Don't ask why I update so fast, it's just happened! XDDD At any rate... this is like a chapter about Naruto's somewhat peaceful day, living with his fellow seal master and go training with Itachi and Shisui, hence why this chapter titled Halcyon Days.

Maw... while I paint Uchiha clan in positive light, it doesn't mean Naruto could make their problem go away. Naruto at this point is still a nobody, at least in politics. From what I see in canon Uchiha is arrogant and proud, which by right not something I would make fun of. In recent chapters it revealed Senju (Hashirama excluded) is not better than Uchiha when it comes to pride, both clans are proud of their heritage which was why they fought in the first place.

I won't say it's right for Uchiha to rebel, it's neither right or wrong just stupidly desperate. They're a proud clan and ostracizing them is like asking for a time bomb to explode. So yeah, kudos to you Orochimaru, to point it out to Niidaime.

For Naruto's new clothes, it's the same one Sarutobi Sasuke from Samurai Deeper Kyo wear but orange one. I see nothing wrong with the kill-me-orange if Naruto can survive wearing it, he is a bad ass. The new cover is Naruto's clothes when we reach canon start (rookie 9 graduation time line) Which pretty much orange-dark blue version of Tokito of Samurai Deeper Kyo wear with a touch of Kushina's old clothes when she was a genin.

Sorry, if anyone confused Itachi pulled a shinai, I discarded that idea and forgot to erase that one. He pulled a tag not a shinai, my bad!

NOT YAOI, though I have to say... yaoi fans are free to take anything as hint like in canon. So yeah, feel free to interpret it.

5th Legacy: Halcyon Days

"You shall not make an Uzumaki repeat themselves for the third time when it comes to fuuinjutsu. You nod, shut up, and do as they said before they tear you a new mouth for back talking them in their expertise."

Seal Masters when dealing with an Uzumaki

Aizen was a pleasant person; at least he painted himself as such. Naruto didn't know why but he, Kurama, and Itachi were instantly wary of the man. In spite of that, he didn't voice a word of protest, when Aizen asked him to move to Fuuin Division Dormitory. It was just reasonable that a teacher would want his disciple to be contactable any time, and devoted most of their time in their study. Naruto didn't have that much attachment to his old apartment anyway, at the very least the new place won't be devoid of life.

And oh boy… how wrong he was.

The dormitory was located in a tower, on the west side of North forest; apparently it was pretty close to the city. The dormitory room or rather an apartment looked pretty much the same as his old apartment; and insultingly larger with queen size bedroom, the bathroom and kitchen were inside too. The difference was, it looked so bare and needed personal touch.

"How do you like it Naruto-kun?" Aizen asked as he led the blond boy to explore his new home.

Naruto bobbed his head, "I like it! It's bigger than my old place!" Which mean it would feel emptier too with only him. "But… I always thought a dormitory room supposes to be small!"

"Not when it's for the Division Leader." Aizen informed him.

"Oh." Naruto paused than stared at the older seal master in shock. "Oh, I thought I am going to live alone, so this is your place Shisou?"

Aizen shook his head, "I have my own house… it's ten minutes walk from the our tower, I would love to let you live in my home…" The haori clad Shinobi sighed, "But higher ups insist that you've to live here."

Apparently he was not the only cautious one of Aizen, which made him wonder why they let Aizen to keep his position at all. He had not heard of Aizen clan, which meant the clan was minor so it was no reason to fear political backlash or anything alike. Unless upper echelon of their village still trusted the man, and they wanted Naruto to be where they could keep their eyes on. It annoyed him, most of his life had been trailed by ANBU. How much monitoring they needed?!

Naruto nodded, "But I am not sure I should have this place…"

"Nonsense." Aizen drawled, "You're used to have a place with bathroom and kitchen Naruto-kun, so Hokage-sama deemed it prudent you deserve the same luxury even in dormitory. This place is never used by me, it's better be in use than gathering dust."

The blond boy smiled at that, "I promise I will take a good care of this place Shisou!" He beamed. "And by the way! Can I paint it orange?" He asked cheerfully.

Aizen sweat-dropped at him, "Eh… this is not private property Naruto-kun though I think you could pick a more neutral color… a very pale orange maybe? I will ask permission from Hokage-sama for you!"

"Really Shisou?!" Naruto beamed at the offer, "Thank you!" He thanked his master. Aizen just smiled as he bid Naruto good bye and left the boy to attend his business in his office. Naruto waved at retreating Aizen cheerily. "See you around Shisou!" As soon as Aizen was out of his sight he closed the door and his eyes narrowed.

'That man is full of bullshit!' Kurama growled. 'Ask Hokage-sama for you?! You could ask that old man yourself! He sounds like he is going to do a favor for you!'

Naruto sighed as he began to unload books from the box. 'Well… kids normally won't notice when adult is bullshitting them. And he seems to be set on making me fond of him.'

The demon fox snorted, 'On his dream~ But still, do you think this is a wise decision? Haven't you learned that naiveté could get you killed?'

