Changing the Story- Chapter 5- Laying it out
Words- 6,336
Disclaimer- Naruto doesn't belong to me, all rights go to Kishimoto. "Changing the Story" is my creation. Thank you!
Naruto rushes past a family standing in the middle of the street.
"Hey! Watch it, you damn, demon brat!" a voice shouts from behind her, but Naruto pays no attention.
'Damn it! I'm going to be late!' she tells herself.
Naruto turns a sharp corner going around a building and almost loses her balance.
'No time to slow down, Naruto!' she thinks while picking up speed and bolting through the last stretch.
The Hokage tower appears ahead of her and Naruto grins at the sight.
A green blur suddenly appears a foot in front of her and Naruto slams face-first into the solid wall of muscle.
'I think that actually broke my nose,' she tells herself while crouching and holding her face.
Gai stands wearing his green jumpsuit in front of the girl.
"Close one, Naruto!" he all but shouts, "but you'll have to be faster than that!"
He tells her while grinning.
Naruto looks up at him in annoyance. Her nose is almost certainly broken from the impact.
'Well, It's not like it's the first thing I've broken since starting my training with Gai.' She thinks to herself while starting to stand back up and lowering her hands from her face.
She mistakenly mentioned to Gai about meeting the Hokage at the tower to discuss something and Gai decided they would race to the tower to finish her training for the day.
'He even gave me a ten-minute head start' Naruto winces.
She feels blood start dripping from her nose and smiles creepily at Gai, letting the blood run into her mouth.
Gai starts to back up a bit at the sight.
"Oh... looks like our training for the day is complete, Naruto-kun!" he tells her while turning away, pretending to not acknowledge the injury.
"Good luck with your meeting!" he shouts, then proceeds to hightail it out of there.
Naruto debates chasing after him, if only to make him a bit afraid, but decides against it.
'Three weeks' Naruto tells herself, her shoulders lowering in defeat.
'I've been training with him for three weeks and that man still hasn't figured out how to teach without accidentally almost killing his student. I pity the original team Gai. How they survived past genin-hood is a miracle.'
Naruto uses the back of her hand to try to rub some of the blood from her face. She ends up looking worse, obviously.
Deciding to just forgo cleaning herself up, she heads into the Hokage tower.
The same receptionist from before (the one that helped Naruto put in the mission request) is there and her face turns white at the sight of Naruto.
"Na-Naruto! What happened?!" She sounds slightly worried and starts standing up. Naruto smiles at the concern.
"Sorry for scaring you, Ma'am, I just got done training with Gai-sensei and I haven't had time to wash up before I meet with Hokage-sama.
That seems to calm the woman down a bit as she reaches into a drawer and pulls out some tissues.
"Well, we can't have you walking around the village looking like that!" she hands the tissues to Naruto and starts scolding her.
"Seriously! Do you want to terrify the villagers with your face looking like that!" she gestures around the room at everyone walking around. People are going to and from the Hokage tower and waiting in the chairs nearby. Naruto winces as half the room looks petrified and the other half looks disgusted.
'Ah, whoops?' she tells herself internally.
'To be fair, this is a ninja village, they should be accustomed to ninja training going wrong, occasionally...' she tells herself while rolling her eyes at their behavior.
Naruto feels a light smack to the back of her head and looks at the receptionist surprised.
"Go clean yourself up before your meeting." the receptionist commands Naruto.
Naruto sighs but nods her head.
Finding a restroom a few doors down the hall, Naruto cleans her face and then walks back to the waiting area.
Giving her a once over, the receptionist grunts in approval and then signals Naruto to enter the Hokage's office. Naruto walks over to the door and enters.
The Hokage sits at his desk filling out some forms and sets his pen down once Naruto gets closer to the desk.
"Hi Jiji," Naruto greets him smiling.
The old man returns Naruto's smile and folds his hand together.
"Naru-kun, how have you been these past few weeks?" he questions her, picking up his pipe and lighting it.
