Morning had finally arrived as the golden light from the sunrise covered Konoha. Today was going to be the first day of the academy for the young jinchuriki. He was sure to oversleep but fortunately his tenant had other plans.
"Oi kit wake up, your body needs nourishment or as what you humans call it 'breakfast'." Kurama's deep voice had woken Naruto, much to his ire.
"Ugh why do I have to get up so early in the morning?" Naruto said sluggishly, wiping away the drool that caked his lower face. Naruto sat upward and looked at his clock, his eyes widening the time.
"Kurama it's 5 o'clock! Who in this godforsaken village is even awake yet!" The answer to his question had coviently shown itself as a mumbled shout of "YOUUUUTH" could be heard from outside. The blonde had blinked a couple of times, walking over to the perch of his window to look outside only to find nobody on the streets of Konoha. 'Must be hearing things.'
"The road to Hoakge won't be an easy road kit, ninjas and kages must be alert at all times." Kurama said snickering at a memory of Kushina watching Minato trying to finish all his paperwork before 6 o'clock. The aroma of searing pork had assaulted the child's nose. Walking into the kitchen he had been greeted sitha sight that warmed his heart. Kakashi whipped up breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, and pancakes with syrup. This had been the first time ever experiencing the privilege of waking up to breakfast. Droplets of tears streamed down his face. Pure joy had been expressed through the strained smile that had reached ear to ear.
"Goodmorning Naruto, I see you're up. I was about to wake you up after I finished cooking but there's no need. Ready for your first day at the academy?" After placing an even balance of proteins and carbs unto a plate he placed said plate on the lone kitchen table.
Wiping away his tears Naruto had sat down at the table and devoured his breakfast in under a minute. "Yeahtoday is going to be a blast."
"Slow down, your food isn't going anywhere." With a sigh Kakashi had decided to join Naruto. Sitting down with a plate of his own. "Make sure you brush your teeth before you leave alright?" Kakashi ordered with yet again another eye smile.
"Yeah no problem." After finishing his meal Naruto raced to the bathroom, leaving Kakashi to clean up his mess. His reflection in the mirror had caught his attention. Staring at his reflection the young blonde traced the scar over his left eye. Kurama's explanation, still fresh in his mind.
"Kit about those seals I mentioned earlier." Speak of the devil.
'You're teaching me a new jutsu?'
"Not exactly to even start sealing you need ink and paper, which you lack. But I can explain it to you. The proper term for sealing is fūinjutsu. Fūinjutsu had been the reason as to why your clan, the Uzumaki, had been feared by nations. Fūinjutsu is basically the art of ink, it's only limit is your imagination, determination, and creativity. Naruto lift up your shirt and look at your stomach." Naruto lifted up his shirt and saw the marking on his stomach.
'Wait so this was a seal the whole time! I thought this was a tattoo! Amazing..so this jutsu can seal a whole bijū? I also belong to a clan… they must be dead since I'm an orphan huh?'
"Yes unfortunately they were wiped out by enemy villages. But to answer your other question, yes fūinjutsu can seal bijū and accomplish many other things. For example the famous jutsu of the Fourth hokage is fūinjutsu. But a tattoo on a baby would be a bit much eh?" Kurama asked as a sweat dropped rolled down on the back of his furry head. Naruto had given no response. The blonde had always lived life as an orphan so discovering that he belonged to a dead clan hadn't surprised him that much.
"After the academy today, you will gather the needed products." The objective had seem easy enough. With a nod Naruto had finished the task of brushing his teeth. Afterwards he had bid Kakashi goodbye as he bolted out the door.
000
The walk towards the academy had been uneventful. It was the same routine whenever he walked upon the streets of Konoha. Glares from civilians and curses behind his back. Upon seeing the gates of the academy Naruto awed at the sight. "Aw man I'm about to begin my shinobi career and when I'm done with here I'll be a full blown shinobi. After that I will become successful enough to be Hokage!" Before Naruto could enter Kakashi had landed right besides him.
