A/N Ooooo boy, this hit 10k in the end all thanks to Hiashi being evil and stealing the show of four thousand words. I'm not terribly happy with how it came out due to how much I feel like I kinda summarized, but I think this is a good stopping point for it for now (might come back later to update and the like), honestly the only thing that kinda went as planned was the Library scene with Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, and even that went somewhere I had no bloody clue about wow. Sasuke also becomes a lot less of a douche as I decided a while ago, when thinking of Wave, to kinda say "Screw Canon, this is my story now!" while somethings will mirror canon, we kinda derailed that a few chapters ago, so meh. I don't exactly know the schedule for this, since schedules aren't something I usually do, but I'll keep going for this. Thank you so, so damn much for the reviews and favorites and stuff. We legit blew my other stories out of the water with the success from this. As it currently stands, 54 followers, 36 favorites, 5 reviews and a whopping 2,306 views.
One thing, I did edit through the other three chapters a bit, bringing them more in tune to what I'm using now and the like, I suggest giving them a read through!
Also, just letting you know here. We do break the no cursing rule ONCE here, but it's used to drive forward the story, so it's fine, right? Hopefully? I think? So there's that.
Also foreshadowing is fun, but sadly I'm not that subtle about it, maybe one day.
With all that said, enjoy the chapter guys! Sorry for the long wait!
Two and the Same
Chapter 4: Pre-Academy 2 - The Shadow Step Style
Hinata yawned, blinking her eyes as blond hair came into view, as well as a grin. "Hey Hinata! You're finally awake!" A blush made it to her face as she dug into the blond hair, heart racing from the touch. "Iruka had told me to wait on him, he's taking so long!" Naruto whined, bored from waiting as he looked like he was getting yelled at. "Kurama~" He dragged out the name as if it bore the weight of his boredom itself. Hinata giggled a bit at it as Naruto pouted a bit from it. Groaning her name as he had done with Kurama's, he sighed before changing the topic, "So Hinata, why were you so afraid of heading home?" Naruto asked lightly.
Hinata flinched back a bit, "W-Well I-I-I didn't...want to see you get h-hurt Naruto." Hinata stuttered as she explained, tapping two of her fingers against each other and diverting from Naruto's eyesight. "M-My father can be overprotective of me, to the point that I-I don't have any fr-friends in the village." She continued with a sense of sadness in her tone. Naruto flicked her on the forehead with a grin.
"You got me! And no matter who your father is, he can't change that!" Naruto put a thumb to his chest proudly, "Believe it!" He shouted loudly. Hinata burst out into giggles once more with a smile on her face from Naruto's confidence. Hinata looked behind and saw Iruka walking up behind him silently, putting a finger on his mouth when he noticed Hinata looking at him as he sneaked up on Naruto. He got two pieces of chalk erasers out and loudly clapped them next to Naruto's ear.
"WHAT!?" Naruto screamed indignantly in surprise as he started looking around for the noise, only to hear it again from his other ear. Hinata was struggling to be respectful and not laugh too loudly at the blond boy in front of her. It wasn't going too well as Naruto starting doing hand signs that seemed to terrify Iruka.
Giggling, Hinata walked up to the both of them with a smile on her face. "L-Let's get going. F-Father doesn't like w-waiting that long." Hinata said shyly, twiddling her fingers as the two agreed, (Though Naruto still looked at Iruka with a mischievous grin that promised a future prank on his sensei. Iruka's eye twitched in response.) and followed slightly behind her as Hinata opened the door to the Hyuuga compound. The surrounding area was dim in terms of light, with a sole garden near the middle of the compound that was surrounded by multiple houses. A large tree grew from the middle and a large three story house towered over the two and one story houses that lived nearby, Hinata walked towards that house, passing the tree with a humble bow. Iruka also gave a bow and Naruto shrugged and tried to walk on past the tree, only for Kurama to turn him around and have him bow so he didn't get yelled at while he slept. Naruto rolled his eyes out of ignorance, but Kurama was too tired to explain to him. Hinata walked and opened the door to the compound, only to find an slightly older looking boy glaring at her.
"Oh, so that's where you were. Who knew it would take you a hundred years to get home Hinata? What, get lost on the way home out of shame?" The boy asked sarcastically, Hinata looking painfully shy under the older boy's glare.
"W-Well..." Hinata stuttered as the boy ignored her in favor of the two behind her. She gulped at the notice that she wasn't even worth the time of day to him.
"And who are these two?" The boy instead asked, not at all remorseful for his actions. Naruto gritted his teeth as Kurama opened an eye. Sighing, Kurama resigned himself for a lack of sleep as he watched Naruto's anger rose in waves against the calm rage that the boy portrayed.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna become the next Hokage, Believe it!" Naruto stuck his thumb to his chest, but his normal grin was instead replaced with a look of determined anger. The boy didn't really look impressed, and only scoffed.
"My name is Iruka Umino (Thank you to the one that told me this! I honestly hadn't known!)and I am Hinata's Pre-Academy Sensei. I came alongside Naruto here, because I wanted to talk to your father and clear something up before the public rumors muddied up all the facts of the matter. Please excuse us." Iruka cut in before the boy and Naruto could continue on with their spat, while Hinata silently thanked him with a sigh of relief. The boy rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but only because my loving sister is inviting you, I got a mission to go on, get out of my way." The boy glared at Hinata before walking through Naruto, shoving him out of the way.
"HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Naruto yelled back in anger, only to get ignored once more. Naruto, gritting his teeth, readied for running after him and giving him a piece of his mind. Hinata grabbed his hand in a look of begging, shaking her head to ask him not to do it. Reluctantly, as well as still mentally cursing the boy, he finally turned back with a hmph as Iruka sighed in relief, mentally adding that boy to the list of stuff to talk to Hiashi-san about.
"Be sure to buy the red tomatoes Neji!" An older looking Hyuga, this one without the Byakuran and looking somewhat poor called towards Neji, who visibly flinched and ignored her. She sighed before bowing to Hinata, looking as if she was terrified of her presence near Hinata.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked out of understanding, having seen that face in the mirror when he was younger and struggling to get by. He shook the bad memories back as the lady smiled with a nod before walking away. Naruto looked a bit worried, and decided to head back later with some food he could find to give them.