Naruto sits down at one of the chairs, figuring she'd be there for a minute or so.
"Everything has been coming along smoothly." she starts.
"Gai-sensei has been teaching me nearly every day, except when he's out of the village. Thankfully he hasn't been on any mission longer than a day or two, so far."
The third takes a puff from his pipe and Naruto continues telling him about her last few weeks.
"So far, we've just trained on increasing my stamina and strength. I'm able to last a lot longer in a spar against Gai while he's going easy. Gai-sensei has also corrected my stance and introduced me to the basics of the Leaf Style Taijutsu." she tells him.
Hiruzen smiles at the young girl and tells her to go on.
"I forgot to ask this the last time we talked, but do you think I can get my hands on the Shadow clone Jutsu?" she asks him with her best version of puppy dog eyes.
"I understand that it's a dangerous Jutsu for even Jonins to perform, but given the nature of what and who I am, I have no doubt about my abilities to learn such a Jutsu." she tries to convince him.
The Hokage gets a thoughtful look on his face, not at all taken aback at the request.
"Shadow clone Jutsu...hmmm...That would be a beneficial Jutsu to have in one's arsenal..." he thinks about it for a moment.
Naruto agrees with him trying to push him to say yes.
"Yes, and with the Jutsu, I can further increase my learning and get stronger faster, to prepare for what the future throws at me..." she tells him.
The Hokage takes in her suggestion.
"I reckon that you learn the Shadow clone Jutsu in the future anyways then?" he questions her.
"Yes," she confirms.
'Although, the original Naruto doesn't learn it until he was thirteen...' she keeps to herself.
The Hokage seems to come to his decision.
"Then I will provide you the instructions for the Jutsu-," he starts saying.
"-Under one condition," he tells her while making sure the blond is paying attention to him.
"You must not let anyone become aware of you knowing such a Jutsu." he finishes.
Naruto seems a bit taken aback by the request.
'Nobody can know?" she questions.
'I had planned to train with Gai-sensei using the shadow clones, but I guess that will have to wait.' she concludes a bit upset.
'But it makes sense. Jiji can't be shown picking favorites and it would bring up questions about why he gave such a dangerous Jutsu to an academy student..' Naruto sighs.
"I agree to those terms, Jiji," she tells him in defeat.
"However, If I were to say...graduate from the ninja academy... would I be able to show off the Jutsu then?"
The Hokage raises an eyebrow at the blond.
"Planning on graduating early?" he questions her.
Naruto shrugs her shoulder.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea. Shikaku-sama and Inoichi-sama both agree with me that being stuck in the academy for the next four years will make things more difficult for all of us," she tells him.
The Hokage seems to consider the dilemma.
"The council would have to agree to allow one so young to pass, after all, we are not at war. You might face some opposition if that is your plan." He tells her straight forward.
Naruto nods her head in agreement and tells him her plan.
"Hence why I've started training with Gai-sensei and hope to start training with another teacher in the future."
Naruto takes a slow breath and dives into it.
"I plan to learn and perfect the academy three- replacing the clone Jutsu with the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I also plan on getting nothing but perfect grades this year. I have reason to believe a new instructor will be teaching my class this year, correct?"
Hiruzen nods his head at her, his eyebrows raised at her knowledge.
"Iruka-sensei initially won't like me all that much, but he is a good man and will become a valuable ally soon enough. If I can get him on my side, maybe I can convince him that my past grades were given to me unfairly. I also might be able to get Iruka-sensei to advocate for me and convince the other teachers to allow me to pass this year." she tells the Hokage, waiting for his words of wisdom on the matter.
"I can see why you believe graduating early would be a good plan, however, I can't help but bring up this- What about staying in the academy and making connections with your current classmates? Many of which are future clan heads themselves?" He asks her.
Naruto is prepared for his question though.
