บท 2: Grocery Run and Unexpected Changes.
A/N: Take mindscape reference from tanjiro's.
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As Naruto was forcefully expelled from his mindscape by Kurama, he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing that met his eyes was the stark white of unfamiliar walls. Weak and disoriented, he struggled to sit up, his body feeling drained. Then, out of nowhere, a strange buzz coursed through him. His eyes widened in shock as realization struck—he could feel emotions.
More specifically—pain, hatred, anger, fear, and doubt. Each emotion crashed over him like a tidal wave, raw and overwhelming. Careful not to let Kurama's name slip, he thought to himself, 'This is interesting. Unlocking part of the seal has definitely changed some things within me.'
Before he could dwell further on his thoughts, a deep, resonant voice echoed in his mind, jolting him from his lingering drowsiness. 'Of course. I am the strongest of the tailed beasts—did you really think my influence would be weak?'
Naruto stared blankly for a moment, utterly dumbfounded. Regaining his composure, he let out a small sigh and rubbed his temples before thinking, 'Wait... you can read my mind?'
The reply came almost instantly. 'Isn't it obvious? After all, you tampered with the seal. Your spiritual power, though denser than most humans, is nothing compared to my demonic might.'
Naruto, too stunned to form a proper response, muttered weakly, 'Uh... okay.'
As Naruto's mind caught up, he regained his composure and asked, 'Wait, why are you acting so... familiar with me? I mean, I don't want to sound rude, but I don't think we're that close.'
Kurama's deep voice rumbled in response, 'Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm interested in talking to a human. If anything, you should feel honored that I'm even bothering to speak to you.'
Kurama suddenly went silent, the abrupt shift making Naruto twitch in unease. Without bothering to filter his thoughts—whether Kurama could hear him or not—he mused, 'What's going on? Back in the mindscape, he was growling at me like he wanted to rip me apart, and now he's acting like some long-lost best friend.'
Before Naruto's thoughts could spiral further, the door suddenly creaked open, revealing a medical kunoichi. Noticing that he was awake, she offered him a warm smile and said, "It's good to see you up. How are you feeling?"
Naruto nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm feeling okay. Thanks, Miss...?"
Before he could finish, the nurse interjected with a polite smile, "Marin. Just Marin. And there's no need to thank me—it's my job. Besides, your condition wasn't that serious. You just passed out from severe mental strain."
Naruto, ever the modest one, replied, "Even so, I don't think there's anything wrong with thanking you. So, thank you, Miss Marin. Uh… am I discharged?"
Marin blinked in surprise at his sincere gratitude but quickly smiled and nodded. "Yes, you're free to leave. By the way, your sensei—the gray-haired one—was here for a few hours after you passed out."
Her tone turned slightly more serious as she added, "Also, you should eat more. I checked your body, and it's clear you're not eating nearly enough for what your body needs. That's not only limiting your strength but also leaving you borderline malnourished. In this profession, you should eat as much as you can to maintain your stamina and health."
With that, she gave him a small wave and left the room. As Naruto watched her leave, he couldn't help but think, 'It's not that I don't eat enough... I just eat too much ramen.'
Slowly, Naruto stood up and stretched, his muscles protesting from the long rest. After a moment, he decided it was time to head out, though not without first paying a visit to Ichiraku Ramen. The thought of a steaming bowl of miso ramen made his mouth water.
As he approached the familiar ramen stand, a voice cut through the hum of the street.
"Boss!"
Naruto froze for a split second, He turned to confirm his suspicion, already knowing exactly who it was.
Konohamaru soon caught up to Naruto, still panting from exhaustion. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he asked, "Boss, I heard you're participating in the final stage of the Chunin Exams. Is that true?"
Naruto replied casually, "Yeah, that's true."
Hearing this, Konohamaru's face lit up with excitement. "As expected of you, Boss! You'll definitely become a Chunin on your first attempt!" he said with enthusiasm.
All the while, Naruto stared at him, his expression a mix of conflicting emotions. After a moment, he replied, "Yeah, I'll become a Chunin if everything goes as planned."
Konohamaru, noticing something off, frowned slightly and asked, "Boss, you seem different than usual."
Naruto, surprised that Konohamaru had picked up on it, quickly brushed it off. "It's just your imagination. I'm just thinking about my training plans."
