Capítulo 3: Chapter 3: The Academy
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama
Chapter 3:
The Academy
'This cannot be happening….'
"Deal with it, brat."
'No! The Sennin said that I had to save the world, not go through this! It's inhumane! I'd rather take the teme's Chidori through my chest again than go through with this! Or maybe even go head to head with the Juubi again! Point is, anything is better than this….this monster!'
"You're overreacting. It's not that bad….once you get used to it.'
'Tch, that's because you get to take a nap, you lazy ass fox! I have to sit through it wide awake! Whatever. I'm not going through with this. Gramps can just forget it. I had to sit through this hell hole once, the hell I'm going back to it again!'
"So you're going to risk everything just because you're scared?"
'I'm not scared….'
"Just get on it with it then! Or I swear I'll make you start dreaming about there being no more ramen left in the world! And you know I'm very much capable of doing that."
Naruto grumbled quietly to himself as he walked behind Kazumi, who he now knew was really his grandmother, with Kushina walking right next to her, holding hands. The young blond was currently contemplating about his chances of success if he ran off. After all, the place they were heading to was….was the academy!
The blond had been so happy to have finally gotten rid of it and of never going back to it again, but now, through some horrible twist of fate, he had to go back again!
'Why am I even made to go anyways? I'm pretty sure I can kick any of the teachers' ass! There's nothing they can teach me at this point.'
That much was true. It seemed that even if he had become a little kid again, he had still retained every single of his abilities, something which he found out the night before when he had tested himself at the edge of the island nation. The only thing which he hadn't used was Kurama's chakra for obvious reasons. The most obvious one being the entire clan sensing the sudden surge of chakra and coming after his ass. That being said, it had been two days since the blond Uzumaki had woken up in the past. Two days since he finally met the family that he had never thought that existed, mainly his grandparents and uncle. He had a freaking uncle! Who would have thought?
'I wonder why kaa-chan never mentioned them…..' the blond wondered, completely forgetting about the academy issue even as he subconsciously continued to walk towards his impending doom.
"Do I need to remind you of the circumstances in which you two even met in the first place? You were trying to control my power, brat. Not to mention that she had limited time since the moment that the seal's function to release her became into effect."
Naruto chuckled sheepishly in his mind at the reminder. 'Yeah, now thinking about it, I guess you're right. It wasn't like I was ever going to meet them anyways. Or well, that was how it was supposed to be. I'm pretty sure that kaa-chan wouldn't have ever dreamed of me coming back to the past when she was a little kid. The same for tou-san as well….'
Kurama waved his tails in a bored manner. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did. The Yondaime has always had a nag at surprising me at every turn. But considering just how we ended up here in the first place, I guess that you're right. Really, when I saw the bright light, I thought that maybe it was just the Juubi going to blow us all up. Not this. I'm not about to complain at our luck though."
Naruto chucked. 'That makes two of us, Kurama. That makes two of us….'
The bijuu smirked. "Oi, what about your 'predicament,' brat? Cause it looks like we have arrived."
Naruto's eyes widened at the reminder. Damn, how could he have gotten off track!? And true to Kurama's words, a huge building came into view which was undoubtedly the shinobi academy in Uzu, if parents dropping their kids off was any indication.
'Gah, I've got to skip somehow! Don't worry, Naruto. You've outran Iruka-sensei before. I'm sure this will be a piece of cake!'
Kurama chimed in. "If I recall this correctly, wasn't he the one person who always found you all the time?"
Naruto t'ched. 'Not helping me here, ya dumb fox!'
Said fox raised an eyebrow, not that Naruto could see it. "Who says that I'm even trying to?" He then shook his head. "Just forget it, brat, and accept your fate already!" But the bijuu knew that that was just wishful thinking. Wait, did he just sound like that Hyuuga buddy of Naruto's? Damn. He really needed to watch what he said from now on.
Luckily for him, Naruto was currently too freaked out to even notice his slip up.
"Naruto-kun, I hope that you're not thinking about skipping out now."
Naruto both gulped and shuddered at the overly sweet tone in which those words were said. It reminded him a lot of how Tsunade or Sakura would say things before sending him flying a couple of blocks, maybe miles if they tried hard enough. And if there was something that that had taught him was to be weary of the 'sweet tone' as he had so dubbed it. It spelled impending doom for him.
Looking at Kazumi, who was also his grandmother even if she didn't know it, Naruto shook his head quickly. "A-ah, no of course not, Kazuma-baachan! What makes you think that?" It seemed that habits died hard too. Despite himself, Naruto found himself calling the woman in front of him 'baa-chan,' something which said woman didn't seem to mind. It also brought a surge of joy into the blond's heart. Even if he hadn't met her, the woman was still his grandmother. He was just glad that he had the chance to call her that even if she didn't know how true the title went.
Kazumi simply sent him a smile which let the blond know that she didn't believe him for a second. "Oh, I see. Well, good. Because I'm going to need you to look after Kushina-chan from now on. You two are like family now!"
Said redhead grumbled to herself at hearing that. It wasn't like she needed protection. She was eight! And if she could curse, she would have said dammit with that statement!
Now that a brought a serene smile on the blond's face before quickly wiping it off from his face. Unfortunately for him, Kazumi had caught it. But she interpreted it in a whole different way. After all, as far as she and the others were concerned, Naruto was an orphan, something which wasn't entirely false. So she only assumed that he was happy to be part of a family.
