A/N-
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DISCLAIMER- I OWN NOTHING AT ALL.
'ITALICS'- THOUGHTS
'BOLD'- POWERFUL BEING/JUTSU
The Ninja Academy was a well-established landmark in Konohagakure; surrounded by lush trees, the building stood as a fortress of education- the place to train young shinobi to better serve their village and protect their comrades. The Leaf symbol was displayed proudly over the gateway, alerting the young minds of the glory of this archaic institution. The Academy was indeed a temple of learning, a bastion of guiding the new generation of noble warriors. It was revered and respected by everyone in the village, shinobi and civilians alike.
'Should I paint it orange or pink?'
Everyone, bar Naruto, who was sitting on the swing opposite to the Academy while snickering like a fox. The parents of the new students gently guided the children away from the boy, knowing who he was and not wanting to somehow offend the Senju heir.
"Naru-chan, stop cackling like an evil scientist and come with me!" Tsunade shouted from near the gate, already knowing what thoughts were running through his mind. Naruto was four years old, and he was one little demon spawn(the irony was lost on her). Tsunade had lost count of the pranks the little brat had pulled around the house.
From dyeing her hair white to drawing over Dan's face when he was sleeping and conveniently 'forgetting' to tell him about it before he went to a mission briefing, the list was long, ridiculously so. It was two years ago that Tsunade had first discovered her cute little child's mischievous side, though that didn't make him any less endearing.
"Coming, Kaa-chan!" came the excited cry, as her son skittered over from the swing he was sitting on. She was intrigued when instead of mingling with the new students as most were doing, Naruto instead bounded off to the desolate swing across the Academy. She was observing him, and she saw that he stared at the swing almost fondly, as if he were reliving some precious memories.
If only she knew that the said memories were anything but pleasant…
In a burst of speed not suited to a four-year-old, Naruto dashed and appeared next to her. This was another reason it was so hard to catch Naruto after he was caught pranking- the little kid was fast. Absurdly fast.
Tsunade still wondered how those little feet could carry Naruto's tiny body at such high speeds; she could track him just fine, but a four-year-old should not be that fast.
But then again, calling Naruto a 'normal' four-year-old would be like calling the Kyuubi a furball. Tsunade remembered the moment clearly when Naru-chan had unlocked his chakra for the first time, as well as the shocked looks shown on the faces of the audience.
FLASHBACK- 18 MONTHS AGO
Naruto, now almost two years and six months old, was meditating in the Senju training ground with a constipated look on his face.
On the sidelines stood his parents, uncle, Jiraiya, the Sandaime, as well as Danzo, the Elders and Orochimaru. Naruto was pretty sure that Mito was watching him from the window of her room on the second floor.
The older shinobi had explicitly requested to see the 'Senju prodigy' awaken his chakra. Just the thought made Naruto inwardly roll his eyes. Could they be any more transparent? He could practically feel the 'New tool'/ 'New test subject' vibes rolling off Danzo and Orochimaru, respectively. They both were looking at him like Orochimaru looked at Sasuke. This fact did nothing to reassure the blonde.
'Seriously, look at how creepily they're staring at me!' Naruto thought while feeling slightly weirded out, 'How the hell did no one capture them the first time around? They're so obvious!?'
"People see what they want to see, Na-Kyun" Kaguya supplied unhelpfully. Ever the productive tenant, this one.
The reason for labelling Naruto as a prodigy in the first place was foolish, in his opinion. At two years old, he could somehow speak words not natural to his age, albeit the smaller ones he could pronounce. He also had better situational and social awareness as compared to his contemporaries, them being other two-year-olds.
Of course, he did, he was technically sixteen after all.
Still, ever since the first word out of his mouth on seeing Hiruzen had been 'Hokage', they were all extremely invested in his training, mainly seeing how much chakra he had, his elements and such.
Which is what he was trying to do, but his chakra wasn't surfacing, the blasted thing!
"Tsunade, when is young Naruto going to awaken his chakra? It's been five minutes already." Danzo drawled while managing to look simultaneously bored and irked.
"Yes, Danzo, precisely. It's been ONLY FIVE MINUTES." Tsunade retorted, getting fed up with the old coot already. "Either shut up or leave." She finished, rubbing her temples. Why did these three idiots have to show up today? They had better not pressure her Naru-chan into becoming a hyper-focused killing drone, or she would have words.