The group walked inside the rather bland looking house, doing their best to drive the memory of meeting the boy, or Neji as the lady had called him, out of their mind for the moment. Tatami mats laid here and there, but very little else was visible. They took their shoes off as the group walked to the main door. A older looking man laid in seiza in front of them, but began with giving Hinata a firm stare. Kurama couldn't find any malice within the stare until it gazed and landed upon Naruto and Iruka, Kurama smirked mentally at this, much to the confusion of Naruto.
"So you're finally back Hinata, what caused you to be so late?" He asked with nary a tone, as if his emotions did not exist to begin with. Hinata gulped a bit, but before she could start stuttering, Iruka smiled and walked in front.
"That's actually what I wish to talk to you Hiashi-san, if that's alright with you." Iruka calmly asked, head bowing a bit low out of respect, as Hiashi turned his head towards Naruto. He raised an eyebrow in an obvious question, but it was quickly gone as soon as it appeared, "Naruto is here because he was part of the whole reason why we're here, and I figured you would want a first hand explanation over what happened since he was the one that had saved your daughter." Iruka said, mentally smirking as he laid the hook. He knew that if he wanted to get this situated without Naruto getting blacklisted by the Hyuuga clan, he had to act fast and intelligently. Hiashi looked back towards Iruka, still keeping that passive face on his face.
"Okay, I'll allow him to stay for the time being, but only until he explains his part of the story." Hiashi said calmly, much to the bitter annoyance of Naruto. Kurama didn't really disagree with his emotions, knowing about the passive facade the Hyuuga clan were known for.
"Thank you Hiashi-san, I'll make this quick as to not waste your precious time. Earlier today, Naruto here had saved Hinata from a group of three bullies that were beating her up. Afterwards, when trying to enter the class, he was tricked into getting locked in a supply closet with Hinata. Sadly, Hinata was passed out from all of that due to her..." Iruka paused here, motioning towards Hinata to pick up.
"A-Ano...I was passed out because they were all kicking my stomach. I was able to hold on until Naruto showed up, but he provided me with time to rest my wounds and focus on my chakra." Hinata lied with a blush on her face, not at all wanting to tell the truth so close to Naruto. Even though Iruka sat in the middle between the two, she could still see Naruto giving her a reassuring grin her way.
"Then I must thank you Naruto-san, thank you for keeping her safe, but how did you get yourself locked in a small supply closet with my daughter." Hiashi asked, his tone becoming colder with each word he said. It was a minute change of tone, but enough to where Kurama kept Naruto from speaking immediately.
"Kurama! What is it? He said thank you and everything!" Naruto whined mentally, somehow keeping a blank look on his face in the process. "I don't think he is as thankful as he sounds. Choose your words carefully or you might not live to regret it." Kurama told him, much to Naruto's nervousness. Gulping back a breath he didn't know he held, Naruto, with Kurama's help, began speaking aloud to Hiashi.
"Thank you for your kindness Hiashi-san, as Iruka-sensei has already told you, I was tricked into the closet. There were two...Chunin? I don't know but they had those vests like Iruka-sensei does, blocking the doorway. I asked them where the class was since it was the first day and we were late so I really didn't know where to go! They pointed me to the closet, so I went there, but then they locked me in! I was carrying Hinata who was pa-recovering, and I tried breaking the door down. Sadly, I couldn't get us out before Iruka-sensei came and found us with the rest of the class, so we stayed for lunch in order to catch up only to find that it was after class ended, can you believe that!? So that's why Hinata was late, don't blame her or anything, since it wasn't her fault! If you want someone to blame, blame those te-idiots that locked us in the closet!" Naruto said as Kurama's hold on his speech grew less and less with each word he rambled. Remarkably, Hiashi nodded along and seemed as if he was listening intently on the story that Naruto provided. Naruto grinned at the end, happy to see someone paying attention and not ignoring him out of content, and Hiashi smiled lightly back at the young lad sitting in a sloppy seiza in front of him. He turned to Hinata, smile still on his face. Iruka had a stern look towards Naruto as he noticed him almost cursing during the explanation, but said nothing.
"Is what he speaks true Hinata?" Hiashi asked lightly, but the smile twitched when Hinata flinched back out of fear. Naruto wanted to reach towards her, but Iruka sat between them and shook his head, much to Naruto's chagrin at the motion. Hinata looked towards Naruto and her eyes of fear steeled into ones of protectiveness. She looked back at Hiashi.
"Yes Father, he came to rescue me from the bullies before I had passed out from my wounds. I am sorry for failing you in that manner." Hinata bowed her head deeply into her own lap, failing to see the look of pride flash across Hiashi's face at his daughter before it faded into his standard poker face.
"You did not fail me Hinata, we shall train you more, and I hope you use this experience as an inspiration to get stronger to protect what you call dear. Naruto-san, allow me to express my gratitude to you, and an apology for thinking you made yourself out as a fool." Hiashi said respectfully, much to Naruto's glee. Iruka looked at him, as well as Kurama, before Naruto grinned and stood up suddenly.
"Don't worry about it Pokerface-san! I'll continue to help out Hinata-chan as she is my best friend and I never abandon my friends!" Naruto said seriously, thumb over his chest once again. Kurama burst out laughing at the twitch that came upon Hiashi's face at his new nickname.
"P-Pokerface-san?" Iruka looked close to fainting as he stuttered out the name. Naruto's grin grew.
Hinata was just plain passed out, from a mix of laughter and embarrassment of her friend.
Hiashi however, chuckled along. Iruka passed out at that point as Hiashi stood up. "Then I'll trust you Naruto-san, but no one works alone. Follow me if you will. I'll have my guards take Iruka-san and Hinata-chan to their rooms so don't worry about them." Hiashi explained, noticing Naruto's worried glance to his friends. A smile made its way upon his face as he led Naruto out of the room.