Konohamaru nodded quickly in understanding. "Don't worry, Boss! You'll definitely win the exams. Just don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
Naruto gave a small nod at that. After some more idle chatter, Konohamaru finally left, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.
'From Naruto's memories, I can tell that Konohamaru has lived a life of immense luxury. Not that I'm jealous of him—Naruto deserved it far more. Konohamaru is called the "Prince of Konoha" and, even at such a young age, has powerful connections, including the Daimyo and the Fire Temple. The fact that Hiruzen named him after Konoha itself makes one thing clear: Hiruzen intends for Konohamaru to become Hokage someday.'
'The Mizuki incident, it seems, was something Hiruzen allowed to happen. That means Naruto and Konohamaru's meeting during the ninja registration was also likely orchestrated.'
As Naruto's thoughts grew darker, his expression turned murderous, but he shook it off, deciding instead to treat himself to some ramen before heading back to his compound.
As Naruto finished his ramen, he silently thanked the "Sage of Six Bowls" before leaving. His final thought lingered:
'The ramen, while slightly better than the ones on Earth, wasn't remarkable enough to justify Naruto's obsession with it. It wasn't about the ramen itself—it was the emotions tied to it. Teuchi was perhaps the first person to truly accept Naruto, aside from Hiruzen.'
The journey to his apartment was quiet, with Naruto more focused on observing the village's infrastructure than letting his mind wander. Soon, he entered the red-light district, a rundown area of Konoha. From his memories, he recalled that his apartment was located at the farthest corner of the village, surrounded by unsavory individuals and a generally hostile atmosphere.
Even though he had already seen the apartment through Naruto's memories, he couldn't help but let out a frustrated groan upon seeing it in person. The place was a complete mess, barely suitable for anyone to live in, let alone a child. And the apartment itself wasn't the only issue—Naruto's neighbors despised him, often going so far as to call him "fox" in open disdain.
Too tired to dwell on it, Naruto decided to head inside and get some much-needed sleep. His final thought before succumbing to exhaustion was, 'I'll definitely move out of here as soon as I can.'
He made his way to the bed, collapsed onto it, and quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.
In the mindscape, Kurama could be seen lounging in the middle of an endless ocean, wearing a straw hat that seemed oddly out of place on the mighty beast. His usual stoic demeanor faltered as a look of shock crossed his face. Then, a terrifying smirk slowly spread across his features as he said:
"Earth, What a amusing place...."
The next day~
Naruto woke up in the morning feeling energized and eager for the day ahead. He stretched his limbs and then decided to cook breakfast for himself, figuring that too much ramen wasn't the healthiest choice.
'Wait, I don't have anything in here except ramen and milk. What am I supposed to make?'
Suddenly, an idea struck him. 'I can use shadow clones to buy groceries and have them use transformation jutsu to avoid the hatred and the ridiculous prices those stupid civilians charge.'
He quickly formed the hand signs, finding it easy with each motion. As he performed each one, he could feel the raw, dense chakra flowing through him, moving with a fluid, controlled rhythm. Once he finished, the entire room exploded in a cloud of smoke as over a hundred clones appeared. Stuck in the middle, Naruto quickly shouted, "Disperse! I only need one of you!"
As expected, all the clones glanced at each other, each waiting for the others to disperse first. Naruto narrowed his eyes in frustration and shouted again, "What the hell?" He pointed to the clone closest to him and ordered, "Everyone except him, disperse!"
At his command, the clones obeyed without hesitation, vanishing one by one, leaving Naruto with only the single clone he had singled out.
Naruto rubbed his temples in frustration, trying to ease the tension building in his head. With a deep sigh, he continued, "You'll use a transformation jutsu to turn into someone random and buy the groceries for me." He handed the clone a slip of paper containing a list of all the essentials he needed.
The clone nodded eagerly, his face determined. Without wasting any time, he turned on his heel and quickly set off to carry out the task. As Naruto watched him go, he hoped that this time, things would go smoothly without any issues from the villagers.
About half an hour later, the clone returned, looking like Sukuna, though without his signature smirk. He handed the groceries to Naruto, who stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. The clone gave a smirk as a farewell before dispersing into a cloud of smoke. Naruto was left standing there, only one thought running through his mind: '????'
Snapping out of his confusion, Naruto quickly scowled and formed another set of hand signs. As he finished, the same phenomenon occurred—the room filled with smoke as hundreds of clones appeared. This time, Naruto, having learned from his mistake, added, "The three closest to me will stay."