"I can see the benefit in doing things like that, but in reality, nothing is stopping me from graduating and still interacting with my former classmates. In fact," she tells him, "I might even be able to gain friendship with some of them by being stronger and by being able to teach them something the academy can't". she finishes.
'Sasuke especially might be more inclined to have a conversation with me if he learns that I can teach him something.' she considers.
"I see" the Hokage speaks up.
"You plan on becoming something of a 'Sempai' to the younger generation, don't you?" he realizes.
Naruto grins up at him.
"Bingo, Jiji," she responds.
The old Hokage chuckles a bit at the girl's scheming and asks her another question.
"Now, was that all you wanted to talk about in this meeting, Naru-kun?"
Naruto tries to remember if there was anything else she wanted to bring up before starting at the academy tomorrow.
"I know we talked about it before, but can you tell me a bit more about the scrolls and things my parents left me?" she asks him.
The Third takes a moment to remember their conversation from a few weeks ago. He seems to remember something and reaches into one of his desk drawers and pulls out a scroll. He hands the scroll to Naruto and she takes it cautiously, curious about its contents.
"That scroll contains directions to your parent's old house," he tells her and Naruto can't help but let out a slight gasp.
"It also contains the key to the house's wards, created by your father." Naruto feels her eyes start to water.
"But I thought the house had been destroyed, or that it was decided to turn the house over to the council? Naruto never got to see or live in his parent's house in the original story," she questions holding onto the scroll like a lifeline.
The Hokage listens to her intently.
"It was a close one, to be truthful. The Council had been fighting for the rights to the house since the day you were born," he tells her hitting his pipe.
"Your father wanted you to have the house when you were old enough to start living on your own. The council, and by that I mean Danzo, fought with me saying you weren't responsible enough to handle it."
Naruto watches him continuing to smoke, speechless.
"Had they had another year or two, they might have finally persuaded me to hand it over," he tells her, exhaling smoke.
"The council has not been informed of my decision, so I expect you to keep it to yourself for as long as possible," he tells her sternly.
Naruto rubs her eyes, trying to stop herself from bawling in front of the Hokage.
"Thank you, Jiji!" she says with joy.
'Forgive me Naruto, I haven't been keeping my promise to Kushina, have I?' He thinks tiredly.
"To gain control of the wards, simply put a few drops of your blood on the center of the scroll where it tells you to," he explains to Naruto.
"And Naruto," he winks at the girl. "I'll have Hound drop off a few more things at the house sometime later." he finishes.
The news gets Naruto excited and she stands up, ready to go out and explore her parent's old house.
"I had a great time talking to you, Jiji," she tells him smiling.
"I think that is all I had to ask." Naruto walks around the desk and goes to hug the Hokage. He lets out a chuckle at the girl's childish action.
"I enjoy our talks too," he tells her while messing up her hair.
Naruto makes sure she has the scroll securely in her pocket then starts to walk to the door.
"Bye bye Jiji-sama!" she shouts while walking out.
"Until next time, Naruto" she hears the Hokage say behind her.
As Naruto is walking through the village, the blond thinks about what she might discover at her parent's old house.
'Minato and Kushina lived together in a decent-sized house for several years. I'm certain they obtained many books, scrolls, and items throughout those years.' she starts giggling in excitement.
'If Minato had any reason to believe that he and Kushina wouldn't have been able to watch me grow up, he would have created multiple contingency plans to make sure I had the opportunity to raise myself.' she tells herself while walking past some food stalls.
'I wonder if I'll be able to get my hands on any Uzumaki clan information,' Naruto wonders.
Naruto passes through the streets of Konoha, the scroll heavy on her mind.
Out of nowhere, Naruto's ears pick up a sound from directly behind her, and it's only because of Gai's intense training that she's able to catch the item thrown at her head.
Naruto stops in her walking, startled at the direct confrontation.
"Get out of here, demon!" A voice screams from the spot behind her. Naruto is taken aback by the insult and tries to pinpoint the aggressor.
