Chapter 7: Be brave to change things you want it to be.

Naruto: If you don't like the hand that fate's dealt you with, fight for a new one.

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Naruto admits to himself that he is lost. He really doesn't know what's going on anymore.

But he concluded that this is all Sasuke's fault.

It's always Sasuke's fault.

Everything should be over.

They painstakingly sealed Kaguya for crying out loud! He was so goddamn tired, dattebayo!

He ran across nations, befriended all tailed beasts, met his own mother, was told their history, distributed his chakra to every shinobi, and fought legends! He even died, met a very old Sage, told he was a reincarnation of someone he didn't know, and got revived!

His whole world turned upside down in a day. He couldn't even contemplate everything, because he was busy fighting a war with his whole body, mind and soul. He just wanted to reward himself with days of sleep and bowls of ramen.

The only thing left to do was to undo whatever Madara did to the whole world.

Then his bastard of a teammate thrown a tantrum and gifted him a battle.

Isn't he tired?

They say he has too much chakra. He doesn't have any chakra left, but his teammate still wants to fight!

And they also say he's unreasonable. In his opinion, there's no other person more unreasonable than Sasuke.

He really wants to ask Sakura-chan what aspect of their teammate she seriously fell in love with. But he doesn't understand love that much. Hinata told him she loves him, but he didn't know why, when, what and how. There are many questions he wanted to ask his female teammate. He knows Sakura-chan is more knowledgeable than him about everything, including feelings.

And then... Kaguya was unsealed because they were fighting against each other using the hands where the very old Sage put the seals. Roots started capturing people again, namely Sasuke and Sakura-chan, leaving Kakashi-sensei and him alone to salvage things.

He might've contributed to the chaos because he let himself be pissed and agreed to fight his teammate. But still, it was all Sasuke's fault.

Seriously, how can he seal the moon goddess alone when his teammate is trapped in the chakra tree? Two seals were needed to seal that bitch, dattebayo!

He doesn't know what bullshit his Kakashi-sensei had pulled for them to escape their hopeless situation. Then he woke up looking at two additional people he didn't expect to see.

Shikamaru said they time traveled. He doesn't even know it's possible.

And… they allied themselves with Orochimaru! Of all people!

The Snake Sannin, who invaded their village in his chunin exam, who killed the Sandaime and who convinced Sasuke to leave Konoha! The Orochimaru that almost killed him numerous times!

What's Kakashi-sensei and Shikamaru thinking, 'ttebayo?!

Sigh.

Anyway.

The same Snake Sannin trained Sasuke well and took care of him for three years. There's also Kabuto and Anko... and those bastards they fought in that horrific mission when they chased his teammate. The students he mentored were strong. He can accept that, even if he doesn't agree with his methods.

As much as he wanted to ask more questions, he found himself unbothered anymore.

What's done is done.

We are already here.

What he really wants to know now is why Shikamaru is so dead set in killing the Third Hokage.

Shikamaru's sensei was Asuma, the youngest son of the Sandaime. Did he forget?

But this is Shikamaru, the most intelligent person he knew. It's unthinkable for him to forget simple facts about people.

"Child.", the tailed beast inside of him spoke in his mind. "They already said why. You just don't want to understand."

The Kyuubi inside him was not his Kurama. This nine-tailed beast was quiet and not hot-headed like him and his Kurama. This Kurama was too ruthless, wise and mature for him.

Like his friend Shikamaru.

He doesn't know if he wants another form of his classmate on his head. Arguing with him outside his mind is frustrating enough.

"I've seen what that monkey had done through the eyes of my first and second vessel.", the Yin-Kurama added. "Don't worship someone blindly, I know you're not that foolish."

"But Jiji took care of me when no one does.", he replied.

"Of course, he did. We are a weapon to him!", the Yin-Kurama lectured firmly. "That monkey made you loyal. Ask the wise deer how brainwashing works."

"He'll be more convinced in killing Jiji."

"I'll be angrier with that deer if he doesn't use this chance to kill that conniving monkey. There are more problems to address than stopping the deer from slaughtering an old man. Many lives are at stake! His actions are one of the reasons why you are fighting some members of that accursed clan."

"Alright! Okay! Fine!", Naruto raised his hands indignantly.Why does everyone solve problems with violence?! This is what Nagato and him were arguing about in the past."I get it, 'ttebayo!"

"No, you don't.", the Yin-Kurama huffed his breath and swished his tails. "I'm not believing the surrender of a stubborn child. Just leave this mindscape and play with the deer."

"Why are you here instead of my Kurama?", he pouted instead.

"Didn't you already forget that your teammate sealed my other half before you skipped time? Your Kurama is trapped here with your mother. I can feel him."

