To the Future

by cbehrills

Uchiha Sarada is the 9th Hokage. A legendary shinobi, the first Uchiha to have become a Hokage. However, her reign is not easy, the village is under attack from a threat greater than any that have come before. When even the Five Kage cannot stop the incoming threat there is only one person who could, Uzumaki Naruto. There is but one problem, he is dead.

166. Measure Your Potential

BACK TO SCHOOL – MEASURE YOUR POTENTIAL

Beneath the Military Academy

Naruto continues to wander the area beneath the military academy. As he wanders, he turns his head frequently, looking everywhere in this enormous open area for his wife. With Hinata's condition any such disappearance becomes deeply worrying. If she bumped into some aristocrat or someone who didn't know who she was, she could easily be designated as a threat. If her power didn't hold up in such a situation she could easily die, and there is no guarantee that she would be able to manifest her power in the first place.

"Lord 3rd," Naruto calls to his fellow Hokage, "Have you seen Hinata around here? She's been missing for hours now."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about Naruto. I doubt anything could happen to her under the watchful eye of our teachers."

"I suppose not, but it's unlike her to disappear like this."

"It will be fine Naruto, I assure you, you should calm down."

"… yes, I suppose so".

Naruto's anxiety doesn't lessen despite the assurances of Hiruzen, but he does take some comfort from his reply. It seems that the people of the Hidden Leaf village are starting to trust their aristocratic teachers. They have been given adequate reason to distrust them over their extended time in Homeworld, but the people of the Leaf rise above their prejudices time after time. The faith that they have in Naruto isn't one-way, it is very much reciprocated.

Suddenly, Naruto feels a pair of strong arms wrap around his head.

The woman who has Naruto in her grip is a newcomer and is not amongst the people that Sora has introduced to the Hokage during their time down here. This puts Hiruzen on red alert, it would take an impressive individual to sneak down here past all those aristocrats.

The newcomer is a woman of two faces. The right side of her head covered with cascading strawberry-blonde hair, stopping just above a deep blue eye. The left side of her head is almost completely bold, her left eye barely open due to the scarring that covers that side of her face. She wears a sleeveless mauve shirt, similar in colour to the cape of an aristocrat, and a pair of white fingerless gloves.

"Let go of me," Naruto shouts, his cries muffled by her arms, "Who is this!"

"Aww, isn't he cute," the woman laughs, "He's flailing around in the dark like a little child. They all look so funny these pocket-worlders."

"Let go of him," Hiruzen demands as he draws a kunai to his hand, "We've got you completely surrounded down here. With this many people present, there is no way you can escape if you do anything."

A man approaches from behind Naruto and the woman. He takes a drink from his flask and screws the lid back on. Hiruzen can sense the man's intoxication despite their separation. This man is dressed in the formal attire of an aristocrat and he has just spent an enormous amount of money, given to him by a royal no less. This is the man who was recently stopped by Queen Nadia and King Swen. This is the aristocrat, Juan.

"Can't you just keep your hands off them for a short while, Nina?" Juan asks.

"Nope," his accomplice replies, showing her tongue to her peer as she continues to hug Naruto's head tightly.

"You," Juan points at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen staggers backwards, intimidated by the newcomers. 'Who are these people. They are not amongst the aristocrats we have met so far. They seem much stronger and far more confident.'

"Your stance is far better than average, but you need to learn to appreciate your situation," Juan declares, "Your choice of weapon is poor, your threat is obviously empty because you're not using your weak divine energy. You still have a lot to learn before someone like you can threaten the likes of us."

Hiruzen is forced to make an instant judgement of the two of them and their intentions. It would appear that while extremely forward, Nina is just being friendly towards Naruto. It also appears, that while he is condescending and blunt, Juan is giving pointers to him rather than counter-attacking him. If the two of them really wanted them dead, wouldn't they have done it by now. If the two of them wanted them dead, would they dare to come here under the nose of Headmaster Sora?