The blond boy clenched his teeth; his finger pushed the book to straighten the row. 'Hiragi-jiichan... the man who changed my life, in spite of everything I owe him. I can't hate him, not when he gave up his life research for me… I don't know what he was thinking but should I care?' He wondered in somber tone. 'To us seal master… what he has given to me is like a Shinobi giving up both of his hands.'

'Can't argue with you there, but still! We were so lucky he didn't mess you up!'

'Hai… but you know Hiragi-jiichan is probably not in this world anymore, regardless of his original intention to me is good or bad.' Kurama had told him that the man had received a full blast of exposure to Kurama's demonic chakra. A normal human would have went mad and committed suicide or died in instant. 'I owe him, that's all in it. As far as I concerned… he probably…' Naruto trailed off as he put the last book on the shelves. 'The only human who ever gave me something without nothing on him in return.'

Hokage's kindness to him might be out of genuine love to him like a grandfather would their grandson, but in the same time it was also a duty. He was the jinchuuriki of Konoha after all. Even this opportunity to further his study was partly for Konoha. Tori cared about him but the ANBU's protection was a duty too…

And Itachi… he was not sure but when it comes to the older boy he could safely say their friendship based on their understanding of each other's standing. Itachi was the prodigy who shouldered his clan's pride on his young shoulder, while he was aware of how his clan slowly descended to the path of no return. While Naruto was a sacrifice for the village and betrayed by them, ironically it was after they knew what he had done for them.

They were both aware of how foolish human could be once consumed by hatred.

Sometimes Naruto wondered if he was indeed a prodigy, a genius as they called him. If what it takes to be a genius was to know why everyone else was idiot, it was both a curse and blessing. A blessing to know you're not an idiot and a curse to know you're living among idiots.

He wisely discarded the thought, because it seemed Itachi was rubbing off on him.

Uchiha Compound

Uchiha Sasuke could shamelessly admit he loved his big brother more than he did his parents. It was ironic that while the whole clan pressured him to be as good as Itachi, his big brother was the one who protected him from the said pressure. It was really stressful for a young boy like Sasuke to live under the shadow of such a talented older brother, and he sought comfort from his brother and mother whenever he could. His brother was always busy since he started working as an ANBU, so every second he could get from Itachi was precious. He went home in hurry because it was the day Itachi promised to let Sasuke watching his training with kunai and shuriken. Much to his disappointment Itachi was not home yet.

"Kaa-san!" Sasuke called his mother who was busy unloading her groceries from plastic bag. "Where's nii-san?" He asked impatiently as he pulled one of the chair and pushed himself up to sit.

Mikoto paused her work, "Oh, he went to Munechika-san's place… he should be back soon. He has been away for two hours, it shouldn't take so long…"

Sasuke blinked owlishly as he processed what his mother said, "Munechika-san? I thought nii-san just restocked his weapon supply last week?" Itachi was always took a good care of his weapons, so usually it lasted longer. It didn't make sense his brother needed to buy anything from the blacksmith.

The Uchiha matriarch titled her head to the side thoughtfully, "Well… apparently when he restocked his weaponry last week he also ordered something from Munechika-san and he went to pick it up today." She explained as she finished putting the groceries on their fridge.

"Oh." Sasuke hummed excitedly, "Did nii-san ordered some cool weapons?" He asked childishly.

"I did not."

Sasuke almost jumped on his seat then turned around to face his big brother. Itachi looked pretty amused by his reaction, judging from small smiled on his lips. "Nii-san! You startled me!"

Itachi shrugged, "Tadaima… kaa-san, Sasuke…" He poked Sasuke on the forehead as he walked pass, earning a pout from his little brother. "More vigilant next time." Itachi lifted his right hand; holding up a plastic bag. "Uruchi-baasan gave me some anpan and curry bread from their bakery."

Mikoto smiled at that, she mentally noted to thank the old couple the next time she saw them. "That's very nice of them."

Sasuke turned to his brother, "So what did you get from Munechika-san, nii-san?" He asked curiously.

"You will see it later." Itachi promised with a glint on his eyes.

Sasuka watched in awe as his brother showed him a custom made shuriken, which just poofed out from a storage scroll. Unlike normal shuriken the tips were tapered to a diamond shaped hole, runes carved on its metallic body with an elegantly written 炎 for hono on the center. The next projectile Itachi set beside the custom made shuriken was… a slip of paper?

Itachi chuckled amusedly at Sasuke's confusion, "Let's see these in action shall we?" He said as he led Sasuke to the nearest clearing.

The younger brother looked confused when Itachi took out a wooden dummy out of the scroll. Unlike one he saw in training ground this one was not made of hay but wood, which make it looked like a puppet. He had seen something alike in bookstore, one that used as model for painter to draw human. This one was big, a head taller than Sasuke. Itachi placed a tag on its head, the tag also had difficult looking rune with 息 for 'breath' in the center.

Sasuke couldn't help but gaped when he saw the five feet wooden dummy suddenly came alive and looked like it was running for its life from them. The way it moved was awkward and frantic, and looked more like bouncing instead of running. After it reached certain distance from them it was running in circle around the training ground like a headless chicken. Sasuke was really disturbed by how creepy it looked.

