Summary: Naruto suffered an accident that caused memories of his past life to slowly resurface in his mind. As he grew, he integrates the personality, memories, and abilities of the One-Winged Angel - Sephiroth. Enemies beware! Sephiroth-like Naruto. Inventor-Naruto Strong Naruto. Intelligent-Naruto. Minimal Bashing if possible. Slight AU. MASS CROSSOVER WARNING!
A five-year old Uzumaki Naruto was currently sitting on his favorite perch on the Hokage Monunment while staring blankly at the village below with glazed eyes. If people saw him right now, they would think that the boy was brain-dead or there was something wrong with the normally hyperactive blonde. As it was, Naruto was oblivious to the world as he was immersed deep into his memories, meriting the blank blue eyes as if staring at nothing and everything without focus or thought.
Naruto knew that these memories started when he hit his head hard enough to black out. He was leading some Chuunins around the village and into a fenced forest after a successful prank. He didn't notice the pit in front of him so he fell, screaming all the way before being silenced when his head hit the hard packed soil.
After waking up in the hospital and getting a stern talking to from a very worried Sandaime Hokage regarding pranks and getting too close to the Forest of Death, Naruto spent most of his time reviewing the memories he didn't have before. It was like watching a movie – an action packed sci-fi fantasy movie.
Naruto was quite sure that these memories were not his own which was glaringly obvious after looking through all of them.
For starters, he was five years old, blonde, wearing an orange shirt and black shorts (the only clothes he had since the shops in the village would overcharge him for the most cheap clothes), and immature. The 'him' in the memories was tall – clearly an adult; long silver-white hair, wearing a black trench coat with metal pads on his shoulders, powerful, and carried a very long sword stained with blood. The man's eyes were green, glowing with power. The 'him' in his memories also sported a single black wing.
It took him a week to process all the memories in his head until his now-matured mind was able to come up with a theory that was the most probable among others he came up with.
He knew he was Uzumaki Naruto, the pariah of Konohagakure no Sato; but he couldn't deny the fact that he was also the reincarnation of Sephiroth, the One-Winged Angel of Midgar, The Destroyer.
Naruto frowned as he exited his meditation. If he was the reincarnation of Sephiroth then it was quite possible that the man's prowess also bled to him. He raised his hand, half pointing forward, wanting to see if this was true.
"Fire." He intoned as he channeled magic to his hand like Sephiroth did, expecting a large fireball to burst forth. Instead of the usual feeling of magic he felt in Sephiroth's memories, Naruto felt that there was something missing, something that was necessary for the spell to come to life. He frowned as he tried again, getting the same feeling, or the lack thereof.
"Interesting." Naruto murmured in a somewhat detached voice. After viewing all the memories of his past life, it was quite obvious that something changed in him. He was no longer the boy in a constant sugar-high. He was now calm, calculated, and somewhat aloof. His mind was no longer that of a curious child, but a mature adult. Naruto didn't mind losing his childhood since he never had any in the first place. "I know that I can do the spell but it lacked the energy I used as Sephiroth. It would seem that channeling the energy for the spell didn't necessary mean that the energy was there. Correction, it is there but lacking. Hm, I wonder…"
Naruto closed his eyes and looked deep within himself, going into the basic exercise that all SOLDIER were forced to do in order to cast spells. It was easy for him since he knew HOW to do it thanks to the memories he immersed himself in. He opened his senses as his mind probed his body for the core where magic dwelled. It took a while but he found it and was quite surprised at the difference.
Unlike his core that once contained untold amounts of Mako he was infused with during his time as a SOLDIER, the energy in his core was pure magical energy, not enhanced by Mako or anything that would prove negative to his body while enhancing his abilities tenfold. It was still as large as his core as Sephiroth but it was cleaner, purer without Mako mucking up the works or putting his body at risk. It made him giddy that his core was quite large despite being a child and couldn't wait at the prospect of how big it would grow when he reached his peak. If he was a powerhouse before, he was going to be a much bigger threat in the future. He couldn't wait.
That excitement, however, was blunted when Naruto discovered that his body didn't have a shred of Mako in it. This was relatively obvious since his eyes were blue. If he had Mako then it would have been green and glowing. However, he could work around that if need be but it would be hard considering that he had Mako in his veins all his life – his past life anyway.
Pulling a sliver of pure magical energy from his core, he opened his eyes and raised his hand again.
"Fire!" he chanted while pushing the magic out of his hand as he would when in possession of a Materia. This time, he was rewarded by a burst of flame that appeared as quickly as it disappeared. The size of the flame was similar to that of a small candle. It didn't deter him though since he knew that he could do the spell but improving its potency would require a lot of work.
"Blizzard." A block of ice appeared but it was no bigger than an ice cube. "Thunder." A small park of electricity appeared between his fingers that made his skin tingle.
The spells were puny but Naruto knew that he could work on it despite the lack of Mako in his body to improve his spell's potency. But despite this glaring setback, he was still happy that he had Sephiroth's abilities if nothing else. A thought occurred to Naruto, making him grin. He decided to try something that only Sephiroth was known to do – the ability to fly.
He stood up and channeled the energy to every single cell in his body and willed himself to fly. It was sluggish but he eventually covered the entirety of his body with the necessary energy. However, he was quite disappointed when all he got was floating a few inches off the ground before settling back down again. Sure, he had a large core but it was useless if it wasn't as potent enough to utilize his abilities.
"This isn't good." He murmured in total disappointment. "Even if I have Sephiroth's abilities, lacking the Materias of course, it would seem that I need to work on increasing my control over this…new energy since it's not amplified by Mako. I may not be able to fly but I can still do this."
With a grin on his face, Naruto walked towards the edge of the Yondaime's head and stepped off the edge to fall the unforgiving ground below without a care in the world. However, as he neared his destination and killing himself in the process, Naruto channeled as much of the pure energy as he could in his small body and willed himself to become light.
Thankfully, his foolhardy experiment worked since he could feel himself slowing down before landing softly without a sound. His landing didn't even stir up the dry ground, a testament to how he defied gravity.
"Well, I might not be able to fly yet but at least I can now go against gravity if I really want to." Naruto said with a grin as he walked towards his apartment with practiced gait, unlike the one he used to have before mentally incorporating everything that was his past life. "Oh well, at least I know how to train myself. Ku ku ku ku."
It went unnoticed that talking to himself out loud was another indication that he totally immersed himself in the personality of his predecessor.
Uzumaki Naruto and Sephiroth became one entity, not that he cared of course.
Naruto frowned. It had been a week since absorbing Sephiroth's personality into himself and tested all the abilities he knew his past life could do. He tested them and found that it was available to him. However, his body was too weak to use them effectively much to his ire. He didn't quit though and the many failures fueled his determination to get his old strength back.
