AN: Hello my fellow fanfiction readers and writers, I'm am back and somehow still standing! After a case of A LOT of and school and a hardcore case of writers block that I was having trouble figuring the next step but I am back with the next installment of Mind of the Ten Tails. This story is going to be a bit of a slow one so I can establish some relationships and no need to worry as Naruto will be strong and his potential is amazing, but he will not be unbeatable starting off. Hope you all enjoy the chapter everyone!

Chapter 4

Naruto took a step back to avoid a punch aimed for his head. He spun on his heel to the left as he dodged another strike aimed for his chin. Sensing more danger, Naruto leaned back as his teacher's leg sailed over him. Snapping back up straight, Naruto went on the offensive as he went for a straight punch that Iruka blocked with ease. The teacher lashed out with a kick that connected with Naruto's chin.

The boy flew through the air before he flipped and recovered, landing softly on his feet. He slipped into his stance once more, a small smile forming on his face as he felt a felt of excitement come over him.

"Relax young lord," Shinju spoke, calming Naruto down slightly. "Remember, we are still fighting on mere memories and instincts. We need the time to sort through everything so we may become stronger later without eyes all over us. We don't need these people to be suspicious of us right now."

"For the record, I am against this," Juubi piped up as Naruto jumped over Iruka's punch and kicked off of Iruka's leg when he went for a kick. "I would rather everyone see just how powerful we are currently and imagine our strength as it only increases with time."

Naruto chuckled lightly as he pushed away a punch from Iruka and kicked him in his side. Then he elbowed him in the chest before kicking Iruka in the side of the head with his heel. Though dazed, Iruka was able to grab Naruto's leg and pull him forward. Using his other hand, Iruka grabbed Naruto's other arm and pinned the silver haired boy to the floor.

In his struggle to get free, Naruto wiggled and squirmed around on the floor. He felt a rush of power surge through him as he growled in anger and allowed his instincts to guide the rush of energy to his muscles. He slammed his free right arm onto the ground and began to push as he slowly lifted himself and Iruka up.

"Naruto, STOP!" He heard Shinju yell out to him as the chakra that was in his arm got cut off from his lack of guidance and he slammed back into the ground. 'You were calling on both yours and Juubi's chakra in your frustration and was beginning to overpower Iruka. I think it will best for you to call the match before we reveal something that would make us look like a threat."

Naruto contemplated this, the rush he felt from the power he felt dying down, before he mentally nodded in agreement. "I give up sir," Naruto said to the teacher with a slight annoyance to his voice. While he understood why he should hide, he was angry he had to stop using his chakra. He felt so comfortable with it and felt more whole than he currently does. He felt empty the moment the chakra stopped rushing in him.

While he was looking down, he missed the contemplative look that his teacher was giving him. 'It was only for a moment, but he was actually able to lift both him and myself off the ground. I even had to put some extra force in my grip or he would have broken it. Not to mention, that he had a sudden rush of chakra before it was cut off. Channeling chakra to your limbs is an advanced technique that isn't taught until later in the academy and he did so well, even if it was unstable. But he didn't seem to realize he was even doing it. I wonder what else you got?'

He watched as Naruto rolled his 'soar' shoulder before walking up to the silver haired boy. "Well Naruto, you are quite skilled for someone your age," Iruka said with a small smile. "You have a few things that we will need to refine and help you work on, but your style definitely holds an impressive amount of speed and power behind it. Not to mention you have an impressive amount of chakra control considering what the notes I got from the Hokage detailing how you got some of your skill. While it still needs work due to how much chakra you were either wasting or how unstable it became quickly, it was impressive none-the-less."

Naruto nodded at the small examination of the skills he had shown, feeling a rush of pride at his words. Yes he was holding back due to Shinju's suggestions, he could tell that the Chunin held a lot back against him too due to not using any chakra in their small bout. 'I wonder what I can learn from him if he is this skilled? Maybe getting more powerful will help me learn more about myself.'

"Yes, there seems to be much that we can learn from this teacher of yours," Shinju replied with interest. "We can only learn so much from these random flashes after all."

"Heh whatever," Juubi scoffed. "If we had used all the techniques that are in our mind like the one we used when we first woke up then we would have won. That guy would have been a smear at best on the floor!"

"Yeah sure, let loose a Tailed Beast Bomb in the middle of an, already suspicious of us, village and kill the teacher," Shinju replied in annoyance. "Oh also keep in fact that the attack would only have worked if we could hit him and that only would have worked if we caught him off guard. If he stays aware, then we would probably lose due to his skills still being an unknown to us and they would have to at least be decent if he is a teacher. If we did kill him, then this entire village would be on us in seconds and we can say goodbye to any chance of learning who and what we really are." The Juubi merely huffed in anger as he turned away from the giant tree, not having a counter to its logic.