"I am not sure that's on purpose." Itachi was apparently wasn't disturbed by its frantic bouncing, even when Sasuke flinched at the puppet's head 180 degrees turn.

"Nii-san." Sasuke almost whimpered, "It's dancing."

Itachi only raised an eyebrow when the puppet started dancing ballet, and it was horrendous. Then again the puppet was no Billy Elliot. Sasuke really started to whimper when the said puppet jumped in the air with its hands stretched out like it was trying to fly. "If this is his idea of joke, it's really a poor taste." Itachi craned his neck, "But it seems to be a workable puppet for practice dummy."

The Uchiha prodigy stepped forward before he dived to a full sprint towards his target. From the corner of his eyes he saw his father approached Sasuke, Fugaku had came to watch his training it seemed. He paid the spectators no mind as he threw the custom made shuriken to the puppet. Fire came alive and encased the shuriken; it looked like a disc of fire cutting through the puppet dodged the coming fiery projectile with jumping high to the air, the legs disturbingly parted in 180 degrees in the mid-air. However it wasn't fast enough when it jumped so the tip of its feet were torched. Itachi didn't even pause when the puppet landed on it's burning feet and started to spin around.

"Shuriken encased in fire." Fugaku murmured, ignoring his youngest son who at some point had clung to his pants. He couldn't blame Sasuke, the dancing puppet was a pretty disturbing sight for a child. "It's like... a more advanced version of our Housenka no Jutsu." Itachi started to corner the puppet with a fire of wall, dodging spinning kick from the burning wooden feet in the process. "Interesting."

Sasuke gulped, "Nii-san is so fast! But how that shuriken can sprout fire even though Nii-san didn't burn them?" He asked curiously.

"Fuuinjutsu..." Fugaku answered in solemn tone. "The shuriken is imbued with Itachi's fire natured chakra while the rune functioned to shape and manipulate it to produce the same effect as Housenka no Jutsu." Shisui had told him about the Minato's son and the latest achievement of the budding prodigy of seal master, the boy was truly their son.

"Oh..."

Fugaku really hoped they could have adopted Minato's son, but that would be soundly rejected by Sandaime and his cronies. He also didn't want to add oil to the fire, considering their position now. While it was true sharingan was probably the only thing left in the world that could control Kyuubi, everyone seemed to conveniently forgot his family's relationship with Yondaime's. He would sooner cut his own hand than letting his clan to harm Minato's family. The village could accuse Uchiha all they wanted, and conveniently forgot that Mikoto was Kushina's best friend and he was Minato's childhood friend and second cousin. The latter was not even a public secret, while it was not well known.

One of his mother's cousin married a Namikaze and had Minato. Minato's mother had recessive gene of Uchiha and Namikaze was actually an offshoot of Senju, which was why Minato looked nothing like an Uchiha save the sharp shape of his eyes which was not that noticeable in the first place. Uzumaki Naruto was also very unlikely to develop Sharingan considering Minato married an Uzumaki, a family line which was another offshoot of Senju, diluting the Uchiha blood even further. Aside of the blood relationship, they also forgot how crushed Minato was when Obito was killed, and how Minato had kneeled in front of him to apologize for his nephew's death. Hatake Kakashi was still alive and breathing was also thanks to Minato. The clan was furious about Kakashi's sharingan, but they honored Obito's last wish.

Not to mention Minato didn't need their petty anger on Kakashi while he already had enough on his plate. Even in politic standpoint, without their blood relation thrown in the mix, it didn't make sense for Uchiha to want Minato dead. Minato was the only Hokage after Shodaime who treated them fairly. Fugaku suspected all relationships his family had with Yondaime's was hushed out by Sandaime and his teammates. His blood relation was probably hushed out the moment Minato took his hokage mantle. None of them noticed that time because war just ended and Konoha experienced the worst economic crisis since the first Great War. Minato was busy to stabilize their village and getting used to his new position, while Fugaku and police corps were busy to suppress raising criminality in Konoha's civilian populace. None of them realized what the old cronies did on their back. When he thought of it again it might be not Sandaime, the old man was too busy to grieve over his wife's and Minato's death. His teammates however...

Recalling those old fools had time to smear his clan's name in the worse moment possible made his blood boil. They could afford to hate the Jinchuuriki in their midst and one of the founding clans, sometimes Fugaku wondered if Konoha deserved Uchiha and Minato's legacy at all.

'Fugaku! I am going to name my son, Naruto!" Minato informed him cheerfully.

Fugaku's left eye twitched, "What did I tell you about letting Kushina to name your child?"

"Not after that ramen topping of course, I named him after the main character of Jiraiya-sensei's novel. Not a smutty kind of course!" Minato informed, looked pretty offended that Fugaku thought Kushina's ramen obsession would make his beautiful wife naming their son after the food.

The Uchiha clan head rubbed his temple, "Even better, the name is from Jiraiya-sama. He is a great shinobi but..."

"Oh come on! My sensei is not that bad!' Minato protested.

Fugaku snorted, "I arrested him three times for this week alone for peeping."

"Oh okay... he is bad, I admit." Minato swallowed heavily.

