So here is chapter 5. Sorry it took a bit longer, but with the holiday and spending time with some family I was a pretty busy. Thank you for all the reviews and feedback. And as always I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Chapter 5
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
A year later; training ground 33
.
"Naruto!" Naruto, who was in the middle of climbing a cliff with one hand, looked down to see his Sensei calling out for him. "You can call it a day now."
"Hai Kakashi-Sensei!" He yelled out and jumped from the cliff to land on one of the tree tops down below and then safely on the ground.
"Alright I know you have school for the next two days but I want you to study on your kenjutsu before the next time we meet. I will be away on a mission so if you need any help just ask Itachi-kun."
"Hai!"
"Let's go get something to eat."
"Ramen?" He asked energetically.
Kakashi just let out a sigh. "You know Hokage-sama wants you to eat healthy." He looked down at the puppy dog eyes of his apprentice. He let out a huff of air, rolling his eyes, "Fine. But don't tell Hokage-sama that I was the one that said it was ok."
"Yes! Your treat right Sensei?"
"Oh no...if you want it so bad, you will be paying for yourself and me."
"But-" Naruto began to whine about having to pay.
"No buts. That's the deal."
Naruto crossed his arms, gave out another sigh, "...Fine...I'll pay...I guess...but this is child abuse...making a seven year old pay not only for himself but his Sensei."
Kakashi just let out a small laugh, ruffled his now longer hair, making him look so much like his father, and waved at him as he started making his way back to the village. "Come on!" Naruto ran after him with excitement of ramen in his near future.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Later that night and a very satisfied Naruto laid happily on his bed. A lot has happened for Naruto over the last year. One, having a private teacher helped wonders for him getting his control over his chakra back to a more manageable steady flow. Though it was nowhere near as perfect as it once was for when he was in the middle the war, but it was almost the same as for when he faced Zabuza with his old Team Seven. He was pleased with himself that he could still mask his chakra thanks to all the exercises that Kakashi made him do every day. He mastered walking on water, up a tree, his shuriken and kunai skills were on par with ANBU. His ninjutsu was also on par to where he was around the Wave mission, using his skills from the battlefield to apply when in training with the basic ninjutsu of transformation, substitution and shadow clone jutsu, from which he "learnt" from Itachi one day. Naruto knew that the Old Man and his teachers were seeing the genius that he fronted with his tactical and strategic skills when in training, always thinking on his feet, using skills in training that no seven-year-old would be even able capable of coming up with, most of the techniques on par with some ANBU tactics and then some to seem even beyond that from which he used during battles of the Fourth Shinobi War. He may not have the actual level of intelligence of the Nara clan but his time on the battlefield and his ability to think of different scenarios quickly helped him advanced in their view points of being a seven-year-old genius. Kurama liked to joke that he was still a baka and found it funny how he was able to pull off the whole genius act to fool everyone. Naruto would just ignore the comment, saying that he was not the same person that he once was before the war.
Something different from the last time was that he was learning kenjutsu from Kakashi who he had come to see more as a father figure than just his Sensei, though he supposed it was because of his age and for the fact that in his mind he has known the young twenty-one-year-old ANBU for almost a decade now who had supported him in through harsh battles to the everyday problems of girls. Overall he was extremely happy with his progress on his capabilities. He knew that given a few more years and hopefully be able to study under the tutelage of Jiraiya again he will get his full strength back. It was getting hard for him to not use the techniques that are synonymous with his name for the last year and he couldn't wait to have the excuse to use the Rasengan again and then 'learn' Sage jutsu again. He also couldn't wait to not having to hide his abilities with Fuinjutsu and reclaim his father's Hiraishin jutsu. He had placed the seal in some key locations throughout the year in case of emergencies. Though he knew that he could do all of these things now, it would be very suspicious if he did, so he avoided doing anything that wasn't taught to him now at all costs.
On the other side of the spectrum of his plans with his class, things were going really well. Not playing the class idiot had really helped with his position, even coming in as the number one spot within the class. It also helped how people actually viewed him. Most of the girls fawned over his skills and the guys seemed to respect them as well. Sasuke and he had become really close friends which is exactly what Naruto wanted since he knew that the massacre was only a few short months away from his original timeline. His plans were now coming together to where he could take the necessary steps in preventing that event and hopefully saving Sasuke from his path of revenge.
