Somehow, I had forgotten or otherwise underestimated how fucking effective Naruto was when he set his mind towards something. I really shouldn't have, I had numerous examples to draw on. When he thought his chances of becoming a shinobi and Hokage were down to one last chance, he learned a B-rank Ninjutsu in a matter of hours. Even with the Five Elements Seal royally fucking up his chakra control, he managed some semblance of the Water Walking Exercise. And let's not forget the whole thing where he mastered Sage Mode to a higher level than Jiraiya managed after years of trying in one week.

The point was, when Naruto set out to become someone worthy of his parents' legacy, he didn't fart around. He conscripted me by decree of the future Hokage as his personal training coach and tried to have me shove the whole first year of the Academy into the 2-3 hours we were together each day during the summer break. I started out just humoring him, giving him my PRs for every major exercise as a benchmark for physical conditioning and giving a list of textbooks to all but memorize. I also showed him the basic Academy kata they gave every student as a placeholder for a better Taijutsu style at a later point.

Thing is, he actually did it. From what I gathered, he spent every waking minute he wasn't doing chores for the orphanage engaged in either some form of PT or reading those textbooks once I had lent him my copies. It was frightening, actually, how seriously he was taking his quest to live up to his father's name and the legacy of his mother's clan. And what was even scarier was he made a truly phenomenal amount of progress in just the summer months. When I quizzed him the day before he was set to move out of the orphanage, he got an 82% on a 100-question test I had written just for him. He had actually beaten all my personal bests for push-ups, sit-ups and the like, and when we had a mock spar he was better than some of the kids in my class had been at the finals.

What monster had I unleashed? The Naruto of 'canon' had all but flunked out of the Academy, graduating through a fluke and Iruka's sentimental side. He'd been an utter joke of a ninja, improving in fits and starts and only surviving so long through dint of plot armor and the timely intervention of outside forces. Of course, he ended up one of the strongest men in the world by the time he faced Kaguya, but still. In learning his parentage, which I could blame no one but myself for, he was utterly and completely focused on becoming the best shinobi he could be. Hadn't even had his first day at the Academy and he was at a level where he could pass the First Year Finals after a measly 3 months of training. What hurricanes would spawn from the flaps of this butterfly's wings? Would he end up graduating early? Even in canon, he'd applied for early graduation twice before having the test with his year as scheduled. If this rate of improvement and growth sustained itself… maybe he'd end up graduating before me.

Which would so royally fuck over the Stations of Canon it wasn't even funny. My meta knowledge would be rendered even more unreliable and suspect than it already was.

Maybe I should have thought this through before revealing his parentage. But, as they say, can't put the genie back in the bottle. In the immortal words of Director Nick Fury, 'You hope for the best, then make do with what you get.' And really, could there actually be too many negative consequences for Naruto having a solid work ethic during the Academy years instead of slacking and pulling pranks?

I suppose I'd find out.

I helped Naruto move into his dorm room, which was pretty much the exact same as mine in dimensions and layout. I took him shopping, showing him where I usually went and giving my tips on getting the best deals. The free day between the move and the start of classes, I took him on a tour of Konoha. He'd never left the orphanage except for chaperoned field trips, so it was eye-opening to the blond Jinchuuriki to see just how big Konoha really is and how many different places and people there were within her walls.

The next day, we walked to the Academy together. We agreed to meet by the swing (which I somehow remembered the piece of trivia that it had more screentime than Tenten) after classes let out and went to our respective classrooms.

We hit the ground running, I'll give the instructors that. There was a review test which was basically a slightly easier version of the Final we took just 3 months earlier. Then we were introduced to the infamous Academy Obstacle Course. I was reminded of Ultimate Ninja Warrior from my past life. They'd scaled it down so kids, albeit chakra-enhanced kids, could be reasonably expected to complete it. But it was still pretty brutal as a test of strength, agility, and reflexes. Neji and I were the only ones to actually finish it on the first try. Then, to end the day, we started covering chakra theory, including a guided meditation to try and unlock our chakra.

