A/N: Hello all! Well I know I said it would be released on Sunday, but Fuck it, I like writing so I am going to release another one early.
Naruto sat in the middle of a field, blocking all the sounds around him out and focusing on nothing but his breathing, it had been 4 day's since he had found his father's small house, he had been giving permission by the old man to use it as his own training ground, in those four days two things stood out more than anything else. The first he had mastered a high level cloning Jutsu and the second was he had adopted his fathers nindo.
The words swam in his mind "I Never give up and I never go back on my word. That is my Nindo…My ninja way." A smile split the young boy's otherwise stoic face as he stood up, he looked around himself at himself, there were almost twenty of himself in the small area training the more necessary tools for being a Ninja, Some were practicing Chakra control, trying to balance a leaf on there forehead without touching it, others were attempting to climb tree's by sending Chakra to his feet and another small group were practicing walking on water. He sighed as he slowly began to disperse the clones, each of their collective experiences and memories rushed into his mind and he swayed slightly as the information processed. Other than physical training he had been reading a lot of his father notes on what is means to be a true Shinobi as well as beginning his studies on Fuinjutsu, the ninja art of sealing. He also read books on politics, war, history, tactics, geography and philosophy. He sighed as he began the walk towards the village.
He had not spoken with the Nine-tails since that first night, when he had agreed to keep him alive for mutual benefit. Naruto shook his head, clearing his mind as he thought about the Academy, his first year began in less than a week, he knew he was more than prepared with the sheer amount of training he's done. 'Deception, one of the greatest tools for a ninja.' The rule rang clear in his mind, he let out another sigh 'I will just average myself with the top of the class, that way I am not showing all of my skills and I don't look like too big a fool.'
He still wore his orange and blue jumpsuit, but the more he learned about being a ninja the less he wanted to wear it 'I wonder if the old man will give me some money for clothing…I could use some weights and new shuriken too, some new Kunai would not hurt me either.'
He had finally found the purpose of the three pronged Kunai hanging on the wall inside the house, when he pulled it down it started a small obstacle course complete with spring loaded traps and target's, he made sure to run it every day and take his time, he had been steadily improving.
As he slid the rock back into place, he pondered the best way to get some extra funding as he walked towards Ichiraku ramen 'I will go after lunch and make the request, then I can spend the rest of the day training with my new gear.' He gave himself an approving nod as he entered the small ramen shop.
"Hey, Old man! You in there?" He called out loudly.
"Whoever is coming in my store calling me old man I'm gonn- Oh hello Naruto." Old man Teuchi, he ran the ramen stand, he is kind and jovial old man who almost always wore a smile. He wore a white apron and a small chef's cap sat on top of the remainder of his gray hair. "What'll be today."
"Just a bowl of Miso Ramen please, I got to get up to see the old man soon." Naruto said simply.
Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, exited from behind a long white curtain with a smile "Hey there Naruto, you excited for the ninja academy next week?" Ayame is a slender girl with long, brown hair and eyes, she had fair skin and wore a dark blue apron, her hair was tied back in a bright white Bandana as she smiled at the small blonde at the shop.
"Yeah, I am going to see the Hokage to see about getting myself some better ninja tools and maybe some new clothes, this come and kill me orange is not very suitable ninja attire." He gave the two a wide smile as a steaming bowl of ramen was set in front of him. He practically inhaled the food before dropping the money on the counter and waving his goodbyes.
Ayame and Teuchi shared a look as they watched him leave, 'He is maturing rather suddenly.' The thought in unison.
Naruto knocked three times on the Hokage's door and waited, he heard the old man permit his entrance and he opened the door, he noticed they were not alone in the small office. A large man stood on the opposite side of the Hokage, he had long black hair and odd looking pupiless white eyes, Naruto stifled a gasp as he recognized the eyes from what he read in one of his father's book, the eyes of the Hyuuga clan, judging by his clothing this man was important. Naruto bowed respectfully to the man, who merely gave him a questioning look before walking out of the office silently. 'Strange,' The man thought with a backwards glance at the boy 'All my reports say that he is loud obnoxious and incredibly ill-mannered.'
Saratobi watched the exchange with a small chuckle, Naruto straightened after the door closed and turned to the Hokage.