"Oi Naruto you forgot your lunch box" Kakashi said. Naruto took the lunch box and looked at Kakashi.
"Thank you nii-san!" Naruto said while running up to Kakashi and hugging his leg. "Bye Nii-san" Naruto said while running into the building. Kakashi waved at the retreating small silhouette as he shunshin away.
000
Upon entering the classroom Naruto saw boys and girls his age talking to each other and laughing. Most of the kids had been segregated into their own cliques so finding an empty seat had been quite difficult. Fortunately there had been an empty seat in the back of the classroom. Naruto silently scaled the two steps until he gingerly plumped himself down in the middle column.
"Brat I have a plan for you."
'Enlighten me oh great Kyuubi-sama'
"Smartass. Before you I was sealed inside two other humans both of them belonging to the Uzumaki clan. The most recent one being your mother."
'You knew my mom! Why didn't you tell me before?'
"Storytime will be later. Just hear me out for a second. When I was sealed inside Kushina I had the pleasure of watching her academy days also. I noticed that your shinobi system rewards certain graduates with title that interests me the most is the one called 'dead last'."
'You want me to become deadlast? Why would I want a title like that?'
"Naruto you don't understand, we shall apply this title to our advantage."
'How will we use this to our advantage?'
"You see when Kushina had faced against a genin that was called deadlast, she had instantly become lax. She had allowed herself to let mistakes show and barely bothered to take her opponent seriously."
'So what you're saying is if I become deadlast; my future enemies should be way easier to defeat?'
A fox-like grin that promised no good had marred Kurama's face. "Exactly, so you will fail everything on purpose or do the bare minimum to pass."
'Wait but what if they don't let me become a shinobi?' Kurama's plan had sounded foolproof but what good would it be if he couldn't become a shinobi?''
"Naruto you're a jinchūriki for crying out loud! A weapon for the village. No way in hell would they decide to bar you from becoming a shinobi!"
Naruto had started to nod his head. Even if Kurama's reasoning was quite dark it made total sense. Before he could even reply to his tenant a fellow classmate had chosen to occupy the empty seat to his right. A raven duck haired kid, who was ignoring his existence, had been examining the board. He must have been from a clan if the crest on the back of his black sleeved shirt hadn't given it away. It seems that the seat on his left had also been taken by a blonde girl.
'I hadn't even noticed her sitting down. I need to be more aware when talking to Kurama. Not to self: get better at multitasking,' Naruto had decided to focus on his classmate to his right. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?'' After finishing his greeting he had shot out his hand awaiting for a handshake.
"Oh umm I'm Sasuke Uchiha" The raven now named Sasuke replied.
"Uchiha huh, I've heard that name before." Naruto said curiously.
Sasuke snorted "Yeah my clan is the strongest one in Konoha." Sasuke boldly announced, every clan heir had turned their attention to him.
"And why is that Uchiha I don't remember reading or hearing about how the Uchiha clan is the best clan in Konoha." Said the pineapple haired kid who was now followed by the other clan heirs. Naruto had decided to intervene to prevent an argument.
"Hi the name's Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto had said distracting them.
Catching the attention of the blonde girl first she giddly responded first. "Ino Yamanaka" said the blonde.
"Shikamaru Nara" replied the pineapple haired kid.
"Choji Akimichi" mumbled the last one.
Naruto smiled "Let me guess you're all from a clan right?" Naruto asked. They all nodded in perfect synchronization. "Well I hope we all can be friends." Naruto said, this time with an even brighter smile.
"All right class, class is about to get started you may all take your seats!" A chunin who had recently stumbled in the room shouted.
"Ok class my name is Iruka Umino you can call Iruka sensei or just sensei either one is fine, I will be teaching all of you for your whole academy experience." Iruka said, turning to his left signaling another teacher to speak up.