Neji was excused by dint of the fact he already had access to his chakra from his clan training. He spent the hour doing some kind of chakra control exercise involving his fingertips, probably part of the Gentle Fist conditioning. Just before the hour ended, I felt a flicker of something that I certainly had never felt in my past life as a mere mortal on Earth. But like a memory of a dream, it slipped from my mental grasp even as I reached for it. Still, I took that as proof that this body did indeed have chakra like almost every other human born here. Huzzah, ninja magic was just some meditation and then hard training away!

I got out of class and went to wait by Swing-kun. The usual exodus of students came out the main doors. A small blond wearing a white t-shirt and orange shorts broke from the pack and ran up to me. "Shon-aniki! I had so much fun today, dattebayo!"

"That's nice. Talk to me on the way back to the dorms," I grinned down at my little brother figure.

Naruto nattered a mile a minute as he talked about all the cool subjects we learned, not that he needed it since I'd already taught him but it was apparently 'cooler' to learn from an actual Chunin instructor. And based on his own account, which I had to take with a grain of salt, he was Mr. Congeniality. He raved about all the friends he'd made over lunch and during the time in the PT field. Another butterfly effect of my mere presence, Naruto wasn't socially inept. I'd been there to coach him for as long as he could remember about how to interact with other human beings, counteracting what would otherwise have led to utter incompetence from his abuse and mistreatment from the orphanage staff and orphans. As Naruto put it, he was already best buddies with this cool guy named Inuzuka Kiba, a pretty girl named Ino, and had tried to draw a very shy girl named Hinata out of her shell.

"Anyone you didn't hit it off with?" I asked as we neared the dorm building.

Naruto frowned. "I think Iruka-sensei doesn't like me for that reason I'm not allowed to know about."

I sighed. Naruto hadn't taken long to connect the dots and realize that hiding his parentage didn't translate into an explanation for why so many total strangers seemed to hate his guts. He'd confronted Hiruzen, and the elderly Hokage had admitted he knew the reason behind that too, but he wouldn't tell Naruto until he was at least a Genin. When Naruto tried to guilt-trip the old man, the Sarutobi shut Naruto down hard by saying it involved the security of the very village, that it wasn't just Naruto's life on the line if this information fell from loose lips. That had shut Naruto up, but now he had a pet project of trying to guess why people had an irrational dislike for him. Unlike his parentage, I could think of no way I could explain away knowing about or discovering the secret of Kurama and Naruto's Jinchuuriki status, so I was leaving that issue alone.

"That's unfortunate. What about any of the other students?" I asked.

Naruto hummed. "Well, there's this kid, Uchiha Sasuke. He seems nice enough, but I don't know. I took one look at him and just did not like him. Weird, huh?"

I idly wondered how much of Naruto's core personality was him and how much was the spirit of Asura that had taken residence in his body. And how much of an active influence said spirit had on Naruto's mind and perspective. An instinctive aversion to Indra's incarnation suggested at least a little something was bleeding over. Focusing on the here and now, I said "Well, give him a chance. Sometimes our instincts can be off, that's why a smart man always thinks his actions through from every angle. I'm not saying ignore your gut, but don't write off this Sasuke boy before you even have a proper talk with him."

"Yeah, I hear ya, -tebayo," Naruto nodded. "Ugh, homework," he groaned as we reached the door to my dorm.

"Welcome, this is your life now," I chuckled.

We went in and set up our books and supplies at the kitchen table. We slogged through our first day assignments, and by the time we finished it was around time to start dinner. Deciding Naruto deserved a little celebration for getting through his first day, I went to get my wallet. "I know this great ramen stand. Let's get dinner, my treat."

"Ramen?! You're the BEST, Shon-aniki!" Naruto said, already salivating. His love for noodles in broth was something to behold.

I led Naruto through the village to Ramen Ichiraku, which I had tracked down with the express intent of introducing it to Naruto at some point. We walked in and hopped on two empty stools. There was only one other patron, a woman a bit older than Hiruzen who was eating in silence. Don't ask me how, but my gut said she was a retired kunoichi and not a civilian grandma. Probably something in the way she moved.

"Welcome to Ramen Ichiraku! What can we get you?" asked Ayame, who was only 3-4 years older than I was in my estimation. She looked utterly adorable in her waitress uniform. Heck, she was probably standing on a stool just to see over the counter.

