[Kukui Tanku]

It had been a while since I had been alone with any of my friends and just talked with them. I had been meaning to talk to Mika or Tenten but they were doing other things with their family today. So I was here with Naruto because Sasuke and Suigetsu were doing their own thing. It was kinda awkward since we had nothing to do... like we had no other friends outside of our team... So we found ourselves just walking throughout Konoha.

"A lot's changed for us, eh Kukui?" Naruto began, being the first to speak up in around five minutes, "It's only been like a year! And here we are, Genin," Naruto smiled, a big goofy one. "I have friends, I'm stronger than that bastard Sasuke! Even if that jerk does beat me sometimes." Naruto grumbled.

I chuckled. "A lot has." In more ways Naruto knew too. I used to be pathetic, weak, and overall just a loser... but that all changed quickly. "I can say the same I think. I didn't have any friends before you, Tenten, and Mika. And I remember the days I lost to you!" I chuckled. "I was pathetic back then and now I can kick your ass."

Naruto turned to me and smirked. "Wanna prove that? Because I don't think you can back your words up. At least not now. " Naruto looked eager to spar, to fight and improve... I thought back to when I first knew him. He was terrible, the only thing keeping him afloat was his stamina... but Me, Tenten, and Mika turned him into a monster among Genin. He'd be amazing one day.

I waved him off. "Not now, I don't want to fight in the middle of Konoha, even if almost nobody is out." I gestured around. "And even if we did fight, I'd probably lose to you since most of my arsenal is restricted lest I want to destroy a house or two." I chuckled as Naruto grumbled something unintelligible. "We can spar later, Naruto. When I can send your ass home with a Fire Fist."

Naruto's grin came back. "You're gonna eat your words, Believe it." I chuckled, I had barely heard his so called catchphrase in this world... I knew just the response to it but before I could make the witty comeback, Naruto began looking up. "Ya know... I wonder why you guys were the first to accept me." I tilted my head, trying to act oblivious to the fact I knew why, "Like... why does everyone hate me?"

"I don't know, Naruto." I said after a moment... "I don't get why to be honest, sure you're loud, messy, and can be a little shit sometimes but that was never really enough for me to outright hate you." I looked up as well. "I never really understood why the village dislikes you, but I think that one day they'll warm up to you. You're destined for big things Naruto. I can tell." I knew he was. He was going to be Hokage someday, even in this timeline.

Naruto groaned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kukui," Naruto said sarcastically before smiling again. "And thanks I guess... I dunno if they'll ever like me, but I'll become Hokage no matter what! It doesn't matter what everyone thinks of me!" Naruto then turned to me again, "You know, you never told me your dream, you've gotta have one. What is it?" Naruto asked, making me stop for a moment...

After a second I grinned, "Now that's what I like to hear. You're gonna be Hokage one day, And then you're gonna prove everyone wrong because of it." I looked down. "I can't say I have a dream of my own yet to be honest... I never really thought of something like that in much detail. I do have an ambition that you could classify as a dream I suppose." I Looked up to the sky as stars slowly began to be uncovered.

"An ambition? You sound a lot like Sasuke when you talk like that." Naruto laughed to himself for a moment before grinning, "So, what's your ambition? What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it?" Naruto asked in quick succession and I couldn't help but be reminded of Fuu... My smile grew.

"Well..." I took a deep breath. "I want to be the strongest person ever." I looked down at Naruto, who was listening intently. "It's impossible for me specifically, but I want to work toward it. I want to be so strong that my enemies talk about me like I'm Madara Uchiha, I want people to fear me. I want to make S-rank Ninja look like children." Naruto's eyes widened slightly, "I want to be strong enough to protect everyone, Naruto. The world we live in kinda blows, and I know that to make it better I need to first be strong enough."

"So you want power?" Naruto asked and I nodded, "Can't say your ambition sucks... If there's anyone who could pull it off, it'd be you, Kukui!" Naruto grinned, "Of course, you won't be as strong as me as I'll be the Hokage but you can be second."

I chuckled. "Whatever you say, Naruto."

I looked down, it had been a few hours since my discussion with Naruto, and I was proud of him. He'd come so far in such a short amount of time. I imagine he'd clobber his canon counterpart now. He was going to be an absolute beast, Sasuke too. That was for certain. But they wouldn't be able to beat me. Especially if this ended up working out. Looking down, I saw a seal. It wasn't perfect by any means, not at all!

But, I was ready to give it a try, it was an imperfect version of the Earth Seal. Like the Ember Seal, I had made it this way on purpose. I needed to test some stuff after all, I couldn't just make a perfected seal for it only to have it not work thanks to chakra imbalance. Having earth chakra explode in my face wouldn't be good, at least I had goggles now... Just bought them too!

It had taken hours, but I was confident I had something that would work. Maybe not well, but if I could reach some form of progress tonight, I'd be happy. I wanted to have this ready by the end of the month, I originally was hoping to have it done by the end of the year thanks to me thinking Earth Manipulation would be tougher to learn, but I was already at level ten which was good enough for this.