The question is soon answered by the arrival of Sora and Hinata.

"It's alright Hiruzen, Naruto, you need not fear the two of them," Sora says with a grin, "These are the academy's finest teachers. I've just summoned them back after a long period away. I've brought them here specially to train you guys."

Hiruzen lowers his weapon. "The academy's finest teachers? Then, why did Clyde and Lara never mention them. They always talked of Carmen being their great teacher."

"Before now, they have only trained the academy's aristocrats and teachers," Sora explains, "Lara and Clyde were too weak for the two of them to bother with."

As other people gravitate towards the confrontation, Hiruzen is left to ponder how remarkable the two of them must be. Does that mean that they taught Carmen what she knew before she taught Lara and Clyde? Could these people really be of such status? One of them seems to be too busy messing around with Naruto, the other appears to be a condescending fool. The two finest teachers in the whole academy?

Clyde comments on Sora's previous remark. "Headmaster Sora, I think Lara is already frustrated enough. It might be best not to tell her that you were holding back the best teachers from us."

"She needs to learn to control her emotions," Sora proclaims, "Besides, if you need proof of their abilities, they gravitated towards the key student without as much as a description."

The two of them maintain a dumb silence before erupting in surprise.

"Huh!"

"You mean this is Uzumaki Naruto?" Nina asks as she stops hugging Naruto. She spins his him around, her hands on his head as she inspects him. "He's not really this key student is he? Someone this dumb is surely just the morale support?"

"He doesn't look like anything special to me," Juan agrees. "are you sure you've made the right decision."

As Naruto struggles against Nina's grip, only the wisest amongst them consider what this must mean. While others continue their complaints, Hiruzen looks at the struggle. Nina seems to be playing around with Naruto as if teasing a child. While he struggles desperately to free himself, she uses a fraction of her power to keep him in her grip. This is the frightening power that such people possess.

"The two of you are arrogant considering you have only just met Naruto," Tobirama says, "We have all been given reason after reason to believe in him. We have no reason to have the same faith in you."

"Tobirama is right," Kakashi concludes, "What makes the two of you so great."

Sora holds his head in his hands, "Listen, I know this hasn't exactly been the first impression that any of us were hoping for but…"

The arguments go on. The citizens of the Hidden Leaf argue for Naruto's talent and that the teachers are arrogant. The subordinates of Lara and Clyde claim that they have never seen these aristocrats before and ask why they were always hidden away when they passed through the military academy. Juan and Nina lament how hopeless the students they have been asked to teach are. Meanwhile only Sora appreciates what they can all do if they work together. Only Sora, and Hinata.

"I can explain!" Hinata shouts.

For Hinata to raise her voice is out of character and brings a silence to the arguing groups.

Hinata holds her hand out in front of her and closes her eyes. Using her will alone, she summons 'water' energy to her hand. This is something Hinata has been working on for a while now, but that is not all. Along with the 'water' energy comes a tremendous power. A power that is on par with Naruto and Sarada. While maintaining control, Hinata has been able to bring out the power that she has done subconsciously on many previous occasions.

Hinata has controlled her power.

"Hinata…" Naruto whispers.

"Juan and Nina are good teachers. They taught me to control my powers."

To his dismay, Nina continues to twist Naruto's head in her hands as she inspects him for any sign that he may be this incredible person she has been told about.

"Do you know what her power is?" Naruto asks Nina.

"Not a clue," Nina replies while continuing to inspect him, "Never seen anything like it before. Quite handy though. It was fairly easy to train, easy power if you ask me."

"I'm surprised you don't know, Headmaster," Juan enquires.

Headmaster Sora simply shrugs his shoulder.

"Well then, I believe that we have shown you enough for you to trust in our skills," Juan says to his former critics, "But what proof do you have that it is worth us teaching you. Other than the freak, you don't seem that worth teaching to me."