Naruto sighed. Another workaround to let his body accommodate Yin chakra.

"You might've a good chakra control this time. Even though this Yin-self of mine is here, your body absorbed some remnants of my Yang-self. My siblings also gave you their chakra. Use it well."

Naruto was thrown back to his present predicament. His classmate is waiting for him to resume talking while they ran. He scratches his head.

"Uhm, can you repeat everything? My mind was elsewhere. Sorry, 'ttebayo."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Orochimaru-sensei was saying not to use our signature moves in fighting. So, I'm now askingif you have anything else aside from Kurama and Rasengan."

"I can use Senjutsu.", Naruto answered.

"Does your summons still be yours in this time?", his friend turned his head to him. "I'm sure Kakashi and Orochimaru-sensei still have theirs. They already signed with them in this time. And you haven't yet with them."

Naruto widened his eyes.

No way!

The toads are not with him?

He worked hard to be a Toad Sage!

He groaned loudly as he realized that he missed the toads.

The Yin-Kurama seemingly listened with their conversation and suddenly interjected. "I can give you the fox summons. It will go along with our chakra. Sign the scroll later."

"You have the fox summoning scroll?! How?! Where?!", Naruto shouted internally.

"No need for you to know. Now, go back outside with the deer."

"Err... I can still use Senjutsu... but Kurama said I will use it with fox summons...", he slowly answered his classmate. Shikamaru nodded.

Their new sensei signaled them to stop while releasing some snakes in the ground.

"Okay.", his classmate continued his set of questions. "Any other abilities?"

"Well, I'm good with Taijutsu and Wind Releases. And I learned Sealing."

Shikamaru and Orochimaru raised their eyebrows at him. He copied their gesture.

"What?"

"You know Fuinjutsu?!", Shikamaru's tone went higher. "Since when?"

He felt insulted with their surprise, so he growled.

"I was a student of a Sannin that excelled in Sealing! I stayed with him for almost three years! Of course, I know Sealing!", he clicked his tongue in impatience. "It would be a waste of time if I didn't pick anything from Ero-sennin!"

Orochimaru studied him for some seconds. "I didn't remember you fighting with seals during the war."

Naruto bit his lips. He knows they are asking him questions without bite. He chose to be honest with his present comrades.

"I'm not yet comfortable using them in battles. The sealing I usually use was for tailed beasts, protective barriers and storage scrolls. I didn't have the time to expand my abilities with it because Kakashi-sensei prioritized having me master Rasengan, and Tsunade-'baachan agreed with the toads for me to learn Senjutsu. I am an offensive combatant; the sealing I knew is all for defense, dattebayo."

"How about you Shuka?"

Shikamaru glared at the use of his new name, but didn't comment against it. "Most of my arsenal are composed of my clan techniques."

"You're not a Nara in this time.", he frowned. His classmate also clicked his tongue, expressing his frustration and annoyance.

"I know fire and earth techniques, but I'm not fond of them. I prefer using exploding tags instead."

Orochimaru pushed them to walk again while they talked. Naruto tilted his head, recalling a memory.

"Is that how you defeated the immortal Akatsuki? The crazy one who worshiped Jashin-something?"

"With exploding tags?", their new sensei looked at them in disbelief.

"Uh... yes and wire strings...", Shikamaru confirmed.

"Interesting..."

"I'm useless without my shadows. I'm more comfortable with them."

"I understand. That's how I feel about letting go of Shadow Clones, 'ttebayo! Shadow Clones is me!", he confidently claimed. "How about Taijutsu?", he asked. He doesn't remember his friend brawling with enemies.

"The Nara are long-ranged fighters. We don't usually do combats that require hand and foot contact. And the Nara Taijutsu I know are more centered in defense. We have the Akimichi for offense."

"So, you literally defeated the Akatsuki with just exploding tags and strings? Are you for real?!", he exclaimed. He is so amazed.

How?!

That bastard was immortal. Kakashi-sensei, Ino and Choji were dead serious when they reported everything with Tsunade-'baachan…

Is that even possible? With only exploding tags?

Even their sensei was staring at his friend with a new found wonder while feeling the ground for any signs of whatever he was looking for. He suddenly pulled a dusty trapdoor and pushed them inside.

"We will rest here."

"Where are we?", Shikamaru inquired.

Naruto looks around to see the place. It's a room full of jars, medical equipment, chairs and books.

"This is one of my hideouts. I will share them with you later. Let's discuss more important matters. Sit down.", Orochimaru pointed them to the chairs. They sat down while their new sensei prepared tea.

"Nari.", their new sensei called his new name. "I have kept some Uzumaki scrolls with me. I'll give them all to you when we reach Konoha."

Naruto frowned at his new sensei, silently questioning him why he had his clan scrolls. His new sensei didn't break off the eye contact.

