kurama smirked, knowing more about Naruto's feeling about the girl than Naruto himself.) He looked towards the young white-eyed girl. "H-Hey, are you okay?" He asked, even as she carried him inside the building.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes, I'm okay!" The girl stuttered miserably, having a blush cover her face as Naruto looked shocked.
"O-Okay, u-uh, what's your name?" Naruto asked, stuttering a bit from the blush. Was she having a fever? (Kurama deadpanned at Naruto's thoughts. He couldn't have...oh Kami he actually was that dumb. Kami help him when the girl became older and actually confirmed what Kurama could see growing based on her eyes and Naruto's subconscious thoughts of Huh, she looks nice.)
"H-H-Hinata." Hinata said, the stutters calming down a bit as she smiled towards Naruto, "W-What's yours?" She asked as Naruto grinned despite the pain, and got out of the hold to put his thumb to his chest.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! My dream is to become the Hokage and have everyone become friends with everyone!" He grinned towards Hinata, who's blush came back and deepened in intensity. "A-Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Naruto asked in deep concern as Kurama growled at him. "IDIOT!" Kurama said simply, not providing an explanation as Naruto looked in confusion.
Hinata didn't help things any as she passed out from Naruto grabbing her hands out of concern. Naruto grabbed her and put her on his back piggyback style (Mostly due to Kurama yelling that if he didn't, that he would force him to eat five bowls of Choza's cooking and work it off in an hour.) to the classroom. The two Chunin stared at him as he walked to the classroom door (At least, he thought it was? He didn't get to ask Choji which class they were in and they forgot to tell him the previous night. Naruto stared back at them.
"Hey is this the way to the Genin class?" Naruto asked as they nodded, "Great, sorry for being late!" Naruto grinned as he moved to go in, the two blocking him. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I'm a part of the Pre-Academy Genin Class so move out of my way!" Naruto glared at the two, who rolled their eyes, and proceeded to turn the kid to the door directly across. "...oh." He finally said, embarrassed as he apologized to the guards, who paid it no mind. He opened the door only to find a supply closet, and the door behind him suddenly closed. "HEY LET ME OUT DATTEBAYO!" He yelled as he banged against the door, figuring that the two guards had moved to block his exit. He heard the light groaning as he turned back to see Hinata slowly waking up. "Good going there Naruto! Now what are you going to do!?" Kurama snapped a bit, drawling out his liquid sarcasm at the kid, who was mentally berating himself along with the Demon Fox. He turned his attention to Hinata instead."H-Hinata! Are you alright? Some temes (Remember, Naruto used -teme for Sasuke, which literally just means Sasuke Bastard. Since the character himself uses it, I can as long as it fits the character)locked us in here!" Naruto explained as Hinata's blush hit full force.
Trapped in a room...alone with Naruto-kun... Hinata thought as the blush became too strong again and she passed out again. "HINATA!" Naruto yelled in a mixture of confusion, frustration, and terror. Kurama just burst out laughing. "What's so funny!?" Naruto demanded of his partner, not caring that anyone heard him. Kurama looked to remove a tear as he slowly ended the laughter. "Oh Kami Naruto you are a riot with how dumb you are." Kurama chuckled a bit as Naruto growled, "What do you mean by that!?" Naruto countered as Kurama shrugged. "Let's just say Hinata has a crush on someone and let you figure out the rest." Kurama said as Naruto basically had question marks spawn all around him with how confused he was. Frustrated at not finding the answer to Kurama's riddle, (He thinks it's a riddle!? Kurama couldn't help as the laughter went back in full force again, annoying Naruto as he ignored his Fox Demon friend.) he turned his attention towards the door. He banged it again and again, hoping to use strength to overcome it as he prepared for a shove, only for the door to suddenly open, causing him to fall down in front of Iruka and most of the class.
Who immediately saw Hinata passed out and Naruto on the ground having fell from a would-be shove. Snickers started spreading throughout the students, but Iruka was livid. "Naruto...what did you do." Iruka seemed to leak killing intent, not enough to phase Kurama any, ("It's like a little kitty acting like a lion. It's kinda adorable if downright stupid." Kurama shrugged.) but made most of the class flinch and walk away, with the sole exception being Sasuke, who instead became intrigued by the killing intent before seeing Naruto.
