Chapter 6: Brother and Sister
~~~
Naruto had left the room and only Jiraiya and Hiruzen were left. They made eye contact before nodding towards each other. The twohad the same thought going through their heads.
"Do you think there's a possibility that he could be Minato's child?" Asked Jiraiya, speaking out his thoughts like usual. Hiruzen just sighed and took out his signature smoke pipe.
"I don't know. There is a huge possibility that he is; and another huge possibility that he is not," said Hiruzen in a truthful tone. He, too, was very confused at the sudden change of events.
"But look at the facts! He's 6-years old, had blond hair, his name is Naruto; and even has a birthday on October 10th! There's so much proof that it is him! The lost child of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina." Jiraiya tried reasoning with Hiruzen.
"Sorry, Jiraiya. But there is also some proof that it's not Naruto also. There are black threads on this boy's hair, Minato nor Kushina had that. He was born outside of the village, like what the boy said. His surname is also different." Hiruzen tried locking down Jiraiya's theory.
"Sensei, that last part is utter bullshit. He or someone else could have easily changed his name." Hiruzen just lets outa puff of smoke out of his mouth and into the air above.
"True, but even though the positives are outweighing the negatives, the negatives are still present. As long as those negatives are there, you can't truly be 100% sure of your own answer." Hiruzen held out his smoke pipe.
"Whatever you say, sensei."
~~~
This should be it. Naruto thought, eyeing an apartment complex that was at least a few stories high. Hiruzen had appointed him to live in this exact and specific apartment complex.
The reason? Naruto doesn't know.
There must be some kind of reason why he chose this apartment complex out of all apartment complexes in Konoha. This is oddly way too specific for my own liking. Thought Naruto, looking up towards the top. It was quite odd.
Hiruzen wanted him to live at the top floor out of every floor he could have chose. His room was also right next to a balcony that gave Naruto the ability to oversee the village of Konoha.
Naruto walked inside and up to the top of the apartment complex in complete silence as usual. Opening the door, he saw what was inside. It was nothing special, like what Naruto had hoped.
If there were already things here, Naruto would have believed he had special privileges. This was not the case, and he hopes that it will never be a case ever at all. Naruto looked around to make sure everything did not seem suspicious. His finger landed on the table. He lifted the said finger.
There was dust.
I can clean and prioritize this for later. Naruto thought, shoving that thought to the back of his mind. But just seeing the table annoyed Naruto to the very core.
Never-mind. I'll clean it anyway. Naruto went to the sink to wet a paper towel. After making the paper towel soaking wet, Naruto maneuvered his body towards the exact same table as before and wiped everything about it down. He coughed a few times, releasing the dust into the atmosphere.
I feel like a house-wife. But ok. Naruto thought, shaking his head as he rid the house from the amount of dust around the apartment building. Naruto sighed once he was finished cleaning around his new household.
He looked around and saw that everything was spotless clean. Naruto nodded with satisfactory and pulled out the scroll that contained his necessities that he had gathered from the old household.
A puff of smoke appeared and revealed: the chess board and its pieces, his clothes, the shogi board; and even food. Naruto placed the items to its rightful place. His eyes darted around the placed items and nodded at the order that he had arranged the items in.
Maybe move the shogi board to the right a little bit. Naruto thought, doing was he just thought of and moved the shogi board just a tiny bit to the right. Actually, it looks better to the left. Naruto arranged the shogi board back to its original state.
Naruto nodded at that.
Good. That looks much better already. Naruto thought to himself.
~~~
Naruto looked at the piece of paper in front of him. It had only been a month since he has become a citizen of Konoha, and he was already registering for the Academy.
I'm entering quite late. Naruto thought to himself. Hiruzen was accompanying him since he didn't know the exact location of the Academy in Konoha. "You are all set. We'll see you next week, Naruto." Naruto nodded and bowed down slightly and walked away with Hiruzen.
Hiruzen had his smoke pipe sticking out of his mouth.