Once again, the apartment was engulfed in smoke, so thick that Naruto nearly choked on it.
After a brief moment, Naruto smirked at the clones, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint. "Alright," he said with a sly grin, "you will be making breakfast for me."
The clones stood there, staring at him with dumbfounded expressions, their faces a mix of confusion and betrayal. Some of them even seemed to glare at him as if questioning his motives. Naruto, however, acted as if he didn't notice their reactions at all.
Without a second thought, he began his usual morning routine. Completely ignoring the clones stunned stares.
Once he returned, feeling refreshed after his hot bath, Naruto found the table filled with omelets and orange juice. Without sparing a glance at the clones, who looked proud of their work, he immediately began devouring the food. The clones, watching in silence, had tears welling up in their eyes at the sight of Naruto eating without hesitation. Unable to watch any longer, they dispersed with a sigh.
Feeling full after finishing his breakfast, Naruto decided it was time to stop wasting any more time. He quickly stood up and headed for the door, determination in his eyes. He sprinted out of his apartment, making his way toward the nearest training ground.
When Naruto reached an empty training ground, he paused for a moment to process the thoughts running through his mind.
'Let's see… With the Nine-Tails no longer causing trouble and the memory feedback from the clones not being enough to harm me, I can essentially spam shadow clones to learn anything. I won't have to worry about anything in the future.'
He grinned at the realization, feeling a surge of confidence in his ability to tackle whatever challenges lay ahead.
'I think it's best to start by gathering all the knowledge I can,* Naruto thought. *I already know the basics of chakra control and ninjutsu from Naruto's memories. But I also need to find a solid taijutsu style—Naruto never had a proper one. Mizuki only taught him a flawed version of the Leaf's taijutsu style.'
'His unpredictability is also a factor, but I don't think that's something that can be easily copied.'
'For now, I just need to focus on physical conditioning,' he thought. 'Everything else, including chakra control, can be learned through clones. But taijutsu requires more than just memories from them—it demands personal experience and muscle memory. I'll also get some weights to help boost my progress. With all my advantages, Naruto has the potential to become a physical powerhouse if he trains hard enough.'
'From the series, I remember Naruto falling under a genjutsu when the invasion started. That's definitely going to be a problem. I'll need to learn how to dispel a genjutsu as well.'
Naruto muttered under his breath, "Damn you, Kakashi."
With that, Naruto quickly formed the hand signs, summoning over 300 clones that filled the entire field. He issued his command, "You all focus on reading everything related to taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu dispelling, shurikenjutsu, and chakra control from the academy and genin libraries. Go!"
As soon as he finished, the clones vanished, rushing toward their destination with unwavering determination.
As Naruto watched the clones head off, he finally noticed the orange outfits they were wearing. The sight reminded him of another orange-clad figure, and he couldn't help but think, 'The Nine-Tails mentioned something about changes in my body... I can sense all the negative emotions, but is that all?'
As if finally able to speak, Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's mind. "Yes, your body has undergone many changes. You've gained several abilities. The ability to sense negative emotions is a direct result of me—some of my chakra is constantly flowing through you."
Kurama continued, noticing Naruto's thoughtful expression. "You already had regeneration, but now it's much stronger. Your physical abilities have also improved. And you've unlocked the chakra chains from your Uzumaki heritage."
Naruto thought it was just his imagination, but he swore he detected a hint of fear in Kurama's voice when he mentioned the chakra chains. Shaking off the thought, Naruto quickly dismissed it and continued trying to not look suspicious.
'Uzumaki heritage... I have a clan?' Naruto pondered aloud, then, with a pleading look in his eyes, asked, 'If you know about my clan, then you must know who my parents are.'
Kurama, already seeing through Naruto's intentions, decided to play along. "Well, I do know who your parents are, but I have no intention of telling you," he said, his voice calm. "As for the Uzumaki clan... Yes, they were a powerful clan, feared throughout the Elemental Nations for their mastery of fuinjutsu. In the end, they were wiped out by the four ninja villages, who feared their strength."
The conversation fell into an awkward silence. Naruto wasn't sure how to continue, and Kurama, curious, decided to wait and see how Naruto would handle the situation.
To be continued~
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A/N: Please share your thoughts! If you notice any inconsistencies with the reactions or personalities, just chalk it up to plot. Also, feel free to comment if you spot any issues—I'd prefer to avoid rewriting it again.
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