RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGG!

Naruto swiftly switched of his bedside alarm clock. He then took it in his hands and checked the time.

It was 6 in the morning, good, for he had to get prepared for training today.

He then got off his bed and started going on about his daily morning routine, first freshen up, go to the toilet, then take a shower, and finally a nice breakfast of cup ramen and milk.

"Naruto"

The blonde stopped his eating and started his mental conversation with the Kyubi.

"Yeah Kurama?"

"I think it's high time you improve your diet with sone actual nutrition."

"What do you mean? What's wrong with ramen?"

"The fact that it doesn't completely fulfill your nutritional needs is what's wrong."

"What do you say I do about it?"

"I don't know, eat some vegetables perhaps?"

"But they suck!"

"Well not my problem if you want to stay tiny this time around as well."

Naruto realized that Kurama was right. After returning back, he had forgotten how shorter he was at this age compared to his older self.

"Fine I will eat vegetables, but ramen stays!"

"That's acceptable."

If one could see Kurama right now, they would see him giving a foxy grin not so different from Naruto's.

As Naruto finished up his breakfast, he put on his orange jacket, goggles and picked up his bag of supplies as he exited his house.

After getting out of his house, Naruto first locked his door and then went down the stairs, onto the streets of Konoha. At this time the streets were almost empty and quite, atleast until Naruto heard a faint sound if what felt like a stampede of buffaloes. As he looked in the direction the sound was coming from he saw a cloud of dust far away along the road. He was sure it was approaching him and coming closer. Ever so closer. Naruto got off the road and pasted him self on a wall along the roadside. As the cloud passed in front of him he caught glimpse of a green blur as it came to a halt a few metres away from him and the dust of cliud finally had a chance to settle. A figure then appeared out of the dust. He had a bowl cut hairstyle, big round eyes, with equally big brows, he wore a green jumpsuit, with light orange leg warmers. He had a red belt around his waist, which also bore his metal plate showing his Konohan allegiance. His hands were covered in white bandages.

It was Rock Lee, Konoha's Handsome devil.

"Hey, it's rare to see people awake at this hour, may i ask why you are awake at such an hour?"

Naruto now grasping the situation composed himself and said, " hey, not much just to do sone training" as he patted the bag on his waist.

Lee then pumped up his fists as he replied, " Yosh! Its nice to see more youthful people in this village! may I ask for your name?"

"Its Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya!" Naruto said as he him self pumped one of his fists.

" My name is Rock Lee, Konoha's handsome devil, happy to make your acquaintance! "

" So Lee, do you run like this every morning."

Lee simple nodded as he said, " Yosh, its part of my morning warmup of one hundred laps around the Leaf village."

Naruto now realized why Lee was that fast as a Genin.

"Naruto-san, as much as I would like to continue our conversation, I have to complete my warmup soon, or else I will miss my training time."

"Okay bushy brows, I hope to see you around."

" Me too Naruto kun."

Lee then took off again leaving Naruto in a cloud of smoke.

"Man, it was nice to see Bushy brows again."

Naruto then ran in the direction if the forest grounds, his usual training spot.

As Naruto left, a bit of distortion occured in one of the nearby tree. Suddenly a head popped out if the spot. The head was none other than Sparrow, one of the ANBU assigned by Hiruzen to keep tabs on Naruto.

"So he's going training, huh? "

The head then suddenly sank back into tree and disappeared completely out of sight.

Naruto soon arrived in the forest clearing he used as a training ground.

"So let's begin today's training, shall we? Shadow Clone Jutsu !"

Right on the queue, ten Naruto clones appeared behind him.

The original Naruto turned back towards his clones.

"Narutos! Today marks the first day of our training, first we will do the tree walking technique, so lets get to it already."

"YEAH!"

The screams of the clones filled the surroundings.

Sparrow soon arrived in the clearing, to the sight of about a dozen Narutos trying to climb up a tree each. He realizes that all the additional Narutos were clones. Not just any clones, they were shadow clones.