Having been at the Uchiha home several times over the past year had helped Naruto gain favor in Uchiha, Fugaku's eyes, where he slowly was recognizing the capabilities and intellect of the son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. Naruto's hope is that he can influence that favor and insight to stop them from wanting to commit a coup d'état.
His relationship with Hinata also has vastly improved, inspiring her to better herself earlier in life resulting a change in how her own father viewed her. He spent a lot of time at the Hyuga Compound and saw firsthand how his demeanor changed from being cold and distant to somewhat encouraging and loving towards her.
Lastly and most importantly was the Old Man. Their dynamic seemed to change the most to where he was a man that was sometimes in his life to being constantly there. The Hokage seemed to take an active interest in Naruto, even coming to some of his training sessions with Kakashi-Sensei. Though Naruto never knew that in his original timeline the Hokage was always watching over him through his crystal ball, the Hokage himself wanted to see Naruto's progress for himself though with different motives than what Naruto thought of.
Naruto swimming with his thoughts about the past year was content so far. The one benefit of traveling back to the very beginning was that he had time to plan and strategize his moves to prevent a lot of future hardships but also not take so many moves to where it would alter the timeline so much that he would not know the outcome anymore. But his foremost and first move: save the Uchiha Clan and as of right now he only had four months left almost to the day.
"Hey Kurama, do you think our plan will work?" Naruto within his mindscape sat on the grass field where Kurama laid peacefully. The mindscape changed from its once dark and damp dungeon feel to a nice grass field. Though the bars were still there since Naruto did not have the key in hand to let Kurama free, it was still a lot better and would only be a matter of time anyways till he got the key back.
"I am sure it will Kit. But remember you are only one person, there is only so much that a seven year old can do. We thought of every other way, this way has the best probability of working." Kurama said keeping his eyes closed.
"Yeah you are right. I am just worried is all since tomorrow we will begin Operation Coup the Coup d'état...haha." He chuckled to himself a bit at his clever yet not so clever name.
Kurama just rolled his eyes and sitting up just a bit to position himself facing Naruto through his bars. "Do you want to go over it again?"
"Yeah could we?" Naruto said, mainly wanting to go over everything just to make sure that he got it all right.
"Right. First you will go to the Hokage Tower after school to talk with the Old Man human."
"Yes and I will bring up the Uchiha and how unhappy they seem and suggest to work with them rather than behind closed doors and in the dark. This should then in turn help the relations with the Elder Council and the Uchiha as a whole. Though it will take some time, it should prevent the massacre."
"Good. Then you will need to talk with the brat's father indirectly suggesting alternatives."
"Yes I will suggest that they just talk to the Jiji-san and maybe even integrate other ninjas into the police force to further integrate the clan as a whole more into the village."
"Yes, yes this is all good. Hopefully you humans can work this out."
"I hope so Kurama, I really hope so." Naruto said before saying goodnight to the Fox and slipping out of his mindscape.
Naruto let out a small sigh, looked out his one window from his bedroom to see the full moon thinking about the events that were about to unfold. He just prayed that everything will work out in the end. He couldn't bear to see Sasuke going through all that pain again that ultimately led him to his own destruction in the end. There were many things that still needed to be decided but time will see how all the events will unfold.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Dog, your report." The Hokage said sitting behind his desk in the Hokage Tower. It was late and the Hokage had been working all day on different reports. Frustrated at the lack of order on his desk, he couldn't help but sigh with relief that this was the last task of the day but also the most intriguing one. The Hokage spent great attention to the training of young Naruto, wanting him to become the hero that the Yondaime had so desired before his untimely death. He saw the boy as his own grandchild and only wanted the best for him. He was always pleased to hear the reports of how Naruto was rapidly progressing but at the same time a little frighten if certain things would become discovered just because of how astute that the boy was at such a young age.
"Hai." Said ANBU said and handed the Hokage with a scroll.
The Hokage took the scroll from Dog and began to read it:
...
Subject: Uzumaki, Naruto
Age: 7
Skills:
-Chakra control: High Genin Level
-note: Subject has gained a lot of control over his chakra system. Given enough time he will master his control of his chakra with reserves being at Kage Level.
