Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Karmic Acumen: Naruto will not have access to all of Kyuubi's chakra from the beginning. It was already established that the seal is tight when they first connected, so when Kurama starts training Naruto in how to use it, it will be at most that diluted level that Naruto had access to during the Land of Waves arc. The partial possession and their ability to exchange knowledge through their connection is not a matter of chakra volume, but rather a part of the ninshu-related aspects of having chakra, which was more aligned with how Hagoromo intended that chakra be used. If you think about it, Naruto shared memories with the entire alliance through chakra. The visual representation of all of Kurama's chakra in the mindscape will be explained a little more in later chapters, when Kurama starts to train Naruto on it. Also, if Naruto did not have at least minimal access to Kurama's chakra, then his healing factor would not exist.
Normal Text
'Person thinking'
"Person talking"
"Jinchuriki talking inside his head with Bijuu"
'Bijuu thinking'
"Bijuu talking"
"Bijuu talking inside jinchurki's head"
Chapter 16 – The shadow of the Great Tree
By the time Naruto reached the Hokage tower, the sun was almost set. He was happy that the run to the tower helped him release some of the adrenaline so he could stop his shaking and clear his head a little. Quickly, he walked up the stairs, reaching the familiar desk of the Hokage's secretary, Sumire-san, as he knew her.
"Good evening, Sumire-san. Is Hokage-jiji still around?"
"Ah, Naruto-kun. Good evening. Yes, he is in a meeting. He is bound to finish it soon though. Why don't you wait on the chair over there until he finishes the other meeting?"
"Alright. Thank you, Sumire-san."
"No problem, Naruto-kun."
As he waited, he decided to try and sense his surroundings. Immediately he felt himself tense up once again. In the room, on the ceiling, there was an aura just like the ones he felt underground. And the one talking to Hokage-jiji wasn't much better. It irked him to his core. The boy took a deep breath to calm himself down, in a manner similar to when he had that panic attack back after he was abandoned by the orphanage.
'Ok, how are we going to do this? I thought I could just talk to him straight up, but with that weirdo in the room, I can't just go in there and shout it out. Think, Naruto, think!'
As he pondered, he remembered a passage from the Shinobi Basics book.
Shinobi Basics
Chapter 5 – Hand signals
Paragraph 2:
"If forced to use hand signaling in public spaces, it is imperative to maintain discretion. This can be achieved through either concealment or distraction. In extreme situations, hand signaling can be replaced with word signaling, i.e. marking key words during an apparently menial conversation. This can be achieved by maintaining seemingly ordinary body language and using subtle outliers to mark the signal words. The latter option is generally not recommended unless the parties involved know each other's ordinary body language fairly well. In general, it is recommended for the members to have operated in the same team format for at least 20 short-term missions or 5 long-term missions."
Naruto was interrupted from his musings by the opening of the Hokage's office door. Out came the man that irked him and, if his aura wasn't enough, his appearance was even more menacing. An old man with short, messy dark hair, wearing a black kimono with white interior. The top right side of his head was bandaged, eye included and his chin showcased a scar in the shape of an "X". His right hand was wrapped in bandages as well and looked unusable. All in all, his appearance showcased the marks of a war veteran. The man then stopped and glanced over to Naruto. The spite and greed that the boy felt radiating from the man as he looked at him sent cold shivers down his spine.
After a moment that seemed to stretch for ages, the man glanced away and slowly made his way towards the exit of the Hokage tower, walking stick in his left hand for support.
"Naruto-kun, you can go in now."
"Uh, thanks, Sumire-san."
Naruto made his way towards the door and moved to knock. He hesitated for a second.
'I sure hope jiji will figure it out.'
Steeling himself, he knocked. When he heard the Hokage inviting him in, he entered.
"Enter!" commanded Hiruzen.
To his surprise and worry, it was Naruto that decided to grace him with his presence. He looked at the boy and noticed his tense demeanor. No doubt he was here to rip him a new one for ditching him on his studies. He steeled himself, and moved to invite Naruto on the couch.
"Ah, Naruto, my boy. Please take a seat on the couch."
Naruto sat on the couch but on the far side relative to Hiruzen's desk. The hokage found that very strange, but figured it might be because Naruto felt still angry with him and wanted to keep a distance. He then saw the boy crossing his arms and thinking hard about something, like he was fighting an internal battle of his own right in front of him. Seeing all of this, Sarutobi decided to wait and see what the boy had to say.
After a while, Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the hokage with a piercing gaze. "Jiji, I came to tell you that I thought things over. I wanted to let you know that I understand that sometimes, things must be done."
'That was a very strange way to put it. Something's amiss. This boy is trying to tell me something.' Thinking this Hiruzen decided to pay close attention to the boy.
"Naruto-kun, you have no idea how happy I am to know this. I will say this much: in time, I will do my best to make it up to you. Tell me though, how is the academy treating you?"
Naruto then gazed at the Hokage with the same intent look as before, as if to tell him that he was going to tell him something important.