I looked at the menu and did some quick mental math. Well, my savings would take a big hit, but fuck it. This was to be a night of gluttony! "My little brother and I are growing boys and we both just survived our first days at the Academy after a relaxing summer. We'll both take a small of every flavor, call it a sampler."

"Coming right up!" grinned Teuchi.

Ayame helped her dad with some of the prep and then turned back to us. A big part of the dining experience was the social interaction with your server, or so I'd gathered about the local culture. "So, you two are brothers enrolled in the Shinobi Academy? Begging your pardon, but you don't look related."

I could see where she was coming from. Naruto had his sunny blond hair, his bright blue eyes, and his natural tan. My hair was midnight blue, a darker shade than my Mom's indigo, I had plain brown eyes, and I was just a shade or two less pale than Sasuke. Though nowhere near Orochimaru or Sai's albinism.

"We're not related by blood. But we've both been friends since we were in diapers, and I'm a year older, so Naruto here calls me 'aniki'," I explained to Ayame.

"Shon-aniki is awesome! He was second in his year and he spent all summer training me up to be just as awesome as him, dattebayo!" Naruto interjected.

"Oh, how sweet!" Ayame grinned. "Do either of you have any other siblings?"

"No, both only children. And orphans, before you ask where our parents are," I said, heading off any questions about what we were doing out unsupervised at our age.

"Oh. My apologies. The Kyuubi?" Ayame asked knowingly.

The kunoichi grandma two stools down stopped eating for a beat, and I almost felt like my skin should break from how sharp the glare she threw Naruto's way was.

"Yes," I confirmed, trying to ignore the Kyuubi-hater sharing the stall with us. "But in a way, I guess it's easier that we both lost our parents so young. Can't miss what you don't remember, right?" That didn't actually apply to me, but I wasn't going to explain how I'd been fully cognizant since the day of my birth.

"I dunno. I can't imagine a life where I'd never known Tou-chan. Losing him would be terrible, but not having a single memory of him… I'm not sure whether that's worse or better," Ayame said with a thoughtful frown.

"Ah, let's move past such melancholy topics. How long have you been working for your father? And what's your name, miss?" I asked, moving the conversation along.

Naruto and I made small talk with Ayame. The old woman paid for her meal and left, but even Naruto picked up on the hostility she was radiating like heat from a star. Rather than getting maudlin or just shaking it off, though, he got a thoughtful frown. I left him to whatever thinking he was doing, which was promptly halted by the arrival of our food.

I discovered I liked the Shrimp ramen best, though the Chili Lime was pretty good too. Naruto devoured each bowl so fast I was surprised he tasted any of it, and he declared the BBQ pork to be the food of the gods. Teuchi was so amused he knocked the price for that bowl off our total bill. I forked over the cash once we'd had some lingering talk with Ayame and Teuchi, and Naruto and I both made our way back to the dorms.

I lived on the second floor and Naruto on the top fifth floor. I gave him a hug in the stairwell. I was just about to go through the door to the hallway when Naruto cleared his throat. "Aniki… how did the Kyuubi die?"

I froze, but I tried to cover it up as best I could. "The Yondaime used some super-Jutsu that we're not allowed to even know the name of and killed it. Least that's the version I heard."

"But if it died… what happened to its body? A ruddy big fox, almost as big as the village, what did we do with it? How'd we clean it up?" Naruto pressed.

"I have no idea. I think the Yondaime's Jutsu made it vanish without a trace," I shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"That lady at Ichiraku's didn't like me. The same way the orphanage matron didn't like me, and Iruka-sensei doesn't like me. But she didn't pay any attention to me until Ayame-neechan mentioned the Kyuubi. I know it's crazy but… I'm starting to think the reason people don't like me has something to do with the Kyuubi," Naruto told me.

I debated how to handle this. I figured Naruto and Kurama making first contact could wait until Naruto was over 5 feet tall. "I wouldn't worry about it. Hokage-sama already promised to tell you once you become a shinobi. Just focus on being a good student and you'll get your answers soon enough."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, dattebayo," Naruto nodded, his face clearing up as he stopped thinking so hard on the conundrum. "Nighty-night, Shon-aniki!" He waved and went up the steps of the staircase.

I waited until I was safe in my dorm apartment to let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Close one," I muttered.