-Conclusion: Very Impressive for a 7 year old boy
-Shuriken and Kunai: High Chunin Level
-note: Subject has almost mastered his knife throwing skills; training with Weasel
-Conclusion: Will have this mastered within the year
-Genjutsu: Non-existent
-note: Given level of chakra control and reserves unable to attain at the moment
-Conclusion: Will teach how to detect and repel Genjutsu; suspect that is all Subject will achieve
-Kenjutsu: High Genin level
-note: Subject has made vast improvement over the year from when first started; shows adept skills in the sword arts
-Conclusion: Will have mastered by the time Subject graduates from the Academy in 5 years
-Ninjutsu: High Genin Level
-note: Subject has mastered Transformation and Substitution jutsu; could not get Bushin jutsu due to lack of chakra control, however did master Kage Bushin because of chakra reserves
-Conclusion: Subject shows innate capabilities for ninjutsu; will start teaching Shunshin jutsu next
-Fuinjutsu: Mid Chuunin Level
-notes: Subject has gotten the grasp of fuinjutsu quite easily to where he is creating Exploding tags, Sealing scrolls and storage scrolls
-Conclusion: Subject takes after father, will need a proper teacher in fuinjutsu to advance further
Overall Assessment:
Over the past month the Subject has improved most in his fuinjutsu and kenjutsu abilities. He also has shown to use clever battle tactics when in training that is not normally demonstrated with an Academy student. The Subject has proven to have the innate ability to think and adapt his plans when in the middle of a fight. This will be useful for when on missions. Subject is on track to make ANBU within three years at the rate of current training.
….
The Hokage's looked over the report with great interest and detail. "So he really mastered the Kage Bushin?" He asked Dog.
"Hai Hokage's-sama. Weasel taught him during my last mission. He was able to create over thirty of them with no side effects and I don't even believe that is his limit. Given enough time and training with the combination of his chakra reserves, he could possibly create thousands of them." Dog said.
"Unbelievable. At the rate that he is going at, he could make jounin by the age of ten." The Hokage said.
"Well I made it at thirteen. But, honestly Hokage-sama given the fact he is learning from myself and Weasel and his parentage, how could he not advance as quickly as he is. I am sure he will be at Kage level before we know it."
"Well he did say that he wanted my job." The Hokage laughed to himself a little. "I am just a little hesitant nevertheless on how much progress he is quickly making; I almost want to hold him back until he is older." The Sandaime mused to himself.
"Why is that Hokage-sama?"
"His father said told me that he wanted Naruto viewed as hero to the village but I made the law where it became punishable by death to mention what Naruto carries within his body. Jiraiya of the Sannin came in a month after the fact ranting and raving about how that was a disservice to the Yondaime's legacy. It was then that I made a promise to him that when Naruto reached the age of eighteen or became a jounin, whichever one first, I would tell the boy the truth. If he is on track to make jounin by the age of ten, it would mean eight years earlier than what I originally thought for when I would have to tell him. I just don't think that Naruto will take the news well and I fear the repercussions of telling him so soon." The Sandaime explained.
Dog nodded, understanding what the Sandaime was thinking. "Hokage-sama, if I may say," The Hokage nodded for him to continue, "I think it would be better to tell him sooner than later. Naruto is…" He paused. "Naruto is so much like his father that it is uncanny. He is a smart kid and I know that while he may be hurt in the beginning, he will understand the reason. He is not what we first thought him to be when he was little. He is just as smart as Weasel if not smarter and he will truly become of the greatest Shinobi that this world has ever seen."
"You really think that Naruto is mature enough to understand the reasons that I made."
"Hai Hokage-sama, I do."
The Sandaime mulled over what Dog was said. I will have to rethink about what to do with Naruto. If he is exactly like his father as Kakashi says, then maybe….just maybe...Hmmmm...The Hokage thought on what he could change in Naruto's training regiment to benefit the village for the future. There would be so much planning to do if he was to go ahead with his train of thought. The Hokage smiled to himself, deciding that it was a good idea, dismissed Dog, took out a paper and pen and began outlining his plan to discuss in the next meeting with his small council.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning Naruto woke with great enthusiasm. Today was the day of Operation Coup the Coup d'état. Naruto smiled to himself, just knowing that things are looking up. This time things will be different. Naruto quickly got dressed, ate his premade breakfast, grabbed his lunch and headed out the door for class.
"Kurama get ready to kick some future ass today!" Naruto yelled happily inside his to Kurama.
The Fox just smiled a bit, silently praying that their plans will come to fruition because is not he was not sure how the Kit would handle it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Author's note
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So there was chapter 5! Again thank you so much for the reviews so far! I really appreciate the feedback! It motivates me to keep writing the story! I got a pretty good idea where I am taking this story and it should be pretty interesting. I hope you liked it! Please read and review! The next chapter should be coming out within the next 2 to 3 weeks!