With her fists.
"Yeah!" Chirped little Naruto, making her smile.
Danzo harrumphed but shut up, mumbling about 'the glory of the great tree' or some other drivel. He was promptly ignored.
Meanwhile, Naruto was in his mindscape, figuring out what was wrong with his chakra. Kaguya was sitting beside him, drinking again. How was he stuck with a drunk old hag in whatever time he found himself?
"Could it be an effect of the double seal?" Inquired Naruto, stroking his cheeks. Though a physical seal didn't show up on his body, he could never know for sure unless he used chakra. He didn't want anyone to see a complicated seal on his stomach. That would be bad, to say the least.
Kaguya hummed in thought but ultimately shook her head. "I don't think so, did this happen the first time around, pyon?" She asked, just as intrigued as him.
Naruto recalled what had happened the first time around. No one wanted to teach the Kyuubi brat to wield a weapon that could be used 'against them by the demon', so he had been on his own. Jiji had told him that chakra was like a well of energy inside his body, and he just had to reach out and grab it. Naruto being Naruto, did not understand the whole physical-spiritual theory of it.
So he had just squeezed until he hit something. And it had worked.
"Eh, I'll try to power through it. That always works for me, anyway." He said in a disinterested tone as he disappeared out of his mindscape.
He opened his eyes to find everyone staring at him expectantly, keenly observing his next move. He didn't even look to find out what Orochimaru was doing. The guy was too creepy.
Settling once more into the lotus position, Naruto squeezed. He didn't even know what he squeezed, but he squeezed something nevertheless. Almost there…
Everyone watched with bated breath as the kid seemed to intensely focus, and waited.
And waited… And waited.
They were prepared to correct the boy's posture as he was clearly doing something wrong, but then they felt it.
Power, at a level not natural for a toddler. There was almost as much chakra in the boy as most mid-level Chunin!
Sarutobi moved towards him and was about to stop the boy, to prevent passing out from chakra exhaustion. It happened to most kids who awakened their chakra for the first time, and with such massive reserves, Naruto would be hit that much harder.
He was not prepared, however, for a branch to fall and hit him in the face. He caught it, of course, as he wasn't the Hokage for show. But then he took stock of the branch. It wasn't a dry or loose branch that had fallen like he initially thought. The branch was still attached to the tree Naruto was sitting under. The branches of which were moving and creaking ominously, as if protecting Naruto from harm. There was only one possible conclusion that could be drawn when trees responded to a Senju's chakra.
"Mokuton..." He whispered, eyes wide in shock.
The reactions were instantaneous and very predictable…
"My son has the Mokuton…" Dan spoke, still not quite there.
"My godson has the Mokuton! He will be a kickass shinobi!" Jiraiya shouted, then his face adopted a horrified expression. "Oh no… this means-"
"Kukukuku~ Naruto-kun, such an interesting young specim-child!, you are" Orochimaru stated, a tad nervously at the end for his slip-up.
"..." Nawaki was silent, still awed.
"Hmm, interesting indeed. I wonder how much Konoha will prosper with another Mokuton user in our ranks." Danzo mused, clearly intrigued.
The Elders' grumbles of approval were disregarded by everyone present, not that anyone particularly cared.
But the most important of them all…
"HA! I KNEW IT! My son has the Mokuton~!" Tsunade shouted, clearly satisfied with herself. "Pay up Jiraiya, it was a mistake betting against my Naru-chan and me!" She finished while laughing uproariously. Jiraiya sulked some more and handed over a fat wad of notes to the kunoichi. That explained his horrified expression earlier, Naruto mused.
Speaking of the prankster blonde, he decided to do just that, prank. Time to repay the creeps in kind, he thought.
SSHHHRRRRR
Orochimaru, Danzo and the Elders promptly found themselves covered in lots of dead leaves. They didn't register some leaves as a threat, hence didn't dodge. It was still funny, though.
Naruto giggled at the sight and was shortly joined by Tsunade and Jiraiya. Said woman scooped up her son in her arms and cooed at him, "Ohhh~ you're just a little gem, aren't you, Naru-chan!" She exclaimed happily, nuzzling her cheek with his. This made the boy giggle even more.
