Chapter 10: New Will

After almost 4 months of hospitalization, I'm finally out of here. I wanted to leave sooner yet the doctors insisted that I reach full recovery, a child's physiology is important or else my body will be permanently damaged. The fact that kaa-chan agreed with the doctors didn't help.

Out with the hospital gowns, and in with my casual wear. Flexing my hands, I summoned my meiton chakra noticeably faster than before. With all the time of doing nothing, I had practice with my kekkei tota. I haven't tried my three basic elemental affinities yet, meiton chakra comes to me easier for some reason and I didn't want to accidentally break anything.

Really wished I thought of the last part before I accidentally melted part of the hospital room. This darkness element really eats anything it touches.

Other than that and the Uchiha Massacre, everything's back to normal.

"Oh, Ken-kun. Heading to the Academy?"

"Have some snacks Ken-chan, do your best."

"If it isn't the hero who saved the clan heirs? Way to stick it to it, champ."

"You have such a blessed son Chika-san, you must be proud."

Okay, maybe not everything is back to normal. After the Iwa Incident, the entire Konoha got wind of my achievements and now I'm pretty much a celebrity. No matter where I go or who I face, everyone would always greet me with enthusiasm. Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing.

"Are you still shy around strangers?"

"A little. I thought everything at that time would be kept as top secret. I should've asked Yondaime-sama to keep my identity hidden."

"You will get used to it eventually." Kaa-chan giggled at my introverted personality, "You should hold your head high and be proud, I know your father would."

"Or I could just run on the rooftops and avoid everyone."

"Ken, you should not abuse your strength for personal gains. Besides, avoiding and running away isn't the solution."

"At least I get free treats out of this."

"And no snacking in between meals, it's bad for your health."

I pouted petulantly. What's the point of being a kid again when you can't enjoy the advantages?

A smile looped on kaa-chan's face, gazing at me warmly, "Even after becoming strong, you still act like a child."

"Is that bad?"

"No, it just means you should enjoy your childhood even more. Children should have fun when they can, including you. Don't think too much about your chakra or shinobi business, go ahead and choose your own path. You can always switch careers like I did after graduating the Academy."

Well, it's not like I wasn't planning on that. Arriving at the institution, I waved kaa-chan goodbye before heading to my class. And by class, I meant that I've transferred to the Shinobi Division.

Becoming a shinobi is still out of the question, though the certification and better career choices from this class is pretty enticing. Regardless of which job, anyone who can use chakra is highly sought after. As long as I pass the tests, then everything's fine. Plus, after the Iwa Incident, keeping a closer eye on Mizuki would be better to prevent any more wild changes.

My transfer is already known to my friends in the Generals Division, they had mixed feelings of nudging me to become famous and becoming sad for leaving. However, I can still see them as long as we're in the same academy.

Standing in front of the door, I took a deep breath and slid it open. At that moment, all eyes turned to me. Most of them already saw a glimpse of what I can do during the joint class on that day, and none were that surprised to see me here either. Whispers went around, from the boys staring in awe to girls complimenting me cute.

'Wait, the girls think I'm cute?'

"Ken-kun! Over here! I saved you a seat dattebayo!"

Until the soft voices were pierced by a certain blonde. Naruko waved her arms wildly while jumping up and down, fearing that I wouldn't notice her. Used to her antics by now, I made my way and sat next to her.

Behind me are Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji. The former grinning wildly, "Hey Ken, you finally made a transfer."

"Yeah, the special attention for chakra users is pretty tempting."

"You still don't want to become a shinobi?" The Akimichi devoured a hand full of chips, "Then what do you want to become?"

"Still thinking about it, it's either at the hospital or at kaa-chan's shop."

"Speaking of shinobi," Ino suddenly appeared with Sakura at her side. An eager smirk on the Yamanaka's face, not taking a 'no' this time, "I've been waiting patiently to be polite though now that you're here... Just how the heck did you get so strong?"

Most of the kids leaned subtly, curious for the answer as well. Smiling wryly, "Push ups and chakra control exercises?"

"Oh come on, you took down a jounin by yourself. There's got to be some training, or what kind of food you eat?"

To be honest, I really have no clue. Besides genetics, I can't think of anything special. My standards for training are definitely at least chunin level, yet it shouldn't be enough to explain my growth. The only reason I can think of is the 'Madara and Hashirama' syndrome.

"U-um, y-y-you-"

"Hey, leave him alone." Naruko stood in front of me and crossed her arms, pouting cutely, "If Ken-kun doesn't want to talk about it, then don't bother him dattebayo."

