An average talent multiplier is x1.0. A good talent multiplier is x1.5 – x2.0.

General stats such as INT and STR go from 0-144.

For future reference, I will be putting pertinent knowledge at the beginning or end of the story. Please read them.

They were halfway through their second game when Yoshiko finally addressed his strange tension.

"Do you have something to tell me, Nara-san?"

Shikamaru shrugged. His father had told him to talk to Yoshiko but he found himself reluctant to say anything. He didn't feel like talking about it. He didn't feel like doing anything about it. Sure, he could be better but there was nothing really wrong with the way things were. If Yoshiko was making him feel bad, he could always just leave.

He looked up at her calm and serious face. Yet, he didn't really want to leave. He thought too much about the inanest things to just forget. Leaving now would be placing a bandage and he knew that. The root of the problem would be unaddressed. He could do something with his life. Something meaningful. Something that could change lives. He could do that. Most people could do that, even if it was just handing out clothes or taking in a litter of kittens. That was the only concrete, long-term solution to the frustration and disquiet that chased him. The only way to make him feel like he was facing an equal.

He just… didn't really want to. Sleeping was easier.

"It's nothing," he said.

"The world won't wait for you to grow up," Yoshiko warned.

"… Are you a mind reader or something?"

She let out an amused breath. "No. I'm just privy to… a higher plane of information. The change in your feelings towards me is clear. You've also gained a small amount of willpower."

"A higher plane of information? Is that what you're calling your instincts now?"

She smiled. "Maybe."

"You rely on them too much."

"Maybe. But it's not like my instincts are all-powerful or tell me everything. Using the data gained from them and extrapolating it is a skill upon itself. Even if I lose my instincts somehow, that skill will remain."

"You're troublesome."

"Well, thank you. You're not too bad yourself."

"Shut up."

"… I'm arranging an event with the orphanages where all children are invited to play, eat and pet dogs at the local park. Do you want to help?"

"… Fine. I like dogs."

"Good. I shall inform your mother."

Crap. He couldn't back out now. Not that he'd intended to but still. Shikamaru didn't know whether to appreciate her intentions or find it troublesome.

2 weeks later

The Hashirama Great Park

The event was in full swing with caretakers ushering children into the park and children lining up to get food. Yoshiko looked at the crowd with a smile.

"Satou-san, I want to look at the children from above. Can you bring me to the best vantage point?"

"I'll need to carry you."

"That's fine."

Satou scooped her up and jumped up into the rooftops, landing on the tallest building nearby that oversaw most of the park.

"Thank you," she said, bring out her binoculars and scanning the crowd with a hidden cheshire grin.

In this game, combat was a relatively small part in most lives. As such, having it be the only thing measured in levels would be strange. To a metalworker, for example, viewing the levels of others in terms of their metalworking abilities may be more useful. As such, by going into 'metalworking mode' and essentially telling the system she was about to do metalworking, she could view everyone's level in terms of their metalworking skill and talent multiplier for metalworking specifically. To fully utilise this, she'd maxed out memory and unlocked 'auto-memory'. When activated, she could remember everything she saw, peripheral vision not included. By going into settings and using the thought UI instead of the gesture-based UI, she could and had trained herself to quickly think and automatically cycle through every single discipline so she could view all of someone's talent multipliers, though there were undoubtedly some disciplines she'd yet to discover.

She scanned the park full of children and spotted a few promising stats (for children, anyway) such as:

Umemoto Kazuto Lv. 10

INT: 108

WIL: 105

Writing TAL: x2.43

Affiliation: Himawari Orphanage

Fukuda Sayuri Lv. 12

WIL: 99

Genjutsu TAL: x2.01

Singing TAL: x1.80

Dancing TAL: x1.73

Affiliation: Konoha Orphan Home

There were more than expected. She would have to-

Uzumaki Naruto Lv. 8

She blinked at the numbers. Stood back. Rubbed the binoculars. Peered through again.

"What."

