One Week Later
Naruto awoke in a cold spell with his muscles tense and sweat pouring down from his silky, red hair. He once again had the same dream; hundreds of Sharingans are glaring at him while Fugaku is laughing at him in the backyard and he is being stabbed over and over again. Naruto got out of creaky bed to go to the small kitchen he had in his one-bedroom apartment. He suddenly needed a drink. Opening the faucet, he saw a brown liquid drip into the sink. Seriously, Naruto was contemplating going back to the Root Base he spent the last four years. At least there, he had a comfortable bed and could drink clear water when he wanted to. Naruto stopped himself from thinking about this further; it was not helping his mood.
"Another sleepless night?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" asked Naruto.
"What of it?" Kurama repeated. "You've barely been sleeping for the past week" the Kyuubi accused.
"I'll be fine" Naruto stated. Before Kurama could continue the conversation, he said "look, I don't want to talk about this right now."
"Since you're finally awake why don't you do something useful and teach me some of your techniques" Naruto urged.
"Seriously, ever since you met those foxes, you've grown an attitude. I should have left you as an emotionless Root" Kurama charged.
"Yada yada yada. Look, I need to get stronger soon. I don't have time for your little mind games right now" Naruto said hurriedly.
"What happened to 'I don't need you, I can get stronger on my own' " asked an amused Kurama.
"That was before I spent the last week trying to learn techniques only to learn that my jutsus are getting weaker as time moves on. I almost died during the last mission. I can't get weaker. I need to get stronger" demanded Naruto.
"Don't blame me for failings, little human. I'm not in the mood. I'll start teaching you what I know when you start learning the sealing arts" said Kurama.
"You know, you're not in a position to barter considering if I die because you didn't train me, you'll become part of the Shinigami" Naruto asserted.
"That my very well be true. However, if I die then you also die. Besides, it's been four years since we met and you still haven't studied this seal. I'm growing impatient" said Kurama.
"You know that I was too busy learning from Danzo and completing missions to do that. Besides, Danzo watches his operatives like a hawk. We now have more freedom" said Naruto.
"Not necessarily. There's one ANBU operative watching us from the treeline behind your apartment" Kurama told him.
"Yeah, my father probably wants to keep track of my movements after leaving Root. He is seriously making me annoyed. He apparently told me he only has enough funds for me to buy this crappy apartment far away from the Civilian Residential District, but is paying his agents to take shifts watching me" Naruto said exasperated.
"You know that if you lived close to that area, you would kill all the civilians who try to take your life at night for their insolence, causing an investigation and outcry in the village" Kurama tried to explain.
"But all the nice houses are near the Civilian District, probably because ninja have little use for glamour. Regardless, I don't plan to live here long. Once I begin my plans, all will be completed. But I can't start those plans if I keep getting weaker" Naruto said.
"Look, I'll help you if you start studying the sealing arts" Kurama said.
"Fine. I'll go to the Konoha Archive Library tonight and look up what they have for sealing. Now what can teach me" asked Naruto hurriedly.
"The first thing you have to know, kit, is that I have never learned or used human chakra techniques. Since I am a being made out of chakra, I have complete control over it. I use pure chakra manipulation" said Kurama.
"So what about elements? How do you add power to your techniques?"asked Naruto.
"I don't think you're understanding me. I don't add any elements to my jutsus at all. I don't change the composition of my chakra into those elements you humans have figured out. I attack with pure chakra by manipulating it inside my body and releasing it in its natural state outside my body" said Kurama.
"So you attack with pure chakra alone? How does that hurt your enemies?" asked Naruto.
"Well take my Tailed Beast Ball as an example. I don't add any elements to it, but its able to deal large scale destructive damage to my enemies because of its very dense nature and because it's spinning at an incredibly fast rate." explained Kurama.
"Can you teach me the Tailed Beast Ball or is it something that only tailed beasts can do?" Naruto asked.
"Like I said, the reason I am able to do this kind of technique is because I have complete mastery of my chakra since I'm a being made solely out of it. Theoretically, if you work on your chakra control and have precise chakra control, you could develop your own variant" said Kurama.
"Dammit. I have barely average chakra control. I'll never be able to do your techniques" complained Naruto.
"That's not necessarily true. Right now you know a lot of powerful wind and water techniques. Learning more isn't going to make you that much stronger. But if you gain precise chakra control, you'll become much more efficient and be able to do more jutsus in battle with less cost" described Kurama.
"But I have huge reserves, jounin level by now, and they're only going to get larger. It'll take a long time for me to get all that chakra under control. And what do you mean I can develop my own variant. Can't you teach me yours?" asked Naruto.
"Do I have to keep repeating myself. I'm a being made of chakra so I can do chakra manipulation instinctively. I don't know how I would teach it to somebody. But if you gain precise control of your chakra, you could develop your own variants" clarified Kurama.