Naruto nodded as he walked towards the gate that led into the playground of the academy, a still grumbling Kushina walking beside him. "Don't worry, baa-chan! You can count on me!" he exclaimed as he sent her a wave. The older redhead merely waved back, a smile on her face.
On the inside, however, Naruto was spilling his guts out in tears. 'How could it come to this!?'
Kurama could only laugh to himself.
"Welcome back to hell, brat."
Ah, it was good to be alive.
Kazumi continued to wave at the two until they were inside the building. It had been two days since Naruto had moved with them due to her husband's plan of keeping his eyes on the boy until they knew one hundred percent that he was clear. And she had to say, she was growing fond of the blond whiskered boy. Even if she did have her suspicions about him in the beginning, they were now almost completely gone. All of her defenses had shut down with her motherly side coming into the picture.
'In just two days,' the Uzumaki matriarch thought to herself as she made her way back to her house with many passersby waving at her along the way. She was well known to all of the Uzumaki clan. It just showed how close the clan was to each other. Even if they were now an independent nation and in huge numbers, they still tried to keep their tradition of always being close with one another no matter what. That ran true even for the clan leader. It was specially so. It was one of the important requirements to even be chosen, heck even considered for that matter. And her husband was certainly well adapted for that. He could make friends with just about anyone.
It seemed that little Naruto had that gift too. Even Kaito was starting to like the blond, and the recently promoted jonin didn't get close with just anybody, lest of all in the short span of two days!
Still, Kazumi was sure that Arashi still had a few suspicions left even after seeing what kind of person Naruto was. And so did she. One of the major questions she had dealt with Naruto's recuperating prowess. It was short of amazing! No, beyond that. What would have taken a normal person days to recover from only took him a day! Especially with the kind of damage that the doctor had said that Naruto's body had sustained. Which also brought the question of just how Naruto even ended up floating at sea like that. Was he perhaps in a trip with his parents at sea before his ship got attacked by pirates? Or maybe something on the other extreme like being a slave to some underground group before trying to escape and ending up at sea in the process. It would certainly explain the being naked part.
But the problem was that it seemed that the young blond had amnesia. He couldn't remember anything at all from before he woke up at the hospital. And Arashi wasn't ready to use any other more forceful methods to figure out if the blond boy was telling the truth. At least, not yet. Since Naruto had shown no signs of possibly being a spy or anything of the like, Arashi didn't see the problem with waiting for little Naruto to regain his memories if he indeed had amnesia. The only problem with that was that amnesia was always too unpredictable. It could range from lasting just a couple of hours to never disappearing with the person's memories never coming back.
One way or another, though, Kazumi only hoped that if this was the true Naruto that he could stay with them indefinitely. The redhead chuckled at that. Okay, so she had gotten a lot more attached to the young boy than she had imagined. But she wasn't all too surprised. Naruto's personality was just that rich that one couldn't help but be drawn into it. She also hoped that it would bring out her daughter from her shell.
The thought caused for her to sigh. If there was one thing that she always regretted, it was the way in which she had raised her daughter. No, even Arashi claimed responsibility for that. They had spoiled her too much. Heck, they still did! But it wasn't like either could help themselves. They loved her too much. Even Kaito had stated the problem before. But Kazumi could see through the facade. He was her son, after all. He loved Kushina a lot even if he didn't like to show it or admit it.
And as a result of their spoiling, Kushina had becalmed a bit arrogant with others. Just because she was the daughter of the clan head and ultimately, the village. So she didn't really have any friends as a result. If only Naruto could somehow break through that somehow. But she knew that she was also being sort of irresponsible by dumping what should be her problem to a little boy whom she had just met two days ago. But it was her solution. The only solution she could think of.
Well, she could only hope.
Naruto could only internally sigh at his current predicament. Really, after everything that he had done, couldn't Kami at least spare him a little? Why did this have to happen instead? Well, even he knew that despite all of the power that he now had, nothing could save him from this particular horrible fate.
"If you would please introduce yourself to the rest of the class."
Naruto bit his tongue to prevent himself from replying with a smart ass comment. He didn't know why, but the blond had the feeling that he was becoming worse ever since he found out that he now had to attend the academy.
Kurama decided to not add his own two cents in. He could already tell that his host was irritated enough. Even he knew when to not cross the line. Unfortunately, this was one of those moments.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure, I guess."
The rest of the class in front of him burst into his hush whispers at his introduction. Naruto could only pick out a few comments like "Are those whiskers on his cheeks?" or "Is he really an Uzumaki? He must have parents from outside of the clan or something" were just a few.
One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched. So what if he didn't have red hair? It was his father's fault, not his! Besides, he liked his hair. Not that he would have minded if he had the same hair as his mother either. Even now, he could make it out perfectly. The fact that she was sitting just a few steps away from him certainly helped as well.
Said redhead was currently turned away from him, looking to the side as if to avoid eye contact with him. And Naruto realized that that was just exactly what she was trying to do!
Now that brought his spirit down. If there was one thing that shocked him even more than finding out that he had an even bigger family than he had realized before was just how exactly this Kushina acted. She was just like a female version of Sasuke! Well, maybe not as bad but certainly the closest comparison he could make. That, or how Neji used to be save for the fate stuff. This still confused him even now.
"It shouldn't be, brat. You have to realize just how blessed your mother is at this point in her life. She has it all. She's the daughter of the clan head and consequently the daughter of the village leader. It's no surprise that she grew up to be like this. Well, for now at least. It's true what some say when they say that having it all isn't exactly for the best."