During his experiments in a secluded area behind the Hokage Monument away from the prying eyes of shinobi and civilians alike; he discovered a few things concerning his abilities that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
One, he no longer had Mako in his system so his enhanced strength and speed were no longer available to him. Considering that he was still 5 years old, his body definitely couldn't handle the stress without breaking down or suffer irreparable damage. Thankfully, he could still regenerate or heal himself to a degree even without Mako.
Cure was definitely a handle spell to have around and it didn't really take that much magic to use.
Regarding this problem, the best way to attain physical strength and speed was to train extensively. This was easy since he was in a shinobi village so there should be some training manuals of sorts in the library he could use as a guide. If not, he could always come up with something himself if he really need to or spy on the many training grounds around Konoha to take notes.
He was quite tempted to mimic his training during his SOLDIER days but it was glaringly obvious that it would be difficult since Konoha couldn't compare to Midgar's technologically-advanced training facilities.
Two, without Mako, he could no longer bring out the output he used to have. Mako was like an amplifier for magic, making it easy for SOLDIER to cast spells with more potency using only the barest of minimum, allowing them to cast more spells with plenty of fuel to spare.
However, the lack of Mako stopped him from casting ALL the spells he knew. Even a simple Haste didn't work and he considered the spell his weakest out of all the Support Magics had had in his past life. He didn't want to try his hand at Summoning since he knew that he would fail spectacularly to add to his already bruised ego.
The only way to counter this problem was to improve his control over his energy and practice with it often to increase its potency. He surmised that if he practiced with it every day, casting all the spells he knew even if they were laughably puny, he would be able to become an average spell caster in five years, give or take a few months.
Another five years then he would be a force to be feared, his spells comparable to the elemental and non-elemental techniques shinobi were known to use.
Give him another five years then he could spam Ultima, Flare, and Meteor that would make S-rank rogue shinobi tremble in their proverbial boots, and that didn't include his arsenal of summons.
Another method to speed up the process was to slowly saturate his body with magic, making it similar to being imbued with Mako. It might not have granted him the physical improvements Mako could give but it would make it easy for him bring out spells on the fly without having to bring out his magic every time as his body's conductivity towards his own energy improves.
Three, he was quite happy that he was able to summon his nodachi-class sword, Masamune, from its resting place in a pocket dimension that only he knew how to open.
However, he couldn't lift the damn thing; much less wield it, since it was way taller than him.
If he wanted to become a swordsman like his past life then he needed to get his body up to par and fast. It took a while to send the sword back to its pocket dimension but he eventually succeeded after a few minutes of intense concentration. It was actually quite weird to send the sword back to its hidden home from the ground as his hand remained on the hilt while channeling the necessary magic and focus.
Lastly, he could not enhance his body using magic without Mako running through his veins. He tried to do so by lifting his bed but couldn't even make it budge. Sure, he could channel magic to fight gravity to an extent (slowing down his fall) but he couldn't do so to increase his physical strength and speed. If he wanted to be strong then he needed to do this the old fashioned way – muscle training – making him wince.
Naruto sighed as he fell on top of his bed, his mind already whirling with ideas on how to get his skills back. Thanks to the increased IQ the merger brought him; he knew that the only way to achieve that goal was to resort to become the SOLDIER's alternative in this world – a shinobi.
To do that, he needed to attend the Academy next year.
That thought made the blonde frown. He heard from his surrogate grandfather, the Sandaime Hokage, that the Konoha Academy includes a 6-year course on shinobi basics to prepare them for the field. He had no problem with that since the thought of training appealed to him. Both his memories as Sephiroth and Uzumaki Naruto wasn't opposed to hard work. It would be safe to say that the two personas had something in common and that was working their butts off to attain strength.
However, the idea of attending the Academy as a weak idiot didn't appeal to him. No, his mindset as Sephiroth wouldn't accept that. Uzumaki Naruto's pride and dream to become Hokage didn't like it at all.
After a few minutes of deliberation, he decided to resort to a bit of manipulation and cunning if he wanted to achieve his goal. Of course, being a strategist, he needed to plan this out to ensure that it works.
Failure was NOT an option.
Naruto gave himself a mental pat on the back for a job well done. He succeeded in controlling the discussion he had with the Sandaime regarding the postponement of his attendance in the Konoha Academy for two years.
He had to chuckle upon seeing the disbelieving looks on the Sandaime's face when he laid out his argument on the table. Naruto inwardly smiled to himself since his past persona as a hyperactive knucklehead must have made it difficult for people to believe his new attitude and mindset. He couldn't help but sigh that there might be rumors going around that he must have hit his head a bit too hard to do a complete 180 in both personality and intelligence.
This didn't concern him though since his newfound maturity didn't really care what the idiotic villagers think as long as those he cared about accepted the change..
Anyway, his arguments were sound and the Sandaime agreed to enroll him after two years, granted that he passed the test the aged leader would subject him to in order to prove his claims of training.
First, he pointed out that he realized the 'folly of his ways' and he was a bad student so he would be using the two years to catch up on basic education – reading, writing, history, and basic subjects. He was an orphan so he would be fending for himself to know everything there was to know before going to the Academy since his peers had parents to teach them.
Second, it was also a good idea to postpone his attendance in the Academy since he wanted the people to get used to the idea of the "new" Uzumaki Naruto.
The Sandaime couldn't help but agree with the last one since it would take a LOT of time before the people would realize that he was no longer the prankster he was known to be.
Lastly, to drive his point home, Naruto informed the Hokage that he wanted to do this to honor his dead parents. This was the deal breaker, so to speak, which the old man grudgingly gave in.
Right now, Naruto was on his way to the library to get started with his 'study'. In truth, thanks to the change in maturity, he was able to compile everything he learned during his short years in Konoha to come up with a list.
He had no problem reading because the language used in the Elemental Nation was similar to the ones used by the people of Wutai. Of course, Sephiroth was well-versed in their language so that bled to Naruto.
Writing was not a problem but he needed to practice with a brush since the pens were not available. Ink and brush was a primitive way to write but who was he to complain. After all, there was a saying back during his SOLDIER days…When in Wutai, do what the Wutai's do.
Basic education was not a problem since everything Sephiroth knows, Naruto now knows. Mathematics, strategy, chemistry, battle tactics – you name it, Naruto knows it.
Considering that he had the basics down pat, his goal was to learn everything he knew about shinobi and the arts they practiced. The best place to do that was the library to check out the books he needed to read.
He was delayed a bit when he encountered the librarian, an old lady who hated his guts, why, he didn't know. A simple 'Confuse' was enough to stop her from throwing him out and ushering him inside the library as if he was her favorite. Naruto sighed in relief for having enough power to pull off a confusion spell. Useless in battle but would definitely work for a civilian librarian with no mental training whatsoever.
Thanks to the 'helpful' librarian, Naruto was able to list down the books he needed to look into regarding the shinobi arts. Such was the case; Naruto made a list of books to study that includes History of the Elemental Nations, Chakra, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Kenjutsu, and Fuuinjutsu. Most of the information was basic since the advanced ones were located in the shinobi section of the library that no civilian was allowed to enter.
