Chapter Two

Friendship

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"Konohamaru, you get back here right now!"

Konohamaru grinned as he ran away from Naruto, laughing. Naruto chased after him, a wide grin marring what would have been a perfectly-executed command to return. As he ran, most of his attention was apparently on escaping, but he was also concentrating on recalling all that Naruto had said in the past about his history.

Unlike the timeline that had led to his return, Naruto hadn't joined the Academy two years early. Instead, he was intending to join with those his own age and this time, he had been properly taught.

From Yahiko, Naruto had learned the art of writing, his calligraphy practised until it was perfect. His writing and mathematical skills were easily those of someone half again his age, if not older, while his memory skills were just as good. His knowledge of history, geography and several other subjects was incredible due to Yahiko's benevolent (albeit somewhat intense) tutelage.

From Eri, Naruto had learned the value of nutrition and how not eating right would stunt his growth. While he was still a keen Ramen eater, it was no longer the only food he would eat. Under Eri's stern yet caring eye, Naruto had learned how to make and prepare a wide variety of meals.

And best of all, he was still a prankster, a highly unpredictable one.

Konohamaru had almost laughed himself silly when he had overheard one of the ANBU reporting to Jiji that Naruto had managed to evade almost a dozen chunin and a jonin for an hour after dropping a paint-balloon on Danzo. Since then, he had managed to guide Naruto to the tree-climbing exercise by making a comment about seeing a ninja standing on a wall, and Naruto's curiosity had led him to asking Yahiko about it, thus setting him on the path to learning the tree-climbing exercise, and from that the branch-leaping skills.

He was starting to learn water-walking as well.

As a result, it only took half the normal amount of time to get anywhere now that Naruto could carry Konohamaru across the rooftops of Konoha. And Naruto had promised to teach Konohamaru when he finally unlocked his own chakra.

The fact that Konohamaru already knew how was something that he was going to keep to himself.

Now it was time for Konohamaru to set in motion another thread of his rebuilt future. If he had anything to do with it, a certain someone wouldn't wait until she was dying before confessing her love to Naruto, and this time, the blond (no-longer-quite-a-total) idiot actually knew what love was.

And there was his… wait, what was going on?

Konohamaru screeched to a halt and felt Naruto stop just behind him, his gaze fixed on a young dark-haired girl being cornered by a trio of older boys.

"Nii-san…?"

"I see them, Ko-kun." Naruto snarled. "Bullies. I hate bullies. Stay here."

Konohamaru blinked, then smiled almost ferally as Naruto sprinted past him, accelerating with a determined expression on his face. As he approached the boys, he leapt into the air and landed on the back of the largest one, ricocheting off while the boy was catapulted into the bushes. As he took down the second boy with a spinning backfist that knocked him down, but which left him open, the third boy noted his arrival and acted.

Konohamaru winced as the third boy kicked out, catching Naruto in the stomach.

"Eight trigrams, sixteen palms!"

The girl unleashed a barrage of chakra-enhanced palm-strikes that knocked the third boy down even as Konohamaru ran over.

"Nii-san!"

"I'm… okay, Ko-kun." Naruto gasped as he tried to stand up. The lavender-eyed girl gently took the arm that Konohamaru hadn't grabbed and together, they guided Naruto to a nearby bench so that he could sit down and recover.

"Thanks." Naruto wheezed. "Are you alright…?"

The girl blushed and looked down as Naruto trailed off, his expression quizzical.

"Hyuuga Hinata." She whispered. "Thank-you for saving me."

"Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my little brother Sarutobi Konohamaru, but he prefers to be called Ko."

Konohamaru nodded in confirmation.

"Sarutobi…?"

"Don't call him Honourable Grandson or anything like that, he hates it." Naruto grinned as Konohamaru squirmed onto the bench between them and grinned up at Hinata, who smiled back. "I think he likes you. Okay, I think I'm good now."

Konohamaru nodded and dropped back onto the ground, then lightly tagged Hinata.

"It!"

Hinata blinked as Naruto started to laugh.

"I think that's an invitation to play. Come on, let's get him!"

Hinata's eyes widened, then she started to laugh with joy as Naruto towed her after the fleeing, laughing boy.

.

"Hinata, it is time for your lessons. Come."

"H-hai, T-tou-san."

Konohamaru stared up at the strict form of Hiashi, who had appeared almost out of nowhere. Glancing at Hinata, then back at Hiashi, he decided to shatter the tension and tagged Hiashi.

"You're it!"

Hiashi blinked as Hinata and Naruto managed to fight down their laughter.

"…I'm what?"

"Ko-kun…" Hinata said, fighting to not laugh at her father's perplexed expression. "I'm afraid my father does not play games like that."

Hiashi blinked again.

"Hinata, why does this boy look familiar?"

"H… he is Sarutobi Konohamaru." Hinata explained. "I… I've been helping t… to look after him."

