Chapter 5
It's All in the Eyes
Naruto's apartment – January 21, 996 A.C – 0715 Hours
In the original timeline, Uzumaki Naruto had panicked a lot, often over the most trivial things. War and death had shown him just how trivial they were, and forced him to mature a lot more than he'd liked. After his return from Kumo, he'd maintained a level head—perhaps too level—in nearly all situations. Comparatively speaking, there were only a few topics or issues that could make him legitimately panic anymore.
Three of them had occurred this very morning.
The first was the Inner Sakura incident and learning that Inoichi had viewed Ino's memories. His surrogate sister and best friend had both turned into walking time bombs, potentially with a very short fuse.
The second was unrelated except by circumstance to the juinjutsu that created Inner Sakura. Repairing her mind and attempting to repair the seal, but make it work for them instead of the enemy, had taken priority and expended his clone's life span. The clone he'd sent on the errand had been forced to drop that errand altogether, and now there was no time to send another clone out to procure the needed supplies for a trip to Suna. By the time he could revisit the errand, there would be no way he could get a Kage Bunshin to Suna before Suna learned he was no longer a civilian, even with Hiraishin (which he couldn't risk using anyway), meaning that any attempt to send his clones to fix Gaara's seal would likely end up triggering a diplomatic incident.
If need be, Naruto could wait until Gaara and his siblings were sent to Konoha for the Chūnin Selection Exams, but he'd really rather address the problem as soon as possible, and maybe see about getting Suna to not align itself with Orochimaru this time around, if he could expose the Wind Daimyō's schemes to the Yondaime Kazekage. But now he had to wait and hope a mission to Suna would come along. And he'd have to rely on Team Ten to get that mission.
And the third issue was none other than Hinata.
What the hell had Hiashi been thinking, insisting that he walk into her bedroom in the middle of the night, and taking advantage of the fact he was no longer physically able to defeat the upper-level Hyūga once they got into taijutsu range? Sure, with a little boost from Kurama he could still negate most Jūken attacks, but any Hyūga who was at or near the level of Hiashi or Tokuma would be fast enough to blitz him before he could access his tenant's chakra, rendering his advantages as a jinchūriki largely meaningless. Until he could unlock the seal again, he would have to focus on speed training and improving his sensing ability. And until the elders were dealt with and the loyalty of the entire Hyūga Clan secured, every Hyūga he didn't trust absolutely—which was pretty much every Hyūga except Hiashi and Tokuma—was a potential enemy or a pawn of the enemy. Including Hinata, if the enemy acted against his feelings before he regained enough power to be confident in his ability to protect her.
Begrudgingly, Naruto admitted he had needed to get the first encounter out of the way as soon as possible, but why did Hiashi have to lure him right into the lion's den to do it?
Hinata herself was an emotional train wreck, not as bad as Naruto but still pretty bad. He knew better than anyone how hard it was on you when no one would acknowledge your existence. Hinata, the black sheep of the Hyūga Clan, had silently suffered from her clan's scorn and lack of acknowledgement for years until he'd intervened. Her suffering wasn't quite for the same reasons as his, but her pain was almost identical. Belatedly, Naruto realized he should have expected her to break down the way she did...but he didn't think he'd have to go so far as to make that promise on his very first day back in the past!
Thankfully, she had reacted in the best possible way, at least for now. Naruto guessed she wasn't quite thinking coherently, though, and once she got her faculties fully together and was comfortable enough around him, she would undoubtedly start asking questions he wasn't sure he would be ready to answer.
Naruto slumped down against the front door. Lazily, he made a sealless Kage Bunshin to gather his school supplies for him while he went into his mindscape.
"Before you start ranting, you should know that I'll have to switch the link off very often while we're in Konoha," Naruto told his bijū. "We can't let our conversations draw suspicion and paint targets on our backs before we're ready."
"Your reasoning is sound, but it does not excuse your decision to sever our connection during your snuggle session with the Hyūga girl," Kurama replied. "While I normally don't care about human relationships, your fragile bond with her is one that requires my special attention to ensure you don't accidentally break it."
"Gee, thanks for caring," Naruto said sarcastically. "But...maybe I wouldn't be panicking so much right now if I'd let you give your input at the time."
"Don't dwell on it. You're already drowning in a sea of regrets; you don't need to whip up a new storm to expand that sea.
"In any case, given what we know about her mental stability, making that promise was the best possible course of action. Just from looking at her, it's plain to see that the poor girl is almost as screwed up in the head as you are. She fears rejection as much as you still do, so you have to make it clear that you are incapable of turning her away."
"Thanks again for telling me what I already know." Naruto shrugged. "I must be completely insane, ya know, having to take psych advice from a giant, fuzzy chakra beast on a regular basis."
"Considering what the world has put you through, I'd say you've held yourself together remarkably well. Any lesser human would have lost it long ago, and truthfully, I don't believe we'll ever figure out exactly why you, of all people, have managed to endure and persevere."
"Kurama, how many times will I have to say I don't give up and don't go back on my word?"
"Many, and I'm not bored enough to be assed into predicting exactly how many." Kurama decided it was prudent not to remind Naruto of the few times he had gone back on his word.
"Whatever." Naruto rose from his sitting position in the real world once the clone tossed his backpack into his lap and dispelled. "Let's just get this day over and done with. The sooner we get the exams finished and get Mizuki busted, the sooner I can start working on healing Hinata and putting The Plan into motion."
Kurama, knowing that Naruto needed to shut off their link again before leaving, only had time for one last statement. "Don't forget to have her visit Ino and Inoichi-san on a regular basis," it said. "It's a certainty that she has repressed a lot of painful memories, and there is a good chance some of those memories may be sealed. Just like your Sakura-nēchan, your mate is a time bomb waiting to go off. I warn you, Naruto, do not underestimate Hinata's fragility again. It will not bode well for either of you."
Naruto simply nodded before severing the connection. He took a few more seconds afterward to breathe deeply, calming his nerves, before leaving to realize the beginning of his altered destiny. He could not afford to panic now.
Konoha Ninja Academy – 0735 hours
The first feeling Naruto had to repress when he arrived was nostalgia. It surprised him that he even felt this way. There was no reason for it at all. He was thoroughly disillusioned of the childish belief that future glories awaited the fresh genin about to come out of the Academy and enter the ranks of the shinobi. And even when the belief was there the first time, loneliness was still the dominant emotion in his being.
But Naruto understood why he felt this way. He was about to see the rest of his friends who were unaware of the second chance he gave them. And hopefully most would remain unaware for the foreseeable future.
Forcing a grin, Naruto walked through the open door. Were it not for it being his first chance in ten years to interact with his classmates again, his feelings would be focused solely on his overwhelming disdain towards the Academy curriculum. Sure, as a kid, he'd struggled immensely, but that was because he didn't have anyone to help him; he'd had to be completely self-reliant for most of his childhood, and had major problems with paying attention to the material. Now, as an adult stuck in a preteen's body, he was unimpressed with the current standards and had a major issue with the curriculum and graduation process.
The program completely failed to instill the concept of teamwork into the academy students. The learning process here was focused almost entirely on the individual, forcing competition when it should be encouraging cooperation, and did not address any of the demands that would be expected from new genin teams. This was a fundamental flaw in the ninja training program that he believed was a major culprit behind the 66 percent rate of failure in the secondary test. How were those graduates/genin-potentials supposed to understand something that was never taught to them? It was the reason Team Seven had nearly failed Kakashi-sensei's bell test the first time around. Naruto was sure there were other reasons why so many other teams failed, but the lack of teamwork was a big one. Once the Sandaime was removed from power, Naruto would ensure that Sarutobi's successor rectified this problem, that is, if the invasion of Konoha by Suna and Oto didn't happen again and do it for him.
As for the rest of the curriculum? Naruto wondered if there was genuine reason for the paranoia that seemed to be behind the refusal to teach students more than the basic techniques. The curriculum only taught a bare minimum when it came to using chakra, presumably to minimize the risk of bandits learning how to use chakra. The problem with the policy was that civilian-born students were put at a tremendous disadvantage compared to those who came from shinobi clans, due to this bare minimum enforced by the administration. Most of the potential genin who failed their secondary test and were dropped from the program came from a civilian family.
That was bullshit. Those students were basically being set up to either fail, or get turned into cannon fodder if they somehow passed, as they were not being properly prepared for life as a ninja. Considering the heavy losses Konoha sustained on the night Naruto was born and had the Kyūbi sealed inside him, and on the night of the Uchiha Massacre, this policy was absolutely unacceptable. And it saddened him greatly to know what it would take for Konoha to have its wake-up call again and start training its ninja properly.
Naruto looked up at the ceiling, trying to set aside these thoughts for later. He made two sealless Tōton Kage Bunshin with instructions to jump to the roof and keep their eyes out for any incoming threats. They also had instructions for one to dispel once Hinata arrived, so he could meet up with her before class began. He didn't sense her chakra signature inside Iruka-sensei's classroom when he arrived, so he guessed she fainted right after he left her bedroom, which seemed like the most reasonable explanation for why she was running late.
Most of his old classmates were present, though three of the chakra signatures—Sasuke's, Ino's and Shino's—felt like they'd been agitated. Naruto couldn't sense emotions anymore, but at close range he could detect fluctuations in a person's chakra that were caused by specific feelings. Naruto guessed Shino had just received his memories from Ino and was extraordinarily angry. But that didn't explain the other two disturbances.
Peeking inside the classroom to find out why their chakra was disturbed, Naruto saw something he thought he'd never see. And he could only imagine how disgusted the participants in that scene were.
Naruto remembered the times when Ino and Sakura would stampede into the classroom at the same time, racing to see which one of them could take the single open seat next to Sasuke. Today, however, Ino had taken the appearance of her old self to the extreme. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Ino rubbing herself against Sasuke in an erotic manner. The Uchiha was blushing heavily and squirming, trying to escape Ino, but he appeared to be pinned down. To add to the hilarity, Ino also invited one of Sasuke's fangirls, one who sported messy purple hair and wore a striped blouse, to join in on the show.
Naruto backed away from the open classroom door and started laughing out loud.
"Oh, wow, Ino, I didn't think you had it in ya!" Naruto shouted, doubling over in his laughing fit. I'm pretty sure Ino's gonna use some brain bleach on herself by the time the exams are over and she goes home, he thought afterward. Still, her level of commitment to The Plan is pretty awesome. Also, note to self: never let Sasuke live this down.
"D-didn't think she had w-what in her?" an all-too-familiar voice asked. Naruto froze up. He'd been distracted enough by Ino's little show that he hadn't sensed Hinata at all, and his Tōton Kage Bunshin apparently chose not to dispel and notify him of her arrival.
"H-Hinata…" Naruto stammered, focusing his attention on the shy Hyūga in the bulky beige jacket. "H-hi there…" Hinata giggled at his bluster.
"Ohayo, N-Naruto-kun. W-What were you laughing at?"
"Maybe you should take a look for yourself?" Hinata nodded and slowly walked towards the classroom door. A few seconds later, she backed away, her entire face having turned scarlet.
"I-I-Ino-san...is d-d-doing…"
"Breathe, Hinata," Naruto told her. "You're not allowed to faint on me here." She managed to comply with Naruto's order and took in a few deep breaths. After her blush receded and she stopped panicking, Naruto said, "There's something I wanna talk with you about after the exams are over, Hinata, but I can't do it with anyone else around. Can you meet up with me at Training Ground 26 three hours after school ends?"
"I-I...I don't know, N-Naruto-kun...that's p-pretty far from the H-Hyūga Compound…and it'll be dark..."
"Then ask your father if you could have Tokuma-san take you there? It's really important to me that you come." His last sentence made Hinata gasp.
Naruto-kun thinks it's important for me to go to him? Hinata wondered, her insecurities causing her to momentarily forget about her heart-to-heart with him earlier. "H-Hai...I'll t-try."