Sparrow was stupefied. That boy was supposed to be an academy student, so how did he manage to learn the jutsu in the first place? A jutsu from the forbidden scroll no less. It was forbidden due to the fact that this particular clone jutsu required large amounts of chakra and if any normal shinobi tried to use it, they would immediately collapse of chakra exhaustion. He knew that the boy had substantial chakra reserves due to his Uzumaki heritage and his tenant, but still it was impressive.

"I will make note to inform the hokage of this."

About three hours had passed.

The original Naruto was standing on the top of one of the trees while taking ragged breaths. Some of his clones had also reached their goal while some where still trying.

"Guys, we did it!" , one of the clones who had made to the top screamed.

All the Narutos exclaimed their joy before being dispelled by the original.

Naruto then sat down on the tree branch he had been standing on due to the combined exhaustion.

"Man, it sure was tiring. Maybe I will do something else before moving on to walking."

Naruto then got down from the tree and took out one of his kunai knives and drew a target ( although rather sluggishly) .

"Alright ! "

He then jumped several metres back and took out several of his Kunai.

"Let's see if my aim is still good."

Naruto then threw four kunai, two in each hand.

The kunais hit the target dead in the centre.

" Seems like my aim still stands."

Naruto then did some more kunai throwing practice on several more targets, both while moving and while stationary. He hit almost every target in the centre with minimal effort.

Soon he decided to begin the next phase of his chakra control training.

Sparrow followed Naruto as he walked towards a nearby stream.

The boy had continued to impress him beyond his expectations. Not only he had mastered tree walking, he also had near perfect aim while using kunai. He was confused though. He had heard from some other shinobi that the boy was the deadlast of his class. Given on what he had seen the boy do, either this year's genin were exceptionally good, or they didn't knew about Naruto's abilities and skill.

And from the looks of it, the boy was already moving on to the next level of his chakra training. He was going to attempt water walking. Sparrow though doubted that the boy would be able to master water walking in a similarly short time. It was harder to do as compared to tree walking by several levels and required near perfect chakra control in one's feet. It wouldn't be easy to achieve in a a few hours at least.

Naruto approached a small stream that ran through the forest. Nearby to it, there was a beautiful waterfall that ran down a rocky ridge. It wasn't just any regular place though.

It was the place where he had been trained by Jiraya before his Chunin exam finals. A wave of nostalgia hit Naruto as he remembered all that had gone down in that month.

Although his first meeting with Gamabunta wasn't as much as pleasant.

"Alright, time for the next step! "

Naruto then took off all of his clothes except for this trunks. He then took one step on the water surface. Nothing happened. As he raised his other foot to take another, he immediately fell in the water.

Naruto then got up from the water and spat out sone that had entered his nose and mouth.

" Damn!"

This is going to take a while.

Several hours had passed.

The sun was setting on the village of Konoha as a cry echoed in the nearby forest.

"ALRIGHT I HAVE FINALLY DONE IT! "

Naruto was running chaotically on the water surface as if it were solid ground. Yes, after spending the entirety of the day trying to do it, Naruto had finally managed to remaster the art of water walking. By now he was drenched in water after falling inti the stream so many times.

"Achoooo!"

Naruto gave a violent sneeze.

He had caught a cold.

"Oh man, I better put on my clothes before it ge- achoo worse."

Naruto then arrived on the bank of the stream and put on his trousers, jacket and googles and strapped on his bag of supplies on his right thigh.

"Man I could really go for some ramen now."

"Don't forget about buying some vegetables Kid." Kurama chirped in.

"Yes Kurama." Naruto replied mentally, not particularly enthusiastic about eating 'rabbit food'.

To say that Sparrow was impressed was now an understatement. Somehow, this supposed deadlast student, and jinchuriki of the kyubi, was one of the best genin he had ever seen. Sure, he was no Kakashi Hatake or Itachi Uchiha, but still, mastering water walking in such a short amount of time required some serious concentration and skill. The kid was now going back to the village and was also going to eat some ramen according to what he said. Soon Sparrow's shift would end and Falcon would replace him.