[Earth Manipulation lvl 10]

It was truly beautiful to see the bullshit I could achieve with sensing and knowing how something worked. It was like having a loophole only I could use. Well, Hanabi too now since I as a good sensei shared my secret with her. I couldn't not just do that. Especially if I was going to die eventually.

I got lucky, too lucky. That luck was bound to run out. And I wanted to be prepared to fight against fate again. But should I fail, I want someone to keep my notes and ideas. Hanabi would be perfect for that, mostly. Fuinjutsu wasn't her thing but I would still be able to teach her a lot. And she too would become a menace within a year.

I took a deep breath then, 'No more dillydalling.' I took the seal and slapped it onto a glove I had lying around, not one of my flame seal gloves of course.I put on the glove, either I was going to explode something or I was going to make something. I then looked to the pot of dirt I totally didn't steal for this.

I then felt a very familiar set of chakra signatures, Cat, Tora, and of course, Hiruzen... "I didn't expect visitors tonight." I said, turning around and subtly thowing an earth clone scroll to my kitchen, I wasn't prepared for this. I really hope that I wasn't about to be assassinated, I didn't feel any hostility, but then again it was the Hokage and the fucking Anbu. I likely wouldn't even know I died if they decided to kill me. "I apologise for the mess, I would have cleaned up

Hiruzen chuckled, letting me know that my life wasn't going to end here and now. "No need to apologise, I should be the one doing so. Actually, I shall." Hiruzen stopped before continuing. "Sorry for the sudden visit Kukui-kun and so soon as well. But I figured after my last visit a few days ago, I should come back for a more positive one." Hiruzen then glanced to my current set up, "I see that you are working on a seal, an Earth Manipulation seal I presume."

I nodded, "I am." I glanced back to the pot, "It is far from perfect, I'm just testing to see which ratios of chakra I need to use. It should be done by the end of the month, hopefully before that." I smiled. "And then I shall begin to work on my other projects."

The Medical seal was a high priority on the list of things to work on, it'd be a lot harder than the Earth Seal though, that was a certainty. I couldn't just do the same, I had to get a feel for yang-oriented chakra, learn how to use a medical jutsu too to get a good feel for how it was supposed to work, and for that I'd need to work on my chakra control. So, I'd need to do more chakra control excercises which was rather unfortunate.

Hiruzen smiled. "That is rather good to know, soon you will be able to work on the Medical Seal, am I correct?" Hiruzen nodded. "I see, good. Now, do you mind if I watch you test your seal real quick? I would like to see what it does, even in its imperfect state."

I nodded, "Of course you can, Hokage-sama!" I then glanced to the kitchen and my clone came out with some tea. Perfect. I loved Earth Clones. "Would you like some tea?" Before the Hokage could speak up, I looked to where the Anbu can. "Also, would you two like some tea as well? And no, Tora you cannot have the entire kettle." I could hear what almost was a sad whimper.

I also heard a laugh. From both Cat and the Hokage... God when had this become my life? I honestly didn't know... It was a fun one though, I wouldn't change it for the world. "Yes I would love some tea, Kukui-kun." My clone quickly poured him and the Anbu some tea as I placed my hand on the pot.

I channeled my chakra into it, and in an instant, the chakra exploded upward and into the shape of a hand which hit the roof. "That... was unexpected. But better than I thought," I took off my goggles as I looked at the pillar. "The earth chakra I poured into the ground seems to have turned into earth as well."

"It seems so..." Hiruzen nodded, "Now, What do you think is wrong here?"

"The ratio was close, but not exact.. if it was too wonky it'd not work at all, but this worked... only somewhat. I was trying to make a foot. Not an arm." I looked at the Hokage before looking back at the pillar and doing some hand seals, I put my hands into the pillar and two clones formed from it. They went into the kitchen. "There we go."

"It is nice to see that you didn't end up wasting your chakra Kukui-kun," Hiruzen remarked as we watched the two clones leave. "Now, I do believe you should take a break."

I nodded, "That would be a good idea... I shall take a break I suppose."

I sat down across from the Hokage, and he placed down a set of Uno cards... 'Yep, my life is really weird... the Hokage even has his own copy of Uno.'

I had no idea why I was here, I had walked here and suddenly, Iruka found me. Then I was somehow dragged into his class, saying that he could use my help. In reality he was probably tired and he figured he could use me to teach his students... Which was exactly what was going on right now.

Looking in front of me, I saw the entirety of my old class plus some new faces... I could even see Sai for some reason. Must be a Danzo plot, But I couldn't care less about that right now... Iruka was just wanting me to answer any questions about being a Genin that anyone asked as they prepared to graduate in a few months. Looking around, I could feel the awkwardness... "So, I'm sure most of you remember me... I hope." I looked at their confused faces for a moment.