Naruto finally manages to get Nina to let go of him. "Alright then, tell me, what do you want me to do to prove it. There must be some way of proving ourselves to you."

"Actually there is," Nina says, jokingly reaching for Naruto once again before withdrawing. "Juan was telling me about something like that on our way over here. And on that subject headmaster, Nadia and Swen were waiting for us. You didn't warn us!"

"I can't foresee everything?" Sora admits, "I assume that Swen didn't work out who you were."

"No he didn't," Nina says, placing her hands childishly on her hips.

"What I was going to suggest," Juan says, cutting Nina's boasting off, "Is that we use the potential test. I believe you still have a chamber for such testing here in the academy."

"I do" Sora replies.

"OK then, if you want to prove yourselves to us. Let's put some numbers to that potential the headmaster was telling us about."

Half an Hour Later

Sora walks down the endless stairs into the underground area alongside his student Ming Dai. On Ming Dai's back is a cage. The cage is a perfect cube with two items on it's top, a translucent funnel and a small screen. Dai seems to struggle to carry the cage which is designed to be the right size for someone to sit in cross-legged. As the two of them reach the bottom of the stairs, Ming Dai's face drips with sweat, if only Sora had allowed him to use his divine energy to help with carrying this thing, it would have been easy.

Dai throws the cage down onto the floor, sending small tremors through the ground.

"Exactly how heavy was that thing?" Naruto asks his sibling student.

"Well, let's put it this way, I don't look forward to carrying it back upstairs," Dai chuckles, "Master, why don't you explain exactly how this test works."

Sora nods. "Alright, this cage is effectively in an insulator, no divine energy gets in or out when it is closed, except through this little funnel on the top. It is used to put a number to someone's potential, the divine energy that comes through the funnel is converted to energy type of the person inside. The cage does the maths for you, it scales the amount of energy radiation in the cage to how strong the person is. It then gives you a sort of calculation, it produces a number. The higher the number you can withstand, the higher your potential."

"So, it the energy in there will be more for me than for Himawari?" Naruto asks.

"Exactly, it's a level playing field. All that it requires is that whoever is powering the cage has more divine energy than the one who is in the cage. Significantly more, otherwise it won't be enough to make the test subject struggle. That's why I'm going to be providing the energy."

"This will put a number to our power?" Naruto asks.

"No. This will put a number to your potential. Your score will hopefully be higher than mine. The more radiant energy you can withstand, the greater your will power, the greater the power of your soul, the stronger you have the potential to one day become."

"What sort of scores are we aiming for?" Sarada asks.

"If you picked a normal person off the street, they would score a 0 and collapse under the first level of pressure," Sora explains. "Most people with divine energy would score a 1 or 2, but you guys aren't normal people. Those with talent would score a 3, those destined to be colonels a 4, those who become generals a 5. Those with transcendent elements like Clyde or Lara may score 6."

Sarada correctly notices that Sora didn't answer her question. "What sort of scores are we aiming for?"

Sora smiles. "Perhaps you should have some numbers from people who we've test before." He gestures to Juan and Nina.

"I did the test and scored 7," Juan says, "I would have done better if I wasn't drunk."

"Ignore him, he's always drunk," Nina grins, "I scored a 7 as well, and I'm making no excuses."

Naruto is taken aback. A 7! That's higher than even transcendent element geniuses are likely to score. He turns to Ming Dai and asks what score his sibling student, the greatest student of the military academy was able to achieve.

"I scored the same as Master Sora," Ming Dai answers, "We both scored 8."

This announcement makes a commotion amongst the onlookers, those who are likely to have their potential tested. Those with transcendent elements are all blessed by the heavens, they are all born to be called a genius. To score higher than them is what qualifies Juan and Nina to be called the best teachers at the academy. To score even higher still is what puts Headmaster Sora in a unique realm. He is the man Emperor Furst considers his greatest threat.

"There have been higher scores," Sora admits, "I have seen one higher score myself, and the other one was just a rumour."