"Do you realize how long it would take for me to get that level of control? And then I would have to develop my own Tailed Beast Ball?" Naruto asked exasperated.
"All things come with patience, kit. Besides, what else do you plan to? Learn more of those human chakra techniques?" Kurama suggested.
"No, like you said, I know enough chakra techniques. You're probably right. Getting better chakra control is probably the only way to get stronger now other than developing my taijutsu. I already know the tree climbing and water walking exercises. Where can I learn other control exercises?" Naruto asked himself aloud in his mindscape. "Whatever, I'll think about this later. I need to get ready. It's the first day of the Academy after all" Naruto added.
"In that case, I'll go back to my slumber" Kurama said.
Naruto went over to his closet. He didn't go and buy any new clothes for the Academy. He has his Root gear, which to him is sufficient. Besides, he doesn't plan to draw attention to himself, at least not yet. Putting on his black ANBU shirt and his black ANBU jacket over it, he noted their strength and versatility to allow movement. After he put on his black ANBU pants and sandals, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and brush his hair. Looking himself over, he was glad that he bought that oil that made his dark, red hair now completely straight and freely flowing down to his shoulders. He did not want to go to class with hair that's a red version of his father's or his brother's: curly, wavy, and standing out at the top. Locking the door to his apartment, Naruto made his way to the Academy.
Minato was a little irked in finding ten pounds of glitter stowed away in Menma's lunchbox. The only reason he found it after having already packed his son's lunch was because he forgot to add the diced fruits he usually adds. Giving a stern lecture to Menma, he just hoped that his son wouldn't cause as much ruckus as he did last year. Today was the first day of the new school year and he didn't want to repeat the large amounts of paperwork associated with managing his son's pranks. If only Narumi was older, he could send her with Menma to keep an eye on him. Minato's workload decreased significantly over the summer because he had her to keep an eye on her troublemaking brother. Still, Minato was very proud of his son for the progress in the ninja arts. He and Sasuke were in the top of the class and had almost identical scores. Minato was glad that their brotherly rivalry was keeping them from slacking in their studies. He couldn't really take credit for Menma's grades because he never had the time to teach him because all that paperwork and meetings kept him tied down. It was mostly Kakashi and Yuna helping Menma with his shuriken practice and the Academy taijutsu. Since Minato wasn't there for him, he couldn't really complain what direction what everybody else was taking Menma's training. However, Minato still was a bit angry when he found out that Jiraiya, as a reward for Menma's high scores during the first year, taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He wasn't really mad about Menma abusing the jutsu for his pranks, it was that the jutsu is forbidden because it's dangerous; it splits up the user's chakra and cause chakra exhaustion if someone isn't mature enough to understand their limits. Even when Jiraiya explained to him Menma's Uzumaki heritage and jinchuuriki status ensure that chakra exhaustion is likely never to happen, Menma still didn't think Menma ready for the responsibility of having such a jutsu. Since then, Minato has tried harder to train his son and get to know him. Without learning the Shunshin and other chakra-speed techniques, he couldn't really teach Menma the Namikaze taijutsu style so Minato instead helped Menma develop his own taijutsu style using Shadow Clones and the principles of the more general Academy style. Minato was amazed when he saw the power of Menma's taijutsu: the sheer number of clones he could create added with Menma's own unpredictability make it a force to be reckoned with. Only his second year in the Academy, Menma could probably give even a Chunin a hard time. As Menma left to go to the Hyuuga estate to pick up Hinata and walk to the Academy with her, Minato couldn't be more proud.
"Will you look at that. The brat's actually developing a nice romance with the Hyuuga heir. Lucky bastard. Anybody and their grandfather can tell that she's gonna develop nicely, what with the curves she has at such a young age" Jiraiya complained.
"If you don't want to be accused of being a pedophile along with a pervert, you shouldn't make those kind of comments, Jiraiya-sensei" Minato lectured.
"Oh, don't be such a stick. You know I'm into women with more developed assets. But their budding romance is going to make for some interesting research soon" laughed Jiraiya.
"If I find my son in one your perverted books, sensei, I'm going to Hiraishin you to an old shinobi's home where there aren't any young women for hundreds of miles" warned Minato.
"You would never be so cruel to your beloved sensei" Jiraiya said confidently.
"You know I've killed hundreds of Iwa shinobi in seconds. Locking my misbehaving sensei in a nursing home would be easier in comparison" Minato cautioned.
Growing pale, Jiraiya said "point taken." "Changing the subject, do you really think it's a good idea to send Naruto to the Academy. He's at least high Chunin to low Jounin level right now" Jiraiya reminded him.
Minato felt his heart grow pained at the thought of his red-haired son. "I know that. But I want him to start to break out of his Root training and make bonds with kids his age. I don't know what we were thinking when we sent him to the Orphanage and then to Root" Minato said dejectedly.