The next day

Naruto sat in his room, smiling alone. Yesterday was cool! The other kids had no parents to tell them bad stuff about him so they managed to play together! Some of the orphanage aunties were still mean but he managed to find a few friends!

DING-DONG!

A visitor? A friend? Naruto jumped to his feet and dashed to the door, grinning up at the pretty lady standing there.

"Hello, Uzumaki-kun. May I come in?"

"Yeah! Who are you?"

Pretty lady walked in and slipped her shoes off all pretty like. "My name is Ikeda Yoshiko. Nice to meet you."

She walked to his little table and sat on her knees really smoothly. "I saw you at the park yesterday."

"Are you one of the orphanage aunties?"

"You could say that. Actually, I am much more interested in education. In teaching children like you. I think you're very talented."

Naruto lit up. "Really? You think I can become Hokage?!"

"Hokage? Is that your goal?"

"Yes! I'm going to be the bestest Hokage ever!"

"Hmm… that would be difficult. Being as strong as a Hokage, I can believe but being Hokage is difficult."

"What?" Naruto said, confused. "So can I be Hokage or not?"

"Do you like homework?"

Naruto made a disgusted face. "Who likes homework?"

"A Hokage's work is 95% paperwork. If you average it out, you'll get to fight maybe once every month or two. The rest is sitting at a desk stamping things and meeting with boring and mean people."

"What?! But I thought Hokage were supposed to be super badasses!"

Pretty lady winked. "That's just the advertising. If they tell people the truth, no one will want the job."

Naruto's cheek puffed out. "Ji-chan lied to me! He said being Hokage is the best thing ever!"

"Maybe he likes paperwork?"

"No one likes paperwork!"

Pretty lady got up and hugged him. Naruto froze and looked up at her smiling face.

"Uzumaki-kun, how are things going at school?"

"Eh? Umm… everything's fine! I'm the strongest!"

She shook her head. "I can always tell when someone is lying to me." She kneeled down to look him in the eye. "It's fine. There's no need to be afraid. I'm here for you. If things are going bad, I'll help you, okay?"

"… Really?"

"Yes, really."

"… The teachers don't really like me."

"Uzumaki-kun, actually… I have another superpower. I can see the talents of others. And I believe you are talented."

"Really? You believe so?"

"Yes. You know how different people are good at different things? Some are good at cooking and others at running and so forth?"

"Yeah."

"You have very special and specific talents. You're not good at a lot of things but the things you're good at, you're really good at. The best I've seen."

"Really?"

"Yes. Your teachers probably can't see that. They look out for common talents that most people have. You are very good at wind jutsu."

"But… they say I'm not good at ninjutsu."

"That's true to some degree. You're not particularly talented at the general category but you have a few subspecialties you excel at."

"… Sooo… am I good or not?"

"Hmm…" she looked around, her eyes landing on the huge pile of cup ramen in the corner. "Take ramen for example. Most people who can make pork ramen are also good at making seafood ramen, right?"

"Yeah?"

"There are many types of ramen and if you're good at one, you're usually a little good at others. But you're not like that. You're really, really good at making pork ramen but you can't make any other ramen well."

"So I can only make one ramen?"

"You can only do certain types of jutsu very well. Namely, high chakra, low control, heavy damage jutsu. But most kids your age don't have enough chakra so they don't teach those jutsu."

"Wait, so I'm good at the super cool jutsu?"

"Well, yes."

"Ha! Take that, Iruka-sensei! Can you teach me?"

"I'm not a ninja. But I'll try to find you a teacher."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. But you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"You can be a legendary ninja. I know that. But you have to work very, very hard. All ninja work hard so if you want to be the best you have to work harder than everyone else. Got it?"

"Of course! You can leave it to me!"

"Will you do your homework?"

"…"

She sighed. "All parents love obedient children. I like you because you seem like a hard worker. Do you really want to be strong?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then listen to this big sister when she says you have to do work. As I said, I know what people are talented at. I know how to make people strong. If you listen to me and do your homework, I'll make you strong, okay?"