Before Naruto could say anything to them, he was surprised when he was tackled hugged from an excited Naruko. "You were so cool out there Naruto-kun! I have seen a lot of styles through Pervy Sage and dad, but I have never seen yours before. Now I can't wait to have a spar against you!" The young Uzumaki had much trouble controlling herself, only barely stopping herself from bouncing around.

"Yeah but obviously I am still not very good at it though," Naruto replied as he awkwardly pat her back. "Iruka-sensei is really strong though. He beat me without even trying and I thought I had a chance."

"I AM a chunin Naruto," Iruka said. "I have a lot more experience than you and had more than to perfect my fighting style. You keep working hard and I am sure you will go far in the future. We will be working on filling up any gaps in not only your fighting, but anything else I spot today to help you." Naruto nodded and tilted his head to the side, gaining a whispered chorus of 'cute' from the girls of the class, as Iruka turned his gaze to a now slightly blushing Naruko with a smirk. "Did I say stop your repetitions Naruko?"

Naruko's body went stiff as she chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Well you see, I kind of got excited during your spar and wanted to see what he could do. So~, I kind of forgot to do the rest."

"Your lucky its time to move on to weapon practice or I would make you repeat your reps from the beginning," Iruka said with a sigh. Naruko sighed in relied, happy she got to avoid punishment. "Ok, class, gather to the posts so we can continue on to our weapon practice."

Everyone got up and followed Iruka as he wrote on a piece of paper. Naruko stayed next to Naruto, who were also joined by Hinata.

"Alright everyone, gather around so we may begin," Iruka announced as the students stood to the side. "When I call your name, step up and I will hand you your weapon. You will get ten chances to hit the targets presented for you. Today, your graded on your form and ability to actually hit a target, rather than your accuracy."

"So, basically you just have to hit the post with the given weapons," Shinju said in thought. "This will be a slight problem since me and Juubi have absolutely no knowledge with how to throw those weapons."

'Do you something with those memory flashes I keep having?' Naruto asked.

"Not at all young lord," Juubi replied bored. "Sorry to say, but you are on your own here on this one. I recommend watching everyone carefully so you can try to imitate their form. We will help you as best that we can either way." Naruto nodded as he watched another student get handed five shurikens.

The young Otsusuki watched intently as the boy held the first shuriken tightly, being careful to avoid touching the edges. He released the shuriken, but it only barely missed hitting the shoulder of the human-shaped post. He watched as he threw more, only one other shuriken hitting the target.

"His form was way off," he heard Naruko say thoughtfully as he turned to her.

"What do you mean by that, Naruko-chan?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"He was using the academy style's poses," the Uzumaki girl replied as she watched the boy only get one hit with the kunai's but miss the others. "His feet were too close together and his shoulders were way too tight. He also moved his entire arm instead of just his hand or wrist."

"Why would that matter though?" Naruto asked, trying to understand. "Would that really effect your throw?"

"Yes actually," Naruko replied. "I don't really remember why it matter though. I zone out sometimes when mom and dad explain." She said the last part with a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head.

'Cute,' Naruto thought as he returned his attention to the front where a girl named Sakura went up next. "Do you know Hinata?" This caused the shy girl to jump in surprise at being addressed.

"It is because of resistance and distance," she barely stammered out as she gave a near textbook answer from her father constantly repeating it to her during training. "The form will help with the strength used to fight air resistance, allowing it to 'slice' through the pressure. It will also increase its speed to help keep it straight and fight against gravity."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding, though he was unsure of what form and position he was supposed to take. He played close attention when he saw the Sakura girl from earlier score a three and give mark on the kunai and shuriken throw respectively. This continues with him watching different students going up and gain various scores until he heard his name be called on next.

The young Otsusuki walked up slowly, more nervous than he has been earlier with no complete idea of what he was supposed to do. 'So, tight but also not too tight. At least, that's what I could gather. I am so confused here!'

He was knocked from his thoughts when Iruka handed him a set of shurikens. "Good luck Naruto. Remember, the goal is to simply be able to hit the post with the weapons. Do your best." 'Let's see just how skilled you are with weaponry compared to your fighting capabilities,' the scarred teacher thought as he tried to appear nonchalant.

'The student that gained the highest score so far, held the shuriken like this,' Naruto as he fiddled with the weapon, narrowly avoiding cutting himself. When he felt he got the positioning and form correct, Naruto threw the throwing star with a lot of force as his locked onto the post. Unfortunately, the weapon started going upwards and completely missed the post.