Sasuke deadpanned as he watched Naruto look towards Iruka and talk about how Hinata fainted and the like, as well as having been locked in the room trying to get to class. Who is this dobe even trying to fool? Dobe? Huh, suits the idiot for doing this. Not one day in and he's already trying to get to first base. Sasuke tsk'd at that invading thought as he tried not to turn around. I'm not jealous... He denied, ignoring the feeling that someone was smirking at him, (Kurama wouldn't tell Naruto why he was smirking viciously at Sasuke as he desperately tried to convince Iruka on what happened.) It didn't help matters that when he turned around, there was about twelve of the 30ish people in the class who instantly tried, badly, to pretend they weren't just admiring Sasuke just now. He sighed, slightly annoyed as he noticed someone in the group that he wished was different from the rest. Seems he was wrong that night...
While Sasuke was going through his internal crisis, Naruto had sighed to Iruka, who merely smirked. "You are a bundle of trouble, huh Naruto?" Iruka said with a grin, the class annoyed as Naruto got off. "But I don't want you two late again, and that goes to you too Choji!" Iruka yelled towards the now flinching Choji. Who nodded with a deep bow. "Good job saving her Naruto." Iruka whispered to him, who grinned.
"No problem Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as the two nodded. "So, what happened with class?" Naruto suddenly asked afterwards, causing Iruka to sheepishly chuckle.
"We kinda just released for lunch, and noticed the loud banging of that door, it looked like it was reinforced forcibly with Chakra, but you were doing some heavy damage to it either way..." Iruka said, having noticed the door nearly crash to the ground had it not been for the weirdly activated seals around it...it was why Iruka had believed Naruto, since the door never locked without those seals being active, and Naruto wasn't the type of kid to know seals, or use them like that. He had to talk to the Hokage about that later, but right now...his gaze fell towards Hinata, who Naruto picked up, piggyback style once again, ready to take her wherever Iruka needed her to go to help her. He instead put his hand over her face with a smirk. "She's fine Naruto, just passed out." Iruka said with a smirk. Naruto...oh Kami please say he isn't- Iruka said, smirk falling into a shocked sweat-faced smile, as Naruto looked at him in confusion.
"She keeps fainting though, with these heavy blushes on her face. Does she have a fever?" Naruto asked, completely clueless, much to the class's dismay.
NARUTO YOU IDIOT! The entire class, along with Iruka and Kurama thought as one. How did he not notice that he was the one causing her to faint!? If his story checked out, he saved her from a group of bullies, had suffered injuries only to ignore them to ask about her health, carried her on his back towards the class, then got tricked into a small supply closet. Alone, locked up, just them.
Iruka had only one thought on his mind as he sweat-dropped, much to Naruto's confusion. Hiashi is going to kill him... Hiashi, along with most of the clan heads, were not afraid or wary of Naruto, they treated him like other kids his age. Yet if Hiashi heard about what happened to the two, with them getting locked in a supply closet, together, and alone, for well over four hours...oh boy Naruto was going to die from that. Hiashi was just like Ino's father in that sense, with both being very protective of their children, much more in the case of Ino's father while Hiashi let his children mostly free and watched over them, but Iruka was afraid, terrified even at this. Kurama was also confused at this point, noticing fear suddenly spike in the Chakra flow of Iruka. Why, and more importantly, What was Iruka so afraid of?
"It's fine Naruto, if you ever get a call from Hiashi, avoid him as long as you can if possible unless I'm there." Iruka tried to tell Naruto, who had ignored every word after his own name. Instead, Naruto was trying to wake Hinata up, and failing.
"Hinata!" Naruto tried calling out once more before sighing, proceeding to lightly flick her head. The students, especially Iruka himself, paled as Hinata woke up, blush on her face again. "Sorry about that, I was trying to wake you up. We got out of the room thanks to Iruka-sensei! I'll help you with catching up with the content since it was my fault we got locked up in there..." Naruto apologized, determined to make it up to Hinata.
"N-n-n-n-No! Na-Naruto, y-you don't have to do that for m-me!" Hinata stuttered, blush firmly in place, as she tried to change Naruto's mind. Naruto simply shook his head.
"I'm going to be the future Hokage! That means owning up to my actions and taking responsibility! I had us miss class because of my own actions, so to make it up to you I'll assist you in what we missed!" Naruto declared, very loudly, to Hinata. It seemed like the rest of the people in the hall didn't even exist to him at the moment, Hinata blushed heavily, desperately trying to not pass out again, to which she finally succeeded. She instead simply hugged Naruto in thanks. Naruto smiled and hugged her back.
LUCKYYYYYYYYY was the simple thought that consumed most of the class, all angry at how easily Naruto had gotten the Hyuga heiress in his grasp. And he didn't even realize it! Naruto only looked in confusion as Iruka groaned.
