Summary: "Since ancient times, hatred has been the dominant feeling in the shinobi world. This will never end because of the true nature of humankind. Humans will never be able to trust each other fully. After all, love is the feeling everyone wants to protect, and hatred is born during this process." Naruto never knew how true this was. War will come, and the circle of hatred repeats.
"Naruto." Speaking
'Naruto.' Thinking
"Naruto." Tailed Beast/Summoning Speaking
'Naruto.' Tailed Beast/Summoning Thinking
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Warning: English is not my native language.
EDIT: I corrected a LOT of grammar mistakes I made in this chapter.
Everything was as usual in Konoha; the sun shone, and the birds flew over the village. Villagers went about their daily lives on the streets of Konoha. People went to shops and talked to each other. Elderly people would go to the park with their grandchildren to play with them. Everything seemed peaceful.
The penultimate year had just ended in the Ninja Academy. All the students streamed out of the classes and were happy about the days off. Some students were picked up by their parents, and you could occasionally see students not being picked up by their parents. For example, one person was Sayuri Uchiha. Self-proclaimed avenger of her clan and the last Uchiha loyal to the village. Her big sister, Izumi Uchiha, had slaughtered her entire clan several years ago and left her alive. She has vowed to bring her to justice and kill her. She trained hard every day to eventually kill her. Nothing else mattered in her life. She just wanted to get stronger and kill her. In addition, she just wanted to be left alone and not be annoyed by her fanboys and fangirls all the time. That's right, as a girl, she had fangirls herself. Not in the sense that they admire her beauty. No, even some girls had a crush on her, and that's just stupid in her opinion.
She usually walked straight home always. Today, however, something happened that piqued her interest. She saw a classmate of hers walking up the wall during the break. She knew who this boy was; how could she not? This boy was top of the class and was the only boy in her class who didn't have a crush on her or the nuisance. Every boy wanted something from either Sayuri or the bundle of energy. Sayuri didn't care much about her looks; she wanted to get stronger. However, for a brief moment, it annoyed her that her breasts were just so small. This nuisance's chest was quite pronounced for her age. Otherwise, no one would like this nuisance.
Back on topic, this boy was by far the best in the class, and as far as Sayuri knew, he was from a civil family. He also had a few fangirls, which wasn't surprising. The top of the class always had some girls crushing on him. No matter what generation of ninjas, this will never change.
He was probably the only one with what it takes to become a ninja. Everyone else preferred to bother annoying others or sleep in class. The dog was the worst in her regard. He smelled like a dog himself, even though he was a human.
She was going to her clan's library to read up on how to do this. She already had a rough idea, but she must be sure. She only hoped that her assumption was correct and she was one step closer to her big goal.
A young boy was training shirtless on a river. This boy had shaggy black hair and black eyes. (A/N Shisui Uchiha's Hairstyle)
He's wearing black pants right now. You could see the sweat running down his forehead and then further down his cheeks. The drops of sweat collected on the chin and fell into the water after a few moments.
That boy was Naruto Ueda. He pushed his body back up and then lowered it back down. ' Only ten left!' Naruto eventually came to the end of his exercise and straightened up. His muscles were burning, and Naruto dragged himself to the riverbank. He dropped onto the grass when his feet were back on solid ground. He landed on his back on the floor and took a deep breath.
Naruto's black eyes looked up at the blue sky and saw some eagles flying overhead. The wind moved across the landscape and blew against Naruto's body and, thus, against his face and through his hair. Naruto closed his eyes and enjoyed the calm atmosphere and the pleasant feeling of the wind cooling his body a little. He smiled slightly and straightened his upper body. He reached out, grabbed a water bottle, and started drinking from it. As he set the water bottle down again, he got up, stripped down to his briefs, and jumped into the river that was right in front of him.
While he was swimming in the river, he took a close look at the surroundings as usual. In the distance, some mountains could be seen, and in front of them, huge trees that seemed so big even at a distance. This was the Forest of Death, also known as Training Ground 44. He was himself at Training Ground 33, an isolated training ground. In addition to the river, there was a small forest nearby, and in the meadow areas, there were scattered trees and some shrubs.
After a few minutes, Naruto came out of the water, went to his things, and grabbed the towel. He dried himself completely and opened his backpack, where a change of clothes was inside. He took off his underpants and changed into completely new clothes. He was now wearing a black T-shirt with gray pants and black sandals. He looked up at the sky and wondered what to do next.
The sun was already going down, meaning he still had some time. He could still study something at home; they have started a new topic today. He had two weeks off until the last school year started. So, he could have already gone through the topic they started today or just gone for a walk.
He would have to go home one way or the other, which meant he still had time to decide. He took his backpack and then started walking towards the village.
Naruto had decided to stay to himself for the rest of the day and go through his parents' stuff more. He still had difficulty being in his father's study but had to live with it. Since he was five, he had no parents and lived alone. He smiled sadly as he sat at his desk, looking at a picture of his parents. The picture was on the desk, and you could see Naruto's two parents in this picture. You could see that his mother was pregnant with Naruto then. Naruto's mother had long black hair and black eyes. His father had the same haircut as Naruto, but his father had brown hair instead of black hair.