"… Okay."

She held out her pinky. "Pinky swear?"

He shook her pinky. "Pinky swear."

She kissed his forehead. "That's a good boy. Here, I cooked you some meals. If you continue being good, I'll cook you more."

Two days later

Gate of the Ninja Academy

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks.

Chouji glanced at him curiously before following his line of sight. "Oh, it's- it's that girl!" He moved to walk forward but Shikamaru held him back.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?"

"I want to watch. You can approach later."

"Why?"

"Just wait."

They watched as she embraced Naruto and chatted with him.

"What's she doing with Naruto?" Chouji asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know. But Naruto… well, I don't know exactly what it is but there's something strange going on around him. Maybe she senses that."

The next day

A maid opened the door and stared at him, wide-eyed. "Ho-Hokage-sama?!"

He smiled reassuringly at the maid. "Yes. Could I come in?"

The maid nodded. "Of course, sir. Please come in."

He stepped into the lavish home. Even though it was only a secondary residence, gold was still splattered everywhere. The carpets were lush, the walls adorned with expensive art and the lights made of crystal. He was led to the grand living room and amidst it was a little girl with dark under eye bags in a t-shirt and shorts. The living room table, floor and carpet was covered in sheets of paper with barely legible writing and over it all was the swat of the brush and the furious clicking of the abacus.

The girl looked up and all sounds halted as she stared at him.

"Sachiko," she snapped. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Well, he's the Hokage, so I thought-"

The girl cut her off. "No one enters my residence without my explicit approval not just because I want to chase unwanted visitors out. Do I look presentable?"

"… No?" The maid replied.

"Exactly. Introducing myself before him as I am is incredibly disrespectful." The girl stood up and bowed low to the Hokage. "I apologise for my unsightly appearance. Please allow Sachiko to escort you to the reception room while I make myself presentable."

"It's fine. I don't mind."

"Then I shall excuse myself." The girl disappeared before he could say that he didn't mind her appearance, not that he didn't mind her fixing herself up. His ANBU had dug up everything they could about her in such a short time frame and she used to be an orphan herself. Maybe her new parents were very strict with formality. It wasn't uncommon in important civilian clans.

Sachiko bowed. "Please follow me, sir."

He was escorted to a smaller reception room where he was served tea and an assortment of strange biscuits that were rather delicious. It was 15 minutes before Ikeda Yoshiko emerged again with full makeup and kimono. He had to hide his surprise at the massive transformation from dishevelled little girl to refined young lady in such a short time. She would've been great at disguises.

She bowed. "I am Ikeda Yoshiko, daughter of the main house of the Ikeda clan. I am honoured to meet you."

He nodded back. "There's no need for such formality."

She sat opposite towards him and Sachiko poured her a cup of tea before being dismissed. "What business does the Hokage have with me?"

"I am not here in my official capacity as Hokage."

"Ah. Uzumaki-kun?"

"Yes. The boy doesn't have many friends and I worry about him."

"I have an interest in education and charity. That boy has potential. He shouldn't be rotting away there." She had recently built a school and two orphanages along with personally funding the education of many children into good schools so he could believe that. She'd been an orphan herself so she probably felt a kinship of sorts with them.

"What makes you say he has potential?"

"Instinct."

"Really?" Shikaku had mentioned that in the report.

She smiled. "I guess that's a bit hard to believe, isn't it?" She looked him dead in the eye, smile now gone. "In order: Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Water. For weapons: Shuriken, Kunai, Bou, Sword, Tantou, Tonfa. In general: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu. Sub-specialities: Sealing jutsu, Space-time jutsu, Barrier jutsu, Cloning jutsu. Non-combat: Model building, Metalworking, Drawing, Photography. Hobbies-" She grimaced, making a disgusted face. "Hobbies… the top seven… involve women. I'll leave it at that."

"…"

"…"

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "That's impressive, Yoshiko-chan."

"My instincts have never wrong."