"This is why I want to speak to you initially, the third time he was caught this week, which was this afternoon... my wife and yours were in hot spring for their pregnancy excise." Fugaku growled out.

"..."

"..."

"Want to help me kill my ero-sensei?" Minato offered generously.

"Of course."

"Tou-san?" Itachi called.

Fugaku was snapped out of his thought, his eyes drawn by Itachi's stiff stance and Sasuke who had cowered behind his brother. He had been leaking killer intent when he was lost in memory it seemed. "I am fine now Itachi, Sasuke... it's been a hard day." He narrowed his eyes at Itachi. "About your new friend Itachi..."

The older son stiffened. "Yes?"

"Cherish him Itachi..." He drawled, "As my son, you should do better than I did." That Itachi could correct his mistake, and their son's bond won't be severed by negligence like what happened between him and Minato.

Itachi was stunned by the order, and marveled if there's no hidden intention in his father's voice. "Yes father."

He couldn't give Minato's son a family, but he would be damned if he even couldn't give a friend to Naruto.

Once he was apprenticed, he was given a new place to call a technical home and a new set of clothes. It was not a shirt or pants he usually wore, but some sort of double layered kimono which only as long as a normal shirt, the sleeve was long but not wider than normal sleeve like kimono. The outer kimono like shirt was white with one thick orange stripe on chest part while the inner was orange. The pants was short and came in darker shade of orange.

Instead of standard ninja shoes he was given a pair of black jika-tabi (traditional Japanese socks). The footwear, felt awkward at first but it was comfortable and he really liked the traditional sock though not the geta since it was too noisy. He liked the softness of their soles. This gave him tactile contact with the ground and lets him used his feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes. He could use it in practice once he learned how to create durability seal for cloth.

Kurama generously informed him that it looked exactly like clothes Uzumaki Mito gave to her son. Which not surprising since it came from Uzushiogakure, and must had a preservation seal sewn on it. Naruto was not sure what to think when Hokage gave him the clothe,s but didn't say anything about it other than it was a gift. He sometimes wondered how undeserving he was, that not even a drop of information about his legacy was given to him. He didn't ask for much, a few sentences about Uzumaki clan he could find himself in library would be good enough. He wondered why he kept hoping that one day jii-chan would indulge him at least a little about his legacy, to assure him he was not an unwanted trash nobody wanted.

"Scrolls! Books! Lots of it!" Shisui shook his head as he eyed Naruto's shelves in distaste. "No wonder majority of Shinobi population thinks you guys from Fuuin Division are scholars and not ninja!"

Naruto wondered why Itachi thought bringing Shisui to his place was a good idea. "Shisui." The older boy insisted he dropped the honorific with a promise Shisui wouldn't call him Naruto-chan anymore. "Put that scroll back, and here I thought Uchiha are clans who value brain over brawl."

Shisui raised an eyebrow, "So we're smart naturally, but so you know I don't read scrolls to study jutsu! We have instructor and sharingan for that!"

"I think Naruto-kun is talking about how our Sharingan helps our fighting style to be efficient, which involves strategic thinking instead of brute force." Itachi joined in after he took another sip of his green tea.

The shusin expert scoffed, "My best record when fighting an enemy ninja is with shunshin-ing right on my enemy's blind spot and roasted him with a katon. Just three minutes! Like cup noodle!" He boasted proudly.

"Did you just tell me that…" Naruto trailed off, "Setting your enemy on fire is more effective than your prized doujutsu?" Naruto asked incredulously.

He huffed, "We're pyromaniac at heart." Shisui declared proudly. "Sharingan tend to make you over-thinking in battle, while the simplest solution bring faster result."

"Which mean while Sharingan helps us to predict and counter nin, gen and tai, it's not efficient without enough brain to back it up so Shisui resort is prone to shunsin and roast anything in his path." Itachi explained in deadpan tone.

Shisui glared at his least favorite cousin, "OI!"

Naruto nodded sagely, "I see…"

"No you did not." The older Uchiha growled.

Itachi sighed, "By the way Naruto-kun, I tested the nenshou-shuriken (burning throwing star) yesterday with that puppet seal you gave me."

Naruto's eyes lightened up at that, "Oh! How is it? Did both work properly?"

"I guess the nenshou-shuriken works well, as for your puppet seal." The Uchiha prodigy titled his head to the side, "Define properly."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at his fellow prodigy, "Huh?"

Twenty minutes later in the nearest training ground Naruto and Shisui watched in horror as the puppet executed 32 fouettés en tournant before it bounced like a rabbit in heat. Aizen who was watching beside Naruto clapped cheerily. Itachi looked indifferent by the puppet, though if you watched closely you could see his left eyebrow twitched by 2 millimeters. Shisui regretted drawing Maito Gai's face on it, while it was creepy enough when the puppet's face was blank, the thick eyebrow, the eyelashes and the wide smile made the show looked straight from the worse realm of insanity. It was pretty funny at first, Shisui conceded, but now it was just plain creepy and disturbing.