Naruto made a mental note to ask for a pass from his surrogate grandfather later if it was possible. But for now, he would stick to the basics and work his way from there.
(Month 1)
Naruto finished reading all the books on his list and couldn't help but compare everything he learned to Sephiroth's memories.
The various Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were similar to spells, except for Fuuinjutsu (Seals). It was categorized into elemental and non-elemental, combat to support, and so on.
Taijutsu was Martial Arts in his world while Kenjutsu was the Sword Art. He only got the basic info on them but it was enough to get him started.
He had no problems with Kenjutsu since his moves were stuck inside his head; he just needed his body to achieve the necessary strength to pull it off. Taijutsu, however, deserves some looking into since he was quite pants with hand-to-hand combat. He remembered Angeal pointing that out when he received one too many hits from Genesis during one of their mock spars.
His first month, however, was solely into the study of Chakra. Naruto learned that chakra was produced by the humans of this world. Shinobi were capable of using chakra after unlocking it at the age of six, the safest age to do so.
Using Sephiroth's memories as a base, Naruto was able to define Chakra as a combination of Mako and Magic. Chakra was capable of enhancing a person's strength and speed to inhuman levels depending on application – very similar to Mako.
Also, Chakra could be manipulated in a way to perform techniques similar to spells. This comparison made Naruto giddy. If he could channel chakra to augment his strength and speed then it was going to make his training more productive.
Using the instructions in the book, Naruto settled down on the grassy floor of his secret training ground and started to meditate. Before he could use this energy, he needed to locate his core to bring it out.
He couldn't wait.
(Month 3)
Naruto finally found his chakra and he couldn't believe the size of it. It was huge, way bigger than his magical core. Despite the fact that a large core was a boon to any shinobi, the book also mentioned that a large chakra pool made it difficult to control, resulting in piss-poor performance in channeling it or increase the difficulty in using it to perform shinobi techniques.
After experimenting with it a few times – trying to channel chakra to enhance his strength and only getting minor results – Naruto decided to take advantage of chakra control exercises to ensure that he could use it effectively since he didn't have Mako to fall back on.
Unfortunately for him, the shinobi section of the library was guarded by a Chuunin. He tried to cast 'Confuse' on the man but the lack of magical potency made it impossible to even penetrate the guard's mental training. With that avenue closed to him, he decided to 'spy' on the many training grounds in Konoha hoping to get lucky.
It took a week to finally find the right training ground with a team of Genins being taught by their sensei. He was in luck to find the sensei getting started to teach his charges how to control chakra through an exercise called Tree Climbing.
The concept was relatively simple, Tree Climbing requires channeling chakra to the soles of one's feet to stick to the tree and walking up, keeping the chakra at optimum levels and avoid fluctuations to stick to the surface properly. Less chakra would cause you to fall; more chakra would push your feet away from the trunk.
According to the Jounin, this chakra control exercise not only made it possible for the Genins to utilize the most basic of shinobi skills (sticking to solid surface), it would give them an above average control over their chakra since it was difficult to channel the energy to their feet due to the lack of chakra nodes there. This in turn would allow them to control how much chakra was needed for techniques, making them effective in and out of battle.
Naruto happily memorized the lesson before adjourning to his training ground to try it out for himself.
It took a better part of the month for him to finally get the hang of the exercise. With the staggering amount of chakra in his body, it was difficult for him to channel small amounts to stick to the tree. He blew up a lot of trunks during that month but he persevered. He thanked whatever gods was listening for his ability to counter gravity to an extent or his bruised would have bruises from the many times he 'fell', regeneration be damned.
Despite achieving the feat of reaching the top of the tree, Naruto decided to master it to the point that he could do it as reflex. This took another month to accomplish but he was satisfied when he was done.
To test himself, he spent the whole day stuck to a tree, walking up and down, side to side, and upside down while reading a book.
(Month 6)
Naruto walked out of the store with his purchase – a set of chakra weights for his physical training program. It took him quite a while to buy them since they were expensive, a set costing an average of 24,000 ryo. The better the chakra metal used, the more expensive it was.
As it stood, 24,000 ryo was the most expensive which he specifically chose since he would be using it for a VERY long time. He had to save all the orphan allowance he got from the Sandaime and cutting down on his ramen spree while supplementing his lack of noodles with vegetables and meat from the forest surrounding the village.
Unlike his past persona, he started eating healthy though he still treated himself twice a week for a bowl or two of ramen just to satisfy his cravings.
It took him two months to buy a set but it was worth the hunger he suffered for it.
Anyway, he used a Confuse spell on the attendant so he could buy the weights without question. Despite the lack of physical training equipment, he spent the whole two months after mastering Tree Walking improving his magic.
By saturating his body in magic every minute of the day, he was able to achieve average strength in spell casting. He couldn't hope to use the basic Elemental spells effectively but he could now utilize his Support Magic at full strength.
In most cases, he mostly used Confuse to get into the library or to buy items without getting overpriced; or Haste, Slow, and Stop when out hunting so he wouldn't have to exert much effort in bringing down his next meal. He also had fun using Warp to travel to and from his apartment and training ground to avoid detection.
Also, he started practicing Sephiroth's fighting style to commit them to muscle memory, mostly Kenjutsu with a stick instead of Masamune since he was still too weak to handle the nodachi without breaking his wrist. He supplemented this with the basic Academy Taijutsu thanks to the 'helpful' librarian pointing it out to him.
He didn't bother making it battle ready since that was impossible at this point but it had the side-effect of letting his body get used to the movements and committing them to muscle memory.
(Month 8)
Naruto was sweating like a pig after finishing his 10th lap of running around his training ground behind the Hokage Monument. He was already six years old and neck deep into his training program. He only had 16 months left before attending the Academy so he didn't want to waste any time doing anything useless or unproductive.
It was properly scheduled too in order to give his body time to adapt to his training.
Morning from Mondays to Saturdays was spent with physical training with his weights on – jogging, push-ups, pull-ups, sprinting; and practicing with his hand-to-hand and sword moves.
Afternoon was spent at home reading the various books he pilfered from a storehouse he found behind the library. It was pure luck that he followed the librarian put some old books away from the shinobi section in a shed behind the building. Naruto checked the books out and grinned from ear to ear when he saw moth-eaten scrolls and manuscripts of shinobi related subjects ranging from taijutsu training to jutsus.
Without a second thought, Naruto teleported into the shed and stored all the books into his pocket dimension so he could read them in the safety of his home, before warping back out with no one the wiser.
He laughed himself hoarse when he heard that there was a thief somewhere in the village stealing old books from the library. Of course, people kept an eye on him due to his record but they couldn't find any evidence. The books were in his pocket dimension so his apartment was devoid of the stolen manuscripts. His trip to the library was done in front of everyone so they knew he didn't take anything.
In other words, Naruto got away from this act scot-free. Besides, the books were going to be disposed anyway so he was just recycling them for his use.