Naruto tried to get his mind off things and returned to the book before him. He could already do all four academy jutsu (Substitution and, with this, the body flicker technique. After all, the Substitution is only possible because of the high speed provided by the body flicker. Besides these 2 Jutsus, the normal Clone Jutsu and the Transformations Jutsu.) without any problems. He had perfect chakra control since his parents were just normal civilians; he didn't have high chakra reserves like the Uchiha in his class. Someone from a well-known clan naturally had more chakra than normal students with two civilians as parents.
Naruto was happy about that; he needed to increase his reserves and never had to worry about his control. To increase his chakra, he must do chakra control exercises repeatedly until he can no longer do it. So, his reserves were slowly increasing, even if they were progressing slowly. He's just waiting for the next two months to pass. After that, he would start wearing weights, and his exercises would get harder so he could train more effectively. Until then, however, he must work on something else. His accuracy with his shuriken and kunai was 100%, according to his teacher, and he had no trouble aiming the kunai or shuriken at moving targets.
So far, his theory regarding the material has also been good. He's the best in his class for a reason, at least on the boys' side. He was the highest theoretical and practical because he was always training and learning. However, he also had to say that he learned quickly and could invest more time in his training.
What he lacked was a proper Taijutsu style. The Academy style was a good base, but he needed a better style to assert himself later. His teacher gave him a book with some styles listed, and he could at least get an overview. Naruto always had strong legs, which meant he was looking for something that used his legs more heavily.
Speed was also important to him because he preferred to focus on speed rather than brute force in his physical training. It has been proven repeatedly that the fastest shinobi were also the deadliest.
'Taekwondo, huh?' Naruto just got to the book's last page and read through the information. The style relied heavily on speed and had mostly katas where legs were prominent. However, there were also enough katas where you use your arms and hands. He liked the style, and now he knew what to look for in the library. Although he was only a student, his teacher had given him a special permit, which he had to show to the librarian, and then he could go to the department where the style was kept.
He closed the book and pushed it backward, standing up. 'If I hurry, I should get the scroll of the style today.' With a clear goal in mind, Naruto set off.
Sayuri Uchia stood before a tree and focused chakra on her feet. A light layer of chakra became visible under her feet, and immediately afterward, Sayuri ran and tried to climb the tree vertically using only her chakra. After ten steps, she had to push off as her grip slipped. She corrected her posture and landed safely on her feet.
'Damned. I've been here for 2 hours and can't get any further! What am I doing wrong?!' Sayuri found the exercise in one of her clan's scrolls and set out to master it. The more control she had over her chakra, the better she could use it and learn something else. Now that she's still at the academy, she could safely focus her time on something like that.
She repeated this exercise late into the night and arrived at her apartment in the dark. She managed to take a quick shower, and when she was in bed, she fell asleep straight away from exhaustion.
At night, the village was still lively, whether it was the people still in the pubs or just people going about their jobs. A particularly large number of ninjas are out and about at night and keep watch, whether it's at the wall or in the village. The village was illuminated by the lights of the houses and streets, so even at night, you could see everything in the beautiful village behind the leaves.
A girl with long red hair that hit her waist was running. Why? She didn't know it herself; her purple eyes focused on all the junctions before her. Once again, she's being chased by some drunken villagers for whatever reason. She didn't get it; nobody told her why everyone hated her. Sure, she pulled a few pranks, and maybe that was not nice of her... but that didn't mean she needed to be followed!
She barely got out of the grip of a drunk villager and managed to flee until worse could happen. On her cheeks were six whisker marks. She also had a bruise from a punch a villager gave her.
She ran and ran, never even thinking of stopping. She just had to make it to her apartment, and then she would be safe. No matter how much the villagers hate her, they've never tracked her down or broken into her apartment. She only had to turn a few times, and she would be safe.
Naruto's eyes twitched and opened slightly. He mumbled something no one would understand and yawned once. He was free, so he didn't have to attend the academy. That meant he could devote himself completely to his training. For the next two weeks, he would go to the river every day and practice his Taijutsu there on the river. Since he trains this on the river, he also trains his control simultaneously and can thus increase his reserves. Of course, he also trains the body flicker technique a bit more. Learning a Jutsu wasn't the problem. Mastering Jutsu to a high degree was the challenge. Naruto tried to use the body flicker technique better than most shinobi. Many couldn't see the potential in this simple high-speed movement technique. A few shinobi could use the body to flicker to a high degree. Every Shinobi who mastered this simple technique became feared at some point or had a high ranking just because of their speed. There would also be the added effect that with more mastery over the body flicker technique, the substitution technique could be used even when he was older.
The substitution technique could only be used against opponents who were slower or as fast as someone else. When an enemy was faster than oneself, he would see how you would substitute yourself with something, and he could follow you immediately.