A drunk man is spotted standing close to a food stall. He sways in the breeze and Naruto starts rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
Meanwhile, other people stop to watch the interaction, ready to form a small mob against the Jinchuriki.
"Listen, man, I don't know who you are, but throw something at me again and you'll regret it," Naruto tells him, not in the mood.
This is apparently the wrong thing to say as the man picks up another cabbage and chucks it at the girl. Naruto catches it with her other hand and stares at the drunkard trying to decide what to do now with a cabbage in each hand.
A new voice speaks up from a few yards away.
"Nice catch, Twerp!" It shouts.
Naruto looks back into the crowd for the voice and it takes her a second to locate the owner.
A woman stands among the crowd with a big dog by her side. Naruto recognizes her as being Hana's and Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka.
The woman walks over to Naruto, her eyes staying on the drunkard. She grabs one of the cabbages from Naruto's hand and tosses it in the air. She walks closer to the drunkard until she's a few feet in front of him.
"It's 2pm for fucks sake, Reiner. Does your wife know you're out getting intoxicated in public this early or is she too busy sleeping with your brother?" she tells the man, unapologetically.
A few gasps are heard from the onlookers.
Naruto can't stop herself from snorting and tries to cover her mouth with her one free hand.
The drunkard, or Reiner, seems to understand at least a few of Tsume's words, as he picks up another cabbage from the stall. He raises it in the air, but Tsume is quicker with her own cabbage. The force of the hit has him flying into the cabbage stall.
"My Cabbages!" shouts the stall owner at the destruction.
Naruto almost has a mental breakdown.
She watches Tsume's dog walk up to its owner and it starts speaking to the woman.
"Tsume! Was that really necessary!" he questions her.
Tsume shrugs him off and walks up to the food stall. The drunkard is lying on the broken table, out cold.
"It probably wasn't, but who cares?" she tells the ninja dog, picking up the drunkard by the scruff of his collar and throwing him over her shoulder.
"He was publicly intoxicated and causing a disturbance. I've knocked out people for less." She turns around and walks away from the stall.
The owner stops her before she can get far.
"You-you completely destroyed my stall! I demand compensation for your actions!" he shouts.
Tsume rolls her eyes at the man, annoyed by the situation.
"Calm down, old man. The village will pay for any damages, just file a report." she ignores him.
"Calm down!? Calm down?!" he screeches like a banshee. At this point, the incident had gathered quite a crowd.
Seeming to notice the dilemma, Tsume sighs.
Naruto decides to come to her rescue.
"Here," she walks up to the food stall setting her cabbage with the rest. She reaches into her front pocket and pulls out a few thousand Ryo.
"This should cover the cost for a new table, just rinse the cabbages off and all's good, okay?" she tells him holding the money out.
The man seems ready to argue but Tsume stops him.
"Just accept the money, old man! It's this or nothing!" she shouts quietly a few yards away at this point.
The man seems to accept the circumstances and snatches the money from Naruto's hand. Naruto turns around and tries to catch up with Tsume as she leaves the area behind.
It only takes Naruto a second to catch back up as she tries to walk behind Tsume and her nin dog. Tsume speaks to the girl before Naruto can thank her for helping her.
"You know, you didn't have to pay that moron anything, right, pup?" she asks her, momentarily adjusting the full-sized man hanging on her shoulder.
Naruto shrugs, "I know, but I don't want to give the villagers any more ammunition if you know what I mean."
The older woman raises her brow at that statement.
"I see," she tells her.
"Plus, I kinda feel guilty about the cabbage man," Naruto tells her.
'Poor cabbage men and their luck' Naruto thinks to herself.
The two continue to walk a bit longer with Naruto following like a lost puppy behind them.
Tsume stops suddenly and faces Naruto with her hand on her hip and the drunkard still over her shoulder.
"Did you need something else, brat?" Tsume asks her.
Naruto shrugs at the question. "Not really"
"Then why are you still following me?" the Clan head throws at her.