"My name is Mizuki and I will also be teaching you all for your whole academy experience as well." The white haired man said.
"Alright class now that we have introduced ourselves we will begin roll call Iruka said with enthusiasm. "Hinata Hyuga? " Blue haired girl with a hime haircut and pale lavender eyes had raised her hand.
"Kiba Inuzuka?" A feral looking boy with brown hair raised his hand with a smug grin. "Kiba Inzuka at your service!"
"Shino Aburame." A stoic brown haired kid with black glasses and a large grey trench coat raised his hand. Some time had progressed and each kid's name had been called on except for Narutos.
"Alright next is.. Naruto Uzumaki." At the mention of the young jinchuriki's name Iruka's voice had slightly raised an octave. Naruto had noticed this of course, but chose to ignore it. Instead he decided to play the role of fool to a T, just like Kurama had instructed.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be Hokage one day believe it!" The classroom had erupted in a fit of snickers.
"Yeah right no way a dobe like you can even become Hokage" Naruto was about to reply with his own comeback but Ino had beat him to it.
"Whatever dog mutt, I bet you can't even become a shinobi." The whole class snickered at Inos comment except for one stoic Aburame.
"Whatever, you probably stole that comeback from somebody's mind you freaky Yamanaka." Kiba retorted with a smug grin.
"An Inzuka without a ninken? That really does show capable you are huh?!" Ino's comeback had really got under Kiba's skin and it showed.
"Alright class, settle down." Iruka said cutting the argument short. "Today we will carry out a series of tests and exercises to see what we're working with. A benchmark one would call it." Iruka waited for the class reaction, they all were staring at him with confusion. Mizuki went around and started passing papers to each student. "The papers being handed out right now is a test on various subjects upon shinobi history, math, and chakra theory. Doing your best on this test will be important for gauging your knowledge." The rest of the day had been filled with various exercises like endurance tests,bukijutsu(shurikenjutsu) and even taijutsu spars. Naruto had purposely come in last in each subject and failed miserably in taijutsu on purpose, just like Kurama had planned. Now Naruto had been sitting back at his deck. It was the end of the day and class was about to end. He was currently reading a book on the history of the land of water. The chapter he researched gave a brief description about the Uzumaki clan and expanded upon its downfall. The book had dampened Naruto's mood, once again being reminded that he most likely has no family members left.
"Hey kit this place has a lot of papers and ink. You should pillage some materials for sealing later."
Zoning back to class, Iruka was currently dismissing the class. Every student alike had rushed out of the classroom without a second thought as if staying in class for a moment longer had meant death. Looking around Naruto had spotted a stack of papers and a bottle of ink on Iruka's desk. The only problem now was obtaining the supplies without causing trouble. 'Maybe he wouldn't mind if I made it seem like I was using them for homework.' Approaching his instructor with valor, Naruto greeted Iruka with a smile.
"Is there anything you need Uzumaki?" Iruka's face had been indifferent but Naruto knew better. One could almost hear the suspicion in his voice.
"Sorry to bother but you wouldn't mind lending me some paper and ink? You see, I kinda had trouble writing notes today because I lack the papers to actually take them." Witch wasn't a total lie since he had come to class today in nothing but his clothes. Iruka continued to stare at Naruto with indifference. To be truthful it had started to unnerve the young jinchūriki.
"You should inform me immediately of any problems similar in the future alright?" Iruka had split the stack of papers in half lending Naruto one. It was still a considerable amount of paper since Naruto had needed two hands to carry them.
"Ah sensei I need ink also." Iruka chuckled as he placed the ink bottle on top of the papers. 'I need a brush also.. I can just take one from a vendor on the way home. No need to ask for more, just to be safe.' With a bright smile Naruto had bid Iruka goodbye as he walked out the classroom. Outside of the academy had been barren. It seemed that Naruto had taken long enough for everybody to go home. It had taken only three steps for Kakashi to land right next him.