Naruto had to agree with Kurama on that. Still, she was his mother. He wasn't about to hate her for acting like….well, a kid! Because really, that was just what she was right now.
The chunnin standing next to Naruto quieted everyone down, lest the whispering continue. "All right. Naruto, you may seat next to Haru over there."
Naruto saw a timid looking boy perk up on the second to last row of the class near the far of the room at hearing the name being called, making the blond realize that he was Haru.
Nodding, Naruto made his way to where his new assigned seat awaited, all the eyes of the class following. He glanced at Kushina along the way only to see the redhead still looking away from him. Sighing as he sat down, Naruto mentally thanked Kami as the eyes of the others in the class finally stopped looking at him as the instructor in front of the room began his lecture of the day, something about the many uses of chakra.
The blond tuned him out as he glanced around the room, trying to find something to keep him occupy for the next eight hours or so. But even he knew that he wouldn't find something like that, least of all in a classroom of all places.
'Oi, Kurama. You there, ya furball?' He tried contacting the nine tailed bijuu for a few minutes only to get no response. He was about to scream in his mind again until he caught the sound of snoring. Sweatdropping, Naruto placed his head on his desk as he started to grumble about the injustice of it all.
It was then that Naruto caught the boy next to him, Haru if he remembered correctly, glancing at him with open curiosity. Let it be known to all that Uzumaki Naruto was most certainly not one for subtly.
"Can I help you?"
The boy named Haru jumped up from his seat in surprise, making the chunnin in front of the class to stop his lecture.
Seeing this, Haru quickly bowed and apologize. "S-sorry, sensei! I-I just thought I saw a bird outside the window."
The chunnin sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yes, well, do try to be paying attention inside of the classroom this time, Haru. And don't interrupt the class again."
"Hai!"
With that, everything returned to how it had been with the exception of a few snickers from around them. Haru sighed to himself as he sat back down.
Naruto chuckled to himself. "Did I surprise you or something?" he asked in a hushed voice.
Haru nodded, looking at him. "Y-yeah. I'd thought that you were asleep or something."
Naruto could tell right then and there that he had found the Uzumaki male version of Hinata. Whether that was a good thing or not, he didn't know yet.
"Well, I wasn't. So? Why were you staring at me?"
An embarrassed blush formed itself on the boy's face as he scratched the back of his head, looking to the side. "It's just that tou-sama told me how there would be a new student in my class today. S-so I got curious. I mean, you don't look like an Uzumaki."
Naruto leaned in to get a better look at the boy, making said boy squirm nervously under the blond's gaze. "W-what is it?"
Naruto continued to stare at him for a few more seconds until it finally clicked in his head. "You're old man is Kenji-ojiichan, isn't it!?"
The blond jinchuriki could now see the resemblance between the two after having studied Haru a bit more. They had the same hair, same eyes, and their faces were kinda the same as well. The only differences were the childish look and the clothing he wore which consisted of a pair of white shorts with with an olive green shirt and blue shinobi sandals. But how could this kind of guy be the son of that man? They were complete opposites in attitude! It was almost frightening to say the least.
Haru could only nod. "Y-you know him?"
Naruto nodded as well, an excited look on his face as he tried his best to keep his voice lowered. "Yeah. He's pretty cool."
Haru smiled at the praise. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad that I got him as a father…."
Naruto eyed him as a momentary look of regret passed through Haru's face before it was gone like as if it had never existed. Naruto could tell that he was hiding something. After all, he himself had hid his pain for the longest of times before meeting Iruka. So he could pick up on small details like that. Well, it wouldn't be right to ask him about something like that. At least, not at the moment. They had just met, after all. Maybe when they were closer. And Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind being friends with this boy even if he was a bit shy and soft spoken.
Extending his hand towards him, Naruto grinned, the grin almost splitting his face in half. "Nice to meet you. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
Haru looked at the extended hand in surprise before bringing his forward as well, smiling back at him.
"I'm Uzumaki Haru. Nice to meet you too, Naruto-san."
Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind the academy too much.
Arashi sighed as he leaned back on his chair in his office. It was now noon, so it was around this time that the academy would be off for the students' lunch break. But really, he was thinking about this because today was also Naruto's first day at the academy. He was anxious to see how the blond would do.
It also made him realize how he would be acting if Naruto really was his son, the same way in which he had acted when both Kushina and Kaito went to the academy for their first day. Despite his best of efforts. he really was too soft when it came to his children, Kushina even more so than he had been with Kaito. He had tried to change once about a year ago when he and Kazumi had realized just how much pampering Kushina was affecting her, but he had failed. Epically. It hadn't even been a day before he cracked.
And so the strongest shinobi in Uzu failed before his only daughter. Even so, she was his princess. He would do anything for her.
A knock on his door made the aging Uzumaki come out of his thoughts. "Come in."
A moment later, his only son walked in. Uzumaki Kaito sent his father a wave as he stood in front of his desk, still wearing the Uzu jonin uniform which was, at its core, the same as Konoha's uniform except that instead of the green vest it was blue. And of course, his blue headband had a swirl on it rather than a leaf which one found on the one from Konoha.
Arashi could say without hesitation at how proud he had been when Kaito had been promoted to jonin just barely two months ago at the age of nineteen. While it wasn't the best record out there, it was certainly better than most out there.
"I see you're working hard," the young jonin commented with some mirth as he glanced at the pile of paperwork which was stacked to the side.