"I'm not bothering him. It's just that no matter how you look at it, this is totally not normal."

"T-that-"

"How about talking about something else? Ken-san, you know a lot about shinobi right? Can you please help me control chakra better?"

"I think it's more about your reserves Sakura, they work similar to like muscles and expending chakra can help build them up."

"M-my Bya-"

"We can learn by watching Ken-san. Why? Because he seems more experienced in applying what we learned."

Naruko held her head up high, "That's right, Ken-kun can do a lot of things."

"Why are you acting proud when the compliment is for him? What a drag."

Turning around, I saw little Hinata hunching down and holding her hands together timidly. She's been trying to join the conversation only to stand outside the group circle, her voice too soft to reach everyone. She was down from the consecutive failed attempts of joining.

The moment we locked gazes, she was frozen stiff and blushing madly. Waving, "Hey Hi-"

Then she ran away at top speed while covering her crimson red face.

Everyone noticed when I turned to her. Confused, Naruko could only tilt her head at the sight of the odd behavior, "What happened to her?"

"What an interesting turn of events. Then again, I guess it's only natural. A girl saved by a prince from danger, I can understand how she feels."

Not sure what kind of expression I'm making right now, though it should be something resembling fear when I heard Ino finishing her sentence.

As Hinata blindly dashed out of the room in embarrassment, Satsuki entered after stepping to the side. She didn't even bat an eye and walked without caring about what happened. Just as she passed by, I waved, "Morning Satsuki."

...

And she passed by, just like that.

"Come on teme, the least you can do is reply dattebayo."

"Don't bother with the Ice Queen, Ken. It's not like she wants to be friends anyway."

At Kiba's words, the Uchiha paused mid-step. Satsuki had her back towards us so we can't see her face. Her posture seems normal to the naked eye, yet there is the slightest awkwardness from what I see. After a couple of seconds, Satsuki muttered lowly, "Morning."

Pencils, footsteps, mouths, you name it. Everything went dead silent, the whole class gawked at Satsuki with their mouths wide open, Shikamaru was even surprised enough to lift his head up from his napping position.

"No way! Did I hear that right!?"

"The Ice Queen actually greeted back!?"

"Did she eat something bad this morning?"

"Poor Satsuki, she's so sad about her family's death that she's actually being nice to other people."

Before anyone else could speculate, the ravenette glared at the class with her red sharingan eyes, silently daring them to continue.

"Wait, there's a scowl. Guess Satsuki is still the same."

"Phew, I thought there's an emergency for a second."

"Thank goodness, Satsuki is still the same as usual."

I had to step in front of the Uchiha or else she'll breath fire towards our classmates. "Woah woah, calm down. no need to be bothered by their words right? They're just saying out loud what their thinking."

"... Hm."

Fortunately, the Uchiha relaxed her facial features, turning to her seat.

Just as Naruko was going to ask how I managed to break through her cold exterior, our teacher gained everyone's attention.

"Good morning everyone, you may already know but starting today, Ken-kun will be joining us in the Shinobi Division."

"Yay!"

"I hope you all can get along with him. Ken-kun, if you have any problems, please don't hesitate to let us know."

Faking a smile, I replied to Mizuki, "Yes senseis."

"For morning session, we have taijutsu lessons." Iruka continued, peaking the students' interest, "We will arrange your partners as usual. Ken-kun, since you are at a much higher level, Mizuki-sensei will be the one sparring you."

"Give it your all, Ken-kun. I would like to see how good you are."

Oh, you can bet your ass I will.

2 minutes later

The future traitor was down on the ground, face eating dirt.

Some were awed, some were flabbergasted, some were pitying their teacher, and some found it funny how fast the spar went.

Iruka had a complicated visage, jotting down notes, "Perhaps you can go a little eaiser, Ken-kun."

After that, it went pretty normally. Kids were working on their hand-to-hand combat. Naruko got paired up with Satsuki and I'm sure everyone already knew how that turned out.

I had to pet Naruko on the head to console her.

Afternoon session was theory. While I knew that shinobi had to know a lot more compared to kids back on Earth, though this was more than I expected.

Trap setting.

Geography.

Herbs identification.

Scenario discussions.

Lie identification.

And these are just the basic versions of everything, no wonder Naruko always fall asleep in class. If I was a normal kid, I'd flunk most of these.

What kind of seven-year-olds need to know how to figure out who's out to poison you? Oh right, seven-year-old future ninjas.