Naruto and Sarada naturally press the Headmaster for more details.

"The previous emperor, Endou Akashi, he scored the highest I have ever seen. He scored the highest that had ever been recorded when he scored a 9."

A 9 now! This brings a smile to the likes of Clyde who remember the previous emperor fondly. Of course he was a genius, he was the one who was able to unite the world and drive away their hated enemy, naturally he was going to be incredible. Unfortunately, this makes it rather obvious who would have been able to score more.

The only person to score higher, was Furst Jonas.

"Furst Jonas was said to have done the test in secret to hide his potential," Sora says, "I have heard it said that he scored a 10. That would be the highest ever."

Naruto is once again given perspective about the task that lies ahead of him. The previous emperor scored a 9 and become the most loved and revered person in all the lands. That is an unrivalled score that puts him above the unbeatable headmaster and his student. It puts him two levels above the genius teachers of the academy and three above those who are too good to use regular elements. Furst Jonas's potential is higher still, something that has been proven since he ascended to the throne. But who knows, perhaps Furst can become stronger yet.

"This is why we've waited so long for someone like you, Naruto."

"No pressure," Ming Dai says, patting Naruto on the back.

"Don't worry," Juan adds. "Nobody believes that stupid rumour that Furst scored 10."

"That's right," Nina speaks up, "There is no way that one of these tests has ever scored a 10, isn't that right headmaster?"

"I believe it's true," Sora says, "Furst Jonas likely scored 10."

All eyes fall on Naruto. Scoring a 7 is likely to be enough to prove that he is worthy of tuition from Juan and Nina. Scoring an 8 is enough to prove that he will one day become a heavyweight in this war who could stand and fight alongside Sora against the royals. A 9 would prove that people were right, that he is someone who can become as mighty as Endou Akashi and become the next great hope. However, only a 10 would prove that he is someone who people can rely on to lead the future war against Furst.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Lara shouts impatiently, breaking the ice as only she can, "If you're all too scared, I will go first."

Lara kneels down, crawling into the cage and sitting with her legs-crossed. She nods her approval for Sora to begin, and so he does.

The scores for the test subjects come in one after another.

Lara scores 7!

Clyde scores 7 as well, much to Lara's frustration.

Mirai scores 7!

Tobirama scores 7!

Hiruzen scores 7!

Minato scores 7!

They all take something away from this. Mirai is pleased to be on the same level as the Hokage, the Hokage are pleased to be on the same level as the generals. Clyde is pleased to be on the same level as the genius teachers. The only one who is not content with her score is Lara.

Juan and Nina look at each other in disbelief. These are pocket worlders! These people who were never supposed to grasp divine energy have done it and managed to master it to such a level. So far, they have each had a potential on par with the two of them!

They believe this is about to change when Tsunade steps forward. The young Hokage has lacked in self-confidence for some time now. She is the only living Hokage who has not been able to control some form of divine energy, the chamber may not even be able to work out what type of divine energy she has.

As she steps into the chamber this proves to be true. A perfectly clear divine energy without element fills the chamber, much how it does for citizens with no potential whatsoever. However, the amount of energy just increases and increases in the same way it did for the others.

And when all is said and done, Tsunade comes out with her own high score.

Tsunade scores 8!

Even Mitsuki who has been teaching Tsunade personally is astonished by her score. She scored an 8, that means that she has the potential to become a heavyweight, like Sora and his direct student. She may one day join the big names in fighting an enemy royal!

Next it is Hinata's turn.

Hinata enters the cage and it soon begins to fill with 'water' energy. She remains strong and confident looking as the energy increases. It increases further and further all the way up to the same level as the previous test.

Hinata reaches level 8.

'This one,' Juan utters in his mind, 'She's going to score even higher than the headmaster, she doesn't look like she's struggling at all. Just who is she?'