"Don't be so down. All the evidence pointed to him being the Kyuubi. We still don't know how, Naruto, at the age of five, had practically adult-level intelligence and well-developed and harsh ideas about human nature" explained Jiraiya.
"Don't try to justify it" Minato practically yelled. "We should have only done that to him if we had irrefutable proof of him being the Kyuubi" Minato said heatedly.
"Look, don't beat me or yourself up about it. We all made that decision together. And do I have to remind you that Inoichi died trying to get into Naruto's head when he was only a baby. Besides if we had irrefutable proof he was the Kyuubi we would have had to execute him. We had the strong, circumstantial evidence to go buy and now we all have to live with those decisions" Jiraiya explained.
"I know that, sensei, it's just I don't know when I can tell him that I'm his father. I mean do I just go up to him and say, 'hey, I'm your father, the beloved Fourth, and I left you because I thought you were the Kyuubi'" a disheartened Minato complained.
"Don't worry about it too much. You should wait to introduce yourself after he's made some bonds with the kids his age. In the meantime, Kakashi and I will introduce ourselves to him. I already told Menma that Naruto's jinchuriki shouldn't affect how he sees him. Don't worry, we'll get him back" Jiraiya said confidently.
"I hope you're right, sensei" Minato said to himself as Jiraiya was leaving, "I hope you're right."
As Naruto made his way to the Academy, he ignored the angry and disgusted glares he was receiving from most the civilians and shinobi alike. This is something he almost forgot about during his stint in Root . However, after an entire week of experiencing it, he was slowly becoming desensitized. Soon, he told himself, he would have their lives in the palm of his hand.
"What are these plans you keep thinking aloud" Kurama asked annoyed. "If you want to kill them all for their insolence, I wouldn't disagree" he added.
"Do you think so low of me you believe I'm driven only by thoughts of hate and revenge" asked Naruto amusedly.
"Being driven by anger and hate isn't so bad, kit. Besides, if my family left me to stand alone against an entire village that utterly despises me, I would certainly kill them all" Kurama noted.
"Yeah, well I'm not a being made of chakra and hate. I have much more nefarious plans for them in mind when I take control of this village from the shadows" explained Naruto.
"Sigh, if only you could think more like me and squash Konoha for trapping me three separate times" Kurama said wearily.
"You know what thoughts of revenge and hate cost Fugaku. What it cost you. I don't plan to follow that path" Naruto said. The Kyuubi didn't reply and instead went back to sleep.
Opening the doors to the Academy, Naruto made his way through the halls to Classroom A-1. He was kind of surprised that his father put him into the foremost class of Konoha: the class full of the next generation of clan heads. He didn't know what game his father is playing at, but he would take full advantage of the situation. Connections to the clan heirs would certainly help his own plans. Reaching for the door to the correct classroom, Naruto knew he was a few minutes late. But he came late on purpose. He wanted to the whole class to be there when the instructors make him introduce himself. He was especially excited the reactions of all the students when they realize that he would be their classmate for the next three years. His jinchuuriki status is widely known throughout the village and wasn't kept a secret even from the younger generation. Opening the doors to the room, Naruto was greeted with shocked gasps and utter silence. While Naruto waited for the instructors to introduce him, he scanned the room for the reactions of the clan heirs. He noticed the Aburame heir shaking slightly, the Akimichi heir nervously eating quickly, and the civilian students, Yamanaka, Kurama, and Hyuuga heiresses looking at him fearfully. He had the admire the Inuzuka and Uchiha heirs, who were looking at him confidently, if a bit edgy. Interestingly, the Nara heir was looking at him tiredly, as if bored. 'He is not normal' he said to himself, 'I'll have to watch out for him later.' Finally, he noticed his brother who was looking at him normally as if he was just another student. 'Another interesting case' he said to himself.
Once the instructors got out of their nervous daze, they finally addressed the class. "Everyone, we will be having a new student" the instructor with a deep scar on his face and ponytail said.
He then added, "why don't you introduce yourself to the class."
"Hello, I'm Naruto" he said as emotionlessly as he could.
Naruto's impassive tone seemed to put the instructors even more on edge. "O-Okay. W-Well I'm Iruka Umino. You can call me Iruka-sensei" said the scarred instructor with a ponytail while elbowing the other instructor.
"R-Right. I'm Mizuki Taimoto. Call me Mizuki-sensei" he said the instructor with light blue hair.
"Alright, Naruto. Why don't you take a seat and we can start today's lesson" Iruka said.
Naruto sat on the back corner near the windows, much to the relief of the majority of the class.
"Look at those humans, cowering in fear" said Kurama.
"They are interesting, aren't they" Naruto said. "I wonder which one of them will be good pawns to use in the game I plan to play" he added.