Anyway, first day was interesting. I was able to keep up at least. By the time school ended, Naruko rushed towards me, bouncing on her heels, "Ken-kun, could you help me out with something dattebayo?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"I'll tell you later when we get to the training ground. Come on."

Urged by the blonde, we walked away from the Academy to the training grounds. Security's beefed up and shinobi were hiding in plain sight since the last incident.

We took the long way around, didn't want the villagers to give the jinchuuriki the gazes. Not that she care, she was talking amicably with me. And by talking, I mean Naruko talking while I listened as usual.

The training ground Minato allowed me to use was pretty wide, grass on one side and solid ground on the other. I could see other shinobis training at the other end yet they didn't care about us and proceeded with their own business.

"So... umm." Shyly, Naruko uncharacteristically fidgeted, the usual outgoing girl is now hesitating, "You're pretty good at ninjutsu right?"

"For my age, I suppose so."

"And you know that I..." She had the expression of chewing a bitter pill, "suck at something."

"Oh, so you need help with the clone jutsu?"

"Yes... I just can't get it. Why does it have to be so hard dattebayo!?" Puffing her cheeks adorably, she clapped her hands together, "Could you help me with my clone jutsu? Please? Please? Please?"

For some reason even I don't know, I hesitated, " I'm not sure about this Naruko, I don't want to get involved with shinobi stuff any more than necessary."

While I expected the blonde to plead further, she surprisingly conceded, "Okay..."

"Really? You don't usually give up like this."

"I know, it's just..." Naruko tapped her foot on the ground restlessly, "You don't like being a shinobi, I don't want you to do something you don't like dattebayo."

Naruko said with her head lowered, her cute whiskered face and blue eyes sad from my refusual. The combination of a little girl acting docile while trying to behave is too adorable.

'Gah! Right to my kokoro!'

No fair, kids who try to restrain themselves are always too cute to resist.

"Maybe... I can help you out just this once."

Her blue sparkled as she jumped in joy, "Really? Yay! Yay! Thank you Ken-kun. And please don't tell anyone about this, especially Satsuki."

"Uh... I think it's already too late for that."

Upon Naruko's confusion, I faced the boulder behind us, "Shikamaru, everyone, I'm not upset so come on out."

"... He he." The Nara and most of the Rookie 9 revealed themeselves, sheepish from getting caught, "Guess the cat's out of the bag."

Then I turned to another side, "Satsuki, you too. I know you're up at the tree."

"... Tsk."

The prideful Uchiha jumped down, irritated about the fact that she easily got caught.

"Teme!? Guys!? What are you all doing here dattebayo!?"

"We didn't mean to snoop around. We wanted to ask if we could follow you for training."

"But then Naruko dragged you off before we could ask, so we thought it would be faster to just follow you."

"Hm."

"And your parents think it's fine for a whole group of clan heirs to be together again?"

"Our parents approved. Why? Because security and surveillance are stricter than before. Hokage-sama wishes for everyone to have their freedom to move."

Shino's got a point. Even now, I can detect guards watching over us, and probably byakugan users as well outside of my sensing range.

"How about it? Think you can give us some pointers?"

"Wait a minute!" Naruko practically glided in between me and them, arms wide open to block, "Ken-kun said he will help out with me dattebayo!"

"What's the big deal? You're acting like his mom."

"Because I'm Ken-kun's best friend, so I get to train with him first dattebayo."

As Naruko and Ino bickered, I petted the former's head to calm her down, eliciting delightful purrs. She's started to do that recently. So cute.

"Don't worry, Naruko. What I'm about to show you is mostly the same as what I can show them."

She pouted yet didn't whine further. For some reason, everyone straightened their backs and paid rapt attention.

"Okay, I'm not good with long talks so let's just get straight to the point. Take a leaf and show me how good your chakra control is."

Two groups were formed. The first is repeatedly trying to get the leaf stick to their foreheads, the other is sticking a leaf for as long as possible to build up reserves.

Unsurprisingly, Satsuki is the only one who could do both, much to Naruko's chagrin.

"Stupid leaf! Why won't you stick dattabayo!?"

Naruko's piercing glare did nothing to the leaf swaying from the wind. One hour of instruction in and everyone has progressed more than the blonde. She caught sight of the top student's condescending smirk.

"Loser."

What happened next was both adorable and funny at the same time. Naruko gathered a giant pile of leaves before jumping in, rolling herself back and forth in hopes to get one leaf to stick.

Everyone wordlessly yet unaminously agreed that Naruko needed more practice other than chakra control.