Naruto raises an eyebrow this time.
"I'm heading home, you're going in the same direction as me," she tells the woman while starting to walk again.
The Inuzuka rolls her eyes at the girl's audacity.
The duo continues their walk through the village with multiple people stopping in their tracks to look at them.
'Tsume Inuzuka wasn't shown very often in the anime' Naruto ponders.
'She was mainly a background character along with Hana. So what do I know about her?'
'I know that according to Kiba, she ran her husband (Kiba and Hana's dad) away and that she was always shown harassing Kiba about his training.'
Naruto watches the woman out of the corner of her eye.
'So far, everything seems accurate. So why did she go out of her way to protect me from that villager?' Naruto feels a twinge of hope.
"Kiba and Hana mentioned running into you a few weeks ago," Tsume says, interrupting her thinking.
"Oh," Naruto responds, not sure what to say.
"Hana also mentioned how she's done a couple of missions that you put in." she continues.
"Ah," responds Naruto.
"Having trouble with some vendors?" Tsume asks.
Naruto gives a short chuckle and responds.
"I've always had trouble with vendors and most villagers in general, Inuzuka-Sama."
Tsume stops walking. The T and I building directly behind her. She looks like she wants to say more, but stops herself.
Naruto stops walking and waits patiently for the woman to speak up again.
"Say, brat, how about you come over to the Inuzuka compound later tonight for dinner?" Tsume asks her.
Naruto is surprised by the offer.
"You've seemed to have matured a bit since our last meeting," the clan head says, referring to the 'skipping classes' incident.
Naruto rubs her head sheepishly.
"And I've heard you've started training with Might Gai. I want you to spar against my son and kick his ass a little since school is starting back up." She says with a twisted smile on her face.
Naruto flinches at the evil intent being emitted but is grateful it's directed toward her classmate and not her.
"How can I decline such an offer, Inuzuka-Sama?" the girl says, hiding her nerves.
'Dinner with the dog clan and a spar? I have a feeling a nose isn't the only thing getting broken today...' she tells herself wincing.
"Great!" exclaims the clan head.
"Dinner starts at 7. Make sure you're not late!" she tells her then walks into the T and I building to drop off her extra baggage. Her ninken follows along.
Naruto continues the rest of her trek home, anxiety balling in the pit of her stomach.
Once arriving at her house, Naruto instantly pulls out the scroll the Third Hokage gave her. Kicking her sandals off her feet, she walks to her bed and collapses onto it with the scroll.
'Now... let's see what the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero decided to leave me.' she tells herself while untieing the string from the scroll. It takes her a minute to accomplish but eventually, she undoes it. A small slip of paper falls out as she unravels the scroll. It contains an address.
Spreading the rest of the scroll apart, she is quick to notice the blankness covering most of the page.
'There's only a circle on the page. This must be the area that Jiji was talking about.' she figures.
Naruto leaves the scroll on the bed and gets up. She heads towards her new ninja pack on the kitchen table. Pulling out a Kunai, Naruto heads back toward her bed.
'How the hell am I expected to do this without getting blood everywhere?' she argues to herself.
'Jiji did say only a few drops were needed.' she reminds herself.
Naruto checks the sharpness of her blade. Confirming that the blade is still sharp, she gently presses it to the tip of her left pointer finger.
A small red line appears quickly and Naruto sets the Kunai down on her kitchen counter to clean later. She walks back to her bed and sits back down cross-legged.
The Blond puts her fingertip to the circle and watches in amazement as there's a poof and several things pop out of the scroll. Several more scrolls appear on Naruto's bed along with a three-pronged Kunai. A sudden rush overcomes Naruto.
'I wonder if that was the wards accepting me as the new owner?' Naruto analyzes.
Naruto picks up the Kunai, feeling giddy.
"Minato's signature Kunai!" she squeals, forgetting the wards for now.
The Kunai is still sharp and Naruto gently handles it. She closely examines the Hiraishin seal written on the handle.