Naruto got up and went to the kitchen. He took a glass and poured cold water into it. 'Maybe I should try this exercise for the Kunai's again. It almost worked last time.' Naruto was a diligent student, and that's why he's so good, but he's above average with kunai and shuriken.
Naruto drained the glass and then put the glass away. He returned to his room and changed into black pants and a gray T-shirt. He then packed his things for the day in a backpack and went into the hallway. He put the backpack aside and then put on his black sandals. He then went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He took food out of the fridge and closed the fridge again. He began to enjoy the meal in peace, and when he was done, he put everything away and then took his backpack.
He's going to spend the whole day at the training ground today, and that's why he's packed several things in addition to his change of clothes. Especially important were the six bottles full of water, which he was guaranteed to need.
He checked again that he really had everything and then nodded to himself. He took his keys and left the house. He locked the door and went on his way. He wanted to be there soon because some girls were looking for him again. He didn't understand why the girls kept staring at him and cheering him on. He just found it funny and odd. Anyway, he chose to jump over the rooftops. He concentrated chakra in his legs and started jumping from roof to roof toward the training ground.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage. This older man was now in his 60s and held the title of Hokage longer than anyone before him. When he was younger and in the prime of his career, he was called the god of the shinobi. He could use all five basic elements and knew every jutsu from Konoha. With age came experience, which continued to accumulate and, in retrospect, earned him his second nickname, Professor.
He was momentarily looking at his desk, concentrating on something. His arms were raised above the desk, his hands encircling a round crystal ball. After just a moment, Naruto appeared in the crystal ball, leaping over the rooftops towards the training ground. Hiruzen kept looking at Naruto Ueda for a reason. His parents, Yuri Ueda and Mina Ueda, asked him to do it. The father died when the Nine-Tailes attacked, and his mother unfortunately died from an illness when Naruto was only five years old. He found him all alone on a riverbank back then. He joined him and began to introduce himself to Naruto.
Naruto was like a spitting image of a shinobi he knew well. Calm, collected, intelligent, kind-hearted, and so much more. But the most important thing was that he was ahead of his age. Hiruzen didn't find Naruto until a month after his mother's death, and in that short time, Naruto seemed to have gone through a major change. He didn't know any boy as grown as Naruto. There were only three examples before him which also had to mature faster due to certain circumstances. Be it Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake or Izumi Uchiha. Each of these names has a story that isn't exactly pretty. At least these three names were popular and well-known.
He followed his progress in the academy with great interest; after all, he was only from a civil family. Most children of civilian families were nowhere near as advanced as Naruto. Naruto had what it takes to be a Genin right now, and that's saying something in a time of peace. The standards at the academy had dropped a lot since Hiruzen's time, and yet Naruto could graduate from the academy even by the old standards. Only one other person besides him would be ready, just like him.
He felt a familiar signature approach his office, and he deactivated the crystal ball and stowed it away safely again. He smiled as the door swung open and saw his energetic granddaughter. "Ah, Kasumi-chan, how was your day?"
Naruto was sitting in front of the river with a scroll unrolled in front of him. All the information about the Taekwondo style was there. He looked at the first form of the style and studied it closely. After all, he didn't want to make mistakes and eventually had to start again. He looked at everything for exactly 20 minutes and then understood the first form. He got up and took off his sandals and shirt. He went onto the river and started doing some warm-up exercises. He did this for 10 minutes to get his body moving. After that, he started the first form. He did the form very slowly and tried to do it right.
It was almost like a meditation watching from the outside. Someone even watched Naruto. It was someone who would soon be teaching the young Uchiha. That someone was currently wearing standard Anbu armor. His mask was reminiscent of a dog, and his silver hair seemed to defy gravity. The hair stuck out to the side.
The Anbu watched Naruto take his first steps and movements with his arms. He could see the concentration in his body tension. Sweat was visible on his forehead. 'He's doing it slowly, but he's doing it right. As it should be.' This Anbu was amazed at how disciplined Naruto was. He's heard about this year's best in class, but seeing him now reminded him of himself. This thought saddened him; like him, Naruto lost his parents before he was six and had to mature faster.
He's excited to see which team he'll end up on. He should be teamed up with the Uchiha and another person if everything goes normal. That meant he would most likely have him as a student himself. However, this could still change if, for example, another Sensei asked him for himself.
Unfortunately, he couldn't ask for him himself since he had already asked for the Uchiha. Unfortunately, each sensei could only request one student, meaning he could only hope for it. This year would be interesting in general as there were many kunoichi. It could well be that a Genin Team with 2 Kunoichi and 1 Shinobi were in this year.
He watched Naruto the whole day as he completely funneled the first form into himself and had already begun to master the second. The Anbu could tell from the boy's physique that his body had been trained for speed. His leg muscles and upper body spoke for a fast owner.
Naruto walked towards the shore at a slow pace. The sun was slowly going down, and his muscles had already gotten used to the sequence of the first form. He knew a boy named Rock Lee who could only use Taijutsu, so he only trained his body daily. Unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, Taijutsu didn't require a bit of chakra. It was, of course, possible to use chakra in Taijutsu and thus give more power to your punches and kicks, but this wasn't necessary. There were enough Taijutsu techniques that were only used with the body.