"Hinata's nice." Konohamaru interjected. "She's my friend."

Hiashi blinked again.

"Hinata… you've befriended the Hokage's grandson?"

"Y… yes, Tou-san."

"I… see." Hiashi mused slowly. "Well, I approve. Maybe next time, you should bring Hanabi along with you as well. And you are?"

Naruto bowed formally.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, currently the ward of Sarutobi Yahiko and Sarutobi Eri."

Konohamaru grinned. Time to make another change.

"Nii-san is really cool. He's going to teach me to be a great ninja!"

Hiashi blinked. "I… see. How much have you learned?"

"I can tree-walk and branch-leap already and am working on water-walking." Naruto replied, noting the look of awe that Hinata was giving him. "Tou-san… I mean Yahiko-san told me that I have so much chakra that the leaf exercise wouldn't do me any good except as a fine-control exercise when I get older, so I skipped that for now."

"Nii-san carries me across the roofs!" Konohamaru interjected and Hiashi raised an eyebrow.

"You are indeed advanced for your age." Hiashi admitted.

"I need to be advanced with Ko-kun." Naruto grinned, giving both Ko and Hinata a quick wink. "He's got almost as much energy as me. Fortunately, Hinata-sama offered to help look after him today. I don't think I would have survived without her help."

"I'm not that bad." Konohamaru pretend-sulked, sticking out his lower lip in a pout, and Hinata tried to hide her giggles. Hiashi's eyebrows lifted slightly higher.

"I… see. Well, I wish you both a good day. Hinata, come."

Hinata quickly bowed to Konohamaru and Naruto before scurrying after her father.

.

"That boy is Uzumaki Naruto. He does not have a very good reputation with the council."

"H… he…"

Hiashi cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Yet today I saw that he has been entrusted with the wellbeing of the grandson of the Hokage, a task he seems to perform with great diligence."

Hinata stared up at her father, trying to work out what he was getting at.

"Did he do anything… dishonourable?"

Hinata blinked in confusion. What was her father talking about?

"I see." Hiashi stated, confusing her even more as she hadn't said anything. "That is reassuring. I had my doubts about the council's stance, their claim that he is a no-good individual and a threat to the village."

Hinata nodded, then frowned slightly as a though hit her.

"Konohamaru-kun said something earlier… that Naruto-san looked like the Yondaime Hokage."

Hiashi halted dead in his tracks, a look of surprise passing across his features.

"The Yondaime… eyes… hair… could it be…?"

"Tou-san?"

Hiashi shook his head. "I will need to check a few things, but if what I suspect is true… Hinata, I approve of your friendship with Naruto. In fact, I would advise you to spend more of your free time with him."

Hinata stared in shock at her father.

"And speak to no-one what Konohamaru mentioned." Hiashi added. "I will not see the son of my friend killed by an enemy of his father. Now, it is time for your lessons and I need to see the Hokage about something."

.

"Good evening, Hiashi-sama. What brings you here?"

Hiashi closed the door behind him and looked round, Byakugan active, before nodding.

"I assume the ANBU here can keep quiet about what is probably an SS-class secret."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, then made a brief motion.

"They are gone."

"Except this one." Hiashi stated, throwing a kunai into the corner. A blank-masked figure faded into view, the kunai buried in his leg and Hiashi stepped over.

"You are within range of my divination. Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!"

The barrage of Jyuken strikes sent the figure into the wall and it collapsed bonelessly. Hiruzen stared.

"You may need to send this one to Ibiki." Hiashi said coldly. "Now, I need to talk about your grandson's… older brother."

"What happened, and how expensive is it?" Hiruzen sighed and Hiashi smirked slightly.

"No, not a prank this time. He is Minato's son, is he not?"

"How did you know that?" Hiruzen gasped, lunging to his feet and Hiashi smirked in triumph.

"I only suspected it until now. So, Minato chose his own son to seal the Kyuubi into. How are his lessons going?"

"Very well." Hiruzen said slowly, sitting back down. "He is going to enroll in the academy soon."

"As is my daughter." Hiashi noted. "Have the civilians changed the graduating syllabus?"

"Test, henge, kawarimi and bunshin." Hiruzen confirmed. "Why?"

"Naruto has a lot of chakra, I could feel it when I encountered him." Hiashi said. "If he is anything like Uzumaki Kushina… is she his mother?"

Hiruzen nodded and Hiashi resumed his comment.

"If he is anything like Kushina, his chakra levels mean that he will be unable to perform the normal bunshin due to the fact that he will need greater than med-nin levels of control, thus letting the council halt his advancement. Might I suggest instead that he learns the Kage Bunshin like she did? And soon. Maybe before he actually starts the academy."

Hiruzen frowned. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

"His parents were my friends." Hiashi said with a slight smile. "And the civilian council has recently annoyed me greatly. I would see Naruto become the rookie of the year even if only to savour the expressions on their faces. And Hinata seems more… relaxed and less shy when she is around him. If he can help her improve, I will have less problems with the clan council."