Faking frustration Naruto replied "Well, the ninja (taps finger on his crossed forearm) head teacher is ok, though he is a bit strict and he punished me for not paying attention in the first five minutes of class. I was allowed to leave the classroom only when I was the only one (taps finger again) left. When the classroom was empty (taps finger), I was so angry that I felt like crawling to the ceiling (taps finger). Naruto then opened body language and continued "It's ok though. I found some cool things in the library to study so I won't fall behind no matter what!"
On the outside, the old man looked like he was considering Naruto's information about the academy. On the inside, his mind was running a mile a minute. '"ninja", "one", "empty", "ceiling" … "empty…" ROOT! In my office! But they were supposed to be disbanded two years ago!... Danzo, you have become arrogant, haven't you? Your pride will be your downfall."
After that moment of silence, Hiruzen resumed his conversation with Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I will have a talk with the instructors. I cannot have them stunt your education needlessly."
"No, jiji. It's ok. I thought about it and this is a battle I want to fight on my own. If I feel that I need help, I'll let you know."
Hiruzen exhaled heavily and then replied "Naruto, if that is your wish, I will do as you ask. However, the development of future generations of shinobi is my responsibility. If I see that your growth is indeed hampered to the point where you would risk becoming a liability to your future genin team, I will intervene. Is that clear?"
"Yes. Thanks, jiji."
"Now, was there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"Umm, not really." After a moment, the boy acted like he just remembered something and continued "Well, actually, there's this one kanji I've been struggling with for sealing calligraphy. Can I show you how I do it and then can you show me what I'm doing wrong?"
"Sure, my boy." As he said that, the Hokage motioned to the pen and blank paper to the front right of his desk.
Naruto then got up, grabbed the paper and pen and went to the front of Hiruzen's desk to write, keeping his back to where he felt the aura of the strange ANBU, all the while giving his best impression of a somewhat clumsy calligraphy student. Having finished, he gave his jiji the paper so that the strange ANBU could only see the back of it. The Hokage, master of poker face that he was, showed no reaction as he read "32 nin empty, under river yama". After faking to assess Naruto's work, Hiruzen flipped the paper over towards himself so the writing could not be seen by anyone in front or above him.
"Watch closely, Naruto-kun."
Having said that, the Hokage demonstrated how to write the kanji for "knowledge" and explained to the boy how to do each stroke during the demonstration.
"I see" said Naruto "Ok, now I know what I did wrong. Thanks jiji, you're the best!"
"It was my pleasure, Naruto-kun. I know I can't stop by as often as I used to, but if you have questions such as this one, you should be able to find me here and I should be able to spare 5-10 minutes to help you out."
"Thanks! By the way, who was the weird old man that was here before me? He was scaaary." To Hiruzen, the question translated to 'I suspect he is connected to these guys.'
Chuckling, Hiruzen answered "That would be Danzo Shimura. He tends to have that effect on people. He is a member of the council and he was one of my teammates during the Second Shinobi War. But you needn't concern yourself with him."
"Oh, ok. Well, thanks for everything, jiji! I'm gonna go home and practice the kanji a bit before bed. I wanna do it while it's still fresh in my mind."
"That is a good thought. Well, have a nice evening, my boy, and I will see you at the end of the month."
"Sure thing, jiji. Bye!"
After Naruto left, Hiruzen sat back down. He took his pipe and started smoking.
'This boy. He has no idea just how valuable the intelligence he provided me with actually is. And the way he conveyed it... It seems that giving him that Shinobi Basics book proved to be a most wise decision. The boy clearly banked on me knowing him well enough to detect the outliers that marked the word signals. Now I truly understand why Itachi-kun holds him in such high regard.'
'Now, what to do about our rat problem? If I catch him now, Danzo will suspect that the boy was somehow involved. He was the only one to spot him. If I am not mistaken, the boy didn't mention him before, which means he was not here last time. Why would Danzo grow so bold all of a sudden? It must mean that his plans are close to fruition, whatever they are.'
'And then there's the coup… Could it be that he is somehow involved? He obviously went behind my back and did not disband ROOT as I had ordered him. What else might he be hiding? He needs to be stopped, but I need to know his true motives. And this ROOT agent… the only one able to hide himself from both scent and doujutsu like that was Hanzo the Salamander. Could it be that Danzo got in contact with the man during the Third Shinobi War and got his hands on his technique? It is likely. Danzo was in the area for an extended period of time during the peace negotiations.'
'Also, the area where Naruto spotted the other ROOT agents; they're using the underground bunkers created under the rule of the Nidaime Hokage, which supposedly fell in disuse, in favor of the bunkers behind the Hokage Monument. Apparently, they're still going strong. The boy sensed 32 signatures, but it is likely that there are many more. Probably in the hundreds. I will have to strike swiftly and unexpectedly and I will require intel on all their locations throughout the village. Naruto's sensing ability appears to be the only trump card I have at the moment. Thank Kami I did not inform the council about it. Who knows what might have happened to the boy had Danzo known. I will have to talk with Itachi and Natsumi and ensure that his abilities remain a secret. And… it seems I may have to involve Naruto in this investigation. His performance just now proved that, with adequate protection, he should be able to handle it. Damn it! Trouble always seems to find this boy.'
Hiruzen rose from his desk, having maintained the same poker face throughout this entire internal debate.
"ANBU. I'm heading home. I will see you tomorrow."