(Month 12)
Naruto had been training for a year now and he couldn't help but be satisfied with the results. Sure, it was a tad slow compared to how fast Sephiroth breezed through Shinra's modified training program under Professor Hojo, but Naruto was happy nonetheless.
He was currently wearing 20 pounds of weight on each limb, totaling to 80 pounds on top of his body weight. He sighed in relief when he read that it was NOT a good idea to start weight training more than 50 pounds on each limb below 10 years old since that would hinder the trainee's growth. He didn't want to end up a shrimp, thank you very much.
Because of the weights, physical exercise, and going through taijutsu and kenjutsu katas; he was stronger than the average Academy student. He could lift Masamune but wielding it was a different story since the first time he did it left him eating dirt due to its weight and the force he exerted on the downward swing.
However, his strength doubled when using chakra, making it easier for him to swing the oversized nodachi but it was a handicap he didn't want to rely on since he didn't want to become too dependent on chakra's strength enhancement capabilities.
If he was going to wield the thing then he would be doing it on his own physical strength or die trying!
To counter this problem, Naruto carved a heavier wooden sword though this one was half the length of Masamune since he was too small to effectively wield a six-foot nodachi.
Thanks to the books he "acquired" from the library, Naruto took advantage of the many jutsus there to prepare himself for the Academy. He started with the basic chakra-based techniques, namely the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Technique), Henge no Jutsu(Transformation/Disguise Technique), and Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique). He didn't have any problem with the first two but he was stumped when it came to the last one.
No matter how much he tried, his clones always came out like a pile of goop. It was an improvement if they came out pale with the consistency of rubber.
According to the scroll, Bunshin no Jutsu requires miniscule amount of chakra, which was the reason why it was introduced as a basic technique to Academy students with small chakra reserves as an introduction to ninjutsu.
Considering the size of his chakra supply, Naruto theorized that he needed a better control exercise in order to properly use the illusion-based clone. Sure, he could create hundreds of them without denting his chakra pool but he needed to fine tune his technique to create a single clone without overloading the construct.
It took a week of sorting through the books he stored in his handy pocket dimension until he discovered the next step after Tree Climbing…Water Walking.
Since he didn't have any body of water anywhere near his training ground, he had to travel to one with a waterfall on the other side of the village. He considered the sprint to get there as a speed exercise if nothing else. If he was pressed for time then he would use Warp to get there and back.
Fortunately for him, there was a hidden cave behind the falls so he could practice in peace without being discovered. Considering his reputation, he didn't want the villagers to rat him out and put a stop to his plans.
It took a month but he got the Water Walking exercise down pat. It took longer than Tree Climbing because he had to experiment with the output of chakra and stabilizing it under the water so he could stay on the surface without sinking. He decided to master it the same way he did with Tree Climbing to get the most out of the exercise.
Despite his improved chakra control, he still couldn't make a single clone. Sure, he could now make a dozen of them without overloading the construct compared to his early hundreds but a single clone was still beyond his grasp.
After a month of laboring over the technique, Naruto decided to set it aside for now since he could take up the problem again while in the Academy. Who knows, one of his teachers might be able to help him out, if they didn't hate him that is.
(Month 14)
Naruto was standing on top of a pole in the middle of the Uchiha district as he looked at the carnage below. He was cloaked in an invisibility spell so no one could detect his presence as he listened in on the Hokage and the various shinobi littering the Uchiha Compound as they tried to determine what happened.
From what he discovered, Uchiha Itachi murdered every single member of his clan but spared his brother but not before scarring the boy using a powerful genjutsu that Naruto knew would forever changed the young Uchiha. If his theory was correct then Uchiha Sasuke would be turning into another Sephiroth if no one was there to help him cope with the massacre.
Shaking his head at the unnecessary loss of life, Naruto jumped down from his perch as he channeled a bit of magic to slow his descent, landing on the ground with nary a sound. With a sigh, he went back to his apartment to get some rest. He would be training again tomorrow and he needed all the sleep he could get.
(Month 18)
Naruto was currently in the Forest of Death running for his dear life. He decided to follow through Sephiroth's training program to include live opponents to practice his spells. He sprinted up the tree to a branch high above the tigers chasing him.
When he got to a safe height, he held out his hand towards his targets then whispered out a spell.
"Fire." A fireball the size of a man's head flew out of his hand in a burst of magic, speeding through the air at Chuunin-level speeds to hit one of the tigers, turning it to ash on the spot. He raised his other hand above his head and brought it down as if throwing something.
"Blizzard." A small iceberg appeared on top of the panicking tigers before turning five of them into pancakes as it dropped on them before freezing the area around the impact zone.
It was a month ago that Naruto finally stabilized his body to be a better conductor to his magical core. After months of practicing his spells, he was able to bring out his offensive arsenal with a bit of kick into it. If he was to measure its potency, it was at 30% compared to what Sephiroth could do.
Naruto knew that the more powerful non-elemental spells were still out of his reach but the basic elemental spells, like Fire, Water, Thunder, and Ice were a cinch for him to bring out with devastating results.
Sensing an attack coming from behind his perch, Naruto whispered a defensive spell without bothering to turn.
"Wall" A prismatic barrier appeared behind him as a tiger was about to shred his back with its claws. The defense spell held as the tiger comically hit it, flattening its face on the constructs surface, before slowly falling to the ground as gravity took hold.
Naruto snickered upon seeing the comical tiger before deciding to end the battle with a multi-target spell since he could feel his body reaching its limit.
"Thundara!" the blonde shouted as bolts of concentrated lightning fell down from the sky to strike the tigers on the forest floor, electrocuting them to death. Some who were hit with the more potent lightning bolts were burned to ash in a second.
Naruto gave out a tired grin as he panted, tired from the amount of magic he channeled through his body. He realized that despite his large core, his body couldn't handle the amount of magic flowing through it without sapping his strength. If he wanted to bring out the heavy duty spells then he definitely need a stronger body and that meant…
"Oh well, more training for me then." He sighed as he vanished out of the forest with a whispered 'Warp'
(Month 23)
Naruto stared at his reflection in the mirror. He didn't know why he didn't notice it before but there was a seal on his stomach. He didn't study Sealing as of yet but he DID memorize the commonly used ones, like Storage Seals and Explosion Tags.
After racking his brain for an hour, he saw a few strokes on the seal on his stomach that was similar to Storage Seals. If it was there then there was a HUGE possibility that the seal was for storing something. The question was – what was it holding?
He tried different tactics to determine the extent of the seal.
Channeling chakra directly to the seal caused it to materialize.
Putting a bit of magic there made him feel as if he was on fire. He didn't know why but he decided against DIRECTLY channeling his magic there. Sure, he could channel it on his skin but as long as he didn't visualize putting magic on the seal then he was safe.
With a sigh, he pulled down his shirt as the complex seal on his stomach disappeared upon stopping the flow of chakra to it. He knew that it was there for a reason but as long as it didn't hurt him in any way, he would ignore it.