Arashi grumbled to himself. "Trust me, if I had known that this is what the job entailed, I would have thought twice about taking it."
Kaito chuckled. "But you still would have taken it. That's just how you are."
Arashi himself laughed. "Ha, it seems that you really do know your old man quite well."
Kaito grinned slightly at that before looking out the window towards the village. "I'm guessing you know why I'm here."
Arashi nodded as he leaned back some more on his chair. "Yes. It's Naruto."
Kaito nodded as he turned to look at his father, his hands in his pockets. "There's something…..odd about him. I can sense this immense power coming from him that's just hidden, but I can't really tell what it is."
Arashi could only sigh. "You're not the only one. Even if it does seem like his intentions aren't bad, there's still too many mysteries about how he ended here for my liking. But…."
"You're not going to use any extreme means to find them," finished Kaito for him.
Arashi nodded. "Exactly. I'd already made up my mind to kill him if he did turn out to be a spy or something of the sort. But even though it's only been two days, I'm really starting to doubt whether that's the case at this point."
Kaito nodded as well as he closed his eyes. "Believe me, you're not the only one. Even mother has taken a liking to him. And you know how hard it is to do that….."
'You're not one to talk,' thought Arashi in amusement. That was something that Kaito had inherited from his mother: her stubbornness. Of course, he did a better job at hiding it since he had more self control, but those few that did know him personally knew that it was there. Of course, he still loved him. And how could he not? It was one of the things that made him fall for Kazumi in the first place.
Stroking his long beard, something which he was extremely proud of, Arashi hummed. "At any rate, I have a feeling that we'll have plenty of time to figure things out with our new addition to the family."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Are you really thinking about doing what I think you're going to do?"
Arashi nodded. "Yes. I plan to make Naruto a part of our family as my son. Congratulations, Kaito. You'll be getting the brother you always wanted when you were a little kid."
Kaito looked to the side, an embarrassed look on his face. "Don't just bring that up all of a sudden." He then looked at his father in the eyes. "Are you sure you're not doing all of this too quickly? I admit it, he's not as bad as I first thought he would be. But it's only been two days! He could just be faking all of this somehow. And then we'll have-"
"Kaito."
Kaito stopped as he heard the seriousness present in his father's voice. It was rare for his father to use that tone, so when he did, he knew to listen because whatever it was that he needed to say was most definitely of great importance.
"What is it?"
Arashi looked as serious as he sounded. "I'm about to tell you something which I haven't told anyone else yet, not even your mother. Only you and Kenji will know of this….for now. At the very least until I can piece all of this together."
Okay, now he was scaring Kaito. "Don't be like that, old man. What is it already?"
Arashi paused for a few seconds before carrying on with his explanation. "During the few hours in which Naruto was unconscious, I had Ryo-san take some of the boy's blood for studies to make sure that there wasn't anything else wrong with him other than the other apparent injuries."
Kaito was silent, opting for letting his father continue.
"Yesterday, Ryo-san called me in because he said that he had something important to tell me about what he had found from Naruto's blood. Of course, my first reaction was to think that the boy had something else wrong with him even though he looks as healthy as any other boy at his age. But instead of that it was the exact opposite."
The suspense was killing Kaito by this point. Why couldn't his father just come out and say it instead of building up the suspense? It was nerve wrecking to say the least.
Sensing this, Arashi carried on. "When I got there, the good doctor looked as if he was as white as the snow. Like I'd said before, I immediately assumed the worst. But he told me what exactly it was that he had discovered, and it took me by surprise as well."
Arashi paused for a second before finally coming out with it. "It seems as if our new resident is also an Uzumaki like us both."
Kaito's eyes widened at hearing what sounded like a ridiculous statement to him. "A-are you serious!?" At Arashi's nod, he exploded. "But how can that be!? If he were an Uzumaki, we would have a record of him somewhere! No one's ever even heard of him! Not only that, but he's a blond! There is just no way that he can be an Uzumaki!"
Arashi nodded at all of the points. "That's exactly what the doctor and I first thought as well. But the results are unmistakable. Of course, it doesn't seem like he's one hundred percent Uzumaki, so that would explain the blond hair. He's more than likely part Uzumaki and part….well something else."
"That still doesn't make any sense!" exclaimed Kaito with a shake of his head. "No one from the clan has ever had any relationships with someone that's not from the clan! It's to protect our techniques and our bloodline. And I'm pretty sure that no one has broken that rule. And if someone were stupid enough to do that, we would have known about it!"
Arashi nodded again. "I know. But we don't. So perhaps someone did manage to do this somehow, and the end result is the boy. But that still doesn't explain how he ended up here the way he did."
Kaito shook his head. "It doesn't explain anything. There's still too many variables. Has Ryo compared the boy's blood with the others' from the clan?"
"That's what I told him to do next," replied Arashi. "If someone has broken this law somehow, it mustn't go unpunished. Not only that, but it's obvious that if this indeed happened, then the person abandoned the boy. And that is even more unforgivable."
Kaito could agree with his father on that one. It wasn't like any of this was Naruto's fault either. Kaito could now see why his father had decided to take the young blond in. After all, through some impossible way, it seemed as if Naruto was one of them. But that still left the question as to how. How could that be? And whose son was he in the first place?
"We have to look into this," he stated.
Arashi nodded as he stood up from his chair, walking towards the widows to look at the village which his clan had founded and placing his hands on his back.
