Chapter 3

"Someone Precious To You"

Yet another opponent fell, and rather quickly to boot. Izumi watched as Naruto won the most recent of the many Academy spars he had taken part in over the year since he had joined the academy. He had yet to lose any. Even though they had been allowed to skip six years of the academy to directly attend the final year, and were going up against students roughly five to six years older than them, Naruto and Izumi both remained undefeated.

"And the winner is Naruto!" the instructor announced, much to the chagrin of the boys in the class. A six-year-old continually defeating them hurt their egos quite a bit, Izumi assumed.

Izumi just didn't get it. She had long since realized that Naruto was stronger than her, and never felt as if she was inadequate. Because, unlike the rest of her peers, she was able to recognize just how talented Naruto was… People often called her a prodigy, but in her opinion, Naruto was the real prodigy of Konoha.

"Congratulations on yet another victory, Naruto," she said after he returned to her side.

Naruto shrugged, "It was nothing impressive. You would have trounced him as well."

His comments were heard by a couple of boys to their right, a group which included the very student he had just defeated. From what Izumi could remember, the boy's name was Tenma Izumo. He hailed from a relatively obscure clan but remained incredibly prideful of his lineage. Predictably, he did not take Naruto's words well.

"What was that you said, brat?" he asked as he and his friends came forward.

Naruto himself merely glanced at the group of bullies and said, "My apologies, I didn't mean to offend you."

Tenma clenched his teeth in irritation. He hated Naruto and Izumi both, but Naruto especially. Why were they allowed to skip grades? Why would they be allowed to graduate early? And most of all, why was he unable to defeat them despite his best efforts? It wasn't fair in his opinion.

"You know what? I'm not some nobody. I'm a member of the Izumo clan. We may not be as powerful as the Uchiha, but we're not weak!" Tenma growled.

"I was unaware your clan existed, Tenma. That is interesting. Please tell me about them."

Izumi knew that this was Naruto trying to be nice, but on the outside, it honestly did seem as if he was making a subtle jab toward the obscurity of Tenma's clan. Naruto's lack of experience with socializing would sometimes bite him in the butt, leading to awkward conversations and situations.

As she guessed, Tenma only became angrier, and gripped the front of Naruto's shirt tightly, pulling the younger boy toward him. The lack of fear on Naruto's face just seemed to frustrate Tenma even more, and he clenched even harder, nearly lifting the six-year-old Namikaze-Uzumaki off the ground.

"Never took you for a guy who had jokes, Namikaze," he growled. "How about we teach you what happens to jokesters?"

"T-Tenma, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, though for whatever reason his voice sounded very different.

His eye widened, and he flared his chakra just as they were taught by the instructors to do. Upon doing so, the 'Naruto' he had been gripping by the shirt faded away, revealing it to be one of his friends. Arching his head to look forward, he saw Naruto and Izumi standing there as if nothing had happened.

"Genjutsu," he growled. "You Uchiha brats and your damn genjutsu."

Izumi, the perpetrator of the genjutsu, remained silent. Naruto, on the other hand, looked at her with an appraising glance, apparently impressed by her technique.

"Did Lord Fugaku teach you that?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No. I learned it on my own."

Tenma became enraged once more and appeared as if he were about to unleash his fury before the class was interrupted by their instructor. The man waited until he had everyone's undivided attention before he decided to speak. His voice was incredibly deep and practically boomed throughout the entire training area.

"All of you listen up! The graduation exams will be held in a month from today. Today onwards, all of you can skip the academy for theory lectures to train by yourself if you so wish to. Practical classes and Sparring will continue nonetheless. I wish you good luck for the upcoming month. Try your hardest to excel yourself in the exam. I have full faith in all of you! Dismissed!"

A round of energetic "Hai" was the response to the announcement as the hopeful-future-shinobi got pumped up for the final test before becoming an official shinobi for Konoha.

"Come now, and stop babbling like a fool," Naruto lectured as he and Sasuke were walking through the streets of Konoha.