He wondered in she had remembered to put on the seals he had given to her to put around the boy's home.

Earlier that day...

Sparrow and Falcon had just sunshined out of the hokage tower and onto the roof of a nearby house.

"So it seems like your shift is before mine senpai."

It was Falcon who was speaking. She was a woman in her mid twenties, with purple hair, dressed up in a standard Konoha ANBU attire, brandishing a sword on her waist.

"It sure is Falcon, although there is something I need you to do."

"What that might be Sparrow? "

Sparrow then took out a few paper pieces from his pouch, embalmed with a peculiar seal.

"Before your shift begins, I need you to put these all around the boy's home."

"I can do that, but what are these exactly? "

"These are seals filled with my chakra. These will alert me if Kyubi chakra flares up in the area they cover.

Falcon nodded in understanding as Sparrow would be vital in controlling Kyubi's chakra if it were to flare up.

" Then let's be on our ways shall we?"

"Right Falcon."

They both then sunshined away in different directions.

Back to present...

Naruto was now walking up to towards Ichiraku ramen, a bag full of vegetables in his left hand.

He had to buy quite a lot of vegetables thanks to Kurama's persistence.

"Ungrateful kid, if you kept eating only ramen, you would've ended up once again like a maggot you where!"

"Okay, okay I get it Kurama, I am grateful for your guidance."

Naruto mentally smiled at his biju.

Soon he was just outside the stand.

"Welcom- oh Naruto kun is it."

Teuchi greeted Naruto as the boy sat down on the counter.

"Yo Teuchi-san."

"Dear Lord Naruto, you look like you have come from a battlefield, what happened? "

"Oh it's nothing, I was just training a bit."

"I see, training hard to become the Hokage eh? "

"You bet old man!"

By this point Ayame had come out to the front as she gave a smile to Naruto.

"Hey it's Naruto-kun again, and what's that bag there? " she asked pointing towards the bag of groceries.

"Oh, it's just some vegetables and stuff I got for my home."

Teuchi chimed in, " It sure will help with your training Naruto, nothing like a good pot of boiled vegetables with rice and fish to keep your body fit. Although why this sudden change of heart though? "

Naruto tensed up at the question as he knew that Teuchi knew that Naruto hated vegetables. He was one of the few who talked to him anyway.

He a bit nervously replied, " uuuhhhh, one of my fr- uh teachers told me to, yeah."

Teuchi and Ayame seemed happy with the explanation as they started to prepare more ramen for Naruto.

"So 'teacher' huh? "

"Don't take it seriously, I just told them what came first to my mind."

"Keep in line brat, and I expect to be referred to as Kurama-sensei from now on, clear."

"Ughhhhhh."

Naruto just mentally sighed as he continued to eat his ramen.

Sparrow was watching the boy while he was eating ramen from one of the trees when he noticed Falcon appearing on one of the electric poles nearby.

She just gave him a nod as he nodded back and then promptly sunshined away

Hiruzen was sitting in his office looking as the sun set on the village.

He should be here any minute now, he mentally thought.

A few seconds later, Sparrow appeared in the office in a bowing position.

"So Sparrow, what is your report?"

"Hai Hokage sama, I saw no flaring of Kyubi chakra whatsoever sir, nothing unusual, except... "

Hiruzen now tensed up.

"Somehow, Naruto Uzumaki knows Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Hiruzen was surprised quite a bit at Sparrow's report. Sure, academy students do tend to learn Jutsu outside it's curriculum, but it was still appalling that Naruto had learned the Shadow clone Jutsu.

"Not only that my lord, the boy has excellent chakra control as he mastered not only tree walking but also water walking, all in front of me."

This is what broke the camel's back.

Hiruzen was shocked, and somewhat proud of Naruto at the revelation. It was no easy feat to master both if these techniques at one, Hiruzen himself had quite the difficulty to master these techniques himself.