"Now this….this is why I really want to learn Fuinjutsu" she appraises the Kunai.
Naruto sets the Kunai back down for now and looks over the other items. There are five scrolls in total. Naruto reaches the one closest and starts untieing it. She reads it over briefly, quickly realizing what it contains.
'Well, turns out I didn't need to ask the Third for the Shadow clone Jutsu. Dad somehow thought that far ahead.' she discerns.
Naruto rolls the scroll back up and sets it behind her, grabbing the next scroll.
This one is tied with a yellow string. Naruto goes through the process of opening it up and smiles when she sees it's a letter from her father.
She starts reading it.
"To Naruto, my daughter,
I hope this letter finds you well wherever you are in life. I had asked Lord Third to give this to you when you made genin, so I assume you'll be around thirteen years of age when you read this. I wish I could be there to see you grow up, but I know that might not be possible. You're mother and I had to make a difficult decision when we left you behind, but please know that we did it to protect you. You are the most important thing in our lives, and we love you more than anything in this world. I can only hope you'll forgive us.
I have left you some scrolls that I hope will aid you with your training. You should be appointed a Jonin instructor soon, so ask him or her to help you with understanding the scrolls. They contain some of the techniques that I developed over the years, and I hope you find them useful. Also included is an Uzumaki inheritance from your mother. It contains the history of the Uzumaki clan and explains the clan's techniques and Jutsu's.
Training will be tough, but I know that any daughter of mine and Kushina will be strong enough to handle it. Remember that you are never alone and that your mother and I are always with you in spirit.
Love always, Dad"
Naruto feels tears falling down her face and rubs them away. She sets the letter down where her father's Kunai lays. Grabbing the last three scrolls she quickly skims over each of their contents.
'Rasengan Jutsu, Shadow clone Jutsu, Uzumaki clan techniques, and the Flying Thunder God technique.' Naruto smiles contently.
"I'm going to be such a menace to this timeline" she declares to the rest of the room.
'As soon as I learn how to unlock Kurama's chakra' she thinks to herself, 'This world is mine.' she smiles and her fangs seem more pronounced than usual.
.
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Later that evening
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.
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Naruto approaches the compound, apprehensively. The sun has started to set and a breeze flows gently by. The girl shivers a bit at the cold.
'Hopefully, Tsume-sama won't have us sparring tonight.' she thinks.
'I still have to get up before class starts and meet Gai for morning training' She continues walking past the compound gates, noticing that they lacked any guards.
'That means I'll have to get up at 4am tomorrow. Training with Gai usually lasts around 3 hours, so that'll give me an hour to run home and shower before I have to be at the academy at 8am.'
Naruto debates skipping the first day of school.
She catches sight of Kiba up ahead and waves at him as he runs over to her.
"Yo! Naruto! Mom said you'd be joining us for dinner tonight." He stops beside Naruto.
Naruto takes in the boy's appearance, noticing that he's wearing a sparring outfit of some sort.
Kiba notices Naruto looking at his clothes and starts pulling at the articles.
"Mom makes me wear this when I have clan training. She says the fabric is harder to tear and more sturdy. Our spars get pretty rough ya know?" he finishes looking at the clothes in annoyance.
Naruto giggles at the childish look on his face.
"It's not as bad as Gai-sensei's outfit at least,' she tells him, "Trust me, Gai-sensei's outfit makes full-grown men cry at night."
Kiba snorts at her and they both start walking further into the compound with Kiba leading.
Neither says much until they come upon a house near the center of the compound.
"This is it! Welcome to our home!" Kiba says while walking in.
Naruto pauses at the door taking in the not-distant sound of dogs barking.
'I wonder if I can convince the Inuzukas into giving me a dog' she thinks while walking inside the house.
Naruto follows Kiba's actions and they take their shoes off at the door.
"Mom! Sis! We're home!" Kiba shouts walking further into the house.