Sasuke was gripping his younger brother's hand with his tiny appendage but was having trouble keeping up due to his stubby legs. Eventually, he became frustrated and began pouting and complaining as all children did, much to Naruto's irritation.

Lady Mikoto had lamented that he spent more quality time with Sasuke, so he was taking the young child to the river where he would teach him how to fish. As expected, Sasuke was excited as could be by the news and practically bolted out of his room after being informed.

"Big brother!" he said, continuing to complain. "My legs are tired!"

Naruto stopped and sighed before placing the two fishing poles and the tackle box on the ground. He then crouched down so Sasuke could climb atop his shoulders. The boy climbed up with glee, and after making sure he was secure, Naruto picked the equipment back up and rose to his feet.

"Grab my head tightly and don't allow yourself to fall."

He could feel the bottom of Sasuke's chin tap against the top of his head as the boy nodded in understanding. He could feel the corners of his mouth curling up a bit despite himself. Now that it was just the two of them, Naruto felt his affection for his new little brother reach new heights.

The brothers continued in relative silence, watching as the crowds of villagers passed them by, with many stopping to bow to Naruto as they did so, utter words of praise and thanks. Sasuke could only watch in extreme confusion as these strangers he had never met before acted so familiar with his big brother.

"Big brother, do you know them?" he asked, feeling possessive. He didn't know that his big brother was so famous.

"No."

Sasuke tilted his head to look down at his big brother's face, "Then why do they act like they know you?"

Naruto frowned a bit as he had to explain, "Because they are sycophants."

"Is being a sai-ko-pant the same as being friendly?"

"No, Sasuke," Naruto responded tersely. "It is not."

Even Sasuke, as young as he was, could tell that his big brother didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he held his tongue. His brother always had a way of answering questions in a way that made things even more confusing. Sasuke even asked his mother once why that was, and all she said was, 'Your big brother is a smart boy' and continued making dinner.

Deciding he didn't like the silence, Sasuke spoke up again, "I'm going to catch a big fish, big brother!" he declared with a megawatt smile. "So big that it could feed the whole clan!"

Naruto looked up to see his little brother's happy face looking down at him and couldn't help but smile himself, "You have to learn how to catch fish first, Sasuke. After that, you can get to work feeding the clan."

"Yeah, but you'll be teaching me, big brother!" Sasuke responded. "You're the best at everything."

Naruto's smile persisted, "Actually, Izumi is much better at fishing than I am," he confessed.

Sasuke looked down, his expression aghast, "Nu-uh, big brother! You're lying!" he said, not believing it for a second.

Shaking his head in amusement, Naruto continued until they finally reached the dock. When he stood before it, he could not help but be dragged into the past. He had been here many times during his childhood but hadn't returned since his parents died. This was the first time.

"We're here, Sasuke," he announced quietly before placing the equipment on the dock and lifting his brother off of his shoulders.

Opening the tackle box, he pulled out two fishing bobbers, a plain one for himself, and one designed to look like the Uchiha emblem for Sasuke. The two siblings then tossed their lines into the water, with Naruto doing the majority of Sasuke's work for him, and sat in silence as they waited for a bite.

"Why would a fish bite a hook, big brother?" Sasuke asked, ending the comfortable silence.

Naruto looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, "Because, Sasuke, the lures at the end of our lines attract the fish, and trick them into thinking that they are biting food."

"That's dumb, big brother. I wouldn't fall for that."

"I would hope that you wouldn't," Naruto continued with a slight smile. "Fish are not intelligent creatures, at least when compared to humans. They are easy to trick because of this."

His explanation seemed to be satisfactory, as Sasuke bounced his head up and down and turned back to watch his bobber floating on the water's surface. His big brother told him that when a fish bit on his hook, the bobber would be pulled underwater, and when it did, he would have to pull on his fishing rod and reel it in… whatever that meant. He was just going to pull on his fishing rod hard.

Naruto waited calmly, watching both his and Sasuke's bobbers with his keen eyes. There was the possibility that Sasuke wouldn't be able to react fast enough to catch a fish since he was so young, so Naruto was ready to help as soon as he needed to.