"Hello Naruto, what do I owe the pleasure?" Saratobi asked with a small smile.
"Hey there old man, look I need some money, for new Ninja tools and supplies for training and I am thinking about updating my wardrobe a little." Naruto said flashing his signature grin and scratching the back of his head nervously.
The Hokage cocked his head slightly to the left as he regarded the boy 'Giving him that training area really paid off I see.' Saratobi stroked at his goatee for a few moments before answering "All right, new clothes and a new set of tools for a new start at the Academy. I think that is a fine idea Naruto."
Naruto visibly relaxed "Thanks Old man, oh and if you don't mind me asking who was the man in here before?"
"That was the clan head of the Hyuuga clan, he came to talk to me about one of his daughter's who will be attending the Academy with you next week." Saratobi explained flatly as he handed Naruto an impressive heft of money.
Naruto nodded as he accepted the funds "Well thanks for this." He said as he spun around and took off towards the shopping district. Naruto ducked into an alleyway a few street's before the shopping district "Henge." He said quietly, there was a small puff of smoke and a completely different person stepped out of the alley, this boy was of similar height to Naruto, he had black hair brown eyes and rather pale skin, Naruto finished examining his transformation in the window with a satisfied nod 'No way anyone will think it's me.' he thought with a smile, as he entered the first weapon shop on the corner.
"Well hello!" A cheery voice rang out from behind the counter, he turned to face the girl, she had dark brown hair tied in two small buns on either side of her head, her bangs hid her forehead protector, she also had dark brown eyes and wore a pale pink qipao-style blouse. She smiled at Naruto.
"You can drop the Henge, I promise I won't kick you out." She said simply.
Naruto staggered slightly "H-how did you?"
She gestured to the window behind her "Saw you change." she said flatly. "By the way that was pretty impressive you already in the academy?"
Naruto let the transformation disappear and shook his head "I go start next week, what is your name?"
"I'm Tenten, I graduated last year." She said simply pointed to her headband "And you?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki Na-," Naruto cut himself off 'I need to get a lid on this excitement, taking a steadying breath "Naruto Uzumaki." He said with a smile.
"Alright Naruto, what do ya need?" Tenten asked with a smile.
He listed off all the things he needed, and she gathered his weapons before leading him over to the clothing racks, he sifted through a few things before he found a few things he liked, He took the bundle of clothing into one of the change rooms, he emerged a few seconds later with his arms outstretched beside him, in place of his orange and blue he now wore a black and red coat, it hung down to about his knee, the red Konoha swirl on its back, he wore a simple black t-shirt under that, black pants and black ninja sandal, she gave him an approving nod.
"Looks good, I take it a few set's of that will do?" Tenten said flatly.
Naruto just nodded in response, happy with his choices. she began to add everything up as he picked the training weights off the table, wrapping them around his arms and legs, he noticed not difference at all.
"Um, the weights are surprisingly weightless." Naruto said a little confused.
She looked up at him for a moment then down at the weights, "Oh, right I forgot, these are a little newer. They are made lighter by a seal on each strip of Bamboo that contains the metal weight on the inside, to break the seal just channel a little bit of chakra in it, when it become light again break another seal and so on and so forth." Tenten explained the design.
Naruto nodded, pressing his fingers against one of the strips of white bamboo, he channeled and sure enough his arm felt the added weight, a slightly surprised gasp escaped him as he did added the weight on the rest, he gave a nod 'Perfect I'll get much stronger now.' he thought happily.
"So all this comes to 49 000 yen." Tenten said looking up at him, Naruto pulled the large lump of money the Hokage had given him, he was slightly relieved he could cover it, he thanked Tenten for her help as he left the store, carrying a few bags contained his clothes, his new case strapped to his leg held most of the shuriken and Kunai, he made his way towards his apartment. After depositing the bags on his bed he began his trip back out to his father's hideaway, he wanted to be have the walking on water part of chakra control down by the end of the day.