While laughing with his mother, Naruto missed the looks sent to him by Danzo and Orochimaru.
It was going to be an impressive few years in the future.
FLASHBACK END
Since then, Naruto had trained as much as his tiny frame would allow him, and with the help of the many, many abilities he gained from Kaguya, he was already up to his thirteen-year-old level. Now it was his first day at the Academy, and he couldn't wait to make new friends and find new precious people to protect.
His old friends would forever remain in his heart, but he had a new family now. And he would not allow them to die like his old ones had, believe it!
Gaining a new determination, Naruto went with his mother to the lobby, where all the genin hopefuls were arriving. He looked around, seeing if he could recognise anyone. He was a bit alarmed at how many resemblances he found.
There were some children from the Uchiha clan, identified by the fan crest on their backs. This included a girl who looked very close to young Sasuke from his time. There was another notable Uchiha, a boy, who was apparently swaying on his feet.
'What the hell?' Naruto thought in surprise, 'An Uchiha who isn't standing still and glaring at everyone? Who is that boy?' Kaguya hummed in agreement, clearly intrigued as well.
Towards their left, there was a woman with short spiky hair with fang markings on her face, signifying an affiliation to the Inuzuka clan. She looked excited to be here, as did most other kids. This was probably Kiba's mom, Tsume Inuzuka.
Then there were two identical stoic-looking boys, with the signature pale eyes of the Byakugan. Naruto noted. It was evident that they were twins, and Naruto knew exactly who they were; Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga, the fathers of Hinata and Neji, respectively. Hizashi had a bandana over his forehead, which must have that horrid seal underneath.
"We have to get rid of that, pyon." Kaguya chimed in, and Naruto fully agreed. That seal would be the first to go when he made Hokage.
Next in line were three vastly different people, who at the same time managed to look eerily similar to their children- The Ino-Shika-Cho trio. The blonde, Inoichi was dragging the exasperated Shikaku with him, while Chouza Akimichi followed them whilst munching on chips.
Naruto knew who all these people were, having fought with them in the war. The only people he didn't recognise were the two Uchihas because they were dead by the time Naruto graduated.
There was one civilian he recognised very clearly, though.
Minato Namikaze.
The blonde looked remarkably similar to Naruto, except for the narrower face and absence of whisker marks. Thankfully Tsunade was blonde as well, or else people might suspect the two kids of being long lost brothers.
Minato was just lounging around, but Naruto noticed that no one had come to drop him off. Naruto swore to befriend his father from another world and make sure that his counterpart never had to experience what he had.
Naruto completely forgot about the single member who was from the Aburame clan, a fact which he would realise months later.
He was snapped out of his musings when he saw a man who was probably their sensei, approaching the podium. Sensei was a brown-haired man with an average build, and thick-rimmed glasses. He had a slight limp in his step; It was barely noticeable, but it was there, which made Naruto wonder if that was the reason behind the man's current job.
Sensei stepped up and cleared his throat to gain attention. Seeing as everyone was looking, he began-
"Greetings to all the parents and prospective shinobi of the village. The Ninja Academy aims to educate you and give you the tools to become competent soldiers who will bring glory to Konoha." The man said, "My name is Sora Miyamoto, and I will be teaching your class for the next six years, along with another faculty." All the students were smiling in anticipation at starting a new chapter in their lives.
"Now if the parents would please leave the children here, we will be beginning with the classes immediately."
Hearing that, many of the parents started wishing their children well and leaving. Naruto was again hit by a wave of nostalgia; there was no one scorning him this time around, no one telling their kids to 'stay away from that boy' or the like, and he actually had someone to say goodbye to. He had an actual family this time, people who actually cared. To most kids, having your parents drop you to school would be embarrassing, but Naruto knew otherwise.
He would never take their love for granted and would strive to be someone Tsunade and Dan could be proud of. And if it were up to him, he would go with his mother to school every day.
Quickly wiping his eyes so no one would see the tears that had gathered, Naruto turned to Tsunade, wearing a bright smile, a genuine smile.
"Kaa-chan, I have to go, I'll see you later today, okay?"