"I found the Uzumaki Temple located on the outskirts of Konoha. It was already destroyed when I visited there."

"There is an Uzumaki Temple?!", he can feel his eyebrows almost leaving his head. His new sensei sighed.

"As I said, there are many things you should know before we jumpstart our plans in Konoha. This is one of them. But we will talk about something else first: your abilities.", Orochimaru shifted his face towards his direction. "Is there a seal to change the appearance of someone's shadow?"

"Might be. I'm not sure.", he answered.

Their new sensei handed him a book. "In that case, read this while we travel. You might have a good understanding with this type of sealing since you're an Uzumaki and you already have the basics. Find a solution for Shuka's problem and a seal to hide your tailed beast. Sealing will be your main arsenal while we stay in Konoha. Your clan is known to be masters in sealing but they died during Second Shinobi War. The prestige of Fuinjutsu was lost and it's now acceptable for anyone to learn the art. I won't restrict you in using shadow clones. But you will learn some iryo-ninjutsu with me. Your medic teammate is not here and Tsunade will be hard to find during this war. I saw you healing people with chakra, and you heal yourself fast. We might emulate that ability here."

He quickly nodded and grabbed the book with determination. He will learn everything to win the war.

"Next, Shuka.", their sensei made some signs and handed his friend a large scroll that appeared. "Sign your name with your blood. You'll have the snake summoning. The Kyuubi already offered the fox summons with Nari. It's easier to have summons for communication and battles. We have Zetsu and Madara to kill. You can't fight them with only exploding tags and brain cells in your arsenal."

"What a drag.", his friend groaned. Naruto wants to express the same. There are so many things to do. But their new sensei looks like he has more to say.

"You will relearn Taijutsu with me. Hatake Kakashi might not be a Taijutsu specialist but he spars with Maito Gai for years. Nari, combine the katas you've learned from the toads with the style I will teach you. Shuka should learn more offensive Taijutsu techniques. You don't have the Akimichi fighting your battles this time. We don't want our Chief Strategist dying first."

Naruto is getting excited. More abilities to learn, the better. And he can fight like an Uzumaki as an exchange for his new name. He can calm down his confusion with training.

"And lastly, I will put a seal on you two to cover the identity of your chakra."

He and Shikamaru winced. They both remember the cursed seal way back the chunin exams and that mission. Their new sensei didn't miss their apprehension, but hadn't offered any apology.

"Your fathers are shrewd shinobis. One of them is a sensor type.", Orochimaru pointed at him. "We don't want to risk it. I know you don't trust me yet, given our wonderful history so I'll start with you. The Kyuubi can destroy my seal if he detects malicious intent."

They nodded. They really don't have a choice if they're gonna do this.

"Give me a drop of your blood and remove the upper part of your robe so we could start now. Nari, pull your chair in front of me."

"Will it be better if we placed the seal on somewhere they can't see easily?", Naruto tilted his head. "If we're gonna be a Konoha shinobi again and get injured, our upper back will be exposed, dattebayo!"

"Where do you suggest?"

"Hmmm...", he frowned and pointed at his right hip. "Maybe here?"

Orochimaru nodded and handed him a piece of paper.

"This is a seal that I will give you. Can you identify the parameters?"

"Yes, dattebayo.", he put a finger to point the two sealing characters in the paper. "This is for chakra type. If this is applied, it will turn to the chakra release of the receiver.", he points another character in the middle. "This one is water. Water dilutes things. In this case, water will dilute the first parameter of the seal. Then stream it to the fourth and fifth character which is this.", he taps two signs on the paper. "This is manipulation for the same chakra type of the receiver so that the elemental release will not change but it's essence." Then he traces some lines but frowned. "The seals I know use chains to hold the signs. But these are snakes?"

"Correct.", the Snake Sannin smiled and slightly proud of him(?). "Uzumaki sealing art uses chains but I used snakes with my own style."

Naruto simply nodded and identified the other symbols. "These here are the activation and deactivation of the seal but restricted its access to the receiver."

Shikamaru smirked at him. "You really do know sealing."

"Believe it! Dattebayo!", he took a deep breath and bit his finger. He lied down in the table sideways, exposed his right hip and looked at his new sensei. "Oro-sensei, you can now begin."

Orochimaru released a chakra energy to his finger and took a drop of his blood to start writing on his body. He was curious to see how his new sensei work but sealing is a complicated art. One wrong move and the seal explodes. He closed his eyes, feeling the chakra.

"Done. Shuka, where do you want it to be placed?"

"Left hip.", Shikamaru lied down next. "I was also thinking about getting tattoos."

"For what purpose?", their new sensei asked as he began writing the seal on his classmate.