Naruto arrived at the shore and dropped to the ground. He took a water bottle from his backpack and took a good sip. 'I'm excited to see how that will turn out.' Naruto could only guess how the future would develop.
For the past two weeks, Naruto had been training every day from morning to night and had greatly improved his Taijutsu. His chakra reserves were also slowly starting to increase a bit with all the training on the river. He still had his perfect chakra control and would probably always keep it. Since he mostly focused on his Taijutsu, he didn't make much progress with the body flicker technique. It was more important for him to know how to get better at Taijutsu.
In 2 weeks, nobody expected that a student would become a real expert in a field. Nevertheless, Naruto did more in these two weeks than most of his age. Naruto was proud of what he had achieved and was sure that by the end of the academy, he would have his Taijutsu at a good level.
Naruto was on his way to the academy with his backpack on his back. He was wearing a gray T-shirt, black pants, and sandals. With all the dark colors, his brown backpack seemed a bit out of place. Like most backpacks, this one was light brown rather than dark.
Naruto looked around and saw all the families walking to the academy with their children. He had a slightly sad smile on his lips. He missed his mother. He shook his head a bit and tried not to think about it. He then went on and saw the Academy in the distance. As he walked onto the premises, two girls watched him again. He ignored those looks because he found them strange and entered the building at a fast pace. He walked through the corridors, which were still mostly empty, and then into his classroom. Today was the start of his last year, and he couldn't wait to start wearing weights in 1 1/2 months. There, he would get some as a gift from someone.
He couldn't go to a shinobi store yet to get some for himself. You only got what's sold in a shinobi shop as a Genin or above, which meant he had to wait.
As always, Naruto sat at the back of the window and waited. He propped himself up on one arm and looked out the window while he waited. After a few minutes, his teacher came in, wearing the normal blue outfit of a Konoha shinobi. He wore a green Konoha flak jacket over this, which made his status as a Chunin complete.
"Ah, Naruto, how have the last two weeks been?" The teacher had a scar running across his face and black hair that he had tied up in a weird braid.
"Very good, thank you, Sensei Iruka. I've accomplished a lot." Naruto liked his sensei. He treated everyone the same and made it equally fair for everyone. Normally, the teachers at the academy preferred clan heirs, and Naruto noticed this at the beginning. From the start, he was the best in his class, so the teachers before Iruka also paid attention to him. However, his classmates lagged during the first three years.
"Glad to hear that, Naruto." He put a few pieces of paper on his desk and sat on the chair right before his desk.
After 2 minutes, Sayuri Uchiha entered the classroom with an annoyed look, closely followed by several classmates. Mostly boys, although there were a few girls. They all cheered the Uchiha on how beautiful and elegant she was.
Naruto stared out the window, ignoring the noisy atmosphere as the last students entered. However, he couldn't ignore it when he heard two familiar voices.
"I WON YOU, PIG!" a girl with long pink hair and green eyes said confidently.
"ONLY YOU BELIEVE THAT FOREHEAD!" yelled back a girl with long blond hair tied in a pigtail and blue eyes. Anyone who saw them recognized those eyes. They were the eyes of a Yamanaka.
Naruto twitched and finally looked ahead because he saw his teacher quieting the classroom with this weird jutsu. How his teacher made his head so huge and suddenly got a voice that echoed was too much for Naruto. However, this jutsu worked, and everyone became silent. Usually, the two girls always fought over who got to sit next to Naruto.
These two were Naruto's two biggest fangirls and led the small club of fangirls. One was called Sakura Haruno, and the other Ino Yamanaka. As far as Naruto could tell, Sakura had perfect chakra control, just like Naruto. Like himself, she was from a civilian family, and Ino Yamanaka was from the Yamanaka clan.
Today, Sakura managed to sit next to Naruto first. Naruto sat right by the window so only one person could sit beside him. Ino sat down next to Sakura and glared at her while Sakura just dreamily looked at Naruto or forward, skillfully ignoring Ino.
Naruto was just glad the two of them stayed calm during the lesson. He didn't mind them both, but their voices could get pretty loud sometimes.
Classes started, and the teacher started talking about elements and their possibilities. "OK, who can tell me what the basic elements are?"
Sakura pointed, and the teacher said her name. "Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning, Sensei!"
"Very good, Sakura, that was right." Sakura raised her hand in the air and thought something like, 'Cha! This is how Naruto-kun sees me. I'm intelligent, and Ino-Pig isn't!'
Naruto even knew that Sakura was pretty smart. Her theoretical grades speak for themselves. There she was, even above the Uchiha. However, her practical part kept her from outperforming the Uchiha. Sakura was a normal girl her age who was more interested in make-up and other things. Naruto found this just wasted potential, just like Ino Yamanaka. She was the worst girl in her class regarding make-up. No one but her wore mascara now.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the whole class started laughing. He looked ahead and had to fight himself to keep from laughing. A classmate named Kiba Inuzuka had orange hair, but Naruto didn't know exactly how. However, this just looked too weird. But he was able to pull himself together and remained calm.