"And… you believe Naruto is talented."

"I've researched all I can and consulted with a few ninja but it seems impossible to find teaching talent without some sort of accompanying animosity towards Uzumaki-kun. He could be a one-man army if he wanted to be. He has enough HP to tank just about anything and I've never in my life seen anyone with so much chakra. All he needs is to nail down a taijutsu style and learn chakra-intensive, low control jutsu and he's set. My problem is his control. He only has low resultant control because of his insane chakra. All things considered, his base and multiplier for that are around average. But his intelligence isn't that high and he learns through bodily repetition. The abstract concepts and visualisation necessary for complex chakra control techniques are out of his grasp for now. At this rate, he'll be stuck doing basic chakra control exercises until he's 12 before he can even see a glimmer of his true potential. I can wait but he can't wait that long for results. Is there any way to restrain the amount of chakra he has?"

"He has too much of it. It would be an incredible strain."

She sighed. "I thought so. In that case, the only other option is to have him blast chakra until he's down to an acceptable level. That should also stop him bouncing off the walls. Do you have an easy jutsu he can channel a lot of chakra into?"

He stroked his beard. "Hmm…" He mentally ran through his rather extensive arsenal of jutsu, trying to find one suitable for him. "Well, it's not easy but the Shadow Clone jutsu expands a lot of chakra. The hardest part about it is gathering enough chakra into a huge and extremely concentrated mass the size of themselves. As well as not going into organ failure from having half their chakra sapped. But his chakra is naturally so dense and voluminous that he may be able to do it naturally."

Her eyes darted up and down for a while before they froze and her face slowly broke into a chesire grin. "Coupled with the clone's secondary effect… That's genius! Genius! Genius! Could you produce the amount of chakra needed for him to sustain training for an hour?"

"Why?"

"I need to know the number to do calculations and I'm guessing you don't know the exact number."

She could quantify chakra? Only good sensors could do that but given her chakra levels, he was fairly certain she was a civilian… fresh genin level at the absolute most. Curious, he obliged. After staring at a spot above his head for ten seconds, she flicked her wrist, activating the seal on her wrist and an abacus fell into her hands. Her fingers raced across the instrument. "For a one hour training session, he can easily create 700 clones with his current chakra with enough to spare. At that rate…" More clicks of the abacus. "Doing a simple calculation, we can get him started on wind jutsu in just three months. He can start channelling his chakra to his limbs in a month."

"You are very confident."

She shrugged. "It's a simple calculation making many assumptions such as Naruto picking up the jutsu instantly and that he will cooperate. There are many extraneous variables that can interfere and things never go exactly according to plan. It could be longer, it could be shorter. I'm not good enough to calculate error bars in my head yet."

"How exact are your abilities?"

"… Well, I know enough that even if you add all the health and chakra of every Konoha ninja, you probably still can't beat him."

Unless she knew about the Kyuubi… "You think so?"

"Yes. I've never seen health regeneration like that. Almost all of his chakra is locked down but even then, it's not enough. When you lift it later on, I can't imagine how powerful he'll be."

She could sense the seal? "That's interesting. Your… powers are strange."

"Yes. His chakra is weird though. I've searched but all its components do not add up to 100%. Far from it. I feel like I'm missing something."

A lot of Naruto's chakra went to maintaining the seal. Could that be what she sensed was missing? He wasn't sure about the girl. On one hand, he did get the impression that she was genuine in her desire to help Naruto and Naruto needed a friend dearly. On the other hand, she was a daughter to a powerful clan. They weren't a ninja clan so they weren't privy to Naruto's true nature, but when it came to light, he didn't want Naruto to become a political chess piece.

"I appreciate your concern for Naruto but please be careful about what you impart on him. He stormed into my office calling me a liar."

She laughed. "The boy has an incredible hatred towards homework. Don't worry, Hokage-sama. I quite like Naruto's will but I'm not his keeper. I don't have any say in his choices or life. I can only advise. As Hokage, I'm sure you can arrange far better teachers for him."