Sakura began to speak. "Yeah... Why are you here Kukui?" Sakura asked, carefully. And quietly... She seemed quieter. That was nice. "And where is Iruka-sensei? He just left after he lead you here." I Everyone murmured a similar question as well and I sighed.

"Truth be told, I got lost on the road of life and ended up running into Iruka because for some reason, I was here. Then I was convinced to have you ask questions about being a genin to me because I think he just wants a day off." I said before making an earth clone. "Now, I'm going to have him look for Iruka." The clone saluted me and I looked over at everyone. "So, I am going to answer a few questions now. 1: Being a genin sucks 99% of the time, D-rank missions aren't nice or fun like many of you think and C-rank missions are hard. 2: Not all of you are guaranteed to have a Jonin-sensei."

Before I could continue I saw a raised hand from Sai, I pointed at him and nodded and he took that as a sign to go. "Aren't you directly disobeying your superior's orders by answering the questions yourself?" Sai asked, tilting his head.

I nodded. "I am. But, your questions are all going to be the same most likely and so, I'd much rather save everyone's time so you can all go outside and train instead which would be a more valuable use of your time... And I'm going to be honest, that's bullshit." I was tired. It had been an incredibly long day, I just wanted to go to bed. "But it does stand true. So how about we all go outside actually and you all can train and do whatever? I'll teach you all a little something helpful as compensation." Before Sai spoke up I looked at him and raised a finger. "I get it, it's not right, but I'm not a teacher and this is just a favor to Iruka at this point, but we're doing things my way today, kay? And I want everyone to spend this time focusing on something they're good at. If you're good at Genjutsu, practice that with the other Genjutsu kids. Taijutsu? Same thing but with the Taijutsu kids. And so on for everyone else. "

After a moment Sai nodded. "That is... acceptable I suppose," Sai said as everyone stood up, soon we all went outside and everyone went to go do their own thing. Training because I said so and thankfully, everyone was doing what they wanted too, even Shikamaru was doing something! It was lazy sparring with Chouji. But still.

I sat on a tree branch, watching as I hummed. I would normally work on something as well, but I was tired. It had been an extremely long day with Hayate-sensei beating me into the dirt multiple times with Mika and Tenten laughing... One day I would get my revenge. I'd laugh at them as I watched Hayate beat them.

Suddenly I heard someone. "Kukui?" I looked down and saw Sakura... "Could I ask you a question?" Sakura asked timidly.

"Sure." I tilted my head... Sakura was acting odd. I remembered her being loud in the academy, loud and assertive. But then again, things could change in a few months. But what exactly changed? I wanted to know but it wasn't my place. 'Maybe since Sasuke graduated she lost her fire?'

"How did you get so strong so fast?" Sakura asked and I gestured for her to go on. "You used to suck. But you're a genin before nearly all of us like Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whimpered, yep she still liked him. Something's never change I suppose. Sakura looked down.

"Hm... Well, I had help." I said looking up. "If you want to be strong, you can't do that alone. You have to train every damn day until you want to pass out and you want to put work into something. Be that Fuinjutsu like me or something else." I hummed and Sakura looked up at me. "If you want to be strong you're going to need to find someone to help you be strong. So find someone knowledgeable in something you're interested in and ask if they can help you. If they don't that's fine. If they do then you better not waste their time."

"So... I need someone to help me? Who would even want to help me? I don't even know what I'd be good at." Sakura sighed... "Please tell me you have an idea."

I hummed more, enjoying the harmony I could hear. "I know of a Taijutsu master. They can help you improve your Taijutsu, strength, and speed should you ask nicely I'm sure" I smiled down at Sakura. "And if you don't want to use Genjutsu or Medical Jutsu which are things you could do with good chakra control, you can do a lot with raw chakra. Get your reserves up a bit and with good enough Taijutsu you can theoretically make punches as strong as Tsunade Senju's with your chakra." I grinned as I saw a glimmer of hope appear in her eyes.

Before she could talk, I sensed Iruka and my earth clone coming back. Before I could get reamed out for being irresponsible, I looked at Sakura, "Find Maito Gai and he'll likely help you if you're determined enough." I said before jumping across the fence.

"Wai-" I could hear before I finished running away.

A short chapter but what I had planned originally just wouldn't fit.

Ooh boy, I'm surprised that I'm actually writing two of these in one day. Like damn me. You're getting more competent again by the day. Still not proud of my writing. No idea if it's good or not but I'm glad that I'm writing it.

Anyways, this is gonna be a Mini-arc before the next one which is also a smaller one leading into a bigger arc before the Chuunin Exams. It'll also set up some bigger things which will lead into bigger things! No, I shall not say what they are because they are spoilers!

I enjoyed this chapter a lot, I don't think I'm anywhere near done with this fic. I think I'm Almost done with part of it. I'd say it's almost a third of a way over... But i am starting to get close to a possible ending for my other fic. Which I should plan out, but nah. Not now.

See y'all later!

-Tobi