to zx20000006
there are some factors here. First, I didn't bash all civilians. Some of them are just verbal abuse and things that are canon. Second is that Naruto blocked these memories as a child. He didn't remember these accidents when growing up, so they wouldn't change his character from canon.
Blocking memories is a natural response to childhood trauma. I'm planning on explaining Naruto's reaction when he finally remembers things.
While anger can be a response, there is also a fact that after so much time, it won't change anything. You can be angry about things that happened to you, but if the subject of your anger is not willing to accept it or there is no outlet for the anger, often a response would be moving on.
You won't forget or forgive, but there are things in your life that need your attention, and if you just stay angry, you will be the only person who gets even more damaged because everyone else will move while you are the same. So yeah, you can be angry and yet choose to move.
And the fact is that Naruto is in another time where none of these happened. He can't justify his anger against people who haven't committed the crimes. And there is also the fact that his loyalty isn't to the villagers. It's to his friends and comrades. He wants to save them, not the villagers necessarily.
It took a second for Naruto, but he got up quickly. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I saw you trying to use that seal and got curious, so I looked. I noticed a problem, but before I got the chance to say something, you activated the seal, so I had to act quickly. Are you ok?" Naruto said nervously.
Itachi looked at him for a few moments before answering. "I am alright. Are you by any chance a seal master?" he asked.
" Well, I'm pretty adept, but I don't think master is a good word. I work in the sealing division. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way." Naruto said, extending a hand to help Itachi up.
"Uchiha Itachi. Nice to make your acquaintance," he said, taking the offered hand to get up. As he tried, he winced when he put weight on his ankle.
"Let me take a look, please," Naruto said, helping Itachi sit and check his ankle.
"It doesn't seem broken. Is it ok if I use iryojutsu to check and heal it?" Naruto said as he examined his ankle.
Itachi just gave a Hn and a nod for Naruto to go on. Naruto healed his ankle and unsealed a roll of elastic bandage to secure it. "I healed it as best as I could. It was just twisted. Still, you should try and rest it tonight just to be sure, but it should be fully healed by the morning." Naruto said.
"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. I am in your debt. May I ask what was wrong with the seal?" He said.
"There were actually two problems with the seal. The seal is an old version. They had a problem with excess yin chakra. It caused the seal to deteriorate. Sealing ink tends to lose potency with time. When you tried to push your chakra, which leans toward yin affinity in the seal, it caused it not to fully activate evenly. So there were areas with too much chakra and areas with no chakra. That's why it exploded."
"It is also why the person who uses the seal needs great chakra control. In the newer versions of the seal, the problem with yin affinity is solved, but I won't suggest using old seals under any conditions." Naruto said thoughtfully.
"Still, I might have gotten seriously injured if it wasn't for you. Is there any way I can thank you?" Itachi said.
" Well, you don't need to thank me. We are comrades, after all. But if you insist, we can become friends." Naruto smiled brightly.
"Friends?" Itachi asked, a bit shocked.
"Well, yes. I was a bit isolated when I was younger, so making friends makes me happy." Naruto said shyly.
Itachi extended his hand towards Naruto, which he shook happily. They sat a bit longer talking about seals but then it was time to go. Naruto accompanied Itachi to his house even though he insisted he could make it alright.
In the end, he agreed since Naruto insisted that he didn't want Itachi to injure himself again. After a quick goodbye, Naruto returned to the ROOT base to report his day. He didn't want to give Danzo any reason for mistrust.
Naruto felt sick and tired. It's been a few months since the bandit mission, and Naruto was getting worse. Ever since his mission, he constantly had flashbacks and visions of war and death.
He tried his best to suppress them during the day, but at night they were hitting him with full force; that was why he was in Uzushio now with Itachi, Kakashi, and Shisui. It all started a week ago.
Naruto remembered an artifact he had found before in Uzushio. It was for sealing memories and emotions. It was banned and inhumane since it could be used to seal someone's memories and make them into an emotionless machine.
It still had its uses since it was first designed to help shinobi with PTSD. Naruto discovered it in the war after he was rescued from Madara. He was a mess, so the Nidaime suggested the use of artifacts to seal his memories.
He knew he was captured and how but everything else was a blur until after the sealing ceremony. Now Naruto was planning to use the artifact again. When Fuu and Torune returned and gave a report of active seals in Uzushio, it was all Naruto needed.
They weren't able to recover anything since everything was protected, but they made a complete map of areas with active seals. Naruto made the proposal for the mission and spent a month sorting his memories with Kurama.
Since there was a chance of some artifacts being made public to Hokage, Danzo had to inform him of the mission. The Hokage agreed only on the condition of team Ro accompanying Naruto.
It took some back and forth, but the Hokage wouldn't budge, so Danzo gave in. Naruto informed Shisui and Itachi personally. He met Shisui a little after meeting Itachi. After the incident with the seal, Itachi made a point of hunting him down whenever they were both available.
They would usually talk about seals since Itachi was interested in learning, and they would sometimes spar or work on Naruto's genjutsu skills. During one of these visits was when he also met Shisui.
It turned out he was Naruto's stalker, but Naruto didn't confront him. After seeing Naruto and Itachi working on seals, he became interested and joined them whenever possible. He was like an older brother to Naruto.
He was kind and gentle yet playful. They would often sit around for hours talking about different things. Naruto also found out that they both had a sweet tooth, so he took up making them all sorts of snacks.