"Well, since you missed the beginning of class, you'll be eating lunch while we go through the lesson. Come on you two. Everyone else, enjoy your lunch!" Iruka said as the classmates started walking away with differing looks of confusion, envy, intrigue and pity towards the group of now three. Iruka led them to the actual classroom, which just so happened to be the door that those two guards were blocking much to Naruto's annoyance. Hinata and Naruto decided to sit next to each other in the first row, seeing as no one else was there at the moment.
The room seemed simple, with 3 rows of seats separated by a walkway down the middle, with the teacher's podium and chalkboard on the other side of the room. The windows showed the kids outside enjoying their meal and playing with each other while Naruto and Hinata sat down next to each other. Hinata, while blushing, decided to open her eyes. The blush immediately turned into confusion as she noticed the dual-nature of Naruto.
"N-Naruto, why do you have two Chakra sources?" Hinata asked, noting that his eyes turned crimson with a blue backdrop, he seemed to grin a bit when he looked back towards her.
"That would be because I'm sealed in him. Sorry about his ignorance kit." Kurama said, forcing Naruto to stay back for a while, isolating him in the sealed room for a while. Naruto pouted a bit, but didn't mind much.
"N-N-Naruto?" Hinata seemed shocked as Kurama shook his head.
Iruka groaned again, "Kurama why are you revealing yourself to her?" He asked, exasperated by the Demon Fox. Kurama grinned in response. So his name was Kurama? Wasn't his name Naruto? Confusion was evident on her face as Kurama continued on.
"I mean, she likes Naruto," Kurama said simply, happy that Naruto didn't hear this as Hinata's blush went full blast at the truth, "So eventually she would have to find out about me. That and she's trustworthy. She might be a weak kit right now, but with time and useful training, she'll be pretty strong. I approve." Kurama winked as Hinata passed out, having a bit of a nosebleed. Kurama snickered at this. "That and it's hilarious to tease her! Come on, I have to deal with this idiot being completely ignorant to her crush and deal with it, I get to tease." Kurama said, to which Iruka relented, for he somewhat agreed with it.
"How the he-" Iruka started with exasperation written on his face, only to see Kurama sigh.
"I wish I knew so I could beat it out of him." Kurama said simply, but there was a hint of a groan in his tone, as the crimson faded back to being the backdrop to that sky blue eyes Naruto was known for. "W-What?" Naruto asked, looking around in confusion. "HINATA!" He yelled as he noticed his friend passed out. "Kurama what did you do!?" He yelled towards his friend, who only snickered as Naruto flicked her forehead again to wake her up. Kurama didn't have the heart to tell him that he was infusing his Chakra in the flick to wake her up and didn't need the flick. Kurama needed entertainment and was not afraid of teasing him. He no longer wanted to kill the brat, but tease him mercilessly? Fair game. Thankfully, while Kurama knew how to read Naruto's thoughts, Naruto didn't know how to read his, much to his pleasure. A small part of him was disappointed, while the other was thankful that it meant Naruto didn't have to see all the gruesome things that Kurama had done, or the violet colored gate that locked some of his memories away. He didn't know how to feel about either part, and once again grew silent, much to the annoyance of Naruto.
"Nar...Naruto?" Hinata groggily got up, her standard stutter not even showing up from the lack of realization as Naruto grinned.
From on top of her.
Right next to her face.
Iruka and Kurama groaned verbally as Hinata passed out once more, blush once again reestablished. "M-Maybe it would be better if you gave her some space Naruto?" Iruka suggested, to which Kurama begrudgingly (Stupid humans spoiling his fun!) agreed with. Naruto moved to the next row up, hoping that it would be better than directly next to her, which it was after she got back up via a chakra-infused flick. (Iruka had to agree with Kurama, he didn't have the heart to tell him about the fact that all he needed was to just tap her with his finger to have the same effect.) Once more, for what was soon starting to get annoying rather than endearing, Hinata woke up. She looked around before Iruka stopped her.
"Hinata, are you okay? Passing out that many times in a row cannot be good for the brain, so I have to ask." Iruka said, as Naruto panicked and nearly spoke up if not for Kurama growling at him to Wait. Hinata shyly blushed and looked down twiddling her fingers from embarrassment. "As long as you're okay, I don't mind. Let's begin you two." Iruka said with a smile before starting with the introduction to Chakra, explaining stuff that Naruto somewhat innately knew, while Naruto was bored and struggling to stay up, Kurama was snoring and Hinata was paying close attention to the basic explanation.