"Your first day must have been productive eh Naruto?" Amusement colored Kakashi's voice as his eyes pointed to the stack of papers. Reading between the lines one could easily understand the unasked question: What's with the stack of papers?
"Naruto don't lie, he's a ninja that works daily with deception. It would be to easy for him to catch your bluff."
"Oh these papers are for sealing. I read in a history book today about how Uzumaki's we're legends in Fūinjutsu." The truth sprinkled in with an offhanded memory, perfect.
"I see. Carrying those would be a pain, so use this." Reaching into one of the many pockets on his jounin vest Kakashi retrieved a scroll. "This is a storage seal, just unravel the scroll and place your supplies on the seal. Add chakra to seal the items and to release them."
"Naruto, your first milestone should be to deconstruct that seal and replicate it."
'Wait that's impossible! I can't even understand this nonsense.' Following Kakashi's instructions Naruto had successfully sealed all of his materials.
"Naruto this art style is immensely powerful once mastered. Power through and you won't regret." Naruto had chosen to once again not respond, but he was set on understanding this foriegn language known as sealing.
"Hey Naruto lets go out for some ramen. You can't study on an empty stomach you know." Naruto had looked at Kakashi with stars in his eyes. Sealing can take a backseat for now. Now it was time for ramen.
"Yatta! You bet Nii-san!"
000
Yūgao Uzuki, a noteworthy member of the Anbu force, had recently completed her regular surveillance of Naruto Uzumaki at the academy. Now the Anbu agent was supposed to report back to her kage, but an academy student had caught her attention. Now normally an academy student wouldn't be all that interesting but something was different with this peculiar girl. Said kunoichi in training had been throwing kunai at practice logs nonstop for the past 3 hours. Cuts had littered her fingers but the little girl had no intention of stopping anytime. Witnessing such dedication in the future Kunoichi had been moving. Each kunai that left her hand would find itself shy from the bullseye of each target. With the show of her skills Yugao had flirted with the idea of training the academy student. But would her time really be spent well babysitting a brat? Finally one of the brunette's kunai had landed home. Maybe she should indulge her time into the child, afterall she was a hard worker. Deciding to follow her gut feelings Yugao had finally let herself known. Jumping down next to the 6 year old startling the child.
"Ah h-hello Anbu-san." The girl had stuttered with her greeting.
"It seems your hard work bears fruit." Gazing at the gashes that littered the training log to hint at her success."Tell me child what's your name."
"Tenten Higurashi, second year student."
"Your dedication is quite honorable." Tenten had blushed from the moment of praise. "I'd like to know what goal is driving you young one."
"I want to be a kunoichi just like Tsunade-sama ofcourse!" Ah yes Tsunade-sama had been a common role model for many young kunoichi's if not all.
"In what way would you replicate Tsunade?"
"I want to be a ninja in her class, powerful and influential." Stars had filled Tenten eyes as she praised her idol.
"I see you don't belong to a clan. Do you really think a civilian could reach S-rank caliber?"
"Of course I can! The fourth hokage had not belonged to an official clan either, yet he became one of the strongest ninja among Konoha history."
"Your argument is plausible, but do you really have what it takes to survive the perilous road to S-rank?" Tenten hadn't even said a word. Instead she gave a nod that was packed with conviction.
"Alright then, Tenten I offer you the chance of becoming my kouhai. I shall mend you into a fine kunoichi suitable for Konoha." Neko's piercing gaze froze Tenten in her place.
"R-really? I accept your offer! But.. I don't even know your name."
Chuckles escapes her cold neko mask. "Once you are able to remove this mask off my face. Only then will you deserve the right to know my name. Tomorrow afternoon after your class I will find you and evaluate your skills. Make sure to be prepared." Without another word the Anbu nin had disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Taking a few steps back Tenten had looked around the clearing. Confusion had been written across her face as she had spent the next several minutes inspecting the clearing for a hidden Anbu nin. Much to her disappointment she had found nothing.