"You plan to use these human toddlers as pawns. Unless you plan to sacrifice them, they won't be worth much" Kurama said.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Regardless, I'll be studying their interests, fears, likes, dislikes, and goals from now on. Once I know what makes them tick, I'll be able to decide which ones can be useful" Naruto said, eying the heirs like a predator eyes his prey. "Today, I'm not going to be able to do that because everyone is still afraid and shocked that I'm in their class. I'll never be able to observe their interactions. So I'll have to make them feel a little bit more at ease" he added.
"What do you mean" asked Kurama.
"I'm going to nap in class everyday. Pretty soon, they'll grow more and more comfortable in my presence" he said as he laid his head down on his desk to rest. None of the instructors asked him to wake him.
Later That Day
Naruto was pretty pleased with how his first day at the Academy went. Although, he was a little irked that the entire class seemed fear him like the plague, it was what he had come to expect. Still, at least his sleeping in class helped put the class at ease. As he made his way to the Konoha Archive Library, he thought about what he wanted to research. He would of course have to start studying the sealing arts. Kurama was growing impatient and he did promise him a way to get out of the seal. Personally, Naruto wouldn't mind losing the Kyuubi. Having the Kyuubi sealed inside of him provided all the downsides of being a jinchuuriki (restricted movements, constant supervision, deep loathing) without any of the benefits (near limitless chakra). Then again, he does enjoy having someone to talk to. Too bad Kurama is almost never awake and is only conscious when he wants to make snide remarks. 'I also need to check out anything they have on chakra manipulation and chakra control' he thought to himself.
When Naruto reached the Library, he was a little taken aback by the size of the building. At six-stories tall, it towered over most buildings in Konoha. Its ornate, blue and white design also made it stand out from other buildings. At the top of the front of the building was a large bust of the Nidaime Hokage, famed for his legendary knowledge in the sealing, genjutsu, and other obscure ninja arts. He was also an avid reader and researcher, producing many of the high-level jutsu and kenjutsu that Konoha has, including the Hiraishin. Even though it was the Yondaime who perfected that jutsu, the Nidaime created the overline outline.
Entering the building, Naruto walked over to the Registration desk where two Chunin sat in a desk with paper strewn all around them. He knew they weren't there to actually protect the Library, more likely they were just there to carry out administrative roles. Very likely there were multiple ANBU teams hiding the background to make sure no one made out with any high-level techniques or village secrets. When the Chunin saw him, they were immediately taken aback by the entrance of the village's jinchuuriki. Once they seemed to regain their bearings, Naruto handed them his Academy ID. They handed him a Level One Pass and told him he would get his ID back when he returned the Pass as he was leaving.
Walking around the Library, Naruto was disappointed in the amount of material available to Academy students. They probably thought they would keep anything useful away from them because their not registered ninja yet. Still, in the chakra control section, he could only find scrolls for the most basic exercises like tree climbing. Naruto left the Library, checking out only the beginner scrolls for sealing, he left the Library frustrated. He would have to plan an operation to steal scrolls from the Jounin section and he knew it would not be an easy endeavor considering the ANBU teams that are likely swarming the place. 'Ah, if only things could be easy' he thought to himself as he made his way back to his apartment to plan out this operation.
One Week Later
Naruto was growing restless as his training wasn't getting far. 'I have most of the details of my infiltration of the Archive Library almost completed' he kept telling himself. However, he couldn't complete this mission anytime soon because he still had to go to Rice and stabilize the country's power structure. Ever since he killed the Royal Family, the country hasn't experienced political stability as different groups vied for power. The reports he was getting from his foxes didn't paint a pretty picture. Naruto created three Shadow Clones and charged one of them with enough chakra to last three weeks even though he planned to be gone for only a week. He had the other two Perfect Henge themselves into insects to alert him if his Shadow Clone ever got in trouble or if there is any other thing that's newsworthy. Naruto then Perfect Henged himself into an ant and crawled out of the apartment and into an abandoned alley. There, he changed his transformation to a cat, a pervasive stray animal in Konoha. He the left through one of the many paths he saw other stray animals enter and leave the village.
Once Naruto reached Rice's Capital, he was disappointed to see that the place was worse off than his foxes indicated in their reports. The economy was in an even worse shape than before the successful rebellion. The political instability in the country likely created panic in the markets, destabilizing the already poor economy, Naruto thought to himself. He also saw that many of the ninja appointed to police the population were actively taking bribes and roughing up the citizens they were meant to protect. Then again, Naruto really couldn't blame them; even though they were ninjas, they likely didn't get paid enough to provide for their families. Then there was Arashi's government, which couldn't get much done because of all the constant in-fighting and quarrels. Arashi himself also didn't have much credibility because even though he was one of the few Jounin-level ninja in Rice and leader of the Fuuma Clan, he didn't do anything really spectacular during the rebellion. Lastly, any laws that Arashi's administration managed to pass were mostly ignored by the populace since his government still kept Konoha's one-sided treaties in place. Naruto really had to fix things quickly or the whole country could fall apart.