"What do you think of Konoha, Naruto?" Asked Hiruzen, getting many waves by passerby's — which he returned. Naruto was silent for a few seconds before answering.
"It's fine, I guess. I never really thought of going to a large village like this — I planned to just be roaming around." Naruto told him, walking right next to the tall old man. "Hm, I see. It's dangerous out there alone." Hiruzen told Naruto, walking on the dirt.
"I know," said Naruto, completely disregarding the seriousness of the question at hand. "It's fine, though." Naruto finished, a stoic face plastered on like usual. "You should enjoy life before you become a Shinobi, Naruto." He stayed silent.
"There is no way to enjoy your own life before becoming a Shinobi. Every action a person does will or will not cause change. This doesn't necessarily mean that their actions will be positive in the end; it could give a negative outcome in the end also." Naruto spoke out after moments of silence.
"And even before becoming a Shinobi, we have to protect our own backs for possible attacks from other nations. Konoha has many prominent clans that other people would just love to get their hands on them. Doesn't matter if they are opposing or comrades." Naruto told Hiruzen, the sunlight shining upon.
"Hoh. You're quite an intelligent person, Naruto." He just slightly nodded at that. "I guess. . . you can say that," said Naruto, walking right beside Hiruzen as he guided Naruto on his way home. "Take pride in intelligence, Naruto. It's something that many desire, but don't have." Naruto nodded and shrugged in response.
Naruto suddenly saw 2 people stop right in front of them. One was a tall guy, the other was a small and short girl that was around Naruto's age. He raised a lone eyebrow.
"Hello, Hokage-sama," said the tall male. Hiruzen nodded at him. He must be someone that Hiruzen respects, Naruto kept that in mind at the back of his head.
"Hello, Itachi. Who's this young lady that you have brought with you?" Hiruzen had a small smile on his face. Itachi returned the small, light smile that Hiruzen had.
"Ah, her? This is my little si-." Itachi was cut off by her sudden voice. "I am the future's best kunoichi — a ninja even greater than my brother." She told them in a childish but serious tone.
Her voice is high-pitch. Somewhat. Naruto thought stoically. He was not amused by what she was saying. "As I was saying, this is my little sister." Itachi continued what he was saying.
Hiruzen nodded. "What's her name?" He asked. Itachi was about to answer, but she had other ideas and answered the question for him.
"I am Uchiha Satsuki. I am 6-years old, and is currently about to go to the Academy. I have gone there a few months now," said Satsuki in a very specific way.
She's very. . . specific. Naruto thought, observing every action that the two new people that he had just met. While Itachi was a lot more reserved and calm, Satsuki was. . .
Like a firecracker.
Can explode at any time. Naruto saw that Itachi and Satsuki had their eyes on him. "Who's this?" Asked Itachi in a very calm and calculated tone. "Yeah, who's this?" Satsuki copied his comment.
Naruto looked up and met Hiruzen's eyes. He nodded at Naruto. "Ah, I see. An introduction." Naruto sighed and thought about what he was going to say. Should he try and looked cool and talk about how he is out to avenge his family? Nah.
"Uhh. . . I am a Ahihcu Naruto. Currently 6-years old. My likes? Chess and Shogi. My dislikes? Certain people. My dream? Don't know, don't care." Naruto told them. The last one was a lie.
He did have a dream.
"Fishcake? Your name is named after a fishcake? Hn, sucks to be you." Smirked Satsuki, getting scolded by Itachi immediately after. Naruto just shook his head, unfazed by the comment.
"I wouldn't be so sure, firecracker," said Naruto, walking away from the group. He heard yells of his name from behind that were from Satsuki. She was definitely not pleased by what Naruto had said to her.
Sucks to be you.
~~~
Naruto sat at the kitchen table, playing a game of chess by himself. It felt weird, not playing chess with a person in front of him. He was used to beating Madara all the time.