"Hey um, Kurama, you there?" Naruto's eyes were drooping as he asked, "Hmm?" Kurama seemed to ask, but most likely it was a sleepy nod towards Naruto. Naruto sighed, "I assume you're bored too?" Naruto deadpanned, but couldn't really blame the fox seeing as he could barely stay awake. "Yeah...honestly this is all stuff that I already know, and I believe you do as well, but I would still pay attention, just in case he says something you don't know."Kurama shrugged, yawning a bit as he explained to Naruto, who seemed unconvinced. "Why should I do that?" Naruto asked, more like whined, to Kurama, who rolled his eyes tiredly. "Say he's teaching Chakra Control, he could explain the Tree-Walking exercise you already know, and mention a tip that makes it easier to work with your Chakra, stuff like that. Heck he might mention something or somewhere you can go to research yourself. I want you to become strong, any less is an insult with your training and by extension, an insult to me." Kurama really couldn't care for tact at the moment with his explanation as he yawned again before facing Naruto. Naruto seemed to think a bit before disappearing from the room in his mind. Kurama rolled his eyes, hoping his tactless explanation reached his kit's head. Kurama shrugged once more before going to sleep, not really caring if he was right or wrong.
Kurama sadly wasn't right, unless Iruka had said something important during the time Naruto was talking to him, since all Iruka did was go for a basic understanding of something Naruto already knew, much to his disappointment. Naruto sighed a bit as he walked towards Iruka. "Yes Naruto?" Iruka asked as Naruto thought a bit, much to Iruka's shock, before responding.
"Well...my Chakra Control, to quote Kurama, is terrible. I know how to do the Tree-walking and Leaf Concentration exercises, but with the Tree-walking exercise, I can't complete it unless I was competing with Sasuke-teme," Iruka glared a bit at that, before bopping Naruto and telling him no cursing, part of him wondered where he even heard the term, "Either way, I only know a bit of what he was telling me. I have a lot of Chakra, but because of the whole sealed fiasco, it takes a lot more to convert it to Chakra instead of physical representation." Naruto said, looking back to his paper as Iruka mentally sighed in relief, knowing that Naruto had written this out with the help of Kurama and didn't just suddenly become a genius on him. "Do you have anyway for me to improve that?" Naruto asked as Iruka smiled.
"Well, you could always head to the Academy Library. There's a good amount of scrolls that could help you along that path. And I'm sure Kurama can help you pick out scrolls that would be helpful to you." Iruka asked, feeling that Kurama had snorted at him, which was confirmed when Naruto rolled his eyes at his partner. "Wait for tomorrow, I was going to take the whole class down there in order to help them set up some basic Jutsu techniques between them, from what I hear, you're good at the Henge, much more than most kids your age." Iruka said, seeing as Naruto grinned under the praise. Iruka proceeded to give a stern look in response before continuing, "However, you don't have any other Jutsu techniques on you." Naruto deflated back down and nodded.
"They told me that the Academy would teach the Jutsu, I just had to practice the Chakra Control. Physically, I'm well off." Iruka shot an eyebrow towards the gut, noting the glare Naruto gave him. "I live with the Akimichis. Just one bowl does this." Naruto said, still keeping the glare on Iruka, who apologized with a sheepish laugh. The glare went away as Naruto groaned, "Then all of this s- stuff happened, and I just...I want to get stronger. To protect them! As the future Hokage, I want everyone to be friends with everyone, and I know that in order to do that, you have to be strong! And...I-I was too weak to protect him..." Naruto said, not noticing the tears that were starting to take hold until his voice broke off. Iruka sighed, grief bleeding through that loving gaze he gave Naruto as he knelt down to the aforementioned boy.
"I know Naruto...but you're not weak." Iruka said as Naruto glared at him in disbelief. "You aren't." The glare seemed to increase in intensity as he continued on, "Your heart Naruto, your heart." Iruka sighed from the confusion and decided to take a more direct approach with him. "If you were weak, you wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be asking me how to improve. Probably, you would have been asleep and not paying the least bit of attention, and I know it, but you're here. And because of that, I think that you're strong. Weak people give up, walk away, and wallow in self pity and defeat. You are strong, and I know it Naruto. Just because you couldn't protect those you love now, doesn't mean you can't gain the strength to in the future to protect those you meet later on. It doesn't make you weak, it just means you're young. You're seven years old, and it's up to us to protect you right now, to raise you so that when you grow up, you can carry the torch and help the future generations along. Now do you understand?" Iruka said, noting that the tears were drying up, only to be replaced by a wobbly grin.
"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, much to Iruka's joy. "Now, uh, when does lunch end?" Naruto asked as Iruka rolled his eyes from exasperation.