The spell of silence hung heavily in the air save Aizen's clapping, it was Shisui who found his voice first. "No wonder little Sasuke is traumatized." He murmured, "Naruto, even I... have to admit it's not funny." Uchiha Shisui told him, in a voice that suggested his brain was broken.

Naruto gaped like a goldfish at them and for a moment of broken-minded-ness they stared at each other,"But... I didn't mean it to do that! That..." He stammered, "I was just trying to modify standard puppet seal Ryuudouin clan used! So it could move more fluidly and not so stiff like one the original clan used on training post!" He growled testily.

Aizen smiled at his disciple, he looked bemused by the whole ordeal. "The puppet did move fluidly now Naruto-kun." He beamed.

"Not that kind of fluid!" Naruto exclaimed in horror, he was about to correct his teacher but lost control of his jaw when he saw it. The moment the puppet jumped and doing a full leg splits in mid-air, which put too much strain on its hip joint and it's left leg fell out. The puppet landed on its right leg and started to spin again, while its left leg went flying and stuck on the wall, missing Naruto's cheek by one inch. Naruto regained his control as he put his jaw back up. He grabbed the stray leg then threw the leg to to the puppet with deadly accuracy. The puppet was struck by its own leg on chest part and was sent sprawling to the ground. Naruto then turned his attention at the two dumbfounded Uchiha beside him. "Itachi, Shisui." The two Uchihas turned to their attention to the Uzumaki. "Burn it." He ordered in commanding tone, it was not a request.

Itachi and Shisui didn't know why but for a moment they fear for their life of what Naruto would do if they didn't do as he said. It was Aizen who interrupted their train of thought, "Naruto-kun! Don't be so hasty, it's not that bad!"

Naruto was not convinced, "Burn it,dattebayo." He repeated icily, his blue eyes never left the abomination.

Aizen was quickly reminded of one thing his late teacher who was lucky enough to know Mito-sama had warned him about Uzumaki. There was one warning all seal masters who had ever known an Uzumaki personally would always say. You shall not make an Uzumaki repeat themselves for the third time when it comes to fuuinjutsu, you nod, shut up, and do as they said before they tear you a new mouth for back talking them in their expertise.

"Itachi-kun! Shisui-kun! Quick!" Aizen pressed the two Uchihas on. "Burn it! Do as Naruto-kun said!"

Itachi and Shisui decided that they didn't want to know why Aizen suddenly started singing different tune so they went to the puppet in record time and turned it to firewood with Goukakyu no Jutsu. Naruto trotted to the fire and threw all identical seal with one on the puppet he had on his person to the fire. Itachi and Shisui looked at the Uzumaki in bewilderment then to the burning puppet and tags. Naruto smiled eerily at the occupant of the training ground, a smile that was known as Uzumaki's trademark smile that said as a sign for flee on sight in the first Great Shinobi war when an Uzumaki was pissed. Especially when the verbal tic came out from their mouth. He had been pretty confused why Naruto didn't have Uzumaki main family's verbal tic, a tic they spouted when being emotional. Uzumakis usually were very emotional when they were young, most calmed down when they reached adulthood and the verbal tic came out only when they were pissed off or excited. They were known natural disaster when pissed even without bijuu.

"We never see this." He decided in resolute voice. "We didn't see anything, dattebayo." He chirped cheerfully.

He decided to just pretend that the abomination never exist?! The thought in disbelief. But of course no one dared to protest, "Of course Naruto-kun!" Aizen agreed readily, and Shisui wondered why Sandaime assigned a man without a backbone to tutor a freaking Uzumaki.

Actually Shisui worried about nothing, as when it comes to Fuuinjutsu, Aizen was a competent teacher. "So this symbol represents propagation." Aizen muttered as he expertly finished the last stroke for 雲(kumo) on the scroll. Aizen's writing was smoother and somewhat had a slight overt flourishes. Unlike Naruto's writing, which was simple, written as precisely as he could and sometimes sloppy because of inexperience. "And this is symbol of tranquility which represented by 雨(ame) rain... blessed shower from the sky."

Naruto nodded as he copied the alphabet to his scroll, "Hm... why the first layer high level seal that direct chakra used weather? I always wonder why..." All seal Naruto had created so far was simpler in nature, while creative the level was only C or D. Aizen had evaluated his skill, and decided it was time to teach Naruto components for higher ranked seal. Naruto had a very strong basic skill, but his experience was limited to lower rank seal like explosion tag and flash tag.

Aizen tapped his finger, "Because high level seal is very volatile most of the time, and while sometimes an unstable seal works it's better to be stable. And for that... we need harmony which is what weather symbol were part of. The nature itself is the personification of harmony... earth." Aizen lowered his hand as his right palm faced the ground. "And the sky." His left palm was upward, facing the ceiling of their study room.

Azure eyes trailed up and down, absorbing knowledge his teacher gave him like sponge. "Harmony... "

Aizen nodded, "Hai... our world is made of harmony of sky and earth." He cleared his throat, "It's said that The sage of sixth path's greatest technique used the concept of yin and yang... in which he created the world we live in."

"So... he is a god?" Naruto asked curiously, ignoring Kurama's mental snicker because Naruto knew the answer.