Walking into the former palace of of the Royal Family of Rice, Naruto made his way to Arashi's office and promptly walked in, noticing that Arashi was head deep in paperwork.
"I see you've had your work cut out for you, Arashi-san" Naruto said.
Looking up from his paperwork, Arashi immediately noticed Naruto and went wide-eyed.
"Red Fox-sama! I-I wasn't expecting you or I would have prepared a proper greeting" Arashi apologized.
"There's no need. I want you to call a council of the most important people in the village politically. I will be addressing them all tonight personally" Naruto instructed. Hearing a "Hai", Naruto continued "I also want you to bring other particularly strong or capable people, be they ninja or civilian, and seat them separately from the people who are politically important."
"That will be all" Naruto concluded as he left Arashi's office.
That Night
Naruto walked into the so called Deliberation Room of the Palace that was previously used by the Damiao's advisors when they were making new laws or signing treaties. Now it is being used as a Council Chamber by Rice's new ruling clique. When everyone saw Naruto walk in with his long, flowing red hair and his fox companion by his side, the entire Chamber became deathly quit. Then one Council member began clapping and soon the whole room erupted into wild clapping and shouts of "Red Fox-sama! Red Fox-sama!" This precise reaction was the reason he brought Suzuki with him. These people really needed some inspiration to take them out of their depression and defeatist attitudes. Taking his seat at the head of the table, he thought about the explosive revelation he was going to say next. 'What these people really need is pride and motivation to better their lives. What they really need to know is that they are worth it. That Rice is worth fighting for' he thought to himself.
Once the clapping and shouts died down, Naruto said "Thank you all for coming in such short notice. As you know, Rice has not had it great under the Damiao, but it hasn't fared any better after it was liberated."
"That's because of Konoha" one person shouted. "Death to the Leaf" another shouted as murmurs of similar sentiments traveled around the room.
"Yes, that is true. However, it's not just Konoha's fault. Right now Rice is weak and divided. It cannot function independently. That's why I came here tonight to declare the country of Rice dead" Naruto said loudly.
Shocked gasps and disbelieving stares met Naruto when he finished saying those words.
Pulling a headband with the symbol of a single musical note etched into it, Naruto said "With Rice's death, I declare our rebirth. We shall now be known as Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound."
Once everyone digested the gravity of what this meant, shocked gasps turned into cheers and chorused shouts of "Oto! Oto! Oto!"
Indicating with his hands for the shouting to die down, Naruto continued "No longer will be a puppet to Konoha's whims. No longer will we be thought of as just another part of Fire Country. We will now be a proper ninja village. We will be known around the world as Otogakure in the Land of Sound." At that declaration, Naruto heard more cheers and shouts of joy.
Once the shouting died down again, Naruto said "Each of the Five Great Villages specializes in one of the elements. It is what they are known for. It is what they take pride in. However, we will not be specializing in elemental jutsu. We will be specializing in genjutsu. I will be bringing in experts to teach many of our ninja powerful sound-based genjutsu that will make our enemies completely vulnerable. I know if we work hard we will become the most powerful ninja village in the world. And with our power, we will make Konoha pay."
Instantly, Naruto's declaration was met with deafening chorus of applause. "But before that can happen, we have to stop fighting and work together to make laws that benefit everybody, not just ourselves. We have to think of the good of the village before anything else, even ourselves. I will do what I can including bringing in competent instructors to teach our ninja, large amount of funding to build the village, and bringing businesses and connections to pull our people out of poverty. But I can't build our village by myself. I need you to work equally hard in making our village a success" Naruto said.
Hearing loud shouts of agreement, Naruto continued "Then as the Shodaime Otokage, I implore you to follow the 'Spirit of Sound': to never give up, no matter what; to rise from the ground, when everyone believes you finished." Naruto was really touched the day he came to Rice and noticed that the people there, even though poor and destitute, fought on to survive. He thought it would be good to turn this level of determination into the Village Creed, kind of like Konoha's 'Will of Fire'. Hopefully, it would further unite the country.
Hearing a general clamour of agreement, he said "I will be staying in the village for the next few days to hash out our government structure, stabilize the economy, and bring reform to essential services like the Academy, the Ninja Police Force, and Village Hospital. I hope each of you will work just as hard." As Naruto left the Chambers, he ended with "May The Spirit of Sound Ring Loudly… Always." Walking outside with only the moon and stars to illuminate the village, Naruto could still hear that line being repeated inside the palace.
"You really have a way with words, Naruto. You turned that crowd around and injected new life into them" Suzuki said.
"Believe me, it wasn't easy. I spent countless hours studying human nature and what makes them tick. I found that I just needed to inspire them and give them something to fight for" Naruto said.