Shinobi Singularity

The days turned into weeks turned into months turned into years. As I'd predicted, I didn't stay as number 2 in our year. I consistently scored at least 90% in every academic test, I was in impressive shape for my age and a competent martial artist when it came time for Taijutsu sparring. But my chakra capacity and control were both well… average. Not the best in history nor the worst, nothing exceptional. I was definitely within one standard deviation of the mean on both fronts. And I was leery of attempting Tree Walking or Water Walking and claiming I'd read about them in a book (a blatant lie) or had seen another shinobi using them (more believable, but likely to fall apart upon scrutiny).

So I was stuck with nothing but the Leaf Concentration Exercise to work my chakra control. To be fair, I ground the shit out of that thing. I worked it to the point where I could keep an even dozen leaves stuck to my body against the pull of gravity at once. And I'm sure, in theory, I could work it to the point I had a leaf sticking to every tenketsu in my body. But the Leaf Concentration Exercise was freaking boring, so I just didn't have much drive to pursue that avenue to that extent.

I practiced the 'Academy Three' as they were called: Kawarimi, Henge, and the basic Bunshin. Of them all, I liked the Kawarimi best. Henge was cool for dressing up for Halloween (which wasn't a thing in the Narutoverse by the way), but it was a constant chakra expenditure for a skin-deep illusion that was surprisingly fragile. Plus the Byakugan and Sharingan could see through it, so it was pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. And while I recognized the tactical advantages of confusing the enemy with illusions, Bunshin was an absolute bitch to cast. It was a very delicate working of chakra, and I wasn't the best at controlling my chakra. If chakra control were art, I wasn't at the level of stick figures but I wouldn't be painting frescoes in the Sistine Chapel anytime soon either. And Bunshin demanded a degree of precision that, again with the art metaphor, was like asking for a photorealistic sketch. Kawarimi, once you got the hang of it, was just plain fun. Oh, the chakra cost went up exponentially the further the object you were replacing yourself with was, mass was a factor, and if you tried it with a person then their chakra would interfere with your own so you either had to brute force it with more chakra or finesse your own to work with theirs. So it would take a lot of practice to have any real combat applications. But what could you expect of D-rank Ninjutsu?

Moving on, I got up bright and early on the day of my Graduation Exam, got in my morning workout, had breakfast, and went to the Academy for the penultimate time. If I passed, I'd only come back for team assignments. Unless I did a Chunin Exams hosted here in Konoha but… you know what I mean. I got to my classroom, made small talk with my school friends, and then we had the Exam.

Academic test, no big deal. I actually enjoyed the essay question, I was a fairly decent writer and I felt my response would impress my sensei. I felt better about it than some of the trickier multiple-choice questions, at any rate. Then a PT test and Taijutsu spar. Just my luck, I got matched with Neji. To make a short story shorter, I got creamed. But I at least lasted a full minute against the prodigy before I collapsed with numb limbs from foreign chakra tearing up muscles and nerves. At least he hadn't blocked my tenketsu and ruined my chances at the Ninjutsu exam, he must not have reached that level until after a year with Gai.

Once I could stand again, I waited through the rest of the bouts until we went back to the classroom. Then we were individually called to do the Ninjutsu selected for our year. It was the Henge, which was my second choice but still, better than the damn Bunshin. I patiently waited as we were called in 'alphabetical' order. Though for the record, the Narutoverse didn't use English or Japanese. It was its own unique collection of sounds humans had attached meanings to, complete with a novel alphabet and writing system that had given me headaches when I was first learning it.

"Shon," was called, and I went into the examination room. I was shown a picture and told to Henge into that person. It was a random Yamanaka from the looks of it, but I complied as best I could. My Chunin-sensei looked my illusion over and wrote down a score on a clipboard. I did some quick upside-down reading and saw she was tabulating my final score from each section then and there. "Congratulations, you pass. You are a Genin of Konohagakure," she said with a grin, reaching into a crate and offering me a Konoha forehead protector.

"Thank you, sensei," I grinned. I took the metal-plated strip of cloth and tied it to my forehead. I felt its weight settle and knew my life would never be the same again.

My sensei gave me instructions on how to go get my Ninja ID Card and to report back to the Academy in a week for team assignments. I left the Academy after that. I had gotten out over an hour before Naruto's year would let out, so we'd made plans yesterday to just meet up at Ichiraku's for my celebratory/conciliatory dinner that evening.