"Close." Aizen corrected, "It's not like he created the world from scratch, more like creating the order for the new world with knowledge about chakra."

'A gift human foolishly abuse with slaughter throughout the century.' Kurama growled out, 'Old man would have turning on his grave if he had one.' A wise decision in his part, Kurama thought.

'Unfortunately I can't argue with that.' Naruto thought forlornly. Maybe one day human could escape from this loop? Who knows?

"Uzumaki-sama." Naruto turned his head to the side, a boy who was Shisui's age was holding a tray of snack and steaming tea. "You and Aizen-taichou have been studying for hours. I presume you would like a refreshment." He had short pale sandy blond hair and greyish blue eyes. His skin was fair, and he had a distinct short eyebrow that almost resemble short tip of brush. He was wearing a dark grey kimono that parted until his chest, his chest and abdomen were wrapped in bandage.

"Ah... Tokusa-kun." Aizen called and from the corner of his eyes Naruto could tell the slight twitch on his master's eye voiced displeasure that Tokusa had clearly put Aizen was below Naruto in status.

Naruto always felt nervous whenever Tokusa or anyone from the boy's clan, the Shiomitsus were with him when Aizen was in vicinity. Tokusa was part of a seal master clan who specialize in weaponized application, meaning they used seals to enhance weapon thus they were also a clan of blacksmith. Shiomitsu clan by any means was not hostile in fact Naruto was pretty unnerved when he was introduced to the rest of the tower member, Shiomitsu clans looked very close to prostrate themselves on the floor on the sight of him. Naruto's paranoia came back three folds when he realized that for unknown reason he was stuck in some sort of political struggle in the tower, between Tokusa's clan and Aizen's subordinates.

At first he thought he could just mind his business and let them sort the problem themselves. But NO, for some reason their problem centered on him. Shiomitsu clan had unofficially assigned Tokusa to be Naruto's retainer, and how insistent they were leave no room for argument. The next thing Naruto knew, both side never leave him alone with someone from their opposition. If Naruto was studying with Aizen, Tokusa would somehow there to study on his own of bringing refreshment. While it didn't bother him that much, he was not used to be the center of attention, especially when Aizen and Tokuse discreetly glaring at each other.

Aizen might be the head of the tower, but apparently he didn't have complete control over everyone especially Shiomitsu clan. Naruto guessed it was like Senju-Uchiha thing, since from what read in record clans and families that involved in tower were always the same from generation to generation since Uzumaki Mito's founding of the division. He just hoped it was not centered on him for whatever wacky reason they had other than he was related to their founder, and it won't end up anywhere as badly as Senju-Uchiha one.

"Uzumaki-sama!" Tokusa chirped.

Naruto paused in mid of stirring his tea, "Ah yes, Tokusa? What is it?" He had learned to speak very carefully when these two were in the same room. Especially when Aizen had his katana with him, and Tokusa had his glove on his belt. No fight broke yet, but it was clear with them carrying it around they were not above using it.

"Hakurei-shisou found the reference scroll you wanted." He informed the blond boy excitedly, "There's a couple of interesting scrolls in our family achieve we think would help in your next project too."

Naruto beamed at that, "Ah I see... then."

Aizen chose that moment to cut in, "There's sample of grade A ink arrive recently, we should try it. And I am sure in my family achieve we have better reference scroll."

Oh, shit.

"Eeh... " Naruto started to sweat under their intense gaze. Aizen seemed like he didn't realize his pleasant mentor mask was slipping whenever a Shiomitsu was in vicinity. "Tomorrow morning I have a training session with Itachi and Shisui." Naruto didn't miss the flinch on Tokusa's face when he mentioned his Uchiha friends. It seemed Shiomitsu clan didn't like Uchiha, and Shisui almost kidnapped him so Tokusa won't follow them to training ground. Naruto had to beg for Tokuza to leave hm with the Uchihas, and assured the boy he was completely safe with Itachi and Shisui. Itachi who was the more diplomatic one of the two even offered to swear an oath of protection, which soundly refused by Naruto because Itachi had nothing to prove to his unofficial retainer. Tokusa in the end relented, but he still had a glare match with Shisui whenever the two met face to face.

"From there Tokusa's home is closer so I will go to your place first." Tokusa nodded happily, "On the way back to tower I will walk pass shishou's place, and shisou usually will be at home around six right?"

Aizen nodded, "Yes."

"I will be there then." Naruto caught Tokusa looked at him pleadingly and he knew the teen wanted to follow him to Aizen's. Considering he would be in Tokusa's before Aizen's, and how the Shiomitsu clan was going to beg for the same thing later... "With Tokusa." He added reluctantly. Naruto closed his eyes and pretended he didn't hear the snapping sound of calligraphy brush. Yep! It was just the third brush for this week.

The Next Day

"You looks like a walking dead man." Shisui commented as he and Itachi walked the blond to their favorite training ground.

Naruto glared at Shisui heatedly, "I am sorry if I spent two months indoor." He drawled sardonically, and the stupid politic struggle didn't help! "Kami! My whole body feels heavy like lead! Even if other seal masters in the tower likes indoor so much, I honestly don't." After spending a few weeks with Shisui, Naruto could say there's no harm to act like himself. Shisui was too hotheaded and carefree to plot anything traitorous, and his personality made him a pleasant person to be around and a convenient target to butt head with.

