I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

I OWN ALL THE OCs in this story.

This work is my own work and cannot be published by someone else without my consent.

CHAPTER 5

THE TRAINING

The whole class was chatting animatedly about the new redhead in class who gave quite a performance on his first day of academy, and also about his supposed friend, Uzumaki Kushina.

Kushina…the name was gradually getting out of reach for the students of the class. The student who they all made fun of and used as a scapegoat for their own insecurities, could no longer be used for that purpose. Though Kushina had no qualms about beating the absolute hell out of them, her fellow redhead seemed to have no issues in ending their shinobi career, he looked as if he would kill them without sparing a second glance.

This terrified the class…

After the medics took away the bullies, not without casting a not so subtle glare at Naruto, the teacher entered, annoyed at the chatting students.

"Students!" he called out, only to be ignored by his students, who were apparently too busy to be concerned with him, pissing him off.

"OI! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BRATS!" That seemed to do the trick as all of them quickly scampered to their seats like mice and shut their traps.

The teacher nodded at the show of respect and cleared his throat, "Alright class, today we have a new student joining us, why don't you stand up and introduce yourself?", the teacher turned to Naruto and asked politely.

Naruto nodded and stood up, glancing around the class. He then spoke in a confident tone, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I am the surrogate brother of Uzumaki Kushina. I am from the fallen village of Uzu. My goal is to protect my family and keep bringing honor to the Uzumaki name."

'So he is her brother.' thought the class, now even more wary of messing with Kushina.

A couple children wanted to comment on another outsider, but they wisely kept their mouths shut, suddenly feeling an overwhelming affection for their left arm.

The teacher smiled and said, "Very good, Naruto. A shinobi should always protect what they cherish. I am Turuku Kenchi and you shall address me as Kenchi-sensei and I will be your teacher for your next 4 years in the academy."

Naruto gave the teacher a polite nod and settled down. Beside him, Kushina was thinking, 'Damn, I should have said something like that at my introduction…'

—X—X—X—

Soon, the classes started and Naruto was finally free from the prying eyes. Recognizing the opportunity, he quickly activated his rinnegan and scanned the chakra levels and potentials of all the students and their sensei.

The chakra coils of most of the students were still developing, like he expected, but there were a few exceptions. The black haired boy, 'Fugaku' his name was, his chakra coils were almost completely developed and it looked like he would be able to perform ninjutsu by the end of the year. Beside him, Mikoto's coils were a little behind but they too would mature before next year. This was the reason why all young Uchihas had to perform the great fireball jutsu as soon as they turned 10, as all the pyromaniacs had fully developed coils by then .

Kushina's coils surprised him greatly, her chakra was in one word, dense. It was even denser than their sensei and at such a young age. Naruto was sure that it would only grow denser as she grew up. 'Maybe her chakra will be able to manifest a physical form, that will surely be interesting.'

And then, there was the shock of the day, the blonde boy. 'Minato, Kushina told me his name is Minato.' His chakra coils were completely developed, ready to perform ninjutsu. What was weird was that his chakra had the signs of a kekkei genkai. But unlike most kekkei genkai users, whose chakra was generally in a frenzy, moving around like violent waves, his chakra seemed perfectly calm and composed, like he had perfect control of his chakra flow. 'He is probably a great sensor, if he has such a calm chakra.'

'Who are you, Minato?'

On a personal level, Naruto had started to respect Minato, Minato didn't look at Kushina like an outsider, he seemed to give her an accepting look and was also prepared to rush in to help Kushina. That was enough to earn Naruto's respect.

'I will probably meet up with him later.' he thought as he deactivated his dojutsu and started to focus on the class.

It turns out that Konoha and Uzushio were very different in their academy curriculums. While in Uzushio, they were already started with physical arts and chakra theory, the Konoha academy was more focused on history, geography along with ninjutsu aspects with basic genjutsu knowledge.

Though it didn't matter much as Naruto had already went through the subjects in Uzushio. He planned to pass as the top student in the academy to begin his influence in the village.