"Arigatō." Naruto gave her a soft smile—one of his true smiles. Hinata knew instinctively that it was a special smile, but she had no way of comprehending the true significance of his smile.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata was at a loss for words. His smile captivated her. She knew right away that it wasn't one of his ordinary, forced smiles, which meant he was truly happy in her presence right now. And she could see some of the pain in his eyes lessen when he smiled at her. Hinata was determined to find out why that pain was so strong, but didn't yet have the courage to call Naruto-kun out on it. But knowing she could ease his pain just by talking with him filled her with hope, and she thought she could feel her self-confidence rise just a little bit from her discovery.
"We should probably walk into class now, nē?" Naruto said. Just as he was about to do so, Hinata stopped him by tightly gripping his left hand. "Hinata? What's wrong?"
"I-I...I don't want you to forget your br-breakfast, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, letting go and looking at the floor as she took a sealing scroll out of her jacket, holding it in both hands. He'd forgotten all about her offer earlier. But he also didn't like her refusal to face him now. "It's sealed in h-here...otherwise..."
"Hinata, please look at me." She didn't. "I won't accept it unless you look me in the eye." That made her head snap back up to face him. "That's better. Why are you so afraid that I'll be displeased with you?"
"I-I...I...um..."
Naruto took both her hands into his right hand and used his left hand to cup her chin. "You shouldn't be afraid of me, Hinata. You've become a sunny place for me today. My day is already brighter because of what you've done. Thank you."
Hinata gasped again, and she felt herself start to lose her grip on reality. This moment—no, every moment she'd spent with Naruto today felt like the sweetest dream, and it hurt. It hurt so much, feeling this wonderful because her crush, her hero, her Naruto-kun was focusing so much on her, and she didn't know why he'd want to talk to or spend time with her.
But he'd told her she wasn't allowed to faint, to slip back into blissful dreams. As much as this feeling hurt, making Naruto-kun upset with her would hurt worse. Not wanting to upset or disappoint him, she forced herself to hang on to the threads that kept her connected to the real world.
"N-No, N-Naruto-kun. Thank you...for encouraging me so much..." Rather than continue talking, Hinata decided to take a bold action. Part of her, the part that operated on her hopes, thought that maybe she could convey her thoughts better through touch instead of words. She hugged Naruto, shaking from a combination of fear and joy as she wrapped her arms around her source of strength. Naruto quickly returned the hug and rubbed her back, understanding what Hinata was feeling and wanting nothing more than to ease all her fears away.
Their embrace lasted all of five seconds before they were forced to let go of each other. "Holding you in my arms feels really nice, Hinata," Naruto said without realizing at first what he just said. It registered a few seconds later when he saw Hinata's face light up in a very cute shade of pink. This worried Naruto; while he learned that he liked seeing Hinata blush, he knew that a full face blush like this one was the precursor to a fainting spell, which would wreck his gambit. "Hey, don't faint on me yet. We can't be on the same team if you flunk the test because you're unconscious, ya know?"
Hinata meekly nodded. But something about Naruto-kun was still bothering her. She still had every reason to doubt that the sudden change in Naruto-kun's feelings was genuine. "N-Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, Hinata?"
"W-Why do you w-want me on your team? W-Wouldn't you rather have Sakura-san?"
"No, I wouldn't." Naruto clutched Hinata's shoulders as he stared deep into her eyes. "I can't tell you all of my reasons why I want you as my teammate, at least not right now, but I'd much rather be teamed up with someone I know cares about me and doesn't waste all their time chasing after Sasuke. Do you understand?" Hinata, not trusting her voice, gave Naruto two small nods; however, the look in her eyes told Naruto she expected a little more out of him. Specifically, where he stood with Sakura-nēchan.
Naruto sighed. He still wasn't great with tact, and yet he knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. "Look, Hinata," he said, "I'm not gonna lie to you, I still care about Sakura a lot. But I realized that she'll never love me the way I thought I wanted her to, so I decided I needed to stop chasing after her. I thought a lot about why I admired Sakura and realized that I was crushing on her, craving her attention, for all the wrong reasons. I still want her to love me, but...now I want her to love me like a sister loves her brother. I want her to see me as family. Do you understand what I'm saying, Hinata?" Hinata gasped. Since when had her Naruto-kun's speech become this profound?
"N-Naruto-kun...really feels that way?" Hinata wondered, her voice shaky. Naruto-kun wanted Sakura-san as his sister, not his future wife? If he was telling the truth, this admission was above and beyond her wildest hopes and dreams.
"Yes, Hinata, and that's one reason why I don't want Sakura on my team. Since my grades are really bad, I'll probably be stuck with Sasuke as a teammate, and I don't want Sakura there too. It wouldn't be good for her growth as a kunoichi or as a person if she spent most of her time fawning over someone who thinks of all girls as either annoying or disgusting. It'll also drag the whole team down and get us in a lot of trouble I'd much rather avoid. But you, Hinata? I know you take your training seriously, and I know you won't let your feelings get in the way during a mission. You're exactly the kind of person I want fighting by my side.
"Also, I still stand by what I said to you this morning. It'll do us both a lot of good if we're on the same team when we graduate."
Unfortunately for Naruto, Hinata had just lost her grip on the tether that kept her connected to the realm of consciousness. The intensity of his feelings was too much for her to handle. Her mind was already registering his words as part of a blissful dream, one she couldn't fight off any longer. Succumbing to the dream's call, Hinata barely had enough time and will to squeak out a soft "Forgive me" before she fell forward and rested limp in his arms.
"Hinata? Oh, crap!" Naruto shouted, starting to panic. Dammit, Hinata, I told you you weren't allowed to faint! This position Hinata stuck him in by fainting was very compromising. No one had their eyes on him yet, but the second someone saw him holding a fainted Hinata, he would be bombarded with questions and teasing, neither of which he could afford to happen. He needed the help of someone he could bribe to keep quiet. He thought that maybe Kiba could be bought, but he didn't know how close Kiba and Hinata were in the Academy.
C'mon, Naruto, think! Kurenai-sensei once told me Kiba used to keep smelling salts on him for whenever Hinata suffered one of her fainting spells, but she didn't tell me when he first started...ugh! Dammit! Guess I have to make ANOTHER gamble! "Hey, dog breath!" Naruto yelled out, startling some of the students in Iruka's classroom.
Inside the classroom, Inuzuka Kiba and his ninken Akamaru were very confused by today's antics. He'd seen Ino grab Shino's wrist the moment Shino entered class and make one-handed seals for a technique he didn't recognize, and whatever she did to Shino, it caused his kikaichū hives to start buzzing very loudly. Then he'd seen Ino pin Sasuke to his seat and start rubbing herself against him, along with someone else from the Uchiha Sasuke Fangirl Club. He also didn't know why Naruto wasn't in class yet, since the knucklehead usually showed up early, even if it was just to get him, Chōji and Shikamaru to skip class and pull pranks.
Naruto's yelling from right outside the class only confused the Inuzuka and his puppy even more.
"Was that Naruto who just yelled at us from the hallway?" Kiba asked. Akamaru also gave a questioning whimper.
"Better go and check, mutt," Ino suggested, feigning a disappointed look over the distraction giving Sasuke enough time to escape from her and Ami, who had only joined in due to a Shinshu Ino planted in Ami's head to make her more susceptible to certain thoughts. Inwardly, she was relieved that Naruto gave her an excuse to stop. Now she just needed to erase the memory from herself and everyone who witnessed it—well, everyone except Naruto, knowing Kurama would never allow anyone inside his jinchūriki's mindscape if their intent was less than pure.
"Fine," Kiba grumbled, earning another whimper from Akamaru. Maybe he could get some other answers while he was at it. He walked up the stairs and out the door and saw the last thing he'd ever expected to see.
"Aw, don't tell me Naruto finally took a hint!" Kiba exclaimed. Akamaru yipped in approval.
"Kiba," Naruto growled in a dangerous tone, "you are going to stay completely quiet about this. No one hears about this from you without my permission, especially not your mom."
"Why should I? What's in it for me?"
"Well…" Naruto scratched the back of his head while keeping the fainted Hinata close to him in a one-armed hug. "You remember me pranking Iruka-sensei with the Oiroke no Jutsu during our Henge review yesterday after I got caught painting the Hokage Monument, right?"
"Are you kidding? I don't think anyone's going to forget those stunts anytime soon!" Kiba laughed at the recent memory. Akamaru yipped in agreement with his owner.
"If you help me wake Hinata up and keep quiet about this incident, I'll give you the magazines I used to develop that jutsu?" Naruto could almost hear Kiba's jaw hit the floor at the sound of his bribe. And he could definitely smell the blood that started dripping from Kiba's nose a few seconds after his shock wore off. A slight shiver ran down Naruto's spine as he realized he might have just released another open pervert onto the streets of Konoha. Was the collateral damage that would assuredly result from corrupting the mutt worth the price of his silence? Probably not, Naruto mused, but I'm better off with him getting his hands on the porn than Hinata, or worse, Sakura-nēchan.
"Deal! Just tell me where you live and I'll stop by there tomorrow."
"Can we make it next week? I'm kinda expecting someone to check in who might not like you being around. If you can wait that long, I'll even buy your whole team lunch at Yakiniku Q."
Kiba looked around in confusion. He blinked once, twice, thrice. Naruto never offered to buy anyone a meal, especially somewhere other than Ramen Ichiraku. Couple that with Naruto holding Hinata protectively, and...
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Naruto?" Kiba said.
"Do you always have to be this way, Kiba?" Naruto shot back. "Or do you want us to get in trouble with the Hyūga Clan if they find out?" As if on cue, Naruto finally received the memories of his disobedient clone. As it turned out, Hinata's bodyguard Kō had been very pissed off, why Kō was pissed off Naruto didn't know, but he guessed it had something to do with him and with a few choice words from Hiashi back at the Hyūga Compound. His clone had not taken Kō's hissy fit well and decided the caretaker was in need of an attitude adjustment.
"Okay, okay!" Kiba threw his hands up in surrender. "Just set Hinata up against the wall and get into class. I'll take care of the rest." Naruto nodded his compliance and did so, watching Kiba taking some smelling salts out of his coat pocket.
Huh, Naruto wondered. Why didn't Kurenai-sensei tell me those two knew one another before being assigned to Team Eight? "What an asshole," he muttered after shrugging off the thought, and walked down the stairs, sitting down next to Ino, who exchanged a knowing look with him. It was time for her to initiate a telepathic conversation with him and Shino.
"So what's the plan for today, Naruto-sama?" Ino asked the instant Shindenshin took effect between the three time travelers.
"I can't use Kage Bunshin as a substitute for normal Bunshin unless we get Mizuki out of the way first and convince Iruka-sensei to stay quiet, and I can't just choose to fail the test and let the bastard tell me to steal the scroll again," Naruto replied. "Sandaime will know something is up and take action against me."
"How? It shouldn't be that easy for him to read you?"
"It's all in the eyes, Ino. As soon as he looks at me, there's just no way he'll not know I'm hiding something."
"I concur with Naruto-san," Shino piped in with no small amount of anger towards his comrades. "Why, you ask? Because if these memories you gave me are real, Ino-san, then you were once part of the Anbu Intelligence Unit in the future, and you should have already known how the eyes can reveal a person's true thoughts without any need to invade that person's mind and eavesdrop on those thoughts." Ino sunk at the words, which sounded like the precursor to a rant. But since Naruto was part of the conversation, Shino instinctively knew better than to launch into that extended rant including the more technical details of how the eye could give away a person's lies. Naruto might not be that dense anymore, if his future self's memories were an accurate indicator, but any speech like the one he wanted to give Ino, one that wasn't dumbed down, still went over the future Hokage's head and gave him a migraine. Although with how angry he was, Shino had considered doing so anyway out of spite. His kikaichū were still buzzing loudly, indicating an extreme level of anger felt towards his future comrades for pushing this burden on him.
"Calm the fuck down, Shino," Naruto ordered. "Your future self accepted he had no choice in the matter. Besides, we need you."
"To protect Hinata-san when you can't, I know."
"Actually, that part of the plan might change."
