" Oi, Yellow Habanero! You tricked me!"
Kiba shouted at me with an aggrieved look. A week has gone by since I started my new class.
" Tanaka-Sensei gave a month of detention!"
He glared at me as he slammed his hand on my desk, and I calmly asked back.
" Did you give him the right kind of pervy magazines?"
Kiba blinked in confusion and asked back.
" There are different kinds of pervy magazines?"
I nodded, then explained, and read lie.
" Tanaka-Sensei has specific tastes, and I am not allowed to tell anyone what, or he will get on my case."
" Come on, just a hint!"
And the dog lover bought my lie hook, line, and sinker. He is more gullible than I thought. I kept silent as I was laughing on the inside, and Kiba gave up on trying to get an answer out of me. I then heard.
" Hey, why are you doing something so troublesome?"
It was Shikamaru, and I answered with a slight smile.
" I'm just wondering how long I can keep this joke running."
" How troublesome."
The lazy genius sighed as he went to sit by his best friend Choji, then immediately tried to nap. I chuckled at his antics and dug out a scroll I was studying. It was on the meaning and effects of different hand signs for jutsu. The Ram Seal was the most neutral and general hand sign meant for building up Chakra and focusing it. Even as class started, I concentrated on my independent studies as I was ahead of most of the lesson plans.
Although I do keep myself in the middle of the pack with written tests to avoid drawing too much attention in that regard, I finished my current scroll. I dug out a book on physics and aerodynamics to figure out an idea I had in mind, but it won't see fruition for years, at least. Time flew by until lunch. I went to the roof again and saw Sarada and Sasuke for the first time in a while.
The twins had the same idea I did, and I did not bother them as I did not know what to say to them. Lunch was a quiet affair as the twins and I kept to ourselves. I ignored the awkward atmosphere as I ate, but I did glance at the last two Uchihas loyal to Konoha, at least loyal for now. If Danzo and the Third Hokage ostracized the Uchiha and manipulated Itachi like in the Canon, the two would probably burn the village to the ground.
As it stands, I had no real reason to stop them as I had no loyalty or attachment to the village, at least currently. If that changes in the future, unlike the original Naruto, I will consider killing them if I feel I can't convince them to let go of their overreacting revenge. But those are problems for the future, as I had no idea if my canon knowledge would hold up or even be relevant. I suppressed the urge to sigh as it wouldn't get me anywhere.
My priority is to become as strong as possible for the possible Ōtsutsuki Clan invasion or Kaguya's resurrection. This is my life now, and I refuse to let it end without a fight. I felt my resolve reaffirmed as I had a goal to work towards, but a wry smile graced my lips as I reflected on the differences in my current and previous lives. In my last life, I just went with the flow, work, sleep, eat, shit, and indulge in my hobbies.
Lunch was probably almost over, so I got up and headed back to class. After getting back to my seat, I went back to self-study to kill time until the Chunin Instructor returned. Tanaka-Sensei then announced.
" For the past few months, we have been focusing on Chakra Control exercises, and I believe everyone is at an acceptable to allow for you to start learning the three academy Jutsu."
The class cheered, and heck, even I was excited. The Chunin Instructor continued by explaining the basis of the three Jutsu.
"The Transformation Jutsu, the Clone Jutsu, and lastly, Substitution Jutsu these three introduce some basic applications of Chakra. The Transformation Jutsu teaches how to apply Chakra to one's self, the Clone Jutsu teaches how to manifest your Chakra outside your body, and the Substitution Jutsu teaches you how to strategically apply Chakra on objects and work in tandem with your Jutsu."
The class started to murmur among themselves, and Tanaka-Sensei coughed loudly to get everyone's attention as he continued.
" While you will learn other Jutsu outside of these three, these three are the most important and what will separate you from graduating and becoming Genin in the future. With this in mind, the first Jutsu you will learn is the Transformation Jutsu since it is the easiest to learn and master. The hand signs are Dog, Boar, and Ram; in that order, first practice that sequence of hand signs for today because a single wrong hand sign could result in the Jutsu failing or even backfiring."
Everyone, including even me, was quietly practicing the hand signs to the Jutsu, although Shikamaru was less enthusiastic about it and practiced lazily while yawning. The rest of the class period was focused on getting familiar with the necessary hand signs, which quickly got dull, but I wasn't complaining as I was finally getting my hands on a Jutsu that would make my life so much easier.
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I returned to my apartment and locked the door, then head the water closet to look in the mirror as I started on practical applications of the Transformation Jutsu. I went through the hand signs and focused my Chakra with a clear image of what I wanted to transform into; my Chakra surged, and I was met with a puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, I saw my new look; nothing complicated, just getting rid of my whisker-like birthmarks on my cheeks and turning my hair and eye color brown. Although there were still some imperfections, like bits of my hair were still blonde and only one of my eyes was brown, but my birthmarks were gone at least, well, half of them anyway.