—X—X—X—

After the academy, Naruto told Kushina that her training will begin from the evening and told her to rest up. Meanwhile he had a couple things to do.

He caught up to Minato who was returning home from academy.

"Hey" Naruto called out.

Minato instantly turned around, though he was not surprised at all.

'He sensed me, at such a young age. Truly a prodigy worthy to be my rival.' were Naruto's thoughts instantly realizing that he had been sensed.

Minato had sensed a chakra signature coming his way but he had not expected it to be Naruto. So, needless to say, he was surprised. But he was also glad as he believed that Naruto could be the perfect rival for him. Fugaku was fine, but they excelled at different areas of shinobi arts. But Naruto could be a perfect rival to push him to his limits.

"Um, hello. You must be Naruto."

"Indeed I am, and I believe you are Minato."

"Hai, Namikaze Minato, pleased to make your acquaintance." Minato replied with a polite nod.

"Namikaze Minato, huh… I believe that out of all the students I have observed today, you are the most interesting one, and I want us to be acquainted properly. So what do you say?" Naruto asked with a calm smile, as he was really interested in the boy with a perfect chakra flow.

Minato didn't even need to think about it. He wanted a rival, plus, he knew that Naruto was like an overprotective brother to Kushina and he couldn't get close to her without his approval. So, he instantly accepted, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Well, I know the perfect way to get to know someone. It is how two shinobi can clearly understand each other." Naruto said, raising Minato's interest as he continued, "We shall exchange fists. Come on, you know the village better so lead the way." Naruto said, barely able to control himself.

Minato frowned, "So we will understand each other by sparring? How does it work, it makes no sense to me?"

Naruto merely smiled, this method was used by teachers in the Uzushio academy to resolve conflicts among students. They would have to spar against each other until one of them gave up or they understood the purpose of the spar.

"It will all make sense soon, trust me,"

—X—X—X—

'Who the hell are you, Namikaze Minato?' was the thought running through the head of a silky haired redhead, who was drenched in sweat and bruises, currently in the middle of a friendly spar.

Minato's strength impressed him, a lot. Though Naruto was holding back, only a little, mind you. Naruto was fighting with around 80% of his strength, and he didn't expect anyone to overcome that.

But Minato did, he matched every blow of Naruto with a blow of his own. Every time Naruto increased his speed, Minato did too. They were tied, no boy could beat the other. 'Finally, a worthy rival. He will help me in achieving my goals, and I will push him to fulfil his dreams.'

Minato was currently facing Naruto on the training ground, he was panting with his hands on his knees, clothes in tatters and covered in bruises.

'I am so close to figuring you out, Minato. Come on, show me more.'

Naruto and Minato locked eyes with each other, and almost at the same time they gave each other a wide grin. Not out of happiness or joy, but pure excitement.

"You are right Naruto, I think I am starting to understand you."

Both boys stood straight, locking eyes with each other and observing a leaf slowly falling to the ground, when the leaf landed, both boys blurred from their position and met in the middle.

Naruto decided to keep fighting at the same level, he quickly ducked a kick and attempted a triple leg-sweep combo, Minato flipped backwards for the first two but jumped up for the third, both boys recognized the opportunity. Now!

Naruto quickly launched a kick towards his torso while Minato attempted to stomp his face in. Unfortunately for the boys their kicks met each other. They paused for a moment, Minato in mid air, then suddenly both boys were launched back, with Minato hitting a tree while Naruto was pushed several feet backwards, having a stone break his path.

And for the first time since Uzu, Naruto laughed… He laughed so hard Minato thought he went insane, but deep inside he knew the reason Naruto was laughing, he enjoyed it, a little too much.

"I think I finally understand you, Minato."

Minato merely smiled and nodded, "I understand you too, Naruto."

A single thought ran through both the boys…

'He is just like me. He fights for the same reason.'

—X—X—X—

"I didn't know the Namikaze family had a kekkei genkai."

The Namikaze family was a shinobi family, but it was not large enough to be a clan. In fact, it only consisted of a single family, based on what Minato had told him, with only one or two children born per generation.