Kurama watched as Naruto was led by Hiashi towards a rectangular-like room, most likely a training room if the taijutsu class was anything to go by. The tall one, the teacher if Kurama's guess held true, bowed as soon as he saw Hiashi, but that shocked expression turned into badly concealed rage when his eyes shifted to Naruto. Hiashi most likely held a firm gaze based on the fact that the teacher scoffed bitterly before looking away, desperately trying to pretend that Naruto and his very existence didn't exist. Naruto had a pang of hurt rush through his mind before putting on his gleeful-looking mask of happiness he calls a grin.
"So Pokerface-san, why are we here?" Naruto asked out of curiosity, enjoying the expression of pure shock rushing over the teacher. Hiashi noticed the glint in Naruto's eyes and held one of his own, surprising Naruto and Kurama. "He has a glint to! He knows!" Naruto thought happily, pointedly ignoring Kurama's own groans of "Oh dear kami, there's two of them..." in favor of watching the teacher stutter unintelligibly.
"Well, we're here to train you. I had heard you were trained by Honoke and I was curious on what he taught you." Hiashi admitted, only to have his eye twitch a bit from the overpowering glint of glee that leaped like stars from Naruto's eyes.
"You knew Honoke-sensei!?" Naruto practically leaped for joy from it as Hiashi, after a moment of trying to get over his shock, nodded. The rest of the clan members in the training hall seemed to just stop and stare at the pair like they were aliens or something, much to Kurama's amusement.
"Why yes, we were partners for many missions together as I taught him when he was preparing for his Chunnin exams. He's somewhat of a legend here actually for his actions during the Nine-" Hiashi stopped talking from the crimson glare that flashed towards him. Coughing, he changed the topic, "I'm so sorry about what happened to him, I promise you that I will do all I can to catch his murderer, just like how you will do everything to protect my daughter, correct?" Hiashi asked as the crimson faded back into that sky blue he knew. Naruto grinned with a firm nod.
"You can count on me Pokerface-san!" Naruto had his thumb to his chest in his signature pose. The other students and teachers openly gaped at the sight as Naruto laughed at the sight. Since he had his eyes close, he missed the smile that Hiashi gave him.
"Of course, let's begin." Hiashi said before rushing at Naruto.
Naruto didn't even know what had happened, but the pattern repeated again and again as Kurama led him to safety. After a while, Kurama scoffed and told him to follow his instincts before he started relying too much on Kurama to help out. Naruto gritted his teeth out of frustration, but couldn't deny the fact that Kurama wasn't wrong at that. Apparently what Hiashi meant by let's begin was let's begin beating you up to the ground.
"Left." Hiashi said simply as Naruto had started to jump to the left. "Back and right." He said again as he kept telling Naruto's movements. Hiashi began attacking once more as Naruto got blown back, still conscious this time. "You managed to not pass out, congrats. Usually takes someone about 27 times to do that, you only took 15. Though they actually landed hits on me before passing out, so don't hold your head up too high from that. Well Iruka's waiting on you so come back tomorrow and I'll explain how you can improve your reaction times and start teaching you counter attacks." Hiashi said simply with a smirk as Naruto barely even registered the words before passing out once again.
Iruka scoffed as he walked over. "Guess you were still mad huh Honoke-san?" Iruka glared without any real weight behind it, more bemused than wrathful, Hiashi shrugged at the accusation.
"Who knows? Maybe this will teach him not to get himself locked in supply closets with my daughter, or cause her to pass out blushing. I had to test that who my daughter has a crush on. Speaking of my daughter, where is Hinata?" Hiashi said, a light smirk still visible on his face. Iruka scoffed once more as he picked Naruto onto his back.
"She's waiting for us out front, told her to wait on Naruto and me since I figured something like this was going to happen." Iruka explained before smirking himself, "Didn't want to carry two." Iruka said simply, much to the chuckled laughter from Hiashi.
"I see, I see, still will never understand why you never try to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu Technique to help with that." Hiashi pointed towards Naruto, "Imagine if he learned it before you, it would make you look like you're lagging behind your kouhais." Hiashi laughed as Iruka rolled his eyes.
"You're one to talk, you don't even learn your clan's main technique. Oh wait, your clan is cut in half, I forgot." Iruka winked before the two broke out into laughter.
"Tomorrow at 7." Hiashi said tensely with a hand on Iruka's shoulder. "Both you and him get training for that one." Hiashi continued before Iruka nodded with a nervous laugh before walking away.
The day was almost done at that point with the sun turning orange in that high-up sky as Naruto finally woke up groggily. Even Kurama was tired after having to heal all his wounds and neither could stop the indignant scream that came out when Kakashi suddenly popped up in from of Naruto's tired eyes.
"Yo!" Kakashi said simply with his only visible eye closed. Naruto's eyes twitched in response, which Kakashi promptly ignored, "It's time to get started on our information hunting, as well as your advanced stealth training." Kakashi said with a tone suggesting happiness.
"I ra-" Naruto tried to say as Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Great, let's get started!" Kakashi hastily stopped Naruto's dismissal before the two seemed to vanish to the naked eye. In reality, Kakashi carried Naruto while Shunshining, and soon they were in a tree near the Academy, which happened to be the same one Iruka and Honoke were in on Naruto's birthday party. Kakashi was glad his mask hid his smirk as he watched the boy puke onto the building from it. He knew from the purple eyes that glared at him that they weren't happy about it, but he couldn't resist messing with the young kid in front of him. After the puking and glaring faded, Naruto's eyes turned into stary blue ones.
"Kakashi-sensei, what was that!?" He squawked at Kakashi, who cleaned his ears with a finger in response.
"You are nowhere near the skill needed to know, now never mind that, look over there and tell me what you see." Kakashi said, pointing towards the Academy. Naruto was about to ask him what he meant when he spotted a man that looked really nervous, constantly looking around and back to the Academy building. He carried a box that was about 5 inches cubed, but they couldn't tell what was inside of it at the moment with how protective he looked about it.
"Who is that guy?" Naruto asked Kakashi, who simply closed his eye again.
"That's what I want you to find out. You got your target, go find out about him via any means necessary." Kakashi said simply, subtly making a sign behind his back towards the two Anbu watching over him to keep him safe, to which Naruto groaned.