"Explain." Shino's tone made it come off as an order. Naruto did not like it when his subordinates overstepped their bounds by attempting to give him an order. He was about to reprimand Shino when Ino spoke up.
"Billboard Brow has a nasty little cursed seal on her mind that we didn't know about until after we went back in time," Ino said. "Tōsan and I couldn't remove it and were actually forced to repair and modify it. For the time being, we cannot allow Sakura-chan to interact with her parents or Sasuke at all. Any prolonged contact with those three could make the cursed seal function as originally intended and put her within Danzō's grasp. We cannot allow that to happen."
"Shino, if we succeed in getting Sakura-nēchan onto Team Eight, I'll need you to watch out for her and keep us informed on any worrying change in her behavior. If the worst-case scenario happens and the seal sends her to Danzō...I don't want to imagine how screwed we'll be, or what we might have to do to stop her from betraying us." Naruto physically shuddered after that telepathic communique. Losing Sakura-nēchan was his second greatest fear, and losing her to the juinjutsu was the absolute worst way for her to go out.
"With you monitoring and helping her, Shino-kun, we'll be better able to prevent that." Ino had also physically shuddered at Naruto's mention of the worst-case scenario. "Your kikaichū are the best tool we have to pick up on any changes in her behavior, at least until Naruto-sama regains Negative Emotions Sensing."
"Do you plan to alter the seal in an attempt to regain that ability, Naruto-san?" Shino queried.
"Yes, actually," The Once and Future Hokage replied. "I need to weaken the seal as much as my body will allow. I also want to get Yamato-taichō back on our side as soon as possible, and this is the best way to do it. I just need to be careful with the timing, to make sure it's Yamato-taichō and not Ero-sennin who's sent to check on the seal. Ero-sennin has to be kept in the dark as long as possible."
Naruto stopped for a few seconds when he saw Kiba walk back into the classroom, with a furiously blushing Hinata trailing behind. The mutt had obviously decided to tease Hinata over her fainting spell when she came to. But Naruto thought that was a good thing. He wanted Kiba and Hinata to bond more, to make up for the lack of time they'd be spending together in this timeline. Naruto felt a little guilty about tearing apart the original Team Eight; like Team Seven, they had been a surrogate family, but it had to be done, for Sakura's sake. Also, Kiba's teasing would make Hinata less likely to pass off her interactions with Naruto today as a dream.
"By the way, Ino, Kurama says we should have Hinata get frequent therapy sessions from you and your dad. He says her mind might be as screwed up as mine."
"Oh, hell," Ino cursed. "Should I expect to encounter memory seals on her, Naruto-sama?"
"When Kurama says it, expect the worst, but don't hope for the best." Yes, that about covered it. Ino audibly groaned at the assessment from their fuzzy friend.
At that moment, Naruto's other Tōton Kage Bunshin dispelled, informing him that Inoichi was escorting Sakura-nēchan to class. Naruto thought it was a wise decision for Inoichi to inform Iruka-sensei about her condition before class started. If she couldn't make it through the whole day, Naruto was sure Iruka-sensei would be understanding enough to pass her anyway.
"And what of Shikamaru-san?" Shino asked. "He has been observing us since we started communicating like this. It is only logical that he is already starting to grow suspicious of us."
"Let me handle him, Shino-kun," Ino said. "As his teammate and a close friend of his family, I'm in the best position to deal with Shikamaru."
"Understood."
"Guys, we need to stop talking," Naruto said. "Class is about to start." Ino complied and ended the Shindenshin no Jutsu just seconds before Iruka, Mizuki, Inoichi and Sakura walked in. And Sakura really looked like she should be in the hospital instead of the classroom.
"Good morning, everyone. I need everyone to their seats so we can begin," Iruka announced after making sure Sakura reached her seat. The excited buzz in the room overshadowed Iruka's greeting. "I need everyone in their seats!" he yelled, shocking the students into silence with his temporarily enlarged head and enhanced voice.
He smiled to himself as the few stragglers around the door and the most persistent of Sasuke's fangirls quickly returned to their seats. "I am proud of all of you for making it this far! Today, you will be taking the next steps in your careers, lives, and duty as Shinobi of Konoha!
"Now, due to unforeseen events that occurred in the early morning, I have decided this one time to change the rules slightly. Normally, anyone who fails today's final exam would either be held back another year or dropped from the Shinobi program altogether. However, since it has been brought to light that a couple of you may have medical issues which could hinder your ability to pass the exams, I will allow anyone who fails due to these problems to retake the test or a substitute test tomorrow, if able." That could present a very significant problem. Naruto wasn't sure if Iruka-sensei actually had the authority to make that decision. But he dismissed this thought before it could linger.
"The test will begin shortly. I wish you all the best of luck."
As Mizuki began passing out test papers, Naruto glanced over at Ino, who he saw making two sets of unusual hand seals under her desk. Did she intend to use her mental ninjutsu on the traitor...? Ino noticed his glance and returned it with a knowing look, telling him yes, that was how she intended to carry out his will.
Her whispers of Kioku Fukusei no Jutsu and Shinshu as her hand brushed against the traitorous teacher's were almost too faint for Naruto's ears to pick up. But he knew immediately that Mizuki's fate was sealed by her actions.
Naruto had forgotten how excruciating the written portion was the first time around. He wondered if it was worse now because it was technically his second time taking this exam. He supposed he was doing better than he had last time. He couldn't be certain; he couldn't completely recall that memory. His mind had sacrificed some of the details of his third failed exam to better preserve the greater failures which fueled his nightmares.
The history questions were a cinch. As the future Nanadaime Hokage and the man who would unite the shinobi world, he'd had to make sure he was well-versed in history, so he would avoid repeating the mistakes of his predecessors.
The economics questions weren't quite as easy as the history ones, but the time he'd endured studying in the future to prepare for his ascension to Hokage also seared the answers into his mind. The real difficulty was not giving away his...views on certain policies on the test sheet.
The math questions still gave him problems. Naruto supposed he could just make a Tōton Kage Bunshin to sneak a peek at the answer key, but that could bring up more issues than he wanted to face. One, if he was caught cheating (a near impossibility for The Once and Future Hokage in a room full of students and only two semi-competent Chūnin, but Naruto knew better than to believe that was completely impossible, and he'd rather not risk the off chance that he could get caught). And two, if he wasn't caught and had a perfect score on the written portion, and Iruka-sensei noticed his score was far higher than it should have been, considering his academic record. Sure, it wouldn't affect his standing as the Dead Last, but it was better to not bother. Besides, there would already be too many questions for his liking once he performed the Bunshin no Jutsu, or at least tried to. His clones at Training Ground 26 earlier found that thanks to losing the Six Paths chakra and resetting the Hakke no Fūin Shiki, he couldn't make the precise number of three Bunshin that Iruka-sensei wanted to see, as his massive chakra reserves would still cause them to overload, but if he increased the number of Bunshin to thirty, they would all turn out as they were supposed to. He just hoped Iruka-sensei wouldn't demand that he make fewer Bunshin. Worst-case, he could probably exploit his jinchūriki status as a medical condition to retake the test, and reveal the Kage Bunshin to Iruka-sensei alone if it came to that, which he hoped it wouldn't.
Every twenty or so seconds, Naruto would look around the classroom, observing his fellow soon-to-be rookies. The first time around, Naruto hadn't cared enough to take in the minor details he was known for exploiting, but now, he was completely attuned to his surroundings and reveled in each detail he discovered.
Sakura-nēchan was having a very hard time with answering the questions, but not for a lack of knowledge—she was struggling just to stay conscious. If Iruka-sensei's ruling held, she would most likely have to retake the exams.
Ino had completed the written exam in the first five minutes. Naruto's only question was which questions she deliberately answered wrong or didn't answer, so to not risk screwing up team placements. She, Sakura and Hinata were all very close together in class standing, and usurping Sakura's position as Top Kunoichi instead of Hinata would screw up The Plan quite a bit.
Every so often, Ino would make a one-handed seal with her right hand, concealed under her desk. Naruto recognized it as the seal for a selective memory erasing technique, one that worked best on recent memories. Just as expected, Ino was bleaching the brains of everyone who saw her R-rated show this morning. Naruto thanked God he knew Ino well enough to know that was the only thing she was using her mind wipe jutsu for. Otherwise, he'd have to expose and chastise her in front of the whole class.
Shino was discreetly sending some of his kikaichū out to gather the answers from Mizuki, who looked like he was growing increasingly annoyed as the exams continued. Despite his anger, the Aburame was showing good form. Good for him.
Kiba wasn't using Akamaru to gather the answers for him. His ninken was taking a nap. Eh. It's not like intel gathering was particularly supposed to matter right now, at least according to the subpar standards and expectations held by the Academy. Still, Naruto was disappointed with the mutt.
Shikamaru, for once, was wide awake, and Naruto knew it wasn't so much because of the exams as it was the telepathic meeting he, Ino and Shino held while waiting for the exams to begin. Naruto knew how smart Shikamaru is, and pretty much expected the lazy Nara to find his situation too troublesome to not investigate. Naruto wanted Shikamaru to be the first of the other rookies to learn his truth and wanted to bring him into The Plan as soon as it was safe to do so. Shikamaru's insight would be too valuable to ignore.
Hinata...her performance made Naruto curious. He saw that she had completed the entire written portion very quickly, and he hadn't detected any chakra expenditures from her. She hadn't used her Byakugan to cheat. This brought up memories of the Chūnin Exams, when she'd offered to let him cheat off her, risking her entire team's chances of promotion just to help him make it through. The purpose of the written test had been to test the applicants' ability to gather information, but after seeing her performance here, Naruto wondered whether she had used her Byakugan then, or was simply more intelligent than anyone gave her credit for. He was personally leaning towards the second possibility.
Lastly, Chōji and Sasuke weren't doing anything noteworthy. The former was snacking on his potato chips as quietly as possible, while the latter, having also completed the written exam quickly, looked even more annoyed than Mizuki.
Seeing that Iruka-sensei and Mizuki were making no move to stop Chōji from eating, Naruto took out the sealing scroll Hinata gave him and channeled some chakra into it to unseal his breakfast.
He froze up when he saw the rice balls that were cutely designed in the shape of his face, triggering a memory of when he, Hinata and Kiba had been sent to capture a thief named Gosunkugi. When they first stopped for a lunch break, Hinata had given him these very same rice balls as a present.
Snapping out of the reverie quickly, Naruto took a small bite out of one of the rice balls, meaning to savor its taste and the care that had been put into its creation.
His words back then were still as true to his heart now as they'd been when he'd said them. Hinata would make a great wife.
That is...if she survived this time.
A soft but chilling breeze flew past Naruto as he and the rest of his classmates followed Iruka-sensei and Mizuki away from the Academy's obstacle course (which most of them completed quickly) and towards the spot where they would conduct the taijutsu portion of the exams. He didn't really remember most of the spars he'd had here inside the large white ring at the center of the main clearing...well, aside from the very first time he'd faced Sasuke. That was still one of the more humiliating moments of his pathetic excuse for a childhood. Little did he know back then how vicious their rivalry would become, or the price he would pay for chasing after the Uchiha for so long.
Naruto couldn't stop his stomach from trying to force a little bit of bile out of his mouth. He was sickened by the sight of Sasuke—or rather, by the memories of the monster Sasuke had become which flashed through his head each time he saw the raven-haired, revenge-obsessed man-child. The Last Loyal Uchiha's quest for vengeance had made him into the very embodiment of the Curse of Hatred, more completely than Madara. When Naruto looked at Sasuke, he didn't see a rival, a friend, a brother. He saw an abomination, a tyrant, the worst of humanity that was a threat to the species' survival. But Naruto didn't want to see that side of Sasuke. Part of him wanted to believe there was still a chance the Uchiha could face his demons and overcome them this time, but it was going to be a daunting task to steer him away from his current path.