"Hey, big brother. Who taught you how to fish?"

Naruto felt memories bombard his mind at the question, "My father taught me," he calmly explained.

Sasuke was a bit surprised, "Father taught you?" asked. "Then why isn't he the one teaching me?"

Naruto shook his head, "Your father and my father are not the same people, Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, and his blood went cold at what he heard. How was that possible? How could his big brother have a different dad? That was impossible.

"T-Then, how are you, my big brother?" Sasuke asked, scared of what the answer might be.

Naruto remained, calm, having known this day would eventually come, "Your parents were kind and took me in when I had no home, Sasuke," he explained. "You and I are not related by blood."

"W-What about Mito?" Sasuke asked with a sniffle.

This would be the part that hurt, "She is my sibling by birth, Sasuke. But it doesn't mean that I-"

"So you're not my real big brother then?!" Sasuke interrupted immaturely, standing up to his feet. "I bet you love Mito more!"

"Of course not, I-"

"NO!" Sasuke shouted, not wanting to hear any of it. "You're not my real big brother! You're a liar, and I hate you!"

He then threw his fishing rod into the river and ran off in the opposite direction toward their house. Naruto watched him go with a sombre expression. This had not been how he had expected today to go. He looked back toward the water and saw Sasuke's fishing rod floating at the surface.

The rod had belonged to him when he was a child and was a gift from his father. He had intended to pass it on to Sasuke today, but it seemed that would now be a fruitless endeavour. Sighing, he made a cross-like hand seal, and in a puff of smoke, a perfect replica of himself appeared at his side. It was a solid clone, created through the use of the Shadow Clone technique.

He then turned toward his clone and spoke calmly, "Follow him from a distance and make sure he gets home safely."

The clone nodded before leaping up and landing on the nearby rooftops, which he would use to follow Sasuke while remaining unseen. Once that was taken care of, Naruto focused the chakra on the soles of his feet and began walking on the water's surface to retrieve the fishing rod.

Once he reached it, he took it in his hands and looked at it with a sad smile. So many happy memories were created with this very fishing rod, and he had hoped that he could use it to create even more with Sasuke. This was truly a saddening day.

He then saw his reflection on the surface of the water and was reminded of something.

(Three Years Ago)

" Don't fall behind, Naruto," Minato warned with a smile as they made their way toward the dock. "The fish will all swim away before we get there."

Naruto hurried forward to reach his father's side, "Sorry, father," he said.

Suddenly, his father grabbed him by his waist and lifted him so that he could sit on top of his shoulders. Naruto looked around and noticed everyone in the village was looking at him and smiling.

Everyone loved the Hokage and his son and found the entire scene to be incredibly sweet. Naruto decided to ignore them, as usual.

An odd trait for a child, Naruto liked it when things were quiet. It allowed him to observe the vast and exciting world around him without any interruptions. There was so much for him to see, so much for him to learn, and quite honestly, the possibility of learning about it all was one of the few things that made him excited.

" We're here, Naruto," Minato said before setting down the fishing rods and placing his son in the dock.

It took a few moments for his father to get everything set up, so Naruto settled for looking around the river. He saw many organisms coexisting in this beautiful ecosystem and was fascinated. He then looked down at the water's surface and saw his reflection, watching as it copied his every expression and movement.

" It's like a mirror, Father," Naruto commented innocently before looking back up to see his father extending a child-sized fishing rod toward him.

" It is beautiful, isn't it?" Minato responded before nodding toward the fishing rod. "Here, take it."

Naruto thanked his father before gently grabbing the fishing rod in his hands. He looked over it and could tell that it was a bit old, definitely not something his father purchased recently.

" My father gave this to me when I was your age, Naruto," Minato explained with a smile. "And now I'm giving it to you."

Naruto's eyes widened, "It's that old?"

Minato leaned his head back and laughed a bit before responding, "What are you saying?" he asked. "That your father is an old man?"

Naruto nodded, "You're much older than me, father."

Minato chuckled a bit more before sitting on the edge of the dock and gesturing for his son to do the same. They both then cast their lines and waited patiently to catch a fish.