"Still, that's really impressive. Do you plan to have us foxes teach them our sound genjutsu?" asked Suzuki.
"Yes, I already planned it with the Watanabi. You guys will Perfect Henge yourselves into humans and teach all Oto ninjas with enough chakra control genjutsu" said Naruto.
"I see, you really have all this planned out. I can't wait to see what you'll do next" said Suzuki excitedly.
One Week Later
As Naruto made his way back to Konoha, he knew he was going to be in for quite the headache once he dispelled his Shadow Clone and gained a week's worth of memories. However, he was really pleased with his trip to Rice, now Oto. The country was under better political leadership as Naruto hand picked all the members of Oto's new Council. He had also made sure everyone understood that Arashi's word is law and publicly executed the few people that couldn't put the village above their own interests. He also had Arashi's new government forcefully take over the economy. Naruto knew that the markets were too shaky right now to be left on their own. Maybe he could put it back in private hands once it became stable enough? Shaking his head as he discreetly made his way into his apartment as an insect, he could think about that later. Once he entered his apartment, he had his Shadow Clone dispel as he felt a blinding headache hit him. He instantly lost his footing as he hit the floor and lost consciousness from the sheer amount of pain. When Naruto awoke, hours later, he made a note to never do that again. However, he was relieved to know that his classmates at the Academy have begun to get used to his presence about him and are starting to act themselves. He couldn't wait to observe their interactions.
The Next Morning
As Naruto made his way to the Academy, he walked past the Toad Sannin using binoculars to peep at the girls in the hot springs in Naruto's direction.
"Ah, kid you made me miss the best part" complained Jiraiya.
Naruto wondered what the Toad Sannin was really up to. It couldn't be a coincidence that he shows up along the same path Naruto was taking to get to the Academy.
"You know watching girls bathe without their permission is considered sexual harassment under the Konoha Revised Code" Naruto said.
"Oh, come on kid, don't be so serious. I was only taking a peek" Jiraiya tried to explain.
"Since I'm not a ninja, I can't exactly report this report this. Besides, I doubt anyone would press serious charges against a Sannin. If that is all, good day to you, Jiraiya-san" Naruto said.
"Oh come on, lighten up kid. If you want, I can train you. I heard you're into Sealing. Well, I'm one of Konoha's best sealmasters" Jiraiya laughed. Truth is, he was kind of kind of unnerved seeing his godson so emotionless. 'Root must have really did a number on him' he said to himself sadly. When he heard that Naruto checked out Academy-level books in sealing, he knew this would be his best way to get to him.
Naruto thought about Jiraiya's offer. What could the Toad Sannin be up to? And why would he teach the jinchuuriki, the village pariah. Ah, I understand now, my father must be worried that my loyalties lie with Danzo and not him, the Hokage. Well, let's see, learning from Jiraiya, one of the world's best sealmasters, would be beneficial. However, taking him on as a sensei would not be good for his privacy. If he had Jiraiya bugging him all the time, he would never be able to leave for Oto or complete his plans for Konoha. No, the downsides in this case are worse than the benefits. But it would be suspicious to turn down Jiraiya's offer. I mean, who turns down training from the Toad Sannin? Ah, I know. Only an emotionless Root operative loyal to Danzo. If he could get Jiraiya to think he was only loyal to Danzo, it would get him off his back, at least for a while. They would wait until he 'formed bond' before approaching him like this again. 'In their little power plays, what they don't realize is that I'm loyal to neither the Hokage nor Danzo' Naruto said to himself.
"Although I would be honored to learn from you, Jiraiya-san, I have already learned much from Danzo-sama" Naruto said as emotionlessly as he could.
Jiraiya was becoming increasingly worried. What did he mean, he learned much from Danzo? Did he learn the sealing arts from Danzo. If that were the case, then why would he check out Academy-level sealing books. Jiraiya also didn't miss that he called Danzo 'sama' while only calling him 'san'. Is his loyalties still with Danzo? He had to make sure.
"How do you feel about being out of Root?" Jiraiya asked.
"Danzo-sama taught me everything I know. I hope I served him well and can be of use to him in the future" Naruto said stoically.
Now Jiraiya was really worried. "What do you mean serve him in the future. As a registered ninja, you can only take orders from the Hokage."
'Yes, this is right where I want him' thought Naruto. "Of course, Jiraiya-san. But I hope I can help Danzo-sama in his future endeavors" Naruto said impassively.
"Well, if you change your mind about training, you can always find me near the hot springs if I'm in the village" Jiraiya said nervously as he left. He had to report this to Minato.
Once Naruto entered the Academy classroom, he a bit disappointed to see he wasn't the first one there. For the past week, his Shadow Clone had been coming to the class early and falling asleep to get the class used to his presence. Right now, the Uchiha and Inuzuka heirs were already seated. The Uchiha, Sasuke was it, was confident as ever. As the son of Fugaku and brother of Itachi, Naruto made a note to never underestimate him. The Inuzuka it seemed was still a bit nervous, but was looking pretty confident himself. Sitting at the back corner near the window as always, Naruto crossed his arms around his head to make it seem like he is sleeping. He then quietly observed the rest of the class enter.