"Great, so you're pushing me away from the case." Naruto pouted, but still kept watch over the man.
"No, I really do believe that man has something to do with whatever is happening here, but I'm going after more dangerous prey. Prey that could kill a little kid like yourself, even with Kurama's help. I don't think Kurama can heal you if your limbs get ripped apart and your head chopped off, so I want to keep you safe. Just watch over the man, see what he does and I'll be able to gather the evidence from your mind later on with a new jutsu I'll teach you after this." Kakashi said, much to the awe of Naruto, who was hooked with the words 'new jutsu'. Kurama and Kakashi shared a smirk at Naruto's attitude as Kakashi pointed back to the man, who was walking away. "Hey look, he's getting away." Kakashi said tonelessly, causing Naruto to turn.
In that moment, Kakashi shunshin'd away towards the roof of the Academy outside of Naruto's eyesight, and while he saw Naruto balk and run after the man from the rooftops, Kakashi looked towards the roof. Two shadows dropped down a few meters away from him.
"Let's get started." Kakashi said simply as the two nodded, before they slipped into the Academy in search for clues.
Naruto and Kurama struggled to keep silent as they watched him, with Kurama having to help out with keeping him focused on his surroundings, while Naruto watched the man and kept him in his sights. The man bobbed and weaved around the silent streets of Konoha, looking as if someone was after him, ironic given Naruto's given job, but he wasn't laughing. The man eventually slipped into a darken side-street that even Naruto couldn't tell where it went. After a second of hesitation, he kept watch over on the rooftop above, as the man stopped, looking left and right as he left the box that he had been carrying the whole way before running away, his job seemingly done. Naruto frowned as he let him go, more interested in what would happen to the box.
"Good idea. The man was probably a lackey, I'll keep watch around us to make sure we don't get caught from behind, be careful Naruto." Kurama told him at his thought process, to which he got a light nod from Naruto and not a word back. Another man, this one calmer and collected arrived robed in a uniform that Naruto didn't know of as well as a mask that reminded him of the men that would chase him down when he was out on one of his many pranks; however, the masks those men wore proudly depicted the animal they represented, color and all. This mask was super vague with its markings, to the point where Naruto couldn't even tell what animal, if any, it was supposed to depict. The masked man, who could have been a boy depending on what it was but Naruto couldn't tell from his perch, grabbed the box and seemed to jump away, with Naruto immediately giving chase after him. Unlike the man from earlier, this masked assailant quickly caught on to the boy and did everything he could to lose him, if it wasn't for Kurama's notice, Naruto would have lost him on the first corner he took, but the chase continued on for longer than the two would admit. Many long minutes later, the two were finally at where the man wanted to be, as evidence by the fact that Naruto did all that he could to give him space. After the masked person thought he was gone, he arrived nearby the Academy, jumping in a passageway that Naruto never even knew existed. Giving about ten seconds between the two, Naruto gulped and opened the passageway below towards what he had thought were the sewers. He climbed down and struggled to look around, seeing a faint light in the distance.
He carefully sneaked towards it, seeing a group of masked men and a much older man with bandages wrapping up his body. He struggled to listen in, but could only make a few words out. Something about Konoha, and "We begin tonight." Confused and having found all he could, Naruto exited the passageway the way he came, but Kurama grimaced, unsure if anyone had noticed the two there. Naruto panted as he walked towards the Akimichi compound, exhausted from the long amount of close jumps and runs he had when stalking the man and masked person. Choza was waiting for him at the compound entrance as he picked up the young boy to bring him to bed.
"Sorry..." Naruto mumbled sleepily, trying to apologize for not being able to hear more of the conversation.
"For what? You came home safe and sound, that's all matters Naruto." Choza smiled lightly as he said this.
"Home..." Naruto mumbled lightly, before falling asleep. Choza walked into his room and tucked him into bed.
"Yup, home." Choza said to the sleeping Naruto, "Rest tight little one." He lightly kissed Naruto's forehead before leaving the room, carefully closing the door as not to wake him.
A yawn sounded from Naruto as he slowly got out of bed, unsure of how much time passed. "Ugh...I feel like a brick hit me then smacked me around a bunch..." Naruto mentally groaned as he heard Kurama snort, "The sad part is, you're probably not that far off, that Pale-face did a huge number on you and I'm still trying to get everything back into working shape after last night's adventure." Kurama explained, most likely mad at himself for letting it happen, "Da-you're right, I am." Kurama said, biting himself back from cursing for Naruto's sake, who snickered. Kurama simply growled before Naruto nervously backed off that train of thought.
"Hmm, I wonder what's happening today, Kakashi-sensei never taught me that jutsu, so that should be happening later on...oh no, OH NO AM I LATE!?" Naruto shouted from the realization, rushing to try and find his clock, only to find out he was indeed running late. He rushed towards the door to get ready before Choza peeked through the door.
"Don't worry Naruto, you're heading to the Hokage before class, you'll meet up with them at the library, okay?" Choza explained to the panicking Naruto, who visibly relaxed before yelling at Kurama to stop laughing. Choza himself joined in, much to the young boy's chagrin over being double teamed on, which only inspired Choza to laugh harder.
After getting fully ready, and eating a bit of Choza's cooking without the Akimichi-styled ingredients,(Which only furthered Naruto's running theory of the whole Akimichi gut with how Choza complained about it not being as good as the Akimichi food, but that Naruto needed to eat more than a 'small' bowl of food. Kurama was between impressed and terrified with how accurate Naruto's theory was starting to seem.) Naruto finally went towards the school, heading through towards the Hokage's office, after a quick greetings exchange between him and the secretary, Naruto opened the door to the Hokage's office and walked on in with a smile on his face, which grew when seeing Kakashi, but soon started turning into a shocked and terrified expression as he saw the multitude of different high-ranking ninja gathered around. He was quickly turning round about to walk out, thinking he was interfering in an important meeting until Kakashi turned towards him.