"I know. That is why I told Kenji this. I've asked his help in aiding us at finding just who is responsible for this. Of course, with Ryo-san's search as well, it won't be long before we find the answer. But it's never too bad to have all the help that you can get."
Kaito simply looked at his father, knowing full well that he agreed with him. He could also see why he hadn't told his mother yet. If she knew that someone had abandoned Naruto just like that, there was no telling what she would do. Get on her good side, and you would get a valuable friend. Get on her bad side and consider yourself dead.
Still, even Kaito himself couldn't wait to find who was responsible. The blond had gotten to him as well, even if he wouldn't admit it.
A comfortable silence reign between father and son, knowing full well that they now had a goal in mind. And they would accomplish it.
If there was one thing that Naruto had learned in the past few hours, it was that Haru, despite being a direct relative to Kenji, was far from being the outgoing person that his father was. Despite that, though, Naruto could see that Haru did have some strong character to him hidden beneath the exterior shyness and secluding attitude that he showed all of the time.
It was just….odd. Really, he couldn't find any other way to describe it but that. Even so, Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind hanging out with the shy redhead. He was certainly a lot better than some of the other students that he had seen so far in the day. Needless to say, he had seen how they had picked on the boy and by default him as well because he was hanging out with him in the first place. He had sent them packing of course, but that was beside the point. It seemed that as if it really didn't matter where one went. There were always assholes.
"You should learn how to fight back, you know."
Haru glanced at him as they sat together under one of the few trees that were inside the schoolyard or rather a playground as Naruto saw it. Needless to say, it bored him. Despite looking like an eight year old, the blond still had the mind of a sixteen year old. So games made for eight year olds wouldn't amuse him at this point.
"I've learned to live with it," the redhead stated with no remorse. "I would just paint a bigger target on my head if I were to fight back. And what's the point? I'd rather just be in the background…."
Naruto eyed him for a moment before slapping him the back, causing for Haru to jolt in surprise. "Ma, don't worry about it anymore! You got me now!"
Haru looked at him in surprise. "You….y-you want to be my friend?"
Naruto nodded, looking as carefree as ever as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back into the trunk of the tree. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Haru looked to the side. "I'm not really all that cool…."
The blond frowned. "You shouldn't really let others judge you. Your opinion about yourself should come first. Besides, I think you're cool."
Haru turned to him in surprise.
Seeing this, the whiskered blond grinned. "That's right. The one not cool here is me. But you? Not in a million years."
Haru broke down in slight laughter. "You're really weird, you know that right?"
Naruto shrugged as he looked to the side. "I've been told that before….." he muttered with a look of remembrance. Haru in turn looked at him with a look of curiosity before Naruto shook it off. The blond jinchuriki was about to continue before someone beat him to the punch.
"You're really weird."
One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched. Okay, so he wasn't the average shinobi….or kid. But still, did everyone have to comment on it or what?
Looking to where the voice had come from, Naruto found one of the girls from his new class, the thought still made him shudder, standing before and looking at him with a grin of her face. Like many others, the girl had striking red hair except that unlike his mother's which reached all the way down her back, this girl's hair stopped just above her shoulders. Also as striking were her eyes which looked to be dark blue, almost an icy tint to them. She was wearing black shorts with a plain black t-shirt and blue shinobi sandals. On her wrists were also white wristbands with red swirls on them and, even though Naruto couldn't see it, the Uzumaki crest was printed on the back of her t-shirt.
"And who are you?"
The girl continued to grin. "Uzumaki Aika. It's a pleasure, whiskers."
Something told Naruto that this girl was going to be calling him that for the rest of their lives. And he didn't like it. Okay…..maybe he didn't mind it that much.
Next to the blond, Haru looked on in surprise at seeing the girl talking to them. "Y-you're Aika! Why are you talking to us? I thought that you didn't talk to anyone!"
Aika hummed slightly as she dropped next to Naruto, making said blond scoot to the side to make room for her. "Is that one of those other rumors that the my oh so dearest classmates have spread?"
Haru merely nodded with Naruto looking to and forth between them. Hey, it was his first day. He wasn't expected to know the social ranking here. In his days, he had been at the bottom, so he could imagine that perhaps it was the same with the two sitting on both of his sides. Damn, that made him sound old. 'In his days….' He needed to stop talking like that for future reference.
The newly named Aika shrugged. "I just don't get along with the other girls is all. I mean, all they talk about is pointless things. I've got better thing to do with my life."
Wow. Did this girl know how to talk or what? The same thing could be said about Haru for that matter. It seemed that the blond had found himself an interesting pair. That was good. He didn't know how long he would have lasted without some partners in crime.
Aika then pointed at Haru. "What about you, though? I've never seen you talk with anyone else either except with whiskers here today."
Naruto twitched at the name. "Would you mind not calling me that?"
Aika merely shrugged before looking at Haru who shifted uncomfortably.
"It's nothing much. It's just that I don't really mix with the other boys in the class."
Aika grinned. "Then we're in the same position. I thought maybe you were just arrogant like the princess over there." She finished while pointing to Kushina who was surrounded by an entire group of girls. Kami knew what it was that they were even talking about.
Naruto sighed. His mother at this time was really different than he had expected all right. And in his opinion, it wasn't for the better.
Haru looked at her with wide eyes. "M-me? Arrogant!? How!"
Aika could only shrug yet again. "Dunno. But I'm starting to think it's more along the lines of being shy…."
Naruto sweatdropped. "How could you not have noticed that?"