A few hours later Naruto lay on his back looking up at the now darkening sky, his best guess was it was around 5:30, he needed to go get dinner and head home. He got to his feet, the weights made his training more difficult but he found they were already considerable easier to use than earlier that day. He smiled at his progress, he had mastered walking on water and even sparred with a shadow clone to test his focus, he didn't go for a swim. He found out his Chakra Nature was wind and had began some of the basic training exercises, namely attempting to cut a leaf in half using only his chakra, it was slow going but he had managed to tear halfway through the leaf in a fairly short time, he assumed he was missing something he would have to ask the old man about it next time he got the chance.
He slid the rock, back over the tunnel, he set off on his way he was walking past the park when he spotted a small indigo haired girl, she was sitting on the swing twirling her legs and looking at the ground rather sadly, she wore a large lavender jacket and had quite pale skin. He smiled she was kind of pretty. He noticed a small group of people walking up to her and assumed they were her friends, that was until she started to back away from them. Naruto made his way over towards them carefully.
'The element of surprise is a tool best not wasted.' One of the rules his father's rules he had inadvertently memorized flashed through his mind.
The girl continued to back away from the group, of what he now saw were much larger boy's he assumed they were second year academy students, one of them raised his hand preparing to strike the small girl, with a click Naruto's weights fell to the ground as he rushed in front of her.
The girl raised her arms and braced, waiting for the strike that was inevitably about to hit her, it never came, she cracked one eye open and peered around her, she noticed the small black coated blonde boy in front of her, the red swirl on the back of his coat, she followed his arm to find it firmly gripping one of the group of bullies wrist, the hold tightened and the boy winced, "Get!" Naruto order sharply. The small group bowed their heads and sprinted from the park, tails between their legs.
Naruto turned around and looked down at the indigo haired girl, for the first time he noticed her eyes, the lavender pupiless eyes of the Hyuuga clan. He simply smiled and helped her up.
"A-Ano, t-t-thank you." She stuttered out, 'He has such pretty blue eyes.' she thought a small smile on her face.
"Don't mention it." Naruto said flashing a wide grin and scratching the back of his head, it was the first time anyone, let alone a girl, thanked him.
"Young Heiress!" the voice caused both children to turn around, another Hyuuga was running towards the pair, his long hair tied in a pony-tail on the back of his head the headband tied around his forehead as well as the dark blue pants and flak jacket, he approached the young girl and smiled "Your father sent me to bring you home, he had some urgent business with the Hokage to attend to."
"Oh, H-hello Ko, well then we should get going." The girl answered simply.
The man, whose name was apparently Ko, turned to Naruto gave him a disapproving look, which greatly confused the young girl before placing her on his shoulder and walking away. Naruto watched the pair and sighed 'Don't really know what I was expecting.' He thought as he clipped the weights back on his arms and legs 'I didn't get her name though.' He shrugged and pushed the encounter form his mind.
Naruto sighed in content as he patted his belly full of Ramen, he walked along with a small smile on his face, he raised his arms and folding them behind his head as he walked, something caught his eyes a large ball of fire hovering over the water, he recognized the Chakra in it 'Someone practicing fire style.' He thought with a smile as he made his way over to the pier, the fire winked out and he spotted the small black haired boy, he wore a dark blue coat, had white bandages tied around his arms and stood with his shoulders slightly slumped panting from exhaustion, Naruto noticed the clan mark on the back of his jacket 'Ah, this is the last Uchiha then.' He thought simply, recognizing one of the most influential clans symbols quickly enough.
"Hey there!" Naruto called out as he stepped onto the pier.
The boy stiffened as he turned around, his onyx eyes stared at Naruto with a look of surprise and confusion.
Naruto held his hand out to the side "I just wanted to tell you, that Jutsu is pretty impressive for a kid your age."
"Hn," Was the response "Who are you?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," He introduced "I know you are an Uchiha from the symbol, but I do not know your first name."
"Sasuke." The boy answered, still regaining his breath.
"Well Sasuke, I look forward to sparring against you in the Academy." Naruto said with a slight bow.
Sasuke merely chuckled before turning away and going through some hand signs. Naruto heard the blaze behind him and shook his head 'Even I know you need to take a break at some point.'