"Ah, there's the guest of honor, Naruto! Over here!" Kakashi called out towards him, Naruto mentally cried as he walked back over. "So, I promised to show you a new jutsu yesterday, correct?" Kakashi asked to a resounding nod from Naruto, Kakashi mirrored it before continuing on, "Right, so here's the signs for the jutsu of Dog-Tiger-Snake-Dog-Frog, and with that, just use something and you can use the Informational Exchange Jutsu." Kakashi explained a tad awkwardly, stuttering a bit at the application of the jutsu, since it differs between users. For him, he used his dogs and they would bark out the Jutsu, Anko's snakes would hiss it out, while Kuranai would just use rose petals to apply the jutsu. Naruto's was a tad different, to where he took a deep breath as if mirroring the Uchiha's Fire Ball Jutsu, but then blew out a compressed pocket of air from his mouth. Kakashi and the others watched with curiosity written on their faces as the air bubble made it's way slowly towards the Sandaime before popping. The scene around them all changed into what had happened the night previous, to which they mostly remained impartial until the moment Naruto let the man go in favor off watching the box, to which Kakashi congratulated him for his thinking, as well as Anko making a sketch of the face to send to the other workers of T&I to go after, before the memory played on.
Their faces shifted into looks of concern, especially Hiruzen and Kakashi, when the masked man came up. Naruto looked away out of embarrassment on the long game of cat and mouse the two played, and while he expected ridicule for him nearly losing track multiple times, he gained none of it. Instead a tense silence befell them as the memory continued down the sewer.
"Oh no...please say it's not so..." Naruto heard Hiruzen say as he saw him go down the sewer. Finally it led to the conversation Naruto barely overheard, and the man they saw. "Oh dear...Danzo..." Hiruzen said with heavy regret in his tone. Naruto was massively confused by this and was about to ask before Kurama growled out of his mouth.
"Is Danzo the name of that guy we saw? I have a funny feeling you have some things to explain old fart, so I suggest you get started on what happened last night, and why there was a full group down there, yet they had to have a terrified man who was close to peeing his own pants deliver something for them instead of getting it themselves. It felt too...easy of a target, as if they wanted us to find them, and I don't even know if we got spotted! Start explaining you old fart!" Kurama rudely cut the silence, but Naruto didn't do anything to apologize as they turned their heads towards Hiruzen. No one else except Kurama with his steady glare said a word.
Hiruzen sighed in what looked to be resignation to the situation. "Danzo is the head of the Citizen Council, which watch over my actions to make sure I don't become a dictator." Hiruzen began, perfectly ignoring Kurama's snort at the description, "On top of that, he is a dear friend of mine who I told a while back to quit this foolish sub-division he had created. Kakashi here exposed his intentions to assassinate me years ago and helped me stop his plan. If it wasn't for the fear I have that he is what is stopping us from having a massive civil war on our hands, I would have killed him that day, but for the peace of you and your generation, I spared him. I won't let him get away with this, so Naruto. Let us handle that, it is way too dangerous for you to handle." Hiruzen explained, only to hear bitter laughter spawn from Naruto's mouth.
"Oh cry me a river, best friend? The man tried to KILL you, all for what? You to casually forgive him and have him still keep up his nefarious plans? Man I thought the other one was an idiot but you take the cake. What, any more secrets you have to share? Any more murderers and traitors you chose to spare?" Kurama spat out in a rage. Hiruzen flinched slightly, which made Kurama burst out laughing that bitter laugh, "I'll leave that to you, I'm not playing politics with you, on to other matters. Eyelid, did you get any leads from your end?" Kurama turned his attention away from the Hokage, who looked reduced to a regretful old fart in Kurama's eyes, in favor for Kakashi. For his credit, Kakashi showed no outward signs of acknowledging the nickname.
"We have some form of a lead, but it seems to be a rabbit hole going deeper, nothing concrete that I can show you all yet sadly." Kakashi informed them, and soon after the meeting was adjourned. The other Jonin looked at Naruto, then Hiruzen, then back to Naruto before they left, while Kakashi decided to stay with a hand on Naruto's shoulder to stop him from leaving. Hiruzen coughed as Naruto turned back around.
"Are you alright you two, well, three?" Hiruzen asked calmly, but the tone suggested something akin to deep regret that made Naruto flinch back in guilt slightly. The move didn't get past the others in the room.
"Yes Hokage-sama." Kakashi said stiffly, still having not recovered over the bombshell from just moments prior. Kurama had said what many of them were just too scared to ask out of a mixture of respect and fear of breaking it. Kurama had no chains in that front and broken that image they built up of him. How many more had he spared? How long has he done it for? What else had he done? The questions raked inside Kakashi's mind as well as many of the other Jonins that were in the room, but a job was a job. Danzo, and whoever was the murderer of Honoke, whoever has been trying to sabotage the Academy, the mysteries kept getting deeper and deeper, like a rabbit hole that spiraled to another land of wonder.
"I...I don't know oji-san...I don't know." Naruto mumbled out, still trying to understand what had happened. It made for a pitying experience for the three, seeing Naruto nearly on the brink of tears as he raised his head with a fake grin to hide those tears, "But I'll keep going! There's no way I can be Hokage if I give up here! So what if you messed up in the past!? Who cares! It's in the past! We just gotta clean the mess up and do right today! So let's keep going! Oji-san, you made mistakes in the past like everyone does, you're not a kami, you're not superior to us all. We're human, and that means cleaning after our mistakes with the help of friends and family, right?" Naruto's false grin started turning truer and truer with each passing line as he watched the shock meet Hiruzen's eyes as well as Kakashi's eye. Tears started coming out of Hiruzen as he nodded, "Then let's do it! My Ninja way is to always help those that require help and can't help themselves, so I'll help out in any way I can without running away!" Naruto grinned with a cheeky snicker as he looked towards Hiruzen with closed, happy eyes.
"I believe you Naruto, maybe it is time that I pay for my past mistakes and clean after the messes I have made. I cannot do such a thing alone, but maybe with the help of you all, I can pay for those mistakes. Thank you for your kind words Naruto." Hiruzen said with sincerity. He mentally sighed as he heard the snort from Kurama. Naruto opened his left eye to reveal the crimson touch to his eye color.