"Good job Sparrow, go home and have some rest."

"Hai Hokage sama."

The ANBU then once again sunshined out thr room leaving Hiruzen alone in his chambers.

Now while contemplating, Hiruzen thought of how Naruto could've know those techniques.

He figured it was possible he saw someone do the chakra control exercises, but that still left the Shadow Clone Jutsu at hand. Sure he could've asked some jonin how to do it, though he doubted that was the case.

" I will try to talk with Naruto regarding those jutsu."

Kakashi was an interesting man. Or Mundane. Emotionless. Strict. Pervert. Antisocial.

What he was referred to as differed from people to people and the context of the situation.

Though there was one thing everyone agreed upon.

He was, currently Konoha's strongest shinobi, only topped by the likes of Jiraya of the Sanin and Professor Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Professor.

Although at the time he wasn't quite up to his expectations.

For years he had neglected honing his skills as a shinobi due to depression following the successive death's of the people he most cared about- his father, his teammates, and finally his sensei. The excessive trauma and loss of his loved ones had left Kakashi to be a mere husk of his true potential.

In the recent years he also had gained a reputation of failing all genin teams he had taken on as a jonin sensei in their final test earning a strict reputation.

He had friends, though outside of Guy and Tenzo, he didn't talk to them that much.They would sometimes invite him out for drinks or some dinner, and while he would talk a bit, he would mostly be engrossed in his Icha Icha books for most of the time.

Right now he was on his bed reading his beloved orange book. He wore some track pants and a sleeveless body suit, all blackish blue in color. His mouth was covered by a mask which was an extension of his bodysuit, all the way up to his face. He also had his headband covering his left eye. It was so as he had a Sharingan, the Uchiha's special dojutsu, implanted in that socket, a final memory of his old teammate, Obito Uchiha. Finally, he had silver hair, fashioned in a spiky hairstyle.

Currently, the time was about seven in the evening, and right then he heard a knock on his apartment door.

He got up and opened it and was greeted by the smiling face of his old ANBU teamate and friend, Tenzo.

"Good evening, Kakashi Senpai."

"Tenzo, it's nice to see you today, do come in."

The silver haired jonin invited his old friend into his apartment, sporting his iconic eyesmile.

"So, what is the purpose of your visit, Tenzo?"

"Nothing special, just checking up on you as usual."

Kakashi knew the reason Tenzo visited him frequently was to simply keep him some company, all the while talking the gaining useful advice from his old superior. Not that Kakashi minded anyways. He wasn't a fan of human interaction, but it wasn't like he hated it or something.

Kakashi then put on sone rice and curry to cook as he took out some drinks for Tenzo and himself. The old colleagues chatted away for minutes until the subject of Tenzo's latest mission.

" So you have been given the job of keeping tabs huh?"

"Yes senpai."

"Since when?"

"Actually I just started today. I keep tabs during daytime while Yugao was tasked with night duty."

Kakashi was no stranger to such missions. He was himself tasked with similar mission by his former sensei, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of the village. His mission was to watch over the Hokage's pregnant wife, Kushina Uzumaki, until they both perished in the Kyubi attack more than a decade ago.

"So who were you tasked with tailing? Your old boss?"

"Very funny senpai, and no, I have been tasked with watching over the Kyubi jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki."

While Kakashi didn't show it, the information had been dropped on him, not as extreme as to be called a bombshell, but a big revelation nonetheless. Naruto Uzumaki. He was none other than the son of his late sensei and he happened to be one of the few people to know it. It was quite odd for the hokage to suddenly enact such measure.

"Really, any specifics as to why you were assigned."

"Hmm, while not directly mentioned, the hokage did ask us to look out for any signs for Kyubi chalra flaring up, I was specifically chosen just for that i think."

"Hmmm, I see."

Right then, the food over the stove began to boil over leading to Kakashi getting up to bring them over to the table.

"I need to talk with Hokage-sama about this sometime" He thought in his mind.