"They're going to suspect us as spies. I want to lure them from checking the rest of our body. Seeing a meaningless marking will make them less suspicious."

"Good idea, Shuka!", he laughed. "My body is used to have markings and seals. What's wrong in adding more! Let's do it!"

"I don't know if you're too enthusiastic with the idea or you're just being sarcastic.", his classmate looks at him with lazy suspicion.

He pouted. "We need to bond more so you could read me well, 'ttebayo! I really agree with your idea! I want a fox one!"

"We should put snakes on you as a sign of your allegiance with my summons if Nari have foxes.", their new sensei pointed at his classmate. "If we survived this mission, put some deer tattoo too."

"Alright. I think I can now formulate our cover story with everything we put in our body.", Shikamaru sighed defeatedly. "You ready, Nari?"

"Just don't kill the Sandaime, Shuka and we're good."

"Fine."

"You need to let go of that old monkey, child.",the Yin-Kurama huffed.

"I can't talk peace with blood in my hands. I'm stupid, not a hypocrite.", he contested internally.

If they're gonna change things, they're going to do it right.

"Sleep.", their new sensei commanded. "You're going to have a long day."

.

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Long day? What long day? It's been a long week!

Naruto is beyond pissed, bruised and tired.

He didn't expect the Snake Sannin to train their Taijutsu while they ran to Kami knows where.

He felt like a month had passed when it's only been a week.

They've been running for seven days now. They visited many places.

Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei didn't push him this hard. His new sensei is stricter than the toads of Mount Myōboku. Orochimaru is really that bitch!

Is this how Sasuke was trained? How did he manage?

He finds himself respecting his teammate more. Maybe he drew a good card when Ero-sennin chose to train him. He can't even imagine how Sakura-chan learned with the hard punches of Tsunade-'baachan.

His competitive ass is the only one fueling his determination at this point. It was too hard. The Snake Sannin doesn't even shout but he preferred if their senseidid. He could've whined unapologetically.

He winced more when he looked at his friend's skin, formerly pale, but now covered with massive dark bruises, cuts and bites. His friend had talked less as the days progressed, biting his complaints and preferred taking out the growing frustration and anger on innocent trees. He knows Asuma-sensei didn't give this kind of regimen to the Ino-Shika-Cho team. His new teammate wasn't allowed to laze around as their new sensei drilled offensive attacks on him as much as he can.

Oro-sensei really did a number on them. He punched and kicked them without mercy during Taijutsu. He slashed them without any hesitation during Kenjutsu. He slapped them hard when their movements made a sound. He didn't mince his words when he scolded them. He didn't even give them time to breathe when their bodies can no longer move because they were being healed to move again. If they're going to rest, their new sensei produces another set of scrolls for them to read.

Don't waste time.Their new sensei said as he sadistically tortures them.

He missed Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei. But he's not a type of student who gives up because of pain.

He just… wants to eat ramen to console himself.

When will we arrive in Konoha?

As if hearing his thoughts, his sensei answered him.

"In an hour, we will arrive in Konoha.", the Snake Sannin announced, dusting his jounin uniform. "Nari, we can't visit the Uzumaki temple yet. Some guards are still stationed there."

Naruto was too tired to care about clan temples. He just nodded.

"I'll knock you out as part of Shuka's plan. Then we'll go from there."

"I am ready to sleep, sensei.", he cheerfully agreed. Shikamaru looked at him enviously. He blinked weakly at his classmate.

"This is your plan, not mine. You choose to knock me out."

His classmate tiredly sighed.

"I'll treat you ramen. Just... play your part well. And please avoid saying 'dattebayo'."

"Deal. Don't kill Jiji… dattebayo."

"Don't be troublesome, I already heard you the first time."

Naruto took a deep breath and relaxed.

Be brave to change things you want it to be.

He will make sure Sasuke will have a living family and a happy clan. He will make sure Sakura-chan won't cry again chasing anyone and heals people not in a war.

He started chanting.

I am an orphan of (Kyuubi attack) Second Shinobi War.

A student of (Jiraiya) Orochimaru.

An accidental (time traveler) experiment.

I (am a shinobi of Konoha) have no allegiance.

Welcome me (back) in your arms, Konoha.

He waited his sensei to let him sleep.

The darkness that awaits him was surprisingly painless.

(I am Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!)

When I wake up, I (will be) am Nari.

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Notes:

A special chapter of 3,534 words because Naruto finally had the chance to express himself. Let him talk, dattebayo!

Next chapter is the search for the next best actor!

Despite everything that happened, Orochimaru has students and subordinates who are good in their fields. He takes teaching seriously and strictly. Heck, if you'll count the number of students taught by each Sannin, Orochimaru got a lot of people trained under him.