" Naruto."

" Yes, father?"

Minato looked at his boy with a somewhat severe expression, "Someday, when you're older, and when that fishing rod is too small for you, I want you to pass it on to someone precious to you so they can enjoy it too. Do you understand?."

Naruto nodded, "Yes, father. I understand."

Satisfied, Minato ruffled his son's hair before looking back at the water, "Alrighty then, let's catch some fish so your mother can cook us some dinner."

(Present)

Naruto remained standing on the water's surface, content to just stare at the gift his father had given him those years ago. Whenever he was reminded of his parents, he felt himself flooded with sadness. Memories that would have once been considered pleasant were now wrought with reminders of what he had lost.

Suddenly, his eyes captured the appearance of a familiar chakra signature moving at high speeds towards him. Naruto turned a bit towards his direction to acknowledge his presence before he even landed.

"So, you know how to walk on water already as well, Naruto?" Shisui asked with a smile, standing roughly five feet away from his junior.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, not at all in the mood to talk.

"Maa-maa~ Naruto, Why the sour mood? Something happened?"

"You can put it like that."

Shisui nodded, seemingly agreeing until he stopped mid-nod. "Wait, what?" he was perplexed.

Naruto gave a long sigh of tiredness, "I had the family talk with Sasuke. It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine."

"Ohhh. What are you gonna do now then to console him?"

"Wait it out, I suppose. Or leave the explaining part to Izumi. She handles conversation better than I do anyway."

"You can say that again. Man, you are literally at the top in every shinobi field possible for your age but your conversational skills suck so bad it's hilarious. Bwahahaha" Shisui, as expected was in a jolly mood at his young genius friends' non-existing conversational skills.

"Your exceptional observation skills are commendable, Shisui but they are not necessarily needed. Anyways, until next time." with that, Naruto vanished in thin air along with his fishing equipment, leaving Shisui alone.

"Huh, so he mastered the body flicker technique too?" Shisui seemed proud of the fact and as he turned to leave as well, another realization made him stop mid-step.

"Did he just call my observations, useless?" Shisui pondered while being lost on the road of life.

When Izumi arrived home, she certainly expected to be met with the presence of a small child. Her mother had taken Mito out to run errands, which left Sasuke alone to spend the afternoon with Naruto. She had expected them to have returned by now, considering how much time it had been but when she came home, Sasuke did not come to greet her as he usually did.

"Good, you're here now," a voice suddenly spoke up from the corner.

She turned and saw Naruto with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, though there was something weird about him. He felt like Naruto, yes, but he also seemed… incomplete.

"Are you a shadow clone?" Izumi asked, receiving a nod in response.

"I leave Sasuke to you now," the clone said before dispelling in a cloud of smoke.

Ah, so Naruto had left a shadow clone to watch over Sasuke in his absence? Naruto usually used shadow clones when he was too busy to do something himself, which meant that he was probably out doing something serious. Maybe he was training with her father again?

She walked out of the mudroom and entered the house. She half expected to see her little brother playing in the kitchen or the living room but was surprised to see that he was not there. Knowing there was only one other place that he could be, she softly walked toward his bedroom, expecting to see him playing with his toys.

What she found, however, was an almost three-year-old child who looked utterly depressed. The lights in his room were off, and he was lying face-first on his pillow, which was muffling the clear sounds of crying.

"Sasuke?" she said, speaking softly so as not to startle him.

A muffled voice of a child responded, "Go away…"

Izumi sighed, realizing that she was going to have to console a child. Still, it pained her to see her little brother so upset, so she decided to try her best to help him.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" she asked. "Does this have something to do with your big brother?"

Sasuke's face shot up from his pillow, dripping with tears and contorted into a vicious glare, "He's NOT my big brother!" he growled, actually causing Izumi's eyes to widen. "He's a fake! And Mito's a fake!"

Everything made sense after that. So, Sasuke had finally discovered that Naruto and Mito didn't share any blood relation with their family? A part of her assumed that he knew since two parents with black hair don't produce blonde and red-haired children. Though to be fair, this was a two-year-old she was dealing with.