For now.
Naruto let out a huge yawn upon waking up from the blaring of his alarm clock. Today was the day he would attend the Academy. Sure, he was late but he didn't care. He didn't mind that he would end up being the eldest in the class as long as he was in it.
He didn't want to get up today but he had to if he wanted to make a good impression towards his teachers in the Academy. He wasn't a suck up but he would be damned if he would stand out for being late. His actions for the past two years made him careful on who was looking at him. As much as possible, he would be staying the background learning everything he could without drawing attention.
Besides, a shinobi lives by the creed of deception so he was just keeping in practice when he graduates.
He was still a bit tired and sore from last night. He celebrated his last day of training by going into a royal rumble of sorts in one of the dangerous sectors in the Forest of Death, a place where ANBU feared to thread unless they were in a large group.
After 8 hours of intense battle involving lots of destructive spells being casts and some of the more vicious predators being cut down by his now-light Masamune, he warped himself home, took a short bath to get the blood off then immediately went to bed. He was happy with the outcome of his 2-year training program but he was too tired to care.
Last night's rumble with the animals in the forest practically drained him dry of chakra and magic.
Shivering slightly from the cold shower as he exited his bathroom, he toweled himself dry as ha faced the mirror. He smirked upon seeing his physique.
He was lean and muscled, not bad for an 8 year old. He was developing quite nicely on the chest and shoulder but he made sure that he didn't go beyond the suggested training so he was flexible and lithe. He shuddered as remembered Angeal before his madness. The man was like a body builder and he had no intentions of becoming like him.
He also allowed his hair to grow. He wasn't aspiring to have a hairstyle similar to Sephiroth but he definitely wanted the silken quality of the man's hair. It took a lot of doing but he was able to get rid of the spiky locks with some help of a pair of scissors, shampooing it every day, and combing it until it dries after a bath. It was still standing but it was no longer as prevalent as before. He deduced that if he let his hair grow some more then it be more manageable than his previous hairstyle.
Naruto opened his wardrobe to check out the clothes he had in his collection, deciding what to wear for the Academy. His savings grew since he refrained from spending on useless things and his food was mostly supplemented by the animals roaming the forest outside the village walls. Since he didn't need any training equipment as the Academy would be providing them, he decided to spend it on clothes. A judicious application of the Confuse spell ensured that he wasn't bothered during his many shopping trips. The shopkeeper even thanked him after his purchase.
Service was indeed excellent in Konoha.
After a few minutes of checking out the selections, he decided to mimic his predecessor but with a bit of a twist. He opted for a pair of loose black pants, gray muscled shirt, and topped it off with a black jacket. He wore a plain belt on his waist and finished the outfit with a pair of combat boots he purchased from a merchant from Iron Country during a festival in the village. He pulled out a weapons holster and strapped it on right thigh. He observed himself in the mirror and couldn't help but smirk. He definitely looked the part.
To complete the outfit, he reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a standard set of 10 kunais and shurikens before placing them on his holster. He didn't really need it but it was better safe than sorry.
(Academy First Year – 3 months later)
Naruto felt like banging his head on the table. The reason for such an urge was how the lessons were being taught. Instead of teaching them the skills to survive outside the village and during missions, the teachers were more interested in cramming their heads with history than practical skills.
Sure, they had weapons throwing and spars but it wasn't enough. If they wanted to have the best Genin in the business with the best chance of surviving in missions then they needed to do away with their current teaching method and shape up.
However, Naruto knew that if he did voice out his concerns, no would listen. After all, why would they listen to an 8 year old boy who entered the Academy late?
Naruto restrained himself from raining down lightning on the droning Umino Iruka before sighing. He needed to come up with a new schedule to train himself, again! If this was how the Academy was run then he was better off doing things his way.
(Academy Third Year)
A 10-year old Naruto finished of the last of his sandwich as he relaxed in one of the hidden branches on the tree in the middle of the Academy training grounds. His three years in the Academy was boring. The teachers were more interested in studying than honing the aspiring Genins' physical abilities. Naruto came to a cold realization that quite a lot of his classmates wouldn't last a year after graduation if they didn't do after-school training like he did.
The minority that would survive belonged to the clan heirs. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at how fortunate he was to time his entrance to the Academy. He definitely liked the fact that his future comrades would be well-trained and ready for the real world.
Unfortunately, there were a few among the clan heirs that needed to shape up before ending up dead. He noted three of them and they were Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuuga Hinata.
Naruto was correct that Uchiha Sasuke would be similar to Sephiroth after the massacre of his clan. The boy was always brooding and would treat his soon-to-be-comrades like dirt. He also didn't like the fact that the villagers treated the Uchiha survivor like a prince, showering him with praise and worship that was only reserve for this world's gods. He even saw the boy demanding those older than him to teach him their skills when he find something interesting or out of his reach – all for the sake of killing his brother.
How a boy could hope to defeat a man who slaughtered everyone in his clan except for his brother? He would never know.
All in all, he didn't like the pompous Uchiha one bit and Naruto was thankful that he decided to be lackluster in his position in the Academy to avoid letting the boy set his sights on him.
Yamanaka Ino was definitely a fan girl, an Uchiha fan girl to be precise. The girl was a disgrace to her family's legacy. If she doesn't shape up and train them she was going to be in for a short career.
Last, but not the least, was Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto was quite confused of the girl. He knew that Hinata was strong and could be stronger still. She reminds him a lot of Cloud's teammate, Tifa Lockheart. However, the girl was holding herself back with her timid and shy self. She also has confidence issues that needed to be addressed.
Naruto, however, decided against helping the girl. It wasn't his concern so who was he to butt in on other people's business.
(Academy Fifth Year)
"I only asked for one clone, Naruto, not twelve." said Iruka, shaking his head in exasperation as he looked at the twelve clones his student brought out.
"As I told you before, Iruka-sensei, no matter how much I try to minimize my chakra consumption for the technique, twelve illusionary clones is the best I could come up with. You would be having problems too if you have as much chakra as I do." Naruto grumbled.
Iruka sighed. He couldn't help but agree with the boy. He was a sensor so he definitely knew how potent and large Naruto's chakra was. In fact, Naruto's chakra rivaled a Kage, which was quite amazing.
"Fine. You either need to undergo more advanced chakra control exercises or you need to learn other clone techniques." Iruka mused as made a few notes on his clipboard.
"You mean there are other clone techniques?" asked Naruto in surprise though he shouldn't be since if there was an illusionary clone then there was bound to be other kinds as well. The books he acquired hinted it but nothing specific.
"Of course. Bunshin no Jutsu is considered as the basic of the basics." Iruka started in his 'boring voice' as the students dubbed it. "Other shinobi villages have their own unique clones. For example, Kiri is well known for their Mizu Bunshin (Water Clones), Iwa for their Iwa Bunshin (Rock Clone), and Konoha for Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones), though the latter is classed as a kinjutsu because of the high chakra requirements."