"He might forgive you easily, but don't you dare think that I do. It'll take more than that to convince me, but know actions speak louder than mere words ever could." Kurama told him before the red glint faded away back to Naruto, who had a smile take his face.
"You can go now Naruto, I need to talk to Kakashi for a bit alone, I do believe you have a class to get going towards, don't you?" Hiruzen smiled as Naruto panicked before quickly running off with hurried goodbyes to the two. As he left, a tense silence formed before Kakashi walked towards the desk and knelled before him. "Rise." Hiruzen calmly said as Kakashi rose. "You lied in front of Naruto, why?" Hiruzen asked, having seen the subtle Anbu sign of 'Lie' that Kakashi had sent his way during the conversation with Naruto.
"Because what I found was something that he would try to dig through himself, and I didn't want to risk whoever was after him to find out we know." Kakashi stated simply, forming the signs for the jutsu to show him what happened.
Right after splitting with Naruto
Kakashi and two other Anbu agents quickly sank through the window through a small crack in the window as they appeared below. Kakashi and the three dived in three different directions, one heading towards the many classrooms on the ground floor, another towards the upstairs classrooms, and Kakashi heading towards the facility records.
After digging through the files, he searched for Naruto's file only to find a picture of the Nine Tails, Kurama, stapled over Naruto's face. On top of that, the words...
"Begin Operation Tailed Sabotage effective immediately." Hiruzen repeated in a faint mumble to himself, absorbing the information from the files that Kakashi had seen. A frown took his once neutral face as Kakashi removed his masks.
"I don't at all know what to expect with this, but Naruto absolutely cannot know about this. Someone at the Academy is trying to sabotage his whole class, if not the whole school. Someone high up in the Academy ranks at that. If Naruto found out about this..." Kakashi gritted his teeth in a deep frown. Hiruzen nodded.
"Take Iruka with you after they're done with class, bring him here and I'll assign your mission that I require from you both. Bring Anko here as well if you wish for her assistance on the mission, be back by nightfall, understood?" Hiruzen said sternly as Kakashi nodded before shunshining away. Hiruzen sighed in annoyance this time before smoking from his pipe. "So they are trying to sabotage through the Academy..." Hiruzen mumbled aloud as he turned off the seals that provided them with secrecy.
"Hokage-sama, your paperwork has come in." His assistant dumped a huge stack of papers on the desk, much to the tears of Hiruzen. An idea sprouted in his mind as he formed the seals to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Another two hims appeared.
"Yes me?" The clone on the left asked.
"We need to get these done, in order to see to the other manners, can I trust us to break these into stacks and finish them?" Hiruzen asked seriously, to the nods of the other two. Breaking it into three different stacks, they got to work.
Naruto barely managed to fall into line as the class headed towards the library, which happened to be right next door to the Hokage's office all along.
"Hey Naruto, glad to see you back with us." Iruka smiled as he pointed him out, causing the other students to look back to the nervously laughing Naruto. "Now the Academy Library is one of the most important places for a ninja for it allows you access to scrolls detailing how to use certain jutsus or Taijutsu styles. Now, you have access to getting three different items today, one of which must be a Taijutsu style if you do not have one of your own, that or a way to use the style you have in a different way that would fit you if you have a clan style. If you need help, I'll be right over here, and you can ask your classmates on their own opinion, have fun!" Iruka said before finding a table to sit at. A grand majority of the students broke up and explored the library, yet Hinata walked over to Naruto with a smile on her face, Choji was also heading towards the group, scaring the shy Hinata a bit as Naruto grinned and ran up to the two.
"Hey guys!" Naruto said, throwing his hands around the two he considered family in his eyes. Hinata blushed something fierce as Choji grinned back to his surrogate brother. "Any ideas about what you're gonna be going after?" Naruto asked, to which both looked slightly guilty looking at him, much to his confusion, "What's wrong guys?" Naruto asked, to which Choji recovered first.
"Sadly we have clan jutsu, so we have to go to the other section away from ya, the other section is just for those that have clan jutsu and if we're gonna find what we need we have to go there without you. Sorry about that Naruto..." Choji explained, to which both looked downcast. Naruto simply pulled the three of them into a hug.
"It's fine guys, really! We'll meet up after this and help each other practice! I'll see you then!" Naruto said with a caring grin on his face, to which the two returned it with smiles. He waved the two off before his smile started fading when they left his sight. A sigh later, Naruto turned back towards the section he was allowed to search through, noting the glare he received from the librarian which he couldn't tell if it was because of him being loud or him being him. Another sigh was let out as he walked towards the Taijutsu styles, seeing what could help him the most.
"Hmm...that's a good question, what style would fit you the most? You prank people a lot from what little I watched of your younger days, and live off of being unpredictable. I think I know which of these styles could fit you, but I don't know if they even have it here. Head back to Iruka real quick, might as well make sure." Kurama told him as Naruto shrugged, making his way towards Iruka.
"Yeah Naruto?" Iruka asked, curious about his inquiry.
"Uh, Kur-" Iruka covered his mouth with a light warning, "A part of my brain?" Naruto asked, to which Iruka smiled and nodded, "Yeah a part of my brain was wanting to ask you if a certain style was in this section, saying it would be the most helpful for me." Naruto explained, to which Iruka motioned him to continue on. "Something called...the Style of the Flowing Shadows?" Naruto asked, to which a metaphorical light bulb lit up in Iruka's mind.
"I think I know the style you're referring about there, sadly the one you're thinking of is only for Genin and higher ranks to get; however, the beginning style of it, the Style of the Shadow Step should be here for you to use. While it's only the beginning style of it, it's made to build the foundation of the Flowing Shadows style up. You'll find it on Row I subsection B if I recall correctly." Iruka said, to which Naruto nodded with a light bow and a grin, before running towards that area.
The library was somewhat small, as it was only the Academy Student section, so he had to try and avoid many of the other students that now populated its small area. Kurama was repeating the area so that he would not forget while Naruto kept his search up. Eventually, he made it to the area Iruka described, only to find a crowd of girls in his way.