Naruto stared blankly at the post, trying to figure out what he did wrong. He was sure that he did the form correctly, so why did he miss? 'Maybe the placement was off or something?' he thought as he shifted his foot a bit and grabbed another shuriken. This time when he tossed it, it went too far to the left and missed the target once more.

Naruto released a soft growl as he began to get frustrated and glared angrily at the post. This continued to only anger him more when he missed the target with the three other shurikens that he threw next. 'I couldn't hit a single mark! What did I do wrong?! I know I did the form similar to the best one that went before me!'

"Relax young lord," Shinju said calmly, trying to relax his host before he screamed out in anger. "The next weapon is the kunai and they seem to be heavier than the previous weapon. This may help you out and give you better results."

Naruto nodded as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, relaxing his tensed body as best as he could. The white haired child gripped the kunai, taking his time to get used to the new weapon in his hand and its weight.

He then mimicked the same child's stance before throwing it. The kunai flew through the air before it nicked the posts 'shoulder'.

"Much better young lord," Shinju encouraged proudly. "We just got to focus on accuracy." Naruto nodded as he grabbed another one and repeated the process. This time it nicked the side of the target, making Naruto growl lightly in annoyance.

With all these different misses, Naruto could hear the other children around him begin laughing at him which only caused to annoy him and anger Juubi.

'So, he doesn't seem to be nearly as strong when it comes down to using weaponry,' Iruka thought as he continued to write down the results.

His chakra began to leak out slightly, causing the handle of the kunai to cave in a bit and morph from the tight grip. With a strong toss, the young man threw the final kunai at the post.

This time, not only did the kunai hit its mark, but it went directly through the wooden post. The kunai was stopped by the tree behind the post, wedged deeply into it which caused the area it was stuck in to crack slightly.

This action actually caused the entire area to go silent at the amount of strength that Naruto seemed to possess in that throw. They also flinched as they could hear the low growl of anger that escaped from Naruto's throat at their earlier laughter. Thankfully none of them seemed to notice that Naruto's eyes changed color as the right eye became pitch black and the left began to go white.

"Calm yourself now Juubi!" Shinju yelled at his fellow tenant, who was growling menacingly and releasing an intense amount of red and black chakra that swirled around his body.

"You expect me to allow these weak sack of flesh to mock us?!" Juubi yelled in hate and glared at the Shinju as his tails slammed into the ground. "They are far weaker than the young lord and yet they believe they can laugh at because he doesn't some stupid piece of metal around like them! They need to be made aware of their place underneath the young lord and us!"

"Getting enraged by these young ones will do nothing but cause us problems Juubi," Shinju replied calmly as its branched began to sway gently. The colorful chakra pool underneath the great tree began to bubble before the energy began to rise and encircle Shinju at a more rapid pace, which also caused more of the pools of liquid to flow quicker.

Seeing the Shinju was prepared to strike back if it needed to caused the Juubi to growl softly before forcefully calming himself down. It understood while he was definitely powerful, Shinju was currently much more powerful and could take him down if it had to.

"Fine Shinju," Juubi replied finally as the powerful chakra around the pup died and he laid on his paws. "But if these children go too far, then I will not step down again."

"Agreed," Shinju replied simply. The great tree knew that Juubi is only listening due to being significantly weaker than him for the time being. But Shinju also knew that not only will Juubi get stronger with time, but when he grows along with his tails as well. He just had a feeling that Juubi will easily be his equal one day and he will have to keep a leash on him until that day.

Juubi released some of its power with a more soothing effect, feeling the affect's calming his wardens temper almost instantly.

Naruto felt his body begin to relax as his growling turned into a soft sigh and his eyes returned to their original color.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Iruka asked the young before him, slightly wary about him. Before, Naruto had not come close to hitting the targets at all. The closest being able to nick the target here and there with the kunai and no points on the shurikens. Now not only has he hit the target dead center, the amount of strength behind it was amazing for someone his age.

"Yes, I am alright sir," Naruto replied as he gazed back at the target. 'I wonder why I kept missing the target so much,' Naruto thought as he stared at the hole in the target. His gaze turned past the dummy and noticed how his kunai is lodged into the tree. 'Wow, I am a lot stronger than I look!'

"Well unfortunately you didn't do too well with your weapon test," Iruka said as he looked over Naruto's results one final time. "While you did good getting a bullseye on your final throw, you didn't really score a point with any other one. Your going to need to catch up on that part."

Naruto sighed as he walked back towards Naruko and Hinata, annoyed that he did so poorly. He didn't what it was, but he felt annoyed that he wasn't near the top score list. As he sat down next to the girls, ignoring all the other students around, he went over his movements in his mind as he tried to figure out what he did wrong. He copied those movements down correctly, he was sure of it. He jumped slightly when he felt someone touch his shoulder, turning to find Naruko was the culprit.