"In just a few minutes, we will begin testing your abilities in taijutsu," Iruka announced, and Naruto barely registered the words while wavering in and out of his vicious reverie. "Your grades for this portion will be determined largely by how well you maintain the stances you've been taught during the past few years. Any displays of ingenuity can increase your score, but only if there is no severe deviance from the standard katas. Now, I want you all to line up at the back of this clearing and wait for your names to be called. Do not break formation until you're summoned to the front." Some of the students were more reluctant to comply than others, but overall, it wasn't as tedious to make them obey as it was at the start of the academic day. Iruka smiled to himself. This last day was going surprisingly easy for him, and he wasn't about to question why.
"Would Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke step forward and enter the ring?" Mizuki requested. It caused some of the students to murmur amongst themselves; while they didn't care who Naruto faced, believing he'd lose regardless, they hadn't been expecting the teachers to make the first match of the taijutsu exams a grudge match.
The moment Naruto heard his and Sasuke's names called, a fierce wave of killing intent, though toned down enough to not drive the rest of the students to attempt suicide, engulfed the surroundings as he walked into the makeshift arena. Iruka and Mizuki were also left stunned and shaking as Naruto entered the ring. Even Ino, the only person unaffected, was surprised by the intensity of this small fraction of the hate Naruto just emitted.
"Naruto, come here," a still slightly shaking Iruka demanded; the Uzumaki only reluctantly complied. "For your sake, you need to end your rivalry with Sasuke today. It isn't going to do you any good to keep up this charade after you become a ninja."
"Pfft. Rivalry implies he's on my level," Naruto quipped, triggering a wave of mocking laughter from most of the other students as the aftereffects of his KI wore off.
"Whatever. Just begin the spar and keep it clean." Iruka then walked outside the circle and signaled the start of the match.
"Hn. Iruka-sensei is right about one thing," Sasuke said as though Naruto had never hit the entire class with KI. "This stupid rivalry you think we have ends here. But you still need to learn that you can never beat me...usuratonkachi."
"Temae," Naruto growled, "this time you're the one who's gonna get knocked out in one hit! Believe it!"
"Oh please," Kiba groaned from the fence where the rest of the class was assembled to watch. "Naruto's all bark and no bite, right Akamaru?" His puppy didn't yip, instead giving a low whine, as if to question the stupidity of his partner.
"Wrong, Kiba-san," Hinata replied quietly. "Something about Naruto-kun feels different. It's like he's hiding his true self from everyone."
"Huh? What makes you think that, Hinata?"
"It's all in the eyes..." Hinata, too focused on her observations of Naruto to be surprised by her stutter disappearing, let her speech trail off. This entire day had been a massive shock to her system and she was still trying to figure out how she should react to it all. Otōsama acknowledging her and turning a new leaf was easy to accept. Naruto-kun's change in attitude and his willingly seeking her company, not so much.
"Who cares about Naruto?" Ami interrupted. "Kiba's right; there's no way he'll beat Sasuke-kun!" This triggered a wave of chanting from the rest of Sasuke's fangirls, which immediately disgusted Kiba and enraged Hinata. The ex-heiress of the Hyūga Clan, in her state of mental and emotional turmoil, was about to decide it was appropriate to attack the pathetic civilian girl when...
"Lariat!" The exclamation from Naruto and the sickening sound of his arm connecting with Sasuke's neck immediately killed all banter on the sidelines and earned the attention of the entire class. Naruto had clearly heard far too much and had decided, true to his word, to end the match with a single hit. No one even saw him move, nor would they have had they been paying attention to the fight and not to their petty bickering. But hearing the declaration of attack and the sounds the attack made were enough to shatter the delusions of everyone. They had no way to dismiss the near-lethal blow dealt to the Last Loyal Uchiha in this "fight" as a fluke victory. Naruto had outclassed and overpowered Sasuke, no matter how much they wanted to deny what their eyes and ears told them.
The class's reactions to watching Naruto knock Sasuke onto the ground with a clothesline were varied, but generally showed some form of shock and disbelief. Most of the fangirls were crying fowl, while the boys didn't know whether to do the same or cower in fear from witnessing Naruto's brutal attack.
The others who would become the Rookie 9 had more telling reactions:
Shino shook his head in quiet disapproval of the scene. He would have attempted to advise against putting on this show, if he hadn't felt Naruto's raw hatred of Sasuke when the two were called into the circle and been forced to back off.
Kiba was slack-jawed and borderline catatonic, unresponsive to even Akamaru. How did the dobe manage to learn a pro wrestling move from Kumo?
Ino facepalmed.
Chōji dropped his bag of chips onto the ground.
Shikamaru blinked twice before muttering "troublesome" and rubbing his forehead with his right hand.
Sakura turned around, doubled over and started dry heaving.
As for Hinata, she completely forgot about her suspicions when Naruto defeated Sasuke in one hit and inadvertently drew everyone's attention to her when she screamed a loud "Yes!" and jumped for joy, eyes closed and smiling wide. When she landed and opened her eyes, she noticed that all of her classmates were either glaring at her, staring with disbelief written all over their faces, or in Ino and Kiba's cases, smirking. Quickly overwhelmed by the attention her outburst received, the shy girl's elation turned into a feeling of total embarrassment. Hinata squeaked and retreated back to the fence, burying her blushing face in her hands and trying to sink into her bulky clothes and disappear. This, much to her dismay, only caused the class to pay even more attention to her. She just wanted to die.
At least until Naruto saved her with a deafening yell of "Leave Hinata alone!" directed at the class. Now he had to put up with all of the glares, plus Iruka-sensei's yelling at him to get back in the ring and make the Seal of Reconciliation with a fuming Sasuke (Naruto knew Sasuke would refuse to do so no matter what), but he ignored them all easily. He was used to their contempt. Besides, they couldn't do anything to dampen his mood as he walked over to the fence and sat down next to Hinata, not really giving a damn if the whole class was still watching him.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked her. She didn't respond. "Hey, please look at me," he cooed, slowly reaching towards her hands to pry them away from her face.
"I-I-I...I c-can't..."
"Yes you can, Hinata. C'mon." She reluctantly let Naruto take her hands into his and opened her eyes, only to gasp when she saw Naruto give her his "true smile" again. "There you go. See? It's okay, Hinata. You don't have to hide from me or feel embarrassed about cheering for me, ya know."
"Uzumaki Naruto, get back here right now!" Iruka yelled, killing the tender moment. Naruto was instantly incensed. Going back to play nice with Sasuke was the last thing he wanted to do. Also, Iruka-sensei was interrupting his Hinata-time, and it didn't matter how close one is to Naruto; no one interrupts his Hinata-time without suffering some form of repercussions.
"Why should I? Sasuke won't make the stupid seal either, ya know, so why should I have to go back into the ring and try to play nice when he won't?"
"Because it's the rule, Naruto!"
"Then fail us," Naruto challenged Iruka in a dangerously low tone of voice, causing Hinata and a few others to gasp. "This is a ninja school, Sensei. If we have to follow all of the rules, then there's no point in being here, so fail us and be done with it!"
Iruka was stunned by Naruto's behavior. Naruto was showing a level of belligerence Iruka hadn't seen from the blond knucklehead in years, and he couldn't figure out why. Sure, they hadn't started off on the right track, due to Iruka's former bigotry, but he thought they were getting past that. He thought Naruto was beginning to accept him, but Naruto's antagonism had reappeared in full force and now it looked like they were back at square one, and he didn't know what he did to completely destroy the progress they'd made. Iruka only knew that Naruto had challenged his authority in such a way that he couldn't win. If Iruka backed off, he'd look weak. If he answered the challenge and failed only Naruto, he was sure Naruto would complain to the Hokage for showing blatant favoritism towards Sasuke, which would likely cost him his job. And if he failed both Naruto and Sasuke for refusing to reconcile, the backlash would be even worse.
He didn't have time to think it over—his hesitancy showed weakness in front of the whole class—when Mizuki cut in: "It's obvious what has to be done here. Uzumaki Naruto, you..."
"You do not have the authority to make that call, Mizuki-san!" Iruka cut his assistant off. He absolutely despised it when Mizuki's irrational hatred towards Naruto brought him to make rash decisions. "Drop the subject and announce the next match!"
"Fine," Mizuki grumbled, and neither he nor Iruka missed the blinding, infuriating cheeky grin Naruto gave them after they conceded this defeat. "Would Aburame Shino and Hibachi please step forward?"
Under his trench coat, Shino smirked as he walked forward to face his opponent. This match would be a fine opportunity to work off some of his anger towards Naruto and Ino for including him in The Plan. Anger which they would consider unjustified, but anger he was finding difficult to release. The upbringing of the Aburame worked against him here. They were slow to anger, but once angered, were equally slow in letting go of their anger.
"Hinata, can you do something for me?" Naruto asked.
"Eeeeeh? W-What do you want me to do, N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata turned away from Naruto, blushing madly.
"It's nothing big, Hinata. I just want you to observe the matches with me and comment on them a little. Think of it as a way to build some confidence in yourself, okay?" Hinata gasped yet again. Naruto-kun was continuing to surprise her and she didn't really know how to react. But some part of her managed to recall her silent vow to herself this morning. She swore she wouldn't let Naruto-kun down. She wasn't about to go back on her word.
"O-Okay," she managed to reply. Naruto took her hand into his, but much to her surprise, she didn't feel like fainting from the close contact. Rather, the gesture was comforting, relaxing her nerves. Hinata didn't know how he was doing it, but Naruto seemed to have figured out exactly how to encourage and soothe her.
The match started. Hibachi charged in and threw a wild left hook, which Shino easily side stepped. Hibachi then twirled around and threw a right hook at Shino, only to have his arm swatted away with a mild sting. He was already starting to grow frustrated and started failing to keep his cool. Hibachi tried using the rest of his body more in subsequent attempts to land a hit on Shino, all of which failed miserably. It grew painfully obvious to Naruto that Hibachi lacked a taijutsu style and wasn't even trying to stick to the Academy katas. Hibachi was a brawler type, like he'd used to be.
Apparently, Hibachi didn't get the memo that this was not a street fight. Shino was toying with him, drawing out the civilian's anger which couldn't match his own, and starting to apply more force in his swats. Most of the other spectators didn't care and found the lack of action from the Aburame and the civilian boring, but Naruto and Hinata were paying very acute attention to the fight together, and while Hinata tried to decide how to tell Naruto what she saw, Naruto started to get worried.
"Shino-san...is very angry with you, Naruto-kun," Hinata observed.
"I know that, Hinata. But how bad is it?"
Hinata took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. "Shino-san is not taking this fight seriously. He believes Hibachi-san is beneath him and is not worth his time. Based on his b-body language and the agitation of his kikaichū, I would say that Shino-san refuses to attack Hibachi-san because he'd much rather be fighting you. But I...I d-don't understand why he's so angry with you, Naruto-kun."
"Me neither, Hinata," Naruto admitted. He knew Shino was angry with his forced inclusion in The Plan even in the future, but that alone didn't explain why his past self was so pissed off.
In the meantime, Shino was continuing to either dodge or swat away every attempt Hibachi made at landing a punch on him, without ever following up with an actual attack of his own. At this point, Hibachi's forearms were covered in bruises, but his ego wasn't quite broken.
"I don't get it," Hibachi complained. "This was supposed to be an easy fight! Everyone knows the Aburame suck at taijutsu!"
That was the worst thing Hibachi could have said. Shino was already fuming at the memories Ino forced on him, and hearing the insult to his clan made him snap. Shino charged in at Hibachi and landed a ruthless uppercut on his opponent's chin, knocking him into the air and making him land face-first at the other end of the circle, his feet just inches away from the edge. Hibachi groaned and managed to push himself back up before Iruka or Mizuki could call the match. He then attempted to tackle Shino to the ground, but Shino side stepped it again and delivered a swift chop to the back of Hibachi's neck, putting him back on the ground, this time to stay.
"H-how..."
"It was a foregone conclusion," Shino said in a matter-of-fact tone. It was the last thing Hibachi heard before blacking out. This time, Iruka didn't bother with trying to make Shino stay in the circle until Hibachi recovered. Shino wasn't a Genin yet, but his anger was easily high Jōnin-level, and Iruka only barely managed not to flinch from the aura his student was emitting.