If Naruto finds a boy annoying, it's probably Kiba Inuzuka. This guy was always bouncing around despite being the worst of the class next to Shikamaru Nara. With Shikamaru, it's only because he's super lazy. Otherwise, he always knew every answer when he was awake for a moment and answered. Normally, Shikamaru always slept in class and did only the minimum to ensure he passed.
Naruto already knew that this year would go by pretty quickly. It was not just because the academy was reasonably easy, but it was also due to another fact. After the academy, he already planned his daily routine as well as possible.
'Is it 11 months already?' Naruto looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but marvel. At the beginning of the year, he had almost no visible muscles. But now you could see visible muscles that defined his whole body. They may not be big, but they are perfect for someone training their body for speed. Everything took a turn after he started working out with the weights he received as a birthday gift from the Hokage himself.
He didn't know what he did to earn the support of the most influential person in the village. He could still remember exactly how he was sitting by the river at the age of 5 and was frying fish over a campfire, and then suddenly, this old man came by and made him laugh with exciting stories. Thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Naruto managed to avoid loneliness and experience a reasonably happy childhood.
Naruto had also refined and improved his Taijutsu over the past 11 months. Due to his constant training of his body and the fact that he trained his Taijutsu every day, it was clear that he was now at a good level.
With the harder training, his reserves had also increased and were now slowly reaching acceptable levels in Naruto's view. He found out that even for a civilian, he had very little chakra. Now, he was slowly getting to the level where he should be in his training.
Naruto also perfected his Shurikenjutsu, where he was above average before; he was now perfect at it. He could perform some tricks with two simple kunai that most would be amazed by. Be it changing the direction of the kunai by throwing another one precisely into the path of the kunai, or be it in close combat with a kunai, hardly anyone could beat him there. With the kunai and shuriken, he always hit the mark, whether it was a stationary or a moving target.
His usage of the body flicker technique also improved. He mostly focused on his Taijutsu and trained his mastery over the Jutsu. He had one big goal in terms of mastery over this D-Rang Jutsu. He wanted to be as fast as Shisui Uchiha. He read a lot about him. It was said that he would fade out of existence when using it. No one could see where he would appear and in which direction he disappeared. Normally, you could see in which direction the user moves. But no one could see in which direction Shisui vanished and where he would appear. It looked more like teleportation than very fast movement when he used it. He was fast enough to dodge multiple kunai/shuriken and outrun many shinobi simultaneously.
Naruto put on a black T-shirt and black pants. In addition to his black sandals, Naruto put on a gray jacket. Today, he was free, meaning he could go to the Ichirakus again. He hadn't been there for ages, and maybe he would meet someone new.
Naruto was walking the streets of Konoha 5 minutes later. He had already completed his training today. The sun had already set, which meant that the lights of the houses had illuminated the village. Only side streets, for example, were an exception because no light sources reached them.
Naruto rounded a corner and saw the stand that served the best noodle soup ever. Naruto blinked a few times when he heard a happy and loud girl's voice behind the curtains. He saw long red hair, even though he recognized the voice. It was the voice of Kasumi Uzumaki. She was in his class and was originally at the bottom. Within this year, however, she had improved greatly and even became the 2nd best. Nobody knew how she managed such a sharp turn. All Naruto knew was that this girl had extremely strong stamina. She was known throughout the village for her fleeting pranks, and some Anbu often hunted her. She sometimes cost the Anbu several hours of their life because she ran away without even taking a break.
So, Naruto went to the booth and sat on one of the stools. The conversation broke off, and his classmate and the two people behind the counter looked at Naruto. "Sorry, I hope I'm not disturbing you." Naruto didn't know what was going on here. He came in quite normally, didn't he?
"Of course, my boy, can I make you something nice?" Teuchi was the owner of Ichirakus. His daughter Ayame worked alongside him at Ichirakus. Both were among the few people who treated Kasumi Uzumaki like a human, not a monster, as 97% of the villagers did. Not that Naruto knew. He was way too busy with his Taijutsu training and other things. He rarely socialized with others his age. There would only occasionally be Shikamaru Nara.
"I'll have a miso ramen." Naruto didn't know why, but his classmate stared at him the whole time. He looked straight into her purple eyes and wondered what was going on. She seemed confused and surprised. There was something else in her eyes, but he couldn't make it out. "Are you okay, Uzumaki?"
"My name is Kasumi! Not "Uzumaki," understood?"
Naruto nodded. "As you wish, Kasumi." At that moment, Naruto was presented with his ramen. Since Naruto didn't know exactly what to discuss with his classmates, he ate his ramen peacefully. He had to say that Ichiraku's ramen was something special. Every noodle and every piece of meat was perfect. He didn't know how Teuchi got his ramen so perfectly, but he was glad to know this stand.