"Excuse me!" He said as he tried getting through to subsection B, only for the girl to ignore him. He went for lightly pushing her out of the way in order to get through to the area. She acted indigant and tried pushing him back, but he was already on his way through and saying excuse me to the next one just standing and blocking the path through. Eventually, and much to the ire of most of the females in his class, he got through to see two students that the girls were surrounding.
Naruto ignored Sasuke and Sakura, instead trying to look for the Shadow step style, but Sakura was the one that noticed him and the crowd looking ready to beat him up. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Sakura called out to him.
"Hmm...subsection B...where are you...this is C...ah! There it is!" Naruto mumbled aloud, completely ignoring Sakura's call as he held the scroll containing the style he was looking for with a grin. He started heading over towards the jutsu area, but was walled off by the classmates, "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Naruto shouted at the others, who only hmph'd as if he deserved it. He turned back to Sakura and Sasuke.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Sakura repeated herself, stomping up towards him.
"I was getting a Taijutsu style for myself, as was the assignment assigned to us! Iruka said the style I was looking for was here, and lo and behold, it was with you all blocking the way towards it! I said excuse me and all that but you simply ignored me!" Naruto explained despite himself, only for Sasuke to walk up and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder, to which she looked heartsick before Sasuke pushed her back. Sasuke nodded to Naruto.
"What style did you get?" Sasuke asked, looking actually curious on what the Dobe was so excited to be studying. While Sasuke had clan jutsu, he wasn't allowed to get the Clan style until he was at least a Genin, and many didn't even know if Konoha still had it in its records. Thus, he was here and trying to find a style of his own.
"It's called the Style of the Shadow Step, it wasn't really the one I was originally going to get, but that one is stuck on the Genin rank so I have to make due sadly. It relies on unpredictable movement and using multiple objects to create the illusion of you having multiple people attacking together against the enemy! Apparently it's a style that the Yondaime used in order to fight the Nine Tails years ago, but no one is completely sure of it. The idea came to my head and I figured since I tend to prank a lot of people, I could make good use of it. Oh, uh, I think I might know a style you could use, but I'm not entirely sure..." Naruto explained with a grin. While Sasuke's fangirls looked just about ready to end Naruto's existence, Sasuke smiled back.
"Oh? What would that be?" Sasuke asked, intrigued on what the Dobe thought he could use. He doubted it would be much help, but it was better then dealing with the fangirls over and over again. Even if it fell out, it might be a good start if anything else.
"Hmm, judging from your clan, you tend to use Fire styled techniques against people, so you would use trip wires to immobilise the enemy in order for your jutsu to hit and do damage, as well as a way to send your jutsu along specialized wires built to withstand the flame, correct?" Naruto asked, not entirely sure himself and just going by what Kurama was explaining. Sasuke actually held a look of shock for a moment as he nodded.
"H-How did you know that?" Sasuke stuttered out, surprised by how Naruto knew. Naruto, being Naruto, gave him a cheeky grin in return.
"Trade secret! But, with that all in mind, I think the Style of the Roaring Dragons would be a good start for you, but I think that's also Genin level. Maybe the start is this Dragonstep style?" Naruto said, pointing to the style that laid next to his own. "Heh, ironic. I think the styles are related to each other in someway. Funny huh?" Naruto grinned as Sasuke looked over the style, impressed with how much it seemed to fit him. He pocketed the style with a smile of appreciation.
"Thanks dobe, here have this." Sasuke threw a jutsu scroll his way. Naruto fumbled a bit to catch it, but managed to read it. "It's a wind jutsu that might fit you, it wouldn't work for me when I tried it, but who knows, you might find a use for it. We're even for this." Sasuke said as Naruto grinned.
"Friends?" Naruto suggested, to which Sasuke seemed to think about it a bit.
"Who knows?" Sasuke said instead before walking off. His fangirls looking torn on if they should follow or beat Naruto up.
"You got lucky this time you baka!" Sakura said before the fangirls followed Sasuke. Groaning from the whole ordeal, Naruto opened the scroll containing the wind jutsu.
"Wow, he has a pretty good eye of jutsu. This is what's called the Wind Style: Air bullet jutsu, or Futon: Wind Bullet jutsu depending on who you ask. I'm impressed, this might actually fit your style pretty well as a distraction technique to set up the Shadowstep style." Kurama seemed actually impressed with Sasuke's choice, but Sasuke himself said that he couldn't use it, how could Naruto? Kurama scoffed at his thoughts, "After this, tell Iruka to let you test with Chakra Paper, if my guess is right, you can more than definitely use this. Either way, he didn't say that you would be able to use all the techniques you get here, he just said you can get a limit of three today, most likely to switch and try out others if it doesn't suit you. Good job on the style you gave him, I think he appreciated it...but you totally guessed didn't you?" Kurama deadpanned as he asked, only to see Naruto nervously laugh in response. Kurama sighed and waved him off, "Thankfully, I think your guess is right, but it's not the end of the world if it isn't, since he will probably ask Iruka what the Roaring Dragons starter style is either way. Thought that matters, thought that matters." Kurama told him with a smirk as Naruto went in search of another jutsu to fit the one he grabbed, only to see Hinata walking towards him.
"N-Naruto, are you a-al-alright?" Hinata asked, looking worried. Naruto nodded with a smile which Hinata returned, "I-I'm glad, I-I was worried when I saw w-what happened there." Hinata continued, relieved that Naruto was okay.
"Thanks Hinata! I hope you found everything you need?" Naruto asked, to her smile.
"Y-Yeah, we're about to leave actually. You find all yo-yours?" Hinata told him, much to his shock.
"Oh no! I'm still one jutsu off! I was about to go check for another Futon jutsu to go with the one I got just now!" Naruto exclaimed, to which Hinata flinched a bit from the volume, much to Kurama's displeasure, "S-Sorry about that, I got to get going to find another one, talk to you later!" Naruto said in a lower volume, but before he ran off, Hinata was handing him a scroll.
"I-I had found a Futon jutsu scroll that I-I thought might fi-fit you Naruto, d-do you like it?" Hinata asked, most likely wanting to twiddle her thumbs together, but her hands were trying to balance the three scrolls while giving Naruto his one. Naruto supported the pile a bit as it looked like it was about to fall, while accepting the scroll from her.