Figuring there was no reason to delay, I went straight to the Hokage Tower and got my Ninja ID Card. I tucked it into my wallet and glanced at my watch. Still plenty of time before the meetup for dinner. With a grin, I knew just where I wanted to go.

The Shinobi Library of Konoha, unlike the Free Library accessible to everyone including civilians, was not a building out in the open. Instead, it was in the basement of the Hokage Tower. I went down the staircase and presented my Ninja ID Card to a stone-faced Chunin guard before I was allowed to enter.

I went right to the librarian's desk. Unlike the librarian at the Free Library, one Nara Shiori who seemed to truly enjoy his work, I got the sense that the librarian in front of me wished he was anywhere else but there. "New Genin?" he asked, rather rudely but then he outranked me so what could I do?

"That is correct," I nodded.

"Wasn't the Graduation Exam just earlier today? Getting a bit ahead of yourself, kid? You haven't even passed the real graduation test yet," the librarian said snidely.

"Even if I fail my Jonin-sensei's test, I will immediately enroll in the Genin Corps. The fact of the matter is I am an official Genin as of today, and as such have the right to read and check out all texts accessible to my clearance level," I said, trying to keep my annoyance from being too obvious.

"Sure, whatever," the guy sighed, clearly just not giving two fucks even though he'd been the one to make a fuss in the first place. "You got D-rank clearance. Each individual book or scroll is marked with the necessary clearance rank. You can check out any 2 items for a period of 60 days. Failure to return or returning the item damaged will result in a 10,000 ryo fine for the first infraction. And it only gets worse from there. So don't lose or spill juice on any of this shit, 'kay?" the rather unprofessional librarian laid out for me.

"Understood," I nodded. "Is there a map?"

"Yeah, for librarians, but I ain't sharing my copy with you. Just go looking through the aisles until you find what you're looking for," the man snorted.

Gritting my teeth, I started to methodically work through the seemingly endless stacks of shelves, looking for anything even remotely related to Fuinjutsu. I may not have a bottomless well of chakra like Naruto or pinpoint control like Sakura. But based on all I remembered, seals could do stuff comparable to A- or S-rank Jutsu for a fraction of the chakra cost. Plus, my inner coder was chomping at the bit to find out just exactly how some fancy squiggles could hack physics to do trippy shit like shove Kurama into a pocket dimension in Naruto's intestines.

I finally found the Fuinjutsu section. To my dismay, it was only one row. One side of a row, actually. Determined, I went looking for absolutely anything under D-rank clearance. There were a grand total of 5 texts I was allowed to read until I got C-rank clearance. One looked like a rudimentary theory book, which I immediately snagged. I debated my options and decided my second takeaway would be what looked like a thesis-length text purely dedicated to Storage Scrolls.

I logged the books with the rude librarian, ran home to tuck them into my personal bookshelf, made sure I had my wallet, and strolled leisurely towards the Ramen Ichiraku stand.

Naruto had beaten me there, but at least he'd waited to order until I arrived. He ooh'ed and aah'ed at my forehead protector and got such a look of anticipation on his face. "This time next year, I'll have one of those, dattebayo!"

"You could have had one by now. Didn't Iruka-sensei recommend you for early graduation? Multiple times?" I asked teasingly.

Naruto blushed and scratched his cheek. For all he was a bit of a braggart, he had a hard time taking compliments. "Nah, then I'd be on a team with strangers, not my friends. I hope I end up with at least one of them."

"Should be easy. You have at least 6 at last count," I chuckled.

Naruto, like the little ball of sunshine that he was, had pulled the clan heirs in his year into his orbit, along with a few civilian kids but as Naruto put it they were more like fangirls and fanboys than real friends. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji had all visited Naruto at some point outside school over the last 6 years. And given Naruto and I were all but attached at the hip, I'd gotten a front-row seat to his interactions with them. They might be young, but I truly thought they had the foundation for a friendship that would still be thriving when they all had gray hairs. Sasuke had almost been drawn in, then the Uchiha Massacre happened and he cut himself from almost all human contact. Sakura might have gotten in by dint of being friends with Ino, but the two girls had their little schism over their mutual 'love' of Sasuke and were now bitter rivals, so Sakura avoided Naruto and the rest of the group on principle.