"Oh I almost forgot, there is no lunch period. Everyone is let out at lunch time!" Iruka grinned mischieviously at the yelling Naruto gave him, but noticed the shy shocked smile of Hinata. Seems she was also listening in and Iruka firmly denied that he didn't forget about her, no matter what anyone said. "How about you walk Hinata home?" Iruka suggested, smirking at the blush that met Hinata's face.
"I-I-I couldn't ask Naruto for t-t-that!" Hinata stuttered out as Naruto, though confused, nodded with a grin.
"Okay Iruka-sensei! I gotta make sure those bullies don't try attacking her again! Cmon Hinata, let's go!" Naruto said, seemingly unfazed by the blush from Hinata. She was so embarrassed that she fell down the steps in the middle, leading Naruto to catch her with a smile. "You okay Hinata?" He asked as he lifted Hinata up, only to see, much to Kurama and Iruka's exasperation, that she was passed out. Naruto was starting to get used to this by now and only made to put her on his back, smiling towards Iruka.
"You know where she lives?" Iruka caught him before he left, noting the flinch and awkward silence. Naruto sheepishly laughed as Iruka rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Cmon, I'll lead you towards her home." He said, figuring if Hiashi was going to kill him, to have him do it earlier rather than later. That and he wanted to watch, he noted with a smirk.
And that's that! I know it's a short chapter (Hinata decided to exist and take everything, damn it.) but I figured it was a fun chapter to break up everything. We started with murder after all, and well, Naruto is still learning how to deal with that, but that doesn't mean he's not a kid first. I blame my brain for the amount of scenes that can be summed up as 'Fan Service' here, and I'm not sure how to feel about Kurama being me here...Well whatever, sorry for the shortish chapter, but thank you for the responses to the story so far. We hit past 1k views, how even!? I can't even believe it, but thank you so much. The next chapter will be the Library, as well as establishing Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, so that should be fun. Also, Naruto is a bloody dumb dumb when it comes to romance, and I bloody love writing it, but I noticed towards the end just the sheer number of times Hinata fainted...which line pretty well up towards how it was in the anime.
When she was older.
Oh boy, that's gonna be a problem, but yeah, remember that this is the first day she met him, even years after (Being at graduation) she was still pretty shy and everything towards him, so I think it still falls pretty well within her character, and seeing Iruka and Kurama agree on something makes me cackle with ideas. Who knows?
Pre Academy will follow a set of about...4 chapters in total? This one, the next with the Library focusing around Team 7, the third which will focus on finding clues, as well as the Sandaime (aka the 3rd) and his response. Also that should get a pretty nice scene between Kakashi and Kurama, but not sure yet. The fourth chapter will focus on more and more chaos that Naruto gets into and bringing it up a few years via time skip. At least that's my plan right now honestly. Not saying that we won't see Hiashi and Neji next chapter (Oh we definitely are, I'm not passing up that beaut of a scene!) but that they won't be the focus. I don't know exactly how many chapters I have planed for this story, I really don't, but I kinda have up to the end of the Academy Arc, but not much more. I think I'm gonna go the path of screwing canon in the end (I think I already have with having Kurama as Naruto's friend lol) but that's mostly gonna be later on when the butterfly effect starts kicking in. Other than that? I don't know, I really haven't decided with Sasuke, and the Chunin exams. I think I might have an idea for Wave, but I haven't decided if I can do just enough different via this new Naruto personality, Kurama's influence, and actually do fight scenes well. I'm hoping, but it's why I been hesitant with Shippuden, since I know there is a lot of insane jutsu from there.
One more thing before I end this chapter, thank you so much. I can't ever say enough how amazing it is for you all to be reading this, and I just hope that I can write this story to you guys expectations, before blowing them away. I want to get your opinion on something that wouldn't really come into play towards Team 7 is formed. Well a couple of questions actually.
1. Do you want to see Sasuke and Sakura interact with each other? I can show some scenes between them, but it wouldn't be from Naruto's POV as it has been (Been 3rd person limited btw.) and instead it would be from Sasuke's most likely. I have some ideas for scenes between them, but I think I'm gonna leave it towards you guys to decide, as most of their scenes happen away from Naruto.
2. Do you want to see Kakashi actually train his students? In the Anime and in the manga, other than showing the D-rank missions, Kakashi didn't do any training up until Wave with the Tree-walking exercise that Naruto and Sasuke already know. I figure I can show some training scenes between them where they practice strategy as well as their own techniques.
3. Do you want to see any D-rank missions, or do you want a time skip for them?
Sorry for taking your time, but thanks in advance for answering the questions! I'll be seeing you next time!
-Char