"It's ok Naruto-kun!" she whispered to her new friend. "I'm sure with more practice, you will be able to better next time. You just need to work for it, something my momma use to always say. In fact, I can even help you if you want me to."

Naruto couldn't help but give her a small smile in response to her kindness. He gave the girl a nod in response as he could use the assistance.

The rest of the school day continued, which bored Naruto as it was more of a history lesson than anything else. He went on and on about how the village was founded and its more infamous shinobi. The only one that seemed to get his interest was the name Hashirama Senju due to being called the 'God of Shinobi'.

Plus, he couldn't deny the interest he held within at the Senju name and abilities that the clan seemed to possess. He also felt that Shinju was very interested since Hashirama seemed to have the abilities to grow entire forests in seconds. Even Juubi was interested when he heard just how powerful the man was and Naruto could feel his want to fight him grow.

But that also gave way to annoyance at Hashirama's God of Shinobi title, and Naruto could not figure out why the title bothered him so much. The moment the term God of Shinobi was tossed out, Naruto and his tenants felt both angry and annoyed by it.

The ringing of the final bell of the day knocked Naruto from his thoughts, causing him to return his attention to his teacher who just finished dismissing the class.

"Come on Naruto-kun!" Naruko yelled happily as she grabbed his hand. "We have to go outside so we can meet up with mom! She's not a fan of being made to wait so we got to go!"

Naruto got up and followed after the girl, well more like he was dragged along without a chance to protest. They were both followed by a giggling Hinata.

(Outside)

Kushina stood there as she watched the surrounding villagers gathering in the courtyard of the academy. She had finished talking with her husband after finding nothing in Naruto's room or things which took no time since he had nothing with him.

'Doesn't mean that he is safe yet,' Kushina thought as she waved to a random villager that bowed to her. 'It's not like he came with much, so we had to buy his living space. As bad as I feel about doing it, I had to rig the place with seals to make sure that he wasn't liability. Especially if he is a sleeper agent, child or not. His chakra reserves are massive for a non-Uzumaki and non-Jinchuriki.'

Due to years of honed experience, Kushina braced herself as a blur that was her daughter slammed into her. "Hello my beautiful daughter, I hope school was good?"

"Yeah things were great," Naruko replied happily as she smiled at her mother. "I hit almost every target with weapon practice though I messed up with the kunai."

"Great job sweetie," Kushina congratulated her daughter. "And don't worry, we will help you get better during practice." She looked to Naruto who looked around at the different families, Hinata standing nervously next to him. "How was your first day Naruto? And hello Hinata-chan." Hinata bowed and greeted the beautiful mother with a smile.

Naruto looked at Kushina gave a small smile. "It was fine," he replied. "It would seem I have a lot to learn and I'm excited to do so. Though I seemed to have no skills with weapons, but Naruko has offered to help in that problem."

Kushina nodded, storing away that little tidbit for later. She already knew that she will get the report on Naruto's abilities so far from her husband since the instructors are already keeping a close eye on Naruto while in the academy. "Well let's head out then kids as we go shopping and Hinata, you are joining us. I already sent away your guard since I'll be dropping you off myself when we are done. Today, you are having some fun." She ended this with a smile and a wink at Hinata who got a big smile on her face.

She enjoyed spending time with Kushina due to her having the same warm feeling as not only her mother, but Naruko as well. Plus, she always finds that spending time with the Uzumaki woman would always be fun even during training days.

Naruto looked at them, trying to understand why Hinata needed a guard and why she was so happy that she was joining them. In the end he was confused and shrugged his shoulders as he looked to Kushina. 'I'll learn more as time goes on, so I guess there is no need to rush. And who knows, maybe these memory flashes will explain it to me later.'

And with that the trio headed out towards the village to finish the day off with shopping for things that Naruto needed to survive his stay.

AN: And that is a wrap for this chapter. Now I am not going to apologize for how long it took as I will have to do that every chapter due to life problems and issues. I will say that I got a manger promotion at my job so that takes up some time along with school. Plus, I annoyingly so, have caught up to what I wrote out so I had to brainstorm quickly to get this chapter out for you all. So, I'll be writing to get further ahead. ANYWAY, I will apologize for the lack of action in this chapter as these four chapters are more or less for Naruto to establish connections and bonds. This was also to showcase that while Naruto can shine in some areas at the start, he will be lacking in others. That's not to say that won't change as time goes on, he's just not unbeatable right now. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please as always, Review, Follow, and Favorite. Till next time!

Dragon Soul94 is out!