"Hm."

"Personally, I would've preferred you to be able to stick the leaf and spar at the same time. though I guess it's fine to show you the next step."

I walked up a tree, standing upside down on a branch, "It's the same as principle as before. Keep a steady flow of chakra to your feet and last as long as possible. I'll come back to check on you a little while."

Just as I jumped down, Satsuki was already walking up. The sound of Naruko's frustrated groans reached my ears. She can't get the necessary amount of chakra to her forehead, not because of her reserves, but more like her pathways are clogged.

My senses picked up that some of her tenketsu points are not flowing as smoothly as everyone elses. Once her chakra reaches said points, the flow becomes irregular and slowed, similar to water trying to seep through the cracks on a wall. Perhaps her chakra circulatory system isn't developed enough yet, or perhaps housing Kurama caused this effect. Nonetheless, knowing how stubborn and determined Naruko is, she'll get better with practice.

*crack*

On the other hand, Satsuki put too much chakra and shattered the wood beneath her foot, forcing her to elegantly jump off. A dissatisfied click of the tongue escaped upon seeing her progress.

The others are doing about average, they'll get better soon enough. After that, I'll have Satsuki show them the tree walking exercise, assuming that she's in the mood to talk.

Now, time for my own training. Although exhausting, meiton chakra is pretty powerful and diverse. Gravitational effects, chakra and matter eradication, wound clotting etc.

"Let's see, what handsigns did Koro use for his doton jutsus again?"

However, I want to see what I can do with fire, water and earth first. The kekkei tota can wait, and I don't want to accidentally hurt my friends either. Besides, once they're satisfied, I can get alone time to practice engulfing everything in darkness.

The next day

The Rookie 9 are squinting their eyes while focusing on the leaf whereas I was sitting on top of an unstable shaky rock wall I just made. I was reading up some tips for elemental jutsus from my tou-san's notes, with kaa-chan's permission of course.

"Eh, I'm sure they'll master it in about a week. They'll go back to clan training or something by then."

One week later

"If you calculate the angle here while keeping track of wind resistance and gravity, you can use the formula here to get the answer."

"Smart as always Sakura, I'm so glad your notes are easy to understand."

"zzz... Ten miso ramen dattebayo."

"Here Shikamaru, you want shrimp or barbecue flavor?"

"Enough with the books are already, I want to do taijutsu training."

"Hm. For once, I agree with the mutt."

"U...um, I-I brought medici-cine..."

How the hell did the training ground became a study place? I made earth tables and chairs mostly because they were complaining about finishing homework on tree stumps.

At least the study group helped me finish my homework faster. I was holding my stationary on both hands, and a leaf with my mouth, gradually burning the later with fire chakra.

Maybe I should just get on with meiton chakra training. If anything, Satsuki can make sure they can't get too close to me.

Still, how long are they going to keep hanging here? You would think clan heirs need ample time to work on their clan jutsus.

Four and a half years later

Apparently, they already have enough time for their clan jutsus.

"Fang Over Fang!"

"Human Tank Bullet!"

Kiba and Chouji are trying to pincer me from both sides. Forming hand signs, I slightly altered the topography around me, rotating the ground like a ring to divert Chouji away and crash into Kiba and Akamaru instead.

Without turning around, another set of hand signs were made, conjuring a water wall from the moisture in the air behind me to block the incoming kikaichu insects. More hand signs were made to turn said water wall into a water gun, knocking down Shino.

Satsuki boldly breathed out a big fireball right in front of me. I simply coated one foot with fire chakra, kicking the fireball right back at her. Fortunately, the Uchiha's sharingan helped her dodge in time, albeit with a slight burn to her shirt.

Exasperated, Ino complained, "There is no way you can convince me that he's not a Hyuga. He knew where everyone was without looking."

"I'm more curious about how he can kick fire like a ball, it's not even made of matter. How troublesome, why do they even try? It's not like we've managed to land a hit on Ken before."

"Well, our final exam is coming soon. I guess they want to have one last spar with Ken. He's not becoming a shinobi with us so they'll have less opportunities to meet up."

"Sa-Sakura-san is right. It'll be a little lo-lonely without Ken-kun. Right, Naruko?"

"Woo hoo! Show the teme who's boss, Ken-kun!"

After a few more minutes, I clapped my hands, "Okay, that's enough for today."

The four panted while wiping their sweat.

"Choji, you still hesitate too much when fighting a comrade. It's not a bad thing, yet there are times when you can't hold back."

"But I don't wanna hurt my friends."