Yeah, Shino is definitely pissed off, Naruto thought. He needs to be forced back into line.
"Mizuki-san, take Hibachi to the nurse's office, and tell the nurse to make sure he wakes up in time for the next part of the exams," Iruka told his assistant. Mizuki gave him a curt nod before picking up the unconscious student and jogging towards the main building. "Would Yamanaka Ino and Ami please step forward?" he then announced.
Yummy, Ino thought. Time for the shortest fight the Academy's seen since Naruto's former rivalry with Sasuke began. She strutted her way to the center of the ring, her pale blonde ponytail waving back and forth and distracting a few of the other students in the crowd. She certainly seemed eager enough to get her match over with.
"Ready?" Iruka asked. Both Ami and Ino nodded. "Hajime!"
"In honor of our time together in the Academy, I have a gift for you," Ino said to her opponent.
"Really! What is it?" Ami asked sarcastically.
"Boot to the head!" Ino quickly performed a roundhouse kick that some of the other students were too distracted to see. The impact of boot against head made a crunching sound. The "fight" was over before it began as Ami fell to the ground, unconscious and with a possible concussion.
"I guess my charm overwhelmed her." Ino flicked her ponytail back and strutted her way back to the other students, earning a few wolf whistles and hollers from some of the male portion of the class. She ignored them as she made hand seals behind her back before settling into formation. To her, the best part of that little display was ensuring she got docked a lot of points for not displaying adequate form in her taijutsu stances (of which she showed none), ensuring that part of The Plan went as planned.
"Naruto-sama, Mizuki's proving to be more difficult to provoke than you expected," Ino told Naruto via telepathy.
"Oh?" Naruto questioned.
"He hates your guts and he's one of the biggest idiots I've met, but he still has fairly decent emotional control. You're going to have to be alone with him to get him to snap."
"Got it."
"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, noticing that Naruto had just mysteriously spaced out for the second time today.
"Huh?"
"You were spacing out for a few seconds."
"Oh. Don't worry about me, Hinata. I'm fine. I was just thinking about something important, that's all," he said, telling her only a partial truth. He couldn't trust Hinata with the knowledge of his and Ino's capabilities just yet. It really fucking hurt, knowing he had to keep so many secrets from her, and knowing that his doing so would cause her to distrust him in return. He wanted, no, needed to be able to confide in Hinata, but until Naruto was strong enough to be confident in his ability to protect her, any secret he told her could easily be used against them, and he absolutely did not want to take that risk unless it was unavoidable. Losing her again was his single greatest fear, and losing her because she turned into a pawn of his enemies would be the worst way for her to go.
"Oh. O-Okay."
Naruto sighed at Hinata's disappointment. Seeing her like that tore at his heart, and he couldn't help but want to placate her, even against his better judgment. "It's about Mizuki," he confessed. "I think he might try to sabotage me on the ninjutsu part of the test, or worse."
Hinata gasped. "W-Why would he do that?"
"Do you remember bringing up my fuzzy secret this morning?" Naruto asked, patting his stomach. When Hinata nodded, he leaned in closer to her and whispered into her ear, "That bastard thinks I'm the Kyūbi and not its jailor."
Hinata froze. She knew most of the people of Konoha couldn't separate Naruto-kun from Kyūbi due to the pain they'd suffered from the attack, but she had no idea there were people like Mizuki who took that lack of distinction to such an extreme. She wanted to hurt Mizuki badly, to make an example for those who kept mistreating Naruto-kun. But she wanted even more to hug Naruto-kun and cry into his shoulder, to shed the tears he almost always kept from falling.
"I-I'm so sorry..."
"Hey, please don't cry, okay?" Hinata reluctantly nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. "If you wanna do something to make me feel better, all you have to do is win your match today, okay?"
"O-okay, Naruto-kun."
"Would Hyūga Hinata and Kasumi please step forward?" Mizuki, who just returned from the nurse's office, announced.
Naruto gave Hinata an expectant look. "It's showtime, Hinata. Don't hold back."
"I won't." Hinata gave Naruto a firm nod before turning around. As she marched up to face her opponent, Naruto noticed a flash of anger in her eyes and couldn't help but take pride in her surge of determination.
"You're not even trying to hide your affections for her," Ino commented sotto voce.
"S-shut up!" Naruto yelled, blushing.
"Ino-san is only pointing out the obvious, Naruto-san," Shino piped in. "And it's a potential disaster in the making."
"Ino, Shindenshin," the Uzumaki slipped into Hokage Mode and commanded the Yamanaka. She quickly complied. "It's just too hard for me to hide my feelings for her. It's taking all of my willpower to hold myself back as much as I am."
"THAT was holding back?" Ino raged. When Naruto didn't answer, she mentally shrugged and added, "You are hopeless, Naruto-sama."
"I'm an Uzumaki, Ino. We feel everything more intensely than anyone else except maybe the Uchiha, and that's only due to their blasted Sharingan."
"Pay attention to the fight," Shino warned Naruto, who only let the Aburame's tone slide for one reason: Hinata was expecting Naruto to watch her.
His attention shift came at just the right moment. Iruka was a moment away from announcing the start of the next match, and Kasumi was growing very impatient with the teachers. While Hinata was caught in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and needed the visual reassurance that her hero and crush was watching her, supporting her.
When she saw Naruto look into her eyes and nod, the whirlwind was released. What happened next was so extraordinary that no one who witnessed it except the three who were aware of her untapped potential believed she was capable of such a feat.
Hinata attacked first, delivering a debilitating palm thrust to Kasumi's solar plexus. She knew she had already ended the fight, but she wasn't done with her performance. Not letting up for even a fraction of a second, Hinata rained down a flurry of palm thrusts upon the brunette, Afro-sporting bully, who found herself unable to even attempt to block any of the attacks.
When she finally stopped thirty seconds later and let Kasumi fall to the ground, Hinata was certain she had ended any chance the fangirl had of becoming a kunoichi. The death knell wasn't so much triggered by physical injury—though Kasumi would be sporting bruises across most of her body for the better part of a week and would need almost two months to recuperate from her broken leg—as it was by the humiliation of losing to the shy girl who almost everyone wrote off as a failure.
Just as they were with Naruto vs. Sasuke, most of the class was shocked speechless by Hinata's spar. Those who weren't chose not to give voice to their thoughts anyway—well, except for Naruto, who wrapped Hinata up in a big hug the moment he knew no one would be watching his display of affection.
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked, embarrassed by the contact.
"You did really well, Hinata. Seeing you lay into that bully like that totally made my day."
"I-I didn't disappoint you?"
"Not at all, Hinata. That was very impressive. You should have seen the looks on everyone's faces when you finished up out there!" Naruto paused for a moment to let Hinata do exactly that, and drank in the awe reflected in her eyes. "I think you just made a lot of people change the way they look at you, Hinata. Maybe one day they'll have half as much respect for you as I do."
Naruto knew he should have expected what happened next. He felt Hinata shivering from the praise he lavished upon her. Then when she looked into his eyes and saw the feelings he couldn't hide, it overwhelmed her. The last thing she did before losing consciousness in his embrace was ask for his forgiveness once more, for being too weak to obey his order to not faint.
Thankfully, he managed to not panic this time.
Naruto only vaguely paid attention to the rest of the taijutsu exams while letting the fainted Hinata snuggle into his lap as long as he could afford to hold her. Which, much to his disliking, was only a few minutes. Kiba had noticed them concealing themselves in the back and, without saying a single word, gave Naruto his smelling salts before being called up for his match. Reluctantly, they got up and separated from each other for the rest of the day, though it was easy to see in their eyes that they didn't want to leave the other's company.
What Naruto registered after that gave him mixed feelings.
Kiba's fight against Tobio turned out to be a disappointment, more on Kiba's end than Tobio's. Naruto expected a lot better from the mutt. He expected Kiba to class up soon. As much of an asshole as the Inuzuka was, he was still one of Naruto's first and closest friends. Naruto really didn't want Kiba getting killed by his recklessness this time around. The only redeeming aspect of that fight in his mind was hearing Shino verbally lay into Kiba afterward.
Shikamaru considered his spar against a civilian named Wakayama, who was sent to Konoha from the Fire Capital, too troublesome to bother with. Wakayama evidently shared Shikamaru's sentiments. The fight ended with a double loss via ring out in fifteen seconds.
Sakura's performance against the last member of the trio who used to bully her, a spiky redheaded girl named Fuki, tore at Naruto's heart while he watched. The toll taken on his surrogate sister from the juinjutsu incident was too much for her to cope with. Sakura lost, and lost badly. She managed to get in a few glancing blows, but had to be rushed to the nurse's office right after she collapsed from overexertion. But it was the blows she did inflict that concerned Naruto the most. One of those blows had come when Fuki, in an unusual display of skill, redirected Sakura's punch to hit the ground, only to nearly stumble out of the ring. The impact had been eerily similar to the many times she'd used Okashō since learning to utilize Senju Tsunade's famous Chakra Enhanced Strength technique. Naruto dismissed it for now, but he knew he'd have to talk with Ino about the status of the memory seal before they took the True Genin Test in three days.
And by some miracle, Chōji was pitted against Itō Kazuhiro, who also originated from the Fire Capital. The Itō Clan, a clan which made significant contributions to the samurai army under the Fire Daimyō's command, claimed they could trace their history back to a time before the existence of chakra. This claim had prompted Naruto to use many Kage Bunshin to investigate. Sadly, there wasn't a single thing he could find that would corroborate the claims that the clan had existed for over fifteen hundred years. If those claims had been verified, it would have given Naruto significant insight into the pre-chakra world, insight that would have helped him immensely with his plans to weaken and, if necessary, eliminate the daimyō system altogether.
But back to Kazuhiro. What made him a person of interest for all of two minutes was when Ino pointed out via Shindenshin that he was one of the ROOT assassins Naruto killed right after his coronation as Nanadaime Hokage. Naruto gave Ino permission to have Kazuhiro dealt with as soon as the opportunity arose. Ino, true to herself, took that to mean dealing with him right then and there. She planted a Shinshu inside Kazuhiro, gave Chōji a few words of encouragement, and a few seconds later, Kazuhiro snapped and uttered the words which were taboo for an Akimichi.
Needless to say, he would not be recruited into ROOT in this timeline.
The one-sided beatdown from Chōji was a glorious sight in Naruto's eyes. He had wrecked Kazuhiro more thoroughly than Hinata pummeled Kasumi, though the showing was less efficient and nowhere near as graceful, but that wasn't the point. ROOT was down one ninja, and that was what mattered.
However, as brutal as the beating Kazuhiro suffered was, he was still alive, so technically this was an act of mercy. Which brought up a new issue. Originally, the only member of ROOT Naruto intended to spare was Sai, but now he was wondering if it was possible to pinpoint others whose conditioning wasn't irreversible, or other members who hadn't been inducted yet, and save them as well. It would require some heavy thought. He couldn't just interfere with their operations as he pleased no matter how much he wanted to do so. Any attempts to halt the growth of ROOT would likely have to be focused on singling out the future recruits one by one, and unless they could plant a spy inside the Foundation (which he already wrote off as impossible), they were limited to the memories Ino copied from Sai and Kabuto as their only current means of identifying targets to save.
Even as these thoughts coursed through his mind, Naruto was wracked with boredom waiting for their turn to take the ninjutsu portion of the graduation exams. Sasuke had just been called next door, which left him alone with Ino in the classroom. Which was perfect because now they could freely converse via Shindenshin without drawing suspicion.
"It's deliciously ironic," Ino said over their reactivated mental link after taking a soldier pill to replenish the chakra she spent on her mental ninjutsu throughout the day. "If I had to guess based on what I've observed today, the only reason Hinata-chan hasn't called you out on her rising suspicions already is because she's as completely oblivious to your true feelings as you used to be to hers."
"I thought we were supposed to be talking about our ROOT problem?" Naruto inquired.