Shisui lifted his hands in placating gesture, he didn't to be a target for Uzumaki's ire. He would have pity that wooden puppet if it was alive, which is why it was very lucky to be dead. "No need to be so pissy Naruto, can't you ask Aizen-dono to take your lessons outside once in a while?"

Itachi and Naruto whipped their heads at his direction so fast, that he thought their neck was going to snap. "Are you nuts?" They asked in disbelief.

The shushin expert raised an eyebrow, "Eh, what's wrong with my suggestion?"

"I told you I am starting on experimental seal! One I make from scratch!" Naruto informed him, "Doing it outside is like sticking an explosion tag on my face!"

The older Uchiha titled his head to the side "How come?"

Itachi face-palmed, then again he didn't expect Shisui to learn at least the basic safety procedure of Fuuinjutsu when he could. "Naruto-kun, just tell him why it's a suicidal idea."

Naruto sighed, "Hm... first of all fuuinjutsu is a very volatile art when it comes to experimenting the creation." Naruto waved his finger to emphasize his point, "When we tried to make a new seal we need a lot of preparations to make sure we have made every possible safety measures we could. Since Fuuinjutsu can be affected by a lot of things if you're not careful." He craned his neck to the side, "Especially for a disciple like me who just started." He pointed to his face, "I need to set up special barrier seal, the same one we have in chakra sterile room in the tower. It's meant to help isolate the chosen space from ambient chakra in nature so that fuuinjutsu performed in the middle isn't affected by the environment. Unlike other shinobi arts, the process of chakra molding happen outside of our body so it could be affected by nature chakra." Naruto huffed.

"Oh... so that's why," Shisui said flatly. If Naruto was to judge, he'd say his explanation didn't rate very highly on a scale of usefulness in Shisui's book.

The young seal master shook his head, "There's no way Shishou will let me to take lessons outside, especially at this time of the year."

"This time of the year?" Shisui repeated.

While Itachi's eyes lightened up in cognizance. "Ah I see... Obon is next week right?"

The curly haired Uchiha crossed his arms, "Now you lost me, why Fuuinjutsu have anything to do with ghosts visiting our house?"

"Eeh..." Naruto sweat-dropped at him, "Aren't you a pretty good sensor shinobi, Shisui?"

"Yeah?"

Itachi and Naruto looked at each other, then Itachi spoke out their query. "Don't you feel different when it's around this time of the year? Feels like it's harder to sense people chakra, and how the air feels heavy?"

Shisui looked thoughtful before he answered. "Kind of but I thought it's because the heat."

Itachi's left eye twitched, "At this time of the year nature chakra is on its peak, Konoha's nature energy become comparable even to sacred place like Myōbokuzan. It's a very dangerous time to attempt untested Fuuinjutsu outside of controlled environment." He explained in solemn tone.

"But if you're good, and you're attempting nature based seal... it's the best time of the year for you." Naruto added with a grin.

"Oh that's why..." Shisui hummed as he eyed Naruto skeptically, "But still, you have no plan to root in the tower like your fellow seal masters." Naruto nodded at that, "You need to move more... I see you manage to keep yourself from becoming stiff with stretching and light exercise, but it won't be enough to keep your body in top shape."

Itachi nodded, "I have to agree with Shisui on this Naruto-kun, can't you arrange so you can squeeze some time for taijutsu practice at least?"

Naruto groaned, "I wish I could."

"For one, you need more sun." Shisui quipped, "Do you know that the lack of exposure to sun could cause depression?"

The blond scoffed, "I don't need sun as much as I need more of me."

"... What?" Shisui drawled.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I wish I can 'split' myself so I can study seals and training physical stuff in the same time." He said wishfully, and then maybe Aizen's men and Tokusa's clan would stop. He had no wish to be disputed over in the tower as bone on contention. He raised an eyebrow at the intense stare Itachi and Shisui gave him. Considering Uchiha had sharp jet black eyes, it was pretty unnerving. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Itachi and Shisui turned their attention to each other, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Shisui asked with a grin.

Itachi nodded, "Most likely."

The shushin expert grinned then turned to Naruto, Itachi looked at him with stoic face but Naruto could see there's the same strange glint in their jet black eyes. "Have you heard of Kage Bunshin, Naruto-kun?" He asked, rubbing his hands together with a grin on his face.

"Eh?"

Shisui was bristling as he watched five blond clones toddled above the water surface, three on the three and the other two were reading scrolls. "Ten! Ten at once! And he did it as easy as breathing!"

"Hn." Itachi nodded.

"I can only do two! And that will leave me winded for the rest of the day!" He ranted in frustrated tone.

Itachi shrugged, "Hn."

Shisui gave his cousin a side glance, "He didn't even use his tenant right? I can't feel demon chakra at all, he is a natural chakra power house even without it."

"Hn."

"Natural for an Uzumaki I guess." Shisui added tiredly. "I wish I have that much chakra to throw around."