It was interesting to see Naruto and Hinata's dynamic when they hung out. The incident from 'canon' with the bullies and Naruto coming to Hinata's rescue had happened, with the change that Naruto had actually kicked the 3 boys' asses, but they'd already been friends at that point. And Naruto made a point to try and interact with Hinata every day at school, he simply didn't allow her to retreat into herself as she was wont to do because of how Hiashi, Hanabi, and Neji treated her. I was positive that both Naruto and Hinata had strong, positive feelings for the other. But I couldn't say with any confidence whether it would bloom into romance or stay purely platonic, like brother and sister. Another butterfly effect, at this rate I'd be flying blind by the time Naruto even graduated. But 'canon' was questionable at best in the first place, so whatever.

We were both finishing our first bowls when Hiruzen allowed us to sense him coming up behind us and sat down next to Naruto. "Boys," he nodded with a grin. He was out of uniform, the hat and robes conspicuously absent. If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the village saw his face every day, you could almost believe he was just another 60-something man getting dinner.

"Hokage-sama! You honor us!" Ayame said, bowing at a 90 degree angle.

"Ayame-chan, please, no formalities. Tonight, I'm just another customer. Large Miso with an egg, please," the elderly shinobi grinned.

"Hokage-jiji! You like ramen?" Naruto asked, seemingly befuddled at his grandfather figure's presence in a restaurant.

"My dear boy, who doesn't?" Hiruzen chuckled.

"Sarutobi-sama," I nodded. I was familiar enough with him not to use his title, but like hell I'd use anything other than -sama or his given name.

"Shon-kun. Congratulations on passing. And I hear you've already made good use of your Ninja ID Card. Checked out two items from the Shinobi Library within as many hours of your graduation," Hiruzen grinned. "May I ask why the interest in Fuinjutsu?"

"Wait, what?! Aw, man, that's right! Shon-aniki is a Genin so he can go to the Shinobi Library and actually start learning that stuff! Aniki, I'd love you forever if you let me take just a little peek at those books," Naruto said, turning the full force of his puppy dog eyes on me.

I was immune from repeated exposure. "Above your clearance, little bro. Sorry, not sorry. Wait a year and then you can start your journey to becoming the most formidable Fuinjutsu master in all the land."

"You suck, Aniki, dattebayo!" Naruto grumbled before attacking his next bowl of BBQ Pork and eating his feelings.

"To answer your question, Sarutobi-sama, I simply find it fascinating. While I'm sure it'll be a long time before I'm at a level where I can create novel seals, I can't help but imagine what that must be like. Take an Explosion Tag. It took one man or woman smart enough to make that seal, and now any third-year Academy student can activate a standard one. This may sound ambitious, but I want to invent a seal that changes the world, has a lasting effect long after I'm dead and gone. While I'm at it, I'll even aim for it to be a positive effect," I explained to the village leader.

"A worthy goal, to be sure," Hiruzen grinned. Ayame placed his bowl in front of him. "Thank you, my dear. Now, Shon, what would you like for a graduation present?"

I blinked before getting flustered. "Sarutobi-sama, there's no need for you to get me anything."

"Maybe not a need, but I certainly want to. And who are you to deny an old man his pleasures?" Hiruzen chuckled, knowing he had me.

I gulped. "What's the budget for this hypothetical present?"

Hiruzen hummed. "I suppose I'll draw the line at 50,000 ryo. I won't buy you a house, but any other luxury you can imagine, just ask and you'll receive. Or if you prefer, I could lend you something from my personal library."

I was suddenly torn. I was sure there were some true gems in Hiruzen's collection. But I saw the opportunity to get a major tool for free, so I seized it. "I'd like a computer. Price is directly proportional to quality, as it is with most things. The best model for sale here in Konoha goes for 36,000 ryo, basic software package included."

Hiruzen blinked. "A computer? I'll admit I didn't expect that. Never saw the appeal of the things, but if that's what you want, Shon-kun, then so be it. Would you prefer I give you the money or purchase it for you and then have it delivered to you?"

"I'll take a check," I said, my mind already racing with plans for what I could do with the device.

Thank Kami for generous military dictators.