Two days later

"Yo. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I'll be your sensei."

A week later

"-and then he threw me into the lake! He's an asshole!"

"Your sensei seems like he has some… interesting teaching methods. I would like to meet him."

Later

"Greetings, Hatake Kakashi. I am Ikeda Yoshiko. Nice to meet you." The rich girl had set up her own table and chair under a tree in the training ground while waiting for him and seemed to be filling out some sort of permit and other paperwork. She looked quite settled in with her maid fanning her while she sipped ice cold juice in sunglasses.

"Who are you?"

"A concerned citizen." She tilted her head. "You are an interesting character. Why are you Uzumaki-kun's sensei?"

He shrugged. "I'm as puzzled as you are. Hokage-sama's orders." He had his guesses. He was the Hokage's grandstudent and the Hokage seemed to think that it would be a 'nice break' to babysit the splitting image of his dead sensei. It wasn't. He wanted to kill something.

"I see."

The next day

Hokage's residence

"How's training going?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto's face shrivelled into an incongruous mix of outrage and poutiness. "Kakashi-sensei is a complete ass! He's lazy, always reading those weird books of his and he's never on time! He doesn't care at all! Yoshiko-nee would be a better ninja teacher than him!" He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out an amazingly crumpled letter. "Oh yeah, Yoshiko-nee told me to give you this."

He took the ball of paper and smoothed it out to read the beautiful script.

Hokage-sama,

As a human being concerned with the health, safety and prospects of our most beloved and darling Uzumaki Naruto, I have met and evaluated the talents and mental states of multiple potential teachers, including one esteemed Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan. Please allow this concerned citizen to humbly suggest a few names that may be associated with mental stability, proper conduct and handling around children and satisfactory teaching talent in order of recommendation.

What followed was a ranked list of names, several of which had been evaluated and approved for their potential as jounin-sensei. Most notably, Kakashi was not on that list.

"Kakashi is an exceptional ninja."

Naruto looked rather incredulous and doubtful. "But he arrives late all the time! Sachiko-nee says not to follow him and that a hero must always arrive on time or people can get hurt."

"Well, she's not wrong. I would like you to be punctual. But Kakashi is still a very good ninja."

"He always messes up and breaks the training ground and never cleans up! Sachiko-nee says that property damage is a crime and that it's very inconsiderate to the clean-up people."

"Weeell… that's also true…"

"He always runs away whenever anyone's around, even when we're eating so I have to pay for him! Sachiko-nee says not paying the restaurant is bad and a crime!"

"Weeeell… having your subordinates or kouhai foot the bill is not completely out of the ordinary."

"He also stole all my lunch boxes and I never get them back! Sachiko-nee says that's stealing and stealing's a crime!" Naruto seemed exceptionally angry and upset about this one. "They're all presents from Yoshiko-nee and they're really pretty and tasty and expensive!"

Hiruzen sighed. "I can give you a second teacher. You can see if you like him better."

Naruto threw his arms in the air. "Yeah! No one can be worse than that stupid, one-eyed criminal!"

The next morning

Naruto woke up to the incessant banging of his door and ringing of his bell. He glanced at his clock. 4.30am? He wanted to go back to sleep but the knocking only got louder. He hazily stumbled out of bed to open the door and was instantly shocked with a blast of holy light that burnt brighter than the hottest stars.

"GOOD MORNING, Naruto-kun! I am MAITO GAI, your new sensei!" Before he knew it, Naruto was wrapped in Gai's iron embrace and was sailing across the village. "Let us begin a most GLORIOUSLY YOUTHFUL TRAINING SESSION!"

Three days later

"I'm dying, Yoshiko-nee. I'm dying. He burst in before the sun rises and waits for me at the school gate. I swear I see that smile in my dreams!"

She smiled at him gently and kissed his forehead. "But isn't it nice? To have someone who care about you that much?"

Naruto's outraged expression vanished to a quiet sadness. "… Yeah."