The next week passed quickly for Naruto, he continued his training in the same routine and was pleasantly surprised with his rapidly expanding Fuinjutsu knowledge, he already had an idea for his own seal, but at this point it was the last thing on his mind, today was the day he started in the Academy. He stood outside the large building, the symbol of fire stood proudly on the red of the walls, he realized he was quite early so he sat down over by a large tree, it had a rope swing tied to it, he sat on the ground and pulled a small stack of paper from the pouch on his leg 'May as well tinker with this seal then' He thought simply, the concept was simple, it used the same style as an explosive tag only this one was paralysis, he came up with idea of using a lightning based seal on a piece of paper like this as a way of overloading the nervous system causing paralysis, he even had the idea of attaching it to a senbon as a delivery system, using the metal as a conductor. He Finalized the seal and stood up, creating a single shadow clone in front of him he reached out and placed the seal on it, he channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper, it lit exactly like an explosive tag with a hiss and then a wide arc of golden lighting flew from it, the Clone writhed for a moment before going completely still.
"Did it work?" Naruto asked himself, the clone nodded and Naruto jumped in the air with his fist held high, he had succeeded in making his very own type of ninja weapon he wondered briefly if there would maybe become widely used before shaking his head. He sat back down and started writing out the same thing over the other 30 or so pieces of paper in front of him, he slipped them back into his pouch for future use and contented himself with simply meditating. Slowly the other students began to filter into the yard, seeking out the groups they were familiar with, Naruto was slumped under the tree, he had accidently fallen asleep while he was meditating although to everyone around him he just looked to be still meditating, the bell started him awake and he rubbed his eyes and yawned, realizing he was about to late he jumped to his feet and ran into the classroom, he slid to a stop outside the door and walked inside, every head in the room turned to look at him, he wore his long red and black coat, this one had long sleeves and it covered the training weights he still wore, he wore black pants and the same black ninja sandals. He looked around the room as people soon became uninterested in the newcomer, he noticed two things.
In the top left hand corner of the room, sat the boy he had met last week, he wore a brooding expression as he stared out the window making an obvious effort to ignore the large number of women squealing around him.
Opposite him, sat the pale skinned indigo haired girl he had saved from the bullies, she sat fairly still looking at the floor under her, he decided he would talk with Sasuke later. He walked up the stairs and looked at the small girl "Hey, I didn't get the chance to introduce myself the other day. I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." He said holding out his hand and giving her a wide smile.
She blushed slightly "H-H-Hinata H-H-Hyuuga." she stuttered out as she took his hand and shook it. 'Clam down! He is merely being polite and introducing himself, wow his hand is really warm…I wonder if he wants to sit next to me? All right Hinata do not faint.' Her thoughts went from a inner pep talk to a little confusion then back to the pep talk as she sat there.
"Would you mind if I sit here?" Naruto asked simply.
Hinata pinched her arm and let out a surprised squeak when she realized she wasn't dream and this was in fact real 'You need to answer!' her mind yelled "Y-y-y-y-yes y-you m-may." she managed to say, she mentally patted herself on the back for not fainted as he took the seat.
'The way she stutters is so cute,' Naruto thought with an absentminded smile 'Wait what? What the hell is wrong with me, as if any girl would be interested in…well me...Wait am I putting myself down?' Naruto shook his head and took a deep calming breath.
The door slid open, to reveal a familiar scared Chunin, Iruka walked into the class followed closely, by a white haired man Naruto did not recognize.
"All right class welcome to your first day at the Ninja Academy!" Iruka announced happily "If you will all take your seat I can take attendance and then we can begin your evaluation."
The shuffling of chairs and feet were heard as everyone found their seats, Iruka began listing names off "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Abarame, Ino Yakamaka." Each name was called and answered with the raised hand of the person who I was.
"Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka called out, as he searched the class for the familiar orange and blue, he found the hand raised at the back and stifled a gasp, Naruto was not wearing the same clothing as usual he seemed to be behaving himself too. Iruka shook his head slightly and continued.
He concluded the attendance "well Hello everyone, I am your Sensei Iruka and this is Mizuki sensei we will be your teachers for the next two years as you begin your young ninja careers." He said with a smile "Now we are going to evaluate your current skills to see where each of you are at right now."
"If you would please follow me out to the field we can begin."
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter and i will see you with the scheduled one on Sunday.