After a minute, he heard his classmate talking to Ayame again. Teuchi spoke to Naruto during this. "My boy, would you like another bowl?" He asked this question at the right time because Naruto had just finished with his first bowl. "Yeah, thanks, that would be great." Naruto returned the empty bowl, and Teuchi began preparing another bowl for him. "How do you do your ramen so well, Teuchi? I tried to make it at home once but couldn't even begin to do it like yours."
Teuchi laughed, "That's a trade secret, my boy. I'm glad you like my noodle soup. So, you can already cook yourself, yes?"
"Yes. I taught myself." Naruto then started to eat the noodle soup in peace. Teuchi could already imagine what that meant and was, therefore, sad. Naruto had no parents anymore, just like Kasumi. He seemed to live alone, which also applied to Kasumi.
Kasumi was eating her noodle soup and couldn't help but think about Naruto's look. He didn't look at her like the others. He didn't have this hate in his eyes or face like the other villagers. No fear was there either, no matter how long he looked at her. His gaze was quite normal, the way he looked at everyone. Of course, she knew her classmate. After all, every girl talked about the dope or the best in class. Unlike the stupid cow, Naruto wasn't arrogant one bit.
Naruto saw Kasumi looking straight at him. "Kasumi, is something?"
"Why are you always alone during breaks?" She's always wondered that. She had learned a lot in the past few months, including observation and careful listening. She understood right away that Naruto had no parents anymore. He would have learned to cook from his mother or father if he still had parents.
She could only cook very little; she had Teuchi and Ayame! Here, she always got the food of the gods, and that's enough!
Naruto looked into Kasumi's purple eyes. "I prefer to have it quiet during the break. It isn't quiet in class, and the quiet atmosphere during the break is very comfortable. "
Kasumi tried to understand this explanation. In a sense, she understood what Naruto meant. After all, he sat next to the Haruno and the Yamanaka. On the other hand, she couldn't understand why he was otherwise always alone. She often saw him by chance outside the academy; even there, he was always alone. She never saw him with anyone, no matter where he was.
"Don't you want to spend time with friends?" Kasumi would do anything to get more people to appreciate her! She would make it, dattabane!
"I train most of the time." Naruto then looked over his shoulder at a few shinobi walking past the booth.
"I come from a civilian family, so I have very little chakra." He then looked back at Kasumi. "Unlike the Uchiha and you, I do not come from a clan and, therefore, have to train hard to increase my reserves." Naruto then started eating again and didn't see the three shocked faces of Teuchi, Ayame, and Kasumi.
"W-what do you mean?" Kasumi couldn't believe it. She's supposed to be a descendant of a clan. She didn't understand anything at that moment.
"Naruto, my boy, what do you mean? Kasumi is supposed to be descended from a clan?" The two were just normal civilians and could not know anything about it. Only the smallest part of the Jonin and Anbu still knew the Uzumaki clan since Iwa and Kumo almost wiped it out in the Second Shinobi World War.
Naruto lifted his head and looked at all three confusedly. "Hmm? Kasumi is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan; don't you know them? "
"No. Neither of us knows of an Uzumaki clan." Teuchi spoke for himself and his daughter.
"Strange, the symbol is everywhere in the village." Naruto pointed his chopstick at the red spiral on Kasumi's shoulder. "This is the symbol of the Uzumaki clan." Naruto took his chopstick back to his bowl and started eating again.
"Hey, Naruto." Kasumi just couldn't put her feelings into words. She was from a clan! She's not a meaningless orphan; she's from a clan! She desperately needed to learn more about her clan, and her classmate seemed to know something about it.
Naruto looked sideways and looked at her. "Hmm?" He was chewing and didn't answer properly.
"Can you tell me more about my clan?" Kasumi had hope. She may have surviving family members after all. She may not be entirely alone.
Naruto raised a finger, chewed briefly, and then swallowed the food. He lowered his finger and thought for a moment. "Where should I start? There is a lot to say about your clan." Naruto wondered how best to start. There was a lot to say about the Uzumaki Clan.
Teuchi and Ayame stood behind the counter and waited anxiously. They couldn't believe that their little Kasumi was descended from a clan. They wished it for Kasumi because she could still have living family members. Maybe not in this village, but maybe outside. When she finally became a kunoichi and went on missions, she might meet other members of the Uzumaki clan.
"I'll start by saying that the first Hokage Hashirama Senju's wife was named Mito Uzumaki. I know that the Uzumaki and the Senju are distantly related. The Uzumaki clan came from the whirlpool country and lived in Uzushiogakure. The Uzumaki clan was known for several things. First, the red hair, like yours, Kasumi." He points to her long red hair, down to her lower back. "Secondly, they were known to be born with more chakra than others and a very strong life force. Members of the Uzumaki clan have a longer lifespan than other Shinobi. The Uzumaki clan was also known as the clan of longevity. The Uzumaki clan was also feared for his skills in Sealing Jutsu, and the clan was known for its Kenjutsu masters. Some members were true sword masters and could keep entire armies of shinobi at bay with their sword skills and high stamina. Because of the fear of the clan's special skills, the clan was attacked during the second war, and Uzushiogakure was destroyed. Only a few survived the attack, and those who did were scattered worldwide. There are not many living Uzumaki members left. As far as I know, only a woman named Kushina Uzumaki was in the village before you." Naruto finished his explanation and then looked up at the sky. He had forgotten something, and now he remembered what it was. "Ah damn! I have to go shopping."