"Try not to get tunnel visioned Kiba, you still have that habit."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"You still lack decisive firepower Shino, it'll be difficult with your current fighting style but do your best."

"Thank you for your feedback."

"And Satsuki... try to work together with others more."

"Hm."

"Anyway, everyone has gotten pretty good. I don't know the exact standard but I'm sure you're already better than the average genins."

My words of praise lifted up their moods. Bouncing on her feet, Naruko closed the distance and got in front of my face the moment I was done, "My turn! My turn!"

"Okay, how's your clone jutsu coming along?"

Naruko fist pumped with puffy smiley cheeks, concentrating hard with a hand sign. Charka whirled as she grunted and finally...

Two clones manifested. They look like exact replicas if you ignore the distorted figures and the fact that they would topple over from a mere breeze.

"That's... improvement at least."

"Really? Then I can pass after all dattebayo!"

Even after conquering tree climbing and partially learning water walking, the jinchuuriki still hardly pulled it off. I've been giving her motivating and positive words, it's hard to give criticism when Naruko's big innocent eyes keep staring at me like that.

Satsuki scoffed at the pathetic display.

Well, since canon has already gone awry, might as well give some huge help, "Maybe we can try a different jutsu, there is another way to pass for sure."

"There is!? What is it!? What is it!?"

"The academy doesn't want to see you performing basic jutsus, they want to see you prepared to become a shinobi. So, you can pass if you show them something better than the clone jutsu."

"Better than... the clone jutsu?" Naruko stiffened, dreading that she has to do something harder than her worst jutsu, "S-sure, I can do that dattebayo."

"Don't worry, it should be easier for you. It doesn't need a lot of control, just more chakra. Ask your parents about the Shadow Clone Jutsu. One week should be enough time for you to learn it."

"Why doesn't everyone in the academy learn that then?"

"Because that jutsu requires a huge amount of chakra. It's dangerous for normal genins, though an Uzumaki should mitigate that disadvantage."

"Yosh! Alright, I'll go back home and ask tou-chan and kaa-chan!"

Before I could finish, Naruko dashed back home at top speed. Satsuki deadpanned at me, "Hm."

"I'm not spoiling her, I'm just giving her guidance."

"And she took off before our day is over. What a drag." Shikamaru yawned, dusting himself as he got up, "Well, we need to stop early anyway, I got to go prepare for the exams or else my mom nags me."

"Same here, my sister thinks my grades are still not good enough."

"This might be our last get together in a while." Ino exclaimed in melancholy, "Thanks for everything Ken, you really helped us out."

"Let's have a party after we graduate together. You'll come too, right Ken?"

"Of course, that sounds great."

With that everyone left the training grounds. Well, everyone except Satsuki. Whenever we're alone, her mood softens and she appears less strict and more approachable.

"Is there something on your mind?"

"... Are you sure you don't want to become a shinobi?"

"Sorry, I've already made up my mind. I'll probably be coming here less as well now that I got a decent control over my kekkei tota."

"Hm..."

"We can still train together, though you'll overtake me soon enough with all that training while I'm helping kaa-san sewing clothes."

"...Hm."

For some reason, her expression remained stoic yet I could sense her mood dampened further. Smiling at the tsundere, I released a sigh and walked into the battle ring, "How about a one last one-on-one? Before we graduate."

Without saying a 'hm', the Uchiha got into stance and lunged.

Naturally, I held back to make this spar longer and more memorable, taking note of the barely visible smile on her face.

By the time I got home, I was packing up my bag for school tomorrow. I'll be taking a non-shinobi exam unlike the Rookie 9. While packing, I found the future career sheet Iruka-sensei handed out the other day.

The sheet briefly explains about various career, including shinobi. Thoughts and memories about future events flashed through my mind, Naruko will have a difficult future ahead, assuming canon isn't skewered too much.

All those times I've always admired Naruto for never giving up, all those times I've admired Naruto for reaching out to even hurt villains. Before reincarnating here, I've always wondered what it's like to get involved in this.

"What the-" Before I knew it, my hand ticked the shinobi category in the career sheet. Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash.

"What am I doing? One life threatening battle is already more than enough. Besides, ideal thoughts like those belongs\ to Naruko, not me."

Turning off the lights, I immediately went to bed.

"Alright, those who wish to further their shinobi course, please remain. We will revise for the test soon."

Iruka's voice reached the classroom, those who aren't aspiring to become a shinobi can return home for the day. Surprsingly, there are more of them than I thought, about a fifth of the class including me.