"Kinjutsu?" Naruto asked curiously. This was the first time he heard of the term.
"Forbidden techniques," Iruka answered absentmindedly. "Techniques that are deadly to use or requires an extreme amount of chakra a normal shinobi doesn't have. Quite a lot of shinobi died in using kinjutsus without knowing what it entails. Most of them suffered extreme chakra exhaustion and didn't survive from it."
"A clone technique that requires more chakra sounds like the solution to my problem, right Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said slyly making Iruka give him a condescending smile.
"Sorry, Naruto. I can't teach you the Kage Bunshin since only the Hokage can give you permission to learn that. The other two I mentioned is a no go too since I don't know the hand seals or their schematics. Some Jounins might know but I definitely don't." Iruka admitted.
"Meh, not a problem, Iruka-sensei. I'll figure something out." said Naruto as he made his way back to his seat with a smile on his face, already deciding to visit the Hokage later for the possibility of learning another clone technique in order to pass the Academy.
"Let me get this straight. You want me to teach you the Kage Bunshin since you won't be able to pass the Academy's graduation exam without a clone technique, correct?" the Sandaime clarified while studying the smirking face of his surrogate grandson.
"Correct, old man. As I told Iruka-sensei earlier, I can't go below twelve illusionary clones with the chakra control I mastered." Naruto said with a nod.
"Hm, I could teach you Tree Climbing and Water Walking to help you out." the aged leader mused causing Naruto to give out an embarrassed coughed. He looked at the boy pointedly. "You already know them, didn't you?" he accused.
"Hey, it's not my fault that I happen to pass by a training ground where a Jounin is teaching Tree Climbing or Water Walking to his students." Naruto said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. He lying of course since he purposely spied on said Jounin "If they wanted to keep it a secret then they better pick a hidden training ground or something."
"Uh huh." said the Hokage, not believing the boy one bit.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Naruto deadpanned before assuming a hurt expression. "Oh woe is me. My own surrogate grandfather doesn't believe me. Oh woe is me."
"Har har. You're not very convincing." Sarutobi gave the boy a mock glare. "Tell me how far you've gotten with the two exercises?"
"Fine. Ruin my fun, why don't you?" Naruto said with a huff. "To answer your question, I can walk up and down a tree for three hours while reading a book. I can also stay on top of the water for three hours while doing the basic Academy Taijutsu katas. I think I got the two exercised pegged to perfection if I do say so myself."
Sarutobi gaped at the boy before composing himself. "I guess you pretty much mastered them if you can do it that way." He sighed. "Fine, you win. However, if I'm going to teach you the Kage Bunshin then you need to promise me two things."
"They are?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"One, you're not allowed to teach it to anyone without my express permission."
"Agreed." Naruto nodded. "The second?"
"You will be helping me with my paperwork until you graduate the Academy every afternoon when school lets out."
"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "How am I supposed to train if my time is occupied helping you in your paperwork? I barely have enough as it is."
"Well, the Kage Bunshin is not your ordinary clone. When it dispels, everything it learns and experiences are transmitted to the caster. You make a clone or two to train while you help me out." Sarutobi said smugly, enjoying the dumbfounded look on the blonde's face.
"Wait a minute. If Kage Bunshin can do that then why don't youmake some clones and deal with your paperwork."
The silence in the room was palpable.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Sarutobi exclaimed in surprise and annoyance.
Naruto didn't say anything but continuously banged his head on the table.
Naruto was on his way home when he stumbled upon training ground 9. A girl with twin buns on her head was going through kenjutsu katas, sweat glistening on her arms and face as she gracefully shifted between stances. He didn't know how long he stood there, mesmerized at the way she handled her weapon – a basic katana if he was correct.
He decided against disturbing her but the call of engaging in a sword fight was definitely winning. Sure, he had his clones to fight with every day after learning Kage Bunshin but it couldn't hope to compare to the satisfaction of crossing blades with a live opponent. His urge for a sword fight won in the end. He changed direction towards the girl before stopping at an acceptable distance.
"Hello there." Naruto called out to the girl.
Said girl paused as she shifted her head to look at him. "Yes?"
"I couldn't help but notice the fluidity and grace of your swordsmanship and I was wondering if you don't mind crossing swords...for practice of course." Naruto was laying it on thick since flattery worked in this kind of situation.
The girl raised a dainty eyebrow, which Naruto found quite cute, before a smirk crossed her face.
"I would if you have your own blade with you."
"Ah, let me remedy that then." said Naruto as he raised his hand and grasped the handle of a materialized Masamune. He could help return the smirk when the girl gaped at his sword.
"Where in Kami's name did that come from?"
Naruto paused before answering. "I have a storage seal on my hand where I hid all my equipments." He lied but the girl wasn't buying it if her doubtful look as anything to go by.
"I don't think so, buster. As far as I know, smoke is always associated with removing items from a seal." the girl pointed out as she moved closer and examined the blade with an expert eye. "This is a perfectly crafted nodachi. A bit long for my taste but whatever floats your boat. Are you a shinobi?"
"Not yet, I'm in my last year at the Academy. If I pass the exam in two months then I'll be a Genin. And you?"
"Genin for almost a year now." the girl said, her eyes not leaving the blade before shifting her gaze towards the owner of said blade. "What your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto at your service." Naruto said with a nod of his head in greeting. "May I get your name, miss..."
The girl chuckled. "No miss here. Call me Tenten." she said with a grin. "Now that you have your weapon, why don't you show me what you got, Naruto."
"Indeed." He said with a smile before jumping back gracefully, his blade to the side in a ready stance. He made a 'come hither' with his free hand. "Shall we get started then?"
Tenten grinned as she dashed forward with a horizontal swipe but stopped when Naruto deftly countered it by raising his. Both blades made a loud clang that reverberated across the training ground.
"How long have you trained?" asked Tenten while trying to overpower her opponent but couldn't. Heck, the boy was holding onto his blade with one hand and he was holding his ground. "Quite strong." She murmured to herself but Naruto definitely heard it.
"I've been training with Masamune for two years now." Naruto answered, not finding the need to tell her that his past life was a swordsmaster.
"You gave your sword a name?" Tenten asked with a bit of disbelief. Naruto face took a serious expression, unnerving his opponent.
"If there's one thing I learned in handling a blade, giving it a name makes it more special to you, thus allowing you to do more with it than treating it like a mere tool." he explained coolly as he channelled a bit more strength to his arm and completed his swing, pushing Tenten back with a startled yelp. "Now that we have our warm-up, let's go all out, shall we?."
Naruto rushed forward, Masamune held in a thrust that threatened to impale his opponent but Tenten parried it to the side with expert ease while managing to change her grip on her blade for an overhand slash. Naruto saw it coming from a mile away, brought the sword back and parried the incoming blow that would have cleaved his skull. He grinned as the sound of steel over steel sang to his ears. He raised his free hand to block a kick from a grinning girl who used her position to get in a blow or two.