Naruto quickly put money on the counter and bowed briefly, "I'm sorry! I have to go. Otherwise, the shops will close soon. The food was delicious!" After that, Naruto jumped onto the nearest roof and just disappeared.
By the time each of the three had recovered from their shock, Naruto had already disappeared over several rooftops.
Someone watched the whole conversation through a special object. Hiruzen Sarutobi expected a lot from Naruto, but he didn't know Naruto would know the Uzumaki clan. He wanted to tell Kasumi everything when she was Chunin. Now, she knew she was descended from the Uzumaki clan and even knew the name Kushina Uzumaki. He'll have much to explain today; that was clear for the old wise man. He was slightly sad when he saw Kasumi's face through his crystal ball. She seemed hurt, and he could guess why. It was not difficult for the experienced old man to put one and one together. She was thinking about him and why he hadn't told her anything yet.
After a few jumps, Naruto jumped off a roof and landed right in front of the store where he always went shopping. Here were the best foods for his meals. He quickly walked in and came out 15 minutes later with a bag. Behind him, the owner locked his shop, and Naruto sighed in relief. He could still get anything. He was really lucky that he thought of it. The shops would be closed tomorrow, and his fridge would be as good as empty.
'Alright, let's go.' Naruto left calmly and eventually arrived at his home. He went into the house and closed the door behind him. He went into the kitchen and put the bag down on the counter. He opened the fridge and then put all the groceries in it.
When he finished that, he went to his father's study and read a little more. After a while, he went to bed and fell asleep quite quickly.
Sayuri was just out of the academy, and as always, all the parents were catching her fans, so she had her peace again. She could easily go home and train again. Her long black hair was braided into a pony, and two long strands hung down either side of her face. She was about to start before she saw the reason for her recent successes.
Naruto also just got out of the academy, and like her before, all the fans were intercepted by the parents. Naruto walked off the premises and saw Sayuri looking at him and just standing there.
"Hello, Uchiha." Naruto had never really had much contact with Sayuri. Just like with himself, she hardly had any contact with others. Although both had many fans, both were rather loners at the moment. However, Naruto had different reasons than Sayuri.
"Hello, Ueda." Sayuri didn't remember ever speaking to Naruto in person. Naruto sat at the back of the room, and Sayuri sat more centrally in the front.
"Are you going to train again?" Sayuri was the person who spoke up.
Naruto nodded. "Yes, I'll return to the training ground soon."
"Which one?" Sayuri was unlike most girls; Naruto could tell that much. She was calm and seemed cold on the outside. Naruto didn't mind; he could also be considered cold. After all, he's mostly alone most of the time.
Naruto did know one thing about Sayuri, though. She and Kasumi couldn't stand each other. Kasumi sought attention, talked a lot, was energetic, and always smiling.
Sayuri was sort of the opposite of Kasumi. She was quiet, preferred to be alone, didn't talk much, seemed annoyed most of the time, and rarely smiled. She mostly wore an annoyed expression on her face.
"Training Ground 33."
Sayuri nodded. She turned and just walked away. Naruto just looked after her because he was a bit confused. He then shrugged his shoulders and went off himself.
An hour later, Naruto was at the training ground. He was putting his backpack in its usual place. He wore brown pants, black sandals, and a gray shirt.
Naruto heard something behind him, so he turned around and, out of nowhere, held a kunai in his hand. Naruto stood by and looked closely at the bushes. He tensed his muscles and stood ready. He held the kunai in his right hand.
A small blue toad jumped out of the bushes. Naruto blinked a few times and then sighed. 'Just a toad.' Naruto relaxed his muscles and put the kunai away again. He looked closer at the toad and felt something oddly familiar about it. He crouched down in front of it. The toad was not completely blue; only the back of the toad was blue, and the underside, like its face, was more of a white to light cream color. The toad didn't flinch as Naruto eyed it closely and even touched it lightly with his finger once. The toad made his usual noises calmly and just looked at Naruto.
"You gave me quite a fright, little one." Naruto narrowed his eyes, and out of instinct, he took the toad in one hand and jumped away. A purple snake came slithering out of the bushes, and it had just tried to eat the toad.
Naruto threw a kunai at the snake, and right after that, he held three more kunai between his fingers. The snake sensed the danger and wanted to wriggle back into the bushes. The first kunai landed right before the snake, causing it to curl up and hiss at the kunai. The snake immediately got a kunai at the head and two other places. The snake was dead and didn't move anymore.