"You know..." The real Uzumaki called them from his perch on the tree, "I can't hear your conversation from here, but I can tell Itachi only said 'Hn' to you in response and yet you converse as if he gave you a complete sentence!" He pointed out with dumbfounded face, "I thought 'hn' is some sort of stock response you guys give whenever you don't have anything else to say."

Shisui snorted, "There's a broad meaning in the hn of Uchiha."

Itachi rolled his eyes, as he walked closer to Naruto while Shisui continued his postponed reading of the fire jutsu scroll on his lap. "Basically what you said, I didn't feel like replying Shisui." The Uchiha prodigy said. "It's a habit that plagued Uchiha like a curse."

Naruto rolled his eyes then whispered, tapping his belly discreetly. "Apparently the curse have been for generations since the genesis of shinobi world. I don't think it's genetic like Uzumaki verbal tic, but more like kids miming their parent kind of thing so..." He took a deep breath, "If I ever grunt like you do in your vicinity, please whack me on the head as hard as you can. Because my tenant don't want me to pick up any Uchiha's habit at all and you know how racist he was."

Itachi nodded, "At any rate... about kage bunshin's memory advantage, if you..."

"I know." Naruto cut him off. "It's about my psychological age, isn't it?"

The Uchiha nodded again, it seemed after they showed him how to do Kage Bunshin a day before Naruto had researched the jutsu himself. Naruto had a paranoia of a seasoned ANBU, cautious and alert to his surrounding even in his sleep. Itachi acknowledge that as part of physiology wound, the years of negligence had brought upon the young jinchuuriki. Kage Bunshin at first seemed to be an innocent solution to Naruto's problem, it was not until Shisui finished showing Naruto the hand seal that the consequences crashed on his mind. Kage Bunshin's memory would be transferred to the user, which making it an excellent espionage tool when used right, and free risk aside from chakra drain. However when a chakra power house like Naruto used it, there's no way Naruto wouldn't abuse the technique. It was not a wrong thing to do though, since it was like saying abusing sharingan's copy ability as wrong. Naruto however had matured psychologically beyond his age, Kage Bunshin would make the maturing process faster. Naruto still had childish tendency once in a while, but at this rate Naruto would lose that little innocence he had left.

Itachi always saw Naruto as a friend, and painfully aware it was not as a younger friend but someone equal. It won't be a bad thing per se, if Naruto was already wearing a headband and older. Naruto was the same age as Sasuke, but after their first meeting that simple fact never cross Itachi's mind. At one point Itachi forgot this boy was four years younger than him like Sasuke was, and not fellow shinobi his age.

And yet...

"Oi Itachi!"

He was snapped out of his thought when he felt a fist drilling to his left temple playfully, Naruto was hanging from a branch upside down with his fist on Itachi's temple. "What are you doing?"

Naruto sighed, crossing his arms. "Don't overthinking it." He warned him, "You always do that. It's no wonder you have stress lines under your eyes already when you haven't even hit puberty yet."

Itachi stared at Naruto in disbelief, his younger friend always said the strangest thing out of nowhere and bluntly. "What do you know about puberty?"

Naruto tapped his chin, then looked at Shisui who was practicing his katon technique. "What's Shisui is going through for one, and no thanks to my tenant to tell me what is it and that I could find a book about it if I am curious." He shook his head, "That teach me for being too curious."

Itachi just smiled at that, "I see..."

"There's no use to cry over spilled milk." Naruto muttered as Itachi looked up at him. "In the first place..." He closed his eyes, "I have little choice when it comes to my life since the day I was born, even entering ninja academy is not my choice."

"Eh?"

Naruto smiled bitterly, "I am an orphan, there's little choices to survive... and my heritage and status are assets Konoha won't ever let go."

The very same reason he was enrolled early like Naruto to academy, brimming potential they couldn't afford to waste while the child had no say in the matter. "Ah... I see..."

"A-ah!" Naruto waved his finger warningly, "What did I say about stressing your mind over little things? One in the past nonetheless?" Naruto huffed, "We're prodigies right? That what they said at least." He grumbled under his breath, "While we do have the brainpower, it's not necessarily the wisdom to put it to good use... we still have a long future ahead. Just take it in stride, shall we?" Naruto hopped off of his perch and landed beside Itachi. "Beside... you'll be with me to face it, wouldn't you?"

His lips curved up to a small and barely noticeable smile, one Naruto had seen a couple of times which speak louder than anything. "Of course."

Naruto thought his halcyon days won't end so soon, that he was never willing to let it go.

Shiomitsu came from archaic names shiomitsu-tama 潮満珠 "tide-flowing jewel, and guess what their role is? Or where they came from originally? They're not OC, I just take them from Lemurian clan in Saint Seiya universe. Naruto needs minions damn it!

For those who have rage over Aizen's existence in this story, rest assured! You only need to endure him in this chapter dattebayo!

And before anyone ask, NO, NO sharingan for Naruto! I just want to add more reasons why the three clans Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki are giant cluster of menace with their family feud. I myself could laugh when I summarize what happened in the valley of the end. Madara in particular deserve to be eaten by Kurama.