"That can wait. You need to rein in your emotions, Naruto-sama, and—"
"Tell that to Shino," Naruto interrupted. "Right now, he's too dangerous. I'd have you mind-rape him to take back his memories, but the problem is, we need him. So he needs to calm the fuck down and accept his role, and fast."
"I agree, but you're just as big a threat to your own plan. You really need to tone your affection for Hinata-chan down to a more tolerable level."
Naruto both physically and mentally shrugged. "This whole thing is a major shell shock, Ino. I never thought I'd actually get a second chance with her...well, a first chance, really, since we never had our chance in the original timeline. I mean, I guess the time travel option has been there for a while, but I didn't want to use it unless I was completely outta options, ya know?"
"I completely understand. Time travel does sorta go against your nindō, after all."
"Only sorta, but yeah." Naruto paused for a few seconds when he sensed Sasuke perform the Kawarimi no Jutsu in the examination room. They'd only be able to maintain their mental conversation for another two minutes at most before Naruto was called for his examination. "These tests are starting to go by too fast, ya know."
"Agreed." They both knew their precious opportunities to freely converse without drawing suspicion from the wrong people would be extremely limited after this. "Why would you destroy Sarutobi-sama's crystal ball this morning? That isn't going to stop him from keeping you under surveillance."
"You're talking to the guy who managed to avoid the Anbu for hours each time he pulled a major prank. Trust me on this one. Taking out the ball will buy us at least a little bit of time before he makes things difficult."
"If you say so..." Naruto detected another chakra expenditure next door and sighed. He really was going to miss these sessions with Ino, at least for a while.
"And we're out of time. Our least favorite bastard just performed the Bunshin. Got any last-minute suggestions to set Mizuki off?"
"Hmm..." Naruto instantly went on guard, making Ino sigh. "Let me give you one of his juicier memories to use against him."
"Oh?" the Uzumaki questioned out loud. Ino gripped his hand and performed the Kioku Tensō no Jutsu, sending the aforementioned memory to him. He quickly grew ashamed of himself because he couldn't stop a giggle from escaping his lips, one that would have been misinterpreted as perverted by any eavesdroppers even though no physical reaction took place in his lower anatomy. "Oh my God, Ino. You really don't fuck around, do you?"
"Not as much as I used to. I thought you'd like this idea."
"Like it? Ino, in another universe you would definitely be Konoha's Prankster Queen."
"I strongly doubt that Konoha of any universe could handle two pranksters of your caliber, Naruto," Iruka cut in. "God knows we have it bad enough with just you around."
"Aw, but you still love me anyway, Iruka-sensei...right?" Naruto responded with false sadness in his voice. Iruka just pinched his nose and sighed in exasperation.
"Just follow me next door. I really hope you're ready for this test, Naruto."
"Please don't make it sound like you wanna get rid of me, Iruka-sensei."
"If I did, would you really blame me? You've been nothing but bad karma ever since I started teaching you. If you stay here any longer, my hair will turn gray by the end of the next term."
"Then maybe I should fail on purpose," Naruto suggested with his idiot grin. "I'm sure you'd look good with gray hair."
"No! I'm begging you, Naruto, please just pass the exams! I'll even buy you as many bowls of Ichiraku's ramen you want if you pass this time!" Iruka added, immediately regretting saying that.
"Uh, thanks, but I think I'll hold off on your offer for now," Naruto told him with a slight grimace at the memory of that particular part of Sarutobi's betrayal, though the facial expression went unnoticed. Iruka was not relieved to hear that Naruto was sparing his wallet. After all, Naruto never turns down free ramen. Couple that with Naruto's friendly chatting with Ino, his swift and unkind defeat of Sasuke, and the brief tender moment between him and Hinata that Iruka interrupted which led into the challenge Naruto issued after the one-sided "spar" with the Uchiha, and Iruka had plenty of reasons to be suspicious of Konoha's resident knucklehead.
"Okay then, but I hope you'll accept the offer soon, Naruto. We...need to talk about the changes in your attitude," he said with a moderate amount of urgency.
"Later, Iruka-sensei." Iruka nodded and left it at that for now. He and Naruto took their places in the examination room.
"You do know the drill, right? First, you'll need to perform the Henge no Jutsu, and NOT that—" Before Iruka could finish speaking, Naruto did exactly what he was instructing him not to do. When the smoke disappeared, Naruto appeared in the form of a naked female, but not just any naked female. Much to Iruka's shock and Mizuki's ire, Naruto chose to transform into Mizuki's estranged lover, Tsubaki.
"Why you—" Mizuki growled out and moved to hit Naruto before Iruka could. However, Naruto caught Mizuki's attack, but when he did his Henge had changed into a perfect copy of the Sandaime Hokage.
"You would dare attack your Hokage, Mizuki-kun?" Naruto-as-Hiruzen said.
"Mizuki-san, back off," Iruka told his assistant, who only reluctantly complied. "I guess that's good enough, Naruto, even if you didn't choose to transform into one of us like I was going to instruct you to do. Now it's time for the Kawarimi no Jutsu." After Iruka finished, Mizuki threw the wooden practice shuriken at Naruto a little harder than was appropriate for a teacher.
Only to wind up on the receiving end of his own shuriken as Naruto chose to switch out with him instead of the sacrificial trash can. Afterward, Naruto gave him a cheeky grin, finally triggering the subliminal command Ino planted in his head just before the exams started.
"What is wrong with you today, Naruto?" Iruka demanded.
"You should be asking Mizuki-sensei that question, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shot back. Iruka was left confused. Why would he be asking Mizuki that question instead of Naruto?
"Oh, I think the answer to that is quite obvious!" Mizuki yelled as he finished pulling the shuriken out of his uniform. "It's plain to see that the Kyūbi no Yōko is trying to manipulate you even as I speak!" he spat out before Iruka could even think about warning Mizuki about the consequences of breaking the Sandaime's Law.
Just as Naruto and Ino planned, the situation blew up in the teachers' faces. Naruto wasn't in the mood to hear Mizuki's rant a second time around and chose to respond with prejudice. Naruto's eyes turned red as he used a precise Shunshin no Jutsu to appear behind Mizuki and deliver a chakra-boosted fist to his lower back before he could respond, causing two of his vertebrae to fracture. Then he used another Shunshin to appear in front of Mizuki and hit both of the traitor's kneecaps with a dropkick. Mizuki screamed in pain from the assault, but Naruto wasn't done yet. Once Mizuki dropped on his broken knees, Naruto kicked him in the groin hard enough to crush his testicles. Then Naruto used a third Shunshin to put some distance between him and Mizuki before charging in with a fourth Shunshin and striking Mizuki with a low-powered Lariat, rendering him unconscious as his head made contact with the floor. During Mizuki's fall, a small vial fell out of his Chūnin flak jacket, which Naruto managed to pick up and put in his pocket without Iruka seeing.
After his assault on Mizuki, Naruto felt disoriented—his twelve-year-old body was not used to performing Shunshin that many times in quick succession. He might have been the fastest and most powerful ninja alive in the future, but it was going to be a very long time before he could train his body to live up to his title again.
"I'm not the Kyūbi," Naruto spat at Mizuki after recovering. "At least...I don't think I am, right?" he asked Iruka, drawing on his worst memories of the future to make the shaking in his voice sound legitimate.
"No, Naruto, you're not the Kyūbi," Iruka agreed. "But you are going to tell me about what you're hiding from me."
"Can we please put it off for a while? I...don't feel like I'm ready to have that talk yet..."
Iruka sighed. He should have known Naruto would be very uncomfortable with sharing that kind of information. "I understand, Naruto. Hopefully it'll make you feel better to know that Mizuki will be placed under arrest for breaking the law Hokage-sama put into place that makes it illegal to talk about the Kyūbi. It was that same law that stopped me from telling you back when you asked me why everyone in the village hated you. It isn't fair that I wasn't allowed to do anything more for you than I did, Naruto. I'm sorry." Naruto just nodded. He didn't feel like Iruka-sensei had to apologize.
"But while we wait for Anbu to take this scumbag away, I really would like to know how you were able to do the Shunshin four times like that," he continued.
"That's not fair, Iruka-sensei," Naruto complained. "I am able to pay attention to some things, at least as long as they're not boring like most of your lessons are! If I see someone using a really cool jutsu like the Shunshin, of course I'll wanna learn it!"
"You might think my lessons are boring, but they all cover stuff you need to learn if you want to be Hokage!"
"Really? I might agree with you on the history lessons, but why do I need to know how to solve those stupid math problems? It shouldn't matter whether or not I know that kind of stuff as long as my ninja tools hit the target, right? What good does all of the theory stuff do out in the field? We need actual preparation, Iruka-sensei, and not just a textbook to study!"
"Um...good point, I guess," Iruka stammered out. This was the second time today Naruto had mentioned a significant problem he had with the Academy's curriculum, and the more Iruka thought about it, the more he couldn't help but think that some things really did need to be fixed. "But we can't do anything about that yet. At least you won't have to put up with the books anymore."
"Huh?" Naruto showed genuine surprise on his face. Was Iruka-sensei going to graduate him without asking him to perform the Bunshin?
"If you can take down a Chūnin that easily, there's no doubt in my mind you should be given the rank of Genin," Iruka said. "But standard procedure still requires me to see if you managed to get past that Bunshin roadblock you've had ever since you started out here."
"Alright, I guess." Naruto shrugged before forming the Ram, Snake and Tiger hand seals. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called out. A few seconds later, thirty transparent copies of Naruto appeared.
"H-how...?" Iruka gasped. "How did you make that many copies?"
"My problem with the Bunshin wasn't adding too little chakra, Iruka-sensei. It was adding too much. It's still difficult for me to make any Bunshin at all, and I can't make any less than this without them all looking weird."
"I...I see. Naruto, I think I'll owe you another apology after we have our talk. But for now, please pick up a hitai-ite and join the rest of your classmates outside. And Naruto?"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei?"
"I'm really glad you passed this time. I would've hated to see you get held back another year." Iruka bent down to give Naruto a hug. Naruto was stunned, but recovered quickly and returned the hug in earnest. "Just don't forget to visit me for that talk."
"Yeah yeah, don't worry, I'll drop by sooner or later," Naruto waved Iruka off, but not without giving his teacher a true smile. It was only now that he could show, just a little bit, how glad he was that Iruka was alive again.
The last thing on Naruto's mind as he left to join his classmates was thinking that the worst part of the exams today was not being able to receive Iruka-sensei's hitai-ite as he had the last time around. For some reason, it didn't feel right wearing a brand new hitai-ite. It didn't feel as special as it did when Iruka had given Naruto his hitai-ite in the original timeline.
Back outside, the other future Rookies sans Sakura (who wasn't with them because she'd failed to recover in time to complete the rest of the exams) were all wondering what was going on inside since they heard part of the scuffle between Naruto and Mizuki. Their questions only multiplied when they saw two Anbu carry a handcuffed, unconscious and badly beaten Mizuki out of the Academy and towards the direction of the Yamanaka clan grounds.
"Guys, what's going on?" Chōji asked the question that was on most of their minds. "Why did Mizuki-sensei get hauled off like that?"
"Oh, no reason, just that he picked a bad time to mess with the future Hokage, believe it!" Naruto yelled out, almost blinding some of his fellow Genin-potentials with his big smile.
"You had something to do with that?" Shikamaru asked, receiving a small nod from Naruto for his trouble. "What a drag," he muttered as he attempted to reacquaint himself with sleep. All of the others were too stunned to know what to think about Naruto actually passing the exams, much less fighting and defeating one of their instructors.
All except for four. Ino had conspired with Naruto to take Mizuki down this time, but saw no point in fessing up to her role, so she just fiddled with her hair and makeup while she walked out of the main building to join her classmates. Shino was still angry with Naruto for reasons only he knew and would likely remain angry even after Ino warned him of the consequences of his insubordination. Sasuke was inwardly fuming; first the dobe had beaten him with one hit, then he allegedly took down a Chūnin and passed? The last Uchiha quickly decided he had to know what sort of power Naruto might have gained access to and whether he could get that kind of power for himself, to further his goal of killing his brother.