Naruto landed safely on both feet and looked at the snake's dead body. The three kunai from him were still stuck in the snake's body. Naruto looked at the toad in his hand and then at the river nearby. He calmly went to the river and squatted in front of it, holding his hand right in front. The toad turned once to Naruto, made a noise, and opened its mouth. Naruto's eyes widened as a scroll came from the toad's mouth.
Naruto just watched as this scroll came out of the toad's mouth, and when the toad dropped the scroll on Naruto's hand with its tongue, it just turned around and jumped into the river.
Naruto just sat there and didn't know what to do. He was just speechless. 'A-a scroll... toad... muzzle...' It took him a few seconds to come back to the realm of the living. He quickly shook his head and looked at the scroll. It was blue, and the words " Toad Scroll" were written in kanji on the scroll.
'Toad Scroll? What is that supposed to be?' Naruto took the scroll to his backpack by the usual tree. He wanted to continue training his Taijutsu, but this surprising experience stopped him from training.
Naruto sat on the ground, leaned against the tree with his back, and unrolled the scroll over his legs. When he saw what that was, his eyes widened. 'T-that is!' He saw many open fields and no name yet. He had heard a lot about it, but never had he thought he would ever hold such a scroll. This was a scroll to complete a contract with an animal.
Naruto didn't know what to make of it. He's got a contract of toads in his hand that no one has signed yet. 'That cannot be. That's just impossible. How is that supposed to work? One of the three legendary Sannin and the fourth Hokage summoned toads and were famous for doing so. So why is this contract empty? Is there a second kind of toad, or what does that mean?' Naruto was wondering what to do.
He just sat there for several minutes looking at the scroll. He rolled her out and sometimes rolled her in further. He picked her up more times than he was even aware of, then put it back on his legs afterward.
'Oh, what the hell. Almost nobody can even sign a contract with an animal, and here I have such a rare opportunity. I should sign it.' Naruto knew the procedure and bit his thumb because of it. He wrote his name on the scroll in blood, and right after that, he made another imprint of his fingers under his name.
His name flashed briefly, and immediately afterward, his previously bloody name was written in black characters. Thus, the contract was signed, and Naruto was now a toad summoner.
Naruto knew the procedure because he came across a scroll two months ago. The summoning jutsu and how to perform it were also described there. Naruto hadn't practiced it yet as he didn't think it was necessary. Now, he would change his training a bit until graduation. He's not going to train his body all day like he used to, his Taijutsu and his reserves besides the body flicker technique. Now, he would also learn the jutsu.
He stowed the scroll in his backpack and then began his usual training. He removed his shirt and went to the river where the toad disappeared earlier. Naruto started to warm up, and a few minutes later, he started his real workout.
An hour later, Naruto took a short break. He's just sitting in front of the river and resting. 'A lot happened this year.' Naruto thought back and could say that this year, he achieved a lot of success in his training. He achieved more success with the weights and increased his reserves more quickly. He had unknowingly revealed to Kasumi that she was from the Uzumaki clan.
It made her seem happy at first, but after that, she seemed a bit depressed about something. Naruto had never known why she seemed so depressed. She appeared generally a little calmer after the first week.
Soon, his life as a shinobi would begin, and he was sure he would be well prepared. In the academy, you learn the basics of the life of a shinobi, and from the Jonin Sensei, you learn everything else. Whether it was new jutsus or special skills. Everything was taught there and not in the academy.
His ears twitched as he heard footsteps. He looked over his shoulder and could see Sayuri Uchiha. She walked towards Naruto leisurely and looked him straight in the eyes. Her black eyes were fixed on his black eyes.
"Can I help you, Uchiha?" asked Naruto.
Sayuri stopped in front of Naruto "Sayuri." Naruto looked at her, a bit confused.
"You can call me Sayuri." Sayuri Uchiha said without showing much emotion. As usual, she seems pretty dismissive.
"Ok, then you can call me Naruto."
"Do you mind if I tag along?" asked Sayuri.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Not that I mind… but why do you want to train with me?"
"You are the only one who isn't annoying, and having a sparring partner would be good. No one can keep up with me besides you in the Taijutsu Matches, and even then, we both don't go all out," said Sayuri. She had learned so much from Naruto just by looking at him randomly. She thought about this more than once. It would be best if she could train with him and maybe discover other things that could be useful for her.
Naruto nodded and thought about it for a minute. The academy was almost over, but having a sparring partner who could keep up with Naruto was rare, and it would also be positive for him. Sayuri was also a girl who didn't look at him like most girls. So that was also not the problem. It would only bring benefits.
"Sure, why not," said Naruto.
(A/N I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I'll see you in the next one.
I have a few questions for all of you who are interested in this Fanfiction.
Which Element should Naruto get in this Story? Write an Element with a good reason. Why should he get that specific element?
Which Girl should Naruto get later in the Story? Just write your request, and I will think about it. I already have a girl in mind, but maybe your wish is more likable? I would be more open to this request if you guys wrote a good reason for that girl. If the reason would be good, I would consider multi-pairing for Naruto, not just one. I am excited to see your requests!
That's about it, stay healthy and be careful guys!)