Hiruzen nodded slowly. "I think I follow. You are suggesting that they spend more time together?"

"I am indeed." Hiashi said. "Although, outside this office, I never said that."

"Then what did you say?" Hiruzen asked wryly.

"Simple." Came the response. "In order to foster closer relations between the Hyuuga clan and the Sarutobi clan, I wish to introduce Hanabi to Konohamaru to see if they can become friends. Naturally, Hinata will go along to oversee their meeting since she is very protective of her little sister. And if Naruto is there… well, that is just a co-incidence."

"It would be good for Konohamaru to have a friend his own age who isn't over-awed by who he is related to." Hiruzen mused. "This seems like a very good plan to me."

"I hoped that you would see it that way." Hiashi said, a faint smile barely visible on his lips.

.

Konohamaru blinked in surprise as he opened the door.

The girl staring at him was… unexpected.

He knew who she was, of course. Hyuuga Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister. A girl who would become the second genius of the Hyuuga clan and the wife of his best friend Udon. A strong-willed girl who respected intelligence and willpower and who had been one of his favourite sparring partners since she refused to hold back against him like so many others did.

And he hadn't met her in the future-that-now-was-not until he had started going to the Academy.

What was going on here?

"Hello, Ko-kun."

"Hinata-san!" Konohamaru grinned, looking up at Hinata with a wide smile. "Naruto's helping Jiji with.. bucasy?"

Hinata blinked several times as she thought about what he had just said, then realisation dawned. "Bureaucracy?"

"That's it." Konohamaru nodded. "Long word. Jiji hates bua… bera… barac… what you said. But they'll be back soon. Come in. Mum! Hinata-san's here!"

A few seconds passed, then Eri emerged from the kitchen. "Hinata-chan, come in! And this must be your sister, Hanabi. Father told me about you, welcome to the Sarutobi mansion."

"Thank you." Hanabi said quietly, then she turned round quizzically as Hiruzen and Naruto seemed to appear out of thin air behind them, laughing.

"…can't believe I never thought of doing that." Hiruzen chortled. "I always wondered how Minato managed to get the dratted paperwork done so fast."

"It's a really cool jutsu." Naruto agreed. "It'll be really useful."

"And you can study more." Hiruzen shot back, his grin widening as Naruto dramatically flinched.

"Study? STUDY? NOOOOOooooooooo! It's a fate worse than death!"

Eri managed not to laugh at Naruto's over-the-top dramatics, but Konohamaru wasn't nearly as restrained and his laughter echoed through the house.

"Gomen, but what are you talking about?" Hinata asked in confusion and Naruto grinned.

"Jiji taught me a really cool jutsu since I have too much chakra for a normal Bunshin. It's called the Kage Bunshin, watch!"

Naruto formed a handseal that Konohamaru knew by heart and an instant later, there were five Naruto's in the room and another dozen outside. Hinata's eyes widened momentarily in shock, then her eyes glazed over and she collapsed, a trail of blood leaking from her nose.

"Hina-chan!"

In a rush, the massed Naruto's surged forwards, several of them gently picking Hinata up and carrying her carefully into the living room while others dashed off, returning with sheets, a pillow and a glass of water. Konohamaru peeped into the living room just in time to see three of the Naruto's fussing as they tucked the sheet up around Hinata while another gently slid the pillow under her head.

"They're solid!"

Konohamaru nodded in response to Hanabi's gasp of realisation. "Yep, now I've got loads of nii-sans!"

.

"…what happened?"

"You fainted." Eri smiled at the confused girl who was propping herself up on the settee, the blanket that had been covering her puddling on the floor. "I'm not surprised, one Naruto is a handful, a dozen of them? I was quite amazed, myself."

"Hanabi?!" Hinata gasped, jolting upright on the settee.

"Playing with Konohamaru." Eri said reassuringly. "Well, studying,anyway. Yahiko is giving them pointers in calligraphy. Naruto's also doing some studying, he's got a dozen of his clones reading various books and scrolls, we're going to start him on sealing now that his calligraphy's good enough."

"…it wasn't a dream." Hinata whispered, blushing furiously and Eri's smile widened.

"No, it was real. I think he'll be passing the genin test when it's time to graduate. So, before he comes charging in here en masse again to make sure you're fine, what do you think about him?"

Hinata's blush seemed to turn incandescent and Eri only just managed to not laugh. Reaching out, she placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Not quite eight, yet you've got quite a crush on him, haven't you?"

Hinata, face concealed in the collar of her jacket, nodded slightly.

"I think he quite likes you as well." Eri said. "When you fainted, he was really worried. Why did you faint, anyway?"

"All… all those Naruto's…" Hinata whispered, cheeks flaming. Eri nodded understandingly.

"I can see how it could be… overwhelming. Try to calm down, I'll tell him that you're alright."