And Hinata just smiled. Words couldn't say how happy she was for Naruto.
Training Ground 26 – 1910 hours
Looking at the night sky from the tree branch he sat on made Naruto apprehensive. The sight of the moon, a sight he hadn't seen since Kumo destroyed it with advanced weaponry eight years ago in his future, greatly unnerved him.
To any normal person (as in, someone who didn't come from the future), the evening view would have been considered beautiful. Naruto could call it no such thing, not after he'd seen the moon used in two attempts to destroy the entire human race.
Madara had been the first, nearly succeeding with his misguided plan for peace by trapping the world in the Mugen Tsukuyomi. He'd been manipulated by the homunculus called Black Zetsu, whose primary purpose had been to ensure the revival of the rabbit goddess, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and convert every human on the planet into a White Zetsu. As horrifying as that nightmare was, there was no questioning that the Uchiha juggernaut had used the doomsday weapon that is the moon for the lesser evil.
The greater evil was committed by an alien named Ōtsutsuki Toneri, who Naruto and Hiashi believed had forcefully encouraged most of the daimyō to pursue their ruthless policy of demilitarizing the ninja villages. Even with Kaguya gone for good, sealed away inside one of her own alternate dimensions, the moon still contained a super-weapon powered by senjutsu chakra from the Tenseigan Energy Vessel. That weapon was capable of destroying all life on Earth by releasing a cataclysmic meteor shower from the lunar surface, and could even dislodge the moon from orbit. Toneri had used that weapon without batting an eye; unsatisfied with the efforts of the daimyō, he'd fired a devastating warning shot, killing over two hundred thousand people across the Elemental Nations, before delivering his ultimatum.
Toneri had a single demand: cease all use of chakra as a weapon within one month, permanently, or he would pass final judgment upon the human race and destroy everyone. And with access to his own Tenseigan dōjutsu, which Toneri unlocked by stealing Hiashi's Byakugan, he'd been far more than able to carry out his threat if he thought he was being provoked. It was a threat Naruto knew Toneri had every intention of following through on even if the ninja villages were demilitarized.
Toneri was the most dangerous enemy Naruto had ever faced. He might not have been the most cunning, as he lacked battle experience, but his sheer power put him in a league of his own. Were it not for the Preta Path abilities of the Rinnegan rendering Toneri's innate chakra draining powers useless, Naruto would not have survived their battle.
But even with the Rinnegan, Naruto had not been able to kill Toneri in time to prevent Darui from ordering the destruction of the moon. Nor had he been able to destroy the super-weapon, which specifically required chakra inherited directly from Ōtsutsuki Hamura to even touch, nor salvage Hiashi's eyes from Toneri's corpse before being forced to flee from the impending doom.
The moment Toneri chose to act against humanity altered the course of history. The backlash from his involvement in human affairs affected every living thing on Earth. Many people had lost confidence in the human race's ability to survive after that night. Using the Chibaku Tensei to create a new moon wasn't an option because there wasn't enough of the old moon left to work with after Kumo fired its chakra cannon, and attempting it would only make him finish what Toneri started. The best Naruto had been able to do was create several gravity wells in Earth's orbit, but it was ultimately a less-than-ideal solution.
Now that his mind was finally clear enough to muse on these thoughts, Naruto realized that his quest through time to find love and justice might have been necessary to give mankind a chance for salvation. Maybe the danger to his species in the future gone wrong wasn't immediate, as the shinobi had at least some ability to adapt to the changes in the global ecosystem, but the damage done by four Shinobi Wars and the attempts of the civilians and Toneri to punish ninja for using chakra for war had created a rather bleak future. The realization, while readjusting his perspective, also increased his resolve to spectacular heights. He wasn't about to abandon his personal goals of protecting Hinata and punishing Sarutobi. Not now, not ever. But he was sufficiently reminded that he still had a greater goal to achieve. The world would once more need to call on Uzumaki Naruto as its savior. Maybe he could actually do that job right this time.
Naruto remembered his four main objectives. First and foremost (actually it was the only primary objective until the discovery of Sarutobi's betrayal propelled him into taking The Plan back in time) was still the goal of uniting the Elemental Nations and eliminating all corruption, with preference given to a peaceful, bloodless revolution. The Child of Prophecy had seen far too much bloodshed in his future and had spilled the blood of too many others himself. He wouldn't shy away from taking more lives when it was necessary, but in all other cases, he adamantly refuses to kill those who don't deserve death when it is avoidable. No voice can sway him to change his stance.
The five Daimyō of the Kage nations all deserved to die, there was no questioning that. The Sandaime, the Konoha Council, Shimura and his allies, and most of ROOT deserved to die as well. Jiraiya and Tsunade, he wanted to believe the two people who were the closest thing he'd ever had to parental figures were innocent, but after everything he'd learned, he was mentally preparing himself for the possibility that they, too, were guilty of involvement in the plan to control every aspect of a jinchūriki's life. If Tsunade was aligned against him, Hiashi would have to be installed as Godaime Hokage this time around. Akatsuki was a big question mark. Most of its members were beyond redemption, but the two leaders, Uzumaki Nagato and Uchiha Obito, had both been manipulated and betrayed, just as Naruto had. He wanted another chance to turn them away from their current path, but if it came down to killing them this time, Naruto would act decisively. And Ōtsutsuki Toneri? No, there was no doubt in Naruto's mind that he would end Toneri once more. But the civilians, the bystanders? What crimes had they collectively committed which could justify wholesale slaughter? The answer was none. Those who had done wrong would pay for their mistakes in due time, but the majority were still victims, just like Naruto, and he could not allow himself or anyone else to kill them all just because they'd been manipulated into denying his existence. He was better than that. He might have become a monster, but that didn't mean he would stoop to the level the monsters he was fighting against had sunk to. Doing so would defeat the purpose of The Plan.
Second on Naruto's list was preventing the Fourth Shinobi World War, if at all possible. The threat of Akatsuki in the original timeline had functioned as a catalyst to unite the Elemental Nations, but as Sasuke predicted during his last stand, the alliances had not lasted, except the one between Konoha and Kumo. More importantly, it had also led to two attempts to drive mankind into extinction, and both attempts had caused irreparable damage to the planet's ecosystem. Naruto simply could not let that happen again. Even if he failed in this objective, he would not allow the Ōtsutsuki or Uchiha to have their way with Earth like they did the last time around. Preventing Madara and Kaguya's rebirth would go a long way towards saving the planet from catastrophe, but nothing could be done to eliminate Toneri early or sway him from his course. Only power could answer the Ōtsutsuki's power, and the struggle to regain that kind of power tied into Naruto's third objective:
Redeeming Sasuke.
This objective was one only Ino and Inoichi knew about at this time. It would earn the most criticism from the rest of his peers once Naruto brought it up, but keeping the Last Loyal Uchiha alive was necessary to ensure a repeat victory against Madara (if that battle was destined to repeat itself) and Toneri. It was the only way to regain the power he needed to fight on their level. Naruto firmly believed that Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo would not choose to appear before only one of his two sons' reincarnations, as Hagoromo viewed doing so as repeating the mistake he made with Asura and Indra. Both transmigrants had to achieve the needed condition for the Rikudō Sennin to appear and awaken their full potential. If Naruto killed Sasuke now, any chance he had of reacquiring the Six Paths Sage Mode was gone forever.
But to spare Sasuke's life, they had to stop him from descending into madness. To achieve this, Naruto and Kakashi had to set aside their hate towards Sasuke for the crimes he hasn't yet committed so they could forge Team Seven into a strong family early on. They had to give Sasuke the bonds he lost when Itachi slew the Uchiha Clan on orders from Shimura, and give him the motivation to protect those bonds no matter what. They had to draw him away from his desire to seek revenge, and instill in him a desire for justice. And they had to find a way to tip Itachi off somehow without alerting Akatsuki of his status as a mole. Itachi hadn't learned the lesson he taught Naruto in the future until after he died and was reincarnated, so getting through to the double agent would be hard. But Itachi had to be brought into the fold. Or else...
Naruto's train of thought halted when one of his three Tōton Kage Bunshin guarding the perimeter dispelled. Earlier today, Naruto discovered that his maximum effective sensing range without Sage Mode or Negative Emotions Sensing was only one hundred meters. He could sense some things beyond that range, but it was unreliable. Naruto sighed at those thoughts. He hadn't been able to train with Karin at all while she was locked up at Hōzukijō—it just wasn't allowed—and her availability after she was granted parole was extremely limited. This had cost him access to their clan's hiden, specifically the Kagura Shingan, which would have compensated for the temporary loss of his main sensing tools.
So he knew he'd have to rely extensively on his Kage Bunshin to expand his sensing range until he could train that ability to a satisfactory level. It was an unreliable solution since sometimes his Kage Bunshin were still prone to disobedience, but it was his best option.
The information relayed to Naruto by his clone disappointed and infuriated him. Tokuma had just arrived at the training grounds.
Alone.
Naruto's eyebrows twitched as he jumped down to the forest floor, inwardly cursing. Of course the Hyūga Elders weren't going to allow Hinata to leave the compound this late, regardless of how many choice words Hiashi had to say on the matter! Naruto felt his anger rising to high levels. He had to resist the impulse to barge into the Hyūga Compound with the intent of giving the elders the last speech they'd ever hear. He still needed a few months to strengthen himself enough to successfully impose his and Hiashi's will on the clan.
"Konbanwa, Tokuma-san," Naruto greeted in annoyance. "Would you care to explain why Hinata isn't with you?"
"Konbanwa, Uzumaki-san," Tokuma replied. "Pardon my language, but the elders were even bigger dickheads than usual this evening," he added with a completely straight face. Naruto immediately fell on his butt laughing at the Tokubetsu Jōnin's statement. What made it really funny was that Tokuma showed no outward emotion when he delivered that statement, along with the common knowledge that Hyūga simply don't use profane language no matter the situation.
It was no wonder Naruto liked Tokuma so much.
"Sorry about that," Naruto sheepishly said after pushing himself back onto his feet, lips still twitching in amusement.
"You certainly have a strange sense of humor, Uzumaki-san."
"And most of your clansmen still have five-meter-long poles shoved up their asses." Now Tokuma couldn't resist laughing a little. Normally the elite Hyūga was level-headed at all times, but he couldn't help succumbing to Naruto's infectious behavior.
"It's truly no wonder why Hiashi-sama seems to favor you." Tokuma paused and took a calming breath. "As I was about to mention after my unbecoming language, one of my clan's elders, specifically Hiashi-sama's father Haru-sama, insisted on forcing Hinata-sama to spar against a Cadet Branch Hyūga of his choosing. Hiashi-sama spoke vehemently against Haru-sama, but it became obvious during the verbal scuffle that Hiashi-sama doesn't have full control over our clan."
"What happened?"
"Hinata-sama wanted to go through with the spar. Your interactions with her earlier today affected her a lot, Uzumaki-san; I don't know what you said, nor do I have any business knowing, but her courage seemed to have increased a hundredfold.
"Unfortunately, the spar was a disaster." Naruto grimaced at Tokuma's words. "The branch member Haru chose to face her was Masaru." Naruto's eyes flashed red for a second. Tokuma was taken aback by the reaction, but quickly calmed himself. "Hiashi-sama was forced to activate Masaru's Kago no Tori no Juin to end the match when Masaru grew too aggressive. He will be cremated tomorrow."
Naruto took a few steps back, shaking in both anger and shock. Hiashi had already killed a Hyūga? Did anyone in his inner circle have any patience whatsoever? And how was witnessing the killing going to affect Hinata, who hated the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu?
"Hinata-sama did not witness the incident," Tokuma added a little too quickly after watching Naruto's reaction. "She passed out from her injuries just before Hiashi-sama activated Masaru's seal and is expected to be bedridden for most of tomorrow. She will need assistance to travel to Hokage Tower for her ninja registration, but should recover in time for team assignments."