Hinata smiles to the headmaster, nodding for him to take the pressure higher. As he starts to ramp the pressure up, a small spark of red divine energy enters the cage, causing an upset in the balance that Hinata has been maintaining. It is as this moment that Hinata's control of her power is lost, and in a dramatic moment, she collapses under the enormous weight of the 'water' divine energy.

Hinata scores 8!

What's more, she may have been able to go higher!

'Just how high would she have gone?' Nina wonders, 'Would she have been able to cope with level 9? If we work on her control, just how strong will we make her?'

As Hinata is helped from the cage, Sora realises that there are only two people left who are going to be tested.

'It's time for the main event' he realises, 'Sarada and Naruto, with their double-transcendent elements, just how high can the two of them score?'

Sarada decides to go first. She crawls into the cage before sitting cross-legged as the others have done before. She sits in the cage, in full knowledge that the people of the village are expecting her to do something spectacular. However, this is not a moment for the village, that is what Naruto's test will be. This is a moment for her, to determine but to never limit her potential, that is her decision. She will prove her own worth to herself.

Sarada nods to Sora.

Sora pours his own 'enhancement' energy into the cage through the funnel. As the energy comes out of the funnel it is converted into a new form, changing from dark blue to jade green as it transforms into 'creation' energy that Sarada has started to learn.

"Stay calm Sarada, how high you can score on this test is important for morale, and it will show us if we have a genuine chance of beating Furst."

"I'm ready," Sarada declares.

Sora gradually begins to pour more and more 'enhancement' energy into the funnel and watches the number on the screen atop the cage.

"2… 3… 4… 5…" Sora provides a running score.

"She's going up very quickly Juan," Nina whispers.

"Yeah," he dumbly replies, "Just who are these pocket-worlders, where in homeworld did the headmaster find them?"

"6… 7…" Sora continues. "Are you still doing Ok Sarada."

"I'm the daughter of Uchiha Sasuke and the student of Uzumaki Naruto, this isn't enough to beat me. Go one higher."

"… 8…" Sora says.

Once again, there is a murmur around the onlookers. A few beads of sweat drop from Sarada's head, but she is smiling. She doesn't appear to be struggling that much, similarly to how Hinata performed before her, but Sarada has no such control issues. 'This is it' they all realise, someone has arrived before them with a genuine chance of scoring a 9, with genuine chance of equalling the potential of Endou Akashi.

"Sarada, are you ready to go level 9?"

"No," Sarada replies, "I would like to stop here. I may be able to go to the next level but it would be a close run thing. I don't want to know my own limit. I'd rather end on a successful 8 than a failed 9, so I'm going to stay here."

Sora is taken aback. "You could have scored… very well, if that's what you want, we don't know what you would have scored Sarada, but I can mark your recorded score down as an 8."

Sarada scored 8!

"It's up to you now master" she says as she exits the cage, "I would never have been able to score a 10, only you can do it now."

Naruto nods and moves towards the cage.

No pressure.

"Nina, do you think he will be able to score a 10?" Juan asks.

"The moral support? Surely not, I'd be surprised if he manages to beat an 8."

Naruto takes his seat in the cage and looks back over his shoulder at the many shinobi and military looking back at him. The pressure from their eyes alone is tremendous. Juan and Nina may doubt him, but the shinobi and the military don't doubt him at all. It's clear that each of them truly believe he is going to do something spectacular, and he doesn't dare to let them down.

"Alright Naruto let's start with a 1," Sora says as the cage begins to fill with divine energy.

"I can barely feel it, let's just go for those high numbers already!"

"Stay calm, there is a lot riding on your result."

Sora complies with Naruto's request, feeding masses of divine energy into the cage as he reads the score off the screen.

"2… 3… 4… 5…"

Mirai leans towards her friend. "Lara, are you seeing what I'm seeing."

"Yeah, we at least sweated going through those scores, but Uzumaki Naruto isn't even flinching."