Tsunade ruffled his hair and nodded, a small smile on her face. "Yes Naru-chan, I'll see you when I come to pick you up, okay?" She asked and then gave him a stern tone. "Make sure to behave, young man, I don't want any complaints about you on the first day, got that?"
Naruto merely nodded, with a determined fire in his eyes, surprising Tsunade. "Hai Kaa-chan, I'll be someone you can be proud of, believe it!" he finished with a fist pump, running inside with the other students.
Tsunade turned around and left for her house, smiling sadly. Her son was growing up so fast, it felt like weeks when it had really been four years. He had a heart of gold and the power to back it up, yet he was worried about making her proud, the silly boy.
"You already have, Naruto, you already have." She said softly while heading to the hospital.
Naruto walked into his class, along with the rest of the kids. He sat next to the Uchiha boy from earlier, with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio occupying the other side. He spotted Tsume sitting with the Uchiha girl, and some other girls he didn't know. Hiashi was sitting behind him, and Hizashi was seated one row behind his twin as if guarding him. It seemed to Naruto that the 'Fate' ideology of his had already taken root. Hiashi was glancing back at his brother from time to time like he wanted to call him ove, but he did nothing in the end.
The class quieted down when Sora-sensei came to the desk, still slightly limping. He cleared his throat and addressed the children.
"Welcome to your first class of the Academy. Since we are currently in peace-time, the course has been relaxed and extended to six years. You will learn about the basics like history for the first two years-" the class groaned collectively, but Sensei continued, "Then Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu for the next two, and finally a specialisation for the final two years, of your choice."
The curriculum was simple enough. Two years of basic knowledge, two years of Ninja arts, and two years of anything from Kenjutsu to Fuuinjutsu. Naruto couldn't wait for that part specifically. Since he had Uzumaki blood running through his veins, seals came really easily to him as a result.
"Sensei! Why can't we start the cool stuff already?" Tsume whined, getting nods of agreement from many others. The students were already murmuring about all the 'cool jutsu' and 'awesome techniques' they would learn here.
Sora just sighed and shook his head as he was used to this question. Every year the new brats asked the same thing, over and over again. All these kids wanted was cool jutsu and flashy techniques. Why could they not understand that the basics were just as, if not more important? Why had he taken this job again? Ah yes, because he had an accident in the line of duty, making him unfit to continue as a shinobi. This job was his back-up.
Sora looked at the prospective candidates in his class. There was the Uchiha heiress and one other boy, who was… wobbling in his seat? Then there was the Hyuga heir and his sibling, the Ino-Shika-Cho heirs, and the Inuzuka heiress. There were some civilians as well, but none of them stood out. Then his gaze went to the little blonde boy seated next to the Uchiha.
Naruto Senju. The Hokage had spoken highly of the boy, mysteriously telling Sora to 'watch him closely lest you miss an amazing feat.' Well, the boy didn't look like much, though he didn't have the arrogance expected of a clan heir. Sora would watch the boy closely, he was an interesting kid. But for now, he had to deal with the new kids. He cleared his throat again to get attention-
"I am sorry the curriculum is not up to your standards, your majesty," he joked, making Tsume blush in embarrassment, "Any complaints you might have, take them up with the Hokage. Got it?" He finished in a stern voice addressing the whole class, making the girl nod quickly, along with the rest of the students.
"Now, let us introduce ourselves to each other." he said, "I'll start as an example, and you guys follow. My name is Sora Miyamoto, I am twenty-three years old and have Chunin rank. I also like reading and teaching." he finished and pointed at the Uchiha girl.
She got up from her seat and turned to face the class. "Greetings, My name is Mikoto Uchiha, the heiress to the Uchiha clan." she paused as if thinking about what to say, "I am four years old, and I like training as well as reading. My dream is to bring glory to the Leaf as well as the Uchiha clan."
She then sat down, and the Uchiha boy got up. He looked excited to introduce himself, and started exuberantly; "My name is... Uchiha Fu-Ga-Ku!" He stated with a flourish, while still wobbling on his feet, "I am at the ripe age of four~" he dramatically flashed four fingers at the class.
"I am an aspiring shinobi and poet! I will ensnare my enemy with my silver tongue and vanquish them with honeyed words!" he finished loudly while spinning in place and bowing to the class.