Itachi's favorite was dango, while Shisui preferred mochi. They were both easy to make and experiment with, so Naruto often came up with new flavors for them to try. He would sometimes make them bento boxes when they planned on spending time the whole day.
Overall it was peaceful and enjoyable. Since the beginning of the academy, Naruto didn't get to spend much time with his friends, but he made a point of visiting them regularly, even for short times.
But Shisui and Itachi were older and wiser than others. They knew about the life of a shinobi, and it was easier for Naruto to connect with them. Also, Naruto wasn't close to them in his previous life, so their deaths wouldn't haunt him.
When Naruto informed them of the month-long mission and its details, they were happy to help. They were protective over him and glad they could ensure he was safe. Naruto trusted them as well.
Now that they were finally in Uzushio, it was time to get started. It was late evening, so Naruto sent some clones to explore while they made camp in one of the buildings, and Naruto made dinner.
After dinner, Naruto's clones finally popped. "My clones just popped. From their information, the map seems to be correct. The primary seal in the middle of the village can only grant access to people with Uzumaki blood, so I will check it out."
"I will also make some shadow clones to unlock the seals around the village and collect everything. I can also make one of my special clones so it will last a lot longer and help you guys catalog everything before my return."
"I think a week should be the maximum time I need to discover everything inside. If I don't return, please follow the protocol and return to the village with what you can." Naruto said. Shisui looked bothered by the idea of leaving Naruto, but he knew that Naruto was a capable shinobi.
In the morning, Naruto gave them each their rations and things they might need. Before going their separate ways, Shisui gave him a quick hug, and Itachi patted his head. It took a while for Naruto to get used to physical touch in the beginning, but now he was comfortable.
"Stay safe ok?" Shisui said. Naruto gave him a small smile, nodded, and then went on his way. The seals in the central tower were very complex. If Naruto wanted to break, it would take years, but he was an Uzumaki, so that he could pass easily.
There were still seals to deactivate. Some of them needed blood, chakra, or both. Others needed some more knowledge to deactivate. Naruto remembered the seals, so it was easy to get by.
He had to make his way through the tower and into the vault. There he found the things he was looking for. There were four main scrolls. The first one contained the riches of Uzushio. Money, jewelry, and other valuables.
The following one contained weapons. Most of them were the work of seal masters and dangerous in the wrong hands. The third one held knowledge about sealing and four summoning contracts. Foxes, tigers, sparrows, and squirrels. The last one contained kinjutsu.
Naruto made a clone to get to work. There were things he wasn't willing to share, so they needed to be separated. He hid most of the valuables and only put some of the jewelry and money he was using in a scroll.
He hid most weapons except a pair he was planning to use and a tanto and Katana for Shisui and Itachi. The weapons had durability seals and self-sharpening ones. They could also be used to channel chakra.
He also put a few of the other weapons to avoid suspicion. His clone checked through the seals and kinjutsu while Naruto picked the things he needed. The seal he was looking for was in an old scroll. It looked like a regular scroll, except it took blood and chakra to open.
Once opened, Naruto took the other needed materials and got to work. He drew the ritual symbols on the ground and laid the scroll in the middle. Then he channeled his chakra through the scroll, and the ritual began.
The ritual was simple in design. The person controlling the seal would enter the mind of the person on whom the seal was being performed. Then they had to go through the memories and choose the things they wanted to be sealed.
It wasn't hard to use, but there were consequences Naruto didn't want to think about. He didn't want to forget the details of his friends' skills, just their deaths. After the ritual, his mind would draw blank when thinking about their deaths, as if he never knew it had happened.
He also sealed most childhood memories and trauma to prevent future problems. He didn't need anything to hold him back. He also sealed emotions related to things that happened after he became a genin but before the war.
Since he was only doing it with specific memories, he could tell that something was missing, but he also knew he was sealing his own memory. It took hours of concentration for Naruto, but finally, he was done.
He passed out from the ritual, but he knew his clone would be there and manage things. He woke up disoriented five days later. He could feel the backlash of using the seal and the beginning of the effects.
He checked his mindscape and reassured Kurama that he was alright. Then he checked his memory doors, and there were two huge black doors with chains and seals locking them right next to each other.
One was for his time with Madara, and the other was new. He also checked the state of his other trauma doors. They were there but not active. He tried one of them. It was the memory of his genin test.
After the test, he was left tied to the stump, and others left him. Kakashi probably believed he could do the academy rope scape and get out, but Naruto wasn't taught the technique.
He was there for a few hours. It was getting dark. 2 chunin found him tied up and decided to have fun with him. They put a gag in his mouth to shut him up, then had fun with his body.
Naruto cried and tried to get away, but he was helpless. They laughed at him and told him if he ever told anyone about what happened, everyone would laugh at him and be disgusted and how he could never become a ninja if he couldn't defend himself.
Naruto believed them, so he never told anyone. In fact, he didn't remember this memory until now. Naruto tried to feel any connection or feeling, yet he couldn't. There was no emotion towards the memory. He felt empty.
He went back to Kurama and buried his head in his chest. Kurama had taken a human form to comfort him. They both knew that a shinobi with emotions was just a tool. And sometimes, emptiness was even worse than negative emotions.
Naruto wanted to cry, but his tears wouldn't come, no matter how much he tried. He couldn't feel any negative emotions. Kurama held him tight and kept whispering in his ear to calm him down.