Hana walks across the hallway, a pan in her hands.
"Hi, Naruto-kun. I hope you like chicken Katsu and rice?" she questions her smiling.
Naruto smiles at the greeting.
"I love chicken Katsu, Hana! It smells delicious." Naruto answers her happily.
"Great!" she exclaims while walking to the dining room with the pan.
"The main dish is done now, I'm just waiting on a few more side dishes," she tells her while sitting the pan down on the dining room table.
Kiba grabs a chair and motions for Naruto to sit next to him. The table is only a four-person table, Naruto notices.
'Not much bigger than my own' She realizes.
Kiba speaks up beside her as Hana walks in and out of the room.
"So who's this 'Gai-sensei' you mentioned earlier? Is he a new instructor at the academy?" he questions her, curious.
Naruto shakes her head at his question
"No,' she explains, "Gai-sensei is a personal trainer I hired to help boost my learning."
Hana walks back in with another dish and sets it down. She then takes the other seat next to Naruto and sits down.
"Mom is finishing up some clan paperwork and then she'll be out here to join us," she tells Naruto and Kiba.
"She told us to start without her," she says while passing a plate to Naruto and Kiba.
Kiba started digging in instantaneously. Hana is a little bit slower, but, nevertheless, starts eating.
Naruto follows the sibling's lead and starts putting food on her own plate.
"Do you usually cook dinner, Hana-sempai?" Naruto asks the brunette before taking a bite of the chicken.
Hana finishes chewing her food and smiles at the honorific.
"Usually...yes...mother attempts to try sometimes, but..." she trails off
Kiba finishes the sentence, not bothering to finish his chewing.
"But her food usually tastes like shit!" he says with a mouthful.
A loud slap is heard throughout the dining room as Tsume appears behind Kiba. Kiba holds onto his head and chokes a bit on his food.
Hana snorts at the interaction, smiling as she takes another bite from her plate.
Tsume walks over to the last chair across from Naruto and starts pilling her plate full. Kiba is heard coughing a bit, but both mother and sister ignore his struggles.
"Watch your damn language at the dinner table, you damn brat." Tsume scolds him.
Naruto chuckles at the interaction between the family members.
Tsume catches her eye and swallows her food.
"So, kid," she starts, "Are you excited to go back to school tomorrow?"
Naruto finishes chewing her food.
"A bit yes," she answers, "I'm excited to be back in a learning environment, but I can't say I miss the teachers," she tells her.
The clan head takes another bite of her food and asks her another question once she's done chewing.
"Got a problem with authority figures, do you?" she questions.
Naruto shakes her head.
"No, not at all" she corrects her.
"It's just, some of the teachers treat me exactly how the vendors do..." she tells the woman, hoping she can put two and two together.
Tsume seems to get a thoughtful look on her face, so Naruto decides to inform the clan head of her plan.
"Hokage-sama informed me earlier today that we'd have a new instructor at the academy starting this year. He promised me that this teacher would be better," she explains to the older brunette.
"Besides, I plan to graduate this year anyways."
All three Inuzukas have different reactions around the table.
Kiba is the first to react physically.
"Ha! Like you could pass the older class's test!" He erupts.
"You're below me in grades!" he explains.
Naruto smiles at his rambunctious behavior.
"I was below you, Kiba-kun," she explains to the boy.
"However, that won't be the case this year!" she smirks at him, cheekily.
Kiba starts preparing a speech but his mother interrupts him by clapping once.
"And hence why I've invited Naruto to dinner with us!" she says enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, everyone has stopped eating momentarily, except Hana. She sits back, munching on her food, looking used to her mother's shenanigans.
Her mother continues her talking.
"Starting the next day or so, Naruto is to be your sparring partner!"
'Wait, what?' Naruto's mind blanks, staring at the woman.
"What!" shouts Kiba at his mom.
"What do you mean 'Naruto is to be my sparring partner'!" he asks, confused.
