"This is your new home." Kakashi had unceremoniously declared as we approached a wooden cottage on the edge of the now deserted Senju clan compound, as far away from the rest of the village as it was possible to be without encroaching on the training grounds.
My new home was a large estate, surrounded by a wall of bushes, completely hiding the house from view of the passerby, including us as Dog and I approached the main entrance.
Not commenting on my stunned expression, Kakashi threw a pair of keys at me, which I failed to catch with my non-existent reflexes, having to pick them from the floor in humiliation before my guide started talking.
"Lord Third has arranged this residence for you as a way to ensure you live comfortably in the village, away from wandering eyes. The Senju clan compound is closed to the public and only upon your invitation is anyone allowed. You are to report any intruder, regardless of how harmless they appear to you." The dog mask wearing ANBU explained, while he watched me wrestle with the locks.
"The whole property is under the ownership of the Hokage and while you will be the sole resident here, you are still expected to keep a certain standard of cleanliness and tidiness for the house and its surrounding land." Kakashi continued, looking at me sternly, or at least, that was the expression I imagined he had, it was very difficult to tell with his mask hiding most of his featuures.
The building was a very homey one, though quite eccentric in its coloring. The two-story pink cottage had a red roof and sported yellow doors to go with the green window curtains. Still, it was quite spacious and I was very pleasantly surprised to find it fully furnished when I finally set foot inside, the teenager only a few steps behind.
Not wasting a second, I quickly explored the rooms that would soon constitute the ground floor of my new living quarters, starting with a living room holding some comfortable-looking sofas and a tea table. The kitchen was spotless and looked modern, while the bathroom was elegant and included a bathtub.
The top level on the other hand was where two bedrooms and an office were situated, as well as two beds, a few library shelves, with the whole complemented by a desk and two chairs.
The Hokage had really gone all out to make sure I would be comfortable in my new living arrangements, I realized with a happy smile. I was really starting to think lies and deceit were the way to go for easy success in this particular Universe if the way my manipulations had been rewarded so far.
"You are not expected to pay any rent or utility bills while you live here." Kakashi spoke from the door, probably bored from watching me marvel at how nice everything looked. I had barely been able to hold myself back from running into the office and immediately start reading the new literary materials I was confident the Third had authorized me to have while I waited on my official joining of the civilian Academy.
"Starting from today, no more food or clothing will be provided for you, as you will have to cover the costs from your orphan stipend." Dog continued, handing me an envelope I already knew, from my conversation with Hiruzen the day prior, contained a thousand Ryo in ten crisp 100 Ryo bills.
"Thank you." I told him sincerely before bowing like I had read it was custom to do to express gratitude in some of my social skills and etiquette textbooks.
It was disappointing that I felt the need to rely on such materials, but I was still lacking in confidence in my ability to socialize in the real world yet, despite having carefully observed how the other orphans behaved.
A bunch of snotty children were probably not the best teachers to learn from, but I had to make do with what I had at my disposition.
Noticing Kakashi was about to leave, having completed his mission, I followed him to the door and asked him a question, hoping for suggestions on what to do.
"Will I be receiving any instruction before joining the Academy?" I asked hopefully.
"Assisting you in your development and ensuring you do not harm yourself are parameters of my mission." He replied sagely, and I could swear there was a smile in his voice even if he was playing it off as simply stating his role here.
"That's great." I beamed at the news. "What would you recommend I start with?"
He tilted his head for a moment, looking me over from head to toes.
"Make sure to not harm yourself." Kakashi answered and I suddenly remembered how useless of a teacher this man had been for team seven when Naruto Uzumaki had been his Genin.
No wonder the boy had not learned anything besides tree walking in-between the time of his graduation and the month of training he had done with Jiraya during the Chunin exam.
"Is that all?" I asked again, hoping that if I insisted, he would at least give me something, anything.
"Try developing your skills as a future Shinobi." He said helpfully, and I fought down the urge to strangle him.
As far as I was concerned, this interaction had settled it for me that I would never be part of team seven under Kakashi Hatake.
Either I would be assigned to someone else, or I would quit the team after being confirmed as having passed the Genin test. No way would I ever willingly submit myself to his stupid quirks.
Still, his refusal to help left me in a pickle as I had decided long ago to never do anything relating to the Ninja arts without a dedicated teacher to call out my mistakes, lest I develop hard to break bad habits.
I decided I would be spending my time as I had done so far by reading the materials of my books, as I no longer trusted the silver-haired youth's professionalism.
"I am simply going to study for today, then." I informed the silver haired youth, no longer trusting his professionalism or his keeping my best interests in heart.
Kakashi nodded his understanding, gave me a quick two-finger salute before dipping outside and vanishing into sudden darkness.
I spent a moment staring at the space he had just occupied, painfully aware this was the second time I had seen a fast travel Jutsu accomplished, as unless I was severely mistaken, I had just seen the Body Flicker in action, which was awesome.
Sometimes, I still had trouble believing I was really being reborn into the Naruto-verse, but simply closing my eyes and being confronted with the sight of my constellation of purple stars and Kurama's red sun was enough to ground me in the reality of my afterlife.
An afterlife I had to protect at all cost, I knew, even as I shook off my amazement at Kakashi's demonstration of skill.
Closing the door, I climbed back to the upper floor of my home, aware I had entered a new era of my life for the next four years.
I knew I was finally free to do as I pleased without having anyone breathing down my neck, until I had to join the Academy.
I vaguely remembered Naruto being somewhat lackluster in his performance at that time, already having gained a reputation as a nuisance by that point and repeatedly getting humiliated by Sasuke each time he picked a fight with him upon entering the Shinobi Academy.
It went without saying that repeating the performance was completely out of the question, as I would be making sure to wisely use my time now that I was sole master over it.
I knew I could probably try to look for my future classmates and attempt to ignite an early friendship with the most important of them, but that could wait until I was more comfortable with the idea; I could probably justify it away to myself as not wanting to waste my time looking for them without the guarantee of finding anyone in the large maze that was this village, or that I would rather wait until classes started to follow them around, but I knew deep down the truth was much simpler.
I was not ready for such a social commitment, no matter how lonely I got.
I was extremely nervous with the idea of letting myself be vulnerable in front of others, let alone try to garner their friendship.
I was highly weighed down by the fact I had never had a friend before and I fear being rejected due to my personality. Even if it was by children.
It might be the cowardly thing to do, but I would definitely be doing what I did best and worked on learning more about this world, rather than taking unnecessary risks.