Aika looked at him. "I don't really pay attention in class. Most of the things that they're teaching us is not really useful."
Now that got Naruto interested. Leaning in with a grin, Naruto asked, "And how would you know that?"
Aika grinned back at him. "My father was a jonin, so he's been teaching me some stuff that aren't really meant to be taught to kids our age."
"You too?"
Both Naruto and Aika looked at Haru.
Aika pointed at him. "You're dad's teaching you too?" At Haru's nod, the only girl in the group grinned. "Well, I'm just glad that I'm not the only one doing the extra work then."
Both boys knew just what exactly Aika meant. And it wasn't just about doing the extra training. Looking around at the other kids in the playground, Naruto had to pity both Aika and Haru. They were being made to grow up a lot faster than the other kids here. And while that wasn't an entirely bad thing, it also made them almost inefficient to make friends with the other kids in the class. The only thing that had kept them from them talking to each other was Haru's shyness and Aika's attitude. Or as far as the blond jinchuriki could see anyways.
Haru scratched one of his cheeks in a Naruto-like fashion, an embarrassed blush on his face. "I-I didn't know that you were this cool. I always imagined you to be this scary girl honestly."
Aika simply shrugged in a dismissing manner. "Don't worry. So does everyone else here." Seeing the boy about to apologize, Aika quickly added, "Like I said, don't worry about it. I'm the one that puts up that image in the first place. Besides, I always mistook you for being arrogant, so we're both at fault here. If it wasn't for whiskers here I probably would have never talked to you."
'Whiskers' raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why did you start talking to us?" It wasn't like he minded. He was just curious.
Aika rubbed one of her arms as she looked to the side. "W-well, because I was hoping you would be my friend…." she mumbled. But both Naruto and Haru caught it.
Naruto looked at her in surprise. "Really?"
Aika nodded, finally looking at him. "Really, really. You don't seem like the others here. And I really don't have any friends either as you can see," she admitted bluntly, not at least looking as if that fact bothered her at all.
But Naruto could see that it did. If there was one thing that he had learned the most from Kakashi was to look underneath the underneath. It also helped that he had personal experience regarding the matter. The single fact that she even came to talk to them out of the blue in the manner that she did was proof enough which showed that she really did want friends. It didn't matter if it was just one or two, as long as the concept was there. And it seemed that to her Naruto was the best candidate for that from all of the other kids in the academy. Naruto realized that it had to do mainly in the manner in which she was being brought up, which was entirely different from the rest excluding Haru. Even Kushina was different from her. At this time, she really was just a simple kid. And while that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, her personally just wouldn't sit well with Aika's. At least, not this Kushina's.
Naruto sent her one of his famous grins as he scratched the back of his head. It was one of his life long habits. "Well, I don't really know what I did to make you think like that, but I don't mind getting another friend."
The sudden surge of happiness which showed itself on the girl's face from hearing that caused for Naruto to blush, something which said blond didn't even know that he was doing.
Haru looked at Naruto in surprise again. "Another friend?"
Naruto sent him a thumbs up. "Yeah. I mean, I already told you. You and me are already friends. Right? And I'm sure Aika-chan wouldn't mind being included in that."
Aika nodded, showing her agreement. She completely dismissed that Naruto was now adding -chan to her name. It was a completely new experience for her, but she didn't really mind.
Haru looked at his hands, shifting uncomfortably. "I-I see…."
Naruto slapped his back for a second time, causing for the boy to yelp in surprise again. "C'mon. Don't get all emo on us. That's just not cool."
Haru nodded, rubbing his shoulder like Aika had done. "S-sorry. I'm just not that social either."
Naruto grinned. "Then that just means we're perfect for each other!"
Aika placed a finger on her chin, a thoughtful look on her face. "The outcasts of our class…." She shrugged. "Yeah, I can see that. I don't mind it."
Haru looked at them both in surprise before looking the other way, nodding his head once more. "O-ok…."
Naruto cheered as he jumped to his feet, patting his shorts in order to get some of the dirt that had accumulated itself from his having sat down on the bare ground.
"Then it's settled!" He turned to them both. "We're now friends!"
The instructor had come outside at this point, yelling that break was over with and that it was time for class to resume. But Naruto didn't mind. Normally, that would have brought his spirits down. That was how much he hated class. But now, in his first day and in just a span of few hours, he had managed to find himself some new friends.
'Not bad Uzumaki….'
Looking for his mother, he found her walking back to class alone, the group of girls having had left her at some point. Now, if only he could find someway to make his mother come out of her shell too. It was obvious to him at this point that she didn't really have any real friends. Those girls were probably just hanging with her because she was the daughter of the clan head. Naruto had spent many times observing this with Sakura and Ino in his first and true youth, so he knew he was right in the money. He would find a way to befriend her, though. Let it be known that Uzumaki Naruto was not one to give up so easily, or ever.
Aika was in front of him in a flash, grabbing hold of his hand as she pulled both him and Haru back to class. "C'mon you two! Don't be such slowpokes."
Both Naruto and Haru merely looked at each other, both grinning.
Like before, Naruto realized that he wouldn't mind the place. It was going to be a good day.
Inside Naruto's subconscious, one nine tailed bijuu merely watched all of the proceedings in silence. So, the brat had already found himself some friends, eh? Really, it shouldn't have surprised him in the least. That was just the kind of person that Naruto was. It didn't take the blond too much time before he could make friends. He himself was a prime example of that even if he didn't like to admit it.