Regardless, I was still happy about pulling off some changes. Now, I only need to practice, practice, and practice even more until I master the Transformation Jutsu. Hours of practice flew by, and as I yawned, I checked the time to see it was past midnight. I did manage to get human transformation down for the most part, so I called it a night. I had only just started to tap into the Transformation Jutsu, and one of my goals was to transform into a giant bird to experience flight and have the option of leaving this wretched village early.
But one thing at a time. I'm not ready to be a Rogue Ninja on the run just yet.
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I yawned as I waited for it to start because of my lack of sleep last night from practicing the Transformation Jutsu. I saw some of the more diligent students practice the hand signs as they waited. I then heard someone call out to me.
" Uzumaki-San."
I looked up to see Shino, and I greeted him.
" Morning, Aburame-san."
He gave me a brief nod, then sat down, and as everyone started to pour in, Kiba came and walked directly toward me. He looked around with a shifty look, then took something he had hidden under his shirt and whispered to me.
" Is this what Tanaka-Sensei likes?"
It was a magazine, an erotic one at that. I could not help but wonder how he managed to get one. I took it and flipped through the pages under my desk, and it was... enlightening. It was full of softcore material of women with generous assets, and I lied to Kiba to see just how far he was willing to go.
" You to go for some of the more hardcore stuff, but you're on the right track."
I bit the inside of my cheek to help keep a straight face as I messed with the dog lover.
" Really?"
He asked, looking disappointed, and I nodded in reply. I am enjoying this joke a bit too much, but oh well, if Kiba gets angry with me about lying to him, I don't care. The dog lover left to sit at his usual seat, and Shikamaru came up to me and sighed.
"You're troublesome, you know that."
" I can neither confirm nor deny that."
I smiled as I shrugged, and he shook his head before going over to sit with Choji. I noticed Hinata waiting patiently for class to start, and I decided to kill time by talking to her and getting a read on her feelings toward me or, rather, the original Naruto. I got up from my seat and walked over to greet her.
" Hello, your Hinata Hyuga, right?"
" Oh!? Yes, and your Naruto Uzumaki."
She replied, looking surprised at me interacting with her but without blushing or stuttering. I guess I missed the start of the Hinata route, but what can I do? I extended my hand to shake hers, and after a moment, she took my hand. A brief moment of surprise graced her face for a moment before she shook my hand. I wonder why she was surprised by touching my hand. I made some small talk before leaving.
" Well, it was nice to meet you, Hyuga-san."
" Likewise, Uzumaki-san."
She replied with a small smile, and I left to head back to my seat before class started.
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" His hands... they were rougher than Neji-nii's."
Hinata thought as she watched her newest classmate return to his seat. Her cousin Neji trained harder than any other young member of the Hyuga Clan, and yet her latest classmate had hands even rougher than her cousin's. She heard the rumors of Naruto Uzumaki throughout the academy, a demon, monster, crazy kid, and a number of other unflattering things about him that painted him as someone dangerous and unstable. She looked at her hand and still felt the lingering warmth on her hand where she shook his.
" Someone with warm, rough hands can't be a bad person, right?"
Hinata thought to herself as her impression of Naruto painted him differently than what the rumors said. She recalled something her father had said to her before attending the academy.
" Hinata, if you run into a young boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki at the Academy, ignore the rumors about him and make your own judgments about him with your own eyes."
" Yes, father."
This confused her as her father never spoke to her about anything outside of training or what was expected of her as a member of the Hyuga clan. Tanaka-Sensei came in as the bell rang for classes to start, and Hinata sneaked a glance at the blonde boy to see him yawning and openly reading a scroll during class. She noted that Tanaka-Sensei kept ignoring him even though he never did with her other classmates.
" Why?"
Hinata asked herself as she started to grow a little curious about Naruto Uzumaki.
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" Now, class, I am sure all of you are excited about practicing your first Jutsu, but be patient; we will get there. For now, let's go over the finer points of the Transformation Jutsu."
Tanaka-Sensei said as class started as he went over stuff I figured out last night with my practice at my apartment. First, to use the Transformation Jutsu successfully required a strong mental image and a certain level of understanding of your target transformation, like bone structure and mass. There are a few other details here and there that enlighten me a bit of some aspects I did not notice last night. Soon, everyone was brought up to speed, and practical application was put into action.
" For starters, let's start with something easy, like changing your hair color."
Tanaka-Sensei said as everyone started to use the Transformation Jutsu to change their hair color while I debated whether or not to show off or be low key. Both had pros and cons. Showing off might help me make some connections with others but might draw the attention of some people I wish to avoid, namely Danzo and the Third Hokage, as I want to avoid being used any more than I already am. Being low-key would help me hide in plain sight, but I would gain little else.
Ultimately, I chose to be low-key as it was the safer option for now, but as always I need to get stronger.