"6… 7… 8…"

In a matter of seconds, Naruto is able to eclipse the vast majority of the others who have been tested. He beats the score of Juan and Nina who were doubting him a short while ago and he hasn't even looked like he is starting to struggle yet. This is truly a sight to behold and it would seem all the faith in him was justified.

"Naruto, are you ready to go for one higher, a 9 is the same score as the previous emperor!"

"Of course," Naruto replies smiling confidently, "There's no way I'm stopping here"

"… 9!" Sora reads out.

"The moral support just…" Nina stammers, "He just reached a score of 9!"

"He's a monster," Juan declares, "There's no way a pocket-worlder can score 9."

Dai smiles as he looks at his sibling student. Naruto is definitely sweating now, but he appears to be in control at level 9. He's excited, he's never actually seen someone score a 9 before, he's just heard about it. He never really believed such a thing would happen again until now. Uzumaki Naruto is everything his teacher promised, the man is a walking miracle, a second coming of Endou Akashi.

Dai then looks at the headmaster. "Master, are you OK, you look a bit shocked?"

Sora shakes his head. "I'm… I'm fine… Naruto, would you like to try and go for a score of 10?"

"Just get on with it!" Naruto snaps in reply, clearly struggling the more time he spends under this pressure.

Sora begins to take the pressure up higher.

Will Naruto really be able to score 10!?

As the pressure increases, Naruto howls in pain but grits his teeth and continue to bear with it. Sora slows the increase of the pressure, realising that this would be hard for anybody, and that the pain his student is dealing with must be unimaginable. This is willpower and strength of soul on a scale he has never seen before.

The score continues to creep from 9 to 10, getting a bit closer every second.

But then it stops, and Naruto collapses.

Sora instantly stops, freeing the divine energy from the cage and easing the pressure on his student.

"He scored 9 and a half…" Nina says.

"Yeah…" Juan replies.

The two of them had heard from the headmaster about this student who would be different. They heard that there was a student worth teaching, a student that could genuinely pose a threat to Furst Jonas one day. This man, Uzumaki Naruto, was praised as the man who would be able to free Homeworld once again if everything went right. They didn't believe it, nobody would after so many years of suffering. However, the one they called dumb, the one they thought was just the moral support, has scored the highest score they have ever seen.

Ming Dai claps, leading a cheer from the shinobi and the military. They know they have just witnessed something incredible.

Hinata helps Naruto from the cage as he regains consciousness. "It's alright Naruto, you did great, that was absolutely amazing."

"It wasn't enough was it," he mutters, "I scored 9 and a half, I needed to score 10 to stand alongside Furst."

"Don't be put off," Sora says, looking earnestly at the student, "Plenty of people have defeated those with higher potential, and the score of 10 is only a rumour. That is the highest score we have ever confirmed, so go and rest now, you've given us plenty of hope."

Juan and Nina take Naruto from Hinata, helping him to walk and congratulating the 'moral support' for his high score. It's not an apology, but Naruto feels it's the closest he is going to get. The large group of aristocrats, captains, colonels, generals and shinobi leave in high spirits. From this moment, they will work together to turn that potential into something that they can see.

Only Sora and Ming Dai are left by the cage.

Sora collapses, a look of terror in his eyes. "That isn't possible, what a monster. That isn't possible!"

"Master, what's wrong?" Ming Dai asks, kneeling beside his master, "Did you use too much of your energy."

"… Dai, I lied about Naruto's starting point."

"What do you mean?"

"I was the only one who could see the screen," Sora begins, "I didn't start him on level 1, I started him on level 2."

"Then the score you told him was also a lie!"

"Yeah, he didn't score a 9.5. I was trying to teach him to persevere regardless of a low score. I was trying to teach him to keep going without hope, but he surpassed my expectations."

"Then master, what was his real score?" Ming Dai asks.

"Furst Jonas is rumoured to have scored a 10. Naruto just scored 10 and a half," Sora answers. "He is the one Dai. He is the one!"