"Feisty. I thought this was a kenjutsu match?" Naruto asked mildly before pushing Tenten's blade back and returned it with a horizontal swipe which the girl evaded by jumping back out of range, increasing the distance between them.
"You didn't set parameters for the fight." she answered immediately, going into a defensive stance as she sensed her opponent was going to get serious. She was right too.
"You're right but I don't mind." said Naruto as the sword fight continued.
"Where in the world did you learn to wield a sword like that?" said a very tired and bruised Tenten. She couldn't help admire the blonde for his unorthodox kenjutsu style. It was unpredictable, swift, and accurate. She couldn't count the number of times she 'died' during their spar as the blonde seemed to switch to the blunt side of his 6-foot nodachi. This didn't mean that the blonde was left unscathed. His jacket was literally gone since no amount of repair would make it usable. His pants were sporting quite a lot of slices and with no belt in sight thanks to her efforts. All in all, it was a very invigorating spar. It was quite obvious that Naruto enjoyed it too with the grin he was sporting.
"I came up with it on my own." Naruto answered, telling the truth somewhat since he was the one who came up with it. He didn't bother to give it a name since it wasn't necessary.
Tenten stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "I can safely say that you're not lying. I can plainly say that your style is unique and I studied quite a lot of kenjutsu styles being a weapon mistress so I know you're style is practically a new one. Your moves were wide, leaving you open for attacks, but you incorporate speed and unpredictability to your movements that you can turn your weakness into strength, drawing your enemies in for the kill. It is definitely powerful."
"Thank you. Coming from a weapons mistress such as yourself, I'll take that as the best compliment there is. You're right in your assessment; my style involves wide movements, speedy and accurate attacks, and a lot of feints. Took quite a while to get it working and to be honest with you, this is my first time to test it in actual battle."
"You're pulling my leg!" exclaimed Tenten in disbelief.
"I kid you not, Tenten." admitted Naruto. "That is the reason why I wanted to spar with you since I want to see how my style would fare to a fellow swordsman. I hope you don't mind if we do this often since I can see both of us improving in our respective styles if we put it to practice often enough."
"I'll definitely agree to that but I need to make sure I have the right weapon for it." said Tenten as she brought up her blade to reveal quite a few nicks on the edge. "I don't know what Masamune is made of but I can safely say that it's practically the hardest and most resilient metal this side of the Elemental Nations. I thought it was made of chakra metal when you fired off a chakra attack that almost sliced me in half."
"I'm sorry if I destroyed your katana, Tenten. I would be more than happy to pay for the repair job. And if that is not possible, I can buy you a better one."
Tenten shook her head before giving the blonde a grateful smile. "No need. This is a test blade. My main weapon is currently being serviced by my dad. I earned a B-rank pay last week and I earned enough money to upgrade my weapon to make it better."
"Your dad is a blacksmith?" Naruto asked with some surprise.
"Weaponsmith actually. My dad is Higurashi Kaito. We own the Higurashi Weapons Shop. I am proud to say that we are the best in the business." Tenten said proudly. "So, if you need any weapons, come by the shop. I'll give you a discount."
"That would be most appreciated, Tenten." Naruto said gratefully before noticing the sun on the horizon. "It's getting a bit late so I better head home. I need to freshen up for my daily personal training before resting up for the Academy tomorrow."
"You train outside the Academy?" Tenten said, amazed at the dedication of an student.
"Of course." Naruto replied dryly. "If I want to survive outside the village, I need to train my butt off considering the Academy seemed to coddle the students instead of preparing them."
"Noticed that I see." Tenten said dryly. "That is one of the reasons why our sensei held off our participation in this year's Chuunin Exams since he found our skills….unyouthful."
"That…a unique way of putting it." said an amused Naruto. "At least your sensei trains you to become proficient, if not, powerful shinobi. I daresay that next year's Chuunin Exam would be a breeze for you."
"You can say that." Tenten agreed. "Anyway, shall we do this again…let's say…next week?"
"You can count on it, Tenten." said Naruto as he stood up with Tenten doing the same. "Thanks for the spar and looking forward to the next one."
"Same here, Naruto...-kun…same here." she whispered wistfully as he eyed the blonde back moving away from her.
The concept of 'like', or its more serious counterpart, 'love', has always been an alien concept for Naruto. Sephiroth's memories didn't help him with his…attraction towards Tenten since the platinum-haired warrior never felt these two emotions in his entire life.
Naruto enjoyed his weekly spar with her and he could see the two of them improving as both strove hard to outdo each other. With each meeting and with each clashing of blades, Naruto was slowly starting to look at the weapon mistress to something more than a friend.
Naruto had a few 'precious people' in the village, namely the Ichiraku Family, the Sandaime Hokage, the ANBU Inu and Neko, and just recently, Tenten and his dad, Kaito. The latter was introduced to him by his daughter after their third spar when Naruto mentioned that his kunais were starting to look a little blunt.
Kaito was a no-nonsense man and was quite skilled with metal. He greeted Naruto courteously and catered to his needs, not like the other shops in the village. In fact, Naruto felt quite at home with the Higurashi Family as he visited the shop after every spar.
Naruto also saw Tenten as one of his precious people now and would sometimes find himself staring at her well-built form more times than usual. He even mustered the nerve to ask her out to dinner once which she accepted graciously. She practically wore an amused expression the whole night when he sheepishly brought her to Ichiraku's for a ramen dinner, telling her that he didn't know any good restaurants in the village; though he didn't tell her that it wasn't because he didn't have the money to try them out but the fact that they didn't want to render him service. He didn't mind since he knew how to cook and cook well. The forest around Konoha was well-stocked after all.
The blonde swordsman also met Tenten's sensei and team. He was almost traumatized after experiencing the Hug of Doom courtesy of Maito Gai and Rock Lee when they greeted him enthusiastically, hugging him in their spandex-wearing glory. Thankfully, Tenten was able to bail him out or he would have cut them to ribbons.
Despite the close call with insanity, Naruto liked Lee and Gai since both were geniuses of hard work and were quite sociable if they didn't start with their Rants of Youth. He didn't like Neji though. He refrained himself from slicing the Hyuuga Prodigy to ribbons since he knew that Tenten needed a stable team for the coming Chuunin Exam.
Naruto's personal training also progressed faster thanks to his newly-learned clone technique. After learning that he could bring out a hundred or so of them in one go, he maximized his training regime to the point of being called extreme. He took advantage of their memory transfer ability to indulge himself in chakra control, reading the books he acquired from the library, honing his taijutsu, and improving his master over his spells.
The blonde reached such potency in his magic that he was able to summon Ifrit on his first try though it left him quite winded afterwards. He knew that the more powerful summons was still far from his reach but he wasn't in a hurry. At least he could now do the second-tier elemental spells with ease while working his way to the final and more powerful third-tier spells. He also mastered Freeze and gleefully used it on the many predators in the Forest of Death.