"Its not that well known. Our kekkei genkai is called Seikakuna Kanpeki, it allows us perfect control over our chakra. With this, I can regulate chakra where ever I want in my body, and enhance that part, I can perfectly enhance all my senses along with my muscles. Though my father used to believe that this is only the surface of the potential of our kekkei genkai. I can also control the speed of flow of chakra in my body, so I can increase my speed depending on my mastery of Seikakuna Kanpeki. Nobody has ever gained perfect control of this kekkei genkai, but my father used to believe that if someone achieved that, they could be the fastest shinobi alive. But I believe without any appropriate technique, it would be completely useless."

Naruto was highly impressed, at adulthood, Minato's physical prowess would be unmatched. Naruto and Minato were currently in the Namikaze home, with the sole resident being Minato. Minato had invited Naruto over for a drink after their friendly sparring session.

Naruto wouldn't admit it out loud, but he already saw Minato as a close friend. He had never taken a liking to any non-Uzumaki so quickly, well excluding Kimiko-chan.

They had also talked about their goals, Minato told Naruto that he wanted to be the Hokage and have a family, so that he could use his strength to protect his village and family. Naruto in turned shared his dream of taking revenge on all those who had played a part in Uzushio's destruction. How he would do it, he did not tell. But Minato had a faint idea and was a little scared at the path Naruto had chosen.

After pondering over what Minato said about his kekkei genkai, Naruto replies, "Well, I believe that I have the perfect solution for that, you should take up fuinjutsu, namely, space-time fuinjutsu. This will allow you to use space-time ninjutsus. With your speed and fuinjutsu skills, you might be able to become the fastest man alive."

Minato was stunned, how come he never thought of that. Of course, fuinjutsu would make it much easier! But how could he learn it? "Its a great idea Naruto, but I am afraid that Konoha only has knowledge of up to level 7 of seals, and space-time fuinjutsu is exclusively in level 9 and 10."

Naruto, again, puffed up his chest and said, "Well, I am a level 9 master, maybe I could help you…" He teased Minato, almost childishly.

Minato stood stunned, with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. "Level 9! Even Lord Jiraiya is at level 9 himself!"

Naruto merely kept smirking at Minato, while Minato slowly digested the facts.

"B-but why would you help me?"

"Hmm, well you are my rival. For my revenge, I will need power, and for that, I will need a rival to push me to my limits. Now, I can't have my rival fall behind, can I?"

Minato, this time far more composed, grinned and said, "Very well, rival." Though he wasn't happy with Naruto's reasoning. 'Perhaps I can convince him as a friend and try to sway him from his path of darkness.'

"You can train with me and Kushina starting next week, we will be waiting for you every evening." Naruto replied and thanked Minato for the invitation, before excusing himself and walking off.

Minato's face quickly heated up at the thought of training with Kushina every day. He needed to cool down or he would mess it up, Minato wisely thought.

—X—X—X—

After his departure from the Namikaze estate, Naruto quickly walked towards the Konoha library.

'Time for step 2 of my grand scheme.'

Naruto spent the entire afternoon in the library, taking in all the information on Iwa, Kiri and Kumo. He read about their new kages, the family members of the current and previous kages, their top jonin, their jinchuriki and even their rogue nin who could have a grudge against the villages. He would continue to do so every month for regular updates until he was ready for his revenge.

For now, he needed to know everything about the soon-to-be-destroyed villages.

—X—X—X—

Kushina made it to the training grounds and saw Naruto waiting for her. She waved at him and gave him a quick hug before settling down.

"So, nii-san, what are we going to be training at?"

'If she is better than Minato at taijutsu then she already is a formidable opponent. However I believe that she must learn another Uzumaki art.'

"Today, I will start teaching you another one of Uzumaki's special arts, kenjutsu."

Kushina's eyes gleamed at the prospect as she quickly unsealed the katana from her wrist and prepared it.

Naruto smiled at Kushina, he always liked to see her happy, and if learning her family arts would make her happy, he would gladly do so.

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. From now, a chapter will be uploaded every 3-4 days.