"Did Naruto tell you?" she asked.

Sasuke stuffed his face back into his pillow and nodded. Why Naruto chose today of all days to reveal the truth, she would never know, but knowing him, it was something that he couldn't avoid. Either way, Sasuke had to learn sooner or later, so she supposed it was now or never.

She placed her hands on his shoulder until he finally looked toward her, "Naruto and Mito are the children of very important people," she explained, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen. "On the day Mito was born, the day of the Kyubi attack, their parents died, and he had nowhere else to live. Our mother was friends with their mother, so she took them into our family."

"So it's true?" Sasuke mumbled to himself before crying once more. It was clear that a part of his was hoping it was a lie or a joke.

Izumi decided that it was time to bandage this emotional wound. Her mother would certainly be the person most suited for this task, no doubt, but she wasn't here, so Izumi figured Sasuke would need to settle for her instead. She thought long and hard before finally speaking.

"Naruto loves you, Sasuke," she explained softly. "And no matter what you say now, I know that you love him. You two are not related by blood, that is true; however, your bond is even greater than that. Siblings usually don't get to choose one another, but you two were granted that opportunity. That makes your love more special."

Sasuke sniffled again, "R-Really?"

Izumi nodded, "Really, and you know something, Sasuke? I think Naruto would be very happy if his little brother gave him a big hug when he came home. Don't you think he'd like that?"

Her brother chuckled and wiped his eyes, "Yeah! I bet he thinks about my hugs all day long! He tries to act all cool, but I know he likes them!"

His quick shift in emotion made her smile. Children were so complicated, yet at the same time, so simple.

"Well, there you go," Izumi said before standing up. "Now, let's get you cleaned up before everyone returns home."

They prepared to go to the bathroom but were interrupted by the sound of the sliding doors of the mudroom opening. Sasuke looked up toward his big sister as if asking her permission, and she nodded. Immediately after, Sasuke darted into the mudroom to see Naruto removing his sandals, his expression the same as always.

"Big brother!" he shouted, surprising Naruto before running forward and hugging his legs.

"I'm sorry that I threw your fishing rod, big brother!" Sasuke said, burying his face into Naruto's leg out of shame. "And I'm sorry I was mean to you."

Initially, he received no response but then felt a familiar hand place itself atop his head before ruffling his hair. Sasuke looked up to see his big brother looking down at him with a smile. His eyes then widened in surprise when he was handed the same fishing rod from earlier.

"My father gave this to me when I was your age, Sasuke," Naruto explained, unknowingly mimicking his father's very words to him from years ago. "And now I'm giving it to you."

"To me?" Sasuke asked with wide eyes.

Naruto nodded before remembering what his father told him, "Just promise me something, Sasuke."

Sasuke's head bobbed up and down, eager to please, "Of course, big brother! Anything!"

"One day, when you grow too big for this, I want you to give it to someone precious to you. Do you understand, Sasuke?"

"Like who?"

Naruto smiled once more, for what felt like the hundredth time today, "That's for you to decide," he said before standing up and ruffling Sasuke's hair once more. "Now come with me to the kitchen. You haven't eaten your lunch yet today."

Sasuke's stomach growled, and he giggled before nodding and following his big brother to the kitchen, "Okay, big brother."

Izumi watched the whole thing with a smile.

~End~

Author's Note

Hello people of fanfiction!

As you can see, I am not dead. I am very sorry for how long I have been ignoring this update but life happened.
To all those who supported this work, thank you very much for your support.

The cultured fanbase would be able to recognise most of the things in this update from another story "Naruto: The Second Coming" by NYC01234. I (If you have read that story), have changed a bunch of stuff in here to progress the story in the way I want to.

Those curious about my other story, Changes, will not be updated for the foreseeable future as I work on other stuff in real life. Rest assured that it will not be abandoned, just on a hiatus until I can work on it again.

Once again sorry for my incompetency and thank you very much for supporting this rookie work.

The next update would be...sometime soon, probably, I hope. So yeah, that's it from me for now.

Until next time.