Tsume starts eating her food again, electing to ignore Kiba's question.
'While I agreed to a spar, I wasn't expecting Tsume to turn it into a frequent thing.' Naruto thinks to herself, going back to the food.
Kiba huffs in his spot and Tsume takes a few more minutes to eat her food.
"Naruto has recently started receiving additional training from an elite Jonin of the leaf," she tells Kiba.
"Because of that, she will make an excellent sparring partner for you to learn from," she explains to the sulking boy.
Naruto watches the boy playing with his food.
"Why can't sis be my sparring partner like usual?" he asks.
Hana speaks up for the first time since her mother entered.
"You know I have my own responsibilities now, Kiba-kun," she explains to him gently.
"Besides, I'm sure you could learn a lot of new things from Naruto-kun." she finishes, seemingly done with her dinner.
Kiba starts to eat his food again.
'He's probably upset that his sister isn't paying enough time with him.' Naruto thinks
'Kinda like how Sasuke was with Itachi.' she deducts.
"While I don't mind sparring with Kiba, Inuzuka-sama, I will also be busy training and with other personal things," she brings up to the clan head.
The woman huffs at Naruto's remark.
"Call me Tsume, brat. There's no need for formality while in this house." Tsume tells her.
"And surely, you can spar with my son a few times a month?"
Naruto considers the proposition and replies.
"I can spar with your son once a week, I suppose, Tsume-sama, but please understand If I get busy and am unable to for a while." she finally says.
Tsume rises to get up, apparently already done with her dinner.
"Good!" she exclaims while rising. "Then I have something for you"
She walks out of the room and comes back holding a piece of paper. She hands the paper to Naruto.
"This here is a list of vendors, shops, and restaurants that the Inuzuka clan is affiliated with or owns," she tells Naruto.
"Go to them for your needs and they'll provide you with what you want," she assures the young girl.
Naruto holds the paper, gazing over the list.
'At least ten different types of stores are listed.' she thinks, 'Including a general store and weapons shop.'
Hana speaks up once more, "Those are the shops I've been getting your things at whenever you put in a mission request."
Naruto is stunned at the consideration of the Inuzuka clan.
"Thank you! Tsume-sama and Hana-Sempai! You have no idea how much money and time this will save me!" she tells the two joyfully.
Tsume shakes her head at the girl's enthusiasm.
"Don't make me regret giving you that list, brat! I expect you to show some respect to the owners and workers while you use those places!" she tells her starting to smile despite her words.
Naruto frantically nods her head.
"Yes Ma'am!' she responds.
The Clan head starts walking away from the three but addresses them once more before she leaves.
"I'm going to get back to finishing some work. Kiba! Walk Naruto to the compound entrance when you're all done eating!" she tells the boy then addresses her daughter.
"Thank you for dinner, Hana. It was delicious as always."
She looks at Naruto.
"It was a pleasure having you for dinner, Naruto. I look forward to seeing you and Kiba sparring."
All of the children wish her goodnight and the clan head leaves them alone for the night.
Silence falls over the children with Naruto and Kiba starting to eat once more.
"Your mother is right," Naruto speaks to Hana after a while, "This food is bussin."
Both siblings look at Naruto in confusion.
Naruto freezes, unsure of what she just said.
"What the hell does "bussin" mean?" Kiba asks.
Authors note- HAHAHAHAHA! I was a little unsure I'd be able to put the crack into "crack-fic", but I feel like I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
In other words- I lied about the Academy starting in this chapter! (My bad G)
The academy will start in the next chapter, I also intend to start picking up the pace since Naruto is starting to lay the groundwork.
I'm also coming to the realization that this fic is probablyyyy going to be a lot longer than I originally planned! Good news for you guys! Scary news for me, as I've never done this before and constantly criticize myself!
Anywayyys! Please let me know if you guys have any questions about what is going on or if I haven't made certain things clear!
And Happy Mother's Day to all the badass moms reading this!