The next to enter were a civilian girl and the Yamanaka heiress. The civilian girl had long, flowing light pink hair and wore a red dress that went down to knees while the Yamanaka heiress had light, blonde hair tied as a pony tail and wore a similar, but purple dress. "Out of the way, Ino-pig, I was here first" the pink-haired civilian declared. "In your dreams, Sakura-forehead. I got to the classroom first" Ino retorted. They then began fighting over who would sit in the only seat available next to Sasuke. Naruto noted the vast majority of the girls in the Academy, not just this class, were infatuated with that brooding Uchiha. While most girls also had a crush on the always-energetic and kind Menma, their obsession with the Sasuke bordered on obsession, an obsession that only grew when it was revealed that Sasuke's father, Fugaku, and twenty other Military Police members died defending the village from unknown enemy units. Since most of the Uchiha clan didn't trust Itachi, being a Root operative, Sasuke was immediately declared the Uchiha heir and the next Uchiha Clan Head. Since then, his popularity only grew and most girls saw him as their Dark Prince who only needed a girl to warm his cold heart. From listening to conversations, Naruto also noted that Sasuke only became more aloof and distant since then.
The next to enter were the overweight Akimichi heir who seemed to be dragging the skinny Nara heir into the classroom. Once they sat together, they started a conversation. "What do you think we'll do today, Shikamaru?" asked the Akimichi heir as he opened a bag of chips. "Does it really matter, Choji? Either way it's going to be troublesome" said Shikamaru lazily. Naruto noted that they certainly make an interesting pair.
The Aburame heir, wearing the long overcoat of his clan was the next person to enter and took the seat next to Shikamaru. Always quiet, he didn't say anything and instead just crossed his arms once he was seated.
The Kurama heiress was the next to enter. Naruto didn't miss that she only walked weakly and had prominent bangs under her eyes. She looked pale and sick, making Naruto wonder why she even came to class in the first place.
After her entered the instructors and the civilian students. Naruto researched these civilians and found that they came from powerful merchant families or at least politically connected. Their families' influence is the reason that they are able to be in the class with all the clan heirs.
The last to enter were Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze and behind him the nervous Hyuuga heiress. "Come on, Hinata, we're already late" Menma said to hesitant girl as he got her to sit down next to him. Naruto noted that she and Menma are always the last to enter since Menma walks all the way to the other side of the village to the Hyuuga Compound to walk her to class everyday.
"Now that everybody's here, let me give you a run-down of what we'll do today. First we'll have history lecture led by me, a quiz on chakra and the body, and then taijutsu practice outside led by Mizuki" Iruka said.
The history lecture essentially became a competition between Sakura and Ino as they tried to outdo each other in answering Iruka's questions and win Sasuke's affections. For the quiz, Naruto made sure to answer enough questions to get roughly the average score. However, what really interested is the taijutsu practice outside. He would finally be able to see the power of the clan heirs and decide who would make good pawns for him to use.
Mizuki explained that taijutsu practice today would consist of one-on-one matches between the students. Naruto was disappointed to see that the civilians used the Academy-style taijutsu and still made mistakes in their forms. The clan heirs, on the other hand, had their own taijutsu styles, but their stances were still weak and left many openings. While taijutsu wasn't Naruto's forte, he still made sure not to allow his opponents the ability to easily spot weaknesses in his stance. However, what Naruto didn't expect was to be paired with the Uchiha heir. 'If only I could show my true strength and show these Academy students what real strength is' he said to himself. But alas, if he were to win against the best student in the whole school, he would probably cause an uproar in the village. 'I have to reign down my pride' he said to himself as he became increasingly disgusted with the idea of losing a fight on purpose.
Mizuki was absolutely excited. He would be able to show that demon his place. Mizuki, at first, was a little fearful of the jinchuuriki, but as he started to see him as only an average Academy student with serious problems in his practical skills, he became increasingly infuriated. Who does he think he is sleeping in class everyday and then still scoring average on all his tests. It's like he's saying that what they were teaching didn't matter and he had everything figured out. But getting pummeled by the Sasuke would be good in putting that demon down a peg or two.