I need a new person to substitute for him. Naruto thought, looking at the chess board right in front of him. He suddenly heard a knock on the door. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"The door is open," said Naruto, loud enough to where the person on the other side of the door could hear his voice. He saw the door slowly open up, revealing that Jiraiya was the one behind the door.
"Yo, Naruto," said Jiraiya in a very enthusiastic manner. Naruto fought to roll his eyes at him. "Why are you here? Can't you see I'm playing chess?" Naruto asked, obviously annoyed at him.
"Yeah, I see you playing chess with no one." Jiraiya remarked with a grin plastered on his face. Naruto shook his head at him, gesturing for him to sit down in front of him. "What do you need?" Asked Naruto, seeing the empty chair in front of him get taken by Jiraiya.
"I heard you're join the academy," said Jiraiya, looking at the chess board and pieces that was on the table. Naruto raised an eyebrow before nodding his head. "Yes, I am." Naruto responded, stopping his little game of chess and looked at Jiraiya.
"I expect you to breeze right through the Academy in just a couple of months, get promoted to genin, get promoted to chunin a year or two after, then get Jounin a year or two after that. Like the sound of that plan?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, shaking his head.
"I'm planning on graduating the normal age. You know, 12 or 13 years old." Naruto told Jiraiya, resuming back to his chess game that he was currently playing. "What? Why? You could practically be another Uchiha Itachi and do all the stuff he's doing now! Wouldn't that be so cool?" Naruto shook his head at the sage.
"But I'm not him? I don't really want to be a Shinobi so early. I rather just play chess until graduation day. Become the best Shinobi I can be, and reach my goal. Get a pretty and strong girlfriend/wife. Then settle down with a kid or two. Seems simple enough." Naruto left out the part where he was going to kill a rogue Uchiha that supposedly 'died'.
"Naruto, you gotta aim higher than just that. Your talent would just be wasted if that were to happen." Jiraiya was playing with a white chess board piece. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.
"Just go. I want to sleep soon," said Naruto, standing up from the chair and slowly started to clean up the chess board and the many pieces that came along with it. "It's like barely 1 PM." Jiraiya dead-panned at him. Naruto glanced at him for a second.
"I'm going to wake up later today to train for the night. Now, go. You're wasting my precious time." Naruto finished cleaning up the table with the chess board and pieces. He maneuvered his eyes towards the bed and crashed down.
"Rude much? Alright then, suit yourself. I'll just get my. . . research done." Jiraiya walked out of the door and closed it shut as he went out of the door. Naruto heard that and sighed tiredly.
He soon fell asleep.
~~~
Naruto woke up groggily. He looked at the clock that was on the ceiling. 4 PM. That was a good time for Naruto. He could use the rest of the time to train for the day.
Naruto ruffled his own head to fix up his messy yellow and black hair. His eyes were much more droopy than usual due to him just waking up after 3 or so hours of sleeping.
Naruto sighed before getting his things ready.
I haven't trained for a week. That was fine for Naruto. He wasn't really in a rush to get strong. Naruto walked out of the apartment. He felt the wind brush against his skin and blow his hair.
He jumped off the railing and into the streets.
Naruto walked amongst the Konoha citizens. He had many nods and smiles aimed towards him as he walked through the streets of Konoha. He wondered why he was getting these looks.
Did they find out that he talks to the Hokage of Konoha? Probably.
Would these looks change if they were to find out if I was a jinchuriki? Most definitely. There was no doubt that these looks would turn into glares of disdain if they were to find this out about him.
After quite a while, Naruto had finally reached the training area that he had been using for a little bit. Hiruzen had told him that he could use this part of the village as a miniature Training Ground.
Of course, this was not only for him — it was for everyone's use and not just for his personal gain. Naruto entered the woods and looked for the spot that he was used to using.
But he didn't expect for something to catch his ears so quickly. He had heard someone throwing kunais near him. He got closer to the sound and shook his head out of amusement.
"Your throwing form is garbage, firecracker."
~~~