A/N: I do not own the anime series Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto!
Woosh—! Swish—!
The moon hid behind dark clouds that poured rain over the lands of Konoha.
The streets were empty, civilians stayed inside their homes while ninjas hid in the shadows.
Bang! Rumble…
Lightning struck and thunders roared, but Konoha couldn't be any quieter.
In an apartment near the hokage tower, a boy was standing up while looking down, his gaze as cold as the rain outside.
Genjutsu?
One moment, he was fighting an enemy ninja, the next he was laying down in his bed.
Then who?
Closing his eyes, Naruto used his sensing ability to sense for any ninja nearby.
Sure enough, he found a ninja lying flat on the rooftop. The ninja was holding an orb with seals written all over it.
Looking closely, Naruto saw that the man was unconscious and was bleeding from his ears, nose, and eyes.
There he is… wait, there's no ANBU around?
Expanding his senses further, he confirmed that there was indeed no ANBU nearby
Strange…
Kurama, are you there?
Still no answer.
Kurama told me that there was no way a bijuu can be control via genjutsu unless the person trying to do so is an expert who lived for a long time, a prodigy in genjutsu, a genius, or is simply stronger than the bijuu itself.
That ninja is neither of those options, so what is happening?
…Wait, what is that?
Looking at the black orb on the ninja's hand through his sensing abilities, Naruto created a shadow clone to bring the ninja inside his house.
It's vibrating… The closer it gets to me, the more violent it vibrates… Something's up with this orb. And what's up with the seals?
When the clone finally brought the ninja next to him, Naruto stopped his sensing abilities. On the other hand, the clone used its own sensing ability to watch out for other enemies.
After he opened his eyes, Naruto looked at the ninja in front of him. He had just mashed this ninja's legs a moment ago, but now this ninja's legs were A-Okay.
As I thought. It was genjutsu. But that was a very realistic genjutsu…
Genjutsu, like other jutsus, have rankings. The more realistic the genjutsu, the higher the rank. Some genjutsu could even remove a person's memories and change it to the caster's desire. To perform such genjutsu, the caster needs to have fine chakra control. If the caster has poor chakra control, the genjutsu wouldn't be realistic at all.
With this, genjutsu was a ridiculously powerful art, but it has a glaring weakness. Because the caster can't use a lot of chakra on a genjutsu, it is very easy to break. The higher the level of genjutsu, the smaller the chakra needed to properly use it as any more than the required amount and the genjutsu would fail.
The problem was it became easier to break. To counter this, genjutsu experts try their best to hide the chakra source of their genjutsu.
Genjutsu experts can hide the chakra source so well that the person caught in the genjutsu won't be able to break it even if they wanted to.
On the other hand, using genjutsu on another genjutsu expert was harder than using genjutsu on a non-genjutsu user. This was because a genjutsu expert knows where to look for a genjutsu's chakra source.
While there are simple jutsus such as [Release], a truly powerful genjutsu wouldn't waver in front of such weak techniques. One must find its chakra source if they wanted to break it.
Seeing that the ninja was able to create a realistic genjutsu without him realizing, it meant that the ninja was a genjutsu specialist.
The problem was that he managed to trap Kurama in a genjutsu. I haven't practiced much in genjutsu, so I don't really know how to find a genjutsu's chakra source…
Some partner he was, he couldn't even get his partner out of a genjutsu.
Wait, why is that orb cracking?
Grabbing the black orb the ninja was holding, he realized that it was getting worse and worse over time. Soon, the orb had cracks all over its surface.
Sure enough, the orb cracked and shattered.
…Ugh, I'm glad you're okay kid. That black orb you were holding sure was annoying. Of course, if you gave me more time I would be able to break it. Not that I needed to, so I waited for it to just break on its own.
Naruto would've been in awe at Kurama if it wasn't for the fact he got really worried.
Stupid fox. So, how did my clones dispel when I was trapped in a genjutsu?
Being trapped in a genjutsu only affects you, not your shadow clones. So, even if you were trapped in a genjutsu where you were made to believe that you had no shadow clones, the moment your chakra is interrupted or drains, your shadow clones would come back to you and you would still get their memories and chakra. The same will happen if your clones dispel on its own or is dispelled by someone else.
Is that so?
Thinking for a bit, Naruto got an idea on how he could defend himself against genjutsus.
Whatever. He would do it later. The sun was already rising and he needed to attend the academy.
Oh right, he also had to replenish his shadow clones outside and inside the village.
After he dispelled all of his shadow clones, he got an absurd amount of experience. Some were simple, some were complex. Some were pleasant, some were not.
For example, one of his clones learned to make gorgeous realistic art, while another one of his clones learned ways to scam and torture someone. One of his clones even managed to become a ninja recorded in the bingo book.