Thanks to his Kage Bunshins freeing a lot of his free time as well as delegating the non-physical aspect of training to, Naruto found a hobby in inventing. He experimented in combining chakra, magic, and the Sealing Arts; experiencing various success and failures, spurning him to new heights.
His first successful experiment was a Hybrid storage seal that could store an unlimited amount of items without breaking down. He practically gave one to Tenten since the one she was using was limited. The kiss on the cheek as thanks was welcome after giving it to her and demonstrating its use. He made a special point of experimenting more useful items for her just to experience another kiss.
Kaito also pounced on the idea and contracted Naruto to issue him a few of these hybrid storage seals for sale. The blonde accepted the idea since he needed money to fund his experiments – sealing supplies were quite expensive – but on the condition to only sell them to Konoha shinobi of Jounin and above since he didn't want it to be used against the village.
It was safe to say that Naruto netted quite a lot of money and orders for his Hybrid Storage Seals. Thankfully, Kaito was tightlipped as to who was supplying the seals so Naruto wouldn't be placed in the limelight. Tenten also promised that she wouldn't say anything about it to Naruto's relief and happiness.
His second experiment was the creation of a transport vehicle of sorts since he didn't want to use warp all the time and the spell was limited to him alone, he couldn't take any passengers with him even if he tried. He already had a small model successfully flying around his apartment but making a life-size one for it to be useful was still in the experimental stage. Sure, he was successful in combining chakra and seals to allow the 'machine' to absorb ambient energy and using it as a floatation method but making one to power a larger machine was still out of his reach. He didn't quit though.
He was also successful in creating what he called a 'Spell Tag' by combining magic, chakra, and seals; he was able to create a storage device that could store magical energy in the form of a spell. Using an application of chakra, the user could release the spell from the tag and fire it at an enemy. He was currently successful in creating first-tier elemental Spell Tags but he kept it to himself since he didn't want the villagers getting their hands on it. He might be able to sell them off in the future but that would be later when the villagers no longer hated him.
He did, however, gave a set to Tenten to be used in case of emergencies. He got a kiss on the cheek again much to his happiness.
Speaking of which, Naruto also found out why the villagers hated him. It was by accident that he discovered the purpose of the seal on his stomach.
After overhearing a few shinobi casually talking about his past pranking exploits, they mentioned in a hushed whisper that his vaunted stamina may possibly stem from the Kyuubi he contained in his gut. That revelation spurred Naruto to dig into the history books and finally made the connection of his birthday and the defeat of Kyuubi.
The Yondaime Hokage didn't kill the Kyuubi. He sealed the most powerful bijuu inside a child.
To Naruto's mind, this was similar to how Sephiroth was injected with Jenova's cells by Professor Hojo of Shinra, altering his personality to become The Destroyer he was known to be. Fortunately for him, the Yondaime was a master of seals that he was able to come up with a way to safely seal a powerful chakra demon into him without the beast taking over or altering his mind.
If he was honest to himself, Naruto didn't hate the Yondaime since he would have done the same thing the man did if he was faced with the decision. To him, the Yondaime was and always will be a hero in his eyes.
Naruto yawned as he watched the taijutsu portion of the graduation exam. He was quite bored of watching the lackluster fights of some of the aspiring Genins taking down their opponents while waiting for his turn to be called.
The graduation exam was composed of four tests, graded accordingly to determine their rank upon graduation, the highest awarded the Rookie of the Year and the Kunoichi of the Year.
The first test was a written test that Naruto had no problems with. He was quite amused at how Mizuki placed a subtle genjutsu on his test to make him fail. A slight burst of magic was enough to counter the technique and reveal the real test behind the illusion. He didn't have trouble with the exam since it was quite easy. He could even answer the ones Mizuki gave him i due to his studies in the shinobi arts and his experience as Sephiroth.
The second portion of the exam was a weapon proficiency test, more specifically, an accuracy test involving kunais and shurikens. The test involved hitting the targets on the stationary dummies around the Academy Training ground. He almost laughed himself silly when Mizuki's face turned to a color of puce when Naruto accurately hit all the targets right on the center with the weighted kunai and shurikens he was given. Naruto knew that the man hated him and tried to sabotage his exams, hoping he would fail. He would have none of that though but had no plans of retaliating since he wouldn't stoop to the man's level doing so.
They were currently in the third test, a taijutsu test. They would spar against their senseis. They weren't required to defeat their 'opponent' but more along the line of surviving for five minutes. Extra points were given if they were able to land a critical hit. Iruka and Mizuki administered the tests. Naruto watched as his classmates took turns trying to survive the instructor's attacks with some of them doing it easily, and in Shikamaru's case, lazily; while the others failed spectacularly.
The clan heirs had an edge due to their family training them so all of them passed with flying colors, even Sasuke.
Naruto raised an eyebrow when Sasuke was able to get a good hit on Mizuki's stomach that would have downed a lesser man. It was quite obvious that the white-haired Chuunin threw the match since the opening was quite obvious. The blonde didn't mind though since his main goal was to pass, not the rank.
He knew that ability and skill mattered in the field, not the rank.
He scoffed when instead of his turn, Mizuki called Yamanaka Ino into the field and paired her off with Iruka. It would seem that Mizuki wanted a hand in making the 'demon brat' fail. An evil smile made its way to Naruto's face. Mizuki would definitely rue the day he messed with Uzumaki Naruto. He would make sure of that.
When Ino reached the five minute mark, Iruka called the match to a halt and making notes on his ever-present clipboard before calling out the last match of the day.
"Uzumaki Naruto, please come up and take your test."
"Hai, Iruka-sensei." the blonde said calmly as he strolled towards the ring. He saw Mizuki grinning evilly at him.
"Alright. Your goal is to survive for five minutes. If you land a hit on your opponent then you will be given extra points depending on where you hit. Understood?" Iruka explained.
Naruto nodded. "Clear, Iruka-sensei."
"Good. Now…start!" Iruka called out and was shocked when Mizuki shot forward at top speed towards a calmly standing Naruto. He was about to berate his co-instructor but held his tongue at what happened next.
Naruto calmly watched Mizuki dash towards him at top speed. To his peers, they would have seen the man disappear but to his trained eyes and honed instincts, Mizuki was moving in slow motion. He grabbed the fist that was about to liquefy his innards, positioned himself under Mizuki's guard and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming the man on the hard ground on his back. Wanting to get the exam over the done with, Naruto positioned himself beside the downed man and landed a chakra-enhanced elbow on the man's stomach causing him to scream before blacking out.
Nodding at a job well done, Naruto brushed off the dirt on his pants before walking out of the ring while ignoring the hushed whispers of an Academy student taking down a seasoned Chuunin in two moves.
"Uh…winner by knockout, Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka managed to get out before hastily scribbling on his clipboard.
Naruto grinned like a loon as he made his way to his favorite tree to wait for the next exam, not noticing the speculative and questioning looks being aimed at him by an Aburame and Nara clan heir.