Resting his head on top of his paws, Kurama cracked one eye open as he immediately sensed a new presence inside his little domain in Naruto's mind.
"I didn't expect to see you here so soon, old man."
The Rikudo Sennin chuckled as he stood before the towering bijuu, even if said bijuu was lying down at the moment.
"Yes, well, I just wanted to personally see how Naruto is handling his new home."
Kurama continued to look at him. "We both know that's not the entire reason you're here." Raising his head, the fox released a sigh. "I take it you're here to tell me about my other self…."
The Sennin grinned. "Oh, don't worry, Kurama. I'm not here to deliver you any bad news. That would be a bad thing on my part. Especially with what I put you and all of your other brothers through. On the contrary, it's good news. Consider this my gift to you."
Kurama looked at him in surprise. "What are you talking about?"
The Sennin began to pace around the bijuu. "You immediately assumed that because I didn't tell you what would happen to you when you and Naruto got here that it was going to be bad news. Well, you assumed incorrectly."
"But how!? Two beings can't exist in the same time! It's unnatural! It breaks the natural rules of the universe itself!"
The Sennin stopped his pacing and looked up to meet the bijuu's crimson eyes. There was complete kindness in the Sennin's eyes and face altogether as he began to explain.
"Under normal circumstances, that would be true, yes. But these aren't normal circumstances, Kurama. The fact that Naruto and Sasuke even survived the brake is against the rules of the universe in of itself. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the rules aren't being applied to these two. They're a special case. And now, a special case is being given to you."
Kurama simply looked at the being who as like a father figure to him in silence. Finally, he spoke, "Just how are you doing this, old man? I never once knew that you could accomplish any of this, no matter how strong you are. All of this is just….beyond everything!"
The Sennin nodded. "You're exactly correct in that. Even I don't have that kind of power. No matter how much I was revered as a god, I'm still human. As such, even I have my limitations. The only difference is that those limitations are higher than a normal human being."
"Then how?"
The Sennin raised up his free hand. "Don't worry about that right now. At the moment, we're still at a critical stage. Both Naruto and Sasuke can't mess up right now, or it will have terrible consequences for what we're planning on happening. But like I've said, you don't have to worry about you disappearing. You and Naruto now exist beyond that plane. The same could be said about Sasuke."
Kurama could only look at him in silence, not knowing what to say. For once in a long time, the bijuu found himself at a loss of words as to what to make of the current situation. From the moment that the Sennin had told him what he was planning on having Sasuke and Naruto do, he had come to terms that he would most like cease to exist. But if it helped Naruto with his goal, then he didn't mind.
Damn, he never thought that he would ever feel that way. Good thing Shukaku wasn't around to see it.
"Now, I must be going," the Sennin stated as he continued to look up at Kurama. "I only came here to ease your worries. Right now, Sasuke needs my help more than Naruto does. I'm sure that you two will be able to deal with the first obstacle that will soon present itself to you both. Oh, and one final thing…."
The Sennin sent him a wave as he started to disappear. "Be mindful next time about the seal. You're lucky that it no longer exists, or the Uzumakis would have figured out that you're in here."
Kurama's eyes widened at that particular detail. But before he could ask the Sennin what he meant, said individual had already disappeared.
The giant fox looked at the spot where the old man had been before lowering his head back down to rest it on top of his paws, trying to understand just how the seal was now gone; and what the old man had meant by saying how Naruto, him, and the Uchiha were longer considered to be in this plane; and just what the first so called obstacle would be.
Most of all, though, he was trying to figure out who the old man meant when he said 'we.' Who else was involved in this?
So many questions, and the bijuu realized that he had few clues to figure out the answers.
Naruto had to suppress a sigh as he walked alongside Kushina towards the gate that led outside of the academy. The reason for his sigh was due to Kushina's refusal to talk to him. Really, the only thing that the young redhead had ever told him directly was her name. After that, nothing. Nada. It was depressing to say the least.
"I'll see you later, whiskers!"
Naruto simply waved back at Aika who was now walking with a man that Naruto presumed to be her father. Watching her leave made Naruto remember that he had a great day all things consider. He had met interesting new people. The only downside was Kushina's attitude.
"Of all days for kaa-chan to be late…." he heard her mutter. Naruto glanced at her as they waited by the gates. Most of the other kids had already left as well. Naruto could see that there was definite displeasure in her face.
The blond jinchuriki scratched his cheek. "So…."
Kushina turned to look at him with a blank look. Well, this was awkward. Damn, just what could he say?
"You're not really a smooth talker, are you, brat?"
Well, look who had decided to finally wake the hell up? But Naruto could argue with the furball later. Right now, he had to figure out a way to break the ice with his mother. Or future mother…..whatever. Point was, now he had a great chance at doing so. He just hoped that his also future grandmother took a bit longer to get here than normal.
"What do you want?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head, feeling completely uneasy with the tone that the redhead in front of him was using. Really, even if it was a younger version of the woman whom he had met in his seal when he had fought Kurama, the blond had never expected to ever be the recipient of such indifference from her. It kinda hurt.
"Well…..I've just been having this feeling that you don't like me and all…."
Understatement of the year. It was proven to be so by Kurama's snort at hearing that.
Kushina continued to look at him in silence for a few more moments before huffing as she turned her back to him, her small arms crossed in front of her.
"That's because you're not family. So I don't see why kaa-chan and tou-san would even bring you in the first place. You're just some random boy!"
"I see…."