Now, he was already excellent at wielding his short sword. But after getting that clone's memories and experience, he became a master at using it. He even got to know what it felt like to be a sensei.
From his other clones' experience where he was the student and not the teacher, Naruto deduced that he wasn't a bad sensei but a decent one.
—A couple of hours later.
The academy was a big building near the hokage tower. Although it was big, not much students were allowed as to not overcrowd the place. After all, being a ninja isn't all about academics.
The students needed practical experience, hence the limitation on the number of students. This way, there will be enough space for practical lessons.
Naturally, there wasn't just one academy building, but multiple. Still, the other academy buildings weren't as big as the main academy building.
Naruto was enrolled at the main academy building.
"Hey Naruto!"
"Hey…"
The one who greeted him was Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru Nara had always been interested in Naruto.
Naruto was a walking enigma, and the young Nara liked solving mysteries.
Shikamaru wanted to unveil the mystery box that was Naruto Uzumaki. Of course, even if he managed to do so, he wouldn't tell anyone his discoveries unless he got permission.
"Shikamaru! Have you seen Sasuke-kun?"
Turning his head to the right, Shikamaru saw Ino Yamanaka. Ino Yamanaka is one of his childhood friends, but he just couldn't understand how Ino could obsess so much on the last Uchiha.
I mean, he's a jerk.
Sasuke Uchiha was arrogant. Thankfully, he could back up his arrogance, but he was still arrogant nonetheless. He also ignored everyone, so it didn't make sense to him why the girls would still fawn over the boy.
Whatever, troublesome women.
"No."
"Tsk! That forehead Sakura told me yesterday that Sasuke-kun talked to her yesterday, but I don't believe her! I want to talk to Sasuke-kun before I'll believe it! By then, it wouldn't even matter because…"
As Ino turned into a chatterbox, Shikamaru let her words enter one ear and exit the other ear.
It's true. Sasuke asked Sakura if she knew where he could find Naruto's house. Sakura didn't know where Naruto lived, so Sasuke left with a scowl. I'm sure he would ask Ino next. After all, Sakura and Ino are his most devoted fan girls.
Sighing, Shikamaru lowered his head and was about to take a nap when he heard a new voice next to him.
"Hey Shika!"
"Hey Choji…"
—1 hour later.
It was break time.
"Hey, Sasuke was so cool~"
"Yeah, he was even…"
In the midst of all the talking fan girls, there was another group of people talking about a different person.
"Hey, hey! Did you see it?"
"Oh my god… you saw it too! I thought only I saw it!"
"Of course I saw it! He looked at his hands! Can you believe it? He didn't sleep through all of the classes today!"
Earlier, when the teacher was talking about hand signs and the importance of hand signs, Naruto looked at his hands and showed a confused expression. He then sighed and laid his head back on the desk to sleep through the class.
The teachers couldn't care less about Naruto sleeping through the class. It was because Naruto could somehow perfect every test they give out. Not that they were complaining, it was one less student to teach.
And yes, the group of friends were talking about Naruto. Most of them were girls, but there were boys in the group as well. Their group was small, not even reaching a dozen, but there was a certain Hyuga mixed in their group.
"I-I saw it too! After he laid down, he muttered "boring" as well…"
The group became silent.
DID THE HYUUGA PRINCESS TALK?!
Hinata Hyuga rarely talked even in this group, but every time she did, the group would be stunned.
Her voice is so sweet, why doesn't she talk more?!
"Really?! Then that must mean that Naruto has already mastered all the hand signs and could do them very, very fast!"
A boy excitedly shouted. Naruto was his idol, not only because Naruto was strong and cool…
Naruto's not arrogant like that Uchiha jerk!
Of course, this boy had innocent intentions, unlike some of the boys in the group. Some of them actually liked Naruto romantically. It didn't help that Naruto looked beautiful. Even some matured girls couldn't compare to Naruto's unique beauty.
On the other hand, all of the girls in the group liked Naruto romantically.
—Somewhere…
"So it failed…"
The man's voice was steely and commanded obedience.
His voice echoed inside the cave and in front of him were two masked ninjas who wore plain protective uniform.
Their mask were plain white. One had a simple oblong mask, while the other had a hyena shaped mask that had four eye holes.
"It doesn't matter, I'll have plenty of opportunities. It's a shame that we lost a talented ninja, but when we capture him, it'll be worth it."
The man then stared at the kneeling ninja for a couple of minutes before turning back and walking away.
When the ninjas noticed that the man was gone, they also disappeared from sight.
A/N: Hello again! I took a break for a couple of days and now I'm back so I'll be updating this story again, hope you enjoy~!
This story most likely won't have romance, so don't worry about yaoi or stuff like that! :D