"That bastard," Naruto growled, his eyes turning red again. The snippet of his memory of the Hyūga Massacre where he killed the Head Elder was the most vivid part of the memory. Naruto knew it was because Haru was the second time (Orochimaru being the first) he had ever enjoyed killing someone, which had frightened him to no end. He hadn't needed to use Negative Emotions Sensing to feel the true depth of the oldest Hyūga's malice. He had just...known that Haru had fallen too far into evil to be spared, and had reveled in ending the elder's life. "I'm gonna kill Haru!"
"That would be an unwise course of action, Uzumaki-san," Tokuma warned him.
"How is it unwise to save your clan by killing the people who threaten it from within?" Naruto asked in reply, eyes still red. He then took a deep breath, but he was still shaking with anger; he knew it was too strong to allow his appearance to return to normal while they were still having this conversation. "Tokuma-san, since you already know I'm from the future, and since you're the only Hyūga besides Hiashi-sama I can trust right now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret," he said, switching to Hokage Mode. "About seven years from now, Haru and some of the other Hyūga elders exile Hiashi-sama from the clan and become far more aggressive in enforcing your clan's stupid traditions. The backlash from their power seizure increases the resent and hatred from the Branch House, and six years after the elders' coup, the Branch is on the verge of rebellion. Hatake Kakashi-san, who becomes Rokudaime Hokage, orders me to destroy the Hyūga. I end up killing about half of the clan, sparing only four Main House members besides you and Hiashi-sama, who is reinstated as clan head after I find and confront him."
"Hiashi-sama would not have allowed what you claim happens to happen," Tokuma protested, somehow remaining calm under Naruto's enraged stare.
"The Hiashi you know wouldn't. The Hiashi I saw in the future had to get his shit together before he could go back to being the Hiashi you know. But I don't blame him for falling as far as he did. I mean, how would you react, if you lost both your daughters in war, then lost your eyes to an insane distant cousin hellbent on using those eyes to kill the planet?" Naruto let the question hang and stew in Tokuma's head as he performed a Shunshin to quickly vacate the training grounds and return to his apartment. Better that the Tokubetsu Jōnin not have a chance to question The Once and Future Hokage before he's had time to consider the revelation left to him.
Better still that Naruto could abandon the topic before it caused him even more pain. The Hyūga Massacre and the meteor storm Toneri inflicted on the world were two of the nightmares which plagued him, occasionally overtaking the dominant memory of watching Hinata painfully succumb to the Chakura Kusari no Jutsu which devastated the Konoha survivors of the Fourth Shinobi World War. They constantly reminded him of how much he'd changed when the war ended, of how far he'd fallen from grace.
Naruto almost teared up when the reminder of his constant nightmares reared its ugly head. This time, he managed to keep his emotions in check. He reminded himself that the memories were only memories now, memories of what would never happen in this timeline. He focused on the sliver of hope he'd held onto for the past ten years—a hope that was no longer a false hope—and purged all negative thoughts from his mind. For tonight, at least, he would not allow his memories to take dominion over his dreams.
He didn't remember the last time he'd tried to go to bed before 2000 hours, but he figured that he could attempt it just this once. While this day had been spiritually rejuvenating to a certain extent, it was also mentally exhausting.
"Kurama, can you help me out here?" Naruto asked his tenant the instant the telepathic link between them was reactivated. "I can't afford to have any nightmares tonight."
"I honestly don't know," Kurama replied. "It will depend on how much your subconscious wants to cooperate with my influence. But I will try."
"Arigatō." Naruto took off his tracksuit, leaving him in his black shirt and ramen-themed boxers. The instant he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, Kurama held true to its word and chose a specific dream for Naruto. His eyes almost snapped open right away when he recognized the dream.
Every now and then, instead of his usual nightmares, sometimes Naruto would dream of the future he could have had with Hinata in the first timeline, if Sasuke had not taken her from him. His dream was centered in a high-rise apartment, often during the winter. He would perform light taijutsu exercises on the balcony before their two children noticed that he returned home and proceeded to glomp him, ignoring Hinata's motherly protests. But Hinata would stop knitting and get up from her chair to give their whole family a giant hug of her own before the oldest child initiated more playful activities, usually a snowball fight.
This dream hurt Naruto even more than the nightmares each time it occurred. It was an infinitely painful reminder that fate had seen fit to deny him what his heart needed the most. But the worst pain of all when he dreamed that dream was the feeling of hope that swelled in his heart each time the dream recurred, hope that he could still make the dream become real.
Maybe tonight, that dream would stop hurting him, now that he had his chance.
Hinata—protecting her, training her, healing her, loving her—was more than just the fourth objective in Naruto's plan (and he hated himself for being cold enough to classify her as an objective in The Plan); the hope that he could finally be with her if enough things went right this time was the only thing that kept him truly alive. The rest of the plan gave him a purpose that kept his body and mind functioning, but she was what kept his soul from falling into an abyss from where even he couldn't escape. If he lost her again, he wasn't sure if he would have the will to keep living once the rest of his plan came to fruition. And even if he did keep the will, he wasn't sure if he should be allowed to keep living.
But even if things went better this time, would the pain in his eyes ever fade away?
Technique List for Chapter 5:
Chibaku Tensei: Heavenly Body Bursting from the Earth
Henge no Jutsu: Transformation Technique
Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu / Kago no Tori no Juin: Hyūga Main Family's Cursed Seal Technique / Caged Bird Cursed Seal
Kagura Shingan: Mind's Eye of the Divine Entertainment
Kawarimi no Jutsu: Body Replacement Technique
Shinshu: Mind Seed. Ino implants a mental command into the target's mind in the form of a subconscious compulsion, which can be activated with either a second Yamanaka jutsu or a predetermined stimuli. Credit for this technique goes to Solvdrage.
A/N: And there we go, Part 5 of the Reintroduction Arc. Delay was triggered by a combination of the frustration of having the NaruHina interactions refuse to write themselves along with numerous other sections (primarily Shino's taijutsu), the release of The Last, and doing editing work for another author (just don't swarm me with beta requests, everyone!), conspiring to trigger major procrastination. Yes, as you can see with this post, I managed to get as tired of my procrastinating as some of you were with waiting. At least for now.
I'm not sure yet how many chapters it'll take to get to Wave after the next chapter deals with the aftermath of the graduation exams plus team assignments. Many of you may be accustomed to getting the Wave arc out of the way as quickly as possible, as it is a done to death story arc, but I have no intention of sacrificing character development for the sake of advancing the plot more quickly. Also, I have no intention of letting it be just another "cookie cutter" Wave arc once I get there.
For those who still disagree with Naruto not wanting to steal the scroll again, keep in mind: there are lie detectors based on retinal scans. They're an actual thing. It is not unrealistic for Sarutobi to know Naruto is lying to him just by looking into his eyes, especially given his experience.
For better or worse, recent canon has influenced this story. The last scene of this chapter incorporated some of the scenes I've seen in The Last: Naruto the Movie and made Toneri one of the background threats to worry about and as a result, Naruto's priorities have been adjusted somewhat, partially invalidating a review response included in Chapter 4's A/N. Chapter 2 was also edited a little bit to account for one of the new details revealed in this chapter.
So last chapter had mixed reviews (just as this chapter probably will). It may seem convoluted to some of you, but you'll have to just trust me on this. I didn't do this to Sakura to push her out of the way and focus more on other characters. I have plans for the cursed seal, ya know.
Regarding the misquote at the end of Chapter 1 – this was done deliberately as a reference to every fanfic ever that's made the Uzumaki Clan vindictive, made them possess a special kind of anger. Also, I'm pretty sure Naruto isn't hetero, homo, or bi-sexual at this point, but rather, Hinata-sexual, so even if Hinata was genderbent to make this slash, would that really stop Naruto from loving her (him)?
Regarding characterization issues with Naruto – while he'll still have plenty of "out of character" moments, particularly with his speech patterns, the goal here is to make him slowly become more in character as the story progresses and his wounds start healing.
And regarding Tokuma and my liberties in making him Main House – I admit my theory is flimsy, but literally the only thing I have to go off of based on visual evidence, since the databooks don't say whether Tokuma is Main or Branch (the ONLY Hyūga explicitly stated to be Branch House IIRC are Hizashi and Neji, although it's a safe assumption that Natsu is also Branch), is whether a Hyūga wore the standard hitai-ite or had a bandana. It was my idea that the Main House males donned the bandana when deployed, while the Branch House wore the standard hitai-ite. So yeah, Tokuma is Main House in this. Even if he was Branch, Hiashi would want the seal to come off him ASAP, and it's more convenient for this story to have the seal not be there in the first place than to mention its removal in a future chapter.
Review Responses:
Leaf Ranger – Aside from your doubts which I addressed via PM, I must confess to an instance of failing to do my research. According to the Wikia, Kizashi's official rank is Genin. He may be Anbu in An Uzumaki Scorned, but he's not official Anbu (there's the official Anbu, and then there's ROOT) – but Sakura didn't know that. More on that should be explained next chapter.
casual reader (guest) – I would kindly ask that you read Chapters 2 and 4 again. Ino is married to Sai, AND SHE TOOK HIS MEMORIES WITH HER, so that's the first strike against a Naru/Hina/Ino threesome. Naruto has zero tolerance for betrayal on any level in this story, and infidelity is one of the worst forms betrayal can take. Naruto would also be guilty of that form of betrayal if he broke his promise to Hinata by letting other girls get involved with him. Plus, this Naruto is broken to a certain extent and Ino is incapable of healing his mental and emotional wounds. Yes, Ino is fiercely loyal to Naruto, and she's the person Naruto trusts the most, but she's his lieutenant, not a possible love interest. End of discussion. Also keep in mind Ino is disgusted with herself for being forced to maintain the act of appearing obsessed with Sasuke in this chapter, before you point that scene out.
Recommendations, since it's about time we get those out of the way:
1) (Rated M – On Hiatus) "Stalker" by hinatasgreatestfan. There's a bit of a short story behind this rec. As I mentioned above, I recently started editing work for another author on this site. Two of the chapters I had to edit included lemony content. That's when I realized just how much of an influence this little gem has had on me as a writer. Anyway, the ficlet, which is only four chapters long thus far, centers around a special bond created by Naruto between him and Hinata during the Chūnin Exams by means of the "blood vow." Be warned, the first chapter contains what is possibly the only truly innocent lemon on this site.
2) (Rated T, but possible M later – In Progress) "Master of Jiongu" by The Dark Dragon Emperor. Lately, I've been having mixed feelings about this one, due to certain directions the story took in the Chūnin Exams. As the title gives away, this is a fanfic that gives Naruto the very rare Jiongu kinjutsu. But if you're not a fan of threesomes, Fū, or certain fanon tropes, namely the civilians and the Sasuke/Sakura bashing (which, thankfully, will get toned down as the fic progresses), then this may not be the fic for you.
3) (Rated T – Complete) "The World's Greatest Chunin Exam Team" by Dame Namor. Think "Naruto meets WWE" and let the hilarity ensue as a post-war Naruto takes on the Chūnin Exams with the best and most overpowered Genin team ever. This three-shot is pure humor and pure win. The only notable flaw is that the romantic sub-plot with Hinata might come off as unnecessary, and I probably would have recommended this fic even if it was a genfic and not NaruHina (though I would not have read it if Naruto or Hinata were paired with anyone else). Also, I completely agree with the author's rants about Road to Ninja and a certain OVA.
4) (Rated M – In Progress) "Naruto's Flirtatious Feline" by agitosgirl. It's got Neko!Hinata. It's got a bold, confident Neko!Hinata. It's got a Neko!Hinata who can't keep her hands, mouth or tail off Naruto, which leads to yummy smut. What more do you need?
Next chapter: Entrenched in Shadows. The reason for Shino's anger is explained, Inoichi is debriefed by Hiruzen on the exam results, and other stuff.
One last note: If anyone's interested, I have a pair of challenges on my profile. I was waiting to advertise them until I felt I'd accumulated enough readers to be more confident in some of you showing possible interest.
NOW it's safe to review again. *disappears for who knows how long*