Naruto turned his back to her as well, trying to hide the frown that was present in his face. Really, he knew that it was only childish jealousy. Still, to hear her say that he wasn't family…it really did hurt him, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.
Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama simply closed his eyes, having lost interest in the conversation with Kushina, if he could even call the girl that. He knew that the girl resembled nothing to the one that he had met for the first time. But to change so much….
'It must have been the destruction of Uzu,' realized the bijuu before his eyes snapped wide open.
"I'm sure that you two will be able to deal with the first obstacle that will soon present itself to you both."
'No….the old man couldn't have possibly meant that….'
Back in the real world, Kushina glanced at Naruto, trying to see why he wasn't responding. And instead of seeing Naruto trying to come up with a comeback, all the young girl saw was Naruto's back as his whole demeanor expressed unhappiness.
Now Kushina started to doubt herself. Her mother had always taught her to not bring other people down. But it was something which she couldn't help but do. After all, that was all that people ever saw her as. 'The daughter of clan head.' Nothing more. Even with kids her own age, they were afraid of getting too close to her lest they make 'the daughter of the clan head' angry. It was one of the reasons why she had no friends, a major reason. So instead of trying to fight that image, she instead embraced it. She used it everywhere she went, specially at the academy. It was how she got to hang with some of the other 'popular' girls her age. Not to mention that her parents also gave her everything she wanted. So it was only natural others would as well.
Despite all of that, however, the young girl did have some morals in her. She managed to suppress them most of the time, but seeing Naruto in front of her act depressed at what she had said made her feel depress as well.
But why? After all, Naruto was just some boy that her parents had brought in for whatever reason. He wasn't anyone special. Not only that, but she could tell that both of her parents were really starting to like the blond. Even Kaito. And she didn't like that. She was supposed to be the only one that her parents sought to give everything. Kaito was different. He was already grown up. But Naruto wasn't.
Her other part retaliated, though. It told her not to think that way. The girl frowned. Just why was this happening to her? She didn't like to feel this way. To feel guilt. Unable to stop herself, Kushina began to mumble.
"Sorry…."
Naruto's ears twitched at hearing the single word. Turning around, he looked at his future mother in surprise.
"What?"
Kushina puffed out her cheeks before she screamed out, "I'm sorry, okay! I wasn't trying to make you feel sad!"
Naruto continued to look at her in surprise, his eyes blinking as his brain tried to process what his ears had sent it. Hell, even Kurama was now paying rapt attention. Now this seemed more like person who was his second host. Grinning to himself, the fox closed his eyes once more. The blond never ceased to amaze him. Of course, he would never tell said blond that.
Naruto scratched his cheek, now feeling embarrassed at the proclamation. "I-I see…." Damn, he was starting to sound like Haru now.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
Both Naruto and Kushina froze at hearing the amused voice. Turning towards the street outside of the gate, both kids found an amused looking Kazumi standing there with grocery bags in hand. At least that explained why she was late. Her eyes were dancing in obvious gratification, but what that gratification could possibly be, Naruto had no idea.
Kushina turned beat read before lowering her head as she walked past her mother without a word.
Kazumi looked at the retreating form of her daughter before looking at Naruto, beckoning him to start walking as well. Naruto did as told.
While in the midst of their walk back to their house, one Uzumaki Kazumi continued to smile as she walked alongside Naruto with Kushina still in front of them.
'It seems that going to the store paid off to be a good idea,' thought Kazumi as she looked at her dejected daughter walking in front of her. It hadn't been done on purpose. The Uzumaki matriarch had thought that it would have taken her ten minutes top to do the small food shopping that she had done. But it had taken her a bit longer than that due to both her wandering eye as she continued to plow through the many aisles in the store and the line which she had been force to wait in afterwards.
"I can help you with those, baa-chan."
Inwardly, one of Kazumi's eyebrows twitched at the nickname. Really, she wasn't that old to be called that. But she knew that the young blond meant no harm in calling her that. She could even sense the great amount of joy when he said it. While she didn't know why the blond would feel that way, she wasn't about to go burst his bubble. She wasn't that cold hearted, or anywhere close to it.
Smiling down at Naruto, Kazumi handed him one of her bags. "Why, thank you, Naruto-kun. You're a real gentleman."
Naruto beamed at that as they continued to make their way home.
Looking at both kids, Kazumi smiled even more. It seemed that it was going to be interesting from now on. A good kind of interesting.
Naruto's thoughts mirrored his grandmother's. Really, today had been a good day for him. Not only had he made new friends, but he had also made some progress in getting to know his mother. He wasn't entirely sure how he had done either, but he didn't much care either. He would just accept it with a big grin on his face. Oh yes. He could definitely get used to this.
In his mind, Kurama cracked one eye open, feeling the happiness which Naruto was currently emanating. Closing the eye once more, the bijuu tried to get some more shuteye.
He could tell Naruto what he had learned later, especially with the first obstacle possibly being the destruction of Uzu. In all honesty, the fox wasn't sure if that was what the old man had meant. Of course, he himself didn't know when it happened. At least, not accurately. He could make a guess, but that was all. A guess.
Still, he wasn't about to rain in on his host's parade. Normally, he would do so. But not now. Not with everything that was going to have to be done. He would let Naruto cherish these feelings for as long as possible.
After all, it was the least he could do. Maybe the only thing he could do to help Naruto in this regard. And if so, then he would do it.
'Let tomorrow be a different day from this one….'
To be Continued...
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