"Thanks Hinata! I appreciate it! Here, let me help with the scrolls!" Naruto said, reaching over to grab the pile to help carry it, while Hinata moved back from the sudden reach.
"N-No, I-I got it!" Hinata desperately pleaded it out, but to no avail. She almost tripped backwards falling with the stack if not for the help of Sasuke, who was coming back and helped her to her feet.
"You alright? Is the dobe messing with you?" Sasuke said, looking angry from what he thought was Naruto being a pervert as Itachi used to call some people that did stuff like this. Naruto looked offended at the thought.
"N-No, thank you. N-Naruto was just trying to help me carry my scrolls." Hinata said, handing Naruto a few of the scrolls to carry. "D-Did you find everything okay Sa-Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked as the anger loosened a bit as Sasuke realized the situation.
"Y-Yes, I did." Sasuke stuttered, throwing a not-so-subtle look back towards the rabid fangirls starting to catch up with the three. The other two blanked.
"R-Run?" Naruto stuttered as well from fear.
"Run." Sasuke said simply, the three rushing forward while trying to balance the scrolls in their kid hands. The three didn't get that far before Iruka walked up and stopped them, making sure to block the rabid fangirl crowd from the three, who looked completely terrified by the mob after them. Most of all being Sasuke, who seemed to hide behind Naruto and Hinata a bit. Iruka mentally chuckled at the idea of Sasuke using them as meatshields against the crowd, but looked back to the mob.
"We're in the library, an institution of silence, learning and building on our strengths and minimizing our weaknesses. Why are you chasing after these three?" Iruka said to them, with the ones still in the clan styled library section stopping to watch. Multitudes of voices sounded off, "Silence!" Iruka shouted to them with a tad of killing intent in his tone, just enough to terrify them all, "One at a time, you're growing to be ninjas, not audition for the Interrupting Olympics! Act like it already!" Iruka scolded them for their behavior some more, some of the students looking like they were about to cry out, some actually doing so, and some seeking Sasuke for comfort. Sasuke looked towards Sakura and mouthed some words towards her.
'I still believe in you, but not like this. Where's the Saku-chan that I met before?' Sasuke asked childishly, as those words were what brought Sakura herself to tears. She moved through the crowd and ignored Iruka, Naruto and Hinata's exclaims of shock in order to hug Sasuke.
"I'm so sorry!" Sakura apologized sobbingly, to which Sasuke returned the hug.
"It's okay Saku-chan, I missed you too." Sasuke said, shocking the entire class into silence. Ino looked downright furious as she pointed towards Sakura.
"Y-Y-You-YOU WHORE!" Ino shouted viciously towards her.
"INO!" Iruka shouted back in disbelief, where did she even learn that word!?
"What's a whore?" Naruto asked ignorantly, never even hearing about the word. Most of the class also wasn't sure what it meant, even Sakura who the insult was going towards, only looked in confusion at it.
Iruka filled the blanks for them, "It's a very, VERY bad word that Ino is going to be in deep trouble for using and should never ever be used against anyone Ever. Do. You. Understand. Me?" Iruka said very carefully and deliberately, angry that Ino dared used the word against her best friend. Ino humphed and walked off, violently pushing against Sakura as she went out, three scrolls in hand. Sakura was still crying, but now for a different reason. Naruto was gritting his teeth as he thought about rushing out towards Ino for that, but then he saw Sakura crying on the ground. He looked towards Hinata, unaware of what to do as she nodded determinedly, taking Naruto's hand and rushing them both to Sakura's side. The three, for both boys were at a lost of words and action until Hinata told them what to do, hugged Sakura and comforted her.
"It's okay Sakura, we're still here. We won't leave you like that." Hinata was the first to give her words of encouragement to her.
"Yeah Sakura, you can count on us!" Naruto gave his second, his cheerful grin on his face looking slightly fake from the anger he still held for Ino.
"Saku-chan, you told me to stop seeking revenge, and saved me from myself. Now it's my turn to help you!" Sasuke said out of determination, his more child-like persona shining through his front. Naruto smiled at this, thinking to himself that he liked this Sasuke a lot more than the one he met at the beginning. Kurama was curious on what caused him to be like this, but agreed with his charge's thought, and Iruka offered to carry their scrolls in a special handy dandy scroll called a Storage Seal. They accepted and soon, they were helping Sakura home.
"You okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked out of worry, as Sakura nodded.
"S-Sorry about earlier...I think what happened started when that big man gave me a flower...I didn't even notice what I was doing until Sasu-kun did that." Sakura explained, shocking the three.
"Y-You mean that the fan girls?" Sasuke stuttered out to receive a determined, and angry, nod from Sakura.
"Yeah! The man probably gave that flower to all of us! I'm sure of it!" Sakura said before Naruto stepped up, thumb once again over his chest.
"Don't worry Sakura, I'll find out what happened for you! Naruto Uzumaki is on the case!" Naruto grinned while Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Been watching too much mystery shows lately?" Sasuke smirked to the indignant pout he got in reply, "Don't worry dobe, we'll find out together. We four should be a team." Sasuke explained, but Naruto shook his head.
"Five! Choji can help out to, and I bet he'll bring Shikamaru which will make us six!" Naruto explained, using his fingers to count them in. Sasuke shrugged as Sakura nodded along with Hinata.
"Then let's meet here tomorrow before school starts!" Sakura grinned as they agreed before they all split off home, another day spent.
A/N Wooop, it's DONE, finally the big bad Chapter 4 is here and the like, thank god. Well, there's not much to say here so I'll just repeat the questions I asked last chapter to you guys.
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.
Edit to Q1: They are gonna interact a bit, but I mean like individual scenes with just them, as well as showing when they first met as a Omake and the like. They would still be side characters, but they would get their own development.
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?
Edit to Q3: If you say no, we'll show one D-Rank, then we basically skip to Wave Arc.
Sorry for taking your time, but thanks in advance for answering the questions! I'll be seeing you next time!
-Char