"Good luck Naruko, I'll be cheering for you."

"No problem Ken-kun. I'll ace the test no problem dattebayo."

That'll be more convincing if she wasn't nervously tapping her pencil on the table.

"Um Ken-kun." Naruko hesitantly called out, "We'll still be friends even after graduating, right?"

"Of course, we can always meet up to hang out or for Ichiraku. We'll always be friends."

Gaining a little more confidence, Naruko gave her widest and brightest smile, waving me goodbye.

I also wished everyone else all the best before going home, not via roads of course. I've been stealthily jumping over rooftops for years now, reaching home faster.

"Ken, have you been jumping on top of roofs again? The neighbours are complaining about footprints."

"I made sure to not leave any. Besides, shinobis travel on roofs all the time."

"Ah, mou. What am I going to do with you?" Kaa-chan finished mopping the house, "Satsuki-chan and the others are taking their special lessons now right?"

"That's right, they're all going to become shinobi soon."

"Are you okay with that?"

Chewing on a cookie, I asked, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't you want to be a shinobi too?"

... Waves of emotions flooded, it took a few seconds of silence for me to think and answer back, "We already talked about this, I don't want to die. Being a shinobi is dangerous."

"Ken, have I ever told you about why I changed career?"

"Because you like fashion more right?"

My simple response earned an amused giggle, "Yes, but that is not the full story. Sit down."

We sat next to each other on the couch, "What's this all of a sudden?"

"Back when I was a child, I happened to be quite a tomboy you know."

Staring at my kaa-chan in her late thirties, she was wearing a fashionable clothes even at home with great style. I simply shrugged my shoulders. Some anime characters in anime went from rough tomboys to total bombshells, somewhat common troupe.

"I kept my hair short and always wore dark coloured cloths as a genin, thinking more about usefulness than appearance. Regardless, even all the effort I put into, I was never good enough to be a chunin like your father and Fugaku-kun."

"The days back then were hard and discouraging, every mistake and every failure made me question if I could really succeed in life. I always put up a tough act to trick everyone into thinking I'm fine." Kaa-chan sighed, nostalgia showing in her eyes, "So I regularly have breaks or else I couldn't keep going, and those breaks involve window shopping for pretty clothes."

"My friends encouraged me to try them on but as a girl, I always had a complex about my rough appearance from all my training, telling them that I don't have any interest in the end. However, I always thought that maybe I could be pretty too if I wore nice bright clothes like a other girls do."

"And to my surprise, one boy managed to convince, or should I say trick, me in to wearing them. He also told me that I looked beautiful in them and to do what I really truly like. From that day on, it was then I realized that I have started to fall for your father."

'Smooth tou-san. Real smooth.'

"Ken." Kaa-chan peered into my gaze, "At that time, your father asked 'Why are you so conflicted? Forget about your worries and voice it out, from the bottom of your heart, will you regret not accepting what you love?' Now, I'm asking you that same question."

Her intentions are clear to me. Out of everyone, kaa-chan always paid attention to me the most during my training, from sparring to working on new jutsus. A piece of crumpled paper was in her hands. I gaped in surprise, she must have found it when she was taking out the trash.

"I..." Slowly, my hands grabbed my future career sheet, "I don't want... to leave any regrets."

Kaa-chan nodded, "You already know what you want to do. As your mother, I cannot agree to something so dangerous. Nevertheless, neither I nor anyone else can stand in the way of your dreams."

... Steeling my resolve, I tucked the sheet in my pocket, "Sorry kaa-chan, I'll be back later."

Dashing out of the house, I jumped across the roofs at top speed, heading back to the Academy. I still don't want to risk my life and face death as a shinobi, yet knowing what is to come and the people close to me could be in danger, I couldn't just leave them alone. The Uchiha Massacre has passed, Naruko and the others got kidnapped, I don't want to see any more tragedies. I still don't know why I've reincarnated here or why I have this meiton chakra, though now I've made a new promise.

If I don't want to die and want to protect everyone at the same time, then I'll become The Strongest. That's right, I'm pulling the Gojo Satoru card!

Sliding the door loudly startled everyone in the class, but I simply held up my career sheet, "Sorry, is it too late to change my submission?"

The moment the Rookie 9 saw my sheet, each and every one of those kids smiled brightly like the sun, including Satsuki.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!"

Though I'm sure everyone already knew who was the most excited among them.

AN: Next chapter will be the start of canon, I'm planning for canon to be mostly the same... for now. Whelp, hope you all like it.

Ja Ne