As everyone gathered around in a circle to watch the fight, Naruto entered and got into a slightly sloppy Academy-style stance. As Sasuke entered the ring and got into his own Interceptor-style stance, Naruto heard most of the class cheering the Dark Prince on. Sasuke ran to Naruto and attempted to punch in the mouth while keeping another hand back for defense. As Naruto dodged Sasuke's punches, he was a little disappointed that his clan would teach this style to someone who hasn't activated the Sharingan because it relied on being able to predict your opponent's moves ahead of time. If someone without this dojutsu uses it, he would be leaving glaring holes in his entire defense. Regardless, Naruto knew he had to lose the fight so he finally let Sasuke hit him on the stomach. Pretending to feel pain, Naruto got on his knees, allowing Sasuke to give the finishing blow to cheek. Once Sasuke was declared the winner and the resulting cheers died down, Naruto got up from the ground, dusted his clothing, and went back into the circle to observe the remaining fight. It was between the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, and the civilian from the powerful Haruno merchant family, Sakura. He saw Sakura get into a haphazard Academy-style and Hinata hesitantly get into the Gentle Fist style. Sakura immediately ran toward Hinata and tried to punch her in the face by swinging her arm widely, a move that left obvious openings for anybody to see. However, instead hitting back, Hinata only blocked the attack, allowing Sakura to use her other arm to punch Hinata in the chest. As Hinata staggered back, Sakura kept sluggishly hitting her, eventually pushing her to the ground. With Hinata on the ground, Sakura was declared the winner. "See that, Sasuke, I'm beat her. True love wins again" declared Sakura as she stared affectionately at her dark prince. Sasuke only managed a detached "Hmph" as he glared at Hinata, seeing her weakness.
"I don't see how you can use any of these children as underlings. They're all pathetic and weak" Kurama said.
"So you're finally awake. Where were you for the past week" Naruto asked
"You know I can't go anywhere with this damnable seal. I was asleep. But you still didn't answer the question" Kurama continued.
"They are indeed what you say they are, but did you notice the Hyuuga heiress" Naruto asked.
"Yes, she's the weakest of them all" Kurama said indignantly.
"Where you see weakness, I see untapped potential" Naruto said.
"To reach any potential, you would need to train her endlessly. I just don't think it's worth the time" Kurama said.
"You underestimate the benefits of having the Byakugan, you did say it is descendent from the Gods" Naruto answered.
"I said I may have remembered it from my shattered memories of the Juubi, but I doubt it's that powerful considering their only one clan among many in the village" Kurama answered.
"That's only because they haven't fully figured out all the benefits of having Hyuuga blood. I will turn her into a Goddess among mortals" Naruto proclaimed.
"Yeah… good luck with that. Besides, even if you do make her so powerful, how would you even control her" Kurama asked.
"Oh, that will be easier than you think. I just need to find what makes her think and what she wants more than anything else in this world. Then she will be putty in my hands" Naruto answered.
As Naruto left the Academy, he thought today would be a good day to infiltrate the Konoha Archive Library. "Kurama, since you're awake, I'm going to infiltrate the Library to get some books on sealing and chakra" Naruto said.
"Why do need my help. You already learned everything about covert operations from Watanabi" asked a tired Kurama.
"Sorry, but I need you to be awake during the operation. My sensor abilities are weak, at best, and any mistakes today are going to be deadly" Naruto said.
"Fine" Kurama said. "Just make it quick" he added.
Naruto entered the Konoha Archive Library Perfect Henged into the Library Manager, a green-haired clan-less, married Jounin. To enact this plan wasn't as easy as Naruto thought. He had to first intoxicate his civilian wife after she was coming home from partying with her friends. Then he led the drunken civilian to bar where a Chunin he promised a good time to was waiting patiently. When the Library Manager and his friends entered their favorite bar that night, he was angry, embarrassed, distraught and a number of other emotions all at once. After the Chunin received enough of a beating, Naruto had certain papers fall out of the man's wife's purse. In there, were foraged marriage plans, licenses, payments, etc. that all indicated that she was leaving him and marrying the man he was currently beating to a pulp. Believing his entire marriage to be lie, the Jounin drunk himself until he passed out. Suffice is to say, he would not be coming to work today, allowing Naruto to play him for the day. But since he doesn't have any of his memories, he needed Kurama to sense anyone getting near that the Jounin might have known. The plan went without a hinch, although he had to continually avoid one of the Chunin the guy knew that was worried about the man's marriage. 'Since this went so well, I might fix the guy's marriage somehow' Naruto thought to himself. This whole situation though did teach Naruto something: a ninja should never marry a civilian. The plan would have been a lot harder if his wife had been a ninja. But Naruto couldn't wait to begin studying the scrolls he now had from the Jounin section of the Archive Library. He was particularly excited about the high-level chakra control exercises that were found in the scrolls as well as the scrolls about the sealing arts. 'Soon, I'll would be getting stronger. A lot stronger stronger' he said to himself as he made his way to the apartment.
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thanks all of you who reviewed. A lot of people have been asking about Kushina and she will be part of the story just later on. She'll be important to the plot, especially when I get to Orochimaru, who will be one of the villains in the story. Naruto will only be god-like by close to the end of the story. His powers will grow realistically. As always, comment and review.