Silence.
Everyone was quiet, taking some time to process the rather rambunctious introduction. The students had steady sweatdrops building at the back of their heads. Naruto grinned in anticipation; he could get along with this guy! 'Finally, a normal Uchiha!' he thought, forgetting that his definition of 'normal' did not conform with the global standard.
Mikoto just sighed and palmed her face, as if she was used to this. That raised another question in Naruto's mind. If the Uchihas had condoned Fugaku's erratic behaviour enough to send him to the Academy, they must be more lenient than they were in his time.
'Oh! I can work with this, can't I?' Naruto wondered, 'If they are more amiable this time around, then they won't be as isolated as they were before! And with some nudges from me, I could prevent the massacre!' Naruto cheered. He was looking to save as many people as possible anyway.
"That's true Na-Kyun, good job!" Kaguya motivated him as if he were a baby. Naruto wisely refrained from commenting, she was weird like that.
Everyone was still reeling from Fugaku's introduction, so much so that no one had spoken. Sora-sensei decided to move on, pointing to Naruto.
Seeing as it was his turn, Naruto got up, "My Name is Naruto Senju! I am four years old and the heir to the Senju clan!" he gave a wide grin "I like my family, ramen and gardening. I dislike the three minutes ramen takes to cook, and people who judge others without knowing them. My dream is to become the Hokage and protect everyone precious to me!" He declared loudly and waited for the response.
If he were being honest with himself, Naruto had expected derisive snorts and jeers, students assuring him that he would not amount to anything. He was fully expecting to be laughed at, and the teachers kicking him out for 'disturbing the class' for the whole day. So when there were no such jeers or put-downs, Naruto was baffled. There were merely some whispers and nods. He sat down, the next students introduced themselves, and the class went on.
"Na-Kyun, these kids are not conditioned to hate you like the old ones were." Kaguya soothed in his mind, "Everyone knows that you are the Senju heir and probably knows that you have the Mokuton, that alone lends a lot of credence to your dream." She finished. After all, it would be only right for another Mokuton wielder to become Hokage, just like the First.
Naruto mulled over this information as the class went on. The scars of his past were deep, and the boy still couldn't believe that people simply cared about him and believed in him as is. He did not acknowledge a certain Uchiha heiress looking interestedly at him.
Eventually, class ended, and Naruto went home with Tsunade, who had come to pick him up. He was oddly silent on the walk home, quite unlike his usual cheery attitude. This led her to believe that his first day had gone badly. She asked him as such.
"Nothing, Kaa-chan, the first day was great!" He lied, giving a nostalgic close-eyed grin, "I'm just tired, honest." he stated, "Can we have some ramen on the way home?" He asked, some light returning to his eyes. If Tsunade detected anything, she said nothing to that effect.
Whenever he was confused, he could always rely on ramen after all.
And so, time passed. It was not long before the first year of the Academy ended, and the second year began. Naruto had made lots of friends, and he was spending his school years as he should have in the first place. Through liberal use of Kage Bunshin, Naruto had managed to study correctly and had placed consistently in the top ten of his class.
His training also continued in full swing, using Kage Bunshin as well as the time-space advantage his mindscape provided. Naruto was now at the level where he could take on anyone except for Madara, and that was only because of his still small body. He had also mastered the Mokuton and perfected the Hiraishin, but his version had no flash. He needed his father to be known for something, after all.
He decided to keep the Rasengan, though. It was too much of a pain to wait for Minato to create it and get him to teach it to Naruto, only for him to struggle to explain why exactly he could perform and even complete the jutsu in one hour.
Naruto would just teach it to Minato himself when the time was right.
Though, he needed an explanation as to why he could do high-level Mokuton jutsu. And since he was the Senju heir, he had access to all of Hashirama's scrolls and Tobirama's notes. That also gave him an explanation for his knowledge of Kage Bunshin.
Now, Naruto could safely say that he could start his crusade of fixing the world. But before he went off searching for Zetsu, Naruto had some critical threats to deal with, threats who had caused half the shitstorm in his old world to happen.
Threats that were currently 'loyal' to Konoha.
It was time to deal with Danzo and Orochimaru.
A/N- Review, please.
